[RP] The 'Verse (Accepting profiles)

[Akai_ryu]

"Half the crew in an infirmary bigger than ours? Must have been a pretty big ship." Jas noted. "Those do get uncomfortably crowded. I don't think I had my own quarters until I got this ship."

While the captain and doctor chatted, Jaden seemed to be content to continue sipping from what had been Jin-Li's glass. It was about half empty when a faint flush spread across Jaden's face that was fairly clearly not a blush of embarrassment. The muscle wasn't quite into the tipsy stage yet, but was getting close. Jas, on the other hand, was carefully enunciating her words and was starting to be on her way out of tipsy toward pleasantly drunk.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"But in a crew like this everyone's close. In-in a good way, I mean. I didn't actually know more than a handful of people very well." Fayra wasn't enunciating very well at all, but she was communicating just fine. In a few short minutes, Jas and crew had learned more about Fayra and where she'd come from than they'd discovered since she'd joined up.

Aria leaned back against the counter, watching everyone with interest. Her cup was still on the table and no where near her, but she didn't mind. At the table, Fayra slid out of her blouse and pulled her hair off her neck. Both Aria and Jas got a clear view of her tattoo for the first time. 27.  

[Akai_ryu]

"On a ship this size, you sort of have to be." Jas noted wryly before looking over at the kitchen where Aria was.

Comfortable silence filled the air for a few moments as Fayra slid out of her blouse. Then Jaden seemed to notice something and shifted in hir chair.

"Hey doc, I've been meaning to ask you about your ink." The muscle said after a moment. "You don't look like the sort of lady who goes and gets something like that done."

"Jaden." Jas warned before taking another sip of her own drink.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Aria shrugged a little as though to say it wasn't so bad they all knew one another so well. She rather liked that the crew was comfortable with each other and didn't have to pretend they were something or someone other than who they were.

Fayra twisted her arm to look at the number, expression neutral. After taking a drink from her glass, she glanced at Jaden before answering. "That's the number that were on my old crew."  

[Akai_ryu]

Jas made an interested noise, but avoided commenting. It didn't seem like something that she should make a comment for or ask about. However, despite not being as drunk as the rest of the crew, Jaden decided to ask.

"Rather permanent thing for people you didn't know that well." ze noted before taking another sip. "Hell, I don't even have a tattoo for folks on this ship. Or my brother."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Fayra's breath seemed to catch in her chest for a moment and she didn't answer with more than a non-committal shrug. She closed her eyes, trying to think back and finding that wall she didn't want to cross sober wasn't so bad drunk. And she was, Fayra knew perfectly well she was borderline really drunk.

"Originally I just wanted um.. to forget. And then I realized if I did... Well I can't," a quick, bitter laugh. "But I wanted to make sure. Have you ever heard of the ship, Stardust?"

Fayra looked up, meeting Jaden's directly since it was hir that asked the direct question about the tattoo.  

[Akai_ryu]

"Rumors. Nothing more'n that. Cap's the one who keeps up with news." Jaden said, shaking hir head slightly.

At the mention of the Stardust Jas seemed to sober up a bit. The tall blonde frowned slightly and decided that it was time to change the topic. Now she knew where some of their doctor's quirks came from and it was probably best not to bring up ghosts from the past. None of them seemed to be very good with theirs.

"I'm curious, doctor. What made you pick us? There were at least a dozen other ships leaving planet-side at the time that needed someone like you?" Jas interrupted.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

For a few seconds Fayra was quiet, looking somewhere that wasn't there and seeming that she wouldn't answer. But then her eyes cleared up and her eyes focused first on Jaden and then turned to Jas.

A sip of her drink and she answered. "I think Fireflies are pretty. And I felt more comfortable with a woman captain."  

[Akai_ryu]

There was a snicker from Jaden and Jas threw a napkin at hir. They had heard that last sentence in a variety of different ways, but largely for different reasons. Usually it came from male passengers or clients who saw Jas. Those clients and passengers often thought that since Jas was clearly single and unattached to anything but her ship and crew that she would be an easy lay. Some even made the mistake of thinking that Jas was all looks and no brain. Female passengers, on the other hand, particularly those from the Core, seemed to think that Jas would attempt to chase after them after they had spent some time with Jas.

"Jaden." Jas warned again before turning her attention back to Fayra. "Well, doctor, I'm glad you did decide to travel with us. And I hope that you decide to stay with us for a long while. If you don't, there'll always be a place here for you, just like we've got one for Jin-Li when she comes and goes."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Thank you," Fayra said. She meant it, a little of the rosy color in her cheeks not due to the drink in her hands.

Aria walked 'round the table to Jas, leaning down to speak into her ear. This meant putting one arm across her shoulders and the other on the shoulder she was speaking close to.

"Peach Brandy, Jaswinder. Are you coming?" She was close enough Jas could feel Aria's breath on her ear as she spoke. Then she stood up, leaving the rapidly cooling warmth of her arm behind on Jas' shoulders. "Well Fayra, we're delighted to chose us. Where else would we find a Medic who can keep Jaden from falling apart without getting scared away?"  

[Akai_ryu]

"It's the truth..." Jas replied, trailing off absently and flushing slightly as Aria leaned close.

The captain had a more coherent and polite response in mind, but Aria's breath brushing across her ear had driven it completely from her mind. While Jas recovered her wits, Jaden made a derisive protesting noise. Ze made it clear without saying a word that ze was holding together just fine without outside help. Despite the bruises. And broken nose. And cracked rib.

"If you two will excuse us..." Jas said as she rose from her chair. "I think dinner's over for Aria and I."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Okay, goodnight," Fayra said vaguely, hands still wrapped around the glass of moonshine. She lifted her head and watched them for a moment. Only mildly was she aware of the interplay between them.

Aria smiled and waved, catching Jaden's eye before she left with Jas. "Make sure that Fayra at least gets tucked in on the couch before you go to sleep, wont you Jaden?" Of course, ze would have without being asked but Aria was just like that. The physical and mental welfare of her crew was important to her.

From her seat at the table, Fayra made a face as though to say she was perfectly capable of getting to bed on her own. The words managed to escape her though and she just made a face instead.

In the corridor, Aria slid her arm into Jas' comfortably.  

[Akai_ryu]

Jaden snorted derisively again, but nodded slightly and raised hir glass. Ze was of the opinion that the doctor would probably manage to find her own bed and didn't need or want tucking in. However, ze knew that agreeing would make Aria happier. In the corridor, Jas smiled faintly at Aria after the companion slipped her arm through the captain's.

"Your room or mine?" The tall blonde murmured to her companion.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Aria's eyes were half-hidden by lowered lids as she gave it a few heartbeats before answering. She then looked up at Jas with a smile on her lips and spoke quietly enough Jas would have to lean down closer to hear her.

"Mine," she smiled up at Jas, then continued in a more normal tone of voice. "After all, that's where the brandy is."

In the common room, Fayra was still fiddling with her glass quietly, thinking about things she couldn't help but dwell on after the conversation with the rest of the crew.  

[Akai_ryu]

That was indeed a logical choice of rooms. Aria's room was where the brandy was, even if Jas' room had the sake. Plus Aria's room was actually lived in, as opposed to Jas' spartan solution to occasionally needing a bed instead of the pilot's chair and a place to store clothes.

"Indeed. After you." The tall blonde nodded slightly as they reached Aria's room and made a gesture indicating that Aria should head down the ladder first.

Out in the eating area, Jaden sat quietly drinking from hir glass and contemplating things. Silence filled the room for several minutes before ze suddenly stood and took the last of the dishes to the kitchen. When ze returned to the table, ze had a deck of cards in one hand and a pair of beers in the other.

"You play cards, doc?" The ship's muscle asked as ze set the items down on the table and pried off the bottle caps. Glass thunked against the table when Jaden set one bottle down in front of Fayra and took one for hirself.