OUTER SPACE > Open Space

Point of No Return [Crew of The Loveless]

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Cheesigator:
Kirkley couldn't wipe the mad grin off his face as the bay doors sealed shut behind Hesperus and himself, yanking the helmet off as soon as the oxygen was pumped back into the room and he could face his son for the first time in some fifty years without a helmet between the two of them.

Shen** gave a little shiver as he settled the particles around his body more thoroughly into what gave the appearance that he was wearing a sharp and fitted suit, despite it being a little outdated, who knew when the last time he'd seen one was.

For Kirkley, it was nice to see that sometimes things didn't change all that much. It was a reassuring constant in a world that never stopped to rest, one that had taken so much from him that he would never be able to get back.

Shen, standing even with Hesperus at a good 6'4", the ring for a head still always facing you no matter what direction you looked at him from, a real mindfuck if you stared too hard, all lit up by the neon purples and pinks that made up the ethereal flame-sort of... Stuff that always burned at his ring's center. He was just the way Kirkley remembered him, and now that he had a shit ton of parasites out of him, even better.

Shen motioned to Kirkley and the captain handed him the gestured-to commset. He peeked over his son's shoulder, curious to read the conversation, though he was briefly interrupted as Shen gave Hesperus the first hug after he finished waving at the crew from the ship's security cameras, picking the Incubus up off the ship floor and bearhugging him, always having a bit of a soft spot for the demon that made Kirkley's smile bittersweet.

Captain Kirkitty: Heading on up now! Fuck those suits they are the worst. Oh Shen wants my comm
Captain Kirkitty: hELLO
Captain Kirkitty: 8D
Captain Kirkitty: I sorry about other day is was awful hurt real bad 8(((( worms suck
Injida: Parasites are an unholy bitch. It is fine.
Captain Kirkitty: yes! brb hugs !
Biggs: Um...its okay! Hello!
LeatherNSilk: no wordincdkxkfwocendi cnrnfovldneg
Biggs: O.o
Captain Kirkitty: <3
Biggs: Oh. Sorry if I almost shot you a couple of times.
Biggs: I was trying really hard not to. >_>
Captain Kirkitty: is okay ! sorry for bad common D: I eat ships not read them
LeatherNSilk: its getting better. Proud of you
Sappleling: Fucking eat ships?
Captain Kirkitty: !!! :D Thank!
Injida: I will be sure to fly more smoothly next time.
Captain Kirkitty: dad says your flying was best
Biggs: Well. Thank you for, um, not eating us.
Captain Kirkitty: I would never eat dad he is good
Captain Kirkitty: MORE HUGS

This time it was Kirkley going in for the hugs, picking up his bird-like son who wiggled quite happily while Kirkley made a point of not putting his head anywhere near that ring of his. It was a mistake he made once and would never care to repeat again.

More conversation was exchanged via the comms, and as the final security seals unlocked they stepped aboard, heading to the deck to meet with everyone per the Captain's instructions. Introductions were in the way, and Kirkley stood himself at the helm of the ship by the captain's seat as he waited for his crew members to file in, some more disgruntled than others. He nodded to Shen to stand beside him, who cheerfully did so, head still moving in jerky motions like a bird as he looked around, taking in all the sights, sounds, smells, and seeing what had changed since he'd been on his father's ship last, wringing his gloved hands with nervous excitement.

It'd been a while since he'd talked with people, probably. Kirkley smiled softly and turned to address the crew, plus one stowaway, once they had all shown up. He couldn't help the chuckle once Vargas handed a very pleasantly surprised Shen a cup of coffee, who wasted no time in unbuttoning his jacket, sticking the cup in there, his torso almost seeming to stretch and make him taller just for a moment, before he adjusted back to normal size and pulled an empty cup out and buttoned back up again.

"Okay, okay, so the other day didn't go as planned--what was supposed to happen, was I was going to joke about this big awful scary monster who might eat us, and all that fun stuff, and then Shen was going to show up all big and scary-like, make you guys shriek, and then come aboard like you see him now and be normal Shen who is quite nice," He looked over and grinned as Shen did a bird-like happy dance with his feet, forgetting that he had hands.

"But obviously that's not what happened. So barring the awful space parasites and him almost killing us because the bugs were telling him to, I'd like you guys to meet my son Shen. He's going to be taking us to..."

His discolored gaze flickered over to Aesir for a moment, his smile fading just slightly, before he reeled it in and brought his gaze back to everyone.

"To our uh. Vacation spot I guess."

At this point he looked at Shen, who wasn't sure what else to do with the mug, so it was tossed into the ring and it didn't come back out the other side.

God dammit. Really?

"... I liked that mug, you jackass."

Shen merely whuffed his strange breathy laugh, which came from who knows where as far as the other crew members were concerned, before they would all hear a strange, garbled noise bubbling into their heads.***

"Heheh, do not tell him the cup is in his room. Hi!" He gave the crew a little wave with a gloved hand, "I am the Shen. Shen. Just Shen. Not the the. Hi! I am sorry about the other night, thank you for your help. I almost did the bucket kicking. Thank! I am will be helping you, I am The Transport!"

At the mention of "The Transport" he put his hands in the air and wiggled his fingertips dramatically for a moment before dropping them back down to continue fidgeting, which made Kirkley smile and give him a gentle and brief pat on the back and shoulder--for someone who rarely ever got to interact with others, Kirkley thought he was doing a fantastic job.

He let his hand remain there, murmuring something in a rather archaic-sounding language, deep and gutteral, that Shen responded to via telepathy--everyone could hear it, who knew what they were saying. He turned back to his father's crewmembers though and continued.

"We will be getting the going in morning after one more rest--you will, I will not. I stay here." He shrugged. "Is simple enough. I am secret though, please do not be tellings of me after this journey. Questions?"





** Shen is Kirkley's is one of Kirkley's sons, who originally appeared in the form of a giant black hawk-like monstrosity twice the size of the Loveless in the first thread The Transport. This thread immediately follows The Transport with a few days timeskipped between. Artwork by me.

*** Shen's voice is Joe Saunders as Commander Powell from Dark Star.

Thread Rules!

- Try to post a reply within 24 hours! If you can't it's cool just lmk,
bc this is an important thread and no further plot progression will be happening until it's over/mostly over. I'll put this on hold for Christmas Eve/Day tho for obvious reasons. xD

- Your character doesn't have to be present for every moment!
If your character is in another room, or doesn't have much to say for a round of posts, you can skip posting and let me know, don't feel obligated to post. Posts can be short, too. Ain't nobody judgin, here õ__õ

- Assume your characters will be for the most part occupied and not in epic chat for the next few days, they bout to be very busy and who knows how this thread is gonna end, for those worried about continuity.

- For reference, pior to this thread: crew members have taken the last few days to rest and recooperate while Kirkley and Shen heal from space worm wounds. Kirkley's been selfishly keeping Aesir and Otto in his room for snuggles and 18+ things, the selfish bastard. D: He also screwed Hes and dragged him into the snuggle pile, dude got around. He's been quite irritable without them, but he's better now. Wrestled with Nero and everythang. Dez cleaned the ship and lost to Nero in strip poker, uhh I think that's all that happened.

Draconian:
The past few days had been odd.

Aesir had stayed behind in Kirkley's room long after everyone had gotten ready for the day.  Lethargic, tired. He didn't want to do anything except sleep more. Curl himself up in Kirkley's bed. Go back to his own if it got... Crowded... Again. Space sucked. He didn't even want to think of how far away from home he was. Despite what he'd said, he was fully clothed. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, loose green sweater and his maroon bandanna looped around his neck like a scarf. A quick glance at the door and he tossed his com onto the rumpled sheets of the bed and went to his number one spot to snoop.

He'd gotten used to seeing pictures of someone that looked like him. Some more time worn than others.  Aesir sat on the floor with the box between his kneels, touching everything that probably wouldn't get him caught. A tug on the sheet to check the com, frowning when the weird hoopheaded birdman was on board. Should clean this up quickly then. Slowly and gently, he picked up the pictures of the man that looked like him and Kirkley, sadness panging in his chest for how happy they looked. Frowning at all the green in the background of the photos.

The sound of something small falling from the pile had him jerk. Fear shot up his spine because what if he broke something. Aesir looked around holding his breath when he finally spotted it. Looked like a weird big fang broken off of the rest of a tooth. Curiously he picked it up, closing his hand around it and froze, blinking at it before he tucked it into his pocket and finally cleaning up from his sort of pilfering.

He slipped into the area where Shen was behind everyone in time to see him shove a cup of coffee into his coat. Why not? Aesir did his best not to roll his eyes. Instead he put his hands in his pocket, rubbing his thumb over that little shard of whatever he'd found in Kirkleys room. It was Aesir's though. He didn't know why he knew that. But he did. It was his and some strange irrational side of him was angry at Kirkley for keeping it in a box with all those old pictures.

Aesir frowned at the mention of 'vacation', looking confused at Kirkley when they briefly made eye contact. Mostly he wasn't paying attention. Winced away from the voice before he kept his head down and worried his thumb over the thing in his pocket. Should he show it to Kirkley?

No. A quick glance at everyone in the room, eyes lingering on the weird hoophead bird 'Shen' it said it's name was. Good to know he was so chipper after almost fucking killing everyone. Super cool. Mostly he tried to slip away once Shen had said his piece about being the transport and staying here but...

"Is your mouth in your chest?" Aesir chirped from the back of the group, looking confused - It only now sinking in where exactly Shen had put his coffee.

GoblinFae:
Hesperus had just managed to rip off the entirety of his suit and helmet when he was suddenly and quite pleasantly sucked into Shen's all-encompassing embrace. His com had been crushed between them and yet he couldn't care less as he clung back just as fiercely. The Incubus absolutely adored Kirkley's son and had for all the years the pair had known each other. While it had been half a century since father and son had last met it was even longer for Hesperus. Not every time he ran into Kirkley did he get to see Shen though he treasured each and every meeting. His little tail fluttered wildly in the back of his pants in excitement long after he was released and allowed back on his own two feet.

The demon was glad for a few moments to compose himself as he helped their little stowaway make some food before rejoining the group. Seeing Shen happy and back to his normal self only served to make Hesperus realize how horrible the entire encounter of finding him had been. Waking up to a blinding headache, Kirkley gone, and the Loveless in danger had been far from ideal. He had not taken the time to truly process just how close he had come to losing not one but two friends. Those were thoughts he quickly reburied deep inside again as he rejoined the crew and listened with rolling eyes to Kirkley's explanation. It was one of the old sky dog's favorite tricks, after all.

Vacation spot? As if that didn't sound ominous at all. The look that passed across the captain's face only served to make Hesperus feel more cautious. He had his suspicions as to who little Aesir was, though those had always been stories told to him in the still, quiet moments when Kirkley would go from murderous pirate to something different, something the demon had never truly understood at the time. Hesperus had never been sure what was truth and what was fantasy but seeing those same shades of evergreen and amethyst he had known so intimately in a different face was starting to make a believer out of him.

The demon brushed his own musings away though as Shen's thoughts washed over him in an all too familiar sensation akin to a bubbling spring breaking the surface at last. He chuckled softly at just how adorable the creature was. He had not been lying either, Shen truly was improving with his Common. When Hesperus had first met him, Shen had only been able to communicate in a few broken words. Things were often spoken through the translation of Kirkley or a series of complicated gestures. Things would be much easier this time around, space leeches aside of course.

True laughter escaped him as of all the things to ask Shen, Aesir chose to ask about his unique brand of digestion. Hesperus impulsively pulled Shen flush against him, his arms settling about the other male's waist as he dipped his head enough to avoid the hoop and instead nuzzle against Shen's shoulder. It did not matter to him that the others could see and would probably judge them for the blatant display of affection. The demon had been plenty discreet and to himself since joining the crew for fear of disturbing their precious balance. But, this was Shen and he cared deeply for this "child" that was already so much older than himself. The thought of losing him had frightened the Incubus though he had had to hold it together for the sake of others who would not understand. Now though all he wanted to do was hug the avian-like creature close and never let go.

nephero:
   Otto did not get along with liminality. He was far more comfortable with exact numbers, yes and no, clear and concise boundaries and expectations. A job, and how to do it, or nothing at all. As long as he had these basic ideas (a plan, a general goal, hell even just the most rudimentary commands of “do X until told otherwise”), something to go off of, he was fine. Insert variables, obtain solution. Sometimes it was more complex than that, but at least he had a leg to stand on.

   He didn’t… like… surprises. Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. Secrets? But no, that wasn’t true either— or if it was, that made him a damn hypocrite, keeping all his own secrets to himself but expecting everyone else to divulge theirs. But no, that wasn’t true either. He didn’t mind that everyone had their own lives and their own reasons and their own private selves outside of what they told him— Wolf, for instance, and whatever miracle he’d used to help heal up the giant goldfish

   Which was also apparently wildly inaccurate for how Vargas had commented him needing an encyclopedia of animals, something that he might have been able to to gloss over with an embarrassed laugh any other day, but today just set all his nerves on edge

   But this whole thing, meeting up with Shen, the parasites, Kirkley disappearing for so many terrible, horrible minutes, and then popping back in like it had been nothing— it had made Otto anxious. So anxious. His stomach rolled and his chest felt tight and nothing seemed to be quite right. Normally he’d have felt one of these little attacks and gone straight to his collection of narcotics but…

   He had a job to do. In the absence of the Captain, the Loveless needed to keep running. That was his job. His variable. Something that he could do while the rest of everything floated in the worst kind of limbo. Even staying with Kirkley the following day hadn’t done much— it had been a temporary relief, at best, and when he returned to his duties, was left alone again with his thoughts, well…

   Well, what?

   Well, what, indeed. It wasn’t like any of this crap was his business. He didn’t suddenly have a right to know absolutely everything that Kirkley had planned. Expecting anything of the sort was just… brazen. Presumptuous. Shitty. It was so shitty, and the shittier he felt the shittier his boarders felt, mutual anxiety roiling over and over again to where he felt like he wanted to throw up. Not uncommon, but usually at least he had the benefit of being wasted at the time.

   Being wasted sounded so good. His stash had been compromised, consumed, little though it was, but there were compartments that even a little sneak thief couldn’t get into without knowing where they were. He was only mildly ashamed to say that as soon as he woke up, he’d slipped out of Kirkley’s room in the still quiet of whatever hour it had meant to be and shuffled into Ironsides and pried the metal plating away from the wall just beneath the kitchen area cabinets. The bottle had glowed blue, still beautifully .75 of the way full, the label smudged and wrinkled but still legible. Injida. The last vestiges of his home made into potent inebriation. And fuck, hadn’t he earned that? Just a little bit, just a little time of not remembering how bad he felt, of not remembering how tired he was and of not remembering just how little he actually was allowed to know.

   Don’t ask. Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing. Everything’s fine.

   Kirkley reminded him so much of Roy sometimes. Otto hated that.

   The injida’s personal brand of relief, however, would be terribly short-lived, because not too long after Otto had reached a disheartening .5 of the way full, his comm buzzed with a priority message. Right. Game face. Time to move. Stuff to do. And so it was only with some mild swaying that he had taken his place in the cockpit, keeping his eyes on all the monitors and the blinking notifications, thankful not for the first time for his ability to simply hook in and let his brain do the talking. Fine motor skills were just not a part of today’s plan. Luckily, it seemed, neither were ship-eating monsters.

   He remained where he was plugged in as the rest of the crew filed in, long legs drawn up into the chair just for the sake of comfort as Otto settled into a more relaxed position. Fake it ‘til you make it, or whatever the adage was. He stared, perhaps a bit longer than was polite, at Shen, at this entirely different and equally bizarre form he’d taken, and most of all into the rolling violet flames that fluctuated within the hoop that took the place of any traditional sort of cranium. The flames were fascinating, vibrant and oversaturated with color that Otto felt almost like it should have been impossible for him to see. Even more so, however, was the low, heady droning Shen’s presence brought about from his boarders— whatever this goldfish-apparently-not-a-goldfish was, Otto felt like he could stare forever, and also that he really, really shouldn’t.

   All of that was broken, however, by the sudden incredulous question from the youngest member of their crew, and Otto felt entirely off-balance for half of a moment despite being seated in his chair. Aesir. Leave it to him to ask something completely unexpected; Otto couldn’t help an amused sort of smile that that, more than a little fond of such absolutely carefree inquisitiveness. Not for the first time, Otto wished he could be like the younger human— and not worry himself sick over what everyone else thought twenty four hours out of the day.

   It definitely was the break in tension Otto had needed, his shoulders easing up from how tight they had been, the host taking a deep breath and letting it out in a staccato breath.

   “So, this vacation spot. What should we be expecting?” he asked, observing just how affectionate Hesperus was being with the strange creature and more than a little heart-warmed for it. Hesperus had been so stressed since coming on board (or so Otto thought, it was sometimes hard to tell, but there had just been this unmistakable something attached the whole affair), it was nice to see him genuinely happy for once.

Zero Undead:
From the time they had entered the asteroid belt things had felt off. It was like this tiny, minuscule nagging feeling like something tickling at the back of Wolf’s mind. The AI continued to hum along, seemingly running smoothly now. Of course when the entire incident had been ongoing it was like someone had thrown a stone at a pond, it had shattered the calm surface with ripples that echoed all the way across his psyche.

What had happened that day…night? It was still gnawing away at him. There was an itch under his skin that wouldn’t go away. Worst of all, Wolf had no idea if it was a real sensation caused by the nanites or if perhaps it was all just within his head; how did you even tell?

Everything had gone wrong. There was a stowaway, and he had been the one to suggest securing her because a crate in the airlock wasn’t safe. He had felt real, genuine concern about the safety of this person he did not know. That wasn’t surprising. Killing and death were very unpleasant and just thinking about either made him unreasonably uncomfortable.

None of that had been his fault.

Wolf had put her in that cell and had even given her one of his little puzzles to play with so she wouldn’t be completely without some form of entertainment. After that he had rushed to help Aesir, and had felt woefully inadequate in performing the task. He had barely helped at all. After all that, that woman had escaped her cell. Otto had made those angry bug noises at him. It was just another failure at a critical moment in time during their quite stressful mission. He should have done better, and it shook him that the AI had failed him so blatantly that night.

So much so that he’d spent the entire next day wallowing in bed, not only from exhaustion, but simple overwhelming emotion. Well, he had tried to wallow. Nero had made that hard with his insistence on keeping him company. Wolf still didn’t know if he would have preferred being left alone or if the warmth of Nero pressed against his back until he relented and spent hours just talking.

There wasn’t even anything important to say. He talked about food – one of the things he had found himself most enamored with since meeting Kirkley- and then about his little projects. Insignificant trinkets he worked on to preoccupy his AI when not taking care of the ship. Neither was an interesting topic, or Wolf didn’t think they should have been, but Nero had seemed more than happy to waste his time engaging in it. He actually seemed enthusiastic and attentive to the conversation. It was really not at all what he’d expected, but somehow it also seemed good.

Nero had been a soothing presence, for as long as he’d stayed.

If he thought about it, out of the crew, Wolf had probably spent the most one-on-one time with Nero, between that strange day and going shopping with him. Usually he only saw everyone together, when they were gathered – like now.

Wolf had seen the chatter over his comm, but had failed to say anything. He didn’t know what to even say, because he was worried that anything at all could be the wrong thing. Nobody had started interrogating him about what he’d done. Not a single demand to explain how he had helped the giant bird-monster that was also somehow the captain’s son.

He preferred it stayed that way as long as possible. Wolf wasn’t sure he could even truly, adequately explain everything. It had been a gamble. He hadn’t been sure it would even work. It stunned him that it worked. What else could he do that he didn’t know yet?

It was all too stressful. Hiding in his room did not seem to be an option, however, so he filed into the room with everyone else. Wolf found a place against the wall, ducking his head and being as inconspicuous as possible, and hating himself for it. These people had been kind to him when no one before them had, and here he wished only to hide from them.

Wolf’s head jerked up as that voice invaded his mind, though. Oh, he did not like that, not one little bit and suddenly didn’t feel as bad for wishing he was alone in his room with his anxious thoughts.

Anxious thoughts he desperately hoped Shen could not read.

Lowering his head again, he pointedly looked at no one. Wolf didn’t want anyone to look at him. He didn’t want to be seen. It felt too much like they could peer in and rip the truth from him at a glance. Why hadn’t the AI stopped this yet?

Why didn’t it make the feelings go away?

Wolf wanted so badly for it to do just that. Maybe he worried that sometimes the AI was really the one in control and his body was still a puppet dancing upon invisible strings, but right now even that seemed better. At least then he felt shielded and safe in a familiar, if twisted, submission.

One more day, Shen said. Then they would leave, going to this supposed vacation spot.

The only question Wolf really wanted to ask is if he could be dismissed now that “the plan” going forward was shared with them. He managed to glance up, teal eyes roaming over Aesir at the question he posed. It was a fair one. Perhaps some of the others found it amusing, but it seemed a logical inquiry to him. Otto submitted an equally good question.

They had endured enough surprises for one trip.

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