revivalproject | It's the Little Things

Entry tags:

It's the Little Things

WHO: Celty Sturluson and you
WHERE: Temba Hangar, Twin Roses
WHAT: Spaceships...
WHEN: Mid-month
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: Will match pose pref

a. The overly glittery circumstances outside gave the Black Rider more than enough reason to prefer staying somewhere indoors more so than venture out. The snow had been much more preferable, and at least it didn't linger for long once you set foot inside. She looks distastefully at the trail that follows her and her motorcycle into the hangar. Well, that won't do.

b. Surely no one would think it strange for her to bring her motorcycle aboard the ship, nor so strange to bring it to the shower room to rinse off the offending sparkles. She doesn't expect anyone will complain since most seem to be enjoying the festivities outside. That's perfectly fine with her. They can wonder about the wet motorcycle that sits in the cargo bay if it comes to it. Celty meanwhile will enjoy a shower herself. As nice as the hotsprings are, the thought of having to drive back and forth through the glitter is less appealing.

c. Later on she sits in the cockpit, staring at the array of buttons and switches before her. It's even more disturbing that she knows what most of them do, now. Her fingers brush over the controls and the steering yoke before she eventually draws her hands back, shoulders hunching as she folds her arms. Could she really fly this thing? She still has some mixed feelings about it.

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Kaz had been likewise hiding out in either the Greenhouse or more often in the Hangar since he didn't much want to go out in the glitter rain at all. He noticed that the bike was leaving a trail of glitter behind it, too.

"You're gonna have to get used to that if you plan on riding that thing outside."

She didn't have a visible face to convey her annoyance, but the lift of her shoulders suggested she might have been scowling. Celty turned her helmeted head to look back towards the hangar's entryway before shaking it and coming closer to wherever Kaz was. She removed her tablet with a practiced gesture, quickly tapping out her reply.

[It can't last forever, can it? I have nowhere I need to be, but if I need to, then I'll deal with it.]

Kaz had both hands resting on top of his crow's head cane. He only glanced at the tablet screen in her hand once.

"If those vents on either side of your machine are meant to take in air, then that glitter may become more of a problem than you realize."

[Don't worry about it.]

It was obvious she wasn't. Her motorcycle had all the moving parts but it certainly didn't function like normal ones. The glitter was more of an irritation than a real hindrance. Not that she explained or felt she needed to.

"I'm not. But if you would let me find an engineer to recreate it, you wouldn't have to think about it becoming damaged in the first place."

Yes, Kaz was still wanting a copy of Celty's bike for himself. He didn't know that it wasn't like a regular motorcycle.

[It'll be fine.]

Celty shrugged off the suggestion. She did have to wonder that no one had tried to make some sort of transportation aside from the ships here, however. It was a much higher tech than she was used to, so it was strange that everyone still defaulted to walking.

[Are there no vehicles that could be repaired here? Or did the Agrii walk everywhere?]

"The only vehicle that didn't need an animal to pull it I've seen is the speeder and there aren't many of those."

In Ketterdam, horses were a luxury because the streets didn't allow for them, and everyone just used the canals to get around otherwise. Celty's bike is the first time Kaz had seen a single-person vehicle in use.

"If the Agrii did anything other than walk, they didn't leave it for us to find."

[They don't seem to have left a whole lot in general. Although that doesn't explain the ships. Did they have to be repaired?]

Her head turned towards the shuttles that were docked, still a strange sight to her. It was like entering some kind of strange museum or a movie set, and even now it was still difficult to really believe that they were functioning ships.

Kaz looked back at the ships and shrugged a little.

"Not since I've been here, but I can't say before that."

Kaz had only been in Temba for about a year though. He'd been on the ships when they took off, at least. Since most of Temba was strange to him, he didn't think of the ships as any stranger than the rest.

Celty continued to look thoughtfully at the ships at that. So much she wasn't sure of. Maybe she should ask about it at some point, although she wondered if it would make any difference. It didn't really solve the absence of public transportation within the city otherwise.

Shrugging, she started to resume walking her motorcycle towards the ships, trying to ignore the glitter that sparkled off of her wheels.

Tommy hates glitter storms. Fuck glitter storms. He grumbled as he tromped onto the Twin Roses, intent on finding the shower so he could get clean. Unlike others, it wasn't easy for him to use the Hot Springs, not without a power overload. But damn if he had to just... stop.

And look.

At a motorcycle.

"What the actual hell?"

It was a perfectly normal looking motorcycle, if you discounted the fact that all its parts were black. And that none of the parts that should be metal reflected any light. Other than that, perfectly normal!

It might have even seemed embarrassed to be caught making a big ol' puddle on the floor but of course, it was just a motorcycle.

No, it was NOT perfectly normal, because it was in the hold.

"Okay, who the fuck brought this on my damn ship?"

Tommy glowered at the thing, approaching it to poke at the motorcycle.

The motorcycle remained where it was, even when poked. But what did one expect?

Eventually the faint sound of footsteps would be heard as someone else entered the cargo hold. Freshly showered and her riding blacks glitter-free, Celty tilted her cat-eared helmet at the young man who was pestering her motorcycle.

Of course it remained where it was. Anything else was stupid. Though he looked up when he saw the person there, and raised an eyebrow.

"This is yours then," Tommy said, poking the thing again. "No one else new on the ship, and this is brand fucking new. Also what's up with the helmet? So inefficient for wind resistance."

The woman stared at him for a long moment before she removed her tablet from her pocket, pale fingers sweeping across the screen.

[Yes, it's mine. Do you have a problem with it?]

And her fashion sense, she might add, but she was still puzzled as to the young man's attitude. She hadn't realized people would be so territorial here.

Another person who doesn't talk. Geez they are filling up on those now.

"Well, it's taking up space, but fuck, you're also part of the ship so not like I can fucking complain. Just make sure if we end up in space it's properly secured. Anything that crashes into my hydroponics will get spaced."

Celty looked around, her body language suggesting a flat look as she shifted her weight and leveled her helmet at him.

[There's plenty of space in here. You'll just have to get used to it. It wasn't my idea to be assigned to any ship in the first place.]

Truth be told, she'd rather just stay with solid ground under her feet. The thought of going out beyond the skies was more than a little disturbing.

"I'm going to get used to it, I just don't like it."

He had feeligns about this hold, but they came down to the fact that he missed Wanda. Which wasn't here or there he supposed.

"We haven't been in space in a while. But it's gonna suck when it happens. And it will happen. Don't bet against it."

She could bring the motorcycle into the bunk room but there was even less space there, and certainly that would be strange. The hold seemed the best choice. It wasn't like they were flying anywhere right at that moment anyway.

Mention of space made Celty cringe.

[I don't look forward to it. It's still difficult to believe.]

There sure as fuck wasn't bunk space there, and Tommy woudl flip over wasting the space. Claustrophobia, he was just like that.

"Yeah, me either," Tommy sighed. "I mean, I can believe in space, but I hate it."

[I still have a hard time believing these actually travel in space. For the moment it could all just be a really elaborate movie set.]

Celty hesitated, then resumed typing.

[Just...in a very remote place.]

"They do. Been on them when they have. A few times. Hate it."

But he shakes his concern off.

"Hell, even those little shuttles move, once we're off planet."

The woman gave a silent sigh. She supposed she'd just have to see how things went, once it happened. It wasn't something she exactly looked forward to.

[Then I guess I need to familiarize myself with this ship.]

Celty tucked her tablet away with a practiced movement. Since Tommy wasn't going to be dumping her motorcycle out, she felt she could leave Shooter where he was. Turning, she started back through the doorway to explore the rest of the ship and its alien offerings.

"Yeah, sorry about it, but you might want to. It's been a while. Could mean it will happen again soon. They used to do it to us a lot."

He wasn't expecting her to just, well, walk off. Which was rude. So he moved after her, by her side in an instant. Speedsters, what can you do?

"We haven't had someone new on the ship in a while. What's your name?"

Threatening to space her motorcycle was pretty rude so far as she was concerned. This however was more along the lines of habit. There was no simple way to transition in conversation if you wanted to move on when you only had your phone to communicate. She considered her business done then. Talking more about spaceships just made her more anxious.

With Tommy suddenly there beside her, the woman jerked to a halt. Her tablet didn't appear as instantaneously but it was pretty fast for how quick it was in her hand. She hesitated as she seemed to stare at him before finally tapping out a response.

[I'm Celty. Celty Sturluson.]

Yeah, well, he's fucking Rude. He reads what's on her pad and nods at it. Makes sense.

"Nice to meet you, Celty. I'm Tommy. Resident 'been here forever' on the Roses. Lance has too, but not specifically on the Roses.

[How long is forever? Or should I ask?]

Celty thought a moment before she quickly added: [Never mind, don't answer that.] She wasn't sure she wanted to know how long people had been here. It was depressing enough just being stuck here to begin with.

Well, he could tell her, but she was clearly typing something so he held off.

"Yeah, that's a fair point. I mean, people might tell you, but there's only five of us left, and of those, three were with the Fleet before."

[Fleet?]

That would mean... a lot more ships than this, wouldn't it? Or maybe it was just a very small fleet go begin with, if there was such a thing.

[So there were actually a lot more people before?]

A lot more ships from what Tommy's been told.

"I don't know. I wasn't here then. But people have come and gone from here over time."

Bucky was definitely curious about the wet motorcycle sitting in the cargo bay, wondering where the hell it had come from, and what kind of wrath he might be facing if he tried to take it out for a spin. It had been far too long.

He had heard the shower running when he came in, assuming the owner must be the one inside, and he took the time to admire the vehicle.

"Who was lucky enough to find you in this place, mm?" he wondered. Maybe it belonged to no one. Maybe it was another gift from the Agrii...?

It would have made for an interesting attempt, anyway. The motorcycle looked very much like what one would expect of a motorcycle. It was just very black. Everything was black, even the parts that should obviously be metal, and nothing reflected light. Odd.

Crouching by the bike, Bucky frowned as he tried to work out how the effect was achieved, waving a hand in front of it and seeing no sign of reflection.

He caught his glove in his teeth and tugged it off to skim the fingers of his right hand over the material and try to gauge what it was made of.

It was certainly solid. It felt like a motorcycle and had the weight behind it. Just ignore that ghostly whinny, it was probably your imagination.

Maybe don't ignore the footsteps that enter the hold then, however.

His head tilted as he caught that whinny, but he was quickly distracted by the sound of footsteps, freezing up and withdrawing his hand apologetically as he straightened.

"Is she yours then?"

Despite her slight build, Celty could be an imposing figure in a dark alleyway. She wore a black bodysuit but the most notable thing was the yellow helmet with the stylized cat ears. Her visor gave no hint of the face behind it, dark as it was.

No answer was given, at least verbally. The woman pulled out her tablet and tapped up a quick response before turning the screen towards him.

[He is, yes. Did you need something?]

Ah. He.

Bucky offered an apologetic nod and shoved his hands inside his pockets.

"No, sorry. I was just admiring. I haven't seen bike in a long time, and nothing like yours."

Celty supposed she shouldn't be surprised for all the attention her motorcycle drew around here. She nodded back, relaxing just a little.

[It surprises me that there aren't more personal vehicles around to be used.]

"The Agrii don't seem big on personal transport. You're going to be getting a lot of envious looks," Bucky confirmed.

"I'm, uh- Bucky. Sorry. Guess we'll be shipmates? Maybe if we get friendly enough you'll let me take a ride sometime?" he said with a faint smile and a nod towards the motorcycle.

She seemed to sigh at that, not that any breath could be heard expelled behind that helmet.

[I figured as much. Well, I don't mind giving a ride or transporting anything if needed, though.

I'm Celty.]

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It's the Little Things

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