a bumpy start! {glyphcomm + action}

[seeingyou]

You wake up to the sound of alarms and a distinct sensation of quaking, and you're quite obviously not where you're supposed to be. This room is strangely shaped, nothing you recognize, and you definitely don't remember how you got here. The room is bathed in soft red light, which might look pretty, except it's blinking in a way that you can probably guess signals danger.

There's a symbol on the back of your hand that you don't remember acquiring, either, but that's probably less important at the moment than the sound of the alarms shrieking and the prerecorded voice speaking over the intercom. It's one of those bland, agender voices, entirely too calm in tone for the message it's relaying:

WARNING
WARNING
IMPACT THREAT DETECTED
EVASIVE ACTION REQUIRED

There’s a loud crash and another violent shaking, as that impact threat collides with the ship’s hull. The warning message continues to repeat on a loop amidst the blaring of the alarm. All passengers should be conscious now, with the noise at such a high volume. Opening your cabin door reveals a nondescript hallway, with five cabin doors on each side for a total of ten on each floor; the doors to the empty cabins are unlocked and inside the cabins hold the same plain, basic furnishings as your own. Halfway into the hallway, there is a lift on one side and a set of stairs on the other.

Comments

[shahrrehth]

She just smiles back at him, because while you might catch more flies with honey than vinegar, sometimes it's more fun to stick with the honey for other reasons, regardless of what you might catch for it.

"You can if it'll make you feel better," she says easily enough. "So did you miss the instructions or just don't feel like being a part of saving our lives?"

[fuckregularpeople]

Jane crosses her arms over her chest, hands tucked into her armpits.

"Miss me with this Star Wars kumbaya bullshit. Are you going to sing a campfire song too?"

[shahrrehth]

"If the ship tells me to, sure," she says right back and she doesn't hold back a roll of her eyes. "Or someone who knows what's going on or how any of this works has a better idea. So far, I'm not hearing any."

[fuckregularpeople]

Ah, a cute little optimist. People like her are so tiring.

"The way it works is that thing fucks us if we do what it wants. It doesn't care about us. If you're fine with that, cool, your choice. I don't consent."

[shahrrehth]

"Cool, your choice," she repeats after Jane, and uses her free hand to offer a thumbs up. It's definitely... less than genuinely cheerful. "Got any evidence to back that up? Or... other suggestions?"

[fuckregularpeople]

"We ask those guys to pick us up." She gestures to the screen on which the attacking ship is pictured. "They're attacking the asshole who kidnapped us. Makes them the good guys, doesn't it?"

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"Not necessarily."

His feelings about the kidnapping aside, there's no way to tell for certain that their attackers are even so much as aware of their presence. Or much inclined to bother to return them to where they've all come from besides.

[fuckregularpeople]

"I'd still take a chance on them. They haven't already fucked us over, this thing did."

No one said anything about this ship returning them home. Jane assumes it has no intention of doing so -- that's generally the case for kidnappings. Odds still seem stacked that the attackers are better people than Navi, to her.

[sisterswitch]

“Cool, so you’re just like this with everyone, huh?” Jack snaps, recognizing Jane and having no reserve of patience for her nonsense, in light of current circumstances. She then reaches for the nearest open hand to hold onto. “Why don’t you just go hopscotch out of the airlock if you’re so determined to side with the obvious bad guys here?”

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"They spoke to the ship, not us. But by all means, attempt to avail yourself of a hospitality that might not even exist."

He is, admittedly, drawing from similarly inclined nations back in his own world - or at least, what he assumes are similarly inclined nations. Still, far be it for him to stop her, either. The idea of having to find a new vessel because they all got blown to shreds isn't an appealing one, sure. But it's not something he hasn't had to do before, either.

[shahrrehth]

She presses her lips together and takes a deep breath in.

"And your plans for how we'd communicate with them in the middle of said attack."

She tilts her head to one side.

"The thing you're forgetting here is that they're also attacking us. And, for all we know, they could be attacking us and this being is trying to protect us. We don't know. But..." she tips her head down to the hands, "from my experience, things that work through holding hands usually play ball a lot nicer than things that work through shooting at you."

[fuckregularpeople]

Memories of group therapy, of "healing hands" and holding the Talking Pillow and being dragged back to her room, restrained, and beaten, flash through Jane's mind and she shakes her head. "Then clearly you have no experience." She'd take violence over "loving" manipulation any day.

Her outline flickers for a second, like a reflection in disturbed water, and when it re-solidifies she looks exactly the same. She's just smiling now, breezy in the face of danger. "Okay, that was a good idea so I'm gonna s--"

Flit disappears. A few seconds later she reappears, that flicker runs over her again, and Jane's instantly tense, her hands forming into fists. She takes a deep breath. "Yep, this ship is a piece of shit."

[shahrrehth]

"Or my experience is different from yours," because like hell is she going to stoop to this woman's level. She doesn't agree with her and she thinks her decisions are rash and illogical but she is trying.

She huffs out a breath, carefully, and pushes aside her frustrations with... well, this whole thing, and looks back at her.

"Look, I'm not foolish enough to take any of this at face value. I'm not saying anyone should. But right now, we are in the ship being fired on. So it is in all of our best interests to make sure it doesn't get destroyed. We can discuss the problems with it's decision making skills after."

[albatrossomen]

"Oh, I don't know. This one sounds a little like rebellion to me. Who doesn't enjoy a bit of rebellion now and again?" Murmur offers from his corner where he's going to go ahead and take the strange alien being's hand. They might as well lend what they can to their captor and would-be savior.

[fuckregularpeople]

"And who the fuck are you, the tribute from District 12?" she snaps back. "You really know how to fuckin' sell it, don't you? 'Oh, you don't like holding hands? Let's up the ante by throwing in politics, now does it sound fun?'"

[albatrossomen]

Casually he shrugged a shoulder, unconcerned and untroubled by her sudden burst of anger. "Unfortunately I am unfamiliar with this District. However, in the interest in not discovering what a prompt ejection into the cold void of space feels like this has thus far been the only suggestion for our survival. You are welcome to attempt to commune with our attackers if you so desire."

He's not sure they're exactly going to be amenable to requests for rescue, but hey who knows? Had they more time he could probably find out, but what's the fun in knowing everything?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Her tactic is one he's used himself, from time to time. Not that he's in much of a mood to care for it, much less actually admit to it, but he recognizes the sense of it, on some level.

"I never said I wouldn't do it."

He just doesn't like it, and isn't going to shy from making his displeasure known. He does, however, grudgingly offer his hands afterwards - other than the gloves he's wearing (white, with gold embroidery down the backs), they're nothing particularly notable.

[shahrrehth]

For all that she was trying to act with haste, she can appreciate having issues with this situation; she has issues with this situation. They're just issues she figures can be dealt with when they aren't in a life or death situation where they have very little information or, seemingly, the ability to help much otherwise.

She'll take his hand.

"Duly noted," she says with a quick nod. And it's very very genuine. She appreciates him cooperating even if he's not happy.

[albatrossomen]

In the interest of providing whatever aid this being requires quickly Murmur reached out to take their hand, at least forming a partial chain. "Exciting as an impromptu space-walk would undoubtedly be, I am grateful we've largely decided upon survival for the time being." Even if he's also very uncertain and distrustful of their strange seemingly artificial captor/savior.

Probably best not to take unnecessary risks until they have more time to question their circumstances.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Truth be told, he'd like it better if the issues didn't involve actually physical contact, no matter the sort. But on the other hand, neither is he in much of a hurry to die. Even if it's not much more than an inconvenience, at this point.

Still, he makes no further protest to having his hand held, though the expression on his face remains one of distinct displeasure.

"Really, you would think there'd be some other way to increase the power output, or whatever it is this ship happens to run on."

[shahrrehth]

She breathes in deep and lets it out in a soft huff. Breathing exercises have always been something she's leaned on here and there and now's no different. She tries not to hold his hand any more than is necessary; she's not trying to invade someone's boundaries, for one. For another, the firmer the hold, the more obvious it is that her flesh isn't... quite... normal.

"I would, actually," she admits as she keeps her senses open, tries to take in more of what's going on both in this ship and outside. But her senses are definitely not nearly as helpful as they usually would be.

"I definitely want to find out more of what's going on... after. this."

She looks over at him.

"Clara, by the way."

[unnecessaryflourishes]

For the time being, at least, he's too busy being grumpy about being asked to hold hands to pay too much attention to how normal anyone's hands feel. There's also the fact that he hasn't generally held anyone's hands in recent - or not-so-recent - memory. It's not really the sort of thing anyone forgets, of course, but neither is it something that it occurs to him might be a useful source of information.

"Emet-Selch."

By luck or by chance, Clara happens have one of the few things he's almost always willing to be distracted by - conversation. And conversation that isn't thinly-veiled jabs at his moral character, besides.

"Once we escape this fate? Yes, I agree. Both in regards to the ship and its apparent pilot."

[shahrrehth]

"I won't say it's a pleasure, Emet-Selch," and she says the full thing to be respectful, unsure if it's a full first name or a title or not, "but not because of you. I hope you can forgive me for that."

But there's curiosity at that name, as it has a certain... Kryptonian slant to it. She tries to switch languages, for all the good it does.

"Is this a language you know?"

[unnecessaryflourishes]

"Under the circumstances," the deeply unpleasant circumstances, if not necessarily on account of her company, "I think I should be able to find it within me, yes."

Whether it's name or title, he doesn't care to elucidate. It's something to call him, and that will do. That he's used it for centuries besides doesn't hurt either.

The language, on the other hand, has him raising an eyebrow.

"It's not something I've heard before, no. But I can understand it, if that's what you meant?"

[shahrrehth]

That has her frowning, and she'll go through a few more Earth languages, just simple words: bread, horse, would you like a coffee, of course I'll help.

Then she looks at him.

"Did you understand all of that?"

It was a test, just not for him.