text | calling across the cosmos

[genice]

There's quite a few of us who are new arrivals, yeah? I'm told we should make ourselves comfortable and get to know our neighbors. It's been eight months since I last really moved anywhere, so hello! My name is Victor Nikiforov. If any one of you feels like discussing our new location or occupations or anything else, please join me for a drink!

[ He even includes a ping for the bar he's at. Conversations up to this point have been anything but promising. So here he is. In space. Surrounded by space people. Talking to other "we did not want to end up in space, probably" people. ]

Also, three questions! Who is fond of dogs, is there anything like Instagram on these, and who knows anything about figure skating?

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[genice]

[ Victor looks down at Makkachin, running his hand over the fur on top of his head. ]

More like my family. Isn't that right, Makkachin?

[ Having no idea what he's agreeing with, but liking Victor's tone of voice, Makkachin gives a small wag of his tail. Yeah! Yeah. He's a good boy. Whatever his pack leader is saying is good. ]

[masterstudent]

I...see.

[Said in the tone of she doesn't see at all, but she's not going to further question this insanity. Anyway...]

If you still want to talk there are sitting rocks on the other side of the tree.

[Like. Exactly that. Some flat rocks popping up out of the hillside that can be sat on. Nothing fancy here. Of course Tigress likes it that way, but Victor may feel differently.

...She's still so confused by the dog question. Anyway she'll be heading for the rocks, not waiting for an answer.]

[genice]

( He watches her head around the tree, feeling Makkachin lean in to his leg and letting his smile fade. It's starting to penetrate just how alien this all is. It's unlikely he's in some elaborate set-up. That hadn't been any suit, that hadn't been prosthetics. He was really in some place far removed from where he'd promised he'd be, and that galls him.

The tight feeling in his stomach from earlier returns as he moves forward, circling around the opposite side of the tree to the stones that Tigress had mentioned. Makkachin trots along at his side, sniffing as he goes. He ends up whining and cautiously approaching what his senses say is an overlarge, weird moving cat with a low, uncertain wag of his tail. Friends? He's ready to make another one.

Victor wonders if he is, but he does need to sort through what he's been hearing. His smile is wan, most the amusement settled to the side alongside the shock and surprise he doesn't have the desire to deal with. Taking a seat on one of the stones, he crosses his hands over his knee, idly playing with the ring on his right hand. )

Tigress, this is very strange for me, and it is likely very strange for you too. Have you talked with many of the crewmembers of this ship yet?

[masterstudent]

[Taking a seat herself Tigress reflects the composition of the rocks. Stone. Inmovable. A rigid force despite the fluffy fur. At least until Makkachin comes over. Is the dog a child...? SO CONFUSED. But awkwardly holding out a paw to it???]

I have. They express little remorse for what they've done. Finding a new home for their people is their focus.

[The tip of her tail twitches against the ground. The only sign of her anger.]

[genice]

( He tips his head her way, watching her from the corner of one eye. )

For activating their engines and bringing us here?

( He's not debating that the priority here is finding a world to colonize. That's been the consistent by-line, whatever the root truth. He's trying to understand what she thinks has been done.

Meanwhile, Makkachin pushes his head under her paw after sniffing, not sure what to make of the strangeness of what his nose says and what his eyes say. Even what his ears tell him doesn't match to the experiences of his life. )

[masterstudent]

[Slowly...oh so slowly...Tigress scratches behind Makkachin's ears. Victor says it like it's an innocent act. And Tigress agrees. It was-- at first. But these people have obviously known about what their engines do to others and haven't cared to address it. She can't blame them.

But she's blaming them anyway. As such she looks away, expression this side of sour. As sour as a stick in the mud can appear anyway.]

For activating their engines and bringing us here.

[Yes. Just going to repeat what he said. It's an answer in itself and she would not elaborate on her...less kind feelings.]

[genice]

( Makkachin sets his head on Tigress if he can, panting in his happy way as he enjoys the tentative ear scratches. His tail wags in a slow, lazy arc, as if he's trying to reassure the both of them. (He is.) )

Wow. ( At her statement? The parroting? Something else entirely? ) I can imagine they find the benefits worth the risk. I wonder why something so flawed can be considered necessary... I don't understand how something like this can work, but I guess there has to be some kind of exchange. We're being pulled here. Yet people aren't being pushed away? That seems strange to me.

( All said idly, taking threads of conversations he's had so far with members of this crew. He introduces it as a meditative commentary, allowing for conversation, but also just allowing it to be words he says to an audience with... far more fur than he expected. )