trans_9 | Simple Things

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Simple Things

OK, so things were at least shaping up pretty good. The Outsiders were making progress and so far, she had to admit that she was generally happy. Sure, there were a few lingering things on her mind (her brother, Mai, Marco) but overall she figured letting them deal with things without her involved. Nura and her and Reimi got to bond, she had help on the ship, and there were people looking out for her on the ship: she had nothing to complain about.

So she took this moment to unwind near the Outsider's pool, not IN the pool but beside it, legs crossed, taking in the air and doing breathing exercises for relaxation.

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Ronnae was passing by the pool. She had taken to visit the Outsiders HQ every now and then after the meeting in case there was something that needed her attention. She noticed Katara and offered a friendly waved. "Heya."

Katara's eyes fluttered open slowly, and then she saw the girl from the meeting, Ronnae. She had previously wondered why she had the hood and all, but figured if she wanted to talk about it, she would when she was ready.

"Hello, Ronnae!" She greeted, bringing herself to her feet. "What brings you here? Did you want to swim a few laps by yourself, or did you have some questions?"

Ronnae blushed at the thought of going in for a swim. As nice as the water looked... She shook her head after eying the water for a few moments. "I ah... n-no it's fine. Actually I was just walking around in case anyone needed anything." She smiled, "I like it here, specially after your talk at the meeting." She took her hood down, letting her face be more visible, a friendly gesture that's for sure.

Katara watched her reaction: she seemed to be shy about something. Was going into water forbidden where Ronnae came from, or-?

"Um, if you're worried about people coming, its just us, and I'm pretty sure I have some swimsuits in case you were worried about that?"

She smiled broadly. "Well, I'm glad that it went over so well. I wasn't sure what the response was going to be since I found out some people got the wrong impression of what we do at first. I was really glad I was able to clear some things up."

And then she took the hood down. "Wow! has anyone told you that you're really pretty? I love your hair!"

Ronnae thought for a moment; she hadn't had a nice relaxing swim in... well since she got to the ship! "Ummm I ah.... Well if it's jus' us..." She blushed for a moment, "Alright, I can stay a while... I sort of missed the water to be honest."

"I do hope everything keeps picking up, I think what the Outsiders can bring to the crew is big." She said happily.

At the comment Ronnae's face went red, "I ummm .... t-t-thanks!" She sputtered out shyly.

"Ok then, follow me!" Katara tooka Ronnae's hand and the two walked back into the building to the front desk of the Outsider's: the lobby just seemed like a more accessible place to have the suits considering the pool was right outside. "I always miss water, to be honest, but I'm a waterbender, so that's no big surprise. I can't really be away from it for a long time, it just seems unnatural."

She smiled. "Well, you helped with that, you know. I was concerned people were just going to go straight for offensive techniques, but then you and Nura suggested exactly what I was hoping for."

Well, she may as well say it. "I was a little surprised to see you wearing the hood when we first met. It was hiding your face, like you were ashamed or something. Of course, I don't know anything about other fashions, so I figured it wasn't my place."

Forgive a little babble, Ronnae. She's actually happy to have the company. "How's green suit you? Oh, and two piece or one?"

Ronnae smiled shyly at having a friendly chat and interaction with someone. "Waterbender? Is that like a shaman of sorts?" She asked curiously.

Ronnae blushed, "Well I do want us to succeed and seeing what you wanted to make with the Outsiders gave me hope that there could be more bonding within the crew, which I think is needed. I finished both projects recently, should be fully implemented once they are given the okay by the heads."

She blushed at the comment about her hoodie, "Ah n-no, not that I'm ashamed... jus'... jus' protective." She paused for a moment. "People like me wheren't looked kindly upon back home." She left it at that unless she keeps asking.

She stared in horror at the bathing suits, "Ah.... Ummm..." She shook her head, "I-I don't think green would go well..." Considering it'd prolly make her look like she's not wearing one, even though she's light green. "O-one piece is fine." She said shyly looking at the two different bathing suits. Not that a one piece can hide her figure either....

It's alright Katara, she likes making friends! She needs it!

She shook her head. Seriously, why did she keep calling herself a waterbender to people who had never met one before? That was bound to just lead to confusion. "Not a shaman, a waterbender in my world is someone who can use water at any time: make it steam, freeze, or use the liquid. If it can be done with water, a waterbender can do it!"

A simplified explanation, but she would definitely get more into the explanation some other time.

She clapped her hands enthusiastically. "See, this is exactly what our ship needs! Not more bickering, or people having contensions and mistrusting people: progress! We can do so much, learn a lot from each other so long as we put the time and effort into it!"

But Katara was confused about that "people like me" comment. "What do you mean 'people like you?' There's nothing wrong with you that I can see."

Katara thought she would fabulous in two or one, but as it was Ronnae's decision, she'd stick to the colors. "Hmm," Katara mumbled, "that one is pink, and it'd defintely match yoiur cheeks, but the blue is good too...I'm thinking blue, but you can see I'm pretty biased!"

As does Katara: its taken her awhile to realize she didn't have many female friends her age to bond with.

Ronnae nodded at the simplified explanation, sounded like a specialized shaman to her.

She smiled at her small happy outburst and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, half breeds. People of heritage from two different races." She sighed a bit.

Ronnae blushed heavily, "Ummm ummm b-blue's fine." She tried her best to keep her face from view too much. She could tell from the warmth of her face that she was blushing.

She noticed that too, not too many younger females aboard.

With all the thoughts reeling about in his head, Billy knew that he needed some grounding. Katara, he knew, was one of the best people to go to for a fresh perspective.

Logic took him to the Outsiders' hotel, where he soon found her sitting beside her element. She looked peaceful enough that he didn't want to disturb her, so he quickly glanced away and took another seat, mimicking her.

The relaxation technique did work rather well when he concentrated on it.

Well, they would have to agree to disagree on that one, if they were to talk about it more. Katara had seen Negi and Matt do magic, and she didn't think it was something she was able to do.

She looked a little surprised. "Forgive me, I don't know much about different races. I mean, I can definitely see you're green and all, but you're also very pretty and you're a nice person. What difference would two different races make?"

She grinned. "Good! I thought you would look nice in it anyway. There's a changing room right over there, and I'll join you, I ought to go for a swim myself."

Unlike Ronnae though, she stripped out of her clothes into her whites.

"See you there!"

Ronnae shrugged, "Back home? It meant a lot. To them it meant you tainted your blood with that of another race..."

Ronnae nodded rubbing the swimsuit in her hands. Oh boy what did she get into...

She blushed and nodded once before heading to the changing room. There she proceeded to strip out of her clothes and do her best to put on the swimsuit.

After a few minutes she peeked out of the changing room, looking around to make sure there was no one else around. When she felt safe, she tentatively walked over to the pool.

Katara didn't have to open her eyes to tell that Billy was here: by now his presence was familiar enough to her, his scent something she knew by heart at this point. She smiled but continued breathing in and out, waiting until she and Billy were both in sync.

She did this daily, to prepare her for the day, and it helped: it was a time of reflection, a time to relax, quiet oneself and set goals for the day. She could also tell, without getting up, that Billy had something on his mind, so she figured she could set it aside a moment.

"Hi Billy," she said, her eyes still closed. "What brings you here?"

Katara looked disapproving. "Well, it isn't an important thing here. To be honest I think I'm a little jealous of the way you look. I don't dis-appreciate my own looks, but you definitely have a look of the exotic to you too."

And she left Ronnae with that thought for the moment before making her way over to the pool and, with the grace she'd learn in being a waterbender and Bene Gesserit apprentice, gave two flips before diving into the pool.

She rose to the surface immediately, then nodded approvingly at the now swimsuit clad Ronnae. "The water's great!" She said, but just for good measure, breathed in, heating the water a bit.

And he was promptly found out, as always. Billy settled in beside her, a distant look on his face.

"It's just been a while since we've talked," he started. "I'm glad to hear that your Outsiders are doing well."

No, that wasn't quite it, but she'd dig it out of him soon enough.

Katara did open her eyes, because she felt there was definitely something hanging in the air that felt unsure with Billy, and that was bound to bother her too.

"Yes, it has, I figured you would be busy with engineering and all of that," she said. "You have a lot of duties on your plate, and so do I. But you know that you can come find me whenever you want or ask me anything."

And that said, she looked at her Bonded brother. "Like now."

Ronnae slowly went into the water, smiling at how pleasant it felt. She'd go slow, just to take it all in. She sat at the steps to the pool, halfway into the water. "This is really n-nice."

"Isn't it?" Katara said, grinning. "I made a few modifications, like getting rid of some of that awful chlorine and cleaning it as often as I could. I can also heat the pool up if needed, but I figure that with Billy's baths there's really not much point to it, you know?"

She bobbed to the surface a little, then streamed the water in the air a little, making a few waves do some zigzags and small whirlpools before joining with the normal water again.

"So have people been treating you well on the ship. Ronnae?"

Billy could feel her scrutiny almost piercing him in that way of hers. She definitely knew that something was up. "The workload's been getting easier, which is why I finally have time to see you."

He tugged his knees up and sighed. "But you can feel that I'm confused about something, can't you?"

She smiled. "I'm glad for that. I missed you Billy, and while I'm never going to tell you to abandon your duties to see me, I'm still pretty happy when you do."

She nodded. "It's our Bond, of course, but even more, I can sense it too. Please, tell me what's on your mind."

That sound?

A distant rumbling. Getting closer.

No, it's not ominous -- it quickly resolves into a horde of swimsuited minions of the Overlord racing en masse into the pool like a bunch of kids let out for the summer. One of them distractedly pitched a book in Katara's general direction; it landed with a heavy thump nearby.

"I don't get the appeal," Zetta said to Katara, "but if it keeps them doing their loyal duty, whatever. I got nothin' else going on." For a change, he didn't even seem too annoyed. "How'd your whole Outsider thing go?"

Billy flashed her an embarrassed smile and settled down. "You'll be seeing more of me. I'm on doctor's orders to take an extended rest period every day, and I'm sure you're happy to hear that."

Everyone would be, he thought.

"And...I thought I'd ask an experienced hand about how human attraction works." It was ridiculous. He felt like a kid wondering about the birds and the bees---he had a technical definition, yes, but that didn't apply to the heart.

Katara opened one eye when she heard the rumbling, getting ready to defend herself if needed until she realized these were all of the Overlord's minions, apparently inviting themselves over to the Outsider's pool. She sighed, but when she heard the thump she made sure to right the Overlord back up.

"Water is awesome is the appeal," she said, "and besides I guess even minion kids need to play. The Outsider's meeting went pretty well actually: we got a few ideas out there, new things to think about. I'm going to try and see if I can branch us out a bit, get them more involved with the crew if I can. Overall, I think it went pretty well!"

Ronnae looked curiously at the water display, smiling. She nodded at her question. "Ummm yeah most of them. I've come across a some unsavory ones but there will always be those right?"

"Is that so?" Katara said, narrowing her eyes and looking at him the way a mother who just got an unsavory call from a teacher would look. "I wonder why a doctor would go out of the way of saying something like that. What have you been doing lately?"

But even saying that, Katara was his Bonded: he could see the lack of tension she had now, knowing that he wouldn't be doing something that could potentially cause him harm.

"How it works?" Now she sounded amused. "Well, I don't claim to know all the ins and outs of it Billy, but I'm sure I could give you the best advice that I can. Is there someone you're attracted to as of late?"

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Simple Things

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