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Mai had discovered the Sensorium earlier in the journey, but due to a variety of things (brain slug parasites chief among them) she'd never really had a chance to explore it properly. She'd dropped in, bored again. After all, exploring was something, wasn't it? And maybe she could find Zuko. Instead, the Sensorium had given her a replica of Ember Island. Devoid of people, but it was Ember Island on a summer's day. She was standing on the simulated beach, not quite sure what to think. For a brief moment, she'd thought she'd gone back home. Then she'd remembered that this place simulated things.

For the first time in her life, she actually missed her home and parents. They'd been strict, but they were still her parents. She sighed softly and then sat down, running fingers through the sand. Why did it feel so real?

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River has been exploring the ship. It was bound to happen, because you put an archaeologist in a strange place, city or ship or some strange combination of both, the first thing she's going to do is start poking around. Were she a scientist, she'd be trying to work out how it all worked, but River... River wants to know who made it and what for and where they could have possibly gone.

It was only a matter of time before she stumbled across the Sensorium. She's relatively unsurprised by finding a beach inside a ship - it could be a holodeck, or... well, she'd stumbled across quite a few odd things in the TARDIS over the years. A beach there wouldn't make her bat an eye, though this is patently not the TARDIS.

She pauses, noticing someone else in the room. ...on the beach. Whichever applies in this case. She doesn't want to startle her, but on the other hand... River is a curious and social creature. Just walking away is not likely. "Nice place," she comments after a moment. "A bit quiet..."

Mai looks up from her brooding (yes, she'll admit to herself that she was brooding. It's what she does), and shrugs, "I guess so." She sits up a bit, impassive. She looks like she's incredibly bored. And probably is, although right now she's more homesick then anything else.

"Normally there are people... but this isn't the real thing." She shrugs and sighs, waving a hand to encompass the beach.

There's a third figure patrolling the beach... and where did he get the shades and surf board? You'd be surprised what the replicators classified as weaponry.

"Excuse me," he beams genially, "but could either of you ladies direct me to the fullest surf?"

River turns toward the voice, and smiles just a little at the sunglasses and surfboard. "I wouldn't know for sure. This is a bit unfamiliar for me - every time I try to go to a beach, something goes wrong..." And she's never really tried surfing. She's not sure she'd want to attempt it for the first time on a holodeck on a ship she's not familiar with, either.

Mai raises a figure, looking rather nonplussed, "...surfing?"

"How rude of me," he replies, "I should have brought the volleyball set. Tell you what, we'll take it in turns."

"That's quite alright. I'm not so much in the mood for beach sports anyway." She's more in investigative mode just now, and while it's easily derailed for a little conversation... She still has things about this ship she'd like to figure out. Though the other passengers probably know more than she does, at the moment...

"How does this work?" she asks after a moment, glancing over to Mai. "This room? Is there a control panel, or...?"

"Sorry. Last game I played, my friend ended up setting the net on fire," Mai's lips quirked upward slightly at the memory and she sighs. (Relatively) good times. When River addresses her, she shrugs.

"I have no idea," she glances around, "It just sort of... works."

"Stacy is incredibly, irrefutably psychic. I would guess this deck uses that principle and let's it play havoc on our sense of perception."

There's that disarming grin again, "They were given the name 'sensorium' for a reason."

Despite Mai's distraction, she's going to get her wish anyway - Zuko's found her.

"Ember Island?" he comments, sitting down beside her on the beach, once he gets a good look around at the simulation. "I didn't think you liked it here."

Mai looks up, an expression of surprise crossing her features for a moment before she offers Zuko one of her rare smiles. It's for him - no one else is around to see it, after all.

She shrugs in reply, "It was... on my mind when I wandered in here. I guess this place decided to show it to me. Besides, it's a lot less irritating without all the people."

"Especially without all the people," Zuko agrees. And without the shells and ice cream, right?

"I guess whoever made Stacy put this in so we wouldn't go crazy, looking at her insides all day." Zuko crosses his arms over his knees. "I used to think living on the Fire Nation ship was bad - it would have been a lot nicer if we'd had one of these."

He could have pretended to be in the palace garden all the time.

Yeah, that would have been healthy.

Yes. Definitely without all the shells and ice cream. That was just sad, Zuko.

"That was thoughtful of them," she raises an arm, letting a handful of sand pour through her fingers, "I wonder if they knew we would up here. If humans would, anyway."

There's a pause as she regards Zuko quietly, and then speaks up again, "At least on the Fire Nation ship you could set foot on land once in a while," she shrugged, "And I could've used one of these for my room. Then I could've gotten away from my parents, at least temporarily."

Completely healthy.

He learns from his mistakes! From now on, it's nothing but things that cut people, and stylish clothing with many places to hide the things that cut people. Zuko swears.

"They're trying to keep us content," Zuko says, a hint of a growl in his voice. "Make us forget that they stole us from our real destinies."

Oh, Zuko is learning. Good!

Mai narrows her eyes into a glare in response, staring out over the waves, "Destiny... more like our real lives." Honestly, she could care less about destiny (except that Zuko is going to run off and try and get himself killed for it).

"Heh. Those too."

Zuko nudges his hand up against hers, and threads his fingers into her own. For a moment, he sits quietly, looking out at the rolling waves.

"So . . . what's Azula making you do, now that I'm gone?" he asks, trying for a jovial sort of tone.

"Yeah."

Her hand squeezes around his own in a brief show of affection. She leans over, head resting against his shoulder and she tries to let all of her anger and frustration out in one long sigh. The question surprises her and she shrugs, stifling a smile, "Oh. You know, needling me about how my boyfriend is a traitor and how I ought to be careful not to end up the same way...."

She rolls her eyes, "But really, we just sit around waiting."

He doesn't wince at that, thank you very much! "I'm not the traitor. She is. And so is my father."

Traitors to the WORLD!

"But, uh, don't tell her I said that. I wouldn't want her to shoot the messenger."

"Well, they weren't the ones who ran off to join the Avatar." Mai shrugs. She's not trying to argue, just pointing out the obvious (at least to her). She reaches across his chest to rub Zuko's shoulder with her free hand.

"Don't worry. I don't feel like getting shot."

"It's complicated."

Isn't it always?

He turns to her and smiles. "You're good at taking care of yourself." Agni be praised, he's so glad for that. What would he do with a girl whose judgment and safety he actually had to worry about?

"So you've told me."

Pretty much always is. Not much to be done about that, though. Mai could care less about how complicated it is though, as long as Zuko stays safe.

She offers a smile in return, teasing, "Of course I am. One of us has to." Probably go crazy from all the different people he feels responsible for. Aang is bad enough as it is.

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