It's time for me to take some chances [Closed]

[saltwaterlungs]

CHARACTERS: Darcy and friends
DATE: Still January
LOCATION: Kitchen and Bobby B’s
SITUATION: Darcy makes some moves
WARNINGS: None yet

To burn it all to a billion ashes

[ To each of the following; Dimitri, Gwen, Erin, Okie, and Valdis, a text is sent.
Lunch?
I’m in the kitchen. ]

Stop playing dead

[ The core members of what can be loosely described as Team Captain also get texts. Skulduggery, Ava, Maximilien, and Peter.
Meeting at Bobby B’s
Bring anyone you trust.
When they arrive, Darcy’s already set up at a table, looking at her phone and smoking a weed cigarette, seemingly well enough to scrape herself back into some semblance of how she usually looks, in a suit jacket over a hoodie. ]

For one last time, I'm screaming out loud [exploration]

[ Darcy’s got one stop on their mind to prioritize for their own exploration; the crew cabins. Late one evening, upon making certain there’s nobody around and they aren’t being observed, they approach the bulkhead. ‘You could always go in’ is vague even for the Captain, but they have to wonder if they have some sort of… admin privileges equivalent for the ship. So they try to open the door as if they expect to be able to, casually as walking into their own room. ]

Comments

[saltwaterlungs]

"Whatever you say," he's Waxwell forever now.

Kc2.

"But yeah. I've spoken to Wilson."

And again, absolutely nothing else is offered.

[freedomsuitsme]

Time to take a gamble. dxe4

"About?"

[saltwaterlungs]

The corner of Darcy's mouth twitches.

Kfxd4.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

[freedomsuitsme]

As anticipated. Qxg5.

"Now, now. Let's try to have some manners over our game, hm?"

[saltwaterlungs]

"I'm being perfectly civil. Check."

Bxe6+.

[freedomsuitsme]

Tsk. A minor setback. Kb8.

"So then, why not tell me what you and Mr. Higgsbury have discussed? I'd like to be on the same page."

[saltwaterlungs]

Oh that's better than expected. Kxc6+.

"Something about you getting dethroned?" they offer, "oh- and check again."

[freedomsuitsme]

And just like that, the tables are turned. All because he focused on the wrong spot. He's tempted to tip his King then and there, but he's going to be petty. It's not a set mate yet. Just a very likely one. bxc6

"Yes. I was king of the world, once. Until that blasted scientist came along."

[saltwaterlungs]

Qxd8+.

"Do you want me to keep saying check every time, or."

They can keep doing it if he wants.

"So how'd you get there?" they know how the Captain did, they're curious if it's a similar path every time.

[freedomsuitsme]

"Probably the same way as most other passengers. I woke up in my cabin, went to the muster drill, and the rest is history. One of the first incidents I remember was running into an odd, crass-mouthed fellow while I was trying to determine what buttons would and would not shock me." He's talking about Pratt.

"And I know how to say check, miss. Though I do wonder if you'll need that word much for a while." Qxd8. As always, his Queen is his hope.

[saltwaterlungs]

"Don't 'miss' me."

...

"I mean, don't call me miss."

Accompanied by a visible bristle. Not making that mistake again, thanks Erin. Rad1.

"Now who's being rude. That's not what I meant and you know it."

[freedomsuitsme]

"What shall I call you, then? 'Dear' is much too familiar, and you seem a bit young to address as 'ma'am.'" Bd6

[saltwaterlungs]

"I have a name and I introduced myself with it."

Kb4.

"You call me Darcy or you don't call me anything."

[freedomsuitsme]

"Very well then. Darcy it is."

Ne7

[saltwaterlungs]

Something about this exchange is irritating the same part of their brain as conversations with the Captain.

"So why only W's?"

Ka6+

[freedomsuitsme]

He considers Kb7 for a moment, as that would be the conventional move, but then sees the merry chase that will lead him on. He opts for Ka8 instead.

"From what I understand, there's some sort of power in that letter that I've yet to understand."

[saltwaterlungs]

"Weird."

Rd4.

[freedomsuitsme]

"Magic does have a tendency to be weird, yes. And it's hesitant to yield its secrets."

fxe6

[saltwaterlungs]

Fuck it.

"You don't need to tell me. I'm already magic."

B4.

[freedomsuitsme]

"Oh? Born or bound?"

Qc8

[saltwaterlungs]

Sorry, just has to pause to snort for a second.

"Bound exactly. That's what they call us back home. That or Sin-Eaters."

And one of those sounds much more sexy than the other, so. They demonstrate by shimmering their hand out of visibility, the pawn in hand disappearing and reappearing again when they let it go.

F4.

[freedomsuitsme]

"Sin-Eaters. It's an intriguing name, to be sure."

Qxa6. His opponent may be opening up her King to movement, but she's running out of answers.

[saltwaterlungs]

Suddenly immensely serious again. That queen is still very dangerous.

"Comes from an old earth practice. You'd eat over the body of the dead, so that they would be freed from sin and go to heaven. We don't do that."

B5.

[freedomsuitsme]

Hmm. He could use this as an opportunity to move his pawns more across the board, but that would greatly restrict the area his Queen threatens. Qxb5

"You don't do that," he repeats. "So what is it that you do, then?"

[saltwaterlungs]

"We see ghosts, mostly."

C4.

"What people do beyond that... is different for everyone. Some of us are scholars, historians, consulting people long dead. Some of us- the worst of us, bonepickers- exploit the dead. Run scams, get into people's bank accounts, that sort of thing. I hunt ghosts. 'm like a sheepdog- I help the unfriendly ones move on and keep people safe from them, and I keep an eye out for the friendly ones when I can. Most of us have powers that echo the ways we died."