driftfleet | Yadrolla System Mingle

[Oh excellent, she didn't lose the waterbender, though she's pretty sure Katara would be just fine if she did lose her balance. Nami flashes a grin over her shoulder and then starts picking up speed. Let's put the jet in jetski, and make Biri really stretch his wings.]

Edited 2018-06-09 03:51 (UTC)

[ This is such a rush of speed. It's a beautiful feeling and helps Katara to be very much in the moment, which is a lovely thing as well.

So.

Whee! ]

[AND LO THEY SPED UP AND DOWN THE COAST AND HAD FUN

but it would be a pretty short thread if that's all they did, so eventually Nami starts winding down the speed and circling back to drift a little towards the coast before she cuts the motor. They're still pretty far out, but it's kind of peaceful out here.]

I won this at the same time I won my climatact piece. Did I have the waver in Luceti?

[Only on missions.]

[ Katara shakes her head. ] No, I've never seen it before. But we weren't allowed motorized equipment like this in Luceti... which is kind of weird, considering Sokka and Leon were allowed to build teleporters to the ocean.

Sokka can build teleporters? ...wow. [Says the girl who built a stick that Does Shit (TM)]

But yeah no, that's weird. Did they ever try building teleporters to anywhere else?

I mean... he built the apparatus, but I think Leon did the magic that made it work? We had teleporters to the ocean and the mountains... I think Masaomi even had a special one commissioned which had one in his room.

Masaomi sounds spoiled. [Grin.]

I guess if it would only take you to places they deemed acceptable, you could do what you want. But that still doesn't explain not having a faster mode of travel. You said Biri was there, right?

[ ...spoiled would explain a lot, actually. Hmm... ]

And they didn't have any problem with us building canoes or sailboats. [She shrugs.] Sometimes, the Malnosso didn't make much sense. They were a really big organization, with a lot of internal division. The enclosures which had gone over to their side were treated like smaller Malnosso cities - they had cars and broad roads. But I think cars make for a lousy bribe, personally. I'd rather walk than sign up with the people who experimented on us and took children to fight their battles.

Sounds like a lot of big organisations. Left hand and right hand don't talk to each other and the body goes rotten in between.

[Took children to fight their battles. Nami isn't sure if she wishes she could remember her time there, or is just grateful it's all a blank. It doesn't sit well at a distance as it is.

Nearby, Biri slowly gets the idea that we've stopped all racing like lunatics and comes down to alight in the water, bobbing gently.]

All of these places have a power in charge without a shred of empathy. I suppose I should be happy we're left alone here for the most part.

[ Katara is about to agree before she becomes aware of what they are talking about and where they are talking about it... and the impact it might have on Nami.

And while this may not be the Nami she knows, she's seen enough heartbreak on Nami's face to last her, thanks very much, so she'd rather not be responsible for leading this conversation further down the path of doom. ]

I'd agree and say it's seemed to be pretty peaceful so far... [ a quick grin ] but I know that's just asking for trouble. Let's just talk about something else. Or would you like to head in and grab a drink?

[Oh, she spots the sudden swerve. And after a moment and a speculative glance, she suspects the reason.

But look, nobody wants to be bogged down in stuff like this, and Katara deserves not to have to dwell on such stuff either. So she grins back.] A drink'd be nice. I know a place that does some great chilled slushies not too far from here.

Oh, that sounds great! [ A quick grin. ] I love a good slushie. I could go for something lemon-y or mango-y.

I can guarantee they can manage a good mango-y! Probably lemon-y, but I didn't check that one. [Hee. She starts the waver again, though this time much more sedately trundling into shore.]

I like the sound of that! [ And... as they drive... a question forms in Katara's mind. It seems... like a bad idea to ask. But it's persistent. She'll think it over while they make their way toward the shore. ]

[Drive, sail...? Well, it can't be sailing if there is no sail. Hrm. Whatever mode of travel, Nami scoots them in through the surf until they're knee deep, hopping over the side to push the waver in the rest of the way.]

You like slushies? It's bad for business for me to tell you, but Malum across from the Space Bar has a bona fide slushie machine. [She already picked you weren't much of a drinker.]

That's alright, I can still come to the Space Bar for the food and the company. [ A quick grin. No, drinking makes people see giant friendly mushrooms out of smoke clouds, she has yet to be so desperate to forget everything that she's willing to risk being completely incapacitated in the event of danger, when where she's been for the past four years has always been minutes away from horrors. ]

And I do like slushies! Well, I like fruit and ice and a little bit of honey. Shikamaru and Masomi had a slushie machine in Luceti that made slushies out of... neon sugar syrup and ice. [ She makes a face. ] It was way too sweet.

I don't think Malum's slushies are too sweet, but then they don't seem to be too much of anything. [Their two flavours are "red" and "blue", and they both taste the same. Which is to say: not bad, but...] They'll do in a pinch, though.

Hop on out-- gotta pull this up onto the sand. [And she's puny.]

[ Katara nods. ]

I'll get the left.

[ And she hops on out in order to help Nami pull the wave rider onto shore. ]

Thanks! [It's easily managed between two people and she lets out a sharp whistle when done.]

Biri!

[There's a flail of splashing from further out, and then Biri comes skittering into shore to casually plonk himself in the waver.

--did he just salute with a wing-- WELL, WEIRD DUCK.]

Let's go find our slushies.

[While the weird duck plays theft guard.]

[ He just saluted with a wing.

...okay. ]

[ Off to find slushies it is! As they walk a little way, the question that occurred to her in the waverider nagged in the back of her mind.

Maybe there was a way to ask it without asking it? ]

What have you been up to in this system?

So far? What you see is what you get.

[She glances at Katara, and smiles.] Every stop that has actual civilization, I do a few things-- restock the bar, restock myself, look for maps and charts. But in a place like this where nothing else serious seems to be going on, I just take advantage of being out in the sun as much as possible. You never know if the next place we visit will afford you the luxury, after all.

[ ...ah, that made sense. And answered her unasked question, and what came behind it, really. ]

So you are having fun here?

[ But not... 'here.' Unless maybe? A little? She's not sure. It'd be nice for Nami to be happy. ]

[It's the emphasis that has Nami pull up short and give Katara a surprised look. The considering silence that follows is probably a shade too long for her answer to be a yes.

Hmm. Perceptive. But she's thoughtful.]

I think... it's important to take what blessings you can, and remember the good things that can happen here along with the bad. I've met a lot of good people on the Fleet. I like running the bar. I guess it's like stubbornly having fun regardless of the facts that underlie this place. And maybe because of them. You'd go crazy otherwise.

[Facts being: trapped light years from home, no crew, at the whim of some godlike power that thinks nothing of torturing its own lackeys to death if they don't perform well. And they've met with some hairy situations. She's angry at them all.

But being angry all the time is letting them win.]

[ Katara listens intently. Then she nods, slightly, and gives Nami a small smile. ] I'm glad.

[ It was a complicated situation, and she heard some of the anger there, but Nami sounded so... good, in comparison to how things had been, Katara was happy for her.

A bit sad for herself, but she'd deal with that later. After all, despite how it felt... she was talking with a stranger. She missed her friends. She wanted to go home. And yet, as usual, Nami was quite right - you had to make the most of it, or else you'd go quite mad. ]

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