Session 64 - A Friend Not Forgotten

Previously, Across the Horizon...
Days before the Meteor split from the Starfall, our brave adventurers found themselves with downtime aboard their ship as it drifted through the sky, with the Triad behind it but Machanon still some distance away.
The horizon held potential grand adventure, though there was still time to spare for the group to get to know their crew, and for the crew to really get to know their officers.
Most of the crew knew of their officers: everyone knew Linnet, of course, and everyone knew to salute whenever the captain showed up, because it seemed to irritate him to no end, and one does not need to tell a troupe of actors if they should or should not heckle their own director.
The other three, though, were primarily known as rumors.
"He's an artist, and you know how artists are... tortured by their own genius, forever trying to transfer their vision to paper, forever struggling to really create what they see in their mind."
"She's on the run because she killed someone." "The wrong someone?" "No. The right someone, but for the wrong someone."
"Have you ever been alone in a room with him? He's always looking around, behind him. Like someone's following him. Like something's haunting him."
A little team-building exercise, someone figured, would have worked wonders to really bring the group together, for everyone to learn something about each other, and for perhaps two-thirds of the ship to stop reflexively flinching every time Isa entered a room.
Unfortunately, it did not quite go as planned.
We join our adventurers as they attempt to figure out the aftermath...
**
Celeste closes the door to the kitchen behind her and drops into one of the wooden chairs by what has become known as the Potato Peeling Station. "Okay," she says to the officers at large, or at least the ones that remain, "clearly I said something wrong. Does Orrey have a family thing happening?"
Isa is no stranger to KP, so has her hair bound up in a cloth and suds to her elbows as she scrubs. "His sister's a brat, but the rest of them seemed nice," she answers.
Celeste dressed up for the team-building exercise, opting for a white blouse with drapey sleeves, a pair of violet pants, and black ankle boots with thin purple laces. That ever-present dagger is at her hip, though the belt she's wearing with it is maybe as gaudy as the dagger itself. "His mood dropped as soon as his sister got mentioned. I thought there were enough Alyons that family would be a safe topic of conversation. Linnet mentioned there were probably two dozen, from her estimation," Celeste adds, though her voice betrays some doubt at Linnet's memory, or perhaps her math.
"Two dozen seems a little high," Isa says with a trace of uncertainty. "But I got the feeling the family was used to a certain bond, so any strife is going to hit that much harder."
"Would that everyone was an only child," Celeste grumps. "My life's a lot easier."
Isa sets a pot onto a drying rack with a clank. She is lost in thought for a moment. "Mine wouldn't be," she finally concludes.
Celeste watches Isa for a moment herself. "Probably not," she agrees. "Want to talk about it?"
"About Myrta?" Isa shrugs, moves on to the next pan. "She wasn't at home when we went to Platzhalter, so who knows where we stand. Reminds me, want to come to her birthday? I was told to extend invitations 'at my discretion' and you know that's always a good time."
Celeste lights up. "Do I finally get to see the map room?"
"Absolutely. Just...don't offer edits in front of my mother."
"I'll leave them in a letter."
"With instructions that it not be delivered until we're well clear."
"Yes." Celeste looks giddy at the idea of actually seeing the fabled Map Room at long last.
Another thought occurs to Isa, and there is a water-muffled clunk as she drops the pan she was working on. "Oh, shit. We're going to have to dress them."
"Dress who?" Celeste's brain catches up to her mouth. "Oh, wait, like... Orrey and everyone?"
"Yeaaaaah," Isa drags out. "I think we can count on Linnet, at least."
"I like Linnet," Celeste says, placing a qualifier on her next statement. "I'm just worried about Linnet's... hm. Freedom? Spirit? Linnet's particular sense of self, perhaps, in a Cardian setting."
"Fair. But you're all going to be foreign, so there will be a little leeway. Really, I just need to make sure she understands that the music isn't participatory."
Celeste wrinkles her nose. "I think you should have her ask forgiveness on that one after the fact."
Isa nods, and moves on to scrubbing a small kettle. "Probably. If I sat them all down for a full briefing, they'd probably think that was overkill, yeah?"
"I mean, depending on when Myrta's birthday hits, they could just be used to it with you. I remember the first time you and I went out for drinks together. You very nearly drew a map in the dirt so I knew where we were going. I'm surprised you didn't map out escape routes if someone tried to actually buy us drinks." She clasps her hands together on the far side of one knee.
"Oh I just figured we'd fight our way out."
"I think I'll just follow along in your wake, should that come to pass. I've picked up just enough to be dangerous, though as much to me as to any enemy." Her expression shifts and settles into something approaching sadness, which never fits Celeste well.
Isa, unfortunately, is focused on a burned-on bit of gunk and so expression shifts bounce off her back. "I've been thinking of drilling some of the crew; you're welcome to watch. Or join in."
"I'll do that," she says, not clarifying which. "Who was the loud man who helped you all when I was attacked?"
"Kine," Isa says, envenomed.
The clouds in Celeste's eyes are blown away in the presence of Offended Isa. "That has a story behind it."
"We met him in Caerwyn. He's...a lot." The sounds of scrubbing give a few hints as to the amount of frustration Isa's working out.
"You've always attracted the largest personalities," Celeste needles Isa cheerfully. "You have a whole ship of them now!"
"I am being punished. This is my punishment. I am eternally trapped with watching over....actors."
"Oh, yes, I can see the chains around your wrists, keeping you here instead of returning home to your beautiful home with your pick of bedrooms and country-renowned meals."
Isa nods. "I am suffering with the necessary stoic countenance," she agrees.
"You're an inspiration to us all." Celeste drums her fingernails on the tabletop, then ventures, "So I take it you're not going to invite him onto the airship."
Isa turns away from the sink to look at Celeste, suddenly dropping the banter. "There's a lot going on with this ship that I don't think he should know about. He was still trying to stop you, remember. He just disagreed with how to stop you."
"I think he just wants me to understand what I'm looking for," Celeste says, almost pleads. "And I want to understand that too! It's the greatest thing I've ever discovered, Isa, and it's like maybe inside of it I can find what I'm supposed to be doing too."
"Which is why you're on board and he's not."
"Why don't you trust him?" Celeste sounds inquisitive, not challenging. "Beyond that you don't really trust anyone."
"What, that's not enough?" Isa smirks a bit. "He uses people to cover for his plans. Which, fine, we all use each other. But he's not up-front about it. He's tricky," she says, naming a cardinal sin.
"Then why are you flying with Bast?" she asks. "I mean, I know I am too, but I have an easier excuse: someone tried to kill me, and you're protecting me. But Bast is also definitely using you for something, and he's hiding most everything in his past."
"He's got a right to privacy; I haven't told them everything about my history either. And so far, he hasn't asked me to do anything I can't see a clear reason for. If that changes, then he and I are going to have a conversation." Isa grabs a towel and dries her hands off, dishes forgotten for the moment. "And here's the big difference. I think that if we did get to that conversation, I believe Bast would tell me what's going on. I gave Kine that chance and he didn't."
"He didn't? I didn't know that," Celeste says. "What happened?"
"We...had a chat, before leaving Thalatte. I gave him the opportunity to explain himself, why he was involved with the people trying to kill you, why I should listen to a word he had to say. He wasn't forthcoming."
Celeste leans forward and puts her chin on her hands. "What makes him the gatekeeper?" she asks, clearly annoyed.
Isa gestures with a hand. "Exactly my question. And he didn't feel obligated to answer. And I think that's the difference with Bast."
She nods after a moment. "Maybe you're right. I do want to make that trip sometime."
Isa smiles. "I haven't forgotten."
Celeste stands up. "I think I'm going to go find Orrey and see how he's doing."
Isa nods. "Sure. I've got more dishes. Good night, Celeste."
"Good night, Isa."