Home Grown (open)

[meilinalbright]

With the last mission not going as planned and her feeling a little homesick, Meilin decided it was a good night to break out an old recipe. Her mother's go-to comfort food, pot pie. It would take far too long to make individual pies for everyone, so instead she settled for making two pies. Both the kitchen and the common room were deserted for the moment, which was a little unusual. Everyone probably had plenty to do at the moment anyway, and she wasn't going to complain about the quiet just yet.

She chopped the vegetables with speed and precision, leaving her fingers unscathed and piles of perfect vegetables sitting on the counter. Meilin hummed as she worked, scooping the vegetables into a pot with the rest of the filling. A small bit of milk that was still good and some butter was added to the pot and Meilin left it to simmer and thicken. She wiped down the counter, then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her back pocket.

It was a letter to her Ma. They kept in as close of contact as possible. Her Ma would prefer a visit home now and then but letters would have to be enough for now. Meilin started her letter, checking the filling every so often to make sure the filling was coming together properly.

[Kalli Ann Bernett]

Everything had gone to hell and it had been a few days since everything settled down, but not back to normal. Cadan and Layla had left the ship almost immediately after everything happened. James had been killed in the battle with the Merc's. Tari was recovering but not in the worlds best shape. Even Kalli herself had her injury from her trip to the Maiden's mercy. The Trinity was still a complete mess.

They had recieved payment from that bastard Rider at least. That gave them more then enough to get the trinity fixed up but it would take some time. Everything had gone wrong and the mood of the crew showed that. Kalli was in her bunk all day, she hadn;t opened the door for anyone. She didn't weven say a word when Sid was on the other Sid was on the other side of the door trying to get her to come out. That is pretty much what she did the last few days since she was rescued.

She felt so powerless after that, that she had failed everyone by getting taken. Had she been able to fight back they wouldn't have had to come recue her and maybe everyone would be alright. She had been crying for hours it seemed as she thought it over time and time again. If she had been quicker to draw the gun she could have saved herself. Maybe if they had just left her there and cut their losses James would still be alive. That would have been better then this.

She hadn't eatten a thing in two days and she was feeling weak from it. She waited around in her room as she heard people passing by. when things finally went quiet she sluggishly made her way out of the room and down the hall making sure she didn't hear anyone ahead. If she had she would have turned around and went back to her room. Finally she made it to the kitchen.

Her eyes focused on the ground she didn't even notice that Meilin was in there at first. She sighed and looked up noticing her there finally. "I'm sorry.... I.. I.." She sighed again as she picked herself up from the seat to leave. She could feel she was going to cry again. She felt ashamed of herself and didn't want to face anyone, but of everyone in the crew Meilin was the one she felt most comfortable around. She seemed to have a presence about her that wouldn't blame anyone. Though she hadn't seen how made she got with Sidney when they were getting ready to come save her. Had she seen that she probibly wouldn't have done what she did next.

"Meilin, I.. I'm sorry." She said as she approched her. "This is all my fault." She hadn't offered a chance for anyone to explain anything of what happened. She grabbed Meilin's arm and squeezed a bit. "I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around her and pushed her head in to her shoulder and began to cry. She didn't know why Meilin was the one that she finally cracked in front of. She had tried to put up a wall and be tough through it all with the crew there but she couldn't anymore.

[Tari Gasha]

It'd been a rough group of days, they'd gotten Kalli back, but after that everything went to hell in a hand basket so-to-speak. The Trinity had been shot down, James had been killed. Tari had just started moving about this morning, unable to lay still any longer. Despite what Sakura had to say about it. The thief had been feeling very uncomfortable still being on the ship. Like waiting for the world to bottom out.

Cadan had left, luckily for him. Tari had some payback for the guy, he'd left before she'd been able to give him a piece of her mind. Never before had a job gone that poorly for her, and she had Cadan to thank for that. Serves her right for putting trust in someone who disliked her it seemed.

Tari was constantly on pain-killers and who knows what else that Sakura had been giving her. Everything was still fuzzy in her head, it wasn't all right.

She'd been walking around the ship almost non-stop since the morning. Unable to keep still, as normal, but it was kicked up a notch. Perhaps from being stuck in bed for a couple of days.

Passing near the galley Tari paused, hearing Kalli's voice. She moved carefully into the entry and just stared. She couldn't help but feel horrible, couldn't imagine how Kalli was feeling. The thief had the urge to continue into the room and say something to her. What would she say though? Tari was in no way able to put words together that would help. She'd never been in this kind of situation. She considered Kalli and the others as a friend, but unsure how to act around them. Much less show them. She just stood there, a sad look on her face.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

Sidney had been hard at work for the last few days. He had hired a crew of people to assist in fixing the Trinity. She was going to need it. The support beams of the ship were damaged parts had fallen off everywhere. The ship wasn't going to fly not for a while still, but some how Rider had actually paid them He had transfered funds in to Sidney's account.

Sidney had been doing his best to help Art get things in working order mainly he was running around getting everything Art needed to get the engine gong again. It seemed Art was on the right track but even with the engine going the ship still needed repairs to be spaceworthy.

As the day grew later though the crews went home and the Trinity was still standed. Sidney went to check on Kalli who hadn't shown her face since this all went down. Her hatch to her room was left open. She had finally come out. with a bit of searching he heard her voice and what sounded like crying coming from the galley. When he came closer he saw Tari at the door and then meilin and Kalli inside. He walked up to just behind Tari and looked in.

He gave a nod to Tari when she finally did notice him. He wanted to do something but there was little that could be done. He took a few steps back in to the hallway and leaned on the wall. This wasn't the kind of thing he was good at helping with and it was probibly best he stay out of the way.

[meilinalbright]

Kalli surprised Meilin. She'd gotten wrapped up in her letter, trying to explain things to her mother without making her worry too much. Meilin wasn't sure what so say to Kalli at first. She didn't know what the girl needed to hear. As soon as Kalli started to look like she was going to leave though, she stepped around the counter. But then Kalli was grabbed Meilin in a hug and she could feel herself starting to cry in response to Kalli's tears. "Oh, Kalli." She hugged her tightly, rubbing her back in a comforting gesture. "You don't need to apologize." Was that why she had been hiding in her room? Meilin felt terrible. Kalli should be feeling the farthest thing from guilty right now. "Nothin' was your fault, darling. "  

She spotted Tari over Kallis shoulder and smiled at her. It was good to see her recovering, but she still looked so sad. Meilin offered a hand, inviting her to join the hug if she wanted to. Apparently the kitchen was the place to be right now. She watched Sidney come into the room, only to leave uncomfortably a moment later. Too much emotion? "It's gonna get better Kalli. Things are gonna be ok"

[Kalli Ann Bernett]

Kalli didn't notice the others gathering, probably a good thing had she noticed she might have run back to her room with embarrassment. She wasn't a hard personality like the most of them. She had tried her best to seem that way especially with Sidney around, he was always so tough and had tried to condition her for life on a ship like this and to be honest she thought she had become harder, not to mention more skilled in portecting herself.

That obviously was proven to be false with everything that had happened. "Bu.. but had I been able to get out of their miyself.." She paused not being able to go on. She was glad Meilin didn't walk away from her. She though of her as a good friend at this point, but she wasn't sure that even that was enough to forgive her failure. "I should have tried harder. I shouldn't have gone on that jo... job."

She blamed herself for what had happened. She could have said no she wasn't ready but she refused to accept she wasn't able to do the job. SHe finally picked her head up from Meilin's shoulder, leaving a bit of a wet spot where her tears had landed. "I'm sure they all hate me for this. I.. I wouldn't blame them either." She was really hard on herself, but she had never been one to accept failure on her part. Her father had never left room for failure when she was a kid. Everything had to be perfect, and for the most part that is how she felt too.

That is also why she hadn't seen him since the uprising. She had failed then too. She had joined the uprising, lead a group of people her age to fight the Alliance, at least try, and it ended with her mothers death. She ran away then and never looked back, her father wouldn't have accepted her failure there and she still hasn't either. Now here she is having don't it again and costed another life. "I failed everyone." She was no longer crying though she wanted to, for now though she had cried so much she couldn't anymore. Her eyes were red from the tears.

[Tari Gasha]

[[Sorry short presence for Tari but it ain't her kind of situation <3 yet]]

Tari had been in a daze when Sid approached, taking a moment to notice him. She gave him a very slight smile in response to his nod. It was as though she was frozen in place. Even when Meilin acknowledged her, the thief's jaw clenched tightly. She'd been invited to come in, but she didn't move.

Everyone was in a bit of poor shape in their own ways. The usual way Tari would deal with her emotions was out of the question, for quite a long time from the way Sakura talked about her injury. She'd have to figure out something non-physical to deal with things. Unfortunately despite part of her wanting to take Meilin up on her invitation, she just couldn't. Tari stared at the two women for a moment before she turned to leave.

[Roger Davis]

Roger was bored out of his mind. Trinity was dead on the ground, still being fixed up, and there was absolutely nothing for him to do. Everyone else at least had something to keep them occupied. The mechanics and pilot had the ship itself to fix along with the crews Sidney had hired to help. Sidney of course had oversight duties now as interim captain if not permanent captain. The medic's job would normally be dull but Sakura had a few patients to keep an eye on and watch their recovery. Meilin's job was the same as always. The ship being grounded didn't change anything. And Tari? Well, recovering from a bad wound would be enough to keep most people busy. And that's really all there was with James dead and their two temporary crew members gone.

But there's not much for a gunhand to do when there is no mission. At least when flying through space in between jobs he could plan for what was coming up. Here though there was absolutely nothing to do. Every weapon, whether his or not, had been cleaned and prepped at least once. All the weapons and ammo had also been inventoried, a mind numbing and largely unnecessary task. He'd also reread his small library. Roger had also been exercising as much as he could and then even practiced his craft the best one can without firing a gun inside the ship. Luckily being on the ground helped with both of those activities.

All that was left to do was socialize to avoid going insane from boredom. He figured Meilin was the best bet to not be busy or at least not be too busy. Even if she was busy or hated his guts, Roger figured she's too good natured to turn him away. Approaching the galley, Roger was surprised to see Sid and Tari just out in the hallway. The gunhand opened his mouth to speak but stopped mid-thought as he judged the expressions of the two and then faintly overheard the conversation in the other room. No, this was probably not a great time to go to the kitchen for a friendly chat afterall.

Well, it was fairly good news though. Roger hadn't seen Kalli in days and it wasn't because she was working nonstop with Art. The whole experience was probably extremely traumatic for her. Getting kidnapped by slavers, all that fighting, and then James dying on top of it all. Sidney, a seasoned war veteran and tough S.O.B. nearly had a breakdown back on New Canaan before they went to rescue Kalli. Sid wasn't the one in danger and nobody had even died yet but it was still enough to get to him. And then of course there was what happened once James died. Kalli was really still just a kid that was closer to it all than any of them. A reaction like hers was almost expected and no one could fault her for it.

Roger isn't exactly the cry on my shoulder type. Sure, he'd be there with his shoulder if it was needed but Meilin seemed to have this one under control. Besides, he was more likely to comfort Kalli in the same way he tried to calm Sidney down back when he was threatening to kill Cadan; by providing a well reasoned argument that basically called the person's line of thinking completely stupid and unreasonable. That might not be the best course of action at least at this time. A few days or even weeks into the future when Kalli is getting over it though still lingering on the subject he might have a chat with her about not only why she should let go of those feelings but also why she shouldn't even feel that way in the first place.

For now Roger reasoned, as he often did, that it was best to say nothing. He simply leaned up against the wall next to Sidney who had probably reasoned something vaguely similar about the situation.

"So... at least she's talking." Roger said in almost a whisper.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

Sidney stood there and listened for a bit, his thoughts drifting to everyone in the crew. They had gone through a real rough patch as of lately culminating in the death of James. Kalli had gone through the trama of being kidnapped and feeling powerless. Tari had been shot but luckily was recovering. Everyone else had been through a fire fight or two, nothing they couldn't handle but emotions run high from that.

Tari turned to walk off but before she could Sidney grabbed on to her forearm and stopped her. "Your part of this crew now you know. We don't walk out on each other." He told her, though the comment could applie to what is happening with Kalli right now she would know he is talking about her leaving. She had mentioned leaving when she was in the infirmary and Sidney would have told her then but she wouldn't have remembered. No now was the time he thought to make sure she knew. "None of us give up on each other." Then he let her go so she could decide for herself what to do.

Shortly after Roger walked up the hallway and to where they were. Sidney could tell he was about to go in till he saw what was going on in the kitchen. "It's a good first step. I regret the way I acted before we went and got her." This was Sidney's best attempt to apologize for his action. It wasn't really going to get better then that. To be honest he didn't feel bad about his actions and odds were he would do it the same if he could have a second run at it, but he did realize there his actions weren't needed the way they happened.

[Tari Gasha]

When tari went to leave she was caught by surprise by sid, at least it had bee her good arm. She tried to glare at his words but did a poor job of it. She knew exactly what he was talking about, she remembered her words while she had been only semi-awake. The plan hadn't changed, tati still planned on leaving, it was for the best. Before the shock of everything wore off of the crew and could change hr opinion of them. She wanted to go before any of them showed their dislike of her. The memory of the thief's time on the trinity should be left at the mostly good.

"I'm just a passenger sid, have been since I got on board on osiris. Passengers don't stay forever." she whispered the words to him after he had let her go. The words were a bit harsh, but his had been too. Except there was an obvious lie showing on her face. There was pain too, emotional. Tari did think of herself as crew and she didn't want t leave, but she had to. She left before sidney could call her on anything else.

[meilinalbright]

"Kalli, look at me." Meilin made sure that she was making eye contact before she continued. "No one blames you. We were betrayed, that's why things went wrong." She grabbed the cleanest dishtowel she saw and offered it to Kalli to dry her tears. "I don't see how anyone could have made it out of that mess without help." That huen dan must have really messed with her head. 

Kalli's assurance that everyone hated her appalled Meilin. "How could I hate you? How could anyone hate you? It's just the opposite. We love you, Kalli. You think we would have come after you so fast if we didn't?"

[Roger Davis]

Roger was surprised by Sid's apology about their little conflict over killing Cadan or not. It was certainly odd hearing him get right to the point but Roger also thought that had already been settled before they got to planning the rescue. Either it was eating at Sidney or he simply valued his relationship with Roger enough to make sure that things were okay between them. The entire thing might even be a lie and he has no regret, something Roger could respect, but it was the gesture of apologizing that was important.

"Forget it even happened. There's no need to apologize." He replied, echoing Sidney's own remark back when it happened, that there was no need for Roger to apologize for speaking out against him.

"So, are we losing yet another?" Roger asked, looking off as Tari disappeared. She had begun to walk off just as Roger had arrived, there was apparently a back-and-forth between her and Sid. The ship had been so full just a few days ago. Since then one had died, two had left the ship, Kalli until recently had been a shut-in emotional wreck, and now it seemed like Tari was going to be gone too.

It had become apparent during the mission that she indeed had something to hide and that something was her skill and likely history as a thief. Roger certainly didn't approve of such an occupation but who was he to judge? He had killed hundreds in the war and since. Was it not also wrong, even worse to kill? If their last adventure had proved anything it was that Tari was a team player. Even Cadan, another thief, had stepped up to help the crew that hardly accepted him. The lines between morality and expectations certainly blurred in this line of work.

Aside from her 'profession' Roger actually liked Tari, from the first impression at the dinner table until now. He certainly hadn't trusted her but he liked her mostly for the same reasons he hadn't trusted her, her smarts, looks, determination... There was clearly so much more going on underneath. Now that the big secret was out in the open there was little reason for distrust. He knew what she was and she was smart enough to know not to ply her craft on-board. It was all speculation but Roger also felt like she wouldn't do that even if she could get away with it, thinking herself part of the crew. And who would Roger be to argue? She'd been shot for Trinity. That was enough to make her crew in his book.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

Sidney made no attempts to reply back to Tari as she walked off, he had a way with words that was for sure, unfortunatly it was completely the wrong way with them. For now she would need some time he would approch her again later and give it another go.

Sidney was glad Roger had forgiven his actions he was out of line and that was proven by Cadans willingness to stand up for a crew that seemed to be against him. Sidney still didn't like the kid but he was willing to accept that he may have misjudged him.

"I'm doing my best to keep this ship and her crew together, never know what we'll end up with I guess." He replied to rogers question about if Tari was leaving. He didn't know for sure but he was begining to belive that they were going to lose her too, and who knows how long it would take for Kalli to recover. That ment for now they were basicly down five members of the crew. Things were gonig to be rough for them for a while.

[Kalli Ann Bernett]

Kalli finally lifted her head up to look at Meilin as she had asked her to. Her eyes were red and he cheeks soked. Kalli grabbed the dishtowel from her and wiped her face. SHe made valid points but it was still hard for Kalli to accept what had happened and thet it wasn't at least partially her fault. "Thank you Meilin." Was all she was able to muster before she felt like she was going to cry agian.

But this time she wasn't going to let the tears fall again. She walked over to the table and took a seat. She took a deep breath and looked around. Meilin was proving herself to be a real friend. Though Kalli hadn't realized it completely yet the who crew were her friends people who cared about her and showed it in their own ways. She saw Sidney and Roger outside the door, just standing there watching. For a second she was embarrised by the two of them seeing this but then it hit her that they were there because they cared. She tried to bring a smile, even though it was half hearted, across her face. "I'm sorry, I'm such a wreck." She said with the tiniest hint of a laugh to it. She couldn't help but say sorry about everything.

[meilinalbright]

"We're all a little messed up right now. Nothing to be sorry about."Meilin patted the girl's shoulder. She seemed to have cried herself out for the time being. That always made Meilin feel better, just getting all the tears out. Kalli noticed Sidney and Roger lurking in the hallway, but she didn't seem to mind them much. Meilin wasn't sure how long they had been out there listening. She rolled her eyes. "You two stop your skulkin' in the hallway and come in." She waved in the boys. Meilin returned to the stove to finish the pie, quickly pouring the filling in a pan and placing the crust on top of it. The whole thing went in the oven and she returned to the table with the hot tea kettle.

Something soothing seemed like a good idea. Meilin fetched the rest of the tea things, bringing them to the table and taking a seat beside Kalli. "Lavender tea. I think we all can relax a little bit, don't ya?"