[party post] come sail away with me

[varymydays]

You've come through a door, and you are on a boat. Specifically, you're on a cruise ship in the middle of some giant body of water. You've come through the door behind you which is attached to nothing and may now be locked. It's relatively empty as giant as it appears to be. The only other passengers that are here appear to also have come through the door for the most part and it is not nearly enough to fill up this entire cruise ship.

Also, who knows who the hell is driving this thing since all of the employees appear to be either ghosts or holograms...

Is this your first time here or your hundredth time here? Do you want a drink or a dip in the pool? Is it day or night? Do you stumble on your room or some other situation either fun or painful within its many rooms, shops, and facilities? Do you run into someone you know or a complete stranger?

The possibilities are unlimited!

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[eluding]

Ethan laughs when they approach another bar. "I love it when the natural environment proves my point," he says, tapping the top of the bar as they pass by it. He looks over at her with that wide, amused smile on his face, looking at her before he looks out at the rest of the view.

It is a beautiful place. There's that at least.

His hand slips over hers on the railing before he takes in a deep breath, shaking his head slightly since he's-- He is not her Ethan, and he doesn't-- Ethan is in love with her like the other Ethan is, like he thinks every Ethan that meets an Elena must be. Must fall in love with her. How could he not?

It's who she is, who they are together. "Little things mostly," Ethan says. "Shops will move or there will be new shops that weren't there before. Of course, none of the shops cost actual money at all, but there are things to do in them or get. You can also find different things about the environment that will change like-- Look..."

He points to the water, keeping an arm around her waist just so... she doesn't slip or anything. The dolphins that he'd noticed earlier (the ones that glow neon) are swimming in the water alongside the boat. He didn't know that dolphins could swim so fast, doesn't know what it means or how they are here, but it is beautiful too.

[believable]

Technically, he isn't 'her' Ethan, no.

They don't come from the same world and they don't have the exact same set of experiences. But this still feels like something that is hers, and he still feels like Ethan, period. And that is enough for her, though she doesn't immediately expect it to be the same for him. She looks down at their hands, smiling to herself for a bit, before she turns hers over so that she can lock her fingers with his. "I'd say that sounds really weird if I didn't come from Chicago," she tells him with the fond upturning of her lips.

Things just appearing where they weren't there before, though his mention of the environment has her expression shifting curiously, and she turns to where he is pointing toward. She laughs in disbelief at the sight of the dolphins, leaning forward just a fraction, but holding on to him as well. "They're beautiful," Elena says to him softly, just staring at them for several moments.

Then she turns sideways to look at him in the space in between their faces, a tiny smile remaining on hers. "Did ... we ever go to an aquarium in your world?" she asks. This is kind of reminding her of that day.

Ethan had appointed himself as the person that would show her Chicago as it was meant to be known, taking her frequently to places she had never been before. It was always a new experience.

[eluding]

It feels the same way to him too like something that is his, and she still feels like Elena, period. He is still grappling with the fact that she is in love with him and that she's had sex with him-- a version of him, and it's-- Ethan still finds that absolutely amazing, but at the core they are still each other. They are still him so it doesn't feel strange at all. Ethan laughs a bit at what she says as she locks her fingers with his, and he tightens his hold on her hand. "I know what you mean. I got used to this place fairly quickly. Can completely blame... or I suppose thank Chicago for that," Ethan says with a bit of a smirk.

The sound of her laughter has him smiling, and he turns to look at her as she stares down at the dolphins below. He is still looking at her when he nods in agreement. "Yes..." you are. Very beautiful, and then it takes him a moment to realize he has been staring at her so he clears his throat a bit, glancing back down at the dolphins.

Ethan looks up at her again, and the smile on his face widens into something of a grin at that memory. "Yes, in fact, we did go to an aquarium. We looked at the turtles. I never did get to show you as much of Chicago as I wanted to before... Well."

He shakes his head a bit, making a gesture with both of his hands that is pretty much signifying like an explosion. No more Chicago. "But I should you the aquarium and the pier as well, the night that your brother was going to prom, and you took me out on one of those ships when I really, really needed it." Elena didn't abandon him when he was this restless mess right before the full moon, but she kept him company and didn't seem to mind how off he was all that afternoon.

They are very good memories.

[believable]

"We can thank Chicago for a lot of things," Elena says softly, a light smirk in place, as well. Mainly because not many people would listen to that sentence and agree with it wholeheartedly. Chicago is a melting pot of chaos and dangers. It pushes you to your limits and it takes things away from you at the drop of a hat. It has also prepared them for situations such as these, and it's also what it made it possible for Elena to meet him. Without the rifts and without Chicago, such a thing wouldn't have been made possible.

She turns to him, as though feeling his gaze on hers, and her smirk shifts into a smile. The hand he isn't holding on to lifts up, knuckles lightly brushing down his cheek before she leans forward to place a soft kiss there. If he wants to look at her, if he wants to hold her hand -- he should. She is not technically 'his' Elena but she believes that one day he will see her again.

Quiet laughter leaves her at the memory, along with his gesture despite what it means. Chicago went boom. She shakes her head and lets out a deep breath, looking back out into the water. "You were the very best tour guide," she says to him in answer, before it is her turn to look over at him. She remembers that day. How restless and helpless Ethan had looked, and how badly she'd wanted to help him.

"You always said I was good at helping you stand still," she says softly. That day, on that cruise, was one of those times, she thinks.

[eluding]

Ethan laughs softly at what she says. Chicago definitely had its own way, and it is strange to know that she will be returning to it while he will be going-- He doesn't actually know where he will be going yet, which is a bit terrifying, but... he tries not to think about that. He tries not to think about a lot that scares him, that he'd prefer to avoid.

He pauses a brief moment, holding his breath as her knuckles run down his cheek in that brief way. He ducks his head slightly and then a smile tugs on his face as he finally reaches his hand over for hers to lock their fingers together. Ethan's smile widens as he looks at her.

Ethan smirks softly at what she says, and he did try after all to be a good tour guide. He didn't get to show her nearly as much as he would have liked, but-- but their world got cut short and their own friendship grew distant... now he wonders if he'd just taken the initiative-- How different things would be for him.

"That's because you are. In a way no one else... ever has been. I don't know if you realize what a big deal that is. I have been terrified-- absolutely terrified of standing still since I was maybe thirteen years old... thirteen, fourteen. Never would, no matter how tired I'd get. It felt like the world would come crashing down if I dared. So to feel safe in standing still is--" Ethan shakes his head lightly. There aren't words for the power that has over him, the power she has over him.

[believable]

Elena squeezes his hand lightly once he's reached for her hand and locked their fingers together. A quiet sort of smile touches on her lips as she looks at him, listens to what he says. It strikes her, then. Not because he is saying something she hasn't heard before, but because of what he has done for her.

"It's weird," she says after a moment, a small laugh, and the slight ducking of her head. The neon-colored dolphins remain swimming to the surface. Some of them jump up into the air before they dive back into the water. "You've always said I help you stand still when you're ... the person that helped me move forward," she adds, looking back over at him after a moment. Her smile turns bittersweet, but genuine, because this Ethan -- he may not realize what a big deal that is, either.

"And I don't just mean keep going, I've always done that, I've always had to." Without ever letting herself look back, letting herself stay in bed for that one second longer because she knew if she did, she wouldn't get out of it. "I mean moving on, and looking forward, and reminding me what it is to really feel alive."

She's felt so alive with him.

[eluding]

Ethan lingers against her hand as she squeezes it like that. It is impossible to describe what she does to him, the effects that she has on him. His thumb slides over the side of her hand, and he doesn't know if it's wrong because she's-- she's not his Elena, but he is Elena. She is an Elena who has had the things that he wanted so badly but never thought was possible.

He looks over at her when she ducks her head like that, and he breathes in slowly, shaking his head. There's a moment where he just holds his breath, because there's no way he could anticipate it what she says next, no way he can anticipate how it will hit him fully and intensely. He looks down at the water as he swallows thickly with that emotion wrapping up in his chest.

Ethan shakes his head. There aren't words for how much it means to him to know he could help her-- help her with that, help her to do more than live, help her to look forward and to want to move on and move forward, to feel alive. His eyes burn more, and his face crumples a bit.

"That's-- I had no... idea," he says softly and then breathes in sharply as he looks over at her. "I'm so happy I could help you too. I didn't--" He shakes his head again, sliding his hand behind his neck. He didn't know, and it-- it makes him really happy he could have a powerful effect on her life too.

[believable]

It doesn't feel wrong, at least not to her, so she is going to tentatively go with no. Elena has a hard time believing it wouldn't be the same for any Ethan and Elena that would meet, because of who they are when they are together. She has an even harder time still of wrapping her head around the fact that his own version of things are so different from hers, that the world ended and they were made to say goodbye. It doesn't make sense to her still. She doesn't know that it ever will. Her fingers lock with his, and she studies his reaction with a soft expression on her face. Was his Elena really that bad at expressing it?

Was it really that unapparent?

It makes her chest ache to think so. Elena's lips part, and she pulls in a small breath. "Maybe she just ... always thought it was obvious," she says, a frown softly creasing her forehead. "But I know it's true for her, too. It's who you are."

It's who she is.

[eluding]

Ethan doesn't know that it makes sense to him, and he lived it. He doesn't know how he did it, can barely remember those final moments without being ripped apart so he never tries to think about it too deeply. He breathes in as his fingers lock with her own, and then breathes out in a sharp breath that rattles in his chest. It's something he is wondering about now if he'd somehow missed it simply by-- by being such an idiot.

He's been such an idiot to never say. He wanted to say it in those last moments.

It makes his own chest ache to think of all the wasted time if she'd-- if she'd felt that way. Ethan's gaze lifts up to meet hers when she pulls in that small breath. "Maybe it all could have been... so different," he says in an aching voice as his hand squeezes her own tightly, and his eyes burn because he doesn't want to walk out that door but he will.

It could've been different, but it wasn't and he doesn't know-- He doesn't know why he didn't say. Ethan should have said. There's nothing he will regret more than the fact he let so much wasted time go by.