16 | text

[suddenlycaptain]

[ There are a lot of reasons to post something like this. Carolyn is ignoring the ones that are more personal to her, but she makes it text to prevent anything from leaking through. ]

If you were to leave the ship right now, permanently -- whether it was on a shuttle, to a station or new ship, or a planet -- what is one thing you would try to bring with you?

Other than people.

Comments

[trouvaille]

If I put on every item of clothing I've got here, I'd look poorly organized but not liable to waddle like a toddler in a snow-suit.

[suddenlycaptain]

we might be in a rush. that's probably wise.

[trouvaille]

So that makes it-- underwear, pajamas, trousers, a shirt, a dress, a dressing gown, and a cardigan. Plus boots. And then I can carry something, like water.

[suddenlycaptain]

not bad at all. especially if you're bringing water, too.

[trouvaille]

Probably a good time to quit smoking, though.

[suddenlycaptain]

definitely. small, contained areas in space are not good for places for fire or air pollution.

[trouvaille]

( bummer. )

I read somewhere that the air quality in passenger aircraft went down when they stopped letting people smoke, since they could just cheaply recycle the air until everybody's breathing 12hr old gas.

Not that that's relevant to this, I just thought it was interesting.

[suddenlycaptain]

when are you from?

[ This is relevant in her mind, okay. ]

[trouvaille]

2014. Italy.

[suddenlycaptain]

a long time ago, for me.

[ And very, very far away. ]

I'll tell you a secret: plenty of people smoke on small spaceships where I'm from. but most people here don't know the proper safety for being on one, though several of us have tried tutoring. in the end, it becomes easier and safer to say "no, not on my shuttle".

[trouvaille]

People en masse have a tendency to be about as clever as the lowest common denominator after a head injury. Unfortunately.

[suddenlycaptain]

that's why I tend to stick to the shuttle bay.

[trouvaille]

I haven't figured out what to do with myself, just yet.

[suddenlycaptain]

flight crew's always hiring. no experience necessary.

[trouvaille]

What does flight crew entail?

[suddenlycaptain]

we take care of the shuttles. repair, mostly. maintenance. fly, when we have somewhere to go, which means if we have to get off this ship we need pilots.

there aren't many of us.

[trouvaille]

I don't know if I'd be very useful to you.

[suddenlycaptain]

i've got a teenage wizard and a ten-year-old with a giant wolf on my crew. like i said. no experience necessary.

[trouvaille]

( ilde's been entertaining thoughts of seeing if she can make herself useful to medical-- but there's no reason she can't pester them to teach her better first aid than 'pour the vodka on it before doing the stitches' without joining up. surely she can be as useful as a teenage wizard. she's met sirius black and he's in sec. )

So what do I do if I'm interested?

[suddenlycaptain]

[ It wouldn't be the first time Carolyn's shared with other departments, though she always prefers it when they come home to her. ]

come to the shuttle bay. I'll show you around.

[trouvaille]

Okay. Now or--?

[suddenlycaptain]

if you'd like.

[ Carolyn's almost always there. ]

action,

[trouvaille]

( ilde isn't sure this is such a good idea, but she's nothing if not determined, so now that she's a breath away from commitment...well, why couldn't she learn? she's bright. she's quick on her feet. maybe it's not completely insane. at least she won't get bored.

finding the shuttle bay takes her a little while, admittedly, but eventually she turns up, a small and inquisitive thing in blue cotton trousers and a burgundy shirt. she'll have to suck it up and wear the jumpsuit here, she thinks, but...not yet. she's not actually working, yet. resigning herself to a fuck ugly uniform can be step two. )

Hi.

action,

[suddenlycaptain]

[ The shuttle bay seems almost empty compared to how it has been; emptier still when one tries to think about what it must have been like when the Tranquility first set out. Carolyn tries not to. She focuses on her people and on the shuttles, on making sure the little alarm system that Casey set up near the door still works even if he isn't here anymore, on keeping the mattresses that she and Clint pulled in for those of them who were workaholics are out of the way even if he isn't here anymore either. There are ghosts here, around every corner; projects abandoned because the person working on them disappeared, the Spirit shuttle that was altered by the first person like them to die on the ship.

But there are also the stars: the only place in the ship to have windows, and Carolyn would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the view. The stars aren't familiar, but they are stars all the same. ]

You're the one I spoke to on the network? [ Belatedly, Carolyn realizes that she hadn't given a name or a description. Stupid, especially when you don't have audio or video to rely on. Oh well. ] Carolyn Fry. Welcome to the shuttle bay.

[trouvaille]

( it's the first time ilde has seen them, and for a moment she's more than a little struck by it-- then almost embarrassed, averting her eyes, refocused on carolyn. her accent is a little odd - she speaks english like she was very specifically taught to speak with this particularly plummy diction, which is...true - but effortlessly fluent, and aside from her discomfort at momentary awkwardness, there's nothing shy about her.

she holds herself like the world's going to arrange itself around the fact that she can handle anything she decides to, not arrogant (right now) but patient. if carolyn were inclined to think that ilde has more practise at controlling first impressions than her own feelings (the studied way she doesn't even briefly glance back at the stars outside is telling, in its way), that wouldn't be unfair. she knows where she stands best when she gets to decide. )

Ilde Featherstonehaugh. ( 'fanshaw' isn't too much trouble, but some people here have already had trouble with 'eel-day', and a moment later, ) Gioia, if my first name's a pain in the arse.

( joy-ah. )