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** (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/283132129880309760/390677707047829504/shencolored.png) 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more thoroughly into what gave the appearance that he was wearing a sharp and fitted suit, despite it being a little outdated, who knew when the last time he'd seen one was.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.*** (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LQL4LPyq7U)
"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. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LWintLI_Mq1T7wtgMywmZ_RJbViV_PXo921qYeeNEeM/edit?usp=sharing) 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.