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

"Point taken, but magic is hardly dumb." What Ava just did would be considered magic in his own reality, but he decides not to bring that up. No need to get into what is and isn't magic when they're just chilling by the hot tub!

"I wish I could remember exactly what she said, but I do remember her trying to communicate with them. See if they needed something to move on, like a regular ghost. But no luck there." He tilts his head. "I... could ask her to try again, maybe, now that we know more about the situation. That is, if we're ever on speaking terms again." Said in a voice that is extremely reminiscent of a dad dealing with the latest in a long line of teenage tantrums, despite the fact that it's actually his bad.

It's science, don't you dare say otherwise. "I just mean this is my only experience with magic, and it's... fine, it's neat in theory. But it's still a bunch of smoke and mirrors nonsense. Literally." You're not going to convince her that this is more than some sort of illusionary trapped-in-a-simulation mindfuckery. Because nothing makes sense in any way that satisfies her.

She listens curiously, because she's not sure what more could be attempted than methods an expert has already tried. "Blink once for yes and twice for no...?" Ava muses, unhelpfully. And then frowns. "Wait, something happened? Did you insult Daft Punk?"

"If I were a magician, I would agree with you." But he's not. He's a sorcerer, and all of his magic is totally real and logical!

"And no, although I wish it had been so simple. I got... tetchy with her for looking through my belongings." Wow, understatement of the century, there. He knows it, too, because he reluctantly supplies Darcy with a defense. "It was for a good cause, and she didn't mean any harm, but I still didn't take it well."

"Well what's the damn difference? Wizard, magician, sorcerer, warlock... all sounds like the same thing to me." She literally knows nothing!

Ava looks rather affronted at the idea, on Skulduggery's behalf. "Snooping through your things? Of course you'd be mad. It's hard enough to get any privacy around here already. Good cause or not, you don't touch other people's stuff without asking." Oh yes there's a whole lot of hypocrisy right here, coming from a thief. But stealing and betraying your friend's trust is entirely different!

"It's entirely relative between realities, which is the really annoying part." He's had several conversations now with Jade about this very topic, but he bets Ava wouldn't be interested in the curious way magical systems seem to coexist here on the ship. "Suffice it to say, the captain is a magician, and I am a sorcerer." She'll let her decide which one is the better one based on that information alone.

She is a thief, and a spy, which makes her interest in privacy a bit funny. Skulduggery can't help but chuckle. "To be fair to her, she hadn't any reason to assume I would be upset with it. I... received a package from the sundries shop, one I didn't intend to show anyone. Unfortunately, I only had one place to hide it, and..." He lifts a hand in a vague "what can you do" sort of wave. "She found it."

"Yes, but what's the difference?" Ava insists again, kicking at the water. And honestly she's more interested than you give her credit for, Skully, because she had a similar discussion with Ebalon IN THIS VERY HOT TUB when they first arrived about somehow these different magic and science systems all managing to work here despite operating by seemingly different laws and principles. It truly is why she thinks this place is a dirty trick. "The type of rabbit-pulling hat and robe you wear? If you wave a wand around or have to say silly words?" She knows it's none of those things, but she is fishing for actual answers.

Her interest in her own personal privacy is because she absolutely had none of her own at SHIELD. And you know, paranoid tendencies. But like she can do what she wants and who can stop her.

Listening, Ava can't help but wonder what it is that Darcy found. If it was something mundane, he probably wouldn't have gone into not-speaking territory over it. But if it was something he didn't want anyone else to find... Still, she tries to imagine how she'd react if Undine went through her stuff. Probably not all that well, and she doesn't even have anything to hide.

"Even if she didn't mean harm by it, it's still disrespectful. Was it your porno mag?" Ava jokes, and then quickly shakes her head. Sorry, she knows this is meant to be a more serious topic. "You don't have to tell me."

Skulduggery says his first, "Oh my God," when Ava kicks her feet in the water like a child. "Alright, alright! In my reality, not everyone's, just mine, sorcerers are what you call most magic users. Warlocks are... sort of a subset of necromancers," not gonna get into it, it's a whole thing, "And magicians are the sort you hire for a birthday party, who use smoke and mirrors. Of course, the captain calls himself a magician the way I call myself a sorcerer." Because he's dumb and wrong.

He's very close to launching into more of an explanation when the second, "Oh my God," hits, a lot louder and more shocked than the first. Cut him some slack, nobody has ever asked him if he was hiding skin mags in his bedroom before! "Ava, seriously," he chokes out, followed by a surprised bit of laughter.

"Maybe this is somebody's birthday party," Ava suggests.

And then covers her mouth with both her hands, practically cackling behind them at Skulduggery's dramatic reaction. Just what she was hoping for, honestly she enjoys provoking the people she likes. "WELL! I couldn't think of what else you'd be afraid of a teenager finding in your secret stash."

The shock subsides quickly, but then comes the mental comparison of his evil gauntlets to pornography. That sends him right back into another, mildly hysterical giggle-fit, which he takes a second or two longer to calm down from than is probably expected.

He can't help it; he's been strung up with tension ever since the captain's party and he's been due for a mild mental breakdown for a while now. (That makes him think of Max, mentally checked out in a godawful shirt, which almost gets him going all over again.)

......

"Can you imagine? A skeleton collecting skin magazines!"

Now THAT is funny.

Ava giggles. Manages to stop.

Continues giggling because it's far too contagious.

Finally manages to get out: "Nothing But Skin and Bones."

Skulduggery snickers, unable to help himself. "When they say they bare all, they really mean it."

Because this is a reasonable and understandable conversation. Thankfully, he's not having nearly as big a mental breakdown as he had with Max; just a little one. You know, as a treat!

Sometimes things get a bit too serious, and then you remember you're just some glitchy loser in a hot tub in the middle of some nautically themed pocket dimension or whatever talking with your sorcerer skeleton buddy about what gets his bones off.

Ava leans against Skulduggery, trying to take back control her breathing and wiping at the damp corners of her eyes.

She could try gently prodding again at what Darcy might have found that concerns him so much. Or... no, he'd have told her if he wanted her to know and she has to respect that. So she sighs. "I think I like somebody. But I don't know what to do about it."

See, this is why Ava is a good friend. He mentions something is private and that's that. Or, well, she wildly assumes he's got dirty magazines, but that's still better than snooping. Maybe in time, he'll be able to tell her, but as it stands, it's something so deeply personal that he hasn't even brought it up to his closest friends at home.

The change in subject draws a mild laugh out of him. "Maybe you ought to do whatever Mary Anne would do." He's pretty sure that's the girl who ran over to the boy's side for some arbitrary, likely romantic reason. Because obviously, he's not in any position to be doling out relationship advice.

"Write an embarrassing love note for the other girls to find to prove that my boyfriend actually exists? Signed Love-Bunny?" Ava makes a slightly grossed out face just putting those words out into the air.

She sulks slightly. "I'm not a feeb."

"Oh. No, you shouldn't do that. Is that really what that book is about?" What the hell kind of storyline is that? Love-Bunny??? "And... whatever that is, I'm sure you're not." Because he has no idea what a "feeb" is and he's not going to learn now. "Unless it means shy. Then I think you might be."

"It's about all sorts of things and nothing at all, featuring far too many narrators," Ava couldn't be all that surprised, given the reading level. "I don't know, it's a term I learned in the book. Along with oreo. I think it's short for feeble. And I'm not shy," Ava insists. "Just. Perfectly reasonable amounts of cautious given the circumstances."

Skulduggery's tone implies a grin. "Of course, my mistake."

Romance is well out there for him personally, but he's been the wingman a fair few times in the past. He's got this. "What are you worried about, exactly?" Because there are plenty of things to worry about, obviously, but there are probably a few particular ones that stand out for Ava.

It's fine. She is shy, when it comes to some things. Yes she might know of porno mags, joke about them with her friend, but she's never been able to glance into the pages of one without immediately shutting it again. It feels far too intimate, and she's just not comfortable with strangers. Or herself.

"We come from very different worlds. Literally, obviously. But. Not just the class or lifestyle differences, which I'm sure his family would never approve of. But the sorts of things that I do are the sorts of things that he... stops."

"Unless his family is actually aboard the ship, I don't think that matters much." And even if they did, complaints about those sorts of differences are irrelevant and pointless. "But you think he'll mind the... difference in professions? Even here?"

"No, maybe not directly. But that's still important, isn't it? Your upbringing and your values and your whole... you know, cultural differences. But no, I was more worried about the... me being a killer thing. I think that matters especially here, doesn't it."

"I... wonder if it does," Skulduggery says, mulling it over for a moment. "Eventually, most of us will likely become killers through one machination or another. Even if that weren't the case... motive matters." It's not always enough to completely absolve a person's sins, but he knows that for him, it usually matters more than it should.

"It's the sort of thing that brings out the best and the worst in us, doesn't it. Some of us maybe know how to compromise on our morals, justify it as necessary within the bigger picture. But I'm not so sure everyone's quite willing to see killing as anything but outright murder. Yet he made excuses for me, though he barely watched at all. That I didn't have a choice."

It makes her worry, that people are straining to see good in her that isn't really there, simply because... what, she's pretty? Because she's always wearing the heavy weight of sadness and they feel sorry for her? And that one day they'll realize the truth and instead look at her with disgust.

"To be fair, we aren't talking about everyone." He elbows her gently, unwilling to let her be the one to bring down the room. That's his job, after all. He's already told her how he feels about her actions during the Battle Royale, however, so he refrains from that point for now.

"I don't know him, obviously," because she hasn't said his name, and he's not about to pry, "But I do know plenty of killers. Most of my friends, for example. Most of the sorcerers I arrest." He tilts his head, pausing for a moment before saying, "I'm a killer, too." He doubts she'll be surprised to hear it, but he also doubts she'll ever know the true depth of the statement.

"The difference is always motive. My friends often had to make difficult decisions during wartime. Or they might be caught up in a fight, and the only way to win is to kill. The ones I lock up... well. Killing comes easy to them. They enjoy the simple act of taking life. It's like gardening for them, or knitting. And I don't know about your mystery beau, but I generally don't mind associating with the former while avoiding the latter at all costs."

So, maybe her mysterious potential date to the dance shares a similar view? He's not sure. Morally gray is a hard color to pull off, sometimes.

"I am, obviously, making the wild assumption that you don't murder just for sport." Call it a hunch, but he thinks that's probably not the case.

"I hate sports," Ava answers sulkily.

"Just... back home, I was on track to start my life over and leave all that behind. Be normal for once, as much as somebody like me can be. And now we're going to be, what, pitted against a bunch of Trolley Problems and it's going to be increasingly obvious that I'm some sort of... psycho."

Ava glances down. "I know me. I'm going to fuck up in unforgivable ways, and the people I care for most are going to be the ones that suffer for it."

We all hate sports, Ava, it's okay.

Skulduggery looks out over the far railing of the deck. They're edging precariously close toward his own deep-seated fears. He knows that there may well come a time when he will be revealed for what he really is; all he can hope is that it will make Ava's worries seem insignificant in hindsight.

He could just tell her, he knows. Just like he could have told Darcy. But the people who deserve to know haven't learned the truth yet, and even the heaviest secrets have a time and a place to be unloaded.

"I know what you mean," he manages to say after a moment of silence that stretches just a touch longer than normal. "And there's no easy solution. Anyone who falls in love here will simply have to accept the risk involved."

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

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