Sokka the 74th - [Action/Voice]

[markofthewise]

[THE FIRST DAY.]

[Two weeks. It's a long time to be on a mission, but Sokka has no regrets. The mess with Kin'cora had gotten to him and he found a kind of relief in working with other people from other enclosures. There was a lot of talk among him and the others. He spread the word. Maybe it wouldn't do Luceti much good, given he learned very little, but the more the others knew, the better. But boy was he glad to be back in Luceti. When he emerges from the tunnels at around 6PM, he's tired out from a hard day of work, but it's a good kind of tired. He makes going home his first priority. He'll miss dinner, inevitably, but with any luck there's leftovers. Catching up with the others takes a few hours before he ever breaks away to wander the village.

What's on the agenda? Hitting up the smithy to see where things are at. He never got to find out how much was lost after the Kin'corans left, so it's time to see if one of his minions smithy buddies took an inventory. And you know, he wants to check in on them too. That's cool. Also, he heads to Good Spirits because he was informed very sternly by one of his buddies on the mission that the only proper way to end a hard day's work is a good stiff drink. Sokka, the adult that he is, was inclined to agree. THAT IS HIS ENTIRE DAY.

But there is another.]

[DAWN OF THE NEXT DAY]

[Sokka wakes up and does his usual morning routine and goes to NOT the smithy, but the BATTLE DOME. That's right. Record scratch. After talking to the main console for awhile, he heads into one of the rooms and in something that takes some finagling at first, he starts... building a sub. A holographic sub. One that is small enough to fit into his hand, but can expand if he gives the command, so he can work on specific details. It's like working on a blueprint, but in 3D. His nights on his mission had been spent trying to recreate the submarine made by the Mechanist. He's been steadily improving on the design, specifically built to be powered by waterbending, but done in a way to streamline the process and make it faster. And sturdier. He's not sure it will be easy to build with Luceti's technology, but...

Well, Haruhi got him excited. And he spends the better half of the day on this. Because of the Dome time limit, he's constantly seen going in and out to restart the program or grab a snack. For those hoping to fight, this is probably annoying, since there's only six chambers that tend to get used a lot. At one point during the day, he loses the dome to some short and grumpy guy, so Sokka turns to the journal.]

Has anyone really tried the stuff in these vending machines before? I mean, I usually just get a soda or something, but this stuff is amazing. Like... look at these. [He lifts up an oreo to the camera.] It's two cookies, but with some kind of paste between them. But the paste tastes like sugar! And then there's these! [Sokka lifts up an red lump of candy.] Apple gels. They're great, although I don't think they taste like real apples. There's something unusually refreshing about them. I had about ten just now and it made my fingers all tingly. Actually, I'm kind of feeling tingly all over and-- [Sokka looks away and spots something else] Oh! And check this out! [He pulls out a WORM. A multicolored worm.] It's a CANDY worm. I was thinking I could use it for fishing, but it's actually kind of tasty. Oh, and then there's these fished shape crackers...

[He'll go on like this for awhile. People can listen or ignore him, but he'll be casually highlighting the awesome contents of the Battle Dome vending machines.

He'll be coming home later with the stomach ache from hell.]

Comments

[herotypical]

"...How dastardly. How deliciously exciting. No bogeys, right?"

[markofthewise]

"A few cultists showed up, but the soldiers took care of them before we had a chance to fight."

[herotypical]

"...Good. I mean -- not good but..."

As ever, she liked seeing him in one piece. "How many points does that make it for you, now?"

[markofthewise]

"Well uh... I have forty from the one we were on. I had forty-five before that. Then I just got fifteen more. So I guess I'm at an even hundred now."

[herotypical]

"...Rolling in the fake-dough. How long before you start pulling up in hovercrafts and forgetting all us little people?"

[markofthewise]

"Actually I was thinking submarine more than hovercraft. But I'll keep a picture of you, just in case."

[herotypical]

"...No way. We'll sit you down and watch Das Boot and you'll have any dreams of submarine owning wiped entirely from your mind. That's a promise."

[markofthewise]

"I have no idea what watching a boot will do to change that, but I've been in submarines before! I kind of invented them, after all."

[herotypical]

"Boot. It's German for..."

Oh. It so wasn't important.

"Seriously? And you...happened to call them submarines, as well?"

[markofthewise]

"Well, yeah. But to be fair, Luceti has this whole... language thing, right? So the name may not be coincidental." A weird concept, to be sure. But he felt like he had to defend the submarine from just being some Earth knock off.

[herotypical]

"I guess it's a little literal. Sub. Marine. Under water. Sous le...le..."

Her face screwed up with the effort of defeating whatever onboard translation Shift made it so difficult to quip in other languages. Not actually knowing much French didn't help.

"I dunno. Me? I've never been in one to know I don't ever wanna be. Like underwater coffins."

She shuddered.

[markofthewise]

"Well, that's a comparison I won't be able to forget now. Thanks."

Perhaps it was the fact he'd traveled underwater under his sister's power that made it feasible for him. If you can place your life in someone else's hands like that, then putting your life's hand in solid construction made by science was just as easier. Or perhaps easier for someone like sokka.

[herotypical]

"I just don't trust a vehicle without windows. Parascopes don't count."

[markofthewise]

"I'd trust it less if it did have windows. Because, you know, ocean pressure."

[herotypical]

...She pulled a face.

"In weighing whether it's better to not die a grisly drowning death or better to gawk at the coral as you submarine on by? You're...probably right. Ocean pressure. Like peer pressure, only deadlier."

[markofthewise]

"Although if we made a super dense window that could withstand ocean pressures, then we could have a really nice view."

[herotypical]

"...It'd make for nice afternoons out. Like little mini-adventures. Y'know, for the family."

[markofthewise]

"Haruhi asked me to make one. Or, well, help make one. Some guy named Howard is in charge, I guess."

[herotypical]

"...Tony's dad," she said. Automatically.

[markofthewise]

"Oh." Had Haruhi mentioned that? He couldn't remember. "Is he a jerk too?"

[herotypical]

"Tony't not a...

Oh. Okay. Maybe he is a bit of a jerk."

[markofthewise]

"A bit? Only a bit? I think he's more than a bit."

[herotypical]

"...Y-yeah. I mean. He's only ever been mostly kinda nice to me."

They got along famously.

[markofthewise]

"I bet he only likes you for your alcohol."

[herotypical]

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, Sokka. Because that way I don't have to burst out into tears in the middle of my workplace."