Shore Leave... Not So Much (Katy)

[karen2]

Benjamin had wanted to go and see his sister during shore leave, but the Venia wasn't close enough to Earth for him to go and visit her. And so, instead, he was stuck onboard the ship. Most of the others had gone off to spend their shore leave elsewhere.

Luke and Alliana had gone off to spend a romantic week or so alone. Anna, Oliver, Kiri, Natalie and William had gone off to the resort that UGAP had booked for the crew. Some of the crew had managed to go home for their shore leave. And he was stuck on the ship, doing nothing. He wasn't alone, though. That Katherine Tyler girl was still onboard, too.

But why? Ben thought mildly as he stretched out on a couch in the common room and turned on the holo. She's a UGAP liaison, not part of the Venia crew. Bang up job of liaisoning she's doing onboard the ship she's liaisoning for. As a side-note he wondered if "liaisoning" was really a word, and then he decided he didn't care. Damn it all, I'm a tactical officer, not an English teacher! he thought with a snort.

Deciding he didn't simply want to watch something on the holo, he switched over to the game setting and flicked through some of the classic games. Feeling a little nostalgic as he read some of the names, he eventually settled on a game that really took him back. Mario was pretty damn close to being immortal. Even after over four-hundred years there were still games being created.

The game menu had just come up when the sleeping quarters' doors hissed open, and a brunette head poked into the room. Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear! Apparently the same went for Katy, though all he's done was think of her in passing. Deciding to be nice, he waved at her, gesturing to the spot beside him on the couch. If he was going to be more or less alone with her for the next week or more, he didn't want it to be awkward or uncomfortable.

"I was just about to get down to a little gaming. Care to join me?"

[somerandomhippie]

Katy sighed as she wandered the halls of the Venia. Shore leave, her foot. She had wanted to go home, to her own room, her own bed, her own vinyl collection. It wasn't homesickness, as such, but she was getting fed up. Staying at home and snooping around was her job. She wasn't meant to be on this cupboard of a ship, she wasn't qualified. They had her running odd jobs around, but that was the extent of it. Severely cut back, now that they were docked. Reduced to doing nothing. She was getting cabin fever.

She decided to poke into the common room, see if she could find some mind-numbing TV to watch. Soap, maybe. That would turn her brain into mush quite well. She opened the door, and poked her head in. Whoops, already someone sprawled out. It was... Ben! That was it. Fast, for her.

She couldn't pinpoint anything about him, though. She knew he was a tactical officer, but that was about it. She hadn't really met him, unlike mostly everyone else on the ship. He seemed quite reserved. Why, though? she mused. Why would someone want to hide in a big family like this? The Venia seemed to be like a big family, all bundled up together. It was one of the few things that had cheered her up on-board-- everyone stuck up for each other. So, she would stick up for him, too. He looks like he could use a little company.

She grinned. "I would love to," she chirped, jumping over the back of the couch to plop down beside him. "Ooh, you're playing Mario? You're great," she grinned. She snatched up a controller from under the TV, and gestured to him dramatically. "Would you like to start, Mister..." She trailed off. Names weren't her forte.

[karen2]

Katherine accepted Ben's offer to join him almost instantaneously, rushing over and catapulting over the back of the couch. He pulled his foot out of the way just in time, grinning a little. Though he wasn't a very outspoken among the crew, he'd spent a lot of time studying them, and getting to know them impersonally.

Katy, he'd found, was a delightfully cheerful person, an optimist. She was also a little bit of a handful, but after looking after his live-wire of a sister, Anne-Maire, for the last four or five years, he was more than used to that. Getting along with her wouldn't be too hard, if his assessment of her personality was correct.

"Benjamin Braun," he introduced himself when she trailed off in place of his name, sticking out his hand and offering her a smile. "But you can call me Ben or Benji or whatever. I'll respond to darn near anything." After they shook, he took his hand back and leaned over to grab his own controller. "Feel free to start yourself, if you would like."

He was being uncharacteristically polite, he realized. Normally he'd be cracking jokes or coming up with witty zingers to get her laughing. And yet he found that at the moment he didn't have it in him. Not yet. Maybe once they got going he'd wake up a little bit. Until then, Katy would have to deal with his drowsy and somewhat boring side.

"Have you played Mario much?" he asked, wondering if that had been part of the reason behind her earlier comment about his "greatness".

[somerandomhippie]

Katy took the offered hand, shaking it. His handshake was firm, and logical, almost. Quite grounded. "Katherine Tyler," she responded. "Though I'll respond to anything, too." She'd had a plethora of nicknames in her youth, though most preferred to call her Miss Tyler now. Someone using a nickname would be refreshing at this point.

"Thanks," she smiled. He seemed a little drowsy, sprawled out over the couch like he had slept there. He probably didn't really want to have her buzzing away in his ear-- or there at all, for that matter. She would let him be, let him wake up properly.

Katy shrugged. "Only a little," she admitted as she scrolled through the titles. Alphabetical order could be slightly annoying at times. "Our family never had a gaming system, but whenever someone brought one to school or something, Mario was my favorite. It's just so funny to watch," she confided. "If that's what being a plumber is like, I should quit and take up handyman work."

She finally found the right title. "Here we go... Super Mario Bros., The Next Galaxy. Sound good?" She glanced over. She was being unusually calm right now-- she didn't know why. Usually, she was quite chirpy. Must be the cabin fever, she rationalized.

[karen2]

Ben smiled again when Katherine introduced herself, and he silently made the decision to play around with nicknames for her. Why not? Maybe he'd run across something she hadn't heard yet. "You're very welcome, Kitkat," he teased when she thanked him. That was an odd nickname to start with, but he was still tired.

She explained that she'd never really played before, and he laughed appreciatively at her jibe about plumbing. "I have to say I agree with you there," he said, nodding. He watched as she flicked through the game names, settling on the same one he'd been looking at earlier.

"Sounds great," Ben confirmed, settling back to make himself more comfortable. He, unlike her, had played as a child, and he enjoyed doing so. This game in particular had been his favourite, though he hadn't played since he's been about fourteen. He was liable to be more than a little rusty.

"Should we watch the tutorial?" he asked, flicking over to it but waiting for her response before doing anything.

[somerandomhippie]

Katy gave him a thumbs-up, a grin spreading across her face. "That is great," she insisted, nodding from the sheer awesomeness. "KitKat. I will be using that from now on." That was actually a good nickname. Original, too. She couldn't fathom why no one had thought of that before. Must be a tired thing.

Katy smiled. "Plumbing was never really my thing," she confided. "Couldn't screw in a lightbulb without breaking a few. I'd probably destroy the entire city block." She had tried to help her dad fix their shower once. She ended up flooding the entire bathroom. She stuck to staying away from renovations from then on.

"Sure," Katy nodded, leaning back in the couch. She watched as something about Mario saving the princess came up again. "Seems he never needs another motive," she mused. "Like, why can't he ever go across the universe to go pick up some milk or something? Poor Peach needs to get some better security."

[karen2]

Unable to help himself, Ben laughed when Katy approved of his spontaneous nickname for her. "Really? You like that? Well then, KitKat is is." He listened to her explain that plumbing wasn't her forte, and she seemed to be remembering something in particular. No doubt a previous misadventure where plumbing had been involved.

"Ha, no worries. I'm hopeless when it comes to looking after anything in a home, including myself," he joked. Not that they was entirely true, of course--he have taken care of his sister for as long as he could remember and he was a decent chef, even if he did say so himself. Katy then agreed to watching the tutorial, and he sat back to view it at his leisure.

She had a very literal view of the world, Ben soon discovered--literal to the point of being downright amusing. "Because milk is expensive, and Peach is a damsel in distress. Which would you choose?" he joked, knowing very well that she'd probably say she'd go for the milk, or she'd come up with something entirely different and catch him off-guard.

[somerandomhippie]

Katy grinned. "No kidding," she agreed. "I'm OK, my mom taught me a few tricks of the trade, but I'm no Martha Stewart. If there's no dust on it, it's good enough for me." Her house was actually quite nice-- a little disorganized, sure, but not too bad. Everything was neat, at least, and that was good enough for her. End of story.

Katy sighed. "Well, I suppose I would have to go after the damsel in distress, or else the game would have no use, be discontinued, and I'd never exist again," she mused. "I'd get her set up with a good self-defense teacher, though. And hey, maybe I could find a cow on the way back. Get my own milk, screw the grocery store." He'd have to be content with living her backyard, though. Somehow, she felt the cow wouldn't agree.

She flicked through the screen. "Mario or Luigi?" she asked, offering first dibs. Always good to be polite, especially when playing games with someone. She knew from her little experience that things could turn very ugly, very fast.