Jade Curtiss (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fonomena) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
come_sailaway2022-05-22 10:07 pm
fonomena) wrote in come_sailaway2022-05-22 10:07 pm
[open] at least the month couldn't get any worse, right?
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![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
rainbell!]
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
no subject
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....)]
no subject
(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...]
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
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?
no subject
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.
no subject
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...