Back on home turf [Sain]

[Ari Deschain]

The Lenore was resting on Persephone yet again. It was the most convenient place to find supplies and passengers, and the crew visited it when they could. On this day, Ari had picked up a few parts to replace some that had been rusting a bit in the Lenore's engine. After she bought them, she meandered back towards the docks, the box of parts under one arm. She soon came to the bar by the docks that her friend worked in. Pausing, she ran her free hand through her hair and glanced toward the sun. It wasn't too late. Surely they wouldn't begrudge her a drink...or three? At least she wasn't covered in engine grease today. She was wearing her old military pants with her work boots and a sleeveless shirt. Her eyepatch was not on today, either. The engineer looked almost normal.

When she entered the dim bar, she glanced immediately around for Torren. He wasn't in today, but she took a seat at the bar anyway. The bartender came down to her and offered her a smirk, leaning over the bar. "What can I get for ya, lady?" Ari set the box down on the bar and grabbed the man's collar. "It's Ari. Not lady," she said sweetly before releasing him. "I want gin. On the rocks." He grinned widely, winking as he adjusted his shirt. "I like a woman who knows what she likes. Alright, Ari. Coming right up." She leaned back in her stool slightly and grinned back at him. "Thank you, good sir." The bartend grabbed a bottle and poured her a couple of fingers in an iced glass. She took it from him with a wink. "Cheers."

Turning to lean her back against the bar, she swept the box of parts into her lap for safe-keeping and began sipping at her alcohol. Her good eye focused on different people around the bar, looking for anyone interesting.

[sain]

Sain stood there quietly as he watched them haggle over what price they should give him. That was the thing about drug dealers, was that they always felt the stuff they had was worth more then what it should be. Any hooked druggie would fall for it though, shelling out more money then they were able to spend. Of course. Sain wasn't a druggie....well kinda. But he knew better then to be swindled by the group of people around him. He only had enough money for a small supply, he had to save the rest for transport.

"How much will it run me Decker?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly. It had been earlier this morning since his last taste, But it had almost completely worn off. The pain in his leg was flaring up again, if it weren't for the metal exo-frame connecting around it he wouldn't be standing at all. He shifted slightly to try and keep some of the pressure off of it.

Decker looked up from his talk with one of his men, and grunted out a reply. "Well, normally we'd be taking you're other leg with the payment, but seeing as how you've done some work for us in the past, we'll give you a bit of a discount." He said, sniffing as he adjusted his collar.

Sain raised an eyebrow at him ponderously. Decker wasn't the kind of man to give out discounts unless he planned on collecting on a favor instead of money. "Alright, you got yourself a deal decker." He said, as he pulled out his money pouch. "How much is it?"

"For everyone else, I charge thirty, but for you." He made a point of singling Sain out with his pointer finger. "You my friend, you get twenty-five."

"You charged me thirty-five last time i was here gou shi." Sain said, as the money exchanged hands. There was a slight edge in his voice.

He heard the sound of a firearm being slid from a holster behind him, and felt something cold being pressed against the back of his neck. He looked as Decker slapped a pouch into his hand. "If you don't like it, you can just find someone else to get this stuff from." He said cheerfully.

Sain took a moment to evaluate the situation as he undid the cord tying the top of the pouch closed, inside were the Barbiturates that he needed to dull the pain of his leg. He reached in and pulled one of them out, as well as slid out his knife. The blade came out, and he cut one of the pills in half. One full pill was enough to put a man to sleep. Sain didn't want to go to sleep, not here of all places, so he cut his in half. A half a pill, was enough to make a man's vision pleasantly swimming. He put the half a pill in his mouth, and swallowed.

He thought to the gun being pressed against the back of his neck. If he remembered his fathers hand to hand training correctly. it would be a simple matter of turning quickly, and using the elbow instead of taking the time to extend his arm and use his hand to disarmt he guy when simple misdirection would work just as well. After that, a quick jab with the offhand to the throat would put him out of action fairly...fai...rly...

It was hard to hit another rman through quick action around when the guy in front of him was all different kinds of twisted, with a slight blue tinge to him.

"Well now kid. You got you're stuff, so get out of here." Decker said, making a point of dismissing him.

*********************

It was a few minutes later that Sain had found himself out of the warehouse where Decker did his buisness. And on the out on the streets. with his duffle in tow. He didn't have much to his name except for the pouch which he had hung around his neck and the clothes in his duffle. He didn't have alot of outfits, but he worked with what he had.

Decker being the luh-suh that he was, was kind of an annoyance to Sain, but he didn't mind to much, mainly beacause A. He was tripping ever so slightly, and B. Because he officially began to look for a ride as of today. So there wasn't alot to not be thankful for.

He thought about going to where the ships landed, but thought better of it. Every ships' captain he had met at some point or another ended up in the bar at some point of their venture to Persephone.So, he would start there.

He opened the door to the bar, and stepped inside. Everything still spun and swam just a little bit. Not to mention, there was still a slight blue tinge to everything he looked at. He walked up to the bar, taking his time with a few carefully measured steps. Thankfully, due to his injury, he learned how to walk correctly early on with the drugs.The key, was to take take a step an extra foot to the left of wherever it looks like it would be a normal place to step, because otherwise you would look quite the fool. And then just blame everything else on the leg.

He made it to the bar and reached into his jacket for his money pouch. "Excuse me good sir." He said to the bartend, the words coming from his mouth sounding slightly cheery, with a small mix of a slur in them. It wasn't to noticeable, you'd hear it if you were listening to it."Can i get a shot of fire water if you have any?" He sat himself onto a stool, pulling his leg in line and out of the walking area. "Then, can you tell me if any captains came through recently...?"

[Ari Deschain]

[ooc: oooh...alchy and barbiturates? bad news bears.]

The mechanic's gaze drifted to the young man who had just walked in. His gait was strange and lilting, one knee trapped in a metal cage. She tipped her head to one side and considered him, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied his face. He was just a kid, probably barely over eighteen. What he was doing in a place like this was beyond her. Ari sipped at her drink, the alcohol in her throat a pleasant burn that warmed her insides. The kid was walking right up to her, right next to her, and ordering alcohol. The bartender retreated to get the young man his drink, ignoring his question about captains. Ari spun slightly in her seat to face Sain, a sly smirk on her face. When the bartender came back, he set the drink down and reached out for money, but Ari gently touched the outstretched hand. "Put this one on my tab." The bartender snorted, a look of disbelief crossing his features, but he just shrugged and moved away.

The mechanic set her box back on the bar, one protective arm still slung around it, and set her drink down next to it. Reaching out her hand, cold from the iced glass, she introduced herself. "Ari Deschain. I ain't a captain, but I own a ship. You lookin' for work?" Her own experience living on the streets as a teenager made her more susceptible to taking in young people just trying to get by. If she hadn't been taken in by the mechanics that taught her all she knew, Ari would probably have long ago been a victim of the streets. The slur in his words was not lost on her, but she dismissed it as the probable effect of barhopping. The idea that it was something else did not even cross her mind.

[sain]

"Thank you good sir." He said pleasantly, wondering if he should ask his question again. The man must not have heard him. Or else he was just ignoring him, when a man was ignoring another man when he was floating along in a blue haze like that, well, it was starting to get down right rude now. He leaned forward to say something again, as he reached for his money pouch.

OF course, his vision of sound was slightly interupted by the sound of another voice, one more feminine then the bartender. Of course, were the bartender sounding quite like the voice he was hearing, something would have been terribly amiss. He squinted his eyes, looking at the bartend for a moment, trying to get what info he could on a visual only evaluation of the man. It was only upon seeing the arm come out from outside of his current line of view that he realized that it came from someone els eentirely. Thoguh that didn't let the man off the hooko. No sirree gorramnit. Sain was onto the fella. He'd catch him if it was the last thing he did. The Bartend had better watch his every move from this point on.

He looked over at the lady who had offered to pay for his drink, and he gave her a small nod and a nice warm smile. "Why thank ya' kindly." He said, a little bi of an accent in his voice slipping through in his not quite settled will power. Not only that, but she herself, while not quite as blue as the others. was still quite blue. At this point. Sain was more smiling at a sudden thought he had pop into his head. He had just met her, she was introducing herself. She was in fact a girl. And her offering to pay for his drink, identified her as friendly, for the most part. And, she was slightly less blue then everyone else. If you put all those four together. You got a girl who was a friend who was slightly less so blue.

He looked down at her prooffered hand, and tilted his head to the side for as he reached out and took it in a hearty hand-shake. "Nice to meet ya' Ari." He said, whole heartedly. Well, she wasn't a captain, but she DID own a ship. So that would do. "As a matter of fact, i am indeed looking for work." Where her touch was cold from the glass. Sain hadn't yet touched his. His touch, was very warm, and slightly clammy. "I'm not quite...well...a proffessional anything really." He said, with a shrug as he reached with his other hand, half keeping an eye on that bartender. "But i do know a fair amount of the basic's around alot of stuff."

[Ari Deschain]

It did not take long for Ari to realize the delay in the kid's response, and the strange way he had of focusing on each separate thing that was happening. As the thought surfaced in her mind that it was not just alcohol lacing Sain's system, she nodded in response to his thanks. She was a sucker for a smile, though, and this kid had a killer one. "Don' mention it. You look as if ya've had a rough day, yeah?" That was a bit of an understatement. He looked as if he'd had a series of rough days for a long time, and she could definitely sympathize.

His hand was hot in hers, a little sweaty as well, and she wondered briefly if he was sick. He greeted her with enthusiasm, but did not offer his name. She shrugged it off and confronted the next things he said first. Her hand, now free of his, went quickly back to her drink. She sipped at it as she patted the box on the counter. "I'm sure we could find ya somethin' to do. I'm mechanic, could have you help me out with a thing or two. Or you can just help out around the ship. And your name is...?" She cocked her head, letting her sentence trail off.

[sain]

Sain wasn't sick, not in the sense that he had a cold or some such. His bum leg was where he had an infection. After the "Accident" on Unification Qay it never quite healed properly. It made it a pain to walk around with. It made it a pain to bear with really. Hence Sain's "blue" Moments he was in. "Mmm....You have no idea." He said in respeonse to her telling him he had looked like he had gone through a rough day.

He took up his glass finally, and tossed his head back, taking it all in in a single gulp. It had a sharp taste to it, a sharp, burning taste on the way down. It was good, but it wasn't something he was used to. But he was feeling quite adventuous today. And, it was a good drink. Shame though, that it was whupping him so bad. After he took it, he was caught by a coughing fit. It really was good stuff.

After his brief showing of how unused he was to drinking, He shook his head a little. And looked back over to Ari. "My name's Sain." He said, looking down into his now empty glass with a slight frown. It was all gone now. And, he wished he had more. Oh well though, no use crying over drunk fire water, not when there was a relatively pretty lady sitting right next to him, offering him a job and a place on her ship.

He thought for a small moment about what little experience he had had with being a mechanic in training. He really hadn't done to terribly much. A little here and there. "Well Ari. I think i'm more suited to helping around the ship as a whole." He said, nodding to himself lightly. "I've done a little bit of engine work and cleaning, as well as a bit of recalibration, but other then that, nothing fancy."

[Ari Deschain]

At his response, her eyes flicked down to the metal contraption on his leg, then quickly back to his face. She wondered briefly what had happened to him, but knew better from her own personal experience of having a physical representation of an injury that some people are very touchy about that sort of thing.

Ari grinned in a lop-sided way at the way he handled his drink. She had been at the bottle for a long time; it was inevitable, having the father she had. So, needless to say, the mechanic could hold her liquor. As he coughed, she patted him roughly on the back in a companionable way. "Take it slow there, sugar," she laughed.

She nodded as he said his name. "Nice to meet you, Sain." As he said he would be more use around the ship as a whole, she shrugged and sipped at her drink. "Whatever you're comfortable with. Jus' lettin' you know it ain't a free ride. You gonna be flyin' with us, you're gonna be doin' your share." He was welcome aboard the ship, for now. She'd give him some time to see if he would work out.

[sain]

He appreciated the pounding on his back. Though, briefly, he wondered how that had become the underground medical procedure for helping new drinkers through the process of downing hard liquor. It worked, that was all anyone needed to know apparently. He looked at her, and grinned sheepishly over at Ari. He wasn't a fan of first impressions anyways.


"Sugar?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at her quizzically. Sure, eh was no newcomer to name calling, both meanly, and conversationally, but that was the first time anyone had even called him "Sugar". Normally it was sweetie, or tiger. Once he was even called a pup. That was certainly a weird day for him, little did he know, he had come perilously close to having to spend money on her.

"Thas' fine darling." He said, with small smile at her. "I've worked on ships before. I've just not worked anything...well enough to earn a title. Call me a drifter by trade, and lifestyle i guess." He said, summing up the entirety of his lifestyle of the past few years. It was accurate at least. He went somewhere, he did stuff, and then when he felt it was time, he moved on.

"So, what kind of ship do you have?"

[Ari Deschain]

The pounding on his back seemed to help, and she grinned back at him. At his question of her pet name, she seemed confused. Ari had been calling everyone sugar for years, and this was actually the first time she had been called out on it. It made her realize that she had just been a bit of a hypocrite, having told the bartender off for doing the same thing. It was her turn to grin sheepishly. "You don' call me darlin' again, I'll stop callin' you sugar."

His next words made her snicker a little bit. She knew a little something about being a drifter. "Fair enough. A jack-of-all-trades. I like that." The first mate on her ship was the same way and he seemed to get along just fine.

When he asked about the ship, Ari squared her shoulders and suddenly looked a bit happier. She was very proud of her ship. "It's a swan class. I named her the Lenore. A bit older, so I got 'er at a good price. I fixed her up, and she's beautiful. Got a pretty good crew, too, though we have our squabbles." She ran a hand through her short crop of hair and laughed. "Bein' out there in the black for so long will have even the best o' friends at each others' throats at times."



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[sain]

He tossed the name around a little in his head a bit. While sugar was a new one for him, it was quite the most horrible thing he had to get used to being called. He could get used to it if he absolutely had too. Her deal, plus her sheepish grin made him laugh a little. "I don't mind being called "Sugar" every now and then." He said, with a small shrug. "It's just not really something i'm used to. Lord knows i've been around, and most places i've been theres worse things then a pretty gal calling me sugar."

"Eh...I wouldn't call me a Jack-Of-All-Trades. Theres something's i can't do if my life depended on it." He cast a quick look down at his leg. "And let me assure you, dancing is one of them." Had he had another drink in front of him, he probably would have drank it. "Followed up quickly by running fast, and skiing. Didn't much like snow anyways."

So, he'd be on a Swan. Well, that wasn't so bad. Or at least he'd say that, if he had been on a Swan class before. "Well, today must be my lucky day then. I've never been on a Swan class before. What's it like?" He asked, thoroughly hooked now.

The effects of his barbs were starting to mix with the drink he had had. It wasn't an all together unpleasant feeling, at this point in time. Rather then everything staying blue, it now had a slight purple haze to it. That was different.

[Ari Deschain]

The mechanic finished her drink and rattled the ice in the glass before sliding a piece out with one finger. She popped the ice in her mouth and crunched it between her teeth. "I'll save 'sugar' for special occasions then, yeah?" Ari winked and set the glass back down on the counter.

She watched him glance at his leg, smiling at his jesting. "Good to know you can joke about it. I know how ya feel, if that makes you feel any better." The mechanic went quiet for a moment, rolling the ice around in her mouth. She snapped back to it when he said he'd never been on a Swan. "Well I'll not ruin it, then. You'll see it for yourself soon enough. Speakin' of..." She slid some coin out of her boot and set it on the counter. The bartender came by and picked it up. "Keep the change," Ari said to the man and the bartender winked at her.

The mechanic turned back to Sain, cocked her head as she noticed the unfocused look in his eyes. A strange feeling started in the pit of her stomach, a bad feeling. "You alright there, Sain?" She balanced on the edge of her stool, one hand on her box, the other reaching out to squeeze his shoulder gently. "That drink really hittin' you that bad?"

[sain]

He snapped out of it when he felt her squeeze his shoulder, it was a slightly illuminated feeling. Which was strange. Whenever you touched someone, it wasn't supposed to glow green where they touched you, especially not a neon green for just a small moment before fading away into nothingness. That right there, that was weird.

He looked up at Ari with a small grin, which he managed to make it look a bit sheepish. "Yeah...Sorry, i haven't quite been getting enough work around here lately, had to tighten my belt so much i've almost eaten it before." Sure, starvation wasn't a good thing to joke about, but compared to what was hanging around his neck, more then likely mixing with his alcohol. He was quite certain that no crew would take on a hired hand that was dependent on a substance like the barbs he rode on.

Though, he had little choice in taking them. He still had some choice, sure. Though the cost of fixing his leg up would cost him his other leg, as well as an arm. He could have lopped it off, that would have cost less. Though the prosthetic limb attachment would have cost an amount that he didn't have either. So, it was either hobble without a leg, or pretend he wasn't a junkie, at least until someone told him about a rich uncle he didn't know about, kicking the can and leaving him money.

He laughed lightly. "Special Occasion's?" He looked over at her with a small, pretend, innocent smile. "I don't know who you think i am darling, but theres nothing special about me that warrants my own occasion." He said that, with just a small hint of him batting his eyelashes at her.

Though, his earlier tale about the food problem, wasn't to far off. At this point, it was by no means life threatening, he wouldn't say no to a meal of some kind though.

[Ari Deschain]

Ari relaxed as the young man regained some of his focus and leaned back. She slid her box off of the bar and into her lap as if preparing to leave. "Say n'more. We'll feed you some protein when we get ta the ship, right enough." There was no telling what Ari would have done had she known about his problem. She was a lot more lenient than most people, but it would really depend on how much of an interference his addiction made in his work.

She smirked as he called her 'darling' again. "Why, Sain...Are you flirting with me?" Standing, she propped the box on one hip and held it with her left hand. "I must be twice your age." An exaggeration, and she was grinning as she said it. She tilted her head towards the door. "C'mon, now. Let's get back to the ship. I'm gettin' a bit hungry my ownself." She waited for him to stand before threading her way through the people and out of the bar.

[sain]

"Would it be to terribly bad if i were...?" He asked, as he watched her get to her feet. He had an idea that she looked older then him, but really, it didn't look like that big of a gap between their ages. "Oh come now. I'm sure you're what....? Twenty two? Twenty three? It's not like you were old enough to breast feed me when i was just a youngin' running around me ma's skirts."

He followed her to his feet, and took a moment to get his bearings. Things took a sudden twisting jump around him, and he put a hand on the bar to keep himself righted. He really needed to learn to hold his drinks.

When everything came into a right way of being, he looked up at her, and followed after her as she made her way through the crowd. "I must warn you though, i can't hit anything with a gun, so i'll be next to useless in any situation that may or may not require it."

Which was true, the last time he had been required to use a gun, he ended up shooting the ship he was on, hitting the engine, and making the entire ship grounded until they got the parts to fix it.

[Ari Deschain]

At his bold words, Ari turned and considered him. Her grin had disappeared, and she had a musing look on her face. Usually she was the one who initiated flirtation; most men were intimidated by her frank and direct manner. "You don't want to be tanglin' with th'likes o' me, kid. 'Specially when there's a pretty girl more your own age back at the Lenore. You should save your flirtin' for 'er." Her former humor returned as he guessed at her age. "Twenty-seven. Flattered, though. I'm gonna guess you're about eighteen." As he grabbed for the bar to steady himself, Ari instinctively gripped his other arm. "You alright? That your first drink?"

When he admitted to his uselessness with a gun, she grinned a bit. "Ain't got a worry, there. We've enough sharpshooters on the ship ta cover your sorry ass." Her elbow nudged him gently as he fell in beside her to show she was just teasing him. It was a good thing he didn't mention the fiasco he'd created last time he'd handled a firearm. Ari would never let him anywhere near her precious Lenore or her beautiful engine.

She led him to the docks, the box still propped on one hip. As they began passing through the ships, Ari nodded at one they were fast approaching. It was sprawling and grey, its front long and narrow like the neck of a swan. "There she is. Home sweet home."