theclipper_tlv | Welcome Pizza Party!

WHO: EVERYONE!
WHAT: a welcome party for the new arrivals, with pizza and milkshakes and snacks and candy, dancing games and video games and a big banner that says 'WELCOME!' and music and balloons for everyone!
WHERE: main common room
WHEN: beginning of August
NOTES/WARNINGs: None so far. Party thread!

The main common room has been transformed into party central!!!

There's streamers and balloons and tons of fun and games. Haruka, Luigi, and Duck have made sure that there's a little something for everyone.

There's a food table with all kinds of snacks and candy as well as pizza with every combination of toppings you could ask for.

There's dance games out with their mats on the floor for fun and friendly competitions, and a sign that says there's a scavenger hunt for anyone interested. There's also a bunch of machines, almost like a margarita bar (but of course not!) that offer all kinds of milkshakes and slushies for anyone who'd want one. Fun, happy, upbeat pop music with bubblegum lyrics is playing just loud enough to be fun but not to give anyone a headache.

Haruka had made sure that the kitchen staff knew they wouldn't need to make dinner tonight, and they were using all paper cups and plates so no clean up! Everyone could have fun tonight!

"We just wanted to welcome you all to the Clipper! So enjoy the snacks, and have fun!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Alfredo accepts all of that with a nod.

Once the streamer's all the way on, he picks up the shake (using the streamer as a way to keep his hand from getting too cold) and takes a sip.

Reluctantly, he smiles.

"It is good. You never know with the Nurse..."

Not that the food would be bad, but that some aspects of dining were too - simplistic, perhaps that was the word.

That there seemed to be a big variety of toppings to choose from for the pizza was another tentative plus, to him.

"Thank you. Are you... all right, with all these new people around?"

It seemed the question of the month, on several levels.

"I keep expecting something else to happen, with them around."

For better or for worse, though if it came down to it Alfredo would prefer to take the newcomers' side.

Not that it meant as much for a Patient as it might have for an Assistant, but still.

"I'm never much of a fan of anyone showing up here," since he knows the consequences and he doesn't wish those on many people at all, "but I haven't had any trouble with them. By and large, it sounds like their ship would be more to my liking than this one."

He looks over at Alfredo.

"What about you?"

"I understand."

And he sighs, because truth be told he could only say the same.

"I wish we'd had more options - those of us who need change, and those of us who need more specific deals. There's so much more to this... system of ships, than anyone has been able to explain to us. It could have made so much difference, for everyone."

"I think that if we had options," he says with a wry sort of smile, "they wouldn't have nearly as much 'business'. Part of controlling the market is making sure you're selling to the right customer."

He doesn't buy that they're actually trying to produce change. He knows what that's like, how it's like. He's done it. This?

This is window dressing and ego shows.

Alfredo takes another sip of his milkshake, ruminating.

"Shouldn't the different 'options' at least know about each other? What if they try to pick the same person at the same time? Or if they'd rather fight each other?"

... Or could be made to disagree with each other.

"You're thinking like this system was made for us," he says with the practical cynicism of a king, "as opposed to the people in power. I'm sure they know about each other. But we don't know they do. And they don't admit to it. How many people here, do you think, would clamor for another option if they knew?"

Alfredo nods slowly, familiar with the overall picture Garion's painting if not the particulars.

"Not all," he admits, because circumstance driving choice is something he's familiar with.

"But a lot of us would. All the different ways of looking at the world... if there were some way of knowing why these ships are directed the way they are, I know I'd appreciate it."

With what he's learned, Alfredo's pretty sure these ships and officers don't spawn out of nowhere, fully defined.

"I have my thoughts but... it's been a while since I could ask about it."

One of the 'blocks' that this place puts on him is making him unable to hear the Voice, his constant companion. It's been nice, in one respect. In another, it's been one of the most terrifying things in his life.

"If I had to guess? It's something about keeping the multiverse on the right path. Making sure things that are supposed to happen do happen and vice versa."

Alfredo's attention is definitely caught by that.

"Who would you ask?"

Though the conclusion about paths has him making an odd face, even as he drinks a little more of the milkshake.

"Would that mean there's more than one right path? Or, if we make the wrong choice, or many, things can still always be fixed?"

The fact is that 'there's a part of me that's really the very will of the Multiverse' isn't the sort of answer you can just spring on people. But he can, at least, offer this-

"Someone who's helped guide me for most of my life. I trust their voice just about as much as a person can."

His expression turns wry.

"There's only one right path, though. Not that it's impossible to have it get messed up. It can be fixed, but it's a lot of hassle to do it." What with his entire world existing purely to do that very thing. "I've always figured a ship like this was like a bandage for some of the smaller mishaps."

"Wonder what 'smaller' means, then."

Then-

"I wonder if anyone's actually asked. What the limits are on deals, that is. Whether it's energy, or a path, or something else."

Or, if people had asked, if they were simply ignored. Another question to tuck away neatly, perhaps.

"I couldn't say, since mine seemed to be all right."

And as per usual, he puts his mind to work on the problem, coming up with what he thinks is a reasonable answer, given what he knows.

"And I would assume that 'smaller' isn't really the right word. A 'small' knife in the right spot can kill a man where a giant sword in the wrong spot won't. I'd guess it's more whether something is in the 'right' or 'wrong' place."

"Whether a problem is yours to make the solution for?"

That seems to be what Garion is getting at, at least if Alfredo understands it right.

"And whether it's something that can be fixed without causing other problems. Some events, as terrible as they can seem... need to happen."

"... Right."

It makes sense, though it's still quite a heart-heavy concept to wrestle.

"We can't imagine how much has gone into the worlds we know."

By definition, practically; the vast majority of them are only mortal, after all.

Welcome Pizza Party!

/thumps up!

Re: /thumps up!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Should we start wrapping one or both of our threads?