002; Some sightseeing and such

[customplates]

Who: Aaron + You!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Iskaulit/Planetside (Bloodsport common room for that broadcast if you wanna)
When: Throughout December (until they leave)

Audio; Broadcast Fleetwide

[Aaron is making his transmission from the common room on the Bloodsport, so if you're around, feel free to stumble upon him.]

Good morning, everyone. At...least I think it's morning. Anyway, I've been all over this ship, a few others, and the Iskaulit and I've found a photography studio, more than one restaurant, a library, two bars, several different times of relaxation and reflection spaces just to name a few, but no place that seems set up to get any firearms practice in. I think it might be important, seeing as a lot of our ship provide crew members with sidearms. Does...anyone know how we go about getting something like that established? Do we just...pick a space and take it?


Iskaulit - Library | OTA

[In his quest to find a place to train with the weapon provided him on the Bloodsport, Aaron finds himself thumbing through the library. If being stuck in outer space has taught him anything, it's that they aren't really pressed for time. Dorian's comments on the selection of the library have him intrigued at any rate, so he takes his times perusing the shelves.

Dorian was right, he thought as he did so. There was a lot of Earth literature here. Some of it was crap (was that really a copy of the 5 Love Languages?) but he stopped at a collection of classic literature and pulled a weathered book from the shelf. Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray brought a lot of memories back, and thoughts of someone he was starting to fear he'd never see again. He couldn't just take it, of course, though he wanted to. Libraries did require their books to be returned eventually, after all.]

...where do they get these books...?

[If he had that answer, maybe he could find his own copy.]


Planetside - In Town | shopping | ota

[It's difficult to visit this winter planet and not realize it's some sort of holiday season. With all the feasts, parades, and gifts, Aaron is first reminded of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons back on Earth, before the world ended, and that's just fine with him. What he was most interested in, of course, were the shops. Since the world ended, the only way to have new things was to scavenge them. The idea of using what credits he'd been provided to buy things was novel at the very least. His first priority was picking up a new pack, and with it strapped to his back, he's simply wandering the shopping district, looking at windows and waiting for a shop to catch his eye.

And then it does. The camera shop across the way is his destination as he makes his way across the icy road.]

I wonder what kinds of cameras aliens use, even.

[It's murmured out loud, yes, but he's not going to mind if someone wants to join him.]


Planetside - In Town | sightseeing | ota

[Equipped with a new camera and enough digital storage to film the rest of the planet, Aaron, newly excited to explore and document all the unique sights of this place, goes around town, snapping pictures of unique storefronts, trees with particularly intriguing ice formations, and just generally...looking like a tourist. He keeps eyeing that castle in the distance, too. If anyone stops long enough to look over to him, he smiles amicably.]

You want to check out the castle?

Comments

[worn_wings]

[ oh, he isn't. and never has. ]

Dunno. Just makes it not work on you.

[ Actually this is great, because the experience freaked him the fuck out, but talking about it he's got to be casual because he's him, so it makes it a lot less hideous in retrospect.

Daryl Dixon: great at coping, in any universe. ]

[customplates]

[It may be great for Daryl, but Aaron is beyond confused.]

...but that shouldn't be possible, Daryl.

[worn_wings]

Gettin' kidnapped by aliens, neither.

[ He shrugs. Hell, the dead were supposed to stay dead, but look where that got them. ]

[customplates]

Okay, that's...a fair point, but...gravity still works the same way. Heat, cold. It's...it shouldn't be that variable.

[worn_wings]

All I know is I floated around like a goddamn balloon til it wore off.

[ shruuuuuuuug ]

[customplates]

[Okay, but...he can't help up laugh at the mental picture...or Daryl's candor. One was hilarious, and the other just refreshing. He'd always felt at ease around Daryl.]

That sounds awful.

[worn_wings]

[ It definitely was awful. ]

I woulda been a shitty astronaut, I guess.

[customplates]

In that respect, I think we all would, Daryl.

[A beat.] It got better, though? I mean...obviously, but how long did it last?

[worn_wings]

Couple days. Usually how it goes, I guess.

[ macho downplaying: the best way to deal with space trauma? ]

Didn't actually puke so I guess I did alright.

[customplates]

[Aaron chuckled, shaking his head. Daryl always had a candor anyone could appreciate if they actually talked to him.]

I think you're right about that.

[worn_wings]

So what d'you think?

[ Weird as it is, he likes this spot. ]

[customplates]

[A the question, Aaron stops, looking around at their surroundings with appreciation. It's not a terrain with which he's particularly familiar, but it's secluded, quiet. It smells like earth and natural things.

He nods, smiling.]

It's a nice reprieve without being surrounded by outer space.

[worn_wings]

[ He nods. Pauses, taking it in. By now, unsurprisingly, he's spent enough time here to know it like a real landscape, but that doesn't mean he likes it any less. ]

Need it, when we get stuck floatin' for weeks on end.

[customplates]

Even when we're not.

[There's a welcoming stone nearby and he has a seat, looking around.]

It's...probably better if we don't think this has no way to exist here, right?

[worn_wings]

Maybe they stole it off some planet.

[customplates]

Do you think they stole a whole mountain?

[He let his gaze move up the steadily increasing incline toward the peak, the path they'd been traveling, and that smile spread across his face, the one that told everyone who knew him he was about to make a bad joke.]

Well, 'go big or go home', right?

[worn_wings]

[ a dangerous sort of smile. Daryl just snorts. ]

Well they ain't big on lettin' us head home.

[customplates]

[Aaron nods with a scoff.] No, they're not, are they?

[And that vocal admission drags a thought out of the depths of his mind he's been trying to avoid looking at, a thought it's been more and more difficult to ignore the more times people tell him they've been here for years. He looks down at his hands, folding them in his lap and swallowing.]

...I miss Eric.

[worn_wings]

Yeah,

[ he says softly. Not much but hopefully his tone conveys something more sympathetic than the words. Aaron knows him pretty well, he can usually hear the words Daryl doesn't say-- and Lord knows Daryl doesn't really say too many.

He misses all their people-- of course he does-- but it's different, of course. What they've got, he can only imagine what it's like to be taken from that. ]

[customplates]

[Since he and Eric had found one another, they hadn't spent much time apart, even after the world collapsed, they were only apart when he and Daryl had gone on runs. This was, quite literally, the longest he'd been separated from Eric in years, and that knowledge was becoming more and more apparent as the days went by. So...he explored the ships, he looked through all the comms, he made certain he understood how everything on his ship worked, and then he started working his way through the Iskaulit. Eventually, he'd run out of things to explore and then, well...he'd have to see where he was, then.

Still, there was nothing to be done about it here, now, and after a moment he smiled his thanks in Daryl's direction with a nod. They understood one another, and it was one of the things Aaron had begun to appreciate about their friendship. Aaron wasn't good at expressing his emotions verbally. He was a doer. He and Daryl had that in common.]

Well, want to see how high this mountain is?

[worn_wings]

[ There is nothing better for avoiding feelings than staying really, really busy. Working, exploring. Going on runs. The most annoying thing here is not having enough to do, to stay busy.

So he grunts agreement, and looks up the path. ]

[customplates]

[In Aaron's case, it was more the idea of funneling that anxious and lonely energy into something productive. Maybe it wasn't anything other than climbing a fake mountain, but it was something.

He allowed them to progress in silence for a moment and thought back on something else he'd wanted to discuss with Daryl. Not knowing how to breach the subject didn't matter. It was too important for that.]

So...what can you tell me about the space station, about the outbreak that happened there?

[worn_wings]

[ He manages not to react too much, though he does shoot a glance over his shoulder. ]

Who told you 'bout it?

[ He's curious if it was one of them, or someone different. ]

[customplates]

Someone here, from another world, who was lucky enough to survive it. She filled me in a lot on the Fleet when I first showed up here. Her name's Kitty.

[He meets Daryl's eyes for the brief moment he glances over his shoulder and he raises his eyebrows questioningly.]

She said Carol mentioned it was similar to the walker epidemic. What do you think?

[worn_wings]

[ He pauses, without really meaning to. ]

It was, [ he says, after a moment, quiet. ]