come_sailaway | I think I'm taking on water

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I think I'm taking on water

Who: Ryan Akagi (

chickenchoicejudy) and you! (OTA)
What: Arrival and getting used to being a passenger again
When: First week of August-ish, pre-event stuff.
Where: All over the place
Warnings: None ATM, will change as needed.

A. AFTER THE MUSTER DRILL (For Min)
There was been a lot of screaming this morning. Ryan isn't the biggest fan of waking up in an unusual place he doesn't remember, especially when he realizes he's alone, but there's only so much he can do in his...room? Cabin?

He stubbornly tried to go literally anywhere but the muster drill, but eventually he's too tired to fight it. Fine, fine, whatever, he'll go!

This is where he finds Min-Gi, and the relief is overwhelming. Ryan spends the entire muster drill by his side, most likely having to be shushed by anyone nearby trying to pay even the smallest amount of attention. Hopefully Min was listening with his whole brain, because Ryan retained absolutely nothing.

The moment they're permitted to leave the drill, they immediately go looking for the first empty deck space they can find, somewhere where they can regroup alone. Ryan leans hard against the railing, head down and looking out at the water. Passerby might mistake it for seasickness, but that isn't really the problem.

"So. First there was a Wormhole Judgement Line," he says. "...Now there's a Wormhole Judgement Cruise. Seriously?"

He's so fucking tired. Out of old habit he looks down at his right palm, but there's nothing there. No glowing green numbers. Nothing.

"Min-Gi, pleeeeeease tell me you know more about what's going on?"

He knows Min probably doesn't, but it's worth a shot.

B. LATER ON ARRIVAL DAY (OTA, mostly the first few decks)
It's a pretty big ship, and so far there isn't anything immediately dangerous. There don't seem to be any puzzles to solve either, so Min-Gi and Ryan agree to split up to cover more ground. Ryan's determined to pay attention and find useful information, but...eh.

He doesn't spend much time on deck zero. There's an infirmary and that's cool, but there is a morgue and Ryan doesn't want to think about that any more than he absolutely has to. The Atrium and Lounge are pretty sweet, but going to guest services gets him absolutely nothing, no matter how much he wiggles his eyebrows and shamelessly flirts with whoever is currently there. There's a ton of cabins like the one he turned up in, and people coming and going. If he gets caught people-watching, he will laugh it off and try to chat the person up as though he's always been on the ship.

"Soooo, been here long?" he'll ask, with a charming smile.

He can't tell when he's actually supposed to go get food (since there's a smudge on that information) so he just sort of pops in whenever he's actually hungry. That's probably what he's supposed to do, right? Maybe?

C. MALL RAT (OTA, FIFTH DECK)
There's a huge mall in the middle of this boat.

Truthfully, Ryan's never been on a cruise ship. His parents never could have afforded that with five kids, so it was just never in the cards. They took the ferry to Vancouver now and then, but it was nothing like this. There's some bars, some food, and even this...one really strange storefront.

He tilts his head a little and squints at it.

"...Who's Tommy Bahama?"

It turns out that time is split into two eras - before Tommy Bahama and after Tommy Bahama. The main difference is that after Tommy Bahama he is dressed like the most aggressively bisexual Jimmy Buffet fan to ever exist. And honestly? He's not mad about it.

D. WALLOWING (OTA, POOL)
Objectively, things could be worse than bad Hawaiian shirts and free food and a bed to sleep in. But that's not going to stop Ryan from laying around feeling sorry for himself that he's been stolen away by yet another outdated form of transportation. Every time he starts to think about it, he just gets pissed off at himself. Was he fucking up his life again? He thought that he and Min were doing pretty good now!

On the bright side, he can mope poolside with a pair of sunglasses and a margarita in hand. Stupid Wormhole Judgement Line never comped them any drinks.

He's never been one for sitting still for too long though, so eventually he sits criss-cross in the pool chair and pulls out his guitar. It's unplugged, since he wasn't carrying his amp when he arrived, but that's never stopped him from practicing before. He seems to be working on something new, but to be honest it keeps accidentally turning into the chords for Margaritaville because it's stuck in his head now, UGH. Every time he realizes it's dipped into Buffet territory he groans, aggressively strums it to try and unstick the song from his brain, and starts again at the more original thought.

He can't help it though - hell, it could be his fault.

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Min thinks about it for a moment, jaw tight as he tries to think. There’s just so many options, it’s a little rattling.

“Down,” he decides and presses the button for the elevator.

“It can only go down so far, right?”

A beat while they wait.

“I’m really glad you’re here, man. When I woke up alone.. I was scared you were gone.”

"Me too. Like, even on the train we woke up together? For a second, I thought--"

He doesn't get to finish that sentence. The doors open with a distracting 'ding' to a seemingly normal elevator, and Ryan gets on. Min's instinct is right - there's only one level below the one they're on now, so Ryan pushes the button for it.

"...I can't tell if it's weird that the boat has an elevator or if I just don't know enough about boats," he says, looking around the tiny space.

So close to some real conversation. So close and yet so far.

Min drops the subject, it’s not like there’s anything really important they need to talk about, right? They’re fine. They’re together. They aren’t alone after all.

“At this point man, I don’t think anything could surprise me anymore.”

Like. It could but also. You know what he means.

“Kinda waiting for the buttons to grow faces or something.”

A snort.

He waits an extra beat just in case they do.

Nope, still buttons. The ride is short and the doors open with another ding, letting them out into the white, sterile basement.

Well this isn’t creepy at all.

Min-Gi folds his arms over his chest by reflex. Yeah, this is definitely where the zombie hoard would be.

Ryan laughs.

"Don't jinx it, man! They might try and bite us or something."

He doesn't look all that worried about it though, because the buttons are just buttons for now. The thing that does worry him is this off white hallway. It's absolutely where zombies would hang out.

A shiver goes down his spine, but he pastes on a forced smile and takes Min by the arm. He acts like he has to tug Min along, but truthfully he just wants to hang off him in this spooky place.

"Soooo. Not much down here, huh? Think there's anything down the hall?"

Objectively, yea there is stuff down the hall. Min hears the out and he is sorely tempted to take it, reflexively placing his hand on Ryan’s where he’s curled around Min-Gi’s arm.

They should be brave though, right? They’ve handled worse than a creepy boat hall.

“Maybe,” he murmurs but pulls them forward. If anything, they can track the hall and bounce. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite go like that.

Under the buzzing fluorescent lights, they begin down the way, and two things happen in quick succession.

1, they reach a sign simply labelled MORGUE.

And like hell they’re hanging around to investigate that!

“Nope,” Min says and moves to quickly pull past at which point-

2, they reach Dr. Watson’s office. And like some kind of shadow show his silhouette is cast against the glass. He probably doing something completely innocent but in the moment it just looks like a monster stretching across the glass.

There's a morgue.

There's an actual morgue on the ship.

An actual morgue means there's a chance they could actually die on this boat. And maybe that was true of the train too - there were definitely times they almost died - but it feels a lot more real now that they know where the bodies go.

Where do they go from here? Do they get dumped out into the ocean and fed to sharks?

Then oh, he's moving. Min's pulling him. Ryan shakes his head, trying to snap himself out of it. Wow he doesn't like that there's a morgue here.

The next door is slightly better, in that it doesn't lead to a morgue, but there's something in there and it could totally be whoever puts people in the morgue. He tugs Min's arm, commanding a stop, and just gestures at the window and tries to keep them out of view.

Whatever's in there, they probably don't want it to know they're lurking around.

They stop short and Min just barely keeps a little scream inside. There's definitely a monster in there and it's definitely coming for them!

Hhhhhh---- okay. okay okay okay think-

"Time to go?"

"Yeah. Yeah, time to--"

Ryan is already pulling him. They are going; they are going right the fuck now. He doesn't even breathe until they're back in the elevator, mashing the close door button until it shuts.

"Okay. Cool, cool. There's a fucking-- there's a morgue and monsters in the basement." He knots his fingers in the hair at his temple. "Why is everyone so calm about this?!"

"Dude, I have no idea," Min groans, leaning heavy against the wall.

"If that's down there, and there's a no face monster running the ship and this place is also full of freakin ghosts.. what else is hiding around the corner?? We have to get off this ship, man. Like, now."

"Seriously. This is a nightmare already."

They know what the first floor is and the second floor was a bunch of cabins, so Ryan hits the button for the third deck and crosses his fingers there aren't more monsters there.

Somehow, it feels like a much longer ride up.

"So..."

Ryan hesitates, a telltale sign that's he's not only unsure if a joke will land, but unsure if it's really a joke or not.

"...How good of a swimmer are you?"

It's a bad plan for many reasons, but it would technically be the quickest way off the boat.

Edited 2022-08-18 01:43 (UTC)

"Dude, no." Automatic shut down.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, if we try to bail we'll get tired and drown."

But it's a good idea in that it's an...idea? So kinda half way there.

"What about a lifeboat?"

"Oh, right. Like...that drill we were just in."

The one that Ryan definitely, totally paid attention to. He sure did. Yep.

"Does that mean dealing with that No Face Lady again?" he asks. "She might murder us or something if she catches us trying to steal one."

Now that he's seen the morgue, not winding up in it himself is pretty high on his priorities.

Yeah no kidding.

"I uh..." he doesn't know, but he doesn't want to not try to answer. He did pay attention so he should know this kind of stuff, right?

Right.

Except he'd been staring at Friday like, the entire time.

"I think she's like, guest services? Maybe we can sneak around her. It's a big ship, she can't see us everywhere, right?"

"...Right," he says, doubtful. "That makes sense, yeah."

He glances up to the ceiling of the elevator. It feels like jinxing it, somehow - as if by speaking it into existence she will pop up behind them and make them both jump out of their skin.

"Lifeboat's kind of the same problem, isn't it? If there's no sign of land we won't know what way to go, and then we'll get tired and starve and probably have to resort to cannibalism."

Said as though this is a perfectly natural course of events. He waves a hand.

"You definitely don't wanna eat me. I'm all bones and stringy guitar muscles, man."

"Dude gross, shut up. No one is eating anyone."

He doesn't even want to think about that. Min wouldn't be able to in a million years, anyway. He would literally rather starve and die.

"So the boat is definitely out," moving right along. And wouldn't you know it, that's when the doors open with a cheerful ping. He exits without thinking anything of it and looks around the hall. Same ol' same ol'. Like there aren't monsters in the basement or anything. Like it's just any day on a pleasure cruise.

"We're just.. plain ol' stuck here. Maybe if we just ask the captain really nicely he'll let us off at the next port."

Ryan laughs, because he was definitely joking and trying to rile Min up, but he does shut up about it. He made his joke; he's good.

"Or," Ryan says, following after him. "Maybe we wait for the next port and just sorta...y'know. Make a break for it."

He mimes a little "walking away" gesture with his fingers.

"It's not like they can stop us once we're off the boat, right?

The elevator empties them into a space with two noticeable things immediately. The first is a library which is nice enough - normal even. However, the second is a wall of weird photographs of various passengers.

Min instinctively takes a step towards the library, wondering if there's a book hidden in there that might be able to help them, but stops short when Ryan doesn't follow. We both know the pictures grab his attention, and so he backtracks to come and look as well.

"Making a break for it is a good idea," he murmurs, keeping his voice low like they're conspiring. And they are. That is exactly what they're doing.

They don't need to flesh that out right now, though.

"Who do you think these people are? Former passengers? Maybe the original crew..."

That's a dark thought.

Ryan can't help it - it's more eye-catching than a library, so he's drawn to it right away.

"No clue," he says, automatically. But then, something catches his eye. "Wait. Is that...?"

He reaches out to touch a picture - one that seems to be of them at the muster drill earlier that morning. Ryan looking around at everything except the presentation and Min-Gi trying so hard to pay attention but just fixating on Gal Friday's lack of a face.

"Waaaas there a photographer there?"

He feels like there wasn't, but. Maybe? Hopefully?

Edited 2022-08-22 16:44 (UTC)

Min squints and leans in.

"I didn't see one.. but I guess there must have been. The whole crew are ghosts or whatever."

But does it send a chill right the fuck up his spine? Absolutely.

Ryan shudders, feeling the same chill. There's something weird about it. How did they get put up so fast anyway?

There isn't much more to see there though, so Ryan looks away and finally spots the other thing in the near vicinity.

"--oh! Min, look, there's a whole library on here!"

Said excitedly, as though this is the first either of them have seen of it and he's happy to point Min at something he might actually like here. Look at what he found, Min!

Oh gosh a library! Yeah, like he didn't literally see that immediately. Ryan please why are you like this.

It's not even worth being a dick about. He doesn't have the energy, too hopped up and trying very hard not to panic about the entire situation. So he just follows and looks around as they go.

There doesn't seem to be anyone in there, and if they are, they're all tucked away. The front desk is empty except for one of those glimmering ghost people and they've already learned the crew can't be interacted with. It's useless to try. Like they're wandering around a puppet theater.

"Do you think there'll be any, like. Manuals here? About the ship? Like a clue?"

Because if he were going to hide a clue, the library would definitely be the best place to stash it.

"Maybe? It's gotta be more helpful than guest services, right?"

Not that they actually went to guest services once they saw who was manning the desk, but it's the principle of the thing - if this place is hiding stuff from them, it won't be somewhere obvious like that.

Unfortunately, the library is a bit of a bust. There are a lot of books, but they're all fiction - nothing that will actually help them learn more about the ship.

"It feels like half of this place is, I dunno. Missing?"

Ryan runs his fingers along the spines. He's not looking for anything in particular, but when he sees something silly he snickers and pulls it out to show to Min-Gi.

[Don't laugh. Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh- Don't you fucking do it Min-Gi.

NSnnnnnerk---- fuuck!

He compromises with a scoff and shakes his head no.]

I'm not validating that joke with a response. It was bad and you should feel bad.

[No heat to his voice, though. Can't quite wipe the smile from the corner of his mouth. A sigh.]

I think maybe you're right, though. This all feels, I dunno, pretend. Like we could knock it all over and it would just be a tv set or something.

"Whaaaaat? This is a super serious book. I can't believe you're laughing at poor ol' Invisible Dick, Min-Gi!"

Ryan is holding the book up in front of his face to hide the fact that he's about to burst into laughter himself. Min can see his eyes though, and how much he's waggling his eyebrows to try and make Min crack.

"But yeah, right? It doesn't feel real."

Now that he's had a good laugh, Ryan puts the book back (kind of. He actually lays it down on top of the row because he can't remember what spot he pulled it from).

"I guess it would be too easy if there were answers just written down in here," he sighs.

Wishful thinking. Min-Gi sighs and gives up on the whole endeavor. They're not going to find anything in the library or anywhere else on the ship.

Despite the next several hours they'll undoubtedly spend trying to do exactly that.

It's exhausting and they have so much ground to cover.

"I hate to say but... do you think we'd cover all this faster if we split up and meet back here?"

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