So, Who Needs a Hero or Few? ((Nicky))

[Anonymous]

Anaru had uneventfully made his way to the business district on Cancer. The tall man was meandering around without really looking at anyone around him, his long hair flitting around in the wind.

He needed a crewmember.

God, it pained him to admit it. He liked to think that he could do just fine - better, even - on his own, and maybe normally he could, but this, this new self-appointed mission of sorts, required help. If he were honest, it probably would have befitted him to have had an addition to his ship a long time ago, but he was not honest with himself, and so the idea only ever occured when it was least helpful for it too, like that time on Edanith when he could see his life flashing before his eyes.

Still, even he was not so proud to tell himself that he could run a rescue mission in Aedolis alone. That would be incredibly stupid, and Anaru wasn't stupid.

He paused outside the bar he normally went to for business dealings - The Horse's Head. Glancing at his watch (had he heard someone call it a chrono recently? Was that what they were calling them now? Bit silly, really), he stepped inside just in time for the lunch menu to be flash up above the bar and he could hear the quiet whirring on the table menus as they switched over, as well.

"Hey there, Bill," Anaru greeted the barman with a friendly grin. It never hurt to be nice to the bartenders.

"Anaru," the purple-skinned alien nodded. "How's it going?"

"Oh, fine, fine. Looking for some crew is all."

Bill cracked a smile. "Finally givin' in, are ye?"

Anaru scratched his nose. "Not exactly. It's - it has become apparent to me that I need an additional member for some business I have in interplanetary matters."

"Edanith scared you, eh?"

"I am never scared. I was always in control of the situation."

"O' course, natchurly." Bill's rear left arm reached for a clean pint glass. "Usual?"

"Yeah, could use it. Anyway, you haven't seen anybody you think I could stand to have around indefinitely, have you?"

"Hmm." Bill's yellow eyes flicked to the ceiling, as though he had names written up there. Anaru glanced upwards as well, as the idea didn't really seem out of character for... this character. "Sorry, I can't think of anyone, really, but I'll be sure to let you know. What are you working on this time?"

"Oh, just tying up some odds and ends. Collecting money here, picking up cargo there." As nice as Bill was, Anaru was more than a little hesitant about telling him any specifics, especially for what he had in mind. Bill looked at him knowingly, and passed him his pint of lemonade and lime. Anaru took a swig and said approvingly, "Excellent. You've outdone yourself this time. Must get the recipe," and ducked out of the way of Bill's side-swipe. "I'll just be over here for a while."

Anaru made his way over to his usual table, but when he started to sit, his bionic leg made a loud scraping noise. He flushed with both embarrassment and anger and made a mental note to see about getting the squeaks looked at.

He took a long drink from his pint, and started reading the menu.

[Anonymous]

Ashley was wearing a lavender button up blouse, a black skirt that went to about mid-thigh, purple argile tights and black mary-janes. His hair was cut in a bob style, hitting just below his ears. The sound of the scraping metal had drawn his attention. The lavender eyeshadow accentuated his eyes nicely. With a sweet smile, he made his way over. "You look a little lost" He said conversationally. "Would you mind some company?" He hadn't come with anyone tonight, and had no actual plans other than perhaps finding a way off the station-- and paying with something other than the body people thought he had. He needed an adventure, and a job. One of the reasons he didn't have a drink in his hand was because when it came to choosing to eat, or have a drink, he had the sense to choose to eat-- usually. He couldn't even make a decent living with his 'special' talents anymore, at least not safely. Once in a while, he got a job as entertainer for a party of some kind, but those were few and far between.  He was technologically savvy, so he had begun considering what jobs that talent would lend itself to.

[Anonymous]

Anaru smiled tightly at the newcomer and wondered inwardly if she (was it a she? She had a stronger jaw than most women he'd seen...) was a prostitute. Nah. If she were, she probably wouldn't be wearing tights underneath the skirt.

"Sure, you can join if you like." Anaru looked at her(him?) curiously. "Waiting for a business thing?"

He took another swig of his drink and tilted his head at the person across from him. Bluntly, he asked, "Sorry - are you a man or a woman or genderless or an alien?"

[Anonymous]

Ashley laughed "I'm technically male and a Kalicrate. My, aren't you the blunt one." He lifted one carefully crafted eyebrow "And I suppose that depends on what you mean by business." He'd been assumed a prostitute before-- punched out a drunken light or two in self defense of wandering hands, though he always felt so bad for inflicting pain on people when in his opinion, he was supposed to heal them if needed. "I'm always looking for odd jobs, and getting off this station in the process would definately be a plus." He extended a slender hand in offer of a shake. "I'm Ashley" He most certainly did not have 'man hands' and that often threw people off when trying to disern his gender. His slender waist also puzzled them. The lack of facial hair was another misleading clue. Most of the men in his family never were able to grow facial hair, and no one knew exactly why, but speculated that there was some hairless ancestor in the blood lines. He settled into a chair. "What brings you here?" While people often thought he was after something, it wasn't what they thought. He wanted conversation and interaction with people. It kept things interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anaru nodded, and replied, "Nice to meet you, Ashley." He shook his hand and then withdrew. "Odd jobs, hmm? What kinds of skills you got?" Without pausing for a response, Anaru continued, "Reason I ask is, I'm looking for some crew myself."

The man stopped short and wondered if he should continue - he didn't know this Ashley at all, really, and while Bill had an inkling of an idea that any crew Anaru was after would need to... at least look the other way during illegal activity, if not join in.

But then again, if this fellow wasn't going to tolerate that, surely he wouldn't be on Cancer, would he? He'd be on Libra.

"What've you done recently? In the way of odd jobs and the like."

[Anonymous]

"Recently? Almost nothing. Work has been scarce." Ashley admitted, crossing his legs. "Normally, my ideal job would be playing live music for some rich something-or-other's get together. Other than that, I'm fairly handy, can figure out how to fix things most of the time. Pretty good with electronics, decent sense of direction" He pondered. "What positions on your crew are open?" He asked. "I can cook too." If playing cookie got him a job, food and off the station, he was more than willing to accept that. "But I don't deal with animals." He stated, deciding that being upfront about it was a better idea than getting stuck aboard a ship transporting something and having to resort to locking himself in his room.

[Anonymous]

"You cook?" Anaru repeated. The thought of food - real food - aboard his ship, and not just lumps of protein plus nutrients that tasted vaguely like lumpy, thick, chewy cardboard nearly made his head explode.

"Basically, Ashley, I just need someone around on the ship to help me with odds and ends. There's no one else aboard at the moment, and I manage all right by myself normally, but I've got some... potentially touchy jobs coming up shortly, jobs that could use an extra pair of hands. Er... how good are you in an infirmary? We may end up having to use it, and I'm okay with fishin' things out and stitching things up, but if you're better than okay, that would be handy. Of course..." Anaru cracked a genuinely friendly grin. "Now you've said you can cook, I'm pretty much willing to take you on even if you don't know which end's the pointy one on a needle. What say?"

The man took another swig of his drink, and looked at Ashley thoughtfully. This person just might work out real nice on board after all. Anaru was pretty sure that a rescue mission to Aedolis was going to end up with someone in the infirmary, and decent food would be better than those hideous nutrient slabs. Slightly surprised, Anaru found himself actually hoping Ashley would agree.

[Anonymous]

"Yes I cook" Ashley said with a sweet smile as he tucked a curl of his sandy colored hair behind his ear. "And I have a special talent for the infirmery." He hesitated a moment and then extended one of his dainty hands "I do believe we need to work out a few particulars, but I don't think this here is the place for that." Touchy situations probably were a little secret as well, and he sure wasn't about to announce he had healing abilities while in the middle of a bar.

"Will I have my own room?" Not that he would exactly object to sharing, but other men often did object once they realized he was not female. It had made for some interesting fights in his life-- a slight smirk tugged at his lip as he recalled the memory.

There was obviously going to be some trouble...and picking people up if he was going to be patching people together considering it was only the two of them on the ship. "Are you looking to pick up other crew as well? or just one set of extra hands?"

[Anonymous]

Relief flooded Anaru. "Excellent. Uh, yeah, rooms and stuff - you'll have your own, definitely - ship's got about six holds in her for bunking space, so no problem there." Anaru wondered about the smirk on Ashley's face, but chose to ignore it.

He stuck his hand in his pocket and rolled the memory wiper around in his hand. "Before you sign on for certain, though... about those particulars. I have a few particulars of my own you ought to know of, but, yeah, not here. I've got a connection in the Gold District, but to be honest, I'm a bit hesitant even there."

Anaru paused and lowered his voice, leaning toward Ashley. "I just know more than one guy who's been compromised in the past while meeting in the Gold, and with some of these particulars, I don't want to risk it this time. So, how about we head to my ship and get off the station, and then discuss some of our particulars in more detail, and if either of us change our minds, I drop you off wherever you want to go so long's it don't get me killed or my ship taken?" The man's bionic elbow let out another loud squeak as he folded his arms, and Anaru closed his eyes in annoyance.

[Anonymous]

Ashley nodded "Sounds reasonable to me" He grinned "ready now?" He was excited, perhaps too much so, but he was, and quite ready to get into space. "I do need to stop by my place first and grab my gear, wanna come?" He couldn't leave his musical devices behind, they were actually quite important to his work with healing.