Well, hellooo. [Katie!]

[Rhi-Rhi]

Another trip to the Cancer, another visit to his favorite tattoo parlor.

Striding out of the establishment, shirtless, he still felt pretty high on endorphins and, as was customary, he planned on feeling even better after a few drinks. He'd gotten a little work done on his back tattoo, dropped a bit of extra cash on it, and now some of the peacock feathers had a little color. Of course, the tattoo was currently covered but eh, he wasn't in a state for showing it off yet anyway. Maybe once the skin wasn't all inflamed and it had stopped leaking blood and ink.

As much as Ari denied it, like most people he was a creature of habit. After the tattoo parlor, he headed to a little pub and diner he often visited after getting some work done when he just wanted to unwind and milk the little natural high for all it was worth. It was a nice place with good, greasy food and decent prices on the drinks, so he headed inside--

And promptly froze.

There was a chick there.

And while Ari didn't really consider himself massively tall or anything, though he was tall...this chick was huge. Not just tall huge, but buff. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but she kind of looked like she could give him a fun time in a brawl.

Well, you found all sorts on the Cancer, and Ari tended to be intrigued by weird shit--as long as it wasn't too weird. Tall, buff chicks and nagas were one thing, but when it got into the realm of armless, four-legged women, that was when his brain short-circuited and plummeted straight into uncanny valley.

Striding up to her, never one for subtlety, he leaned on the counter next to her and gave her the once-over. "Well, hello, darlin'," he greeted with a grin. "Buy ya a drink?"

[Katie]

Alia Tarkin was out of work. She was supposed to be flying a capsule ship over to Libra right now (just a temp job, but it was better than nothing), but lo and behold the capsule ship had gone and gotten itself impounded, and the captain of the ship had gone and gotten herself arrested, and therefore: no job. Which meant no more credits, which meant that tonight she was not buying herself any kind of drink, because her dwindling store of credit she needed for food and rent. But this place was good for finding someone who'd pay her to fly something or hit something, so here she was.
 
Alia looked up as someone came up next to her--a man, human, maybe thirtyish, with tattooed arms and a helluva lot of face piercings. Good-looking enough, but not really her type. And too young for her, anyway.

But hey. Wasn't like letting someone buy a drink for you carried much obligation, no matter what some people liked to think. And she needed one.
 
"Name's Alia, not 'darlin'," she said, turning slightly so she was facing the man more. "But I don't see why not. Be even better if you know anyone who's hiring, though."

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Course not, Alia dah-ling'," Ari said, drawing out the word and giving her a wink and a cheeky grin that said 'yeah, now I'm gonna do it just 'cause you said not to'. "But it suits ya."

He waved the bartender over and was about read to tell her to get what she wanted, it was on him (even though he knew he should be putting his money toward more important matters after blowing a hundred on ink), but what she said next caught his attention. He blinked, head tilting slightly.

"Well, love, that all depends on what you're lookin' to do," he said. "Hirin' for what? 'Cause dependin' on what you can do, I might be."

[Katie]

"Does it, now?" said Alia, raising an eyebrow. Standard flirt. Nice smile, though (and was that a tongue piercing?). And he was hiring? Well. She could put up with all the generic pet names in the world if he had a position open she could fill. At this point she really couldn't afford to be picky.
"Well," she said, "I pilot. Medium to small craft, could probably learn to drive something big if I tried. I can run security, too. Brute force if that's what you're wanting. Got telekinesis as well, but it's pretty weak."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Ari snapped his fingers. "Then yep! I'm hirin'!" Telekinesis, too? Now that was a risk; if he took her on board he'd have two psychics, one weak and one fairly strong, and that might twig out Aedolis. Not that he cared. Let 'em come. He'd already dealt with Aedolian vessels and maybe he was feeling a little extra cocky after capturing a Libran fighter pilot.

The bartender came over and Ari looked over at him. "We'll take some shots," he told him before turning his attention back to Alia. "Pilot and muscle, eh? 'Cause I could use both. Got a medium-sized ship so that should suit ya fine, but I just gotta ask...ya a stickler for legality? 'Cause we ain't legal. Some would call us pirates."

[Katie]

"Not really, no," said Alia. "Pirates aren't so different from smugglers at the end of the day, and I've worked for plenty of those." The bartender came by with the shots the man had ordered--and hey, she still didn't know this guy's name. Bit odd, that. Not like there'd really been a point in the conversation so far (well, besides the very beginning) where it had been convenient for him to introduce himself, though.
"But," Alia added, picking up a shot glass and taking a sip (ten-odd years of coming here, and she still didn't know what was in them, but they tasted alright and they hadn't killed her yet.) "Couple things I won't do, personally--killing kids is one, rape is another--but I won't interfere unless it's right in front of me. Just don't ask me to get involved. And exactly what ship're you hiring for, again?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Ari watched her sip the shot, grinning in amusement, and picked up his own. "Generally, these ain't for sippin', darlin'," he said before throwing back his own shot and chasing it with a slice of line. It burned all the way down, but it was good, strong shit, whatever it was, and already he could feel it spreading warmth throughout his body.

He sighed in pleasure and set the glass down. "Eh? Oh, yeah, yeah." Ari waved a hand dismissively. "We don't touch kids, and you'll only have to deal with the pillagin'. What ya do outta my sight's your business, of course. Anyway, my ship's the Sassy Juice. Ya might've heard of her, might've not."

It wasn't a big name yet but it wasn't entirely unknown, either--and it was sort of hard to miss once you'd seen it, covered in graffiti-style art as it was. Calling for another round, he turned to Alia and stuck out his hand. "I'm Ari, by the way, Sassy's captain. It'll be a pleasure to have ya on board. Hope ya don't mind, we're currently rockin' the testosterone. It'll be kinda nice to have a chick around."

[Katie]

"Have to," Alia said, "Otherwise the glass hits my teeth." She pulled back her lips in a mock-snarl to demonstrate . "They get in the way. Useful, though. "
Alright. His attitude wasn't exactly the best, but beggars can't be choosers and a good, steady job was a wonderful thing. The name Sassy Juice rang a bit of a bell. She might've seen it around a few times--it was the once painted all over, right? Yeah, she was pretty sure. And she'd heard vaguely good things about it. This was a good prospect. This was a really good prospect, and she'd be a fool not to take it.
"Then it looks like we have a deal," she said, shaking Ari's hand. "Although I hope you realize I'm far too old to be a chick, yeah?"

[Anonymous]

Ben had been running behind. While Ari got inked, a practice he didn't approve of much, Ben had been taking care of resupplying. It had run long and he was just meeting Ari at the pub. He didn't know why he liked it so much, the food was soaking in grease and utterly tasteless. But Ari loved it, so Ben went.

And there Ari was, hitting on a rather tall, well built woman. Attractive too. Ben headed over, clapping Ari on his shoulder, "Is this idiot bothering you ma'am?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shaking Alia's hand, Ari had been about to remark that age ain't nothin' but a number when someone clapped him on the shoulder and a familiar voice filled his ears. Ben!

He whirled in Ben's grip. "Hey! 'This idiot' just hired her ass, bucko," he said, sticking his pierced tongue out at his first mate. Grinning, he motioned to the woman. "Alia, this is Ben, Ben, this is Alia, our new pilot and bruiser. And I'm Ari, both you guys' boss. So be nice, I'm the one payin' ya."

Sort of. Ben mostly handled that, being the responsible one and all.

[Anonymous]

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure you whined about not wanting to deal with all the numbers, so I pay everyone." Ben smiled, holding out his hand to Alia, "It's a pleasure." He was going to have a serious talk with Ari about hiring people they didn't know. Dumb shit kid.

[Katie]

"Feeling's mutual," said Alia, shaking Ben's hand. The first mate seemed a lot less...was over-the-top a good word? He was definitely calmer. "And Captain, I seem to recall you hired my piloting skills and ability to hit things, not my ass. Although of course that's attached."

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Exactly. It was a buy two, get one free deal," Ari said with a grin at Alia. Hey, he wouldn't lie--he would not mind tapping that. He had a thing for strong women and from what he saw of said ass, it was pretty nice.

To Ben, he rolled his eyes. "Well, c'mon, I'm left-brained not right. Math was never my forte. But I'm an awesome captain so I make up for it, right? Right?" He nudged Ben in the ribs. "Anyway! Ya missed the first two rounds but I'll get us some more shots. And I dunno about you guys, but I think this calls for some hot wings."

[Anonymous]

"Ignore him. It only encourages him." Ben had to agree with Ari though, the woman's ass was very nice. He just knew how to keep it to himself.

"Hotwings?" Ben gave a long suffering sigh. He never understood how Ari could eat what he did, "Fine, but I will shoot you if you ruin another one of my shirts with your greasy fingers."

[Katie]

Alia snorted. "I'm too old for him, anyways," she said. "That was a hint, by the way." About as subtle as an anvil, but shipboard flings just weren't a good idea in her book, even ones that weren't serious.
She winced mentally at the mention if hot wings. The ones sold here wouldn't exactly poison you, which was a blessing, but depending on the mood of the cook you might wish they had. "Think I'll take a pass on those," she said. "No offense meant, they're just not that great."

[Anonymous]

Ben just grinned at that, "I don't know about that. You seem just right to me. And you have good taste! Even better."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Ari snorted a laugh. Too old for him, huh? He shot a wry look at Ben. It was always tough to judge ages, but she looked roughly in the same range as him. "Ya hear that, Ben? Too old for me," he said, amused as all hell. "So better stop robbin' the cradle, ya dirty old man--I'm an innocent youth, here."

He punctuated that by giving his friend a light smack on the bottom before turning his attention back to Alia. "Whaaat? You're crazy. I like 'em. So I'm gettin' 'em. So there." And he turned and ordered them, just because. "Y'all can get what ya want. Fair warning, though, I'm stealin' some of whatever it is."

He really wasn't a picky eater--nor the healthiest one.

[Anonymous]

Ben scowled when Ari slapped his ass, "Hey. Watch it punk." Ben took a seat and ordered himself a beer. He wasn't going to get drunk as chances are he would have to carry Ari home, "And I just don't have her problems with enjoying the many charms of youth. Besides, you seduced me, so it hardly counts."

[Katie]

Alia rolled her eyes. She wasn't actually that annoyed with Ari--it was really almost endearing. (And it was probably going to grow on her eventually.) But she felt a show was called for.
"'s a good thing I'm not getting anything, then," she said, "Last thing you need is more of this place's food."

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Nope, nope, you're apparently too old and takin' advantage of my naivete," Ari told Ben, and then let out a groan at Alia's words.

"What? Seriously?" he said. "Nothin'? Darlin', ya don't needa watch your weight around me. I won't judge."

Then he looked to Ben. "Don't you lame out, too."