Yadrolla System Mingle

[lacyprincess]

Who: EVERYBODY
Broadcast: Yeah, sure, I guess
Action: The Fleet and the Yadrolla System
When: 4/29 - 6/8

[Hey, hey, look, we have a new system! Let's go compete in stuff and root for sportsball teams! System info is here!

GO WAVES!]

Comments

[watermarks]

[ With an eye-roll. ] Especially cactus juice.

[ It was funny now. Not so fun then. ]

[hollystrike]

Is cactus juice a literal thing or just the name of a drink?

[watermarks]

Oh, it was a literal thing. [ She shakes her head. ] Sokka has a hard time not trying whatever random new thing he sees.

[hollystrike]

And yet he's so skeptical. What an odd combination.

[watermarks]

[ She shrugs. ] It's Sokka. He's weird.

[ She's given up trying to figure him out a long time ago; he was her brother. She didn't need to figure him out for her to know him. ]

[hollystrike]

Does that mean you're the normal one?

[watermarks]

[ A quick grin. ] Not if you ask Sokka.

[ A shrug. ] I don't know what normal even means anymore anyway. A few months ago I was living in a house with a teenage version of my future boyfriend's reincarnation, my granddaughters, the fire lord, the avatar, and the world's greatest earthbender. All of us had tiny wings that we couldn't use to fly and everything we wanted inside the enclosure was completely free. Normal for me is - the south pole and ice fishing, but every time I tell someone from another world I live in the south pole, they look at me like I'm nuts. [ A little exasperated:] Normal's overrated.

[hollystrike]

...does nobody find it plausible you come from the South Pole? How ridiculous. Humans are the hardiest creatures on any given planet.

But you're right. [Normal is overrated. Also, what a bizarre situation she came from, even by Katie's standards.] It's a terrible crime, those wings.

[watermarks]

[ She shrugs. ] I believe them when they say that their South Pole isn't habitable. You'd think they'd believe in when I say mine is.

[ She makes a face. ] They were awful. And so sensitive! While it was useful at times to have a guaranteed vulnerability [ she's thinking about you, Aku ], they were such a hazard when we had to go into battle. And when I got here, my balance was off for a month!

[hollystrike]

Oh, dear. [She vaguely remembers her being off kilter in the office, actually. Katie grins.]

Do you prefer their absence now, though?

[watermarks]

So much. [ She shudders a little. ] I got used them, and the colors were pretty, but there's just... something really invasive about anything changing any part of your body without your permission, you know? Besides, I still have the tattoo to remember Luceti by.

[ As if she'd forget it. ]

[hollystrike]

[Yeah, the barcode tattoo is... offensive. She's quiet a moment.]

Have you given thought to removing it?

[watermarks]

[ Her hand goes to the back of her neck. ]

I didn't know tattoos could be removed.

[hollystrike]

[Hmm.]

Well, it's not a common practice. But it doesn't even scar, unless you use magic. [She eyes Katara contemplatively in the darkness.]

[watermarks]

[ It takes Katara a moment to unpuzzle that and set it in its proper order.

The word scar makes her think of something. ] I had a friend, or... I have a friend, he's just not here, who'd been scarred horribly over his eye. [ She lifts up a hand to indicate how large it was. She lets her hand fall back. ] I offered to try to heal it once, and we were interrupted, but the next time I offered... he didn't want me to try. He said he'd moved passed it, but it had helped make him who he was, and he wanted to remember.

[ She pressed her lips together. ] So... I'd have to think about it. It's... not the same thing... but it's proof of what happened, in case anyone else from there shows up and...

[ She glances down. ] ...I don't know, Katie. So much gets erased all the time in places like this - people's memories, people themselves... and once we get home, we won't remember any of it. I hate what they did, but I'm not sure I want it off me. I know that doesn't make sense.

[hollystrike]

What makes you think it doesn't make sense?

[Softly, and she smiles, pulling her sleeve up. The burn around her wrist can be seen in the gloom, but that's not what she's going for; there are three thin cuts further up her arm, Contrary to how it looks, though, they are not ones Katie inflicted herself.]

Sometimes we need reminders of our past to go on with our future. When they're not needed anymore... well. It's a one time offer.

[watermarks]

[ As always, the sight of that scar makes Katara press her lips together. She hates burns, she hates that this was done to Katie as a child. But the cuts above it... they do look self-inflicted. But Katie wouldn't be showing her them like this if they were...

It's a one time offer.

Her smile is soft. ] It's pretty generous, for a one time offer. I'll keep it in mind, in case there's a time I need it. Thanks, Katie.

[hollystrike]

Goodness, don't thank me. For all you know, I'm just jealous of your fancy tattoo.

[She is not. It marks Katara as produce, and she hates it. But Katie can understand Katara's reasoning well enough. She settles back into her nook and burrows a little under the blanket, letting her sleeve fall again.]

But you're welcome.

[watermarks]

[ And then they chilled and watched the stars for a few hours more. ]