iiiiiit's a mingle

[sinuosity]

Who: Red Fish crew and visitors.
Broadcast: none.
Action: On the Red Fish and waystations.
When: After returning from the Marsiva.

Comments

[sinuosity]

[ There's no trace of restlessness; just stillness that's calm and patient, like a stone. She moves only when he pushes the drawing over, her fingers brushing over the small SGR at the bottom. ]

I've never laughed at a grown man in tights. [ the tone and accompanying smile is girlish, full of mischief. ] I would like to see your show. And this [ she taps the drawing with her finger ] this is very good.

[enshields]

[Blandly,]

I punched out Hitler. Over a hundred times.

[Sometimes twice a night, when there was a demand for encores. His USO crew was like a little adopted family away from home, he misses them sometimes. But God above, he was glad to get into the War.

On the matter of art, though--]

Thank you.

[He's not one for false humility. He knows he's good. But the fact is, this is the first thing that's come to him easy and natural, without effort, in years. He hasn't drawn much of anything in lifetimes.]

[sinuosity]

Hitler...? [ she frowns ] Ah. Him. [ ... ] I expect all will be made clear when I see it.

[ A beat. ]

May I keep this?

[enshields]

[He nods towards the drawing.]

Did it for you.

[sinuosity]

Thank you.

[ She folds it carefully around the edges, over anything but the bird, and tucks it into her jacket. ]

Do you like canaries?

[enshields]

[He sort of smiles, a crooked little quirk to one corner of his mouth.]

Like most birds.

[They could fly, after all. And in the War there was no better barometer for enemy proximity than the wildlife, the birds in the trees. They could always sense a coming storm.]

[sinuosity]

[ Flying is always freedom, literal or figurative. ]

It is a shame. I would not have minded if we were stranded on a planet, but all this empty space with no nature... it feels unnatural.