(no subject)

[sanctus_dei]

Passengers: Theo Crawford, Lucifer, and any and all wardens and inmates
Location: All over the Peregrine
Date: Week of March 10
Summary: Theo is out to: enact a plan, ride in an elevator, and avoid therapy.
Warnings: will update as needed



1. Inmates
[Theo is on a mission this week. While he's never been the best at hiding his emotions, it's taking more willpower than ever to keep his nerves in check as he approaches other inmates. He's not as nervous about the plan as much as he is in trusting others to be involved, in needing to rely on all these other people he barely knows. But there was no other way this plan could work.

While out on cleaning duty, Theo will be looking out for inmates who are alone, or in small groups, any spot on the ship that's away from the wardens. Places like a lonely hallway, near a normally empty room like the chapel, or sitting in small groups in the mess hall is where he'll approach them, even if it's an inmate he's never really talked to before. He's been scarce this last month, being made to stay in his warden's adjoining room instead of the dorms. Voice quiet and eyes darting around, he takes a quick, deep breath to steady himself.]

Hey. Listen to me. Just for a minute. It's important.

[OOC: please see this post for details. Welcoming threads with multiple inmates in here, so feel free to jump in wherever with one. If you want to just handwave a conversation, that's fine.]


2. Wardens
[While also out on cleaning duty, Theo has to hop in an elevator to travel from one of the spires back to the center, which means it's a trip on the elevator. He hesitates when the door opens and there's a warden already inside, glowering at them, before deciding he didn't feel like waiting around for the next trip.

He really should have waited. Normally an uneventful ride, this time there's a shudder as the elevator stalls out when switching gravity modules. A robotic voice tells the occupants to remain calm and hold tight while the module is reset and the trip is restored, the latter of the instructions being quite literal. Welcome to some quality time in zero-g with an inmate. Theo holds onto the railing with one hand, and his mop with the other. He sighs a little dramatically. ]

Yeah. Okay. Great. Here we are.


3. Locked to Lucifer - March 11th
[As Theo's first month with a warden winds down, he's starting to feel completely and thoroughly Done with a capital D when it comes to their daily therapy sessions. He can only be avoidant, hostile and cagey for so long.

Every day at every moment on the Peregrine, he's reminded of what he's done, of why he's here, resentful of being alive again and being on this ship. He hates it, and he can't get away from it.

When Lucifer knocks on his door today, he doesn't get the usual responses like a groan, or being told to go away. Theo is in there, but he doesn't respond at all. He's lying in his bed, back to the room. When Lucifer opens the door, Theo's response is a pillow over his head as he avoids looking at his warden. His muffled voice lacks its usual bite.]

I'm not talking today. I'm done.

Comments

[dealwiththe]

[ Of the two of them, Theo is obviously far worse off. But that doesn't mean this isn't tough for Lucifer, as well. After all, he doesn't take pleasure in wearing Theo down like this. It's not fun, just necessary. And Lucifer may be flippant about a lot of things, but he takes his job seriously. Sometimes, you have to break a bone again to set it properly, and Theo's frayed edges are part of the process.

He closes the door behind him, leaning against it, hands in his pockets. ]

If you don't want to talk, then you can listen. I'll tell you about my Mother. The Goddess of all creation was quite lovely, in the beginning. But Dad got distracted by his little experiments with humanity, and then she started neglecting us - her children. She became cold and distant. When I rebelled, she didn't participate, but she didn't try to stop it, either. And when I lost my rebellion, she stood by and let Dad cast me into Hell. When He did the same to her, a few thousand years later, I did what any self-respecting resentful son would do - I locked her up, sent my best torturers to torment her, and ignored her.

One day, several years after I came to live on Earth, she escaped from Hell.

[ He will just keep rambling on about his Mother until Theo does or says something. ]

[sanctus_dei]

[By the time Lucifer gets to that last sentence, curiosity has gotten the better of Theo, as it often does. He peeks out and turns enough that at least one tired eye is leveled on Lucifer, his brow knitted.]

Why are you telling me this.

[For once, this is a genuine question, despite how flatly it's delivered. Part suspicion, part of him wondering where this is going.]

Did you do anything about it?

[dealwiththe]

Why am I telling you? Because it's a good story, and I think you deserve to know things about me, since I'm learning so much about you.

[ Simple as that. If Theo finds anything relatable in the story, that's cool. If not, that's fine, too. Lucifer's just telling it for the sake of telling it. ]

When she escaped, yes, I tried to track her down. She came to Earth, of course, that's the only place she could go. And I assumed, quite frankly, that she would be coming after me. To kill me, for torturing her for all those years in Hell.

[sanctus_dei]

You don't have t-- [Theo huffs, and rolls back to face the wall again.

He's quiet for a moment.]

I guess she didn't, since you're sitting here. A happy ending. Congratulations.

[dealwiththe]

Yes, I know Theo, you don't care and you're not curious. But of course you are, you're just terrible at hiding it.

[ Honestly, kid, you have to get a different schtick at some point. ]

Anyway, no, Mum wasn't out hunting me down to kill me. She just wanted to enlist my help in killing Dad. You know, God Himself. The rebellion 2, electric boogaloo. She manipulated me six ways from Sunday, trying to convince me to abandon my life on Earth.

1.

[goty]

[Ellie is standing outside the door to the chapel, peering in but refusing to go any further. She sees some kid-- wait, shit, he's probably her age-- approaching and makes room for him to move past her, into the chapel. But he doesn't. He talks to her.]

[Which kinda sucks, because she wanted to be alone, but whatever.]

What's up?

[sanctus_dei]

[Theo knew this was going to be a tough sell to the newbies. Or maybe not.

He hesitates for a moment, biting his lip, obviously struggling with how to go about wording this. His eyes keep darting back to the door to make sure no one is passing by.]

A couple of weeks back we landed on a planet, gave us all a job to do and a weekend on land. I think I have a way for us to get away from the ship the next time that happens. Whenever it might be. Wherever it might be. Personally, I don't give a shit, so long as I can get out of this place.

[He levels his eyes on her.]

Are you interested?

[goty]

Ellie has seen places stranded outside of human contact, where food was scarce and kindness scarcer. For a winter, she lived in that life, and left it with a trail of smoke and blood following her. The thought knifes through her head, leaving her with a sudden chill.

So there's a pause before she answers. "Why?" She asks, "what's your plan?"

[sanctus_dei]

[He takes a steadying breath.]

They put me to work in the greenhouse. There's a plant in there that has a poison on its leaves that knocks people out on contact. I think it's what's cultivated for use in the sleeping pills here. Enough clippings in the hands of inmates when the wardens aren't suspecting it, and we can probably make a break for it.

[He runs a hand through his hair; a nervous tic he'll continue to do from time to time.]

Provided the next port has anything close to civilization. The last one was... lacking. But honestly, I don't even know that I care. Who knows when or how we might get another port stop. Gotta take the chance when it's presented to us.

[He's quiet for just a moment, gathering his thoughts.]

Last stop a few inmates tried to run. Three of 'em went off with one warden, I think. It ended up with the three of them back here in solitary. So we have to plan. We gotta be ready. They might be expecting it this time.

[goty]

[Ellie narrows her eyes, squares her shoulders. One hand finds her hip. The other, missing two fingers, hovers away from her body, still throbbing with phantom pain. Ellie is skinny, really skinny, getting close to an unhealthy weight. What she asks next might not be surprising-]

You ever starved?

1

[rank1]

Travis is on his way back from the showers, his hair damp and tousled up into its usual pomp, his t-shirt clinging to his skin where he hadn't quite toweled himself off entirely before getting dressed. He's still got a towel slung over his shoulder. He takes to Theo's call and Suspicious Guy antics with a touch of surprise.

"Yeah? What's up?"

[sanctus_dei]

[Theo really never knows what to expect of Travis. He debated for awhile whether or not to involve him at all. But considering he had tried to orchestrate his own escape plan, Theo figured it might be worth the risk.

He double checks to make sure no one else is around before speaking.]

You still want out of here? I think I know a way. Whenever they land us somewhere again.

[rank1]

[Travis doesn't even bother looking around. If they're overheard, they're overheard. Escape is a more complicated thought, but:]

I'm listening.

[sanctus_dei]

[He pauses, taking in a breath, in an attempt to get this all out quickly.]

I work in the greenhouse a lot. There's a plant in there that has a contact poison that works on people by knocking them out not long after touching it. I think I can distribute enough clippings out to inmates to use against the wardens, right before whenever we might land somewhere again. Even a little should make them drowsy enough for us to get away before they can do anything.

[Another breath.]

I want out of here. I don't want to wait any longer than I have to. And I know you don't either.

[rank1]

[Damn. Wild to think someone that skinny has the lung capacity to say all that shit without keeling over. Travis nods along, appearing to give it some thought.]

Dude, you should do it. Make it a whole heist thing. I'll let you know how I'm feeling closer, though, I don't wanna escape onto some boring-ass planet with fishwives just to get stuck there. The first time was crazy enough.

2, hover club;

[grindset]

[The warden inside the elevator, that's Viktor. Having made the effort since port to give Theo as much space as their roles allow, he says nothing aloud as they join company, but presses his mouth into a line that doesn't actually resemble a smile, only politely suggests the concept, and nods to acknowledge him.

The silence that follows is not comfortable. Viktor considers breaking it as they pass the lowest floor of the arm, nurses that thought well into the long columnar passage to the spire; he's still working up the inner momentum when the lift judders itself still.

They both sigh at the same time. Viktor's is markedly less dramatic.]

So it would seem. [He's got the bent stock of his crutch wedged in a convenient nook, a wall strap in his other hand. The rest of him is gently hovering.] This happens sometimes. It... should correct itself soon.

[sanctus_dei]

This place is really annoying, y'know. Being in space on a futuristic ship shouldn't be annoying.

[Well, if they have to be here, might as well try and enjoy it. Theo wedges his mop into the railing. Don't need that thing floating around and threatening to poke someone's eye out. After that, he lets go of the railing gently, so as not to propel himself too far. It's a little disorienting, but really, there are definitely worse places to be trapped.]

Soon? How soon. How often does this happen?

[This would be a lot more enjoyable if he wasn't in here with a warden.]

covers timestamp with my hand

[grindset]

Depends on how often you ride the lifts. By my observation? Once every week or two. I've never been stuck for more than a couple of minutes.

[Viktor rides them all the time. Perhaps too often. If he weren't furtive about it, people would probably think it's weird... although, the longer he's aboard, the less he finds himself caring about that.

Anyway, watching Theo start to drift around is a little endearing. Joining in would probably spoil his fun, so he decides he ought to stay tethered to the wall.]

And, eh, [with a slow twist, to prevent his feet from intruding,] any place can be annoying if you're determined enough.

[sanctus_dei]

Guess I got lucky up until this point.

[Okay. This wasn't too bad. Fun, even. Theo did his best to hold still as to not set him off on a trajectory that might cause him to crash into Viktor. His limited experience with gravity magic has taught him that even the slightest wrong move can greatly affect your assumed course.

For the first time since he'd arrived, there's a slight smile on Theo's face. Very slight, but it's there.]

Heh. Well, beats moppin' the floors, that's for damn sure.

[His head swivels around as he wonders if there's any kind of emergency switch in these things.]

[grindset]

[The smallest smile is still a smile—and all Viktor had to do was nothing, intentionally. If he weren't himself a partaker in the restorative effects of hovering he might feel a little affronted by that, but the power of zero Gs cannot be denied.

Mostly he's just glad Theo isn't throwing up. That would have been unfortunate on multiple levels.]

You could mop the ceiling,

[you know, since he's already up there and all.]

Inmates

[theartofmadness]

( The new inmate might still be in bed which was incredibly uncharacteristic of him. Everything is bright and he both looked and felt like shit. Though Jason had no way of knowing it yet, Theo might recognize the whole scene. Been like this for a while. Really, since he came. And his wardrobe looked every bit of slum kid that was deep in his nature.

It was at some point of the day on someday. Jason's shuffled his way back into the bunks with coffee. Pretty much no one was there. Actually, no one was there as he shoved himself back into bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. Eyes peered over the cup when Theo wandered in shortly after. Watched him the whole way until he spoke. )

Uh, sure dude. What's up?

[sanctus_dei]

[Now here was a familiar scene. Theo's first few weeks on the Peregrine were a blur, as he moved from his bed to wandering the hallways like a ghost until the DTs wore off.

Theo doesn't get too close. He takes another quick look around the room to double and triple check that the beds were all empty, especially around any warden's beds.]

You know how I said we once landed somewhere? How about next time, we make a break for it?

[theartofmadness]

( Jason stares up at the guy for a long moment, taking another sip of his coffee and slowly grabbing one of the sheets to pull it around himself. Its not that he loves the idea of being in a fucking jail-ship that hurdles through space, but... ) And then fucking what?

[sanctus_dei]

[He takes a tentative step forward.]

We wait to see if the next one is going to be somewhere with some civilization. Somewhere where we can give 'em the slip, get lost in the shuffle.

[He looks around again. Paranoia's a pain.]

There's a plant in the greenhouse we can use on them. I work in there. It's poisonous, knocks out whoever touches it within minutes. We can use it on them right as we land. I've been collecting clippings.

[theartofmadness]

( It takes a moment to stop himself from lurching--just 'cause of his personal situation more than anything. Hardly the first time Jason's been privy to an attempted Jail-break. Eyes meet the other man's for a hard long second as he weighs whether to give a shit or not about the red flags going up in the back of his mind. )

Knocks out dead or puts them to sleep for a hot minute?