driftfleet | Channelling Fire Fist

Entry tags:

Channelling Fire Fist

Who: Nami + You
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Iskaulit / Bloodsport / Briefly on the Ring
When: Now!

[The last few days Nami's been feeling progressively more drained, which is annoying, but these glitches tend to follow right on the end of overworking herself anyway, so she doesn't quite notice. Until today, when she quite literally falls asleep for a few seconds and ends up faceplanting on the shoulder of the complete stranger she's buying a bunch of bar alcohol from.

Awkward.

Then half an hour later when she's loading up the shuttle, one can find her literally sleeping on top of a couple of barrels. Maybe she should get someone to help fly her to the Iskaulit, because that seems less awkward and more stupid... okay, so something's up, she's either coming down with something or she's glitching and she'll just get her supplies back to the bar and (zzzz)--

...what was she doing? Oh, right.

Yeah, if you're anywhere nearby she might flag you down to fly her back, because death by faceplanting the shuttle somewhere would be just plain embarrassing.

-------

Whether by miracle or responsible supervision she makes it to the Iskaulit eventually, feet dragging and yawning, and manages to square away new supplies and give the bar staff a heads up.] This stuff's pretty strong. Don't serve it to anyone you know can't--- [Owlish blink.] -- hold their licks. Liquor. [Yeah, that stuff.]

------

[And finally some hours after that, text to avoid yawning in people's faces. It's the slowest text ever.]

New stock at the Space Bar. Massive kick. Spicy, sweet. Drink wisely.

[...Nami you're not crafting a telegram. Man, why is this so hard--]

Lot of glitches lately??? you people have stolen all my izhu

[...well. That could be a fancy alien word. Or it could just be that she fell asleep while typing. She'll be back after this nap. Or after someone yells in her ear or... something.

After this, she'll ping the Bloodsport with a message to come get her and go sleep in the garden until someone wakes her up.]

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[This was way more than he bargained on, but Stefan's a quick learner.

His sailor knots are uneven at first; he gives far too much slack; and he sure can't predict the winds based on the outside atmosphere. However, this is also Nami's dream and Nami's subconscious. He'll integrate with the crew far faster than if he were learning on his own.

By the end, he'll give her a cheeky grin,] You're a good teacher, you know.

You're a good listener. [She grins cheerfully.] I try to teach my crew back home about stuff and they fall asleep or just talk right over me about the mysteries of the sea.

[Jerks. But she's good-natured about it, and they take in just enough. Even Luffy knows plenty about actually sailing a ship now, even if he has a habit of trying to crash it into rocks at the drop of a hat. (We don't let Luffy navigate. Like ever.)]

Ah, well - you can lead a horse to water but you sure can't make him drink.

[He would know, just from his limited experience on the Fleet. Still, he's pretty proud of the sailor knot that he's mastered!]

Or would that be their wanderlust taking over at the worst possible moment?

Definitely the wanderlust. My Captain wants to sail to the ends of the ocean and become the Pirate King, but he doesn't care about the technicalities. [She throws a hand up, rolling her eyes.]

But then that's why he recruited me.

Huh. [ That's one way to go about it. ] Doesn't he worry that you might want to be the "Pirate Queen" someday?

Crews don't work like that. [She grins briefly.]

But it's moot, anyway. I wouldn't even be a pirate if it weren't for Luffy. And I've got no interest. That's what he wants, and I want him to get it, and he knows it. I'll settle for drawing my map of the world.

Thankfully, no. [Or else Stefan wouldn't have known what to do.] But this Luffy guy was lucky to have you as long as he did.

Whenever you get the chance to finish your map, though, I'm sure it'll be great.

Of course it will. [She grins. Shameless.]

Might take a while, though. Given I'm mapping everything I see myself in person. But seeing the world isn't exactly a sacrifice.

Not at all.

... Hang on. Have you been mapping out the worlds we've been to? It could make for a really neat collection, especially if they're all in one place.

I haven't, but there's good reasons for that-- [She counts off on her fingers.] One, it'd take more than a few weeks to map out the entire place on my own info. And two, these places are all modern enough they have world maps and star charts besides. Doesn't seem much point.

I pick up copies of all of them, though. Getting a pretty hefty stack in my room.

That's close enough. If you ever want to revisit a place you've been to, though... I could try to make it happen.

[Wouldn't be the first time he's altered the dreamscape. At least this time, Nami isn't afraid of whatever's in her subconscious.]

Try being the keyword. I suspect knowing how also comes hand in hand with knowing how to leave.

Seems a pretty handy gift, if you can work out how to make it. You sure you're not a triangle in disguise? [Wry.]

I guess they'd need to be places you've seen yourself, huh?

I'm very sure. What would a triangle have to do with dreams, anyway?

[ Last he heard, geometry wasn't particularly relevant to understanding the worlds tucked in their subconscious. ]

Not exactly. As long as you've seen them - and remember them, that's the key point - I can always take you back there.

[There's a flicker of interest in her expression. Really? She hasn't seen home in a long time...]

I met someone else like this a couple times, only they were kind of, uh. Small and a triangle. With feet and a bowtie. [She shrugs.] I wasn't sure if it was another Fleet member or I was just delirious. The first time it happened, I was really sick.

Edited 2017-04-12 07:24 (UTC)

I don't know. I've never met anyone like that, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. If he really was part of the Fleet, I only hope his intentions were good.

[He folds his arms and focuses on their surroundings. He sure picked up on that interest, so he focuses long and hard on home: first his, with the dreamscape briefly melting to reveal an old two-story manor surrounded by trees. An old, 50s-style red Porsche is sitting on the dusty gravel driveway.

He pauses, turning to look back at the manor.] Mm, not my home. Nami, permission to take us back to yours?

[She hasn't seen Bill in a long time, so she figures he's also long gone even if he wasn't a hallucination. And--

--oh. That was unexpected. She blinks, looking around at the manor house and the-- car? She knows what cars are now-- huh.

Nami grins widely.]

You lived here? I didn't know you were rich!

[I'm so sorry]

I used to. [He laughs, a little nervously.] My parents were surgeons, and –

[And he's mixing up lives. This house doesn't belong to him anymore. Nor did it belong to his parents. He can feel the weight of that realization on his shoulder.]

And uh, we had to move. I haven't seen this place in a long time.

[She can read the sudden minor shift in mood there, but without context Nami assumes that maybe this house is a bad memory for him.]

...did you want to move on?

Not unless you want to.

[ She'd gotten starry-eyed, after all. Stefan can't blame his jumbled up memory: it's another story for another time. ]

Just because it's been a long time doesn't mean it's off-limits.

Well, it's a lovely house, but it's just a dream. [Knee-jerk reactions about being rich aside-- it doesn't matter much in the scheme of things. She glances up at the windows.] I think I've only been in one this nice before, and it wasn't really to sightsee.

Then I've definitely gotta take you inside. [ He can't quite help his laugh. ] I can only imagine what you were doing - and my old house was more like a boarding house, anyway.

People would come and stay if they needed a place for a month or a year or whatever, and they'd pay us to take care of things.

[To be fair, it's also misleading for her to say that-- nice houses aren't very common, but she's been on the inside of at least two palaces, so...? Evens out...?]

Whatever you're imagining, you're probably wrong. [Grin. But she doesn't elaborate.] Boarders, huh? You ever meet anyone interesting that way?

One of my aunts, actually. She came and stayed with us when I was.... [hesitant pause, because that math doesn't add up if he's playing human] uh, when I was younger.

Apparently, she came for like a month, met my uncle, and decided to spend the rest of her life with him.

Sounds like a pretty storybook way to meet someone. I like it.

Me too. Gail was really into photography – and so is her daughter. My cousin. She's studying it in school now.

[ They're not quite his family anymore, but there's no mistaking the pride in his voice either. ]