open post 2025

[impractical]

leave a starter or prompt; happy to plot first via pm or plurk.
muselist here.
spoilers and nsfw possible, will mark in tls.


wip list of tropes and stuff i pretty much always want to play:

• lotus-eater situation, aka "you're living your perfect life and don't realize it's killing you!"
• pining! you know the hand flex gif from p&p? of course you do
• vampires...
• misunderstandings between people who have feelings for each other, i.e. thinking one of them is interested in someone else and it comes to a head in heated admissions of Feelings
• slow burn over a psl
• ALL the h/c, whether one or two-sided
• fwiw some of my favorite bstreet memes are morning after, train to the afterlife, drunk meme, find them dying, and insomnia
• text is always going to be a yes from me dawg
• classics: only one bed, huddle for warmth
• amnesia???

 

Comments

[peindre]

Oh. [ Strange, she thinks, that they wouldn't want to know what happened to such a useful resource. That they wouldn't have tried to rebuild them. But...resources are finite, and were so even back then. Maybe even more, considering the chaos after the Fracture. So Maelle nods in understanding, eyes drifting past him and over the sea.

They live in a more controlled chaos, now. A predictable one. ...Before setting off for their Expedition, anyway. ]

Did you find them? Your family.

[ This is obviously an important subject to her, considering her bond with the man who'd shielded her from Renoir's sight on the beach. Again, she tries to remember what she's been taught about Expedition Zero, but it's all a little hazy with the intensity of the day. Besides, its commander is here to tell her himself, so why bother with half-remembered facts when she can hear it from him directly? ]

[betenoir]

[Her question draws less silence on his part than he might have offered. Her curiosity - that urge to satisfy her need to learn about the world - has driven her away from her home away from home. Of course she would ask about his family. Of course she would relate to his through her own. It follows reason that she would remain close to the one person who makes her feel safe.

Alicia. He resolves to meet his daughter once they make landfall and ensure she feels the same. Until then, he observes this version of her watching the sea, eyes drifting nowhere else.

But her question does not stop him remembering that day the world tore apart.]

Not all of them.

[His words hang heavy on the air, interrupted by nothing but the rhythm of the waves.]

[peindre]

[ It doesn't take a genius, or any further questions, to understand what he means by that. Her expression softens appropriately, gaze drifting again from his face to their surroundings.

The ship has begun to rock a little, suggesting they're properly on their way to...wherever their next stop may be. ]

I'm sorry. [ Maelle offers, but there's not much you can say, and she herself has heard too many condolences for her young life. He's probably sick of them, too, she reasons. So the teenager doesn't dwell, instead ruminating only briefly before asking: ] Do you...want to talk about them?

[ That's better, right? Or at least, she thinks so. To talk about the people you love as they lived rather than dwell on their tragic fates. ]

[betenoir]

[Three members of his family survive but live like they want to die. He cannot comfort all at the same time but he must and so will.

The movement of the ship disturbs his thoughts. He turns his gaze towards the helm of the ship, where the commander is keeping one eye on him and the other on the ocean. But if he builds enough of a connection with these people, he will not pose a problem, and can easily be removed from the equation.]

Not today, mademoiselle. [There is a pause as he weighs conflicting thoughts.] But thank you. It is enough that you ask.

[His voice is low and gentle in letting her down. Some people want to talk, others wish to hide. He finds himself caught in the middle and having to choose the optimal path - and instead chooses the third option of putting off that choice until tomorrow.]

[peindre]

'Course. [ She's quick to reply. It's understandable that it'd sting to talk about the lost, even many years later. They live in a world of death, but that doesn't mean the population has become desensitized to it.

Maelle moves to stand closer to the railing, at the old man's side, staring again out at the inky waves before flitting her attention back to Renoir. ]

...I saw you staring. [ It's a statement, and with an underlying question. Is it because of her age? Maelle is used to defending her choices against those who think her too young for an expedition, so she adds, before he answers: ] I'm as ready as anyone else. I've been training hard for years.

[ Like all the rest. Besides, they wouldn't let her become a member if she didn't have what it takes. There's no reason to bring anyone on the expedition who might be a liability. ]