After Minerva

[Ari Deschain]

The Lenore had taken off and fled Persephone with a few new faces, Ari and Grimm being bandaged up as best as possible by Juliet. Things did not look so good for the crew, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. The mechanic was sure of that.

It was late at night, and she was in the galley, tearing the wrapper off a protein bar with her teeth as she held it in her right hand. Her left arm was in a sling, the shoulder wrapped in gauze. Taking a bite, she leaned back in her chair slightly and set one booted foot up on the table, then stared off at the wall as she chewed.

Ari had kept to herself after the fight, withdrawing a little bit from the others. Killing people had that effect on her. Although she was a fighter to the core, taking lives always left her a little bit contemplative. She hadn't hurt anyone since she had taken down Murdo Dunstan for killing her friend and captain Ryan Hannigan, and also the man she had been falling for, Daniel Stoot.

She swallowed and leaned her head back to look at the ceiling, jogging her foot as she let her thoughts drift back to the Atlas. The first ship on which she had felt she belonged, her home taken from her by the cruel act of that deviant Dunstan. She had taken no pleasure in killing him, but it felt better to have the 'Verse free of him.

After a moment, she heard someone coming and she let her chair fall back down, wincing as the striking of the legs against the floor jarred her body and her shoulder was seized with sharp pain. She glanced at the door to see who had come in at this late hour.

[jules]

Juliet. Ari fixed her with a stare at first, then nodded stiffly in her direction. The browncoat in the mechanic was not pleased to share her ship with a former purple-belly, but the word 'former' did hold some importance with Ari. Also, the fact that she'd helped fix up herself and Grimm redeemed the woman, but only a little bit. Mixed feelings made for awkward moments, and the mechanic squared her shoulders as she prepared for this one. Figuratively, of course. She'd learned her lesson about moving her injured shoulder.

Her words just made Ari's lips curved in a smirk. She'd not left Grimm's side until she knew he'd be alright, but she only nodded. "'Preciate it. He's pretty ruttin' important to the ship." Glancing down at her own shoulder, she sighed. "'Spect I should thank ya for cleanin' me up, too." Her gray right eye focused on Juliet, the left hidden behind the usual eyepatch. "So...Thank you."

She stood up and offered her good hand for a shake. "Name's Ari Deschain," she said, pronouncing the last name as 'duh-SHANE'. After shaking Juliet's hand, she sat back down and propped her boot back up on the table. Ari brought the protein bar to her mouth once more and took another bite. Chewing slowly, she baldly studied the other woman. The mechanic was never one to sugarcoat anything. "So what is it ya used to do, exactly?"

[jules]

Juliet expected some hostile treatment being a former Alliance Officer and all. But what these people had to remember and she hoped she wouldn't have to remind them was that she was also a fugitive on the run from the institution where she had so very much been a part of for the majority of her life. Anytime" she responded looking at Ari over her shoulder. Jules cleaned up her hands and took a seat opposite the woman. "Don't mention it" Juliet had patched the other woman up as best as she could.

"Juliet Callahan" she returned the shake as well as the greeting. Watching the other woman as she ate. Juliet waited for the question to come about her previous employers and when it did she didn't beat around the bush either "I was Senior pilot and medic on an Alliance ship named the Esteem - the same ship that Kylie was on" Juliet explained "Our Captain murdered a civilian family to stop them passing something on. What I don't know but they knew something" pausing briefly to think back "Jin and Kylie planned to escape but Jin found out I was pregnant. So I came along but we were found out".

She didn't know why she was telling the former Independent her story but something in Ari's mannerisms gave Jules the impression the she could trust her. "Needless to say I was wounded in the escape lost the baby and set up working as hired muscle for a fellow named Badger on Persephone" it still pained her to talk about her baby "So yeah its not the happy ending you would expect". Juliet had come from quite humble beginnings and had worked her way up in the Alliance Navy.

[Ari Deschain]

Though the skin around Ari's visible eye tightened as Juliet spoke about the Alliance, that was the only motion she made to show her displeasure at the situation. It wasn't as if the mechanic was heartless. She may have had some dislike towards Juliet, inherent from the Browncoat in her, but she could be objective. Juliet was displaced, lost and on the run.

The least Ari could do was not harass her while she sought refuge on the Lenore.

The news that Juliet had been a pilot intrigued her. Losing Rade had been a bit of a blow, but not unexpected. He had such a temper, and such a superiority complex. His time had just run out. "A pilot, huh? That may come in handy, we run into a little bitta trouble out 'ere." The news about the terrible atrocities an Alliance captain had committed did not seem to phase her, but that was only because she was not surprised.

Then Juliet started to get personal, and Ari set her food down, her lips drawing thin. Her boot tipped off the the table and she leaned forward, elbows on the table. The mechanic had no idea why Juliet would be sharing these things with her, but she was obliged to listen, quiet and expressionless except for a slight wrinkling of the nose at the mention of Badger.

Finally, Ari sat up straight, her hands linking behind her neck in a stretch. "Well, Jules," she didn't ask if she could call her that; Ari had a tendency of just assigning nicknames. "That's...quite a ruttin' story. T'be honest, I dunno why you're tellin' me about it." She pauses, but for only a moment. "I'm sorry abou' your baby. But, hey...New beginnings, yeah?" Ari was not the best at any kind of sentiments, so she restlessly stirred in her seat and tapped her short nails on the table.

"Look, I ain't gonna lie t'you. I'm terrible at makin' folks feel better, an' I've no idea what it feels like ta lose a baby. But, I do wan' you to know...I know what it feels like ta lose a loved one. Nothin' is gonna cure that ill but time an' distraction."

[Jin Caron]

Jin patrolled the hallways of the Lenore in case there were still some stragglers on board with an itching for revenge of their comrades as well as on behalf of their boss Minvera's pride. A few hours after having left Persephone, Jin decided that if the people have not come out of hiding by now, they were either unarmed or dead. Holstering his pistol, he made his way to the galley to check up on everyone. The hallways were quiet other than the noise of the ship's engine rumbling through the hull. The galley was occupied by the lady who was called Ari and Juliet. Walking up behind Juliet, Jin hugged her and looked over at Ari, still unsure how much he could trust her and exactly whether it was worth trusting her. "Don't worry about making Jules feel better, that's my job" Jin joked as he grinned and rested his chin on Juliet's shoulder. He wasn't sure if he could trust anyone on this ship except for himself and Juliet, but he wasn't about to risk creating a hostile environment just because of his doubts.