001;

[privateeyed]

Who: Ben and you folks
Broadcast: Yes
Action: SS Huntress
When: now

action; SS Huntress

[Ben doesn't take teleportation well. In fact, if the confetti and the music didn't tip the ship off, the loud cursing probably does - there you go, Huntress, your security officer is here]

What the fuck—give a guy some fuckin' warning next time, geez! God damn teleporting bullshit.

[once he's calmed down, though - and picked up some of the pudding because far be it from him to turn down free food - he's wandering the ship, peeking his head into rooms to see what's what]


broadcast;

[once he's somewhat settled in and found a place to sit and digest everything going on, Ben decides to set up a broadcast to get some Shit Done]

Anyone here good with cybernetics? Or - I don't know, computers? Advanced stuff, can give you the specfics if you're interested. Don't need you right now, I'm just covering my ass just in case.

[he pauses, and maybe realizes he should . . . introduce himself. Like a normal person would. You know, instead of just getting down to business]

Uh - anyway, name's Ben; if you don't know shit about cybernetics . . . I don't know, come tell me about the weird crap going on here. Or stuff I should know. I like being informed.

Comments

[passingthrough]

It's a direwolf pup and a special tree slug. There was also a cat, but my friend Pavel is taking her. So, it might not exactly meet the qualifications of a zoo, but they are small rooms. Even with the captain's quarters. [Especially if you're keeping all your boyfriend's stuff for if he comes back.]

[privateeyed]

I don't know what a direwolf is but it sounds cool. Slug, not so much - no offense. [he can't help but make a face] My room's crowded with just me being in there. But I might be a little biased.

[passingthrough]

I'm not really sure either. I think probably 10% more dire than a regular wolf though as a pup he mostly just seems pretty sweet. The slug is actually more interesting than he sounds. If you hold him you get this weird, peaceful sort of feeling. Unless he doesn't like you. It doesn't happen that often but I've seen some weird reactions.

Rooms are definitely small. I spend a lot of time on the planets or traveling from ship to ship to feel less...contained.

[privateeyed]

A slug that . . . gives you weird peaceful feelings. Yeah, that sounds fuckin' weird as hell. [watch it not like Ben because he's too grumpy for this world]

I might have to do that. I'm not big on the whole - small spaces thing. Makes me twitchy.

[passingthrough]

I think it's a little weirder than hell. [She liked them when they were on the planet but shied away from actually taking one. But Winn did, so she has a slug named Pixels now.]

I don't mind the smallness so much, but I don't like feeling so trapped in general. I'm not really used to having barriers. Okay, correction, I wasn't used to it back home. [The prison was surrounded by a dome she couldn't penetrate and now the vacuum of space lies beyond the ships and it has been A MINUTE since she's been home.]

[privateeyed]

Weird as shit? Weird as fuck. [he can adjust the level of weirdness]

What are you, a free spirit? [he is totally calling her a hippie] I don't know how you can stand the smallness, though. I'm not thinking about feeling trapped.

[passingthrough]

Also good options.

I'm intangible. In a literal sense. And I guess the smallness just feels cozy? Secure? As long as I can still move through the walls whenever I want.

[privateeyed]

[move through the - what. Did he hear that right?]

. . . yeah I'm gonna need proof of that before I open my mouth to call bullshit.

[passingthrough]

Well, do you want it over the network or in person?

[privateeyed]

Which is easier?

[passingthrough]

I suppose network is easier, but you lose the full impact.

[privateeyed]

Well, if you want to come over and demonstrate, I'm cool with it. Doubt anyone else would care either.

[passingthrough]

I appreciate that kind of confidence in the face of barely knowing your crewmates. Huntress, right?

[privateeyed]

Yeah, Huntress. I'm in the - what is it, the cargo bay? Sat on a bunch of boxes. Can't miss me.

[passingthrough]

Oh, this is awkward. The whole time I've been thinking you look nearly indistinguishable from a box. I guess you'll be the one moving though.

[privateeyed]

It's the jacket, right? Usually people mistake me for a pile of trash, so I'll take the upgrade.

[passingthrough]

Oh, that's harsh. I thought you looked like fresh, new boxes. Never been dented or opened.

[privateeyed]

Hah. I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult.

[passingthrough]

You know, I'm going to go with the rare neither, but more compliment than insult at this point. [At least she didn't want to imply he was trash? That's something.] Hold tight. I'll be there in a minute or twelve.

[privateeyed]

Acceptable. So just a statement. [he salutes her] I'll be here.

[passingthrough]

[Despite the days it takes to write the next tag it is only minutes before Kitty is docking her shuttle on the largely unfamiliar ship. She hasn't explored much of the fleet in her time here unless invited by a crew member. Something she might look into rectifying one of these days. Today, she does so in small part.

She also decides to make something of an entrance by not actually opening her shuttle door. Instead, she simply phases out through it. So, if he's watching he'll see a hand emerge followed by the tip of her nose and quickly more until she is momentarily bisected by the solid metal and then she's fully emerged.]

Boxes, boxes, oh, person. Hi. [She gives him a smile.]

[privateeyed]

[he didn't know what he was supposed to be expecting, but it certainly isn't that. He stares at her for a good minute, jaw working as his brain tries to process. He came from a world where none of this was possible - magic, powers, whatever - except in movies. And yet there was this girl, halfway through her damn shuttle]

What in the actual fuck that is awesome.

[ah, there it is, the brain caught up]

[passingthrough]

[That gets a laugh, but she looks pleased. Pro tip: she looks pleased because she is. For a long time she felt more suspicious when people reacted to her powers with anything but fear because that's how people had always reacted to her powers. At least people who weren't the X-Men. Things changed in Marina and it took time to accept even a good change because it was so inconsistent with the reality she'd lived for so long. At this point seeing someone impressed or excited about it is familiar enough to be trusted and still new enough to make her day or at least her morning or evening. Let's not get carried away.]

It has its moments. Want to try it?

[privateeyed]

Wh—I can try it?

[for someone who openly and sometimes proudly claims to be a jackass, it doesn't take a lot to get a genuine, positive reaction out of him. He hops off the boxes to head up to her] I absolutely want to try it.

[passingthrough]

[She smiles more at that reaction. She holds a hand out to him.] You have to hold my hand and more importantly don't let go if you're in the middle of something. Literally.