Heron May mingle

[grandstanding]

Who: Heron crew and visitors
Broadcast: nope
Action: the Heron
When: all May!

[Birds of a feather mingle together.]

Comments

very sorry for the delay!

[astrobleme]

[Oh. Right. Shinji heard something about hostile aliens invading the Fleet or whatever, but he doubts they're even half as scary as Angels. He's just making up crap to hide the fact he's terrified of himself. With a sigh, he says,] That was a hypothetical. No self-respecting alien would be allergic to latex.

[Then, in a hopeless mumble:]

I don't know what to do with myself if I'm not preparing for the worst.

[stefanged]

[O-oh. Stefan hears that loud and clear - and any hesitation, any distance in his posture is gone. There's no point in having any guard around someone who's clearly lived through some doomsday world.]

Well, what have you always wanted to do? Before you had to prepare for the worst?

[astrobleme]

[That's a weird question. Pretty much no one has ever asked Shinji what he wants to do, as opposed to telling him what to do. He blinks a few times, then lifts a hand to his face, rubbing it harshly.] Uhm...

I don't know. What do people normally want to do?

[stefanged]

Uh, lots of things?

[This has to be the weirdest conversation he's had today.]

Like uh - take me. I wanted to be a doctor back home, so I became a medic over here. Or uh, my Aunt Beverly. She helps run the gardens because she loves plants. Is there anything that you liked doing?

[astrobleme]

[It could be that Shinji is dissociating right now--and not for the first time, too. Everything feels curiously far away from him, like it isn't actually happening to him. He doesn't know how to get back into his own skin.]

I like looking at the stars, but there's nothing useful about that... well, with piloting, there's... well, most of that is automated...

[He mumbles to a standstill. Then:]

I'm fine as long as I don't have to fight anything.

[stefanged]

Sure there is. If you know the constellations, you also know where to go next.

[Stefan's partially saying this out of pity, but he's also gained a new appreciation for the stars after traveling for so long. Also, mental note: introduce this kid to Clay Terran stat.]

Have you ever thought about being an astronaut? Exploring different planets and stars just for the sake of it?