week 2

[airlockedmods]

[With the sudden pirate takeover and the sudden, tragic deaths of the crew, the second week of the Starfield Penitentiary rehabilitation project is off to a rough start. After Price's call for parlay with the pirate captain, he was not seen for the remainder of Saturday but around 10 pm it is his calm but tense voice that makes the time announcement.

Buckle in, Champions, things are about to get bumpy.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday



[ooc: Don't forget to to turn in your AC for week 1 and submit your threads for the Benefactors!]

Comments

[tenimuho]

Maybe whoever decides on these thought it would be comforting for you to have it.

[It's better than bringing the actual cat here.]

[withoutred]

Comforting...

[ It's funny. "Comforting" is one of the last things she'd say that Bern is- was- is to her, but it's an apt description for how Erika felt about her. Sort of.

But that's... absent. A hole in her thoughts where a thread should be. And she didn't even notice until now.

She reaches for the doll, then freezes again with her hand outstretched. Like she doesn't know if she should take it or not. ]

I... but it was given to you, though. [ She shakes her head, pulling her hand back to her chest. ] That means it's yours.

[tenimuho]

Alright.

[Without hesitation, Oda picks up the doll himself and holds it out to her.]

As your friend, I am giving you this as a gift because I think you would like it. Please accept it.

[withoutred]

[






erika.exe is not responding. Please reboot erika.exe to continue. ]

I- but-

[ She has no idea where to start. It's a gift. Friend???? How does she react to this-- ]

C-clearly you're only doing this because you think there's something in it for you. [ --that is not how you react to this, what the fuck.

At least it's... too shaky to be caustic, and completely contradicted by her grabbing the cat doll the second it's offered and refusing to let go. ]

[tenimuho]

[Erika is having a weird reaction to something here. Is it the gift part? Or the friend part?

...It reminds him a little of what Dazai might be like, if he didn't hide his pain behind a smile. If he recognized his own pain for what it was.

Though of course, Dazai would never be a detective.]

Not really. I don't have any particular attachment to your cat, but you do. I would rather have you take it.

[withoutred]

[ She'd feel bad about the technical lie, but it's buried under a wave of misfiring signals and cancelled retorts. She wants to keep objecting - needs to, can't let weakness like this go unchallenged, but-

but.

It's stupid. It's just a toy. It doesn't even have any relevance to her life. ]

... Thank you.

[ Let it be known that Furudo Erika is capable of admitting defeat. Sometimes. ]

[tenimuho]

You're welcome.

[Oda smiles at her, soft, genuine, and not at all offended about her accusing him of ulterior motives. Some people just aren't used to gifts.]

She's a very pretty cat.

[withoutred]

Sh-she is.

[ Let's internally pretend that gratitude never happened, alright? Alright. Awesome.

Time to gush about Bern. ]

She's the most wonderful, amazing, perfect, genius c-cat to ever grace the face of this world.

[ She stumbles a bit on "cat", oddly enough. ]

[tenimuho]

[That's a weird thing to stumble on, but this is clearly a cat plush, so...]

She sounds that way. I hope you can go home to her soon.

[withoutred]

[ That gets a... short, almost hysteric laugh. What emotion caused it is hard to tell. ]

It's more likely sh-she'd find her way to me. Though I'd never count on it. She always goes where she pleases...

[ She shakes her head a few times, making a valiant effort to pull herself together. ]

But you don't need to hear me talk about m-my cat, I suppose.

[tenimuho]

We can talk about whatever you want.

[If she wants to change the subject, she can. Or...]

Would you rather talk about mystery novels? I finished one here the other day.

[withoutred]

[ Oh wow, look at that completely innoculous subject change that Erika definitely isn't immediately latching onto in order to pretend she never showed weakness just now.

That's definitely a thing. Yep. ]

You managed to find one? I admit, I hadn't looked too hard yet. [ She's still a bit sniffly, but back to her usual polite-haughty way of talking. ] Was it worth reading?

[tenimuho]

Mm, I think so. I'm not used to mystery fiction working with space travel as a premise, but it makes a closed circle easier to set up. You can't go anywhere if you're months away from the nearest planet.

[withoutred]

[ She sighs. ] Of course they stock the library with only mystery novels that reflect on our current situation.

Would you mind letting me have a look at it, if you're finished reading it yourself...? I could do with some [ eugh ] practice regarding these... futuristic concepts. We had nothing like this where I came from.

[tenimuho]

Not at all. I'll find it for you right now if you want.

I think you're doing well considering the setting. Even great detectives can be at a handicap if they're put somewhere strange.

[So good job for detective-ing as well as you already are.]

[withoutred]

[ Normally, she'd preen at getting praised, rattle off some spiel about how of course she's adapting well, what do you take her for? But right now she's just... confused. Not sure how to handle it.

It's weird. ]

I-It won't be a handicap for long, I assure you. [ She at least managed something close to her usual "haughty" with that one. ] I refuse to be held back by something as ridiculous as technology levels. It just means a parameter change.

[ And then it falters again. ] I wouldn't ask you to get it now, but... simply when you have the chance. It's not as if my usual location is a mystery to anyone in here.

[tenimuho]

It's a small ship, it isn't hard to find people. I'll bring it to you.

[this being a Sunday thread, he probably gave it to her Monday at the latest, so enjoy that mystery novel]