prince_of_beasts | [come

[come_sailaway inbox]

A synthesized woman's voice picks up the call.

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Two - Zero - Two - Nine - One - Eight - Two - One - Three - Two -- is not available now. At the tone, please record your message. When you've finished recording, you may hang up or press the # key for more options."

Dimitri hasn't figured out how to customize the thing yet.

Threaded | Flat

Dimitri launches himself back through the door, slips on the night-wet grass, and tumbles to the ground. White stars flash behind his eyes, and he flops onto his back with a broken wheeze, all else wiped out by every part of his body that suddenly hates him.

Clarity returns, and he wishes it hadn't.

He lies there for. A while. Eventually the cat turns up, green eyes boring through him, and Dimitri spends another while telling it the whole wretched story. It drains something out of him; by the time he's done he's still hollow and miserable, but considerably clearer-headed.

He sniffles and wipes his face on his sleeve, then gives the cat a scratch behind the ears. "Thank you, sir Mouser," he says thickly, hauling himself upright. "I'll be sure to bring you some salmon next time I visit the ship."

Then he limps off to retrieve his phone.

Two weeks of unread messages. Dimitri flips through them with mounting horror. He needs to apologize to Darcy. He needs to apologize to everyone.

What the hell can he say?

Darcy,

I'm sorry.

That's not nearly good enough. Dimitri deliberates for a while, typing and retyping, variations on apologies and self-recrimination that won't help or do any good.

At least he can answer the question Darcy actually asked.

Two of the passengers have access to a ... private realm of sorts. They were kind enough to offer me shelter there while I, another pause to type, and retype, and rephrase, couldn't face anyone.

After what I did, I thought you wouldn't want to see me. I thought it would be best if I stayed out of everyone's way. My phone has been in my cabin, so I didn't see your messages until now.

I should have told you where I'd gone. I'm sorry.

Sent.

Now Dimitri gets his first-ever experience with phone anxiety, curled up in his guest-room bed, staring at the small screen and its blue light and its blinking cursor with nauseous dread.

Rich,

I'm sorry for disappearing. I assumed that I wouldn't be welcome, after the way I was during the fight. Darcy has made it clear that you were worried, so I am messaging to reassure you that I am still present onboard, and alive. And my avoidance was in no way your fault. I will try to be more present around the ship, though if you would still prefer not to see me, I understand completely.

And send.

And ... wait.

Saints Dimitri hates this part. But better to do this via text than risk a repeat of what happened with Darcy.

i fuond césar
in our rooom

i dont knwo what happened
or who diid it

somethng killed him
he was hanging there

im so fcuking scared

is anyone awake

Edited 2022-10-11 03:29 (UTC)

Dimitri

DO NOT COME TO THE COTTAGE
REPEAT
DO NOT COME TO THE COTTAGE
Giles is not himself, someone is impersonating him
If you run into Giles do NOT engage and please tell me
Stay safe dear boy

Ossie

[ Late in the evening, a piece of black paper is slid under Dimitri's door. There's no words or signature on it, but there is a crude drawing of a gallows and several blanks in a row: ]

[ Perhaps it's time to play a game. ]

Edited 2022-10-11 22:15 (UTC)

Another passenger has been killed.
ASI.
I see
Aussie
Oswald.
My friend.

I found him dead in Hurricane. I have no proof but I am certain it was the ghost possessing Giles who killed him. His partner
He had a secure location, and he promised me that he'd remain there after Ginger was identified and driven out.

He would not have left for anyone else. Certainly not without asking me or Erin for help.

He promised me he would ask for help.

There's a pause, and then,

Cesar showed me how to make the phone transcribe my voice so I am better at messaging now

It's all hours of the morning. Darcy knocks softly on Dimitri's door, hoping he's awake enough to hear it. He usually is, and the phantom feeling of the Captain's hands on her face will keep her awake if he's not.

[while Friday is taking care of the hard work of resurrecting bodies, Pratt and Sharky have taken on the responsibility of being the Welcome Back Wagon.

so when Dimitri opens the door, he'll find a happy, excursion-themed gift basket. there's a variety of treats and memorabilia, including an extremely tasteful sign, a baseball cap, and some other odds and ends from the gift stores at the lodge ~~that are entirely up to you to pick out~~. there's also a note that reads, "GET ALIVE SOON!" signed by Pratt and Sharky themselves.

welcome home!]

Rich has... given his friends some space, after the whole murder thing. He's sure that they need time to process and deal with what happened. He's sure they'll contact him when they're ready to talk. He doesn't want to be a nuisance, getting involved in shit that he can't really appropriately process for them.

But god, he misses them.

And after about a week, he finally bites the bullet and sends out a barrage of texts. Not the usual, exuberant harassing, but something that probably reads a little more desperately.

hey man
are you doing okay?
i mean as well as you can be after
whatever the hell that was
besides something that you didn't deserve
i've been looking for you
wanted to give something to you
little late xmas gift
it's not much but
had something for darcy too but she isn't answering my texts
so

Are you planning on seeing the drag show this evening? Jeff has explained some of it to me. It is a performance where those involved dress in exaggerated versions of gender roles, regardless of the individual’s gender. I offered to assist with costuming and makeup for the performers before the event. Jeff also has offered to do makeup for me. I turned him down because I do not think it would look good. …But I have been considering it. I hope that would not be too embarrassing.

Edited 2023-01-18 14:29 (UTC)

I have just learned something from Erin that I believe you should hear. We should meet in-person to discuss it.

Can we speak in private? Your room, preferably.

Edited 2023-02-02 05:37 (UTC)

Two things:
1. The captain is most likely a genie. In Earth mythology they are spirits of fire and air that can grant wishes. Can often be bound and controlled with a magical item.
If you're unfamiliar with genies try reading Arabian Nights.
But be careful because it'll look suspicious if a bunch of us started reading the same specific book.

2. Ava Starr found the corpse of a previous passenger and used it to summon a spirit in one of the bars.
The spirit ate the corpse, said "play" and disappeared.
I don't know what it means but it can't be good.
Be prepared for chaos.

Hey Dimitri. Hope you’re resting. How about we put lessons on hold for a while? I think we could all use the break.

theres gonna be something at prom to do with whatever excursion were going on next
dont know what but if you werent planning on going
go
tell who you need to
this is straight from the captains mouth
i dont know anything more than that because the fucker was cryptic as always

A couple of seconds go past,

and dont worry skulduggery knew i was going since she just remembered that conversation and doesn't want him to worry. Even if it's a lie.

and also the tortures are starting up again but you probably figured that since the ghosts are gone now

Edited 2023-06-13 06:05 (UTC)

Knock knock.

Who's there? It's Darcy. There's no joke he's just there.

My Dear Dimitri,

Hullo poppet, how was prom? Did you have a good time? See any of your friends? Get some dancing in?

Ossie

Why yes, he is skirting around the question he wants to ask.

If you have spare time and inclination I am working on a project and would like your advice. Gonna be doing like a Freehold simulation game and my logistics skills they are shit but I can describe material reality as best I can. Gonna be asking Peter too.

Just a heads up, there’s a new passenger here named Demona. Blue skin, big bat wings, red hair, turns to a statue during the day. She almost immediately tried to murder Darcy because he taped paper pigeons to her as a statue and is pretty literally genocidal towards humans. I had to pin her down to get her to stop. So. Watch out for that.

Peace and prosperity.

I'm not in a fit state for patrol work.

I'll notify you if that changes.

- Tayrey

[If, not when. Very deliberate.]

Threaded | Flat

no subject

build fires to keep the beacon flashing [backdated to the first week of September]

early morning of the 11th, cw mention of hanging

Mid-Erin conversation thread

evening of the 11th

sent to Darcy and SecUnit, shortly after the discovery of Ossie's body

Post-Captain-Negging

[post-excursion]

no subject

Before Drag Show