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Post by Juliet Harwood on May 20, 2013 0:19:03 GMT -5
Ariel was like nothing she had seen before. Whitefall had been taken up by little towns and ranches, and what she saw of Haven had been much the same but with fewer ranches. Ariel shone. The people bustling about were dressed in fine clothes that Juliet would hardly have dared wear to a party, and her gaze darted from one building to another in wonder.
She had gotten off the Mei Hua as quickly as possible, both to get away from the ship and to get Victoria off of it. The rest of the trip had been quiet, but it had been the sort of quiet that felt like a fight was about to break out. Miller had tried to be cheerful, but whenever Victoria and Captain Lee had been in the same room, even he fell silent.
Juliet had found herself chatting with him after meals. She told him about Preston and the ranch she would have on Whitefall, and he told her about wrestling with wild animals when he got shore leave. He even showed her a few scars on his arms. When she asked Harris, the pilot said that most of the stories were true but that Miller hadn't really wrestled with a bear. Before Juliet could dismiss that story, however, she learned that the "bear" had been a drunk man with two knives.
Her bag sat by her foot, and she lifted it. "Have you ever seen anything like it?" she asked. "I hardly know where to start."
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on May 21, 2013 11:39:09 GMT -5
As soon as she heard they were close, Victoria packed up her bags and had them sitting at the exit, so looking forward to getting off this ship, she was. She had kept to herself, aside from talking with Juliet, for the remainder of the trip, often times even eating alone. It just didn't feel right being on this ship, though traveling was what she wanted to do.
She was just as quick off the ship as Juliet was, and just as astounded by the sheer size and beauty of it. "Never," she answered. "I'm guessing that it's like any other rock as far as information goes. Bars?" she shrugged. "Got to find a place to bed down anyways," she continued.
She was sure that her friend noticed, but Victoria didn't even look back at the ship after they left. It wasn't worth the effort, and she knew the captain was glad to have them gone.
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Post by Juliet Harwood on May 23, 2013 0:55:54 GMT -5
"That's true." Juliet picked up her bag and headed into town. "It'll be nice to have proper gravity for a change." She couldn't help smiling a little when she realized that she would have proper food as well. Since they were on a Core planet, they wouldn't even need to have supplements with their meals. She had hated having to eat supplements during winter and years when there weren't enough crops for her father to sell and keep enough for the family to eat.
The knowledge that they were in the Core reminded Juliet of something she had been trying to put off thinking about. "The places to stay will probably be more expensive, won't they? I mean, this doesn't look like the sort of planet to have cheap little inns."
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on May 23, 2013 11:49:34 GMT -5
Victoria looked around at Juliet's observation. She was likely right, and she was sure that between the two, they might be a little short. "We should find the cheapest looking one that we can," she said with a helpless shrug.
"Then we need to start asking around. Maybe we can get this done in a day or two and minimize out cost. Just a thought, I could be wrong," she shrugged again, scrunching up her face.
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Post by Juliet Harwood on May 24, 2013 0:21:19 GMT -5
"Sounds like as good an idea as any," Juliet said. She would prefer to get the job over with quickly as well, but for a different reason. The sooner she found Preston, the more likely it was that he was still alive.
"Christopher Owen," she mused quietly as they walked down the street. A few people gave them strange looks, but Juliet's glare was enough to make most quickly look away. "I hope he's in this general area." She had never traveled without at least a little money on her, and she wasn't sure she would be able to travel on nothing.
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on Jun 6, 2013 16:25:02 GMT -5
(OOC: i apologize for the time it took me to post this time. work has been really busy lately)
Victoria looked around, staying ever vigilant as the two passed through the general populace. The two of them were obviously fish out of water. She wasn't going to let anyone take advantage of that. She pointed to one of the bars on the left hand side of the street. "That one looks pretty run down. Maybe we should give that one a shot."
She looked at her friend and shrugged. It looked like it would probably be the cheapest of the bars at least. Maybe they could find a cheap room. She had no idea what she was doing now. She hoped the two of them would be able to wing it as best as possible. "What do you think?"
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Post by Juliet Harwood on Jun 6, 2013 23:18:39 GMT -5
The bar looked nicer than the finest thing Juliet had seen on Whitefall (though not by much), but it was still plain compared to what she saw on Ariel. "It's the best thing I've seen so far," she said. She was still a little nervous about paying, but she thought perhaps mentioning Joel's name would make someone notice. Whether it was the right kind of noticing, she still wasn't sure.
She slipped into the bar. It was clean, and the people in it were clean, and Juliet felt out of place even here. She had washed her clothes as best she could on the Mei Hua, but she knew they were still obviously worn and something a ranchhand would wear. Even so, she lifted her chin as she strode to a man with a rather pinched face.
"Excuse me," she said, not sounding at all like she wished to be excused, "would you be able to give us a room here?"
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on Jun 9, 2013 14:49:07 GMT -5
Victoria followed behind her friend. This was the most run down of the bars they had seen, but that wasn't saying much. It was still the fanciest place she had ever been in. She did her best not to be overwhelmed by it.
She kept her head low, her hat covering her eyes, but stayed near to Juliet, her hand ready to go to her gun should it come to that. She hadn't bothered to put any extra effort into her clothes. If people were going to look down on her then that was their problem, not hers. She didn't care anything about that.
She waited for the man's response, making a mental note to make fun of his face later on with Juliet.
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Post by Juliet Harwood on Jun 9, 2013 16:07:01 GMT -5
The man looked them over suspiciously. "Sure," he said, "I've got rooms. But can you pay?"
"Perhaps not the full price you're asking," Juliet said. "We're willing to work." Before the man could suggest anything, she added, "Cleaning, and the like. I'm a decent cook."
"Fine," he said. "But don't let word get around that I hand out rooms. It's only because you look so young." He passed them a key.
Juliet's cheeks grew hot, but she managed to keep her temper under control. "Thank you," she said tightly. "One more thing. Have you heard of a man named Christopher Owen?"
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on Jun 17, 2013 9:10:41 GMT -5
Victoria stayed behind Juliet still. She didn't like having to work for the room, but that was just the way it would have to be. She really didn't like the glances she was getting from some of the men in the bar. Sure, she was pretty enough to be a companion, but that didn't mean she wanted to be, and the eyes leering on her made her feel like that was what they were thinking.
Instinctively her hand went to her gun, but she was careful not to pull it from it's holster. She listened to her friend talking to the keeper, and she could almost feel the girl's anger at the man for his young comment. Seemed they were both on edge now. She waited for the man to answer about Christopher Owen now.
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Post by Juliet Harwood on Jun 17, 2013 10:12:55 GMT -5
"You must be from offworld," the man said. "What, are you from the Rim? There's no one on Ariel who hasn't heard of Christopher Owen."
Curses ran through Juliet's mind in Chinese and English. Of course Joel would have sent Preston after someone important. "Well, I haven't," she said testily, "and it's none of your business where I come from. Who's Christopher Owen?"
"No need to snap, little girl," the man said. "He's an Alliance official. Some people say he got his break at the Battle of Serenity Valley, but he's mostly known for bringing down some criminal named Rogers. Anya Rogers, I think she was called."
"Thank you," Juliet said. She made sure not to smile. "I'll come down here later to see what kind of work I can do." She palmed the key and headed for their room.
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on Jun 19, 2013 12:14:53 GMT -5
So they had to go find an Alliance official. Of course it had to be Alliance dealings. Victoria's eyes closed in frustration when she heard that. Whether Juliet saw that or not she didn't know. She followed her friend up the stairs and to the room.
Victoria tossed her pack on one of the beds and sat down. She pulled her gun from her holster and checked to make sure it was loaded again. She was obviously uneasy, and made no attempts to hide it.
"So what's our next move?"
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Post by Juliet Harwood on Jun 19, 2013 16:53:33 GMT -5
Juliet heard her friend's question, but she didn't respond at first. Instead, she looked down at her bag and tapped her lip. "Rogers," she muttered. "Rogers... Anya Rogers." The last name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it at first. It was probably a common name and one she had heard often enough on Whitefall, but for some reason that didn't seem why she remembered it so strongly. She shook her head. It probably didn't matter.
"I figure we should find out what we can about Owen. He's Alliance, which means it will be easy to find something about him, I hope. We find him, we'll likely find Preston."
She didn't add that they might find out that Preston had been killed. That option was completely unavailable, even if she had to fight reality with sheer force of will.
"We should ask around for him, too," Juliet added. She saw that Victoria had been checking her gun. "Don't worry. The Core can't be as dangerous as Whitefall or Haven, even if Joel..." She stopped. "Oh," she said softly. "Oh, that son of a bitch."
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Post by Victoria Angel Paulsen on Jun 21, 2013 18:45:21 GMT -5
Victoria laid back on the bed as her friend seemed to be talking and mulling about the woman's name. It sounded as if she was familiar with the name. She looked over at her again as she answered the question she'd asked. She continued to play with her gun.
"Yeah, that makes sense. It's probably gonna seem kinda odd though, raise a few eyebrows if you know what I mean. Two girls looking for an Alliance official? I don't know, just thinking. But you're right, we find him we'll find Preston too."
She almost jumped up from her spot when it looked like Juliet realized something. "What? What is it?"
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Post by Juliet Harwood on Jun 21, 2013 22:27:08 GMT -5
"Rogers," she said. "Joel Rogers. He must've been related to Anya somehow." Juliet began pacing. "Sure, it's a common name, but there's no way this is a coincidence. That son of a bitch sent Preston out for revenge."
She was tempted to say that now it was personal, but that would put her in the same position Joel was in: going after someone because he had hurt someone she loved. Sure, she was probably justified, but that didn't mean it would be a good idea. Besides, it would only get her even more wrapped up in this, when all she wanted was to go home.
"Fine," she said quietly, almost forgetting Victoria was in the room. "I'm going after Owen. If it's the best way to find Preston, I'll go after him. But I'll do it the way that pleases me. And if Joel has a problem with that, he can come to Whitefall."
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