[ video + action if you're near the shuttle bay? ]

[zooms]

[ the video feed is abruptly switched on to reveal Hotspur looking quiet and pensive. For once he's not in the cavernous shuttle bay but in the pilots rec room that overlooks it. At his back is a bank of grey lockers; clearly he's sitting on the floor and propping himself up against them, head reclined wearily back and upturned towards the fluorescent strip-lighting above. For those that are looking really carefully there's a thin cut across the bridge of his nose: the recurring broken cartilage that just won't stay in one piece.]

There are some of the Old Gods on board. Old Gods from Sol Earth. [ He sounds pensive, if a little tired, and his voice is low enough that he's on the verge of whispering. ] Gods - actual gods – are coming with us...

[ There's a sharp noise off screen from the dark reaches of the seemingly never-ending depths of the shuttle bay and Hotspur's gaze is instantly torn away from the device. A pipe creaking as it cools maybe, but the sound is sharp enough to echo in the cavernous room beyond where Hotspur is sitting. He shifts uneasily before slowly turning back to the device in his hand. ]

You see, people always reckon space is empty and barren and everything, but it's not. Actually, space isn't empty at all. Where I'm from the ashes of the thousands of humans that died during the exodus from the old Earth were cast out in to the stars. Plenty of other space-faring civilisations do it too. Sometimes there's no other way to bury your dead in space but to return them to the stars... And bodies are made of bits of carbon and space dust, right? So space is full of spirits. Mainly the quiet kind.

[ Mainly, he said. ]

And now the Old Gods are coming with us. Having them on board can only be a good thing, I think.

Comments

[video]

[madmaninabox]

Space is very much filled with spirits. Gods are a lot harder to come by.

[video]

[zooms]

That's what I thought. We must be pretty lucky. [ a beat, then a wry smile as he adds: ] Or blessed, I should say.

[Video]

[sweetmotherofgod]

Gods?

What Gods?

[Video]

[zooms]

It's okay, really! [ Hotspur summons an earnest smile and reassuringly holds his hands aloft at the video feed. Don't look so alarmed, lady. ] I reckon they might be here to help us out.

[statsraaden]

... the what?

Video?

[zooms]

[ Hotspur pauses, brow creased in thoughtfulness, before carefully replying: ]

The Old... Gods?

not here 1/

[laufeysons]

[ Oh..........? ]

still not here!!

[laufeysons]

[ Oh.....................

Well isn't this just precious. ]

getting there...

[laufeysons]

[ But rather than communicating over the dumb comm device, Loki will just be on his way, after determining from Hotspur's surroundings just where he is exactly. Blending into nothingness, moving between glass and shadow. It's faster than taking the lifts, and much less conspicuous. (And maybe part of him just likes to continue using the few powers that have remained intact, just to make sure they're still there and not weakening day by day.) It doesn't take too long... ]

aand action; done!

[laufeysons]

[ And then he's quietly stepping from a corner in the shuttle bay rec room, slowly approaching the lockers where Hotspur's presumably still sitting...

He tries to seem as nonthreatening as a guy who practically just appeared out of nowhere can be. ]

Greetings, my friend.

[ And I mean, the black jumpsuit probably helps a little. Not as intimidating as his usual leather-and-metal getup. He almost just looks like everybody else. ]

I hope I'm not intruding. I was in the area [ hardly ] and, well. I thought you wouldn't mind a little company.

[ A brief, questioning look, as if to say am I wrong? before he proceeds. Standing directly before Hotspur now, but a few paces away. ]

I...take it you've become acquainted with my brother. [ All this talk of Old Gods and...being a "good thing." Sounds like the kind of awe and optimism Thor tends to leave in his wake. Not to mention Loki stalked the shit out of every response to Thor's network post so. Yeah. It's more than just mere speculation, but nobody has to know that. ]

video;

[puppydogeyes]

You sure about that? If they're here with us, that means they were grabbed the same way we were. Doesn't seem very godlike.

video;

[zooms]

[ well. that's an awkward thought. ]

Might say more about the nature of whatever brought us here then them, if you ask me.

video;

[odinsons]

[ golly. it sure is nice being talked up like that, but lets not hatch the eggs before they've been laid or counted yet, good buddy. nevermind how he would like to help in any way possible. even if that means damaging something(s) (in fact that is preferable), but i digress. ]

Space is anything but empty. There are many things mortals wish to ignore, no matter the evidence contrary. [ but he's preaching to the choir here, so he moves on to the next point and is a little ...just so very uneasy. minor, but it's there. ] I can assume that you have spoken with my brother, then? [ a wide assumption, but he hasn't come across any other gods. ]

video;

[zooms]

Yes, I - yeah. Pretty much. [ see, okay, talking over the network is considerably less alarming than slyly emerging from the shadows, okay. You get +10 Not Scaring The Mortals points, Thor. You go, Thor. ] I didn't really realise at the time... [ Cue a brief moment of inner-cringing that only really outwardly manifests itself as the slightest of winces. ] Stupidly.

[andblockbuster]

Was any of that supposed to make sense to the people who aren't big on religion?

[zooms]

Uh... Well. [ Hotspur pauses to shrug good-naturedly, seemingly unfazed by the comment, before continuing affably: ] You don't need to believe in gods to believe in ghosts, right?

voice;

[awakenings]

Old Gods?

[Before Proxies? She doesn't know if she likes the sound of that.]

Do you know their names and what they look like?

voice;

[zooms]

Yeah. There are two. [ Hotspur smiles softly, nodding his head - but there's a heavy pause before he continues as he thoughtfully dwells over how one outs a god. ] They're Loki and Thor - I think most humans would have known them as a god of thunder and a trickster god respectively. [ A gross oversimplification, he knows it. There's yet another pause, shorter than the first. ] Do you know of them?

voice;

[tenyeargambit]

...really. [His tone is dry and a little skeptical (would be really skeptical, but he managed to wrangle it downward to something more socially acceptable).] Gods are on board?

voice;

[zooms]

[ hey man, it’s all good. It’s not like Hotspur would have been offended with a bit of scepticism, anyway. ] Just so. Are you from Earth? [ Pretty big deals, you might have heard of them, etc etc ]

[text]

[godseer]

If you broaden your view of deities to those that create worlds or hold great power, you'll find this ship houses more than just two. If you narrow it to those that are all-powerful only, this ship holds none besides perhaps itself. It's all a matter of perspective, really.

[text]

[zooms]

[ ...oh dear god. Quite literally. ]

What makes you say that? Do you know for sure that there are more gods amongst the crew? Where are they from?

[scratched]

pretty sure i already done told yall this
ill forgive the slight this time and hold back my smiting but next slip up youre getting the almightiest smackdown this side of town

text

[zooms]

[ oh no, funky text! Hotspur follows suit and switches to text, albeit of a less pimped-out fashion. ]

Sorry, you’ve lost me there. What’s the smackdown for?

[video]

[the_crowing]

[have a confused looking kid on the screen]

Having the Gods on board just means they're stuck here as well, right?

[video]

[zooms]

[ ugh, that's a possibility that he's currently struggling to process himself, yes. Hotspur hesitates before answering carefully: ]

Far as I can tell none of us are all that sure about what brought us here, precisely. You're from the latest jump, yeah?