Making the rounds [open]

[edge_of_honor]

Characters: Miles Edgeworth, anybody else on the Vicky
Content: Edgeworth feels the need to check up on the crew. This may not be a good idea.
Setting: The VII
Time: Early afternoon! Before they leave for the races
Warnings: How the hell did these people pass their psych evaluations really now
OOC Note: Feel free to either have your character

Comments

[edge_of_honor]

While Susan made herself comfortable, Edgeworth made his way to a small table that held a tall, vaguely conelike lump of metal set upon a steel basin. It was a rather striking masterpiece of the bizarre; while the body was smooth and polished, it and its base were littered with tubes and dials, while a handle poked out from the top and a crank budged out from the bottom. Some people might have called the contraption bizarre. Some people might have called it grotesque. The more tactful might have told a half truth and said it was unique.

Edgeworth called it his kettle. It was a personal (if an oversized thing like that could be called personal), self heating kettle he received from a rather eccentric tinkerer some time ago. While he was put off by the device at first, over time he grew attached to it, to the point where he now considered it invaluable. He poured water into the base and the kettle itself, turned the crank, and waited patiently for the tell-tale whistle to go off.

"Indeed they are," he said, as he focused his attention on a small tin of black tea. "Hopefully they'll remain that way."

[nohoppityskip]

Susan was quietly intrigued by the device. She'd heard of such contraptions, but the rather bizarre appearance the thing both amused her and did nothing to put her off the tea. Instead, she merely took it as the sign of someone serious about his tea.

She could get used to being acquaintances with a person like that.

"Hopefully, though life and history would give us little hope for such a prospect," she pointed out dryly. "But a little continuance of this break would do no one harm."

[edge_of_honor]

"Quite agreed," he said, as he scooped the perfect amount of tea into his strainer. "However, should our good fortune run dry, we should be able to handle the situation accordingly."

[nohoppityskip]

"Yes, I should hope so." She was, after all, on what was purported to be the best ship in the fleet. While this meant the ship would get into its fair share of scrapes, Susan was becoming quite used to it. "We've handled everything thus far."

And considering that she'd had to get involved with those monster things last time, the 'we' was quite appropriate, in her mind.

[edge_of_honor]

While Susan may have assisted with the last disaster, Edgeworth was woefully ignorant of her true role. In his mind, the woman was nothing more than an ordinary, if slightly eccentric, teacher.

Before he could reply, though, the kettle let out a sharp whistle. Silence resumed as soon as he lifted it and began to pour water into the teapot.

"Do you take lemon with your tea, Ms. Sto-Helit?"

[nohoppityskip]

"Yes, please."

She supposed she couldn't fault him for thinking she was normal. It was usually an image she tried to cultivate, after all. So it was odd that she felt the smallest, tiniest hint of disappointment.

Ah well, if you were normal there was far more tea.

[edge_of_honor]

"Very well."

Ignorant of Susan's disappointment, Edgeworth set to gather everything else they'd need for tea. Let's see, lemon, honey, biscuits...

"So," he started, "Random disasters aside, how have you been enjoying your stay?"

[nohoppityskip]

"Quite well, thank you," Susan answered, nearly automatically. It was odd, she thought, with a blink of surprise, to found that she meant it. It would have been easy to stay on the ground, get a teaching job back in Kropmork but...

"I've certainly seen quite a lot of interesting things, up here," she added.

[edge_of_honor]

"Interesting is one way to put it," he said, with a rare hint of good humor to his voice. For all of his complaints, for all of his annoyances and grievances and troubles aboard the ship, this was still the closest thing he had to a home. Land and solid ground held little interest for him; it never seemed to capture his attention or stir his passions in the same way the skies did. The continent was nothing more than a place to rest his feet, catch his breath, and entertain rare, occasional curiosities.

The tea had steeped for long enough. Edgeworth brought it over to Susan, and as he poured cups for his guest and himself, he asked, "Did you travel often before this?"

[nohoppityskip]

The humor she caught in his voice intrigued her, and the question made her stop and think. She supposed how one defined travel. After all, she'd been places few humans had ever seen. Just how far was Death's little cottage out in his own pocket of the dimension compared to the things one saw on an airship as wide-ranging as this.

Then, of course, there were her more mundane travels, before school, when she was young, with her parents; and then after that... "A fair bit. Not much on an airship but," she shrugged. "Not bad for a girl from Nothern Ivona.

"And you, commander?"

[edge_of_honor]

Unlike Susan, Edgeworth had seen a great deal Reial. However, that was the thing; his travels were kept strictly to Reial and its surrounding islands. The idea of a world beyond the sky and the land would have been scoffed at as impossible.

"Not bad at all," he agreed as he handed Susan her tea. "As for me, I suppose you could say my travels were a bit more varied. You can't really avoid it in this line of work."

[nohoppityskip]

"I would think not." Travel on an airship, as she had learned over the past few months, was quite the interesting experience--not that taking over for her grandfather temporarily hadn't been.

Susan waited for her tea to cool sufficiently for drinking. "You've been on airships for a long time, haven't you?"

[edge_of_honor]

"Ever since I was a boy," he replied, with a hint of pride in his voice. "It's been an interesting life, to say the least."

Of course, many people thought a childhood spent on ships (first his father's, then von Karma's, with brief interludes on other vessels in between) was a strange upbringing. However, to Edgeworth, it was simply the way of things.

[nohoppityskip]

"Of course, a life like that, up in the clouds, all your life."

Susan smiled into her teacup, fondly reminiscing. "A bit strange, to see the world, from all the way up here. I remember my first time." Of course, it had been on horseback, but that didn't matter. Thousands of feet was thousands of feet, whether by mythic horse or airship.

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth relaxed in his seat and took another sip of his tea. The warmth from the drink melted with the barely-there tinge of nostalgia he felt, and he tiled his head to the side as he looked at Susan.

"And what was your first time like, if you don't mind me asking?"

[nohoppityskip]

Her first time... "Unexpected," she answered after a short moment, with a little bit of a smile on her face as she remembered. I had been pulled into a...situation I didn't want to be in, but it involved quite a bit of traveling...it was worth it, I think," she mused, before sipping at her tea again.

"For many reasons, though that was one of them."