{SB}Snakes on a Boat

[Seiji Lockard]

Was this a good idea? For Seiji to have come on this trip when he had been trouble getting sleep and was busy pushing himself extra hours to figure things out? He did manage to get sleep a week or so ago but after that he had not. He had a whole problem with his pheromones and ended up attracting snakes and that was a 'fun' event. The fun bit being completely sarcastic because it was not fun at all, even if the situation worked itself out pretty smoothly. Now he was on a boat, with all his snakes again because all of them refused to stay behind while he went off on a boat.

None of them were particularly good with water; perhaps Ghost would have been fine with it if the ship did end up sinking or something. Still a boat was not a place that Seiji or his snakes had ever been on. Even when he was younger and he was traveling around he tended to either drive or take a plane. "Ugh, why could we not stay in the room?" Seiji asked his snake. Seiji was currently making his way on the ship, wobbling around, and managing to carry Ghost wrapped around his body without any real issue.

The ship was big enough that Seiji could not actually feel the waves moving the ship; the problem was that he had stepped outside because Ghost wanted to see what the sea looked like. Once outside, seeing the waves rock against the ship, Seiji immediately felt sick, and was already leaning on the side railing. Ghost; being a bit too curious, was starting to slither down the side of the boat, but thankfully Seiji caught a hold of him and started to work on pulling the snake up. "Ghost! Are you crazy!" Seiji yelled out in a panic as he worked on pulling the snake up. Why did he have to be trying to pull up his longest and heavies snake now?

((Someone better get that reference or I might silently sob))

[Arianna Robins]

Arianna had taken to wandering around the boat a lot. Hell, she was a chaperone - that was her job, anyway, wasn't it? Wander around, making sure there were no kids misbehaving.

Of course, the school's definition of 'misbehaving' and Arianna's own were very, very different. They were teens and tweens and twenties on a boat. Of course they'd get up to some mischief. And/or hanky panky. She wasn't about to go into it unrealistic.

Regardless, as the wandered along the deck and ran her hand along the railing, she had to admit that she enjoyed the time she got out of this deal to be introspective. There was something about the ocean and the sun and the waves and all the joy around her that made her feel very calm. At peace.

"Ghost! Are you crazy?"

Frown.

That voice had come from up ahead, and it didn't sound particularly good, whatever it was. She picked up her pace and hurried along until she could get a look at what was going on. She saw someone she'd only seen in passing on campus, very rarely, and he was leaned over the edge, clearly grabbing a hold of something. "Hey!" She called. "Are you--"

And she stopped, because that was a snake.

What.

A snake? A snake? What kind of absolute ignoramus would bring along his pet snake on a boat like this??

Well. This was a fine how-do-you-do.

Arianna was not your typical lady's lady. She generally had no problem with things that were icky, or crawled around - she was the reigning spider-killing champion in she and the twins' home before they'd left, and she was not shy about dealing with a wasp's nest here or there. But she and Indiana Jones shared an odd, petrifying fear of snakes. Snakes.

It had to be fucking snakes, didn't it? She felt in silent solidarity with Dr. Jones.

Her inner drive to be helpful was clashing with her phobia of the damn wriggly things. Eventually, and she hated herself for it, her inner guardian angel won out.

"Hang on! I'll--god... I'll help you." She hurried over, and as best as she could tried to help him haul the heavy snake upward.

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OOC Notes: I'm afraid I don't get the reference but I hope you don't mind me jumping in anyway!

[Seiji Lockard]

The voice started Seiji a little, but not enough to mess up what he was doing. It was not like it was impossible for him to pull his snake back up, it was just not easy. Ghost was a four foot snake, and all of his weight was hanging over the side of the boat and trying to get to a lower level of the ship to go exploring. Seiji should have known Ghost curiosity was going to land them into some trouble, but he didn’t think it be the kind that Ghost could end up in the ocean.

The woman who had approached did not finish her sentence so either something happened to her or she saw Ghost. Seiji was going to assume the latter and that also she was afraid of snakes. Great, that meant that he was going to have to do this all on his own. He was so thankful that he did start to do workouts a bit more regularly. Still, being tired and trying to lift up a heavy snake was not something he would call a good start to another day on the ship.

Ghost was not making things easier since he was still trying to get a peek at the lower level as Seiji moved a little to get a better grip on the reptile. Seiji was actually shocked when the woman seemed to brave up and came over to help him. The smell of a new person and a new touch had Ghost turning his head. He then proceeds to half slither his body up the side of the ship while Seiji pulled up his other end with some help. Right, snakes could climb up surfaces that way. So even more work for little reason. "Ghost! Don't do that again!" Seiji scolded his snake. Ghost looked away from his master and he would have let out a whimper if he had been capable.

Seiji then turned his attention to the woman who had helped him as he caught his breath. "Thanks for helping with that. Ghost tends to get too curious like that." Seiji informed her as he gave her a friendly smile.

((*silently sobs* It's a knock off of Snakes on a Plane movie))

[Arianna Robins]

So the snake turned. It turned, toward the-- up. It turned up. Toward her. Toward the railing again. The minute she touched it, it turned up. Around. Up. Not the... Oh, dear god.

It was only by the grace of her own iron will that she kept hauling the - gigh - snake upwards and into the arms of this character, whoever he was, whatever kind of idiot he surely had to be, and the minute the snake was clear of the railing she was stepping back quick and trembling out her severe case of the heebie-jeebies.

The guy was scolding his snake now, as if it could understand. Then she checked herself: it probably could. She was on a boat full of people with mutant powers. And, come to think of it, she'd heard tell of a guy who was a snake charmer, or something. She'd heard the word 'snake' in the conversation and had abruptly stopped paying attention.

So when he thanked her, she waved a hand and heaved an unsteady breath. "It's... it's all right... just..." She ran a hand through her hair. "I could just... use... a minute. Just..." She shook her head, trying not to look too much. "Just... make sure its curiosity doesn't bring it back my way, would you? That'd be great." Pace. Wall. Lean. Epic sigh.

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OOC Notes: Oh THAT reference. Ha! I got the title, I just thought you put something extra in the text that I missed.

[Seiji Lockard]

The woman seemed to manage to stick around long enough to make sure that Ghost was pulled up all the way. Once the snake was, Seiji gave him a good scolding, and then started to look him over to make sure that he was injured anyways. He might have been mad at the snake, but that didn't mean he didn't care for him anymore. Ghost was his first snake, his first friend, and he was always going to care for the reptile. When he saw that there was nothing wrong with his snake, his attention was on the woman that helped him.

He thanked her and easily picked up that she was in fact not good with snakes, even Ghost picked up on it. Well, it was expected for Ghost to be able to pick such a thing up as his tongue flicked out in the air and took in information. Seiji picked up his snake, allowing the creature to wrap its long body around him. The hold was easy enough, so long as ghost didn't move around and kept his body wrapped around in the right places. The woman then started to speak, in a slow manner as she did seem to be calming down. Seiji didn't say anything, just nodding his head when she said she needed a minute and to keep Ghost from going around her.

Seiji could do that, would not be hard at all. He had thanked her for her help and actually didn't have to stick around, but it always felt odd to just leave when you just met someone. So he remained on standby, watching her just as Ghost was. "I can leave if that would be better." Seiji offered up. He didn't want to remain around her if his pet snake was making her uncomfortable.

[Arianna Robins]

Yes. Please. Please, for the love of Zeus, get that creature the fuck away from me or else I swear to all things sacred I will kick it back over the railing or else just dive off the damn boat myself.

"No, no, don't be silly. I just needed a--a moment." She breathed in and out a few times. Damn it, but she was not a rude person. It wasn't in her bones.

She straightened herself out, girded her loins, and turned back to the young man. She had seen him around before, but she didn't recognize the snake, and she hadn't seen him all too often (she stayed mostly around the high school end, after all). And anyway she couldn't for the life of her imagine what his name might have been.

She thought about putting her hand out to shake, but remembered the snake and thought better of it. Instead she just said, "I don't think we've met. My name is Arianna. I teach English. And you're...?"

Fucking insane, she thought but didn't say.

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OOC Notes:

[Seiji Lockard]

Ghost was still informing him of the woman's elevated heart rate and breathing. He also was pointing out that she didn't smell like most of the people that were around the school. A non-mutant? They still allowed non-mutants to work at the school? Seiji thought to himself. He didn't really have a problem with non-mutants but was a little bit guarded around them. Seiji understood that they had to have some sort of connection in order to work here but he still was iffy on it.

No one understood mutants and their problem better than those who actually had a power. Still, he was a nice guy and was not going to hold his personal opinions on the matter go against her. It was not like he didn't like the woman or anything like that, he was just a little guarded was all. She assured him that she just needed some time so he remained where he was and gave her that time she requested. He was mentally having a conversation with Ghost in the meantime so it was not like he was bored or could not wait for a long time.

"Nice to meet you Miss Arianna. I'm Seiji Lockard, I work as the school Side-Effect Specialist at the moment while I finish up my college classes." Seiji informed her. He figured he might as give her, his title along with his name. People tended to want to know about the side-effect specialist since they often came to him for help on their powers. Not that she would need any help, but that didn't mean he was not going to be nice to her. "Are you enjoying the trip so far?" Seiji asked, making conversation.

[Arianna Robins]

So the snake was just, there. It wasn't really moving that much. It looked like it was 'smelling' the air, generally in her direction, but it didn't seem to be doing anything threatening. Arianna felt her heart rate descend, just a little bit. Just a little. Maybe this experience wouldn't be all that bad if she could stop looking at it.

So she forced herself to look up into Seiji's eyes as he introduced himself. She listened to what he had to say about his role at the school and gave him a nod. "That's right, that's where I heard your name before. Someone recommended that I send my brothers over to speak with you. Their, er... 'power' is a little odd. Basically it's one big side effect: they experience the exact same physical sensations, completely. One of my colleagues thought you might be able to shed some light."

She crossed back to the railing, avoiding going too close and still determinedly not looking at the giant snake. "I am enjoying it, yes. I haven't been on a cruise ship like this before, so it's nice to try something new. How about you? And your cre--" She cleared her throat. "... uh, your pet? Snake... friend?" She looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, it must be a little obvious that I'm not usually too fond of snakes..."

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OOC Notes:

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji smiled a little bit when Ghost informed him that the woman seemed to be calming down based on her heart rate. That was good, she still had a fear of snakes but at least she was not going to run off screaming or have another panic attack. Since he was carrying around Ghost, he could not really hide the snake anywhere on his person. The snake was four foot long after all and while Seiji was a lot taller the reptile, he could not just stuff the snake into his jacket or pocket like he could do with his other snakes.

He was certainly was not going to let Ghost go hide off on his own because that would cause problems for someone else. He didn't say anything as she pointed out that she recalled hearing about him before and wanted to send her brothers to him. He had not met them yet as far as he was aware so figured that she had not gotten around to it or that her brothers were worried about coming to see him. "Oh, I could. It would be a bit easier if I met them, but I could figure something out just based off of what you said. Wait, are they twins?" Seiji asked. He needed a little bit more information before he was going to give her a hypothesis.

It was easier when he met the person in person but he could at least give her a theory. He smiled a bit more when she said that she was enjoying her trip and that she had never done anything like this before. Seiji had never been on a boat like this before, but he had traveled around a bit some that aspect was not really new. "I have traveled around the world, but never did anything specifically like this before. As for my snake, Ghost has been with me on most of those trips. The rest of them have not." Seiji said. He figured that she had a problem with snakes and that was why he was giving her an apologetic look now.

"I would hide him if I could, but he is a bit big. I can promise you Ghost is more like a dog then a snake, he is just trapped in a snake’s body." Seiji informed her. Ghost was nodding his head in agreement and even showed her the end of his tail and started to wag it back and forth like a dog would with its tail.