[text] For general discussion (forward-dated a little)

[ryuuzaki]

A few questions:

What do you wish you had been told when you were new to the Moira?

Relatedly, what do you think it's important for people who are new to the ship to know?

Any answer you can think of is a valid one, although responses from people who have been here longer than most are especially welcome.

Comments

[ryuuzaki]

"I think they'd offer some kind of answer. Whether or not it would be honest..." His head tilts to the side. "Maybe, maybe not. I don't know enough about them to have a particular opinion of their reliability."

He thinks here of Ward and Resnik, and the way his opinions of them had evolved, although they had both been scarce for some time before he'd been taken away from the Tranquility. Maybe Than and his companions are on the level... but even if they are, does that mean that they're telling their passengers everything they might?

He hops up to sit on the edge of the bed, legs dangling over the side.

"You were going to tell me a story about a coffin."

[deal]

"You still want to hear about that?"

A part of her was hoping he'd forget, because it hurts to think about it. Still, she knows she promised she'd tell it, so she rolls over onto her side and makes herself a little more comfortable. "The person I was closest to back home, he called himself 10 Thousand. We all called him 10k for short, but only I knew his real name."

She's not going to say what it is, of course, because she promised him on her deathbed that she wouldn't dare. Even here, she keeps that promise. "One time, we had to protect ourselves from fallout by sharing a coffin. We had to be there for hours. I thought we were going to run out of air, but he got us out of things at the last second."

Her voice goes soft as she finishes talking, and she looks more at peace talking about her friend in a coffin than she has in probably the entire time he's known her.

"He was good at doing that. Saving my ass."

[ryuuzaki]

Asking someone's real name when he doesn't have a reasonable need to know it is one of the few places he won't press. He doesn't know Cassandra's last name, and he still thinks that's for the best, for now, because he feels better when people he likes are reticent about that sort of thing. It doesn't mean he won't warn them if he has to, but it does mean he thinks they're unlikely to immediately volunteer the information in a situation where they could be hurt by it.

Then again, he keeps the idea in mind that she could be trying to get him to volunteer his. But why? She's not from his world. She'd have no reason to press for it. His paranoia is reflexive, but it's a self-preserving technique.

The way her face and voice change suggest something about how she feels about this friend.

"Do you know why he'd chosen the name 10 Thousand?"

[deal]

"That's how many zombies he's going to kill." She says it with such a reverent fondness that it's obvious she cares for him a great deal.

The feeling of vulnerability is overwhelming though, so she quickly clams up and puts on a mask of indifference. It's easier when people don't know anything about her, when she doesn't feel comfortable enough to talk about the people she cares for. A stupid coffin story would've been fine without mentioning names, and she momentarily hates herself for giving away too much information. Even if she's starting to become pretty fond of Ryuuzaki, it doesn't mean he deserves to know the more private memories that she cherishes.

"I should've picked another name to go by back there. I wasn't smart enough to do it."

[ryuuzaki]

He shrugs, looking contemplative and mild.

"Not a bad choice, although I suppose one hopes he wouldn't encounter as many as that.

"Aliases never hurt, but is there a particular reason why you needed one?"

[deal]

"Yeah," she answers him, her tone clipped. She averts her eyes and turns her head so she can look up at the top of the bunk. It may seem like she doesn't intend on saying more than that, but in an attempt to try and trust him some more she gives a little more info. "I needed to hide from someone. An alias would've been useful."

[ryuuzaki]

"I see."

He ponders pressing that, but this isn't an interrogation, and after a moment's thought, his instinct is not to. The shifts in her position and expression suggest that it's already uncomfortable for her to discuss, which means that it's not the right time to push further, especially when it's nothing he really needs to know. He suspects that if it becomes relevant on the Moira, she'll probably come to him, among other people.

Instead, he elects to take it somewhere lighter, more whimsical.

"What sort of alias would you choose? You wouldn't want it to be too obvious -- no favorite characters from novels."