[mingle log] from down the length of the long table

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: OTA
WHERE: The Station
WHEN: DAY :040
SUMMARY: A dinner party.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

THE LONG TABLE seems to have grown itself from out of the Station itself at the center of the Circular Gardens. It's made of the same mottled gray and white material as the Station's corridors and light scattered floors and on it has been set a parade of dishes. They are hot and cool, familiar and unfamiliar, alien and nostalgic. The dishware is mismatched -
a slew of fine china, a handful of delicately painted ceramic bowls, brass and glass cups and an assortment of fluted metal champagne stems. Pitchers of sweet teas and spiced juices and thick, syrupy wines dot the long banquet table and strings of small, glittering lights have been stitched through the surrounding greenery.

It's pleasant, or it should be. Certainly some considerable effort has been made in the preparation and execution of the meal. And perhaps parts of this meeting must be sad, but surely some of them are as intended. Certainly Cathaway seems intent on being bright and friendly from her seat toward the middle of the table as she passes dishes and instructs how certain alien foods are to be eaten, with Prince stationed beside her. This is meant to be nice: an excuse to see one another's faces, to make idle conversation, to marvel at little victories. The egg stolen from The Fair Heart is a centerpiece of the table (though swathed in a silvery luminescent fabric and clearly for decoration, not eating). Prince, clothed in something besides his typical uniform, seems occasionally distracted by it.

But there's no denying that this might be a quieter affair than intended - less populated than is ideal. Still, the food is good and surely the company must be somewhat tolerable.

I. A TOAST To your success on Waypoint Shril and to every newly hatched Host. To old friends. To new ones. To the beings we miss and the ones we don't. To what's to come. There's plenty of beverages (alcoholic or non-) available to guzzle.

II. SCINTILLATING CONVERSATION There's enough room for everyone at the table, but absolutely no assigned seating. Hopefully you don't hate the person you're sitting next to.

III. CUISINE FROM A DISTANT LAND How exactly are you supposed to eat that?

IV. A PRIVATE CORNER The nice thing about garden party dinners is it's really easy to slip away, and the garden almost seems to be designed for it. There are, among the plants and trees and shrubs, small clusters of chairs rising from the floor, lit by the twinkling strands of lights.

V. WILDCARD Drink too much. Arm wrestle on the table. Play a nice rowdy game of spoons. Say something nice. Say something mean. Awkwardly chew food that's way, way too squishy.

---

((OOC Notes: This is the mingle log for the dinner party on Day :040. The dinner itself lasts a few hours unless the Hosts drag it out deep into what constitutes as evening on the station. Come and go as you please and feel free to get creative with the prompts - they're inspiration more than they are strict guidelines.))

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Comments

[hymnals]

[ He agrees, of course; it is great.

Steadying him doesn't take much on her part. He's light as a feather, with or without the magic. ]

It's not a lamp, if that's what you mean. It's a generative force. The energy that binds the universe together, and encourages it to flourish. It touches everything, everywhere.

[ His hands glow. ]

And it comes to those who call it.

[greentech]

So... Magic? Basically?

[ She hates to quantify it like that, but she doesn't really have a good frame of reference otherwise. ]

Or more like some sort of energy field that you can tap into through some sort of psychic link?

[hymnals]

[ Adra drawls. ]

Kiiinda ... both?

[ Light and shadow both operate through the mind and belief, after all. One positive, one negative. ]

But sure. Magic sums it up fine.

[greentech]

There has to be more to it than that. It's never just "magic".

[ Pidge has Opinions about magic and how it interacts with technology/the rest of the universe. ]

There's a mechanism to it, right? It can be measured?

[hymnals]

[ He tilts his head to one side. ]

Measured? Like water or dirt? Not so much. The Light suffuses everything. The only mechanism is whether you accept that truth with enough force to call on it.

[greentech]

That... doesn't make any sense. If it has an impact on the universe, there has to be some way to measure that impact, right?

[ She's a science nerd. Forgive her, Adra. ]

If we can interact with it, we can figure it out. Deconstruct it.

[hymnals]

[ He doesn't seem to mind, especially right now. His tone is mild, his voice a little slow, its deep timbre made smoky from the buzz in his veins. ]

The Light's impact is measured by the works of its followers. It is a positive force of energy, thus, positive acts feed its power. Acts of creation, of love and hope ...

[ Not super scientific. ]

It doesn't need to be understood beyond that.

[greentech]

Why not? If you understand it, couldn't you use it more effectively?

[ She is definitely not approaching this from a belief standpoint. She's all buzzing curiosity and inquisitiveness. Even if Adra is floating. ]

Maybe it's some sort of mutually reinforcing energy field.

[hymnals]

That's the point. I do understand it.

[ His tone is patient, not agitated. Not like he hasn't had this type of discussion before, many times with his very own people. Hadn't they been convinced that the Light was merely a resource to be exploited? Lady Liadrin herself had preached it to the masses. That is, until prophecy proved her wrong. ]

If you want to think about it in your own way, you're free to do so. But --

[ He gestures to his floating self. ]

-- it's perfectly effective for me as it stands.

[greentech]

Well, yeah, but I'm thinking about the underlying structure. It doesn't just... exist.

[ Pidge, don't talk down to priests. She's not trying to be dismissive of his beliefs, she's just trying to think of it in a more controlled manner. Even the energy that powered the Castle could be measured in a way. It didn't just come from nowhere. ]

Right? Where does it actually come from? I'm not denying it's effectiveness. I just want to know more about it.

[hymnals]

[ He shrugs. ]

It does, in fact, just exist. All life starts from something. The Light is that start. No beginning, no end.

[ He's not particularly bothered. He's met plenty of people who want to take the Light apart, after all. ]

[greentech]

Everything starts or ends. Even universes.

[ Pidge shrugs. She's not really interested in a theological debate, she just has opinions on how things work. ]

But you know more about then I do, I guess. I'm not sure I'd even know how to tap into it...

[hymnals]

[ Adra's not a science guy; there's no denying that. In his studies as a mage, he learned about the underpinnings of the universe, about theoretical frameworks and arcane calculations and experiments, about many things that are adjacent to science--but which, in the end, come down to a will and a way. ]

First of all, you have to believe that it's real. Hardest step for most people.

[greentech]

I believe that it's real. I just don't know that much about it yet. I mean, I fly a giant robot-lion. I'd have to be kinda nuts not to believe in it, right?

[ It's a life-changing experience. ]

[hymnals]

[ Adra's pretty sure that anyone would have to be nuts to disbelieve the Light, since he can call it right to his hands, but even some on Azeroth still try to deny its power. ]

Automatons, huh? I don't have much experience there.

[ He ain't no engineer. ]

But the Light requires only will and desire. The will to use it, and the desire to turn that into something tangible.

[greentech]

Do you think I could learn how to use it?

[ It's... mostly a hypothetical, but she's curious about almost everything, so figuring that out would be kind of cool. Right? ]

[hymnals]

If we were on Azeroth? Absolutely. Here?

[ He shakes his head. ]

I don't know. It's possible, I'm sure, but we're far from my universe. The Light reaches this place, but ... not easily.

[greentech]

It wouldn't hurt to try, right? Just once?

[ It's not tech. Definitely not her usual wheelhouse. She's curious, though. Mostly just to see if she can. ]

We've got nothing to lose.

[hymnals]

No, it wouldn't hurt. But you must remember that mastery of the Light comes from the heart, not the mind.

[ It was a mistake his own people had made--and since corrected. ]

[greentech]

That sounds kinda familiar.

[ Pidge manages a smile and a laugh. ]

It wasn't really a universal force. But I had a connection with my lion that was kind of like that.

[hymnals]

[ He cants his head to one side, his ears perking forward slightly. ]

Lion?

[ Like a hunter? ]

[greentech]

Uh, yeah, a lion!

[ She shares a mental image of it. A giant, robotic lion made of white and green metal. A quick impression of the cockpit. The faint sensation of her psychic connection to it. ]

But a robot. It's kinda weird.

[hymnals]

[ Robots aren't totally foreign to his imagination. To him, it looks more or less like a tremendously advanced titan construct. ]

Not that weird.

[ 'Had' a connection ... ]

It's not with you, I assume. You must miss it.

[greentech]

Yeah. I... don't know what happened to it when they brought me here.

[ Pidge frowns. ]

It could just be drifting around in space for all I know. Or maybe it got destroyed.

[ She doesn't like the thought of that, but she has to consider the possibility. ]

[hymnals]

Hey, hey.

[ He shakes his head. ]

Maybe it's just waiting for you to get back. No harm in considering the positive option, right?