Late Night Snack {Seamus}

[Jordan Maxwell]

"Cap'n it's not like I have a paranoid Cap'n plan in my head, I thought you went to bed." She said it quickly, then sighed with a heavy heart as she looked down at her purple paint. She didn't often use the color, but she didn't really have a choice now, at least not until they stopped off on another planet and she was able to pick some up again. "I should just buy a radio and get it over with.. I'm sorry Cap'n just missing some folk these days..."

Jordan spoke the truth, she wasn't her cheery self at night. Normally she was sleeping with Dru, but there were times when even sleeping next to her didn't seem to calm her mind or ease her nightmares. "I'll see you in the morning Cap'n, I'm going to be making pancakes.." She picked up her paints and left him there. Jordan walked slowly behind the counter but didn't see Seamus, and she began to wonder if she would see him again.

She turned on the water and she ran water over her rag, watching as the purple paint went down the drain. Then, it was just a matter of another wipe where the paint fell, another rinse, and she was off to her engine room.

[Seamus Callahan]

He had managed to slide over to the engine room without any problems. Even so, Seamus was jumpy. He avoiding flipping the light switch and peered around the room carefully. Paranoia mounting as he thought about Jordan leading him into a trap. Perhaps it was a bit ridiculous, but one could never be too careful.

He listened to the engine's low frequency hum, and eyed the machinery as if it were a snake that was going to bite him. It was only a few minutes before he heard her light footfalls again coming his way. Part of him wanted to hide again, but he forced himself to keep calm and stay in one spot. He leaned against the wall, burning his hand against some pipe that he had no inkling of the purpose of. Seamus yelped, and when Jordan opened the door she would find him nursing his burnt fingers.

[Jordan Maxwell]

Jordan closed the engine room door and locked it from the inside, something she did more and more often when she was sleeping. If they needed her, the com was normally right next to her when she slept. She turned with her eyes closed and leaned against the door letting out a large sigh. She had tried her best not to lie to the Cap'n. How was she going to explain a stow away to him? Why had she done anything at all? She really didn't know.. Her fingers effortlessly found the light switch and flicked it on.

She opened her eyes to see him looking at his fingers. "What happen?" Jordan moved towards him holding her hand out to see his, she couldn't remember how many times she had burnt herself in this room, or how many times she shifted the hammock to a better area to prevent herself from getting burnt or hurt while sleeping. "There is a lot of hot and sharp thing in 'ere."

[Seamus Callahan]

(I AM SO SLOW OMG, sorry I graduate in like 2 weeks and I am super busy.)

Seamus turned as the light flicked on, still sucking on his burnt fingers. "Just a little burn..." he murmured softly. "I noticed." The tone was irreverent, his face flushed and youthful as his sarcastic tone reverberated in the engine room. He gave her his hand, the skin on his fingers red and shiny with a new burn. Seamus noted how his hands utterly dwarfed hers, hardly surprising since he was about a foot taller.

That brought him back to his original worries, this was a nonsensical situation. She was small, and though he would never ever do so, Seamus could overpower her in a second. What she was doing, helping a mysterious man hiding out on her ship, was damn right dangerous. He had to know why. He bent his head down to look her evenly in the eye, brown eyes shining with both fear and curiosity; "Why are you helping me? I mean...it's generally not smart to let random strangers you find hiding on your ship eat your pie and then take them into your room."

"Not that I mind of course..." His voice was flirty, but then he caught himself. That would be stupid - the situation was volatile enough as it was.

[Jordan Maxwell]

((Sooooo sorry, not sure if you even log on anymore  A friend of mine died and I really went nuts for a bit sorry))

Jordan blew lightly on his fingers as she pulled a small first aid kit from what seemed like a hidden cubby in her wall. She slowly put something on them but kept blowing on them to cool them She looked up at him as he spoke and she smiled softly before she finally allowed herself to answer the man. “If you tried to hurt me, I would scream, and you would die. So there really isn’t much danger for me.” She put it bluntly to him, at least that part of it she knew that Dru would shoot him, then ask Jordan what was going on. “I was a stowaway once. I was caught by the crew in the rafters of their ship. They pulled me down, yelled at me, but the Cap’n pulled me aside, dried my tears and told me that all stowaways need a friend. They are scared enough as it was. Most were good natured, and often enjoyed people.”

She ran her hand though her hair before moving to her hammock and pulling herself up into it, she say there as it moved a little. “He gave me a job fixin his engine, to pay for the food and drink I stole. I was on his ship for a long time, though after a while, I wanted a ship that I could call home, and I ended up here…”

The mechanic sighed happily and looked him up and down, he was cute, but that wasn’t really what she was looking for right now. “I don’t mind having you here.” She said it playfully but shook her head. “I would have let you on, you know, no stowing away required. Everyone needs help sometimes, you just have to be willing to ask for it.”

[Seamus Callahan]

(No worries man, RL is much more important. Though, at this rate, one of us shall post each month and we should be done by christmas xD)

When she answered, Seamus pursed his lips and chuckled a bit. "Good point. I guess I avoid hurting you then, I'm not particularly partial to dying." Seamus didn't like people who killed him, not in general. He held still as she unnecessarily treating his burned hand, truthfully, he recognized that he was being a bit of a baby about it. The thick guitar calluses on the tips of his fingers could barely feel anything. Still, he was not about to turn down the help. Any of the help. "Man, this burn is gonna ruin my guitar playing." He smirked a little.

"That's a nice story. I'm 'fraid I don't know anything about engines though...or really anything that would be any use on a ship." Seamus sighed, scratching sheepishly at the back of his head wincing as he had already forgotten about the burn. "I'll... play you a song sometime, in return for that pie? 'Fraid that's not much of a fair trade."

"Well, you might've let me on. Your captain on the other hand, well...he may not have been so keen on lettin' some penniless ruffian on board." Seamus paced around the room a little - trying to find a stretch of wall (preferably one that wouldn't hurt him) to lean on. He found it against some kind of... large coolant pipe? He really didn't know. Regardless of what it was, the cool metal felt nice between his shoulder blades. His gaze turned a little somber, and the grin faltered. "I don't much like askin' for help..."

[Lars Engström]

Lars wandered towards his quarters, running the situation over in his mind. He racked his brains for anything that would explain Jordan's behavior. Even though she was normally slightly out of sorts with reality, he knew there was more to it now. He had a moment of regret as he wondered if it was caused by the mess with the reavers, and sighed, shaking his head. He put a hand on the door to his office, but then changed his mind, deciding to check on the bridge.

It was quiet and peaceful, and he looked out into the black, feeling a sense of calm and relaxation sweep over him. He sat in the pilots chair, and leaned back, content to watch the vast expanses drift by. Well, he mused, I suppose there are worse things Jordan could be hiding from me than a desire to paint my ship. He smiled, and lapsed into thought. A slight movement, more of a flash caught his attention. Looking down at the readouts on the controls, he saw that the lock on the engine room door had been engaged. His eyes narrowed, as he looked at it. Jordan had been sleeping with Dru, and although he wasn't unhappy to have her in the engine room, it didn't fit. "Alright," He muttered, standing up. "What are you up to?"

Lars made his way out of the bridge, and down through the common area, he removed the knife from his waistband, and then headed down the steps to the cargo bay. A brief pause at the bottom, and then he walked softly over to the door. Pressing his ear against it, he listened, and although they were muffled, he could hear voices. "Don't mind having you here..." he recognized Jordan's voice, but there was a second. It was too deep for Dru, and a brief listen up toward the crew area proved Trace to be in bed. He hadn't heard as much of the doctor, or Weston, but he could tell this wasn't them.

A slight frown crossed his face as he heard the next words from the mystery person, "Captain....Penniless ruffian...." and suddenly it all made sense. "Gorram it Jordan." He breathed, shaking his head, "Why is it always you in the middle of the trouble." He stepped back for a moment. He considered knocking, and playing dumb, but after a short pause, he decided against it. Reaching out, he entered a code on the panel by the door, and overrode the lock. The door opened just in time for him to hear the words, "I don't much like askin for help."

"So," He said, looking in and seeing the newcomer, "You just thought you wouldn't bother with the asking then?" He stepped through the door, and reaching out grabbed a hold of the stow away. He dragged him out of the engine room, ignoring any protest from Jordan, though he didn't hear any, and threw the boy on the ground in front of him. "Well, I would start asking the right questions, and fast."

[Seamus Callahan]

Seamus spun round as he heard a whirr from the direction of the door. Fear did flips in his stomach as the large and angry bulk of the captain stepped through the now open doorway. Seamus held his hand up in front of him - as he tried to look as nonconfrontational as possible. Backing away and trying to get Jordan between them.

"So, You just thought you wouldn't bother with the asking then?"

Oh , oh , oh . All his sputtering and meekness did him no good as the Captain seized him by the upper arms and roughly pulled him into the hallway. A conflict of emotions sped through his head, fear was there. Fear was definitely there. Coupled with confusion, anger, and - The captain threw him to the ground with a good deal more force than necessary. His back rammed into the metal floor painfully, and Seamus yelped like a kicked dog.

"Well, I would start asking the right questions, and fast."

His brain had some issues with rational thought right at this moment. The taller, much more muscular man was terrifying. He propped himself up on his elbows, eyes wide as saucers. Even the nicest dog in the world will bite when cornered. He kicked both long legs into the Captain's gut, adrenaline lending the blow a speed and force he could have never managed under normal circumstances. Rolling to his feet, Seamus scampered back into the engine room and grabbed Jordan.

Spinning her round in front of him, the normally peaceful boy was already stuttering out apologies as he tried to cower his six foot two frame behind Jordan's five foot nothing body. Panting for breath, he managed to stammer out his first intelligible sentence since the captain had entered the room.

"I-I-I"m sorryyy!"

[Lars Engström]

Lars admittedly hadn't been expecting the retaliation, or if he had, not such a quick one. The blow didn't connect full force, but it managed to stagger him back, and the boy had fled back to the engine room before he could recover. Lars wheeled around, and found him apparently using Jordan as a human shield. He took a step towards them, and then stopped, and stared at the boy as he made his pitiful attempt at an apology. "You know," Lars growled, low and angry, "If I was in the middle of space, and just found to be hiding on a boat, I wouldn't start by kicking the captain, and I sure as HELL wouldn't use the crew as hostages." He glared, and looked around quickly. He saw that one of the pistols from the incident with the drunks had managed to remain on the floor and it was lying right at his own feet. "Specially if the crewmember in question helped me out already."

"Now you have some thinking to do." Said Lars, as he bent and picked up the pistol, checking if it was loaded. It was. He stepped closer to Seamus as he talked, his voice still low and dangerous. "I think you have made two mistakes so far, and that don't look too good for you. But if you let the Mechanic go, maybe we can see about preventing a third one." He raised an eyebrow, and spoke again, "Let her go." As he spoke he heard stirring up above in the passenger and crew quarters, "I would hurry, not everyone here will be as forgiving."

[Seamus Callahan]

He knew immediately after he had lashed out that he would regret it. He just didn't realize how much. Seamus let out a pathetic whimper when he saw the Captain point a GUN at him. A GORRAM GUN. His brain raced, his thoughts overlapped each other and didn't make sense. He needed to keep his cool.

His grip on Jordan tightened in sheer fear, and he realized with a shock that he was probably hurting her. He let go but still tried to cower behind her, praying like hell she would defend him.

Breathe, Seamus, Breathe.

He had to get a grip before he did something stupid. Well, he had already done something stupid, but he didn't need to be making it worse.

"Easy, man." His voice squeaked a little. Seamus coughed in an attempt to force it back down to it's normal masculine register."There's no need to be - to be pointing guns at people."

He pushed a mess of curls back from his forehead, and softened his words. "I ain't lookin' to hurt anyone."

"Put the gun down." Seamus could only hope his infallible charisma didn't stop being infallible.

[Lance Howe]

Lance angrily rolled out of bed. He'd woken up earlier from all the talking in the kitchen and now people were still talking loudly elsewhere in the ship. Didn't they know what time it was?! The doctor got half dressed and drowsily walked out of his room toward the engine room only to stumble into the stand-off in progress.

"Will you please shut the hell..." he stopped mid-sentence as the reality of the situation dawned on him. Lars pointing a gun at a stranger who was using Jordan as a shield. Wait, a stranger? How did that happen on a spaceship, especially one as small as the Star? Had he been on board and lurking about since Persephone? Right now that didn't matter. The important thing was that he was an enemy of the ship. Luckily Lars seemed to have things semi under control with the superior firepower so there was no need for Lance to rush in and help.

"Is this a volunteer for my neuro toxin, captain?" Lance asked. He was hopeful. It needed to be tested on a human and it seemed a fitting punishment for a deadbeat who took young girls hostage in the middle of the night.

[Jordan Maxwell]

Jordan stood there and sighed heavily trying to calm herself. “Cap’n put the gun down. We ain’t in any danger.” Though her hand moved to rub her arm where she was grabbed. The mechanic didn’t move she just looked at the people before her. She knew that Seamus was behind her, though she wasn’t sure how to truly how to handle this situation, her plans had been foiled by a man that seemed to want nothing more than to be in her bedroom.

“I need ta’ figure out his story before we came ta’ ya’ Cap’n… Now, just put it down I really don’t wanna get shot…” Jordan held up her hands between him and her and moved to cover a little more of Seamus. “There ain’t no know one gettin’ experimented on…” There was a look in her eyes she wasn’t going to move and the stand off was going to eventually become pointless. With the large man behind her, and the two men that wanted to hurt him in front of here, well, it would only end bad for Jordie if it came to a clash, well Jordie and her engine. They might hurt her ship. There was so much more she wanted to say, but it would have to be done in private with Lars and now out in the open in her engine room next to her baby with guns out. “Please Cap’n, it’s not like he has anywhere to run… We are kinda trapped in here you are at the only exit…”

[Lars Engström]

"How do you figure yourself to be in any place to make demands?" Lars asked, with a growl, the kid wasn't going to hurt Jordan, that wasn't his style. But the engine behind them could cause some serious trouble if things weren't kept controlled. Then Jordan started talking, Lars was relieved that she wasn't mute, although her way of trying to patch things over didn't help that much. He gave her his, "We are having a talk later." Look, and then returned his attention to Seamus. Time to try something different.

"Look," He said, putting the gun in the back of his waistband, "I put the gun away, now let go of my mechanic." While his hand was back behind his back, he pointed to the side, hoping Lance would get the signal, and move to the door of the engine room. Lars just had to keep the kid distracted. "Okay," He said, looking the boy in the eyes, "Lets just get this straight, I am not going to put you out the airlock or anything crazy like that." He said, moving slowly towards him. He didn't want the kid to panic and break something, or someone. "So lets just talk this out like men, and see if we can't work out a deal." He held out a hand, open and nonthreatening.

"Shake on it?" He asked, hoping this would work. "I promise not to kill you." He smiled, trying to be as calm as possible. "I don't know your name, but I'm Lars." He said, hoping the boy would be put at ease. "What can we call you."

[Seamus Callahan]

Seamus' blood ran cold when a second man came in, his mention of neuro-toxin certainly sounded less than pleasant. Though in a matter of seconds his fear turned to relief when Jordan finally spoke up - in his defense even! The tension flowed out of his body visiblely, his shoulders dropped, and he closed his eyes and mentally murmured several thank yous and apologies to God.

The gun was being put away, and most of the terror flowed out of Seamus. He softly apologized to Jordan for squeezing her arm so hard, and straightened up as the Captain strode forward. Funny, Seamus figured he was probably older than this guy, but he made him feel like a little kid. Yet he couldn't stop himself from being a smartass, "Airlock's too much, but shooting me is just fine, eh?"

He shouldn't have said that. Yet he meant no harm by it - something evident in the uneasy sheepish smile on his face. He flinched a little when the Captain offered his hand, looking at it like it were a snake that would bite him. The smile calmed him, and he took the proffered hand and shook it sheepishly.

"Name is Seamus." He said, sounding bright and cheerful now that people were done threatening him. Then his eyes squinted, a little suspicious, "What kind of deal?"

[Lance Howe]

It turned out that Jordan was less a hostage than an advocate. For someone who had seen enough violence she was still plenty naive. The crew was perfectly capable of finding out a stowaway's story but instead she decided to conceal him and then take him into a locked room alone. Hiding and sneaking around is what gets you shot. Coming forward would probably get you an audience and at least a fair trial.

It was probably asking far too much of their deadbeat stowaway though. He was what he was and even when confronted he still cowered, made excuses, and gave the captain attitude when replying. Lance nearly laughed at his comment about being spaced. It wasn't because the kid was right but because it made no sense. Anyone in their right mind would rather be shot than spaced. A trip through the airlock meant certain death in a horribly painful way. Getting shot could either be quick and relatively painless or you might survive with proper medical attention. From first appearances the kid had no money, no skills, no spine, no smarts, and no sense of respect. What they were seeing now was probably him at his best.

Lance watched as Lars tried to talk their intruder down. He made a show of disarming even though he certainly still kept the upper-hand. There was no way this kid was just going to get off with this but Lars was doing a good job of convincing the kid that things would be alright. The doctor moved to the position subtly indicated by the captain and tried to also look relaxed. He had little idea what the captain had planned but the plan would hopefully become clear once he was required to act.