these are the days, it never rains but it pours...

[falconing]

Who: The crew of the Huntress and all visitors!
Action: On board the Huntress.
When: The month of January!

It's a mingle! For our new crew, resolving various catastrophes, and assuring Han Solo he made the correct decision in becoming a good person. Please send help.

Comments

[digthefuzz]

Whoa, really? So you only... heard about her? [It has to be something momentous if she heard about someone who was supposedly a slave.]

Is- is there anything else I should know?

[mikangirl]

Yeah. Listen. [It's hard for her to sort through the relevant details. But here's one of the most important.]

The World Nobles in our world-- Celestial Dragons-- they're the ones who own slaves, and the World Government enforces their right. They're scum, but they're royalty. [She practically spits the word.] They're also animals. I've seen how they treat their slaves. They're just toys. People to kill if they spilled something on a floor, or people to ride to market just because.

So... you need to know how horrifying that was for her.

[That's not actually the worst part. It's just dressing.]

[digthefuzz]

[She immediately has his full attention, and he listens carefully. He looks increasingly worried as he envisions that life and what it must have been like for Koala back there. Where he came from? Slavery was pretty much a forgotten thing of the past, although it was one possibility that Kurt had feared if he was ever captured by anti-mutant people. He may have been mind-controlled once, but he doesn't really remember anything about that. So he can only imagine how hard it must be to live that life.]

That... that's horrible. [He breathes uneasily.] I can't believe they can just get away with something like that!

[He shakes his head.]

I'm going to do everything I can to take care of her.

[mikangirl]

[It's the answer she was hoping for, and Nami gives a pained smile.]

There's a reason so many of us are classed as pirates in our world. [Something she's only had cause to think about recently. Which doesn't exclude a lot of them from still being complete scum, but... well. She has a more open mind than she used to.]

I appreciate it, Kurt. But that's not all you need to know. She's... [Traumatised is obvious, but how much--] The pirate who told me about Koala also told me he'd picked her up from a small village full of freed slaves when the villagers requested his crew take her back home to her family.

She hasn't been a slave in years.

[Which means her regressed behaviour the moment she hit the Marsiva is even more painful.]

[digthefuzz]

[Now he looks hurt by this.]

Wh-what? But... then... things should be different! She's supposed to be free and- and with her family!

The Atroma... They messed that all up?!

[mikangirl]

Yeah. [Flatly. She knows it all turns out in the end at home, but the Koala of the here and now...]

So they suck. Pulling a traumatised kid in just for ratings. [She rests her head against the wall with a sigh, and then tilts it to smile tiredly at Kurt.]

But she's got a crew that'll look out for her, right?

[digthefuzz]

[He cups his own face in his hands for a moment. He feels a rare rage towards the Atroma... but he feels grief for Koala's situation even more.

He lifts his head and gives a soft smile back to the Naminator.]

Of course she does. I promise... I'll do anything I can to help.

[He raises his hand in a random salute.]

Captain's honor. ...Good captain's honor.

[mikangirl]

[Congrats Kurt, that earned you a faint snort of amusement, and her smile turns more genuine.]

Well, as long as it's the good one.

Thanks, Kurt. [...] How are you going to manage that, anyway?

[The whole co-captain thing.]

[digthefuzz]

[He pauses for a moment and then scratches his head, as if trying to remember an answer for a test.]

...Carefully?

[mikangirl]

[Snrk.]

Well, good luck. Maybe you can put in an application to un-captain him.

[Yeah she's only kidding. You'd just cause more trouble.]

[digthefuzz]

[He snorts.]

That'd be something! Maybe we can trick him into signing a... um... toilet cleaner application!

[mikangirl]

[Pffft.]

I'd be going to another ship for all my bathroom needs if you did that. [Never put a pissed off person in charge of your hygiene.]

[digthefuzz]

...When you put it that way, maybe it's not the best idea in the book...

[mikangirl]

Keep working on it, though! A person who cheats at snowballs with the flair you do should have no trouble.

[digthefuzz]

H-hey, like you're one to talk!

[mikangirl]

I'm a pirate. What do you expect?

[digthefuzz]

Eyepatches and sword waving?

[mikangirl]

Not that I wouldn't look awfully cute in an eyepatch, but mostly the answer I was looking for was cheating dishonourable wench.

[digthefuzz]

Hey now, don't say that.

...

...You're a cheating dishonorable lady.

[mikangirl]

Oh, so suave! I knew there was a reason I liked you.

[digthefuzz]

[He chuckles nervously, but goes on with no lack of confidence.]

W-well, I guess that you could say that being charming is just another power of mine...

[mikangirl]

It would be more effective if you didn't stammer halfway through.

[digthefuzz]

Hey, I only stammered at the beginning! ...Well, maybe that doesn't make much of a difference... but I can totally be charming! [He smiles, and there's probably something stuck on his teeth.]

[mikangirl]

Depends on where you define the start of your charmingness. [She grins.] Eaten any leafy vegetables lately?

[digthefuzz]

Um... maybe. But how did you know? ...Or actually, what does that have to do with anything?