+1.5: Free Time Event

[hopefullyyours]

Who: The Crew of the Huntress
Broadcast: ??? IF YOU WANT???
Action: Here and there on the Huntress
When: Whenever!

[It's a nice ship, isn't it? It's definitely a nice ship. It doesn't matter if it's a nice ship to other people. It's a nice ship to him.

What a nice ship.]

Comments

[hearsthesea]

[There's scattered confetti and neglected pudding around the entrance, so somebody's obviously taken off from their own party. Can't really blame whoever it is, but meeting the new arrival seems like a good idea so Shirley goes off in search of him.

Seeing the new guy trying to pick a fight with a door(?) gives her pause.]

What are you doing?

[hopefullyyours]

Trying to see how much force it would take to break down a door here. [Komaeda gives the door a sunny smile before turning to face Shirley. Well, the smile is still there, so...?] Just in case that becomes relevant, you know!

[hearsthesea]

Um...

[There's theoretically some logic in there, but still. Really?]

I don't know whether we can replace that door if you break it.

[hopefullyyours]

No worries, I think even if you and I tried together, we couldn't break it down. Isn't that reassuring?

[hey lady, look, when random murders are made to literally be your entire focal point in life, you get on top of assessing how well you can break down doors in an area, okay? ISN'T THAT REASSURING!]

Do the doors all lock from one direction or another?

[hearsthesea]

I never thought to check. Is that important?

[Not so sure about the reassuring part, to be honest. But she'll let that drop.]

[hopefullyyours]

Well, imagine if you were locked out and you heard screaming from behind a door! [He spreads his good arm out, the one in the sling giving a little jerk.]

Or, the other way around, if you were able to be locked into a room from the outside? It's good to keep track of this sort of thing.

[hearsthesea]

[...Um.]

Is that really what you think is most important right now?

[hopefullyyours]

Is there something else you think is more important? [The heavily sardonic 'such as???' hangs unspoken in the air. Komaeda: a paranoid asshole in space.]

[hearsthesea]

When I first got here I was scared, and I didn't know a lot about what to do here. You're not worried about that?

[Shirley should probably be insulted, but his lack of apparent concern about those things actually stands out more.]

[hopefullyyours]

Oh. No, not particularly. Even if it comes to a pinch, I'm sure my luck will carry me through. [Komaeda is so matter-of-fact about it that it almost seems like a reasonable response.]

You're fairly civic-minded, aren't you? It seems to me like the more unusual reaction is actually yours- that you're worried about how to contribute. [Hmmmm. He puts his good hand on his chin and leeeeans in to inspect her.]

[hearsthesea]

[Whoa there dude, back up. Personal space is a thing, you know! And to preserve it Shirley takes a couple steps back herself, watching him warily to see what else he'll do.

Thing is, though, he's right - at least partially. She's not so sure about the luck part, but she is in fact a little worried about pulling her own weight as a lab worker and as someone whose return home depends on pleasing an unseen audience. But...how could he know that after talking for all of a minute?]

When did I say that? And--why would that be unusual?

[hopefullyyours]

[Personal space? Oh, that stuff. Komaeda watches her back up and shrugs, gesturing around to the ship.]

You said it yourself, that you were worried most about what to do. Most people are more selfish, aren't they? [It's not really a question. Of course people are usually more selfish, the curled corner of his mouth seems to say.]

Regardless, it's nice to meet somebody so community-minded! [He seems to mean it, which is something.]

[hearsthesea]

Ah...

[Not quite what she meant, but she's basically admitted to the truth of it so there's little use arguing.]

We're all part of a crew now. We should be working together.

[hopefullyyours]

You're perfectly right, of course. I suppose the best route is to make sure nobody starts panicking or anything like that, at least to start.

[Enjoy the expectant expression that Komaeda has fixed on you, Shirley. Yes, he's waiting to see what you have to say on the matter.]

[hearsthesea]

I don't see any reason why we should be panicking.

[Shirley doesn't seem too fazed by whatever he's trying to imply, although she does wonder what he's getting at.]

The others and I have been here for nearly a month already. You're the only new arrival today, and you don't seem very agitated either.

[hopefullyyours]

[Rather than him trying to imply anything, he's actually yielding to her judgement concerning the situation. She seems very socially skilled, despite her reserve, and even that might be entirely because of he himself, after all. Also, he was sort of hoping she would clarify how long everybody else had been on the ship, which she had. Lucky him~!]

I suppose that's true. [Komaeda's concern over panicking stems more from his previous experiences than anything that's happened in this place thus far, so he keeps his further concerns on that quiet. It may be an entirely irrational fear, he supposes. He sighs, almost off-handedly,] I feel bad for you all, stuck with somebody like me on your ship.

Um.... Miss Shirley.... do you mind if I ask you something, since you've been here so long?

[hearsthesea]

What is it? There's no reason to feel bad, you know...I don't think most of us are used to this.

[She's not a huge fan of self-deprecation, although right now Shirley's chalking it up to their new surroundings. Can't pretend she didn't feel something similar when she first got here, after all.]

[hopefullyyours]

Mmmm, it's not really related to feeling bad... Anyway, here's a theoretical question: we're all healed of whatever injuries we had when we came here, correct? [He'd like to space the question more gracefully, but he doesn't want any attention to fall on his arm in a sling, which is in this line of questioning is suspicious as all hell, so he goes on, quickly:]

So if that's the case, how does that relate to, say, issues of perhaps heart disease, or organ weaknesses, or long-term things like that? I'm sorry if it's too long-winded of a question, but it's really been bothering me for a while.

[hearsthesea]

[The question actually does draw Shirley's attention to the sling - she's noticed it before, just hasn't mentioned the arm yet - but she decides not to pursue the topic now that's he's mentioned it. He is right, after all. So that arm should be healed, shouldn't it? And besides, Komaeda's got an immediate question.]

Ah...I don't know. Somehow that's not one of the things I know because of the augments. But if you're worried, I'll find out as soon as I can.

[hopefullyyours]

[It was never... broken, in the strictest sense of the word, so he hasn't really questioned why it wouldn't be fixed here.]

Um, I hate to ask such a demanding thing, but if that's something you could do, I would really appreciate it. Please let me know if there's something I can do to assist you, meanwhile.

[hearsthesea]

Of course. Um, if you're asking because you have a long-term condition yourself...it might be helpful to know just what that is, so I can make sure my information's correct.

[Touchy subject? Yeah, most likely. Still important though, since it would be horrible if she were to misinform him out of ignorance.]

[hopefullyyours]

Well, I mean... like I said, it's a theoretical situation. You see, I have a friend from back home who has a spinal cancer, so I'm sort of curious as to whether or not it would be mended here or not. It's nice to hope so, isn't it?

[Spinal cancer is close enough to brain cancer, right? And, while Shirley actually does seem like a remarkably reliable, trustworthy person, he doesn't want anybody to know about his situation, one way or another. In the end, it was hard to even tell Hinata about that.]

[hearsthesea]

Oh...

[Yeah. Pretty serious stuff.]

If there's a reason to ever hope for a friend's presence here, that could be one. I'll be sure to let you know if I hear anything.

[hopefullyyours]

Mmm... Thank you, Miss Shirley.

[He shuffles a little, then looks about before looking back to her.] As a side note... I'd really appreciate if you mentioned that to as few people as possible. If he comes here, after all... it seems kind of a personal thing for everybody to already know about you, don't you think?

[hearsthesea]

Yes, I understand.

[Seems like a fair request. She wouldn't want that spread all over the place, herself.]

It may take more time in that case, but since your friend isn't here now I hope that won't be too much of a problem.

[...Oops.]