The Stars Our Destination

Oct 13th, 2019 05:03 PM

Did you know that 'star parties' are a thing? Events that gather astronomy enthusiasts, so that they can stargaze away from the city's light pollution, discuss, buy stuff and socialize? Thanks to the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society it's a thing that happens regularly and tonight, so close to the New Moon, you are bound to have some amazing views if, like Shodan, you are into that sort of thing. The Libertine wasn't a Society member, but he had enough money to buy his own equipment, enough knowledge to gain their trust and enough social skill to not stand out.

On the edge of Tahoe National Forest, where the event takes place, you can find everything from gear vendors to raffle to a barbecue stand - and, of course, plenty of space to set up your telescope. The Libertine, a plate of fries and some meat in hand, stands on the edge of things, where the other people's conversations quiet down into a murmur. Yes, he liked the noise of the city and disliked the wilderness but even he, sometimes, needed some tranquility.

Then again, he wouldn't mind some company. Too much quiet and it starts ringing in your ears.

**October** · Oct 13th, 2019 07:09 PM

The date had been horrible! And was the last time she let one of the nurses talk into going out with someone.

But on her way home, she heard mention of the star gazing party and decided to head out that way. Maybe it would be a better ending to the evening. Maybe.

Finding a place to park and walking in, she found herself actually enjoying it. The people all seemed excited about looking at the stars, and there was even some coffee and food. Bonus for when you leave a date early.

Sipping the warm drink, she walks around and spots a familiar face. Smiling, and waving with her free hand, she heads over.

“Hey stranger. Mind some company?” the Enchantress was rather casual in jeans and a tank top with a long sweater.

Oct 14th, 2019 05:09 PM

Okay, that was unexpected. But not unwelcome, oh no.

"Sup, nerd?" He says in a friendly tone, but nods instead of waving back. He could mess up the hands and throw all that good food on the ground "Got tired of looking at the blood and went dancing with the stars instead? Good choice, dollars to donuts the sights are better here" And nothing smelled of anesthetic. Shodan hated hospitals, they had all the charm of a cemetery and they weren't even quiet.

**October** · Oct 14th, 2019 08:02 PM

There was a grin at the term,

“Nerd? I’ll take it, works for me.” She was a bit of a nerd. Shaking her head, “Not really, one of the nurses set me up on a blind date.” Her eyes roll as she talks, “Was horrible so I skipped out early and heard about this.” Sipping the coffee, “So never agree to a blind date.” She advises. “But dancing with the stars?” eyes glance up and a softer smile appears, “I can get behind that. And yes, the sights are defiantly better here!” agrees the Enchantress.

Looking back to her fellow Awakened, “So what brought you out here?”

Oct 15th, 2019 06:03 PM

"Set you up? Now that's a double meaning if I ever heard one!" It wouldn't surprise him if the date was somehow related to the nurse mentioned "Riddle me this: am I a bad person for, at the same time, feeling sorry for your frustrating evening and being glad it happened because now we got to cross paths again and the task of making it slightly less bad falls to me? Severe case of cognitive dissonance here, doctor" He jokes. It didn't seem like the disastrous date bothered here very much, so the Libertine doesn't mind tiptoeing on the territory.

As for what his reasons for being here are...

"I'm a nerd, duh" He says with a chuckle "Unwinding by pointing to your fellow nerds 'Oh, look - that's Mercury tracking across the Sun' is a niche pleasure, but also a good excuse to get out of the workshop and the city. I know I'm a loudmouth with a sprinkle of asshole, but I need my quiet too. Sometimes" Aesthetics also played a role here. You don't rewatch 2001: A Space Odyssey ten times without a strong infatuation to the stars.

"...Of course none of these people, myself included, would ever admit that we hope to see a flying saucer at some point" Was that another joke? It's up to those listening to decide.

**October** · Oct 16th, 2019 02:41 PM

There was a groan with another eyeroll, “It was horrible!” she was going to be having a talk with the nurse, and never agreeing to blind dates again. Toby had to laugh, “Nah, I wouldn’t say a bad person. An amusing one, yes. But not bad.” Then a look of being impressed, “Cognitive dissonance huh? I didn’t do well in my psych classes, but you did make an intriguing try at trying to explaining yourself away.” She teases before sipping her coffee again.

A hand was placed against her forehead, “How could I have forgotten?” she asks with a smile. “I’ll admit, I don’t know a whole lot about the galaxy. So I might be asking you a thousands questions.” Was she joking? Probably not. “Getting out of the noise of the city and away from work is always a great thing.” She was too prone to spending too much time at work. “A loudmouth with a sprinkle of asshole? I don’t think I’d go that far. But I wouldn’t call you a shrinking violet.” Maybe it was because she’d talked to him outside the Circle.

She looks up at the sky, “A flying saucer huh? Would that be like, the holy grail of star gazing?”

Oct 17th, 2019 06:28 PM

"Amusing" The Obrimos echoes her assessment. The impressed look was a nice icing on the cake "That sounds on point. Weaseling my way out of difficult situations using a mixture of that 'mad scientist' vibe and boyish charm. It's my secret superpower, don't tell anyone" He winks at the Enchantress "Anyway. Want to walk me through the less fun parts of today? We can distance ourselves from bad experiences if we air it out, or so I've heard" Sure, not always. But most of the time.

The Libertine looks excited, as he always does when people express interest in topics he might be proficient in "Questions? Fire away! Perhaps you've noticed that I tend to talk more than most? I don't know if that's because of all the debating I used to do or if I was just born this way, but..." Then he catches himself, and a tiny smile appears on his face "See? I'm doing it right now" It's a double-edged habit, like smoking. Irritating and unsafe in some cases, but sometimes weirdly helpful in social situations.

"I'm not shy, that's true. Just self-aware. I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not just because it's expected. I'm not Christmas, not everyone has to like me" Some called it pride. Shodan called it having a spine "Correction: change is a thing. It's uniformization I hate" If he wanted it, he'd stay in the corp.

"Mhm" His eyes follow hers to the sky. Witnessing an actual alien spacecraft, now wouldn't that be something? "Of course, it'd be even better if we got to talk to the crew. But it's like Einstein said: the best proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life is that it doesn't contact us" He feels tempted to laugh at his own joke, but - good for him - decides against it.

**October** · Oct 18th, 2019 02:07 PM

There was a smirk, “Secret super power huh?” then a pause, “I don’t know, I think it might endear people to you if they knew.” She teased with a laugh. “Oh I don’t think you really want to hear about my horrible blind date.” It was bad, but it was over and in the past.

Laughing as he seemed to become excited, “No, I never noticed.” She jokes. “I think it’s because it’s a topic you’re passionate about and you’re eager to share it. Nothing wrong with it.” Nope.

Looking back up at the sky, “So are there any important stars or constellations up there right now?” she did remember hearing that some were only visible during certain times of the year.

“You’re right on that end. Not everyone has to like you. Plus, if you’re making enemies, you’re doing something right. Not that you have enemies, just a saying. But I think it’d get dull if everyone liked everyone, having someone who dislike you pushes you in a way.” But she never worried about people really liking her. “Change is natural and necessary in life. Without, we become stagnate, and that is just, no.” a shake of her head.

“Now, wouldn’t that be something? Though it makes you wonder what we’d say to them. Cause there’s a lot of pressure there to make a good first impression.” Lot of pressure. “Hmmm, maybe he was on to something there.” Says the Enchantress with a smile as she looked at the sky, “Humanity has made numerous mistakes over the years. And maybe them simply watching and observing us is the closest we’ll ever get.” A small shrug, “But I have no clue.” She‘s just winging it.

Oct 20th, 2019 12:41 PM

"All right then, keep your secrets" He is even tempted to make that face, but stops himself. Now that'd just look stupid "But I'll keep mine, too. There's only a small part of humanity that finds it endearing. My favorite part, but still" And it's not like members of that group wear name tags or anything.

Looking to the sky, as if he expects to catch the stars moving around "Pegasus and Aquarius should be pretty clear on the sky. But this time of year is pretty average as far as stargazing goes. You know what's really neat, though? That although everything you see is technically dead, the matter and energy that made them up aren't. They are in constant transformation, and that means some of this dust and light will eventually become living tissue. So, if you ever wanted to feel like a star - congratulations! You may very well be one!" Shodan didn't have much of a spiritual side, at least he never thought much about it, but the idea that you don't even need to work out to one day have a heavenly body was exciting on a lot of levels.

He nods in lively agreement to October's position about the necessity of change. Indeed, such a simple truth seemed to elude most of those supposedly Awakened "Or maybe we're in a zoo - except on the wrong side of the bars. And some alien ten-year-old is looking at us right now and says 'Look at this one! It's making a funny face right now!', while at the same time ignoring the sign that says 'Don't feed the monkeys'" She was right, of course. No matter how scientifically sound your theory looks, it's just pretty guesswork "But they'd probably look pretty similar to us. There's only so many ways you can win the evolutionary lottery" That means no talking plants. But no Dire Wraiths, either, so that's a plus.

Unless there are alien mages out there. And some of them proceed to be Masters of Life. He's heard stories of what that Arcanum can do with a body.

And then the Libertine seems to catch himself, like he just remembered something "Well, thanks for listening to me rambling. I could do this all night, but" But even he isn't so self-centered as to make it all about him "So, what have you been up to? Aside from less-than-successful dating?" Several times she'd said she's on call at her hospital. Which implied a lot of work. But no one can possibly be all about that. Even Phoenyx has time off.

**October** · Oct 21st, 2019 09:27 PM

Sighing before laughing, “Not so much a secret, as not wishing to bore you or have you find amusement at my misfortune.” She replies, semi serious. “Everyone needs their secrets, it’s an important part of being an adult and all that.” That sounded good.

She also looks up at the sky, eyes searching, “Do we need a telescope to see them?” she asks, “And I’m not sure what I’m looking for. Though there are some that could form some type of shape.” But in reality, she had no clue. “And it might be average to those who do this more often, but us clueless people, it’s all still pretty amazing.” Really neat? Her eyes return to looking at him, wondering what was pretty neat. “The stars?” she asks, “Really?” eyes look back up at the stars for a few moments, then back to Shodan, “Wow! I didn’t know that! That is neat!” she agreed with a nod. Then a laugh, “Feel like a star huh?” a thoughtful look, “I could get behind that, why not!” a star doctor!

There was a skeptic look, “A zoo?” but she still listens. And while she didn’t exactly find it compelling, it was still amusing, “And the ten-year-old has some bizarre space candy and his hands are all sticky, making marks on the glass.” She’s seen it happen at the zoo. Kids were walking germ factories, touching everything. She then looks back up at the sky and sticks her tongue out, laughing with a shrug, “Might as well give them something to point at.” She found it funny. “That’s a possibility. If you look at the history of evolution and how humans have changed over time, there is only small changes. And running with your zoo theory, who’s to say they,” aliens, “didn’t make us and place us here as an experiment.” Did she really believe that? Not really, but it was fun to throw out ideas.

“Oh, me? Umm, lets see. Aside from working, I’ve been getting my place setup, my stuff finally arrived. But unpacking is the worst. Though I did go out the other night, wasn’t as much fun as I was hoping, but, got me out. Even left the pagers at home!” that was a big thing for her. “But feel free to ramble if you want, I actually enjoy listening, you have some fun theories.”

The Stars Our Destination

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