Smoke curls from the joystick housing while the apartment stays dark. Yumi laughs, waves the haze away, and crouches beside Nate at the patched controls.
Yumi
That was spectacularly dramatic for a docking exercise. Come on, let us save your building from a second performance.
Together, they disconnect the scorched wiring and expose the worn contact beneath the joystick cap. Yumi steadies the panel while Nate replaces the damaged piece.
Yumi
There. The contact is ugly, but functional. Your simulator has survived another lesson in resource management.
Yumi resets the apartment breaker, and the lights return in a warm flicker. The simulator powers down safely, leaving only the neighbor’s fading complaint beyond the wall.
After securing the repaired joystick, Nate and Yumi sit together on the couch. The successful drill and shared repair leave the room comfortably quiet between them.
Yumi
You know, this is the first time I have seen someone make a cockpit feel like home. What do you want to do after the academy?
““Honestly just travel and pick up any job I can along the way. Maybe help people as I do. Get a big enough ship to make a home someday and have a family.” I smile “what about you? You seem really smart and seem to know a lot about this kinda stuff. Especially navigation. What’s your dream?””
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Nate
Honestly, I just want to travel and pick up any job I can along the way. Maybe help people, too. Someday I want a big enough ship to make a home and have a family.
Nate smiles at Yumi from the couch, with the repaired simulator resting dark beside them and warm apartment light reflecting across its patched controls.
Nate
What about you? You seem really smart and know a lot about this stuff, especially navigation. What is your dream?
Yumi
He talks about a future that includes other people, not just escape. I want to believe there is room for me in that picture.
Yumi
My dream? I want to map places nobody has charted properly, then build tools that make deep-space travel safer for ordinary crews.
Yumi turns toward the dark simulator, her expression brightening as the idea takes shape. The room feels smaller than the universe, but not small enough to contain the dream.
Yumi
Maybe I will join a survey ship, or help design one. And if you really build that traveling home, Nate, I would like to see where it goes.
““That sounds great. Well maybe after the academy we can build that survey ship together and start something amazing.” I scratch the back of my head and smile “sorry I know I’m talking a lot about the future and we just met but I don’t know. There something about you. Makes me feel like I’ve known you forever””
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Nate
That sounds great. Maybe after the academy, we can build that survey ship together and start something amazing.
Nate scratches the back of his head and smiles, then glances toward the repaired simulator as if it already belongs aboard a future ship.
Nate
Sorry, I know I’m talking a lot about the future and we just met, but there’s something about you. You make me feel like I’ve known you forever.
Yumi goes still. Warm apartment light catches the pink strands beside her face, and the quiet hum of the building fills the pause.
Yumi
He is offering me a place in the future he keeps describing. I barely know him, but I do not want to step away from it.
Yumi
That is a lot to say after one afternoon, Nate. But I understand. Something about this feels easy, like we skipped the awkward part.
Yumi
So let us start with the simulator, survive academy training, and see where that survey ship takes us. I would like that.
✓ Quest Accepted
Build a survey ship with Yumi
✓ Quest Accepted
Earn admission to the pilot academy
“I smile. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll work and train hard the next year and get into the academy. We can work on the rest later” thanks for this “I’ve kinda been doing this all alone. Talking to you about it and having some help feels great.” I stare at her for too long again getting lost in how pretty she is before blushing and turning away “sorry I keep getting distracted””
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Nate
Sounds like a plan. I’ll work and train hard over the next year, get into the academy, and we can work on the rest later. Thanks for this.
Nate
I’ve kind of been doing this all alone. Talking to you about it and having some help feels great.
Nate holds Yumi’s gaze too long, then notices himself, blushes, and turns toward the repaired simulator. The quiet room makes the apology feel louder than intended.
Nate
Sorry. I keep getting distracted.
Yumi
You do not have to apologize for being human, Nate. And you do not have to carry the whole future alone anymore.
Yumi nudges the simulator case with her shoe, grounding the conversation in the practical room around them. The academy goal feels definite, while everything beyond it can wait.
Yumi
One year of training, one step at a time. I will help with navigation, you handle the flying, and we will see what comes next.
““Yea. I just always seem to lose my sense around you. Way too beautiful” I laugh and blush”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Nate
Yeah. I just always seem to lose my sense around you. Way too beautiful.
Nate laughs and blushes, then turns toward the repaired simulator as if its patched controls suddenly demand his full attention.
Yumi blinks, surprised, and tucks a vivid pink strand behind her ear. Her smile is warm, but she keeps the moment light.
Yumi
That is a dangerously generous assessment from someone who just flew a broken simulator by sight.
Yumi
He is sincere, and sincerity makes teasing him harder. I should keep this comfortable for both of us.
Yumi
Thank you, Nate. Now focus that famous sense on the academy drills. We have a year to make your flying impossible to ignore.
She reaches for the simulator case and opens the diagnostic panel, giving the conversation an easy landing while the repaired cockpit waits for its next lesson.
“We stay and talk for a bit before she heads home”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Nate and Yumi leave the diagnostic panel open and settle back on the couch. They talk about academy routines, strange orbital maps, and the crews they hope to meet beyond the planet.
Yumi
I should probably head home soon, but I can spare a little longer. Tell me what you would want your first real cockpit to feel like.
The conversation wanders comfortably. Yumi sketches imaginary control layouts with her fingers while Nate listens and answers, and the dark simulator gives occasional quiet cooling clicks.
Yumi
You know, your dream is ambitious, but you make it sound practical. Train, work, save, then take the next job. That part I understand.
Their talk runs past Yumi’s planned transit window. She checks her slate, sighs at the missed departure, and spends a fare credit on a later route home.
Yumi
There goes one transit credit. Worth it, though. Next time, we schedule the conversation before the simulator catches fire.
Yumi closes the diagnostic panel, secures the case, and rises. At the door, she gives Nate a bright wave before stepping into the corridor toward the late train.