2023-02-07: Where's the Mess Hall??
- Log: 2023-02-07 Where's the Mess Hall??
- Cast: Ujico Issa, Eight York
- Where: The Ra Mari II
- Date: February 07, 2023
- Summary: While resting on the Ra Mari II after the events of Black Unicorn, Ujico Issa meets Captain Eight York while looking for something to eat.
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
The Ra Mari II is freaking HUGE.
If someone hadn't given her a map, Ujico is pretty sure she'd be lost forever. Someone (named Banagher Links) finally convinced her to leave her helmet with her mobile suit. She did her best! If anybody links her Palisade to Celestial Being, it's not like they wouldn't have just arrested her on sight or something anyway! And her hair felt so gross!!
She did have a spare outfit in a bug-out bag, so the new face wandering around at least has clean clothes on. A zip-up black velvet jumper over a white t-shirt and some ankle-length boots may be a little wrinkly from long storage, but they're clean and smell way better than her pilot suit right now.
Ujico is still carrying her toiletries bag under one arm (as well as said pilot suit, all folded up) and holdling her phone with the other hand. The mess hall is supposed to be around this corner, right?
...Or was it around that corner...?
Her stomach growls. The warmth and comfort of her recent shower is starting to be no match for the discomfort of being lost and hungry! And Ujico needs food to take her meds. There's no use - she's going to have to ask someone. "Uh..."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It is indeed. Very big. Not only are the halls huge, even with the smaller substructures built in to make more use of the vertical space, but the ship itself stretches on, and on!
If they wanted it, the guests on the ship have been given (small, but spacious for a spaceship) quarters, and if they didn't, there are public facilities even so. There's options!
This corner, that corner...
"Hungry?" Eight wonders, as she steps up from a few paces away, looking over Ujico with a small smile. Her eyes linger briefly on her horns, but only briefly, and her smile doesn't waver.
"There's a mess hall over this way. I was on my way for a snack."
She's not in uniform; their uniforms are set to be ready from Orb anyday now, but she's just in a red dress herself, and nice flats. There is no particular sign that she's the Captain.
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
Ujico did, in fact, take advantage of having some private space to herself. Even if she can't call Feldt to let the others know where she is, she just... it's better, to be able to relax.
Oh thank goodness. "Yeah," she nods, adjusting the things carried under her arm so she's a little less likely to drop them. A pretty blonde lady... "I got turned around somewhere," Ujico admits. It's normal for people to look at her horns, and their reactions tell Ujico more about them than she'd thought. It's a little handy...!
"Can I go with you?" she asks, because sometimes it's hard to tell what [new humans] mean, despite using a phrase she's heard a million times. And also, she wants to be polite to anybody on this ship, because she is a [guest] here.
Though maybe the lady in red is a guest too. It's hard to guess, when there are no uniforms.
Falling into step, Ujico thinks about how to introduce herself. "I'm Ujico," she settles on after a moment's hesitation. "Nice to meet you." Nice and simple!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
There's plenty of space on the Ra Mari II for guest facilities. Anyone who stays long enough to need their own space can get it assigned. But that's not Ujico, probably. Right?
"That's all right," Eight says of getting turned around. "None of us really know our way around yet, so how can we expect guests to?" She gets a sense of that; a 'guest'. That explains why Eight doesn't recognize her, certainly. "You can!" Eight answers brightly. "I'm Eight York," she says, and doesn't insist on a handshake or anything; she just refers to herself with a hand, and says, "This is my ship, so please, make yourself at home. What brings you aboard?"
She then gestures down the hall, "It's this way," and starts walking and talking.
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
The Ra Mari II is totally that spacious, but Ujico barely has her own room on the Ptolomaios. Her apartment on December-02 is so cozy that she doesn't want to live anywhere else. She worked hard on decorating! (But sometimes you need to crash where you are, and where you are is a space ship.)
"Did everybody move here recently? It used to be a Zentraedi cruiser, right?" Because Ujico does occasionally read the handouts. And when human-sized people build things this big, the things tend to be colonies.
[Eight York.] She's the captain of this ship. For a moment Ujico feels a little... nervous? But Eight seems kind. Maybe she doesn't need to be. She doesn't seem quite like Miss Sumeragi, or Captain Suberoa, but...
Before she can let herself get too lost in her own head, Ujico speaks up. "Thank you, Miss York. Uh... Captain. Captain York." That's probably right. They walk together, and Ujico does a pretty good job of not craning her head looking at things. "I was traveling with a friend on the Garancieres. Thanks again for taking everybody in when the ship was damaged... I'm not sure what the captain will do now. But at least everybody is safe."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"That's right!" Eight answers pleasantly. "On both counts. The Ra Mari II's only been in service again for a little while now; we salvaged it from the Denver Colony. It was a Zentradi ship originally; the project was helmed up by our own chief engineer, Mr. Orlodhari."
Eight tries to be reassuring, anyway; it helps when Ujico speaks up. "Either's fine," Eight says. "You're not military, so you don't have to call me Captain if you don't want to. You can just call me 'Eight'."
There's a lot to look at! But the mess hall isn't so far away, either; they'llo be there shortly.
"Oh, are you a friend of Banagher's?" Eight wonders. "...if I've got it wrong, sorry; I just tend to assume people he's met are usually his friends. He's kind of like that." What will the captain do now...?
"I don't know either," she admits. "But he--and you--can stay here for a while, while you figure it out. We went to meet with you guys, after all. I'm sorry that we couldn't save your ship."
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
"It was salvaged? But it looks so nice... It would though, if it was repaired," she realizes a little bit too late. Duh. "It must have taken Mr. Orlodhari forever to do the plans." Because it's huge.
Ujico is definitely not military! Those horns are not regulation, anywhere. But she brightens. "I'd like that. Thank you, Eight." Of course Eight will call her Ujico, because that is her name. And the only one she gave! "Oh, you do know Banagher." It makes sense now - everybody knows [Banagher]. He's someone that people feel comfortable around. "Yeah, though we haven't know each other very long. We met in front of a bookstore."
"Thank you. I can help out in the kitchen if it's okay. Normally, that's what I do." She can smell food already, although it might be the unstoppable combination of her imagination and her stomach...! "They told me that the Garancieres isn't salvagable. If a ship like this couldn't save it, I don't think anybody could. So please don't feel bad about it, Eight." For someone that looks like a combination of goth, punk, and an entire pack of bubblegum, Ujico can be strangely earnest. Like right now. She's peering up and over at Eight, worried about her feelings!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"It was in pretty good shape," Eight says. "...The story behind that is kind of sad. But he managed it very quickly. And we're going to give her a better story, now." She looks very proud of him--maybe prouder than a Captain would usually be of an officer under her command, the way her voice is so fond when she says 'Mr. Orlodhari', and 'he'.
"Yes. Banagher's been on my ship before--back when I was commanding a Federation cruiser." In front of a bookstore... "That's nice. I've mostly met him in contexts like these--ships and war."
She gives a 'ah, what do you do' sort of expression at that; it isn't her favorite subject, despite being a battleship Captain.
"Sure," Eight says. "You'll have to talk to our head cook, but we've had guests help out before. It can get boring to just hang around the ship doing nothing, huh?"
But... Unsalvageable. Eight nods. "All right," she says. "Thanks, Ujico. I appreciate the concern." Then she says, "It's right in here."
She gestures ahead to the counter. "We can both get something, then we can talk?"
It won't take long; she'll be greeted as 'Captain', do a little small talk, Ujico will also be greeted. It'll be nice!
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
"...?" She has to wonder, a little bit, how a ship's story can be sad if it was in good shape. Maybe it was abandoned. ...Maybe everybody died. Would Eight want her to ask? Would she want to talk about it, which is different than wanting to be asked?
Banagher doesn't seem like the sort of person that should be around war at all. "It's hard to believe that someone like Banagher is a pilot at all. I think he'd be happier in school." He had spoken about it so wistfully. "Maybe one day he can go back."
She hadn't really expected Eight to agree to it! Ujico smiles, and gets a little pep to her step. "Thanks! I'm pretty good at washing dishes and peeling potatoes, as long as they'll let me." She's a pretty good cook too, but nobody in their right mind would expect to be allowed to cook on their first day in someone else's kitchen. And then, they're at the counter. Huh, a familiar layout - optimized for feeding a lot of people, easy to clean, and efficient. But there's a pretty nice variety of dishes from what she can see, for a spacefaring ship. Only ag-production colonies and Earth itself could expect to do better. "Oh, sure!"
By the time they get to the counter Ujico is practically vibrating.
She ends up choosing tofu in sauce, green beans, a side salad, and something called Blond Betty, which smells a little like a cookie but looks like a pallid brownie. This is so exciting!! She is unfailingly polite to the workers, and asks if the tofu's sauce has meat (she still gets it, either way - apparently she's not a vegetarian after all).
Carrying her tray to whichever seating Eight picks out, she's humming a disconnected string of pleased notes as they sit down. "Do they serve meat often? I wonder how the storage is done..."
She's one of those. A cooking nerd!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"...Not a good story for a nice day," she decides, when Ujico wonders. She could explain; she will explain, if Ujico presses it. But she doesn't volunteer it for now, either.
"I agree," Eight says of Banagher. "I hope he can. He's been wrapped up in this because of people he cares about, and because of the Unicorn... and now he's stuck with it. But he has people to take care of him, at least."
Eight should probably be more selective about who she lets near the food, but the Garenceries should be able to vouch for her. And if not... Well, that's its own problem! "Both important. I wash a mean dish myself. ...Because I usually have someone else do the cooking," she says with a laugh.
A familiar layout!! Eight selects a lot of food; she must be pretty hungry. Tofu too, but also some beef, and a salad, and a cookie!
The tofu's sauce does not have meat! They explain that they try to keep some vegetarian options on-hand, because there's a few of them on board who work in this section.
Eight picks a nice seat and sets down her tray, too. "We do when we're near port," Eight says. "We have a lot of extra supplies that Orb gave us while we were there, and we have to use them up before they go bad. But on extended deployment we've got vegetables and fungi that we're starting to special-grow to supplement the rations."
"I'd be happy to have someone show you the gardens, if you're interested."
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
Ujico doesn't press it at all. That was all the answer she needed.
If Eight asks too many questions, Ujico's story might start to look a little threadbare. But she hasn't lied! She even helped out in the Garancieres' kitchen as well, even if it was (once again) washing dishes and preparing snacks. Someone has to cut all the apples into bunny shapes, after all.
Besides, if she were caught trying to do something to the food, Ujico firmly believes she would be space-keelhauled by the kitchen crew. And she would deserve it.
It's what Chef would want...!
"It'd be really nice if the world were [kinder], especially to people like that. It would be really nice if people could [remain soft]." It seems to be something she's thought about a lot, or maybe just something important to her.
She isn't the kind of person who can identify all the ingredients of a dish by taste or smell, so when she sticks a bite of tofu in her mouth Ujico only knows that it's delicious. Also that there's some kind of hot pepper because it is warm. "Mm. That was really nice of them! The Ra Mari helped out when they were attacked, right?"
The salad greens are fresh and crispy. "I only know some basics about gardening but I'd love to see them sometime. It's important to appreciate where food comes from." Not just because the PLANTs' economy is rooted in production. But yeah, because of that too.
It's not until Ujico has finished her tofu that she remembers something. She sits up a little straighter. "Who cooks for you? If you wash the dishes, it means it's not room service."
That's what she going to ask? And how she's going to ask it?!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight might have something to say if she knew about Ujico's affiliations. ...But maybe not, if she also knew about Ujico's role in the Institute's downfall. That would count for a lot. As it stands, she doesn't pry too much; she figures if Ujico had any hostile intent right now she'd probably notice.
She usually does.
...Also, bunny shapes.
"I feel the same way," Eight answers. "I chose to go into the military, myself. I'm all right with that choice. ...But I think it should be a choice." 'Remain soft'... There's something intent about that. Clearly this is important to Ujico.
"Mm-hm," Eight answers of Orb. "We did! And now a number of Orb's corps are supporting us. We try to keep our support broad, so we're not beholden to any one group too much. We want to do good, not just be some company's private army, right?"
She smiles at the matter of appreciating it. "I'm a colony girl," Eight explains, "And a tourist colony at that. So I haven't gotten to see stuff like this that much. It's been really eye-opening!"
But that... is a good question! If one that surprises Eight a little. "True! Of course, usually I come down to one of the mess halls here, so I don't have to wash those dishes. But sometimes my girlfriend Rena cooks for me or our friends, and then I take my turn washing. It's just good manners not to make the cook do the washing."
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
"It should always be a choice," Ujico agrees. Becoming someone you like, someone you can look at in the mirror and be proud of, is an important responsibility. Maybe one that most people don't think about. And you need freedom of choice to pursue all of it. "...I would... resent it. If I had to do it. Even though it's important," she admits, stirring patterns in the little bit of leftover sauce on her tray.
It's nice to think that a place like Orb is supporting the Three Ships Alliance - or maybe just the Ra Mari II? Ujico has never been there, but she's heard that it's nice. And a lot less racist than some other places on Earth. Of course, anti-Coordinator racism doesn't affect Ujico. She's an alien.
Eight is a colony girl! "I'm from space too," Ujico smiles. "I grew up in one of the PLANTs. You can go anywhere now, though! I hope you'll get to keep seeing all kinds of new things, Eight." ...Good things, that is. Good things!!
"Oh, I see. I guess if you have the choice you don't have to do the same thing every time." Which is good, because eventually everybody gets tired of cafeteria food. Even Ujico doesn't always feel like eating her shift meal (but she does, because free food).
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Yes." Eight nods along. Ujico would resent it... Yes, Eight can imagine. "Me, too."
Not that she did at the time--but later? Later, she resented it all right.
Eight doesn't ask Ujico about her horns. Maybe she doesn't know a polite way to do it. But she doesn't treat her any differently, anyway.
"Oh!" Eight smiles. The PLANTs... "I have some good friends there." A beat, "You're right, I can. And there's a lot I still want to see! So thank you."
"Mostly special occasions," Eight admits. "But that's just it. They try to do variety here, too, but.. We definitely won't eat this well next week," she says with a laugh.
But then, "..But," she says. "I've got a meeting I've got to head to shortly. If you like, I can send a crewman down to show you around? You should already have some assigned quarters, but if not, we'll take care of that too."