WEEK 3: April 15th - April 19th

[cartesio]

Third Week

The peaceful times are over. Moloch von Zinzer was murdered, and Nine was sentenced as his murderer. Everyone in Cartesio knows that.

Although life goes on, it seems the town of Cartesio isn't going to forget the tourists' transgressions. Not only they commited larceny in the cinema, they also murdered and executed in their town! It's no surprise their hospitality towards the visitors has cooled down considerably.

Not only they're maintaining a tense cordiality with them, they also have started talking behind the visitors' backs. All kinds of rumors are starting to sprout, yet nobody seems to be willing to say it to the tourists' faces. Talking directly to most passerby makes them distrustful, and nobody seems to want to be in close quarters alone with them.

It's only matter of time before the relationship between tourists and Cartesio starts degrading even further.

In the lobby of the motel there's a few more brochures, and the maps have been updated once again.

Links

IC Rules
Guestbook
Room Assignments
Events
Locations
NPCs
Activity Check

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

[Welcome to the third week! If you want to contact the Sergeant, please post here!. Also please remember to submit your activity check!]

Comments

[marmoron]

[He's grabbing the next box.]

Hard to make regular visits back home when you're fighting a war millions of light-years away.

[It's stated fairly matter-of-factly, like that's just... normal.]

[robitussin]

...Well, that sucks.

[A very large understatement.]

What were you fighting?

[marmoron]

[That's another box on the ground. The next one's the one they want, so Keith's picking that one up and moving it over towards Natalie.]

An advanced race of aliens that want to either take over or destroy entire planets.

[Kneeling down, he starts opening the box. Again it's all matter-of-fact. He knows how this all sounds, and his tone seems to be getting dryer and dryer for it, like an unspoken yeah, call it crazy whatever. He looks up at her.]

The Galra. [A beat.] I was fighting the Galra.

[robitussin]

[She's been operating on a base assumption that everyone here is from somewhere incredibly strange, but it's the last thing he says that really throws her off. It shows in her expression.]

I... But, your biography thing?

[marmoron]

[Natalie's sharp -- good memory, inquisitive as fuck. It's the main reason why Keith's avoided much conversation about the subject with her in particular. Not that any of this stuff is "secret" exactly, but explaining things is something he doesn't have a tremendous amount of patience for. For what it's worth, he is trying now, but....]

...I'm half-Galra, yeah. Doesn't mean I support the destruction of the universe.

[He'll hand Natalie her pepper spray as he stands up again. It's not really her fault that he's so tired of Galra sympathizer accusations, but... it's tiring.]

Not all Galrans are in lockstep with central command either. It's not like all Galra are the same, you know.

[robitussin]

[She takes the pepper spray, but listens until he's finished talking.]

...I'm not accusing you of anything. And - you can tell me to back off anytime you want, just so you know.

[She's curious, but she has enough boundaries of her own to know just how aggravating it can be to have them disregarded. She doesn't want to do that.]

But I don't know, actually. That's why I was asking.

[marmoron]

[There's a pause at that though; Keith glances away for a second then:]

Sorry.

[Feels awfully like their first conversation, huh.]

I don't mean to get irritable. It's just -- a lot of people back home make being part Galra out to be some big deal and think it's okay to just assume we're all out to do them dirty, but ... [Sigh.]

Our most valuable allies in the war are Galrans who've formed a network of informants trying to take the empire down from within. It's never all good or all bad.

[robitussin]

...Sounds like those people are dicks.

[It's blunt, but she means it to be understanding in her own way.]

You don't have to apologize, though. Sounds like there's a whole ton to be irritable about there.

[marmoron]

[Keith shakes his head.]

It's because people have been enslaved. Or they've had their home plane destroyed. Galra don't have a bad reputation for nothing.

[There's an attempt at a smile, but it's not all that convincing. It took Keith a pretty long time to accept his own heritage really.]

Not that any of that really matters here. But what about you? This the longest you've been away from home?

[robitussin]

Maybe they don't, but it sounds like you might have a bad reputation for nothing.

[And that's an important distinction, to her. All the same, she nods.]

Family vacations usually last a week at most, so I'm not in the habit of being away from home for nearly a month. Besides, those aren't on nearly the same level as this.

[marmoron]

[Bad reputation for nothing, huh. Removed from context, it just gets Keith to smile -- a touch more genuinely this time. He did, after all, just spend about half a week in jail for breaking and entering. Not what Natalie means at all, but still.]

Heh. The people in Cartesio need a vacation from Cartesio.

[Just saying. They're all just so distressed about everything. But more seriously:]

You miss your parents? Home?

[robitussin]

If only we could talk the Sergeant into giving us a day pass or something.

[It sounds lightly amused, too, but the question removes some of that from her voice. She pauses for a moment too long for it to be natural, before pushing the words out.]

Yeah, sure. I mean, basically anywhere beats being here, right?

[marmoron]

[He considers this for a moment, but doesn't pursue it.]

Home's never a good topic, seems like.

[robitussin]

[A small nod.]

Maybe that's what we all have in common. I've cracked the code.

[marmoron]

[That gets a small smile.\

Want a bear trap as a prize?

[robitussin]

[There's another noise of amusement, shaking her head.]

Yeah, of course. I absolutely want a bear trap, which I definitely have a use for. Mighty hunter, and all that.

[marmoron]

[There's a nonchalant shrug.]

I keep one set by the door while I'm sleeping.

[HE IS 100% SERIOUS HERE, NATALIE.]

[robitussin]

...Yeah, that doesn't really surprise me. All the same, I think I'm good on the bear trap front.

[marmoron]

Suit yourself.

[He kneels back down to start closing that box back up and get his room reorganized. He considers doing so in silence, but he's trying not to be so awkward, so after a moment he simply picks what they were talking about back up.]

We were planning to go back to Earth before I woke up here. I wanted to see it again, but... not like this.

[robitussin]

[There's a small frown, but it's more at the situation that prompts 'not like this' than anything else.]

Not by having to do... What he wants you to do, you mean?