[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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[shellbreaker]

The end always comes so quickly, too quickly.

Mark doesn't think there was any way that they could have prepared for it though they tried. There was time, but it was never going to be enough time. Saying goodbye to her was never not going to tear his heart out of his chest like so many of the goodbyes did that week. It is not easy saying goodbye to the people that-- Without knowing where they'll go or if they'll be safe, there's no guarantee, and he knows in his mind that there are endless possibilities of universes that people could have fallen into including ones that had no sustainable organic life or ones where anyone that fell through Rifts were automatically killed or tortured--

Sometimes knowing so much can be-- Sometimes he wishes he could unknow things, but in all his knowing, Mark never imagined he would ever be able to see Cassie again. It is why he is standing here almost uncertainly like he isn't sure if this moment is even real or if he is imagining it, but then she responds to his voice. She is turning toward him and seeing him, but it is not until her arms wrap around him in that hard, tight hug that he knows this is real.

"You're real," Mark says against her hair, hugging her tightly to him as he lifts her up a bit in that hug because he's hugging her so tightly. "I'm really, really happy to see you too, Cassie. It is. It's me, and it's you, and--"

His voice cracks, and he shakes his head a bit as he tries to wrap his brain around it and sort his emotions out at the same time. His brain is still going a thousand miles a minute with all these possibilities and theories and-- His chest burns as he hugs her tighter to him. "I really thought I'd never see you again. The possibility was so minuscule that it was almost impossible, and I don't even know where we are, but-- I don't really care right now."

[ohstarryeyed]

The tightness of the hug keeps her grounded, lets her know that this really is happening. Mark's hugs are almost like his trademark and she could never imagine this, never mistake it for anything else but real. She can feel his heart beat in his chest and that angel-coolness of his skin and it can't be a lie, it can't be imaginary. She still feels Chicago's decay on her, the smell of fire and ash in her nose and throat and the tremor of the world giving way in her feet. The presence of her friend being here both keeps those things inside her and pushes them away all at once, and she doesn't know how else to react but babble away and keep on crying.

"I'm real, you're real." she utters, stammering over her words. The echoes of Chicago's destruction drum on in her ears, but she can still hear his voice over it and to her, she's never heard a more beautiful sound.

To say she's happy to see him would do her feelings enough justice, so she doesn't say it. She can't describe her joy and relief. "Oh god, oh god, I just-- it's gone, it's all gone, and--"

She swallows a lump in her throat, hugs him just as tightly back, breathing him in and letting it and the relief wash over her. "We made it," she murmurs, her voice pained. "It's gone, but we're here. It wasn't goodbye in the end."

Cassie lets out a small laugh, her voice still cracking. "Bloody boat, we're on a bloody boat. I haven't been on a boat before, but we're on one--what even is--"

[shellbreaker]

Mark smiles despite the emotion in his chest. There is a lot of pain in it, but he knows this is real too, because of the way she hugs him back, the way she feels in his arms like she always has. He is so happy to see her even as his heart breaks with it too. His expression crumples a bit as he nods when she stammers the words, and he lifts up a hand to wipe the tears from her face as reassuringly as he can. Even when he's fighting tears of his own, and he swallows thickly as his hand moves down to rest his hand against her arm.

"One hundred percent," he says in agreement, nodding in confirmation as he looks at her. There really aren't words to describe everything that he feels, how happy he feels to see her and how relieved he is that she is okay. "I know. I know. It's-- It happened so fast. We had warning, and it still... happened really, really fast."

And he moves in to hug her tightly again so she knows he is real. He is real and so is she. Mark nods against her with a tiny laugh. "It wasn't. Which is really, really good, because saying goodbye to you--" Mark shakes his head. It's-- It's really, really hard.

Mark laughs too, shaking his head a bit as he looks back, pulling back enough to have a look at their surroundings. "I haven't ever been on one before either, but I always wanted to go?" Tiny, lopsided smile, and he's already letting his brain work to try to think up the possibilities. His eyes still bloodshot from emotion. "Things keep looking up! Maybe."

[ohstarryeyed]

Cassie nods in agreement, pulling away and gently putting a hand to his face for a moment. “I know.” Because he is so dear to her. And to let go of those you’re dear to… well, she has no words for it. She’s been through it so many times in so many different ways, and she still hasn’t got the words.

She smiles and tilts her head to the side for a moment. “Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever thought about being on a boat before.” It’s never really been in her priorities. “I wonder how many people are even on this thing, it looks like a pretty big boat.”

And then she remembers, the smile slips from her face. Is there anyone else here from Chicago? Or are they the lucky ones? And what about--

“I lost my Guardian.” She says softly. She can’t even remember if she even told Mark about Aaron. He appeared in her life a little while before they made the announcement about the Rifts. There was much time for anything, she barely had a chance to process the fact that she had a guardian, let alone tell everyone she knew about it. “We were planning on leaving together. I wanted to start again, we never really got off to a good start and so I thought… maybe we could have a chance to build a better bridge.”
The universes had other plans.

“I don’t know what’s happened to him, what’ll happen to him now we’re—“ he could be worlds away and she doesn’t know what that would do to him, so be separated from his Ward like that. As much as they didn’t get on, the thought terrifies her.

[shellbreaker]

There aren't any words for it at all. Mark leans into her touch instinctively with that want and that love in his heart that he has for her (and that other level of it too, he feels so much for her that he never got to say before the world ended).

He shakes his head at that question. There could be hundreds of people here, but it seems so quiet really. So, so quiet.

"...you had a Guardian? I'm sorry-- so, so sorry you lost him," he says, and he reaches his hand out to touch her arm. Mark swallows a bit as he shifts closer to her, turning to look at her face. He can't even imagine how that must feel to be here without him. "The first bridge that you built was bad then?"

He winces, and then his arms wind around her again as he tugs her in close to his chest to hug her tightly. "I know. It'll be okay. The Rifts usually-- They'll do something to make it easier to deal with that. I've seen it happen so many times. Don't you worry about him," Mark says softly. He's seen guardian's lose their wards to Rifts in Chicago, and they-- they were given other things to help them survive that loss.

Like the Rift somehow knew what they needed.

[ohstarryeyed]

Cassie shakes her head, "We.. we didn't exactly meet very well the first time. Bit of a car-crash, really." She can't help but outwardly cringe. It was the one night stand that lead to more than they both bargained for. Cassie barely remembers the night. "I wanted to start again, I wanted us to get along, to be friends."

And now she might never get that chance.

"He avoided me for a long time, until.. I don't know, I guess he couldn't do it any more," she says gently. "He didn't want to be my Guardian and I don't think I wanted to be his Ward. I-I don't know.." She closes her eyes and rests against him, even thinking about it was exhausting. But still, the worry in her chest remains.

"He'll be okay, yeah?" Surely Mark will know. He's the smartest, brightest person she knows. He always seems to have a lot of answers, ones for things she doesn't. "It... it won't have hurt him?" She knows a little about Guardian and Ward relationships, but nowhere as near she wishes she did.

"Is anyone else from the Crowbar here?" she asks hopefully.

[shellbreaker]

Mark frowns at what she says and how she explains it. It sounds like a really complicated way for it all to start out, and he swallows a bit before he reaches his hand out to rest on her arm.

"He'll be okay. The Rifts have made wards disappear before on... their guardians, there's this protection that happens so they don't feel the loss of it. They can go on and be okay so yeah, he definitely will," he says at least when it comes to not being near his ward. There's a lot the Rifts do wrong, and it's terrible that the Rifts separate people and like... destroy the world to start with, but the Rifts also make sure that the bond isn't going to be an issue too.

Mark shakes his head at the question. "If... they are, I haven't seen them. I came in alone. Maybe they'll show up later? Or if they don't, maybe I'll end up wherever... they went."

He's heard that people can come and go off of this ship.