[open] come on, make a joyful sound

[light_mischief]

Who: Skulduggery Pleasant & anyone who wants to deal with him
What: you'd think after an announcement like that one, he'd be making himself scarce, but nope!
When: July, up until the excursion.
Where: Around the ship, by the pool, and also the Chatterbox, obviously. but NOT at Bobby B's. nope!!!!
Warnings: None at the moment, other than potential being-a-dickness from Skuls
Notes: with the Bobby B's prompt, if your character can see through magic invisibility, let me know :)


[AROUND THE SHIP] if you will believe in your heart
[Skulduggery can be found wandering the ship at any point during the day or night. to the untrained eye, it may look like he's pacing, but you couldn't be more wrong. this is simply idle exercise for an old man who is definitely not churning over a lot of thoughts about what his plans are for the future.

he won't stop to talk unless a familiar friend waves him down, but he's more than willing to Aaron Sorkin this shit if somebody decides to pull a walk-and-talk with him.]

[CHATTERBOX] and confess with your lips
[alternatively, Skulduggery can be found in the Chatterbox after midnight for his own private hour-long karaoke session. it isn't quite the same, now that the karaoke machine isn't inhabited by any ghosts that may or may not have ever existed in the first place, but he seems to be making the most of it.

actually, he's having a little too much fun. anyone who tries to have a conversation with him here may find themselves subjected to a musical response in lieu of a real one, and woe to anyone who tries to take the microphone out of his hand before his hour's up.]

[POOL] surely you will be saved one day
[and finally, Skulduggery can occasionally be found lounging on a deck chair with a book during the afternoons and early evenings. he's even dressed down on these occasions, with his shoes tucked under the chair and his jacket folded neatly over the back. he can't seem to stop humming the same few bars of Time after Time... that song is such an earworm!

if someone is looking to corner him, this is liable to be the best time, because he isn't inclined to start a fight in the middle of the day.]

[BOBBY B'S] don't see what the point is in even trying to fight
[there's no skeleton detective to be seen, which would make this a pretty terrible prompt for a roleplaying game. luckily, there is one thing that seems curiously out of place inside Bobby B's: an unattended ship-branded pad of paper and a pen, resting next to an ashtray with a half-smoked cigar stubbed out in it. written across the top of the page are the words: SKULLDUGGERY PLEASANT. underneath that is a list, written in seemingly several different fonts:

- can remove & replace limbs (head too?)
- senses movement thru air, flies
- latent necromancy?
- always armed (2 guns)
- charming (talks way out of problems)
- irrational & mentally unstable
- easy to anger? (no)
- death by car crash
- death by spike pit??? HOW

and then, at the bottom, hastily scrawled and underlined: how do u kill a skeleton?

huh. that sure is weird. it looks like mutliple people have added to this list with the same left-over pen. maybe somebody else has something to add?? or maybe they're trying to figure out why there's one less bar stool at the bar...]

[closed to Darcy] getting into knives
[the cloaking sphere isn't the only thing that Skulduggery picked up from the sundries shop. alongside two relics that would make extremely fitting gifts for a newlywed couple, he's also been given a deceptively simple item that he thinks is just perfect for Darcy. their birthday was... some time ago, which makes this rather belated, but he figures that there are enough extenuating circumstances to keep him from feeling too guilty about that.

he texts Darcy to meet up at Sand Dollars for a surprise (conveniently on his way to Bobby B's for a spot of enemy-watching), and even though he doesn't need to, he invites them to bring any of their million+ swords along. might as well ensure the gift works the way he suspects it will!]

[wildcard] look for the bigger picture when I close my eyes real tight

(Throw something up at random, or throw me a line on Discord to plan something!)

Comments

[light_mischief]

He likes being intimidating, no matter what the reason! So this works out for him.

"I don't knock for anybody but Lucius." Who would sometimes bring over bugmen to bugger, but that's neither here nor there. "And after he left, this room became mine, and mine alone."

Not that he uses it all that often, but still! All of his stuff is here!

"Which means there are rules you need to follow."

[freedomsuitsme]

Finally, he pokes his head out from underneath the blankets, his glamour re-established (albeit hastily, and he can feel his long, clawed toes straining against the confines of the shoes they've been convinced into).

"It was hardly my decision as to what cabin I was assigned to, if you think you can- ah. You must be Skulduggery Pleasant. Mr? Mx? I believe someone on the ship referred to you in masculine terms." He still sounds irritated, but he's going to at least try to be civil.

[light_mischief]

"No, it wasn't your decision..." But he sure as hell isn't going to go to Friday about something as childish and petty as territorial disputes. "But that's neither here nor there. You are correct, my name is Mr. Skulduggery Pleasant. Good to know my reputation precedes me; that makes things easier."

He points first at the closet, then to the bottom drawer of the dresser. "Don't touch my suits or the chest in the closet. The same can be said of the bottom drawer. You are allowed to use the bed and the restroom, as I have no need for either of those things."

He's usually at least polite enough to ask for other people's names before starting in like this, but he's got to be the alpha male in this situation!

[freedomsuitsme]

"You could have established that without being nearly so abrasive, pal," he borderline snarls, clambering out of bed and brushing himself off. His clothes seem to settle into place, perfectly ironed, on their own.

"Would you have forbidden me use of the bathroom if you possessed soft tissue?" Maxwell follows up, a tad mockingly.

[light_mischief]

Skulduggery would be irritated by that if it weren't for the fact that his Ghastly Bespoke suits never wrinkle. You're not the only one with flawless fashion here, "pal!"

"Yes, probably," he replies. "I would be very particular about my haircare products." If he had hair, anyway. "Also, because I like my space, and my peace. Your being here disrupts both of those things."

[freedomsuitsme]

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but we're sharing this cabin, and while I'm perfectly willing to respect the privacy of your bed and your side of the closet and your belongings, I'm entitled to my own bed and my own things and my own closet space. And I'm sorry if my being here disrupts your peace, but so far I haven't done anything but lie in my bed quietly. Now, I could make things more than a little disruptive, if I feel so inclined, but I'm a reasonable man. No need to make this space... unpleasant."

[light_mischief]

"Don't try to butter me up with puns." Damn it, how does everyone figure out that he likes those??? "I told you what not to touch, and what you're allowed to use. It should be perfectly easy to follow those simple requirements. Leave my things alone, and we'll be just fine."

Pause.

"Anyway, I'm not here very often, and I'm not alive in a way that requires sleep or showers. Except when I am." He is not going to explain how he might get dirty enough to need a shower. That's between him and the man upstairs.

[freedomsuitsme]

"Perhaps I was being unclear. I'm not unwilling to adhere to your rules, but don't think you can make unilateral statements and not have me push back. If we're to share this room, then I get to make rules as well. You do not touch my things, especially my spellbook. My clothes, likewise, are off limits. They will have their own space in the closet, as far away from your clothes as possible. I'll make no bones about it, this isn't the first time I've had to share a space with someone else as opinionated as you, and I'm more than capable of standing up for myself."

[light_mischief]

"Of course you have a spellbook."

Magicians, ugh.

"Fine, we're in agreement. And you'll be happy to know I won't be here very often, so you can use the space relatively unimpeded." His skull tilts ever-so-slightly as he takes a closer look around the room, just to ensure he hasn't missed anything... "Oh. And don't touch the Midori."

He doesn't think he needs to point to the half-empty bottle of green liquor on the desk.

[freedomsuitsme]

"Understood. For clarity, would you be bothered if I prepared a general ritual space for spellcasting on my side of the room, or would you rather I take my sorceries elsewhere?"

[light_mischief]

"It's so cute that you need ritual space for spellcasting." He means that exactly as derisively as it sounds, and just in case his dismissal isn't clear from his voice, he waves his hand vaguely to bring the point home. "Do whatever you'd like, so long as you keep things tidy. If you don't, I will throw things away."

[freedomsuitsme]

He scoffs at that.

"And don't you dare reconfigure my setup, or I will see to it that trouble finds you."

[light_mischief]

"Trouble always finds me." He turns to the closet, carelessly yanking unused hangers away from his good suits. "Especially here. I'm sure you've already heard plenty of rumors about how 'terrible' and 'horrifying' things are aboard the Eterna."

[freedomsuitsme]

"I've heard that it's akin to the world I came from in many ways, yes. Though it's so far proved to be safer than I anticipated, actually."

[light_mischief]

"It's... relatively safe on the ship itself." He couches that expectation just right in his opinion -- other people may think that the whole place is dangerous, but really, "It's the excursions you have to watch out for. Especially now. We had a bit of... engine failure recently, and so the excursions are designed to make us suffer as much as possible."

[freedomsuitsme]

"Ha! Hardly unexpected. The game changes with the shifting circumstances, the board adapts, the pieces implement new strategies."

[light_mischief]

"Some of them worked out better for us than others."

He sounds faintly smug about that. Who knows what that's about.

"So long as enough people sign up for the excursions, they should remain optional. Just don't give me guff for signing up at every opportunity, and we should get on just fine."

[freedomsuitsme]

"I don't intend to." He's not breaking his gaze from Skulduggery, clearly in an attempt to assert some kind of dominance.

[light_mischief]

Skulduggery isn't even paying attention to him now, more interested in lining his suits up in an order he can memorize, in case somebody goes rifling through his stuff.

"Good. Look at that, we're getting on just fine."

[freedomsuitsme]

"Well, then, I suppose I'll be going back to sleep. It's been a long first day and I'd rather not let myself get too disheveled. Try not to slam the door on your way out."

He turns over and buries himself under the blankets again, in a mildly petulant manner.