nysalogs | the sky was made of amethyst ( & open )

[ As promised, Jim's back up on Thesa soon enough - possibly for a long haul, depending on how things go, upstairs and down. He's really not sure how much use he can be against the threat of a massive dragon. Being an expert hand to hand combatant and carrying a phaser don't seem like things that'll make much of a dent, if everything goes to hell. Tactics... maybe? But that seems like a job for someone with ground warfare experience, not ship-to-ship combat.

Who knows.

Anyway, he seeks out Urbosa, and smiles when he finds her. ]

Hey, [ he greets, and holds up a takeout bag. (Or whatever is the steampunk dragontown equivalent of a takeout bag.) ] Thought you might want a hot meal.

[ In both senses; Wyver makes some really mouth-burny sandwich melts, somehow. ]

Edited 2018-06-11 04:03 (UTC)

[ Urbosa's just finished making her usual rounds in the stasis chambers when Jim comes across her, presumably checking up on the inhabitants just for peace of mind. She's made it a bit of a habit to visit the rest of the Champions and Zelda to talk about the goings-on planetside - even if they can't see her, and absolutely can't respond, maybe some of it will sink in.

Wishful thinking probably. Never hurts to hope. ]

Well, well, well. If it isn't my favourite sand surfer. [ Urbosa greets Jim with a fond smile and a wave despite the teasing tone. He even brought lunch too! How thoughtful! ] Trying to get on my good side with food bribes?

[ She's quite happy to split it with him, of course. The spicier the better. ]

That's totally how diplomacy works, right? [ A quick response, lightly teasing as well - diplomacy since they're the only representatives of their respective cultures. It's a First Contact for the books. ]

Nothing of note going on up here, still?

[ There's plenty in the bag for both of them; if there'd been someone else up here with her, he'd have been happy to offer it, but will also have no qualms eating it himself. Who knows how long the food stores up here will hold if they have to evacuate refugees from planet, so there's no harm in bringing something up. ]

Still as the sands. All is well, for now.

[ She gestures over her shoulder at the cavernous room and oppressive silence (sans the low buzzing of electronics) as if to say 'see for yourself'. ]

I can't claim to know much about how any of these work, but from what I can see, it's all working as it should.

You'd notice if they weren't, [ he says with a shrug. ] Blinking lights and probably an alarm noise from the pods themselves, or the control units. What I'd be most concerned about is other refugees coming in being jumpy and scared.

[ Jim can't really blame them, but he doesn't love the behavior.

Oh, well. He offers her a lopsided smile. ]

Want to find one of the cafeterias, or just stay in here?

Duly noted.

[ Not gonna lie, she'd be one of the people freaking out if the alarm did go off. TECH, MAN...
She considers for a moment, glancing between Jim and the rows of stasis pods. As much as she's loathe to leave, it's not particularly healthy to keep herself cooped up in one place for too long. ]

I could do with taking a walk, so a cafeteria should do nicely. Shall we?

[ Jim gestures, politely standing aside so she can walk ahead of him, before he catches up to walk beside her. (How do you describe that thing, you know what I mean, it's mannerly and idk what it's called THIS IS A BAD TAG whatever moving on) ]

At least the repairs have made the flickering stop, [ he observes. The small handful of them working on it - focusing in more heavily-trafficked areas - have been making good time. Thesa is massive and there's more to do, but it's going about as well as it can. ]

[ Allowing Ladies To Go First is indeed a thing, yes. But now I've gotta call it "the thing that's all mannerly and stuff you know what it's called" just to mess with you.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]

That explains it. I wondered what was going on. [ Seeing as Urbosa's been loathe to go anywhere outside the stasis chambers, anyway. SHRUGGALO. ] To be honest, a lot of the things up here are far beyond my understanding. It's like magic.

[ omg why did i struggle with that wording so much idk what happened

anyway ]

You've got machines where you're from, [ he says, glancing over at her. He remembers your gigantic mecha camel, Urbosa. ] The ones here are the same, just on different scales: the inner workings of stuff like this, or the communicators, are incredibly small, permitting a whole lot to go on in a confined space. And the station - [ he shrugs. ] It's the casing for it.

[ Urbosa gives him a bemused look. ]

Not quite the same. It seems here most of this technology is metal - [ A point punctuated as she taps the wall with her knuckles while they walk, making the metallic 'ting ting ting' echo down the hall. ] - while the ones we had were similar to stone. Zelda would be able to expand on the topic more.

[ Only Purah and Robbie would be able to rival the princess of Hyrule's knowledge on the ancient Sheikah shrines and Divine Beasts. All Urbosa can really say is that Naboris' stone floors staying cool during the day and radiating heat during the night was a definite bonus. ]

Impressive stone, [ he says. ] Offhand I can't think of any that would withstand such manipulation, and I've been to dozens of planets.

[ But if it can do that, there's no wonder why it's used instead of metal, why technology is different. It's interesting to Jim, whose curiosity is - of course - insatiable. The explorer in him.

In the nearest lounge area equipped with a table and (semicircle sofa thing from the Alien franchise ships) chairs, Jim plops the takeout down and fishes in the containers. ]

Food is more diverse than technology. Visit a new place and it's like, things could be the greatest flavor you've ever tasted, or a diplomat could be asking you to eat live spine-covered tentacles and you can't risk offending them.

To my knowledge nobody has managed to figure out how it was done. Not yet, at any rate.

[ Urbosa takes her sweet time arranging herself on the slightly-too-small couch (sitting regularly would have her knees jammed into the table; pls think of the tall folk too, interior decorators...) before giving up and just sitting cross-legged on the seat cushions.

~~this is exactly why floor pillows should be a thing smh~~ ]

A diplomat that gets so easily offended should be more concerned about keeping their post, don't you think? [ She settles an elbow on the table and her chin on the back of her hand, watching Jim rummage around in the takeout bag with a great deal of amused patience. ] Growing a thick skin is a necessary skill. Fuss too much about things that don't matter and one risks the chance of looking weak in negotiations.

Edited 2018-06-15 06:06 (UTC)

[ Half of him wants to ask her more about it - maybe he will, in a minute. He's observant, but he hasn't yet managed to decide if it's a completely comfortable topic or not - meanwhile, Jim's expression is slightly sheepish, as she tries to fold herself into the seat. ]

One time I got stuck in an air vent in the academy, trying to pull off a prank against the security majors, [ he offers. ] An off-duty admiral found me.

[ :D? ... Anyway. Sandwiches, melty and still warm, and some kind of potato-noodle-dragon salad, stuffed into jars. ]

You'd think. [ A brief laugh. ] The Federation prides itself on being accepting of all cultures without asking anyone to homogenize, and sometimes, people like to show off and see if they can make representatives squirm.

[ He's quite welcome to ask! She probably doesn't know much more about it than he does, but that won't stop her from trying her best anyway. o9
Pausing in the act of reaching for a sandwich herself gets Jim a raised eyebrow. ]

Come now. You can't leave it at that without telling the whole story.

[ On the subject of the Federation though... Urbosa takes a bite of her sandwich (wow yeah okay this is like A+++ snack material she was hungrier than first anticipated) and hums thoughtfully. ]

A noble creed, if a difficult one. I can't imagine all cultures would get along without needing some coaxing on that front first.

Most things worth doing aren't easy, [ he says, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite. Jim's table manners could use work, but it's still too ingrained in him thanks to his mother's vicious, well-aimed smacks in the back of the head that he never speak with his mouth full. So, after a moment, he continues, ] We don't compromise our values to appease others, but most people, once you work on communication enough, can find common ground in wanting peace and stability.

[ Most people. He's still got a chip on his shoulder about Romulus. Determined to end the hostilities between them, even though it's probably impossible. Whatever.

About his escapades - ]

Well, at the academy, you've got different majors, and there's lowkey competition between divisions to begin with. Security are all the meatheads who resent the command track students because - wow this is really spicy - most people who go into security only do so because they couldn't pass the command exams.

[ That's definitely only somewhat true, and Jim is just a butthead. ]

[ She gives him a thoroughly amused look, but doesn't contest his point. It's a fair policy to follow. ]

Careful. One would think you have a bone to pick with this 'security' major. [ Jim, quit being a butthead and just tell a proper story okok. Ain't nobody got time for a bunch of voe squabbling over silly things! ] How much more difficult would your job be without a competent team to support you?

[ Urbosa's more than happy to knock your pride down a peg or two if she has to, my dude. Tough love goes a long way. ]

But I digress. Continue.

Oh, way more difficult, nigh impossible, [ he concedes cheerfully. ] When you're all students crammed into the same campus with people from all walks of life and a hundred different planets, though, sometimes you get bored of the usual extra-curriculars.

[ And start terrorizing each other. The best part of intricate prank rivalries, in Jim's opinion, was teaching offworlders the wonders of it, and learning their own nefariously evil hazing strategies in return. FEDERATION TOGETHERNESS. ]

A couple weeks earlier, somebody in security had talked one of the engineering students into messing with our building's laundry unit, so everything came out with spots and causing leaves to grow out of our hair and whatnot. [ Like one does. ] We decide we're gonna stick a bunch of Deltan meditation herbs in their air circulation - weird herbs that smell sort of fine, but you can't ever figure out what they smell like, and the more you pay attention to it the more distracting they become, and it keeps changing, and it'll drive you nuts. Subtle revenge, right? Very mature, no leaves growing out of anybody.

[ Jim has to grab water. OHMYgawd this sandwich, what's in it. Ehhem. ]

Hm.

[ Any vestiges of "THAT IS SO IMMATURE AND I AM DISAPPOINTED IN YOU" is gone by the time Jim is forced to concede to the spicy sandwich. For her part, Urbosa's quite happily munching away, having been acclimatized to peppers and voltfruit native to the Gerudo region.

So while he scrambles to douse the fire no doubt blazing in his mouth, she chuckles to herself, acquiescing that the prank may have possibly been pretty funny. ]

Clever. I like it. [ +10 approval. You mad genius. ] How long did it take for them to concede defeat? Or... did they retaliate?

They never figured it out, because-- [ Jim pulls a face. IT'S BURNING. It's tasty, but it's burning. Give him a second. Woof. Okay. ] Because the wiry kid we'd tapped to implant the herbs chickened out halfway up the air access tube and came back. Our normal pint-sized ringer was laid up in medical and she was furious the next day, but long story short, I ended up having to do it, and I barely fit in there.

[ A pause. ] Wow, are my eyes actually watering.

[ They are, yes. ]

[ SUCK IT UP JIM, THE SPICY PAIN WILL BUILD CHARACTER!!!!
Urbosa's eyebrows have slowly rose higher and higher the more he explains the elaborate scheme, and by the time he's done, she's halfway between incredulous and impressed. Good goddesses, remind her not to annoy him any day of the week. The lengths he'll go to is frankly a little frightening.

Still funny as hell, obviously, but frightening. ]

Well, I can certainly see why you'd be placed in a command position. That's some impressive planning... [ ............Jim r u okei... ]

Should I find you some water?

Well, I did get - stuck - [ HE HAS PLENTY OF CHARACTER ALREADY he's dying. He's dying!! No he's not, but he's leaking, and he feels extremely silly. Not only is Urbosa cool as a cucumber, Jim's the one who bought the dang food. ]

Sure, [ he squeaks. ]

[ ~~PAIN WILL GET U THE GAINZ BRUH~~
If it makes him feel better, Urbosa's quite used to the occasional voe underestimating how spicy the local cuisine is, so she doesn't really give it much thought.

In fact, she'll ever-so-carefully unfold herself from her comfy seat and give Jim a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she passes by. One of those "you're doing the best you can, you lil' trooper you" pats.

Fortunately with the cafeteria so close, it's a short jaunt there and back - a glass of water gets plunked down on the table by his elbow, along with a slice of white bread (or one would assume, but it's fancy space food so WHO EVEN KNOWS) for good measure. ]

Bread first, then water. Take it slow.

[ Wheeze. Urbosa will never go to prom with him now.

In the mean time, Jim attempts to scrape any remaining DEATH PEPPERS off his taste buds with his teeth, to no real success. He picks apart some untainted potato-like thing and munches on that, which helps a tiny bit. ]

Thanks, [ he croaks when she returns, attempting dignity. Wow white bread, how painfully symbolic for this pale Iowan. Anywhoo. He works on that. Rasping - ] Alcohol kills capsaicin, but I have no idea what this really is, and drinking sounds like a bad idea.

[ To be fair, it'd be awfully difficult to take prom photos without making him look super tiny or making her look hella giant.
~~Time to invest in a stepstool I guess???~~

Urbosa is trying Very Hard not to laugh at poor Jim's reaction to the spice - aside from the slightest upward curve at the corner of her mouth, she's doing a pretty good job! Whether or not that luck will hold, however, remains to be seen.

She's totally going to make him eat more spicy stuff to build up a resistance. Just you wait. ]

Milk would do the job just as well, but as you say, nothing here is really what we're used to. You'll just have to wait it out.

[ Why would Jim ever want to diminish the impact of her tbh, not all men are intimidated by tall women. She's hot just the way she is.

Also hot is THIS FLIPPIN SANDWICH but at least he's starting to come down off the spice death ledge. ]

You know it's funny, [ he half-wheezes ] I've got like a million dumb allergies, but I hadn't run into anything here. And this isn't one because I'm not breaking out into hives, I just have no fortitude against whatever it's made with.

[ He looks hilarious. A sweaty space tomato. ]

You're fine with it? [ HOW. ]

the sky was made of amethyst ( & open )

lady urbosa!

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