no time to die

laurie. 28. electro-technical. umbra erkuss, i swear { umbra lore }

[sarasvatistella]

To be perfectly honest, Stella didn't even know what the creature was that happened to be following them, so this was just one more reason to be worried. This could be a spy camera robot for all she knew. "I- I don't know. If you think it's safe and not a..." She lowered her voice to whisper, "Spy..." Voice back to normal. "Then we can let it be. "But- What if for some reason you had to go somewhere else in another direction and I had to face it by myself. Then- then would I still be safe?"

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie chuckled when Stella expressed her concerns that the small space lizard could be a spy. She wrapped an arm around Stella's shoulders and lightly kissed her temple. "You will always be safe if I have anything to do with it," she assured her girlfriend. Whether it was a harmless Taryvly or something more sinister out there, Laurie was confident she would never let any real harm fall on her. "Tell you what, I'll keep a close eye on it before I decide it's actually harmless. Just to be really, really sure it's not a spy."

[sarasvatistella]

@laurie-vexen

Stella looked behind her surreptitiously. "I don't know about you, but I get the idea that we're being followed..." What appeared to be a stray Taryvly wasn't actually following Stella and Laurie per say, but it certainly was existing nearby. Actually, it seemed much more interested in experiencing foliage than observing people, but Stella had never been particularly at understanding the motivations of others. "I'm going to act natural. Or- what I think is natural. I'm not nearly as good in a crisis as you. Not that... this is a crisis. But I believe the sentiment applies." Yes, this was a little silly, but Stella didn't see it that way. She was a little scared, actually, that this could escalate into a worrying situation and she would be helpless and in need of saving.

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie was fairly confident she could detect if there were being followed, so Stella's suspicion was confusing. She cautiously looked around, but there was nothing of note other than the Taryvly that was seemingly minding its own business. They were both significantly larger that the Taryvly, so in Laurie's eyes it didn't pose much of a threat. "I... believe we're safe." She blinked. "Do you... want me to scare it away?" She had no idea how a Tarvly could be scared off other than to tell it to shoo.

[aopmari]

Laurie didn't seem sure how to describe Molfaun except that it had a lot of water (Mari was realizing that was definitely true in comparison to a lot of planets), but that made sense. She didn't want to dwell on her home planet, so it was nice that Laurie didn't stay on that subject for too long, and told her instead about being from Kraysha, and meeting Stella soon, probably, and fixing stuff. "Wow, that's great! It must be cool to have a navigator girlfriend, if she's good at girlfriend stuff too! I like fixing stuff too! But, not hardware or software, I don't know how to do that. More like - fixing or making stuff out of other stuff! Especially if it's for fashion, or a sculpture or a cute picture frame or something. Do you like making stuff too?"

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie smiled, as she usual would when Stella came into conversation. "It is pretty cool, yeah. She's also very good at the girlfriend stuff.' She'd never described Stella like that before, but she went with it anyway. "Oh, so you're into art? That's really cool. With the fashion, do you like making clothes? I like making stuff, yeah. On a software level, though. I wanted to be a game programmer when I grew up. Right now, I mainly just modify video games for fun. Have you heard of The Sims? I really enjoy building stuff on that."

[aopmari]

Oh, yay, there was a version that was better for water! Mari was still a little unsure of how deep in the water it might be able to go, but some water and sand safety went a long way. "Oh, cool! Thanks! Ummmmm, I'm from here recently, I guess! But I was from Molfaun before that. Where are you from? I'm glad I got to meet you here, especially if you love it here! Do you think I'll meet your girlfriend Stella soon? What kinds of things are your favorites to fix?"

[laurie-vexen]

"Oh, Molfaun? I've been there. With the crew. It was, uh... well, there sure was a lot of water." Laurie hadn't hated Molfaun - the whole deal with Oglavia was pretty ridiculous, and having to go out of her way to look for blood was annoying, but that was when her and Stella had gotten closer so she couldn't hate it. "I'm from Kraysha. You'll definitely meet her soon. She's the ship's navigator, so definitely one of the most important roles we have here. I like to fix whatever I'm able to fix, I guess. Hardware, software, anything. What do you like to do...?"

[zionslater]

[closed starter for @laurie-vexen] Zion sighed as walked to the spot he was going to wait for Laurie at, slipping the last of his weapons that he was bringing with him into their spots on his person. He ran through his mental checklist in his head again to make sure he had everything he needed, even the 'just in case' items. Between the two of them he knew everything would be fine, even if it still caused him some worry. He had made sure to bring a backpack too that he had to make sure he could carry the last of his belongings that they were heading to retrieve. Zion looked up towards the sound of footsteps approaching. "Hey, ready to head out to do this?" He asked her. "Though I should probably tell you whose compound we're basically breaking into." He said, in a more concerned tone. "And if you want to back out after I tell you it's alright, regardless I'm still going to get my stuff."

[laurie-vexen]

Zion had seemed a little tense since the crew got to Kor'Sel'Koo, though Laurie didn't know why. She didn't want to make any assumptions until Zion decided to tell her. She arrived at where her and Zion agreed to meet. "Hey," she greeted. An eyebrow raised when Zion stated he should tell her whose compound they were breaking into. Breaking into? Okay... she figured the tension from Zion had to do Zion not having an easy relationship with whatever family he had here, but this sounded more serious than that. "Uh... okay. Tell me, I guess." She wasn't sure what he could say that would make her change her mind - she'd known Zion long enough to believe that Umbra needed to stay together. She didn't have anyone when she first joined this crew so she had been happy to be that person for someone else.

[aopmari]

"Awesome, that sounds great!" Mari followed Laurie, presumably the where her comms device would be, and listened as the engineer (engineering department employee? comms expert? tech whiz?) answered her other questions. Oh, wow, she'd started as a mate too! And someone named Skylar had given her her job now, which wasn't 'comms expert' or 'tech whiz', but 'electro-technical'. And she loved it here, had fun with her job, and had a girlfriend and everything! It sounded pretty perfect when Laurie put it like that, minus the electro-technical part. All of that was very interesting, but she was momentarily distracted by being shown a comms device. A very familiar looking comms device?

"Oh, neat! I think I've seen this one before. Hm.. do you have any stronger ones that would be better at going into deep water? It's okay if you don't, since - you said you like fixing things? It might break if I'm supposed to take it with me when I go places... or I guess I could just leave it on land? Are they good at keeping sand out?"

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie was a bit surprised by the request - no one had asked for a different device before. Thanks to Skylar, though, it was an easy request to fulfill. "Oh - uh, well these aren't very water or sand friendly. But Skylar actually made a few heavy-duty models that I think would work for your needs." She placed the comms device back into the storage unit and pulled out a bulkier device. "These are waterproof so you could ideally bring them with you into the water." She turned the device on so she could start configuring it for Mari. "Are you from here? Kor'Sel'Koo, I mean." 

[aopmari]

"Thanks!" Mari answered when Laurie (it really was Laurie!) answered her and welcomed her, bounding on over. "That sounds really good. And yeah, I think I've been finding everything okay! I got my stuff put away, and then I was supposed to come here, and here I am. There's still a bunch of ship left to see, probably, but that can be for after comm stuff. Do the comms have a map of the ship? How are you today? And oh - how long have you worked here for? How do you like it? Is there a best part?"

[laurie-vexen]

Oh, wow, that was a lot of questions in one breath. "Uh - yeah, we have a map of the ship available on the device. I can show you." She walked over to where the comms were typically stored. There was no smooth way to answer the rest of Mari's questions, which felt a bit odd but something told her Mari wouldn't mind the abrupt change in subject. "I'm well, thanks... I've been here for almost two years now. I started as a mate, actually. Then Skylar - the chief engineer - he took me under his wing and I ended up getting his old job as electro-technical. I've loved it very much. The best part of working here is my girlfriend, Stella, but I mean if you meant the best part of my job specifically, I just really enjoy fixing things." Okay, line of questioning completed for now. She opened the storage and took out one of the comms to show Mari. "Here's the device we use. Are you generally comfortable with comms devices? It isn't very different from a lot of models."

[aopmari]

( Closed starter for @laurie-vexen )

It was pretty neat, being on a ship when other people knew she was there too - everyone was so nice! Or, well, the people Mari had met so far anyway, but she was optimistic that would continue. She'd gotten her stuff put away and was now on her way over to the engineering department to get a comms device, which was exciting! Both the device itself, and the idea of having so many people to put into it. Anyway, engineering department, engineering department... she rounded a corner and went through a door, and ended up in an area that looked pretty engineering-y. And there was someone there! "Hi! Are you Laurie? I'm suppose to look for a Laurie, 'cause she has my comms device!"

[laurie-vexen]

A new crew member was always exciting, so the news of Mari's arrival was welcomed. She looked up from her desk when Mari arrived. Immediately, she gauged that the Laikalla had a very similar energetic vibe as Stella and Ian. A good indication that she would be liked in the crew, Laurie thought. She stood up from her desk. "Hey, yeah that's me. Mari, right? Welcome to the crew." She beckoned to Mari. "You can follow me, it'll only take a few minutes to get you set up. Have you been finding your way around the ship okay?"

[laurie-vexen]

Would you ever drink real blood again?

"I can't promise that in the next several centuries there won't come a time where I'll have no choice but to drink real blood, but I'd like to avoid doing so as much as I can. If it were completely up to me, no, I wouldn't."

[laurie-vexen]

Thoughts on Zion?

"I like him. It's been really nice having someone around who gets it. It's also a plus he isn't a homicidal maniac like some Umbra can be. Like - my own family, for example."

[laurie-vexen]

Do you want to marry Stella one day?

"Yes. We're not in a rush, but it is something I plan to do someday."

[laurie-vexen]

What is your favorite kind of punctuation?

"I like semicolons. They're part period, part comma. They'd be kinda like if bisexuals were in punctuation form, if you think about it.

... I've been in this crew for too long."

[laurie-vexen]

If you could custom-blend a perfume, what smells would it include?

"Uh, if the perfume's for me, maybe something floral with a bit of vanilla? Anything kind to my nose is appreciated, really."

[sarasvatistella]

Stella was having trouble tuning out the television because what was on there really was cool. Okay. She needed to focus. Back to Laurie. She dug into her bag and pulled out way more food than was necessary. Better to be safe than sorry. "Here we are... The tree is doing well. They're glad to hear about you, and surprised that I have so many friends. It's a little difficult to explain to someone that isn't all about that sort of life all over again but... It's nice to have little touchpoints. I like that word. It keeps coming up. Anything that you wanted to go out and do? Or just stay here and enjoy having a room of size?"

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie had no idea what it was like to have a tree for a friend, but she was interested in hearing about it when she could. "That's nice. It's probably hard making friends when you're a tree. At least, friends that aren't... other trees." Trees couldn't really get up and move around, so that was where she based the assumption. "Nothing in particular I wanted to do. Maybe we could walk around for a bit later, if you're not too tired."

[sarasvatistella]

@laurie-vexen

Behaving an awful like she had just come back from work, Stella entered the hotel room in Greece and smiled awkwardly. "Hi, Laurie! Did you have a nice time while Ian and I were out?" Ian was.. not staying in the same room, but she couldn't just ignore where she had been the whole time. Of course she had been introducing Ian to the tree that had been the closest thing to a parent that Stella had ever had. "I missed you so much. And... I brought food. Not sure how much of it that you want to eat, but I brought enough for it to be breakfast tomorrow if you're not that food hungry." Couldn't be too sure.

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie was watching the hotel TV in fascination. They were giving Hercules, but in Greek, which was really cool. When Stella entered, Laurie looked up and smiled. "Hey. Yeah, just walked around and took in the sights. It was nice." She got up from the bed and walked over to Stella. "Sure, I'll try some. How's your tree friend doing?"

[sarasvatistella]

Stella found this language to be distressing. "I don't know. It's not really something that I can control- the having feelings for you. And I've never been good at being afraid of what can hurt me," she said, laughing uncomfortably because she was only just touching on this. It had been a while since she had gone storm chasing, but the impulse was always there. "I'm more afraid of you leaving me than anything, and I don't think you're planning that so... we stay as we are?"

[laurie-vexen]

It was objectively a bit concerning that Stella wasn't exactly afraid of things that could hurt her, but in this context Laurie could bit a little selfish with being happy that worked in her favor. And for herself, she was content with her feelings being something she had no control over in this case. "Well, I'll try to make sure you don't get too close to things that can hurt you, to be safe." She smiled softly. "The only thing I'm actively planning is spending many, many centuries with you. In whatever form that takes. So staying as we are is more than good with me."

[sarasvatistella]

Stella didn't say anything for a moment while the wheels figuratively turned around in her head. While she knew that Laurie wanted Stella to be happiest, it sure would be nice to be able to take some of the pain away for someone she loved. "The trouble is that you're the most important to me. There's a phrase- maybe a cliche- of 'I'd do anything to take your pain away.' I feel like that sometimes. I wish that you would let me, even though I know it wouldn't be enjoyable. It feels like I'm only letting you do that for me. Does... that make sense?"

[laurie-vexen]

Laurie frowned. It hadn't been her intention to make Stella feel like that either. "I don't... feel that way. At all. I feel like you do so much already being so willing to still love somebody who could hypothetically have you as a snack." That was honest - a more selfish person wouldn't want to be with someone like her. "It would be so easy for you to be afraid of me. That's what I couldn't really bear. I can deal with controlling myself, pushing back all my not-so-great thoughts, but I wouldn't be able to take you being afraid of me."