driftfleet | our feelings will tingle, it's a vanquish mingle!

6/25

[Whoever said everyone likes surprises must not have known a lot of spies. Not even twenty-four hours after she woke up on the hospitality deck of the Marsiva, Natasha is transported in a puff of confetti and tinny music.

She's not even mad. She tenses briefly, half pulling into a combat ready pose, but before she can even find a defensive stance, she's already taking in the scene on the bridge of the Vanguish and realizing there's not a fight waiting for her.

No, she's not mad. She's just about 110% done with all of this.]

Hey. [Her tone is even, with just a little rasp.] Hope I'm not interrupting anything?

[You know, it's pretty rare that Clay happens to be in the same room as a new person showing up. That'd just be too convenient and all. But he's here now, aaand his mouth happens to be full of food while he stares at Natasha.

Natasha.

It's been months since he's seen her. She'd left so suddenly, just like all the others who leave, and Clay always wished he got to say goodbye. And now she's here?

When she speaks up, Clay blinks, then swallows his food - a bit too big of one, and he coughs a little at the end of it, then gives a sheepish smile.]

Uh - No, you're fine! [He eyes all the confetti on the ground.] III take it you just showed up?

Here? [Her brows draw together slightly, because the answer to that question is pretty obvious.

She's not completely unprepared for that kind of reaction, though.

Her frown evolves into something a little more reserved, a little more regretful.]

I woke up on the Marsiva yesterday. So yeah, more or less just showed up.

[Ah. The fact that she doesn't recognize him clues him in that this one doesn't remember the fleet. It makes him pause for a second, looking a bit lost, before he shakes his head, sets down his plate of food, then gives a big smile.]

Well, hey, welcome aboard the Vanquish! [He crosses his arms, if only to stop himself from reaching out to shake her hand, which he'll explain:] I would shake your hand, but you probably want to know who I am and what's up with this place first, huh?

Seems like a good place to start. Not to be rude, but... [She gestures inclusively with an open handed shrug, somehow indicating the bridge around them in a relatively minimal motion.] I got the short version already. We show up, we get put on a ship.

Looks like I'm on this one.

[That about sums up what she knows, though.]

[Cosmic found the new arrival before Al did; the white fox came to inspect Natasha, sitting down and tilting his head, looking her over with a critical eye. A gold-haired teenage boy soon followed, giving Natasha a friendly smile as he scooped the fox into his arms.]

Hey, are you our new shipmate? Don't mind Cosmic- I hope he hasn't bothered you.

No, he's fine.

[She looks at the fox, brows puckering slightly, before she shifts her attention to Al.]

Is he yours?

[Al nodded.]

Well- half mine and half Clay's, but he's really the ship's pet. Oh, and I should say who I am- I'm Alphonse, your security officer.

You're a security officer?

[She largely tamps down on her skepticism, but a little surprise still comes through in her tone and on her face.]

Well, it's nice to meet you Alphonse.

[Natasha extends her hand to shake, respectful, pushing past her initial reaction.]

Natasha. Nice to meet you.

Edited 2016-07-03 02:51 (UTC)

[Al accepted the handshake, quite used to the surprise in her voice. Most people weren't members of the military in their teens like he and Ed had been, after all.]

Glad to meet you, too. And that's what my augment is for, at least... the technology here is way, way ahead of what I'm used to, though, so I'm still learning things a bit.

[The ironic part is that Natasha was already training to be spy when she was younger than him.

But that doesn't make it common.]

More of those.

Suppose I've been trying not to think too hard about those.

Yeah... I don't blame you there. They're still a mystery to us, anyway- Atroma doesn't let us look at them too closely.

I've heard a thing or two about that, too. [She clears her throat gently, dismissive of the discomfort.] I hear it's a better idea not to poke around.

It makes you feel awful, let's put it that way. [Al swallowed before swiftly changing the subject-] But at least this planet will make you feel pretty good! The little fluffy slugs crawling around seem to have an ability to help people calm down and feel more peaceful.

[You'd think that would be nice, but Natasha takes that as more of a warning.]

Fluffy slugs? That's quite the mental image. It'll be nice to take a look around though. Get some fresh air.

This is much nicer than the last planet we were on, definitely. It had a toxic atmosphere, so you couldn't go outside without a gas mask on. Here it's so much more... free and open. I don't like being confined to a ship for long periods of time.

I can't blame you for that. Not that I have much room to complain considering I just got here, but there's something to be said for getting outside.

How long was it between planets?

We were on the toxic planet for a few months, but the transit time in-between there and here was only a few weeks. I guess Atroma was ready for a setting change, and so were we.

I guess it gets boring for the viewers at home if we stay in one place too long. Why not mix it up?

We usually do travel to a new setting every few months, probably for that reason, yes. ... though it still blows my mind a little to be talking about an "audience".

Yeah? Because it's so weird, or because you don't believe it?

[It seems to be the accepted, received information. And it fit what she heard on the Marsiva.

She's not getting married to any ideas yet, though. Not at all.]

A little bit of both. We didn't have television back home- just radio- so I'm still not quite sure how to take this idea that someone's watching me. On the other hand... I think there are some convincing arguments to be made that the audience isn't actually there.

If there are, I'd love to hear them.

For one, we never actually see them- or we haven't as long as I've been here. Atroma barely even speaks to us, and while they supposedly read fan mail to us every now and then, it'd be easy to fabricate that. If we're on such a popular show, why not let the fans meet us?

Good questions. It's hard to say without knowing more about our audience, though.

For all we know this is more like going to the zoo than it is wanting to meet a celebrity.

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