fandomtownies | By the White Star, Saturday night

On his way back home from his shift at The Dive, Geoff spots the fluffily-dressed young woman, giving her a smile and a nod.

Ivanova waves back at the man with her mug of coffee, taking the opportunity to stretch and crack her back. "'Evening!"

Ivanova's greeting tells Geoff that he isn't interrupting her. He alters his course and walks toward the...large metalish construction. "Good evening!"

"It is a good one at that," Ivanova replies easily, gratefully slapping a binder shut and letting it fall beside her. "I'm Ivanova, by the way. If we've met, I'm sorry, my brain is like a sieve around here. Coffee?"

[[Ooo-er, Chaucer in a spaceship. Fandom High: breaking your brain one mental image at a time.]]

Still attempting to figure out exactly what the contraption is that Ivanova is sitting in, Geoff walks up the ramp. Smiling and offering his hand, he says, "I don't believe we have met, my lady. Geoff Chaucer, at your service."

[OOC: Yep. Just felt another brain cell pop. :D]

Ivanova shakes his hand firmly, smirking slightly as she notices the surrepitious, slightly confused looks he's throwing at the ship. And the name does something to tip her off. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Chaucer. Allow me to introduce my current domicile, the good ship White Star." She pats the hatchway affectionately.

Geoff bows over her hand and kisses it. "A pleasure to meet you. And please, call me Geoff. Would Ivanova be a given name or a family name?" He cocks his head at the White Star. "A ship, you say?" Looking it over, he asks, "Where are the sails?"

Ivanova raises an eyebrow at the archaic gesture, but privately admits she's just a little impressed. "Sorry. Ivanova would be a family name. My given name is Susan. I've just become used to a slightly more . . . formal setting." She cranes her neck to look at the hull of the White Star. "And sails . . . well, I suppose you could term the engine nacelles sails, as they do propel the ship forward. I'm guessing it's just a type of ship you've never encountered before."

"Ah, a future ship." Geoff nods, understanding at the least the fact of the White Star's existance, if not the technicalities of its construction. "Engine...naysels? propel it rather than sails catching the wind? What manner of propulsion, then?" He smiles and adds, "If you don't mind my asking, Lady Ivanova."

Wow. He really brings out the big guns. Lady Ivanova. Be still her beating heart.

"Well, I'm not really sure of the exact science. I'm not an engineer. I'm more in the lines of telling the ship where to go rather than actually make it go." She grins, aware that she is about to break his brain. "I guess you could say she's powered by Vorlon Gravitic propulsion with Mimbari Ion/Fusion engines as backup for subspace flight. And, of course, she can open her own jumpgate into hyperspace." Her voice is tinged with pride. "Smallest ship in the whole galaxy that can do that." She takes a sip of her coffee. "Don't worry if you can't figure it out. I still don't know what gets that gorgeous-yet-shiny ship of Professor Amidala's in the air."

[[Yay for technobabble.]]

Geoff blinks repeatedly during Ivanova's explanation, which manages to turn itself into some kind of babble about 'vorlonic propulsion minfusion flight gates'. I'll ask Paige about it later. Or Shane. No, Shane will just laugh at me. It'll have to be Paige.

Realizing that she's finally come to the end of her confusing and not-at-all helpful speech, Geoff smiles at Ivanova and nods. "She's quite lovely," he says, utterly unable to think of any other compliment to offer.

Ivanova quickly takes a sip of her coffee and hides her smile behind her mug, fully aware that what she said meant absolutely nothing to him.

"Thank you. She really is. And I'm sorry I can't really explain it any better without the aid of an apple or something equally bouncy. I guess the whole Fandom High experience has been one long confusing discovery after another, hasn't it? I know it has been for me."

[[*cackles*]]

"Yes, it certainly has been." Geoff smiles at her in agreement. "I've only gotten back into town today, and I've already been confronted with move-ees, ice cream, and pianos." He shakes his head and laughs. "So apparently the day isn't over yet."

[OOC: evil, EVIL woman!]

Ivanova appeared to ponder. "Movies are good. As long as you don't let my friend Garibaldi choose which one you watch. Ice cream is tasty and the emotional cure-all. And pianos - well, I've never really gotten along with pianos, myself." She pauses to take another sip of her coffee. "You just got back? So did I, a few days ago. How was your trip? Business or pleasure?"

[[OOC: I try. I really do.]]

"Well, I understand that there's some sort of theater in town where you can see move-ees. I don't believe I know your friend Garibaldi, though, so I think I'm safe in that regard." He grins. "I haven't actually had any ice cream yet, but Paige has promised to explain it later. And as far as pianos are concerned, I haven't seen one yet, but Sonia's friend Goodman Beethoven is purported to be rather accomplished at it. We're hoping to get him permission to practice on one of Professor Ted's instruments."

He pauses, casually studying Ivanova and the ship. "The trip was entirely business, and I have to say I'm glad to be home. Yours?"

Ivanova rolled her eyes. "I was told it was business. I think that my com - er, friend Sheridan was just checking up on me. Fly around, blow things up, come back here." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "There were some, ah, aliens and alcohol involved, and for some reason Zathras didn't return me to my adult age so I had to deal with everything in an oversized uniform and receiving no respect." She sighed. "Not too much fun, despite being able to see everyone again. I am glad to be back, though. There's never a dull moment around Fandom High."

Looking intrigued by her answer, Geoff asks, "So you've been traveling in time as well? I had assumed you were from this time." He waves his hand in the general direction of town. "Whenever this is. And she's a flying ship? Several people have mentioned something similar to me since I arrived. I have to admit, it sounds...interesting."

"I'm from about two hundred years ahead of this time," Ivanova replied easily. That statement would have sounded suprememly unnatural a month ago. Now, not so much.

"Yes, the White Star flies. She's not really equipped for atmospheric flight. She's intended for deep space." Ivanova's grin widened. "Want to take her out for a spin?"

Geoff's eyes threaten to fall out of his head at her offer. "Are you serious?" He grins broadly at Ivanova. "Absolutely!"

Ivanova tosses back the last of her coffee and stands, beginning to gather her scattered books and papers. "You ready to go now? Come on in and let's go look at the stars."

[[OOC: *is so glad her room is full of people so can't fall asleep*]]

Geoff helps Ivanova gather her things. He looks like a child with a new toy, and he grins brightly at Ivanova.

[OOC: *was going to force herself to go to bed, until the offer that couldn't be refused came in*]

Ivanova stifles a laugh at the puppyish behaviour of her guest. In full fuzzy fashion she marches into the belly of the ship and through the corridors to the bridge, the hatch sealing itself behind them.

[[I don't know if you're a B5 fan, but the bridge of the White Star looks like this (http://netti.nic.fi/~tomk/kuvat/sherdeln.jpg). Best picture I can find at the moment.]]

Rather puppy-like indeed, Geoff follows after her, carrying the odds and ends of the papers he'd helped pick up. He slows occasionally to look at things -- the most seemingly mundane things, at times. He even, in fact, inadvertently presses a button or two.

[OOC: I am *such* a B5 fan, and I am having way too much fun with this! *loves on Ivanova*]

[[Sweet. That makes things *so* much easier. My mental music is moving from 'Fly Me to the Moon' to 'The Ballad of Serenity'.]]

Ivanova keeps an eye on him as they make their way through the ship. His button pressing wasn't causing anything serious - lights, opening doors, things like that. Anything more serious and the White Star's AI would kick in and fix it. They finally reach the bridge and Ivanova reluctantly moves towards the helm, gesturing towards the imposing-looking command chair.

"Since I have to fly, you can play captain. Just drop those papers anywhere and take a seat." She pauses, her fingers hovering over the console. "Don't. Touch. Anything."

Geoff places the papers in one of the other odd-looking chairs and takes a seat where Ivanova directs him. With a guilty look, he quickly pulls his hand away from the console he was most certainly not about to touch.

"I have to say that this is the oddest ship I have ever been aboard. Not in a bad way, of course. Just...odd."

Ivanova responds rather absently as she plays with the controls. "It is a bit odd, even from what I'm used to. You should know it isn't of human construction. I won't confuse you further, but I'll leave it as 'we're not alone' and let you take it from there." She grins suddenly. "You'll like this." Abruptly the display springs to life, the entire top half of the front of the bridge disappearing to show a star map. "I planned our route. We can fly about 60% of the speed of light, so I figure I'll take us to the outer planets and then back in again. I can't open a jumppoint, because no jumpgates exist here and we'd be lost forever in the vast expanse of hyperspace." She turns to him with a chipper smirk. "So, ready to lift off, Captain? And any specific destination you desire? The rings of Saturn, perhaps? The great storm on Jupiter?" She almost offered the colonies on Io and Ganymede, then remembered they wouldn't be built for a century or so yet.

Geoff jumps a bit when the display appears, and then leans forward in his chair and studies it curiously. "Saturn...yes, all right. Saturn," he replies, somewhat distractedly. He sits back in the chair, still looking around at the star map.

He also decides to completly ignore Ivanova's mention of jumping gates or hyperactive space or whatever it was.

The star map disappears, once again showing the darkened Fandom Town. A low hum and throb begins, the ship sways slightly from side to side, then begins to rise. Ivanova is concentrating on her console, trying to avoid taking out any trees or buildings on their way up, her fuzzy robe and fuzzier slippers completely forgotten.

"Here we go . . ." she murmurs as the White Star rises above the buildings of Fandom Town, and she angles it towards the clouded sky, picking up speed as they headed for the atmosphere.

Eyes widening as the full impact of the concept of fligh finally enters his brain, Geoff grips the arms of his chair and stares at the receding town. "Lady Ivanova, you're absolutely certain this is safe?"

Ivanova chuckles. "I assure you, my dear Mr. Chaucer, this is perfectly safe. The race who built this ship has been flying for a very long time. We're not going to fall out of the sky and we're not going to burn up in the atmosphere. Or be blown apart by explosive decompression when we hit the vacuum of space.

"In other words," she says with a grin as the windshield begins to glow as they enter the atmosphere, "We're going to have a lot of fun."

Geoff has no idea what 'explosive decompression' might be, but it most certainly doesn't sound good. Ivanova seems to be enjoying herself, though, so he forces himself to relax and, as Shane would say, 'go with the flow'.

He also suddenly realizes that he forgot to ask a very important question. "Um, Lady Ivanova, how long is this trip going to take? Because if I don't show up tonight and Paige has to wait several days for me to get back, I am a dead man."

"Do you know how that the speed of light is 299 792 458 m/s?" Ivanova says conversationally. "And we can travel fairly close to that. In other words, the trip won't take long. The slowest part will be trying to break atmosphere, but it looks like we're -" the screen suddenly clears and the White Star shoots forward as they break the bonds of gravity "- through!"

Ivanova pilots the White Star towards out away from the sun, flying almost too close to the unfamiliar (and unbuilt-up) surface of the moon.

"I'll have you home in about a hour, unless you want to return sooner," she finishes, composed now.

[[Hee, I'm having fun! And really glad it's Saturday night. Well, Sunday morning.]]

Any response Geoff may have made dies as he stares in amazement at the scene before him. To have watched and studied the stars and planets from a distance, marking their courses and wondering at their composition, and to know be here in their midst, leaves him speechless.

[OOC: So much fun! Even if it is waaaay past bedtime. :D]

Ivanova is amazed that the erudite man could be struck dumb so effectively. Then again, it was an impressive panorama. She could never tire of space. Silently she cruised the White Star towards Mars, the red planet looming large before the necessary - and fun- obstacle of the asteroid belt. Living and working in a floating hunk of metal gave one a sense of . . . almost invincibility. All alone, in the night.

[[Oh yes, I totally went there. For let's-go-to-bed-sooner's sake, can we say that we've been flying for a while and have now arrived at Saturn?]]

Regaining just a bit of his voice at they approach Saturn, Geoff whispers, "It's beautiful." He turns and looks at Ivanova, all seriousness now, and smiles. "Thank you, my lady."

[OOC: Excellent idea.]

Ivanova inclines her head. "It is my pleasure, Geoff. I had forgotten how much I loved flying, being ferried back and forth and everywhere." She gazes at the rings of Saturn as the White Star hovers just beyond its outer circumfrence. "Well, we came, we saw - we slept? Ready to head back to Earth?"

Geoff's nod is only somewhat reluctant. "I think we should." He feels that he could spend far more than the short time since leaving town simply gazing in awe at the sights surrounding him. But the thought of Paige, and her worry at his being gone for too long, presses him to return.

As she turns the White Star around, Ivanova smothers a yawn. "Any time you want to *snort* get away from it all - and I don't have class, of course - drop by. I definitely wouldn't mind another trip like this." She smirks. "Next time, I might even let you push some buttons."

[[Holy sugars. I just took one of the foremost figures of English literature on a tour of the solar system. I love this roleplay.]]

Geoff chuckles and turns to smile again at Ivanova. "Don't be surprised if I take you up on that offer, my lady. Studying astronomy from books is a sorry second to an experience like this."

[OOC: I think I'm going to have trouble ever getting the picture of Geoff sitting in the White Star's captain's chair and Ivanova piloting in a fluffy bathrobe and slippers out of my head. :D]

"I'm glad I made your day of new and surprising discoveries just that much better," Ivanova replies, smiling.

She points out various features rather half-heartedly as they make their way back towards Earth, like the way the sun's corona flared around the dark silhouettes of the planets. Eventually the White Star dipped back into the atmosphere, flying silently above the clouds over the darkened continent, the lights of cities and highways forming webs and clusters. Before too long Fandom Town itself appeared below them and Ivanova set down with a much lighter hand than she had taken off with.

[[Hope you don't mind fast-timing it, but I want sleep . . . I wish my Photoshop-fu were up to illustrating our little outing.]]

[OOC: Seeing as how I zonked out and abandoned you there, I really don't have anything I can complain about, do I? :D And, alas, my own photoshop-fu is weak. That would be something to see!]

[[About twenty minutes after posting I fell asleep at the keyboard and woke up four hours later to find myself the victim of my co-floor-superhero, Mother Blue. We coddle the drunks.]]

[OOC: *laughs and shakes head* FH addiction is a sad, sad thing]

((if Geoff has some sort of breakdown afer all this technology Paige is gonna be very unhappy, but please do ask her about what the technobabble meant cos she's gonna freak out and her brain might actually break, which is always fun!))

[Oh, Geoff's on his way right now to tell Paige all about his adventure. Trust me, he's way more excited than he is freaked out. He's pretty much accepted that the world has jumped so far ahead of him that he'll never figure it out.]

(( are you gonna start the post or shall I? Also do you want to slow play after Paige ran upstairs or just assume Geoff made everything better?))

[I'll start one in my LJ. And I think for the sake of our brains not having to do two things at once, we'll just assume Geoff did his duty as comforting boyfriend and left Paige in a much happier state.]

((yeah I'm not awake enough yet to remember what's happened yet, I'll stick an ETA on my post in case anyone reads it))

By the White Star, Saturday night

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