Plain, Simple Carol

[perservering]

Who: Carol Peletier & you!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Heron, Iskaulit
When: After the shuffle on the 20th to the arrival at the next waystation


Heron Bridge: Closed to Crewmates

[ It was a good thing that Carol had a few days to adjust between arrival and transport to her assigned ship. During that time she was able to get some information from Maggie and Carl and formulate a plan. The wisest course of action appeared to be the same thing she had done upon arrival in Alexandria: behave exactly like the timid, inconsequential housewife that she appears to be.

A plan that is seriously threatened by her position as the only security personnel on the ship. It's a fair enough assignment, she certainly has the skills necessary to defend the ship. But it is disconcerting to have her cards pulled from her vest so early.

After the initial celebration, such as it is, she reports to the bridge to take stock of the loadout. She opens the compartment and makes a show of surprise. ]

Oh my. [ She laughs awkwardly, and picks up one of the guns gingerly, as if she were afraid it might bite her. She turns to one of the other crewmates on the bridge ] I don't suppose there's a shooting range anywhere. Or maybe some kind of simulators I could train on?

Iskaulit Library: OTA

[ Reading is Carol's favorite way to pass the time. When she finds out there's a library she makes a point to visit as soon as possible. The lack of organization is frustrating. But she tries not to focus on that, and instead just let herself browse without any specific goal in mind.

It lasts about five minutes before she gets frustrated. Luckily, she's not alone. She just hopes the other person browsing won't mind an interruption. ]

Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you but hi, I'm Carol. [ Her smile is a little simpering, as she's still doing her best to keep up the "simple housewife" act. ] I'm new here and I can't figure out how these books are organized. Do you have any tips on how to find anything?

Video: OTA

[ Carol smiles a tight-lipped smile at the camera, her eyes crinkling warmly. She's standing in the kitchen on the Heron, a variety of what passes for ingredients spread out around her. One could almost imagine her hosting some kind of low-key cooking show. ]

Hi! I'm Carol, and I'm new here. I noticed that the food leaves something to be desired, at least on my ship. So, I thought why not see what I can do to make things a little nicer. If any of the rest of you are interested in this kind of thing, or have been working on this kind of thing, I'd love to hear from you. I thought it would be nice to share tips and experiment!

Comments

Iskaulit

[monolike]

[Carol you have...quite possibly just now, stumbled across the boy most excited about all these books in the entire Fleet. His head jerks up from the ridiculously huge tome he's currently perusing and buys that sweet as honey tone hook, line and sinker.] Oh, of- of course! [Pushes himself up and holds out a hand to shake, kind of proud of himself for some reason for doing so] I'm Sorey, and I'm always in here! I can help you find whatever you're looking for. I know, everything's in weird languages, sometimes it's hard to find out where's what...

[perservering]

Hello, Sorey. I'm Carol.

[ She shakes his hand and smiles, keeping her lips closed. ]

I was hoping to find some American classic literature. Mark Twain in particular. What kind of languages do they have in this library?

[monolike]

Oh man, which ones don't they have? [Sorey rounds the table and heads over to some of the shelves.] I'm not sure what American looks like...do you have an alphabet on you by any chance? I could tell you if I've seen anything in it.

[perservering]

They certainly do have a lot of choices.

[ Carol smiles a little as she looks over the collection. Although when she looks at the young man again her expression is perplexed. ]

I don't usually carry an alphabet with me, no.

[ What would that even look like? She suddenly has flashbacks to Sesame Street. ]

[monolike]

[HMMM...] It's kind of strange here- written stuff, it doesn't get translated like words do, so trying to read things can be difficult. And lots of people will be able to read the same language but then call it something else...

Anyway, let's take a look! [Sorey passes a hand over a row of books.] I can at least tell you were it's not. Mostly everything on this shelf and the next one are books from this one system. I can read those so it won't be in there. There's...hm, there's stuff from people's homes back that way, [he points,] on those three shelves in the back, but I'm not sure about the order.

Video

[passingthrough]

Hi, Carol. [She looks at her, wondering for a moment if there's any chance there will be a look of recognition. After all, Pavel came here via Marina too. It's possible other people would, but most of her experience since her first kidnapping has been seeing familiar faces that don't recognize her. Or at least those who expect her to be different.]

I see this as an utterly transparent trick to ingratiate people to you using food. And I'm eager to fall for it if it means better food. [She gives her a little smile, teasing more than anything serious.]

Jarvis has a restaurant on the Iskaulit. Vash does some cooking at the Space Bar. I know the Malum has food too, but I'm less in the know when it comes to who prepares it. I collected some produce from our last stop for my ship. There's a hint of orange to everything from there, but it's still in good condition. We can share.

[perservering]

[ Carol glances down at the spread, feeling a small part of her crumble at the accusation. ]

I just like to cook.

[ It's one of the few things about herself she has ever been able to accept as good.]

Oh, I'm not really thinking restaurant quality here. I was just thinking more of what to do with this stuff when we don't have access to stuff like the fresh produce.

[ Her head tilts slightly. ]

It all tastes like citrus?

[passingthrough]

Hey, I was kidding. Having more people around who like to cook is great since so many of us like to eat.

And to be fair, I don't think any of the people I mentioned ever really worked in a restaurant before. [Though Jarvis definitely could.]

Mmm...yeah, they were preserving all the food which altered the taste slightly. Some people notice it more than others.

[perservering]

[ Carol considers this. ]

I still don't think restaurant cooking is for me. I do this to relax. I'm not sure cooking to order like that would be very relaxing.

[ She hums thoughtfully. ]

I wonder if it's some kind of citric acid preservative. [ She looks up. ] Do you know if there' equipment that can test that sort of thing here? [ She smiles demurely. ] It's just been so much technology here, I'm still catching up on what does what.

[speedboat]

[ new, huh?? well howard was on the last shuffle, she may have seen him on the marsiva -- he's a hard character to miss. but the way he smiles at her is shark-toothed and not at all uncomfortable with his surroundings. no, no matter how many times the fleet tries to be rid of howard stark, he keeps coming back. like the proverbial hydra (lower case, not the nazi guys.) ]

All depends what you're looking for, doll. Mystery, suspense... romance?

[perservering]

[ Carol is not accustomed to people flirting with her. Before, with Ed, she made herself as small and unremarkable as possible in order to keep him happy. After, well. Not many people felt like flirting very often.

Which is probably why she still finds herself thinking fondly of Axel from time to time. And why the man's comment draws an unexpected laugh from her. ]

Let's start with fiction, and in English. [ She glances sidelong at him, fighting a smile. ] You look like you're familiar with where "fantasy" is.

[speedboat]

[ howard stark is not serious 99% of the time, so her laugh is refreshing, as is her quick wit. ]

What's life without a little wishful thinking, huh? [ he winks before spinning on his heel and holding his hat to keep it where it's cheerfully perched on his head at a jaunty angle. he'll lead her towards the... wait he's never been to the fiction section before. just be patient, he'll get them there. ]

[perservering]

It's good to want things. Keeps you going.

[ She follows him, mightily amused by both his behavior and the fact that he obviously doesn't know the library as well has he was pretending. She will probably act very impressed when he manages to stumble across something close to what she's looking for. Unless he manages to annoy her between then and now. ]

You must spend a lot of time here. [ She says with all apparent sincerity. ] To know your way around like this.

Heron Bridge

[lacyprincess]

[Being relatively new to the Fleet herself, and the Heron especially, Lucina is careful to watch for anyone that suddenly shows up in a flash of confetti and with those strange chocolate-like cups of pudding. (Frederick's pudding is much better, and that's not saying much.)

When the woman picks up the gun, the princess lowers her eyes to take her all in. It doesn't take much to recognize one who has spent a great deal of fighting. Not when Lucina's entire life has been about fighting against Risen, Grimleal and Grima himself. And certain stances are just hard for someone to hide. This newcomer is a warrior as much as Lucina is. But, she seems to think that playing dumb might do her well here.

Let her keep her facade if it makes her feel comfortable. She has her own, after all. Morgan, Messer and Kaname are the only three people who have seen her with her Marth mask yet.]

I don't know that there are programs that will let you practice, but there appears to be a training area set aside in the cargo holding area. You can see if there is somewhere safe to shoot off projectiles there.

[perservering]

[ Carol nods. ]

Thanks. I'm gonna need it. [ She looks at the other person, her brow creased in concern. ] I'm not sure why I've been assigned to security, I think there must have been some kind of mistake. [ She pauses and laughs at herself, shaking her head. ] Where are my manners? I'm Carol. [ She offers a hand. ]

That was supposed to be without her mask. I suck at tags....

[lacyprincess]

[Behind the safety of her mask, Lucina can hide the skepticism she feels at the other woman's words. They don't ring as true, but she isn't in a position to poke holes yet.

Yet.]

I've read that sometimes the people responsible for our captivity here take pleasure in watching us flail in the beginning. There is some mention of ratings and viewership.

[Whatever the hell that means. She still doesn't understand television or why it's a thing.

She looks at the hand, her forehead scrunched in confusion. Handshakes aren't a thing where she's from either.]

Lucina. [She can't deny her name. If anyone were to bother looking up information about this ship, her name would appear, not any alias she wanted to use.] And it's admirable that you wish to hone skills. You will need them.

Ugh sorry I could have edited!! Just tell me and I'll fix things

[perservering]

[ Carol frowns as the woman explains. It's been a while since she really thought about T.V. But now that she mentions it, Carol does start to remember how some of those shows went. ]

Yeah. They do like that sometimes, I guess.

[ Carol keeps her hand out as Lucina looks at it, and then lets it drop. ]

If I'm supposed to provide security for this entire ship, we'll need them. [ She sighs. ] What do you do, Lucina? is it anything you're experienced with or was it a learning opportunity for you, too?

voice;

[straightouttacarbonite]

Why does everyone complain about the food? There's nothing wrong with it.

[ He's starting to like chocolate protein cubes in spicy teriyaki gel, he doesn't see the problem here. ]

video;

[perservering]

[ Carol looks around to see where the voice is coming from for a moment before realizing it's some kind of phone situation. ]

There's certainly enough of it! [ Which is more than she can say about some of the places she's stayed recently. ] But I like to cook. And it can be nice to combine things into something a little more palatable.

video;

[straightouttacarbonite]

[ Han likes the comms, what can he say. It gets boring in space. He didn't have to drift long to learn that, he's an old hand. ]

Are you the cook on your ship? We've got one on ours, too.

[ Spoiler alert: it's Death. ]

[perservering]

[ The feed switches to video, and Carol takes stock of the younger man. He's handsome, but seems to knows this and try to sue it to his advantage. Along with everything else he can possibly use to his advantage. ]

No. I'm the security officer.

[ She makes no attempt to seem like this is at all an appropriate assignment. Just hovering on that fine line between seeming meek, and acting meek. ]

Heron;;

[reconstitution]

[ He lets the newcomer situate herself before he really introduces himself. He can be kind of an intimidating figure, after all. Bucky runs into Carol when he's doing his rounds of the ship and stops at one of the weapons lockers. At first glance, she seems to be in over her head, but with her security augment, it raises a red flag.

She holds a gun like she doesn't know how, and yet, it's a facade. The way her hands are steady as she handles the weapon gingerly, the way her heartbeat never quickens. Until she proves herself to be a threat, he'll let her have it. Instead, he nods. ]

There's a few targets in the cargo bay and a more equipped range on the Iskaulit. There are plenty of people on the ship who would give you weapons training.

[perservering]

[ She eyes the guy up, trying to make her expression far less calculating than her thoughts are. This guy is built, but doesn't stand like a gym rat. More like a coiled spring. Like a predator. ]

I'll have to check that out then. Are you the, um, captain? Captain Barnes? [ She half-smiles, half-winces at the awkwardness of it all. ] Should I salute or something?

[reconstitution]

Please don't. [ He holds out a hand. ] Winter.

[ It's odd, going back to that particular nickname, but hey, two Buckys being around the fleet is confusing. Best not confuse the new people straight away. ]

Have you gotten yourself accustomed? There anything you need?

[perservering]

Winter?

[ She repeats as she shakes his hand. It must be some kind of nickname, but she can't help but think of how everybody she's ever met who went by that name was some kind of dancer. ]

Nope! All needs are very well met, sir. Winter. I guess we're just killing time until we get to the next place?