Seeking Approval (Layla+James)

[Cadan Ashdown]

Persephone City, Persephone; December 18th 2522

Cadan And Layla had been spending a lot of time together since they first me. Every minute they spent together was a memory that Cadan would never forget. Things were going amazing. Today though was going to be a hard one for Cadan though Layla was going to go see her brother and she was letting Cadan come along. Part of Cadan wanted to meet him and another part really wanted to keep him faceless.

A few days prior Cadan had been told what was really going on with the Trinity's Job. The Duke was setting them up for trouble and there wasn't much Cadan could do about it. He wanted to tell Layla but If he did she would tell James and that would mean big trouble for Cadan. No for now it would be best to just pretend that he knew nothing about it. Just an ordinary supply run and he just happened to be the guy gathering up supplies. He had told Layla about that.

Layla's place was only a few miles from where his appartment was so it wasn't to long of a walk just enough to get him excited about seeing her. As he approched her house he checked to make sure he looked alright and that everything was straight. He walked to the door and gave it a quick knock, a smile adorning his face as he waited for her to open the door.

[Layla Disanto]

Layla had been up since a little before dawn, she'd gone to the temple again for sunrise with the monks she had gotten to know. As usual as well she would go home, eat and then go see James. A daily ritual it had become. Today was a little different though, Cadan was going to come along with her to visit her brother. She wasn't sure how the two of them meeting would go.

Cadan and her had been spending many of their days together, so of course she had mentioned him to her brother once or twice. She'd even let it slip two days ago that she might want to leave Bernadette and live on Persephone instead. Layla was obviously getting close to the young man, she loved spending time with him. They'd been slowly learning about each other.

She knew Cadan would be there any minute, but she couldn't stop fussing with her hair. Should she wear it up? Leave it down? Sighing she just stood there and stared into the mirror. How exactly should she introduce him to James? Were they still technically just friends, were they dating..she was confused. They hadn't really had any kind of conversation about what was between them. It was obvious they liked each other, but what did that mean exactly? The knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts, she ran her fingers through her hair a few times then headed off.

As Layla walked toward the door she made sure she was ready. The bracelet from Cadan. Check. Cuff bracelet covering her tattoo. Check. Smile. Check. She opened the door to see of course a handsome man smiling in anticipation of her, the confusion finding it's exit from her mind. She smiled in return at him, "Hey you!" Layla was happy to see him, as usual. Which was a given by her joyfully wrapping her arms around his neck in a clingy type hug. "I'll try not to get you shot, okay?" She whispered in his ear, jokingly...mostly.

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Outfit

[Cadan Ashdown]

Cadan wrapped his arms around Layla's waist when she hugged him, picking her up just off the ground. " 'ello love. Glad ter see ya ain't 'runnin away yet." He said jokingly to her. He didn't expect she was going to run away at this point, she would have done that by now if she was gonig to.

Cadan took a deep breath at the next comment. That is exactly what he worried it would be. A ship captain, a big brother and a war vet. No surprise he would be a scary man to deal with. Cadan walked down the steps to her place and on to the street with Layla at his side. "Ya lead the way and I will try ter stay alive when we get there." He said trying to seem like he was joking but there was a part of him that was worried. "'a is 'e doin' anyway."

Cadan wasn't walking very fast he wasn't trying to drag on but he was trying to make sure his nerves were calm for the moments ahead. James would be a good guy, understanding and accepting. At least Cadan hoped so. Well the good news was that he was still recovering and that gave Cadan a bit of comfort.

[Layla Disanto]

She smiled warmly when Cadan returned her embrace, even picked her up. "If you're trying to drive me off you're doing a poor job of it Cadan." Layla had noticed his reaction to her comment about him getting shot. Not that she really thought James would shoot him or anything. All kidding aside, she didn't believe it. Nor if by some chance it came around she wouldn't let it.

They walked together, she let him walk slower than normal. Though as they got closer to where the doc and James were staying Layla grabbed his hand, squeezing it slightly and offered him a reassuring smile. She was nervous too.

Layla bit her lip slightly as she knocked on the door, taking another glance at Cadan before Marks answered it. She gave him her normal greeting and introduced him to Cadan.

The pair of them entered the room where James had been recovering, she smiled at her brother. "Good morning James!' Layla smiled as sweet as she could to soften him up a little, 'This is uh, Cadan..Cadan this is my brother James. The one and only captain of the Trinity." Her eyes pleaded at James to be nice, she hoped he would, she knew Cadan would.

[James Clark]

Finally he was back on his feet and James Clark had to say it was a great feeling. He was a man of action and the whole laying around feeling sorry for himself had worn thin. Clark was back on his feet albeit with the help of a cane. He chuckled to himself knowing that it wasn't the first time he had been in this predicament a long time a go. Man how things had changed since then. He was getting old and didn't know how many lives he had left.

James looked up at the clock hanging on the wall it was time for Layla's visit. She was never late not even by a minute. Surely enough his beautiful sister appeared. But she wasn't alone. Clark was a former war vet and the Captain of a ship if this was his sisters fella then he was not in for an easy ride at all. "Hey sis" he pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek. Extending his hand to the 'kid' "James" he introduced himself politely although his tone suggested anything but. This 'kid' wasn't getting off easy. Not at all.

[Cadan Ashdown]

A feeling of relief passed throughout all of Cadan's body. He wasn't free of it all yet but at least it didn't start with it coming to blows. Cadan wouldn't be able to bring himself to swing back at James if he had at him. He was injured and more importantly he was Layla's brother. No, he would take what he had coming.

Cadan extended his hand to James and gave him a firm but not aggressive hand shake. He was analyzing everything both of them did as best he could. He wanted to meeting to go as well as it could. Cadan could understand James not taking a liking to him simce he was sort of seeing his sister. "Pleasure ter met ya sir. as layla said i'm Cadan." Cadan tried to keep his voice as calm as possable. "I've 'eard of your 'appeny dip ya kna. Infact I'll be 'elpin' them get supplies picked up 'ere on persephone chicken pen they 'rrive."

As soon as James let his hand go he took a step back so that he was no further forward then Layla. He didn't want to be infront of her and take James focus but at the same time not behind as to seem timid. He wasn't going to be the one to answer any question of James' about what exactly his and Layla's relationship was or wasn't if he didn't have to. For now he would do his best to pass under the radar and let them do the talking. If only it would be that easy.

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'appeny dip = Ship
chicken pen = When

[Layla Disanto]

Layla knew that James wouldn't make this easy for Cadan, she was his baby sister. She hoped that the pain of this meeting wouldn't last too long before James started being the nice man she knew him to be instead of the over-protective big brother. Unfortunately this was all new for her so she had no idea what to expect here, unsure of what they were going to be discussing really.

Once Cadan and James made their own introductions she made an attempt to sway things, "You sure you should be up and about already?" Layla was genuinely worried about her brother and she was long over being mad at him and Sid about the situation.

[James Clark]

James wasn't happy that Layla had met this Cadan 'kid' not one bit. But after seeing how upset she was a few weeks ago after he didn't tell her about the incident. He had decided to put her happiness above that of his own. That was of course until Cadan started talking like a muppet. There had been a kid in his unit called Ashford that spoke cockney from earth that was. Similar to Chinese he could understand it but he sure as hell wasn't going to speak it. "So how did you two meet?" he ignored the fact that Cadan was getting supplies for the Trinity he couldn't give two hoots "More to the point are you serious about her kid?" James was far from interrogating the kid. He turned to Layla "I'm fine" he told get cracking a brief smile before turning back to Cadan with the look of thunder. James Clark would have battered him to pieces if he wasn't a cripple.

[Cadan Ashdown]

Cadan could see the desdain upon James face as Cadan talked. There was no doubt in Cadan's mind, it was a good thing this first meeting happened while he was unable to do anything. Cadan wasn't a fighter, infact he was as far from it as you got.

At least James was starting with an easy question. "We meet by chance in the local market." No problem with that one, nothing to hide or cause any fuss. The next question though that one was a little tougher.

Was he serious about her, quite a forword and rather hard question. They had only met a few week prior hardly a long time really. At the same time though he couldn't keep himself from thinking about her. Infact he had been having trouble keeping up with the work he was supposed to be doing with all the time he spent with her, so yeah he was serious. But what did James mean by serious. Serious like he wasn't messing with her an anyway because that was a no brainer. Maybe he meant were they dating that again was a yes.

If course he could mean far more then that, like 'Are you serious about her in that 'I love you' sort of way' Cadan imagine james voice asking him that. Now that was serious, love after all is a big deal. Like Romeo and Juliet, love was not just a game but a life and death type thing. Could that be what he was talkking about, and if he was......

Cadan comtempated the idea in his head in a what to him seemed liek forever, but was only the pass of a slpit second. "Yeah i'm very serious abaht 'er." he responded not even thinking how James would react. Did his reply mean he was falling for her, you know, in that way? "Ya 'ave me word, I won't 'urt 'er in anyway James." He spoke up trying to instill a bit of confedence in James about him.

[Layla Disanto]

Layla bit her lip after her brother had given her a one word answer then turned his attentions back to Cadan. Yeah he wasn't going to be nice to him, she was his baby sister. At least James wouldn't shoot him...would he? She gave Cadan an apologetic look as her brother began asking questions. Though the second question she didn't even know the answer to really, so there was a little curiosity for her. She knew hers already.

She thought it best to not interrupt, in case it made James' mood about the situation worse than it already seemed. It took Cadan what felt like minutes to answer the question, but really it wasn't, just anticipation and all. Layla smiled shyly when the words left his mouth, her cheeks turned to blush. She was overjoyed at his response, if her brother wasn't here she'd have hugged and kissed him. It would have to be saved for later though. For now she would stand by Cadan and keep silent for fear of making things worse on her beau.

[James Clark]

"Good because if you hurt her I'll kill you" there was nothing in his tone to suggest he was joking. No James Clark was not joking not at all. He had gone to hell and back to save his sister on Paquin and he wasn't gonna let some moron ruin her freedom after she had only just got it back. He would kill Cadan if he even brought a single tear to her eyes. But while she was happy and treated right he would leave them to it. "That's not a threat my boy its a promise James decided to leave it there "I trust my sister and if she says your okay then I believe her but your employer Mr. Rider is not someone I trust at all" James told him getting down to business "Now if there are any twists and turns that I don't know about with this job I suggest you tell me now" this was a chance for the kid to prove his loyalty to James but most importantly Layla.

[Cadan Ashdown]

Cadan was begining to feel a little less uncomfortable with the whole situation until James spoke up again conferming exactly what Cadan was worried about, that he would be go after Cadan if he could. Luckily he trusted Layla and and her opinion.

Of course that wasn't all he wanted to know any issues that might arise on the job they were preparing for. He wanted to know if Cadan knew of any twists that might come up. Cadan had just found out about the twists to the job himself and He couldn't mention it. It was his job to make sure the trinity went head long in to said twist.

"Aahhht aht on the rim offers twist sir. ya 'ave ter be extra vigilant aahhht there for everyones safety." He wanted to warn them but couldn't take the risk so instead a general warning would have to be enough. Of course James would most likely know this information already. His nerves were just begining to settle down at this point. He had survived so far and his chances of getting out of this meeting in one peice were starting to look better.