( CLOSED ) a glorious planet tucked in the far reaches of a mostly unknown system

[avicula]

WHO: Emil (unluckynumberseven), Maes Hughes (dadandgone), Thor (worldsaway) and Dutch (avicula)
WHERE: Bajikan and the moon Caritas
WHEN: March 8 to March 16, most likely
WHAT: The volunteer team heads down to the planet and tries to get the materials needed to get the fleet running again. In the process, secrets and desires are revealed, magic happens, they fly to the moon and back, and tempers may flare.
WARNINGS: Sad backstories, secrets that probably involve violence, possibly sex and actual violence.

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DAY FIVE

[avicula]

[ in which the team is made to wait some more, but eventually meets with lepiota in invidia, who will part with the crystal of secrets for the price of 4 deep, shameful secrets that have never been told. our heroes are none too pleased. ]

[avicula]

[ when lepiota finally agrees to meet them, dutch is ready for some circus tricks. she can perform a few acrobatic stunts, do a dance, whatever lepiota asks so that they can get out of here and be on their way. she wants to get moving, wants to keep moving—the days in a drifting ship are still itching under dutch's skin, the loss of control of it driving her forward now.

and then lepiota asks for secrets and dutch almost laughs. only almost, because she's too good a killjoy and too well-trained in the art of statecraft and assassination alike to show her hand like that, and so the bitter sound gets lodged in her throat. deep, shameful secrets, those were lepiota's exact words.

dutch would rather kill than tell a secret. ] What if I whisper it in your ear? [ she asks after a moment, forcing a smile that's cloyingly sweet. lepiota is having none of it, though, and there's something in the steel of the alien's gaze that makes dutch decide not to lie. ]

Fine, [ she spits out after a moment, jaw clenching now even if it gives away too much. don't ever let them see you weak, yala khlyen's voice whispers in the back of her head, but khlyen is dead and will never tell her anything ever again, no matter how messed up. dutch still doesn't know how to deal with that, and with johnny gone—

right. she's not thinking about any of that, she's just going to get this out of the way. so she straightens her spine and holds her head up high and says, very crisply: ] The second time I killed a man, I was proud.

[ she'd been eight and she'd done what khlyen had asked of her. she'd thought she could make him proud by doing what he said. she'd thought maybe if she proved that she'll obey him, he would stop. she'd thought if she did well and didn't cry or yell about how she didn't want to kill anyone, he'd smile at her and tell her she'd done good. ]

[unluckynumberseven]

The second time?

[He says it without thinking and quickly covers his mouth. It isn't out of shock or disgust, really, he just feels bad for her. And he can't help wondering just what happened.]

[avicula]

[ dutch isn't looking for commentary from the peanut gallery, and when emil exclaims his question, she just turns her head minutely, shoulders and jaw still tight, to glance at him through narrowed eyes. the second time out of—she doesn't even know how many because she lost count. it's a number with two digits, not three, she's reasonably certain. ]

[dadandgone]

[Maes knows they are trying to get through this at a decent pace -- waiting for everyone to meet them has taken enough time. He thought after the first one that this wouldn't be so bad, that the trials would actually be manageable and he could contribute when magic wasn't on the table.

But, no, it had to be something like this. Maes was going to have to actually think on this one. He was an honest guy back home, for the most part, and his friend Roy had been there for most of his worst moments: The Ishvalan War.

But he didn't think that was going to cut it -- it was shameful, but it wasn't a secret what he had done there. He had to go back further...before Roy was in his life, because here were some events from back then that he hadn't shared.]

I abandoned my father when I joined the military. I left him when he was sick and never looked back, because I wanted to be a better man than he was...a better father.

[In leaving his father, he'd essentially sentenced him to death. And while his father had no been the best, Maes realized later that he hadn't necessarily deserved that fate. But how could he tell others that? How could he explain that the man who every saw as THE family man, had been a terrible son.]

[unluckynumberseven]

[Emil has never been a large individual, but he can't help feeling extra small hovering in front of Lepiota with his teammates behind him and all eyes on him, silent and waiting for him to share something terrible from his past. Something no one else knew.

Not even his friends from back home.

This was going to be difficult -- he tried to be an honest person, so he'd answered people's questions here to the best of his ability. And part of the reason his friends were his friends was because of the terrible things they'd all seen and done. Trauma was a hell of a bonding agent.

Feeling extra self-conscious, he sinks down to the floor and stares at the floor, hands gripping tight to his staff.]

I think... I really forgot... what my parents were like. When I try to think about my old life, all I can remember now is Sensei. And the labs.

[worldsaway]

[Thor doesn't try to hide the expression of disgust when Lepiota makes his request. The last audience had been almost enjoyable, far too easy, he should have expected the pin to drop eventually. He wishes he could tell four secrets of his own and spare the rest, but he struggles to think of one.

He's had his share of them, to be sure, but they vary from ones that make little sense out of context and innocent lies. He had the last muffin from the gift basket the Avengers received, and he doesn't regret it.

Other team mates can expect a nod of solidarity or a shoulder squeeze when they struggle with their own honesty. He can't remember the last time he felt so raw and humiliated, and it all comes to a head when he needs to speak. Once the dust settles, he knows what has been eating at him since he left Earth, he just struggles to say it.]

I knew that my love for Jane was born to fail- and I pursued it. I put her at risk, I put my family at risk, and I understood completely that it would bring us no happiness- no satisfaction. [He tightens his lips and hardens his expression when he speaks.] I nearly destroyed us both for a whim.