driftfleet | ᴏᴏ1 : ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ

Who: Zuko!
Broadcast: Fleetwide.
Action: S.S. Golden.
When: Post-Shuffle!

[Zuko has done a pretty fabulous job of not flipping out, to be honest. He's interacted with some people aboard the Marsiva and has narrowed down the possibilities to two. 1) The Animus have launched an event that's completely eradicated the old universe and dropped them into a spaceship reality show (which, honestly, is a possibility) or 2) Zuko has been pulled from Adstringendum and is now in a new splintered universe.

After working that out, Zuko is now on a different ship, and while the teenager on camera looks fairly calm and collected, those who know Zuko know he's about two seconds from turning the desk he's sitting on into a pile of charcoal and using it as anger management therapy.

Someone didn't appreciate being doused in confetti and having a celebratory chocolate thrust upon him.

Give him a moment or two before he heaves a massive sigh.]

Two things.

[Zuko totally did not rehearse what he was going to say before he elected to talk to the entire fleet.]

One -- I guess I'm stuck here until I figure out...how to get back to wherever I came from. This is all probably going away in a week anyway... So -- has anyone figured out how to get off the ships?Are we trapped on whatever...these things are until whoever is running the show decides to send us home?

And two, is the Avatar here?

[Sorry, other members of Team Avatar, you guys are apparently on the third item that Zuko didn't find important to add. He's pretty sure the rest of his friends will find him, but this is Super

Important

okay.

Also he's not introducing himself, sorry. He forgot.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ugh.

On one hand, this sucks. It had really just been him and Katara for so long that the absence of those memories is a lot more difficult to swallow than expected. But on the other hand -- ]

I'm glad you're not from Adstringendum.

[It's said after a moment or two of quiet, but Zuko sounds pretty firm in his statement.]

I'm sure the other -- wherever you were was better. Whatever that means -- how many of these places exist?

[Its ridiculous, seriously -- if this place is even real.]

A lot of them. I'm not sure if there's an actual count, but I've seen some people trying to keep tallies.

[ the firmness surprises her, and she considers him in brief silence in return. ]

Was it really that bad?

No, not all of it. But I have a pretty low bar for 'good'.

[His life is utter shit like 99.7% of the time, so. Adstringendum is pretty par for the course.

Still -- ]

Is there any way to lock these conversations or block people out? I can't figure out how to use any of this, it's different.

[Which is super fucking annoying.]

Um, yeah, hold on - I'm a communications officer, I can make sure no one else sees?

[ she leans in really close, fiddling with her communicator for a moment, before making a quiet noise of satisfaction. ]

There. [ and then her expression softens slightly, because he's a friend, and she's missed him a lot. ] Are you okay?

No -- well, yeah. That part doesn't matter.

[It's a quick adjustment, and Zuko immediately lets some of his guard down into a huff -- steam escapes from his mouth, some built up tension, and he immediately looks a little more relaxed.]

I just didn't want to talk about... [What, exactly? This all might still be Adstringendum. Fuck if he knows anything. Maybe this filter is pointless after all, but Katara had asked, and if the event wears off, she'll probably be mad at him for thinking she couldn't handle the truth.] -- Adstringendum is like what would've happened if our world wasn't put back into balance. We're all trapped there and the world is run by spirits called the Animus -- a lot of terrible things happened, and you weren't... really happy. So I'm glad you're here, instead of there, and you don't remember.

[ -- and, because he can't resist -- ]

When we first met in Adstringendum, you thought I was there to kill you, so -- at least I don't have to explain that part again.

[It was really fucking traumatizing, Katara, you're terrifying, tbh.]

[ it's a lot to take in, especially when she's not expecting anything like that. she moves to take a seat on the edge of her bunk, sliding back to lean against the wall as he kind of dances around the answer. ]

Sounds like I was pretty... unhappy there.

[ said a little lamely, since she's just repeating what he said almost verbatim, but it still feels like an understatement. she tilts her head slightly to the side, about to pry further... but then he speaks again and she decides that can wait, because: ]

Yeah, well, when I showed up in Paradisa, you hated me and refused to be my friend.

Edited 2015-09-29 19:21 (UTC)

[Katara just wasn't herself, really -- none of them were, in Adstringendum, but Katara had an especially rough time of it with ... well, everything.

Still, it seems Katara won't pry, and this relieves him of his obligation to be totally honest, so Zuko feels comfortable in rolling his eyes.]

I've never hated you.

[It's indignant, really.]

-- what was the last thing I remembered in Paradisa? And why were you trying to be my friend in the first place?

[It sounds self-deprecating, but it's really just common sense, okay. Zuko is usually a certifiable Hot Mess but he was even more of a hot mess a year ago. It was probably better to just leave him alone and let him be a fuckup until he was ready to stop being a fuckup.]

[ oh, she'll pry later. when she starts getting a trickle of memories in from the place, she's just gonna pry even more. for now, though, she's content to settle into the comfortable pattern of "vague, sort-of argument" with him. ]

You came there from Ba Sing Se. And I wanted to be your friend because you were the only other bender in the whole place for a long time.

[ j'accuse. ]

[ . . . it takes Zuko half a second to sort of mentally track out where he was during that time, how he was feeling, and -- oh, right, he hated everything that moved, yup.

Well.]

That's unlucky.

[Sorry.]

ᴏᴏ1 : ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ

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