driftfleet | A Tourist's guide to a February Mingle

_{[ Oh, she's really cute when she blushes. But he can see he's tormented her enough for the moment, so he just chuckles and steps back into the room so he can grab his shirt and tug it on before returning to his original position at the door. ]}

There, I'm decent now.

Ohmygosh I am so, so sorry. I didn't even— You're on this ship? Of course you're on this ship. I didn't say that to be unwelcoming because obviously I want to welcome everyone. So welcome! To the S.S. Tourist! To be honest I'm not sure I could name everyone since I've only been around for like two weeks but everyone's been really nice so far! Well, to me anyway. Do you have a place to stay because I have an office now apparently and the office has a couch and so we could probably work something out, oh unless Chloe is going to sleep there but I think she has the med bay—

[ is she breathing? can you tell? you might need to stop her before she overheats between the combination of blushing and rambling ]

_{[Wow, she... has a heck of a pair of lungs on her. It's all really rather cute, reminding him of that girl next door vibe, the one who doesn't know she's adorable, and can't see a man flirting with her from two inches away, and is practically given the vapors at the sight of a naked human male body. He hadn't been around one of those in years. ]}

Why don't we start with going to get the coffee first and go from there?

_{[ He's butting in, but he's worried if he doesn't she might forget to breathe and CPR is not the best way to start a stay on the ship. ]}

[ she looks almost relieved at his interruption ]

Coffee. Yes. Okay. Let's do that.

_{[ He thinks he's starting to understand how to handle you Kara - that is, handle you as in keep you alive via making sure you breathe once in awhile as you talk. ]}

Good. I think I have the coffee maker figured out. Luckily we used replicators on my ship, so they seem to work in a similar fashion.

_{[ He motioned for her to lead the way in the narrow corridor, shutting his door. ]}

[ she does so, tone a little less chipper than she'd let on before ]

Sorry. This is just still a very new and very overwhelming situation. I mean, how often do you wake up on a strange spaceship? Wait, don't answer that. I think we have different frames of reference.

Actually, not very for me either. I'm not in the habit of cheating on my goddess.

_{[ He means his ship, but she was a silver goddess to him, his one true
lady love, his home. So yes, he might be rather in love with it, but she
was new and sparkling, and had been ready to go where no man had gone
before. ]}

Or getting kidnapped. It's one of the few things that hasn't happened to me up until now.

Goddess?

[ come on man, you need to expand on that ]

_{[ For the first time he had the good grace to blush and he rubbed the
back of his head, laughing a bit at himself. ]}

It's what I call her sometimes - the Enterprise. My silver goddess. I guess it makes me some kind of strange romantic, but that's what she looked like to me, the first time I saw her. This beautiful creature that would carry me out to stars yet unexplored.

That is surprisingly adorable, Captain.

[ she's very entertained ]

_{[ It's his turn to flush, but he smiles around it and scratches his
jaw. ]}

What can I say? I love what I do. And in some ways that ship is my savior. Without it, I'd still be stuck on Earth.

Is that such a bad thing?

[ her voice is tinged with actual curiosity—nonjudgmental but she clearly doesn't understand ]

Why would I want to stay in one place, when there's so much else to see out there? Earth isn't a mystery anymore. But the universe? The universe has endless potential. There will always be something new, something different, something amazing.

If you want to grow, eventually you have to leave home.

[ she's more subdued. she smiles, but it's more distant and not with her usual chipperness ]

Yeah, you're right.

_{[ He notices the change. It's so at odds with how she's been talking
to him. He cocks his head slightly, curious. ]}

Did I say something to upset you?

No, no, of course not. My parents died when I was really young and I had to go live with another family, that's all. Talking about home and Earth just made me think of that, I guess.

[ no mention of it being on, you know, another planet ]

Oh. I'm sorry. I kind of understand - my father died when I was born, and my mom wasn't around much, so I ended up living with my uncle.

_{[ That he had hated every minute of it went unsaid. She didn't need to
be weighed down with that particular knowledge. ]}

Don't get me wrong. Earth will always be my home planet. It's just... not where I want to spend my life, is all.

It's fine, I understand.

I think, for me, it's the people I have there more than anything else.

[ she continues in her calm, wistful fashion ]

Maybe that's why I don't feel the need to stay on Earth. All the people I need - they're on my ship. The crew's my family.

_{[ And he missed them terribly, even only a few days absent from them.
He missed the quiet, serious presence of Spock, the charming calm of Uhura,
Chekov's boyish excitement, Sulu's natural grace at the controls, McCoy's
growling grumbles. The noises of his home were absent and they ran sharply
in his ears now, louder for their absence. ]}

And maybe that's what's really important.

[ she smiles warmly ]

What's your crew family like?

Like any family - frustrating, infuriating, funny, and warm all at the same time. They're good people. The best people. I couldn't do what I do without them.

_{[ He smiles and makes for the coffee maker - which despite his
technological advantages, would forever be one of the hardest things to
master. Like someone else's shower. ]}

[ she's noticing that ]

Would you like some help with that?

[ will move to help him if he indicates she can ]

What are their names? Some of them, anyway. I probably don't need the whole roster.

No, no, I should figure this out. If I can't figure out the coffee maker, that's not a good sign on my prospects of getting home, is it?

_{[ He is going to conquer this thing like a proper Star Fleet captain!
]}

Names, huh? There's Spock, and Bones - real name Leonard McCoy, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, Scotty....

If you say so. But remember, my actual job is figuring out coffee for important people.

Well, there's certainly a variety! [ (of names) ]

I hope that some of your friends show up for you, or that you're released back to them soon.

Come on, that can't be your real job. You seem far to competent for that.

_{[ No, really, you do. You need to breathe more, but she didn't seem
like the sort to just play coffee gofer either. ]}

Thanks. I hope so too. Do you have any friends from your home here?

/hands a tissue

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