Cohort Mingle

[complicatedliar]

WHO: Hux, Leonard, Keith, Natasha, Loki
WHERE: Whatever ship we're on
WHAT: Enforced in-person (UGH) mingling
WHEN: Event
WARNINGS: None thus far.

Seems like a good idea to have a post for mingling while everyone's trapped on the ship!

Comments

Bones

[thatsjusttypical]

1. Nothing like being stuck on board a ship with four total strangers, most of whom seem bad-tempered. Not that Bones is a walk in the park by any means, but he needs people like Jim around him to balance him out. When everyone's grumpy, it becomes a badly perpetuated cycle of sass and eye rolls.

After checking out the med bay, Bones heads to the kitchen to make coffee. He already misses the replicators and how quickly they're able to churn out things like coffee and food. After the coffee percolates and he pours himself a cup, Bones finds himself distracted by something else in the room.

For whatever reason, there's a statue of a chicken in the galley. Bones finds himself staring at it as he drinks his coffee, because what else better does he have to do anyway?

He only has one question: "Why?"

2. Honestly, the bunks aren't that bad, especially compared to the run-down hotel they've been staying in. He misses his CMO's suite on the Enterprise, but this will do. He had tried to claim a room quickly before he went off to inspect the med bay. When he comes back, he finds someone sitting on his bed.

"Uh. I was in here earlier."

1

[outstandingbalance]

The chicken isn't new. Not for Natasha, at least. She's seen it before. Being familiar with it and knowing why it's there are two completely different things.

Which leaves her with just one answer: "Why not?"

[thatsjusttypical]

She's kind of right, isn't she? Why not? Bones shrugs.

"Why not any of this?" he asks, and takes a sip of the coffee. It's probably akin to battery acid, but you got used to bad coffee in space. "I honestly don't even know why I ask anymore."

[outstandingbalance]

"I'd assume because you expect things to make sense." Most people do, but bringing back the ships like this, it's layering their new captors absurdity on years of the Atroma's and the crews trying to work within it. "But it's not going to. Not really."

[thatsjusttypical]

He gives a shrug, conceding her point. "You're probably right. Expecting logic at this point is too much to ask for some reason."

Bones rubs a hand down his face before turning back to Natasha. "I take it you've been here a while?"

[outstandingbalance]

"Not here exactly, but I've been around," Natasha says, sighing through her nose and casting a glance around the galley. "And I've been here before, kind of. The ship, before it was here."

[thatsjusttypical]

"Can you tell me about that?"

He's heard that there is a group of people here who know each other from some place they were all at before. Not from home, but from some other planet or ships like this.

"You guys were on these ships before?" he asks.

[outstandingbalance]

"Yeah, we were. This one is Starduck. I knew one or two people who were on it." Which is sort of Natasha's way of say she's fine with telling him about it, though she's not entirely sure how much there is to say. "I was on the Vaquish. No chicken."

[thatsjusttypical]

He gives a short laugh. "Guess we're the only ones blessed with that."

After taking another drink of the coffee, he turns to Natasha again. "So, you guys were taken from your homes too, right? Then put on space ships? What happened after that?"

Bones is trying to get an idea of the timeline of how events have occurred thus far.

2

[tempredmental]

Keith looked up at the voice and then glanced at the bed.

"Oh... you claimed this one already?" He got up. "Sorry."

[thatsjusttypical]

He kind of realizes that it's a jerk move. It's not as if any of his things were in the room... not as if he had any things here. Thank God his tricorder was on his person when they'd all gotten sent to the ships.

"I mean... it's probably not that big of a deal. All of the bunks look the same except for the captain's one."

[tempredmental]

Keith's expression darkened just a bit with the mention of the Captain's bunk, but he nodded all the same.

"Yeah, they do. But, it's still nice to know that someone else isn't sleeping in your bed, right?"

He'd been through the whole room claim thing a few times before already. He wasn't put out or anything. In fact, he started moving towards the door after picking up his black and red motorcycle jacket. Better hope Bones doesn't have an allergy to space wolves or snow leopards... There was a leopard cub that came out from under the bed, and there was a bit of bluish wolf fur on Keith's black t-shirt. There was also an empty knife sheath strapped to the back of his belt...

[thatsjusttypical]

Bones would understand. He misses his captain too.

Then a freaking leopard cub comes out from under the bed and Bones is taken aback. "What the hell? Is that yours?" He has a lot of questions, but mostly why is there a leopard cub on this ship?

[tempredmental]

That was a part of it. There were other thing, too... like how it always ended up on his shoulders somehow...

"Huh?"

Tiny leopard cub is friendly, Bones! She comes over and rubs against the doctor's leg.

"Oh, yeah. That's Snow. I got her on some ice planet while I was in the Drift Fleet. She's harmless, and won't get any bigger."

[thatsjusttypical]

Bones freezes, mostly from shock. A cub can't do much damage compared to an adult leopard, but it's still surprising, to say the least.

"That's an interesting pet," he says, watching as the cub weaves between his legs like a house cat would. "So if you were with Drift Fleet, that means you've been here a while, doesn't it?"

He's heard people talking about being all together before they landed on this planet.

[tempredmental]

"Yeah... a few years off and on. I've been home and back again a few times... I think." Keith shook his head. "It's kind of hard to keep track. Time got really messed up lately." He crouched, getting Snow's attention and she came to him. "Snow's pretty interesting, but you should meet Kosmo." Keith smirked a little.

[thatsjusttypical]

"Really? You got to go home and then you came back?"

He can't imagine how annoyed he would be if he got to leave this place and then suddenly found himself back here again.

Bones watches as the leopard goes to Keith, then raises an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know what Kosmo is?"

2

[complicatedliar]

Loki glances up from where he's sprawled untidily across the bed, one foot slowly moving in a way reminiscent of the tail of a cat. "Were you?"

He waves a hand to take in the small space. "Must not have been terribly long."

[thatsjusttypical]

"It wasn't."

Honestly, did it matter much? All of the bunks were the same except for the captain's bunk, which Bones didn't feel right taking. From what he can tell of this man, he's kind of surprised that he didn't take that room.

The doctor shrugs. "Whatever. I didn't put anything in here. Not that I have anything to put in here anyway."

[complicatedliar]

"No one does," Loki comments. "Another disappointment."

Because if no one has anything, there's nothing to steal or rearrange or repurpose into game pieces. And he's checked all of the rooms. Which is what he was doing here.

"Better than a ruined hotel, I suppose, but not by much."

[thatsjusttypical]

The only thing he has, other than the clothes on his back, is his tricorder, which had arrived with him, slung around his neck. It's better than nothing, he supposes. At least he can do his job if he has to.

"Yeah, I'd say," Bones replies, "so long as nobody gets claustrophobic." That's the last thing they all need to deal with.

[complicatedliar]

"I suppose we'll see if someone ends up sleeping in the cargo bay," Loki remarks. It is the biggest area in the ship. "I'm more curious where these ships will eventually be used to take us. I doubt we'll have any more choice in that than we did in being here at all."

It's making him cranky.

[thatsjusttypical]

Bones grumbles. That's the last thing he wants to think about. At least this situation is somewhat controllable. If they go into space, who knows where they could end up?

"Probably not. The Agrii seem to want us all to make friends. I hate to break it to them, but this is not the way to do it."

[complicatedliar]

"They seem to want a lot of things," Loki observes. He gives Bones a mock-shocked smile. "But how can you say such a thing? You, a charming and personable glad-hander, and me a social butterfly, loved by all who meet me? Lah, sir, I am shocked."

[thatsjusttypical]

He has no protest to that. Bones wouldn't deny that he's ornery. He embraces it.

"Always a great idea to throw perfect strangers in a large tin can and see what happens," he says. "How long have you been on this planet?"