[Log] "...you have some great friends."

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Eavesdown Docks, Persephone
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Maxwell reaches to poke Ara lightly in the side, answering to the question of pesterment, "I severely doubt that... even on that one particular subject." He glances sidelong at Lucinda and offers, "well you're screwed if you try and back out now--well, unless you pay. Anyhow, hug the kid. It's good for your estrogen levels. Scientific study out on Greenleaf proved it." Max may well be serious, but the grin plastered across his face casts serious dubt on it.

"Thanks Jo," Aradia says with a chuckle to the already retreating back of the cook as she heads up the ramp. "Oh, you know what else is good for hormones?" she declares, "Sandwiches!" squirming to one side at Max's poke before she maneuvers to make it perfectly clear that she wants him to sit so that she too can sit, using his lap to cushion her backside (which he does because he's not here to say no) while she waits for the fixings of an impromptu picnic to magically appear. Looking over to the boy, she says, "Name's Ara, how 'bout you?"


Josephine and Saienne arrive together a short time later, amiably chattering about this, that, and the other thing, which, at present, seems to be something involving daffodils and how they mysteriously have slightly different hues depending on the planet. "I'm rather fond of the pale yellow ones," the cook is saying, holding a wicker basket on the crook of her arm, to Saienne who is holding a slightly smaller version of the same. "You know, the ones that are almost but not quite nearly white? They seem somehow radiant!"

Lucinda just shakes her head at both suggestions. Neither huggins' or sammiches will fix Lu's current situation. "Maybe ...maybe I just need some sleep. If you all will excuse me?"

Saienne holds her basket between her arm and her hip and it swings a little as she strides down the ramp next to Josephine. She absent-mindedly tucks the cloth covering the basket's contents a little more securely. "Oh, I don't know," Sai replies to the cook. "They're pretty, surely, but there ain't nothin' better than a field of them all golden yellow an' bobbin' in the breeze." She pauses to smile. "Old-fashioned an' elegant - like bonnets." She looks sideways at Lucinda as she takes her leave, concerned at her evident uneasiness. "Not stayin' for somethin' to munch?" Sai asks the doctor mildly.

"Marco," the boy says a little warily to Aradia who's wriggling to try and get comfortable in Max's lap. Clearly he needs to put more meat on his bones because he doesn't make for the most comfortable seat. "That there's Lu, who's about to run off on us, 'n this here's Max," she says to the boy, adding, "Oh, and there's Josephine, the creater of all things delicious and sandwich-like, and Saienne with her." Waving to Saienne, she says, "Hey there." She looks mildly disappointed that the good doctor is running out but ultimately, it does leave her with more sandwiches for herself.

Josephine is certain to place a wrapped sandwich in Lucinda's hands before she runs off. "Eating is important. Take care of yourself," she says, with a gentle smile. "And just let me know if you ever want to sit down and chat over tea, okay?" To Saienne, she says wistfully, "I can't say I've ever seen a whole /field/ of daffodils. That must be like a dream. I think I've read an old Earth poem about a field of daffodils lately, come to think of it..I wonder what that was.." She is pulled from her train of thought in time to grin and smile at the little boy. "Hi, Marco. How about a chicken sandwich? ..Ara, Sai thought to bring thermoses..thermii..whatevers of tea, although we have bottled water as well. And napkins, of course."

Lucinda clutches the sandwich in her hands, giving a bit of a smile to Josephine and she mumbles something that could be percieved as a thank you. She's soon headed up the ramp and into the belly of Grace.

Saienne hangs back just slightly as Josephine talks to Lucinda, but steps forward to comment back to Josephine: "Like nothin' so much as a sea of sunshine, I reckon." She says, of fields of daffodils. "An' all buzzin' about with bees an' the like an' all." She grins crookedly. "I'll see if Maire'll send some pictures, maybe." A pause, and the grin fades. "If she ain't too busy. Always busy, that sister of mine." She lopes the short distance between herself an the collection of people dirtside and then tips a hand to her hat. "Afternoon y'all. An' ain't it a lovely one?"

Strolling casually into the area, a fiery-tressed woman makes her way through. She walks with her hands clasped behind her back, eyes roaming the area watchfully. As she passes a list of posted vessels/slips, Saffron pauses, scanning the list quietly. Occasionally she'll look from the list, to the designated slip number, ostensibly to verify visually the present of the proper vessel.

Sitting on Grace's ramp and using Max's lap for a seat, Aradia's talking with a small boy of indeterminate years. He's scrawny and looks malnourished beneath clothes that are obvious hand-me-downs and several sizes too large with holes under the armpits and frayed hems. Turning briefly from the boy, she looks back up to Saienne with a grin and says, "It is now that I don't have something goopy and icky stuck to my boot and strangers coming up and offering their services unsolicited."

The boy, Marco, is looking a little more edgy but there's a promise of food as he remains dirtside at the bottom of the ramp, shifting his weight restlessly from one foot to the other. At Josephine's offer, he bobs his head and then looks to Aradia to ask, "Ken I go when I gots it? Got to get, y'know?"

Saienne really doesn't pay Saffron much attention, part, as she is, of the greater confusion of the docks. Instead, Sai bends to one knee down by Aradia, Maxwell and Marco, and starts to uncover the cloth from the basket. "Oh," she says, her broad-brimmed hat obscuring much of her face, "Been one of those afternoons has it? Ain't that just the Eavesdown way? Strange goopy things an' impolite strangers." She reaches up to tip the hat so that its shadow is less in her eyes. "Always someone imposin' themselves," she mutters.

Maxwell nods to the boy in answer--Ara's likely too busy chatting with the others to answer him in a timely manner, and it's certainly not as if Max is shy about hearing the sound of his own voice. "Sure, you can take your sandwich and scatter... but come here for a second, You've got somethign over there behind your ear."

Whether it was the fact that the boy had seen the shiny quarter a moment before orhe's well advised of exactly how this trick ends (as so many children seem to be) he steps up obliginly and Max reaches out a hand towards the boys ear, sending a stream of shiny coins into the dirt and obviously pouring from his own sleeve. Smooth.

Max seems entirely nonplussed about the outcome, and waves a hand dismissively, "pfft. You get the idea kid, and yes, you can keep them." The boy doesn't seem to hesitate too much before obliging.

Saffron's finger traces down the list slowly, eventually coming to rest on a vessel registry. She smiles to herself, taps her finger twice, and turns again towards the Commons, casually strolling out of the area. "Just another day on Eavesdown," Aradia says to Saienne, casting her gaze out over the docks where it passes and pauses briefly on the red-headed woman nearby. Turning back, she looks amused by Max's failed attempt and the look she casts him up over her shoulder is one that would imply it's not the first time she's seen the attempt in action. Shaking her head with a grin, she nods to Marco and then asks, "Hey, you know Frankie?"

Saienne turns a sideways glance to the glittering stream of coins that seem to be leaking out onto the dirt from Max's sleeve. "Reckon you need to practice a little more," she says, not unkindly, and trying hard to suppress her crooked grin. "An' I don't mind one jot if you want to practice on me." A pause. "A girl could get rich on what you're droppin' in the dirt." She peers down at the coins. "Slowly, surely, but rich is a relative term, ain't it so?"

Josephine gets to helping Saienne with the food distribution, smiling to herself at the soothing cadence of the other woman's speech. "Did we remember cups for the tea?" she murmurs, with momentary concern, poking around in her basket in case they are there and she does not recall. Max's 'trick' seems to make her smile as well, but she does not say anything about it.

Maxwell doesn't seem amused by anyone else's take on his trick, either. After treating the group to a rather loud raspberry he says, "it works just fine every other time." (No, it doesn't.) "I don't see why the lot of you are making such a big fuss about it," he continues before settling into a quiet sulk.

"You wouldn't be the first woman who's said that to him," Aradia says with a grin to Saienne before she kisses Max on the cheek and says encouragingly, "It was much better that time, really." Turning her attention back to the boy who's screwed his nose up at eww, girly affection, she quirks a brow and asks, "Do ye?"

"Yeah," Marco says a little warily again, his gaze continuing to dart toward the basket full of sandwiches, "Why?"

"Give 'em a message for me, will ye? To tell Eric 'n Marianna to come see me." She repeats her name again, since people are prone to forget such things, "Ara."

Braeden 's form slowly came into view at the docks. His grey duster brushing lightly across the tops of the spit polished combat boots that softly tapped upon the ground as he moved past the last building before truley entering the docks. His form halting after a few feet to look over the area from behind the black wireframe glasses as he used his right hand to bring the large medical bag back onto his shoulder fully and just slightly more comfortably.

"Only on account of the currency you're spillin' all over the place," Saienne replies to Max, "Have no fear." She smiles a lop-sided smile at Aradia. "But I reckon I might be the first to be true to that intention of wantin' to help him improve his coin tricks," she says evenly. She swings a leg out from underneath herself and sits herself down. One long-fingered hand pulls out a chicken sandwich from the basket, and she turns to Josephine. "I do believe this may be the first picnic I've ever had on Eavesdown." She grins crookedly. "An' ain't it such a salubrious locale an' all?" Braeden's entrance is noticed but briefly, and soon let fall into the background activity on the dock.

Josephine looks relieved to find the cups where they should be. Without further delay, she gives two of the sandwiches to Marco who has been waiting ever so patiently. "There you go," she tells him, without making a fuss. Then she distributes sandwiches to Aradia and Max as well. They are made from the leftover fried chicken from last night, with a bit of mayonnaise and paprika. "Bon appetit," the cook says to everyone with her characteristic smile.

Maxwell peers at the sandwich he's handed, apparently continuing his sulk as he pokes unhappily at a bit of chicken poking out the side. There's not enough left over to be Pauline, he concludes, and sniffs at it critically before finally deciding it's edible anyhow and devouring half the sandwich in one oversized bite. Best to be done with it before it rises from the dead to do him harm!

"Mari's sick!" Marco exclaims, apparently recognizing the names, though the act of recognition and sharing of knowledge isn't enough to distract him from grabbing up both sandwiches as soon as they're within arm's reach. "I'll tell 'em!" he calls, already bolting away from Grace's boarding ramp, where everyone else is gathered, and off into the crowds.

"Wait...wha?" Aradia asks, yelling futilely after the boy, "Wait!" With a resigned sigh, she sinks back against Max and mutters, "Sorry," over having yelled and then taking the sandwich Jo offers her. "Thanks, Jo."

+nom Braeden=Braeden's right hand slowly moves into his duster's inside pocket and comes back into view with a single cigarette held between his index and middle fingers. Bringing the cigarette to rest between his lips his left hand would move up with a lighter in tow to ingite the tobacco filled paper. His eyes as he did this resting on the picnic for a moment before looking over the rest of the area as his chest rose with the inhaling of the smoke. - Very beeautiful poses - thank you for sharing them with us.

"Marianna -" Sai says, quietly. She looks to Aradia, dark eyes worried. "Ain't that the little girl we ate with? With Tyr? Back before Christmas, weren't it?" She frowns. "'Cause sick ain't generally good..." She takes a bite from the sandwich and chews thoughtfully.

"If we knew where they were, we could send Lucinda to them," Josephine suggests, needlessly, perhaps, but to show her support. The little woman settles on her knees on the ramp to start carefully pouring cups of tea. First one, then a second. "Who wants tea?" she asks. "I brought the sugar out too, in case that makes the notion more tempting."

Taking a large bite out of her sandwich, Aradia chews on it for a few moments before she nods to Saienne, swallowing the mouthful of food. "Yeah, that's her," she affirms, glancing toward Josephine to say, "If I knew, I'd have...they move around a lot."

Braeden 's hand with the cigarette would drop as he slowly exhaled allowing the small tendrils of smoke to float from his mouth before he would begin moving through the area once more looking over it slowly. His eyes holding for a few moments on the diffrent ships in the area as if examining them. In his mind he was still kicking himself in the ass slightly for retiring at such a young age. But he reassured himself that it was for the better.

Saienne nods in agreement with the cook. "We could, at that." She pauses again, thinking. "An' I ain't about to suggest tryin' to trail those kids through Eavesdown - don't reckon even Kael's got the skill for that, so I surely ain't - but Peeper's got some real interestin' contacts roundabout these parts..." She stops, leaving the thought hanging, and takes another bite out of the sandwich. "You know, Josephine, these are uncommonly good."

Josephine provides both Saienne and Aradia with cups of tea, whether they actually want them or not. Then and only then does she retrieve a sandwich for herself. "Why thank you, Saienne. It's just leftovers, really," she says, with a shrug. "I try to use everything up as best I can. ..And hopefully the kids will find you, Ara. They seem to have taken a liking to you, anyway. And now they know I hand out sandwiches. Well..we can hope, yeah?"

Aradia looks up to Saienne, saying nothing on the notion of tracking or finding anyone or anything around Eavesdown, instead just saying with a faint smile, "I've done what I need to. Someone'll get back to me." Drawing a deep breath, she lets it out slowly and takes the mug from Josephine. "Thanks," she says, taking a sip from it, commenting, "Peeper tol' me she lived around 'bout but not in the slums."

Braeden slowly began moving towards the three women. His eyes remaining on what he assumed was the leader of the group josephine As he got to be ten feet from the landing platform he stopped. His right hand dropping the cigarette to crush it out beneath his boot's heel. "Scuse me ladies..Any of ya all know where I might find a ship with an extra bunk that can be gotten in trade for services rendered?" His lips moving from that marchiavellian smile into one that was genuine.

Saienne shrugs with one shoulder, smiling lop-sidedly at Ara. "Well, if you're happy, then there ain't no cause for me to be frettin' on it, is there?" She takes the cup offered by Josephine with a warm look. "Well, thank you, an' all. It ain't often I'll say no to a cup of tea, an' ain't that a fact." She purses her lips and blows across the top of the tea to cool it. As Ara speaks, Sai shakes her head. "Ain't got no idea where she lived, Captain. I just know she knows some useful folk, is all." Braeden's approach causes her to fall silent and she turns to look at him, dark eyes cool. "Another day on Eavesdown, ain't it so?" She asks, more to the air than to anyone in particular. "Ain't my department, I'm afraid," she adds, with a twist of her lips.

Josephine gets to her feet, brushing the dust from the knees of her trousers and fixes her dark gaze upon the newcomer who is Braeden. "I believe what you mean to ask, sir, is..are /we/ hiring? Unless you're thinking we look like an employment service or that we know the rosters and location of every ship in the 'Verse." There is nothing unfriendly about her tone, mind you. It's more like a casual observation. And then she rather curiously awaits his reaction.

Still lounging in Max's lap, her head leaning back against his shoulder as she munches on her sandwich, Aradia says to Saienne, "Well I didn't say I was happy 'bout it but racing off after Marco won't help any 'n will just make it harder for 'em to find me when word gets to who it needs getting to." Lifting her gaze to the man who stops before them, she regards him for a few moments, sounding mildly amused as she remarks to no one in particular, "Another renderer of unspecified services. Today is our lucky day."

Braeden 's head shook as a chuckle fell from his lips. "Could care less ma'am if your hiring..If I wanted to know that I woulda asked if ya was hirring not if ya knew of any ships with a spare spot that would barter for the spot Now wouldn't I?" His smile turning from the nice genuine one it had been when he approached back to that marchiavellian smile that mocked the world. "Further more Ma'am..Would you trust an employment service? I know I sure as hell wouldnt.. But I do appologize for assuming that you knew people from ships beyond your own..." His eyes flickering over to Aradia. "And I assume lass you must be blind..Or do many people come down here with medical bags and wearing medical insignia?" His brow lifting for a moment before one last chuckle would leave him as he began turning towards the direction he had come.

With an impish grin parting her lips, Aradia keeps her gaze on the man as she says, "Well sir, reckon as my eyes work just alright. See, carryin' a bag and wearing a badge don't specify a whole lot. You claim to be the kind o' fella what can soothe a cough or you more the like to make promises that you can carve my face up to look all pretty, or mayhap you're the kind o' doctor often enough found around Eavesdown that just wants to carve me up period or slip a little somethin' into me to make me all willin' while they has their way with me?" Her grin widens into an amiable smile as she sits up a little straighter and reiterates, "Like I said, yer services are unspecified."

"'Happy' was more a turn of phrase than an accurate description of your mood, an' all," Sai replies, a little uncomfortably. Listening to Braeden's replies to Ara and Jo, she leans forward a little and says quietly: "Well that ain't no way to be makin' friends." She frowns at the man, her dark eyes cool and the crowsfeet around them wrinkling deeply. "I expect our answer to your initial question is 'no, we don't'." She glances over her shoulder to Aradia. "An' ain't she got the truth of it an' all? Eavesdown ain't exactly the most sensible place for trustin' strangers."

Josephine considers the man's most curious sort of reply in thoughtful silence, waiting as the others around her speak their mind. Her dark gaze remains upon the man, studying the details of his appearance and contemplating the defensive nature of his reaction.

Braeden 's form stopped mid turn and spun back around the face the three. His eyes level on Ara. "Ma'am one, ya arent my type..so carving ya up to just get my way with ya aint gonna happen..Besides I take my profession seriously..Two carving faces up to make them more beautiful is not what I specialize in..though I do know how to do it..I specialize in things of a diffrent nature..Surgery and Trauma are among them..Ya do not spend 16 years in the Medical corps to come out with nothing Ma'am.." His eyes then moving towards Sai. "And your correct, It isnt much of a way to go around making friends. But I do not recall me coming up and saying Can we be friends?" His eyes then moving towards josephine. "You havent done anything..So I have no comments for you..other then that you have some great friends.."

"Well, we all get on just fine an' dandy," murmurs Saienne mildly. She waves a hand in Braeden's direction - a dismissive gesture - and says to the other three. "Ain't got time to stand here chinwaggin'. Got me a drop to make." She looks across at Aradia. "Shouldn't take me no more than half an hour - quick an' easy this one, just how they all should be." She grins crookedly at that, and swipes another sandwich out from the basket. "One for the road..." she says, smiling lop-sidedly at Josephine. "An' thank you for the tea." And so saying she unfolds her legs and stands, tips her broad-brimmed hat back a little on her head, and strides off into the muddle and confusion of Eavesdown.

Josephine smiles warmly to Braeden then, despite that he might have been entirely sarcastic with his observation. "They are the best in the Universe," she says, with heartfelt sentiment. "May you have such good fortune along your own path," the woman tells him with gentle sincerety, before touching Saienne's arm briefly, "Be safe. Call if you need anything," she reminds.