Stupid Alliance, Stupid Companions

[stoot]

OOC: This thread is a reminder that we don't ahve to stick to the strict timeline! We can still make threads that surpass the whitefall one, which is currently at a stand-still since Corey is computerless and I don't know where Lyn is. xD
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Ever since the close-call at Whitefall, which had ended in a brief shootout with Patience followed by a near-capture by the Alliance, the Atlas (and probably the Riley, too) had not touched ground.

It had been a month.

Lots of bickering amongst shipmates had ensued. There were many 'but we need jobs!'s and 'we're running low on rations!'s, but had those complaints forced Ryan to see light and touch ground? NO. His paranoia had caused him to be careless, it seemed.

Stoot was now, as the Atlas finally landed for the first time in a month, on Sihnon. The ship was not parked here because of any jobs or any shopping opportunities, oh no. It was because of Ursula.

Not only did Daniel Stoot and Ursula Garvel not get along, but there seemed to be an unspoken war between them, a war over who could better reach Ryan. It killed Stoot's pride that Ursula had won this round.

The night previous, Ursula came storming into the kitchen.

"I just checked my radar, we're so close to Sihnon I'm surprised we can't touch it--" Stoot had added a 'You're welcome to reach out' here, but it went ignored. "--You put this ship down, Ryan Hannigan, I didn't rent out your shuttle just so I could hang out in it by myself. You park us, or you better never touch land again, because I'll disappear."

That threat seemed to have jolted Ryan out of his sickening paranoia of Alliance. What a good time to do it, too, since Sihnon was an alliance planet! But of course, what Ursie wants, Ursie gets. It frustrated Stoot to no end.

So, as the cargo hold of Atlas opened to reveal a much more refined world than Stoot had ever laid his eyes upon, his spirits were still a little damp. However, it was hard to stay mad when he stepped onto the ground, fully realizing that since Ursula needed to get laid, he was permitted to be free for a day.

"Well ," he said, adding low whistle to show the impression the tidy little street made upon him. "Ain't this the shiniest place I ever seen?"

[Ari Deschain]

Things had been tense on the Atlas since the job gone awry, and Ari had lost her temper more than a couple times, as had many of her fellow shipmates. It happened; they were all tramping in each others' space without any sort of breaks and with the constant stress brought on by the Cap's paranoia. The crew needed some space, and they were finally going to have a chance to do that. However, the place Ryan had touched down was not somewhere Ari would have chosen. A planet crawling with Alliance, right when they needed to stay hidden most? It didn't make sense.

The job at Whitefall had been a rollercoaster of emotions. Ari had had to reveal to everyone her disability; the only way she could concentrate fully on a job where guns were involved and there was a threat to her life, Ari had to wear her eyepatch. That had caused her some discomfort. No one seemed to mind, but she had always felt that revealing her disability was a weakness, and weakness was not something Ari tolerated from herself. Also, there was the shooting of their ally and friend, Sam, and the frantic escape from the Alliance. Sam was alright, and they seemed to have lost their tail, but it had been a stressful time.

It was Ursula who had convinced Ryan to land here. No surprise there. The relationship between her and Ryan wasn't hard to understand. Ari didn't like Ursula any more than she had when they first met, and she was sure Ursula felt the same about her. They were just too different. They kept their distance and tolerated each other, but this latest development had only reinforced Ari's dislike for the woman.

She passed up the rest of the crew and followed Stoot out into the sun, tying a bandana to hold her bangs out of her face. Catching him up just in time to hear the words he whispered, she looked around. Her eyes squinted in the light; it had been a long time out of the sun. "S'not so great." She mumbled. Morale on the ship had been pretty low, and even the friendly and irrepressible Stoot was being brought down. As Ari was becoming more attached to him, it was easy for her to get upset when he was in a bad mood. However, it was just as hard to stay down when she was tasting the first fresh air of the month. Raising her face to the sun, she finally cracked a smile. "Sure feels good ta get out, though."

[stoot]

Stoot smiled at Ari's appearance at his side, and he nodded in agreement at what she said. "Damn skippy," He replied, and the crew separated from Atlas for the first time in thirty days. It was funny, Stoot had to muse, that he felt so cramped from just thirty days. He had spent his whole life yearning to be in the sky, and while he loved the feeling, he also didn't like to sit in one spot for too long. Moderation is key. Nonetheless, he felt a little pang of guilt, as if he were insulting his home for wanting to be free of it for an afternoon. He blamed the mishap at Whitefall and the lack of booze and real food. At least his time with Ari on the ship had been enjoyable; it hadn't been romantic or gushy like he sometimes dreamed about at night, but they had a similar sense of humor and they laughed easily together, and could tease each other without becoming offended. The only thing Stoot didn't tease her about, in fact, was her bum-eye; he had an odd feeling that she was touchy about it. He decided not to say anything unless she said it first, which included teasing. If she could laugh, so could he. If she couldn't, then he most definitely wouldn't. Either way, it changed nothing of his opinion or view of her. So what if she couldn't see out of one eye? If anything, he was impressed that she could pull off walking straight without her sense of depth-perception.

Today he would go shopping for a good month's worth of meals so the crew would be able to eat without getting hungry again within the next hour. Also, cooking gave him something to do when he felt he should be doing something with himself on the ship. As it turned out, First Mate really only had a duty when they were on a job. He was also the ship's accountant (Stoot is surprisingly good with coin), but the same rule applied. And since one of those hadn't been around for a month...

"That twat, Ursula, really burns my griddle, but thank God her bitchin' was enough ter get us on ground," He told Ari as he reminisced of the public display of anger Ursula had shown Ryan at breakfast. Ari had been unofficially claimed as his partner for the day. Most of the other crew members had scurried off in different directions, leaving the blonde woman and the stocky man alone together. He had an empty burlap sack clutched in his hand, as a sort of re-usable grocery bag. "I ain't never seen so many shops in one spot a-fore," he observed as they walked along the strip, and Stoot stared shamelessly at the places, the people, the items in the windows. He had also never seen such high prices, but he was like a kid in a candy shop nonetheless.

"You might know a little more'n me about these places," He refrained from saying 'Alliance', since that would be fishy. Ari's sense of nonchalance with the scenery caused Stoot to assume that she wasn't a stranger to this sort of get-up. "If so, you go 'head n' lead the way, I don't know where the I'm goin'."

[Ari Deschain]

Glancing around, Ari was not very surprised to see the rest of the crew had scattered. They usually separated this way; Ari got along with the male members of the crew better than the women, and Stoot was her closest friend on the ship. Men tended not to judge as harshly as women, and in general she felt more comfortable around them. She and Stoot had spent a lot of time together recently, as he didn't have too many responsibilities this past month and Ari had only had to worry about maintenance and helping with chores. Their relationship was growing closer, but neither had made a move past flirtation. What was holding Ari back was not Stoot himself; she liked him. Therein lay the problem. All of her past relationships had been grounded on the facts that she was only a traveler, passing through, and each person she had been involved with had understood that. She had a feeling Stoot would not be okay with a quick fling, and was worried greatly about her own ability to carry on a healthy long-term relationship. Above all, she was thinking of Stoot-she had gotten to know him a lot better and she definitely didn't want to hurt his feelings by being a relationship train wreck. They got along very well, and although they teased each other about most everything, he seemed to know her well enough not to have teased her about her eye. She appreciated this small thing greatly.

Ari had already been on the Atlas for a month, which was coming close to the time she would usually head elsewhere. She did have a bit of an itch, especially with the lack of excitement and the high level of stress brought on from the last 30 days. But did she really want to stay groundless all her life? She had to lay roots somewhere, and she could think of no better place than the Atlas. Atlas was beautiful and perfect, and Ryan was a great Captain, despite his inexperience and liking of the Companion. Ari liked the other crew members, with the exception of Ursula, and Stoot was the backbone of her joy in the ship. When she thought about leaving and not ever seeing them again, her stomach clenched. It was obvious she had laid the groundworks for a permanent, or at least a long-term haul. She would stick it out for once, and see what life brought her.

She turned to him as he spoke, biting her lip. "I guess, but I wish it wasn't Sihnon they chose to park us on, yeah?" Personally she hadn't been there when it happened, and was sort of relieved she hadn't been in the kitchen at that moment. "I'm jus' glad I wasn't there to see her yellin' at the Capt'n like that." It was hard for Ari to reign in her temper around Ursula sometimes, especially when she disrespected the gorram Captain of the ship like that.

As he started down the street, she kept pace with him, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she glanced around, unimpressed. He mentioned that she might know better than him how to get around, and she shrugged. It was sort of true. In her travels, she'd really made her way around the 'Verse, but she'd only been to Sihnon once. It was a very short visit. Her having been there before was not why she was acting so aloof. It was simply because it was an Alliance planet that she was disliking it so much. She was unimpressed with anything the Alliance had to offer. Just as she was about to answer, she saw a market. Smiling, she looped her arm through Stoot's and hauled him in the direction of the store. "This 'un looks like the kinda place we need."

[stoot]

"I'm jus' glad I wasn't there to see her yellin' at the Capt'n like that."

"Yeah," Stoot agreed with a grave nod, "'Twasn't purty, that's fer sure. But I think we all was at a point where we was ready to start yellin'; I s'pose if any of us is to be gettin' ourselves sour with the cap'n, I prefer it be Ursula." He wished that would be the case, at least. Knowing his luck, the yelling match would only make Ryan's affection stronger, in some off-the-wall way. The man was blinded by beauty, plain and simple. Stoot, at least, could not see the value there, the reason for going after that which is unattainable. The obvious attachment he held for her had been the constant gossip of the ship lately; after all, it was interesting and it seemed that you couldn't talk about it enough. There was always something to say about it that you hadn't said before, or that you hadn't worded a certain way. Stoot found gossip to be meticulous, but on a boat where there was only captains falling for companions or the almost-failure at Whitefall for conversation pieces...the former was easier to talk about than the latter. It's always easier to talk about the failures or woes of others before your own.

Still, at any rate, Stoot felt bad to allow himself to lower to the point of gossip about his best friend. He noted mentally that he would stop focusing on his personals so much; rather, he would continue focusing on the jobs ahead and his duty as first mate. On Ari.

She seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him, he thought, since she looped her arm into his and began pulling him towards the market in a much more cheerful manner than the one they'd held while thinking about Ryan and Ursula's sexual tension. "This 'un looks like the kinda place we need."

"Indeed," He replied with a grin, following her most willingly. "After this, we'll go get ya some parts fer the boat. I know Ryan said summat about some part...forget what the hell it's called, though." he shrugged. Ari was bound to remember what Stoot had forgotten. It was her area of expertise, after all.

He browsed the produce with his companion, checking them for bad spots before tossing them into his sack. After a moment, he nudged her. "So what's yer middle name?" he asked the off-the-wall question casually. Stoot and Ari had been "playing" this for about a week now. It had come up in conversation how awkward it was to find stuff out about another person, how long and tedious the process was, not to mention a waste of time. So, more as a joke than actually being serious about it, they had started the "game". They would ask each other random questions at any given time, in any given place, and they had to answer truthfully. The answer on most occasions was just one word, unless it required more. It was fun and informative. A win-win.

Of course, their game didn't go appreciated by everyone while they played it in front of other crew members. Ursula, for certain, thought it was an insult to the rituals of getting to know one another. That had been the same night Stoot had told her to pull the stick out of her rear-end, and he had had to excuse himself to feign shame before he burst into riotous laughter.

[Ari Deschain]

Shrugging, she adjusted her bandana. "I guess," she said, but she didn't look too sure. She didn't like to revisit the uncomfortable moments the crew had shared the last month. Ryan's affection for Ursula got to Ari a lot more than she let on. It wasn't just because she'd gotten to know Ryan a lot better and didn't think Ursula was good enough, but also because she thought Ursula was playing with him. The companion couldn't seriously like the Cap the way he liked her. In Ari's eyes, Ursula really was as emotionless as the detached face she showed them all. Of course, that was a little naive of Ari, but she hadn't dealt with a companion in close quarters before and didn't really understand the facade they all put on.

Stoot followed her into the store and they began shopping around, Ari following Stoot's list since she really had no idea what they needed. "Yeah, I wanna catalyzer. The one we got is not gonna hold out much longer. I mentioned it ta him a while ago, but..." She rolled her eyes playfully. Since it wasn't so necessary, he had decided it could wait until they landed, which was apparently whenever Ursula wanted to land. It didn't really bother Ari, though. If it had been a more pressing matter, it would have, but the catalyzer they had would hold out for a while. She winked at him, teasingly. "Mechanic stuff. Don't worry your pretty li'l head over it."

He caught her off-guard with their game, and she smiled, dropping some of the food from the list into his bag. Their game. It was one of the other things that kept them close, since no one else played it with them. Stoot and Ari seemed to live in their own little world sometimes. They kept themselves honest with each other, and it could get pretty flirtatious or funny. "Hmm. Good one. It's Lynne. Now you gotta tell me yours, Daniel." She rarely mentioned his name, as promised, but every once in a while she'd tease him a little with it. It was hard to resist, and her name was fair game back. Most people couldn't get away with calling her Ariana. It was what her father had insisted on calling her, while to most everyone else she was Ari, and after he was gone she didn't like hearing Ariana at all. But somehow, she didn't mind so much when Stoot said it, as long as it wasn't all the time.

[stoot]

"Don't worry your pretty li'l head over it."

Stoot chortled. "Oh, I ain't," he assured her. "I leave that up ter you, gorgeous." he mussed her hair good-naturedly, the compliment not being flirtatious as much as it was just a fact for him. The good thing about having a crush on Ari was that it wasn't painful for Stoot; in fact, it seemed to make being near her more fun. Their friendship was not marred or made awkward by his affection, because he turned those feelings into jokes and nudges rather than come-ons and innuendos. He preferred it this way, really; he would rather have Ari love him as a friend than be alienated through having to reject him. Stoot was humble enough to come to terms with that.

"Hmm. Good one. It's Lynne. Now you gotta tell me yours, Daniel."

He tried really hard to make his face angry, angry at being addressed as 'Daniel' in public. However, all Stoot could manage was to squint unconvincingly at her and end up just sticking his tongue out at her before his lips broke into a grin beneath his wiry beard. He could not stay mad; she had a very pretty middle name. it fit her. "Ain't that boring?" he commented. "You can't just rebound questions!" He would answer it anyway, though. That was the game. He didn't like having to do so, though; his middle name was much more embarrassing than his first. "It's--ugh, this game is stupid, you know that? It's..." He hesitated. Then, lowering his voice a considerable amount, he said, "Algernon. I think my parents thought they were ruttin' funny when they thought that'n up." He tossed some radishes into the sack in attempt to keep his hands busy. His middle name, he had to admit, was laughably silly. He could only be thankful that Ryan didn't call him "Algy" or "Ally-Boy."

[Ari Deschain]

Ari blushed a fiery red as Stoot mussed her hair, ducking with a big smile and raising a hand to pretend to straighten it, as if her hair was ever perfect. Sometimes she felt over her head with Stoot, with the way he made her slip up like that. Most of the time, they were comfortable and great friends. But when he said stuff like that, stuff that a platonic friend would have ignored or teased back about, she was reminded of how much she really liked him and the blushing started. He probably thought she just blushed easily, because he never mentioned it and things never, ever got awkward.

"Good. You jus' keep up with the number-crunchin'." It had surprised her to find out how good he was with math. Math to her was the worst. She'd illustrated how bad she was at math when she had attempted to help him with some figures one day. She had fantastically bombed even simple math problems, which at least made for good fun as he had to in turn help her sort them out. Rather, he sorted them out as she watched.

He stuck his tongue out at her for the use of his name, but she had been expecting it. She just returned the favor, making the gesture even more childish by wrinkling her nose and waving her head gently from side to side as she did so. "I can do whatever I want, Mr. Stoot! Who said you get ta make all th'rules?" She crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrows, pretending to be very impatient as he stalled. When he finally let it slip, she giggled and unthreaded her arms, patting him on the back. "No wonder ya like to be called by your last name!" She jibed, pinching his arm gently. However, she quickly recovered, recognizing how he seemed to be embarassed. "I'm kidding you, yeah? I think it's kinda cute." Her finger went to her chin as she thought hard about her next question. "That question didn't count on account of it bein' a 'rebound' question," she joked as she made up new rules to the game. "So I want ta ask you..." She bit her lip, a nervous habit, as she thought about it. Her hands played with the produce, picking things up at random. She hadn't looked at the list for a couple minutes now. "What is your...." she trailed off, leaning in towards him as if to ask a really personal question. Her voice came out in a harsh, dramatic whisper. "Favorite color?"

[stoot]

"Good. You jus' keep up with the number-crunchin'." Stoot laughed, finally able to be proud of himself for something. He hadn't realized how good he truly was with numbers until he had tried explaining them to Ari. With her knowledge of mechanics, Stoot hailed her as one of the most intelligent people he knew, so he'd been rightly surprised when she hadn't understood. It had been a funny night, though, when he tried to teach her.

"Somebody's gotta do it," he told her with a grin. Stoot had noticed Ari's blush, but just as predicted, Stoot simply figured she was easily flattered. Females were a blushing creature; it was in their nature. He didn't think much into it, except that it was cute when she did it.

In fact, everything she did was cute; he noticed as she stuck her tongue out at him and shook her head from side to side. 'No fair,' he thought.

"No wonder ya like to be called by your last name!" she laughed when he told her his middle name and he replied with a sarcastic "Har, har." She quickly recovered by telling him that she thought it was actually cute, but Stoot couldn't believe that much. There was nothing cute about...Algernon. He did appreciate the sparing of his feelings, though.

He braced himself as Ari prepared to ask another question. He crossed his arms over his chest in feigned intimidation as she seemed to be hesitant about asking her next question. "What is your......Favorite color?"

"Oh, you brat!" he hollered, laughing as he shoved her playfully in the shoulder; she had leaned in close to ask the silly question. All of that build-up for nothing! Stoot was amused. "Hate ter disappoint, but I'm 'fraid I don't have a favorite color." he said honestly. "Mind, I don't like pink or purple or nothin', but I can't choose. I'll get back at ya when I can. Now..." Stoot scratched his beared in mock contemplation at his next question. He heaved the sack he bore over his shoulder and proceeded to the check-out, as they had gathered what they needed by now. "What should I ask you now? There was a pause while he paid for the goods and they exited the stand, and he allowed Ari to lead the way to the next destination.

Out on the street again, Stoot snapped his fingers once, signaling that he had come up with something. "Got it! So if you could live on any rock in the 'Verse...which one would ya live on?" he was curious, mainly because he'd only lived on one rock in his lifetime. He'd only ever gotten the chance to travel when he fought in the war and when he went to meet Ryan. He would save her favorite color for later, as to not be a 'rebounder', which was sure to become a new term between them now.

[Ari Deschain]

It hadn't been hard to see that Stoot had been just as surprised about her being bad at math as she had about his being great at it. She had felt obligated to explain her ignorance, because she was also sort of defensive about it. It was always a little embarassing to admit to people that she hadn't gone to school for long, had not even graduated, but she hadn't felt uncomfortable telling him. She had known he wouldn't look down on her for it, and she had been right. In fact, it turned out that he had dropped out himself. It was yet another thing they had in common.

Stoot playfully pushed her away, and she let him push her off balance, hopping on one foot to rebalance herself. She was laughing hard, one hand over her mouth to muffle the sound as it subsided into little giggles. As he answered her question, she tugged at his sleeve. "Are ya sure it's not brown?" she teased innocently, careful to keep her voice down in the Alliance-friendly zone. The last thing they needed in a place like this was trouble, but she hadn't been able to resist mentioning it. It made her more comfortable to be in a place like Sihnon with a fellow Browncoat at her side, so her mentioning it was like a 'you and me against the world' kind of comment.

Ari walked to the registers after him, bouncing on her toes a little because of the happy mood she was in. As they were checking out, she noticed a couple of people eyeballing them. Her fist instinctively closed on the fabric at Stoot's sleeve again, a little like a child who needs reassurance. She wasn't concerned or needing reassurance, however. She had placed herself on Stoot's right, and she could only see his shadow vaguely through her damaged left eye. Therefore, to keep an eye on the people watching them, she had to make sure he didn't leave her behind. Holding to him was the easiest way to do that, and holding his clothing rather than his arm kept his hands free to pay.

His shirt tugged in her hand as he moved, and she turned quickly to follow him. She had concluded that the people were only curious bystanders whose stares had been triggered by their loud and raucous behavior, but she still felt a little uneasy. Getting back to the Atlas, where the people weren't so straight-laced, would be welcome. Alliance planets. She snorted quietly, walking next to Stoot as she looked about for a place to buy the catalyzer. He asked a question finally, and she was happy at the distraction, although the question was not one that pleased her to talk about.

She had, of course, talked about her life before the Atlas some to him, but she hadn't ever told him why she was restless, why she traveled. She wanted to blow the question off with a joke, with the flirting and teasing that took up a lot of their conversations, but she had to be honest. It was a rule. The whole answer, or nothing at all. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she sighed and looked up. As she did, she noticed an odds and ends parts shop that might work for what they needed, and she led him into it.

She rummaged through the items on the shelves, worrying her lip gently before finally delving into her answer. "I can't choose a one, Stoot. I've got ta be on a ship for's long as possible. I can't stay in one place." She ran a hand along a long tube, whose use was not immediately evident, then toyed with some non-descript metal object next to it. This was it, the one thing she never told anyone. Why she was about to divulge it to Stoot was not hard for her to understand. She trusted him whole-heartedly. It had been too long a secret, anyway.

"I'm lookin' for my dad. I never told you what happened with him, but he went away. He went away when I was jus' fourteen, and he never came back." She stopped before her voice could catch in her throat, and stared at the objects on the shelf. "I waited for 'im, Stoot. For years. He'd've come back if he could. Something's gotta be holdin' him up. So now I have to look for him. I got to see as many planets as I can, yeah? I guess I'm jus' yo cho yo ying." The loudness of her voice had decreased to nothing but a whisper for the last words, a contrast to her squared shoulders and the confident set of her chin. Ari did not like to display weakness, and she wouldn't have told this to anyone but Stoot. She didn't need him to tell her it was impossible, that her father was probably dead. She didn't want comfort. She didn't want to talk about it at all. It had not felt as good to get it off her chest as she had thought it would. In fact, she felt even more alone and ridiculous for being so naive. It had been more than ten years, but he was her father. She could not bring herself to give up.

ooc: haha, it's the million dollar question! I hope it's okay that I made Stoot have told her about dropping out. If not, I'll change it! =] Translation: Yo cho yo ying=stubborn

[stoot]

OOC: I don't mind at all! :]

"Good point," He laughed when she asked if he was sure about his favorite color. "Too late to change m'mind?" There was a light, happy feeling between them as they entered the parts shop, but it faded quickly as Ari contemplated his next question. He was suddenly nervous; was his question a little too bold?

Stoot was sort of thrown-off by Ari's sudden seriousness. Sure, the question he had asked her had been sort of serious and he had expected an answer that would fit that bill, but what he received was far more than he could have ever expected. He felt almost guilty. He had expecting more of a 'hopes and dreams' answer.

Her father, he had gone away and never come back. All these years later, Ari was still tormented, still searching for him, still hoping he would come home. This gave Stoot a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure how to make her feel better, but it didn't require much thought on his end when he responded to her confession. Without hesitation, Stoot pulled Ari into his arms and hugged her tight. It had been the first time since he'd met her that he'd allowed himself to touch her to this degree, to do more than nudge or pinch. A voice in the back of his mind told him to stop now or suffer rejection, but he did not let go for a long moment. This wasn't about acceptance or rejection; this was about being a friend when she needed it.

He couldn't relate to her woes, for Stoot himself had both parents in tact. He loved them both, despite their poverty. Reminding her of that wouldn't help anything. All he could relate to was the present; all he had to comfort her with was the now and will-be's. "If it helps," He said into her hair, before letting her go to look her in the eyes. "You're in the right place, bein' on Atlas. We ain't never gonna be in one spot fer long. We'll help you find your dad, Ari." It felt a little wrong to make such a promise without Ryan's consent, but did Ryan even have to know? Their line of work required them to jump from rock to rock, never really rooting down. Atlas was the perfect place for Ari to be, in way more ways than one as far as Stoot was concerned.

"I'm sorry," he added, not needing to explain. He felt awful to have hit such a sore subject. It almost felt as if this had bruised his relationship with Ari. At the very least, he owed her an apology.

[Ari Deschain]

Ari let herself be swept into Stoot's arms, pleasantly surprised. There had always been some tension between them in that regard, as if there was some invisible threshold they didn't want to cross. However, rather than feeling awkward and shy, she felt safe and protected. Here was a person she didn't have to keep her walls up around, because she knew he would not intentionally hurt her. Relaxing in his embrace, she pulled her own arms up in between her and Stoot and knotted her fists in the fabric of his shirt, resting her forehead against his chest. She let grief overwhelm her for just a second, her breath hitching in her throat once or twice. She had never properly mourned her father, never really acknowledge her grief properly. Always it was short-lived, which was probably one of the reasons it was so hard for her to let go of her hopes that he was still out there. She had no closure.

"We'll help you find your dad, Ari." Her arms slid down around his waist at these words, her face turning as she rested her cheek against him. He could only mean that he would help her, as he couldn't speak for the rest of the crew, but his support of her and the obviously useless search she was on meant more to her than she could have imagined. She had long ago stopped really looking for him, but settling on one planet would be like admitting defeat. She had a crazy notion that one day she'd be walking along just like this, and he'd run into her, looking exactly as he had and with a big beaming smile for her. After what seemed like a lifetime, but could only practically be seconds or a minute at most, she almost regretfully pulled away. Her face was composed and there was not a shadow of her worries anymore. Even her eyes looked bright again. Ari had lived with these problems long enough to know how to bounce back. "Thanks." She said, smiling to herself as she went back to fiddling shyly with the objects on the shelf.

She balked at his apology, looking back up at him with a little playful pout and poking him gently. He definitely had no reason to be sorry. "No! I'm the one should be sorry. I didn't mean ta make us both all sad. I jus' had to tell the truth, is all. It's the rules, yeah?" Smirking, she returned her attention to the shelves, trying to put the unhappy moment far behind them. The smirk disappeared and a little frown played over her lips as she studied the disarray. "Ain't never gonna find a part in this gorram mess." She muttered, more or less to herself. When Ari was concentrating on parts or the job, she tended to have a little bit of tunnel vision, but Stoot had seen her like this often enough that he should know not to take it personally.

She headed to the front of the store, where a man sat behind a counter. "We need a catalyzer." He grunted, as if annoyed that he was actually going to have to work, and led her to a shelf with a variety of bulky, L-shaped cylinders spread over it. Lifting one down, he handed it to her. She looked it over for only a few seconds before handing it back with a slight narrowing of her eyes. "Nice try. That's in worse shape'n the one we've got now." She winked at Stoot as the man turned back to the shelf, grumbling, and got down another one. Again, it didn't take her long to decide whether it was worthy. This one was, apparently. She ran her hands over the part's many pieces, double-checking, and nodded at Stoot. "That's all we need from 'ere."

[stoot]

Stoot smiled warmly down at Ari when she said thanks, and was even thankful himself when her expression didn't seem so sad anymore. It felt like a natural transition, not a forced one. Like she had genuinely been cheered up. That was good enough for Stoot; he even felt a little proud of himself for being able to fix the problem he had sort of created. Though, now that he could see her smiling again, he could not feel bad for having Ari confess about her dad. It made him feel a little closer to her, the sort of closeness you can only feel when you are told a secret that only you have permission to know. A VIP, if you will.

After a moment, Ari began rummaging through the parts and Stoot stood back to watch her as she worked, always amused at how she fussed and cussed over her boat. He could hardly suppress a chuckle when she harassed the desk clerk, making him get her a decent part and not tolerating it when he tried to play her fool. 'At's my girl,' he thought as he made eye contact with the man. "Lady knows what she wants," he said with a shrug.

Once they were out of the store, Stoot observed the catalyzer. "So yer tellin' me," He started, pointing to it with an eyebrow raised, "That that little hunka metal makes Atlas run? Or don't run?" Stoot was never one for articulation. With as much time as the two shipmates spent together, he was bound to pick up a scrap of the information.

"That just sends my mind through a whole world-a confusion. Ain't make sense that the whole ship depends on one part. We shoulda bought two, just in case."

[Ari Deschain]

Although she couldn't have known what he was thinking, Ari was feeling much the same way. Once the initial sense of loss and sadness had faded away, she was glad she had told Stoot. She hoped this would help him to realize how important he had come to be to her. He was her closest friend and ally on the ship, and now he knew what she hid from everyone else. Her greatest weakness was not her gorram eye, it would seem. As Stoot commented to the man, she turned around and gave him a big smile and held up the part. "Gorram right."

When they were back out in the sun, Ari tucking the part under one arm, Stoot began questioning the catalyzer. An eager smile creased her lips and she revealed the part again. It always excited her to talk about mechanics, the one thing in life she could understand fully. "This here's the catalyzer. It's jus' one of the parts makes up the compression coil, shiny? Without the coil, the engine can't work right. We'd lose grav, power, and life support." Grinning at the part, she rolled it over in her hands. "We got a good one here. We sh'd be good with jus' one for a good long time, Stoot."

She tucked the part back under her arm and slid her hands into her pockets. "It's m'turn, you know." Ari said, wrinkling her nose at him. The mood had turned quite serious for a minute, but she was very cleary determined not to let it ruin their game. "Hmm. What's your most favorite mem'ry?" She decided, grinning up at him in anticipation. Hopefully this would be a much better topic. Her eyes wandered the street as they walked companionably down it, curious as to whether or not she'd see any of their shipmates out and about.

[stoot]

At all of the talk of what there was to lose if that tiny part went kaput, it did not put Stoot at ease that Ari was so okay with only buying one of them. "But if summat happens and we lose that thing, we'll all be dead as dust!" he had objected, his ignorance of machinery shining brighter than the sun at this moment. He simply could not put his life in that tiny part's hands without a backup. Perhaps he was better off not knowing what each part did--they would have to buy a duplicate of everything!

She quickly turned the subject by getting back to the game. Stoot grinned and nodded, easily forgetting his unease at the ship's welfare. She asked him what his favorite memory was. It didn't take much thought on Stoot's end to think of his favorite memories, but it was much harder to single just one out. He decided in the end that he could not choose.

"I got two," he told her. "But they both are fer the same reason. One is when I got drafted fer the war. I know that sounds awful n' all, but my happiness at that time was much like when Ryan wrote me and asked me t'help crew his boat. Both times I known it wouldn't be easy, might be downright dangerous. I would haveta leave my mom and pop without bein' sure I'd see 'em again. But," he said, smile lighting the visible space around his beard, "It also meant turnin' my back on muddin'. It meant some gorram excitement fer once in m'life, and it sure as lead me to another one-a my happiest mem'ries." He hesitated here, but plowed on anyway. "Meetin' you, a'course. Me not goin' to war and me not comin' here woulda meant my life would have gone one bein' a lot more dull'n it already was."

Stoot beamed at Ari now, hitching his sack more securely over his shoulder. "How's that for a damn good mem'ry fer ya?" He laughed. "So, on to my turn." He didn't want to give her time to comment on his mini-speech, for shedding any more light onto the subject than he already had would make things sufficiently awkward for him, possibly making him regret speaking of it at all. It would just be something for her to keep in mind. "How'd you---"

But Stoot didn't get the chance to finish his question, for someone had flagged them down from the middle of the street ahead.