[open] at least the month couldn't get any worse, right?

[fonomena]

Who: Jade Curtiss and YOU!!
When: Several days after That Party but before the start of next month
Where: Various places! Mainly the Promenade / some random hall with a supply closet / in front of the menacingly new Tommy Bahama...
What: Mostly some processing of a few Neat and Fun gifts from sundries! .....But also like, what is up with that Tommy Bahama place though--
Warnings: Nothing too pressing! Some talk of earlier events in the month and all the murder/party stabbing therein may arise, though, considering...well. Gestures at the last few weeks.....
Notes: (I've started out with brackets, but feel free to use prose! I'll match whichever style you prefer)

A; hawaiian shirt hell persists...with a twist??
[It's a bit of a belated sort of takeaway, from the one part of Friday's last announcement before the party that had seemed entirely innocuous in the grand scheme of...everything else. A new shop being opened in the Promenade, apparently--because that's just, a thing that can happen on a ship like this, apparently. Granted, the evening following that announcement had been quite the mess in and of itself--and such small things were promptly forgotten for a few days afterwards.

But eventually, Jade finds the new storefront standing out in a passing sweep of the Promenade one day, its wide display windows now taking up a space that had most certainly not existed between Sand Dollars and John's a few weeks prior. --From that point it's only natural to investigate, isn't it? i.) Perhaps you're investigating it too, and might find Jade rather further inside, staring hard at an assorted setup of polo shirts in various distinctly...tropical color gradients with a thoroughly exasperated sort of frown on his face. One would think it's at the expense of the casual gaudiness of it all--which, to be fair, it sort of is. But........he also feels like he's walked by this display a couple times already. He's been moving in a straight line this entire time. Yet the back wall sure hasn't...actually gotten any closer, for a good few minutes now--??)

...Or maybe ii.) you find Jade outside the Tommy Bahama, after the fact, hovering in front of the entrance once more with a moderately-filled matching shopping bag now on his elbow but...a frown still on his face, too, this one a great deal more perplexed.

If you're passing by, or happen to be looking even vaguely interested in checking it out:] You know, I think you might want to exercise some caution, if you're headed in there...

(closed to Natsuno) Room 109; awkward unboxing session
[Early one morning there's a card slipped under the door; familiar to Natsuno, perhaps, but actually addressed to Jade for once. Several packages waiting for him in the sundries shop, apparently--and so Jade had set out to pick them up promptly enough, probably making some airily sarcastic remark about the impressiveness of the nonexistent postal system apparently afoot here on his way out. It's a half hour or so before he returns...

Though it's not immediately obvious, because it's not like he actually comes back into the room off the bat. No, instead, Natsuno might find Jade's return instead heralded by...well, it's not quite a knock, is it? More of a weirdly muffled thump--and then another one, for emphasis--like somebody's mildly kicking the foot of the door or something?

That's exactly what it is, actually; Natsuno would open the door to find Jade on the other side, sure enough, arms full between a couple boxes stacked in the crook of an elbow and, propped in another hand...something longer than he's tall? Very narrow, shaped vaguely like a pole, with some sort of horizontal piece attached to the top of it...? Not much else to go off but the shape, though, considering it's wrapped in matching nautical wrapping paper as well. --Jade shrugs, insomuch as he's able.] Ah, thank you. Might want to step aside a moment, yes? Let's see--

[--Well, alright, initially trying to move through the door has the pole-thing promptly rapping against the top of the doorframe. Hm, time to attempt awkwardly angling it through instead...]

B; that feel when you get the useful item drop only after the nasty boss fight...
[It's an hour or so after he's processed the "gifts" in his room; at length, Jade opts to take one of the boxes in question someplace else for a closer look, if only mostly out of a discretion for Natsuno's reactions to well over half the contents. Jade can thus once again be found seated at one of the many Promenade tables--this one near a window, in the full light of the sunshine streaming through--considering the contents in said box as it now sits open on the tabletop. Slowly, one at a time, he's pulling a series of pocket-sized glass bottles from it; each one is critically examined, before evidently being considered cleared to be set upright in a growing line on the table proper. A couple of the bottles are an eggshell white, with a very vague but distinct sort of luster; a few other bottles are black, and seem to reflect rather less daylight than glass ought to; and two of them are a deep brown, oddly-shaped in a more rounded sort of way.

Jade's attention lingers rather longer on the odd-shaped ones than the others. In fact, he even opens one of them, and seems to try peering inside before testing the scent of the contents as well. Whether he's actually happy about whatever he finds is difficult to say, though, a rather inscrutable sort of expression on his face as he recaps the bottle and sits back in his chair...though a deep sigh follows the movement, too, and his tone is very dry as he speaks--more to himself than anyone in particular, but perhaps audible all the same if you happen to be nearby.]

Well, this certainly would have been rather useful about a week ago. Seems practical jokes take many forms, around here...

C; obligatory deck-cleaning happens only after burning away to ghostly nothing ok
[The question, though, the real question...is what to do with the most exasperating gift of the bunch.

Should you happen to be passing through one of the smaller and quieter halls connecting one part of a deck level to another, you might end up bumping into Jade lingering in one of them. In front of one of the more basic janitorial supply closets found throughout the ship, specifically? The closet doors are opened, anyway, and there sure are some very boring cleaning supplies in there...though Jade's still hovering and staring inside in a weirdly intent sort of way, for some reason.

Then again, difficult to miss is the fact that he's also got a deck brush with green bristles propped over one shoulder. Did he...just take it out of the closet? Or--?]

Hm, what do you think? [Oh, he's looking over to address you now, noticing your presence and acknowledging it with a cheery sort of smile, as if this is now a totally normal conversation in totally normal surroundings happening here.] If I put this inside, do you suppose it would stay put? I'd almost bet it doesn't, if I were a betting sort of man... [...Jade this doesn't actually offer anything in the way of any context here, though--]

D; wildcard!
[This log can also serve as a catch-all for any other interactions that might arise before the end of this month! Jade can generally be found in most any of the more-trafficked areas of the ship, as he does like to check around all the more common facilities at least once every few days. Feel free to have your character bump into him for whatever reason! As always, if you have something more specific in mind you'd like to thread here and want to hash it out beforehand, feel free to hit me up by message or on plurk at rainbell!]

Comments

[neverleave]

[Congrats, Jade, for evading an awkward topic by making your roommate uncomfortable. Cabin 109 is truly a constant ping-pong of secrets, repressed emotions and karma.

There's pause before Natsuno replies. He can do what he always does - evade, snark, outright lie - but he's tired of it. There more important things to focus his energy on than constantly looking over his shoulder while keeping track of the lies.

And, as odd as it sounds... he doesn't think Jade will take advantage of this particular weakness unless it's justified.

Natsuno sighs.]

Shiki don't like holy stuff.

[fonomena]

[It truly is quite the fun atmospheric mixture they have going in Cabin 109 in these ways.....absolutely a consequence of both parties having an absolute allergy to properly talking about things most times, to say the least.

Although...that ends up not quite being the case this time, now doesn't it? Truthfully, Jade really was expecting something along the lines of an evasion, or a lie, or snark at the very least--wouldn't have minded any of those things necessarily, telling as they'd all be in their own ways regardless.

Flat honesty, though--that wasn't part of the list. And perhaps reveals the most of all the other possibilities combined, to be sure. Full confirmation that the holy bottles, at least, definitely have some sort of effect...but also. Huh. (Confirmation that Natsuno trusts him with this information--or at least sees little reason to withhold it, at this point. ...Quite the contrast indeed--as the memory arises, all of a sudden--from the sullen taciturn teen who'd lingered around in front of the cabin door for several evasive minutes rather than admit he needed an invite, that very first meeting....)

--Of course, acknowledging this in any way would be a surefire way to tarnish the moment immediately; even Jade can be aware of such things on occasion, perhaps moreso in this particular case. There might be a slight pause to denote something just a bit startled, in the look Jade gives Natsuno when he answers--but it's smoothing away to neutrality promptly enough, and the admission earns a slight nod in the end. Jade places the holy bottle back inside the box...and reaches for the lid, too.]

I see. Holy aspects even from another world have an affect, for you, hm? [Duly noted. Jade would almost thank Natsuno for the information, perhaps--but that, too, would be giving it more gravity than perhaps entirely comfortable for either of them. So instead--with a neutral sort of brusqueness to follow, rather as if they're discussing a more practical matter of how to manage dicey weather outside, or something:] --In that case. If the general presence of the holy bottles in particular would prove an irritant for you, in here, I'd not mind placing them in the care of someone else. As far as I'm concerned they don't necessarily need to be stored within this room, after all...

[Not as if Jade's particularly fussed about immediately needing to ward off monsters within the confines of 109, after all. Especially if it would make life rather more difficult for Natsuno in turn. --Perhaps the offer goes just a bit beyond the bounds of just trying to be a Civilized Roommate, in these ways--but that's a good enough cover by itself too, right?]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno understands why passengers react the way they do. We saw the kind of person you are, so we don't care about your species. Natsuno himself extends the same courtesy to anyone who isn't a vampire. And yet...

And yet.

He wouldn't say he's surprised, or grateful. He's too detached, too resigned to being a monster to feel so strongly about acceptance. But every time someone doesn't turn on him, it makes breathing through the thorny mess that's memories of Sotoba a little easier.]

No, it's fine. I don't mind them when I can't see them. But if you're going to open one - I'd rather not be around.

[There's finality in his tone, because this is clearly nothing more than roommates agreeing about another house rule.]

Also. I meant what I said about making more bottles. These too, but especially the healing ones. If the captain hates it when poison doesn't work, maybe we can make him angry enough to forget his magic.

[According to another piece of meta, the captain killed Friday because she told Natsuno about it. Alas, for now it only exists in brackets...]

[fonomena]

[Jade listens, at the new definitely-just-a-new-room-sharing-house-rule Natsuno sets down with that sort of finality, and he nods again in a similarly casually acquiescent sort of way as he properly sets the lid of the box back over the bottles.]

Then, if it's a matter of sightlines more than anything--that can assuredly be managed. I'll be sure to warn you beforehand, of course, if the need to open one ultimately arises.

[Is that small but persistent knee-jerk scientist part of Jade rearing up its head a little to wonder about the mechanics, behind the mere sight of holiness being enough of a very mild repellant for a being like Natsuno? ...Well, it'd be lying to say it isn't, but it's also a thought that Jade sets aside promptly enough; no point in asking, and not much more point in wondering presently, as little as that information would really help much of anything. No, it'd only be relevant if he ever truly needed to actually repel or incapacitate Natsuno for some reason...

And he quite hopes he'll never have to do anything like that.

At any rate. He does sort of want to examine the bottles more closely, honestly--it would be good to ensure their actual authenticity, and perhaps check for tampering in general--but doing it in Natsuno's presence assuredly isn't necessary. Perhaps he'll take the box out with him for a walk about the ship some other time in the day, at some point, take a break to pore over it at one of the many sitting areas abundant about this place--

--Oh. Oh, Natsuno's...swinging back onto that other topic after all--the topic of the bottles, and the usefulness inherent in multiplying them. .....Right. Jade idly presses upon each corner on the lid of the box, the normal sort of gesture to ensure it's properly secured, but...perhaps it could be said, that the absent movement of hands takes just a bit too long. Much the same way the pause between them does does, as it's now most definitely stretching in the wake of Natsuno's words without an immediate reply on Jade's own part. .....His attention remains on the box instead of Natsuno, for no particular reason that has anything to do with direct eye contact suddenly being a rather strained prospect, or anything like that--

But oh, it's a bit...difficult now, isn't it? This tangent. It's practical on every level; there's nothing at all actually wrong with Natsuno bringing it up, and so Jade can't even blame him for it. It should...be easy, too, to brush along past it in an entirely evasive sort of way. But of course it'd have to come up again now, right after...Natsuno was just so surprisingly honest about an aspect of himself. Goodness, it's enough to make a person feel downright guilty for hesitating to reciprocate in turn about something like this, now doesn't it?

(Would it be so bad, to talk about it? This ability he has--this method he does know. .....It's not really a matter of it being bad or not in the end, though, is it? No, it's nothing half so reasonable--absolutely nothing more than a personal hang-up, no matter how one slices it. Yet it's still enough to keep an actual admission locked somewhere in the back of Jade's throat in the end, despite himself...here and now, while he still has the room to make that choice. Even if--it really does feel like he owes Natsuno something in return--perhaps...)]

...It's not an unwise sort of proposal. You're right, that it would be beneficial to have something like this more widely available. If the captain's indeed so averse to his little tricks not working, in that sort of way... [Maybe that meta will leave the bracket zone one of these days...!! Jade flattens a hand atop the box's lid, and doesn't move for a long moment afterwards, still staring absently down at it. ...And so continues to not actually make eye contact with Natsuno, for a bit, as he continues.] I think...I may know someone, with a capability perhaps along those lines. But we'll have to see, of course. Rather dangerous, I think, to deal in guarantees when it comes to anything on this ship....

[neverleave]

[Looks like emotional honesty is answered in kind, and can even make you... feel... better?? Should Natsuno reflect on it?

Nah, better focus on how it's the longest messing with a lid he's ever seen, and that includes coffins.

Seems like what he thought was nothing than a rational suggestion struck a nerve, but unlike their talk about resurrection, this time Jade doesn't slip. Natsuno doesn't make the connection to clones - how can he - but... hm.

Also, "I may know someone"? Just say you're asking for a friend.

Natsuno doesn't point any of it out, though. He addresses the words alone, his usual rational self.]

Yeah, no guarantees. They'd have to start with making one, and then test it, and we don't want to hurt anyone...

[Alas, Natsuno can't offer himself this time, as he's immune to poison. They can test it on the crab, but Pal is weirdly attached by now, he'll argue...]

[fonomena]

[Weird how that works, isn't it? Almost like being direct and talking about your feelings on things can be...a good and healthy thing?? Obviously that's not important or anything to note down, though. No, reflecting on something like that would just be silly...

Not exactly like Jade's being much of a role model example on that front at the moment, is he?]

Indeed. There may be unexpected limitations to consider, too--as well as discretion, to exercise, in order to ensure the captain isn't alerted of what's going on...

[Hm. If the effects of the bottles are indeed genuine, creating matching ones...wouldn't exactly be an issue in itself...

No, the real issue is--something else rather less practical altogether. But Jade does have the capacity for a decent pokerface in these ways, even if the last several weeks haven't been his best showing on that front. Very extenuating circumstances, and all. No, for now...yeah, he's just speaking of behalf of a mystery friend. He might, know a guy, as the saying goes. (Natsuno's never going to let him live this down when the truth finally comes out, no doubt--not that Jade's thinking that'll be happening anytime soon, though...)

Anyway. He's been fiddling with this box plenty long enough by now, all told, and even Jade's starting to notice himself doing it. He leans to set the unwrapped bottles back onto the coffee table, and takes up the last and smallest package of the bunch, content to leave the bottle-creation tangent on that sort of note for now. --Huh, this thing weighs practically nothing at all...can't even really hear anything moving around in it?]

...At any rate. I'll admit I couldn't even guess what might be in this package now. There hasn't exactly been much of a consistent trend here... [Jade starts tugging the wrapping paper off with a wry look Natsuno's way; unlike the bottles, an entirely nondescript cardboard box is revealed beneath, not offering much in the way of hints this time.] A deck brush, travel bottles...well, some form of cleaning supply probably still isn't entirely off the table, is it?

[The worst-case scenario's surely that it'd be something about as ridiculous as the deck brush, after all. No, probably nothing of too much consequence in here...]

[neverleave]

The captain and Friday can't see into the cabins. [He knows this for a fact. Jenny' gun is still in 109, and while Friday knows he and Clarke took it, she believed when Clarke said she threw it in the ocean.] As long as they keep everything inside, it should be fine.

[It's not lost on Natsuno that now he's the one collecting odd tidbits about his roommate, trying to connect dots. He'll have to think about it later, though, because now he's eyeing the cardboard box, opened to reveal -

a doll?

Since he has no idea what to make of it, he looks at Jade's face instead. Is this nonsensical, useful, or something else?]

[fonomena]

[It is good to know this about the cabins, actually--Jade would perhaps ask how Natsuno seems to be so certain, though the certainty in itself does tell plenty enough. The fact does fall in line with a few other things he'd heard around the ship, at least, and so it's being duly noted as something to keep in mind going forward--but there's not much more of a chance to discuss that further just yet anyway. Because Jade's indeed moving to open the cardboard box, as Natsuno speaks, and...

Yes. There sure is a child's doll, sitting in the shallow bottom of the small box, without so much as packing peanuts to accompany it. Rounded fabric limbs, button eyes, hair of thin brown yarn strands...the white and light blue cloth of its dress dulled gray with accumulated age and dust.

Jade's hand freezes on the edge of the box--and his entire frame stills in general, too, as the sight sinks in and every ounce of vague emotion on his features very promptly drains away all at once.

He stares down at the doll blankly for a very long moment. ...And then slowly reaches in, to pluck it up gingerly by an arm, and stare at it some more.]

...Well, this is a message in very poor taste.

[The remark is so quiet it's practically more of a murmur. --It's not necessarily directed at Natsuno, either. Quite truthfully, for this window of a moment, Jade has quite forgotten he even has an audience...and seems to have forgotten how to make any facial expressions in general, too.

But the note in his tone is a rather dark one. Too faint and too controlled to be outright upset, maybe, but...]

[neverleave]

[A murmur it may be, but not nearly quiet enough for Natsuno's sensitive ears.

He already had a snarky remark ready - something about voodoo dolls - but it seems like it would be in very poor taste indeed. Jade may keep his tone (mostly) under control, but Natsuno knows the sudden blankness that takes over his features all too well. He does the exact same thing when he's upset.]

...is this your kid's?

[Okay look you can't really blame him for jumping to this conclusion - ]

[fonomena]

[It sure is just a bit upsetting to look at, yes (this is a vast understatement)--and a voodoo doll remark sure probably would have been received a bit poorly, all things considered. No, this is...Jade's moving to weigh the doll gingerly between his hands, quite abruptly lost in thought by all means and accounts--cloth and cotton, raggedy joints. It feels the same. ...It was such a long time ago now, but it's not as if he ever could have forgotten. Yet...he'd never expected to see this thing again. He thought--

--Hold on, what?

The question registers with a jolt, so suddenly that he's fumbling and nearly dropping the doll outright--because really! No other remark could have succeeded quite as wildly as this one does, at yanking Jade from his blank reverie so quickly there's some sensation of actual whiplash. He stiffens, and looks up at Natsuno at last, and--well, his face sure isn't blank now, if only because a complete and utter surprise can't help but shove its way right to the surface, regardless of any other dark or angsty thought that might have been trying to form moments earlier.

His kid's--]

--No? [Well, there's really no reason for that to end in a question mark the way it does, though at least the rebuttal's a very fast one. So fast that it's taking Jade's head another second or so to catch up and actually supply anything else, trying to work through the sheer confusion.] Why would--what makes you think I'd have--

[?????? Look, the rest of us may not blame Natsuno at all for jumping to this conclusion, but as far as Jade's concerned the suggestion's so far out of left field it may as well be coming from an entirely different baseball field...!

Because people have called him plenty of things, over the years, but getting unironically pegged for an actual father....is actually a first??]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno scowls. It's not THAT far-fetched!]

It's a children's toy. People your age have children.

[Said with all the disdainful petulance of a teen who thinks being 35 is already old. Natsuno's parents were around Jade's age - they had him when they were still in college, which was rather unusual, but it makes total sense for Jade to have a kid who still plays with dolls.]

But you're right, I shouldn't have assumed. No way a woman would've tolerated you long enough to have a kid with you.

1/2 i still cant believe

[fonomena]

[Hey. Hey!! Is this an unboxing session or a roasting session!!!!


You know what though? That's valid, actually, which is perhaps the worst part about this whole tangent here. Jade would legitimately be the first to agree, at least conceptually, that anybody expressing anywhere near that sort of interest in him even after interacting for longer than a few minutes probably has positively horrible taste. Or a thing for self-inflicted masochism at the very least....looking at you Dist smh--]

2/2

[fonomena]

[But of course he isn't going to say that out loud--especially when Natsuno's already saying it for the both of them?? Surely there's something to be said for this utterly brutal bluntness, too--no hesitation in the slightest! Goodness, kids these days sure don't pull their punches...]

--You know, you really do have quite a talent for being a brat. Is it innate, I wonder? Or perhaps practiced to a fine art? [Witheringly dry, in the end, to match the similarly dry look Jade's giving him now, as surprise gives way to the most deadpan sort of sarcasm in this fashion. (Notably there sure isn't any actual denial coming from him even now though.........)

Whatever. Whatever!!! Anyway. ...All that aside, in an extremely ironic sort of way--Natsuno's flagrant rudeness does manage to soften the blow of the doll's presence in the end after all, and Jade's expression never does quite return to that blankness of earlier when he does shift his attention back to the toy in his hands. It's instead warring somewhat between mild residual offense and something closer to an unhappy sort of pensiveness, now; pressing a finger over the hem of the small cloth dress, Jade frowns down at the dust that comes away with the touch. Seems the doll was stowed someplace very still and out of the way for a long while, before abruptly arriving here...]

This doll was my younger sister's, actually. [A clarification in this fashion, at length, with a slight note of lingering exasperation still hanging just a bit upon it; it does occur to Jade, at least, that it would probably be a good idea to sweep any other vague possibility of him somehow having a child back home right off the table. He's checking the seams of the doll, now, brow furrowing a little.] ...Though it's been quite some time since I've seen it...

[neverleave]

[Is it weird that he's kind of pleased to be called a brat? There's something refreshing in this unabashed rudeness, exchanging sarcastic remarks free of hidden barbs.

Jade's admission that the doll belonged to his sister, however, clouds the mood. Natsuno doesn't know the true meaning of the doll and the heavy weight it carries - but it obviously made Jade upset. He assumes the sister must've died tragically, maybe when both were still kids.]

Hmm.

[A neutral sound, just to acknowledge he heard. Natsuno has no business prying into Jade's painful memories, after all.]

Thanks, by the way. It's both natural and practiced to perfection.

[fonomena]

[There is something rather freeing about this sort of open and shameless mutual rudeness, isn't there? A large part in the shift of atmosphere in this room overall, perhaps; somehow, for some reason, it would seem the inherent dodgy tension of the secrets chicken they'd been playing to start with has...worn away by now, at least somewhat. Exchanges that certainly would have had hidden barbs before are simultaneously freer and far less veiled, now, and...well, calling it nice would be a terribly strong word, wouldn't it? Best not call it anything at all, much less openly acknowledge it or something ridiculous like that...

It takes an edge off here and now, at least--though there's a bit of a double-edged blade in the fact that it's a prompt reminder of a second pair of eyes also looking at the doll at the moment, now isn't there? Jade can't help but be aware of the attention on periphery, even if Natsuno doesn't make any indication of actually wanting to ask other questions on this front--something Jade does find himself lowkey appreciating, even if he'd never admit it. All the same, there's a growing temptation to put the doll right back in its box and pack it away someplace from sight, now currently warring with a need...to be sure, so to speak. That this is...the exact same one he thinks it is? The nagging question keeps the doll between his hands all the same, tipping its head back a bit to examine the seam at the neck this time with a frown that persists.

(...No, it's too difficult to tell by sight alone. Nephry had still taken the original to Saphir, in the end, even after Jade had created what he'd thought to be a perfectly serviceable sort of replacement at the time; talented and fussy with sewing in equal measures even in those days, it wouldn't be so surprising that Saphir had endeavored to render his repair work as invisible as possible, down to matching thread coloration and style of stitching. Hm...)]

...I wonder. How likely do you suppose it is, that these gifts we receive are truly the genuine articles pulled directly from their respective worlds? ...Might be something to warrant some kind of confirmation...

[Though he doesn't actually have the tools to properly confirm whether the doll in his hands is indeed a replica--or an original. Or perhaps a similar doll from somewhere else altogether. (....Well, though there probably is someone who could confirm even without tools, isn't there? --But Jade's last conversation with Palamedes had been rather...hm....)]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno gives him a puzzled look. He never considered that the gifts were anything but an original article. The gun was just a gun, but when he got clothes for home he naturally assumed they were his clothes.

(Originals, copies, Jade's discomfort... there's something there, nagging at the back of his brain. That's something to think about later, though, if he can even connect the dots)]

I assumed they are original, but the stuff I got isn't exactly unique. [He looks down at the black-and-hot-pink sneakers hit wearing, extending a leg to look them over like he's seeing them for the first time.] I guess these can be my shoes or just the same model.

[He looks back at Jade, gaze trailing between him and the doll.]

I don't get why it matters, though. Was that a popular doll where you're from?

[For all he knows it can be mass produced...]

[fonomena]

[Does it matter, really?

Jade's hands still over the doll as he looks back up at Natsuno, the remark processing and the question springing forth quite promptly in mind. --Because that always has been the sticking point of it all, hasn't it? When an original and a copy are functionally the same, such things surely become irrelevant...in theory. And yet.

Inadvertently, of course, it just makes him think of Luke--prompting something quiet and sinking and sad, somewhere in the chest, as it always seems to. Luke, perhaps, would have the words for a proper answer to such a question--would have the full right to dictate it, really. But Luke isn't here--Luke will never be anywhere, ever again, and shouldn't be.

Not that Natsuno would know. Why would he? No, the puzzled look on his face and the utter offhand nature of the remark are entirely normal things, considering the context he has to work with on his own end...and Jade can't find it in himself to offer any more, here and now. Considering where that whole line of discussion would inevitably lead...

--Ah. He doesn't realize it until he's promptly putting an expression back on, in the form of the slight and idly amused sort of smile he offers Natsuno's way at length--but Jade's face sure had started slipping back into that earlier blankness again, for just a moment there, as his thoughts had quite visibly wandered elsewhere. But now--]

...No, I suppose it doesn't really matter, does it? At least for our purposes here and now.

[No, it only matters...in a personal sort of way. In this particular case--quite setting aside the whole other moral quandary of replicas and the relevance of their origins overall. Whether or not this doll is indeed the first replica he ever made...isn't anything important, not really. Won't tell them anything helpful about the trends of these packages. Won't help them find a way off this ship, in any way. ...But it will continue to nag at Jade's thoughts all the same, until he finally does discreetly bring the doll over to Palamedes at some point a couple of days from now...

With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Jade occupies himself with reaching back over for the small box the doll had arrived in.]

--There were a handful of these made. The local toy shop always was more of a crafts affair...so, one could say they were as popular as anything could be, in a very small and remote sort of town. [Not mass produced to say the least. (--He could have just bought Nephry a new one, he really could have. Everyone always did call Jade a very strange child for a reason...but of course, he's not about to elaborate on that particular semantic at the moment here.)] Still, I suppose these things coming directly from other places sits about on par with our own presences on this ship. The method must be the same, as whatever the captain utilized to bring us here. I really do wonder if these items are intentional picks or not...the timing of their arrival doesn't seem particularly routine. To say nothing of the contents...little consistency all around.

[neverleave]

[It's almost a relief when Jade puts the smile in place. Natsuno feels like he just snuck a peek into a void he isn't sure he'd want to keep looking at, though he will probably keep wondering about it later. Copies and original and resurrection...]

There's little consistency with us passengers, too.

[Magic users and post-apocalyptic warlords, sea-jellies and magical girls, gods and bird people and at least five different kinds of undead. The inconsistency is consistent on its own, weird randomness that ranges between ridiculous and gut-wrenching.

He pauses, thinking how to put it in a way that won't make it sound like he's acknowledging how upset Jade is by the whole thing. Like he's not offering sympathy is his vague, awkward teenage brat way.]

It just looks like a doll to me. You're wasting time overthinking it.

[fonomena]

[At some point this will quite doubtlessly come up again, and...honestly, Jade won't even be terribly surprised, to inevitably discover that Natsuno's picked up something rather off where vague discussion in the direction of copies and originals and resurrection might be concerned. Already he gets a feeling he's giving away far too much just in how much effort he's having to exert towards trying not to...hm, usually he's better at this. Something about it being this particular audience--or perhaps the circumstances of being on this ship, in general--or the simple unexpectedness, of this rather sharp reminder of that whole matter.

No, if anything, it's more surprising that Natsuno declines to really call it out here and now whatsoever. Instead there's...that, which could truly easily be parsed as the typical lack of reverence found in a bratty teen. --Though there's something about the pause before it, and the phrasing on the whole...

...But Jade declines to call that out too.]

Hm, perhaps I am. Though that's certainly a rather blunt way to put it... [For the sake of idly running with the outward context, at least--Jade is sure to inject a note of humored long-suffering to his tone in turn, as he sets the doll back inside its box and folds the lid back over. This process is much quicker than closing the bottle box had been, at least.] Either way, I surely haven't the faintest idea what I'm expected to do with a doll. Or a deck brush. I'd almost bet that tossing them both into the sea would just have them impossibly retrieved and reappearing sopping wet in the cabin somehow...

[The aggravating persistence of the screens all over the ship during the battle royale still sit very clear in memory, after all. Jade casts a glance back over at the deck brush propped on the wall as he shifts readily over to this new and far less weighted tangent.]

Perhaps the ghosts might find a use for the brush, at the very least--what do you think?

[neverleave]

[The topic of the doll is closed like its boxed, which is fine by Natsuno. He's willing to bet Jade would never actually throw it away, just hide it. People got so attached to mementos (this thought will come bite him in a week or so, when he gets a box full of withered flowers his best friend used to put by Natsuno's window for days after killing him).]

You got it, so clearly you're the one expected to use it. [He tilts his head, thinking, and adds without sarcasm:] Actually, if they really "find use" for anything we give them, it'll be a new one.

[fonomena]

[That's a bet Natsuno would win, for better or worse; indeed, despite its connotations, Jade wouldn't be able to quite push himself into actually casting the doll into the sea in the end. It might not be a memento in the sort of sense Natsuno's assuming, but...all the same. There's a lot of weight on this thing, for better or worse.

It's a reminder in other ways, and regardless of the why's or how's of its arrival...all the same....there's something to be acknowledged here. Something a dip in the sea certainly won't fix, in the end.

--Though he's still pretty on the verge with the deck brush, all told.]

Well, somebody's about to be quite thoroughly disappointed, if such expectations really are being held somewhere. I put my deck scrubbing days quite behind me awhile ago now, to say the least. [Something of an airy cheer properly filtering back into Jade's tone, now, as he takes the box and its doll between his hands and rises from the couch. Time to take this over to a dresser drawer and promptly stick it in there, towards the back...] It would be quite interesting if the ghosts actually took it up, wouldn't it? Perhaps I'll run a few tests, at the very least. Even the most inane of things can contribute to science, after all...