[Log] Bishop's tour

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Grace O'Malley - Dorsal Observation
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While the observation deck is commonly used on military and corporate vessels as a briefing room or executive lounge, here, it's been converted into something far more welcoming. Three soft, overstuffed couches and several armchairs of emerald green have been gathered about a broad, low-lying table of burnished oak. An age-faded map of the oceans and lands of an unfamiliar planet are set deep below layers of varnish on the tabletop. Carpet in a myriad of oceanic blues in a wavelike pattern extends to every edge of the deck, covering the metal plating of the floor.

To the aft of the deck, an ornately carved oak bar curves slightly to create a nook against the half-dome of blast-proof reinforced glass that comprises the ceiling and all but the fore wall, allowing a view of the rear hull of the ship and all that may lie beyond.

Narrow stairs from below open up against the lone wall, which is covered in a lovingly painted mural. A regal looking woman with close cropped auburn hair stands defiantly proud at the prow of an ancient sailing vessel, and looking out over verdant, rocky shores in the distance. The bright summer sky of the painting seems to illuminate the whole of the room and its winds fill the illustrated sails.
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As promised, apparently Happy Hour is set to commence. Standing behind the bar is Bishop, in his new wardrobe selection with all the commonly used bottles pulled out and set up along with mugs, glasses, mixers... all the trimmin's and fixin's. In fact, he's already at work, shaking a mixing container that rattles with ice.



Saienne walks up the staircase to the observatory with customary lightness of foot and spirit. She is dressed informally in a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt which has the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. "Bishop," she says gravely as she makes her way across the blue carpet to the beautiful oak bar, "Looks like tomorrow might be a painful mornin'."


Happy Hour is a concept that Tyr can understand. "Bishop. My, it's good to have a fella who knows how to bartend on board." His eyes sweep over all the spirits
in a happy sort of way.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Gentle steps on the staircase, swift in rythm, can be heard just after Saienne's arrival in the observantory. And then a blonde head can be seen, green eyes take a turn around the room and finally lights on the bar. "I heard there was an event here just," comes Sirah's rich voice. "I hope you would not mind if I joined you?" A smile creases her lips, and she steps onto the deck on graceful feet, heading for the bar.


"Tomorrow, will indeed be a painful morning if you take the Bishop tour. Now, I got to warn you. The trip starts slowly but it will take you across most of the core worlds, many of the outlying lands sampling a variety of drink specialties. Where you end up in the morning though... is of no accountability of mine." Bishop grins then as he looks between Sai and Tyr, "Feeling... adventerous?" At the arrival of Sirah, Bishop smirks a little bit. "And of course not, this bar is welcome to all who'd approach it, and I take many requests."


Saienne turns from the bar as Sirah makes her entrance, swishing up the steps to the observatory. "You must be the guest I ain't yet met," she says cordially, smiling a characteristic lop-sided smile. "An' you're more than welcome, an' all." She looks sideways at Bishop. "The Bishop tour? Good gorram." She frowns, crowsfeet wrinkling deeply. "Ain't I adventurous by nature? An' as long as I manage to tumble down the stairs in the general vicinity of my bunk..." She shrugs. "Well, precision ain't exactly necessary."


Tyr runs a hand through his hair, brushing it in a sheepish sort of way. Tyr can't help but stare at the new female arrival whom he does not know. And then he realizes he's staring, so he glances away. "So -- that sounds like somethin'. I'm on board."


"I shall approach the bar, then," says Sirah lightly at Bishop's request, and does just so; in a series of swift steps she appears at the bar next to Saienne. A smile creases the corners of her lips, and a nod of greeting is sent at everyone present - both pilot-turned-bartender and the other two.


"This is true. I boarded at Persephone, but I'm afraid I have spent much too long time in my own cabin. I had a few affairs that needed tending to, but I am done with those. I am Sirah, and you would be," her green gaze intensifies on the other woman. "Saienne? And ... Tyr, I believe."


"That's the spirit." Bishop says as he starts pouring drinks. The club soda makes an appearance with a gentle mix of lemon and oddly salt, it's really just a nice light citrusy drink. "This first drink on the tour..." He explains while setting out three glasses and pouring the concotion in, "takes us to upscale Alliance Nobility. Gentle, soothing with a bit of fizz to ignite the taste buds." Looking to Sirah, Bishop makes sure the third glass he sat down was right in front of her, clearly indicating that participation in the 'tour' may well be non-optional. "Welcome aboard." He says with a slow smile.


"Ain't no bother," says Saienne to Sirah in regard to her comment about spending too much time in her cabin. "That's what we got them for, ain't it? A corner of privacy in the madhouse." She grins crookedly, and nods at the mention of her name: "Saienne Olaeno," she confirms, "An' a pleasure to meet you an' all, Sirah." Sai steps up to one of the bar stools and takes a seat, leaning one elbow on the bartop. "Light an' citrusy?" She asks Bishop, taking a sniff as the bubbles fizz and pop. "Is that so?"


"Oh. Oh, yeah. I'm Tyr. Tyr Bannik." The ranch hand stammers a little bit, but forces out a nervous smile to the Companion. A stratch at the back of his head and Tyr reaches for the drink. He may well need this. "How -- did you know?"


An arched brow raises a fraction of an inch at the mention of 'upscale Alliance Nobility', but Sirah quietly takes her seat at a chair and closes her lithe fingers around the pale drink. It is lifted, and tipped at Bishop, a brief smile lighting her eyes.


"Oh indeed. And a pleasure to meet you both as well," she then says, turning her gaze to the side. "And Sander told me," the companion sends Tyr a friendly nod. "Could you blame me for being curious about the crew, even if I had not seen you all?"


"Well of course Sai. Noble, cultured folk you see enjoy the sensation of being light on one's feet. That's why the further out you get from the core, the more you find the heavier drinks that weigh down the stomach." Bishop explains with a smile. "Which we'll get to as well. By time this is all done you'll be drinking mud and begging for more." Tapping the bar in front of Tyr, Bishop smiles at the ranch hand. "Tyr, take the drink, trust me." Looking over at Sirah, the bartender/pilot tilts his head. "Curiousity caught the companion... or so the legend goes."


"Not at all," replies Saienne to Sirah. "Wholly prudent approach, I reckon." She sips the drink Bishop has prepared - tipping it to him by way of a toast after the first sip. "Bishop," she says gravely, fingering the glass's delicate stem with long fingers. "You got the measure of me, I reckon. Spent a goodly portion of my life drinkin' rum distilled to be thicker than molasses, ain't it so?" About as far, comes the silent comment, from noble and cultured as it is possible to get. "Speakin' of which, are we goin' to get to any of that...?" She peers down behind the bar - in so doing getting a clearer vision of the pilot's choice of clothing. "Oh my," she says, leaning back and looking back up to Bishop's face. Her crooked grin appears. "That there's a whole new take on sartorially challenged, ain't it?"


Tyr takes the drink. Oh, he takes the drink. "Well, I suppose that makes plenty of sense. I hope you only got told the good stuff about m -- oh. Well. That explains it." Sirah is a Companion. He turns when Sai mentions Bishop's clothes. He says nothing. He drinks more.


"The drinks at noble parties do tend to contain more bubbles than water. And more alcohol than bubbles. That much is true, at least," Sirah flicks a green glance at the towel-wrapped bartender. The lady lifts the glass the rest of the way to her lips, tastes it with closed eyes -- and swiftly moves it out in arm's length, focusing at it carefully.

"Why, this is really fine!" She then exclaims. Only a very keen observer would detect the note of earnest surprise in the companion's soft voice. She only tears her gaze away from the bubbly drink at Saienne's comments, regarding her with a calm and expectant expression.


Taking his own shot of the fizzy citrusy drink, Bishop sets to work on the next shot that is to be prepared. Thicker and mildly syrupy, a similar fruity taste presents itself as the drink is mixed and then poured in greater abundance. It takes much longer to prepare this drink however allowing for conversation. "All my clothes are soaking wet, don't ask, only thing that was dry was this towel. So, I wear the towel." Bishop explains rather plainly as if it all makes perfect sense. "Well of course it's fine. I'm not going to serve you all motor oil. At least not until later."


"Tyr," Sai begins in good-natured tones, "I do not for a moment believe that any of the folk aboard could have a bad thing to say about you, so don't you fret none." A pause, and she sips from her glass again. "An' anyhow a lady such as Sirah would never be so indiscreet as to mention if they had." She grins crookedly at Tyr; and then, to Bishop, says dryly: "I expect I should be thankful for small mercies, an' all." A beat. "Least you scrounged up a towel."


"Well, it is a good drink." Tyr drinks more. "And Bish, maybe you can just ask for help with the laundry if you need it rather than -- I mean. I always got some time on my hands, and I could." He waves his hand vaguely. He drinks.


"I saw you the other day on Jiangyin, out where the cows were being kept." The blonde woman says conversationally at Bishop as he busies himself with the drinks. "You were soaked. Is it a pilot custom, to shower with your clothes on?"

Sirah does not exactly smile, but her eyes sparkle even as she turns to Tyr and nods.

"Despite what Saienne so kindly says, rest assured that I did, in fact, hear no ill of you. I enjoy the company onboard the Grace, even if I might just say farewell before the motoroil is served."


"Small?!" Bishop mockingly exclaims and looks down, "Oh... right." He then looks between Tyr and Sirah as he begins to pour the thicker drink that is still fruity and a little heavier on the alcohol. "Well, the thing is this. I have a leak in my cabin and it's... occassionally getting my clothing wet from once in awhile."


"Me an' all," agrees Saienne fervently, about the motor oil. "Reckon a person has to be a special kind of desperate to start downin' anythin' like that." She looks up brightly at Tyr: "Got plenty of odd jobs to be gettin' on with if you're lookin' for things to do in the absence of calves an' chickens," she says. "Ronnie's given me a list as long as my arm to work through." She rolls her eyes in Bishop's direction. "Don't go twistin' my words again," she admonishes. "Not all of us have our minds permanently in the gorram gutter." She finishes the citrusy drink and sets the glass down delicately on the oak bar. "There's a leak in your bunk?" Saienne asks, frowning. "I reckon that falls into the odd job remit, if you want it lookin' at...?"


"I betcha I can take a look into it," says Tyr with a nod. "I mean, I'm not no mechanic or anything, but I bet I could pick up a bit of knowledge working around the ship, right?"


"A leak. In your cabin."

Even as Saienne speaks, Sirah narrows her eyes at Bishop - but the woman's gaze is far from unfriendly; it seems, rather, that she derives some subtle amusement from following their conversation. The new drink is lifted, inspected, and tasted.

"Not too bad," she comments gently and turns the glass slowly in her fingers, watching the dim light sparkle in the liquid. "It reminds me of this party on Sihnon. It was a masquerade, and the theme was fairytales. There were drinks like this, and they changed colours in the light from the moons."


"Only moon around here is when my pants fall down." Bishop quips as he sips his own drink, taking a few moments to enjoy it. "As for my quarters, it's all well and good. What happened essentially is I had to do some rewiring to get something configured... and in doing it I might have sort have shorted the fire sprinklers." He says the last quickly and coughs, "So every once in awhile... the sprinklers kick on."


"Reckon we could share the jobs out between us," Sai replies to Tyr. "I ain't no mechanic neither - these ain't mechanic jobs, just general bits an' pieces..." She tails off, listening to Sirah recall the masquerade on Sihnon. "Sounds just delightful," she says, genuinely. "Only been to Sihnon once, an' it was a flyin' visit an' all. Spaceport was about all I got to see, but it was fine an' impressive anyhow." She then grins at Bishop as he tells his tale. "Oh my," she says. "Well, weldin' an' replacin' of pipes I could help you with, but wirin' ain't in my set of skills. Most likely it'd be permanently rainin' in there if I even tried." A pause. "An' really, I prefer it when you're wearin' more than a towel."


"I hope it is not a general problem with the cabins onboard the O'Malley." Sirah looks between Saienne and Tyr, contriving to look lightly concerned. "I am not sure I would appreciate my newly-rugged floor converted into a pool. But now I know whom to call, at least, if there is ever a leakage; not that I would change any of the wiring myself."

She quirks a smile and empties her glass, placing it upon the counter. Her gaze then turns to Bishop, and she queries:

"Have you just one set of clothes, then? You should ask Captain Aradia to pay you more."


"I have more than one set... jut all my sets are wet right now." Bishop explains then smiles to Sai, "And I'm still trying to fix the wiring as it were, but I'm not getting rid of the disco ball just because its a little wet. Now, who is ready for round three?" He asks, pausing to smile at Sirah.


"Aw, no," says Tyr. "I mean, I'm high and dry in my cabin. Love my cabin. It's one of the doubles, but it's only got just me in it for the time bein', so I got plenty of space." He chuckles. "And sure, Sai. Gimmie the list."


"Well I ain't never got rained on in the middle of the night neither," Saienne says, smiling slightly at Tyr. "So I reckon you'll be safe enough, Sirah." She waves her empty glass towards Tyr and nods. "In the mornin'. When we're nursin' hangovers set to split our heads in two." Sai grins crookedly. "Best time of all to do the messy an' horrible jobs, ain't it? Why waste a good day doin' them when you can waste a miserable one?" She mouthes the words 'disco ball' into the air and, sighing a little, nods to Bishop. "What're we drinkin' next, then?"


"Safety from water-leakages is an important thing. I am very pleased to hear you say so," the woman's lips crease in a warm smile at Saienne. "And I shall never worry about a fire, either. It sounds as if the sprinklers onboard are quite exuberant. So, you have a double cabin, all to yourself, Tyr. Very comfortable, I am sure."

Sirah sends a thoughtful look at Tyr before turning to her empty glass -- nodding at Bishop.

"I am. Your drinks taste just fine, very fine."


"Well. I'll still be up and doin' my job. It's what the Cap'n pays me for. But I may just have a bit of a head ache." Tyr shakes his head slightly, but then casts a little smile towards the Companion, perhaps trying to figure out if she has any other meaning there. "It's pretty shiny," he agrees, tentatively.


"Very fine. I'm going to need to put that on my business cards." Bishop says with a lopsided grin before he sets to pouring again. "This is one of my favorites, it's actually called the Persephone, I developed it while working there. It's a spin on a Martini." He starts mixing the drinks together, the vodka, the necessary ingrediants before shaking it up in the mixing device.


"Havin' any kind of bunk to oneself is blessin' enough, ain't it?" Saienne asks, to no one in general. "Spent too long sharin' with folk who snore or talk in their gorram sleep or somesuch." She watches as Bishop mixes the latest drink. "The Persephone," she says. "Is that so? All nice an' shiny an' bright on top, but concealin' a dark an' dirty underbelly."


Sirah's eyes follow the drink curiously as it is mixed, taking note of the ingredients that go into the mixer. "I wonder where the rest of the crews is," she muses with a glance at the stairway. "I think I recall Sander saying he might attend later. And does anyone know where Aradia is?"


Tyr shakes his head. "I don't know, myself," he confesses. "Seems like the Cap'n is always out makin' deals. Heck, I don't even know what planet we're on half the time."


"Business. And Ariel." Bishop says with a slight smirk towards Sirah before pouring the drinks, ironically pouring for the companion first then filling the other glasses. "Now, this martini will have a bit of a kick to it. And actually close Sai. I call it the Persephone because, first off I came up with it while working there. But second, it's clear... but despite the crisp clean look it's got that bite to it that can sometimes make you grimace."


"Captain's out on a job, far as I understand it." Saienne says, and, without missing a beat, turns to Tyr and says: "Nature of the game, ain't it? An', Tyr, I reckon you need to get out more. Ain't we supposed to be goin' to dinner some time?" To Sirah: "Josephine's off visitin' someplace." She looks thoughtful, at that. "An' I miss her, an' all," she says. A pause, and Sai shrugs - a fluid roll of her shoulders: "But I ain't got no idea where any of the other folk are hidin', mind. I expect they'll make their way up here when we're three sheets to the wind already an' all kinds of amusin'." She nods with a sagacity that could only be born of experience when Bishop explains the naissance of the Persephone: "Well," she says, pulling her glass towards her, "Sounds just like my cup of tea, don't it?"


Sirah lets a hand lift the 'Persephone', regarding the drink with a composed expression.

"It is clear, but things are oddly obscured when you look through it. Drinking it likely will not change this fact!" A head is tilted at the lucid liquid, an almost fond smile given at the sight. She takes a sip, then, but this time - this time - she stops sooner, leaving half of the drink in the glass. The companion blinks, once.

"Very nice," she croaks, and clears her throat. A quick smile is flashed at Saienne, her voice soft as ever: "You can count on Sander sitting in his cabin and reading from his religeous texts, I dare say." "A bit of a kick, huh?" asks Tyr over to the Companion, taking a long gulp of his own. Wince. Wow. "So. Uh. Are you with us for long, ma'am, or are you just hitchin' a ride for now?"


"If you're just hitchin' a ride you'd best beware," says Saienne seriously. "I was doin' just that - Verbena to Persephone as I recall it; nice steady run - an' I ended up stayin'." She pauses and smiles out of the windows into the middle distance. "Been nearly a year now, ain't it?" She sips her own Persephone a little more delicately than Tyr managed and licks her lips. She grins a crooked grin. "Now we're gettin' closer to my kind of drink."


"It is very strong, yes." Sirah smiles at Tyr and lets her glass rest on the table, hand still loosely curled around the drink. "And even if I would like to stay for longer," a nod at Saienne, "then I could not. A companion can only travel onboard one ship for so long, then we are assigned to another vessel." A light shrug is given, as well as a regretful half-smile, and the lady sips from her drink once more.

She manages to half the contents again, leaving a quarter of the liquid.


During the conversation, Bishop is already getting to work, constantly moving now. However some of the ingrediants he pulls out are rather interesting. Cocoa powder, tobasco sauce... and a lot of very very heavy strong liquors start getting mixed together as he works in silence, a rather serious look in his eyes of concentration.


"Oh. Well. I suppose so," agrees Tyr with a nod of his head, digging out that small nugget of information from the back of his head. "So you're -- uh. Assigned to us for now?" he asks.


"I didn't realise," says Saienne, "That there's a time limit on such arrangements." She pauses, considering: "But now I think on it, it makes good business sense, don't it? The more ships a Companion contracts with, the more of the 'Verse she'll get to see, presumably - an' that ain't never goin' to be bad for spreadin' the civilisin' word an' all." Saienne peers over at Bishop and the new collection of ingredients he has gathered at the bar. "Good gorram," she murmurs. "Tour ain't the half of it. This is goin' to turn out more like safari."


"Yes," Sirah laughs for the first time since she entered the bar. It is a pleasing sound, much as the nod that she gives to Tyr. "I am assigned to you, or you are assigned to me. It is all a matter of perspective. And this is exactly the reason, the very nature of this arrangement."

The companion lets a warm gaze light on Saienne, frowing softly at the mention of a safari. Her gaze swivels to regard Bishop, and the ingredients that he mixes; a sight that makes her say, politely:

"I am sorry, but I may not be able to stay for the whole tour."


Bishop chuckles and grins a bit at Sirah as he starts mixing the choco and drink together. After several minutes in the shaker getting shook up, he adds the tobasco sauce in. "This... this is something I have never served before but I am attempting for the first time for you folks." He explains to them. "I call it... The Gorram Witch who Shattered my Heart." A final swirl of the drink and Bishop starts pouring it into the shot glasses. "It should be sweet at first, flavorful, and then there hopefully will be a bit of a bite that'll open up your taste buds to reality. Just like that piece of..." Clearing his throat, Bishop smiles. "Enjoy."


"Oh. Well." Tyr slides a hand through his hair, giving Sirah a shy smile. "It is very nice to have you aboard, Sirah. Real shiny." He nods, then reaches for the new drink. And he takes a sip. And his eyes begin to water.


"Can't say as I blame you," Saienne says to Sirah in response to her comment about not being able to stay for the messy end to this hour. "But Tyr ain't wrong - it is good to have you aboard." Sai peers at the small glass Bishop has provided this time round, bending down towards it to sniff. She looks up at Bishop, dubiously. "Smells... interestin'." Saienne picks the shot glass up and knocks the odd concoction back in one go. At first, there's not much response. Then, as the tobasco hits the back of her throat she lets out a bit of a strangled cough and a harsh: "Good gorram!" She coughs again. "Shattered heart ain't the half of it!" She tilts the shot glass and regards the tiny bit remaining warily. "That's... interestin'."


"Thank you," the Companion says with a fond glance at both Saienne and Tyr. "And ... a heartbreaking drink? This I must try, at least," Sirah daintily empties her glass and places it upon the desk to be refillled. The next drink is regarded with some apprehension on her part.

"She must have been a very special woman," she says with feeling at Bishop, looking down once more to regard the oddly-coloured contents with a frown. A deep breath is taken, then, the cloth of her golden dress shimmering in the wan light -- but her mien is far from pleased as she closes her eyes and swiftly sips from her drink. And there she stiffens, pausing with the glass still touching her lips, eyes widening. And then?

The glass is carefully, but firmly, placed down; a blush rising in her cheeks.


Looking at his own shot glass, Bishop nods to it. "Just like that piece of garbage said to me, 'Grow up, put some hair on your chest.'" Then he knocks back his own shot, slapping the bar extensively as it bites him all over, eyes watering and finally he smiles. "I need to fine tune that drink... but it's going to be a winner. Too much of the bourbon I think." Shaking his head, Bishop actually gets some more of the lighter fruitier drink ready again to follow down the previous heavy mind blasting shot. "I curious myself in wondering if you'd have thought you'd be taking shots with the crew." He inquires towards Sirah. "As for special, well, damn skippy she was."


Tyr manages to choke down the drink, nodding his head slowly. "It sure really packs a punch like a horse bucking you right over the fence," says Tyr, finding only that as an acceptable metaphor for what he's feeling right now.


Four drinks down in quick succession and Saienne isn't looking drunk, but her dark eyes do have that shine particular to the merrily tipsy. She regards Bishop's chest for a moment and comments: "Din't work, then, I can see." She leans back a little on the bar stool and grins crookedly at Tyr. "Ain't that the truth," she says. "Just that kind of a kick."


"Drinking shots with the crew? It is an experience, for sure," Sirah answers Bishop with a smile. "And yes, I'd have thought that I'd be drinking with the crew at some stage. But," the companion raises a finger, a sparkle growing in her eyes.

"My reasons are my own. It was enjoyable, everyone. Thank you for the drinks, if you don't mind I would save that latter one for...," she rallies, "later. Good bye fo rnow, everyone."

And then she slides down from her stool and turns around, leaving the room.


Bishop lifts his glass towards Sirah as she moves off then sighs, "responsibility screams at me. I should stop now, I think I need to fly us soon as Aradia gets done and I'll have to... well, be at least moderately sober."


Tyr raises a hand. "Take care, Sirah. I hope we can -- talk later." Which, while genuine, he seems to be realizing on the end that it sounds kinda lame. So he trails off.


"Duty before pleasure, an' all that," Saienne says cheerfully to Bishop. "No doubt there's some unpleasant job I was puttin' off that I feel able to tackle now my mood has so unexpectedly improved." She nods a goodbye to Sirah. "You take care, an' all," she says - somewhat unnecessarily as it's not a dangerous journey from here to the portside - to the Companion as she departs.

Read more...

[Log] "This ain't exactly what I was countin' on..."

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Twin Oaks - Jiangyin
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A small town on a fairly scrub-brush planet, Twin Oaks is nestled between the junction of two small rivers to the Southeast, and a low, wide butte that serves as a landing field and Spaceport to the North. The town supplies more ranchers than spacers, as can be evidenced by the large feed store next to the general store. A dirt Road leads through the center of town and hooks towards the Northeast just after passing the Sheriff to curve around the butte.
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Peeper has ambled over to the general store. She's taking in everything quietly, picking up various things and looking them over carefully before setting them back in place.


Saienne's hat, floppy and ragged-brimmed as usual, protects her face from Jiangyin's afternoon sunshine. She follows the track from the spaceport into Twin Oaks at an even pace, before she passes by the general store. Spying Peeper, Saienne does not call out loudly, rather she steps towards the shop, taking care to do her best to walk within Peeper's line of sight.

Peeper cuts her eyes to the door when the little bell jingles, ducking mostly behind a shelf so she can see who came in. She nods to Saienne in greeting and recognition and then knits her brows as she examines a porcelian frog with a wary, almost confused eye.

"Afternoon," says Saienne cordially to the younger girl. She looks around the little shop, blinking as her eyes adjust to the lowered light level - and then blinking again as she takes in the assorted wares. She has tipped her hat off her head and now fingers the feather tucked into its band. She frowns a little twist of a frown, her crowsfeet wrinkling slightly. "This ain't exactly what I was countin' on..." she murmurs.

Peeper nods at the comment and coughs just a bit. "Yeah, not exactly the bright spot of the 'verse..." she muses. She moves on from the frogs to a selection of mugs with various logos or cartoons on them.

Saienne turns slightly in Peeper's direction. "Ain't that the truth," she says, the frown dissolving into an easy lop-sided smile. "I should have known better than to hope, mind. Jiangyin is about as close to home as you can get without actually bein' there." She grins crookedly. "But you let me know if you spot anythin' you reckon might entertain a lively six year old with more brains than sense." She dangles her hat from one hand and rustles in her pocket for some change. "Can I get you an ice or somesuch, Peeper?"

Peeper arches an eyebrow and says simply,"I don't know what an Ice is, sorry. So I dunno if I want one or not." She looks through the shelves again and muses dejectedly,"And I have like, no idea what little kids like..." She taps her chin and asks,"Do they like video games?"

Saienne waves her hat in a vague gesture. "It's juice, but frozen. Good on hot days." She is rooting now through an ancient chest freezer, digging in the chunks of ice for whatever flavour she's after. "Ain't no bother," she adds, walking over to the counter to pay. "I ain't got much idea, neither, to be straight an' true with you." She looks around again, and then eyes the shopkeeper. "No offense, an' all," she says, "But I don't reckon Lucie'd be fooled for five minutes by a porcelain frog." She smiles lop-sidedly at Peeper. "Computer games. Now there's a thing. I ain't got no idea."

Peeper nod and aparently has seen enough of the store for one day. She wanders back near the register where Saienne is and says,"I'll hit the Cortex and nab a few for you then. Shouldn't take more than a day or so."

Saienne looks thoughtful. "I expect I'd best check with Maire -" a pause to explain "- that's my sister -" and then back to her main thread "- that they got the hardware required to play games." She smiles wryly. "Only got a Cortex terminal in the house a couple of years ago - my family ain't exactly rollin' in money, if you understand me." She peels back the paper on the ice and licks it. "But it's a real kind offer, an' all." A beat. "You got a thing with computers an' suchlike, ain't you? They - what did you say? - they sing to you?"

Peeper glances at the clerk behind the counter, her cheeks flushing hot as she slowly nods,"Yeah, basically. They always have. Even if she needs a player we could make something out of one of the pda's." She holds the door open politely and says in a quiet voice,"I forgot what you do, I'm sorry. So many new people and places..."

"Ain't no bother," Saienne says, again, preceeding Peeper back out into the sunshine. She crams her hat back onto her head and its brim casts her face into shadow. "Aboard the Grace I'm nothin' but a cargo hauler," she says, smiling faintly. "An' occasionally I'll give Ronnie an' Ymir a hand with the messier jobs in engineerin'." She looks up and down the main street, waiting for Peeper, and licks her ice again - which has begun to melt and the drops of sticky juice drip onto her hand. "But my real job is courierin' - private hire only, an' folk can pretty much ask me to carry anythin'." A pause; another crooked smile. "As long as it's legal, an' all."

Peeper nods quickly, her steps slowing in time with her shipmate's. She looks around the town a little and says,"I never knew there were places like this. It makes home look like a carnival."

Saienne looks around the small dusty town, appraising it carefully. "Is that so?" She asks, quietly. "Plenty of places just like Twin Oaks scattered around," she observes. "Folks hangin' on with all the tenacity of a limpit. Hangin' on to dust an' not much else, often." She turns back to Peeper, the feather in her hat bouncing jauntily. "Like a carnival?" She considers. "Where's home, if you don't mind me askin'?"

Peeper looks to Saienne a little Incredulously and replies,"Eavesdown. Grace was just the first ship that found a use for me. I been tryin' ta leave for a year or so. Since my Guardian passed." She looks down at her shoes quietly for a moment, and then back around at the town,"The Spacers laways made their trips sound a lot more exciting..."

"Eavesdown!" Saienne exclaims. "Well, Eavesdown /is/ a gorram carnival, ain't it? So much goin' on there it's a miracle folk know up from down." She grins crookedly. "Spent about six years on Persephone all told, operatin' out from Eavesdown. Home from gorram home." She chuckles, long and low, and shakes her head. She waves a hand around in an emphatic gesture. "Don't go judgin' the travellin' life by Jiangyin. Jiangyin ain't but a speck in the Black, ain't it so?" she says. "You seen Paquin yet? Or Ariel? Different kettle of fish entirely. An' Spacers? Ain't they always the ones for the tall tales an' showin' off?" She listens as Peeper mentions her guardian. "I'm real sorry to hear about your Guardian," she says, evenly. "But I don't reckon you could have picked a better ship to hop aboard than our Grace."

Peeper loks up and smiles happily, nodding again,"Yeah, I'm pretty happy on the Grace. Everyone has been really nice. Well, almost everyone. Some of the guys look at me in a way I don't really understand? I guess they get kinda desperate bein' on a ship."

Saienne makes a bit of a face as Peeper mentions the men and their looks. "That so?" she asks, frowning a little. "Pay them no mind, I reckon, or take it as a compliment, or tell them straight out you ain't interested - or if it makes you uncomfortable, take it to the Captain. It ain't like she'd hire folk she didn't have some cause to trust, oddball or no." She rubs her thumb along the line of her jaw. "Because she'd rather know, I reckon, than get surprised." Sai shrugs, and then changes the subject: "So your... thing. With computers." A pause. "Is it just computers an' PDAs, or is it other electronic things an' all?"

Peeper shrugs her shoulders,"Pretty much just computers I think. And things that use computers. I mean, I don't know anything about engines or anything like that." She bends down and picks up a piece of flint, examining it before she pockets it and asks you,"Why?"

Saienne does not answer immediately. Rather, she observes the pastoral scene beyond the town's shabby edges - stands of oak and sycamore trees grown round with tall grasses and wild flowers. Cows. Lots of cows. With a barely audible sigh, she comes down on the side of trust and says: "Just a job I been workin' on for... well, for far too long. A messy job with all manner of twists an' turns an' unexpected crosses." She wrinkles up her nose. "Hit a brick wall in the form of silence an' a small black cube." A beat. "I reckon it's data storage of some kind, but I ain't got the first idea what's on it or how to read it." She shrugs, a curiously helpless gesture from a woman who appears so concrete in every other aspect. "An' I reckon it's hot an' all - an' I'm stuck with the gorram thing."

Peeper widens here eyes, but not in fear. Pure, runaway curiosity as she offers in an eager tone,"I'll fiond out what's on it for you! I could also check and see if anyone is looking for it." She almost seems to be bouncing on her toes at the prospect of a real challenge.

Saienne looks at the girl gravely, her dark eyes serious beneath the hat brim. "Peeper, I already know there are folk after it." She glances down at her feet and frowns again. "Nearly lost my gorram foot over it - if Lucinda hadn't..." She waves her hand, dismissing the memory. "Ain't the point. Won't get caught like that again." She frowns at Peeper. "Maybe this ain't such a good idea..." She vacilates between the need to know and a real and present fear of the consequences of knowing. "When you're pokin' around in the guts of the Cortex, you are careful, ain't you? You... do your best not to be noticed?" Another deep frown. "Because these folk - they surely ain't messin' around."

Peeper spreads her lips into a wry smile, her demeanor wholely different when it comes to this area of conversation,"Never been caught yet Ma'am, and I've been through Alliance files and security feeds more than once. I'm always careful. Besides, do I seem like the kind of person who wants trouble?" She looks at you with her bright young eyes.

Saienne's sombre expression does not shift, even in the face of such enthusiasm. "Youth," she mutters, "Ain't it a wonder an' a curse an' all?" She shakes her head. "No, you don't look over-eager for trouble." A dry smile. "But then, neither was I." She spends a few more moments scrutinising Peeper, before she shrugs her shoulders in a gesture of surrender. "Oh good gorram what am I splittin' hairs for? They alreaady know I got it, don't they? Ain't goin' to cause no more trouble..." She fishes around in one of her deep pockets and pulls out a little black cube, glittering from within, and holds it between her thumb and forefinger. It is about two inches cubed. "Here we have it - the offendin' article." She looks deep into it. "So I reckon this is what I would like. We - you - find out what's on it first an' then - an' only then, only when we know - you go lookin' for more information. On it, on who is chasin' it." She holds out the little black cube to Peeper. "An' then I pay you." A pause, while she waits. "Sound fair?"

Peeper nods long and slow, eyes transfixed on the little black cube. "Sounds perfectly fair..." she says quietly, holding her hand out to acept the offending article,"I'll get right on it in fact."

Saienne hangs on to the cube for a minute or so more. "Just one more thing before I hand this over. Them aboard ship - Josephine an' Bishop an' Lucinda an' the rest of them - they know I got tangled up in somethin' unhealthy a while back. They know the basic story, but they don't know the details, an' I'd prefer it to stay that way until I know what we're dealin' with." She looks direct at Peeper, her own brown eyes wide and serious. "Can I trust you on that? I ain't got no objection to you talkin' to Aradia about anythin' an' everythin', an' I don't even mind you mentionin' that you're doin' me a favour to everyone else - but the details? The details stay secret." She puts her empty hand into her pocket and then drops the cube into Peeper's outstretched hand. "Because in my line of business the only thing I got to trade on is reputation - an' discretion is the greater part of that, ain't it?" She smiles lop-sidedly. "An' there ain't no rush, neither. I been hangin' on to this thing nearly a year now." She frowns, puts her other hand in her other pocket, and looks down at the dust. "Nearly a gorram year!"

Peeper steps in close and just draws a zipper over her lips,"No one will know but us, I promise. I'll tell you whatever I find out, and you can go from there. I have to think abou t my reputation too right? Especially with such a tight knit group if I wanna fit in."

Saienne nods a sharp nod. "Reckon we have a deal, then." She takes her hand from her pocket again and thrusts it out for Peeper to shake. "An' don't you fret none," she adds, her easy crooked smile reappearing. "You're fittin' in fine as far as I can see it." A beat. "Particularly if you keep cookin' us breakfast."

Peeper throws her arms around you briefly and offers a tight, exuberant hug. She boudns away a step and then tries to look non-chalant. Her steps quick as she moves back toward the ship. She offers a daramtic wink as if she's keeping it on the down low, but she's still grinning.

Read more...

[Log] "There's always somethin' interestin' goin' on."

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Crew Commons, Grace O'Malley
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Saienne enters from the quarters on the vessel's port side. She is carrying her canvas satchel and rooting around inside it as she walks, not really paying attention to the position of the hatchway or the bulkhead. Which is why, as she lifts a foot to step into the Commons, she clonks her boot squarely onto the metal. The impact resonates loudly and deeply, a sonorous boom echoing around the otherwise quiet space. "Good gorram!" Saienne says, her head snapping up and her eyes widening. She is as surprised herself by her noisy entrance as anyone else might be.


Lucinda is indeed startled, so much so, she is roused from her slumber with a jolt. Seems the doctor was curled up on one of the sofas, a book splayed across her chest. She must have nodded off while reading but now she's blinking awake and giving a groggy. "Huh, what?" A toss of her head is given as she tries to clear the cobwebs.


"Doctor," croaks Saienne, embarrassment incarnate. She clears her throat. "Lucinda, I truly am sorry for wakin' you." She steps properly into the Commons this time, managing to avoid making any more loud noises. She looks down at her feet. "Wasn't payin' attention, I reckon." A slightly shamefaced smile. "Not that that ain't an uncommon state of affairs for me." She pauses and then walks over to the galley. "Coffee?" She asks.


Lucinda digs her elbows into the sofa, using their leverage to drag her up into a some what seated position. "That would be lovely, thank you." She gives a sheepish smile of her own, not usually given to falling asleep in the commons.


"Hey, Sai. Hey, Doc," says Tyr as he makes his way into the commons from the starboard quarters. "How are you folks doin'?"


After searching for a little while, Saienne retrieves two of the larger coffee cups from one of the cupboards in the galley. "Josephine's goin' to be intrigued when she gets back, I reckon, by the amount of galley-related confusion her absence can cause." She looks up at Lucinda and smiles lop-sidedly. "An' I never can remember whether you take yours with milk or not?" She loiters by the urn, awaiting an answer. As Tyr walks in and asks his question, Sai lifts one of the (thankfully empty) cups to her brow in some kind of bizarre salute. "Afternoon, Tyr," she says, amicably. "You lookin' for coffee an' all?" She pauses, and then adds: "An' I never did say thank you for the food the other day. So thank you, an' Peeper both."


Lucinda shifts in her half laying-half sitting position to close her book and drop it to the floor. The damage is done, she might as well lounge for the sake of lounging. "Black." Her smile turns a bit on the warm side as she looks to Saienne, and Tyr gets the tail end of that same smile. "And I'm fine, thank you. Good afternoon, Tyr."


"Bit of sugar and milk would be just fine for me, Sai. And aw, don't think any of it. I mean, it's one of the things I draw pay for on this boat, so it ain't like I need thanks for it." Tyr blushes and shrugs his shoulders over at Sai. "You been okay, Doc?"


"Black it is," says Saienne to Lucinda as she leans in to pour a strong coffee from the eternal urn. "An' I hope you weren't dreamin' nothin' too pleasant when I woke you." She settles the coffee on the counter and pours Tyr's, stooping to find some milk from the fridge. Her slightly muffled voice can be heard to say, presumably in response to Tyr: "Folk do somethin' nice, they deserve to be thanked, whether it's duty or no." She stands up, then, collects the two coffees, and ventures back into the mess to deliver them.


Lucinda gives a shrug to Tyr. "I can't complain." Her gaze swivels back to Saienne then, talking of dreams. "I never recall what I dream, if anything. But I highly suspect none of them are worth any interest. Just 'the thigh bone's connect to the hip bone' sort of thing." She jests, of course its a jest, the corners of her eyes crinkle.


"Anything interesting going on with you, Sai?" asks Tyr, his cheeks coloring a bit at the mild remonstration from the messenger. "Any good packages or anything?"


"Not any of them?" Sai asks curiously as she holds out a very hot cup of black coffee to Lucinda. She eyes the other woman for a moment, and then smiles lop-sidedly back at her. "I tend to remember fragments," she says, evenly. "Although there's plenty I'd rather forget." At Tyr's question, Saienne turns to him and her smile breaks into a grin. "Tyr," she says, as she holds out his coffee for him. "There's always somethin' interestin' goin' on." She pauses at his second question, and then nods. "Somethin' small from Ariel to Beaumonde." A pause. "An' that job for Xiao-Chen is still eatin' up my time an' all." She mutters something dark and quite probably obscene.

Read more...

[Log] Shindig at the racetrack

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Eavesdown Racetrack, Persephone
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The track is one of the more famous attractions to be found around Eavesdown. Ringed by a high, white wooden fence on the interior and a lower one on the outer edge, the dirt track surrounds a grassy, oval field in the center. Off to one side of the track is a preparation area for the racers and horses while beside that is a large stable to house the horses and to keep the tack stored. On the opposite side of the track is a large, open-sided hall complete with bar that serves a multitude of purposes, from a betting area to a meeting place for functions. Surrounding the track for almost 270 degrees are multi-tiered grandstands, capable of seating thousands of people. Long sets of steps lead up each set of stands and large access-ways are found between the stands for easy access to the track proper.
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The air is cool and crisp though the sky is clear with no hint of snow or rain. In the field in the center of the racetrack, a huge bonfire has been set up in the middle, while smaller pit fires are scattered around with a spit roasting over each of them. There looks to be whole pig, lamb and sides of beef being roasted up, near as anyone can tell at an educated guess. Further out and on the outskirts near the grandstands, barrel fires have also been lit to stave off the cold and provide further lighting when darkness falls. Several open-sided tents are set up with buffet tables holding all the extra fixings one would expect to find at a barbeque, while some of them have long trestle tables, surrounded by benches set up as well. One tent seems to attract a particularly large crowd as it serves beer and wine, all kept in half-cut barrels filled with ice. There are people everywhere, all over the field, up in the grandstands and filling the hall alongside the track. Music can be heard over the roar of the crowd and it's not uncommon to find groups of people dancing around a musician or two out there. ==============================================================================


Mrizen heads on down towards the racetrack, pretty much wincing with every step, but managing to keep on plodding along. It got boring in the Med Bay, and Mrizen decided on some new surroundings, his original intent was to just leave the Dragon, but well, he saw a glimmer from the fire, and headed towards it. He sets some kinda smile, but truth be told it is closer to a grimace, he definitly ignores the wetness of his bandages for now.


Tani takes Tyr's hand and moves him to a close open spot "Wow haven't danced in a while, so I'm Tani? Whats your name?" she smiles as the ferrets appear from her coat pocket sniffing and streching long bodies towards the stranger touching their master. "Don't mind the boys." she gives a wink.


Turning away with a drink in hand, Aradia slips a hand into the pocket of her coat and moves aside for the next person in line, watching Tyr get dragged off with a grin before she looks back to Beckett and says, "He'll be back, never you mind." Tapping a booted foot absently, she circles around the gathered group a little further to look off into the crowd, watching people pass by.


Tyr considers this for a moment. "Well, why not?" he asks as he gives her hand a little squeeze. "And aw, it's all right, Tani. I like animals just fine." He winks at her, and it's clear that he does like animals. "Wanna do somethin' kinda simple?"


Lissa just grins and glances over at Beckett with a smirk. "Well I say you owe me one for that now." She reaches over to grab an ale, tipping her head slightly with a smirk. "Now when is food happening? I am positively /starving/."


Josephine is hovering near the drink-ordering area, looking uncharacteristically lost in such a large, chaotic crowd. She isn't even talking much, but merely watching the scene with wide, curious eyes, trying to take in everything at once.


Tani shrugs "Sure simple is good. So what kind of dancing ya got in mind? And Ya haven't told me yer name." she giggles.


Tyr considers this for a moment. "Well, we can do an easy reel. And my name's Tyr. Tyr Bannik," replies the ranchhand. "Somethin' til we get all warmed up and stuff, right?" he suggests.


Beckett grins at Aradia. "I ain't in any hurry for him to return. I'd rather he found someone who liked him more anyway. I'm too sharp-edged for a sweet boy like that." She nods to Lissa. "Reckon maybe I owe you a drink. Help yourself."


Tani nods and lets Tyr lead "Your the pilot then." she moves with him while balancing a beer. "So then what do you do in our nice and crazy verse?"


Lissa chuckles and twists open the top with a nod. "Recken I will thankya. Maybe four or five or so too." Her tone dry as she turns to lean against the table, watching the dancing with amusement. "Now what time was the sparring match?"


Cai shoves his hands in his pockets and strolls across the racetrack toward the fire, enjoying the heat against his face, humming to himself quietly.


Zale appears in the area surrounding the race track. A party? You know he'll be there. Especially if it's here, his favorite hive of scum and villainy in the 'verse. He has his own six pack, but not beer. Those perceptive enough to spot it will notice that it's all ginger ale.. He's chewing something currently, back on that habit apparently, and heading for the bon fire. Eyeing badger's men a bit suspiciously for a moment, and a few of the others he doesn't recognize so well. But they look kind of big and mean.


Josephine was looking a little lost, but she perks up at the sound of a familiar voice. "Hatch!" she calls. "Here!" she says, putting a bottle of cold Southdown Abbey Ale in his hand. "Aradia's treat. Say thank you. She..right over there in the purple coat. And..Tyr is...over there, with a girl already, gone to dance to who knows what kind of music. Oh dear," she says, frowning at his guitar. "Who's going to dance with me if you're busy playing music the whole evening?"


"Aw, I'm a cargo hand," says Tyr as he begins to move around in a slow and easy circle with Tani, taking her through the steps. "I'm a rancher, tho. Good with animals, that sorta thing. Takin' care of 'em, getting 'em to do what I want. A little of this and that other than that."


Tani smiles "I train animals too." she smiles "Just the ferrets, few dogs and one day I wanna try for a tiger. But they are a bit hard to get permits for. Cargo hand hmm? What crew?"


Mrizen looks around, abit hesitantly as he does spot Dora, Beckett, and Zale. Shrugging abit, as he knows that he will get found out sooner or later, he heads for somewhere to sit, trying to stay away from any of the three, and he manages to find a seat relatively close to the fire. Sighing softly, before coughing harshly and bringing up some more blood, wiping it away, he watches the fire, happy to be somewhere different, even as he can feel the wetness in his bandages.


Hearing her name as she's only a couple feet away from Jo, she turns questioningly and then spots Hatch, lifting a hand to wave to him before she shifts her gaze past the couple toward Dora. Walking over toward her, she lifts her bottle up to gulp down a mouthful of ale before she asks, "You goin' to get yourself a drink, Dora?"


"Grace O'Malley," replies Tyr, pride in his voice. "She's a great ship with a great crew. I couldn't ask for better, let me tell you." His eyes shine as he keeps moving with her, taking a gulp of beer. "We got a couple'a beagles. Real hams of dogs, let me tell you."


Saienne follows close on the heels of the rest of the crowd in making her way towards the tent housing the beer and wine and, spotting at least one familiar figure among the colour and motion, homes in on it. She has her hat on, naturally, and its floppy brim protects her eyes from the sunshine. "Ain't this... overwhelmin'?" she says mildly, with a crooked grin, as she draws near to Josephine and Hatch. "But somewhat beautiful an' all - if the chaos ain't too stomach-churnin'." She sees Tyr starting a reel with Tani and her grin broadens. "Well ain't that fine an' dandy," she says, with good humour. "My dancin' partner's abandoned me already. Must be my two left feet, I reckon."


Hatch chuckles, "Who says I'm going to be playing the whole evening, anyhoo.. I'm sure you could grab a dance with Ara or Tyr if they are willing." He twists the cap off the ale as he leans in to kiss Jose's cheek and grins, "Can't tell me you couldn't find someone to dance with ain a crowd like this if I were not around, hmmm?" His eyes drift out across the crowd. "Hoi. Ara! Tyr! .. Tyr watch your wallet with that one." He quips as Ara turns about to wave to him, and Sai shows up. "Sai! Hello, well looks like it's gonna be a busy night for mister Tyr, wonder if he'll consider dancing with me too. Anyway lets get a little something going then what say you."


Dora smiles and lifts from her seat as Aradia approaches her, "Oh, perhaps. Though I shouldn't drink liquor, really. Well, maybe just a little, if Beckett will watch over me." She grins, dimples coming to her cheeks as she scratches the back of her head. It causes the grey-blonde tufts of her hair to grow even more disheveled.


Cai pulls his hands out of his pockets, opening his jacket a little and sticks them toward the fire. He looks around, taking in the sights best he can, and eyeing the food tables with a grin. Soon the fire losses it's appeal, and he marches toward the source of his grins.


Mrizen smiles abit as no one from the Dragon has noticed him yet. He is abit disappointed that he hasn't had anyone else come up to him, but hey, he is outta the Dragon for now, and he promised Dora he wouldn't talk since that aggravated the coughing. Taking out the pencil and notepad that Dora had given him, he flips to the second page, and begins working on the drawing that he had started earlier.


Tani thinks about that "Hey I know them! They chased my ferrets once! How are the little cuties?" she turns and see Hatch and sticks her tounge out at him. "Yep he's still a meanie. Well I'm on the Spitfire as a pilot, its fast as anything, so how long ya been with yer crew?"


Zale is nearing the fire now. Close enough to see Mrizen. He doesn't quite recognize the man at first, beyond the fact that he looks familiar in the firelight. But after he sees the blood, Zale frowns and moves in that direction.. "Oi. Why're you out of bed?"


Beckett grins at Saienne's words. "What, Farmboy promised you a dance also? Or is the girl he's with your partner? Either way, welcome to the sidelines of the lost and forlorn," she jokes, drawing close enough to be heard despite the crowd.


Glancing toward the 'bar,' Aradia says to Dora, "Order yeself a Tempest Cider. Ain't too strong 'n it's nice and sweet if you ain't much of one for drinking." Grinning at Beckett, she says, "'n of course she'll look after you, right?" Spotting Saienne, she raises her hand again in another wave and says, "Sai! You made it!"


Josephine smiles warmly to Saienne. "Hello Saienne! Yes, it is a might overwhelming, isn't it? Just...all kinds of craziness. I feel like if I stand very still and don't say anything for a while I could simply blend into the world and not be known for myself, and if that isn't philosophical nonsense, I don't know what is!" She studies the colour of her ale for a moment. "And I dunno, Hatch. If you're all embarrassed to be dancing with me in public, I suppose I could see who else might be able to manage...." The little woman peers across the crowd speculatively, contemplating her options over a sip of ale. "Want a taste, Sai?" she says, offering the woman the bottle, if she likes. "It's..bitter."


"Evenin' Hatch," says Saienne, evenly and, having found a base point, starts to scan the crowd for other familiar faces. Spying the woman talking to Aradia, Sai lifts a hand in a wave. "Well, if that ain't Dora over there." She raises her voice, "Dora, hello!" - and waves more vigorously. "Found yourself a ship, so I hear it?" Beckett's comment causes her to turn back to the group and shake her head. "Oh, no," she says, smiling lop-sidedly. "That ain't it." She glances over at Tani and Tyr again. "Although he does seem to be a popular fellow tonight, don't he?" She peers, scrutinising Tyr more closely, then turns back to Beckett. "An' I'd be more than happy to venture off the sidelines with you, if you were so inclined." She points in the direction of a circle of dancers. Aradia's greeting causes her to wave a hand in her direction. "Evenin', Captain. Ain't nothin' would keep me from a dance, ain't it so?" Josephine's offer of the bottle is answered with an outstretched hand. She sniffs at the contents, and looks back at Josephine with a lop-sided smile. "What're you drinkin'?"


Tyr pulls the dance to a close with Tani and then takes a last gulp of his beer. Ah, liquid courage. "Oh, they're just good. MRE had a little leg thing, but we got him up back into shape." He grins "Well, it was mighty fine dancing with you, Tani. Thank you." He winks towards the girl, loosening up a little. Oh! Look! Robin! Tyr begins a slow walk over.


Tani wanders back to Lissa and taps her shoulder "That was fun. So friend of yours?"


Aesil Zeng arrives from Eavesdown Docks - Persephone through the exit labeled Eavesdown Docks.Aesil Zeng has arrived from Eavesdown Docks - Persephone.Aesil Zeng has arrived.


Hatch pressing a hand to his chest, "I am wounded to the very core." With that said he passes a couple of dollars over to the bartender and has a few quiet words with the man. Hatch passes his guitat back behind the 'counter' as it were and sneaks up behind Jose to slip his arms around her middle. "I strongtly doubt I'm afraid to be seen with you in public, now when the music starts you'd better be readly.. as bets are I'm gonna end up on my head."


Mrizen looks up at Zale...caught. Still giving the grimace/smile thing, he flips to the first page to write out a message to Zale, "Got bored, wanted a change of scenery, don't worry, didn't steal anything." Mrizen, winces abit as he gets a twinge from a breath, but he remains decidely calm and collected.


Zale tests his Spot against a 40 difficulty. The result is unsuccessful (-3).


Dora nods towards Aradia with a smile, "Thank you, I will try that." Hesitating for a moment, she does head to the bar and orders a Tempest Cider. Her first sip she takes with curiosity, glancing back towards the fire.. something there catching her look.. But then she hears her name spoken, and her head turns in that direction. "Oh, Saienne! It's been ages since I last saw you. Yes, I'm with the Dark Dragon now."


Tani chuckles "Well everyone wants to dance with Tyr now. I gottum first." she brags to Lissa, soon her ferrets start chittering and she spies Mrizen.


Wandering over to him she leans close trying to surpise him "Heya! What happened to ya? You ok? Get in a fight?"


Beckett grins at Saienne. "You know Dora? She's like my little sister, we crew together on the Dragon. Name's Robin Beckett." She beams as Dora comes over. "Dora, introduce us, any friend of yours is someone I may not have to hit."


Spotting Tyr making a bee-line for Beckett, Aradia says to Saienne, "I think Beckett's got someone ahead o' you on her dance card so maybe you can take Dora for a dance instead, seein' as her date ain't here yet, either." Taking another swig from her bottle, she looks over toward where other couples are out there dancing.


Zale shrugs a bit.. "Well I didn't think you stole anything. But if you're coughin' up blood you probably should be wantin' to get back in bed.." He shrugs a bit, and sits down, pulling a can off of his six pack, and holding it out to Mrizen. "Ginger ale..? Might sting a bit.."


"Southdown Abbey Ale," Josephine announces to Saienne, placing the bottle in the woman's hand, luckily just before she is wrapped in Hatch's arms. "Oh! You're so not going to end up on your head," she declares, looking up at Hatch with a smile. "I know for a fact that you're a perfectly decent dancer. And I try never to assume I'm not embarrassing... I mean, maybe my hair's sticking up funny or you feel my dress clashes with your vest, or...I don't know..." She can be very rambly at times, but most people know that. "What did you do with your ale?"


Cai ducks and dives through the crowd, somehow managing not to bang into anyone, and eventually reaching the table. He throws a glance across it, noting several points of interest. "Ah." he sighs, grabbing a bottle of ale from the table and turning to face the crowd.


Charley Wong ambles in, some while after Aesil, her browncoat moving through the crowd. And, yes, certainly her. She's found herself a peach, and is slicing slivers off it, every few paces.


Dora grins, drawing close to Beckett and holding her drink precariously in one hand as the other moves to embrace Beckett briefly. "Saienne, this is Robin. Robin, this is Saienne, of the Grace O'Malley. We met back while I was still looking for a job." She blushes slightly at Aradia's proposition, though.


Mrizen starts abit as Tani gets close, he says, "That girl with the nose bleed shot me, right after some gorram mad man sliced and diced." Mrizen coughs and more blood comes, before wiping it and writing, "Sorry, forgot to write it down, and sure, Ginger Ale sounds good." Mrizen takes it and pops the top, before drinking some, wincing as it hits a few spots on the way down that are still hurting.


Off on one side near the bonfire, a few grunts have started clearing people aside as they start laying down a few crates and planks of wood to form an impromptu stage of sorts. When a couple of kids try to jump up on it, the men chase them off as the kids run off the other side and leap into the crowd, laughing. Now that the stage is set up, the grunts kind of linger, keeping the area staked out for some kind of entertainment that's apparently due to show up sooner or later. What do they care? They were paid and they're allowed to drink on the job, which is what they're doing as they wait and stake.


Hatch smirks a bit, "Left it with my guitar.. your hair is fine, my vest may be clashing with your dress." He counters with ripe amusement, "But thats okay with me at least, and it looks like Sai is being dragged off by some friends shall we slip off while we have the chance and.. oh hey look they are starting to get ready? Are you ready?"


"It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say we know each other, I reckon," says Saienne to Robin, smiling as Tyr and Dora make their way over. "But we have bumped into each other more than once an' it has always been a pleasure." She clasps hold of Josephine's ale just as Hatch snatches the other woman away, and looks dubiously at the bottle. "Southdown Abbey, is that so? I take it I'm just holdin' this for you?" Sai's attention is diverted by Dora again. "I ain't got no objections to dancin' with you, Dora." She looks around the racetrack again. "Plenty of circles goin' on to join." She looks up at Robin. "Mayhap we can all four join one."


Zale looks up, eyeing Tani for a moment. He hadn't noticed her until Mrizen started talking to her, apparently.. He nods to her, and says, "Hi," but other than that, just lets Mrizen talk to her, glancing around to see if he can spot anyone else he recognizes..


Tani leans closes to Mrizen "Nano? Madman? Ouch, well just take it easy. I'd say you should get another day of sleep before wandering out...I mean that does look painful..." she gives a small wave to Zale "Allo." and back to Mrizen "You getting to be that bad kinda popular."


Beckett considers this, and then eyes Tyr as he shows up. "Well damn, there you are," she says. "Here I thought you'd been eaten by ferrets." She nods to Saienne. "Sounds good to me. We'll keep Dora from missing her boytoy too much, right?"


Mrizen writes on his little tablet, "I just went over to talk with her, and she started gorram shooting, I'm telling you, I plan on having a stern talk with her when I next see her, gonna take all I can muster to not go ahead and gorram shoot her, but as you said, I've got the bad kind of popular now as it is..." Mrizen takes another swig of the ginger ale before adding, "Well, not sure how long I am going to be staying out here, this gorram bandages are getting wet, and I don't want to end up fainting from blood loss out here."


"Aw, Robin, I wouldn't do that to you," says Tyr, holding out his hand to her. "After all, I gotta keep you around for other things later." He then looks puzzled at himself. "Uhm. But hi everyone else. Sai! So good you could come!"


Aesil Zeng walks in and moves towards the people she knows when she sees them through the crowds, "Ara! How ya doing..?" She grins as she sees Richard with Josephine, "And a Hatch too!"


Josephine grins, "Sai, you can drink what of it you like. I don't mind sharing," she assures as she turns around in Hatch's arms and gives him a sudden and very exuberant happy sort of hug, kissing his cheek at least four times...maybe five. "I'm ready to dance whenever you are," she declares. "And when there's music, of course. Music is nice." She glances briefly at the in-process stage.


Zale glances to Mrizen, taking a can of ginger ale himself now.. "Why would you talk to her? I can't see anything good coming of that, she'll probably just shoot you again." Then he notices Beckett and Dora, and grins a bit.. "Oh good. I was afraid I was the only one out here."


Dora seems a bit lost as people on all sides come and go. "Oh, I'd like to dance with Saienne.. and maybe Robin can dance with Tyr?" She offers, unsure if she even understood everything correctly.


Tani blinks at Mrizen "So you talk to her about knives...she cries, you try and talk to her again and she shoots you. I suggest not talking to her, I mean I normally used to leave notes in boys lockers when they creep me out but never shot one. I mean talk to her again she might sick a puma on ya, or whip out a rocket launcher. How bout...I talk to her and you don't get shot?" she thinks "I mean, knife to gun, to bigger gun to missile...or she may go right to puma. And I don't deal with pumas."


Holding out her free hand to Saienne and the bottle she had pawned off on her from Jo, Aradia says, "Here unless you want to drink that up quick 'fore you go dancing, in which case you and Jo can get yourselves fresh drinks when you're done." With a bottle already in hand, she turns to give Aesil a hug when she hears the woman's voice. "Aesil! I'm not shot!" she exclaims, as if that's a perfectly acceptable response to 'How are you doing?'


Hatch manages to not knock anyone over as he spins Jo a bit in her joy, he seems lost in her expression for a moment before Aesil moving through the crowd, and well everything else about him break into his reverie. "Aesil! Been to long, have you met Josephine?" He offers to the XO of the Pearl as she comes closer, "Jo this is Aesil, used to work for, and with her.. and cause her no end of trouble as you can imagine. Have you met her before?" He leans in a little close to ask Jo the last part of that question.


Saienne grins crookedly, tilting her hat back on her head so as she can see Dora without the brim getting in the way. "Boytoy? Sounds gorram intriguin'." She lifts Josephine's beer in response to Tyr's greeting - only to pass it on to Aradia as she intercepts. She tips two fingers to the brim of her hat in a lazy salute. "Much obliged, Captain," she says, "It ain't advisable to dance while tryin' to grip on to a bottle." She offers her now free hand, long fingers cool and calloused, to Dora.


Charley Wong blinks, and also approaches Ara, grinning cheerfully, and offering slices of Peach. "Richard. Aradia." Aesil, of course, has already had one dropped into her hands. Charley knows her too well to bother asking.


Beckett hrmphs at Dora, looking amused in her own strange way. "Tryin'a pawn me off on the Farmboy, huh? Fine, I guess I did promise him I might dance." She glances to Saienne. "But if you get free, I ain't opposed to steppin' on your feet either at some point," she says brightly. "I'm equal opportunity on toe-smashin'."


Aesil Zeng nibbles her slice of peach, "Don't think so..but I been so long in Yak Country my mind might have turned..."


Cai pulls the cap off his beer, slipping the cap into his pockets and taking a quick sip. He looks from person to person, most seeming busy as hell, and sighs, sitting back on the edge of the table and taking another mouthfull of the bitter ale.


Tani looks at the seat Mrizen's on and frown "Umm wanna check yer bandages, your bleeding through..." she says lowly. "Lets see what do I have to absorb blood..." she pauses and grins "Hmmm nah you don't want that...bandages...hurm." she rumages through her side pack.


Josephine might have been lost in a Moment, but no one has ever complained she has good manners. She steps to Hatch's side for a moment and smiles warmly, offering her hand in greeting. "It's lovely to meet you, Aesil. I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've crossed paths, yes?"


With a bottle of ale in either hand, Aradia has no hands to take the offered peach so uses the next best thing, her teeth to take it from Charley with a grin, taking a few moments to chew and enjoy the fresh fruit before she asks, "Where did you manage to find that 'n is a slice all I'm getting?"


Dora's own hands are small and gentle as she takes Saienne's hand, having finished her drink and set the glass away. A glint on her finger draws attention to a pretty golden ring. "Too bad I didn't wear my new dress tonight. But I figured with Hase not here, it wouldn't be proper." She blushes a little, "I don't know if he'd like being called a boytoy.." She lets Saienne lead.


"See?" says Tyr with a nod of his head. "We can have a dance and then you can hate me and -- then whatever." He takes Robin's hand and then looks out to take her for a spin.


Zale glances to Mrizen as he hears Tani, and frowns a bit.. "Yeah geez. Go back to the ship before we have to cause a scene. Scenes aren't fun." Then he waves to Dora and Beckett, to see if they see him.. He doesn't try to call them though yet. There's probably a whole lot of people named Dora and 'Beckett'


Charley Wong laughs, cheerfully, taking another slice for herself, "I buy 'em any port I can find 'em. It costs, but... well, what's money _for_ if not for this?" As to the other part, "Well, if you're wanting more, you just need to ask, and keep usin' those lips, Sugar!"


Mrizen nods but writes, "I'm fine, I'm still breathing, and I'm gonna hang around as long as I can, the bandages will stop it to a slow enough trickle." Mrizen actually still looks fine, no palish pallor yet, but it could get there.


Aesil Zeng shakes the offered hand, "Nice to meet you. Hatch's taste in women is always impeccable..."


"Well Aesil, Ara and I used to ship out under Charley on the Pearl." Hatch explains as Aesil nibbles at her peach, but he's rather stunned as Aesil makes that comment. Well in the least about his taste in women, "Ah yes, uh.. impeccable? I can agree with that.. I asked her to marry me after all." Beckett nods to Tyr, and allows herself to be drawn out onto the dancefloor, where she proves that she has more enthusiasm than skill when it comes to dancing. Only a measure of natural grace keeps her from being a total menace.


Those lips pout as Aradia gives Charley a look and then the peach in her hand another look and then up to Charley again with that look. Yes, it's one she learnt well from her begging beagle, if nothing else. Wrinkling her nose up in a grin, she flutters her eyelashes and asks, "Please, may I have another?" as she offers up one of the bottles of Southdown Abbey Ale in trade.


Tyr tests his Dance against a 30 difficulty. The result is successful (10).


Cai quickly finishes his beer, leaving the bottle down beside a full one, and making a sly exchange. He tears the cap off this new one, not bothering to taste it this time, and pushing himself off the table toward the crowd.


Josephine laughs at that. "I think she's implying collectively, Hatch. As in your previous 'selections' as well. But I'm sure Aesil here has plenty of intriguing gossip along those lines, yes?" she asks to the other woman, with a wink. "Oh! You smell like a peach!" she declares about Aesil, cheerfully.


Tyr takes a deep breath. "Well, here I go get exposed as a fraud," murmurs Tyr under his breath. But oddly enough, well, he dances decently enough. Oh, no! He winces, coming to a stop. "That -- wasn't bad." And he looks horrified.


Zale raises an eyebrow slightly, as he hears the transmission, and frowns. He stands and heads for Dora without any explanation. Just in case she didn't see him. No reason for her to have to leave the 'party'.. He glances back over his shoulder on the way to see if Mrizen is following him. "Come on, maybe Dora or Beckett have some bandages or something. Unless you want to stay and watch the ginger ale. These fiends will stop at nothing."


Charley Wong laughs, and slips another slice of peach directly into Ara's mouth, before cutting another slice, offering it to Josephine, and then accepting the beer.


Saienne leads Dora towards a small circle of dancers dancing some lively reel stamped out by a young man playing a fiddle and an older woman tapping rhythmically on a bodhran. "That ain't no bother," calls Sai to Robin as she passes, "I got steel toe caps." She points down to her less than elegant boots, and, dipping a bow to the other woman first, waits for the caller to name the next dance.


Beckett hrrmphs at Tyr. "Not too shabby, Farmboy. You might make some girl who ain't me very happy someday, with moves like that."


"I'm sure Aesil has all kinds of fun gossip.." Hatch says a little dryly before he's wearing a bit of a smirk, "Then agian I've got a bit of the same on her don't I." He pokes out his tongue at the slender XO of the Pearl, "But if you two really desire to chat it up about me, don't let me interupt.. just let me hide first."


"Thanks," Aradia says at the second slice of peach, grinning to Charley again as she takes a step back from those gathered and says, "S'cuse me, got to go find somewhere to pee other than squatting behind the bleachers." With that, she turns and meanders off into the crowd to get herself lost for awhile.

Read more...

[BBPost] Business Card

+--------------------------------+
- SAIENNE OLAENO -
o Interplanetary Courier o
+--------------------------------+The screen flickers and a serious middle-aged woman appears behind the static. The picture settles quickly and the woman turns to address the camera in a confident voice:

"This here message is an introduction to all you folks out there - an' I know there's a lot of you, an' all - lookin' to get somewhat to someplace without trustin' it to the untold vagaries of the postal service, or forkin' out heaven-knows-how-many credits with only the most slender of assurances of delivery. You folk wouldn't actually choose to transport things in that fashion if you had an option, ain't it so? Particularly not if the thing is precious for one reason or another."

She pauses and smiles lop-sidedly at the camera.

"So why are you seein' an hearin' this?" Another pause, and the woman's warm tones rumble on soothingly:

"Because I reckon I am that option you're lookin' for. My job is to do exactly that - get somewhat to someplace safely an' speedily an' cheaply."

She smiles again and settles her hands in her lap.

"They call what I do courierin', an' I would consider it my duty an' my pleasure to accompany the precious commodity of your choice - be that vegetable, animal, mineral or binary - from one corner of the 'Verse to the other. If you have anythin' - an' I really do mean anythin' - that you need to get from A to B, but don't want to trust it to the postal service, please do consider gettin' in touch with me."

The screen flickers once and fades to a starry sky with the following words emblazoned on it boldly: 'SAIENNE OLAENO - Interplanetary Courier - specialising in portable property and secure data transfer - wave me for business rates and further details'.
+--------------------------------+
Read more...

[Log] Sandwiches or snowflakes

===============================================
Crew Commons, Grace O'Malley
===============================================
Bishop has since deserted the commons, and Lu is still lingering in the galley cleaning up her medical supply mess after a short break in which she apparently got herself a cup of coffee. The snowflake project remains as it was when everyone filtered off, looking sad and dejected on the table.

Kael slowly starts his way back in, a towel about his neck. Apparently he had helped Josephine out and then proceeded to go back to his standard thing nowadays of working on his martial arts skills in one way or another. His eyes are looking down towards the ground until he steps in through the hatchway. His eyes drift up for a brief moment and he spots Lucinda, his feet screeching to a bit of a halt just inside as he looks to her, it seems his breath catches in his throat as well.


Lucinda snaps the lid back in place, tucking it away in its proper place before relatching the cabinet. A soft tune that sounds vaguely Christmas-like is being hummed by the doctor, so she doesn't realize anyone has returned to the commons until her gaze shifts up to the table. And then she seeks Kael on the other side. "Sure are abusing yourself lately." She comments quietly across the space between them.

Saienne pokes her head in from the door to the vessel's port side. She is dressed casually in a cream shirt and a pair of red fishermen's trousers, and she is carrying with her a cup made of bamboo and a small empty teapot. Her feet are bare and she makes little noise on the decking in the corridor approaching the Commons. This being the case, she clears her throat with a small cough before proceeding to enter. "Must be lunch time," she says, mildly, as she uses her spare hand to fish her PDA out of a pocket in order to check the time.

"I.. wouldn't call it that..." Kael responds, pulling the water bottle up in his hand to take a drink. His breath is let out right before he takes the drink of water, a breath which sort of shuffles out of him as his eyes watch Lucinda. He hears the slightly noises of the cough and then Saienne speaking as he swallows the water. He comments back idly to her, "yeah... just about I think." Though his head doesn't' turn to face her, instead he just stands there as if not quite sure where to go or what to do. Though that soon changes as his eyes flick away from where they were, seeing his water bottle and apparently noting that it's just about empty.

Lucinda snags her coffee mug off the counter, the moment of impasse broken by Saienne's entrance. "Its always lunch time somewhere in the 'verse. I think we're having sandwiches." She steps out to eye the blackboard and confirm her suspicions. She then returns to the table and her art project, the Christmas tune she was humming long forgotten.

Josephine seems oblivous to any kind of tension in the room, but, knowing her, she isn't. Even so, she enters in full force, singing, "I was blue, just as blue as I could be.. Every day was a-cloudy for me... Then good luck came a-knocking at my door. Skies were grey but they're not grey anymore.." She's using one of her wooden spoons as a 'microphone' again and dancing to accompany her jazzy tune.

Saienne looks between Kael and Lucinda with obvious concern as she slips into the galley, but she chooses not to take it upon herself to intrude - aware, perhaps, that her presence has done just that anyway. Indeed, she looks rather tired herself, with red-rimmed eyes and a less than enthusiastic approach to the washing up of her tea things. She clatters the little teapot into the sink and sluices the dregs of tea around before dumping them unceremoniously into the bin. "I ain't about to argue with that," Sai says, in response to Lucinda about the general mutability of lunch time. She looks as Josephine makes her musical entrance and her crooked grin breaks out and she watches the other woman dance into the Commons.

"Right..." Kael says to no one in particular and turns his head up towards Lucinda, his eyes slipping to her for a brief moment. Though it's soon broken and his head turns towards the fridge. He begins a slow shuffle off towards it, giving a look back to Josephine and the corner of his mouth pulls up the slightest amount for the time being. It's short lived though as he turns his head back away and his eyes mostly focus towards the ground at the moment, trying not to look up until he gets closer to the fridge.

Lucinda settles back into a chair, staring at the paper gown soon to be decoration infront of her without really seeing it. Josephine gets flashed a brief smile as she enters, and the spell is finally broken. Retaking her scissors, "These snowflakes will never be finished unless I get a hand."

Josephine twirls around dramatically. "Sandwiches or snowflakes, Oh Crew of Grace. The choice is yours," she offers with an elegant bow. "Well, that is, unless Sai or Kael want to help with the snowflakes...or someone else wants to make sandwiches. Then we'd all have the best of both worlds!"

Saienne peers over from the galley to the table where the snowflakes are busy being born. "You're makin' decorations?" she asks, looking a little more engaged. "Are we gettin' a tree an' all?" She shakes her head, glancing once at Kael as he approaches the fridge. "Surely don't feel like Christmas... time goes so quickly, don't it?"

Kael turns his head, looking towards Lucinda and his eyes settle upon her. His breath catches in his throat again until he clears it, a bit of a grating sound that makes him wince a little, "Well.. if I make sandwiches I'm liable to poison someone, so... I guess I'll help make the snowflakes." His mouth pulls up a little bit again and then his eyes dance away from Lucinda and towards the fridge he's next to. He opens it up then and works on fishing out a new bottle of water.

Lucinda flattens the fan folds out that seem to have crinkled some where in the interim. She refolds the paper with precise movements, creasing the paper between pinched fingernails. "I'm not quite hungry, so don't go through any trouble on my behalf."

Josephine already figured she'd be making sandwiches rather than helping snowflakes to be born, so she's headed for the galley to wash her hands and take up her apron and pretty red hairscarf which she ties deftly into place. "Blue skies..smiling at me.. Nothing but blue skies...do I see.." she sings, dancing about as she pulls the assorted club sandwich-making ingredients from their various homes. "This will be my first time celebrating Christmas," she tells everyone. "So I'm hoping it will be nice. Sai...you came from a nice big family. I could use some recommendations for cooking? And who here can teach me a Christmas song!?" Clearly, she has more enthusiasm than a crowd of small children just released onto a really fun playground. "Eating is important, Lu. You'll have a nice half of a sandwich," she decides on the other woman's behalf.

Saienne shakes the water off her hands after standing her tea things on the draining board next to the sink and steps aside as Josephine comes singing into her kitchen. "I ain't celebrated Christmas with my family since..." A pause, and she starts to count of the years on her fingers. "Since... longer than I realised, actually." She crosses her arms over her chest and looks sad for only the briefest of moments before fixing Josephine with a sunny lop-sided smile. "Christmas was always a bit of a scuffle," she says, fondly. "On account of my various aunts an' my two grandmothers vyin' for control over the kitchen." A pause. "But my mother used to roast a goose, habitually, with all the trimmings - roast potatoes an' greens an' bread sauce an' stuffin' an'..." She stops talking and smiles again. "I don't reckon we want to bother with a goose, mind. All that fat to be drained off an' fussin' around. More trouble than it's worth."

Kael slinks, in a way, towards the table and slowly finds a seat, somewhat near Lucinda. He's watching her for the moment though and he asks gently, "How... do you make them?" His brow furrows a little and he leans over at his waist, tilting to the side to set the bottle as safely as he can on the floor under his chair. After sitting back up though, his eyes look over between Jose and Sai, looking between them and listening, "Goose is quite good. Hard little suckers ta catch sometimes..."

Lucinda holds the one she's working on out towards Kael. "You fold the paper in a fan.." She starts the lesson over. "Like so. As wide as you'd like the snow flake to be. And keep folding back and forth until you run out of paper. Then you cut the gown into squares, so each will be a strip of snowflakes we can string together when we're done..." She focuses her attention on teaching the simple craft project.

Josephine cheerfully goes about making plates of sandwiches, dancing a bit as she does. Sometimes she even talks to the slices of tomatoes and the bits of bacon that she had fried earlier, which is a bit strange, but that's Josephine. "Two of you on this sandwich..no don't fall off. There you go..that's perfect. Thank you." Lifting her gaze, the cook smiles at the others. "I can't make any promises, but if you folks want goose at Christmas I'll see what I can do. I don't mind the trouble. I'm here to make you folks happy. Besides, then you won't have me to cook for you for a whole month, so I hope to leave you with a good memory..that way you'll be happy to see me come back!"

"Ain't they just!" Saienne exclaims, back to Kael. "An' most often it was me an' Daniel chasin' after the gorram bird all around the orchard, with Maire cacklin' away on the sidelines unwillin' to get her skirt dirty." She shakes her head, smiling broadly. "Sisters, eh?" She falls silent as Lucinda begins to explain how she is making the snowflakes, half listening to the cook serenading the sandwiches. "What are we goin' to do without you, Josephine? You're goin' to have to leave us lists an' all sorts, I reckon - an' as if we would ever be unhappy to see you!" She shrugs a little as Josephine seizes on the goose idea. "Well, if you fancy it mayhap I can help a little. See what I can remember of what Mother used to do." She looks a little bemused. "I should warn you, mind, that I wasn't ever the domestic kind - you'd be much better off with Maire." A pause, as she considers: "Mayhap you should cook what you want to cook, Josephine, an' all?"

Kael reaches out, taking the paper that Lucinda offers to him, his hands trying to gently run over her's as he takes it away. Though once he does, he listens to what she's saying and keeps his eyes more often then not on the folded paper. He nods his head carefully, a few times and then picks up the scissors starting to work on cutting it up, quite careful at first as he tries to get it right. His eyes do flick up towards Saienne as he says a bit on the quiet side, "Can't say I ever tried to chase them down /that/ hard. If they kept bein' a real pain... well.. we had a shotgun." He grins a bit sheepishly up towards Saienne at that notion.

Lucinda wrinkles her nose at that. "And then you're picking buck shot out of your teeth while you eat." She comments lightly to Kael, gently reaching out to reguide his hand as he nearly cuts on the fold that would unravel his whole project.

Josephine is just about finishing the sandwiches that she is arranging so fastidiously and with love upon the various plates. "I want to cook what you folks want to eat," she replies to Saienne. "And I don't mind doing a little research to figure out how that's possible, either. You just remember whatever you remember, and I'll work it out, never you mind." She occasionally tends to pick up some of Saienne's speech patterns while talking to the woman. "Although I don't imagine we'll have to go hunting in the wild for our goose...bless the modern shops and all. And bless the poor goose, too," the cook adds for good measure.

"Lucinda ain't wrong," Sai agrees, smiling a little at Kael. "Takin' a shotgun to a goose ain't conducive to a nice an' easy supper time... an' that's what we were set chasin' them for - not fun." A pause. "Although folk who reckon goose-chasin' is fun ain't entirely normal in my estimation." She leans back against the galley counter, her arms still folded across her chest. "Well an' good, then, Josephine." Saienne says, evenly. "But we weren't huntin' them, exactly. They were our geese - livin' in the yard an' in the orchard." She shrugs again. "They were there to be et, as hard an' heartless as that sounds."

"Thanks Lu.. and not nearly as bad as you think. Uhh," Dyre says, seeming to try and make this more pleasant then it'll probably come out, "...it was a full choke, means closer in, it's tightly spread and, well, we aimed high." His mouth continues to pull into the same sheepish smile as if he just uttered something which shouldn't have been. He looks back down towards the paper he was cutting and takes special care not to make any of the wrong cuts and thus, ruin all the work so far. His eyes look back up towards Saienne and he nods a few times, "Oh, I definitely agree with you there.. goose chasin' is akin to pullin' teeth in my book."

Lucinda arches an eyebrow at Kael, "You're a violent man. I had no idea." She quips lightly, and seeing that he has a handle on his manly version of a snowflake, she retakes her own and the surgical scissors making dainty cuts.

"I don't think it sounds heartless," Josephine assures Saienne. "Okay, clear some space on the table," she requests. "I'm bringing over the sandwiches," which is just what she is preparing to do, including the triangular half-sandwich for Lucinda. "Anyone need anything to drink? Extra napkins? A kick in the shin?"

"Oh, my mother always was most particular about such things as shot in the meat an' game." She pauses again, staring this time into the middle-distance. "Although mayhap she was just windin' me an' Daniel up makin' us chase all over." She grins crookedly - but not unpleasantly. "It surely would explain why Maire'd be cacklin' so." She leans up off the counter. "You need a hand with carryin' anything, Josephine?" And, waiting for further orders, she asks. "You goin' anyplace nice?"

Kael starts about clearing the table, commenting back towards Josephine, "Yeah.. I think Lu could use a kick in the shins." He says playfully, giving Lucinda a quick smirk and a playful glance before looking back towards the table. He starts to fold the uncut up ones into one pile and the ones still being worked on in another, shuffling them off to one of the unused seats. "But I got some water already." His eyes turn towards Saienne then for a moment and he asks, "What, tryin' to wear you out ya mean?"

Lucinda mmphs generally, both as she's delivered a sandwich she didn't ask for and an order for a kick in the shins she really doesn't require. But dutifully, she sets aside her scissors and looks to the plate she's being given.

"Here, you may carry your own sandwich," Josephine informs Saienne, with a warm smile. "I like hearing about your family life. Makes me wonder what that was like," she admits. "As for where I'm going, I figure it's high time I return to my temple for a little while, before they forget who I am. Being that I mostly grew up there and all... many of the folks were the closest I had to a family, and I haven't seen them for nearly five years now, I suppose. Time really passes quickly.." The woman seems a little distracted as distributes the other two plates. Apparently she plans on keeping the other half of Lu's sandwich for herself, although there are several more sandwiches on a plate waiting for other crewmembers who are currently absent.

Saienne shakes her head in Kael's direction, even as she accepts with a fond smile the plate offered to her by Josephine. "More like workin' to make us look foolish." Another crooked grin. "Not that she had to try too hard, of course. Reckon we did all the foolin' our own selves, an' suffered the bawlings out an' all." She shakes her head and adds: "My mother an I ain't never seen eye to eye on nothin', an' I don't reckon we ever will neither." Saienne regards Josephine carefully. "Truly?" she asks seriously in response to the question about family. "Truly, then, it was just like this." She gestures expressively with her free hand at the interior of the Grace; the people settled here. "All the same feelings an' fears an' closeness an' distances." Saienne looks to each of them in turn. "All the same." There is a glance, then, at the calico rug under her feet. "Um, possibly with fewer incidents of fisticuffs, mind." She trails after Josephine, then, heading for the dining table. "Five years," she asks, "Is that so? Time does fly so quick, don't it? They must be lookin' forward to seein' you." A pause. "I do hope you have a simply splendid time, Josephine."

Kael takes the sandwich on the plate and gives Josephine a wide grin, "Thanks Jose." He shifts around in the chair a bit and sets the last of the cut up ones on top of the non-cut ones. The plate it set down on the table with a gentle clink and then he's bending at the waist and reaching under his chair again. He snags the bottle of water he had stashed under there and pulls it back up, looking to be about to drink some of it. "Ahh, that sorta thing. Yeah, I did that to a few folk myself... Eye dee ten tee forms for one."

Josephine grins as she goes back to fuss over things in the galley a bit. "Well, it's no vacation resort," she is saying as she puts stuff away, "but it will be pleasant all the same," she admits. "It'll be strange too, being away from you folks and plunged into a familiar past where I don't quite belong anymore..if that makes any sense at all, and it might very well not..."

Saienne says, somewhat gravely: "It makes perfect sense." She sits down on one of the benches around the dining table and settles her plate in front of her. "Thank you for lunch an' all, Josephine," she says, before tucking in. After a mouthful or two - and she is not so uncouth as to speak with her mouth full - she asks Kael, pronouncing the sounds phonetically: "Eye dee ten tee?"

Kael looks right at Saienne and grins widely, "Sure.. you go up a green lieutenant and ask him for one. The guys in the office make ya run 'round a whole lot 'n' then someone finally tells ya to write it out." He gives her a quick wink and then he looks down to his sandwich. He picks it up and turns it around a bit, finally seeming to settle on a side and takes a bite out of it.

Saienne is sitting at the dining table along with Kael and Lucinda and plates of sandwiches. There is also a pile of surgical gowns in the centre of the table, and a couple of pairs of scissors. Josephine, meanwhile, is tidying up the galley after having made lunch for everyone. Saienne replies to Kael: "Huh." She smiles lop-sidedly. "Evidently I would have fallen for it, then." She munches on her sandwich some more, thoughtful.

"Jo?" asks Tyr, making his way in, holding a note in his hand. "You're going away?" His voice is tinged with a bit of worry and sadness. "Is everything okay, Jo?"

Kael doesn't turn his head from the conversation he's currently having. His shoulders giving a slight rise and fall as he chews on his first couple bites of the sandwich. After finishing his mouth pulls into a grin, "You'd be surprised how many people you get with it." His head gives a little shake and his eyes flick over towards Lucinda for a brief period before turning back to his sandwich. He sets it back down though and goes after his bottle of water.

Lucinda is quietly munching on the sandwich she was given, her free hand fingering the edge of the snowflake chain she was making for the Christmas decorations. She's smiling slightly, enjoying the sounds of conversation around her, and more importantly, the grin that Kael is wearing. Once or twice she looks to him, a fondness clear in her eyes.

"All them fresh-faced officers..." She starts to sweep the stray crumbs from the table onto her plate with long elegant fingers. She looks up as Tyr enters and smiles in his direction. "Tyr, welcome. I reckon Josephine's got some sandwiches left if you're in the market for food."

"Well, that sounds just shiny. At least she's gonna be with us through Christmas. Be a shame if Jo left before Christmas." This possibility seems to bother Tyr greatly. He makes his way over to the galley, putting himself together a sandwich.

Kael Bowen's eyes flick over towards Tyr then and his right hand reaches up, giving a bit of a wave. He had missed the looks that Lucinda had given him, though he had continued to glance back in her direction every so often. Finally though, he leans back into the chair and pulls the sandwich up again, about to take a bite when he says, "Ohh yeah.. all them and then the enlisted.. god... ya'd get some reeeaaal winners in tha enlisted ranks." His head gives a little shake of the head and he chuckles, finally taking a bite of the sandwich.

Lucinda actually finishes the bit of sandwich she claims she wasn't hungry for, forgetting her prim and proper manners and wiping her hands on her cargo pants. "I think she'll be here for the festivities, Tyr, never fear."

"Hey, Lu. Yeah. Oh, that's good," Tyr makes his way over towards the table. "So how is your preparation going for the holidays? Anything you hoping will be beneath the tree for you?" He grins.

"Different world, ain't it?" Sai says to Kael; then, turning to Tyr: "Don't you fret none, Tyr. Josephine's cookin' Christmas dinner so I reckon she'll be stayin'." She grins crookedly, and nods in agreement with Lucinda's statement. "Like the doctor said."

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