twenty-eighth jump;

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond.
WARNINGS: Maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: It could just be the standard sensation of air on wet skin, but if you bother to check, you might notice the steam rising from your body, barely there and gone within a minute. By the time you get to the showers, it will be clear that it's not just taking you time to adjust. The room is cold — colder than usual, but no worse than the last jump. While it's nothing dangerous, it's certainly motivation to hurry through the usual routine and get dressed quickly.



It's getting closer.




YOUR EYES ARE OPEN.

KEEP LOOKING.

You wake up in darkness.

There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.
There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

Comments

Lockers

[elvenking]

[By now it is clear that those who were trapped on the bridge have made it to their pods in time. Thranduil expects they, as much as he, would like to pretend nothing happened for now. So he doesn't seek out Nathan. He knows he's alive. He sees him just as he sees everyone else.

He is mute when he dresses himself and braids his hair and sits down for a moment on a bench. In the end, it had undoubtedly been the ship letting them go. Teaching them a lesson, like any other captor.]

[allbloodyhail]

[ uncharacteristically quiet, spike moves to sit by him on the bench. izzie sits by them and gives out a doggy groan before stretching out on the floor. the brothers grim are off somewhere and spike really doesn't want to catch up with them anyway. ]

Why so glum, chum? [ it's weak, but it's all he's got atm. ]

[elvenking]

[Thranduil leans down and begins scratching the dog's ears, then kneels on the floor by her and eases her onto her side.]

I dislike jumps.

[He presses an ear and a hand to Izzie's belly. Yup. Still knocked up.]

[allbloodyhail]

Yeah? Can't imagine there's anyone out there really likes 'em. I mean, I'm into pain and I still think they blow.

[ he shrugs one shoulder and leans back a bit as he watches the elf tend to his boyfriend's dog. what the fuck is his life. he pulls out a much needed cigarette and goes hunting his pockets for his zippo. ]

[elvenking]

She is in excellent health, as are her pups, [Thranduil says, drawing back and affectionately rubbing the dog's belly.] The jump did nothing to them or to her that I can perceive.

[allbloodyhail]

[ that actually brings some relief, and he offers the briefest and lightest of smiles to thranduil. ] Yeah? Well, good. Someone deserves not to be bloody miserable on this space heap.

Wonder who the dad is.

[elvenking]

That will be easier to tell when the pups are born. [He gives the dog one last pat before settling back onto the bench, a rare, genuine smile on his face.]

[allbloodyhail]

[ he snorts and lights up his cigarette, looking up. ] Guess you're right. ... Hey, uh. T. Ta for helping her out and all.

[ he glances over, before blowing smoke up at the ceiling. ] Izzie. [ even in the midst of all this crazy shit, goes without saying. ]

[elvenking]

It is indeed my pleasure. [petting between her ears now.] Four-legged creatures are often more agreeable than those on two.

[allbloodyhail]

Yeah, you can say that again. I'll let you know when the critters are born, all right?

[elvenking]

Yes. Thank you.

[skjalf]

[ she does not know him; but he looks unhappy. when her father had been alive, sometimes she would play for him when he was not in a jovial mood. so now, she sits herself down a ways from the stranger upon the bench, sets down her small pile of belonging, and takes her viola in hand to do just that.

the tune is soft, and mournful. the instrument cannot produce a cheerful ditty.

but it is sweet and beautiful, as she had learned to play at a young age. elizabeth does not say anything, or ask anything. she will simply play, and hope that the notes lift the spirits of the stranger. ]

[elvenking]

[Music speaks to Elves, and the Sindar especially. Thranduil listens, and slowly, he is enraptured. His head turns in increments as the song plays, until his eyes fall on the instrument and the hands playing it. A slow blink, like a contented cat. The lines of worry are all but erased from his face by the time she finishes playing.

His eyes meet hers and he tilts his head to her.]

That was very beautiful.

[skjalf]

[ elizabeth cradles the instrument in her hands rather than setting it aside, and peers over at the stranger. she is pleased to see that any sign of unhappiness has since faded away with the music.

her face brightens, and she finds herself smiling a little. ]

Thank you, sir.