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first

Who: Uchiha Sasuke
Broadcast: Fleetwide!
Action: Marsiva
When: This very moment.

(broadcast)

[ Sure there are bound to be the occasional less-than-thrilling broadcasts but this one may be a new low, with the camera focused in on a nondescript blob that turns out -- with some acquired distance -- to be a knee. The feed shakes then and there's the loud metallic tap tap of the device being knocked against the framework of one of the generic cots aboard the Marsiva. Tap. Tap. Tap. The only other sound is that of the painfully bland music in the background, without a word being spoken.

At least this inept user finally turns the communicator around to inspect it at another angle, granting any viewer a flash of dark and impractically spiked hair before the camera then focuses on equally shadowed eyes and a severe expression.

No, he's not going to panic. He probably already did that internally before he even tried to figure out the communicator ~~less than successfully~~. Send aid. ]

(action)

[ Sasuke will be easy to encounter either sitting on that cot and fiddling with his communicator, exploring the bay thoroughly, or staring with incredible and difficult-to-read intensity out into the murky void of space. Godspeed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ . . . is sasuke just sitting here pretending to know how to use the communicator and not actually using it jesus christ bruh. ]

Sasuke.

[ wearily ]

Press the center button and look in the lens at the top.

[ Another person who knows his name.

Either that means he's an undiscovered ally -- unlikely, the cynicism puppeteering his brain supplies -- or he's an enemy responsible for creating this mess. And therefore potentially instructing him in how to ensure his own demise. Which would be particularly pointless after healing his wounds and leaving him alive here. Let him think. ]

[ . . . beep.

Oh, okay, he's still alive. Time to obey the second half of the order and present that stony face to the ~~world~~ Zuko. ]

You know me.

[ There's no inflection here to hint that this is a question. ]

[ this is going to be a lot more difficult than zuko thought, but he'll just compartmentalize that for explosion later, as is his want. ]

Unfortunately.

[ it's said dryly, but with much familiarity. zuko obviously does't mean it. ]

I'm Zuko -- and it's a long story, but I've met you before.

[ you were his best bro. :c ]

Are you alright?

... another one. I won't make much progress if my reputation's already that spread. [ Read: great, another person with a grudge against me. If only he knew. ]

I'm healthy, inasmuch as I can be. But I've already discovered limitations placed on my techniques.

[ ugh.

give zuko a moment to encrypt the message. ]

Anyone who actually knows you won't judge you from your reputation.

[ you're good, bro. ]

What did they take away from you?

[ Here there's a pause in which he really looks at Zuko, examining his eyes and focusing on different stress centers of his face to check for hints of lying. Not that he's ever been good at seeing through deception, really. ]

The details aren't your concern. And if you actually do know me you'll understand my difficulty in believing that.

[ zuko is, indeed, not lying, but he does look faintly disappointed. mostly because this is going to be an uphill battle.

aaaaaugh. ]

Fine, be difficult.

[ under his breath ]

[ he'll just ensure you're not annoying anyone else with stupid questions, instead ]

You're on a ship called the Marsiva. You'll be there until the Atroma shuffle you to a new ship -- that's who brought you here. You don't have much control in where you go, but you can transfer ships if you'd rather be somewhere else after you get dropped somewhere.

[ zuko did in approximately .0005 seconds once he had his first shuffle ]

Most of us -- [ pointedly ] -- got to keep whatever powers we have, but all of our weapons are taken when we get here. I don't know how to get them back yet, but you can either buy more or make your own. The Atroma don't seem to care if you do that. Each of us also has an augment installed when we get here, which tells you what specific job you have on the Fleet.

[ zuko is the blue fish's therapist and it's a wonder he gets paid at all tbh ]

Don't try to remove it, you'll remove a chunk of your brain.

[ or something ]

[ ... ]

... Yeah, I figured all of that out already. [ l o l ]

You give off the impression of a man less wordy than that.

[ holy shit sasuke you've been here for literally ten minutes and he ALREADY WANTS TO STRANGLE YOU ]

[ he draws in a breath and exhales it in a huff ]

I am.

[ irritably ]

I usually don't bother talking to the new people, unless I know them or I have something to say.

[ or if they're interesting. ]

Men who don't like to talk find other ways to communicate. [ At least, from his own wealth of experience... of being a shitty speaker...

Sasuke reviews what he knows, primarily that Zuko is familiar with him and seems to not have a negative view about that fact. So, assumedly, they got along well. ]

You're a fighter. Is that it?

[ god sasuke ]

I know how to say 'hello' to people without punching them in the face.

[ in irritation, though zuko figures a pretty quick way to anser the question is to just conjure a small ball of fire between his hands ]

But we have some things in common.

[ zuko then pauses ]

And my family is crazy, and you hated my sister.

[ you know

normal friend getting along things ]

"Hello" isn't real communication. It's just a formality. [ But there's no real malice to the correction, just as there hasn't been in anything he's said so far. That's just Sasuke being Sasuke, direct and honest with his opinions.

His eyes linger on that fire ball, irises swirling to red suddenly but to no avail. He can't diagnose chakra effectively through a communicator. Goddammit. ]

So you're also a katon user. [ A pause. ] Is she here? Your sister.

[ you could come hang out with him later you anti-social piece of garbage but WHATEVER ]

That's not going to work through the communicator.

[ mildly. as if sasuke hasn't already figured that out. but if you want to be a little shit about everything, then zuko can be a little shit too!!! ]

And it's a little similar, but not really -- and no, she's not.

[ zuko would've said that first ty ]

[ His response to the catty retort is as eloquent as he gets when displeased about something or shown up: a dismissive grunt. Hn. ]

In that case I can't form an opinion on her outside of your word and experiences. [ Though he's pretty okay with defaulting to Bad re: how he feels about a person that's not even around. ]

Use it again. Your technique.

She's insane. I'm sure most of the people who know her here can tell you the same thing.

[ but whatever. and zuko eyes him for a moment, sorely tempted to tell sasuke no, but -- it's sasuke. even if sasuke doesn't know him, zuko knows him extraordinarily well. and zuko knows he can be trusted.

so another ball of fire appears, and he allows it to dance along his fingertips. if sasuke is watching carefully, it seems to be reacting to his breathing. every inhale, the fire shrinks slightly, and every exhale, it grows the tiniest bit. ]

It's called firebending.

[ pause ]

And you're still not going to be able to sense anything through the communicator.

[ SO THERE ]

I know that. [ A pinch touchy, but... ]

That isn't my intent. [ Even if the sharingan's active it's only for the purposes of enhanced perception through vision, needlessly copying movements to his mind as he focuses on the behavior of the fire and the intricacies of its shifts.

And Sasuke doesn't blink once until finally he straightens, gaze returning to settle on Zuko's face instead. His manipulation of it is beyond Sasuke's, really, at least in terms of precision. Maybe he should be irritated. The longest pause follows before he again speaks, seeming like he's going to comment on Zuko's skill when he meets his eyes, but: ]

What about you?

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