[OOM] Simulator Room

[fighting_mad]

Juke left, juke right, juke left, juke right; lure your opponent into a false sense of security, make him think he knows exactly what you're going to do.

Lasers flash by on the screen.

One last juke to the right, and there's the light-up of a targeting lock; she yanks the stick back and to the left, throwing the sim fighter into a tight roll that should press her back against the seat with its force. Of course, this machine isn't nearly complex enough for that.

She's got to find some way to throw the Priamsta off guard like that. To catch the rebels--the ones who say they're lead by Harran but they're not they can't be--off guard and--

The flash of an explosion and the screen goes dark.

"Sithspit!" Plourr slams an open palm against the overhead frame of the simulator, then lets her hand rest there, hooked on the frame.

She runs her other hand over her head in an unconscious motion; auburn stubble still foreign to the touch, too rough and scratchy. Hell, her whole body feels foreign; her tunic is smooth and skintight, eggshell-colored with deep purple, allowing every cord of muscle to show. She's not used to anything so fine, and she's definitely not used to the matching skirt, to seeing her legs bare in anything but athletic shorts. High heels. She'd drawn whistles from the Rogues that afternoon; joking whistles, yes, and ones that had earned several of them glares and thwappings, but she had caught admiring looks from not a few men at court, too. From the nobles at dinner.

Dinner.

"The tyranny of the nobles is at an end, Laabann. I will see to that. If you wish a place in the future of Eiattu, either stand with the throne-- or fall."

The crash of a breaking wineglass.

"The choice is yours."

Plourr hits the top of the simulator again.

Comments

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

"I did a thing."

In the back of her mind, Jaina's words echoed. 'Just stay on your guard, Aeryn.'

"Some sort of Jedi mind thing, with Kira...the Exile."

She didn't volunteer anymore information, just picked at a small cut on her palm.

[fighting_mad]

"A Jedi mind thing." Frown. "Why would you want to do that?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

The soldier clenched her teeth together, muscles shaking quietly.

"Because I was tired of feeling this way."

[fighting_mad]

"And, what, the Jedi quick-fix didn't take?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

"It wasn't a quick-fix." She threw an angry glance at Plourr.

How could anybody be so arrogant?

"It was supposed to show me what I wanted. Which path to take."

[fighting_mad]

What? Plourr doesn't trust Jedi. Of course, she doesn't really know any besides having met one or two once or twice in Milliways, but that's beside the point.

"Oh, right. Sorry." She just avoids an eyeroll to go with the sarcasm. "It didn't?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

Aeryn turned away, the short exhalation betrayed her annoyance, her...everything.

"No. It did."

[fighting_mad]

"Then I'm back to my original human question."

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

"I found out something I didn't want to know. I know what I have to do, but I don't want to do it."

She wanted to pace, to run, to scratch an itch she couldn't reach. Her feet only took her a short distance, right to the wall. This place, Milliways, was a cage.

[fighting_mad]

A considering moment, shifting in the sim and tugging her skirt down. "What is it?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

"I have to break it off with Jack."

Laughter suddenly bubbled forth, bitter and a bit hysterical. She couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Not that we were ever together. But I can't keep waiting for him to change his mind. I'm sick of his games."

[fighting_mad]

The sarcasm drops away at that laugh.

"Is this the same man you told me about down by the lake? Aeryn..." She's a little concerned now, watching her with serious brown eyes. "That was ages ago. He's still stringing you along?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

She inclined her head. "He's not here. Went back home."

Angry, violent hands, pushed back her hair, because this was no time to lose it. Over such a ridiculous thing.

Get a grip, Sun. Self control. Forget him.

"I'm just frustrated. I'll be fine."

[fighting_mad]

She gets up, immediately wobbles for balance, kicks off both shoes with a black look, and then finally crosses her arms like she had been planning to in the first place, standing there barefoot. "Can't be easy," she says speculatively, kind in her own gruff way. A snort at herself. "Not like I'd know."

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

Startled, she looked up momentarily. Ebony eyebrows raised in surprise. "You've never been in love?"

Aeryn couldn't say why the thought surprised her.

[fighting_mad]

She laughs darkly. "Do I really seem like the type?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

Her mouth quirked upwards; tugged by invisible strings.

"Do I?"

[fighting_mad]

She grins in return. "I'll bet you're a hopeless romantic under all that sarcasm, Sun. Pink starblooms, heart-shaped chocolate, singing obnoxious love songs under people's windows." She trails off and her good humor fades a little as she reaches the end. She goes quiet.

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

"Oh yes. That's exactly how I ended up here. I'd advise against romance in general and falling in love, certainly."

Jokes. They helped hide the pain. The problem was, it always came back.

"You don't have a window." She pointed out at the look on Plourr's face.

[fighting_mad]

"--A window?"

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

"For someone to sing obnoxious love songs under."

[fighting_mad]

"Lots of windows in the palace," she says darkly. She wouldn't put it past one Count McGirly.

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

Aeryn' eyes narrowed. Her teeth indented her lower lip ever so slightly when she asked:

"Are you being courted? By a Prince?"

[fighting_mad]

She sighs, leans back against the simulator. "Technically," she holds up a n annoyed finger, "technically, I'm betrothed. To a count."

[just-a-soldier.livejournal.com]

.......Blink. Blink.

"What?"