Emptiness of Other Worlds

[Sebastian Thel]

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Laying down beneath a viewport dotted with stars, Sebastian took a moment to pull his eyes away from the myriad of sheets splayed across the lounge room's table. In his hand, he held a model starship, which he moved through the air in a playful motion, creasing his eyebrows as he watched every angle of the design. Shifting his head to one side, he saw Loreena enter and sit down in the pilot's chair.

"Do you drink caf, Lori? I was about to put some on." Bas said as he turned his head back around and watched the model star ship with an absent gaze in his eyes. He continued to move it through the air, until the motion of his hand slowed and he set it aside on the lounge.

Pulling himself off the lounge, Bas tousled his hair, which was now a mess since he had been lying down and stood on his feet. He checked the maps and sheets of geometry on the table, only to stop and make a note on one of his equations. Walking to the kitchen area of the bridge, which was only large enough to house the two of them, the navigator poured several spoonfuls of caf into the coffee machine.

"Looks like we're headed towards a quasar, there's a lot of energy being emitted from an astral body in the way of our course." Raising his tone slightly, he brought the angles he deducted to the attention of Loreena, all the while pouring water into the kettle.

"We should be right if we keep a good distance." Bas said as he turned on the kettle and left the water to boil. He turned around and leaned on the counter. "I trust your piloting skills!" With a raised eyebrow he exclaimed and walked back over to the lounge, where he sat down and picked up his compass.

Sebastian was a terrible pilot. Loreena knew well not to let him in the captain's chair, he was more capable manning the navcomputer, where his talent for mathematics came in handy. Clicking his pen, Sebastian traced a circle with his compass and calculated the distance between the ship and the massive obstacle in their way, determining the necessary angle needed to avoid the quasar at a safe distance.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori walked back in from the restroom. It was a long journey and she couldn't hold it during the ENTIRE trip. That'd be unthinkable. Luckily she was able to set the ship on autopilot in the meantime. [member="Sebastian Thel"] was right where she left him. On the couch. Some might find that ridiculous or stupid that he'd be there while she did all the flying, but she didn't. It was nice to have people being so relaxed around her instead of...well awkward.

"Caf? No. I tried it once, but it was too bitter. But tea is nice. My mom always has some on hand." But Lori never latched onto that vice yet. She didn't expect that she would.

Whether or not Bas had some on board was another story.

Why did the two choose to go on a trip together? Curiosity mostly. With her family busy with one thing and her guardians busy with another, it was easy to slip away. Most kept her out of all of the affairs in order to keep her safe. Well, that just left her too much time on her hands. So exploring was the way to go! It was better than looking for trouble.

Lori eyed the charts that Bas drew up and then double-checked them with her charts in the nav-computer. "If we manage to stay outside of the 88,000 kilometre range, we should be okay. The gravity pull shouldn't be strong enough to put us in danger."

 

[Sebastian Thel]

The kettle whined as the water came to the boil and Sebastian turned around and lifted it from it's stand, then poured the water into the caf machine. He shrugged when Loreena refused the offer and watched as the coffee steeped in the jug. Kneeling down beside the bench, he looked around for some tea. Sure enough, he found some Sapir and Bastion Black.

"Would you like some tea then? I found some here." Turning around while he spoke to Lori, he held up both of the boxes for her to see, then placed them on the kitchen bench.

Now that the caf was properly steeped, Sebastian lifted the jug off the machine and filled a thermal mug, adding milk to taste. Warming his hands around the mug, he walked over to the couch and sat back down, where he set the mug on the table and continued to look over his calculations. He reached into his pocket and procured his glasses, which he slipped over his ears and read the charts he had drawn out, tapping the end of his pen on the paper as he postulated the figures.

As Loreena calculated the safe range in which they could travel on the navcomputer, Sebastian pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Noting the number she had mentioned, the navigator drew up another series of equations and calculated the necessary curve of the range and the angle at which the ship would need to travel to avoid the quasar. He traced a curve with his protractor and marked the figures at each end, and in the center of the distance.

"I've calculated the necessary angle needed to avoid the range between us and the quasar." Speaking to Lori as he sat upright, he set his glasses down and stood on his feet, leaving the pen on top of the map. He walked to the chair in front of the navcomputer and sat down, taking his position.

"Now to key in the coordinates." Sitting down, he spoke with affirmation and cracked his knuckles. Huddling under his bomber jacket, Bas stretched his fingers and began to tap away at the keys, determining the coordinates based off the angle of the course at a computational speed.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori grinned as [member="Bas Thel"] held out the boxes of tea. Did he think of everything? Maybe. He was both dreamy and smart! But older than she was. Did she have a crush? Just a little bit. But she wasn't going to do anything about it. She could end up scaring him away! That wouldn't be fun.

"Sapir, I think. We always have it at home." She gave her instruments and charts a little check before getting up quickly to make herself some tea. Bas had already prepared his caf and was back on the couch. Lori prepared her tea as he went over his calculations. "Have you ever been this close to a quasar before? Cause I haven't. It'll be neat to see." She just hoped that they didn't get sucked into it.

When her tea was ready, Lori took it with her back to her seat. Bas himself was already in his chair putting in the co-ordinates. She sipped from her cup and then set it down on it's holder, before she once again took the controls. For some reason she was calmer around him. Maybe that was because she was second guessing everything that she said or did. Except for when it came to flying, of course.