Headaches [Open]

[governorkang]

Kang was frustrated.

He'd been trying to write this damn speech for the past three hours, with no luck. He'd started conceptualizing it in the tavern, but he was unable to concentrate; he'd figured out why relatively quickly, and after locking up the tavern for the night, he'd moved to the Sensoriums and immediately conjured up the inside of his home. Besides his office in the Bastion, it was where he usually worked (when the hatchlings were asleep).

His home was very medieval in design, sizable, and the furniture was well-crafted, made of wood and stone. There was a shelf above a simple brick fireplace built into one wall with a few carved wooden figurines on it; a small bookcase nearby held a handful of leather-bound books and scrolls. The doorway to a side room was open, and a very large bed covered with furs was visible, as well as a smaller one built much like a nest. The oak table he was seated at was large, and situated close to the crackling fire.

Muttering a curse in Nerakese, he rubbed at his temple, and for the fifteenth time that night, wished that Fonrar was around to help him out.

Comments

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Creaky squeaky creak creaky.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was no master of stealth, but that was hardly his fault. (Although, even without the leg being what it was, he probably would have tripped over his own feet and made noise anyway).

"What'cha doin'?" he asked, peeking through the doorway.

[governorkang]

Kang recognized the voice, but he didn't look up, "I decided to run for Council. I'm trying to write this bloody speech, but it just won't cooperate."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"What've you got so far?" asked Hiccup, flopping into a chair.

[governorkang]

"Practically nothing," Kang cursed again, motioning the boy over and showing him what he'd written so far on a piece of parchment.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Maybe it's just the translation not working, but I can't read your handwriting," said Hiccup, and he handed it back.

"Whatever you do, keep it short. My dad always keeps his speeches short, to the point, and usually he hits something dramatically as he's talking. I guess you can't do that last part over the comm-things, but you can sort of hit things with what you say and how you say them. And read it to someone else first. Sometimes, with the important ones, he'd put them by me first."

Not that Stoick wrote them down, but sometimes, sometimes, Hiccup got to help and he had always liked to help. It'd been a rare, rare thing he could actually help his father with. (But it had indeed been a rare, rare thing).

"Another set of eyes and ears always helps."

What ho, Kang, it appears you may have a little speechwriting resource right here.

[governorkang]

"My handwriting's always been rather hard to read. Speeches typically aren't this difficult, but the idea of campaigning is... foreign to me. We never voted anyone into a political position before," Kang admitted, after reading aloud what he'd written. "I don't know if there's anything I'm supposed to say, or a certain format to follow..."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"You could just be honest. 'Crew of Trans9, as others have said, now is the time for those who want to work in the best interest of the crew to step forward. I, Kang, insert title here, am one of those people.' And then tell then your background and why you want to serve as one of their leaders. I'd leave out mention of anything that has to do with liking power or any of those things--most people like someone who's very stoic and doesn't feel the need to trumpet themselves up."

Hiccup leaned forward in his chair.

"Back home, dad always just acted like everyone should know that he was impressive, so everyone did, and if they didn't know why, they just had to ask someone to find out. Talk as if it's a natural choice because you're such a good leader back home--and mention something about being adaptable. Oh, and fair."

[governorkang]

Laughing, Kang shook his head, "That much, I intended to do. If you had any actual experience, I'd suggest you run. You've got the intelligence for it, Hiccup."

He pulled out another piece of parchment and scribbled a few notes on it, to help organize his thoughts; one of the most useful things about the Sensoriums was that the supplies were unlimited.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Ha. Ha. Oh, you're funny Kang."

He was sure people'd line up at the voting places to vote for a one-legged walking disaster, even if he had experience. He had discovered new depths of bravery and awesomeness in himself, but that, by no means, meant he'd ever be any good as a leader.

"I've got the mouth for it, you mean. At least that's the way these people seem to decide their leaders. Have you seen some of the messages? Apparently, the best way to get voted on in these things is to ambush everyone with as many words as possible."

He was not from a society that valued wordiness in their leaders.

"See, my dad? You can tell he's a great leader, because my dad just grunts and things get done. That's how you can tell someone is a good leader in general: highly effective grunting skills."

[governorkang]

"I've seen. And, from what I've learned about Earth so far, that seemed to be the case there. Good with words, and gathering more power for themselves, but not much else," Kang snorted, scribbling another note and scratching at his jaw. His society didn't put much stock in words either; actions, getting things done, spoke much, much louder.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Hey, not every Earth--or every part of it, at any rate," said Hiccup. "Maybe you should put something like that. About actions over words."

[governorkang]

Kang laughed, "My mistake. I should have said the ones with more advanced technology. And that is a very good idea."

The fire popped. He turned his neck to look at it, and got up, tossing another log into the fireplace. "I'm not sure if I'll even get this damn thing done tonight."

[silverduelist]

Yzak had a long day. He had considered heading back to his room for a little sleep, but he had chosen a trip to the Sensoriums instead, it wasn't as if he was planning to stay in there for very long.

But as he entered, it was evident that somebody else was using it already. Not wanting to be too nosy (since Yzak was the nosy type), he silently took a few steps and peered through the door, noticing Kang.

"--Ah, you," he spoke up, voice low. "Kang, right?"

[governorkang]

Kang looked up, taking a moment to place a name with the face. He'd seen this human in his and Ronon's class before, one of the new people. "That's me." His left forearm was in a cast and a sling, and the wing on that side was securely bound to his shoulder.

"You can come in, Yzak."

[silverduelist]

"Thank you. I didn't know somebody else was making use of this."

Initially curious about what he was doing, that was temporarily put aside when he noticed Kang's injuries. "Ah ... how are you doing?"

[governorkang]

"Happens all the time, since you can't lock the doors. Come, sit down," Kang gestured to one of the chairs at the table with a smile. "Healing up. I'm immensely grateful for the painkillers on this ship."

[silverduelist]

Nodding, Yzak took up the offer, seating himself in one of the chairs. "I'm glad you're still one piece, at any rate. Did you wind up staying down on the planet?"

[governorkang]

Kang nodded as well, setting down his pen. "I did, fighting Ohm. One of them just got me by surprise. What about you?"

[silverduelist]

"I headed back to Stacy the moment it was known that they were attacking, to get to my mobile suit." He frowned, recalling the trip back there, it wasn't exactly fun for a lot of reasons. "A lot of us wound up countering them in space to try to stop them from entering the planet's atmosphere."

[morphitudinous]

With combat training on hold, it had been strange for Billy to go for the past several days at a time without checking in with his favorite Draconian.

So it was only natural that Billy would be happy to find him here, once again intruding on an open Sensorium.

"Kang?" Calling to announce his presence (not that he probably needed to), Billy took several steps toward him---and then the same distance of steps back when the objects around them and their significance registered in the human's mind.

"This is your home?" If so, he definitely didn't want to intrude here.

[governorkang]

Kang smiled, "Good. I could see some flashes up there, and I hoped it was something like that. There wasn't too much damage done to our side, was there?" He knew no one had died, but he didn't know how badly the equipment came out.

[governorkang]

Kang nodded and smiled, looking up, "You don't have to leave, Billy. I needed a break from this damn thing anyways. Come sit down; I haven't seen you in a while." He gestured to one of the chairs at the table.

[morphitudinous]

"It certainly feels like it's been a long time," Billy added with his usual welcoming smile, carefully sitting in the offered chair. It was elegant in the way that a simple but very well done invention often was.

Of course, being who he was, Billy had to ask questions. There would be some about the home later, but the immediate concern was: "What damn thing is causing the problem?"

A surprising word in this human's voice, perhaps.

[governorkang]

Did Billy just... yes. Billy just cursed. Granted, it was a minor one, and a repeat of what he'd said, but still, it was rather shocking to hear it leave the human's mouth.

Shaking his head, Kang handed a piece of parchment over, "A speech. Usually, they aren't very difficult, but this one... I wasn't voted into my position back home. This process is completely new for me."

[morphitudinous]

Billy noticed the reaction and grinned just a little. It had even surprised himself.

"Oh, that's right---the upcoming elections. I thought you might run." With a nod, he took the parchment and read the beginning. Lord-Governor of Teyr...that's right. I remember now. He's always been a compelling leader.

Tilting his head to study the parchment at another angle as he thought, Billy added: "I have full confidence in your ability, Kang. You're decisive, courageous, trustworthy, and a much needed voice on the council. I don't want humans to dominate it."

Looking back up from the parchment, Billy nodded. "I'm probably not the person to ask about this. I didn't run for my position either, and I have limited experience with the campaign process. It was a fairly common process back home, and I studied how it worked, but I wasn't old enough to participate yet."