trans_9 | Cascade [Open party time!]

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Cascade [Open party time!]

Billy had just launched another portal in that maze of mazes, exhaustion setting in. Surely this time he would land on another moving platform of death?

Nope, just the exterior of the finished bathhouses. All polished, systems running, and just about ready to open! Given how sore and exhausted he was, that sounded like an excellent idea at the moment.

With a quick message to the rest of the crew, he set out the 'Open' sign for the first time and took advantage of his owner status---the prime waterfall spot could be his!

((ooc: The bathhouses are now open! Feel free to mingle around, relax, and have a party. Or cause trouble, but that might invite more trouble. Just start a subthread with your character's location and have fun. For reference there are individual showers in front, followed by hot tubs centrally located, saunas further back, and private baths along the side. The showers, tubs, and saunas have smaller sex-segregated units along with a central group unit that's larger.))

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She thought a moment. "Yes, I probably should. I still know what I'm saying, but with all that steam, I am feelling a little light headed. Who knew that something like this worked so slowly?"

Ands he let out a giggle. "Suuure!"

"I hear you. All right, let's go." Billy clambered out of the tub first, stabilized on the ground level, then took her hand. "It's ok, you'll be taken care of soon."

Kataraa leaned on him a luttle, smiling. They walked for a few inute, and then Katar stopped.

"Hey Billy," she said in a sing-song voice, "will you carry mee?"

Could he? Billy thought a moment. He'd been doing strength training for the past few months, plus that construction work, and Katara was fairly lithe...so it was worth a shot.

"I've got you," Billy whispered, carefully scooping her into his arms. "Hold on, it's not too far now."

She grinned when he did so: she actually hadn't expected him to do it.

"You've gotten stronger Billy," she remarked, smiling. "See, I told you that you could get stronger if you worked at it. Soon you'll be pretty strong, and you will be a more awesome blue ranger!"

She held his neck at the moment though, just so he could get a better grip. She was slightly drunk, not inconsiderate.

Billy held her securely, moving them toward the hotel at a slow and steady pace. After all the heavy equipment he'd lugged these past few weeks, Katara wasn't too much of a burden.

"It's a long work in progress," Billy commented, "but I'm managing. Thanks to you."

They were almost there, thankfully. He could see the entrance. Just a few minutes longer, then he could see about collecting water and some sort of pain medication.

"I keep telling you that you're the one that's responsible for how well you do," she said, attempting to give him a stern look and failing miserably. "Just keep doing what you're doing .'

She wiped her brow, panting. Was this what alcohol did to you often? If that was the case, she didn't think she would drink too much again.

When she swa them approaching, she made a movement to let Billy knwo she could walk all her own. When they reached the lobby, she collapsed on the couch laughing,.

"SLOBO!" she exclaimed. "I remember now! Slobo and Static! They started the Outsiders here! And Slobo had some sign on the couch before. It's not here anymore though."

Ah, there they were. Billy let her down, settling in a nearby chair. Katara didn't look well. He moved to the nearest bathroom, wet a cool cloth, and gently wiped her forehead while she laughed.

"Slobo and Static...yeah, now that you mention them, I remember them too. Was it like your other sign?"

"Thanks Billy," she said, smiling. She'd do the same for him, though she doubted Billy would ever allow himself to get this way. "But no, it was Slobo's sign about something that happened to him. I even remember Static's girlfriend Rose, and Slobo trying to date Roxie. I miss all of them."

She didn't mention who else she missed: she didn't think she had to.

Billy understood, definitely. He reached for her hand from his chair, noting that he'd forgotten to dry himself off or get dressed beyond his glasses. Whoops.

"Being left behind has never been easy," was all he could say with a significant look. They both felt it acutely.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, and brought her hands up and moved the water off of Billy. She may be out of sorts, but she would never make a mistake when it came to her bending.

"Yeah," she said, and on impulse, hugged him. "I hope you never leave Billy. It's funny how we got closer in what seemed like a short amount of time, and yet..."

Well, she was almost on poise, and tripped over herself. "Oof."

Billy saw Katara's hands move---was it a drunken gesture? No, he felt his body and clothing dry instantly. Handy, that.

When she lurched close, he caught her and held steady while she stabilized. "I know. I don't want to see you go either, but...what were you going to say?"

She shook her head. "Sorry about that. I guess my balance gets thrown off a little when I drink, I guess."

She steadied herself, then turned to Billy. "And yet I feel like I couldn't ever bear to see you leave. You've become a big part of my heart, and I hope you're here for a long, long time."

Billy waved her off. "Nothing to worry about. You'll be back to normal soon enough, and then you'll be sure to catch me off balance one of these days."

Likely flat on his face after she whomped him at a training exercise again.

Her words made him pause. Something swelled in his heart if he chose to describe it in such sentimental terms. It was probably the release of a bonding hormone. Still...whatever it was, he felt a rare urge to initiate affection and kissed her forehead gently, brushing the hair back from it.

"As you have in mine," he whispered to her. "That's why I have to be sure that you'll be okay."

Katara giggled. "If you were to ask mt brother, I think the last thing he'd be doing is calling me normal. But you know, maybe that's ok. I like learning about new things, talking to other people. It's how you make friends on the ship."

She smiled gently and hugged him tenderly. "Thank you for keeping an eye on me Billy. If my brother had seen me like this, I would totally have been in trouble. That sauna and bath is great."

Billy was content to embrace her as long as she needed it. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but the words just wouldn't come easily.

"Tara..."

He finally nudged her. "Do you want to go to your bed and rest up?"

She smiled at him, and nodded. "Yes, that would probably be best. I think the next time I get close to like this,I want to be with you and several other friends on the ship. It's not that I don't like being with you, but I'd actually like to see you cut loose with a few other trusted friends. The Outsiders actually did that too, you know."

But she took his hand and guided him to her room. She was at least not that bad off.

Billy flushed. "I'll do what I can, as long as the 'cutting loose' isn't too debilitating."

Kaylee's definition of cutting loose had left him in that odd state of mind all day. His thoughts trailed off as he picked up the glass of water and followed her to the room, waiting at the doorway. "You're going to be okay?"

"Debilitating?" Now that was one of those words Billy said that tended to make her feel dumb, and as she was a little drunk, it was an even worse situation. "What do you mean? Has something happened before where you were made to feel uncomfortable?"

She nodded. "I will, but if you want to hang out for a little while, that'll be ok too. I mean, unless you want to get back to the baths. You were adjusting the pressures for people and all."

Billy wandered in, sitting on a chair. He wouldn't leave her when she felt that way.

"Well...it means impairment. In this case it's an emotional impairment. Remember what I told you about my afternoon in there? They called it an attempt to loosen me up."

Which he did not appreciate at all.

"I see," Katara said, and she really did. She could definitely adjust herself to what his friends had done, but that was only if everyone was included. If that wasn't the case, she wouldn't be able to have fun that way.

"There are others ways to loosen up that don't require you losing your clothes," Katara said, choosing to lay on the bed, her hands behind her head. "Before, the guys and I would go to a karaoke night. We'd drink a few beers, but mostly we'd sing and egg each other on a little bit. I missed doing that, and still do: because of how our preparation for the Ohm is getting more dire, we don't have that as much. I miss it, the family part."

Billy nodded vigorously. That sounded much more palatable. "I won't be drinking," he was sure, "but if we do that again I'll try it. Though I must warn you that it won't be pleasant auditory stimulation. You remember how awful my singing is, right?" They'd been at crew karaoke parties, but back then they hadn't been very good friends.

He'd thought heavily about the crew's lack of bonding activities too, but this he could do: check on his family and try to expand it.

Edited 2011-01-13 16:45 (UTC)

Katara laughed. "Well its never been about who sings better or anything like that! The whole point is to have everyone as a unit together, having a good time. Sure, we'll tease each other a bit about it, but its all in good fun, and we were better as a team because of it. That's the kind of thing I want to have happen."

She grinned. "And now that we're friends and Bonded, it'll be great to have you as a part of that Billy."

Billy smiled at her. "Then I'll show up whenever it's organized. I don't know the first thing about putting the show together, but I'll participate."

He stood, about ready to let her sleep. "Do you need anything else? Pain medication?"

She nodded. "We should start doing more of that stuff together anyway. I'll...get Beastboy to..."

And as if to answer his question, she fell against his shoulder, and he felt her lightly breathing as an indicator that she had fallen into a sleep. She didn't seem to be in pain though.

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