[OPEN LOG] Still in this place people fight only for themselves

[midnightroads]

Who: Bash and You
When: Beginning of February
Where: Library, Tauva, Deck
Summary: Hanging out with paper and cardstock and coffee. Also, flying.
Warnings: None yet

1. There isn’t up or down [Tarot]
One of the items Bash arrived on the ship with was a deck of tarot cards. While he's out of practice, and not entirely sure how the fates work in this work, he's currently hanging out in the lounge, idly flipping cards as he mulls life over. Ask nicely, he'd be glad to give a reading.


2. Everyone under the same sky [Flying]
With the flight-time restriction lifted on Bash's wing bracer relic, he now takes time almost every day to get airborne. Perhaps you're on the sports deck and see a flying goth. Or maybe you catch him coming in to land on the sports deck. Or maybe you fly yourself and just wanna come play aerial tag. Whatever floats your boat!


3. Greedless, nothing to lose [Origami]
A while ago, as a Sundries gift, Bash received an abundance of origami paper. The nice stuff--patterned chiyogami with metallic details, in both squares and the long strips used to fold tiny paper stars.

You might catch Bash sitting in a lounge or the library, folding cranes or stars. Or you might pass him in the hall and be offered a few stars and an impish grin. Either way, have some fun paper.


4. An impartial world [Coffee]
Look, it's Bash. Even if you don't catch him up to any of his antics, you can find him in Sand Dollars, where he's glad to educate people on good coffee--or just make them a drink they miss from home. Come on in, take a load off, he won't even judge you if you ask for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

(But if you put yourself in his hands, you might get a cup of Ethiopian Harrar or Kona or Jamaican Blue Mountain, instead.)


5. A dream paradise [Wildcard]
darkersolstice or darkersolstice#9463 to plot

Comments

4

[hadnoright]

Daisy walks right past the Sand Dollars counter without fully registering that there's someone there, tossing out an order for a black coffee that's clearly more intended for a ghost to follow-up on as she takes a seat a little ways away.

She seems... distracted? Maybe a little on edge, even. Something that might either make more or less sense when she pulls out an analogue tape recorder and slots a nondescript cassette tape into it.

There's no volume control on these things and she's not enthused about that, but she's also not eager to risk playing it in private for the first time in case it's some kind of trap, so... she hits play. And Jonathan Sims' voice sounds first.

"You don’t mind if I record this, do you?"

"Knock yourself o—" Daisy hits stop at the sound of her own words, and curses under her breath.

[midnightroads]

Bash perks up at the counter like a dog who’s just heard the word ‘walk’, head whipping around to look at Daisy.

“Jon? That was Johnathan Sims, right? The Archivist?”

His friend, his boss. Occasionally, his ally.

[hadnoright]

Daisy near jumps out of her skin at the sound of a voice—distracted as she is even his scent was background noise, especially as part of his scent is coffee—and only looks more surprised when the words register.

Wide eyes turn to narrowed ones. How the fuck— "—and what's it to you?"

Now that she's paying attention he has the same touches that match the idea of entities at home as anyone else does, but he doesn't reek of home. How the hell does he know Jon's name? Let alone the title The Archivist?

[midnightroads]

On second thought, given the look she's giving him, he's going to place her coffee on the counter and shake his head. "Nothing. Here's your drink."

Awfully meek for a guy who feels like the End and the Dark had a baby, right?

[hadnoright]

She eyes, but does not yet take the coffee and there's a dry, uncomfortable sort of laugh. "Oh, no, mister, you don't get to back out of that one. How do you know Jon's voice? Let alone his name or title. He wasn't— he hasn't been on the boat this time around, has he?"

Surely that would have come up at some point, there's enough people that have been here for almost the whole run of this voyage that she would've heard some mention of a guy who calls himself the Archivist almost as frequently as his name and carries tape recorders everywhere...

[midnightroads]

He shakes his head. "Not on this boat. I was another place before this. Sorta fucked up city-like place. He was there, I used to work with him. He had an archive, there."

It's worse, having to say this to someone who obviously knows--knew?--Jon.

"There was a few others from his world there--I didn't know them well. Martin, Tim, Sasha."

[hadnoright]

"Another place? Shit. That's. New." She's never, to her knowledge, met anyone else who was somewhere else besides home or the boat, but it's hardly unbelievable after everything she's been through. "That little... of course he set up an Archive. Why wouldn't he..."

The tone of the last sentence is very much that of someone who isn't sure that's a positive thing, considering what she knows of Jon. Considering both of their attempts to resist what they were, successful or no.

[midnightroads]

"He was also always in trouble for being a stubborn git talking back to the government thugs and trying to spite the guy in charge. He'd be a riot here, probably end up with a similar reputation to Rita."

And yet, he sounds fond.

[hadnoright]

If anyone can relate to the feeling of being simultaneously weirdly fond of Jonathan Sims whilst also knowing full well how his... everything, can get, well, it's Daisy. But boy is it weird to hear it from someone else.

"Stubborn git. Yeah." A huff of something almost like a laugh. "That. Sure sounds about right, for him. Never could let things go. Shit, think that's half the reason I'm alive. He..." She trails off, shakes her head. "He was a weird guy. You're probably right about his reputation. He'd probably try to compel the Captain, sure that'd go brilliantly..."

[midnightroads]

"He'd do it to Friday, first, I think. She'd be more susceptible. But yeah, he would try the Captain at some point."

He shakes his head. "You knew him, then. Back in the place he belonged, properly?"

[hadnoright]

Daisy hesitates for just a moment, which is illogical when the answer's already clear, and then sighs, standing up to come and take that coffee and sit at the counter seats instead.

"Yeah, I knew him. And Martin and Tim, a little. Not Sasha, she was... gone, by the time I was around." Sasha and Tim both being around must be weird for Jon in that other place... "We didn't... get off on a great foot," her gaze flicks to the tape recorder, "but. Things. Changed."

[midnightroads]

“Does he get off on the right foot with anyone?” There’s wry amusement there for a moment before his smile dims and he offers a hand.

“I’m Bash.”

[hadnoright]

"Ha. Probably not." She takes and shakes the hand, and if the claws weren't already obvious before, they certainly will be then. There's another note of hesitance before she says, "Daisy," if only because there are now two avenues he could have an advance impression.

If he's caught wind of her name related to the possessions, and if she ever came up with Jon, for some reason. Unlikely, but. Well being part of the Archives makes everyone a little paranoid.

[midnightroads]

He notices the claws. Considers them for a second, and then seems to shrug them off. If he's heard her name, he's not letting it show right now.

(Of course, she's heard of him--who among the possessing ghosts didn't hear about Bash and what a threat he is during October?)

"Nice to meet you, Daisy. Care for a madelaine or two to go with the coffee?"

[hadnoright]

Oh she remembers Chase talking about Bash, especially, she had a right go at him for getting made so fast and everything. And then got made herself, so, well, jokes on her she supposes...

Weird way to finally meet the guy, though.

"Y'know I'm not sure I know what those are, but sure." She finally takes a drink from the coffee, and belatedly remembers manners exist even if she isn't much for them, "...uh. Thanks. Didn't actually realise there was a person working the counter when I came in. Not exactly the norm."

[midnightroads]

Here, Daisy. Have some cookies. Or biscuits, if you prefer, whilst you drink the coffee.

“Ava and I both hang out here. I’m a bit of a coffee nerd. In my own world, if my life was my own, I’d be a barista.”

[hadnoright]

Definitely biscuits to the aggressively Welsh woman. She grunts what's probably meant to be another thanks as she tries one, and still proceeds to try and talk before finishing chewing.

"Mm. Got more of an idea than I do, there. But you smell so much of End I'm not surprised you don't have that luxury." Of your life being truly your own, even beyond these places, she means. Then she adds, in somewhat tonal contrast, "...surprised Friday hasn't stopped you trying it here. Y'know. Got on your case for 'working'."

[midnightroads]

"I smell like 'end'? Fucking hell, usually people say I smell like cigars or something." He flashes a nervous smile.

"As for working, coffee's the love of my life. I'm here playing with it for myself half the time--got some good shit beans from Sundries--and would be even if no one else wanted a drink."

[hadnoright]

"Mm, that too. But my senses are..." she nods her head to the side, "they're focused on other things. And the stench of being connected to death is always a loud one."

The End is the fear that comes for everyone and everything, after all.

"So she actually accepts it as a hobby thing?" She does not remember her being that lenient, but Daisy's also got her weird biases against Friday. "Lucky then, I guess."

[midnightroads]

"She also lets the short guy with the eyes do cocktails at Hurikane. It's a little hamburger meat in our pumpkin, getting to do shit sometimes."

A pause, he strokes his beard. "Did you want me to explain the death shit?"

[hadnoright]

She huffs with enough amusement to indicate she understands the enrichment metaphor, yay for being from a year where she can actually follow the shorthand.

"Have to admit I'm curious. I can pin down a lot of things, by now. Met angels, demons, shapeshifters, changelings, all sorts, but not everything. Apparently."

She's even met gods, of course, just look at Jenny, but...

[midnightroads]

"Demigod and psychopomp. Son of Baron Samedi. Technically."

It gets more complicated than that in practice, but that's the simplest form.

"Specifically, I take those who die in car crashes to where they need to go."

[hadnoright]

Demigod. Yeah, that's new for her. "Huh. Very specific. Not a lot of work for you around here."

Maybe there's the odd car crash from people getting their vehicles on excursions, but nowhere for the dead to go but back to their bodies or into the empty Nothing. Honestly she's not even sure how an Avatar of the End would fare around here, where there's plenty of death but the fear of it just isn't as strong; even the Nothing isn't truly the end of a person, it'd be more merciful if it was...

[midnightroads]

"No afterlife because the big guy doesn't believe in one. It's a thing, but the other place I was didn't have one either."

Look, he's not even sure how he's faring, but he's not Nothing, and that's something.

[hadnoright]

"Right, because this place runs on the beliefs of one fucked up guy with fucked up priorities. Us lowly kidnappees don't get an afterlife. We get the Vast's wet dream."

Honestly Jon should probably get the blame for Daisy just saying things like this as if people are going to know what the hell she's talking about. It's listening to him recording and discussing statements that's filled her in on the details of other entities in the first place.