lusi | (no subject)

[ he tries to remember how much of earth has julieta seen. there was a stray remark once from iok saying she ate a butterfly, and so -- ]

Maybe .... a place for yourself first, before you start meddling with animals. [ a pause. ] Or insects, for that matter.

[ what if julieta just .... eats the chocobos, that'd be a scary thought. and he wouldn't put it past her. ]

Although if I'm being honest, I'm this close to getting an upgrade for my Gundam. Kimaris Vidar was made for space battles, not ground assault. The only reason why I haven't done so is because I don't really want to waste a box for it if there's no use other than travel.

I always used to have to shelter wherever I could find a place so I don't mind. Something like this would be nice though.

[ She always listens when he has advice for her but she can't help but get the feeling he's teasing her. If not for the birds' popularity she might act on her desire to sample them. He's not wrong. She'll have to come up with another way to satisfy her craving. If one day she is rewarded with a freezer full of meat she would not mind sharing it with him. Until then she'll work with the kind that comes in a can. She selects a few and takes them to the counter. ]

What do you think of the other pilots?

[ a freezer full of meat would be delightful, though. he'd totally want some. ]

The other pilots ....

Well, Suzaku and his friend are rather young, but I don't think their world has a sophisticated organization where mobile suits are concerned the way Gjallarhorn functions.

Amuro is probably the one closest to ours -- ask him to show you his Gundam if he hasn't already, and if he'll be nice enough for it. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't mind updating to something like it when we get back ..... I don't think I'll get the funding for it, but I can dream.

Suzaku... He's a weird one.

[ It's easy for her to forget that she might be considered young. She isn't sure about his friend but Suzaku seemed to be around her age. Part of what she likes about being a pilot is that things like that are less relevant. She'll remember to go find Amuro though. If Vidar finds his Gundam so interesting then Julieta wants to see it too. There's so much more he could tell her about it than she could tell just by looking at it herself. And she does need to meet more people. She considers that while she goes to fill up some pots with water and put them on the stove. ]

Why do you say so?

[ what has he done now. ]

He threatened me at gunpoint in the hangar.

[ If she sees him again they are going to have words. ]

Don't worry, I took care of it.

[ vidar sighs. ]

I'm glad you're not hurt, but also, be careful. Not because he can fully hurt you, but because I firmly believe he's a masochist and doesn't know the extent of pain he can inflict on himself.

After a while, it comes to a point where lessons wouldn't mean much, at all, beyond incurring the same old apologies again and again.

What a nuisance. Did he come for you too?

[ This is sounding more and more like someone she doesn't want attaching to her. ]

I dealt with him. [ a shrug. ]

On that regard, you don't have to worry about me. And Suzaku can be fairly reasonable when he's not .... partaking of weird things that this world offers, which always seems to be the case.

Things like that don't make it easy to trust people around here.

[ She'll keep that in mind. Since she already knows Vidar to some extent she should be able to tell if something is wrong. With others it won't be so easy. Some people are just like that without any help. ]

I agree.

But it's just a matter of being patient and seeing how consistent they are without the influence.

Any other problems, well. We'll deal with them accordingly, or you can -- you're capable of it, and I'm not too worried.

[ julieta, at least, he can rely on to be responsible for herself. ]

[ That seems reasonable to her. He may have just saved a life. She appreciates that he trusts her to take care of herself. If she needs help she knows she can ask him. There may still be things she can't handle on her own but she'll always try first. The danger of exploring her limits is that she might not be prepared to find them. ]

I should be able to secure myself a place soon. You don't mind if I stay here until then? I won't be in your way.

Of course.

[ he glances at her busying herself with his kitchen, pointing out where certain food items or utensils are if she needs them. ]

What would you like for your own place? [ he can't even imagine julieta wants much, she's very practical. ] Personally, I'm thinking of upgrading mine with an armoury -- small arms and explosives could be useful, since we can't always have our mobile suits here.

[ She gives him a smile and a short nod. He won't regret it. She'll make sure if that. Maybe part of it is wanting to spend more time with him and get to know him better but she won't overstay her welcome. ]

I'll keep it small. This seems like a good location near the hangar. It does seem like a good plan to have more weapons. I don't think I'll be spending much time there. A secure shelter is all I really need.

They don't like it when we have the mobile suits in the city, which is annoying. And a lot of the more terrible events descend into street fighting, or personal fighting, anyway. Might as well consider having a variety of weapons on hand.

[ vidar is thoughtful as he folds his arms over his chest. ] So far, most of the people I've encountered haven't been a pain, but it never hurts to be prepared, either.

How about a big knife to cut down unruly plants.

[ Not that she has any experience with that. And it is annoying that they can't have the mobile suits in the city. Just because they can destroy everything doesn't mean they will. She needs to keep her skills at their best. ]

Of course. Among other things.

[ vidar tilts his head. ]

What are you making?

We have rice, vegetables and some chicken broth.

[ It should be just about done. She lifts the spoon to her lips to taste. Unsatisfied she shakes her head and abandons the pot to poke her head back in the pantry. She doesn't want to make it too complicated but it still needs something. ]

Stir that for me would you? Are there any spices in here?

[ uh. stirring. okay. ]

Sure.

And spices ... there should be, I haven't used them much. [ he's a guy and he doesn't cook often, he has the most basic of spice racks. salt and pepper should be there, but the rest of them had been hardly touched. ]

[ He's been paying attention, right? Right? Thank goodness there's something there, if untouched. She grabs a few, including the ubiquitous salt and pepper, and takes back over. No measurements just whatever seems about right. She holds the spoon out to him. ]

That should do it. Try some.

[ he tries it. ]

Ah, I think it needs more salt and pepper. I kind of like it more on the saltier side.

[ he'll take the ones he put back and starts adding a bit more .... ] We never really had the time to do much of these back in the ship.

They sure kept us busy. What do you do with all this free time? Besides card-related activities...

[ She agrees about the spice but keeps an eye on him to make sure he's not adding in too much. It's all too easy to cross the line into inedible territory. They can go ahead and serve it up now. She grabs a bowl and helps herself. There wasn't much effort involved but she still managed to work up an appetite. ]

There's not much else to do, is there? I've been running maintenance on my Gundam, just to make sure it's all ready to go whenever.

[ although -- ]

I'm not quite confident on that 'whenever', though.

Do you think something might happen here that we'd need them for?

[ And some for him as well. She thrusts the bowl at his chest. It might be a little hot but she's already starting to eat hers like it's a race to the bottom. He ought to be able to make it himself now. Next time she comes over she can cook something with meat. ]

When we leave, of course. I doubt they'd make it easy for us to do so.

[ goodness, he nearly drops the bowl at that. at least he manages to put it on the counter before he actually does. he grabs a spoon and fork and starts digging in to his food. ]

Thank you.