/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

[honorbends]

[ ............... ]

Did he tell you that?

[ SASUKE HAVE YOU LITERALLY NEVER INTERACTED WITH A SMALL CHILD ]

[scrubscrub]

Um, yes! Yes, sir, he did.

He must be a very nervous person by nature. I tried to tell him that I would never poison anyone's drink, because I know I may have my hand removed, or I may be killed... but he was very persistent.

[honorbends]

[ good lord ]

... no one is going to remove your hand or kill you, and Sasuke isn't going to do either of those things, either.

[ not that zuko thinks he would, but. honestly. ]

He's paranoid.

[scrubscrub]

I can understand... I'm very paranoid, too!

[At least she's self-aware.]

I'm glad that I'll be able to keep my hands; thank you so much, sir! I do like having them.

[honorbends]

[ what in the hell has this kid gone through where she's worried about losing her hands ]

... do people threaten you with that a lot, at your home? Losing your hands.

[scrubscrub]

Ah, it was mostly from the slave owners...! Now that I'm not under their control, I don't usually hear such things... S-sometimes Mr. Arlong would hit me if the other fishmen didn't see, but he never cut off any of my hands!

[She holds them both up, as if he needs a clear example that her hands are a-ok.]

[honorbends]

[ zuko does her the courtesy of looking at her hands, and offers her a faint smile, but it doesn't really reach his eyes. ]

Is Mr. Arlong here?

[ because zuko has strong opinions on hitting children :) ]

[scrubscrub]

Oh, I don't think he is! But you would probably know very quickly...!

He doesn't care for humans much at all, sir.

[Koala appears to be pretty casual about Arlong and his occasional abusive tendencies -- though it's mostly because she had expected the other fishmen to at least keep him in check. She couldn't imagine how scary it would be to have him around without the others, like Tiger and Aladdin. The idea of him looming over her with that shark grin makes her neck hairs stand on end.]

[honorbends]

Obviously not, if he's threatening to cut off kids' hands.

[ what a disgusting piece of garbage ]

He sounds like someone who could stand to get a taste of his own medicine, if you ask me. And if he does show up here, at least you have an entire ship of people to protect you, right?

[scrubscrub]

... Yeah...

[She looks a little unsure about it, though.]

... I guess I do! I think they... could.

[honorbends]

You guess?

[ pause ]

You have a lot of powerful people on this ship. I'm sure they could handle anyone that would show up that would try and hurt you.

[scrubscrub]

I understand... but...

[She smiles a bit more broadly.

Be brave, Koala. And honest. Sasuke had said honesty was important. Right...?]

I don't really know anyone well enough to tell. They could be the ones to hurt me, sir.

[More softly, she continues:]

Sometimes the ones that act the nicest are actually the cruelest.

[honorbends]

[ there's a visible reaction at that, and zuko stares at her for a long moment before abruptly sighing, and he kneels down to her level, perfectly balanced as he rests his elbows on his knees. ]

That's true. And I used to think that, too.

[ admittedly ]

But if you don't trust the nice people once in awhile, then you're never going to get anywhere, right? Sometimes people are nice just because they want to be nice, and they don't want anything in return. It's hard to learn that, but it's worth it when you do.

[ like aang. and katara, and sokka. and toph, and suki. ]

Most of the people on this ship are nice just to be nice. And if anyone from your world shows up that isn't that way, let someone know, and we can fix it.

[scrubscrub]

[She's still utterly unsure, and she has to look away from his open honesty, but...

But.]

If you — if you say so, sir.

... I will try to remember.