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]

[He is momentarily at a loss for words. And embarrassed, if the shade of red his ears are turning is any indication.]

I--yes, of course, but. What I meant...

[There's some unhelpful gesticulating. HE FELL RIGHT INTO THIS TRAP.]

[axi]

[And Kaname, being the helpful friend she is, places her hand on his shoulder and shoves him right back into the pool.]

[candothat]

[He yelps and flails and sputters just like last time because, it turns out, it's hard to be dignified after being pushed into a pool.]

Okay, I will admit that I deserved that, thank you.

[He rests his arms on the edge of the pool but makes no move to get out. Can't push him in again if he's already there!]

[axi]

[The singer laughs, kicking her own legs in the water.]

You looked like you needed saving from a precarious situation.

[Of their own making.]

[candothat]

I did. [A(n exaggerated) sigh.] If only there were swimming pools to be pushed into available in all socially awkward situations.

[axi]

But, continuing where we left off-- [Kaname deliberately pauses, looking at him expectantly.]

-- why blue and gold?

[candothat]

[That is not where he thought she was going. YOU HAD HIM ALL NERVOUS KANAME.]

In Starfleet, each department wears a different color. Command and sciences are gold and blue respectively, and those are my favorites. [thoughtfully:] The least dangerous, as well. Security and engineering divisions wear red and, statistically, there is a higher fatality rate in those departments.

[axi]

If I remember, you're sciences, aren't you? [She lifts a leg straight out of the water then puts it back in, repeating the process again with the next one.]

Any militaristic type of organization is risky, no matter when division you're in.

[candothat]

Command, strangely enough. But I consider myself a scientist first. [He does not look at her legs, as nice and right there as they are. He's already messing up one friendship with attraction.

Plus, she'd probably make fun of him if she noticed.]

Starfleet isn't militaristic. [Debatable, and Kirk and other officers might say otherwise.] But yes, it can be dangerous. Divisions and statistics don't matter very much when the entire ship is destroyed.

[axi]

[She totally would.

She looks at him somewhat more studiously than before.]

Your ship has a weapons system, doesn't it? And you've gotten into battles?

[Kaname isn't trying to prove him wrong, not exactly.]

[candothat]

[See? Sometimes he makes good choices!]

The weapons serve a defensive purpose. Starfleet vessels [also wessels] are to respond to threats, not pose them.

[He really, truly believes in Starfleet as a strictly exploratory, scientific, and diplomatic entity... in spite of the more militaristic turn that the organization has taken in recent history in response to the attack on the Kelvin.]

[axi]

As did my organization. [For a long time, anyway, but they've always been a private military contractor.] We still ended up in a war. Simply defending or responding doesn't make something any less military, unfortunately.

[Kaname slides into the pool and joins him at the side.]

But being military doesn't mean it's a bad thing.

[candothat]

[There's a long pause. She's not wrong, but Pavel has a hard time imagining himself in a military force. He joined to navigate and do science, not to be a soldier.]

Maybe not.

But that isn't what I want Starfleet to be.

[axi]

[She offers a sympathetic smile in his direction.]

Wanting something to be one thing doesn't stop it from being another. All you can do is your best to keep it the way it already is, if that's enough for you.

[candothat]

This is good advice. Applicable in many situations.

[Like romantic relationships. Or maybe it just seems relevant after a not-so-long-ago conversation with Vash on the topic.]

Although maybe, sometimes, things can be changed so that they are what you want them to be?

[axi]

It could be, I guess.

[Kaname leans back, staring up at the ceiling.]

Occasionally it might be possible. But how do you know it's really what you want until it's all said and done? Sometimes all we want is the act of wanting instead of actually having.

[candothat]

[He does the same even though he doesn't find the ceiling very interesting. It's clearly the done thing.]

Generally I agree with that. Except for the situations in which what is wanted was already had once.

[axi]

[That surprises her a little, and she looks over at him curiously.]

I have a feeling you're not referring to Starfleet anymore.

[candothat]

[He completely forgot that they were talking about Starfleet. дерьмо.

There's an awkward moment of silence as he tries to find a way out of this without actually mentioning something he doesn't want to talk about.] As I said... applicable in many situations.

[Nailed it.]

[axi]

[Good lord, man. Not everything is about your shattered personal problems!!

Luckily for him, Kaname's used to awkward and can manage easily enough.]

Hm... like a favorite snack, right? Changing pudding from one flavor to another.

[candothat]

[HE IS DISTRACTED.]

Right, yes, that. [Thank you Kaname.] Just like that, or like deciding to drink bourbon regularly again instead of vodka. [Wodka.]

[axi]

[Kaname laughs at the example (and slightly at wodka).]

That could be one as well.

[In the corner of her vision, she notices a pool noodle floating over and grabs it. Now she leans back with it curved around so she's floating idly in the water.]

You know, last month Messer made me a really nice Ragnan meal from ingredients in the last system. That could apply, too. [Maybe if they squint. The original point is gone anyhow.]

[candothat]

[He always aims to amuse.

The pool noodle gets a somewhat skeptical glance. What is that? How is it a flotation device?]

I did not know. [He doesn't even remember where they started, it's fine.] What is the food like on Ragna?

[axi]

Hm, there's a lot of fish and seafood... Jellyfish is a big staple there. It's a tropical climate, so you've got fruit and sauces and some spices. I've really missed it.

[She smiles just thinking about it again.]

Another of the pilots, Chuck, runs a restaurant with his family. We'd always go there to eat.

[candothat]

You will get to go back. [A decisive nod. He's quite sure of this.] And I'm certain that, eventually, we will find a planet with seafood. You can try it and then, after you go home, you can tell Chuck that you ate jellyfish on another planet and that it wasn't as good as what his restaurant serves.

...Or, if you don't like Chuck as much, you can tell him that the alien jellyfish was better.