Joyride [open]

[Anonymous]

"I wanna come."  Beri leaned across the table, all puppy-eyes and pout.  

Vin had gone home for Friday night dinner, as he always did.  His father thought the weekly meal important.  After dinner, he and Beri headed up to Vin's apartment for some sibling bonding time.  Vin had broken out the tea, because if he was gonna be flying to Cancer tonight, he'd need the caffeine.  

"I wish you could, bro," Vin said, shoving back his chair and going to rinse his cup in the sink.

"Blah blah blah you sound like Dad."  Even though Vin hadn't said anything.  Beri's grounding wasn't his problem, though privately he did think someone as smart as his brother could do better in school.  Their father had, of course, come down a little too hard, but it was his business.  

"I do not."  Vin wasn't terribly offended.  He shut off the water.

"Dad's a douche.  Whaaatever.  We gotta pick out your clothes."

Vin chuckled and shook his head, turning the cup upside down on the sideboard, then wiped his hands on his pants and leaned against the edge of the sink, eyeing his brother.  Beri was already taller than he was, but he still looked young.  The baby-soft white-blond hair he'd had as a kid had only just started to darken to a shade more like Vin's, and he carried himself tentatively, like he was always worried someone would call him out on something.  He tried too hard, that kid.  And Vin couldn't fathom why he was about to let a guy wearing a shirt made out of fish netting tell him what to wear out... but it made Beri happy, and Vin didn't really care if he looked like an idiot.  He had limited available idiot-clothes anyway.  

Vin's apartment wasn't big, but the military had treated him pretty well.  He had his little kitchen and his bedroom, big enough to stuff in a squashy blue sofa.  His rack of comics took up the far wall, and a few more comics lived under his mattress, between his bed and the wall, or wherever they happened to collect.  The computer he kept in the corner was cycling through its Helixman screensaver.  He kept his guns in the wall case mounted next to his bed, secured with fingerprint, retinal, and a manual key.  Hm, time to clean the case again, probably.  Beri made a beeline for Vin's half-open closet.  

"You okay in there while I hop in the shower?"  Vin peered in after the younger Oskari, amused.  Once you got Beri involved with anything looks-related, he was awfully hard to stop.  

"You've had these pants since I was born."  Beri flung a pair of workout shorts into the middle of the room.  They caught air and drifted down to land in a crumpled heap.  "Uhh what the hell is this... sure, go ahead, I didn't want to say anything but you smell like ass..."

Vin could hear Beri's running commentary on the contents of his closet even over the rush of the water while he turned back and forth under the showerhead.  It took awhile to wash his hair these days.  It was getting pretty long.  Vin's dad had made the point that he hoped pride didn't keep him from making tough decisions and taking risks.  Hell, Tali teased him about the same thing, though he thought the cap'n respected his professionalism when he wasn't giving him new-partner flak.  But Vin would never not take a shot just because he might miss and lose bragging rights.  That wasn't his style.  

He'd just shut off the water and begun to wring his hair dry when the bathroom door cracked open, and Beri peered in.  "I just thought I would tell you you are a disgrace because you just are and next time you're borrowing my clothes because because this is just pathetic."  Slam.  

"Gee, thanks."  Vin stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, rubbing his hair dry, then the back of his neck, and then wrapped it around his waist and headed out of the steamy bathroom.  He was greeted with an enormous pile of crumpled t-shirts, jeans, and threadbare cargo pants.  God, it had to be everything he'd had in his closet.

Beri was eyeing him, lips set in a line, arms crossed.  Vin glanced down at the pile, his military-neatness side a little appalled, and then over at his bed, where Beri had assembled some kind of outfit.  He wandered over to take a look, brushing through his hair in a few swipes.  His fingers set to braiding automatically.  

"You know.  Blowdryers.  They exist."  

Vin jerked his head at the gun-case.  "So do phasor sidearms, Ber-Ber."  

Beri stuck his tongue out.  Vin stuck his tongue out in return, and snapped a compression band onto the end of his braid, then investigated whatever Beri had managed to dredge out of the deep, dark, unexplored depths of his closet.  Later he would make closeted jokes.  Later.  Way later.  Because Beri was going through a little bit of an insecure phase and tended to react violently when Vin called him gay.  I'm bisexual!  Not gay!  It's much cooler!  And different!  And I don't have buttsex.  Right, okay then.

"I didn't have much to work with."

Vin held up the shirt Beri had set out, if you could call it that.  The long-sleeved t-shirt was probably ten years old, looked much too small for him, and quite possibly made for a girl.  He picked it up and tugged at it; it stretched.  "Yeah, no."

"Yeah, yes."

"You're just trying to embarrass me here 'cause I'm not lettin' you stow away."

"You embarrass yourself all by yourself."

In the end, Vin compromised and dragged an old buttondown on over the skintight thing Beri pressed on him.  He buttoned it.  Beri unbuttoned it.  They had a minor scuffle; Vin won, Beri pouted, and Vin agreed to leave it unbuttoned but absolutely drew the line at tight pants.  One tight thing was enough.  He stuck with cargos, strapped a G-12 blaster to his ankle and stuck a D-16 deep in one pocket.  If the Lt. or Tali yelled at him for bringing his weapons... or, say, he got yanked for a customs inspection... G-12s were civilian-legal now.  He agreed reluctantly to Beri's suggestion that he wear four of his belts at once.  If he bought a cool new holster or something he could keep it there, anyway.  

"You're like an Eddie with this fashion shit, bro."

"Don't say that!"  Beri's voice went high-pitched.

Ookay.  

Vin dropped Beri back off at his parents' apartment and grabbed the lift down to the docks, where he found people'd already gathered at the rental cruiser.  The Blue Whale looked a little beat-up and scuffed, but she had a sleeper space and everything, and Ese had certainly paid good money for the weekend.  Vin bounded on board, thumping the side panels and patting down the seats as he went, to get a feel for the vessel.  She was an older model, with maybe fifteen years' wear in her, but not bad.  He settled into the pilot's seat, working the joystick back and forth.  Hey, excellent, it came with autograv.  Vin powered up the thrusters, feeling the ship vibrate itself awake, and they eased out into the air hatch.  
 
"Welcome aboard the Blue Whale," he said, into the intercom mouthpiece.  He unfolded a pair of sunglasses and shoved them into place, then turned to take a look back at the crew.  The sunglasses were just there for a quick parody of Tali, and he pushed them back up before they could obstruct visibility.  No mockery was worth compromising his ability to pilot the craft.  "I hope you're all comfy back there.  Enjoy the view and drinks're... uh... somewhere... and thank Ese for shellin' out for this here lady."

He leaned forward to talk into the base communicator.  "Clear for takeoff?"

"Clear."

The hatch slid open, Vin pushed the joystick forward, and they glided out into deep, star-studded space.  

"Ssshew," Vin whispered to himself.

[Anonymous]

Partay time!

Ese threw some more clothes into her overnight bag, just in case. A couple of her sharper shirts, her smartest dark blue skinny jeans. Maybe something sparkly. Whatever, she’d decide what to wear when it mattered. For the initial night of drinking, she was wearing a loose grey dress over her spindly frame, stopping short at her knees. She didn’t have curves, no point in pretending. Then shocking pink leggings, partially covered by beige knee high lace up canvas boots. There, that should be colourfully enough. Add some silver jewellery and she was done. She’d even styled her hair for once.

This was, of course, only because of her mother’s incessant nagging. ‘When am I going to be a grandma?’ she would demand when she visited. ‘The fleet are spinster makers, you know.’ One of her favourites. ‘You could try wearing a skirt for once, uniform makes you look butch.’ From there, mum would usually move onto to comments like ‘Why not get your own ship? You’d do well.’ Or ‘You better look after your parents when they get old. Filial piety, Eselain.’ It was nice dressing up a little, mostly for esteem. It felt good. Besides, the clubs didn’t consider t-shirts and jeans as appropriate attire.

She lugged her bag onto her shoulder, left her apartment and locked the door. Whistling, she made her way to the dock where she found the congregation of people outside the rented Cruiser. The Blue Whale- a seasoned veteran when it came to nights out. And they didn’t charge for cleaning, in case someone missed the toilet bowl, whichever end they were expelling from. She headed for the circle of people, with one white haired straggler standing uncomfortably on the fringes. So, new tacky was still trying to settle in. Poor thing, she sympathised. Though from what she heard, he didn’t do much to help himself.

As soon as Vin  made an appearance, practically bouncing as he went, people began to filter onto the ship. Though she didn’t recognise him at first- looked like he made more of an effort today. She wasn’t sure what to think. Ese scurried up a deck to the sleeping quarters first, putting her bag on one of the shelves that counted as a bed. She picked the ground bunk- no stumbling up a ladder in the dark trying not to wake anyone up for her. She then returned to the main lounge area which was connected by a passage to the cockpit. They could all see Vin and could comment on his flying with ease. Or his joystick handling. Whichever way the tone turned. He made his captain’s announcement and Ese grinned at his mention of her.

“You can buy me a drink if you want to make it up to me,” Ese addressed everyone coyly. While standing, she also spotted the cool box, built into the wall and marked with a sign. She pressed a button and the compartment swung open, allowing a mist of colder air escape. Lots of bottles of beer were revealed. “Oh cock,” she breathed quietly under her breath. “Anyone got a bottle opener?”

The new tacky (she was fairly sure his name was Dart, fairly sure) moved forward and offered his key ring- a mini bottle opener. “You’re a star,” Ese said, quickly popping the lid off her own drink.

Tacky looked over his shoulder. “You’re allowed the one, aren’t you Vin?” he asked, picking up two bottles. Ese smiled encouragingly. Looked like he would finally settle in during this trip. He seemed amiable enough at the moment.

“Oh, by the way, did laundry shrink your clothes or do you share your wardrobe with a sister?” Tacky added.

... So that was why he was having problem. Hey, you’re off duty. Let them duke it out a bit. So, with a shrug, she let them be, taking a sip of her lovely ice cold beer.

[Anonymous]

It was a long-standing tradition to mess with the tactical officer.  Vin felt he ought to stick up for Beri.  The tacky needed to get knocked down a peg or two anyway.

If all this hadn't been the case, Vin might've felt just a tiny bit bad for what he was about to do.  

As it was, he sighed deeply and shook his head.  Autopilot, autopilot.  One hand skimmed over the control panel, searching for the proper part of the touchscreen.  Aha.  He selected the option that locked them onto their predetermined course for Cancer.  It wasn't a good idea to leave the helm unmanned, but it'd do for a few minutes.  The autopilot flashed on, blinking its discreet yellow warning sign.  That settled, Vin leaned back in his seat, which creaked while he swiveled it around.  He slouched down for a second, one hand digging into his pocket.  

Then, in one quick move, he was half-standing facing back into the cabin, knee on his seat and D-16 in hand.  Vin aimed it at the tacky.  He clicked the safety off with his thumb.  "Oh no, you did not just insult my little bro's taste."  

Vin shot a quick glance Tali's way for some support.  Obviously they'd all have to play along with 'Oskari the trigger-happy fool' thing if it was going to be any fun.  Plus, this way they might forget about the stupid shirt, which, okay, it was a stupid shirt, but it was Beri's idea and... he hadn't brought an extra change of clothing.  

Vin went back to eyeing the curly-headed little tacky, working the safety back and forth with his thumb.  He thought about adding something about dishonoring his family, but too hokey.   "Hell no.  I shoot to kill, tacky."  Click.  Click.

[Anonymous]

That morning, when Allie had turned up at his door, Demothi knew from the look in her eye, that she was dragging him somewhere he really didn’t want to go. Older sibling be damned, she was always ordering him around. And now he was being forced on a trip to the Cancer to see a game he didn’t want to go to and to a see a band who he didn’t like. That was just like her.

     However there was no changing her mind when it was made up and the word ‘no’ was not in her vocabulary. So that’s why he was currently packing a rucksack in a very masculine fashion. Said fashion being ‘that’s clean’, or ‘that’s not too crumpled’. He suspected Allie’s bag would be rather more packed however; she always took too many clothes with her when they went anywhere. But then, all girls were like that.

     As for that night’s choice of clothes, he just threw on a white shirt, black cargo pants and a black sleeveless jacket and just gave his hair a quick tousle. It never looked tidy so why bother trying.

     Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he stepped out of his apartment and locked it. Just as he turned round, something black, blue and purple slammed into him and he suddenly found himself having trouble breathing.

     When he recovered from the initial shock he realised that the thing was actually a woman, his sister namely.

     “Hey, there big brother!” she said smiling.

     As suspected, she had quite a full looking bag and he also suspected that the outfit she was wearing had been chosen out of quite a few. Seems she had settled on a black frilly layered skirt, dark purple stockings, black knee-high lace up boots, a dark purple strappy top and a translucent black top. As usual, her hair was tied in two pigtails with purple ribbon.

     “I can’t breathe,” he said simply.

     Allie just giggled and let go, “You were ready when I got here, I don’t think that’s happened before Mothi.”

     Argh, that name. He hated that nickname, but he was never going to get rid of it. He didn’t dignify her question with a response and just started heading towards the docking bay. Allie just smiled in her usual way and followed.

     They reached the cruiser and as expected some people were there already, a little ahead of them, he noticed Vin bounding on board. Allaw started running, grabbing her brother’s hand and pretty much dragging him. They got aboard on time to hear Vin over the intercom. Idiot, Demothi thought amused. Some people were as bad as his sister.

     Even, it seemed the new Tacky who had just made a comment about Vin’s…unusual choice of attire. So Vin promptly took the opportunity to tease them. Whatever his name was…This was his initiation.

[Anonymous]

The last time Tali bothered spending time in front of his closet scratching his head over what to wear was for Squad 77's yearly Dining In, held in one of Libra's nicer gathering areas.  It was the sort of event that people tried to clean up for.  Then he would get the cleanest button down shirt he owned, the dressiest pair of slacks and a belt without a goofy buckle; afterward seeking the approval of Mo, who had enough of an inborn sense of style to let him know if he'd chosen something completely disgraceful.  Lately he had more hits than misses.  Which either meant he was learning, or Mo was systematically removing items from his closet that, while impressive in their own right, just didn't fit with many outfits you wore to events with official in the title that were attended by the people that signed your performance reports.

Just because Lt. was coming along on this trip didn't mean he needed to pay any more attention the clothes he was going to take.  Tonight was a drinking night, tomorrow was the game, somewhere in between was that concert the younger crew was going on about.  There was no need to fuss about anything.  Into the bag went a Griffins blue t-shirt, jean shorts, workout shoes and the usual overnight stuff, toothbrush, aspirin the like.  It could be cold on some of the rental cruisers, so Tali threw an old sweater over his polo shirt and because he didn't want to be abandoned immediately once they got to the Cancer he wore slacks and a pair of loafers that hadn't started growing a colony of dust.

All of this took place around 1920.  He had plenty of time to make it down to the cruiser.  The only hard part of preparing for this trip was making sure he didn't forget any important anythings he was supposed to with Mo, or for her, which would land him in a hotel room (or a sympathetic squad mate's place) quick.  There was nothing, Mo was all to eager to have the house to herself for the weekend.  It nearly made him suspicious.  As long as he didn't come back, only to be attacked some little creature Mo decided to adopt while he was away, things would be good.

1928.  Better leave now, never hurt to be early.  Mo was curled up on the couch, knees up against her chest like a kid and a stack of discs on the table in front of her.  Maybe he could spare a minute or too... Tali propped a hand on the back of the couch and leaned forward as far as he could.  "What's this?"

Mo tilted her head back, biting her bottom lip and grinning.  "The latest season of Penn's Justice."

"You sure you didn't forge your birth certificate?"

"Sssh," she gave his arm a little shove.  "The more you remind me, the more likely one of us'll slip.  How will I ever face your mother then?"

"The same way you always do, with your head at a hundred twenty degree angle."

Mo slapped her knees and butted her head against his hand, laughing.  "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"I might need to call it off, I might come back to find the place flooded."

"I'll snuggle up with the MopIt if it gets too bad."

"Aaall-right."  Tali shook Mo's head side to side before grabbed the couch and pushing himself back up.  "See you Sunday Mo."

"See ya Vittie, don't have too much fun," Mo winked, tilted her head back down and clicked the remote at the tv.

Tali got to the Blue Whale with enough time to spare to give the ship a quick once over.  A little beat up, but nothing looked like it was going to fall off mid-flight.  She was your typical rent-a-cruiser, the money went into keeping her operational, not pretty.  Then he went inside and claimed a bunk in the sleeping quarters, tossing his bag on another bottom bunk.  After that he climbed back down to the lounge and sprawled across a seat.

"I was wondering where I put those!" Tali blurted when Vin looked back at them with a pair of glasses on, laughing afterward.

Things were going pretty well.  Lt. apparently had the ship well stocked with beer and tacky brought a bottle opener.  There could never be too many bottle openers when beer was involved.  Tali stood up, fishing through his pockets for his own bottle opener when the tacky decided to see just how far he could go while bringing a person beer.

That shake of Vin's head made it clear enough that tacky went far beyond the eased limits anyone had when they were presented with a person bearing beer.  Anytime now...

The hair on the back of Tali's neck rose for a second when Vin pulled a phasor side-arm from his pocket and aimed it at tacky, a finger teasing the safety.  The nervousness faded when Vin glanced back at him.  If he honestly snapped and was going to blast the tacky, he wouldn't have needed to look over at him.  He would have looked at the Lt.  Or just shot.

It was fuck with tacky time.

Tali groaned and put his hand up to his forehead.  "You'd think we'd have a Crazy pill these days that you could take with alcohol.  It's a shame.  Lt. any chance we can get something sturdier for our next tacky?"

[Anonymous]

The phasor appeared and Ese jumped, heart leaping into her throat. “Vin!” she cried, in an attempt to calm him down. This was a ridiculous thing to get worked up about. And it was so out of character for Vin to get so provocative-

… Ah.

The little glance to the partner in crime confirmed it. Her motherly instinct wanted to protest for the sake of the tacky. Being threatened to be shot would be traumatising for anyone. But he seemed quite calm about it. Dart faced forward, stood relaxed. His jaw was knotted a little, perhaps he was paler than usual, but his manner seemed composed. So he wasn’t buying it. Thus her legitimate concern faded a little, because it would be fun to trick him, just a little. If he didn’t believe Vin would do it, then there was little room for him to manoeuvre.

She looked at Tali sternly, putting on her best superior officer expression. A mixture of scorn and condescension. “This isn’t a laughing matter, Captain,” she snapped at him. She’d apologise later. “It’s fine for you to make light of this-  you don’t even know how much paperwork I had to get through to cover up the last incident! I am not putting my job on the line again for him.”

Dart was starting to twitch about. He grown much paler. He was sort of vibrating- looking as if he wanted to move, but didn’t dare to. That was better, she noted with satisfaction. His eyes quickly moved from face to face, finding only indifference or alarm. So it very much looked like things weren’t going to go well for him. Dart too was fooled. Unbeknownst to them, his psychic compass was being completely thrown. The coldness of the room was startling- it didn’t seemed they cared. Bar the Lt. who was only concern about herself. He could feel sweat gathering at the back of his neck.

Eselain moved forward, slowly, as if not to startle Vin. Dart was really starting to fret- apparently he was being held up by a complete nut job. He had always had his doubts. She made calming downward strokes with her hands, coaxing him to lower his arms. “Vin, please calm down. None of us want to go through this again-”

A beam of light suddenly erupted from the phasor, with the whooshing. Dart cried out, flailed backwards and landed with a heavy thump and gasp. His hands released the bottles and frantically moved to the area where the beam had nestled into his chest.

He found nothing.

"The fuck?”

It started quietly at first. A slight hissing, which grew and grew, rolling inexorably into giggling. Dart very slowly turned his head to regard the source of the sound. Lt. Tanaris was covering her mouth, but all attempts to stifle the sound were killed when she snorted. With a little shrug, she held up her hands by way of explanation. Her palms shimmered with light like silk moving in the air. She grinned widely. “I’m a bit handy with illusions,” she said, then turned to Vin. “Sorry honey, I hijacked your ruse. Couldn’t resist.”

In hindsight, it was probably pushing the boundaries of acceptable, verging on dirty. Ese chewed her bottom lip- but surely this showing up would let the matter rest. They’d need time to recover, hopefully forgetting any disagreements. Hopefully. “Over here, Vin, tacky’s right. You can have the one. Come join us. Sorry again, it was just golden and- yeah. You really shouldn't tempt me.”

[Anonymous]

"Holy shit, El Tee."  Vin took a long, deep breath.  He'd drawn back, phasor skidding reflexively wide of the imagined shot, free hand outflung.  He lowered it slowly.

Eselain had indeed succeeded in startling him.  He had, of course, trusted himself not to get a twitchy trigger finger; hell, it was a point of pride that he never did take a shot he didn't intend.  She'd still made him jump at the illusion, but he could take a joke.  

"That was a good one.  Don't mind if I do.  Whew."  He flashed her a smile, then extended it to Tali.  They had both gotten off some excellent little acting bits in there.  It didn't bother him that their behavior hadn't been particularly rank-appropriate--Ese didn't seem pleased by it, but if you couldn't get a few kicks on a weekend to Cancer, really, when could you?

Relaxing, he clicked his sidearm's safety firmly back to on and settled the little phasor into his pocket.  It shifted against his leg, still warm from his hand, as he made his way toward the back of the craft.  The tacky lay on the floor, shocked.  Poor guy.  It seemed they'd really scared him.  Vin shook his head.

A bottle of beer, which had dropped off Dart's chest with a faint clunk while he'd felt himself up for holes, now rolled across the deck Vin's way.  Typical, really, of an older craft like this; the autograv wasn't exactly calibrated, and their balance wouldn't keep to a stable plane.  Thus far it had been a smooth enough ride, magic notwithstanding, but seriously, even he could fix an autograv driver.  Maybe later.  He stopped the beer bottle with his foot and leaned down to pick it up, sliding his fingers over the cold water-beaded glass.  From his bent-double position, he eyed the supine tacky.  Poor guy looked like he was going into a panic attack.

He kind of reminded Vin of his little brother.  

"Hey, man, you're all right."  Vin straightened up, took a step or two closer, and prodded him with one toe, looking down at him without a hint of his former faked rancor.  One corner of his mouth was twitching a little.  "I was just messin' with you, Ese was just messin' with us.  Hell, I thought you tackies were supposed to be all perceptive."  He backed off after the initial toe-prod and twirled the bottle of beer in one hand, in search of a bottle-opener... Tali usually kept one around.

[Anonymous]

Allie threw her bag onto a random top bunk before going to get herself a drink. Her favourite kind being blue, any blue liquid; it didn’t quite taste natural and you were pretty sure no fruit, grain, syrup or any other food known to man had been anywhere near it. Ah the mystery of blue drinks. Unfortunately, the bluey goodness was trapped for alas she could see no bottle opener. Ever being prepared however, she stuffed the rather cold bottle in the elastic of her skirt before scrambling up to her bunk. Attached to her bag was an assortment of various key-rings, one of which being a bottle opener. Success.

     She climbed back down again, then opened her drink and took a swig. It tasted like…blue. Now with her bunk selected and a drink in her hand, she headed to the lounge to see what the commotion was about. And was rather surprised to see Vin pointing a side-arm at the new tacky…what was his name? Dare? Darl? Dars Something like that…

     Seating herself on one of the tables rather than a chair she crossed her legs and adjusted her skirt, no sense in giving the males a free show. Sitting up higher was better, she could see over everyone else…for once.

     She wasn’t sure what had ‘set Vin off’ but it probably minor, the glance to Tali betrayed him. He was teasing the tacky. Poor guy, he was outnumbered here. Everyone else was looking on in fake horror or just completed stoic, like her brother. Ese meanwhile, was poking the bear with the proverbial stick. Tacky hadn’t been buying it until she started mentioning all the paperwork involved. And so to play along, Allie herself adopted an uncharacteristic expression of disinterest.

     Until the side-arm went off that was. She nearly choked on her drink. What the hell? A glance at Vin’s shocked face and Ese revealed the culprit. One of Ese’s illusions. The tacky’s expression had been just too funny though. He was going to be pissed.

     Coughing and laughing at the same time she managed to gasp, “That was cruel, Ese.”

     Allie watched Vin nudge the guy with foot and ask him if he was alright before she hopped down off the table. She knelt down next the shell-shocked man and gave her friendliest smile.

     “You okay?” then as an after thought added, “D’you want me to get you a bottle of suspicious blue liquid?”

[Anonymous]

A going out day! Man, she hadn't had that in awhiiiile.

Aryte was dam excited about going out with her Squad. There were no better friends than ones you fought alongside, sometimes fought with, and then partied with too. She was packing up her bag, a good chunk of it being her random electronics instead of clothes. She normally bought clothes on these trips anyway. She pulled on a pair of tennis shoes and bounded over to the mirror to look at herself.

She had let her hair down today, leaving off her trademark bandanna she normally wore. Plus, she'd taken the time to undo all the braids that were normally her constant style. Aryte had even found that straightener that was covered in dust in the bottom of a cabinet somewhere. Her hair looked completely different. She smiled at her reflection. Just a simple line of eyeliner set her up. She still wasn't a dress up kind of girl. She was wearing a black shirt that tied around the neck giving her wings room to poke out. She had pulled on a pinstripe skirt that went down to her knees with red fluff underneath it. Probably the only nice skirt she owned.

Grabbing her bag and hanging her goggles from her belt next to her modem she walked out of the apartment a smile still on her face. her wings sort of moved against her back as she walked. With the crowd she was moving against she really wished she could fly. Finally she pushed her way through arriving at the docks and finding The Blue Whale. She grinned at the old ship. She always liked older electronic things. They seemed like...grandparents or something to the current electronics.

She followed the end of the crowd in and put her bag on one of the bunks. Allie came in and Aryte smiled at her as she looked for a bottle opener then followed her out to the main room. She was reaching for one of the beers when her eyes lifted to see Vin holding a gun at the new Tacky. She barely bated an eye at him, it was somewhat obvious what he was doing. Plus, she needed to play along of course. Who didn't love Fuck with the new Tacky time? So she had grabbed a beer and was getting comfortable on one of the other tables her legs sitting crossed under her skirt.

When the gun went off however she did almost drop her drink. Then quickly she saw Ese reveal her trick.

"Oh...Vin, the player got played darlin'." She laughed and took a drink of the beer and pointed the bottle at Ese. "Well done. I know you got me." She watched Allie lean over the Tacky and she just smiled.

"Just a little Tacky shock. I'm sure he'll recover. Probably just needs a drink."

[Anonymous]

The Lt. nearly had him for a second, that serious tone she took when she scolded him about treating tacky like a busted ship part was the same one she usually took when someone fucked up.  If she hadn't continued on about covering for last time, Tali would have supposed Vin and he would have to mind their P's and Q's until the Lt. drank herself into oblivion.  

Maybe he was too casual about it, the Lt. shouldn't have had to approach Vin to calm him down.  Even if she was only concerned about the extra paperwork, Tali was Vin's captain.  Who better to soothe a person about to act violently?  Maybe if tacky wasn't so worked up already, he could.  Naah, it would be all right if Tali continued digging around for his bottle opener.  Anytime now Vin would put the phasor down, laugh and r-

"Gods damn it Vin!"  It was a good thing he was standing, less time to get over to Vin and get that phasor out of his hands in case he decided anyone else could use a hole through their chest to make up for any fucking jokes.  Tali nearly got to Vin, who looked a little more shocked than he expected, but stopped flat when he heard tacky curse (in a more surprised than pained tone) and Lt. giggling.  He decided to look over his shoulder instead of continuing on to Vin.  There was a whole tacky, and an Lt. with glowing hands.  

Haha Lt. way to put them all in the same craft.  At least the tacky wouldn't feel like he was the butt of the joke now.  They were all more or less had.  "Geez Lt. you nearly scared the hair back on my head."

Damn, he needed a drink to settle his nerves back down.  The beer he had in his hands was dropped when he went to tackle Vin.  If it hadn't been for the beer, Tali wouldn't have wanted to walk back.  At least not right now.  He would have given tacky a chance to move around and attract attention before walking back.  Walking back would have hammered home just how good Lt. got him.  She may have got everyone, but none of the others jumped out of their seats to do any damage control.  Stupid sensitive ego... only a complete idiot wouldn't have reacted in some way to seeing a person get shot.

At least beer was good medicine for little scrapes to the ego.  Tali ambled back to the fallen beer, picked it up and went back to fishing in his pocket for the bottle opener.  Which should have taken a couple seconds, but due to interruptions was quickly becoming a production.  Beer:  Will It Be Opened?  He finally pulled the bottle opener, a key ring he kept off his keys so he could open his beer without a jingling soundtrack, and the beer was opened.

Hurrah.

Tali gulped down a mouthful before he noticed Vin going through act II of Beer:  Will It Be Opened?  "Vin!  Head's up!"  He waited for Vin to look and tossed him the bottle opener, underhand, sitting back down afterward.  "Anyone else think Lt. just agreed to buy the first round once we make it to Cancer?"

[Anonymous]

Dart propped himself up by his elbows while Vin prodded with his foot, breathing still rapid and shallow. He didn’t glance the lieutenant’s way, because she clearly sided with them. And if he couldn’t expect maturity from a commanding officer then there seemed to be little hope of an accord with any of them. Oskari might say they were just joking around, but he didn’t like joking around with guns. Guns added weight to any action. He didn’t know if malice was at all involved. He probably would have dealt with it better if it had been malice- he was more used to dealing with malice. He could handle that, react to it adequately. This was just uncomfortable.
 
Some people weren’t being completely unambiguous. The woman with pigtails knelt beside him with a genuine smile. She asked if he wanted a drink. Thus he began attracting attention that wasn’t so hostile. Which was neither pleasant nor unpleasant. More pleasantly neutral. Dart remained sitting on the floor, reaching for his fallen bottle. Upon opening it, he down it in a few gulps and wiped his mouth. They were right. He needed a drink. He noticed that the empty bottle was shaking in his hand. He didn’t look up, but stared at the floor and hoped his body would remain very very still. “Suspicious blue would be much appreciated.” He hoped it would settle him.

Ese had turned away from the group momentarily, collecting herself, forcing herself to step away from her instinct to be the parent. Who wanted that on a trip to Cancer? The reason she stepped away from being designated driver this time around was so that she could let go. There wasn’t any need for her to play her usual role.  She studied her bottle, the condensation running cold down her fingertips. They were such children, really. Children with guns and booze. Worrying thought.
 
Tali spoke to her and she allowed herself one smiled before turning, stern scowl appearing on her face. “Are you trying to bleed me dry here Captain?” she snapped. But then the act abruptly failed when a bubble of laughter slipped from her lips. “You’re such a skank.”

She finished her bottle of beer, then noticed Tacky staggering to his feet and had a thought. Without warning, she dashed out of the cabin and climbed up to the Sleeping Quarter. She rummaged around in her bag until she procured her camera. This should seal Dart in with them. Give him an identity, give him something tangible to prove it. It’s a family portrait, she thought wryly. She’d have to tag it as such.

Returning to the cabin, she brandished it around. “Everyone gather round! I want a picture. Here’s the deal. I want no bunny ears, no wanking gestures. Nothing! Make it nice, alright? Or at least as nice as possible with faces like that.”

[Anonymous]

"Thanks."  Vin grabbed Tali's bottle opener from the air, hefted it, and applied it to the top if his beer, which came off with a crisp pop.  The kind of sound that breathed ah after itself, and made you want to say ah, too.  He took a long swallow, lounging back against the bulwark, head tipped back.  When he finished, he lifted his beer to Ese in a belated toast, then tossed the opener back to Tali.  He smiled at Ese's 'skank' insult.  Funny term to apply to a six-and-a-half-foot bald guy.  "That's my cap'n."

Maybe he'd offer to buy a round.  Ese had paid for the cruiser, and while Vin cared about saving money, he scrimped so he'd feel comfortable spending extra when he could.  

"Please, I can't reach high enough for bunny-ears."  Vin leaned over and reached up behind Tali's head in illustration, balancing comically on his tiptoes, and shook his head.  

He settled back onto his heels, next to Tali, and watched the recovering tacky.  He thought, belatedly, that what he'd done had been maybe kinda a little stupid.  Now that half his brain had swung back to how the autopilot was doing, and he thought he ought to get back to the pilot's seat after the picture, his responsible brain had kicked in, and... it had been a little arrogant to assume that just because he knew he wouldn't accidentally pull the trigger, something else wouldn't have gone wrong.  

Oh well.

It hadn't.  

"Hey, put it on timer and come in yourself, Ese," he added, motioning to her.  "Since you're takin' out all the fun."

[Anonymous]

"Oh I agree. I love not being in charge of the first round. After the first few you don't really care where the money goes." She chuckled crossing her legs at the knee and lifting her skirt up some showing some leg. She grinned licking her lips then taking a long drink from her bottle. She leaned forward her hands on the edge of the table her two fingers holding the neck of the bottle.

She snorted at Ese calling Tali a skank. She tried to imagine him looking skank, the general female version. It just didn't quite fit. Short skirts and bald males don't normally go together. She kept the giggle that fought to get out. Poor Tacky, she watched him looking down from her perch. He'd need to relax, of course the 77s weren't making it very easy for him to do so were they? She smirked to herself. That's the way it worked though.

It was so good to be out. Somewhere other than that damn Space Station, she couldn't wait to stretch her legs on the surface. Her eyes looked over Vin a soft grin playing in her eyes. Maybe she could hang out with him some of the time, that would be nice. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as she took another drink.

"So what's everyone planning to do once we hit the surface?" She'd want too coordinate some, see who was going where.

[Anonymous]

"Don't think of it as me bleeding you dry," Tali said, grinning and putting the bottle opener back in his pocket.  "I'm just increasing the capacity of your blood-alcohol system."  For a second he considered batting his eyes at her, but since he had no eyelashes to flutter coquettishly he restrained himself.  It would probably look like he got something caught in his eyes.  Or that he was blinking back tears.  That'd take them into a whole new realm of joking.

Lt. was busy scrambling back to the Sleeping Quarter anyway.  Tali drank deeply, nearly finishing his beer and leaned back in the seat.  As always, just when he got comfortable he had to stand up and do something.  Women had a talent for that.

And as soon as he was on his feet, there was Vin on tippy-toe at his side trying to demonstrate how perilous it would be for him to give him ears.  "I'd sit down again Gunny, but then the temptation would be too much.  I'd have a head full of multi-coloured ears like some mutant Eddy beast.

"We should probably flash our ID cards for this one.  There's no way anyone's going to believe that this is really Squad 77.  Lt. will be accused of hiring the finest actors and photomanipulators money can buy to stage this pic..." Tali grinned, finished his beer and set the bottle down.  "Unless she decides to join in on this one.  No one leaves themselves untouched in a manipulated picture."