MCA #3, Wednesday Afternoon

[uncertain_dume]

So... it was finally Kanan's turn to inherit the singing monstrosity. Which was almost fitting, in away. After all, he'd 'won' the thing by singing. Monstrously.

Kanan's time with the fish started, probably predictably, with a round of The Song That Doesn't End blaring directly into his mind, followed by a small fireworks display and a sudden vomit of glitter and confetti.

It had gotten worse from there.

He was looking slightly irritated by the time he made it to the door of his apartment, with the fish screaming Sabotage and stinking like pumpkin spice from under one armpit. He'd tried shutting it up by smashing it against a brick wall on the way - a move he'd never admit to - and the fish had healed from the damage.

So. Day one of his week with the fish had officially begun.

He could already hear his dog crying on the other side of the door.

[OOC: OPEN. COME VISIT. WHAT A FISH.]

Comments

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan raised an eyebrow, but shrugged.

"A game thing. Okay. Well, so long as you're not one of those people who says 'pew pew pew' whenever he fires a blaster pistol, I think you'll do fine."

God bless you, Laura Dern.

[spectre_alenko]

"If I'm shooting any type of firearm, trust me, I'm not making cute little noises. I'm either focused or, y'know, screaming," Kaidan said, a little more grimly than was probably necessary.

[uncertain_dume]

"Also good," Kanan replied, shrugging. "Then I figure you'll do fine."

[spectre_alenko]

"Shooting is at least one skill I do have," Kaidan noted, scrubbing a hand through his hair. Eyeing the fish, he said, "At least nobody ever equipped it with bullets."

[uncertain_dume]

"If the squirrels have that reported on radio and it gives somebody ideas, I'm holding you personally responsible," Kanan informed him.

[spectre_alenko]

"You're assuming it's not my idea for when I get the fish," Kaidan said.

[uncertain_dume]

"Don't make me leave you drifting in space along with it, Kaidan."

He was probably joking!

[spectre_alenko]

"You'd leave me there for ten minutes, until you realized just how boring your life would be without me around," Kaidan pointed out.

[uncertain_dume]

"Yeah," Kanan sighed. "But just imagine how quiet and bullet-fish-free that ten minutes would be."

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan raised both eyebrows, "If you left me in space, you think I wouldn't be shooting at you? Buddy, really?"

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan deadpanned back at him.

"Are you a fish?"

This was apparently important.

[spectre_alenko]

"Not for years and years," Kaidan said, then followed up with the explanation, "'Fish' is a term for a person new to the military."

[uncertain_dume]

"Huh," Kanan replied, frowning a little. "We called 'em Shinies."

[spectre_alenko]

"Not an Earth term," Kaidan noted, "Hell, last time I heard the word 'shiny' it was an exclamation in that 'Lightning Bug' TV show."

[uncertain_dume]

"It was in reference to their armor, I think," Kanan offered. "Hadn't been put through its paces yet. Still had that new trooper shine to it."

[spectre_alenko]

"I have no idea why 'fish' is the term," Kaidan admitted, "My best guess is due to the shocked gape they give when they hit boot camp."

[uncertain_dume]

"Little intense, is it?"

Kanan, don't look so amused.

[spectre_alenko]

"Wasn't for me, but my dad was Alliance, so I more or less grew up with it," Kaidan shrugged, "Some of the other recruits found it a whole new world."

[uncertain_dume]

"I suppose it would be, for people who haven't known it their whole life," Kanan allowed. "I'm trying to picture it."

He'd done things in the exact opposite order, after all.

[spectre_alenko]

"You don't remember anything from before?" Kaidan asked.

[uncertain_dume]

"Before?" Kanan shook his head. "Nah, I was too young. Couldn't even pick my own parents out of a lineup if you asked me to. I was handed over with nothing but my name and my connection to the Force."

[spectre_alenko]

Outwardly, there was no reaction but a slow nod. Inwardly, behind his mental walls, Kaidan shuddered. He'd always had his parents. Even the worst moments of his life, he'd known his parents were out there and knew to his marrow that they loved him.

He'd felt the same when John talked about his childhood in the streets.

"Might not be that hard," he added lightly after a minute, "Brow, nose, jawline, eye color - can't be that common, even in your galaxy."

[uncertain_dume]

"Don't think I'd care to try," Kanan replied, almost dismissively. "I haven't known them my entire life. I can't imagine finding them now, when doing exactly that could result in someone getting killed, would do me any favors anyway."

Had they regretted giving him to the Order? Had they even missed him? Did they think of him once the slaughter had started? He didn't want to know.

[spectre_alenko]

"You don't wonder if you have siblings?" Kaidan asked before he could stop himself.

His gaze slid away so fast it almost made a noise. He didn't have siblings; most women who gave birth to an Eezo-damaged baby didn't risk a second pregnancy. His parents had beaten the odds with him and didn't tempt fate.

[uncertain_dume]

"All I'd share with them is blood," Kanan replied after a long, long silence. "As best, they're strangers. At worst, they're dead. If they share more than just blood with me, they're dead."

He reached a hand up and dusted off his shoulder. There was some glitter on it.

"So no, I generally avoid wondering about it."