gotta get down for a mingle

[redactions]

Who: The crew of the SS Heron and visitors.
Broadcast: nope.
Action: Aboard the SS Heron.
When: After returning to the ship.

[ finally back on the right ship, except the corridors are all mysteriously cold and the ship seems smaller. Thanks, Atroma. New crew, visitors, starters in comments ]

Comments

[redactions]

Captain Steve Rogers. I was a sergeant in the War, he was my CO. Went missing in action, presumed dead.

[ And -- ]

The one who's been brought here is different.

[dancingmd]

Steve Rogers?

[Making a connection here.]

Then... do you know Natasha?

[redactions]

Yes, in a way. [ sheepishly, ] Different timeline.

[dancingmd]

[She nods.] We've talked about that before. I mean, not about you specifically, but she was very interested in what I knew about alternate universes when we first met.

[redactions]

[ He snorts. ]

I can only tell you they're a pain.

[dancingmd]

Don't I know it. Got trapped in one, remember?

[redactions]

Yeah, it's a real party.

[ He snorts again. ]

How do you know Natasha?

[dancingmd]

We met a few months ago, when some fan gave us a bunch of shampoo for redheads. I suppose they wanted to see us all together, I don't know. [Grin.] And now we're friends, even if she doesn't always want to admit to it.

[redactions]

[ His mouth quirks, fond. ]

That's a loaded word.

[ For him and Natasha, though Jim's better at hiding it. ]

Nice, though. Say, you don't mind me askin' how exactly you knew the shampoo was from "fans"?

[dancingmd]

[Loaded word indeed. She remembers Natasha's calibration all too well.]

I suppose we don't know for sure, do we? That's only based on what we were told when the crates arrived.

[redactions]

Yeah. The cameras on the Marsiva were for show.

[dancingmd]

If it's not a television show, though, then what are we really doing here? And why the elaborate ruse when so many of us have never even heard of reality television in the first place?

[redactions]

[ He shrugs. ]

Controlled social experiment.

[dancingmd]

I'm not sure which is worse.

[redactions]

Until we get solid proof, all we've got are guesses.

[dancingmd]

I doubt they'll ever give us anything like solid proof.

[She rubs the bridge of her nose.]

I'm not doing too well at staying off this topic, am I?

[redactions]

[ He gestures, a helpless little what can one do. ]

I don't mind.

[dancingmd]

Thank you for saying so. It's just... the calibrations have left me a bit unsettled.

Or well, more than I was already anyway.

[redactions]

I'd be worried if you weren't unsettled, honestly.

[dancingmd]

I would be too. None of this is normal, even for me. To make us be complicit in the invasion of each other's minds...

[She shakes her head. She has experienced worse violations, it's true, but she always had the resources to work through those things in the aftermath.]

[redactions]

Well, ain't like you can put it on a card and send it, right?

[dancingmd]

[Oh dear. More colloquialisms she doesn't understand. Sorry about this, Jim. Sokka is usually bearing the brunt of it.]

What do you mean?

[redactions]

Oh, uh — [ wow he is usually on the other end of this ] in my world we have this brand of cards, called Hallmark, and there's one for every occasion. I mean every occasion.

[dancingmd]

But none for "sorry I invaded your brain?" [She gives him a small wry smile.] Well that's a real oversight on Hallmark's part.

[redactions]

[ Grinning, ]

You don't say. Someone should write to 'em about it.