YOU'RE THE NEXT CONTESTANT

[sictransitgloriamundi]

WHO: the Captain + You
WHAT: contractually obligated price is right game
WHEN: 11/18, like nightish?
WHERE: Bellona Theater
WARNINGS: N/A, currently

[you've heard the announcement, the sound of Friday's cautious optimism as she spoke it. you've waited all day. now, it's time for the game.

the amount of effort that has gone into this production at Bellona can be safely defined as “minimal.” there are three podiums, with three slate boards and three pieces of chalk. there is another podium, currently empty, next to a plain folding table. there is a tablecloth draped over the table, covering a lumpy, inscrutable shape.

the most remarkable thing is the giant wheel set up on the other side of the empty podium. the slices of the giant circle are colorful, but also completely blank. the Captain actually spends 30 minutes prior to the start of the event simply sitting in front of it, back to the audience, and spinning it, listening to the loud clacking noise pick up and then die down again, before spinning it once more.

clackclackclack clack clack. clack. clackclackclackclackclack.

it's gonna be a long night.]

Comments

[astrogator]

[It's her! She won! Ari shouldn't be so excited about this, but she has a fierce competitive streak once she's set on something, and winning the first round may have triggered it.

At least dried berries are useful. They'll keep for a long time, and Ari's not convinced there won't ever be supply problems on this nightmare ship. She grins.]

Yes, I think I will. Thank you. [Ari never thought those words would pass her lips, directed at that man - but he congratulated her. She's polite.]

Well played, everyone!

[She'll try to shake hands with other finalists who don't immediately move to leave, and wave to the audience, and generally make the most of her moment in the spotlight.]

[sictransitgloriamundi]

[... momentarily glances at ava like okay it ended now can i murder people for thanking me???]

[latersgators]

Yes! Thank you Mister Captain! This was really nice of you. [Even if some of the rounds contained... questionable objects. Not only are people thanking the captain but Steven might even be moving in for a hug.

Bring it in now mate. Come on. It won't hurt. Just-- a little teeny tiny tinsy winsy hug?]

[saltwaterlungs]

You will get stabbed! He will stab you if you hug him!

[ Look she has no idea which one of them this is, and it's about to be really awkward if it's Steven, but she has to say something. It's even written out in the black binder for fucks sake. ]

[latersgators]

...oh. [Cue the biggest pout and Steven ending up clutching over his own chest and tummy instead. 'tis, unfortunately, Steven and not Marc. He did read the black binder but, to be fair, there were a lot of points and annotations...]

Why? [Doesn't he feel good from hugs?]

[sictransitgloriamundi]

[completely flatly] You don't get to touch me.

[latersgators]

Do other people get to touch you? [Is it just Steven or...] Has anyone ever touched you? It could be. Quite nice. If you let them.

[sictransitgloriamundi]

The game is over. I am completely allowed to kill you, now.

[latersgators]

W-wait! Why? I haven't hurt you and I don't want to and-- going around killing people willy-nilly is cruel.

[saltwaterlungs]

Some people aren't huggers, and he definitely isn't. Personal space.

[ Does he... remember the...? Hm... ]

[latersgators]

Right. Of course. [Steven backs away a bit. He still thinks it's a bit sad but. Maybe it's something they can work towards.]

Thank you. [He is a smidge awkward around her, but not visibly afraid or angry or anything. Having a dissociative disorder with no identity to take over anymore seems to have gone a long way to cushioning the trauma.] Miss Darcy, wasn't it? Um. How've you been? Alright?

[saltwaterlungs]

Fine. Just Darcy, don't 'miss' me.

[ A loose gesture like she's attempting to wave off the conversation. ]

If you want to talk we can talk later. You should probably get off the stage.

[latersgators]

Oh. Right. [He sort of forgot they're drawing attention and he doesn't want to, really. Self-conscious and uncomfortable, he shuffles off the stage in a bit of a hurry.]

Do you think-- he's up to something? [Steven's trying to whisper with the Captain not too far behind them.]

[decohere]

[two thumbs up, which isn't not permission?]

[konpeito_aji]

[Over enthusiastically applauding and cheering like a Karen mom at her daughter's first beauty pageant win!]

Yeah!!!! Go lieutenant!!

[astrogator]

[Should she be embarrassed by this? She is not. She's still enjoying the attention.

There's another wave for him, and a little bow. She may offer him some berries later.]

[konpeito_aji]

[Awesome. They can try them in tea!]

[latersgators]

Oh! Congratulations! [He's both happy for her that she won and also happy that she didn't win something that might kill her in her sleep, explode in her face or bring her bad luck or anything too terrible. Maybe?]

We've not met, I think! I'm Steven, with a V. [Not to be confused with Marc with a C.]

[astrogator]

Thank you! [She's all smiles - happy enough that she's not even going to take the obvious opportunity and mess with him by calling him Citizen Withavy. He was the one who asked about import costs; she can appreciate that.]

I'm Tayrey, but I guess you know that. Arilanna Tayrey. Peace and prosperity to you. [Usually it feels painfully ironic when she uses the traditional Tradeline greeting aboard this nightmare ship. Today? Not so much.] I haven't been here so long as most people.

[latersgators]

[Import costs and taxes make a huge difference, you know!]

Oh. And to you too. Shalom, as we would say. [He wonders if he's been here that long? It doesn't feel like it. There were plenty of people on board the ship already when he had first awoken. But maybe it has been a while...]

Long enough to be familiar with the ship and all its amenities, I hope? [He would happily give her a tour if need be, but he doubts it's needed.]

[astrogator]

[Ari nods.] At least that long, I suppose. Enough to find the important places - in my case, the gym and the bars!

[This isn't strictly true: Ari patrols the ship and has a fair idea of where most things are by now, but she's keeping it light today. She doesn't even make her usual remark that there are worse prisons to be trapped in.]

[latersgators]

The gym and the bars? Well I'm sure you'd get along with Marc. [She looks a little bit young to be hitting the pubs though... or maybe he's just old-fashioned and not going to either of those places enough, himself.]

How're you settling in then? Do you like your roommate? [Steven really lucked out there. He's not sure how well he would have coped if he'd just been beamed up aboard the ship alone and trying to share a space with a stranger who'd probably find him annoying.]

[astrogator]

I haven't met Marc. Is he a friend of yours? [If Ari's old enough for space battles, she's old enough for beer. Tradeliner logic.]

[His next questions bring a small frown to her lips.] I'm not the type to settle well. I value my freedom more than that. [She shrugs.] I'm alone in my room at present. Small mercies. What about you?

[Ari's been warned that she'll end up with someone else in her room sooner or later, and at first the idea profoundly disturbed her. There's a taboo against room-sharing in her culture, it's only done by intimate partners, and each of them will still have a private room, even if they're taking overnights together. Ari needs her privacy; a place where she doesn't always have to be concerned with her appearance and her reputation and how well she's representing the Tradelines.

It wasn't long before she was made aware that if the captain can find a way to hurt someone, chances are he'll do it, and if she's alone now it's probably only to make it worse when she's saddled with the most obnoxious roommate possible. So she's making contingency plans. Noting other places on the ship where she can be alone, or sleep safely.]

[latersgators]

He is. We look alike. [There's a lot more to it than that, but, for meeting someone for the first time, Steven doesn't really want to say much more than leading people to believe they might be twins. It's just-- too complicated otherwise. And not the kind of thing he would dump on just anyone.]

We're staying together too. It's... I think I'd rather be with Marc than try and live alone, if I'm honest. [He's lived alone for a long while, or so he thought. He likes having his own space, sure. Doesn't everyone? But he was also painfully lonely.] I know, it's nice to have a whole room to yourself. Especially when the cabin can feel so small at times. But it's also nice to have someone there, for when you're feeling down, or just. Not well. It did help that we knew each other from before we came on board the ship though. But I guess I wouldn't wish this place upon anyone you'd know.

[fonomena]

[Well, that's the end of all that, then. The game is finished, the winner has been selected, and...somehow. Nobody has died? Or even gotten injured, really? The captain doesn't look terribly enthused about any of this in the backdrop, which has some rather interesting implications in itself, but.

Sometimes, perhaps, it's better not to look gift horses too closely in the mouth. All of his associates roped into this game have emerged unscathed, and so Jade himself has half a mind to step out of the theater as the game winds to a close. ...But it's not as if there's a particularly panicked rush to get out of the room or anything, either--and the face of the game's grand winner is actually a very mildly familiar one, besides. She wears a distinctive sort of uniform, and by now they've locked eyes a few times in passing across various areas of the ship, but never conversed. A newer passenger, Jade's pretty sure...

He takes his time drifting his way to one of the aisles between seats leading out of the theater. An aisle that Ari is likely incidentally taking herself, when she does get around to stepping down off the stage with her prize in tow somehow or another. Their trajectories cross such that Jade can draw within conversational distance easily enough, and when he does:]

Congratulations to you! Quite the inspired financial guess on your part, there. [Like, genuinely, it is very mildly impressive on an objective level, considering the currency conversion nightmare this whole ordeal had immediately fallen into...but anyway, far more importantly--] I see you were conferring with the others...have you yet determined if those berries have any particularly unique properties, then? I'd be surprised if they're poisonous just on account of how very unoriginal that would be, honestly...