Meat n' Greet

[cityship]

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.]

Comments

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara blinked. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and took in a few deep breaths. "Yes. Yes it is. But it was nice different. You know, like the first time...umm." She blinked. "There isn't a fitting analogy for this."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"Do you--uh. Do you want to go somewhere alone and--and maybe take some time to figure out how different it is?"

Apparently, he was a bit more daring now, too.

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

"..." Katara blinked and stared blankly at Aang for a moment. Did...did she just hear that right? Did he...was he suggesting...

"I...have to go see Kaya later. (http://trans-9.livejournal.com/760869.html) But that's not for a little while," she said, blushing. "So...I...umm. Yes?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

He was just suggesting making out. Juuust making out. Kissy faces.

Aang was up like a shot, holding out his hand for hers.

"I can show you the Sensoriums while we're at it. You've got to see what they can do."

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara slipped her hand into Aang's and squeezed it warmly. "I'll go wherever you want me to," she said, before realizing what she was saying. Her blush darkened by a shade or three. "Umm. I mean. Yes. I would be happy to see a Sensorium. Whatever that is."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Beautiful slip there, Katara. Way to make him blush.

"Right. Uh. Sensoriums. Let's--let's go. To. Them."

And he led the way, occasionally glancing at her with odd little glances as they walked, then flushing and looking away. He was smiling though, warmly, the entire time.

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara herself was all kinds of giddy. She was riding a kind of high that she couldn't honestly say she'd felt before. And the fact that Aang was, well, all grown up...

She was feeling a lot of heavy, mixed emotions just then. They were good ones, but there were a lot of them.

She squeezed his hand and held back an elated giggle.

Well, just barely held it back.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang led her to a series of doors all in the hallway, opened a door to a completely blank room, swept his free hand gracefully, and said: "Ta da! The Sensoriums."

Have a...lovely empty room, Katara.

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara took a few steps into the room before stopping and turning around while she stood in place. She raised a brow and looked at Aang. "Well, this is...what is this?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"It's anything you want it to be," Aang said, and then blue grass suddenly spread out from his feet, cascading off into the distant horizon that had now appeared. Hills rolled out from their feet until they were at the top of a hill, looking out at a hilly countryside, covered in trees and exotic flowers.

The sky was a light pinkish-purple, touched with orange at the horizon and dotted with wisps of pink clouds, and three moons rose in the sky, beaming their light down brightly in the late evening.

Katara would feel the pull of those moons, in fact, feel the strength they gave her as if they were real.

"Anything you imagine in these rooms can become real. Isn't it great?"

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara sucked in her breath as the room changed to become an exotic landscape. Of everything she had expected, she certainly hadn't expected this. She turned around again, standing in place, and took in all of it. "I couldn't even imagine...how can this possibly exist?" she asked in wonderment. She looked up at the moons, a little dumbstruck. "Aang. This is..." she closed her eyes and concentrated. The landscape changed again, to one mimicking the land of the Southern Water Tribe. She opened her eyes again, her breath frosting as she said, "Unbelievable."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"There are some kind of machines that do it. I know it looks like just...magic, but apparently, it's machines that are so complex what they do looks like magic. There's lots of stuff on this ship that's like this. Plays acted out on flat screens, boxes that play music and send messages to each other..."

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

"I never would have imagined things like this back home. Even coming from the Fire Nation," Katara said. "This is so advanced!" She closed her eyes again and the landscape changed, this time back to the one that Aang had summoned. "But I'm learning that there are very many advanced people on this ship as well," she added, thinking of Dr. Hank Pym, who had pod-popped near her. "Do you ever get used to it?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"I haven't," Aang laughed, and despite all he'd been through, he still laughed just as easily. "I've been awake the longest and I'm really bad at working everything."

Not enough of an attention span to work out all the little whatsahoozits and he didn't get the point of sending messages when he could motor over to someone and say hi in person.

"But I think Sokka and Zuko have gotten used to it. Sokka likes the future weapons."

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

"Sokka would," Katara laughed. "And Zuko...well, that makes sense, I suppose," she says. Zuko was a very smart guy, after all. Perhaps he didn't possesses the ruthlessness that his sister did, but Katara had always considered him to be an intelligent young man. "But all of this, no matter how real it feels, it's only contained to this room, yes?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"Yep!"

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

"Hmm," Katara said. "Then I suppose I can't dream up a lake and get some water for my bag." She turned to Aang and smiled a flirty little smile. "But that can wait for later, I suppose."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

"We could probably get Stacy to give you some water."

It was for fighting purposes and better prepared than not.

Oh hey, he kind of liked how that smile looked.

"We could still imagine up a lake, though," Aang said, giving his own flirty smile back.

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I know. I'm working on it," Katara said. Behind her, a lake did materialize, along with a dock, and an intimate looking little rowboat. She grinned at Aang. "Something like that, maybe?"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

To heck with the rowboat.

"Last one to the water's an elbow leech!"

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

She should have figured that Aang would head straight to the water first. Katara grinned and ran after him. As she ran, she lifted some of the water so that it came towards her. She knew that Aang could do the same, but that was alright. "The water can come to me instead!"

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang stripped as he went, just like he always did when swimming, robes flying, down to a pair of grey boxer briefs. There were new scars now, though Katara didn't get the best glimpse of them. The old ones had finally faded--the one on his back, for instance, was no longer an angry pink.

The muscles were definitely new, too. Definitely.

Technically, she won the race by bringing the water to her, but it didn't stop him from doing a victorious cannonball into the water anyway, laughing all the way up until he was in the water.

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara dove into the water, still dressed in the plantsuit. She wasn't sure how to take it off, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to try. The thing felt alive.

She twirled around under the water for a moment, enjoying how real it felt. When Katara came up for air, she paused to appreciate Aang's body. Conscious of herself, she splashed Aang with a small, friendly wave and giggled.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang splashed her right back, using Waterbending to put a little force behind it.

One thing he'd missed with Katara not being around?

Playing.

[wet-and-riled.livejournal.com]

Katara laughed and sent dual waves towards Aang, one on either side of him. This felt wonderful, playing, laughing, letting all of her worries go. She dove under the water before the waves hit Aang.