A Less Than Dramatic Return

[flunkingspanish]

Way up on Stacy's top level, the Hub opened and spat out four crew members. They hadn't been gone for very long, only a few shipboard "days" or so, but long enough for the crew members in question to be irritated.

"Who wants to hit the Sensoriums?" Paco asked, scrubbing his normal hand over his face. "I wasn't expecting to actually get cake, but I

Comments

Jeka, plz?

[saint_sami]

"Jeka!"

Sasami's eyes hadn't deceived her noticing the snake-girl. A smile crossed her face as she ran up to her, stopping short of giving her a hug.

"Where did you go off to? Did GLaDOS get you again?" she asked, a little worried.

Re: Jeka, plz?

[hatngartersnake]

"Hello Sasami," Jeka said, giving the blue-haired girl a smile. It was nice to see a friendly face after all the mess and tests. "Yes, GLaDOS got me again, but apparently my soul is still where it ought to be. Have I missed anything important?"

[saint_sami]

"Well... the Council decided for everyone to have physicals and mental evaluations. Not everyone's happy about it, though." she said. Typical, but can't please anyone. "Beyond that, it's been pretty quiet... but I don't like that. Not at all."

[hatngartersnake]

"Physicals and mental evaluations make sense to me," Jeka said, a trifle reluctantly. Something to add to her to-do list for one, and she while she knew that she could use a talk with someone who knew what they were doing, it wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to. But if she had to do it, it was probably best to get it over with.

She cocked her head to the side, hairless brow furrowing. "You think something bad is going to happen soon?"

[saint_sami]

"Really? I don't think so. I don't want it to." Sasami said. "We've been through a lot lately. It feels like we never get a break."

She lets out a soft sigh and looks at Jeka. "I just hope it's me being antsy."

[hatngartersnake]

"That we don't seem to get a break is why they're important," Jeka said with a shrug. "It's not something I'm looking forward to either, and I'm not going to pretend that the psychologist will be able to catch everything, but they might be able to catch and fix some things before they become problems."

Like that boy Jonas, who had requested an escort down to the Brig. If they'd known he might break so hard when Cassie Lang died, someone might have been able to stop him before he'd killed Shiva and Kawalsky, and he might not still feel so shattered now.

She sighs and pats Sasami's shoulder. "We can only hope. But keep your eyes open regardless. The unconscious mind is more clever than most sentients think it is."

[saint_sami]

"I hope so. A lot of people seemed worried about actually going. That one boy, Hiccup, seemed very serious about not wanting to participate." Sasami said. "But... it's for the best, right? So we don't have these incidents again."

Sasami nodded and smiled as Jeka patted her shoulder. "Okay, then. I will." She looked away a bit before looking at her again. "Would it be okay if we could spend some time together? A... few of my friends have disappeared and I'm... kinda lonely."

[hatngartersnake]

"The Council clearly believes it's for the best, and my friends and I had nothing but good experiences with our psychologist in the Legion," Jeka said. "And I can only assume that they checked to make sure that the psychologist isn't going to use the information they gain to manipulate the crew; so in general yes, it will be for the best."

Jeka paused, blinked, and then gave Sasami a genuine smile. "Of course we can! I'm afraid I'm not quite as...active socially as I used to be, but I'm certainly open to ideas."

[saint_sami]

"Oh, thank you, Jeka!" Sasami said, a big smile forming on her face. "It doesn't matter what we do, though - right now, I'd just like the presence of someone I know that... isn't gonna lead into a fight." She grinned sheepishly as she said that.

[hatngartersnake]

"Well, I can be company for that," Jeka said, patting Sasami affectionately on the shoulder. "If you need ideas, could you perhaps show me around the tree palace in the City? It looks very interesting."

[saint_sami]

"Gladly!" Sasami said, nodding. "C'mon, I'll lead you there!" With a small giggle, Sasami turned and started running in the direction of the City and to the palace.

[hatngartersnake]

Jeka pushed herself off the ground and slithered through the air after Sasami. Well, at least it was nice to see Sasami in such a good mood. It certainly buoyed Jeka's mood.

[saint_sami]

Sasami turned around to see if Jeka was following and she couldn't help but let out a small gasp as she saw her slithering through the air. It was more of a good surprise gasp than anything.

"That is so cool...!" she admitted, still heading along.

[hatngartersnake]

"I know that you've seen me flying before," Jeka said. She tapped the ring on her finger decorated with a starburst and the one-arm-longer-than-the-other right-angle that she'd been told was the Roman letter "L". "Brainy and Invisible Kid invented flight rings in the earlier days of the Legion. It makes passing as a humanoid when I need to so much easier, let me tell you."

[saint_sami]

"Oh, I know... I've never seen you do it up close!" Sasami said. "Can I ask why it made it easier, though?"

[hatngartersnake]

"Because before I could fly, I couldn't coil my tail up beneath me, so there was always the risk of someone tripping over it," Jeka said, demonstrating how she could coil up and hover. "I can make people not see my tail, or even figure out what it is by touch, but I can't make it not exist. And long, dramatic capes only do so much to alleviate that problem."