2010-04-27 - Beat Connection

THE ARGAMA

A PRETTY HAPPENING SHIP

NOW

New places are hard to get used to, especially when they're spaceships and you've only ever lived in normal space things like colonies. The key is to find familiar comforts -- things that you know and can help acclimate you to your new surroundings. In the case of young Tanith O'Gasmeter, apprentice Argama helmsgirl, this is the vending machines, amazingly.

"--and I thought they'd be totally different or something, I dunno, but they seriously used to have this same machine right outside my work. I think mobsters owned it because it was the only one in the city, I'm pretty sure, where if someone tagged it -- and everyone tagged, I tagged it a bunch of times -- it'd get cleaned off the next day, and--"

The generic crew member in line behind Tanith's eye twitches. "You know," he says, cutting her off, "you're holding up the line."

Tanith glances back at the people behind her, now numbering seven deep, all waiting for a chance at the machine marked 'HAMBURGER.' She frowns -- her eyes, obscured from view, are no doubt wide with penitence. "Oh, uh, sorry," she mumbles, sheepishly, and vends herself a hamburger.

Last night, the one and only pink MVF-M11C Murasame in the hangar deck returned to the Argama an absolute mess: Holes punched into the right-hand side of the chest, armor stripped away across the chest, and ... what was /left/ of the shield was in absolutely terrible shape, the tip bent sideways and full of burnmarks and torn holes.

It was supposed to be a routine outing; Katharon suppliers were coming out to space, and the closest group to the orbital point, well. Rachel Miu Athha was ready and more than willing to go out and escort them to one of a few different waypoints, but from guncam footage and the report submitted to the crew, it was anything but. The Ahead Smultron appeared almost out of nowhere.

She left out the more emotional parts of her report.

Now, still tired and a little sore, the door to the mess slides open to admit the white-haired teenager, wearing her Morgenroete t-shirt and half-stripped mechanic jumpsuit with the sleeves tied around her waist, she strides inside and ignores the "HAMBURGER" vending machine, instead heading straight to the coffee.

The medical eyepatch she's been wearing for the last week is notably missing, but she's keeping that left eye shut for the time being.

Depth perception. That shit is dizzying.

THE ARGAMA

RIGHT THE HELL NOW

Judau Ashta crawls through the ventillation shafts of the Argama, legs and arms scrapping across hard, hot metal as he drags himself across tight corridors. Sweat drips down his brow and smears the eye liner that for some reason decorates his face. Tugging uncomfortably at the skirt of his dress, the boy grunts once.

"Man, what the hell was she thinkin'--" The shaft begins to groan. Judau looks down, eyes wide, as the metal beneath him begins to depress.

"Oh c'mon--"

THE ARGAMA

RIGHT THE HELL BEFORE

Judau Ashta sits in his quarters, having been confined to them for the past two weeks or so after sortieing the Double Zeta without permission, a decision that has not only brought him more questions than he ever thought he'd be able to worry over at one time, but an infinite wealth of boredom.

This is why, when Elle Vianno enters, she finds him currently playing a rousing game of paddle ball with himself. He seems not to notice or acknowledge Elle, simply hitting that ball over and over boedly. The girl pauses, a frown creases her lips before she walks over calmly -- and smacking the paddle out of Judau's hands.

"H-hey! What the hell was that for?!" Judau demands angrily, looking up at the grinning blonde.

"I got an idea for you to get out of here, stupid!" she retorts, pointing upward at the ventillation shaft with her right hand; the left is held conspicuously behind her back. Judau looks up, and squints.

"I already thought of that, they'd catch me before I got anywhere--" It is by the time Judau looks down again that his bright green eyes are assaulted by a far too red dress being shoved directly into his face.

"That's why I brought this!"

"Wh--what's that supposed t'be for?!"

Elle grins cheekily, winking as she gives Judau a SUPER THUMBS UP.

"Incognito, incognito!"

"..."

STILL THE ARGAMA

BACK TO NOW

"I AM NOT /THAT/ FAAAAAAAUUUWWWAAAAGH!"

CRASH

Ceiling and ventillation caves in at the Argama's mess hall as Tanith vends her meal and Rachel makes her way to the coffee; thanks to the wonders of gravity, though, the debris falls at a delightfully slow pace, like pushing through molasses. The sheer oddity of this is only added to the fact that Judau Ashta is falling /with/ it, dressed in a completely unflattering long red dress that somehow only seems to further enhance the fact that he is definitely a man.

"--AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH--"

The make-up and lipstick don't really help, either.

"--HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--"

Whud.

"... ow?"

Qira Lassiter had gotten here earlier and is currently eating her Neo-Boca Neo-Burger, along with her neo-fruit salad (contains no actual fruit) off to the side, when someone topples down like the magic word had been spoken, producing a rain of transvestites.

She looks at Judau with an expression of silent support for his new lifestyle decision. Complete with a little smile! She even gives him a thumb and index finger 'OK' -- mostly because her mouth is full of non-meat.

MEANWHILE, ON THE BRIDGE

Captain Quattro leans against a bulkhead, reading a new crew statement off of a clipboard. He sips from a lidded disposable cup helpfully marked TEA. People rotating off for other non-combat assignments, others returning to combat duty from their easier postings, and a few coming in fresh. Though Bright is currently not on the bridge, Quattro prefers to stay out of the captain's chair.

Saegusa, one of the helmsmen, is helpfully asleep while his partner Torres drums his fingers on the display panel. His eyes are cast directly down into his lap where he is hiding a copy of NEO HUSTLER. It is their 'GOOD GIRLS OF RIKSENT GONE BAD' issue.

"Looks like you'll be able to start rotating out duties again, Torres," Quattro says. Torres falls out of his chair trying to catch his magazine. Quattro continues: "She's a little young."

"Agh, another newtype? Just when I was getting used to those little Zeta sociopaths. Oh, by the way, captain, your shipment came in from the Ptolemaios--"

Quattro raises his cup and nods. "I heard. You've got the bridge."

NOW, IN THE MESS HALL

Quattro stands in the doorway with a lidded disposable cup helpfully marked COFFEE. Judau is near his feet. His expression is blank. "How handy are you with fixing ventilation systems, kid?"

Tanith O'Gasmeter, duly chastened by her embarassing hamburger-machine faux pas, drifts toward the other set of machines to get a drink. She rolls up on the Lite Beer machine just as Rachel arrives at the Coffee one -- and something buzzes in her brain like an alarm clock going off.

Tanith -- whose depth perception is somehow better than Rachel's despite having /both/ eyes covered -- takes off her hat, this battered old brown cowboy thing, and holds it by the brim in the hand also clutching her individually space-foil-wrapped hamburger. Her free hand comes up to the back of her head, rubbing slightly. "Huh," she mutters. It's like listening to a sound and slowly figuring out what direction it's coming from -- but not that slowly, because it's right next to her. Reaching over to push the 'gimme a beer' button before anyone can get in line behind her and complain again, Tanith looks over at Rachel, turning her whole head because ha ha ha eyes.

"Hey, are you okay--"

And then: Judau. The most fearsome ladyboy in the AEUG lands with a huge clatter, and Tanith's sentence stops dead in its tracks as she turns to stare (presumably) at the landing. "I-- wha--"

Stage whisper, to Rachel, as the Lite Beer ka-chunks out of the machine: "/Does this happen here often?/"

Before Zero Joined K-tag.

Macua is on the Argama enjoying a lovely chicken sandwich. Oddly these processed things are amazingly good and Kai was right about them. She'd have to tell him he was right about them being good.

NOW

Macua is on the Argama and there's not a chicken sandwich to be found. Not since the great pizza hut purge of all things chicken save the life one from the ship. She's now munching on some pizza while she sits at one of the various tables. She's chomping away, then she gets a newtype flash? Wait while having pizza and then comes Judau on high in a dress just has her staring at Judau, finally she says.

"That Dress is so not your colour."

It's no lie. When she got back to the Argama after catching up with the supply boat, the pilot of the girliest machine in the hangar managed to get back to her bunk before burying her face in her pillow and crying herself to sleep, right there in her flight suit. The emotions she felt are still lingering there, clinging to her mind and not letting go.

But then, Amuro's protoge now has a cup of coffee, complete with safety space-top to keep the bitter hot black cup of joe from scattering around the mess and making someone have a bad day. Taking it away from the vending machine, warmth reassuring through her hands, a familiar tingle hits the forefront of her mind, glancing over her shoulder. Newtypes, newtypes everywhere!

Then she looks to Tanith, the younger Athha's left eye opening slowly. Though her golden-color eyes are a little sleepy, there's a bit of honest confusion on her face. "Huh?"

Enter: Julianne Ashta.

Turning around to stare just as much as Tanith, Rachel's mouth opens to speak. She says nothing, instead pausing for a few moments before it closes. "... I wish I knew."

Groaning, Judau rubs the back of his head with a light, delicate touch. Even with the slow fall, he's a little jarred; bits of a white sleeveless undershirt can be seen ungracefully slipping out of the openings of the dress, and a pair of black slacks emerge from just beyond the hem of the red affair's skirts. It is, quite possibly, the worst disguise ever.

Which clearly means it /would/ have been the /best/ disguise ever.

But there's no time to linger on the past. Especially as Judau hears, but barely comprehends, the people talking around him -- some of him, he realizes, are probably talking at him.

"It's... not my dress..." he painfully and desperately insists at Macua's comment, as if in some attempt to salvage his dignity.

"... otherwise I look totally awesome in red."

And then shatters it.

Flipping back onto his rear, he prods the sore spot at the back of his head gingerly, wincing as he turns green, bedazzled eyes upward -- to stare pointedly at one Quattro Bageena. Fixing ventilation systems?

"Uhhhh. I dunno, I'm pretty good at 'em, I think. Why are you ask--" Judau pauses. He looks back at the ceiling. Then at Quattro. Then at the ceiling. His brows furrow.

"... I mean sometimes I, y'know, overestimate myself a bit." A long moment of silence passes, and Judau can't help but wince inwardly as Qira gives him such a supportive 'OK' sign. He looks back at Quattro, vaguely pleading.

"Aahh-- ah heh heh heh, uh-- You're not gonna like, ground me more or something, are you?" He considers this. "... At least don't tell Bright an' the others." His gaze sweeps the room. His frown deepens.

"Mannnnnn... there goes my cred."

Surprise!

It's Amuro Ray, and he looks like shit, as is his wont following prolonged periods of isolation in his lab or quarters. Ink smudges all over his face and hands, soot and god knows what else colouring his pasty face. He's wearing a stained muscle shirt, a pair of striped boxers, ratty old slippers and an incongruously expensive blue robe over it all.

He sets foot in the Mess a few moments after the kerfuffle begins, and promptly decides to ignore it entirely. Stepping gingerly over the cross-dressed Judau, Amuro blatantly cuts in line at the HAMBURGER machine and orders up.

Thankfully the other five people in line are too busy staring at Judau to notice this transgression.

Qira swallows her mouthful of bean compound. "Oh," she answers Tanith merrily, "this is a weekly peak, I think." She looks momentarily over at the filthy Amuro Ray cutting in line, which is, after all, bad karma, and steps up and over to look down at Judau. One hand goes on her hip (the other full of hamburger) as she leans forwards, her blouse still incompletely buttoned. "Do you need a hand up..."

which guy is this

let's see, he's not wearing bellbottoms and so he's obviously not banjo

he doesn't look squinty so he's obviously not kai

can't be amuro, amuro's over there

doesn't look pissed so it can't be Camille "Sub-mariner" Bidan

isn't wearing a push up bra so it can't be Bright

Quattro's over there

thus:

"Judau?"

Quattro, being unexpectedly helpful for a stern commander in giant sunglasses, offers Judau a hand up. It is not his COFFEE hand. He's sipping that. "I'm sure he'll find out one way or another." Someone snaps a picture. Come on, microcameras. There's always one. "Talk to Astionage for what you need to fix it."

Amuro sweeps in and completely ruins this otherwise completely normal moment. Quattro turns his head and frowns. The special Amuro-Quattro Newtype Brainchannel goes 'ping' in that 'what the hell, man' way that pings sometime sound like.

Tanith frowns at Rachel's reponse -- not a disapproving one (probably), but more of a sympathetic kind of thing at their shared confusion. When Qira responds, Tanith nods a couple times, gently; she's had a long time to adapt to 'having to use motion to make up for her expressiveness lost via haircut.'

But there's still that nagging buzz in her head, and it makes Tanith feel kind of lousy as she reaches for her space can of Lite Beer. Rachel didn't answer before, but something about her -- maybe it's her expression, or something hiding behind the tone of her voice, or maybe Tanith is just /that damn good at reading people on the fly/ (which is what Tanith thinks it is): "No, seriously, you okay? You seem kind of-- oh, whoa, over there, it's Amuro Ray!"

That last part is delivered in a hushed but excited hiss, as if trying to avoid broadcasting to the whole room that Tanith is seeing a famous person for the first time. There's also Quattro, but Quattro is busy being mean to the ship's resident comfort woman or something. "That is so cool!"

For a moment, she glances at Tanith, then to Judau. She'd spoken to him before over the radio, but the younger of the Athha sisters has never actually met or seen him in person... making this, of course, quite the first impression. The dress, the makeup, the ... pants...

Her eyes make the rounds about the mess hall, picking out the familiar ones. Quattro and his fantastic hair plus sunglasses stand out, Qira made an impression on her at their first meeting. Close by is Macua, whom if the other Newtype looks her way, she'll offer a small wave.

And then, she looks at Tanith again. Legitimately, too, giving her a quick up-and-down so the uniform and pins sort in her mind before her gaze falls on her face. The unseen eyes throw her off a little bit. Paying more attention to the question, she brings the cup of coffee up to her lips and takes a short sip before putting her thumb back down on the zero-G protective lid.

"I'm okay--"

Cut off again, she looks toward the source of her excitement. "Oh..." It takes her a moment to parse Tanith's reaction-- she doesn't quite get the excitement, really. Trying her best to crack a slight, if sad, smile at the young man, ragged as he may look, Rachel lifts her hand up again to offer another wave. "Hi, Amuro..."

"Well I mean, it's not like I'm really great at it or anything, if you got someone who's better you oughta let them do it, y'know? I don't wanna make someone feel like they're not contributin', ah ha ha ha--"

Which is when Qira comes around. Judau's laughter stops. He blinks, and stares.

"Uhhhhhh." The young Newtype scratches his scalp, tilting his head to the side.

"Errr, n-nah, it's alright," he says awkwardly as he takes Quattro's hand and comes to a stand, squinting at Qira as he goes.

"... Y'know, your shirt's unbuttoned," he offers up, helpfully.

Judau Ashta, the smoothest man.

Brushing dirt and dust off of his dress with an unusually careful touch (reminded of how Elle said she would 'end him' if he ruined it), Ashta looks around him, having completely forgotten his attempts to sneak out of the Argama as he turns his gaze towards Tanith and Rachel. He doesn't know either, but that one girl looks sad. She... /feels/ sad. He can't put his finger on it, but--

"Man, are your eyes missing or somethin'?" he instead elects to ask Tanith, not even remotely attempting to be funny. "That is the weirdest fashion style I've ever seen."

And with this comment, Judau tugs his dress down to let the skirt hems pool around his worn-out sneakers.

Macua Huitl is grinning at Judau for a moment "Oh really? I'll have to make you prove that later, Judau Ashta!" She does back up a little bit from this and she looks back to Rachel who waves at her. She gets up from where she was eating and heads for Cagalli's sisters. She seems amused by Judau's antics though. "This gives me an idea for my younger brother later." She grins widley at this, the little hellion would pay. "You doing all right I hope?" She looks at Tan a bit confused for a moment then also feels the presences which is her picking up Quatro and Amuro arriving to the hall.

She shoots Judau a bit of a look at the comment about Rachel's eye. It's not too long though it's more of you shouldn't comment on that look, than THE LOOK.

Amuro gets a hamburger. Mechanically, he unwraps the processed food item and walks over to a chair, still ignoring everything which is going on in the room. A notebook is produced and opened on the table, in which he begins to write as he stuffs hamburger into his face, hardly seeming to notice the very act of nourishment.

Gradually, however, his Newtype senses impinge on his focus and he sighs, setting down his crappy dollar store ballpoint pen and turning his head towards the assembled. A brief scan brings (some of) their names, and he turns his attention momentarily back to the notepad. The Newtype looks torn, especially when he starts chewing on his thumbnail.

After a lingering moment, he sighs again and closes the notebook, putting it back into his robe. Grumbling, he takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and runs it over his face, clearing off some of the soot and ink and making him look vaguely human. Fortunately Judau is still the centre of attention, so there's no hurry to be, ugh, social. Finally, he stands.

"Yes hello how are you I'm fine," he says. Then: "Nice dress. Hi Rachel. What day is it."

Qira takes a small bite out of her hamburger while watching Judau be hauled up. After swallowing, she says, "It's not polite to stare, you know."

Her attention then goes over to the nearby Quattro Bageena, who she is tall enough to look in the -- mirrorshade. "Captain," she says with a dip of her head. "It's a pleasure to see you around." Her eyes momentarily flick to the side, towards Rachel and the menacing gnome-like figure of Amuro Ray approaching her...

Quattro ceases to glare at Amuro. Still, he's in the same room as Amuro, which usually means that the people who have been on the Argama for awhile are prepared for a sudden fistfight for no readily apparent reason. He instead gets an eyeful of Qira Lassiter, which is not difficult considering she is taller than him and right there.

"Thank you, Qira," the captain says. The name is easy to remember partly because of his familiarity with most of the numerous former Zeon pilots in the AEUG, and also because she is tall and dresses strangely. Relatively speaking. He moves toward a table and the slight inclination of his head probably means it's okay for her to follow.

Tanith is mildly amazed for a moment, as far as anyone can tell. So this girl, the sad one -- 'Rachel' -- knows Amuro, and Amuro Ray knows /her/, and oh wow this is just so radical, is what Tanith O'Gasmeter is thinking about now. It's sinking in: 'I'm actually on the Argama! I'm actually around these people! This is /totally happening/!'

Then the moment is spoiled, as many are, by Judau Ashta. Tanith pauses in her thoughts to face the dress-wearing boy. Her head turns down, and then slowly moves upward, as if to convey that she is indeed sizing him up. "So, uh," she says, not bothering to lower her voice or anything.

"You know that by your age, most girls don't let their moms pick out their dresses, right?" Tanith doesn't actually have a clue how old Judau is, but he looks close enough to her own age. She starts moving like the others, torn between table options -- sad girl and Amuro Ray (who appears to be on drugs, /just like a real celebrity/), or tall girl and Quattro Bajeena (space Kanye West). Hmm.

Still looking at the Gundam pilot with concern, she adds to Tanith and Judau, "It's a lovely dress."

Amuro speaks, looking like he's been cuddling up with the One Ring for the last few hundred years. Thankfully not a hobbit, the white-haired girl immediately moves closer to his side, without the hero worship or envy that seems to be written on her new coworkers face.

The sadness around her is injected with worry, and she does a rather poor job of hiding that fact with the shift of her expression and the hand that reaches out to, by god, rest on his shoulder.

Her brow creases with that worry, and her golden eyes narrow down a little bit. She's frowning, maybe just a little bit.

"Amuro, have you been sleeping...?"

Admittedly, she hasn't been on the Argama that much lately since her surgery and subsequent recuperation, but that's all in the past. She's on the ship to stay, reasonably speaking, so this whole situation is a little horrifying... especially since he's supposed to be the one helping /her/.

Judau looks absolutely dour as Qira speaks, snorting once as he looks towards the ruined ceiling and rubs at his neck. "I wasn't /starin'/, it's not polite to /assume/, y'know," he retorts. Hobbling away awkwardly with his confining dress, he continues to mutter, bitterly:

"It ain't my fault if you can't even remember to button up your damn shirt...!"

Staggering slightly as he attempts to figure out just how to actually move in a dress, Judau is about to address Rachel now that he actually knows who she is when Tanith interrupts. His cheeks flush in a flustered blush as he snaps back around, placing one hand at his hip and POINTING the other POINTEDLY at Tanith. "H-hey! Shut up!" he responds wittily. "I didn't choose this dress-- I mean, my mom didn't-- I didn't want to-- man, just shaddup!"

'Nice dress.'

"IT IS NOT A NICE DRESS--" And then Judau notices who it is. "--oh hey, Mr. Ray!" he says, in a rare respectful moment. "--Whoa, you kinda look like hell. You didn't eat bad hamburgers, did ya? I heard the ones in the vending machine are goin' bad lately--"

Judau only pauses as he feels someone GLARING at the back of his head. He shudders, turns, and looks at Macua.

"Wh-what?! It's just what I heard!" he insists, entirely missing the point. Qira glances at the captain, eyebrows raised, and then steps after him comfortably. Her free hand rests on her hip as she sits down, immediately adjacent to him, and then looks at Judau with a faintly pouty expression.

"Well I mean it's not like he knows a lot about fashion, clearly," she remarks (quietly) to the adjacent captain. "How are you doing lately, sir?"

"Uh... yeah," Tanith replies, her mouth forming into a frown of perhaps mild disgust when he starts pointing at her. "Look, uh, nice meeting you, I'm gonna go -- sit -- not next to you. Because you spit when you yell -- you know that, right."

As it turns out, the girl with the improbable name moves around Judau and takes a seat -- right across from Qira and Quattro, ruining the alphabet scheme the table has going on. She sets her burger and her beer down, and puts her hat back on, leaving the brim tilted up in the front -- what, is she worried about obscuring her vision?

As she unwraps her burger, Tanith looks from one to the other: "Hi!" she says, unprompted. In the back of her mind, she can feel both Rachel and Amuro's weariness, but it doesn't really register as such -- she just kind of attributes it to the sight of Judau, all flush and spittle-y, putting her off her burger, and she hesitates to take a bite.

"Dealing with crew transfers on and off, and inventory. Bright is still on leave Earthside with his wife so the work falls on me." Quattro has a way of speaking that makes him sound perpetually amused, but something about Bright visiting his wife seems to genuinely strike him as funny. It's difficult to tell what.

Topically, Tanith sits down and chirps like a teenager. She already seems nicer than Camille. Quattro pauses just enough that if Qira was tactful Zeon nobility (or dealed with them enough) she would take it to mean 'and there is one.' "You must be one of the new crewmembers. What was the name again?"

Amuro looks down at his hamburger, then up at Judau, and frowns, brow crinkling intently. "Hm," he replies. "Maybe. I'll talk to Bright." He smiles a brief, jerky smiles at that, then resumes frowning immediately.

THE WAR

"Captain Bright! Captain Bright! It's an emergency!"

"What is it NOW?" Bright demands, fist clenching on the arm of his command chair. "I'm already over capacity with problems!"

"Sir! We're out of /salt/!" wails the cook.

Bright's eye twitches, and a hissing noise which sounds very much like, "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...!" emits from his mouth.

NOW

Yes, that's what he was just remembering.

Rachel approaches, and Amuro is briefly startled, looking down into her eyes. He squints, and an awkward moment passes while her hand rests on his shoulder. "... Huh," he grunts at last. "They fixed your eye."

"And who's this?" he asks, gesturing at Tanith with his half-eaten, potentially 'bad' burger. Amuro doesn't respond to the question about sleep, which means 'No I have not been sleeping get off my back /Frau/'.

Macua Huitl is just looking at Judau and realises her mistake,m she looks quite sheepish and backs off from the younger and much more powerful newtype. Not that she realises this boy here mere pressure gets Haman all hot and bothered. She watches Rachel head off to Amuro and thinks it's best she does not follow.

Qira was distinctly middle class, but that just means she paid even more attention. She chuckles for a moment, both at the worries with inventory and at Tanith's youthful enthusiasm. She sets her sandwich down and folds her hands together, resting her chin on them and looking at the eye-hidden young person. "Welcome aboard. If this is your first day I imagine it's making a very /strong/ impression."

Suddenly, he snaps out of it. Or at least, that's what it seems like. Letting out a small sigh of relief, her head lulls a little forward. Picking her chin up a little bit to look back into the eyes of Amuro Ray, relief flows through her and the corners of her mouth picking up a little bit. "Yeah," she says, trailing off for a moment. Her left eye closes, and her fingers rest over it. "I'm trying to get used to having depth perception."

Turning her head a little bit, her face falls.

"Oh, that's..."

Rachel brings a finger up to her chin. "I don't ... I didn't catch her name," she says, looking toward Tanith, Qira, and Quattro's table. "I should've asked."

"Huh? -- Oh wow, sorry, do I really spit--" Tanith is walking away even as Judau is lifting a hand to his mouth, as if testing to see if he is really spitting while he talks. This proves to be enough of a distraction that by the time he looks up, Tanith is gone.

"... man, what a weird girl," he ultimately decides. "Ah well! 's probably the hamburgers again."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Judau continues on, furrowing his brows at Amuro as the older man speaks. The thing about the eye completely -- perhaps thankfully -- goes unnoticed. He's too focused on the poor shape of the OYW hero. Ultimately, though, his attention snaps away as he remembers something:

"--Oh, you're Rachel, huh? Rachel Moo Athha?" Judau grins a bright, friendly grin as the initial annoyance and embarassment begins to wear off; by this point he's even forgotten about the dress as he shoves a hand out in offering.

"I'm Judau Ashta!" a pause.

"Uhhh. Sorry 'bout the whole chicken thing."

"Tanith," Tanith O'Gasmeter says, loudly enough that Amuro and Rachel can probably hear it as she reaches over to offer a hand to shake -- first to Quattro, then to Qira, and in the switch nearly knocking over her unopened beer but swerving her elbow just the right way at just the right moment to clear it. "Tanith O'Gasmeter."

Then, settling back down and answering Qira's question, Tanith's lips shape into a broad grin. Her teeth are white, no matter what Johnny Domino says, ever. "Uh, since yesterday, actually! But I think the impression is... kind of... yeah, no, it's definitely an impression," the girl tries to tastefully note as she picks up her hamburger.

"But I dunno, I mean, it could be worse, right? I saw this movie one time where there was a spaceship where the guys ran out of food and so they went crazy and started trying to eat each other and then the ship blew up, or something, I don't know, I think I fell asleep during it." Tanith finishes this sentence with a chomp of her meal, cracking the beer tab with her other hand. This is called multitasking.

"You know, I think I saw that movie too," Qira says with a quirk of one eyebrow. "Didn't it have Brent Stiffwood in it?"

She slides one hand forwards. "Qira Lassiter. I used to be a supply manager, but now they let me fly like a big girl. What part of the ship are you in?"

Amuro grunts, setting down his burger and taking a seat again. "Well, that answers that," he concludes, not finding the name 'Tanith O'Gasmeter' strange in the least. After all, he's surrounded by people with far weirder names, like 'Emma' and 'Roberto'.

Sensing Rachel's relief, he turns back to his protege, then runs a hand through his wild hair. His fingers get stuck twice, so it's actually a pretty awkward-looking maneuver. "So, uh, how are you feeling?" he essays. "Did you get everything squared away on Earth?"

Quattro crosses his arms. He lets Qira do the talking.

SOME TIME AGO

Char Aznable slides his helmet across the table with his foot to give him a place to put his drink. He has not taken off his mask. Lalah Sune sits beside him. Her hands are folded neatly in her lap and she is watching the television with a pleasant expression on her face. She is not drinking. Char has the news playing again. It is already being called the Battle of Loum. Someone decided to play a list of the ships and soldiers lost, probably to drum up support for increased military spending. Char is reading and not listening.

"Congratulations, 'Red Comet.'" Lalah says.

"This doesn't bother you?"

"If it does, I should get used to it."

Char's smile is faint. "I think you'll do fine."

NOW

Quattro raises his head. "Try to keep your mind focused on how things are run, Tanith. I think you'll do fine."

"Iii -- maybe? I dunno, it was on TV or something. Neo Hong Kong used to show the shittiest movies on TV, it was like a colony requirement or something." Tanith has to stop because it's rude to talk while she's eating, and her hamburger is already rapidly gearing toward room temperature. So she eats quick. When she's got about half the sandwich gone, she talks again.

"Uhhh, you mean like working or living? Because working, I'm on the bridge. I guess I'm navigator number three, because the callsign they gave me has a three in it. Or maybe I'm like a replacement for the last number three. Did -- do you guys lose a lot of helmsmen?" The question seems to be at least kind of serious; without seeing Tanith's eyes, her expression becomes harder to read. "But I'm in the barracks with the rest of the ship otherwise, I mean, nothin' special or anything." Tanith doesn't sound like she's dissing the barracks, so much as trying to sound like 'yeah, living on a spaceship, I do this all the time, totally.'

Then Quattro speaks to her. It's right as she's taking a sip of Lite Beer. Suddenly, it catches in her throat. "Hup--!" Setting the can down, Tanith gags and clutches at her chest. "Hoooaaaggh hcck ohmanthatwentdownthewrongpiiipe hgggh uuurrgh--"

Tanith is too busy 'trying to clear the feeling of beer out of her lungs' to recall that she just felt something akin to a lighter being held under one of her cranial lobes.

"I think they just sort them out by groups," Qira says. "They haven't even given me one formally yet."

ARGAMA PLANNING MEETING

'Are we really putting the bicycle on the flight line?'

'We have like twenty Zudah frames to go through here. She's crazy enough.'

'God.'

THE WARDROOM AGAIN

"Oh my god," Qira says, "are you alright? You have to get a little used to drinking in this gravity, don't - just try to take a breath, alright?!"

"Oh... yes, I suppose." She should go say hello properly later.

Sitting herself down across from Amuro, Rachel sets her coffee down and sits straight, hands folding on her lap as she looks at the other Newtype attentively. Of course, there's Judau Ashta standing there, mispronouncing her name right to her face.

Still, she's polite enough, the calm and quiet voice, the attempt at a small smile. "Hi, Judau... Oh, but that's 'Miu,' not 'Moo.'"

Turning her attention back to Amuro, Rachel tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear, reaching for her coffee and taking a drink. How is she feeling? That's a difficult question; one that lets her mind wander back to ... last night. The fight, the way things went afterward...

Her eyes turn downward, trying to hide her frown behind the lip of her cup.

"Fine..."

More importantly. "Yes. Now that I had my eye fixed, anyway. The doctor suggested I take it easy for now, and... I only took off the bandage for the first time last night."

Green eyes squint at Rachel; it might seem rude, but Judau's thoughts are lost as he focuses on her face -- not the scars, but the hair, and the skin. Didn't Leina tell him something? Something about 'genetics'--

"... huh?" he finally says when Rachel's quiet voice calls him back to reality. "O-oh, hahaha, sorry about that!" he waves a hand in the air, an act that looks far too effeminate for what it is in that dress. "I'm not that great at names, Leina's always tellin' me--"

Something dawns on Judau, though, as he speaks. Remembering his dress, he looks down, then looks around him. At Amuro Ray, at Quattro Bageena, at Macua and the others assembled -- and then at the mess he made crashing through the ceiling. Oh, right.

"Uhhhh, sorry, but I gotta go--" Judau slowly inches to the entrance of the mess hall as he speaks, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

"-- walk the... chicken...?"

Judau is at the edge of the mess hall's door as he says this, looking briefly behind him before giving a big, awkward grin. "So, uh, great meetin' alla you, I'm sure we'll--"

"JUDAU ASHTA, GET BACK HERE--" Astonaige's voice can be heard faintly down the hall.

"--bye!"

And with that, Judau is gone, bolting down the hall in an awkward, waddle-float-run like a man on a mission.

Qira asks Quattro, quietly, "Is walking the chicken what they call it nowadays?"

Macua Huitl looks at Judau for a moment, she watches as he starts to make his escape. But here comes Astonaige, she's not getting in his way now. She watches the terror flee for his life. She'll leave the former trailer to his grim dark fate! Sides he's running through the ship in a dress. Isn't that punnishment enough for the mess?

Quattro is very nice. He does not acknowledge Tanith choking on her own sense of dread or whatever.

He very nicely responds to Qira: "I prefer to not think about Judau's personal life."

"Judau..." Amuro says, as the young man rushes off in a rustle of skirts. He frowns. "What an interesting boy." Tap tap tap on the table. Time passes before he remembers that he's in 'a conversation', and blinks rapidly. "Uh," he continues.

"You know it's, uh, pretty hard to lie to a Newtype, Rachel," he reminds the girl, looking over at the other table curiously. O'Gasmeter... why does that sound so familiar?

Tanith eventually regains control of herself, with only a few staggered 'hmm-hckh!' sounds coming out of her afterward while Qira and Quattro talk about Judau. "So wait," the cowboy-hatted teenager rasps, "he's /always/ like that?"

Tanith frowns, and tilts her vision (or what can be inferred to be her vision) down toward her hamburger as if trying to decide whether or not to finish. After a moment, she just goes for it, and makes short work of the now-tepid hamburger. As she eats, she doesn't seem to be looking around, but--

"So who's that, over there? Talking to--" Tanith's voice drops, as if it'd be rude to say it louder than a whisper, "--Amuro Ray." It comes off as idle curiosity, but Rachel's reflection has sent another pang of sadness through Tanith's mind. Clearly, that girl looking not okay affected her more than she thought! Might as well learn her name. "And, uh, sorry for... I usually know how to drink a drink."

"Oh, that's Rachel Attha," Qira says to Tanith conspiratorially, after a momentary look at Quattro regarding the modern slang for the sin of Onan. She continues explaining: "She's actually, I think, the princess's, Cagalli that is, her half sister. If I understand properly, Amuro's taking her under his wing a little bit."

She makes a vague gesture with one hand. "The captain, I hear, has that effect on all sorts of girls."

Judau looks at her. She looks at Judau. Her hand lifts up and waves a little bit. "Don't worry about it," she says, right before the fury of Astonaige catches up with them all. And then he's gone, just like that--

-- and it leaves her blinking in a bit of confusion.

Turning her attention back to Amuro, Rachel holds the coffee cup in both hands now. The smile fades, as she expected it to. They never seem to last with her, with all the things that weigh in on her mind, these days. Taking another sip of coffee to clear her throat, she draws in a breath and lets out a deep sigh.

"I got into a nasty scrape last night," she says, staring at the cup's top. Her thumb's resting on the lid of it again, though part of her almost wants to let a few drops slosh out of the low-gravity environment and watch them float about the room. "With ... someone I used to know..."

Unaware of the conversation at the other table, Rachel shakes her head. Her left eye closes, perhaps habitually, as she continues anyway. "This isn't the best place to talk about it."

"Amuro has a lot to think about."

Some time ago, Quattro mostly deduced the horrifying secret of Rachel Miu Athha and was vaguely annoyed. Camille's long-term mission to the colonies has kept him well away from Cagalli's 'sister.' Cagalli, Teletha, and Amuro will not screw this up for him. "She's stationed here on the Argama. You'll see her around. As a member of the bridge crew, you'll be expected to relay Captain Bright's orders to people like her. Their lives depend on it. It's best to keep a good relationship with the pilots."

Tanith leans in and nods along to Qira's explanation, but then takes a moment to clarify something via whisper: "Whoa, wait, so she's, like -- a princess?" Amuro Rays. Quattro Bajeenas. Scary shouty woman-boys. And now princesses. The Argama is already way cooler than drinking schnapps out behind the building next to the dumpsters with the other couriers. "That's pretty... wow."

Then Quattro speaks business, and Tanith settles back into her seat. A thoughtful little frown crosses her lips, and she refrains from drinking her beer while Quattro is speaking -- possibly out of respect, possibly because maybe he's a jinx when it comes to choking. "Uh-- Understood," Tanith says, without much certainity in whether that was the right response. Nonetheless, the vague sense of intimidation is clear.

But not /bad/ intimidation. Not entirely.

Amuro Ray suddenly sneezes, as Qira starts talking about him. Sniffling, he wipes his nose on his dirty handkerchief and shoves it back up his sleeve. "Is there a draft in here?" he mutters.

To Rachel, he frowns, studying her face for a few long moments, then shrugs. "Later, then." With a huff, he gets to his feet and ambles over to the /other/ table (clearly the /jock/ table) where he sits down without introducing himself, then pulls his hamburger out of his pocket. "Rachel, come socialise," he suggests. "It's, you know..."

Amuro can't really remember why it's good to socialise at the moment, so he just kind of waves his hand and stares blankly at a spot two meters behind Qira's left ear.

Quattro drinks from his COFFEE. He watches Amuro. Maybe. It's hard to tell with the glasses.

Qira looks over vaguely, if not through any newtype sense.

She sees Amuro looking at her and leans backwards slightly to kiss the air towards him.

Then she leans back ahead, back at Tanith. "Well, more or less, but don't get too uptight about it. She doesn't live in a palace or ride robot unicorns, or anything like that."

Thinking about it isn't going to help her that much. It'll just lead to brooding and silence, to frowning even harder, and then excusing herself to let all of her emotions out in one big burst. If she can't head to her quarters to do it, it's usually inside the cockpit of one of her Mobile Suits, where she knows she can be alone for awhile.

And then he sneezes.

Like a whipcrack, her mind is brought back to current events. Coffee, hamburgers, and socialization. "No, it... I think it's warm in here."

Wait. Socialize?

Of course, she tells herself 'If he thinks it'll be good for her, what's the harm?' Rising from her seat, she follows after with a few smooth steps against the mess hall's floor, seating herself at the table. Unsure of just how and where she's cutting into the conversation as she sets down her coffee, she offers an apologetic, "Sorry for barging over."

"Well, no, no way, I didn't mean like--" Tanith's conspiring with Qira is cut off by two things.

First is that Amuro Ray sits down right next to her and appears to be out of his mind on what is most likely some kind of space heroin, like he was some kind of space John Belushi. Tanith scoots her beer away from the man, shifting her rear a bit on the seat to -- move away from Amuro, subtly if not exactly imperceptibly.

Then Rachel comes over, and, well, it'd be rude to keep talking about her.

Or would it?

"Oh, hey, no, it's no problem," Tanith says to Rachel's apology, obviously speaking for the group. "We were just talking about you!" Not. Rude. At. All. "I mean, they were telling me you're a princess, or -- or something, and I think that's cool. I mean, not that you're a princess, but that you're a princess /and/ you're on board here, you know, not just... like... sitting on a throne or something somewhere." Tanith's jumbled attempt at conversaitonal engagement nearly falters a couple times. She feels awkward.

Maybe it's because Amuro Ray is acting like some kind of Neo Robert Downey Jr. next to her, she decides. She scoots her seat an inch or two, mumbling, "Don't wanna crowd you." Her head turns toward Quattro Bajeena somewhat.

"Your dad was a ship captain," Amuro Ray says by way of greeting, after Rachel has joined them. His eyes gloss over Qira's (clearly) flirtatious behaviour and have a sudden return to life as they roam past Quattro's shielded face. He seems oblivious to her uncomfortable shifting and the majority of her logorrhea. "I just recognised your name."

He lets that sit there, like a turd in the punch bowl.

Macua Huitl sees that Rachel is starting to socialize with Amuro and some others. Shje figuresd she may join in and it's a hopeful sign that Rachel. They been getting along well right? Well hopefully she'll not agro anyone as she comes over and says "Mind if I join you?"

Qira says, "Rachel!" warmly enough as she leans on one elbow, smiling up at her from her seated position. (Amuro Ray, meanwhile, seems to her to be a dead fish, given that the greater part of his attention seems to be resting on the face of Captain Bageena.)

(Or, Qira reasons... no... that's ridiculous, to say nothing of too obvious)

"You seem a little worn out," she tells Amuro Ray, then: as she says this, she's already getting out of her chair. "Have you been working on something?" As she says this, she is already, busily, moving to get behind him.

At a glance, you wouldn't expect her to be a princess, would you? Her bearing, her mannerisms... She lifts up her hand a little to wave. "Hi, Miss Lassiter," she says, nodding her head. And then she turns her attention to Tanith to offer her hand. "Rachel Miu Athha. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier."

She looks nervously to Amuro, but then back to Tanith. "Well... it isn't I'm the one in charge of Orb and the government," she says, hand slipping up to the back of her neck. "My older sister, Cagalli, takes care of all of that. I had some problems crop up lately, and... Amuro's been looking after me while I'm in space."

So much socialization, already? Looking up, the corners of her mouth quirk up a little bit to try to keep a smile going, but... it's just on the surface, and at a table full of Newtypes, it's probably pretty obvious. "Hi, Macua. Did you want to sit down...?"

Tanith squeezes Rachel's hand, kind of awkwardly leaning in front of Amuro to do so. Whether or not the genius inventor of the Haro and the Haro v8 notices. She grins, and is about to say something--

--when she's cut off by Amuro announcing that her dad was a ship captain. Tanith drops back into her chair as if gravity had suddenly given her a shove, and sits there for a second, running her finger along the lip of the top of her beer. "Yeah," she finally says, sounding less enthused than she did a second ago. "Yeah, my dad was a ship captain." Her head turns again -- away from Amuro, more in the general direction of Quattro. There's a silence from Tanith that lasts a few long, long seconds.

"Hey, listen," Tanith says to Macua suddenly, "you can have my chair. I'm gonna-- I should keep getting the lay of the land, y'know, figure out where everything is. So I'm just -- gonna -- go -- do that." It's as flimsy an excuse as there ever was, delivered unconvincingly. And then Tanith is up and giving herself a little push off of the table edge to carry her halfway to the door in one go. Her hand comes up to keep her hat on. Her long braid trails behind her.

The cheetah on the back of her jacket continues its silent roar.

And then she's out and she's gone.

Quattro is, characteristically, silent. He has his arms folded. His hair brushes the tops of his shades. The leader of the AEUG is not someone that can easily be read, even for newtypes. Tanith leaves and he lets her.

"Did you just remember that, Amuro?"

It's an innocuous, if abrupt, question. Between them, it's a challenge that's a few steps ahead.

Tanith gets off her butt and runs away, something Amuro is all too familiar with. He certainly did his share of running away when he was her age. The Newtype is not too concerned with her sudden lockdown; he can always talk to her later.

Right now, though.

"See you later, then," he says in a louder voice as Tanith escapes. "Look out for Fa."

But he's still looking at Quattro.

"It's been bugging me since I heard the name," is his reply to Quattro. "Yeah... a ship captain at the Battle of Loum..." he finishes, leaning back in his chair, still watching.

"I don't mind, Macua. Join us," Amuro drones, voice as tired of his eyes. "There seems to be a seat dead." A pause. "Free. I meant free. Sorry, I haven't slept."

Macua Huitl thanks Tanith on her way out. "Thank you I appicate it." She nods to Amuro but seems a bit concerned at Amuro's state, she nods at him explaining he's not slept. She doesn't question it, imporant business had to have kept him up. Rachel does get a bit of a grin. "Thank you" Hands come down suddenly onto Amuro Ray's shoulders, shortly before they instantly snap his neck pursuant to the will of Char Azn-

Oh wait no, they're squeezing. Qira has come up behind Amuro Ray while he was hollering at teenagers, and is now apparently aggressively rubbing his shoulders, squeezing firmly first and then kneading little circles with the balls of her thumbs. "If you're tired, you ought to get some rest. I don't think there's anything coming up in the next few hours or anything, and you know they'll call you if they really /do/ need you."

"She's probably right, Amuro," Quattro says. He slides from his seat, taking his COFFEE with him. The captain sips. He might be looking toward the ceiling or distant imaginary horizon. "You look unreasonable. Feel better."

Quattro leaves. That's just how things go when the sanctity of the Mess Hall has been shattered.

She wasn't going to push it at all, but it seems like the sentiments are shared by all, Amuro really does look kind of awful. Shaking hands with Tanith is at least a nice gesture, though when she excuses herself, there's a rather obvious look of confusion on her face. Did someone say something wrong? "Er... I'll see you later, then."

That jacket has one hell of a cheetah.

With Macua sitting down, Rachel shifts her thumb off the sipping lid of her cup of coffee, letting a bit more of it slide down her throat. She can already feel the caffeine working the chemical ballet on her mind and body, already a little lighter in her seat and sitting a little more upright and alert than before.

Her head tilts while Qira stands up to rest her hands on Amuro's shoulders, watching it with almost academic curiosity. The reasons become clear as she starts to rub, though. She doesn't even get a chance to say good-bye to Quattro, especially as Rachel's caught up in watching her master? teacher? get the works from her fellow crewmate and pilot.

"It sounds like everyone else thinks the same way I do, there, Amuro," she says, with an innocent enough tone of voice. She doesn't want to nag him, but his health and safety is important--

'Everyone was sad.'

-- With that stinging her in the forefront of her mind, Rachel's eyes half-lid and she takes another sip of coffee.

"I've been working," he explains, grunting as Qira sets after his shoulders. They're still strong, at least. Strong enough to carry all the weight that everyone else is running from. "It's important."

And there goes Quattro again. Amuro repeats his grunt, and it's unclear if it's in response to the kneading or to Quattro's statement. "You're right of course," he admits to the departing masquerader. "It's not like there's a war on or anything."

"You're right too Rachel," he says, voice quieter. "I'm not much use to anyone right now."

Amuro turns exhausted eyes to Macua, failing to muster up any kind of... expression. He's just blank, a canvas waiting to be worked into a masterpiece-- or a disasterpiece. The White Devil looks like a man who's been wrestling with demons, and who knows-- maybe that's exactly what he's been up to.

"I haven't talked to you in a while," Amuro points out. "How's..." he trails off, eyes moving to a fixed point beyond Macua's shoulder. They stay there.

Amuro slumps forward.

And, very gradually, his face touches down on the table.

After some time, it becomes clear that he is asleep.

Qira shifts her hand away from the Vulcan Neck Pinch point.

"I should probably get him to his quarters," she says, which has a certain tone of 'covering up what I'm about to do'. "Good to see you again, Rachel... and I'm really sorry to just cut out like this, Macua, but -"

Macua Huitl doesn't get to reply and sees Amuro's fallen asleep, she's going to let the man rest, he clearly needs it. "Good to see you again Qira, take care and I hope Amuro's all right..." His state worried her, but there was little she could do now. She looks over to Rachel as she downs the coffee. Macua did feel Quattro leave and didn't get a chance to say good bye. She now goes back to her pizza, she blames CC2 for this and her pizza addition, she's got to be an agent for Pizza hut.

"Don't worry about it. If it's important... no one is going to blame you," she says, as though it were beyond reassurance. More like science /fact/. But then, she has very few people she trusts to the level of folks like Amuro Ray, much as the young man knows it or not.

When his head lulls forward toward the table, Rachel says nothing. Yet, she watches the whole thing like a child half her age, complete with placing her palms on the table and pushing herself up to her feet to stare over the table and down to Amuro's face. The sudden shift also makes her a little dizzy-- and she sits back down, bringing a hand briefly over her left eye.

"A-All right. See you later, Miss Lassiter."

Hand coming back down from her face, her left eye is still closed. She holds her coffee in both hands and says... not much of anything, unless Macua initiates the conversation. It isn't so much a bad thing, the silence. It's almost kind of comfortable, even in the presence of others... especially in the presence of similar company.

And that's how Qira ended up making Amuro's room smell like sweat and cigarettes.

And /that/ is how Amuro Ray invented, in his head, an entire evening which did not happen.