August Pre-Hurricane Post | Open Mingle

[imsorey]

[It's the calm before the storm—or at least the not-quite-so-bad-weather before the storm. The winds are starting to pick up, the ocean is rolling, and all manner of sea creature is heading for cover to ride things out.

But at the base, there's still lots to do as usual. Whether it's getting ready to hunker down, goofing off, or making friends, there's never a dull moment under the sea! Have at it, and remember to check out the OOC planning/mission signups to see what's going on!]

Comments

here there be dragons

[oneandmikleonly]

[they hadn't know what to expect when they sent the drone down into the Void to investigate, but the two-hour live feed from the camera runs on one of the lab computers, and -- while not all of it is action-packed -- there's a lot more to see down there than they thought. the cute beluga friend is worth watching for a while, of course, and the large predator it takes on a chilling sight.

but the real surprise comes at the end; if nothing else, the massive roar from the unseen entity might draw you into the labs to see what's going on, even if you don't go in there normally. in which case -- have fun watching a Reaper get eaten like a turkey drumstick just before the feed cuts out.

if you can see Mikleo where he's seated nearby, you might notice him clutching the edge of the desk hard, arms and shoulders tense. after a moment, he'll think to do another telpathic broadcast to the whole base, though this one's very succint]

So . . . let's not take a submarine into the Void anytime soon.

team welp

[splinten]

[Dirk sits beside Mikleo and Jake, watching the recording. It's mostly boring, so he's also working on his own project. He has to double check Magister is safe and sound when they see the Cute Fish, and he is actually concerned for Alien Beluga when it goes off. He should go diving to check that out later.

Or. Maybe not. Dirk's hands continue to work at the speakers. It is completely automatic movement.]

...Hm.

It's a good thing we didn't dive too deep.

[oneandmikleonly]

It's nice to know not everything in there is hostile, but --

[but TWENTY REAPERS AND A REAPER-EATER, FRICK]

-- yeah. We're going to need to think outside the box further if we want to deal with what's down there anytime soon.

[imsorey]

[After Mikleo's last escapade with the giant evil dragon, Sorey is on standby for the drone excursion, hanging out in the lab reading a book and taking a peek at the feed every now and then to see what's there. As soon as he hears that roar again he's on his feet just in time to see the feed cut out.

whelp that was horrifying.]

Let's hope it stays down there for now.

[inject]

[ Valentine was working up a sweat while working on her antidote. She was in a different part of the lab, but when she pushed away from her desk to shakily put a hand to her head and make the room stop spinning, she happened to look at the screen. It was at just the right moment.

Suddenly, all of her work on taking down the Reaper Leviathans seemed pathetic. The logical part of her brain knew that of course it wasn't; they were a predator close to home that needed to be dealt with. But super soldier who faced off against the Gigans and worked in close quarters with the Skullgirl or not, she still felt primal fear at the sight of that larger predator.

The fear abated. She took a deep - and slightly raspy - breath. ]

Well now.

Looks like we've got bigger fish to fry.

[superseding]

[ Hotaru is not in the labs ( but she is on her way there to see if Sanson is there), so she's a bit confused. ]

Mr. Mikleo, what happened?

[smileyfaced]

[Chara always had a soft spot for animals. It doesn't matter if there's other people in the lab. They ignore all of them, choosing to sit off to the side where they can see the footage while remaining apart. It's a good way to spend the day and to learn more about what's living nearby. Once or twice, when the friendly animals play with the drone, it almost seems like they're smiling, but only for a little bit.

Then-- the end. Regardless of what they've faced with Frisk, they're still a kid. Chara, who'd been sitting with their knees pulled up, flinches at the roar and their fingers dig deep into their arms. They don't look away, but it's clear they're skittish.]

Is that what you were looking for?

delayed team whelp

[bonomial]

[Don's expression, tinged slightly with horror he can't entirely suppress, shows all that needs to be said on this particular subject. But he speaks anyway, because... wow.]

I... uh... definitely glad that we went with the drone route first.

Food raid

[imsorey]

A: Is this edible?
[The trip to the Aurora is relatively peaceful, weather aside, and with most of the animals going into hiding there's plenty of time to do a thorough search for supplies. There may be some slight wandering from the path when they see something new and exciting, but for the most part Sorey's intention is to raid the food supplies with only a small pit stop in the generator room for anything else that they can carry.

Most of the bad food is immediately recognizable by the putrid smell, but there's still enough to make the trip worthwhile—at least for someone who can recognize the food packages. Most of them are somewhat obvious, but Sorey is eying a few with suspicion before adding them to the pile.]

Is there really food in these?

B: Tetris with food
[With their prizes brought safely back to the base, the only thing left to do is put it all away. But there's, well, limited storage space in the kitchen given what's already there, so they might have to get creative.]

a

[superseding]

[ Hotaru picks up and turns a can over in her hands, looking for the printed date. It'd be really helpful if she knew what year it was on the this planet or if even the cans on the Aurora aligned.

She smiles at Sorey. ]

Yes, people invented ways to shrink and process food so they could be stored for a really long time... I wonder how long all this food has been sitting here.

[ She hopes the spoiling is more from the fact that the ship's falling apart and damaged and not from way too much time passing. ]

B

[vigilantims]

[ this is why yuri doesn't do puzzles. he's staring at the fridge trying to .... move things over so he can make room for some of the food packages before giving a frustrated sigh ]

Hey, got any room over there?

[ for any of this stuff that doesn't have to go into the fridge because there's no room ]

[sniptuck]

[ hajime has been a very busy bee since arriving on the base, doing super important things! and by important things, i mean, she's just been running around decorating everything. from doing things like making paper crane chandeliers to hang from the ceilings to helping out with the painting, she is doing her best to make sure their underwater home is not boring looking. wait why is she sticking a paper mache panda to the wall.

maybe you run into her doing that! or, maybe, you spot her working on sewing clothes for people with the help of the trusty fabricator. she's also sewing together stuffed animals for everyone to snuggle with. anyway hajime is definitely hard at work doing Very Important Things and you should come say hi or go ???? ]

[imsorey]

[Sorey does in fact pause to watch her hang a paper crane chandelier from one of the ceilings, torn between bafflement and excitement.

Excitement wins out.]

Do those come in different colors?

[superseding]

[ Hotaru runs across Hajime when she's making paper cranes. She can't help but be drawn to it, and her feet take her over to Hajime before she can stop herself. ]

Can I help you? Do you have enough paper to make a thousand?

[ Hotaru doesn't see this as anything but Very Important. ]

[bonomial]

[Paper cranes definitely make Don a little nostalgic for his home, and for his father's very Japanese sensibilities, so Hajime might catch a ninja trailing her at what seems like a respectful distance.]

Impressive technique on the paper folding. Can you fold a dragon?

[He's become rather fond of dragons as of recently.]

[alienates]

[ early one morning after the 1st, everyone will be having this letter sent to them. it's also been posted in all of the common rooms. why does karkat suddenly feel like it's very important for the entire base to expand their knowledge of the concept of romance? ~it's a mystery~

but anyway please feel free to message him after receiving it or just spot him sticking one of the pieces of paper to the wall idc do whatever. ]

[hopefragment]

...

[If Hajime were the paranoid type, he might assume that having this letter dropped off has something to do with their previous conversation. Especially considering how it explains, in detail, how blackrom is supposed to work. Even after reading it, he's more confused than ever. Fortunately he can see he's not the only one who got this, so while Karkat's putting one up on the wall, Hajime corners him.]

You can take this letter back. This all sounds way too stressful.

[scytheology]

[Ruby didn't even read the letter when she got it; she just looked at the header and the name of the person who sent it, and then her eyes kind of glazed over when she got to the wall of text. and she thought her spastic professor's lectures were hard to get through.

she at least does know who sent it though, so when she sees the troll next, she plainly asks,]

Why are you so shout-y, even in writing?

[imsorey]

[He spots Karkat putting up one of the letters on the wall and hovers behind him to read it in the meantime, his face growing more and more perplexed with each passing sentence. What do half of these words even mean. Why would someone mean them. But he waits patiently until Karkat is finished before accosting him.]




...I have some questions.

[napstablook]

[ Much like Sorey above them, Napstablook happened across Karkat as he was sticking one of the bits of paper to the wall. As they had silently floated up, it was entirely possible that he wouldn't know they were there until they spoke. ]

Oh... that all seems really complicated... I think I'll stick to making tunes.

[mythbuster]

[ Loki steals a paper from Karkat's pile and skims it while Karkat is busy pasting. His one eyebrow raises, and stays raised. He can understanding thinking that humans are narrow-minded about romance, but the language of this flyer seems, to him, narrow-minded in a different way. Well, at least this is probably harmless. It's not like Karkat can force anyone to adhere to these strange categories. ]

Do you care this much about the base's romantic activity? It's a little creepy.

[smileyfaced]

[So. Apparently someone's really intent on making others understand alien romance. Chara doesn't care one way or another, but they happen to spot Karkat putting up his essays in the common room they were bumming around in. This nubby alien has to be the author--Chara can spot the blocks of grey text from a mile away.

They scoot over to Karkat's side, hands folded behind their back. In their best, innocent kid voice, they ask:]

Are you single?

[showybusiness]

[ Mettaton literally did not give two shits about reading anything past the first type "romance" was written. ]

OooOOooo! Are people on this base... FALLING FOR EACH OTHER? Oh, the drama and the gossip!

[lamortespoir]

[ Karkat has probably seen Sanson around once or twice, but given the Servant's reclusivness this is probably the first time they're meeting proper.

He extends one hand, holding the letter out. ]

Thank you, but I have no need for this.

[bonomial]

So, you actually did write a thesis.

[This is Donatello, being Legitimately Interested in the weird alien romance. Sure, it's weird, but... it's fascinating as all heck. And he understands feeling weirdly outside of traditional romance norms.]

I gotta say, auspisticism seems like a heck of a difficult job. Human cultures have a platonic version of that, and that can be stressful enough.