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Beyond The Sea; OTA, Cressi Crew
Topic Started: Dec 5 2010, 09:28 PM (2,348 Views)
Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
The kitchen was a proverbial melting pot of smells and sounds. It filtered through the shared building the vacationing crew had called home for nearly the past week leaving nothing to the imagination of what was being prepared. Cooking in a place that wasn't the ship was vastly different. The wider space that the red headed woman and the small dark haired child was using wasn't the cramped cubby that they were used to. Cassidy laughed a gleeful sound as her mother carefully guided her hands in cutting up carrot slices for the dish she was currently assisting with. "Gentle strokes... you have to watch your fingers. I don't think anyone would want a sweet desert like little girl's fingers in their dinner!" Making monster noises the older MacKenzie ruffled the side of the small girl's hair with her nose. The child giggled, turning bright blue eyes up at Gwen with a gap toothed grin. "Not even Fi?"

Gwen couldn't help but laugh at that. "No. No not even Fi, love. Now. Get those in the pot for me will you? Remember how I showed you to set the table?" Without even hesitating little hands were already gathering up the slices of carrot that they had made together, nodding her head as she was assisted out of the chair by her mother. "Go do that and I'll handle the hot stuff. Then you can help me finish up the desert."

Whatever Cassidy said in reply was lost on her as she quickly dumped the carrots in the pot and hurried out of the room to set the table. Gwen's smile slowly started to fade away when the kitchen was left empty. It felt like she was running on auto-pilot as she made her way over to the large pot, stirring the veggies that were going in to making the dish. She wasn't looking forward to this at all and hadn't for the past day since telling both Hunter and Fi what was going on. Reaching out a hand she picked up what was left of Cass' drink, something fruity the girl had grown fond of, and quickly downed it. So it wasn't as strong as Gwen would have hoped for, but it worked.

Earlier that morning the Captain had left notes with all the crew who there was going to be a group dinner. She easily had used the excuse that they hadn't really done anything together since they had arrived on the planet for their impromptu vacation. Unless one of the two had spilled the beans, no one was aware of the real reason behind the meeting. Gwen had plans to make sure both Rosie and Cass were well off towards bed before she told the others about the plans. No doubt, if the previous talks had been handled, there would be more harsh words that little ears didn't need to hear.

The smell of smoke quickly got Gwen to jumping back to work. It wouldn't do to be eating burned exotic bird! Honestly Gwen didn't even know what it was. The person at the market who had cooked samples said it was a local foul with a taste somewhat like a quail. Gwen had liked it enough to purchase it for what was going to be their last family dinner together. Nothing like they had eaten in a while. She was sure of that. "Well," the woman said to herself, taking the baking pan from the oven with the cooked bird. "We'll see how many decide to show then won't we?"
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Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
"Vacation" had been a whirlwind. While the petite mechanic had been fully intending on spending alone had completely dissipated into a honeymoon-like atmosphere for her, which she loved in some ways, but she regretted not having time to spend with Fi or even the sun. They'd promised to do a few things, but after the lovely tussle (which Rora had expected), everything had been a bit kooky (again, something she'd expected).

It was hard to remember that they all needed this holiday. Rora had been generally detached, enjoying living like royalty in the high rise living that Fi had found for them.

"Gods, that smells amazing, Gwen," Rora said with a grin as she breezed in, taking a seat down the long table, tucking her new long dress carefully behind her legs. It was still oddly quiet in the dining room, a fact which, if the entire crew was expected, Rora was sure would change quickly.

"Heya, Cass - did you happen to help cook?" Rora asked the young'n with a sweet smile. She'd grown attached to the Captain's daughter, about as quick as she had to Rosie. "I presume it all went well - you didn't lose no digits?"
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
Cassidy giggled as she moved one plate to its home on the table a place at a time. While she was a stout little girl, her Momma had been quick to warn her to be careful and not break anything since she had insisted on helping. The grin the Cass bubbled up especially for Rora showed the same gap-toothed expression she had been sporting for the past few days. Oh she hadn't been expecting to lose a tooth while on vacation, that was easy enough to happen any time! What Cass hadn't been expecting was the little shell necklace she had spotted the other day when she and her mom had gone shopping! Cassidy was mighty proud of that necklance and hadn't taken it off since she'd put it on. "Mmmhm. Momma said I could if I wanted to. She wouldn't let me do the big stuff, but I got to help stir and even cut up things!"

Stepping up beside of the pretty mechanic, Cass offered her one of the plates since she was already sitting down. She was like that new woman, the other redhead, that was Rosie's momma. Her own mom didn't have as many pretty things as the two of them combined did. Perhaps that was why she herself only liked a few small things and hadn't been roped in to tearing in to Tess' makeup with Rosie yet. At the mention of having all her fingers she held up her hands once they were empty to show that she did, in fact, have them all. "Momma said Aunt Fi wouldn't want to eat on them so she helped me keep them."

Gwen couldn't help but laugh a little as she let the bird cool off before slicing it up, carrying two of the lighter dishes towards the table. She had always promised to cook as traditional Verbenan meal as she could manage though she hadn't ever had the time. This time seemed to bet he perfect time to finally fit it in to her schedule. "Munchkin here is a very good helper. It's a pity that I couldn't find Rosalee. I was goin' to see if she wanted to help too." But if Hunter was keeping her away she understood. Those ties to both them and Fi were either already severed or to the point of snapping. At least she had one little set of helping hands. "Cass, sweetie, I got the rolls already in the basket. Can you go grab them for me?"

Thankfully the child was more than eager to help leaving the two older women alone for a few moments. "So have you talked to any of the others? I've not heard or seen hair of them for the last few days."
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Seraphina Grant
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Pocket Sized Fatalities
Fi glared at the note left for her by Gwen. Maybe if she stared hard enough it would ignite and she could claim never having seen it. Not likely. She tossed the note in the trash and folded her hands behind her head, ignoring that the soft vest she wore continued to fall perfectly around her narrow hips. That was thanks to the even dozen light throwing knives tucked evenly around the hem. She'd done that the night before.

Sharpening and cleaning knives was her stress reliever. Making sure they were weighted right and that she had places to hide them was a hobby of sorts and something that she often did when she was to wired to sleep. That's what she'd been since the conference with herself and Hunter and Gwen. When Gwen had dropped the ball and left it to Hunter and Fi to clean up. The blond was still angry and going out of her way to avoid that woman that had previously been her captain and friend.

The Supply Officer scrubbed a hand through her messy hair and walked out of her room, snatching up another knife as she went and tucking it behind the gun on her right thigh. Safe zone or not, you could never have enough weaponry on you. She made her way into the kitchen, moccasins making no noise. She nodded to Rora curtly and ignored the other two. Cass was in on it with Gwen so Fi was going to ignore both. Also ignored was the food, which was strange because the petite woman had the metabolism of a ferret and was constantly eating. Fi grabbed the ingredients she would need for a sandwich and pulled them out, setting them on the counter and going to work with a single minded ferocity not usually seen in the sandwich making industry.
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Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
"That's real good, sweetheart." Rora gave Cass a double glance, and found herself laughing. "My goodness, you lost a tooth! When'd that happen?"

Going up to sit on her knees, the long, cotton skirt still draping along the sides of her chair, feigning polite grace. "I'm willin' t' help if'n you need it."

Gwen looked slightly perterbed as she asked the question, which Rora picked up on, but brushed aside, attributing it to the unusual feeling of not seeing everyone as often as everyday, which they did out in the black. "Can't say that I have," Rora said after the child had left. "I been a bit...distracted, though." Nothing to be ashamed of, she reminded herself as she felt her cheeks redden somewhat.

Looking up as Fi walked in, Rora felt the world tilt somewhat. Something was off. There was something she'd missed, and she knew she had the puzzle pieces...putting them together with those in the room acting as they were was a different case. It was something she'd have to mull over later, she was sure. If Fi didn't use that gun she was totin'. Rora was always uncomfortable when Fi had her gun on her. She was deadly enough with knives...adding a gun to the mix was like poison in the punch bowl.
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Drew Lancaster
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Aerial Ace
Drew had spotted Gwen's note easy - it was right next to the bed that they had shared...of sorts. The redhead had been strangely distant, and he couldn't seem to find any time to share with her during the "vacation" - where the gruff Irishman was ready to relax, it seemed the Captain couldn't stop moving.

So Drew, knowing he needed the break, had tried to relax. But following the instance at the pub, even Fi, his ever-faithful drinking buddy, had faded off. So Drew had found a few new friends - but poker was never quite as much fun unless you lost. He feigned a few losses, but that was very little fun, too. He had wound up back at the hotel, on the beach for a bit before taking stock of the med supplies on Cressie, and deciding to stock up while he could.

It was a strange break, to say the least, but with the quiet and peace, Drew was slipping back into the ease of work, into what he knew well. He saw the others rarely, so the dinner would be a fun catch up.

"'Allo, my darlin' girls!" Drew said in a slightly too jovial tone. He coughed, bringing his brows together. "Sorreh," he said in a darker tone, "where's the grub?" It was difficult to leave the laughter from his voice though.

He moved over to Gwen, standing near the petite mechanic - who looked rested and happy, a far cry from the weary look in Gwen's green eyes - and placed an arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I've missed yeh this break, Love," he told her in a hushed tone. "Might'nt you be gettin' a break yerself anytime soon?"
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
Honestly Gwen should have been expecting Fi to act like she was, but she was hoping the woman would have shown a little maturity and put on a face for the rest of the crew. If she was going to be the new First Mate playing the part was key. The entire time that she had known the woman not once had she ever tried unless they were on a mission and then it was like pulling teeth. Gwen bit back a response to the woman as she worked on getting her own plate of food together rather than join the rest of them. No- she'd let Rora or someone else point this out, not her.

Cassidy, though, was beyond the whole thing that was happening. She hadn't been told yet of the departure the two MacKenzie's were going to be making at all. So the youthful little girl bounced back over to the table snatching a roll up for herself before one look from her mother sent her to slowly placing the warm bread back in the basket. "Fi! Momma says you'd not want to eat my fingers tonight. I hope not because I kinda like 'em and need 'em if I'm gonna be as cool as you!"

Quickly Gwen interjected before her offspring could actually lose any of her precious digits. "Cass, sweetie, I'll finish up here. Can you see if Rosie and Hunter are still here and ready to eat?" Not understanding exactly the urgent sound in her mom's voice, Cass slowly nodded her head and moved out in search of her friend and her dad. What Gwen wasn't expecting next as she was getting ready to ask Rora another question was Drew suddenly invading her personal space or the kiss upon her cheek.

As soon as his lips were there she was moving using the excuse for the cooking to untangle herself from his arm. Hell she hadn't even told him about her being let go and how she was leaving. Things had changed between them. None for the better which was the sad thing. "Go ahead and start grabbing your drinks, guys. Food will be ready in a minute. Possibly got some new folk joining us to if they got my invite."
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Coralyn Cardew
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Specialist
Cora was waiting outside the hatch, giving herself a very severe mental pep-talk. The last couple of days hadn’t gone exactly as planned, and she was half an inch away from going stark raving mad. She hadn’t even had half a minute to work out exactly what to do yet, and she was fairly certain that if she had to look Hunter in the eye, she’d melt into a puddle of mortification. But if life had taught her anything, it was that carrying on as normal and not giving anything away was the answer. She had to get through dinner, and then she could go back to the MedBay and mull everything over. Properly. Staying, going, nakedness... it could all be worked out in a scientific and adult way.

Straightening her collar and tucking a loose tendril of hair back over her ear Cora took several deep breaths and plastered a smile on her face. Right. Here goes.

“Well, Good Evening everybody! Are we all having a lovely holiday?” She trilled as she strolled her way into the galley, seizing a glass en route. NO, not too cheery, Cardew! she thought frantically. Reign it in! “I’ve been working awfully hard, so I haven’t seen much sun yet. But it’s been nice all the same hasn’t it?” Seating herself in her usual place in the corner, she stared down at the table as though it was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. Then she dared flick a glance upwards. Then another. No Hunter, he wasn’t here. Hurrah! She could relax for the time being, just so long as she kept her cool.

“Captain, it smells just lovely.” She said, the tremor in her tone fading. Everyone else seemed so cheerful and refreshed... except for Fi, but one couldn’t hope for too much. "I do hope we'll get seconds!"
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Drew Lancaster
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Aerial Ace
Drew watched Gwen pull away from him smoothly. He didn't move, unsure as how to interpret this moment. He opened his mouth, about to say something, his hand coming up to swipe across his short hair. He'd shaved, he'd cleaned up, what had he done wrong? He knew he'd been off, but he felt refreshed and energized now. Drew was feeling better.

Sapphire eyes roved the crew - Cora, slightly awkward as usual, but here, which was a plus; Rora, smiling and tryin' to chitchat with a bustling little Cassidy; Gwen...; and Fi. Zeroing in on the petite woman, he noted her jerky movements as she made a sandwich. Eating alone at a big ol' meal, tense, irritated by the crease that had formed between her eyes...

In short: something was wrong. That much was plain by Gwen's attitude toward him. But if Fi was irritated, it was far more'n just a lover's quarrel. Setting his jaw, Drew moved to the younger woman - likely the one he trusted most, aside from Gwen...but with her attitude, who could tell with their fearless captain?

Leaning against the counter, he kept his looks easy, casual - he was out of the way, but in Fi's line of sight, his eyes sending her a message: I know something's wrong. Tell me. She might. She might not. But Drew would find out eventually. He'd rather be told by Fi, personally, than with the rest of the crew like chattal.

Whatever it was, he had a feeling it was news he would't like.
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Thomas Fisher
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Specialist
Tom was not sure how this vacation was going so far. There had been the incident at the pub and after that, he wasn't much for wanting to go out. Only when he was forced to push away the navigational charts and whatever else he had in front of him, then he would go relax. Yes, he had been the biggest proponent for a vacation. He thought it was well needed. He was too wound after the last few missions. He had been even more brooding after he had broken his wrist. Yet, Tom was the biggest hypocrite. He was not practicing what he had wanted. He was not relaxing. He'd rather be working. He had been doing enough work for two people, he had been for a while now. He wasn't sure the last time he had a steady co-pilot was. Tom wasn't welcoming towards new people and that did make it hard to find someone to fill that position.

Finally, though, he was getting into the spirit of relaxing. He had an old book out, nothing that had to do with flying. It was fiction and he was well into the story when his stomach started to growl. He had been notified about the crew eating together and what not, so deciding that he had to go and be somewhat social, he put his book down and headed to the kitchen.

Tom took in the sights and sounds of the kitchen. Quite a few of the others were already gathered there. "Is it ready yet?" He hoped he had missed the cooking part. He hated cooking and by the amount of people and the smells, he was pretty sure that he would not have to wait long. At least he hoped that.

His eyes came to rest upon Fi who was making a sandwich in one of the most violent ways Tom had ever seen. He raised an eyebrow, but stayed by the door of the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for the food to be done. Drew was already over there, anyway, and at the moment, Tom knew it was best to let the doctor handle it and Tom himself would be willing to handle anything after this whole meal was over.
 
Seraphina Grant
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Pocket Sized Fatalities
The blond was slamming things on the counter, not even drawing enjoyment from the tiny jumps of shock that Cora did every time she did it. She was trying to ignore everyone so that she didn't snap and just start screaming at Gwen. Again. She was still pissed as hell, despite it having been a full day since the redhead had mentioned anything. Leaving them all like this ... Fi shook her head and fisted her hand so that she didn't throw the knife across the room. It wasn't good for a little girl to be covered in her mothers blood.

Drew came in, larger than life as usual, laying on the charm. He had no idea what was about to happen to him. Everything was going to be ripped to shreds and flushed to space. Everything ends. Fi should have known that none of this was ever going to last. Nothing good ever did. No matter how much she wanted it to. She couldn't look at the Doc, he was going to be devastated and if he asked her she would tell him. He had saved her life too many times and she just didn't like lying to him. She lifted stormy eyes and spotted a tall figure moving into the doorway.

Tom. Always a lovely distraction, with or without clothes on. The petite blond took a deep steadying breath and then started closing up ingredients and tossing them back into the fridge with little regard for the safety of objects they items were thrown against. Fi caught Gwen's eyes and felt fury fill her. She tore her eyes away as Tom spoke, wondering if he had distracted her on purpose, or if he even realized just how much of a distraction he was to her.

Fi closed her eyes and pressed her hands against the counter, resting all her weight on them. A few moments later she opened her eyes and glared at the Doc for a moment, as though to tell him to stop digging. She was not going to be the one to break his heart. Fi clenched her jaw and pulled out a meat cleaver, slamming it down onto the sandwich, neatly splitting it in two. She stared at the two halves for a moment before setting aside the knife and taking a bite out of her sandwich. She wasn't eating anything that woman cooked.
Edited by Seraphina Grant, Feb 3 2011, 04:49 PM.
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Chellsea Keegan
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Greenhorn
Chellsea Keegan hadn’t been Billy Shen in a long time, but seeing as she was now on a ship with someone who only knew her from their time spent in the war she decided it was just easier to be Billy. She wasn’t really in the mood to try and explain her past; she still wasn’t on the best of terms with it herself. Her alias was air tight anyway, and could pass any security check as long as they didn’t have her true Ident file side by side to compare it to. Chellsea Keegan’s file didn’t even list her injuries or the fact that she was in a wheelchair; that was all on Billy’s record.

She unpacked what little she had taken with her on vacation, before heading toward the galley. She’d found a note asking her to have dinner with the crew, she really hoped that whoever was doing the cooking knew how to cook. She rather eat protein bars than badly cooked real food, she enjoyed good food far too much to force herself to eat something that wasn’t worth eating. The scents she picked up on the way to the galley reassured her that dinner it seemed had a real possibility of being quite tasty. She hadn’t met any of the rest of the crew yet, including the other mechanic on board, and was hoping that meeting in particular wouldn’t turn ugly.

She rolled into the galley slowly taking stock of the faces inside. It seemed oddly tense, but she didn’t know why it would be, she got the feeling she was missing something. “Looks like I’m in the right place,” she commented as she found a vacant spot to take up. “I’m Billy,” she introduced herself to the new faces, “so what are we having?”
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Tyr Apostolos
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Cadet
[blockquote]It wasn't often that a man as tall, as wide, or as muscled as Tyr successfully managed to move in a manner that would best be described as slinking, but it was one of the few traits left over from his childhood that he was happy that he still had. It made shadowing potential or active targets all the easier, and it made slipping about all the easier. It also, in situations such as this one, gave him the opportunity to approach, and observe, an area without immediately being taken in as part of the 'atmosphere' of the room. It led to opportunities to eavesdrop at times, or in this particular situation, gauge more accurately other people's reactions when they came to that eventual and sudden recognition that he was there. His particularly favorite part was that moment when their expressions turned into the question of 'how long have you been there?' and the internal debate that followed about whether or not to actually put a voice to the inquiry.

Not that he was particularly worried about remaining out of sight tonight. He had received a note, as apparently had every other member of the ship's crew, requesting him to join the others at the dinner meal, meaning that even Fi couldn't argue his 'right' to be on this part of the ship at this particular moment. Thought she might try. His lips turned into a flicker of a smirk at the thought, his eyes flickering towards the blonde who was slamming her sanwich together with the same force that she would use to pound someone's head into the counter, and he shook his head slightly as he let his gaze wander around the others that were gathered. It didn't take a genius to put together that something was itching at the ties that bound this crew together. Some of them didn't look like they wanted to be here at all, a few others looked close to downright confused, and then a couple of them seemed to have varying degrees of the sort of reaction that Seraphina was doling out -- he was beginning to wonder if it was permanent.

Shrugging off the question, his attention turned to a familiar voice, his head tilting to the side as he shifted his weight where he lurked by one of the pantries in the galley, angling himself to verify that the voice did in fact belong to the face he had to attach it to. His scarred brow shifted upwards as the wheelchair-bound girl spun herself into view, something equivalent to a rumbled chuckle echoing through his chest as she made her introductions. Billy, was it? At least he wasn't the only one that had gotten what he had assumed to be the one-night-stand name. Interesting, he mused, his lips settling into a languid and semi-permanent smirk, his arms settling, crossing over his chest. Still, he said nothing, simply waiting for the flick of flame to the powder keg. [/blockquote]
Edited by Tyr Apostolos, Feb 17 2011, 11:52 PM.
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
The sad part of it all was that their Captain wasn't as strong as she used to be. Where the break had been wonders for the crew, there seemed to be a few more one lines and creases on the woman's face that hadn't been there before inspite of her smile. It was playing a part and for the moment it was what they needed to see. Picking up a couple of bowls filled with food she nodded her head towards the table as she walked towards it. The last few rays of days lights were managing their way through the window giving the floor warmth where it was needed. "Yeah go ahead and grab a seat. Just got a few more things to set out, but y'all can go ahead and dig in."

When two new faces appeared in the room, though, the woman quirked a brow slightly. She hadn't been aware of new crew being hired on, but that was Hunter's decision now. Not her's. For a moment she felt a little pang allowing herself a moment of self pity at being 'replaced' so soon though the redhead didn't miss a beat as she set the bowls down. "Go ahead and grab a seat before the grub gets gone. Light knows when the boys get their hands on a plate might not be nothin' left."

"Can I go look for Rosie an' her Pa?" The youngest in the room pipped up, eying the doorway in to the common room then back to her mom who quickly gave a shake of her head no. When she opened her mouth again to speak Gwen was quick to give the shorter version of herself a stern little look. "No- now go pick a seat and I'll help you with your plate." It was all Gwen could do to keep from grinding her teeth when Cassidy all but stomped over to the table. Her mother had been right. There was a curse.

Honestly she wasn't surprised that Hunter wasn't there yet. Gwen didn't blame him though... not with the news she had to tell the crew once their bellies were full. She hadn't really planned it that way, the hope that full stomachs would make them groggy enough that yelling wouldn't ensue. Perhaps it was another selfish act of learned requirement she had picked up from her mother when she and her siblings had been kids. Right then it was hard to say. Denial was the key.
Edited by Gwen MacKenzie, Feb 19 2011, 09:31 PM.
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Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
Looking around at the crew was almost comical. Was Rora the only one who had taken advantage of the sun? They all looked their usual pale selves, a far cry from Rora's own tan. But she was also trying to distract herself.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Rora watched the scene play out before her, feeling like she was watching a round of chess, and she was another piece. It was one reason she'd picked Cressie so long ago - she'd never felt that way with Gwen.

Jumping when Fi slammed something in the cookin' area, Rora raised quizzical brows.

Brushing her hair away from her face, Rora turned to Cassidy, offering her company to the child, praying the small blue-eyed beauty would be a distraction from whatever was about to go down. She grabbed up food for herself and Cassidy, but couldn't bring herself to eat more than a few bites. Her stomach didn't want to sit right for near the first time on this little journey.

Drew was trying to get something from Fi, who did seem to know something the rest didn't. It was a disturbing sight, some pissed as hell, others (like herself) walking on egg shells, and still others - the newbs, though she had no idea what positions they'd be pullin' - quiet and clueless.

Rora looked around, frowning. This wasn't her home, this unusual, terrified feeling in the pit of her stomach. Frustrated, Rora tossed down her napkin. "Alright, wèi yuán​gù de shén, will someone just say what the dì​yù is going on around here? I'm tired'a sittin' and watching the tension ratchet up." Rora looked at her crew members imploringly, a hint of an angry fire behind her emerald eyes.
Edited by Aurora Carlisle, Mar 14 2011, 08:50 AM.
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Hunter Williams
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Aerial Ace
What in the nine hells was he going to do now?

His hand were splayed out across the counter, helping to support this seemingly massive weight resting on his shoulders. He examined himself in the mirror for a moment, truly pausing to look at himself instead of just trudging on to the firing squad he was sure waited in the galley. Dark, tired eyes stared back at him as drops of water trickled through his freshly trimmed beard.

How many months had it been? Six now? Twenty four weeks since he'd so simply taken up an old acquaintance's offer, picked Rosie up and jumped on a ship like he had so many times before. For years he had operated smoothly, his missions under any radars, getting away clean and always ahead of the Alliance. Why had this time been so different than all the others? He'd started as that new guy voted 'Most likely to end up murdered in his sleep' then dragged out of his element and thrust into some absurd position as First Mate. Battling the never ending bitching of that infuriating woman in the engine room, the ever pious glares of the most straight-laced fugitive he'd ever met and constantly butting horns with their dearest captain's tyrannically overprotective man-thing. Hell his best mate in all of this was a nut-job with a knife fetish. His daughter had been stolen, his ex-lover's hellish doppleganger found... and now? And now this.

God he didn't want this. He wanted to run. To just straight grab Rosie and book for the rim without even a glance back. Go into hiding, and somehow set things back to that time when he knew what his duty was and where the bad guys were hiding. He'd been so very close too. But apparently it wasn't meant to be. Yet again he'd been dragged back down into this vat of quicksand, his own cursed conscience grabbing him by the ankles and some ridiculous sense of duty knocking him out with a 2x4. "Don't like to let people go on an' git on with things do ya?" He aimed the question to the very walls around him, his own voice sounding alien as it broke such silence.

Standing here talking to himself wasn't going to bring about any epiphanies; there was no answer, and no point in putting it off any longer. He was already late for dinner.

----------<->----------

With bated breath he stepped into the galley, echoes of Rora's impatient hollering just clearing the air. A quick glance around pretty well told him just about everything he needed to know. As expected Gwen was off in pretend-land, Fi could roast vegetables with what was shooting out her ears, Cora wouldn't dare look anywhere near him and Drew seemed to be trying to blow something up with his mind the way he was gazing so intensely. The new folks in the room didn't have a damn clue the kind of storm headed this way.

He sent the quickest of glances at Fi, hoping for only a moment to catch her eye, and decided it best he just didn't eat ANYTHING while in this room. Where... his daughter wasn't... He frowned slightly, thoughts of impending doom pulling back for a moment as he looked around for her more thoroughly. "Anyone seen the kid?" One issue at a time, he'd tackle full scale mutiny later.
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Pila Xiahou
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fire.starter
Vacation had left Pila slightly hungover but relaxed. She had greatly enjoyed her little stay and her visits with people outside of her new crew. She was new to the Cressida, but even in her short time there she had noticed the tension building. A message left in her quarters to meet in the dining hall had left a knot in her stomach, so she had gone off to find the one person on the whole ship that made her feel completely at ease; Rosalee. Hunter was good fun too, but she needed the company of someone who wasn't stressed out either. She had found the little girl trying to get into Sri's quarters again, and wondered why the girl hadn't learned the lesson that the elder Xiahou was a nasty bitch. After only a minute of persuasion, the two had gone off together to play with some dolls Pila had crafted just for Rosie, neatly stitched together out of some clean socks and an old shirt. She had even managed to pilfer some yarn for hair, and had made a little Hunter, a little Rosie, a little Pila, and a little Tessa. It only felt right that the girl had a sock-doll of her mother as well as her father, regardless of Pila's feelings toward the woman.

During a particularly entertaining bit of play where Pila was an evil giant who was going to smush the sock people if the valiant knight Lady Rosalee didn't save them, the deckhand's wristwatch went off. "Wǒ cào! Rosie hun we gotta go!"

"But we were just getting to the good part!"

Pila frowned and scooped up the crude little dolls. "You can bring them with us and after dinner and whatever the Cap wants we can play until your dad says it's bedtime, kay?"

This seemed to placate the girl, so Pila stuffed two dolls each into the pockets of her overalls and crouched down so that Rosie could climb aboard piggy-back. "C'mon kiddo, we're already late!"

They arrived in the mess hall moments later, Rosie aboard Pila's shoulders, sock-dolls poking out of pockets. It took the deckhand about a half of a second to realize something was amiss. She carefully pulled Rosie from her shoulders and held her hand, walking over to Hunter. "Found her tryin' ta play dress-up with Sri again, figured I'd be a better playmate."

She didn't say anything else, couldn't say anything else. The tension in the room was enough to make her feel queasy. Fi, who she had equal parts respect and fear for, was obviously the most upset. Keeping near Hunter, she decided that being quiet and staying near her friend was the best bet. Something big was going down.

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Coralyn Cardew
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Specialist
“Well I have to say we’ve been awfully lucky with the weather, haven’t we? I hope everyone’s been using their sunscreen! I-if, anybody should find themselves in need, I do have bottles on hand, with SPF’s ranging from 30 to 90.” Cora pressed on, knuckles whitening as her fingers clutched at the table. How could tension be this... visible? It was alike a thick fog that was hanging around, whilst everyone awfully hard not to choke on it. All eyes were on Captain, worried eyes. And it wasn’t just that. People were suddenly arriving that Cora didn’t even recognise and she suddenly found herself feeling very territorial about her seat. Everything was wrong, everything was changing. It felt like they were waiting for a bomb to fall on their heads whilst they ate.

Then Rora, useful, sunny Rora suddenly dragged the fog into consciousness. That made Cora feel a little better. For about twelve seconds. Because then Hunter stampeded into the room and the doctor turned a very special shade of scarlet, combined with a little squeak that she imagined a drowning mouse might make. Suddenly her own feet were absolutely fascinating to her and she stared downwards reverently. If anyone wanted to ask her any questions they could defer to her shoes. It wasn’t bloody fair. If things had worked a little differently she’d be long gone now, not back to square one, unravelling her socks and re-stacking her papers. Her painstakingly written goodbye letters had be tucked away back in her bag, and when she’d read them again an hour ago they made her feel very foolish. Hindsight was a hideous thing.

Luckily the little fire eater and the even littler terror served as ample distractions, enough so that Cora thought maybe now would be a good time to slip out and re-fold her bed sheets... but no, curiosity was gnawing at her now, and even if she wanted to get up, she highly doubted if her legs would co-operate.
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
Everyone was looking at her. Fraking a- everyone, old eyes and new, were trailed on her. Hate filled a few while curiosity the rest and then the ones of those being like deer caught in the headlights. The redhead would have motioned to the table for everyone to take a seat but from the looks that Fi and Hunter were giving her there was no way under whatever God's blue sky they would do it. Even Cassidy was looking at her when not looking at the others to see what was going on. God she really wanted to do this when the kid's weren't around.

Breaking eye contact for only a couple of seconds the woman let out a deep breath before finally looking up trying to keep the most neutral of expressions on her face. Just like she had to do when giving orders she didn't approve of back in the day. Only her green eyes showed the depth of how much what she was going to say hurt. "And before you all accuse me of sugar coating this it's not. I'd been planning on doing this for a long gorram time so don't even think about trying to read to much in to it." Another deep breath, Gwen had to keep herself calm for the reactions they knew they were going to give her. Yelling, cussing, probably even throwing things if it was Fi. Honestly she deserved it. She had let them down.

"As of... an hour ago I am no longer employed by the Spencer-Dai Company. The Board, under Mina's orders, that my presence is no longer required." Gwen tried to catch their eyes, all the old members and even the new, before trying to speak again. This scene had played over and over in her head since she had found out she was going to have to leave with Cass. All the different ideas of how it could have gone down... just not like this. Her voice cracked, "There's no way around this one. I've exhausted every favor and every door trying to get by this one... it's just not happening."
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Drew Lancaster
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Aerial Ace
Gwen could very rarely utter a word Drew might ever have disliked. However, the words she said now dripped like poison down Drew's throat, words he couldn't seem to swallow for a few tense moments.

She looked so sure, as if this were simply the next step, as if they all should have known. Gwen's eyes were determined, as if her determination could simply wipe away the emotional turmoil she was going to put them through.

No amount of Gwen believing she was doing right for them all could fix the anger Drew could feel boiling between his muscles.

Jaw twitching, Drew could feel the counter splintering under his fingers. He ripped his hands away, crossing his arms protectively over his chest.

How had he deserved this? To be told as if he were nothing more to her than...

It hit him with a sharp pain to his chest. He was nothing to her, and this was the way she was telling him. Bitterly. Deus ex machina. It was as good as a chicken door at one of them carnivals. Something Drew was pretty damn sure he would never forgive her for.

"Well done, then. You've been given what you been plannin' fer." Drew smacked his hands together. "So, in the wake of complete and utter deceit, I think I'll bow out now, before I break somethin' valuable-like."

Without ceremony, sapphire eyes cast a dark, fiery look about before he turned and stormed out, as if one more breath would send him over the edge. For once in his life, he was grateful they weren't in the black. All he wanted for company was a strong bottle of whiskey, or maybe something stronger, and an obnoxious, overpowering atmosphere. Without hesitation, he headed straight for the pub.
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