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

[unparental]

[ "the lovely elena". jenna makes a face like she's just bitten into something disgusting, but lets it go by without commentary— 'don't you compliment my niece' sounds crazy no matter how you say it, and she has bigger fish to fry than an admittedly innocuous choice of words. ]

You came after us. [ jaw set in a stubborn line, she shakes her head and tries to fight the urge to just start yelling. ] Play the eye for an eye card all you want, but your family invaded our lives and ruined them, not the other way around. I'm sorry any of it happened at all but so help me god if you try and spin this into anything other than that and I swear I'll hit you right now.

[ which ignores the salvatores' culpability and brushes aside history she doesn't fully understand ( doesn't truly understand at all ) but nobody's perfect, and two years is a long time to stew and build narratives. ]

...trouble? [ icy isn't jenna's usual mo, but hearing the euphemism knocks her back for a second. ] Your brother didn't break a dish, he— [ she breaks off, closing her eyes tight as black veins spiderweb beneath them like film exploded to light, shoving back at the tingling pressure she can feel in her gums and jaw. ] I don't care what else you say about me, but you don't get to do that.

[ don't get to take away what he did and make it seem like something else, even if that makes no earthly sense. ]

[cogere]

[ at the sight of her dark veins, elijah's tension dissipates. he isn't young or arrogant. he is quite possibly the eldest man alive, and he could continue the argument, attempt to validate his choices, defend his family, his honor all too easily — but it seems pointless to do so. what is done cannot be undone, and he said his (admittedly patronizing) piece already. he could take up her threat, too, show her what it means to fight an original, but he avoids such a petulant display of pride. she has a right to be angry, and they'll only make a scene, at this point. he has no intention of upsetting anyone on board (or dissolving his truce with elena) by further antagonizing jenna.

he's too old for this shit. ]

[ tiredly. ] Then, tell me, what do I get to say? Or, rather, what would you like me to say?

[unparental]

[ that isn't one of the two things ( both of those included extensive groveling, a few 'you're absolutely right's, that kind of thing ) jenna had in mind, but it's far more effective at taking the wind from her sails than the vaguely outlined vindication she built up in picturing it for so long. ]

You think I don't know that one? Now if I say 'grovel until I feel better about things' I'm the jerk. That was usually good for five whole minutes of civility from Jeremy.

[ it's a pale imitation of her usual tone, and there's a bite to it: it was good.

it's also enough to remind her exactly what she's supposed to be angry about, and after inhaling deeply and making sure the face she lifts back up is entirely human jenna shakes her head. ]

Just... apologize, or don't. No 'you have to understands' or 'I did it because of'. Reasons don't mean a whole lot to the person who paid your family's bill on this one. [ which is twisting things back to her bitterness, and she holds up a hand and rolls her eyes, sucking in her cheeks in a peevish frown. ] No, fine. No editorializing from me, either.

[ for the two minutes that'll last. ]

Either be sorry or don't say it. I led with you treating me like an idiot for a reason.

[cogere]

[ he sighs, and it takes all of his practiced control not to dispute her. ]

I incorrectly assumed you wanted an explanation. My apologies.

[ not everyone is you, elijah, always trying to understand and reason with niklaus. perhaps most don't want to know why terrible people do such terrible things. ]

[ without hesitation. ] I'm sorry for your loss, Jenna.

[unparental]

'My loss'.

[ part of her wants to force the issue ( it wasn't my loss, klaus didn't cause trouble stop hiding behind making everything sound cleaner than it was— than it is ) but after a long moment she sighs, raking a hand through her hair and lifting a shoulder in a helpless shrug. ]

Fine. [ she pauses, tapping a fingertip against her forearm. ] You should know that the rules here are different than at home. Klaus found that out the hard way. [ the image of godric showing klaus exactly what being weaker than someone means is a treasured memory, despite the way it all ended. it's enough to steel her spine, remind her exactly what she needs to do. ] This isn't a threat, but if anything ever happens to Elena again because of your family? I'm not going to understand that, or let it go.

[ which is exactly the kind of thing that encouraged klaus to see if a little extracurricular torture wouldn't improve the situation, but protecting elena takes precedence over self-preservation around originals. ]

[cogere]

I'm not my brother. [ which is fortunate. if she had said anything resembling a threat (a whisper of consequences) to niklaus or kol, perhaps even rebekah, they would rise to the occasion. as for elijah, well, he can respect her protection of elena, but that's the extent of it: a passing regard. ]

Understood. [ if there's a hint of amusement in his voice, it's because he's the arrogant one, after all. 'the rules are different here,' please. ] And if you ever are so unfortunate as to meet my family again, I ask that you avoid an encounter like this. If you were to address them as you have me, they would take your words as no less than a challenge and seek to harm both you and Elena, if not everyone you hold dear. That is a fact, not a threat. [ now, he's offering advice, not a deal. ] Come to me, first, and I will ascertain that they are no threat to you.

[ dear, he has forgotten something. ] Oh, but on the subject of threats: [ a beat. then, icily. ] anyone who harms my family will die by my hand.

Good day, Jenna. [ with a slight inclination of his head, almost a bow, he flashes away. ]

[ a s s h o l e ]

i had to

[unparental]

[ jenna's already shaping a furious retort when elijah removes the chance to deliver it, and she chokes a little on indignant fury before shaking her head disbelievingly. ]

'Oooh, come to me first'. Jackass.

[ after another moment of staring disgustedly at where he was standing, she stalks off herself. at a normal speed like a non-freak, elijah.

...to go get super drunk, can't win 'em all. ]