tushanshu | Text; Don't judge.

[She's actually impressed there wasn't any questions. A first, and a relief. Some questions became way too complicated, even a couple that she didn't have an answer for.]

Um, dollies are something else on my world. What's a Lama?

[Avatar dollies sounded weird. Cute. But weird.]

Good! You can be my guinea pig. [A smile creeps across her lips.] Apparently I don't have the same tastes as others, so you can tell me if this is tasty enough for everyone else.

Edited (Um, yeah. No courier new in video...) 2013-07-08 00:58 (UTC)

No, it's-- uh. It's a title, 'Dalai Lama'. [He stresses the individual syllables a tiny bit, just to make the distinction clearer.] He or she is the spiritual leader of an Earth-based religion, Tibetan Buddhism? Don't-- [he waves a hand] don't ask me to explain, I'm not really the religious type. Basically he's said to be reincarnated.

[OR... SOMETHING...]

Oh come on, how bad can it be?

Ooooh. That’s his title, okay. [That small distinction really helped. Though Korra did think dolly lamas sounded cute, even though she had no idea what it would look like. She opened her mouth to ask for a detailed explanation about the similarities and difference between the Avatar and the Dalai Lama, but closed it when Jim insisted to be spared.] Reincarnated spiritual leader. Got it. [Actually, that raised about a few hundred more questions, but Korra just sat on those to spring on someone else.]

Have you tried sea prunes? [Asked as flatly as possible, assured what the answer would be. Everyone has, they’re everywhere and apparently taste awful. A cheap, plentiful food source for Korra though.]

I didn’t season the jerky with them if you have. [She felt the need to add that in. Scaring off a potential taste tester would be bad.]

When would you like to try some? [As dried meat, it would keep for a long time. Perfect for rationing out fish that normally go bad after a couple of days if not frozen.]

Nope, but I have had Andorian wedding stew, which purportedly knocks about thirty percent of everyone who tries it unconscious, and that didn't kill me.

[He sounds probably more proud of this than anyone should be. Ever. But that's okay, he's Jim Kirk. He's got more pride than all the lions in-- wherever lions are these days.]

Whenever? It's not like there's a list of pressing social engagements on my agenda.

Wow, no, nothing like that. But if you want to try sea prune stew, you can! I made a fresh batch the other day. [Possibly finding someone who doesn’t think sea prunes are Satan’s turds dropped in the ocean and were actually quite tasty was a victory to Korra. After all, two water tribes can’t be wrong, right?]

Don’t worry, it’s not a wedding thing, just a Water Tribe dish. Hm, maybe dipping the jerky in the stew…

[Saving that experiment for later, Korra gave Jim a thumbs up.]

Glad to hear you’re not popular either! [That didn’t sound quite right actually, but Korra rolled along anyway.] What sector are you in? Unless you want to head over to mine at ME-2B.

[And then as an afterthought:] You’re not secretly some kind of ’creepy’ guy, are you? Because you seem like a nice captain, and I don’t want this to turn out bad.

[Bad meaning pummel and physically throw outside.]

[Anything else he might have said is shot completely out of the water at Cora asking him if he's a 'creepy guy'. He screws up his face in a look of extreme distaste.]

What? No!

Oh good! Then yeah, we can totally do this right now. Can I see your captain thingy?

[A few beats before she realizes that might need some clarification.]

Like how some have hats or medals, I mean. Would you mind bringing that?

[Not that she's doubting him, her tone is just full of curiosity over it.]

['Captain thingy' oh my god this girl is going to be the actual death of him. Jim rubs a hand over his face and tries very hard not to grin.]

We're not really... my dress uniform's back home. See this shirt?

[He plucks at one shoulder, lifting the yellow fabric up slightly.]

This is a colour that indicates the command track in the 'Fleet.

So you guys are all color coordinated. Huh. I like just wearing what I want. [Thankful she didn't have to deal with that, having to look at someone's shirt just to see what rank they were seemed like something she'd get tired of real quick. But now she just had to ask.] What does blue mean then?

[For some reason she expecting some kind of futuristic-y signification of rank. Maybe a holographic set of medals or disappearing/reappearing tattoos.]

The colours represent divisions, not ranks. Command track is one of those divisions, the others are science/medical and engineering/security, it's--

[Excuse you, Korra, your lack of being-impressedness is seriously harshing his groove.]

ME-2B, right?

[That sudden question pre-empted Korra’s semi-unflattering follow up and it showed the way her mouth was slightly parted, words stumbling on her tongue before getting into the air.]

Yeah, I’ll leave it unlocked.

[That was her cue to actually started cleaning up the bowl, cup, and notes she had sprawled across her desk from spending the last coupe of hours on the network.]

[AND SO HE JUST HEADS OVER THERE because it's bound to be easier than trying to explain everything on cameras. Jim hates this whole culture of not just talking to people face-to-face. It's not like the Federation doesn't use their fair share of long distance messaging, but when you're in the same city it just seems lazy. Useful! But lazy.

So he actually prefers talking to people straight-up, which is why he's perfectly cheerful by the time he gets to Korra's place and knocks on her door.]

[There’s actually a fairly long pause after he knocks. After a few moments of silence, Korra’s voice can be heard from within, albeit muffled.]

Just a second!

[Then the door swings open to show Korra standing there with a cup filled with ice-slushed floating fruit and straw, the other (wrong) hand giving an incorrect salute.]

Captain on board. [She chuckles and sidesteps to let him in, offering the cup to him.]

That is what they say, right? [There wasn’t too much she knew about militaristic procedures. After all, General Iroh was the first person she ever met with that kind of background and the way they met didn’t allow for her to really ask him any questions.]

[Jim grins, salutes her back (properly, as much showing her the right technique as returning the gesture) and steps inside, taking that cup with a faintly raised eye. Where the hell did she get ice this time of year? He didn't think the freezers were cold enough to produce it.]

'On deck'. We say 'on deck'. Or 'on the bridge'. It kind of depends on where you are. So what is it they say about Avatars?

Wow, I was that off? [Korra took mental note of it, she had every intention of greeting him again like that when he least expected, which he probably got often so ‘never’ might apply. Teasing is one of the strongest Avatar traits.

She returned his look at the cup with sly smirk, but said nothing. If anything Korra was content to let him come to his conclusions later.]

Hmm, it usually goes along the lines “Hey Avatar Korra” or “It’s the Avatar, get her!”, take your pick. [The word Avatar in her little example is wrought with sarcasm. The latter she says with a ‘What can you do? shrug.]

No salute though. Unless you count fighting stances as one. Have a seat.

[Grabbing her own half-full cup from the desk as well as a clear bag filled with fish jerky, Korra looked to see where Jim would sit.]

[Well okay then. He kicked his boots off by the door and ambled inside, flinging himself down on her couch with the bravado of someone who may as well own the place.]

That a problem? People picking fights with you, I mean.

[He takes a drink of that -- whatever it is -- and raises both eyebrows appreciably. It's actually pretty good!]

Guess so. Seems to come with the territory of being the Avatar. I mean in only six months in Republic City I had revolutionsts threatening the city, trying to get a sneak attack on me, a power hungry councilman kidnap me, the leader of those revolutionists kidnap my friend, knock me out, have me hunted down, and even took my bending away.

[Her mouth turns to a line of a smile on only one side of her face.]

So yeah, just a bit of a problem.

[Grabbing a chair to a small dining table, Korra dragged it over to sit at the end of the coffee table in front the couch and not to far from Jim. She set down her cup on it and took out a strip of fish jerky, putting it between her teeth before tossing the bag to Jim.]

Gotta say, I really like "on bridge" a lot better.

Edited (Too many LIKES Korra, this isn't Facebook, omg.) 2013-07-13 23:12 (UTC)

['That's rough, buddy'.

No really, he has no idea what to say to that, so he just sort of grimaces, runs a hand over his face.]

Six months, huh? Do I even want to know what life's like normally?

[Not that he hasn't done a lot since he became captain, but... it's different for him, he's Starfleet. Even if she's the 'Avatar', Korra's still just a kid. What, seventeen, tops? And Jim likes her. That's important.

He shakes his head briefly, and brightens again at the further discussion of ship-wide terminology.]

Well, a bridge is a specific part of the ship. 'Deck' is more generic. The bridge is where the captain, pilot, first officer, navigator-- basically the entire command crew are during flight and combat.

Normally? [Asked with a wry grin.] Normally at the South Pole I'd be in the compound, training like I have been since I was four. [Korra took a bite from the jerky, salty with some pepper and a hint of lemon.] Really feels like a prison sometimes, but it's all to keep the Avatar safe. [The last four words are said with actual finger quotes and a roll of her eyes.]

And that's where the steering wheel and stuff is, right? I knew bridge sounded familiar, but really I just assumed that was the ramp they used to board people with. So if all the commanding people are there, where is everyone else?

Since you were four.

[That's echoed with a faint sense of incredulity because that sounds ridiculous and not even remotely awesome, what the hell!]

Uh-- [STILL KIND OF DISTRACTED BY THAT 'FOUR' THING.] Yeah, something like that. We don't actually have... steering wheels or anything, it's all pneumatic -- [flounder] -- no steering wheels. But otherwise yeah. Everybody else is all over the rest of the ship, down in Engineering - that's where the warp core is - or in the med bay. There's a million functions a ship needs to run smoothly, we've got a crew of over a thousand people.

Yup. [Korra happily took a bigger bite. The strips weren't that large, but plentiful. She caught the unease in Jim's voice.]

So you have phones or radios set up to call parts of the ship and stuff?

[Korra's assuming radios because having an phone operator on a ship just sounded too ridiculous.]

Benders usually discover their first element when they're about twelve or thirteen, past Avatars included. Since the last one, Aang, was hunted down by the Fire Nation's army, the White Lotus tried to find the next Avatar as soon as possible.

[Korra pauses before taking a sip from her straw. The floating fruit she had been sipping from over the past hour melted. Nimbly, she twirled her index finger over the opening and the contents swirled, turning from liquid to ice. Then she happily drinks.]

Lucky for them I was an early bloomer I guess. [A pause.] Er, the White Lotus is a group also dedicated to keeping order.

[She takes the last bite of her jerky and is about to reach for the bag she tossed to Jim before she pauses.]

You can have one you know, you're the taste tester. Not me.

[Technology exposition is so hard. Where's Chekov, he could explain all this!!]

It's way more advanced than phones or radios, but-- same basic principle, yeah. We've got communications officers that specialize in hailing other ships or planets, too. The scale is hard to imagine if you aren't used to space travel.

[It's like saying 'picture the size of Sirius as comparative to Sol' and expecting someone to know what you're talking about without giving them the tools to understand the comparison. Jim shakes his head and falls silent, then, as she talks about her world, and then - lightbulb! jerky, right - he takes a piece out of the bag and then tosses it back with it between his teeth.]

And then they just kept you locked up? That's kind of...

[HE MAKES A FACE and gestures vainly with one hand. How to edit language around a teenaged girl??]

Not cool. And this is pretty good.

[A wave of the jerky.]

So advanced better-than-radios. Like the consoles, only smaller? [That was far as she going to understand without seeing it for herself.]

Well technically, no. I wasn’t locked up. I mean I could go out and ride my polar bear dog, take some little trips around the South Pole and see my parents. Sometimes it just felt like a prison. Usually when people got angry at me. [She shrugs. It was her life, so she wasn’t about to complain about it anymore than a normal teenage girl would complain about not being able to leave the house any time she wanted.] But yeah, it made a lot more sense once I got to Republic City. First day I got arrested, and then trouble just kind of found me.

[After talking to Stocking, Jim’s swearing would seem courteous.]

Excellent! I’ll bring the idea to my boss and see if he can market them.

Closer, yeah.

[Awh, she's cute and catches on pretty fast. Jim gives her a fond smile-- but there's only one thing he gets out of the next bit.]

Polar-bear dog? I thought you were from [Jim there are much more polite ways to say 'technologically underdeveloped planet' than the ones you're thinking of.] -- a place that didn't have the technology to do gene splicing?

What do jeans have to do with polar bear dogs?

[She was seriously suspecting Jim was actually drunk and just barely managed to pass himself off as sober most of the time.]

Don’t let it melt on you. [Korra waved her hand so his fruit slush was cold again, causing the outside of the cup to develop a thin layer of frost.]

Although it was kind of funny to picture. I mean, it’s cute when a fire ferret is wearing clothes, so why not something like a hippo cow.

[She’s not talking nonsense, honest.]

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