driftfleet | Yadrolla System Mingle

Yup! Some of them aren't completely snowy, and sometimes it's like...fake snow instead, but we get plenty of them all the same.

...that's nice, I guess. [ She takes a sip of her tea. ] Tell me about one of them?

Okay. [He takes a moment to consider. ] I remember the first one we came across. It was only like, a month and a half since I'd arrived. I'd been made captain of the Blue Fish, and I wanted to provide for my crew.

Suddenly, we were on this planet a little like home, but...not. There were cities, but clustered in the warmer areas. Most of the buildings were made out of brick, but some of them were ice like- [like home is becoming ] like the North Pole.

[ Katara nods. ]

Brick must be easier to heat. It sounds less convenient, but like a good idea.

[ She'd appreciated the snow and ice structures of the North Pole, the testament to their bending, but there had been a bit of aggravation when she looked at them too. She'd gone her whole life without a waterbending teacher, and in the north, not only had they remained untouched by the Fire Nation's aggression, but they'd had so many skilled waterbenders that they'd been able to keep their people in warm comfort. After seeing so much more, traveling through their world and through other worlds... well, you couldn't run electricity well through ice buildings. Brick would be a pain, but a better idea. ]

Edited 2018-06-03 17:03 (UTC)

Yeah, it seemed to work pretty well for them. They stuck far enough away from the water than they didn't have to worry about icemelt at least.

[Besdies, for him, it was the sheer joy of being in a snowy clime again, after so long of being away from one. ]

We had all four seasons in Luceti. [She smiles a little.] The first spring was amazing. I'd never seen anything bloom like that before.

That's cool, I mean, at least you knew what sort of weather you were generally gonna deal with, right?

[He never knows if they're going to the freezing arctic or a burning desert- or anything in-between. They just land and that's where they're at. ]

...most of the time, yeah. [ There was the occasional life-threatening, weather-related event. But she had the feeling Sokka didn't want to hear about that. And she wasn't sure she wanted to tell him it anyway. So.]

The weather wasn't really what we had to worry about in Luceti. [She stretches her shoulders a little, feeling the absence of wings.]

Well, that's a concerning statement if ever I heard one.

[His brow furrows. ]

What did you have to worry about?

[She gives him a surprised look. Sokka hasn't asked her much at all about Luceti. She'd been so interested in figuring out how things worked on the fleet that she hadn't thought about it at first, and then it became something she was only slightly aware of, niggling in the back of her mind. It bothered her that he knew so little about what her life had been like for the past four years. But thinking about it, she wasn't sure she wanted him to know. She wasn't sure he wanted to know.]

Are you sure you want to hear about all that?

Of course I do. I just...figured you never wanted to talk about it. I mean, if you don't, that's fine too. I'm just curious. What you had to deal with there.

[So he has something to move forward from, to understand her better.]

I don't mind talking about it. It was my life for four years. [ She curled both hands around her mug. ] And... I'm a different person because of it.

[ And she... she needed him to know that. And it would be a lot better if he was at least willing to hear a bit of what had happened to so change her like this. ]

[He nods. ]

It makes sense, places like this changes people. I'd still like to hear some, when you're ready.

[ She glances down at her mug and then back to Sokka. Her question is a little cautious. ] What would you like to know about first?

[ She's ready to talk about it now. But she's still not sure he cares about hearing it. She doesn't want to talk about things that are important or painful when she thinks there's a strong chance he's just humoring her. She's perfectly capable of MAKING him listen, even if he seems to resent her for it at the time, she knows he cares about her, and she is willing to deal with it and believes he's ultimately glad when she does it.

She's just... already missing home and doesn't want to have to do that now. ]

[He takes a moment to consider his question, sitting back, letting out a soft 'hmmmm' sound. He wants to pick something easy for her to talk to, but not want to pick anything that simplifies her time there.]

Where did you stay there? In a house? Did you have...other people with you?

[Baby steps. ]

Some of those things were easier about than others.

Luceti was set up like some kind of village. There were apartment buildings and houses. When I first got there... [breathe. okay.] you, Toph, and Zuko were living in a house together. There was an extra room, so I moved in with all of you.

[She stops there, waiting to see how he handles the news of him being in Luceti.]

Oh. Well, that's good at least, that were were all there.

[Pretty well, it turns out, he smiles at the pause. ]

I've been in like, a gazillion of these places and I don't remember any of them. I pretty much just roll with it these days.

[ Oh, good, that makes things easier. ]

I mean... it... became good. When I arrived, Zuko and I weren't exactly on friendly terms, at least, from when I was from. It got pretty awkward.

[ ...she realizes, belatedly, that perhaps bringing this up was a Bad Idea. Because then Sokka's going to want to know how they got over it. And... she can't think of any way to redirect the conversation, shoot. Instead, she's trying desperately to minimize the 'but then we fell in love' statement that she was sure had to follow. ]

[He's less suspicious than she thinks. ]

Well, that makes sense. I mean, you and Zuko didn't get along at all when he first joined the group. It took him a long time to earn your trust. Stands to reason it'd be the same somewhere else, too. Heck, if I'd turned up here before he'd turned sides, I'd be unfriendly with him, too.

[ Sokka's lack of suspicion is a Gift. Her shoulders slump in relief. Explaining the love experiment would be bad enough, explaining Aku and Yuber and the torture Zuko had been through... that was something she was happy to avoid. ]

Yeah. He and Toph - they left and came back the most. At first, Aang too, but then he came and stayed for a solid yearl ...then you left. Just three months before I came here.

[ And that... that had been really hard. Aang was still there, but... it wasn't the same thing at all. ]

[He offers her a wry smile. ]

Well, that's pretty cool. The whole Gang were here once, me, you, Toph, Aang, Suki, Zuko- heck even Iroh. And then everyone...uh left. At it was just me.

[For like...two years. ]

But I did okay. I got a lot of friends here.

I know you do. [ And it's not at all surprising. She'd be a little insecure about that, if she didn't know, couldn't see that, well, their relationship was still important to him. (She hears how he doesn't even stumble over Suki's name, too.) It was a little strange, though, to be such an... extension of him throughout the fleet. But she couldn't imagine not joining his ship as soon as she could, and it was a good trade to be with family again. She'd make her own friends here in time. She wasn't really worried about it. ]

...have you ever met anyone from our future here?

[It's been over two years since he last saw Suki- technically three if he adds in time from home. Those wounds, at least, are healing- healing enough that he can finally move on. He raises his eyebrows because that's quite the question. ]

Wait, did you meet Korra too? Because she sure showed up here- you're like an old lady in her time, you got married to Aang and everything.

...[Katara gives a breathy, incredulous laugh.] Wow, Sokka. Wow. What if I hadn't met Korra and learned all about my future destiny?

[ She'd met her GRANDCHILDREN. That had been... something. ]

[He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. ]

Well, I was kinda hoping you were headed that way. Uh, talking about Korra, I mean.

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