Twenty-somethings gotta twenty-something

[mikangirl]

Who: Everyone invited, everyone gatecrashing (technically you're all invited, so...)
Broadcast: Who knows, maybe some drunken texting later on
Action: Iskaulit Pool!
When: 3 July

[It's a party for a narcissistic redhead who likes to be reminded she's alive.  Come celebrate!  Alternately, come sneak in and steal the food!  There's a bar set up for drinks drastically lowered to cost-price or to-be-paid-later-tab, a non-alcoholic punch in case of wandering minors (spike it and Nami will end you) and random snacks.

Oh, and a pool.  Which is heated.  Kind of important, that part.

Step right up, I'm reliably informed we'll have Thor with his shirt off, take pictures while you can.]

Comments

[candothat]

Would you like to discuss star charts someday? I'm very familiar with stellar cartography, and I've created a three-dimensional mapping program that I have been using. Maybe you would find it interesting.

[mikangirl]

I'd love to. I had a friend here who taught me how to make them, so I can manage but they're still a headache. A program sounds amazing.

[candothat]

They are very different from traditional maps used on planets... massive distances, multiple moving objects to account for, directional arbitrariness, occasional gravity variances. Do you have a datapad or computer? [Actually. They're at a pool, aren't they?] Er. Not on you at this moment, of course.

[mikangirl]

Sadly I left it in my other swimming pool. [Straight-faced.] But yeah, that's what I mean-- I learned all my cartography without so many dimensions involved, more or less.

[candothat]

[That crack makes him grin.] It becomes much simpler when you have an easy way of rendering maps on a third axis. I was using paper for my first month here and it was maddening.

[mikangirl]

Ohh yes. I got so many headaches trying to do that. But yes, I'd love to see such a program. Maybe later this week?

[candothat]

Yes, of course. I'm certain that my busy schedule would allow for that.

[mikangirl]

Great! It's a date. [She loves her maps, man.] You can guess as a deep sea sailor space is kind of not really in my league. But I'm learning as fast as I can.

[candothat]

[Map dates are the best kind!] I'm certain that the same principles apply to deep sea navigation and deep space navigation. [a beat] Okay, not certain. I have never been in a position to try navigating any sea, deep or not.

[mikangirl]

The principles do overlap quite a lot. [Again, it's that pesky extra dimension.]

You should try applying your skill to it one day. We get plenty of opportunities out this way to sail, unlikely as it sounds while we're in deep space.

[candothat]

[The prospect of sailing actually makes him look nervous.]

One day, maybe. We will undoubtedly find a planet with suitable conditions for that.

[mikangirl]

[Nervousness, oh my. She gives him a curious look.]

You not a big fan of large bodies of water?

[candothat]

Water in general. [A gesture at the pool.] Not this so much, since it would take a great deal of effort to drown in a pool where my feet touch the bottom.

[mikangirl]

So is it a fear because you can't swim or is it grounded in other reasons?

[Because one she could help with, probably.]

[candothat]

I almost drowned in a room once. [He's rather matter-of-fact about it.] I have learned how to swim, but that doesn't always make me less afraid. Does that make sense?

[mikangirl]

It does. [She understands that kind of fear perfectly.] I won't harass you into sailing with me, then.

[candothat]

Thank you... but maybe I will invite myself along on a sailing trip anyway? Just to experience navigation at sea.

[mikangirl]

You're more than welcome.

[After a moment, she grins.] If it helps, I'm an old hand at fishing hammers out of the water. Half my crew at home can't swim.

[Kinda dumb for a pirate ship, but there you go.]

[candothat]

Your crew can't swim? And they work on a boat?

[Nami, that sounds like a very real problem.]

[mikangirl]

Some of them can't. Most can.

It's complicated. And not entirely natural. In order to gain great power, some in my world eat what's called a Devil's Fruit-- it's rare, and each one of them is unique, and will give you some kind of power which you can learn and adapt to your own ends. But the payoff is that salt water becomes a weakness. You go in, you sink like a stone.

Some find the sacrifice worth it. Others...? I'd rather not, thanks.

[candothat]

Oh. [He nods.] That makes sense. I think that it's a questionable exchange for anyone who lives in a situation where exposure to salt water is highly likely, but.

[A shrug. Some people are stupid and make questionable choices, which he's too polite to say.]

[mikangirl]

It's a tradeoff, mostly. Most pirates who want to make something of themselves travel to the end of the most unpredictable, threatening ocean. The further you go, the more threats you face-- to the point where most normal people wouldn't be able to progress further.

[Did she ever mention she was a pirate? She can't remember.]

[candothat]

[She did not. He is, perhaps, a little more surprised by this than he should be.]

You are a pirate?

[mikangirl]

[That answers that question. She tilts her head with a small smile.]

Yep. Is that a problem?

[candothat]

You don't seem like the pirates that the Federation encounters, so... no, not at all.