driftfleet | JULY PLANET MINGLE

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JULY PLANET MINGLE

Who: YOU. ME. EVERYONE.
Broadcast: IF YOU WANT
Action: YEAH!!!!!
When: July!

[Congratulations to the crews that did not get themselves blown up! Welcome to the Blue Planet, a planet full of charming islands and even less charming weather patterns! Are you going to take the time to enjoy the beach? Help out with the local Nunnilis population? Get caught in a storm with another person and have a rating boosting sexual tension moment? The world's your oyster!]

[Yeah in other words: ITS A MINGLE GET IN HERE]

[July Planet Info!]

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[Natasha had been having a pretty fantastic time on the beach, right up until that storm blew up out of nowhere. She's not afraid of a little water, but those waves look rough, and there's a rumble of thunder she doesn't particularly find appealing, though it does make her wonder if a familiar face is following it. Climbing up from her towel, she's jogging at an easy run through the beginnings of the storm, and when Clay's visor blows right off his head, all she has to do is lift her arm to snag it, lengthening her stride to catch him.]

You lost this.

[Clay had been trying to get back to some sort of shelter when the wind blew hard enough and at just the right angle to blow his visor away. He takes a second to stop, frantically feel at his head and hair as if he can't really believe that just happened, then turns to go after it -

Only to see that it's already been obtained, and the rescuer is bringing it back to him. He lets out a sigh of relief, a hand on his chest to relieve that sudden panic he felt, before he takes it back from her.]

Thanks, really. I don't know what I'd do if I lost it for real!

[For now, he'll hold it in his hands rather than put it back on his head; sure, it belongs up there, but he doesn't want to risk losing it again.]

How about we find some shelter together, miss...?

No problem.

[Looks like the thing means a lot to him, she thinks, easily catching up to him and offering it back, not stopping; if he wants to continue this conversation, he'll have to keep up.]

Natasha. Skip the miss. Come on, you're gonna get soaked. I think there's an overhang this way, might be enough to get out of the rain. Unless that's your thing, in which case...

[And keep up he does. He shields his eyes against the rain with one hand, precious visor held in the other, and looks out at the dark clouds that just seemed to appear out of nowhere.]

Nah, definitely not my thing. Never been much of a rain guy! [Sure, his world - his state, rather, is always in desperate need of rain, but rain clouds mean covering up the sky, and he doesn't appreciate that.]

I'm Clay, by the way. You're a life saver, Natasha!

[It did just come out of nowhere. Maybe something to do with the bands of turbulence above and below the equator; they'd been visible from orbit. She was mildly irritated at the sudden cancellation of her afternoon plans, but new plans could always be made.

Matching his pace, she glances sideways at him, rain adding weight to her curls and plastering them straight. The amusement in her expression ought to be clear enough, even through the rain, despite that. Might be the first time anyone ever used those words in reference to her.]

I try. Guessing you're not a local, Clay?

[Sometimes Clay needs to be hit by a 2x4 to see the subtleties in peoples' expressions, but Natasha's amusement is pretty clear here. He grins in return, though he has to push his own hair back out of his face just to be able to see.]

Nope. I'm pretty new here myself! Where I come from, it doesn't rain nearly this much.

Yeah? And where's that?

[He looks a little like a sheepdog, she thinks, looking at his mop of hair. He's probably pretty fluffy when it's all dry. So is she, but she's vain enough to try and keep it under control. Glancing away to look ahead again, Natasha spots the overhang she was thinking of a little ahead of them and to the left. Reaching out, she grabs Clay's hand and pulls him in the right direction. It's starting to come down even harder, if that were possible.]

[Yup, Clay's noticing that. He's got one arm up to try covering his head as the rain comes pelting down, and when Natasha grabs him and pulls him along, he just. Goes with it, because what else can he do?]

Oh, just a little city called Los Angeles! [Once they do reach the overhang, Clay steps away enough to not hit her with water once he shakes his head to dry himself off a bit. Probably not helping the sheepdog look.

Once he's done, he runs his hands through his hair and gives her a smile.] Ever heard of that place?

[As he shakes his head like said sheepdog, she gives him a look, pulling her own hair forward over one shoulder and wringing the water out. Damp, it's more wavy than curling, just brushing past her shoulders. About time for a hair cut, if she can ever find a decent place to do that out here.]

Only in the old tales, legends of a city buried in the desert.

[Her voice is dry, faintly ironic. It's a joke. Really.]

I've done some work in LA, once or twice. Not a bad place, if you don't mind traffic. Prefer New York, though.

[Oh god, she tells jokes like Apollo does. That, plus the reminder of his best friend, makes him laugh, because it might as well be true! California's always been pretty dry, harshly so in the past.]

You're not the only person I know who prefers New York! But hey, don't they have lots of traffic, too? I've never been outside of Cali, so I wouldn't know, but I've seen things. [Pictures, mostly. And youtube videos. And images from space, though that's less traffic and more dazzling lights.]

[He laughs, and she smiles just a little. He's a puppy, if anything. Friendly, eager. She doesn't really mind it.]

New York's got traffic, too, sure. But you don't really need a car to get around. The subway gets you everywhere you need to go.

So you'd never left, before this little vacation? Born and raised in LA?

Born in Santa Ana, moved to LA when I was a kid. Been there ever since!

[That's leaving out a lot of details, but, well. She is someone he just met and all.]

I've always been planning to go to space, though. We were all set up to launch and everything! I guess I left a little earlier than scheduled. [But by the way he beams over it, he isn't bothered by that fact at all.]

You're an astronaut?

[She is a little surprised, at that. He doesn't look like military, present or former. Maybe a scientist? She's seen odder. She works with odder. You wouldn't think Stark was a scientist, either from appearance or behavior, but the man was a genius. And knew it.]

This must be a dream come true for you, then. Not just going into orbit, but actually traveling to different planets.

It's more than a dream come true! I can't even describe what it's like!

[Uh oh, Natasha unleashed the beast.]

I was slated to go to the moon, and that was going to be enough for me. Just becoming an astronaut and going on a mission to space was my dream. But this - Exploring other planets, learning about the sustainability and life of them all, finally realizing the truth of what's out there - it's more than I could ever have asked for! And - And I know, I know so many people here aren't happy with this, I know they got pulled away from their lives and are forced to be here, and I hate that they can't go back whenever they want, but for me? This is like hitting the jackpot of my life! I have no idea how I got to be this lucky.

[Natasha listens to the whole excited ramble, one corner of her mouth quirking up in a smile. While she wasn't exactly thrilled to be here, especially to have her entire daily life trotted out for the amusement of an ever-watching crowd (supposedly), someone showing enthusiasm like his wasn't exactly bad. Kind of refreshing, almost. That someone could be out here in all this, and not want to be anywhere else.]

....You're like a giant puppy. A giant, excitable puppy.

[That's not quite the answer he expected, and his thoughts are knocked off track a little because of it. But after a small pause, he lets out a cheeky chuckle and makes a move as if to grab the edge of his visor - only to realize it's still not on his head. Ah. ... Well, he'll just run his hand through his hair instead; best to wait until his hair's dry before donning the visor again.]

Heh! Definitely not the first time I heard that. I can't be a puppy, though; puppies can't go into space yet. [Unless you count that god awful Air Bud direct to DVD sequel movie and he is not counting that.]

Not technically true. The Soviet Union sent dogs into space back in the 1950s and '60s. The first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive came from Russia.

[A tiny hint of pride buried in the facts--she's allowed to have at least that little bit left. They hadn't always been awful, no more than any other country. Things just went sideways way too often. The wrong people at the wrong places at the right time.]

Maybe it happened differently on your Earth, though. Hard to tell what's the same and what's different, here.

Whoa, really? [Dude he looks SO ENTHRALLED BY SPACE FACTS PLEASE TELL HIM MORE.] That had to be amazing! I mean, amazing for the dogs! They got to see the planet Earth outside of its own atmosphere! [Though, come to think of it:] Actually, I think my Earth did something like that, too! But it was with monkeys, not dogs. [He leans back, finger pressed to his forehead.] Apparently, they were going to send a dog called Missile, but the owner was so afraid of sending his dog to space that they called it off.

There were monkeys sent, too. Monkeys, lizards, dogs...humanity's never had a problem with a little old-fashioned animal testing. Necessary risks, I guess, to get us out there. Now I guess it's just a matter of whether or not anyone else notices us.

[She pauses with a shrug, a little smile that isn't much of a smile. They'd definitely been noticed, in her world. The Chitauri had been proof enough of that.]

So, why do you want to go to space? Wanderlust? Looking for proof of life out there? Just really, really like Stanley Kubrick?

Uh... all three? [He smiles helplessly as he hooks his hands behind his head and looks up - at the stormy skies, sure, but he knows what's behind them.] Space is full of infinite possibilities. No one knows how or when it was made, and no one knows just how much life could be out there. I want to go to help find the truth of what's out there. So... yeah. Some wanderlust, some proof of life... [He shrugs, his attention back on the planet again.] Stanley Kubrick was way beyond my time, but I gotta admit, he did some really great work on Space Odyssey with the knowledge they had of it back then.

[It's a fair answer. A good enough answer, the kind of answer she might get from someone like Banner, when he's not in one of his moods. Or green. A love of space for the sheer love of space. Kind of refreshing to find someone who doesn't have complicated motivations, here, someone who's enthusiastic about the experience just for what it is. That smile gets a little more real, as a response.]

I think the LSD might have helped, a little. What year is it for you, back home?

[The first part gets a snort out of Clay and some quiet laughter muffled by his hand, because... well, yeah, that was a thing. Still! It looked pretty cool for what it was! And as for the second...]

2027. Space Odyssey was about fifty years old when I was born, so... yeah, definitely beyond my time.

[She does some quick mental math, juggling dates, or at least fuzzy time periods, and the answer she comes up with makes her look at him a little differently. Almost like she's laughing.]

Yeah, I'd say so. You're still in primary school, when I'm from. Probably still a little young for megalomaniacal robot AIs.

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JULY PLANET MINGLE

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