text | anonymous

[fuchsiative]

[ if someone told clarice she'd be reaching out to the rest of her cohort almost the instant she finds her footing on the station, she'd have laughed in their face. frankly, she would have preferred to keep her head down, stay out of the way until she was needed.

but some things were necessary, and dealing with a whole set of people whose backgrounds and experiences she had no clue about necessitated some information-gathering.

reaching out anonymously seemed like a good compromise. ]

mutant

[ she's here for one reason, and one reason only. making a list of those she had to steer clear from is only going to help her achieve her goal in the long run. ]

what does that word mean to you?

Comments

[blackfire]

（ it is not uncommon in his world for the unusual to be ostracized. bloodline limits are feared and fabled in the same breath. it was more unusual than not in other countries to have a child of a bloodline such as his raised among family. many were left orphans, struggling to survive in a place that would use them cruelly or kill them.

he recognizes her tendency. the deflection, making a quip of a matter most would take seriously as the grave. it only makes him cant his head faintly to one side in brief study, and then he turns back to his work. ）

There are many here who enjoy communal cooking, and take no issue with sharing. I suspect Viveca-san may have words for you, should you attempt to forage in such a manner here.

（ despite the fact it's said in his customary deadpan, it is actually

a joke.

sort of

if you squint. ）

[fuchsiative]

[ she's about three-quarters done with her tofu by the time he makes his joke (???), prompting her to glance up in curiosity. she doesn't notice it for what it is or what it could be, just that it seemed... off... somehow. almost unnecessary, where every other thing he's said thus far had such purpose.

slowly, she licks at the leftover sauce on her lips, catches what she missed with the back of her hand. ]

I'll keep that in mind.

[ there's so little inflection in his voice, and even less nuance in his expression, that for all she knows he's being 1000% serious. serious as a grave. and, well, she's met people with a debilitating lack of humor before so it's not entirely unusual. ]

Any other sage advice? From a veteran to a rookie.

[blackfire]

（ when socially awkward hypervigilant people who've spent years in survival mode collide...? #blessed.

as he's stirring soy sauce into the sizzling cabbage — ）

Are there areas you wish to solicit advice on? Presently, were I to take a metaphoric 'stab in the dark' at such a thing, I expect it would only seem arrogant of me. I do not know enough of you to presume what may be useful to you, or what is already familiar.

（ he prefers to use his words deliberately, or not speak at all. ）

[fuchsiative]

[ there are a lot of things she could ask about. ximilia, how it works. the missions themselves. what the deal with the orbs is. is it even worth putting in any amount of hope...

but above all that is the elephant that's been following her around since she agreed to all this, the second-most glaring hole in her metaphorical resume. (the first being actual control of her powers.) ]

Tell me about this team.

[ she leaves exactly one tofu in the bowl — a great show of restraint on her part. and maybe a quiet display of trust that he won't let her go hungry like many have before. ]

You probably can't tell, but I haven't exactly worked with one before. What do you think about them?

[ see, she can bring her own deadpan humor to the table. the two of them are absolutely great at parties. ]

[blackfire]

（ he turns off the stove, begins portioning out rice into extra bowls, and then adds the cabbage topping — all before he says anything in response to that question. it is not an invalid curiosity by any means. it is in line with what he has seen of her so far, cautious and wary the way one often is when moving through enemy territory.

he brings the bowls over with utensils, and this time sits as well a polite distance away from her. ）

That is a complicated question.

（ he says, finally — similarly humourous in the sense he's certain she already understands it to be so. ）

I have been here for seven months. In that time, I have come to understand that most of those who are here are decent people who wish to help each other. Individually, I have seen many of them be brave, self-sacrificial, compassionate, forgiving.

（ the last one, more than the others, has been hardest for him to bear. ）

I have also seen them be angry, foolish, naïve and dangerous. As with any group of individuals, how they manage these emotions depends entirely on their own nature and who happens to be near them while they are experiencing them. I do not trust any of them completely, but I do not think any are especially duplicitous. Nor have I met anyone I feel will judge you for your appearance, should that be a concern. Peter Quill will likely say it's 'neat', and go on to talk at length about his girlfriend, who has green skin and cybernetic implants.

（ he sparred with her on several occasions in the short time she was here. a notable opponent. ）

[fuchsiative]

[ clarice sits back in her seat as she lets the rice and cabbage cool, enjoying the warm burn on the palms of her hands as she cups the bowl. she listens, even if her gaze has now become far away. ]

Back home... people are afraid of me because of what I am. What I can do. And then there are other people who want to celebrate it. To use what I can do for themselves.

[ she scoffs, something dark and derisive. ]

One man's monster is another man's martyr.

[ she takes in a deep breath, finally leaning forward to make herself a spoonful, but it hovers untouched in front of her mouth. ]

I've been stupid before, and trusted the wrong people.

I promised myself I wouldn't be stupid again.

[ and yet, here she is. agreeing to a long shot. listening to and eating food made by a stranger. ]

[blackfire]

（ it's a familiar refrain. stories of this nature are not uncommon on the ximilia, and he himself knows what it is like to be bound up in societal mores of this nature. ）

There are those here with a variety of abilities. Cultivators, that use qi, mages who employ Charter Marks, those that draw from the fabric of reality itself. There are enormous, sentient modes of transportation that are older than one can easily imagine. One man claims to be yosei — called 'faerie' in another tongue. Some even have awareness of how to resurrect the dead. Whatever your ability may be, I doubt it will alarm or offend anyone here to the point of your being in danger.

（ the amount of people who take in his abilities without so much as a blink is unsettling, even for one from a world where the majority of what he can do is commonplace. he is still bemused that using susano'o alongside jim has not merited interrogation. ）

However... it is necessary to keep in mind that you do not need to trust anyone here to work alongside them. We all have our own motivations and agendas, and ultimately there is no guarantee they will overlap comfortably with your own.

（ he's the last person that would ever advocate to be trusted. mr worldwide: betrayal tour 2009 at work here tbqh. ）

[fuchsiative]

[ she'd wondered, of course, about the kind of people brought here. how much of their skills matched their desperation to fix a mistake, if there were any correlation to begin with.

hearing all that... it's — not comforting, not really. but she won't deny there's a bit of relief there. knowing her abilities could rank quite low on the metaphorical totem pole.

all she'd ever really wanted was to fade away into obscurity, after all. ]

I'm looking forward to being one of the boring ones.

[ that's not at all what he said or implied, but she's taking it to mean that way anyway. and with that, she finally indulges in a bite. or seven. ]

[blackfire]

（ very few people crave obscurity, so much so that it's notable for that alone. one eyebrow quirks faintly, and he eats several bites in silence. then: ）

If that's what you desire.

（ who is he to argue, really? ）

However, your personal goals may occasionally necessitate standing out. Ah — they are assigned by the orbs themselves on our missions. Without completing them, that orb will not assist you with your regret when they are all assembled.

[fuchsiative]

[ the sound clarice makes — resonating somewhere from the back of her throat, exiting through her nose — is far from surprised. derisive and maybe even exasperated, she bites down a little too hard on the spoon she'd been using to shovel the rice and cabbage into her mouth. ]

Of course there'd be a catch. [ as if missions weren't enough of an ask. but she's the one with the bigger ask here, isn't she? still — figures. ]

So what kind've goals have they thrown at you?

[blackfire]

I've been tasked with holding hands with someone for a specific duration, confessing my guiltiest pleasure and betraying someone.

（ he lifts a shoulder in a vague sort of shrug. ）

They seem to range from the cruel to the whimsical.

[fuchsiative]

[ she stares at him for a second, as if waiting for him to laugh at his own joke.



then realizes he's probably not the kind of person to do either of those things. ]

Well. I hope they weren't all to the same person, or you'd be sending some major mixed signals.

[blackfire]

No.

（ variety is the spice of what now?

a n y w a y. ）

People understand, by and large, that we are all in pursuit of the same thing — most are willing to assist with the completion of a goal.

[fuchsiative]

Sounds positively warm and fuzzy.

[ all for one and one for all, that sort of thing? clarice will believe it when she sees it.

but, skeptical as she is, she's not without her manners. she gestures to the bowls in front of her — yep, both empty. did she just inhale all that? ]

Thanks for the meal. Do me another favor and leave the dishes to me.

[blackfire]

As you wish.

（ it is not his nature — he does not like leaving work to others, but he understands too well the need to keep an engagement transactional.

so, he leaves the dishes in a spectacularly neat pile (and does wipe down the counters, since she did not specify as much) before claiming a spot to sit and eat his own food in an easy, companionable silence he is not prompted to fill.

4 stars, a+, would converse again, etc etc. ）