Autopilot

[mikangirl]

Who: Everyone
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Space Bar mostly, elsewhere if you like
When: Now

[She's put this off for weeks now in the vain hope that Fenris would suddenly turn back up one day, grumpy as usual.  Some people only vanish briefly, don't they?  But there's only so many double shifts she can pull, and while they've been welcome in the order of not thinking about various things (this place, all those deaths, her death, and oh Luceti, that's an interesting one) there comes a point where you both (a) have to acknowledge you're in denial and (b) fall asleep in the shuttle bay before you ever leave the Iskaulit. 

Damn you, Fenris.  It's not going to be the same without you.  This is your friend's bar.]

I guess it's that time of year again.  The Space Bar needs new staff!   I'm looking for someone with decent bartending experience or just someone who's really fast at learning.  Pay's good, so if you'd like an extra source of credits for work you choose to be doing, hit me up.  I'm also looking for one or two people who'd be willing to act as relief staff, because this place does a number on reliability at the best of times.

[Like when its proprietor vanishes completely for a month, that was fun.]

....

....also, tell me if you've found a favourite food or drink on this planet.  I'm restocking, it benefits everyone if I can have on hand what people enjoy the most.

[Catch her at the bar on shift.  Or catching a nap in inconvenient places.  Or just on the Bloodsport.  Wherever.]

Comments

[watermarks]

He's -- kind of. He's the avatar. He's the only one one on our world who can bend all four elements, but he's actually an Airbender. He was raised in the Southern temple.

[mikangirl]

[That's where she's heard the name. Her fist thumps into her palm.]

I can't remember if it was Zuko or Toph. One of them explained this before. [...years ago, god, she's been here too long.]

[watermarks]

[ Oh. Hearing those names is like a sharp shake. She exhales lightly through her teeth. ]

Yeah, that makes sense. [ A light smile. ] Who the Avatar is is kind of intrinsic to our world, so I guess it comes up.

[ Even though she's not sure if Aang is... okay with that right now. ]

[mikangirl]

You'll have to introduce us one day.

[She yawns, climbing out the shuttle finally, only to get lightly buffed by Biri and his softer warber of welcome. Hey, duck.]

I'm probably gonna make myself a hot drink before bed. You want one? I have space cocoa.

[watermarks]

I'd be happy to. [Katara follows along.] Is space cocoa different than regular cocoa?

[mikangirl]

Slightly. I mean, it's not literally called that, but when you find something that reminds you of home it's just habit, I guess.

[Welcome to our kitchen. Well-stocked, there's even a bowl of fruit on the table. She shuffles behind the counter and pulls out some mugs.]

[watermarks]

[ Nice kitchen and the fruit looks good. Katara's glance follows Nami because she's not sure if she should be doing this or if she should be going straight to bed, but... she supposes they'll wait and see. ]

It's a nice kitchen. Do you guys have a cook on board?

[mikangirl]

[It won't keep her up any later. For Nami, it's comfort cocoa and hospitality besides.]

There's Aerith-- I mean we've got a cook-by-augment, if that's what you mean. But I don't think any one person does all the cooking on board. Sam does a fair amount, too. It depends on who's around. [Nami has breakfast and lunch here, but that's generally fruit and she has dinner on the Iskaulit.] You?

[watermarks]

[ A wry little half-smile, half wince. ] Yeah, me.

[ She reaches up to tap over her augment. ] I'm the cook.

[mikangirl]

[Oh. Man. She gives a wry smile in return.]

At least in my case they gave me pilot. If it's not your thing, don't let yourself get forced into it.

[watermarks]

I don't mind. [ She shrugs a little. Much. ] I've been doing stuff like this for a long time. And I know how important a cook is on a ship.

[mikangirl]

[She's too tired for all her filters to be working properly; at that statement something in Nami's expression twists, just a little, but the smile she turns down at the mugs while she waits for the water to heat is fond.]

Yeah, they are.

[watermarks]

[ You can't just avoid speaking of the people that you know, or how they have impacted you, but Katara does regret causing that twist in Nami's expression. ]

I think I'd like being a pilot, though, or at least learning how to fly properly. I don't like the idea of just being stuck on one of these ships.

[mikangirl]

[It's probably not for the reasons Katara is thinking. Life has sucked at home lately.]

Mm, I do enjoy it. But we still don't have that much freedom; we still can't get out of the Marsiva's orbit, no matter what we try.

...though even if we could, I think that'd be a bad idea.

[watermarks]

[She thinks about that for a moment.]

Because they're the ones that brought us here?

[And how will they get answers without going through them?]

[mikangirl]

In all the worlds we've been to, nobody has ever heard of the places that any of us come from. If it's possible to take off... we'd have to risk being lost out here forever. But if we stay put, there's at least a small chance we go home eventually.

[This isn't entirely true. Nami has a suspicion none of them will ever see home again, but that isn't the sort of crap you lay on someone so new to the Fleet. And she hopes she's wrong.]

Did Sokka ever tell you about the Interceptors?

[watermarks]

[ Katara nods. ] They were covered in one of the charts. Why?

[mikangirl]

It's not confirmed. But they're all so different from each other...

I have to wonder if they're an original Fleet that got away. So to speak.

[watermarks]

What do you mean?

[mikangirl]

This is the ...twelfth, I think? ... season of this so-called show. And names have been found previously of people who used to be part of the Fleet. Now, they might have just been sent home again from this run, but I doubt it.

So I wonder if the Interceptors are ex-contestants, so to speak. Either the ones that the Atroma cut adrift in earlier cycles, or ones that found a way to leave on their own. Either way, they haven't found their way back home, if that's the case.

[watermarks]

...so you think there's some truth to the fact that they send one person home at the end of the show?

[ Just one person... and who knew what happened to the rest of them. ]

[mikangirl]

I don't know what to think. I mean, that could be the case. But I don't think they'd be even that nice.

[watermarks]

[ She makes a small sound and then takes another sip of her space cocoa. ]

...well. We don't need them to be nice. Just stupid. And everybody makes mistakes sometimes.

[ And then they can take advantage of that as best they can. ]

[mikangirl]

The long game. [She sips her own, nestling her hands comfortably around the mug for warmth.] I guess you're used to playing it by now, huh.

[watermarks]

I guess so. [ Four years in Luceti. Two years at home. Katara knows how to watch and wait.

She hates it. ] And you, too. ...is it strange, for you, coming from Adstringdum to this place? Oh - but you said you'd gotten to go home a few times, right?