The Titanic (PlaguedWithInsanity & Hilly)

[spacepossum]

A roleplay for @Hilly and myself.

 

[Hilly]

The smog from the looming smoke stacks created puffs of clouds, that engulfed and settled in around the passengers boarding the ship. The boat's body reached high toward the sky and stood strong, like a man with a puffed up chest. Tony smiled up at it' s tall metal sides, with it's huge bolts.


Unsinkable! they barked at the crowd.


The people gasped in unison, then whispered among one another. Tony was happy for the distraction. It helped him blend in with the crowd. He wore his hat low and his collar high. His right hand he shoved deep into the pocket of his trousers, and the left choked the neck handle of his suitcase. He was a normal man. A normal passenger. He pushed through the on-lookers and toward the opened side of the ship, where people of all ranks flowed in. His ticket was held tight in his right hand. Excitement filled him up, along with paranoia and nerves.


What if they notice me? what if they are disgusted? I only wanna follow my dreams. Please, God, Let me make it to Coney Island. Tony thought to himself as he got closer to the ticket man.


Ticket, sir? the man asked to him hardly giving him a glance, but instead eyeing all the others in line, looking for those trying to get by without a ticket. Tony handed him the crinkled paper and was pushed through fast. He took a deep breath and sighed. A weight lifted from his shoulders.


I'm on my way he thought. His ticket was a lower class ticket, so he was ushered toward the lower part of the ship. When they reached the bottom a line of ushers stood to take each person to their accommodations. Tony quickly walked to a waiting Usher and slipped him a large bill.


I need some room he whispered down to the short man in the uniform.


The usher looked at the bill and then up at Tony, This way, sir


He had to bend slightly to fit down the narrow hall, but to his delight it was empty. They had not begun to fill this part of the ship yet.


Take your pick of lodging. I will make sure they bunk no one else with you the short man remarked, looking at Tony with a quizzical look. He was staring at the few tattoos on Tony's face.


Tony turned away from the man's gaze. Thank you, my good man. Thank you so very much.


and with that the man turned and left Tony to himself.

 

[spacepossum]

Clarissa walked upon the harbor like any other potential passenger and showed her ticket to the ticket man. Not having much money, the only ticket she could afford was a lower-class ticket. At least it's something, she told herself. The ship sure was massive, and the word 'unsinkable' announced from a man standing upon a pedestal, his loud and boisterous voice booming among the crowd and onlookers listening to his preaching. Clarissa touched at her hair absentmindedly: a messy bun that she had thrown up that morning as she had left the motel that she was renting the night at. She did not have any time to look pretty, or else she could possibly miss boarding the vessel.


People crowded into the opening of the ship, pushing and shoving their way in. Clarissa did not appreciate all of the accidental contact that she was receiving as well as all of the other people, but there was nothing she could do about it. She stood among everyone else in a large and crowded room, and she tried her best to snake through the crowd to find some sort of free space. She was unsuccessful, of course, and remained clumped up with everyone else. It was beyond uncomfortable, but it would just have to be something Clarissa was going to have to deal with as everyone was moved to their accommodations.


The insides of the massive Titanic were metallic and thick, riddled with bolts and titanium edges. She just hoped that she did not have to stay in the under department of the ship for too long. Clarissa was just about as hopeful as all of the other passengers, wishing for a life better than what she had tried so hard to escape from. Even so, she tried to listen to the conversations that surrounded her, a part of her wishing to know the stories of how other people had began their journey here as well.


Clarissa saw a man wearing a hat move with one of the ushers down a hall, wondering about him a little. She had seen him boarding; he had walked onto the vessel before she had. His tattoos intrigued her, but that fact that he was leaving the packed room only gave her the impression that he must have had a higher starred ticket than she had. Oh well... Clarissa thought. She did not board the mighty vessel for its luxury.

 

[Hilly]

The short usher turned on his heel and smiled devilishly as he closed Tony's door behind him. what an odd freak. all alone. And with money.. he thought to himself as he walked back to the bustling crowd. He straightened his hat and put his hands in the air. Like a swarm of bees, people in need of quarters, flocked around him, Clarissa among them.


This way to your housing, please. he bellowed and turned to guide them back toward hall 22. As they entered the hall he turned around and stopped the crowd, Attention! Attention! the last suite on the left at the end is off limits. So, please, choose a bunk and make yourselves comfortable. I hope you enjoy your time with us here on The Titanic.


His fake smiled faded as he brushed past the others and back to work.


Tony could hear the crowds of people pushing in and through the halls, talking and shouting at one another. The rooms were rather small. On each side of the room stood a bunk bed, that reminded Tony more of mausoleum slabs. The green mattresses were lumpy and thin. Tony tore all four down to make a much softer bed on the floor. He was used to huddling up in the hay all his life with shows anyway, and it would be far better for him to stretch his long legs out. His suitcase he sat on the empty slates and left open.


There was nothing else in the room; no desk, no chair, just the empty bunks and Tony's large bed across the floor. He felt like one of the animals in the menagerie tents. His breath deepened and became quick. He felt the itching of sweat beading at his hair line. He needed out, but the bustle going on in the rooms around him gave him even more anxiety. He took a deep breath and clamped his eyes shut.


Maybe I should wait till we have sailed off to emerge. Then there is no chance of them chucking me off he thought, but didn't quite believe.


If these people wanna throw you off, boy, you'll be off he heard his father's stern and drunken voice in the back of his head.


He sighed in agreement with himself and dabbed at the droplets already on his forehead. I'll just read some, and before I know it, we'll be off and on our way.


On-top of the stack of folded shirts and trousers packed in his suitcase sat a book that Tony picked up before lowering himself down on his bed, not thinking to lock his door.