feast when you can

[dubiouslychthonic]

Who: Jetshard, Izunia, Jailbreak, and a couple of open prompts.
What: Jetshard works on some skills, pursues some blackrom, and just generally is around if you want her.
When: ICly June 7-11
Where: Variously locations at the station, annex, and beach
Warnings: none anticipated beyond alien hate romance talk


A - all week, evening, medbay (open)

[As usual, Jetshard can be found in the medbay from early evening until a bit past midnight. Generally it's pretty quiet in here, especially this time of night; she's taken to settling in at her chosen workstation with a book to while away the time. For the moment, at least, she's slowed down on her intense pace of research; she's as likely to have a novel in hand as a textbook this week. She still looks up quickly if she hears someone come in, though.]

B - June 8, middle of the night, library (open, but of particular interest to Jailbreak)

[So. She's had a week and change to mull it over, and certain intentions had definitely been expressed at the drinking party. Certain... caliginous intentions, between herself and a particular gas mask-wearing human. Which is something Jetshard is entirely pleased about but, honestly, would be a lot more comfortable with if she was certain that Jailbreak was interpreting the situation in the same light she is. Humans, she's given to understand, don't do blackrom as a rule. And this particular human is far too annoying for Jetshard to be interested in flipping red for her.

But if she's interpreting the situation correctly, her own pedantry and criticism has been getting a bit of a rise out of Jailbreak, so maybe a heavy-handedly passive-aggressive clarification wouldn't be out of line. A quick check of the self-help shelf in the library finds that the reference Izunia had found is missing - probably disappeared into the depths of the Armiger, knowing him. What she finds is probably not nearly so good of a reference for beginners, but it's better than an overwrought trashy novel, so she pulls the hefty tome from the shelf and takes it out to the central lounge to take pictures of a few relevant pages.

...or she would, but once she's flipped it open to the beginning of the chapter on kismessitude, she finds a scrawled note across the page's top margin, handwritten English in stark contrast to the printed Alternian text: "I catch up quick. Your move, Jetsy <3<"

She blinks, dumbfounded, at the page for a moment, and then says - maybe good bit less under her breath than she really intended -]

What the shit.

C - June 9/10, network -> beach (closed to Izunia)

[A private message arrives in Izunia's inbox late in the evening:]

o)+ Hey, wouLd you stiLL be wiLLing to heLP me Learn to swim?
o)+ I was thinking maybe down at the Lagoon in the morning, once it's bright enough we won't have to worry about the eeLs.

D - night of June 11/12, just after midnight, roof (open)

[Well, there's still quite a few stars out.

Jetshard can see the clouds gathering on the horizon, although this time of night, it would probably take a troll's night vision to be able to make out anything other than patchy areas of no stars. But it hasn't clouded over yet at the station, and sometimes... sometimes it's good to just see stars. The star field here is even starting to be familiar to her - not in the instinctive way that Alternia's would be, but familiar.

So tonight she's taken her lunch up to the roof to eat - nothing immediately identifiable as insects today, although on a closer inspection, it's grubloaf in the sandwich rather than any more vertebrate-based meat product. She's not expecting company, particularly, but it's a small station. She's not going to be particularly surprised if she gets company, either.]

Wildcard

[And just generally, she's... around, all week. Sleeping during the brightest, hottest part of the day, and as mentioned in the medbay in the evenings, but otherwise pick your poison for where and when. She generally uses the kitchen and laundry room on the low-numbered loop, and spends a fair amount of time poking around the A/V center and library, but it's not out of the question to find her in other parts of the station and annex.]

Comments

Let me know if this works with what you have in mind.

[nor_iron_bars]

[So, as it turns out, somebody else was a few sections over in the library, looking through some of the books on engineering to see if magitech here was any different from back home. She recognizes the voice, realizes what section the noise is coming from a moment later, and grins underneath her mask in pure glee.]

[Now, did Jailbreak actually know that Jetshard was going to be in the library today? No.]

[Did she know for certain that Jetshard would read that particular book first- or indeed ever end up reading it at all instead of using a different reference manual? Also no.]

[Did she decide to just play the odds a little, and is now planning to take full advantage of the fact that her stupid little gamble paid off big in order to make herself look like a brilliant planner?]

[Fuck yes she is.]

Awww, don'tcha like my handwriting? I'm so hurt.

[Jail saunters casually past Jetshard, a book on the uses of water magic in hydraulics in one hand, the other hand pressed melodramatically above her heart in order to emphasize the mock-wounded tone of her words... and incidentally also drawing attention to her chest via the placement.]

[It's basically a gesture designed to say 'I am a deeply obnoxious person, but I have great boobs, and I am infuriatingly aware of both these facts'.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

[Jetshard looks up quickly at the sound of the human's voice, although she does manage to avoid actually flinching or jumping at the unexpected response. Either Jail has gotten very lucky, or she is very persistent and not a little talented at planning, and honestly Jetshard's not certain which possibility is more frustrating. Still, if she'd been looking for a go-ahead to take off the kid gloves, this would seem to be it.

Also that gesture has absolutely not gone unnoticed.]

Oh, I'm sorry, I'd assumed you had difficulties with respiration, not manual dexterity.

[nor_iron_bars]

Well, I do okay.

[Jail casually flips her book around her fingers and catches it with one hand as she speaks, making it clear that 'okay' is more of an understatement on her dexterity.]

But hey, we all got our burdens to bear- I got a mask, you got whatever horrible accident left your hair looking like that...

[Bold words from a woman who hasn't bothered getting a haircut since 2009.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

[Jetshard rolls her eyes, closing the book in her hands with a snap and captchaloguing it into her sylladex with a brief flurry of semiphysical cards.] I almost wish I gave enough of a shit to be curious what kind of accident you think would miss both horns entirely.

[nor_iron_bars]

I have a complicated theory involving a pair of rogue hedge trimmers, a dead bat, and a lotta fire.

[One of a criminal's many valuable life skills: being able to say total bullshit with a straight face.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

Bold of you to assume we have bats.

[nor_iron_bars]

You recognized the word, though, so that's a point in favor.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Jailbreak, we're horn-deep in some sort of translation magic. I probably would have gotten some sense of what your word for winged squeak-vermin means is even if Alternia didn't have something similar. [And the term that Jetshard here uses for "winged squeak-vermin" is one word, if a complex one.]

[nor_iron_bars]

Hah, so you admit that you have them.

[It's amazing how you can just tell she's grinning behind her mask.]

...translation magic here is legit impressive, though, I gotta admit.

text;

[founderinglight]

Of course, the offer's always open.

That seems a good time, too; aside from perhaps Prompto on his morning run, I don't think we'll encounter anyone.

text;

[dubiouslychthonic]

o)+ And any excess dignity I stiLL hoLd in his eyes by now is LikeLy to survive a bit Longer by virtue of his sheer PromPtoness, I suPPose.

o)+ Meet you there after sunrise?

Re: text;

[founderinglight]

I'm not sure he can swim either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Certainly. I'll likely be early.

text -> action

[dubiouslychthonic]

o)+ I'LL see you there, then.

[She's a bit early, herself, though probably not as early as he is; Jetshard's not particularly concerned about missing out on the sunrise itself, after all, and the sun's already well on its way over the horizon when she makes it down to the beach. She pauses at the mouth of the cave passage to kick her shoes directly into her sylladex and then follow suit with captchaloging her shorts, before picking her way across the gravel beach in the nondescript black one-piece she'd claimed from the supply in the hottub room.]

Morning.

[founderinglight]

Morning.

[Izunia, for his part, has his coat on over his swim trunks, still sipping at a mug of coffee as is his dawn-watching habit.]

Tide's on its way out, but it shouldn't be too difficult to handle.

[dubiouslychthonic]

[She shrugs.] The surf over here usually seems calmer than out on the more exposed beach.

[founderinglight]

It's more the undertow you have to be worried about with the ocean, but if you should get pulled out, I can bring you back easily enough.

[He takes a last sip of his coffee and vanishes it.]

Shall we?

[dubiouslychthonic]

["Undertow" sounds like something she wants no part of ever, but she trusts him, and honestly the longer she goes without learning to swim, the longer she's going to be a liability in any mission that involves significant bodies of water.

She captchalogues her glasses, and nods.] Let's.

roof

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai walks up, without her little mechanical companion tonight, and stares out at the sky. She nods a greeting.]

Hello. Are you doing well.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Evening, Mai. [Maybe a little past evening, by most people's measure, but whatever. She's settled in on the floor, with her back to the wall near the door, and she offers a vague little wave of greeting in return.] I'm well enough. Yourself?

[nojohnyouare]

...Probably never eating those again. But it was fun. Otherwise... Just preparing. For the next Fissure.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Overindulged a bit? [Jetshard chuckles.] Well, no one ended up in the medbay and no one's conspicuously missing, so I have to assume you lot didn't go too overboard.

[...interesting post-party network activity notwithstanding.]

[nojohnyouare]

Right. ...I vaguely remember becoming Arianna's personal guard? Like Church. But not acting like him. That would be difficult.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Ah. [Jetshard has mostly met Church at the other poor life choices party, but she thinks she's gotten enough of the man's measure to agree that it would be quite a feat for Mai to behave like him.] I'd ask if Arianna required a personal guard, but it sounds like the details are somewhat hazy anyway.

[nojohnyouare]

I think I thought so. Unsure why. But it might help. So it's fine. The expeditions will be dangerous, anyway.

[dubiouslychthonic]

That they will be. [Jetshard sighs.] And only moreso as we have to travel further from the station, I suspect. Even with enough extraspacial inventories to not have to worry about supplies, not being able to quickly evacuate makes me nervous.