Well, hellooo. [Katie!]

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Sounds like a plan! C'mon then," Ari said, waving Alia over as he turned to lead the way to her quarters.

It was a short walk there, down a hallway and down a small set of steps. Pushing the door open, Ari stepped to the side and performed a sweeping bow. "Your room, m'dear."

It was a modest-sized room, plain and undecorated and unfurnished saved for a full-sized bed and a small bedside dresser.

"Ain't had much use in months," he said, then peered up at Alia and waggled his eyebrows. "Wanna fix that?"

[Katie]

Alia slung her bag onto the bed, and then she looked at Ari and raised her eyebrows. That really was all he thought about most of the time, wasn't it? Well, at least she was going to get paid.

"Aren't I supposed to be getting a tour of the ship?" she said. "And then I distinctly remember Ben saying that we're leaving today, which means I need to fly it somewhere. I can break in the bed later. By myself."

Honestly. How many I am not interested signals was she going to have to send here?

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Aw, baby, ya sure know how to deflate an ego. Right, right! Business face on," Ari said, passing a hand over his face and going from grinning to blank.

This one was a tough nut to crack--and maybe it was her complete and total disinterest that made it so fun to flirt. It was either a pride thing a la I'll get you eventually! or just a safety thing, that he could flirt like hell and she wouldn't reciprocate. He wasn't sure which it was. Never was, half the time. It wasn't like he'd mind a tumble with her--strong older chicks with exotic and somewhat dangerous alien features were one of his many types!

Motioning for her to follow, he headed out of the room and lead the way down a hall, up some stairs, to the bridge and into the cockpit. "Ya ever flown somethin' like this before?"

[Anonymous]

Ben had been in the cockpit, checking some things when Ari arrived with the new pilot. He tried to recall her name...started with with an A....Alya or something? He smiled, holding out his hand, "I see you arrived just fine. Having any problems?"

Tarkin. Alia Tarkin. That's what her name was, "Would you like a better guide? Ari isn't very reliable."

[Katie]

"Years of practice," Alia said. She followed Ari to the cockpit. It looked pretty standard--control panels, cushioned chair, main helm. No trouble to fly, although it'd be a bit jerky until she'd gotten used to the Sassy herself. "Not specifically, but I think I can manage."

And there was...Ben, right? Yeah. The sane one. She smiled and shook his hand. "Nah, I'm fine. Any specific time for liftoff yet?"

[Anonymous]

Ben shook his head, "Nope. Not until our fearless leader sets one. Feel free to get acquainted with the controls. Normally, we've got a large enough crew that eating isn't a set things, but as tonight is your first night, we'll have a bit of a celebration and you can meet some more of the crew. If you like. If not, you can do what you like and we'll get drunk anyways."

[Katie]

"Sounds good to me," said Alia, shrugging. "Think I'll meet the crew. When's that?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Ari grinned. "Weeell, seein' as there's drinkin' gonna be involved, I say liftoff's when we're sober enough to liftoff. See, Ben? I'm responsible. No drinkin' and drivin' on this ship. I'm a thinker," Ari said, nudging the man in the side with his elbow.

"Anyhow, well...meetin' with the crew, that's whenever! They're all over the place. If ya mean an organized meetin'..." He pointed to the control panel, where the intercom was. "That's anytime ya want, babe."

[Anonymous]

"There's far too many for you to meet right now. But I'm sure Ari can take you to meet some of the more important ones." Ben smiled, "But I've got things to see too. If Ari gets too grabby, you have my permission to punch his teeth out."

With that, Ben gave a nod to Alia and headed out the door.

[Katie]

"Wouldn't do that," said Alia. "It'd get all bloody. I think I'll just kick him in the nuts if that happens, yeah?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Hey, hey! Waitaminute. Who just hired ya? Who's the captain here? Yeah, that's right. So keep your parts away from my parts unless you're gonna be nice to 'em, ya read?"

Jeez. Ben was supposed to be on his side.

With a snort and a roll of his eyes, he turned back toward the door. "Anyway, there's a couple guys around ya can meet. Most of the others are out and about around the Cancer."

[Katie]

"You keep your hands off my parts and we're good," said Alia. "Think I'll meet the crew as I find 'em. Anything else I need to know about, or can I go about getting acquainted with the controls?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Ya can go ahead and go at it. I understand needin' some alone time with Sassy. She's sexy. Just clean up your messes and we'll be cool," Ari said and, just to be annoying, nudged her in the ribs as he passed, turning to head out of the cockpit.

"Dinner'll be up in a couple hours, so hopefully ya can pry yourself away by then."