all aboard the ss blamless

[pyroelectric]

Who: Crew of the SS Blameless and visitors.
Broadcast: Nope
Action: SS Blameless
When: March, or until we feel like a new one.

[It's a mingle! Get out of the car!

Unique ship notes for new crew and visitors: giant, unmissable scorch marks currently line the walls of several corridors leading from the cargo hold to the bridge!

Also, thanks to Kate, we now have a SWEARS AND ATTITUDES JAR displayed prominently in the kitchen. Whenever someone's being naughty instead of nice, they're compelled to deposit a few credits (or at least an iou) into the awaiting jar.

Also also, we are all still bunking together. HAVE FUN.]

Comments

b

[pyroelectric]

[Azula is standing there in the kitchen doorway, having seen Luke enter the kitchen moments earlier and then decided to follow. It's been a good two weeks since Azula's injury, and she's healed well enough by now-- if not incredibly crabbily. Today seems to be a good day. At least-- she's not openly sulking.]

How would I know? [It doesn't sound petulant or irritation when she says it, this time. Just bored. An indication of a good mood from Azula, to be sure.]

Honestly, Luke. Do I look like a farmer, to you?

[t65]

Farming? What does that have to do with it? [Luke keeps on putting groceries away, smiling pleasantly. He's genuinely happy to see Azula in a good mood.]

[pyroelectric]

Farmers are the ones who harvest and sell crops, Luke. Not royalty. Obviously. Were you raised in a cave?

[t65]

Oh! You mean agricultural farmers. [It's important to specify, jeez.] I was raised on a moisture farm, Azula. We had very few plants.

[pyroelectric]

... Moisture farm.

[The term is not familiar to her.]

[t65]

[Luke nods, either oblivious of or purposefully ignoring her confusion.] Yes, a moisture farm, though we'd also harvest the fungus that would grow in the vaporators.

[pyroelectric]

[Azula waves a hand to stop him.]

I'm not really interested in the details.

[Somehow it's even more galling to know that she was actually beaten by a literal farm boy.]

[t65]

Don't worry, I'd bore us both of I went into it. [Moisture farming if kind of the worst.]

What about you, Azula? Where did you grow up?

[pyroelectric]

In the royal palace. Obviously. Where else?

[t65]

I don't know! [Said cheerfully.] I don't know much about royalty. What was the palace like?

[pyroelectric]

Large. Comfortable. Had a lot of servants and guards everywhere.

Didn't you say your sister was a princess? How could you not know what a palace is like?

[t65]

Sounds a little... [Boring.] Stiff.

Oh, we were raised separately. She was officially adopted and raised by the royal family of Alderaan. [Said casually while pulling an onion out of the grocery bag. He gives it an experimental sniff before moving it quickly from his nose with a grimace.]

[pyroelectric]

Perhaps. But one does get used to dealing with all the royal fuddy duddies in time. And it's not without it's perks.

[Namely: people doing what you say all the time.]

... Adopted. Ah, of course. Now it makes more sense.

[t65]

I guess. You can't really go off alone and do your own thing though, can you?

[Properties: shooting womprats.]

Really? [He laughs.] It didn't make any sense to me when I found out.

[pyroelectric]

You think so? I do my own thing all the time. Father trusts me.

[Which is to say, Azula's interests align well enough with her father's that she doesn't need to rebel.]

Well, it makes more sense than you being a prince, Luke. [She just says it matter-of-factly.]

[t65]

Oh, yes. I'd be a terrible prince... [There's so much work involved.] Your father is king, then?

[pyroelectric]

The term we use is Fire Lord, but it's essentially the same thing, yes.

[t65]

'Fire Lord'... does that have to do with the flame I hear you can conjure up?

[pyroelectric]

[Sounding bored:] Indeed.

My world is divided into four separate territories based on lineage, I suppose you could say. Well, three now. The Fire Lord is the head of the Fire Nation, the Earth King was the head of the Earth Kingdom, and so on and so forth. Earth, fire, air, water, yada yada.

A select percentage of the population can manipulate the element of their people. We call it bending.

[t65]

Hmm. [Luke is slowly becoming more somber. When he asks his next question, he's downright serious. He's turned away from the counter, and his attention is on Azula completely.] And how does lightning factor into that, Azula?

[pyroelectric]

Lightning is just the ultimate form of manipulating heat in the air around you. Obviously.

[t65]

But... [There's something wrong about that. Luke can't quite put his finger on it, and frowns, trying to think of what it is. Manipulating heat... that can't be right.]

[The Dark Side is cold.]

[Luke smiles up at Azula with renewed hope. There's hope for her yet.] You know, I never thought about it like that. The Force isn't tied into... raw elements. Maybe there's something you could teach me.

[pyroelectric]

Don't tell me you want to learn how to bend lightning?

It's impossible. Even some of the greatest firebenders can't do it. You have to have complete control over yourself and your emotions.

[t65]

[If Luke had a drink, he'd spit it out.] No! No. [That was a bit vehement, and a tad out of nowhere. He shakes his head.] I didn't mean, uh, bending. I meant the mental aspect. The- the way you envision the elements must be very different.

[He shakes his head. Learning to conjure lightning, no thank you.]

[pyroelectric]

[Oh? Was that a chink in this farm boy's seemingly unflappable demeanor?

Azula advances closer to Luke, a look on her face like a predator that's caught the scent of blood.]

Don't tell me you're afraid of a little electricity, now...