trans_9 | Meat n' Greet

Entry tags:

Meat n' Greet

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes."

He needed proof. He needed...something. Something only Katara would say, something only she would do, something that couldn't be faked by false memories.

"Katara...try to say something funny. I know it doesn't make sense, but I need you to try right now."

Katara tilted her head. That had to have been the most bizarre thing anyone had asked her to do since she'd first arrived on Stacy.

"Why did the turkey duck cross the river?" she asked after a moment. "To get to the other side!" It was one of the few jokes she knew.

It was completely lame and not funny in the slightest.

Which meant it had to be her. She couldn't make a decent joke to save her life.

Aang started to cry.

"That wasn't funny at all," he sobbed happily. "It really is you!"

Gasping for breath in between sobs, he pulled her in with long, lanky arms in a way that made it seem like he might never let go again.

Her jokes were so bad that they reduced people to tears. Katara wasn't sure how much she liked that, but she did let herself enjoy being in Aang's arms. They felt different and familiar all at once. She was surprised that he could manage to be so joyful after everything that Kaya had told her. And then she realized that she shouldn't have been surprised. Aang had been just as bright and chirpy after waking up after a century.

Reluctantly - because this something she did not want to do at all - she pulled away from Aang. "Aang. What...what happened?"

"Can't we just do the hugging for a while?" Aang sniffled. "I like the hugging."

Katara reached up and wiped away a tear. "I...yes?" she asked before going back in for the hug. Because, to be entirely honest, she was enjoying it immensely. And Aang was taller than her! And older! Okay, technically, he'd always been older than her, but this was a different kind of older. She was responding to it in all kinds of new ways. She slipped herself back into his arms. "I'm sorry. It's...you know me." She could be such a worrywart.

"You're wondering how I'm older, what happened to me, why I wasn't sure you were actually you, and what's going on in general," Aang said, still sniffling. "I know. And I'll explain it in a minute. But for now, can we sit down?"

And commence with the huggery.

"And keep hugging?"

"Yes. All of that," Katara nodded. "Though that last part has somewhat been explained to me by a girl named Kaya and that second to last part has somewhat been alluded to by Mai, of all people." Yes, Katara had already met a few people. "But we can get to that later, if we absolutely had to," she said with a playful smile.

Aang wiped at his face with the edge of his robes with one hand, and took her hand with the other, leading her to a meatcouch out of the way, near the viewing windows.

"The short answer to some of those questions is that I missed you," his said, unable to stop his lower lip from quivering a little as he said it.

Katara sat down on the meatcouch and looked out one of the windows, her eyes wide. This was certainly a different view of the world for her. She turned back to Aang, still wide-eyed. Her look softened and she cupped his face with her hands before placing a kiss on his forehead. Because she was nervous and shocked and stunned and happy and didn't quite know what to do with herself. "I was scared you wouldn't be here. But you are. And you're so...grown-up."

"I've been awake longer than most of the other people here," Aang explained, settling in on the couch to lean against her shoulder.

"I'm missing some time--something...happened that I don't remember." Yes, it was as alarming as it sounded, "but the rest of the time, I was awake and--"

And trapped in a sarcophagus fighting a nightmare god.

"Eventually, everyone else woke up, too. I'm--I think I'm close to sixteen now? Maybe older, maybe younger. I'm not sure. I wasn't really keeping track of birthdays."

"I wouldn't expect them to have a calendar on board," Katara said. "But happy belated birthdays anyway," she added with a smile. Then, a little bit more seriously, she said, "Aang. You are leaving things out."

Monkeyfeathers. She knew him too well.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Katara. There's too much to fill you in on and...I just don't want to talk about it."

He didn't want to dump that on her.

"You know about what happened to our worlds, right? Do you also know we might be able to bring them back?"

That part was important. And yes, he was dodging.

Yes, he was dodging, and that was something that she was aware of. But if he didn't want to talk about it, she'd respect his wishes.

For now.

"Kaya said something to that effect. I assume it has to do with defeating the Ohm?"

"That's what we've been told--that if we defeat the Ohm we can possibly fix everything."

Deep breath.

"And it's way easier said than done."

"So I've heard. But who are they, exactly? And how do we prepare to fight them?"

"They're monsters. Horrible, giant, monsters like giant bugs. But smart--as smart as people, at least. They have skyships that fly from universe to universe and they destroy everything in their paths," Aang said, still cuddling her shoulder, his gaze cast out the window, reflected dully by the field there.

"The Daligig, they're the one that made this ship, they're another people that fights against them. They saved us--but we're not sure they can be trusted. They've...done things they shouldn't have done."

Things that he didn't want to talk about.

Katara snuggled closer to Aang. She didn't quite shudder, but it was clear by the expression on her face that she wasn't in love with the description that Aang had just shared. "What sort of things?"

"Just...things."

He was avoiding all the subjects today. All the subjects.

"You don't have to tell me right now, Aang," Katara said softly, understanding him. "But when you're able - when you're willing - I want to hear all about it. Everything."

Aang breathed in deep and let it out. Later. He'd tell her about everything...later.

Much later. As long as he could put it off.

"The Daligig have made terrible choices in things they've done, things they've tried to control for the war effort. They're desperate. So that's what our situation is. Our homes are gone and there's a chance to bring them back, but we have to stop the monsters that destroyed them in the first place to do it. Our allies can't be trusted. As far as the war is concerned, this crew is on its own, and it's a group of all different people from all different worlds that has to work together in the face of all this."

"What do you mean by our allies? Do you mean the Daligig? Or...our crewmates?" She hoped it wasn't the latter because she couldn't imagine not being able to trust Sokka or Aang.

"I mean the Daligig--though to be fair, there's a new crew member trying to kill everyone every other day here on the ship," Aang said. "Secret villains--and some not so secret, like Azula, that have others tricked into thinking they won't cause harm."

"..." Katara listened carefully. In all of their time together, none of them had turned on each other and tried to kill one of their group - Zuko not withstanding, all things considered. "Azula. I do not look forward to seeing her."

"She's kind of, uh--"

Boy.

"What's a really nice way of saying someone's as nutty as a whole sack full of leechi nuts? Because she's definitely as bad as she was when--you know. Back home."

As when Zuko had her committed.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject