No Longer Drifting Souls[Open to Crew]

[roxanne]

Roxanne was given the bunking quarters closest to the pit in case something happened when she was in bed-so she could quickly get up and to the pit without a hubbub of rushing past people. After she dropped her things off in the quarters she made her way up to the cockpit to get herself acquainted with the Oralndo. It was a process for her. A beautiful one that involved pure silence and no words. The great thing about her father and other pilots is they prepared her for any equipment she would to handle along the way. Though her father never expected her to handle anything else then his ship.

She stood in the pit for a moment-simply taking in the silence. Then, she began to meet the ship she would be flying. She sat in the seat and stared at the console-and the panel behind her. Roxanne knew the buttons, but most were in different places then she was used. It was taking her time to get used to the new positions. That was alright though. It wouldn’t take much but her first take off with her. The Orlando. Oh how her father would be angry with Roxanne for choosing a different ship over the family one. Maybe she’d send her mother a wave at some point in time.

With a deep breath in, she took in the scent of the Orlando. Old ship smell, but at the same time invigorating and new. She pushed away from the seat and ran her hand over the console as she moved to the view of the window that would soon hold the sight of the beautiful space. The stars and black she loved so much. Her eyes drifted closed as she took in everything all at once. The Orlando. A Firefly class ship. Nothing more perfect for her first ship outside her fathers.

[georgewest]

The doctor pulled up on his mule. It was probably a weird sight to see a man in an expensive suit driving a rusted piece of junk full of medical supplies but he didn't really mind. He was happy that he was going to be back in the air after so much time on the dirt. He pulled in to the cargo area and quickly unloaded everything off to the side. He already had a buyer for his mule but it would still be a few minutes until he came by to pick it up.

George slowly walked through the ship and to the medical bay where he would be spending some time. He had brought his largest bag with him so that he could begin stocking up. The dermal mender was two heavy just to carry so he would need to find out if there was a dolly on board so he could wheel it on some of the flat areas. He bought some things into into the drawers and looked around. It was a pretty standard infirmary and would fit the needs of the small crew.

I wonder if any of the other crew members are here yet he thought as he walked up the stairs toward the Bridge. He passed through the dining hall without taking much notice. He hadn't asked Ben which bunk he'd be in but he would probably want one over here so he could be near the rest of the crew or maybe he should be nearer to the infirmary. It was the captains decision after all.

He began looking back toward the hallway and into the dining area as he climbed backward into the bridge. He wasn't even paying much attention when he walked in.

[roxanne]

Roxanne was an unorthodox pilot. Mainly because she was a woman. Another reason was the fact that she was a woman. And another was it was she learned to fly with her father and any pilots he hired. It was slightly unorthodox. Her entire family worked on the ship together doing something. It limited jobs. Also the reasons for her getting to where she is now. Her and her father had butted heads on Nathaniel’s death. It was the reason she now closed off her heart to love. Most people-especially older men and women-she met seemed to find that strange for such a young women. It’s just how she now decided to be.

As her eyes finally opened she turned and noticed the medic had joined her. With a slight jump she chuckled it off. “Whoa! Scared me for a second.” Roxanne moved and plopped into the pilot’s seat and spun it around a few times. “I assume your all settled in if your exploring? Or exploring before you settle in?” She was an open and friendly person. Roxanne loved to chat with new people and sometimes that had gotten her into trouble in the past. Despite that, she still continued to chat with new people that crossed her path. Especially ones she would be working on.

At last she settled the chair to face to face West as another warm curve found a way to her face. “Mind me asking where you trained?” He was a medic-he had to have trained somewhere. Even if it was just in his travels through the Verse.

[georgewest]

West was startled by the voice behind him. He hadn't been paying attention and he didn't notice anyone was in the bridge.

“I assume your all settled in if your exploring? Or exploring before you settle in?” she said

West noticed that she was smiling, a smile was a rare sight in this verse especially in the part of it...unless you were part of the nobility but he couldn't be sure they were happy either. He was thinking about her question and how to answer when she said

“Mind me asking where you trained?”

West had a tendency to talk fast when he was either nervous or reminiscing. It was a strange habit but it never caused too many problems.

I'm kinda exploring and settling in at the same time. I brought a few things to the infirmary and then came up here. It's nice to see you again. As far as training, I did that on Arieal where my first job was as a surgeon slash diagnostician at St. Lucy's. But I think my real training happened when I was hopping the border planets dispensing medical help to those who needed it." he said with only one breath. He wasn't quite sure why he was talking fast this time. Was it the reminiscing or did Roxanne make him nervous for some reason. He knew that she was good looking but there was something about the continuous smile that he had never seen before.

Making sure he spoke slower this time so as not to make himself look completely ridiculous he asked, "How about you, settling in?...and where where'd you learn to fly?" He asked the questions with genuine interest. Luckily the nervousness was beginning to go away as he stood there.

[roxanne]

Roxanne had seen a lot of death and grief and hardship traveling the border. But through it all she had learned that sometime’s a kind and genuine smile was what someone needed. There were days things just go to her though and depending on how bad they were she went to a darker place-one where she didn’t talk, didn’t smile and all she wanted to do was lay in bed or be held by someone. The being held by someone was impossible now, but that’s what her mother had bought her a bear for a couple years-in case there was no one to hold her. Aside from those days Roxanne was always smiling.

Roxanne pulled her left knee up to hug it to her chest. As she set her foot on the chair, her chin rested on top of the knee. She listened to West with interest. He seemed to be rambling but it was in an intriguing way. It seemed he was more then skilled to work out here with them. “Wow. Did you volunteer to help dispense the supplies or was it something you just wanted to do?” She had met a couple doctors along the way who pretty much had no choice but to go out and help. Though she wasn’t sure if that was the case-because he was no longer in Ariel-that that may not be the case.

As he asked her a couple questions she shrugged, but a faint smile didn’t really leave her lips. “I just dropped everything off in my quarters then came up here to get acquainted with the Orlando here.” Fingertips trailed lightly across the console where her right hand rested. Her smile faded for just a second and then reappeared. “My papa and a couple pilots we’ve had in the past showed me how to fly. He owns his own ship. It’s where I was before here.” Roxanne let her hand stop moving as she set it flat down. Eventually they had to head back planet-side for Ben to go talk to someone and she didn’t want to unpack until they were in the air. She feared the waterworks that might come forth when she saw Nathaniel’s things. Instinctively, her thumb turned the diamond ring on her right ring finger-the one Nathaniel had planned to give her.

“Any family your leaving behind? Or is that too personal?” She had a problem of not knowing when certain questions were too personal or not. Obviously some things like someone’s sex life or their bathroom problems were way too personal. Other things she couldn’t decipher what was too personal and what wasn’t.

[georgewest]

It wasn't always that way but George could pick up on things pretty well as far as conversations go. He saw Roxanne's smile fade for a split second and how she looked at the ring on her finger. He knew that she couldn't be engaged or married or she most likely wouldn't be flying off to the farthest corners of the verse. Her past was something she obviously didn't want to talk about so West decided he would wait for her to bring it up...even if it took a while. West put on a slight smile, he never really smiled wide but rather had a small upward curvature of his lips that showed that he was in a good mood.

"No I don't have any family, my parent's died when I was young," he paused for a second before continuing. "They were miners on Paradisio and they both got Bowden's..." He paused and looked down for a second before answering her first question, "As far as why I traveled, I realized that Ariel had enough doctors and the border didn't so I felt it was something I should do. Since then the only place I stayed for any length of time was here on Persephone and I never took the time to make any friends. The best friends I've had are either dead or war buddies who probably don't even remember the medic" The half-smile had left his face by this point. He hadn't meant for this conversation to get dark. He also didn't think he was going to reveal that much about his life to someone who was essentially a stranger.

He wasn't talking fast for some reason that he couldn't quite tell, maybe he was actually thinking about his past rather than just reciting it. He always did that accept for a few occasions and those were the times he made life altering decisions such as moving from Paradisio, or leaving Ariel, it even happened when he joined the war. It hadn't happened since then, which is why the war never had a large effect on him. He came out the same person he was going in.

"Well...a guy is coming to buy my old mule any minute now...so i better go meet him," he started to turn around when he remembered something, "You haven't seen a dolly around here, have you? some of my supplies are really heavy." Real smooth West thought sarcastically

[roxanne]

Roxanne only wore the ring out of sentiment. While she had been in love with him, sometimes she wondered if things were for the best. It obviously got her off her parents ship. But also they had talked about marriage and a family of their own. It was also out of respect and the fact that aside from photographs it was the last piece of him she had that she could keep close. Until she saw his family and saw what they wanted and what they wanted her to keep.

Roxanne bowed her head in respect. “I’m sorry. I lost someone too.” She was thankful everyday to have both her parents alive and well-even if she really didn’t talk to her father much lately. At some point they would fix things but right now they both needed time to think about things and Roxanne to get away from painful memories. Three years of memories with Nathaniel plus other lovers on that ship. Many fights with her family and even the better memories were beginning to get to her as well. Roxanne just needed time to grow on her own.

It was fascinating hearing about his reasoning for leaving Ariel. So many doctor’s preferred to stay in their nice, high paying jobs all stuck up and proud. West seemed to be different. He was a doctor that really cared. While there were doctor’s that cared out there, not many traveled out to the border planets and moons-nor traveled about in general. “I bet the ones whose lives you saved remember you. They may not remember your name or your face right off, but they remember you.” As she tilted her head in thought, she looked West up and down. He was well dressed like a doctor but just as vulnerable and misfit as anyone out there about the black. “Well if were all here for as long as Ben wants us, there’s plenty of time to get to know people and make friends with this crew.”

Roxanne jumped up from her seat. She still had her dolly. It was just around the corner since it was foldable and that‘s how she got it up the stairs for her trunk. It was bound to come into use on this ship at some point! “Yeah I have mine. Give me a second.” Due to her being barefoot Roxanne had to run down to her quarters to grab her shoes. As she grabbed the flips flops, she made her way back up the ladder quickly. “Need any help? I’m done up here for the time being if you’d like a hand.” Roxanne leaned forward to slip on the shoes before pulling out the dolly for West. It was tucked behind a couple things so it was out of the way until she asked Ben where he wanted it in case it was needed.

[georgewest]

"Yeah, I have to move the dermal mender to the infirmary and one person can't really lift it, I'd just need help to get it down from the back of my mule," West said. He was glad that she was willing to help because the mule's buyer would be here any minute. He was the same guy that had told him to go to O'Hanrahan's in the first place, also known as the gunshot victim. Apparently the guy was getting his own ship and couldn't afford a hovering one so west gave him a good deal. The guy seemed like an good guy, he hated the alliance and wished he had fought with the independents.

"I also got this really shiny target practice game as a gift from a patient once. It hovers and moves around that detects the light emitted from the practice gun. But it's not heavy" West only accepted gifts from those he didn't like and most of the time those people were crime bosses or prominent figures in the Alliance. He often found it hard to distinguish between the two. He bagan walking through the corridor when he realized something.

"Here, do you want me to carry that?" he said referring to the dolly. He was asking her to help him with something heavy but he still thought it was good practice to act like a gentleman, if it wasn't too late.

[roxanne]

Roxanne wasn’t really sure what a dermal mender was but she wouldn’t put that out there. The medic they had on their ship had a lot simpler items. He had basic immunizations, adrenaline, wrap kits as well as various other things that were too much to list. With a shrug, she figured it wasn’t a bit deal to not know what it was. “I don’t mind helping. Not much for me to do until we take off so I don’t mind helping out at all.” Aside from that, she was used to helping lift plenty of heavy items.

“Sounds like that’d be a lot safer then shooting our guns about the ship and risk putting a hole in the hule.” Now she was intrigued at this practice game he had. Her family used to only practice when on the ground. It got rather interesting because sometimes whoever hired them would show up. Then things sometimes got hairy as well.

Roxanne looked at the dolly in thought. She had gotten it up the stairs earlier with only some difficulty. Though she didn’t look well built, she was enough to get by. “Um I was fine earlier. But you can help me if you want.” She tilted it on it’s side so the wheels turned just a bit and slide it along the grated floor. “You know where your sleeping yet? Or you going to be a creepy doctor who sleeps on the exam table.”

[georgewest]

As they went down the stairs, dolly now in West's hands, he answered, Neither surprisingly, I haven't found out which room yet. Although being the creepy doctor does have its he appeals." He laughed slightly to signify the joke and continued down.

"Yeah, the practice game came from an Alliance Lieutenant who wanted to keep insure that certain secrets were kept and not filed officially," West smiled at this, the guy probably could have just asked him nicely but instead immediately went for the bribe. It amazed him how these alliance guys think sometime.

When the got to his mule, West pointed out the mender, it was about two feet tall and a foot and a half wide but a lot of weight was packed into it. he had only used it once and that was to reattach the end of someone's finger so he knew that it worked. He set up the dolly nearby and got onto the heavier side of the machine. "If you wouldn't mind getting that side, we can bring it straight onto the dolly."

[roxanne]

Roxanne had to peer over the dolly and West to make sure they weren’t going too fast and didn’t trip over anything. She whistled in-between their conversation. “Well I’m sure Ben will show you either before or after take off. If you ask nicely he may do it before so you can settle in. I’m waiting to settle until after.” Her own reasoning’s that didn’t need to be shared right off. A chuckle peeked through her whistle as West added on to her joke. At least she was getting along with West and Ben from earlier.

Her eyes rolled a little. High official Alliance and their bribes. Yet when it came to the things people did out on the rim of the Verse they’d get into trouble. Where was that fair? Obviously she knew the system wasn’t fair but it didn’t mean she still couldn’t be angry about it. “Well at least it was something useful.”

The dolly was set on the ground and she unfolded it so the handles popped up to push it with ease. Deciding her sandals might slide, she kicked the off before climbing in the mule barefoot. “No problem.” She bent down with her knees to grab her end knowing it was better for her back. When she was told she lifted it with some strain-she wasn’t superwoman after all. “What’s this for exactly anyways?” Ok now she was curious.

[georgewest]

They set the mender down onto the dolly. "It's for fixing skin and other major injuries like that, it can even reattach an ear," he explained as he began to wheel the device. "It can also some muscle damage. I hope it'll never have to be used."

George looked at his watch for a second, the mule buyer should be there any second now. He wheeled it over to the side and then went back and pulled some of his other belongings such as his suitcase, medicine, and other various medical supplies onto the ground nearby. "Thanks for all your help, Roxanne"

He looked out the cargo bay when he saw the man stop. He was blond and wearing some rough looking clothes, canvas overalls and jeans complete with a dirty t-shirt that George wasn't sure quite what its original color was.

[robertborden]

Captain Borden walked down the docks until he got to the black firefly. It was a nice-ish looking ship but not nearly as good as the usual Alliance ship. Now he had to play the poor independent sympathizer who just got his own ship part. It as basically the role he had been in for a year now, but he was just now getting his own ship. He had his arm in a sling after being shot at O'Hanrahan's. He hated that place and all who frequented it but it was all for the good of the alliance. Plus, it gave him an excuse to get a lead on an independent medic who was now going off-world on a firefly. These ships were perfect for smuggling and this could be the perfect first lead.

The alliance would have given him a mule but this way, he might be able to get a slight profile on the crew of this ship. He saw West and the mule so he went up to him. How's it going doctor? Do you need a few minutes to get that mule ready?

"No, we just got it unloaded, it's all yours," West replied.

Borden then turned toward the young woman, she appeared to be in her mid twenties. "Hi miss, the name's Borden, Captain of the Horizon."

[benbarrow]

Ben strapped the last of the food boxes together, in order for them not to move during flight. Ben may have been the captain, but he didn't mind doing some hard work as well. His grandfather always used to say that hard work makes one humble, and Ben saw no need not to help his new crew out prepping for take-off.

When he saw Roxanne and George unloading the heavy dermal mender, Ben made some haste strapping the boxes together so he could give them a hand as well. After all, unloading the dermal mender was one thing, getting it in the medbay was another.

As Ben looked over to the entrance of the cargobay, where Roxanne and George were, Ben saw a face that looked familiar. A man who was wearing a sling around his arm had joined them, and Ben recognized the man as one that got shot in O'Hanrahan's a week ago after getting into trouble by a couple of Independent war veterans. Ben didn't know what had actually happened, but from what he saw he figured the guy must've talked some good about the Alliance.

"George must've patched that character up after he got shot." Ben thought. "Better be careful around that guy. If he did what I think he did, this guy could cause more trouble for us than he's worth."

Ben walked over to the entrance of the cargobay, to where his crewmembers and the man in the sling stood.

"George, this man here the buyer of your mule?" Ben asked, hoping George would introduce him to what looked a former patient of his.

[roxanne]

Roxanne nodded in recognition of what it did. It would be helpful if a shooting went down and someone needed something to be reattached. As they set it down carefully she smiled-as always-warmly. “No problem. I don’t mind helping.” She made sure his things were out of the way in case the mule kicked back when the new owner went to drive it out.

Roxanne couldn’t help but be friendly with the guy. “Roxanne. Pilot of this here Orlando.” Roxanne turned to see Ben standing there. Things seem to be going well so for now she kicked back and sat on a near by box. She was still putting off unpacking her things. As she twirled the diamond on her right hand it had taken her two months to look at it without breaking down. It still hurt her to look at the pictures or smell his cologne or look at his clothing. These were all things to have his parents to sort through and figure out what they wanted. That’s when Roxanne had the courage and time to see them. They sent waves to each other about two to three times a month.

“When we taking off Ben?” She was anxious to fly again and it showed in the way she seemed to almost bounce a little in her question.