2023-10-13: Good News
- Good News
- Cast: Eight Orlodhari, Roux Louka
- Where: Ra Mari II, Captain's Quarters
- OOC - IC Date: October 13, 0097
- Summary: Roux comes by to see Eight on the ship, with a present! They talk about marriages, pregnancy, and a very strange old story.
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<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Returning to Magallanica a married couple and a number of wedding presents richer, the Ra Mari II is currently docked with the colony, its gigantic form small next to Magallanicaas it is to little else. It's important to come back here often enough, for security purposes, but also others, and in this case, it includes bringing over doctors that will staff a local hospital.
But on the ship, Eight--now Eight Orlodhari--is now in her quarters again, waiting for something. She's in her favorite color, red, and in nice fuzzy slippers that at least do something for her poor feet. She happens to be puttering around the kitchen making tea at this instant, because Lavhi is off working and she wants tea.
It is a lovely day-cycle in Magallanica though, and the colony is growing by the day.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
It is a lovely day-cycle in Magallanica, and you are a horrible goose.
But we're not looking there, are we?
Tap tap tap.
Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap.
"room service!" comes a very muffled call from the hallway. Followed by "wait" and then a pushing of the door signal.
When opened, it's ROUX LOUKA wearing a casual shirt and some leggings and carrying a plastic tray with a covered dish on it. "SURPRISE," Roux says sunnily as she steps in. "Did I interrupt you? You're making tea, aren't you." Newtype power... or lucky guess?
"I remembered you were mentioning on that call we had the other week that you'd wanted spicy stuff a lot lately," Roux continues. "Is that true?"
Her eyes flick down for a moment towards Eight's abdomen, but wordlessly.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Room service! Eight sets the kettle down and walks over to the door. It takes a little longer than it usually would. "Coming!"
When it opens, Eight brightens immediately to see Roux aand her plastic tray both. She smells... something. "Roux!" She greets happily.
"I was," the on-leave Captain answers. "That's very true. I'm still craving spice like nobody's business. I think it's a Zentradi thing..."
She knows that glance!!
She glances to the tray again, wordlessly. Eight has detected Food. She wants it.
"But come in! I was, but it can wait."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux steps inside. She raises the tray. She raises her eyebrows... lowers them... and raises them again. Then she puts the tray down. "I have wonderful news," she says. The lid is lifted--
GLEAM~
Reddish-orange-black fritters of what look like standard colonial white-fish fillets (what fish? probably tilapia, maybe farmed trout?) which have been gently reinforced with egg and breadcrumb breading. They aren't hot enough to still be sizzling a little, but the rich and mellow fragrance of their pan-frying in butter reaches outwards. "I'm glad you agree," Roux concludes, "because otherwise I was going to have to eat all of these myself."
"I don't usually have to deal with that," she asides. "It's like I'm marrying a garbage disposal sometimes."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Wonderful news! "Roux," Eight says seriously, "You are the best. These look absolutely delicious. And they smell wonderful."
She encourages Roux over to the dining table instead of the couch this time, and fetches a couple of drinks ("Soda work?") frmom the fridge.
She laughs, then. "Is that how it is? I think I eat more than Lavhi, lately. But I'm not complaining."
"How is he?" she wonders of the garbage disposal. "Any exciting news about your wedding plans?"
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"I am," Roux agrees, fluttering her eyelashes... and stealing one of the fish pieces. She sets the tray down at the dining table, and affirms, "Sure! Sugar free if you can," along the way.
"I'm not SURPRISED, look at who you're eating for. Three, right?" Roux concludes, crossing her legs. As she noms, rather daintily, Roux says, "I've got the wedding fund almost where I want it. I don't want to put ourselves in a situation where I have to mooch off of Sayla... if she steps in, I won't fight her too hard, of course, but -- ughhh, it's just a pain. You know, I listed that condo on Londinium? And THEN the Federation starts falling into chaos!"
"What's your own news? Everything going alright as far as they can tell?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"I love food," Eight says, sighing once at the aroma. Then she brings Roux a sugar-free soda and herself a water, and sits down at the table. "Mm!" She tries a fish piece. It is everything she hoped it would be, the breading a perfect complement to the fish.
"Hah," she answers, "True. All three. Though apparently it doesn't add as much as you'd think--I'm not supposed to eat too much." Pause. "...I kind of do anyway, though."
She nods then, thinking along. "Right, that makes sense." A grimace. "Rough. That's not going to do your list price any favors." Of course, there's other reasons the Federation in chaos is bad, but this is not about those.
Eight smiles at the question. "Everything's on track. They could come any day now. Lavhi and I have tried a few things to hurry them along, but they're not quite ready yet, I guess. My specialist tells me things are totally normal, even for a hybrid pregnancy. And I can kind of feel them--" Pause. "Well, if it's not too much information, they're on their way down. I can feel that, too. At least I'm not so short of breath that way."
You are now gagging Characters.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"That's a healthy way to look at it," Roux says, about loving food. She pauses to glance at the label of the soda, seems satisfied, and pops it open. After a sip, she sits back, watching and listening to Eight. "Yeah," Roux sighs. "It's been really irritating, too. I had to join in this last-minute contract, right, and it was against *Yuliana Kafim*. Ugh! I earned THAT one, even if I'm not sure it was a high success."
"Any day now..."
"I did kind of have a different feeling from them," Roux tells Eight, "but I don't know how much of that's just me making up stories in my head. Do you have names decided...?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"It's one of the few vices I can have," Eight says. "Can't smoke with the babies, can't drink even when I'm not pregnant... But good food? I can do that all day." A smile. But she frowns, then. "Ugh, Yuliana. What a strange woman. ...Did you know? She was all ready to fight me the last time I met her, until she found out I was pregnant. It was really weird, like night and day. She didn't get nice but she wasn't the same at all."
Any day!! "I'm glad you came through that all right, at least."
But she smiles. "I don't think all of it is; I can't put my finger on when it started happening, but now that they're this close I feel a 'presence' from them. I actually--Leina made me think of something. I kind of want to learn a little more about pregnancy beyond just doing it--so I can help other Newtype moms go through it."
A nod, then. "We do! A few names, depending on whether they're boys or girls. One's Lavhi's dad's name, Baldev. Another is my mother's name, Ingrid. Then a few others that I just liked... and one I'm going to use, but I want to keep under my hat a little longer, if there's a boy."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux's eyes roll upwards. "Yeah, well, isn't that chivalrous of her." She does reach for another piece of fish, though she seems to be taking one for every three Eight does. There's a lot; she may have leftovers but she may also want to PACK IT AWAY. CLEAN SPACE FISH - NUM NUM NUM.
"I'm not surprised," Roux continues, frankly. "I bet you'd have a lot in common. Unfortunately, well... I don't know how we can get through to her, or if it's even possible, with all this... science crime shit she pulls off." She then tilts her head to the side.
"... yeah?" Roux says, about Helping Pregnant Women. Then, onwards, topic -- "So you didn't get them checked? Just letting nature surprise you, huh."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Mmmm space fish. Delicious.
"It doesn't excuse the things she does, obviously, but I was glad of that much. After that, though, the crew insisted I take an escort when I go out--and now that I'm this close, obviously." A pause. Yuliana... "The things she's done... She hurt Rena badly. I haven't forgiven her for that, or for the people she's hurt otherwise. I know it's more complicated than it looks with her--she's one of us, a Cyber-Newtype--but... I feel the same as you. I don't see a way to get through to her."
"Mm-hm," Eight says. "I'm not going to quit my day job... but it'd be nice, to be able to do." Topic--"Nope! The docs know, but Lavhi and I don't. I want to be surprised a little. I'm trying to do things as 'naturally' as I can. After all the experiments and everything," she says, "I... want to try it that way, at least. But I'm still going to do it in a hospital, so if I need it, they can intervene."
"Oh!" Eight says. "Speaking of news--did you get the announcement?" She shows off her left hand, with the golden band on her finger. "I'm finally married! Barely an honest woman in time for the kids!"
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Maybe we could put out, like, a box with a stick," Roux says. "And then we tie a string to the stick..."
She smiles faintly. "I bet you've got a feeeeeling, though. Don't you?" And then she blinks once, before saying, "Do they expect problems? I mean, I know he's a Zentraedi but I don't know if that leads to... I don't know... bigger heads or --"
A pause. "Oh!" she says, leaning forwards. "It's SO BEAUTIFUL--!!! You didn't throw a big bash and not invite me, right? I mean I guess you can just, go to a judge or captain or head administrator and do it, but -- hm -- well, you did have your kids on the way, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight laughs at the prospect of a box on a stick.
But she smiles back. "That's a mystery," she says of her feelings--before she shakes her head. "No, not really--Zentradi bones are harder than human bones, but they're usually still soft enough to push out at birth. But I do have neurological issues, so... They've got some extra painkillers on reserve if I can't handle it."
Eight beams at the compliment. "Thank you!" she says. "And no, no--we just did a little courthouse thing in Orb, with Rena and Annie as our witnesses. I want to do a big party, but we'll have to wait for the new year for that--after we get a chance to stabilize things with the kids. I definitely want you there for the party. And Judau, if he can come!"
Asuka Shikinami Langley (Asuka) has paged Eight Orlodhari and Roux Louka with, 'Hey hey mind an observer?'
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux considers. "When you put it like that, I don't know if I want kids any more," she announces. "But no -- seriously, that's brave... I just... I dunno! Are you doing it that way in case of the neurological issues?" After this, Roux contemplates.
"If you have a buffet," Roux says, "Judau will come. If you /don't/ I'll still make sure he comes but the buffet is just, like, a guarantee. Does Lahvi have a big family or anything?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Haha," Eight appreciates the announcement. "Thanks," Eight says. "That's part of it, but... I just want to see what my body can do, without extra medication, if I can help it. I want the opposite of my experiences in the labs. But it'd be a mistake not to cover my bases."
"...Then I guess we'll want a buffet!" Eight decides at the matter of Judau. "And no, not too big--a lot of family friends, but we only really need to invite his parents, his sister and her wife. Being first-generation means a smaller extended family."
"It's going to be big enough as it is--there's a lot of people who want to see this party."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux laughs at the buffet part - not the earlier part. That she listens to. There just isn't much to say, is there?
Roux can only guess what it was like.
"Hmmm-m... so there's an age gap, isn't there?" Roux muses. "Or did I get that wrong? I couldn't really tell, and like, it was always, sort of discouraged? to speculate about that stuff too much." A beat or two passes, and she grins a little. "Yeah, like the entire crew of your ship? I mean, at least the older ones. I bet you've got people who've joined up since."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight appreciates Roux listening, even if there's not much to say.
"Oh, no," Eight says, "Lavhi's only a little younger than me. Less than a year. It's just--his parents didn't have parents, they were clones. They took a while to settle down after the War, though his sister's much older."
Then she laughs back. "Yeah. The whole crew, just about. It's gonna have to be a big buffet." A smile, and then a nod. "Yes. We're getting new people all the time. We might have to expand ships soon... Well, we could accomodate hundreds more on the Ra Mari II, but that would involve a lot more food cost, and we want to leave room in case we have evacuation efforts again."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"At that point you might have to like, commission an entire crop of something," Roux muses. "I heard about places doing that. Like the Britannians putting down special batches of pepper sauce in Louisiana." (There was a TV special about this. Eight might have seen it!)
"Yeah," Roux exhales. "And I imagine you also don't want to like... wrapp too many people in, right? Oh," Roux says, "you could have like an A crew and a B crew, maybe, here on Magallanica!" A beat or two passes. "I mean," Roux continues, "hopefully you won't HAVE to evacuate..."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight did see it. She's watched a lot of TV while she was pregnant especially. "Heh. Maybe... It's definitely a lot." A beat, "That was a weird show, huh? I don't usually watch a lot of Britannian TV, but sometimes you get bored..."
But, "That's true too. And that's an idea, we could give people more shore leave that way..." Which is a nice thought. "We're set up for long-term missions, but with Magallanica and Orb both we in practice don't need to go that long between stops."
As for evacuation, "Hopefully... But as long as these wars keep on, there's going to be places that have people that have to be somewhere else as soon as possible. I think, even when we don't have battles to fight, this ship could do a lot of relief efforts. I'm thinking of establishing a proper hospital in the medbay for that. After we finish getting Magallanica's set up, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Oh that one was like a co-production or something," Roux says. "I think it's actually from before the One Year War, it's just like, it's hard to tell? I heard something about how like all the next-generation TV cameras were from this one lens maker in Side 4 and, well," a vague gesture, "anyway:"
"Hmm... when you put it like that, it makes me think about like, modules," Roux muses. "But that's pretty ambitious, huh? And it's not like you're short on room in here, unless you're going to be taking up macronizing after you have the kids."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Oh!" Eight did not know this. "That's interesting." Moderately interesting, anyway. Eight will probably forget about it, truthfully. But it made her go 'hmm'!
"Hmm... Yeah, modules would be more difficult because we're not exactly set up for them--though the residential blocks are pretty modular, which helps." They are indeed not short on room--though Eight laughs at the suggestion. "I wish!" she says. "Not until they figure out a way for humans to do it. It'd be fun to be Big, wouldn't it? I hope I can get back to the Fleets sometime. Riding around on Lavhi's shoulder is... surprisingly fun."
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"That's true," Roux muses.
"It's weird sometimes, huh... just the different philosophies." She gestures all around, as if to encompass the ship. "It's like a little colony in here, or like Moon Moon - oh my god," Roux says, her philosophical musings diverted entirely by this story.
"Did Leina ever tell you about Moon Moon?"
("Also that sounds awesome. Can anybody macronize, do you think?")
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"It can be," Eight agrees, and then smiles. "It is a little," she says of the ship being like a little colony, and then tilts her head. (She takes another fish.)
"Moon Moon?" Eight wonders. She apparently has not heard this story.
But she does add, ("I think it'd be nice if we could, at least. The twins should be able to, when they're older.")
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux takes a deep breath. "So," she says, "let me tell you this one."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaerCzKY2wo
"This was just after I joined the Argama the first time... the original one, from the Neo-Zeon War, not the Nahel Argama. I guess it's kind of a legendary ship now... Anyway, we were all still getting comfortable with each other. Torres was scanning for fake meteorites, and we detected this old Type 2 style colonies - did you ever see those? There's those models near the Orbital Ring of Type 1, and most of the cylinders are Type 3 or Type 3-B in Zeon..."
"Am I supposed to call it Munzo again? Anyway, the Argama needed supplies. We dock and you're not going to believe this shit, but honest to God ninjas tried to attack. They saw the ZZ and pooped in their pants. They thought it was a God. They tried to destroy it, or wanted to, anyway, but Judau talked them out of it... he was going to break it up, since
it's actually a combiner technically, and then they drag people off. Just, pow. I think they used chloroform? I wasn't actually there for this."
"They're looking for a 'Saviour'. They'd actually taken Chara Soon, from the Endra... shit, it's weird, but I kind of miss her, now. It's nostalgiac, you know? Like sometimes I think about her a little. Anyway, Gottn, who was also with the Endra, used Leina as a hostage, which, I guess, is kind of going against this nostalgia thing, but whatever. They tie her to a Gaza... everything's getting bizarre. Iino and Elle and I launch, I'm in the Core Fighter. Chara attacks us -- I know, I know -- she switched to the R-Jarja, I got Judau into the NCF and he docked everything... We take out the R-Jarja but Chara escapes... They think Judau's the savior."
"There's a twins thing going on here, incidentally. We'd been talking to Rasara, but this is Sarasa Moon, the leader of Moon Moon."
"At this point Bright and I get captured, along with Emary -- she was an Anaheim technical expert -- and Chara, who was smelling like a gym class at this point. There's this overgrown linear train station... God, I'm getting it all confused now. It was a really confusing situation. Anyway, the problem is some kind of religious thing. Rasara takes Mondo to try and activate this ancient Mobile Worker that'd been sitting in the weather for like fifty years... did I tell you about Mondo? Anyway! It's getting disgusting. Mondo manages to down a couple of Gazas, Glemy tries to talk Judau into trading me for Leina, but -- ugh."
Roux shakes her head. "In the end we left, and that's when Leina fell into Neo Zeon's clutches for a while. I haven't thought about this in a while... I guess I kind of blocked it out, if I'm honest with you. I think Judau convinced the Moon Moon people to keep their heads down, but I'm worried now that I think about it."
Roux looks upwards. "I guess that got a lot less coherent than I thought, but it was a pretty big fever dream even at the time. I thought we might have all been drugged. I did get to find out the noise a gong makes if you shoot it, though."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Roux starts to tell a story. About a legendary ship, and...
"I've seen them," Eight says of the types. And then she shrugs at the matter of Munzo. Still, supplies. "...Ninjas?" Eight asks, lifting an eyebrow. That's pretty tall on its own. But it gets taller. Eight nods along about nostalgia, and also about the rest--but she frowns, when Leina is a hostage. And then things get even weirder. "The... savior?"
Twins.
"I don't think you told me about Mondo."
"...Wow." So that's how Leina was captured. And, well, "It kinda sounds like a fever dream. Ninjas? Religious mobile suits and mystic twins?"
Pause.
"...What kind of noise does it make?" Eight wonders.
Part of her wonders if she's been drugged...
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"Yeah, they'd kind of deliberately abandoned technology," Roux says, "which is really ironic when you live in a space colony, and they're probably all going to die if they get major meteorite damage, but they hadn't in about forty years, so..."
"Technically, they weren't twins," Roux sighs. "They just looked really similar. Like someone just -- drew the same
person."
"Um," Roux says. "It's probably easier if I just shoot a gong for you if you can find one for me to shoot."