1.

[sharpsurprise]

Turn on camera

Turn camera on

[The feed flickers, and then the newly-calm (or perhaps... too calm) Barge is treated to a close-up of half a nose and part of an eye. The close-up is muttering in Japanese, the image occassionally moving]

Should I just say it...? Ah, I should have read it more carefully...

[suddenly the face moves back, revealing a frowning young man. He's lit by a lantern that sits in a corner, just visible in the background. He looks tired, a little bit too skinny and too pale, but he starts beaming when he apparently notices that the camera is already on. He speaks in English from now on]

I did it, huh? [he sits back and waves cheerfully, tucking some of his long hair behind his ear with the other hand]

I guess everyone's been pretty busy the last few weeks, so I hope I'm not disturbing you. My name is Souji Okita, and I'm new here! I'll work hard to fit in, but I'm still getting used to everything, so go easy on this old man... Oh! I walked around a little bit, and it seems pretty dark! If anyone needs them, I found a lantern and some candles in my room. Please ask me if you need help!

Comments

[strangehistorian]

How did you come to pledge your loyalty?

[Chromie stacks a few books on her chair before taking a seat just so she can see over the tabletop. Whatever works.]

[sharpsurprise]

[smiles, a little wistfully]

I... When I was very young, there were two men. They took me in after I got into some trouble, and they taught me a lot. How to fight, how to defend myself, and... other things, too. When they wanted to follow a righteous cause, it only seemed natural to follow them. I knew I could be useful to them. [he coughs softly into his hand]

[strangehistorian]

[Chromie tilts her head, birdlike, at the cough but doesn't comment.]

Do you still fight alongside them?

[sharpsurprise]

I do. [he coughs again, though he's obviously restraining it.] It is very hard for me to imagine myself doing anything else. That is-- I'll do my best here. But I've been doing the same thing for a long time.

[strangehistorian]

Ahh, a feeling I'm familiar with. I served in my flight for... several hundred years.

[Hmm, how do help that cough while still being polite.]

...Would you like a cup of tea?

[sharpsurprise]

[he blinks a little. He didn't actually think she was young, but that old...?]

That's quite some time, Miss Chromie! Ah-- [he'd just put his hand back up to his mouth to cough, and he smiles at her as he puts it back in his lap]

That would be very nice. Thank you. So... how did you come to serve?

[strangehistorian]

Pardon, this might be a little bright.

[She puts her hands flat on the table - they have four fingers each, she is not quite human - and two cups of Darnassian honey tea appear in a flash of blue.

It's a spell, of course, not quite real tea. But it tastes and feels the same while you're drinking it, even the steam and the weight of the little spoon sitting on the saucer.]

Here? Or at home, for my flight?

[sharpsurprise]

[He wouldn't even think about it not being real. He's polite enough not to marvel for too long, and considering he's on a ship in outer space where he can talk through little machines, he's not really too surprised.

Tea is a nice comfort, even if the flavor's unfamiliar. He wraps his hands around the cup and lets the steam soothe his airways a little.]

Thank you! That's a pretty amazing ability, Miss Chromie. I meant at home! [he feels the reason for her coming here is probably too personal; he knows his is. He wouldn't be eager to tell anyone.]

[strangehistorian]

It comes in handy! The flight is my family, at home. We are all born into our duties!

[sharpsurprise]

Oh! So how old were you when you started?

[strangehistorian]

Well, my schooling lasted for the first five years, and then I started assisting the older dragons when I was six. I wasn't trusted with my own duties until well into my hundreds, though.

[sharpsurprise]

Aah, Miss Chromie is so experienced... [he takes a sip of his tea, sighing contently] It's really very impressive. You could teach a lot of people a lot of things, I think!

[strangehistorian]

Well, that is why I'm here! But my experiences as they were are very hard to explain or apply to mortal lives, sometimes...

[sharpsurprise]

[He clearly starts to answer, but he suddenly frowns. He puts his teacup down before pulling a piece of cloth out of his sleeve. He coughs a few times, strongly, seemingly determined to get it out of the way as soon as possible. A few beads of sweat appear on his temple during the process. He tucks the cloth back into his sleeve afterwards and takes a sip.]

Excuse me. Ah, like what? The experiences, I mean.

[strangehistorian]

Are you quite alright?

[Chromie half-leans over the table, concerned.]

[sharpsurprise]

[Wipes a thumb over the corner of his mouth, worrying that it might come away red]

I-I'm okay. Thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt you, I'm sorry.

[strangehistorian]

Certainly you didn't do it on purpose.

[She sits back, but still looks worried.]

I do not want to pry. Do you mind if I ask whether this is a recent affliction?

[sharpsurprise]

[He sighs a little, but he doesn't look annoyed. Just tired.]

That's alright. I'm afraid it isn't, Miss Chromie. It's... been a few years.

[strangehistorian]

Ah, I am sorry. That is more burdensome. Do you know the cause? Our medical services here are excellent.

[sharpsurprise]

It... [He hesitates a little. After all, he's only been here for a very short time. To already be telling someone this...]

It's incurable. That is to say, a doctor told me what it is. No one knows how to cure it.

[strangehistorian]

I am very sorry.

[She doesn't touch him, but does set her hand palm-down on his side of the table. Sympathy.]

[sharpsurprise]

[he twitches a smile at her, acknowledging the gesture. He coughs again, briefly.]

Thank you, Miss Chromie. Ah, but we all have our problems, right? It can be managed, until it can't.

[strangehistorian]

An expression of the condition of being alive, I suppose.

[She sits back and cups her mug of tea, letting it warm her hands.]

[sharpsurprise]

[he smiles a little more at that. Her calm demeanor does wonders to calm him down, too-- even in the face of being here, even with what his deal is.]

Miss Chromie is immortal, right? So, can you get sick?

[strangehistorian]

Well, I was for most of my life! It's a trickier question now.