The Time We Lost [open, post-rebellion]

[morphitudinous]

Podded and popped again? Billy was less than enthusiastic, especially considering the circumstances. He'd been podded to hinder the engineers---of that, he was certain. He hadn't tried nearly hard enough to affirm his loyalty to the Daligig. Billy would really have to work on his ability to lie.

He'd shivered in the puddle of biostasis fluid, bogged down by worry and fear carried over from his last memory. What had happened, how long had he been gone? Weeks, months, years? Was there even a single familiar face still here?

At least one, his heart answered, though that little warmth in his chest couldn't tell him how he'd be received by her. He hoped there were more friends waiting. Resigning himself to the fact that he'd have to face them sooner or later (especially if she was telling people that he was awake---the last thing he wanted was anyone rushing down here to check), Billy rose to his feet and trode onward and upward.

Finally, he reached the traditional destination, the Observation Deck. As he gazed around at the strangely barren environment, that nagging sense of wrongness finally clicked in his mind. It felt wrong because it was empty. Where were the other popping crew members, where was the welcoming committee? A quick visual sweep across the room revealed no presence that caught his eye---was it his blind spot, were these new glasses not the right prescription strength? Or was everyone asleep, or...worse?

Billy knew by now that it was best to fight pre-emptive panic---his body needed the resources for when it was truly time to panic. He knew at least one person was alive. That was enough. So he settled on a small meat-chair, thinking of exactly what he'd say to the first person he saw. Where to begin? Apologies, questions...he had so many words in his head he worried he'd trip on them.

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Poor Billy. The first person he met... was the Overlord.

"So. You're back out."

The Overlord looked at him with blank white eyes and narrowed eyebrows, from the hands of his minion.

"Well, you're too late. The Daligig killed everyone! I'm the only one left alive, because I agreed to serve them!"

Must... keep... straight... face...

"Also they all died cursing your name! Specifically! In elaborate detail!"

...okay, just a LITTLE bit of a snicker started to slip through the edges of his mouth there.

[morphitudinous]

"Lord Zetta," Billy acknowledged with a slight nod. That was good...he thought. At first. He was still here. That overlord was always dependable. And that was the extent of Billy's positive thoughts on the subject.

His positive thoughts didn't last too long. Billy's head shot straight up, eyes dark with anger. Regret, denial.

"You're lying!" He sounded just a little too raw and angry to be completely confident. Bad time for a joke, sir.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

The Overlord grinned. "Damn, you figured that out quick. No, pretty much everyone is fine as far as I know. Also we're free now."

[morphitudinous]

...wait, he was?

It took Billy's brain about half a second longer than usual to re-adjust. It was like deflating a balloon with only a tiny incision. He looked flabbergasted.

"That's...great! Wonderful news. Thank you for scaring me."

Except he's not thankful.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"What?" Zetta said. "You would've taken the first thing I said to you with a huge freaking grain of salt anyway. This way I didn't have to spend a damn half hour trying to convince you that yes, we really are free, no, I'm not just yanking your chain. Got that out of the way really quick."

[kaya_waterwave]

Oh, but she was tired. Sore, cut, and constantly working in med bay after everything was said and done. Her emotions, for the sake of the crew, had been on back burner. Yes, they had regained Stacy and YES, she was completely glad that the Daligig was gone. But there was still that empty feeling in her chest, that low moan she made only when she was alone, or with Nokosi, who was the only one that she trusted to see her that way.

But just as she was finishing up, she felt it: a surge in her chest, in a place no one could see, the familiar feel of the scar ripped suddenly starting to heal. Each had felt it at a point in time, and Kaya was sure that this time she had lost that part that was truly herself. But there was no mistaking this, and Kaya didn't stop to think.

She ran. Ran far, ran fast and even with the transporters online she wanted him to see this was what had made everything, all of it, worthwhile: that he was ok, that this nightmare of fight and cope was finally over.

Kaya reached the obs deck and bothered with no formalities.

"BILLY! BILLY!"

[morphitudinous]

Even after dealing with someone's idea of a practical joke, the uneasiness still lingered. Billy knew and trusted his heart, he was sure that Kaya was still there. But where was she? Injured, asleep? He'd go look for her as soon as he was ready to leave.

Luckily, he didn't have to. That faint feeling of warmth surged about ten seconds before the shout hit his ears, and at that moment he knew that moving would be very unwise. All he had to do was rise and open his arms, flashing his tired but relieved smile.

"Kaya. I knew you were here."

[kaya_waterwave]

Kaya was likely not going to be joking about something like this. She'd leave that up to someone who thought Billy coming back was something to be funny about. Kaya had, luckily for the most part been brigged during the time Billy was gone.

But now that he was here? She wasn't going to waste anytime just feeling awkward or reflecting on how bad things had been, or the sleepless nights. No, right now there would be nothing short of rejoicing and hugging and laughing right now.

"I missed you so much! When did you come out?"

[morphitudinous]

"Just now," Billy explained, hugging her just as tightly as she was holding him. It felt fantastic not to be afraid of losing her anymore. It wasn't a perfect situation, he still had doubts, but this felt right. It was coming home again.

"How long has it been?" He sounded hesitant, afraid of the answer.

[thisclinchesit]

Even though he'd gotten over his prior funk over some that had been podded long ago, Shoutarou still did the patrols. Not as excessively, but still a fair bit. Now that they were on their own, the security team needed to be dependable - so keeping himself out there was his way of doing his part.

Finding himself on the obs deck, he paused as he spotted someone sitting on a couch. Was that...

Yeah, it was. Shoutarou smirked, and strolled up to the young man, and adjusted his hat in the process. "Well, that was quick. Good to see you back, Billy."

[morphitudinous]

"Shoutarou," Billy said, trying not to sound too relieved. Another ally accounted for. He closed his fists over his knees, pushing his thoughts in order. Best to get business out of the way first.

"What happened? Is everyone all right?"

[thisclinchesit]

"Well. The short version is that we kicked those bastards off the ship. Stacy helped, too." He grins a little, shaking his head with a sigh. "Didn't envy those guys once we got her loose from their control." He pauses, then gets a bit more serious. "Far as I know, we're all good. Haven't had any more funerals. Doctors might be a little busier than usual, but we're still kicking."

[morphitudinous]

Billy glanced down at his lap, where the morpher would sit once he headed up to collect it again.

"I promised to train with you, but that's probably the last thing on your minds for a while. I'll go at it alone while the rest of you recover, all right?"

[anwei]

Anwei looked a bit – off, recently. Kessek plasma-bolt near-misses had scorched her skin, baking the camouflage paint she had been wearing into her pores: the doctors said that it would sweat itself out in a few days, but right now she had a shadow lying over the left side of her face, faint grey-green across her cheek and neck.

That shadow was split by a smile when she saw a familiar - and missed - person on the Obs Deck. "Billy, you're back!" she exclaimed. She looked around – "Is it just you?"

[morphitudinous]

Anwei. Billy's lips quirked into an almost-smile when he saw her there.

Just me?

"I think so," he answered, looking down. "It was unsettling. I wondered where everyone else could be, and when there wasn't a gathering here...."

He bit his lip. "I was worried."

[anwei]

She pictured waking up in the pod cavern, alone. Yes, that would be unsettling, wouldn't it?

"I haven't heard anything about a podpop - but oh, have you heard?" Her face lit up. "We managed to remove the Daligig's control from Stacy, she's free. Maybe she has the power now to let single people out!"

Especially people who had had been repodded as punishment.

[morphitudinous]

Billy sat back and thought about that for a minute. It apparently wasn't too long after the battle had been won and everyone was free---and they'd said something about Stacy now having greater control too.

"If she is going to free anyone else we've lost, I think I'm the first. But I don't know if that's possible."

No, for now, it's just him. And it's a shame, because he misses those people too.

Meat and Greet of Honor!

[herhonorness]

There is the stride of footsteps, and coming around the corner of a particularly large meaty sofa is a young-looking woman wearing a deep blue double-breasted military jacket with red-gold trim and an assortment of bars and stars. She's wearing a white beret, has a pistol and sword belted at her waist, and walks forward briskly, the bearing and poise of a stiff-upper lip military. Her face is strong-jawed and stern as only military people can be.

For a moment, you worry that it's one of those farcical, tight-arsed, domineering general types that'll wind up obstructing...

...What the heck is that on her shoulder?

Coming up behind her, walking with a similar military posture, is...

[iaijutsu]

There's not a lot of pomp and posturing in how Saitō carries himself - just that kind of quietly confident poise that comes along with someone who means business, but doesn't go out of his way to advertise it. On the other hand, the bloodstains on that blue haori stand out sharply enough that he probably doesn't need to advertise much, but there are more pressing questions to worry about than where to do the laundry.

(He'll get around to figuring that one out sooner or later, though.)

Despite the calm about him, though, there are a couple of signs that he's not at all comfortable with this place - the furtive glances he keeps taking around the area, and the fact that his hand never seems to stray too far from the pair of swords at his hip.

As soon as he realizes there's someone else there, however, he deliberately keeps his hand from getting too close to his swords, either. Hostility probably isn't going to help much right now. "Excuse us."

[morphitudinous]

"...You're excused. It's a public space," Billy said mildly, glancing up at the two unknown crew members. He hadn't seen either before. And that made him wonder.

"Are you new?"

[herhonorness]

Honor glanced around for a moment.

"Apparently." She finally said, and saluted.

"Commodore Harrington, Her Majesty's Royal Manticorian Navy, and Captain Saito Hajime. And this is Nimitz."

The arboreal creature waves friendly: you note that it has no less than three pairs of limbs.

"Who is the commanding officer of this ship?" She asks, face carefully, painstakingly composed and settled.

[soulinherfists]

Allenby had had a few close calls during the rebellion, and some sore muscles, but she wasn't intending to let little things like that get her down. It wouldn't stop her from making her usual trip to the pod caverns to yell--well, maybe ask Stacy a little more politely to release her friends from podsleep.

But when she looked around the Obs Deck, she soon saw that she wouldn't have to bother with the newest name on her list.

"BILLY!"

She pelted over, ignoring the fact that he was already sitting to tackle him in a hug. "You're back! I knew--wait, wait, do you know who I am? Well if you don't, we'll still be friends again like before!"

Right? Right? Actually this was probably freaking him out, so she really hoped that Stacy had left his memories intact.

[morphitudinous]

People really were eager to shout to him today, weren't they? Billy looked up to see an excited Allenby zooming toward him. There wasn't a spare moment to brace himself before he wound up flat on his back across the couch, Allenby sprawled on top of him.

"Allenby! Hey." Billy awkwardly returned the hug, holding steady while he caught his breath again. "I remember, you don't have to worry about that."

Because a Billy who didn't remember would be considerably more flustered. Even now, he looked faintly embarrassed. "How are you?"

[soulinherfists]

Allenby laughed self-consciously as she got off of him, shifting over to sit on the squishy cushion on the far side of the couch so he could get up. "Good!" she said, still smiling from ear-to-ear. "Boy, am I glad Stacy left your memory alone. Saves us both a lotta trouble." Even though she did mean it about making friends with him over again.

She pumped a fist. "And I'm great! We kicked the Daligig and the Kessek right off the ship, the Ghyll are on our side, and so is Stacy now! So we're not slaves anymore!" She flung her arms wide at the last sentence. "No more Punishment, no more gettin' our thoughts monitored, no more people getting repodded just because the Daligig don't like being questioned. It's great!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy wasn't hurt---really, as shy as he could be, he couldn't help but feel comforted that his presence triggered that sort of reaction. He made a silly little show of dusting off his new plantsuit, but he happily settled next to her and squeezed her arm for a moment.

"I'm relieved. I feared the worst for so long...and even with so many people gone, it starts to look like we have a chance at succeeding. It's amazing."