Orchestra Day 14

[yondu]

[Video]

[Yondu's opting for a video post though he did consider audio. But he really wants to put out there how important this is to him. He needs help and he can finally damn well practice what he preaches and ask for it.]

[Okay, deep, uneasy exhale before explaining.]

I uh.... before I showed up here, the same day even, there was a mutiny aboard my ship. Had a buncha folks decide they didn't like I was takin' cheaper jobs to keep from doin' stuff I weren't comfortable with. I was usually able to make excuses- we still made plenty but a few outspoken bastards were real upset I didn't always pick the options with more in our pockets, and then my first mate got jealous. Called me out in front of everyone. 'Caused a shitstorm. [He's a little distant in describing that.]

He didn't know how bad it'd get. The traitors... they uh... Hell... Alright if you're a kid or you don't gotta deal with a lotta death, just turn this off. Get the hell outa here. It ain't for you. [He takes a moment for them to do that if they care to. Alright? Good. Carrying on.] I was detained proper at the time. Couldn't use my arrow, couldn't fight, too hurt to get loose. They shoved 'em one by one out an airlock an' I couldn't save 'em. We're talkin' a hundred plus men dead, one by one. It was not just a few. Just left to float like garbage thrown out a window and they laughed about it and mocked 'em as they watched 'em go.

[There's a moment of shaky-breathed anger, but, you know, what's done is done. Assholes what done it are dead now, they cain't do it to anyone else or use his ship to go make the universe an even worse place or harass his family. He's good.] Dyin' in space is like freezin' and drownin' at the same time. Every moment of it hurts 'cause you feel your outside freezin' in, an' at some point you know even if you was saved the life left in ya wouldn't be worth it. [He can say that from experience. There's a little bit where you know how bad the damage is.] Almost three decades some of those men had been with me. Good and bad. I didn't make a lotta friends but they did mean somethin' to me. And someone gave me the idea maybe I could put 'em to rest if I could do somethin' memorialwise. I don't want the last thoughts directed at 'em to be their own crewmates bein' happy about 'em dyin'.

Ravagers... when we die, usually we're remembered. If our bodies cain't be picked up, we're toasted by our crew. If our bodies are there, we're put in the ship's engine. Turned to stardust, get to travel forever. And the one that's usually for captains is a ship flying its Colors- you do this big light show. Well, no crew here besides myself to drink to 'em, and their bodies ain't anywhere to be found [not to mention a hundred-some people is a lot] so I figured I'd ask anyone that can do lights an' illusions if they'd help me out to fly them the Colors whenever we're at a stop where our lives don't depend on it and there's a sky overhead. They weren't captains but they was loyal enough. I don't know if I could pay ya, but I been sittin' on knowin' what happened to 'em and I ain't been able to think of a way to really make it right.

Comments

[stonefvced]

No insult taken, its too common a method of leadership. ( And it works for some people and in some instances but there's lines -- it was Madara's problem, too. Wanting control, wanting to lord power over others. Will always result in rebellion and war. Even when you try your best... mistakes he's vaguely learned from.

This all aside, he can't help but notice something about the man. It's become more and more clear each time they speak. Worries a lot about how people perceive him. And everyone does, but. It's not his place to point out, though. Can only imagine what seeing that would do to a person. ) You can choose to receive it however you wish, Yondu. That is, I think, the point.

[yondu]

["Vaguely". Being afraid, seeing the worst in people, it can do a number on your choices too as a leader. And Yondu, to this day, is often a little afraid of everyone he could consider a peer. Even this man, even if the reasons for it confuse him. There are certain people in his life that give him the comfort that his old team did, but those people carry the sharpest edges they don't even know they have (and Tobirama has a set of traits that remind him of the best parts of his past which can make the deepest cuts).]

[He's always fumbling, trying not to cut himself. It's not unique to Tobirama, he just ended up there quickly.]

It's growin' on me. I like to think that I'm enrichin' the lives of the people what I get to know with my own unique brand of class. [On that one he chuckles and wrinkles his nose teasingly, knowing that he is not the classy one here. But also a very indirect admission that he actually has no clue what he's doing with this whole social thing.]

[stonefvced]

( Vaguely.

But this fear is not an unknown one nor is it as rare as someone might think. To become close to someone is to become vulnerable. Immediately, that someone becomes leverage that an enemy can and often will use against you. It not only puts your heart in danger but, more importantly, it puts the lives of your loved ones in danger.

Emotions must be controlled. Law and order. There is code even in those who claim lawlessness. The Ravagers have it. Atstusuki had it. Criminal or not, no community can exist in chaos. )

Oh? ( Tobirama turns up a thin white brow. ) Which brand is that? ( Delivered smooth and dry as ever. )

[yondu]

What, can't you see my charm? And here I thought you was pretty aware of your surroundings.

[If someone knew Peter, they'd see where he got his attitude from. Except it's fairly obvious that Yondu is joking at his own expense, and Peter? Did not seem to grasp this.]

[But he actually thought Yondu was going to eat him so-]

[stonefvced]

My expertise in the matter of charm must clearly be lacking. ( Tobirama likes sharp wit, easily making his response and he's more than aware the tone that comes with someone who jokes at their expense. Though he's happy to play along. He does know a thing or two about people that take things far too literally or, sometimes, may be far too gullible as well. For a man so bright it was impressive how stupid Hashirama could be. Interestingly enough, this the same case for Naruto. Oddly comforting. ) I'll have to reacquaint myself.

[yondu]

[He snorts a laugh, all teeth. Apparently Tobirama can sit there and keep his straight face and it won't dampen Yondu's expressions any. If anything it's something to play off of.]

I could school ya in it. You're such a good cook I could even give ya discount.

[stonefvced]

( He can appreciate someone that understands his dry manner. Watching the other man, Tobirama pulls up to cross his legs on the bed and fold his arms over his chest. The thinnest sign of a smile curling up at the corners of his lips. ) Offering a trade, are you? What kindness.