[RP] The 'Verse (Accepting profiles)

[DeirdreTonbo]

Aria moved down into her room, doing a quick double check that nothing had been left out. Her quarters were not immaculate in any sense of the word, the blankets rumpled and a drawer with accessories spilling out left half open. But the floor was clear of debris, heavy cloth affixed to the walls to give the room a softer feel. There was a clear preference for cool greens and blues, rich textures and fabrics. Aria had a lot of "girly stuff" as Jas had referred to it more than once; make up and jewelry, which she kept neatly stored (most of the time) in boxes that were secure against the wall in case of turbulent flying.

She already had glasses handy, setting them on the small table and looking at the label when Jas arrived shortly behind her. "Have a seat," she gestured in the direction of the bed.

"Mmm?" Fayra blinked a few times and happily set aside her moonshine in favor of the beer. There wasn't much left, but Fayra was pretty sure what remained in the glass was enough to scrub clean half of her education. "Nno, but I'm a quick learner. Normally."  

[Akai_ryu]

Jas paused out in the corridor while Aria went into her room. The tall blonde took a deep breath and mentally reminded herself that she had set rules on herself for a good reason. Then, having given both Aria and herself a moment, she went down the ladder more carefully than she normally did. Ladders to quarters didn't seem like much of a problem until one had a few drinks in them and...well...then they could be outright dangerous unless one was careful.

There were a number of responses to an invitation to sit on Aria's bed. Unfortunately, Jas' mouth picked one before her brain had a chance to approve it. Admittedly, there weren't many places to sit in the crew quarters on the ship. It was mostly limited to the bed and a small amount of floor space, even in Jas' room.

"Only if you join me." The tall blonde said with a smile as she sat.


Outside, Jaden took a swig from hir bottle and began shuffling the worn deck of cards. There were a number of card games that ze was familiar with, but given Fayra's level of intoxication and how drunk ze was planning to get, a simple game was probably for the best.

"Nothing too complicated, I think." Jaden mused as ze shuffled. "An old Earth That Was game called Go Fish. Don't ask me why it's called that."

With that, the ship's muscle continued shuffling and settled in to explain the game's rules.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Aria laughed lightly, pouring glasses of the liquor for both of them and settled close against Jas' side. "If you insist."

Situated comfortably against Jas' side, Aria handed the captain her glass. "A toast? To Captain Jaswinder Sturm. I wouldn't fly the black with anyone else."


With a handful of cards in her hands, Fayra had on her serious expression. Well, she was trying to, it was hard enough to focus on her cards and she kept forgetting what she had already asked Jaden for. So she very seriously contemplated her hand and wracked her brain for what number she ought to ask for.

"Fives?"  

[Akai_ryu]

Gently, Jas took her glass from Aria before clinking it against the other woman's glass. "And to you. Without whom, we would be permanently lost."

When the tall blonde took a moment to sip and savor the brandy, she closed her eyes and made a soft, pleased hmm. Despite being already slightly drunk off of moonshine she could tell that it was a good brandy. Either Aria had really good connections, a lot of luck or she had spent a good amount of money on the bottle.

"This is excellent, Aria. How'd you get a hold of the bottle?" Jas murmured, clearly pleased.



Jaden contemplated hir hand. The cards there were sorted by Jaden's sense of order and logic, which was to say they weren't very sorted. After several seconds of intense concentration on the numbers, Jaden began plucking cards from hir hand. A few were returned and then, finally, the muscle tossed a pair of fives onto the table with a slightly annoyed grunt.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Beside Jas, Aria opened her eyes, also savoring the brandy. "Oh, I know people. And I know my captain's vices. So there are certain products that can be held for when I arrive on a planet." She'd really wanted actual peaches, but seasonal fruits were more difficult to summon on a short notice than something which could sit on a shelf almost indefinitely.

"You spend a lot of time taking care of everyone but yourself, Jaswinder." Aria turned her head enough to meet Jas' eyes and held them for a moment.


With a minor giggle, Fayra scooped up her fives and added them to her own hand to complete a set. A school? Were they schools because they were fish? For a second she almost asked why it was called 'Go Fish' again, but immediately remembered the scathing look Jaden had directed at her the last time.

"Your turn." She held her cards over her face, green eyes peeping over the top at Jaden. Though her mouth was hidden, her eyes indicated she was smiling in hir direction.  

[Akai_ryu]

For a moment pale blue eyes met grey then Jas looked down at her glass. The captain often found it easier to think when she wasn't looking directly into Aria's eyes, but tonight wasn't really one of them. She could feel the Companion's body heat through her shirt and the way their bodies pressed against each other.

"I...I have responsibilities to the four of you." Jas said after a moment. "I will not be like my father and spend so much time taking care of myself in the name of my responsibilities that I neglect the welfare of my crew and family. Your welfare is so much more important than mine."


It was a bit disconcerting to have someone smiling at hir in a friendly way that wasn't Aria. Or Jas. Or Jin-Li. Or hir brother. Then there were those brightly intelligent green eyes watching hir. In a casual movement, Jaden took another swig of hir beer as ze seemed to contemplate hir cards.

"Jacks." Ze stated after a moment. Most people would ask it as a question. Jaden usually stated it as not-quite a demand.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Aria looked down at Jas' hands, touching her arm softly. "Jaswinder, you can never become your father. It would be like asking fish to fly or Jaden's moonshine to become this brandy. You may have come from the same place he did, but the choices that you have made are what define you."

She reached over and picked up the bottle, putting more into Jas' glass. "So drink up, this time for the person whom you will never be."


While trying to determine if any of her cards were Jacks, Fayra reverted to her serious face. So serious. Her eyes were merry when she looked at Jaden again. "You want all of them? I have one. Hearts." She handed the card over willingly.  

[Akai_ryu]

"And that's why I keep making the choices I do." The tall blonde said, moving her glass so it was easier for Aria to fill. "I'm lucky to have you here, Aria. Without you, we really would be lost." She paused to take another sip and savor the brandy before looking Aria directly in the eyes with a touch of humor dancing in her eyes. As she did so, Jas gently took the bottle from Aria and topped up the Companion's glass. "It would be a waste to guzzle this, but you really should keep up or I'm going to have to claim that I can out drink you."


"Yes." Jaden grunted, reaching over to take the card, careful despite the alcohol to avoid brushing fingers with the doctor.

A moment later ze dropped a set of four jacks onto the table. And then returned to contemplating the cards with a sense of concentration that seemed entirely unnecessary in such a simple game.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Oh Jaswinder, you could not out drink me even in your military days," Aria said. "But we'll have to prove that with something cheaper than this and a witness another time." There were notes of challenge in her voice and her eyes were playful as she took a sip of her brandy.

"Besides, if we keep drinking like this, you'll never make it to your own bed..."


"Do you haaave..." Fayra trailed off, sorting through her cards. She had them organized by number and suit-color, but was still having a hard time determining what she had and what she still needed. "Aces? Any aces?"  

[Akai_ryu]

Jas' only reply was a warm chuckle before she recapped the bottle and shifted to set it on the table. She was fairly certain that Aria could out drink her when determined to. Even in her days in the military she had never been much more than a social drinker. Then, as now, it hadn't been safe to get too drunk. However, back then it was more because of the political scheming and maneuvering that the other officers found necessary to get themselves promoted. Now it was more of an issue of being one of the supposedly few people on board who was capable of flying the ship.


Jaden shook hir head with a grunt then brushed now-limp hair from hir face. No aces, but...Suddenly the muscle put hir cards down and pulled a rubber band from a pocket. Hir mohawk had long since lost its ability to stand on its own and was starting to annoy hir. So, Jaden swiftly pulled it back into a rather high and short tail to keep it from hir face for the moment. Tipsy or drunken attempts at putting it back up had always proven to be disastrous in the past. Once done, ze picked up hir cards again.

"No aces. Go fish."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Now Jaden, ze can out drink me. Maybe if I put on a few pounds of muscle..." Aria mused. Though she hadn't had as much as Jas, she had been drinking too and laughed a little at her words after they'd been spoken. She was still trying to control her giggle when she took another drink of her brandy, leaning her head against Jas' arm as she swallowed.



Fayra watched Jaden put hir hair up intently. Was ze bluffing? Was that a tell? How did Jaden get hir hair to stay up like that? With her natural curls, Fayra was rarely able to get her hair to do anything she wanted it to.

In a loud stage whisper from behind her cards, Fayra asked "Jaden, are you bluffing?"

But she reached out and took a card, certain that the muscle was not. Afterall, bluffing was for poker and... probably not a fish game.  

[Akai_ryu]

Feeling Aria's head against her arm, Jas shifted again. This time, instead of filling glasses or putting the bottle aside, she slipped an arm around Aria's shoulders so the both of them could be more comfortable. As she did so, Jas contemplated her mental picture of Aria with a few more pounds of muscle. She was still Aria, but, no, Jas was of the opinion that Aria was fine as she was.

"I'd leave that to Jaden. Ze needs something to do around here." The tall blonde mused after a moment and took another sip of her brandy.



"Bluffing?" Jaden blinked, lowering hir cards. "I don't bluff at this. Why would I bluff at this? It's not like we're playing strip poker."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"The drinking?" Aria smiled.

Times like this, she didn't think Jas stupid, although she did usually wish she wasn't so dense. It was nice, having Jas' arm around here, the warm glow from the brandy didn't hurt either.

"I don't want to live on Sihnon." It was a change in the tone of conversation, her grey eyes turning down to look at the brandy in her hand.



The card she drew wasn't an ace, and she slid it into her hand while Jaden looked confused. "You don't play strip poker anyway. Your turn."  

[Akai_ryu]

"You can leave that to Jaden too, if you want, but I was talking about being the muscle around here." Jas replied with a light chuckle before taking another sip of her brandy.

At Aria's announcement, the tall blonde turned slightly to look directly at her. From the way the Companion was looking at the brandy in her hand, it wasn't a facetious comment or a joke.

"Well, that's good. I'd prefer it if you lived on the ship with us. It's kind of difficult to do business if my First Mate is on Sihnon while I'm flying out in the black." the captain mused after a moment of thought. "And we would be lost without you."



"Thus, it doesn't matter." Jaden replied with a grin. "Kings."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

As usual, Jas missed what she was trying to say with those words. Aria breathed a small exasperated sigh and sat up just a little bit. She drank the last sip of her brandy and gave Jas just a few seconds to do likewise before relieving her of her glass. She let one hand slide up the back of Jas' neck and into her hair and then kissed her.

"So you would bluff at poker?" Fayra scowled at her cards and tossed a king at Jaden. "Or only strip poker?" She split her fan of cards to look at Jaden through the gap, one eyebrow rising over the eye peering at hir. The scowl was gone, Fayra could try but she couldn't bring herself to be very competitive at go fish.