[Log] Taking that risk

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Double Cabin, Grace O'Malley [Persephone]
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To the careful listener the footsteps in the companionway outside the cabin might sound familar. Gentle they are, certainly, but falling with enough of a sound to indicate boots - heavy boots. They fall to silence just on the other side of the door and there is a pause, followed by a somewhat hesitant knock. The person in the hallway clears her throat, then calls in tones quiet enough that they will travel no distance through the ship: "Brianna? You in there?"


After a pause, the door squeaks open, "...need to relube those hinges.." She half grins, and it might almost seem like her cheeks flush just a little on seeing Saienne. She responds properly however, "I'm in here, Sai.. I was just changin' after doing some work down in engineering.. what's up? C'mon in.." she'd suggest a pardon to the mess, but she's never been the most well kepted in her living space. A pile of greasy clothes lay in the corner. She's wearing a replacement pair of canvas cargo pants with a drawstring waist, but is barefoot beneath them.



Saienne, if she notices the mess, doesn't so much as blink at it as she steps into the cabin. "This ain't a bad time...?" She asks, hovering there on the threshhold. "Because I reckon I can come back after supper if you ain't properly disposed to company." She does look around then, taking in a single glance the pile of clothes and the general disarray. "If you're busy, an' all." The older woman looks up from the deck, directly at Brianna. "It ain't important - just regardin' that waterin' system you were talkin' about."


Brianna steps back and half pushes the door shut, which it largely complies with, leaving it open only a few inches. She smiles. "Saienne, I got time for you any time you'd like... you know that by now." Her voice is quiet and maybe a little flat but only because she doesn't trust herself not to have it tremble with nervousness if not. She kicks at the pile of clothes and stuff, making space for 'company'. "I don't mind talkin' with you at all." She then thinks about that topic. "Waterin'... Ah... yeah.. for th' garden in the hold?" She offers what should be the free bunk, but has some clothes on it. "have a seat if you like?" She gestures to a bottle of whiskey, a gift from Ara not long after the crew was reunited on.. Greenleaf? one of those... all the planets run together and all. "drink?"


Saienne perches on the edge of the bunk, a lop-sided smile coming with ease. "Ah, hell, it ain't much. I was just talkin' with Aradia an' she said Suji had said the container has a system already - it just ain't hooked up yet." She shakes her head at the offer of the drink, interrupting herself with a brief: "Best not. I got business to attend to this evenin'." A beat. "We're on Persephone again." The smile loses some of its good humour. "Got some familiar faces I should look in on, I reckon." She shakes her head, then, and her hair - which has got longer and longer since their stop on Boros - springs around in its tight little curls. She returns to her original topic: "I was wonderin' if you reckoned you might have some free hours to take a look, some time soon?" Another pause, and her crooked grin appears. "Only I'm runnin' myself ragged waterin' everythin' by hand."


Brianna nods, forgoing the drink. "I'll go with you later if you want extra eyes about.." and a gun but that needn't be said. It's part and parcel if she's around after all. Back to the topic at hand, she nods. "I'll look at it t'morrow mornin'? How's that sound? Ain't nothing else I'm to be doin' maintenance wise so makes more sense to be sure our food supply's workin' like it should. If it's just not hooked up, can't think it'll be hard to get goin'. If it is, I'll wrangle up the parts to make it work. Did that more times'n I can recall at the Mission." She then blinks, "... you've been growin' your hair out!" A slow but growing smile fills her face. "I *love* it!"


"I reckon I may well take you up on that offer," Saienne says, a long-fingered hand creeping up to scritch at the back of her head, although it's no longer stubble that she's running her fingers over. She tugs at one strand of hair that's threatening in earnest to become a dreadlock. "While they may be familiar faces, they surely ain't always friendly." She grins crookedly, and nods while Brianna discusses the watering system. "That'd be real good. I reckon Josephine's lookin' foreward to havin' some fresh ingredients." She makes a bit of a sour face. "An' I'd rather not kill them all before she's able to get her hands on them..." Brianna's exclamation brings her up short and her hand creeps up to her dark curls once more. She looks down at the deck. "You do?" She looks mildly uncomfortable. "Somethin' Maire said... said I looked... well, it ain't nothin'. Mayhap she was right."


Brianna smiles. "Just say the word, Saienne and I'll go along with you. I got nothin' planned tonight. Already cleaned my guns." She grins, "can't never have 'em too clean an' all." She then nods again, "We'll keep 'em alive for Jo. If only so's she can kill 'em an' we can eat 'em!" She laughs and then smiles softly, leaning over the space between the bunks to touch Sai's knee. "I do." Her tone serious and quiet. "An' I don't care what anyone else said. They're fools if they don't think you look stunnin' no matter what your hair's length. But I like it longer myself..."


Saienne nods, all business-like and serious, as Brianna discusses her guns. "Sensible attitude in our line of business, ain't it? I ain't never been let down in a pinch by conscientious company such as yourself." She regards Brianna with some consternation as she continues, though: "Good gorram," she mutters. "I ain't never thought on it like that, but you ain't wrong. I'm just keepin' those gorram tomatoes and courgettes alive so as Josephine can have her wicked way with them in her cookin' pot." A crooked grin, and she looks directly up at Brianna: "Inhumane, ain't it?" The touch to her knee causes a little flutter of alarm to infect her grin. "Well," she says, leaning back and blustering just the slightest amount. "You're a braver woman than me, if you're callin' our Maire a fool." A beat. "I could call her many things, an' not many of them complimentary, but foolish she surely ain't."


Brianna draws the hand back not trying to bother the other woman. "I never met Maire but if she said anything bad 'bout you 'r made you feel less'n what y'are, Saienne, she's a fool. It's the god's honest truth. Ain't many women carry themselves like you do. That's a rare thing and I admire it more'n I can rightly say." She blushes a little, her smile faltering. "...I... reckon I ain't got the words t' say what I really mean without makin' a gorram fool of my ownself." She's silent a moment, "But I meant what I said. Ain't nothin' 'bout you that don't say "This is all woman, don't mess with her, but look at her and admire her while you get to be 'round her." She looks away and fidgets with her drawstring a bit, tying it tighter.


Saienne rubs her hand along the line of her jaw and considers Brianna carefully as she says her piece. Her dark eyes gleam a little in the shadow of the bunk, and her expression gets more and more startled by the word. "Well." She says, finally, and firmly. After that, her tone becomes a bit more cautious. "Well," she says again. "It's... real kind of you to say so, but I don't reckon you should write Maire's opinions off too early on." A pause, and Saienne leans forward into the light a little more. Her expression is compassionate, but not entirely comfortable. "Because, truth be told, Maire knows me an' my many faults with an alarmin' intimacy. She's seen her big sister fall over an' pick herself up more times than I can count, an' she ain't afraid to point out when the fallin' has been my own gorram fault an' how." She shakes her head, finding her confidence a bit and beginning again to hide behind it. "Truth be told," she repeats, "I owe Maire for her honesty, an' while I don't reckon these days she's got as fine an understandin' of my workings as she used to -" the fluid shrug, a nonchalent roll of her shoulders and a dryer than dry smile "- she still hits the mark more often than not - much as I ain't over the moon admittin' to that." Saienne frowns, her nose wrinkling and the crowsfeet around her eyes creasing deeply. "But," she continues, "Be that as it may... I'm real grateful for your words. I ain't sure they're entirely well-placed, but I surely do appreciate the compliment." And there, again, is the self-assured Saienne - doing her best not to display quite how wrong-footed she feels.


Brianna listens and nods, "I mean no slight on your kin, Saienne. Ain't like I got any of my own to know how to behave. I just call it like I see it. A nuts a nut and a bolt's a bolt." She shrugs a bit. "I got no place to question your sister, but that don't mean everythin' she says is right. And whatever length your hair is don't mean nothin'. You're you. You carry yourself the same either way. But a woman's hair's also a point 'a pride I was told growin' up. Also got told pride goeth b'fore the fall. But I'm lined up right there to make the first fall if that' the case. We got our hair to show our pride in ourselves. Short's pretty an' suits some. Long suits others. But how we wear it says a lot 'bout who we are. An' I like what I see in how you're startin' t' wear yours.." She drops it at that. "I ain' tryin' t' upset you, Saienne.. but I also seen how short life is. Happiness too. I don't often run outa words to say as you know." She sighs, "Gorram it... look... jus' forget it.." She draws a leg up to her chest, resting her chin on the knee, hugging the shin with her arms. Changing the subject, "If you'd like another pair of eyes when you go to town jus' let me know.. otherwise I'll see what I can do 'bout the garden's water works after breakfast t'morrow.." run plum out of words and things to talk about that won't just burn every bridge there might have been.


"I ain't upset," Saienne counters, "An' I would appreciate your company this evenin'." A beat, and she inspects her fingernails. "We ain't been on Eavesdown for a good long while, an' I ain't got an inklin' of the landscape." She wrinkles her nose again, and runs her thumb along her jaw. "I ain't upset." The frown deepens. "Just perplexed, I reckon. I appreciate your tellin' me what you think of me, I surely do." Another pause, and she looks up at Brianna. "I just ain't sure you got the truth of things, is all. Nothin' more than that." She grins crookedly - engaging and charming, of course, but no more open than she ever is. "An' pride ain't somethin' I need tellin' about, trust me. Pride I got in great spadefuls." She turns serious for a moment. "Wouldn't have picked myself up quite so often without it, ain't it so?"


Brianna nods, staring off into the corner. "I ain't tryin' t' lecture you on pride. Jus'... tryin' to encourage you some to grow your hair out how you want it, not anyone else. But I wanted to say I like it though." She half smiles. "I know I ain' makin' it easy. I never seem to. But I can't go without sayin what I think and feel in private. I don't wanna run you off so just tell me to cut it out if I bother you any. But I need to make it know how I feel." She looks off as if remembering something else. "Every time I keep my mouth shut when I ought to say somethin' I regret it later."


"Brianna..." Saienne begins, rather more sensitively than previously. "I ain't upset an' I ain't offended an' I ain't never goin' to tell you to keep your mouth shut if you reckon you should be sayin' somethin'." She pauses, perched on the edge of the bunk, to scrutinise the deck as she thinks. "Honesty ain't an easy word to live by, but it's somethin' I ain't never goin' to argue against." A pause, and she looks up at the younger woman. "Ain't that why I take Maire's opinions so serious, like? She ain't afraid to be honest neither. You ain't wrong - she ain't always right in what she's thinkin'." A pause, and Saienne stands up, a dark figure dominating the cabin. "But she ain't afraid to take that risk, an' that's somethin' to be respected in itself, ain't it?" Saienne looks towards the door. "Look, I got some waves to make before we step out later, so I'm goin' to go ahead an' make them." She returns her attention to Brianna. "But I'll be waitin' for you in the hold in an hour's time - if you're keen on comin', still?"