come_sailaway | And everything I stir into my tea, comes back to conquer me

Entry tags:

And everything I stir into my tea, comes back to conquer me

Who: Ava and whoever

When: Early June

Where: Various

Summary: More Cute! More Fun! Pre-camping ponderings. Possibly some thievery!

Warnings: Currently none

i. NOT TOO BAD - (closed to Ed)
Ava narrows her eyes suspiciously as she reads over the changed details of the new yet shamelessly the same sign up sheet. Is it really that simple? Or is it just a false sense of security to lure more people in, fall for the same trick twice. It's got to be different, right? Somebody's been texting that annoying call for unity letter around, and she doubts they'd be given much a chance to attempt pulling it off.

She traces her finger over where she'd written her name before, now covered in a scribble, and ponders whether she ought to put her name back on the list.

"What do you think?" she asks, aware of the presence of somebody nearby, turning her glance and, oh, it's Blackbeard. She smiles.

ii. DOOM SCROLLING - (ota)
Since the new sign up sheet went out, Ava periodically checks back to see who else has added their name, how many more are willing to chance the excursion. If it's anyone she knows, what their plans might be to prepare.

"Are you worried?" she asks, either to somebody that's just signed up, or somebody that's instead turned away.

iii. INTO THE WOODS?
Back in the library, Ava is flipping through books that might take place in a forest, involves camping. Mostly she's going by covers, as much as she knows the old saying not to judge a book by one. A lot of them seem to be horror stories, but there's plenty of fairy tales that take place in the woods as well.

This really isn't getting her anywhere at all, and she gives a frustrated sigh at her growing pile, resigning herself to the fact they'll be eaten by bears or sacrificed in some weird ritual and there's nothing she can really do to prepare. The book in her hands gives her a confused pause though.

"You ever go on vacation?" she asks whoever else in the library.

iv. FINDERS KEEPERS? - (ota)
Other passengers seem to keep getting all sorts of neat stuff, and Ava has no idea why all she's gotten so far is some giant Hello Kitty. Is she doing something wrong? Is she supposed to want things a bit harder? Does whoever summon those gifts simply not like her? ~~Is her player just too lazy?~~

Whatever, Ava knows one whole way to get what she wants. Stealing. She'll lurk about in common areas and the hallways, invisible, watching to see if anyone's got anything neat worth taking. Better not turn your attention, or she's going for it.

Alternatively, she might find another reason to spy on your character. Are they looking suspicious? Up to anything odd? Having a hushed conversation? (Feel free to even link to another thread that she's welcome to come spy on!)

v. KNOCK KNOCK - (open to cr or their roommates?)
It's the middle of the night, which is when Ava tends to be most active, most bored, and most likely to seek out somebody to talk to. She knocks quietly at a cabin door, dressed in pajamas and fuzzy slippers and holding a mug of tea.

vi. STEWING - (ota)
There's an uncomfortable awareness that the population of the ship is growing. Which has made the use of the hot tub a bit more competitive, and other areas of the ship far more busy as well. There's less and less place to simply be alone and undisturbed. But she catches the hot tub empty at some point and slips in, a piña colada in one hand and one of those Baby-Sitters Club books in another. Yes, the pages are a bit damp. No, she doesn't care.

If anyone choosing to join her is somebody she knows, Ava will give a small "hey" in welcome. If it's somebody she doesn't, she'll simply glare over the top of the book.

vii. WILDCARD - (ota) HIT ME UP!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, far be it for me to repeat his mistakes." Being snobbish, or being British? Yes.

He wanders up to the edge of the hot tub, fully aware and not really caring that he's just sort of standing there in his suit. "I take it you saw the sign-up sheet, then? Plenty of names to go around, this time." Lots of surprising ones, too, listed before his own.

She gives an appreciative huff. "Is there a term, you think, for when you were never afforded much of a childhood or that entire... experience of making mistakes and connections and learning who you are and how you fit into society while you're growing up? So instead you just... wistfully long for that period of time you can never get back? Is that a thing?" Ava wonders, folding the pages to mark where she's left off and setting the book aside.

Because they do have more serious things to discuss. "Of course. Added mine, even helped Ed put his as well. And Stede is rather determined to not be left behind, despite being rather... you know how he is. Rightfully disturbed?"

"Nothing in English, I'm afraid." Mostly because the English language prefers to borrow words than create more of its own.

The news that Stede signed up, of all people, has Skulduggery balking. "Really? He... saw that it was the same sign-up sheet, didn't he?" And that brings him to another point, "Literally the same sign-up sheet. When we talked about the captain being unoriginal, I certainly didn't think it would go that far."

She hums a bit sadly and nibbles on her wedge of pineapple off the side of her glass, because it's a whole damn mood right now.

Ava nods. "He said it's not right for him to stay upon the ship while everyone else is out there. I think it's admirable, really. For him to be so terrified yet determined. But I promised I'd have his back. So," a small wave of her hand. It's a little ridiculous how easily Stede wins over loyalty.

"It's manipulating our expectations, I think. The paper states it's not so bad. Can we trust that? Maybe he's setting us up to have our own fears create the chaos. How many people are going in overly prepared? Yet there's that call for unity too. I still don't buy it comes from good intentions."

It truly is a mystery how Stede Bonnet manages to gain so much loyalty with seeming ease. Skulduggery wishes he could explain it beyond the fact that Stede is just genuinely a decent fellow... but the only other option would be magic of some kind.

"He knows they're all expecting the worst." He tilts his head, considering things for a moment. "Camping in a forest leaves a lot to the imagination, which I'm sure is the whole point. Going by the activity level... It's likely you're right, and we'll do most of the heavy lifting. He'll rely on our uncertainty and fear to do all the work."

She splashes her fingers through the water idly, bothered by the fact she's allowing it to worry herself as well. The anticipation seems worse this time around, despite the fact that the excursion sheet claims otherwise.

"Which also makes it a prefect opportunity for that somebody to try organizing cooperation, yeah? Make themselves a trusted leader of sorts, if things go smoothly they can claim that victory. Getting everyone else in the habit of passivity makes it so easy to take advantage. And who can stand up against that, without sounding like the problem?" None of it sits with her right.

The paranoia isn't entirely misplaced, but Skulduggery is holding out hope that things are more straightforward than they seem with the other passengers. "Well... what would they be looking to take advantage of us for? And how would they be doing it, if the letter was anonymous?"

"The anonymity is part of the ploy to appear unwilling to seek power themselves. Handwriting is enough of a clue that they know somebody will put it together, and how can you doubt the intentions of a person that took advantage of the height of fear and the unknown to make the obvious, so completely noncontroversial plea for unity? It reeks of manipulation and carefully practiced politics. It won't be this time they'll take advantage, they're thinking more long term. But once they manage to groom everyone into compliance in the for the good of the group spirit, they'll find a way to sell everyone out. They might not even know how yet, because they're an opportunist. But they will." Listen when she met you doing your whole little conspiracy thing with the photos? She's a bit too into this stuff.

Definitely the sort of paranoid ramblings that normally gets a side-eye at the council meetings, but Skulduggery is used to being the one in Ava's position. He can definitely understand, and honestly even appreciate, the paranoia, even if he thinks it might be misplaced in this one instance.

"If I might offer a counter-argument..." Skulduggery takes a moment to sit, ignoring the wet concrete and crossing his legs neatly beneath him. "The anonymity is indeed suspicious, and I won't deny that. But, what if the letter-writer chose to hide their identity because we wouldn't trust them normally? There are a fair few people with checkered pasts aboard. It could be that signing their name would detract from the message itself." Sort of like anonymous criticism at the workplace. "And while you're not wrong that gaining our cooperation would make it easier to fund their own escape, it's also clear that cooperation is not what the captain expects from us. If nobody else has tried it, then it serves our interests to be the first."

Of course, "We still ought to keep a close eye on it, to make sure nobody uses this call for unity as an excuse to trade us all in to the captain." Because she's right about all of it, in the end. If the letter-writer has any ulterior motives, she's likely hit the nail on the head.

Paranoia is absolutely never misplaced! But fine, she trusts Skulduggery's judgment, and tries to keep an open mind as he provides his own interpretation. She drifts a bit closer to the other side of the hot tub, arms folded at the edge.

She's not exactly sold though, about the intentions of the anonymous letter writer. Even if he's correct that it's because the individual doesn't think their reputation merits trust, she's convinced it's more a combination than an instead of. "I'm just skeptical of anyone that steps in and starts offering solutions to the vulnerable. It's what happened to me, I know how easy it is to be taken advantage of when you're scared and without options."

Yeah, all of that seems fair to Skulduggery. "It would be hypocritical of me to suggest you not be skeptical. I can agree with you that we shouldn't take any of this at face value; although I also think cooperation is likely key to surviving this, I don't know if anonymous chain letters are really the best way to go about it."

It's very much likely a combination of the two, although they won't really know until they find out who, exactly, sent the letter. Even then, figuring out somebody's motives here is tricky, with everyone coming from different realities.

"Hopefully, we'll have a chance to figure out who sent the letter on the excursion. Assuming, of course, it isn't a standard bloodbath."

"I'm not opposed to working together, but... I'm not sure all of us share the same goals, after that meeting. Still, I have asked Max to consider the longterm benefits of cooperating. And Friday agreed that it wasn't... a boring thing to attempt. So. I'll play along, for now," Ava sighs. It's not like she wants to participate in mass violence anyway, but it's the principle of the matter. Taking orders from somebody else, somebody with hidden motives. Somebody hiding behind a call for peace.

"Could do handwriting comparisons to the names on the list," Ava suggests. It's a fairly decent sampling.

"That is a great idea." Given the extent of the list when Skulduggery last saw it, it's likely their anonymous tipster is among the names. His usual grin is sincerely reflected in his pleased voice. "You know, you would make a good detective. That is, of course, if the idea of burning the economy to the ground ever lost its luster."

"I was a spy, after all," Ava informs him with a please little smile of her own. Not just an assassin. Even if most of her spying skills came from the advantage of being invisible, she's been trained in all sorts of information gathering, situation reading, code breaking. She supposes there's plenty of overlap with detective work, other than perhaps the end goal.

"And there's no economy here for me to suffer, poor Max can't hoard all the wealth. Can't even complain about resource allocation. Okay not the gifts, everyone else gets neat things," not her because I continue to suck at thinking of worthwhile regains. "But no classism divides or... everything is fair," Ava muses. "That's what Friday told me. Fair."

"Friday wouldn't know what fair is," Skulduggery points out. "Not if she's only ever been aboard this ship." Although, of course, the near-utopic lifestyle aboard the ship does seem more balanced than real life ever gets.

Then again, Skulduggery also got shitty gifts through regain, so maybe he's just jealous of everyone else, too.

"No. But," Ava sulks slightly with a I was going to say something but nevermind sort of vibe. And just sips at her piña colada instead.

Then. "But she does know what's considered fair upon the ship. And that's where we are."

Oh, you know he doesn't jive with that sort of stuff! He knows right away that she's not saying the thing she wants to say. He tilts his head, but he's not sure how to get her original comment out. "Maybe I'm biased. I don't particularly engage with her."

Bias is a pretty funny way to spell bigot!

"I've mostly avoided her, she's busy enough with... you know."

She plucks the little umbrella out of her drink because it's getting a bit in the way, twirling it between her fingers while offering it up to Skulduggery. Mostly expecting him to burn it.

"And I'm never sure how much you tell her gets back."

"It's safe to assume that anything you say to Friday gets to the captain somehow." That's his assumption, anyway -- whether it's safe or not is up for interpretation.

He takes the offered umbrella and rolls it between his fingers for a moment, then lets go. The umbrella remains upright, gently spinning in the air. It's a combination of showing off and needing to practice, but let's be real, it's a lot of the former.

"You were going to say something, before?"

She watches the spinning with rapt attention, zoning out a bit from the conversation, until Skulduggery prompts her for a response.

"Right, she puts on a friendly... lack of face, answers questions, has a sympathetic enough dilemma that can easily lull you into wanting to confide things perhaps you should not. So I hadn't felt comfortable, asking about... what might become of my condition here. Treatment options if necessary. Because it's a bad idea to express needs when being held hostage, when it can be used as leverage. I didn't want to put myself in that situation. Again."

Ava reaches out, to lightly poke the spinning umbrella, curious.

"But I needed to know."

Skulduggery only needs to manipulate a tiny space of air directly beneath the hood to keep it afloat. Ava poking it sends it bobbing in the invisible current, pinwheeling lazily as the airflow pushes it around.

"Your reasoning is sound." Because it is. He can't imagine giving Friday any sensitive information, although he knows it's inevitable. All the same, she needs to be able to manage her condition while here. "Did she have an answer for you?"

She gives a pleased little smile at the change in motion.

"I asked her more as a... theoretical, instead of making it about me specifically. What would happen to somebody with a medical condition that tended to get worse." Even though she's not sure how much Friday knows of her that perhaps it was obvious, she hoped a vaguer question might avoid catching interest in whatever monitoring the Captain may do through Friday.

"She said it's paused. That... 'It wouldn't be very fair to make someone have that when other people don't!' And I'm not quite sure who it's meant to be fair for. For me? For the others? For the Captain? Why is it a matter of fairness, I can't figure that out. Because I know better than to mistake it as a gesture of kindness. Even though I'm... appreciative of it."

"That is strange." Skulduggery can't imagine why it would matter to the captain whether or not Ava got worse; he could always repair her when he brought her back to life, couldn't he? "Sometimes, things just happen to be beneficial for both parties. I see why it helps you... As for the captain?" He shrugs. "I have no earthly idea. You're right, though, it's not likely done out of kindness."

"It makes sense with my thought that we're suspended outside of time and therefore nothing can truly move forward within it. Like how this ship doesn't really... seem to go anywhere, despite the wind and waves creating the feeling that we're moving forward. But I couldn't get a clear answer on aging."

Ava snatches the umbrella out of the air, and bonks his knee with it.

"But fair just. Seems an odd choice of word. I mean, we have no money. The same access to resources and locations. There's no real class system upon the ship. We're functionally equals, outside of what abilities we came with. But during the... Battle Royale, the weapon assignments were supposedly random but pre-assigned in our named bags. And I got a singing fish. That doesn't seem particularly fair either."

Skulduggery's been in the ocean already, having gotten thrown by their mutual associate a while back, so he knows exactly what she's talking about there. And it's true enough that the ship has been something of an equalizer among the passengers.

"Do you think it was done on purpose?" He can't actually recall how many gag weapons there had been, either during the excursion or in the book itself.

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