/takes the huntress out back and buries it (jan mingle pt. II)

[scrubscrub]

Who: Anyone on the SS Huntress! Crew and visitors.
Broadcast: N/A
Action: SS Huntress
When: More of January! We got three new crew mates and it will be messy.

IT'S ANOTHER MINGLE FOR OUR EVER-EXPANDING SHIP.

Also, we need an update on how well Koala is doing at pinball.

God, help this ship.

Comments

[mikangirl]

[...well, then. Nami stops dead in the doorway, taking in the mess. And she thought some of her crew were bad.]

...

Should I ask what happened?

[beardstrokes]

You're allowed, though I doubt I have the full story.

[mikangirl]

As long as it doesn't involve small children. [Actually. The idea of Koala finding this makes her wince, and she shifts away from the frame to come in and start helping.] Someone tried to set the kitchen on fire? Just threw a fit?

[Was it Greed. Please say it was Greed.]

[beardstrokes]

Well, someone dismantled a blender and another person accidentally took the fall for it, resulting in a skirmish.

[ Squints at the mess. ] I've seen tidier warzones, to be honest.

[mikangirl]

So have I, when you get down to it. That's kind of sad. [She gives a wry grin.]

So I guess your crew is secretly full of twelve year olds.

[beardstrokes]

It seems to be a common malady among us.

I would never be so rude to call them twelve-year olds. Now, eight, perhaps, might be a fairer number to us all.

[mikangirl]

[That surprises a quick snort of laughter from her.] Including yourself? I'd think the beard is pretty distinguished for an eight year old.

I'm Nami, by the way. [She starts stacking the smaller things out of the way.] Here visiting.

[beardstrokes]

I worked very hard on it.

[ He offers his hand. ] Obi-Wan. Who are you visiting?

[mikangirl]

Koala, mainly. [She takes his hand, shaking it firmly.] Though I'm also friends with Kurt and-- well, just Kurt now, I guess. [Seeing as Marhi has gone. She likes Han, but she's only really talked with him once, so.]

And you're pretty new, right? Welcome to the fun and all.

[beardstrokes]

The party never ends, it seems.

But I am slowly getting used to it.

[mikangirl]

I've seen worse. I think my crew at home is even more chaotic, but you've got the problem that you're not here by choice. [Chaos you volunteer for is different entirely.]

But still, you've got some good people on board.

[beardstrokes]

Yes. I am quite charmed by them.

[ And it's true, he had his doubts. But Greed does try and there's certain amount of enthusiasm and effort they all put in. ]

[mikangirl]

All of them? [Said lightly enough.] What do you think of your co-captains?

[beardstrokes]

[ He knows enough to guess what she really means. ]

While his manner can be abrasive, Greed cares a lot about the well-being and security of his crew. He simply doesn't know how to express it clearly.

[mikangirl]

[Canny guy. It's also reassuring to hear that, and it confirms his half-baked and ill-advised attempts to make Koala at home as well meaning, at the very least. Still, after recent conversations--

Hmm. After a moment of thought, she decides to be blunt.]

He says he's also a guy called Ling. Do you know anything about that?

[beardstrokes]

Greed is inhabiting Ling's body.

[ He pauses to let her digest that. ]

But Ling says it's voluntary and he wasn't lying either. I'm sure there's more to the story but I do not know it.

[mikangirl]

Guess he wasn't just messing with me, then. [That's something. She sighs.]

He doesn't know anything about kids, though. Either of them.

[beardstrokes]

No.

[ That much is clear. ]

But not many of us do and he wasn't completely wrong. She was panicking when some of us pushed too hard. Giving her something to do isn't a bad idea. It's simply the execution of it that went awry.

[mikangirl]

I get it. [She'd said much the same thing to Ling. She doesn't like Greed, but she can acknowledge he's not a total jerk.]

Koala's... a special case. I think there's a minefield of trauma there. I'm assuming everyone on ship knows what her situation is by now?

[beardstrokes]

No, I think everyone knows. That only leaves the other ships. I don't suppose we can make a locked transmission to even out any rough patches?

[mikangirl]

You mean tell everyone else in the fleet? That feels kind of invasive.

[There are benefits, but Nami wouldn't have wanted her situation broadcast when she was younger. It feels like exposure.]

She does get better with time. I just don't know how much time it will take.

[beardstrokes]

True. But I rather not have our poor captain and crew get attacked for not being responsible enough when it's not the case.

[ But her point is fair and he acknowledges it with a nod. ]

I imagine something like this . . . will take more than a few weeks. Or months.

[mikangirl]

[She has the grace to wince at that. But maybe she can give some better news, in a very backhanded way. Because it's not great in itself.]

Koala-- she wasn't a slave when the Atroma picked her up. She hadn't been for years at that point, but it took her that long to realise she was free. But she was doing well until she was brought here. [Well within reason, anyway. She had good memories of the fishmen, which does a lot to place her timeline for Nami.]

I'm guessing the terror of waking up in a brand new place made her shift back to old roles out of a survival instinct. Once she's here long enough to realise there are no Celestial Dragons and nobody kidnapped her back to slavery, she should improve drastically.

I can't see that taking months, at least. Unless someone on the fleet mistreats her.

[beardstrokes]

Then I believe the Fleet is the main concern, not Huntress. I don't suppose you have a plan for that?

[mikangirl]

[The Huntress crew, Nami is content, will look after Koala. Mostly, she thinks the fleet will not mistreat a child, but Nami has to allow there are some graceless people around. She gives that some thought.]

Honestly? The longer she can go without being exposed to the entire fleet, the better. But I guess that's not realistic.

The best we can do is watch out for her. She's only a little girl-- someone to keep her company if she wants to go exploring wouldn't be out of place.