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CHARACTERS: Tommy Burgess and OPEN
LOCATION: Shuttle Bay
WARNINGS: It's Tommy, so potential references to alcoholism and suicide.
SUMMARY: Tommy starts putting himself to use by getting a jooooobbbb.
NOTES: IDK, it's an open log, go ahead and tag at will! Oh also, this is a continuation of this thread.

Tommy had never been to the Shuttle Bay before. To be perfectly honest, he hasn't done much exploring around the Tranquility, just meandered between his room and the bar on any normal day. On good days, he didn't leave the bar. Fuck it, it was a social activity, right? Sitting around, drinking, shooting the shit. What else did he have to do? Not like he needed a job.

Except he did. Need a job, that is. The longer he sat around drinking, the more he started to dwell on things. On his death, on everything that he lost, on the sheer fucked up nature of this ship. Hell, the cabins locking people out? The spooky masks on the doors? And what's-his-name-- Smiley?

And then, of course, there was the fog, and the twisted, nightmare version of the ranch house, the place he used to go to for comfort.

Drinking was supposed to help him to forget how fucked up everything in his life was, but it was impossible to forget when he was still here, in... space hell.

So, employment it was. To be honest, he's not sure if he's even cut out for this job. He's not a mechanic or an engineer, but he's done work on cars before, minor stuff. Stuff any idiot can do. He figures, with the right tools and instruction, he can help out here, too.

And so, reeking like a brewery (but perhaps not as strongly as usual), Tommy finds his way to the Shuttle Bay. The sight that greets him is impressive, to say the least. It's huge, bigger than he thought it'd be, and there's actually a view. A real, honest-to-god look at the outside. At outer fucking space.

"Fuckin' A," he murmurs, a slow smile spreading across his face.

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York had only been on the flight crew for a couple of weeks. He'd been working on anything he had been given as assignments but today he hadn't done much in his time there but tinker and socialize. Just now, he was taking advantage of the mattresses that were shoved over by the wall and plays a game his comms device while lounging there.

Well, shit.

When Sulu hears someone enters, he figures it's Carolyn. Or maybe Amy, coming to check on him, to poke and prod and make sure he's alright. ( He isn't, he's been told this, even if it feels like he's fine, but everyone keeps looking at him in worry and he feels jacked up and wrong without his mask, without knowing where it is and if its waiting for him back in his cabin. ) But it isn't. It's a third option, a civilian Sulu's only seen a handful of times on the Network with a bottle, and this...

Well, it's the shuttle bay. There's more than enough things to trip over down here. And some part of Sulu that's been twisted up out of whack screams that is isn't efficient, that having some drunk civilian down here is going to create something he'll have to clean up and he won't be able to get the shuttle completed before someone drags him off and forces him to sleep and--

And it has to be dealt with. Which is why Sulu disentangles himself from his shuttle and calls, "You need something?"

( Part of him recognizes that expression because it had been Sulu's expression too but sentimentality like that is so deeply smothered, so faint, it barely even registers. ) ]

Kaylee hears it first - she's poking around in a nearby shuttle, coveralls stained with grease and her hair pulled back, locks pulled out and framing her face. The voice is familiar, and she pokes her head up, glancing at him with a smile.

"Tommy! Glad you made it." If she's got a smear of grease on her nose, well. That's just part of her charm, isn't it?

Tommy's on the lookout for a familiar face as he walks on through, keeping close to the wall. It's as if he's afraid of getting too close to the shuttles, like they're going to explode or fall apart if he touches them. Really, he just doesn't want to fuck anything up his first time here.

He stops once he comes across the mattresses, waits for a beat. The guy looks like he's busy doing, well, something with his comms device. Could be important, whatever it is. Then again, Tommy doesn't want to stand around like a fucking idiot, so he may as well interrupt.

"Hey." He rubs the back of his neck and looks around. "You, uh. Have you seen Kaylee around here?"

Tommy's awestruck for the moment, just taking in the sights of the shuttle bay. It's not until he hears somebody calling out to him that he manages to blink and pry his gaze away from the nearest shuttle.

"Huh?" He looks over to the man. It's someone he's not familiar with, but that's not saying much, seeing as Tommy mostly keeps to himself and his bottle these days. "Oh. Uh, yeah."

Smooth, Tommy. Eloquent.

"Kara and Kaylee told me to drop by. You seen them?"

Although he's had a few drinks, he's not slurring his words, at least. Today, Tommy's downright functional.

"Hey." He tucks the device in his pocket and stands. Conversation is much more interesting than that thing. "She's always around somewhere. Probably poking around in an engine, more likely than not."

The more he looks at these shuttles, the more convinced he is that he's not going to be much help here. He can do all right with a car, but this is space shit. Even with good directions, he's wondering if he'll be able to get it. Face it, Tommy, all you're good for is the army, and this isn't it.

When Kaylee pokes her head up and smiles at him, though, he forgets his doubts, at least for the time being. He grins back at her. "Yeah, well, I just had to see it. This place is bigger than I thought it'd be."

"Huh. I guess she'll pop up sooner or later." In the meantime, might as well make conversation. Otherwise, they'll both just be standing there with nothing better to do. Tommy holds out his hand. "I'm Tommy. Don't know shit about space ships, so she was gonna show me the ropes."

He grinned and shook Tommy's hand. "York. Be prepared to get an education, Kaylee's pretty passionate about them."

"No, I haven't."

It's probably a toss up as to who would have handled this worse. Sulu's still not firing on all cylinders, still grabbing and clutching for the tattered remnants of whatever humanity his mask hadn't crushed. Casey's idea of a welcoming committee involves tranq darts and shouting.

This really wasn't going to go well.

"If you're looking for them, try their comms."

The lift of Sulu's chin is dismissal, is look elsewhere.

"She's a big ship," Kaylee agrees cheerfully. "Lots bigger than Serenity that's for sure. Serenity only has two shuttles, little things. Short range, only about four people per. Inara rents one of 'em. These are transport shuttles, though. Get enough of 'em working, we might be able to evac everyone in case somethin' goes wrong with the power core or the jump drive."

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