open 💫 lights out tonight

[furibund]

Who: nebula & you
When: post event 18
Where: solvunn, horizon
What: may-june catch all
Warnings: None intended but it's Nebula. Mentions of past trauma/non-consensual body modifications/child abuse are always possible (but will be warned for).

Feel free to make up your own prompts/adust as needed/wildcard/or reach out to plot with me! These are all just backbone for whatever. hopewillbloom or discor are the best ways to reach out to me!

Comments

[furibund]

[ Nebula's gaze falls first to the table turned to makeshift ping pong table with a scowl - then to the other woman's hand where she catches the glint of silver foil. Her first instinct is to snap to put it down, she refrains which rewards her with Hilda putting it back in the first place. ]

[ She exhales, a sound low and rough: ]

How would you know? Not like you've ever been here before.

[theidlemaiden]

[ A rare, nervous laugh spills from her lips. ] 

You're right, but I'd apologize all the same even if I had been. 

[ Then again would she have step foot in here if she had known? Being a chatterbox it's not often that she falters or stumbles on her words, but she does here. Thankfully the silence isn't as long as she makes it out to be in her mind. ] 

Is this what a spaceship looks like? Rocket and the Doctor told me a little about them but I haven't seen one before now. 

[furibund]

Well. Don't.

[ Apologize she means, but the gruffness bleeds in with any sincerity. She keeps her distance in the way a feral cat greets a stranger. For all intents in purposes, isn't that what Hilda is? They'd met once before and then - then all of that. And her skin itches at getting closer, because she doesn't like that persnal kind of betrayal. ]

[ And yet she remains. She'd claim it's because this is her Horizon, stubborn as she is. She moves forward to snatch up the folded paper. ]

It's a fairly standard passenger ship. Base model you can get just about anywhere with the right money. I don't know what the Doctor's are like.

[ ... At least she's answering? ]

[theidlemaiden]

[ A cheekier vibe might have had her saying that it's too bad she already has and can't very well take it back now - but she's always known how to read a room, and that comment might not be so well received. It's probably better to save it for another time.

The fact that Nebula is talking though and hasn't completely booted her out of her space is a good sign though. Maybe? ]

I haven't seen it yet either but the way he talks about it really makes it sound like he cares for her a lot.

[ There's another glance around the room, possibly an attempt to distract from her own nerves before it lands on the table. ]

Are these common in ships too?

[furibund]

[ She snorts, half-heartedly. ]

Sounds about right.

[ About the Doctor - he cares too much about every little thing. Even so it wouldn't have sounded particularly odd. Men had an odd habit of naming their ships and being overly attached, Rocket wasn't much better sometimes. Quill was the worst. Not that she knows the Doctor's particular sentiments. ]

[ Her brows furrow over now too light eyes as she answers, incredulous: ]

A table?

[theidlemaiden]

[ It takes her a moment to clue in to the fact that she might have said something silly or stupid. Hilda's expression goes from cautiously curious to a furrowed brow. ]

Wha - no! I know it's a table.

[ She points towards the make shift set up across it. ]

That! That's what I mean.

[furibund]

[ Bonus: At least she's not trying to be mean (right?). Hilda clues in and Nebula's eyes fall to where she points - the downward twitch of her lips would be the only normal visible response. Would be, but now her eyes are that soft lilac color and there's a flash of something before - ]

No. I doubt there is.

[ After a moment, but she doesn't elaborate. Just turns her head away as if to avoid it. ] You can look around if you don't get in my way.

[ Sorry, Hilda, if you want more of an answer you'll have to ask more :( ]

[theidlemaiden]

[ While all of the time they had spent in the dream hadn't been real (she has to tell herself it isn't because otherwise she'd go mad), it doesn't erase the fact that perceptive eyes catch the flash of something in Nebula's gaze.

As soon as Nebula begins to walk away though it catches her off guard. Some of Hilda's hesitation is shaken off as she starts after her. ]

What - wait! What is it? If it's not just a table that is.

[furibund]

What? It is just a table.

[ She fights the urge to roll her eyes, because ultimately it is - but no they both mean something else and she knows it. She looks away. ]

Someone else did that. For something he called paper football.

[theidlemaiden]

[ Despite her earlier caution it's clear that Hilda isn't about to let this go. They both know it's not a table and now Nebula has stirred Hilda's curiosity - which is to say that she's unlikely to back down now. Even if it's over a table.

The "he" clearly isn't Rocket, otherwise she would have said so. But she knows better than to try and coax that from her right at this moment. So instead she starts elsewhere. ]

What's paper football? Is that a game from your world?

[furibund]

No.

[ Immediate, again, she releases a breath. Tosses the metalic silver object shaped in a triangle back on the table. ]

It's something from Terra - Earth - I couldn't tell you if it's popular. Or if it was real. He made it up for something to do while we waited to die.

[theidlemaiden]

[ Hilda's eyes followed the silver ball and its lack of bounce before immediately darting back towards Nebula. It's clear that she wants to ask what she means by "waiting to die". Should she? Why would anyone say that if they have the slightest notion that someone may ask about it?

Instead she files it away for later along with the matter of how this mysterious "he" is. ]

...Would you teach me? Paper football that is. It sounds like you played it a lot so you're probably a professional at it.

[furibund]

[ The good news is, it's Nebula, so she'd probably answer - the bad news is that's just sad information and do you want more of that Hilda? ]

[ Instead, she folds arms once more over themselves - metal always atop mostly organic - as she scowls at the woman. It's not like she's forgotten why she wants to keep this distance between them. She hasn't. But maybe it's a god thing? Maybe she should try for Rocket? ]

[ Hard to say. After a moment she gives a slight shake of her head, asks a single direct word instead: ]

Why?

[theidlemaiden]

[ She's used to bad information and sad stories – most people here seem to have them. But it's not about her not wanting to hear it. It's more about trying to avoid Nebula from possibly relaying something painful or unpleasant. Admittedly people scowling at her isn't common. But Nebula isn't the first person to scowl at her and probably wouldn't be the last. And maybe in the past she might have given up a long time ago never mind even lingered here this long, but she didn't want her pushy god self to be the reason that her interactions with Nebula were so tense.

So she stays. And she blinks several times. ] 

Why not? Domains are made with intention, right? So if you didn't want to play with someone you probably wouldn't have it here. 

[furibund]

I didn't make it.

[ Because she didn't - not intentionally, anyway. It's one of those things - a memory of a different time, a memory of someone she wanted to remember. Even if she doesn't admit it to others. The Horizon seemed to pull it out of her, in its way, and for a moment the anger at being known in a way she doesn't want to rises. She swallows it down, thinks and then addresses: ]

It's here as a memorial. [ Is it? She doesn't quite know, but it sounds right. ] So I don't forget.

[ Him or the time they had here - She does think this much is right. She had memory trouble before after showing up here. The incident recently only increases her desire to hang on to the things that are hers alone. ]