IC contact post!

[experiencepoints]

[IC contact post for Drift Fleet!]

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[experiencepoints]

... Did something happen?

[She is maximum KY, but she's actually really good at telling when someone is unhappy.]

[huaaaaagh]

Hm?

[And he's not always the greatest at hiding when he's upset, but he has a pretty good poker face. And he is determined, determined not to ruin the mood right from the get-go.]

Sorry if I gave that impression. Things are getting crowded, with all these extra people. Is your ship out of rooms, too?

[experiencepoints]

Hm? Oh... I think so? I haven't been counting.

[On the other hand, she is also extremely gullible with people she trusts, so... Yeah, crisis averted.]

I can see why you'd want to get out like that.

[huaaaaagh]

[Okay, there we go. He smiles easily and gestures for her to lead the way; he has no idea where to buy shoes here.]

It's becoming pretty commonplace to crash into each other in the hallways. We have enough rooms for everyone, but people can get a little volatile when too many strangers enter the mix.

[experiencepoints]

[She starts walking at a fairly relaxed pace, like she has a destination in mind.]

Yeah, this place is bad on personal space at the best of times... If my ship got too crowded, I'd go nuts.

[huaaaaagh]

Hahaha, yeah... though I have a feeling it's just going to get worse until our generous hosts decide to do something about it.

[Bad enough they're getting watched all the time. Now they don't even have enough space for everyone. In space, ironically.]

[experiencepoints]

They're not going to do something about it, you realize.

[huaaaaagh]

Just let me dream.

[PAINED SMILE. Yes, he knows. Or at least, he'd come to that assumption.]

[experiencepoints]

Sorry, ruining dreams is sort of my thing.

[huaaaaagh]

So cruel.

[He laughs anyway; it's quiet and brief, but no less genuine. Yeah, this was a good idea.]

Sooner or later they have to do something, don't they? I mean, it's tolerable now, but if we keep getting more and more people, it'll become too unreasonable. Overcrowding is good for drama if that's what they're after, but if they keep going at this rate, it's going to be either dangerous or more trouble than benefit.

[experiencepoints]

Unless that's the goal. Make conditions steadily worse and worse until someone snaps. Danger is so exciting when you aren't the one in it, after all.

People will lose their personal space, not have any escape, tensions will run high... Someone's going to snap eventually. Maybe not violently, but there are going to be arguments. People will get nasty. In other words, there's going to be drama. Just what the Atroma want.

It's more trouble than benefit... But only we get the trouble, and they get only the benefit.

[huaaaaagh]

[That's... a sobering thought, and one he'd rather not consider, especially with the recent changes to his own ship. He falls silent for a long moment, his steps slowing down a little until he catches himself. He can't let himself get distracted by the negatives. That would defeat the whole purpose of coming here.]

Well- I guess we'll just have to show them that we're better than that.

[experiencepoints]

[There's a short pause as she realizes how he's reacting to what she said.]

... I'm doing the depressing thing again, aren't I. Sorry, I'll shut up.

[huaaaaagh]

No, don't. It's my own fault for bringing it up.

[He really should know better. UHHHH HARMLESS SUBJECT, HARMLESS SUBJECT-]

So you're looking for shoes, right? To look taller?

[experiencepoints]

It's not. I'm... trying to work on that, so...

[but now he's saying other things so let's focus on that. SAFE CONVERSATIONS YES.]

Oh- Uh- Yeah. I'm tired of being short, and until I can learn Hover magic, this is the next best thing.

[let's talk magic. magic is a safe conversation right.]

[huaaaaagh]

[They can both work on not being depressing piles of garbage, OK OK.

And magic is a super safe topic, even if he knows almost jack about it these days.]

How about learning a spell that lets you grow wings? Those are always fun.

[experiencepoints]

Nah, I had wings once. They are not nearly what they're cracked up to be.

[... it's amazing how she can drop this information so completely casually.]

[huaaaaagh]

[He should really not be surprised anymore, but he is.]

Eh, really? You didn't like having them?

[experiencepoints]

Well... I mean, they were part of something very unpleasant happening, but aside from that... They were huge. With wings, you can't really sit down in any chair that has a back, or on the floor since they go down so low. They flop around awkwardly if you try to lie down, and I couldn't reach the ends when they itched.

... If I could have had them for a bit without the context, though, I probably would have. Flying made the inconvenience worth it.

[huaaaaagh]

Ah... that does sound pretty inconvenient, yeah.

[If all wings were like that, Alfheim would never have gotten as popular as it did.]

I wish I could show you the world I came from. Fairy wings only come out when you need them, and they're so light you barely feel them... they were pretty much designed to not cause problems for the user.

[experiencepoints]

[She shrugs.]

Yours sound a lot more convenient. I'm bitching now, but at the time, I was more pissed about not having hands.

[Well, and the people getting horribly injured.]

[huaaaaagh]

Oh god, they replaced your hands?

[That's so much worse than what he was imagining.]

[experiencepoints]

Huh- Oh, no. I had been turned into a harpy. The wings came from my back, but my hands got turned into... talon-things. Very sharp, very unpleasant, not very dexterous.

[huaaaaagh]

That's...

[SO MUCH FREAKIER THAN HE IMAGINED

and yet]

...Kind of awesome.

[experiencepoints]

Kind of, until you have to cook like that.