Zonama Sekot, Monday Evening Fandom Time

[weetuskenraider]

Another long day of sorting out arguments and soothing flared tempers, playing translator, writing up reports and transmitting them back to the Council, and all the dozens of little yellow-tape things -- all of that was done, thankfully, and Tahiri finally had a chance to get some alone time.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the work; it was rewarding, if occasionally tedious, and out of all the post-war rebuilding efforts in the galaxy this was the one she was best suited to, so she wouldn't complain. It was just tiring in a way she wasn't used to.

She retreated into the jungle, toward a quiet spot near her cliff-built dwelling but sufficiently secluded from any passers-by who might have a reflexive bad reaction to technology (they were still working on the "abomination" thing, and it would be a long process), and pulled out her datapad to page through some of the HoloNet news.

From there, she patched into the Fandom alumni network, managed to pick up on some television broadcasts, and . . .

"Sithspit, is that Hope Solo dancing!?"

Not a surprise at all that ten minutes later she was patching her comlink through the network to use up her twelve votes for the week, right? It was sort of like supporting family! If you squinted, while hanging upside down in zero-G, and . . .

Oh, who was around to comment on it, anyway?

[OOC: I HAD TO, OKAY. I HAD TO. But open if you want, hee.]

Comments

[endsthegame]

Ender hadn't checked in on Tahiri's progress on Zonama Sekot for a while, though he'd been planning to. Now, just back from work (and clearing some minivan stuff with Warren) seemed like as good a time as any.

Hence, he was calling.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri, luckily, had just managed to log her twelfth and final vote call by the time Ender's call came through, so he was spared any heartily guttural swearing when she picked up. And where before she might have answered with a casual "Hello, Ender," she'd been back on the job for long enough that habit kicked in.

"Jedi Veila here. Hello, Ender."

. . . mostly.

[endsthegame]

If Tahiri thought she was hearing amusement in Ender's voice, she was... probably entirely correct, as he returned a, "Hello, Jedi Veila. Debrief me on your progress?"

Hey, he spoke fluent military.

[weetuskenraider]

Better than she did, that was for sure.

"I'd be happy to, but I'd like to know if the volcano is still a cause for concern," she answered, having stretched her capacity for military jargon as far as she cared to. "Besides, I don't report to you, so I'd like to know how you're doing, too."

[OOC: Ugh, notification fail. *smites*]

[endsthegame]

"The volcano has cooled down," Ender reported, not being all that attached to the jargon to begin with. "It won't be murdering us in our sleep this week."

[[ omg, mine too. *kicks them* ]]

[weetuskenraider]

"That's a relief. Like I told Ben, it'd be a shame if you managed to make it back from your trip only to get swallowed by the island," Tahiri joked. She didn't have a bad feeling about anything yet. "I take it Fandom's latest bout of insanity's cooled down too? You know, some days I miss the long quiet periods between the episodes of craziness."

[endsthegame]

"You say that now, but I know Jedi," Ender said, a little fondly. "Give you too long a quiet period, and you'll stir up the trouble by yourselves. But yes, it's cooled down - we even had a downright quiet weekend just now."

[weetuskenraider]

"I have plenty enough trouble to deal with these days without stirring it up myself, I'll have you know," Tahiri retorted lightly, "and that's making me feel disturbingly grown up, not having the time to go out and find more of it. Or make it. I'm allowed to be nostalgic -- for now. No doubt I'll have reason to change my mind soon enough."

There was a low-hanging pingpear within reach, and she paused to pick it and take a bite.

"An actual quiet weekend, huh? Bet the new kids are grateful enough for that. Hope they're settling in all right."

[endsthegame]

"No one's run off screaming yet," Ender said, "Which is a win as far as I'm concerned." He glanced up at the ceiling of Room 204, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "Good trouble, or bad trouble?" he asked.

[weetuskenraider]

"You don't ask the easy questions," Tahiri pretended to complain. "But no, it's not bad trouble exactly. Definitely not a dire situation, just a million tiny complications and snarls, the occasional minor --" of course, in the context of a recently ended war 'minor' was fairly relative -- "fight to break up, but that's to be expected under the circumstances. I guess you could call them growing pains."

[endsthegame]

"And every new civilisation has to have growing pains," Ender said, with a little smile. "You sound hopeful."

[weetuskenraider]

Was she? Tahiri had to stop and think about that.

"Maybe," she allowed. "At the least, I'm trying to focus on an positive outcome. There's enough adversity that it seems . . . the most practical approach."

[endsthegame]

"Hope is very practical," Ender said, "Without it, lying down and doing nothing becomes not just an option, but a self-fulfilling prophecy, I think."

He sat back in his chair. "Does that mean you're happy with the way things are going?"

[weetuskenraider]

"I think so, yes," Tahiri decided after another bite of fruit. "All things considered, things are fairly peaceful here most of the time, even if they can get contentious. This will be the work of several generations at least before there's anything like harmony, and I don't expect to see most of the Yuuzhan Vong strolling casually past the planetary hyperdrive without so much as blinking any time in my lifetime, but I like being here at the start of it. I'm learning as much as they are, I think."

She chuckled. "It's like a much more intensive version of finding an old family holocron you never knew existed." Holocrons like that popped up conveniently more often than you'd think they ought to, in her galaxy.

[endsthegame]

"I'm glad to hear it," Ender said, honestly. "Even knowing terribly little about holocrons."

That last bit was a joke. "It's a good thing to put your shoulder to, though." Part of him was almost envious, in its own way. Humanity wouldn't let the Formics just run off on their own planet and let them help him, not right now. No redemption so straightforward.

[weetuskenraider]

"You'd probably figure them out in a second," Tahiri opined. "I actually wonder what you'd think of some of the Yuuzhan Vong biots; I think they're fascinating, but it's hard to find anyone who doesn't have a lot of negative associations with them."

[endsthegame]

Ender raised his eyebrows - not that she could see it. "Tell me about them?"

[weetuskenraider]

"Oh, boy. How long have you got?" she asked, only partly kidding. "Name anything you can do with technology: communication, lighting, infrastructure. The shapers have, over the centuries, learned to breed something to do the exact same job."

A pause, then, ruefully: "I don't recommend trying to infiltrate any Yuuzhan Vong-occupied stronghold through the sewer system."

[endsthegame]

That... was definitely a burst of chuckles on the other end of the line.

"Jedi," Ender said, like that explained everything.

It kind of did.

"I don't suppose you have any research I could tempt you to send me." Of course he was interested.

[weetuskenraider]

It really did explain everything, and Tahiri snorted in amusement.

"Only once," she felt the need to emphasize. Yeah, it explained everything.

"And I'll see what I can do; I don't think Tekli and Danni will mind terribly. Actually, I'd guess they wouldn't mind any comments you might have, either, although," she cautioned, "how much I can get for you will depend on what the shaper caste is willing to allow." She had a feeling he'd understand that.

[endsthegame]

"Don't go start borrowing trouble on my account," Ender said, with a little smile. "I take it that caste is looked up to."

[weetuskenraider]

"Oh, I think they'll be more cooperative now than they would have been, say, a couple of years ago," Tahiri replied dryly. "They're more . . . relied on than looked up to, but with the warrior caste, um -- not as busy these days, it may be interesting to see how that changes."

[endsthegame]

Ender digested that information. "That's going to prove to be interesting," he mused. "How are you fitting into the whole thing?"

Being what she was and what she was doing.

[weetuskenraider]

"I'm still figuring that out," Tahiri admitted. "I get the feeling this would've been a much harder adjustment if I hadn't spent so much time in Fandom the last few years, though."

[endsthegame]

"Just as many different people screaming at you from all sides?" Ender guessed, wryly.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri burst out laughing. "And all of them coming from completely different points of view, yes. But I was thinking about how being in Fandom meant I'm not coming from several years of nothing but galactic war. It makes the . . . unique position I'm in far less overwhelming."

A beat.

"If lacking in Fandom whimsy, but the jury's still out on how good a thing that is."

[endsthegame]

"Well, I for one have nightmares about turning into a five-year-old in the middle of a two-year interstellar journey," Ender supplied, "Or, god forbid, while helping colonists set up houses or something..."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri groaned. "I was trying not to think about those things!" she pretended to complain, although she was still laughing through the protest. "Bad enough Jaina put it in my head that we might go back for Homecoming and turn five."