[open] i'm wishing on the death star

[shenunigans]

WHO: Dave Strider and OPEN
WHERE: All around Eluvio
WHEN: Various. Present time, mostly.
WHAT: Dave finding his bearings, muddling around and being a nuisance.
WARNINGS: naughty cussing

one: skating.
[Working at a Skateboard store as a clerk has almost little to no perks. People are annoying, nobody knows who Tony Hawk is and he sure as hell didn't sign up for this shit. The one perk Dave has found, is that taking merch from the store is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Why not be a mobile advertisement? What could go wrong?

Of course, Dave doesn't waste time with the snap back caps or the knee pads for toddlers, he just wants the board.

Admittedly, it's been a fucking eon since he legitimately rode one. But it's like riding a bike. Where the break is your foot and your bike is a wooden board that reaches Incredible Speeds. He's rusty enough that he feels self-conscious dicking around in the open. He's found a reasonably secluded part of the ship for practicing and he's picking it all up again pretty fast.

He starts getting cocky, working on tricks. Kick flips, heel flips, grinding, etc. Every so often, he nails it. Every so often, he fucks up spectacularly. God knows at which point someone could possibly happen upon him.]

two: cafeteria.
[The cafeteria is a source of great conflict for Dave. On the one hand, it is a bountiful harvest of delicious food. He's been deprived of decent, palatable food for so long he might as well be at a Lord's banquet every time he steps in there.

On the other hand, a niggling, awkward feeling gets his goat whenever he sees the herds of people in there. It's been so long since he's been around more than five people at a time, it's like he's developed some sort of meteor-deprived agoraphobia. He tries to slink in when there's less people around, but that tends to be difficult.

Dave doesn't realise he's chewing his lip as he looks upon the cafeteria. He has a tray with a large glass of apple juice, three cheeseburgers and an apple pie and a look of determination behind his shades. He scans for an empty table and realises, regretfully, that there isn't one. He'll have to take his chances with sitting at the end of a less occupied table.

He'll slink forward, set his tray on the opposite and furthest side of a table and take a seat. Nope. Not awkward at all.

Fuck man, say something.]

Sup?

three: space view.
[Being in space isn't the strangest part about this ordeal for Dave. He was in space before, assing around on a meteor propelling to some glorious location. The ship is a change, but the thing that bugs him out is the small, near impossible chance that the meteor might actually be in this universe. It's not like he wants to go back. Hell no. He just kind of wishes he could bring some of the contents of that meteor onto the ship.

Now, he's not about to go tug on the captain's sleeve and beg him to keep his eye out for a shitty chunk of rock. Hell, he's not even sure he'll keep the remotest of hopes up. For whatever reason (mostly boredom) he decides to be like the stupid-ass kid who leaves cookies out for santa and starts taping up calling cards.



That ought to do it.]

Comments

[shenunigans]

[Dave is unaccustomed to this level of polite concern, so it gives him pause for a moment as he considers how far he wants to take this.

Shiro is, of course, correct in understanding that a teenager needs to protect his tiny, precious amount of dignity as fiercely as he can.]

I honestly don't know what you're talking about, that's for sure. Can't a guy just lie down and enjoy the view. [He gestures up at the plain, unexceptional ceiling above them.

Okay this is getting dumb.] I'm still fine.

[bayarm]

[ shiro doesn't laugh, but when he lifts his shoulders in a shrug, his smile is still playing around his lips. it's not mocking, though. dave can keep his dignity. ]

Sure. But there's better places, if you're looking for a view.

[ he steps closer, holding a hand out to dave, intent clearly to help him up. ]

[shenunigans]

[Too late. The smile enough. Dave's dignity is dead and buried in a shallow grave. RIP.]

I've seen plenty of space. I don't see nearly enough ceilings. [He gives pause to the hand, but eventually he relents and takes it to hoist himself up.] Maybe I'm a budding architect.

[bayarm]

Maybe you are.

[ goodbye, dave's dignity. shiro pulls dave up easily and seemingly without effort. ] So what do you say? Is this corridor structurally safe?

[shenunigans]

[At least Dave is used to being a well dressed skeleton, but here he is. Standing upright. Lovely.]

Looks like a corridor. Two walls. Floor. A ceiling. Could be less slippery, people could fall or something. [He crouches down to pick up his skateboard, tucking it under his arm.] I don't think we've seen each other around, but I feel like I should save an introduction for a time when you don't find me imitating a starfish. So you can remember me fondly.

[bayarm]

[ well, at least this kid has a decent sense of humor to replace the loss of his dignity and fill the empty space left behind. that's good, and there's some relief and approval in the set of shiro's shoulders, in the warmth in his expression even when his smile drops away at last. ]

You make a great starfish.

[ and given that dave is standing on both of his feet now, at least apparently able to put weight on either without issue, shiro is going to assume no bones were broken in the fall, too. ]

i accidentally filtered this somewhere stupid i am so sorry

[shenunigans]

Well, that's all a guy ever really wants to hear. Putting mad pride up to the family name here.

[Shrug it off, Dave. Shrug it off.] Anyway, I don't think we've met because I'm sort of new and this ship is vast and loaded with people.

I'm Dave, I'm from Earth. Are you an Earthling or are you just a humanoid from beyond the stars?

no worries

[bayarm]

I'm Shiro. [ shiro holds out his hand for dave to shake. it's the right, which means it's the prosthetic. if dave is a close listener, he might even hear it whirr softly. ]

I'm from Earth, too, but I've been in other parts of the universe before coming here.

[shenunigans]

Put 'er there, pal. [He thinks he hears the whir, but he's not sure what to make of it until they actually shake hands. He doesn't shake often, but it doesn't quite feel like a normal hand.

He raises a brow, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he's excited by his response.]

Really? Me too. Man, they must have just dragged a butterfly net through space and caught all the humans wandering around.

[bayarm]

[ shiro isn't too keen on explaining, so when dave doesn't ask explicitly, he doesn't elaborate. instead, he asks: ] How did you end up in space?

[shenunigans]

It's kind of complicated in a not entertaining way. Something to do with a game and the apocalypse and the creation of a new universe and something else to do with aliens in need. Not sure why I got involved, honestly.

[But that's the least of his worries.] How about you? NASA or something?

[bayarm]

Galaxy Garrison, actually.

[ that—does sound complicated, and so shiro's answer to dave's question comes out a little distractedly while he's still processing everything that dave said. maybe that's why the next sentence slips out: ] And then I was abducted by aliens.