Test Drive #7 - Ten Forward and Captain's Yacht

[ten_fwd_mods]

Option 01. Ten Forward: The first thing you see is a bar. A large, lively bar filled with many different faces and many different smells, sights and sounds. This is Ten Forward, the Enterprise's off-duty lounge; feel free to get acquainted with your fellow travelers and try to find somebody who's in charge: this is your new home now, after all...





Option 02. The Captain's Yacht: Oooh, you sneaky stowaway! You've found yourself in a very exclusive part of the ship: Captain Picard's personal craft, used for short jaunts when a shuttle just won't do. (One must retain some decorum, after all.) It may not be as large as the Enterprise itself, but there are sure to be some surprises aboard once people start snooping.


[OOC: The Captain's Yacht is located at the very base of the Enterprise's saucer portion, so if you put someone in there you can also play them trying to get back to somewhere they know!]

Comments

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari remembered the Dance-of-Soulgaze-Evasion, though at the time, she hadn't been aware that it was happening. Harry obviously had a lot of practice looking at people without actually Looking at them. And besides: in a world of self-service checkouts, and ATMs, who really took the time to look somebody in the eyes anymore anyway? She was a little more informed now, though, and she tried not to chase his gaze if she could help it.

"I was in LA," she said, "Minding my own business." She had a feeling he would know that wasn't quite true, so she added, "Okay, not really. I was minding Paranet business. But that's kind of my job now."

[dresdensluck]

Harry was about to answer when he realized he was here, and his blasting rod and staff were back where he had been. Oh not again! "Hell's Bells." He swore the oath under his breath, then fired off a smile at the woman. "Er,. sorry, just realized something about being here and not home, and it annoyed me."

At least his new shield bracelet, duster, and his necklace, were all there, not to mention his handkerchief.

Eying her, he got back to what she had said. "Good. How're things down there?" He could distract himself form imminent danger, maybe. And he was concentrating as he talked to her, letting his senses out, trying to See, without actually opening his Sight. Which... might not work, but he could try!

[whitefoxkitten]

"You don't have all your 'feng shui' tools," Inari guessed, noting that at least one significant item was missing from his hands. It was one that would have been hard to miss, if he'd been carrying. Hopefully, they wouldn't need it.

"Things are okay. Up, and down, and generously seasoned with moments of sheer chaos, but you know. The usual." She was crowd surfing the emotional atmosphere of the room, and of her current companion as well. She couldn't draw on it like she might have if she hadn't forsaken the White Court, but she'd learned to read people in other ways. "How about you? Are you still in Chicago?"

[dresdensluck]

"Yeah. Exactly." A small genuine grin formed as he looked at her again. She was smart, and quick to catch on. He'd have to remember that.

"Good to hear. Sounds about like a Tuesday. " Or any day ending in '-y', really, but Tuesdays were just evil. Everyone knew that. He nodded to her. "There and Winter. It's an interesting commute." She felt a lot different to his senses than a White Court vampire, but he remembered Thomas saying Inari had not followed the path of her sisters, so hopefully that was a good sign.

She definitely had the allure and the sexiness down. Harry snapped his mind away from that and his eyes from wandering, and looked around again. "We should get a table, and see if we can learn anything about how we got here."

[whitefoxkitten]

"I've heard it can be pretty brutal," she said with a sympathetic shiver. She tried to stay out of court politics of any kind, but she knew enough to have a healthy dose of respect for the whole thing. Somebody had to keep the balance.

She nodded, and glanced around the room. From what she recalled, Harry had always been a little hyper-vigilant, but at least he seemed somewhat more relaxed now. "Do you want to lead the way?"

[dresdensluck]

"It can, but you can get used to it." He smiled to her. She seemed to be nice, and he was glad for something and someone of the familiar, as they looked around. He nodded to her question. "Sure." He led the way to a table near the door, to look for more clues, and pulled out a chair for her. "After you..."

[whitefoxkitten]

She figured he'd have a better idea where to sit and observe, so she let him choose, and gratefully accepted the seat that he offered her. "Thank you," she said, tucking her slender legs beneath the table. "And not just for the whole chivalry thing just now. I've had to do a lot of adapting, myself, as you can probably imagine. But I've also been really lucky in a lot of ways, and I haven't forgotten your part in giving me that chance."

She smiled at him, and nodded her head. "So, thank you."

[dresdensluck]

"You're welcome." He inhaled quietly as she say, his view clear and he averted his eyes as he went to sit next to her, so they both could see each other and the door, clearly. He glanced out at the stars again and breathed out slowly, smiling,ignoring how close their legs were.

"You're strong and smart, and you deserved a chance then. I'm just glad I could help." He nodded back to her as he sat, considering her. "What made you decide to get involved in the paranet?"

[whitefoxkitten]

She watched him as his eyes swept the room, letting her gaze slide past his when he looked back. "It was kind of hard not to, once I knew what the world was really like," she said with a shrug. "I guess there are just some things you can't un-see, and I wanted to be able to do something about what I saw. You know?"

[dresdensluck]

"Very true. And I understand. Some things are right, and you know it when you feel it and find it." He knew a few things like that, even if he did tend to ignore them, mostly.

Harry smiled at his own silliness, then stretched, feeling muscles ache slightly. He'd have to figure out a good exercise regimen for starship life. "I wonder if they are sending anyone to explain things to us..."

He refocused on her. "Talk to your family lately?"

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari shook her head. "I've sort of fallen out of touch with Lara, and I think that Thomas thinks that he's protecting me by keeping the family drama as far away from me as he can," she said, "But I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps an eye on me from a distance." She laughed, and muttered, "Dumbass," under her breath.

"I guess we all do what we feel is the right thing."

[dresdensluck]

"Alright. The family tends to be like that..." His smile was a chuckle as he shook his head.

Then he nodded to her, smiling. "Yeah. We make mistakes, and we find our own truths, but one way or another, we do what we think is right."

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari laughed, and then sighed. Life was a crazy thing, sometimes. "I guess we won't be sending any postcards from here, anyway," she said, "But it's nice to see at least one familiar face."

[dresdensluck]

"You never know. Later, if I can access the Nevernever, maybe we can get even more than that." He winked at her and put one finger along his nose. "Maybe." He was wary of making promises about such things. But he would sure as hell try.

[whitefoxkitten]

"It's okay," she said, "I know we have to try to play by the rules. Although...we might have to learn what the rules are, here, first." But she knew he would do his best to look out for her.

"Do you think there's anything I can do to help?"

[dresdensluck]

"Sometimes, breaking the rules is as important." He smiled at her. "I don't know. It depends on whether or not you have the ability inside." She should have manifested by now if she did, unless... the white court blood? Could that have tamped it down?

he nodded slowly and smiled. "We can try to see." Just then they were interrupted by a man in uniform, and Harry chuckled as the man greeted them, and explained about the ship, and the situation.

An hour and a half later, they were stepping into the main area of the guest quarters and looking around, having found them by instructions. "Well... I guess this is where we stay for now..."

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari smiled. They'd had to break a few rules to get her out from under her father's rule, so there was certainly a time and a place for it. But arguing with ship security on the first day was probably not a good idea. So she just tried to absorb as much of the information as she could, until they were directed to their new accommodations.

"I guess so," she said, peering around the tall wizard to see what there was to see. "So what do we do now?"

[dresdensluck]

"Well, I guess we can choose rooms. Apparently every door leads to two bedrooms around a middle common section? So we can room together, or merely near each other, your choice." He trusted her to be nearby. She knew as much as most.

[whitefoxkitten]

"Okay," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm used to having roommates, so it won't bother me, if it won't bother you. Unless you want the space to build a workshop, or something?" She figured he would probably want to start collecting supplies as soon as possible. He didn't seem like the type to sit back and pretend like he was on vacation.

[dresdensluck]

"Not while we're in here. There's too much chance of our working getting messed up in here, too much... interference. Maybe once we're in more normal quarters. " he paused, then colored slightly. "Er, when we each have quarters, I mean." He didn't mean to assume. Oh Hell's Bells.

He smiled and randomly pointed to one. "Maybe that one?"

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari nodded, and blushed, in spite of the fact that she'd understood what he'd meant. "It's okay," she said, ducking her head. "I know." She smiled, and opened the door that Harry indicated--looking over her shoulder at him as she stepped inside. "Come in and take a look around."

[dresdensluck]

Harry nodded. Well, at least if he was going to be awkward, she was too. That wasn't bad, right? He wasn't sure why it reassured him, but it did.

He watched her step in and it took him a moment to draw his eyes to hers and nod, stepping in, looking around, stepping close to her side.

"Looks... like a motel."

[whitefoxkitten]

Yeah, they could be dorks together. It was all good.

She took a turn around the common room, and then looked back at Harry, her head bobbing once in assessment. "About what you'd expect for temp-housing, then," she said, "But it could be worse." She smiled, and plopped down on a sofa.

"I guess we have plenty of time for catching up now, huh?"

[dresdensluck]

Dorks of the Universe(s), unite! Or something.

"Sounds about right, yeah. The replicator might be weird to get used to, but not terrible. We can experiment and see what it can spit out." He winked at her teasingly.

"I suppose so." He extended a hand and gripped one of hers. "We'll just have to see what happens, roomie."

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari clasped his hand, feeling both the tingle of power that ran across her skin as their hands met, and the echo of Harry's amusement. She also felt an answering surge of happiness bubble up inside herself, and she smiled as she tried to keep it from spilling over through their connection. For some reason, her sensitivity got dialed up a notch or two when she touched people. Or things.

"I guess we will."