driftfleet | arrival

Entry tags:

arrival

Who: Bruce Banner + anyone else!
Broadcast: Yes
Action: SS Caprine
When: June 18

[broadcast; video]

[He's managed to make the transition to the Caprine without too much difficulty, but now that's he's "settling in", Bruce is realizing just what being on a ship long term means.]

So, this is it. We just play along with this show, act like nothing is wrong, and hope we eventually get to our destination? That's optimistic. How do you manage to live on ships like this for so long? I've never- This is... it doesn't seem like a good idea.

[He smiles uneasily. He has to resist the urge to pick at his own body, making him twitch a bit. At least he hasn't had any issues so far?]

The food isn't very good either.

[Action on the SS Caprine]

[At least he's used to lab work! Bruce is relieved that is assignment is something he's familiar with (although he did manage to fly a ship once...) and he spends a good amount of time poking around at the ship's equipment, testing both what it can do and what knowledge seems to come to him, because he definitely hasn't worked on a space ship like this before. Or worked around people this casually either. Not to mention the enclosed space makes him very aware of how tight it would be if he were bigger.

That's a great thought.]

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[Kitty is sitting in the Twin Rose's lounge with her feet up and an open book splayed on her lap as she switches to the video. She looks to be in her early twenties.] You don't have to pretend for us. You can rage against this place every day you're here if you've got the energy for it.

( Sansa knows the frustration of being trapped on the Fleet all too well and when Bruce's video comes across, she is nothing but sympathetic. )

We must play along with their games, I'm afraid, if we're to find success. I am quite sorry.

Thanks.

[ He does mean that. He knows he's not the only one that's stuck there. It's just a matter of keeping calm. ]

What is success here? For us.

[Even though logically he knows that people probably do know something about him, he's in a strange ship in space with nothing familiar outside of a few names. The sudden recognition is a shock.]

I don't. Want to do that.

[What a horrifying thought.]

[ Sara's hanging out in her sparsely decorated room ]

I suspect there's a fair amount of drinking and poor decisions that happen 'round these parts.

Living on ships isn't so bad, though, except when you haven't seen blue skies in awhile.

High ratings means making more coin. From what I have discovered, the more...dramatic you are, the better ratings you get.

( Sansa has developed some skill at it after a few months but it had taken trial and error. )

Did you get an augment?

[She doesn't actually recognize him on sight, but if she gets his name or he mentions the Avengers she'll probably remember him being referenced in passing by the others. She's just happy to fill some of her time with strangers in the same situation. She knows what it's like to be new to these places. Her word choice is just a fun coincidence spurred on by what seemed to be him critiquing their passivity to their captivity which falls somewhere between frustrating and understandable. She wants to be doing more too, but over two years in and sometimes you just want to relax and read a book.

As it stands, she's not entirely sure what to do with his reaction.]

Okay. Well, you don't have to. You just sounded like you weren't happy with the status quo.

(OOC: If I misunderstood just give me a nudge and I can revise!)

Edited 2018-06-18 15:38 (UTC)

[Briefly, Natasha considers having someone else respond first. Steve or even Sam. A familiar face that without the potential complications. If there would be complications. It's hard to know—they didn't exactly part on the best terms last time.

It's a quick impulse, just as quickly put aside. She puts aside her misgivings and opens a feed, smiling a faint, rueful smile.]

Most ships put away a little food when we stop in a system. You could probably get someone to share something better than protein gel with you.

[Her is longer and she's doing her make up in a different style. Spies. When she speaks, she does a good job keeping the tension below the surface.]

Hey, Bruce. It's been a while.

[Don't mind the 7 and a half foot, really burly, grey guy with horns on your screen, Bruce. It's normal, alright? You know all about normal, right?]

It's cramped, yeah, but there are other places to go. [He inclines his head at the video, and there's a flash of brightly printed cloth adorning his shoulders you can see as he shifts. Is that...guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt, completely unbuttoned? Why yes. Yes he is.]

The Iron Bull. I can show you around a place that helps with some of the stir-craziness if you want.

[ Dryly. ]

Isn't it a little early to be complaining?

[Well, the Avengers are almost all here, now. Clearly, whoever or whatever is the Atroma, they like to bring people from their universe. It's still something worrisome in Stephen's opinion. Who's safeguarding the Earth while they are all here?]

I've been told that some have been here for more than two or three years. But if it's something comforting to you, we're not always stuck on the ships. We do visit new worlds from time to time.

[Technically, Stephen's only seen one, but that's what he's been told by others when he first arrived.]

You got any better ideas, Banner, I'm all ears.

[Okay, so he's met the guy like...once. Doesn't stop him from saying hello to a familiar face.]

There's a restaurant on the Iskaulit. Drop by sometime and one of us'll whip something up for you.

[This song and dance isn't new to Thor. Once Bruce's broadcast hits the network, he doesn't bother responding to it, instead going to the consoles to look up the ship manifests. That's how Thor ends up on the Caprine within twenty minutes, knocking loudly on the lab's doorframe.]

There you are. Does this ship not have any food other than the dispensers? You definitely should fix that at the next stop.

[He doesn't have a complete idea of just how tall the guy is from the transmission, but even the impression he gets tells Bruce that Iron Bull is a big guy. At first he's not sure how to react. The stranger is a collection of strange details that seem to contradict each other and leave him stunned for a moment, just taking in the sight. Even with his life, he's well past the "it's not every day" stage.]

What kind of place?

[His eyes drift from Bull's horns to the patterned shirt on his shoulders, wide and staring, and he can't decide which is harder to adjust to.]

[He freezes. Bruce doesn't even have the chance to think up an appropriate response to try to fake. Not that he would have pulled that off anyway, but the opportunity is gone before his reflexes even begin to catch up, so he abandons it to stand there, looking like a deer in headlights. Eventually he goes with the only natural answer he's got:]

Natasha.

[That went well.]

Thor mentioned you were here.

[A detail that he registered, processed, and then decided to avoid like the real man he is. And now? Now he's still trying to decide what to say.]

How are you?

You sound like you're not usually out in space.

[ Someone that isn't already a complete space travel expert with several planetary tours under their belt? You mean he's not the only one that didn't grow up a space pirate? ]

How did you adjust to it?

[The moment passes and his paranoia manages to fade with a few deep, slow breaths. Bruce listens to the woman's next words and feels the tingling in his fingertips and down his spine start to fade.

She doesn't follow up with a comment about the Hulk. Or a threat. Or anything else that Bruce suddenly thought of in that thirty seconds of horrible anticipation. He breathes out, laughing quietly because he just can't hold it back.]

I guess I'm just not used to... all this. Sorry. It's a lot to process.

[His fear that he might just lose control, again, on a ship out in space, is far too forward in his mind. Bruce shakes his head.]

It's not that bad.

Dramatic.

[ He's not a performer! Why does everyone keep trying to make him perform? Although the irony does get a little smile out of him. Almost guiltily.

Here we go again, Bruce. ]

I did. For the lab.

[ Irony again. But that... actually isn't bad. He's kind of happy to have that if he has to have things uploaded into him. ]

[ :c ]

I'm n- I'm not complaining.

[ Okay, maybe. ]

Three years?

[Even though he doesn't exactly raise his voice, the reaction is sharp, suggesting restrained panic and something else. Annoyance? Disbelief? He doesn't say what's on his mind, but the words have hit him hard.

He makes a quiet noise in the back of his throat, not quite a full groan but a stifled note beneath a grimace that resembles oh. After looking around him at the rest of the room he's in and finding nothing to help him, he looks back at Stephen.]

New worlds. As in planets nobody on board recognizes.

Ideas?

[What? From him? Nope. Nothing he's planning on doing, anyway.]

There is? How big is that ship?

[Also wow.]

[He looks up, startled, when Thor is right there in front of him. He's momentarily tense, but that quickly becomes relief as he recognizes the god. Thank goodness there's someone he trusts within reach. That was going to worry him for a while. What if something happened?]

I, uh, I didn't want to push my luck.

[While he would have liked real food, Bruce wasn't going to poke around the ship that much. He just doesn't like surprises.]

The equipment that have on board is pretty good. I've just been...

[He is fiddling with a tool in his hands.]

Space, no. Timestream, yes.

[ sorry bruce. we can't be normal at all ]

I haven't adjusted here yet. I've been here like a week and a half or something. Back on my own ship, we got out enough that we didn't get scurvy. Or, what's the vitamin D one? Rickets? That one.

They took our freedom without any consent. It's not great. But I've defintiely seen worse too.

[She tips her head, looking at him thoughtfully. He seems like he's going through an emotional thing and while she doesn't get the nuance she knows this whole space abduction is a lot to take in.]

We were all new once. Maybe twice or three times for some of us. No rush.

[ Very believable, Bruce. ]

Then what would you call it?

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