Slightly Less Animated Than Usual [Open]

[starbolts]

Who: Starfire and anyone who wants to join her!
Where: Media Library
Summary: Starfire's received news that her love has returned to stasis in the pod caverns. Her escape is the bright and colorful world of cartoons.
Warnings: Nothing too serious here! Some potential sadness if that line of conversation is followed, but a little fun can be had here.



Visitors to the Media Library today will find a rather distressing sound coming from one of the watching pods. It's a croakish, scratchy sound that might be called a laugh...if the listener were underwater, inebriated, and otherwise less able than usual to discern the sound. The sound contains the basic elements of a laugh, anyway. It's loud, sudden, and presumably in response to funny events on the screen!

In this case, a bacon-eared and sausage-lipped breakfast monster is in hot pursuit of a banana boat. Colorful cherry-men are yelling in musical-sounding gibberish, directing themselves down a river of orange juice in their attempt to avoid the meat monster. There's a dip in the river, and the little banana boat flies---only to slip on the air (how does that work?) and do a flip into the monster's mouth.

Thus ends one segment of this bizarre cartoon. Starfire is clutching a small pillow from her room and laughing at the screen. Or trying to, anyway.

Comments

[starbolts]

"Perhaps I should do this as well," Starfire whispered, talking more to herself than to Morgan at this point. She needed to convince herself that it was safe to move, really.

"This has also happened to me."

[morganknight]

He reached up to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He was guessing that she needed the human contact, rather than minding it. "It happens a lot here. And it sucks."

...needless to say, it had happened to him too, though he thought nothing of it compared to hers since he had only had an interest in the girl, nothing settled or anything.

[starbolts]

Starfire appreciated the comfort very much. She moved closer, nodding. "It does, whether they are dear friends or beloveds. I only wish that we may all stay together someday, that this problem is solved."

It really did eat at her, not knowing who would still be there in the morning.

[morganknight]

"It hurts less to lose someone to the pods than to have them die, so we count ourselves lucky, I think." This conversation had gotten him more somber now, in turn.

[starbolts]

"Yes, I am grateful that they are alive. I will always hope for his return, but...there is a pain in uncertainty as well."

She sighed, staying at Morgan's side. "You are remembering?"

[morganknight]

His nod was abstract and distant. "I learned something I knew with my head, not terribly long ago, but not with my heart, and it goes a little something like this: You can't fight the cosmos. Trying only hurts you more. You may hurt, you may suffer, you may grieve... but if you can accept what has happened, you'll find you're better off for doing so."

[starbolts]

"We accept because it is reality," she whispered, echoing words from another friend. "And this cannot be changed at the present time."

Not for her, anyway. She blew a clump of hair away from her face. "It simply takes such a long time."

[morganknight]

"That's why you live a life that gives you no regrets, cherish what you have, and remember the good," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "None of which is easy. But if you were happy, nothing can ever take that feeling or those memories away."

[starbolts]

"You do this, yes?" Starfire wondered. "What are the daring things you have done without regrets?"

[morganknight]

"I learned to sing," Morgan said promptly, gladly turning the conversation away from its darker moments. "Despite being convinced I had a terrible voice."

[starbolts]

Now that was interesting! She sat up straight, ears perked. "Can you demonstrate this?"

[morganknight]

"I suppose... if you like metal," he said, smiling.

[starbolts]

"I do! It is a very useful substance! Its solidity and weight have supported our structures many times," she cheered, completely missing the point.

[morganknight]

...She really DID remind him of Stormraven.

"The metal I was referring to is a style of music. It's descended from rock, centered around the electric guitar --" At this, he reached into his coat, and from the interior pockets that were alarmingly larger on the inside than the outside, pulled out his electric guitar. "Particularly with heavy distortion and wicked solos. Also it's loud."

[starbolts]

"Oh!" Starfire nodded quickly. "Music! I understand now."

The pockets were definitely a curiosity. She stared at the openings. "Where have you obtained the subspace pockets?"

[morganknight]

"This coat, I had made for me a long time ago, after I got disabled in a fight because I didn't have the proper sort of defenses. One of the best Scientists in existence made it for me."

He slid the coat off, then tossed it onto the couch where he'd been sitting. It landed more like a ton of bricks than a fabric garment; up close, it shimmered and moved oddly, like metal in cloth form rather than anything conventional.

[starbolts]

Oh, Starfire definitely noticed the oddity. She crouched beside it, poking curiously. "How many items have you stored?"

She hadn't forgotten about the metal of music! This was just...a shiny distraction.

[morganknight]

"A lot. I don't keep count. But most of them are weapons, to be honest with you. Swords and bladed weapons, and firearms." Frankly, he'd gotten lucky that his guitar had been in there as well.

[starbolts]

"You are well prepared," she observed, trying to imagine what the entire pile would look like. What a mess!

Starfire then remembered what they were discussing and clapped her hands. "But we must not forget this metal! Please."

[morganknight]

"Right, of course," he said, casually winding the guitar's cord around his wrist. "Normally this guitar is powered by electricity, and plugs into an amplifier that actually translates the playing into music. I don't have one here... or the rest of my band, so I'll just fake it with my chi and call it good."

[starbolts]

"Your chi? Is that a sort of power?" The word sounded vaguely familiar, but she had admittedly not paid as much attention to the lessons in other martial arts as she should have.

[morganknight]

"Think of it as life force, if it helps. It's the flow of energy inside living creatures.

He shut his eyes to concentrate, making the necessary adjustments in his own flow of energy to read electricity and radiate it as sound. Then, he strummed the guitar -- and the chord sung out from his own skin, like he was a living amp.

[starbolts]

That was an eerie sound. Starfire could appreciate the style of music well enough, it was similar to some strains of radio she'd heard on Earth, but its source was strange. She'd never met a living musical instrument before!

"It is a powerful sound," she said, a slight understatement. "I understand its appeal. You must do very well."

[morganknight]

"I'm all right. I'm lead guitar in my band, so it must be worth something."

But she'd asked about his singing, not his guitar skills. Morgan took an unconscious step back, shutting his eyes as his fingers rested on the strings. What song to play?

Well. Starfire reminded him of Stormraven, so he'd pick a song that Stormy once insisted he could sing very well, back before he believed it himself.

So he plucked the strings, let the backup sound of strings form in the air as it did in his mind, and began to play.

[starbolts]

Starfire was listening with definite interest. She closed her eyes to better concentrate on the music, but she did take peeks at Morgan's performance now and again.

It was a nice song. It gave hope, something they all needed right now. It definitely told her something about him.

When he finished, she applauded loudly. "Wonderful! You have a great talent."