driftfleet | Rip-Van-Sokka II: Electric Boogaloo

Who: Sokka and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Blue Fish
When: Today!

[Sokka's been asleep for about two weeks, and he's certainly been busy in his dreaming state. When he wakes up and finds himself in his own captain bed, there's a brief moment of confusion. He'd only just been home, having a delicious meal, knowing his life, his Tribe faced an uncertain future. And now he's...on the Blue Fish. The name comes back to him with the low hum of the engine. Well, at least he knew what he was getting here, mostly.

He'll be getting up and exploring around, please feed him. He had the BEST food memory-dream.

And later, once he's learned a little more from his crew of the events he's missed, he turns on the network.]

So apparently, Atroma decided to let me sleep though us finally getting any kind of answers. Because that's funny. I'm laughing. I need details, guys, anything you can give me that you found out. Doesn't matter if I've heard it before, different perspectives are important.

[That's his latest Life Lesson He Learned. Yay.]

...And I'm sorry. For people who lost people. Seems there was a lot of that while I was asleep.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Belthazar catches up to Sokka about an hour later, so he doesn't have to wait long. He kicks open Sokka's door for a dramatic entrance-- well, tries. His boots go ping ping ping on the metal but they don't do much, so he has to reorient himself and push it open, then bring in his little rolling cart of food.

There's a five course meal on here and it's all meat... except for a cake. The cake was necessary, since nothing is better than buttercream after a nap.]

There. Let no one say that I do not care for my crewmates! [He pushes past the cart to, of course, give Sokka a big hug. He weighs about as much as a washcloth when wet so it shouldn't dislodge him too badly.]

[This is Sokka, rather confused by the gentle pinging, before here comes Belth. Such a dramatic entrance, gosh, wow. He's about to make a sarcastic comment about it but oh- food!

He sure is getting a hug for that. Not just for the food, either.
Jesus, Belth, put some weight on, it's like hugging a tiny stick.]

Your kindness will be sung about for centuries. Hey buddy.

[It's not like he isn't trying, but mage metabolism is something to be admired. He squeezes Sokka tightly for a second, and then he finally lets go.]

Hey, [he responds, a little shy.] You were asleep for a long time. Well, maybe not long for me, but certainly long for a human.

[And here comes the poking. Belth grabs at his arms, trying to inspect him and take a pulse.]

How do you feel? Are you cold? Should I grab blankets?

How long was I out for?

[He sounds a little concerned there, he hadn't been GONE long, but time here was always a little...squiffy. He puts up with the inspection with a long suffering sigh. ]

I'll be fine, Bel. I can deal with the cold, I just spent like, a couple weeks in the South Pole. This is easy.

Two weeks, or thereabouts.

[Satisfied that Sokka has not grown a new limb (nor is he dead), Belth pulls his hands back and hands Sokka a fork and plate instead. Not that he's expecting them to see much use.]

South Pole-- is that where you're from?

Huh. About the length of time I was home. Nice it lined up for a change.

[And he wasn't gone for literal years. Sokka will just shovel food into his craw in the least dignified way possible, responding through mouthfuls. ]

Uh huh. Home home. Or...yeah. Where I was born, anyway.

[He can't really call it home any more. He knows now the home he always thought of never technically existed. ]

Wow, it did? The last time I got knocked out, years passed.

[He wonders if it was an eventful two weeks, but he's not quite nosy enough to ask. He tries a little to lighten the mood instead.]

It sounds too cold for me.

[Someone like him always runs cold.]

Me too, I mean, it was great to age and all, but less fun for trying to remember how all this worked again.

[It was awful but good but also awful and he's largely confused and lost by all of it. His rating on this trip home would be a good, solid 'eh.' ]

Oh, it's really cold. I'd almost forgotten just how cold it was. [He relaxes, this is an easier topic. ] It's been so long since I was back there, I'm glad I kept all my furs.

[He's almost impressed by how fast Sokka's going through that food, but not quite. He's used to it by now. The fact they can carry on a conversation is what's impressive.]

I spent a few months in Northrend and it was horrid. It was warm enough for grass and trees outside of Dalaran, but everywhere else was just-- ugh. [He shivers, remembering.] It got so cold that water would freeze before it hit the ground. It made cooking impossible.

[One day, everyone in the Fleet will be aware of Sokka's eating habits, and then he will pass into legend. He hopes for that glorious day. ]

Hah, Zuko always hated the cold, too. Fire Nation, y'see. They're used to it being really warm all the time.

[He swallows some more food and grins. ]

There's always a knack to it, even when it gets that cold. Like you use saltwater instead of regular water, it freezes way slower.

But what about milk? Or making tea? You can't drink saltwater-- that's just asking for trouble.

[He's never met Zuko, but he kind of agrees with him, tbh.]

It isn't too warm or too cold in Quel'thalas, but we do have a sort of... eternal springtime. Magic, you see. Mages wear robes, not furs.

We usually filter it out. Or just gather snow and melt that. And we don't really...do a lot with milk, sorry, so no tea.

[It's how he knows Iroh will never visit. ]

Robes. So like the Earth Kingdom, a little. Though I guess they do wear pants too? And eternal Springtime? How about crops? Do you have any trouble with it being the same season all the time?

I suppose melting snow is probably the best option. [He looks downright sad at the mention of no tea.]

Well, yes, I always wear pants beneath my robes. How else are we to run?

[Sokka asks an interesting question, though. It's one that Belth, too, had asked when he was first learning about the country he lived in.]

Blood elves lean on magic for everything. I've never seen a fallow field, only the growing and the harvest... With temperate weather and ample nutrients, I imagine there isn't much problem with that.

[He curls a bit of dark hair around his finger.] But my country has other problems. We have to deal with the lingering demonic taint and disease scarring the land, and of course, everything else that is drawn to a well of power.

[Oh, he can tell, he can. ]

I dunno, man. Maybe it's tradition, not to have pants? Maybe some mages don't...do the pants thing.

[He has no idea what he's talking about, stop him. ]

Huh, so it's all done with magic. Weird, but I guess that's just normal for you.

...Ohhhhh, so like a place where the line between the spirit world and the real world is weak where I'm from. Or if people do something to annoy a spirit, then they wreak havoc on a place.

[He really doesn't. Belth looks a little amused.]

No, Sokka-- they definitely do. It gets breezy down there.

[He nods at the observation.] Elves depend on magic a lot. It runs through our veins, so of course we feel like it should run through everything else we do. As I have learned, blood elf culture is very much one of excess.

[One glance at the nobility would tell anyone that.]

A little bit like that, but these spirits can't be appeased. They have to be cleansed... if not with fire, then holy magic.

I'll...take your word on the breeziness. Huh how about that. I guess that makes sense.

[...Welp. ]

Okay, if Aang ever comes back you have to promise me that you will never, ever tell him that. Because he will freak out and you'll be on the business end of a rant and then I'll have to deal with him angsting about it for like...three months. Neither of us want that, buddy, trust me, we don't.

Rip-Van-Sokka II: Electric Boogaloo

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;