trans_9 | Meet and Greet Part Deux: The Socialing

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Meet and Greet Part Deux: The Socialing

The new people will find themselves ushered out of Obs Deck, so it can be shot down to the planet again, to pick the crew up. Eventually, the crew members on the mission are brought back up, and the doors open to let the two groups meet.

The newbies are likely not expecting their new crew-mates to come back bearing presents--which some of them are.

[ooc: This time anyone can post in. REMEMBER TO TAG OTHER PEOPLE, THO. This is set after the mission so mission peoples can meet the newbies. Latecomer newbies, if you want, you can just tag your guys into this one to make things easier.]

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Katara had never seen Luna look quite so...pensive, and it actually warranted some concern from the younger girl. But it wasn't as if she hadn't seen that kind of look before...heck, she was fairly certain that she given that look herself. It was that dawning realization that everything was different, more permanent when you realized people and situations that were once familiar was gone, and there was nothing to be done about it.

Katara sighed. "I agree with that, I do, but a little while ago, we had to try and take the Bridge from pirates. We lost B5, and Paco got his arm ripped off. I don't want to see anything like that happen to you."

If pensiveness is a surprise to Katara, she'll be even more shocked by the violent wince and shudder that Luna gives at the mention of that last mission, though she's most definitely not thinking about the bridge. Yes, B5 dying is horrible, and yes, she feels terrible for Paco, but she just can't. get. past. the Inferi.

Hiding her face in her hands, she sucks in a breath, fighting back the waves of chilling terror rolling through her.

Katara is a little surprised, but more than that, she had concern for her friend. She knew that what happened on the Bridge had been pretty rough, but she was betting that Luna's reaction had nothing to do with the Bridge.

"Luna," Katara said softly. "What are you thinking about?"

She shudders again, shaking her head at Katara, an obvious refusal to talk about it. Visions of dead hands breaking through windows fill her mind, tortured faces contorted in grimaces of death, slow, shambling walks, shattering bodies. Blood and screaming and the walking dead, and Luna has had it.

What had seemed to be a firm grasp on her emotions cracks down the middle, loosing an ocean of horror that the blonde has somehow managed to keep at bay since she regained her lucidity. Pulling her knees into her chest, wand knocked from behind her ear, she dissolves into choking, terrified sobs, and honestly, it's the most genuine thing she's done since her podpop.

She's been holding this back for a while, so bare with her, Katara.

Katara, for her part, was starting to realize that even with Luna, there were certain secret terrors, things too overwhelming to even talk about. Since it was Luna, who was usually quite frank about the things she'd seen, what Luna must have been imagining must have been quite horrifying.

And knowing this, Katara was filled with a quiet dread. The Nightmare King was going to start trying to break out of his prison soon, and to do that, he had to access the memories and fears of the people on the ship.

And that made Katara worry.

"Luna, listen to me," Katara said softly. "The thing in Escherville, it will try to make your worse fears come true. I know whatever you're thinking about is too horrible to talk about, but the Nightmare King WILL try to use it against you. Is there...any way we can somehow keep it secret from him?"

Luna's shattered consciousness struggles to point out that one of her only friends at this point (you know, the ones that are still alive - that elicits an abrupt, loud sob from her) is trying to speak sense to her, but the part of her brain that's somewhat lucid is highly insistent on completing its catharsis. After all, Luna Lovegood rarely acknowledges her own emotions long enough to realize that she's upset about something, so this is a very rare opportunity.

Sniffling, she shrugs. It appears that this is the only answer Katara will be receiving for a few more minutes.

There was a bit of fear in Katara's gaze now. It was one thing for Luna to be upset, but right now she was remembering something pretty bad, and it was silencing her. Katara had seen that reaction before: the Firenation had hurt enough people and done enough horrible things that she'd seen that reaction before.

She seized the girl's hands. "Luna, please listen to me! I know whatever happened to you must be scary, but I'm really concerned! If the Nightmare King gets to you, he'll show you what you're seeing now and worse! Please listen to me, I want to make sure you have help!"

Luna's eyes are dark, weighed down with fear and anguish as she blinks up at Katara.

"How can anything he imagines be worse? Nothing is worse than Inferi, because if someone can raise the dead, how can there be any rest for any mortal? It's the darkest concept in existence, and I've seen them. No more infantile nightmares about nebulous, shadowy corpses - I've seen them, and my mind hasn't gotten a wink of sleep since." She gasps, trying to pull her hands from Katara's grasp, failing, squeezing her eyes shut. "And it's not as if he can show me my friends dead, because I've already had that nightmare, Katara. What else is there to fear?"

Her posture is defensive, voice distinctly cutting, expression entirely clear of dreaminess.

Katara could understand the outburst, and since it was Luna, who hardly ever showed anything concretely related to fear if she could help it, this was definitely rare. For the reason, Katara listened to her friend, gathering all of the information she could about the things she was saying. After all, she was definitely no expert of the magical world.

"He's the Nightmare God Luna, and the scary thing is, I don't know how far he can go. He has the ability to take the worse fears you have and twist them even farther. He's strong enough that only someone very powerful can keep him at bay, and even that person is starting to fail at that. I don't want anymore people hurt because we weren't prepared Luna, not like last time. If there's anything I can do, I'll do it. I don;t want him to do anything to you."

Katara turned away a moment. She didn't like that Luna was so full of fear, it bothered her a little. It didn't mean she wouldn't keep trying, she just had to adjust a moment.

And Luna can understand Katara's concern. She has already admitted, multiple time, that Katara might have more common sense than Hermione when it comes to dire situations, and the small bit of her brain that was clear was fairly certain that this qualified as dire. Still, her terrified mind doesn't want to admit the possibility of something more horrifying than Inferi and dead friends.

Sniffling, she tries to blink away her tears, and inevitably fails. Still, her effort is obvious as she fixes red eyes on the floor, arms going lax as she tries to jumpstart her brain.

"I'm not sure how he can make them worse, but..." A deep breath provides a pause, eyebrows knitting together with the effort of gathering her wits. "But I'm being ridiculous." She glances up, expression an odd mixture of contrition and melancholy, making her look about three years younger. "I'm sorry, Katara."

"I'm not one for apologies," Katara said. "All I care about is making sure that you don't get hurt. If you think you can defend yourself and you have nothing to worry about, I can't do anything about it. I just wanted you to take care of yourself, okay?"

She took her hand. "Please?"

She sighed. She really hoped things would be okay for her. "If you ever change your mind Luna, you know where I am."

She rubs at her eyes a few times, ridding her lashes of their last droplets, though her eyes are still puffy. She gives Katara a faint, watery smile.

"Thank you. Really. There aren't many people in the world who care what happens to me, so it's nice to have someone nearby." Her voice is crackly, filled with the remnants of crying. She squeezes Katara's hand, nodding, eyes still distant, though it's more out of worry than genuine anguish now.

"Of course I care what happens to you!" Katara protested. "You're one of the first friends I ever made. If something happened to you I'd..." Katara stammered. She wasn't quite sure what she'd do, but she'd make sure that someone would pay, that was sure.

"I'll always care," Katara said, squeezing her hand back. "If you need anything, let me know. Things in this place...don't stay quiet for long."

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Meet and Greet Part Deux: The Socialing

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