open | all I want is the moon upon a stick

[vaccination]

Date & Time: October 10th onwards.
Location: Around the base.
Characters: Ellie and you.
Summary: Ellie's hangin' around, totally over this moon business.
Warnings: Swearing.



a. the cafeteria
[Ellie sits at one of the tables in the cafeteria, a pyramid of upside-down cups stacked in front of her. It's certainly not the sturdiest of structures, but she's spent some time on it, and she's vaguely proud of her accomplishment. They only clattered to the floor once or twice.

Now that she's done, she leans back and slides down a few inches in her seat. Well. That killed twenty minutes.

She reaches out a hand to slowly nudge one of the cups at the bottom corner of her pyramid. That might be loud if she keeps going.]

b. the observatory
[Space is cool. It kind of makes her feel like she's falling when she looks out the window or through any screens, but she keeps coming back to the observatory to do just that. She's not sure if she likes that feeling or not. The wasteland where Exsilium once was is still visible, but Ellie doesn't seem to pay it much mind right now. She's lying on her back on the floor, sneakers propped up against a wall, comic book held over her face.

Every now and then she makes some sort of noise. This comic is so intense.]

Comments

a

[thorny]

[Rose is ostensibly in the cafeteria for a glass of water, but she's really meandered over to do some people-watching. there's only so much that can keep her from stewing on the relative impotence being trapped on a moon base lends them, and nothing is more relaxing than trying to analyze strangers through their meal choices.

with a mission like that it's pretty hard to miss Ellie and her Great Pyramid of Cups. after getting herself the water that she has only mild intentions of actually drinking, Rose wanders over to where Ellie's sitting. she observes the structure in silence for a moment before commenting conversationally]

Wouldn't it be more interesting to see how many you can remove before it comes down rather than beginning with wholesale destruction?

[vaccination]

What, like Jenga?

[She looks over at her company. A lot of things from before the infection were lost, but Ellie was at least familiar with some games.]

[thorny]

More or less, although with slightly decreased competition unless you're extending the invitation.

[vaccination]

[Ellie shrugs, motioning to the chair across from her.]

Bring it on.

[thorny]

[she settles herself down carefully, moving the glass of water aside just in case one of them messes up in a big way. once positioned she turns her attention to the pyramid and slooowly nudging one of the middle tier cups out of place, counting on the spacing being tight enough that its absence won't be missed]

This would be the appropriate moment to suggest heightening the stakes with some ludicrous wager, but I'm afraid that I left all of my precious valuables several universes back. I suppose we'll simply have to rely on the thrill of the game for enjoyment.

[vaccination]

Yeah, I don't really have anything to trade that isn't freeze-dried food. [Which isn't really all that bad. Ellie watches her move the cup, then takes the one on the opposite side. Balance.]

What's your name?

[thorny]

Rose. A pleasure, I'm sure.

[Rose can certainly appreciate the aesthetics of symmetry, even in something as silly as a cup pyramid. she moves up a level, carefully nudging another cup out of place]

I'm fairly certain that the only thing anyone currently has to barter here are intangible goods, which unfortunately carry the difficulty of having wildly fluctuating prices. Hardly a stable form of currency.

[vaccination]

Ellie.

[Ellie tries to do the same thing on that level, but the tower wobbles dangerously...! But still stands. Somehow. Fuck.]

Loser has to walk to the coffee machine and make a cup for the winner?

[thorny]

That sounds acceptable. Barista-dom is typically the domain of failure and shattered dreams, after all.

[yeesh, that was a close one. what Rose should do is go for a cheap shot and grab a cup off the very top, but that's not particularly daring. so what she does instead is go for one RIGHT AT THE VERY BOTTOM

by the amount of wild quaking the tower does and the amount of stop and go required to inch it out, it's quite obvious that the next couple of turns will make or break the game]

[vaccination]

Oh man, I'm fucked.

[She huffs, trying to find a good spot to swipe a cup--but no go. It's over. With a groan, she grabs a random one...

And there's a loud-ass crash as the remaining cups fall, bouncing off the table and onto the floor.]

[thorny]

[Rose ducks her head, using the pretense of looking for cover as a way to cover up her giggles. mature young adults didn't find cup towers crashing to the ground funny.

(mature young adults also didn't play cup jenga with said tower in the firest place but she's ignoring that)

her tone is harmlessly amused when she speaks, offering her condolences to Ellie]

It was more bad luck in turn allocation than a skill-based failure.

[vaccination]

[This girl speaks weird. Not that speech is the weirdest thing she's encountered, being on the moon and all.]

Yeah, I should have started. Definitely not my fault. I'm pretty damn good at Jenga.

[She gets up to start picking up the cups.]

So, coffee?

[thorny]

If you would. I'd ask for the customary cream and sugar to go with it, but that would simply unnecessarily be rubbing our situation in.

[Rose begins to neatly stack any cups that landed near her, occasionally bending down to reach the few that rolled beneath her chair. no reason not to help, after all]

Perhaps the next time we decide to have a game-based battle of supremacy we ought to choose something a little less reliant on chance, such as chess.

[vaccination]

Ha ha.

[She's not too annoyed, at least. Fair is fair. At the mention of chess, she sighs.]

Oh, man. I've always wanted to learn how to play that game.

Be right back.

[With the cups gathered in her arms, she goes to put them back and head over to the coffee machine.]

[thorny]

[Rose waits patiently for her return, watching the other people in the cafeteria come and go. when Ellie is within earshot she speaks again]

While I don't usually have the opportunity to practice as much as I'd like, it's still quite an enjoyable game. But then I suppose it wouldn't be such an enduring classic if it weren't.

[while it's no lie that Rose enjoys chess, she couldn't honestly say that she'd picked it up purely from an honest interest in the game. it was much easier to get people to take you seriously when you played chess rather than Pictionary]

[vaccination]

[She sets down a hot cup of coffee, having gotten one for herself, too.]

Think there are any sets up here?

[thorny]

[Rose slides the cup towards her, blowing lightly on the steaming contents as she waits for it to cool down a bit]

If there aren't I wouldn't imagine it would be too difficult to acquire one on a jaunt down to earth. Game boards aren't exactly heavily guarded items.

[vaccination]

I think the people here could use some board games to pass the time.

[thorny]

I have a sneaking suspicion that we're edging in on the maddening level of cabin fever that can only be remedied by constructing tiny scale models of famous landmarks.

[vaccination]

Cups aren't too good for that.

[thorny]

Not unless you're looking to recreate the cluster of pyramids near Giza, that is.

[vaccination]

Geezer? What?

[Ellie has no idea what she just said.]

[thorny]

Giza. It's a city in Egypt which has the infinite honor of housing the great pyramids which are the only remaining wonder from the ancient world. I've been told they're quite the marvel to behold in person.

[Rose is going to be really generous and assume she's from a universe that doesn't have an Earth-like equivalent. hopefully.]

[vaccination]

Oh. I think I've seen pictures of those. Lots of sand, right?

[Nope, such things exist in Ellie's world. She just doesn't have the best of educations.]

[thorny]

[thiskillstheman.jpg]

Sand and ancient curses. It's not surprising considering that both items are main exports of Egypt.