[RP] The 'Verse (Accepting profiles)

[DeirdreTonbo]

Jaden's laughter drew everyone's attention, Aria looked up from her bowl and tuned in to see what the fuss was about. It was nice to hear hir laughing, it was just unusual. Eyebrows up, Aria exchanged a look with Jas that had nothing to do with their by-play and was entirely about the muscle's potential interest in the new medic. Sure, Fayra may have stood up to Jaden, that was one thing. This... Aria would have to let herself think about it when she wasn't trying to keep up with Jas drinking. She was fairly certain of her ability to drink Jas under the table but she didn't want the captain uncomprehendingly drunk either.

"Oh, okay." Fayra smiled a little again, terribly conscious of everyone's head turning their direction. She too appreciated Jaden's laugh, but didn't quite realize the significance of it. Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink and she quickly picked up her glass to hide the blush, drinking from it's contents.  

[Akai_ryu]

"No, we're not seeing my attempts to cook." Jas said as she turned her attention back to her food and politely ignored Fayra's blush. "It's a waste of food and money when you can do it."

"And good pots too." Jaden quipped before shovelling more food into hir mouth.

Then, while everyone was distracted by their food, Jin-Li managed to get a relatively rhythmic noise out of the bottle that somehow resembled the sound of an engine running. She seemed to be fairly satisfied by it and continued for a few minutes before Jaden reached out and tugged the bottle out of her hands. The ship's muscle shook it once to ascertain how much was left before chugging the last of it and handing the bottle back to the medic. Jin-Li blew across the top of it once more before deciding that she was done with it and disappeared under the table with Jaden's glass of moonshine.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Aria leaned back, pushing her bowl to the center of the table and sighing contentedly. "I still get stomach cramps if I think too much about the last time Jas cooked for us. That was delicious though." She grabbed her glass of moonshine and took a drink, looking thoughtful.

The doc continued eating her food quietly, listening to the older members of the crew tease one another.  

[Akai_ryu]

As revenge, Jaden stole Jin-Li's glass and took several large sips between bites of food. Between one moment and the next, hir now mostly empty glass reappeared on the table and the mechanic was scampering out from under the table. Before Jaden could protest, she was disappearing up into the ceiling from the counter in the kitchen. With a grumble, the ship's muscle pushed hir chair back and picked up Jin-li's mostly empty plate from the floor and put it back on the table.

"And that's why Jaden cooks." Jas pointed out, reaching out with her chopsticks to steal a scrap of food from Aria's bowl in an almost absent motion. "I never said I was good at cooking. Before you two signed on, it was pre-packaged food for me."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Fayra laughed softly as she watched Jin-li and Jaden together. After Jin-li got away, the medic turned back to her cup and wasn't quite sure where her moonshine had gone. She could have sworn there was most of the glass left. Wasn't there? Actually half of dinner was rather blurry but she was still certain that it was good.

With a smile, Aria reached over and patted Jas' hand. "We don't hold it against you. Besides, I don't want Jaden manning the bridge while you cook either. It works out pretty well."  

[Akai_ryu]

The captain gave Aria a wry smile before finishing the last of her glass and setting it down. Down the table, Jaden was putting hir chopsticks down and pushing hir bowl aside. Ze contemplated the remainder of dinner still sitting in the serving dishes for a moment before picking up one and starting an attempt to dump all of the food onto Fayra's plate.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Oh no no, I don't think I can eat more without popping," Fayra feebly waved her hands as Jaden started to pile more food onto her plate. "And then Jas will have to find a new medic all over again."

Aria rose to her feet carefully. She had an amazing capacity for most alcohol, but Jaden's moonshine was strong. Once positive she had things under control, she started to gather empty plates and pile them in the sink.  

[Akai_ryu]

"We had enough of a problem finding you." Jas chuckled before gesturing. "I'll take it, Jaden. Don't make the good doctor explode this early."

With a shrug, Jaden began dumping the remainder of the food onto Jas' plate, scraping the serving dishes mostly clean before stacking them. Meanwhile, the tall blonde had found the bottle of moonshine, which was mostly empty, and poured the better part of it out into Fayra's glass to refill it. Then, Jas split the remainder between her own glass and Aria's.

"So, Doctor Gardiner, what do you think so far?" the captain asked conversationally as she settled back into her seat.  

[DeirdreTonbo]

The good doctor looked relieved until Jas refilled her glass. She could hardly say no since it was the captain but she was pretty sure she'd had enough alcohol already. Last time she had been thoroughly drunk had been before her old ship, she wasn't quite sure what sort drunk she was now. Problem was, she'd had enough to drink that it didn't occur to her that could be a problem.

What did she think? "I think I already feel more at home here than I did at home." She felt warm, that was also what she thought, and she unbuttoned her blouse to let in some air. As usual, Fayra wore a tank top beneath her blouse. It had nothing on the things Aria wore under her shirts, it was just serviceable cotton that fit her figure.  

[Akai_ryu]

Jaden and Jas exchanged glances before the ship's muscle took the now empty plates into the kitchen to help Aria.

"I'm glad. We weren't sure that you'd be staying when you first signed on with us. What we do isn't exactly glamorous and neither are our living conditions." Jas nodded before raising her glass to Fayra. "Cheers, doctor."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Cheers," she murmured, clinking her glass automatically and taking a drink. "And it's not that bad. I have my own quarters. Which is more than some people can boast on other ships."

Fayra had no clue of course, but to those observing, she had relaxed. Had they not witnessed her behavior the last week she seemed almost normal now. She didn't shy back from Jas and she was barely aware that Aria and Jaden were still in the room.  

[Akai_ryu]

"I suppose so. We've never had that many people on board at once. I think we once had four passengers, but they kept to themselves. I think Jaden scared them." Jas said with a nod after taking a sip from her own glass.

"Not the kid. The kid thought I was the greatest thing in the world." ze said as ze returned to hir seat and picked up hir glass for a sip. "The parents, though, I swear they thought I was going to molest the kid. Or convince him to turn soldier or mercenary."

"I would expect you had similar on your past ships, though." the tall blonde said, ignoring Jaden's comments. "You being a doctor and all. It's important out here."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

Fayra nodded slowly, looking at her cup and then back up to Jas. Though she didn't find the muscle intimidating, she wasn't fool enough to things others would think the same way.

"Just the one. And I did. I did a lot more work for it though. There was a round of Barrin's Cough that had everyone pretty well laid out. I think I spent more time in the infirmary than I did anywhere else. It wasn't as important then..." She took a drink and sighed. Things had been easier then. But had she been happier? It was too vast a difference to really tell for certain.  

[Akai_ryu]

"Well, we all get older and things change." Jas mused philosophically. "I suspect your infirmary was bigger than ours is. We expanded it some, but...we're just a cargo ship and even if all five of us were laid out, I'm pretty sure we could fit in it as is. I thought about it, but more cargo and passenger space means we have the money to pay for all of it."  

[DeirdreTonbo]

"Mmmhm," Fayra nodded in agreement, hands wrapped firmly around her glass. "There was room for half the crew so... ratio-wise yours is better. The bunks are close by anyway. So even if I had to walk across the hall most things wouldn't be too difficult."