[ 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] I'm smashing through my backtags as I come off hiatus; apologies for the wait!

[zooms]

Heather.

[ He repeats her name quietly. It's a good name, an old name. It brought back memories of sweet-smelling good-luck flower charms worn by young girls to ward away evil spirits. Hotspur slowly nods; yes, it was a very good name. And names were important. ]

I'm Max. But call me Hotspur; it's my callsign.

[ He takes a breath and steels himself. ]

Look, Heather. I don't know what to think of all - [ He gestures, uselessly. ] - all that stuff you just told me. It sounds pretty intense and I bet you've been through a hell of a lot. And you must be special. But... you're not going to kill these gods, right?

[ Look at his face, Heather! He's so hopeful and pleading! ]

np! welcome back <3

[sweetmotherofgod]

[ Her father left her with a love of literature, so the fact that he's a military man going by Hotspur pleases her. Because of that it's her first impulse to just say no, to reassure him. But he's been kind. He deserves better than a brush-off. ]

Hotspur. I like it.

I won't try to kill them just because they're Gods, no. But if they try to hurt me or anybody I care about - anybody who hasn't brought it on themselves - I won't let that slide just because they think they're above us.

[She smiles then, a little wry.]

Like I said, it might have been a special case. If I ever have to try, I might just get my ass handed to me. But I promise you I won't try without reason.

thank you! <3

[zooms]

[ Unfortunately for him, Hotspur has never read any Shakespeare. Hell, he wouldn't even recognise the name Henry Percy. The callsign had been chosen for him as a rookie by his fellow pilots - an initiation whereby actual reasoning behind the choices other than 'what sounds cool' was far and few between.

And right now Hotspur can't quite decide whether to be worried about Heather or in awe of her. There are so many different little things in what she's just said that any other person in his position might object to or reason against, by Hotspur doesn't want to do any of that. He merely nods, passively. ]

Thank you, Heather. [ a pause. ] If you ever do find yourself in that kind of situation, though, you can call on me. [ Because he's pretty sure ass-handings shouldn't happen, no matter who's involved. ]

[sweetmotherofgod]

[ She probably won't. Heather's a firm believer in action; when you have to do something you do it, you don't gum up the works with people who are going to try to talk you out of it. And Hotspur seems like such a genuinely good guy she can't imagine ever feeling okay about asking him to go head-to-head with something he seems to really believe in. Still, she appreciates the fact that he'd offer. ]

Thanks. It's good to know there are people like you out here.