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(no subject)

Who: Ochako & OTA
Broadcast: Yes!
Action: SS Starstruck
When: At the start of January

[For once, Ochako's not using voice or video, bursting with energy; instead it's a simple text entry, no fluff or even an emoticon.]

does anybody have something happy they're willing to share

like, something good that happened to them, or a nice story

it's the new year, right? i wanna start fresh with good things.

[Ochako's sort of taking over the Starstruck kitchen, and making a bit of a mess of it, though unintentionally- she's all out of sorts, things are floating when she doesn't want them to, and her attempts at making something as simple as cake batter are not going as planned. Crewmates might have noticed that she's been quieter than usual since after Christmas, and it's apparently hit a breaking point.]

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[She sniffs awkwardly and pokes at the mix; it's lumpy and a little discoloured, like the flavour mix hadn't come out right.]

I just wanted to make a cake...

Oh, man.

[That . . . is an extremely sad-looking bowl of cake batter. Eugene shuffles around in his bag until he finds what he's looking for: a slightly scuffed iPod classic, clickwheel and everything, earbuds tucked alongside it in a loose coil. He puts the iPod on the table between them and uncoils the earbuds slowly, like he can find words that feel like they fit somewhere between one dingy off-white loop and the next.]

Yeah, cake gets tricky. Maybe we can give it another shot after a few tunes like I promised.

[She sighs listlessly, defeated, and pushes the bowl away from herself so she can cross her arms and rest her head on them, leaning against the table. She watches him set up, her gaze low.]

Okay...

[Yikes, and here he thought she'd at least be curious about the music player if she didn't recgnize it already. Looks like it's time to bring out the the heavy ordnance.]

Here. I think I've got just the thing.

[Eugene turns the device on, gently click-clicks through a few songs, and settles on one of the most stubbornly feel-good ones he can find. The earbuds he hands over one at a time, waits until she has them situated, and then pushes play.]

[She listens quietly for a good chunk of the song, not reacting much at first, but gradually warming up to it. Does the augment auto-translate music? Well, whether it does or not, she likes the sound of it. Finally she tugs off one bud, glancing over.]

It's catchy... is this from your home?

[It takes a little while, but she perks up the tiniest bit, and Eugene releases a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.]

Yeah. It's a few decades old now, but the classics never really go out of style.

[Already he's looking up the next song that comes to mind, leaving it ready to play after the current track is finished, though he fiddles with the device for a few unnecessary seconds before glancing looking up at her.]

Do you . . . want to talk about it?

[She fidgets in her chair, her fingers toying with the loose earbud. Finally her shoulders lift in a slight shrug.]

It was my birthday last week... my first one away from home.

Oh no.

[He gives a sympathetic wince, entirely earnest. Birthdays away from everything you knew were bad enough as a full-grown adult. At an age when birthdays are still sort of exciting?]

That's rough. How old are you now?

Sixteen, now.

[It's not exactly sweet, is it.]

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