[Athilea Majiri]

She smiled, "Yes, it really is." The woman tilted her head a little, "What were you going to do now that your cooking has been taken care of?" Lastiriana was determined that the woman would be her friend. She crossed her arms over her stomach, taking on a more relaxed stance.

---------

Will glanced around at the door, "Hermes." He then turned back to the targets and took a couple more shots. "Just my normal favorite pass time." His voice was dry, but it was intended as a joke. After a moment he sighed and relaxed his stance before turning back to the other man, "What were you and the Captain talking about? Another attempt to get her to take us all to a casino?" There was just the smallest hint of a smirk on his lips.

[Shenandoah]

"I was going to go take care of the medical supplies," Faith responded, still with a faint blush on her cheeks. "I don't want us to be stuck in a situation that could be made worse by not... having everything organized." She stuck her thumbs in the negligible pockets on her butt as the shorts were practically melded to her ass. She figured the tiny pockets were more for show than for any actual use. "It gives me something do do other than clean compulsively." There was a kind of rolled shrug of her shoulders. A somewhat self-deprecating move, as there was a good side to being somewhat OCD with cleaning (especially in the galley) despite the fact there were systems on the ship that cleaned the general areas sufficiently.

"What attempt?" smirked Hermes. "I just got her to agree, man! We're goin' ta Mars!" He made a fist and pumped it into the air, whooping his excitement. "And I want to properly play this time, not turn it into a smash-n-grab. I wanna plunk on the slots and have cards dealt to me, not get shot at." That really rankled Hermes's nerves. Last time they had gone to a casino for some R&R, it turned into another pirating spree. Of course, it was his fault for picking a satellite casino rather than a ground-based one, but did they have to do that every time he wanted some fun that didn't involve stealing?

[Athilea Majiri]

"Well, I can help you with that if you like. I think Hermes has gone off to correct our course and probably dance a little jig somewhere." She shook her head a little at the mental image that forced itself into her mind. "The man does seem to enjoy gambling." Lastiriana smiled, obviously amused with the situation. "Maybe we can even actually relax this time."

-----

Will stood and walked towards Hermes, "Really? Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. You are a persistent one, aren't you?" He almost felt as though he should clap the man on the shoulder, but ignored the impulse. "So, when do you think we will be there?"

((Forgive me for not responding to your ooc post. I think I caught a cold from my 2 year old so I have kinda been skipping over things.))

[Shenandoah]

((It's okay. I'm being slow myself due to lack-of-internet woes. I took yesterday off, so... *shrugs*))

"It would be good," admitted Faith. A beat later, she realized the ambiguity of her statement. "I mean, it would be good to relax and I'd appreciate the help, if you don't mind..." She trailed off a trifle uncertainly. It wasn't like she'd be hit for taking up the offer, but there was a time she would have been, so therefore there were habits she was still working to break.

"Definitely. It's been an age where we could kick up our heels and just be. And we will be there in about... a day." Even with all the advances of space travel, there was no real 'hyperspace drive' or any other fantastic science fiction tool to move a person quickly through space any faster. There was a hyper dive and the Voyage even had one, but no hyperspace drive.

[Athilea Majiri]

((I'm sorry, I intended to post earlier today, but this cold has really taken it out of me.))

"I would be happy to help you. There isn't much else going on at the moment, and I don't feel like we really get many opportunities to really talk." She offered a reassuring smile and pushed away from the wall she had been holding up. "Shall we then?" She turned and started towards the medical bay.

------

"A day, hmm? Not bad, I guess we weren't to far were we?" He shifted a little, and slipped his gun into a sheath. "So, the question is what do we do until we get there? Other then the obvious thing of sleeping." He frowned and looked back at the target he'd been aiming at. The holes the the blanks created were nice and tight in mid body, with only one that was aimed for the center of the head. Of course his aim wasn't that good mid combat with the chaos that normally happened with it. Still, the practice was good.

[Shenandoah]

((You're good. No worries. Just get better.))

Faith began to walk after her. The corridor was too narrow to walk side by side comfortably without major space invasion, so she just kept a comfortable distance behind Lastiriana. It wasn't too long before they got to the medical bay. It was large enough for all members of the crew to have a bed, though the probability of all of them being injured and staying in bed was nil. The sterile area was comforting to Faith and she liked being there almost as much as she liked the galley. Walking over to the supply cabinets, she pressed her thumb on the pad to allow the locks to deactivate so she could open it. Inside were the various bandaging and suture supplies. Each cabinet had a theme and this one held varying disinfectants as well as tools required to do a certain job. It was Faith's idea to do this as it made finding things easier. Before, it had been arranged alphabetically and who really wanted to have iodine next to Immodium? Something nick-named "monkey's blood" next to anti-diarrhea medicine? Bad imagery.

"Not too bad at all," agreed Hermes. "Of course, you can always burn time by raising the dead dummy population," he said with a grin. Hermes didn't prefer using firearms. Too many chances of blowing a hole through the ship, though the laser weaponry, sometimes called "blasters" thanks to some really old movie back before humans began to move around in space, didn't pose as much a risk. It could, if used in a certain way, blast a hole through the hull, but usually the smaller hand-held varieties never got so powerful as it was very hard to maintain a charge. "By the way, nice shooting. I still prefer a cattle prod."

[Athilea Majiri]

She smiles as they enter the Medical Bay and watches at Faith walks towards one of the many supply cabinets. "You keep everything so organized that this shouldn't take long at all." Lastiriana remembered what it was like before. There had been an incident of giving someone morphen instead of Motrin one day. That was bad. With an amused look on her face she went to another cabinet and opened it with the thumb reader as well. "Have you worked with Will at all? Cooking I mean?"

------

The man couldn't help but laugh. He thought using a cattle prod could be funny, but he could not think of a way to wield it as effectively as he did his guns. "Thank you, and you can keep the cattle prod. Funny as it is, I'll stick with this." He hefted the pistol before he realized it was only the practice gun. "Well, not this, but you get the idea." Will grimaced at the weapon. It was good for practice, but he would rather use his blaster. "So, what do you intend to do when we get to Mars? Other then the obvious."

[Shenandoah]

Faith shook her head and realized that the door would block the view of the motion from Lastiriana. "No," she responded verbally. "I just get too nervous and tongue tied. I..." She faltered. How does one explain the reason she didn't like working with men too much? Will had been a free man, as far as she could tell, all his life. He hadn't been like the slaves she'd been able to accept being near, with their zapping collars preventing them from having any kind of sexual contact with her. He was more like the master that could assert himself at any moment. His size intimidated her. His muscles intimidated her. Faith was frail and tiny compared to him and that made her somewhat scared and definitely wary. She didn't think he'd do it, but she'd not had enough time with him to help soothe her nerves into calmness. With the way things were going, she doubted she'd get any real time with him. Shaking herself free of such thoughts, she started inventorying the cabinet and hoped that Lastiriana wouldn't force her to have a fess-up.

"Well, gambling, I suppose, is the obvious. Could always hit up a whore house or a VR unit," he threw out casually as he leaned against the bulkhead, inspecting his fingernails before shooting a sly look at Will. Like the man would go for a prostitution joint... either of them, really. More likely than naught, they would wind up doing some minor souvenir shopping (not like they couldn't steal it, but it would be fun to use their wealth on something every now and again), possibly selling some stuff of their own as if they were real merchants or at least black market merchants and not pirates (best way to keep from being tracked was to get it out of their hands on occasion), and definitely eating like kings at some restaurant as well as restocking the food stores.

[Athilea Majiri]

"I will not press the issue." She entered a few numbers into the pad for the medications in the cabinet she was working one. She wasn't blind, she could see how nervous Faith could be around the men. Still, it was best to broach it a little at a time until the other woman became more comfortable opening up to her. "Are you looking forward to going to the Casino?"

---------

He laughed again, "A whore house? Really, I didn't think you would go in for something like that. I think I would have to let you face that one alone." The tone of the voice said it was a joke. "A VR unit could be interested, depending on what you intend to do with it. Hell, I bet the Captain would like it...maybe Faith would too." He shrugged, "Depending on what the intent is."

[Shenandoah]

Faith's stance relaxed at the moment Lastiriana told her she wouldn't push. Glad for the safe topic change, Faith nodded and then responded. "I think it will be fun. I've never really gambled before, so I don't know for sure." Her former master didn't really approve of gambling to begin with as he was more interested in working for his wealth. His occasional lady-friend, however, usually enjoyed going but Faith herself was never invited along on these ventures. It would be a new experience for her.

Hermes, too, could see the jumpy movements of their little cook, so he understood what Will meant. "Something innocent could be fun for her." He meant Faith more than Ri. "Like setting up a tour of some of the lost monuments of Earth. Like Ancient Rome or the Pyramids in Egypt." He, like Ri, wanted to get past the walls Faith kept herself stuck behind. But, like Ri, he didn't want to push her so far as to cut off any chances of getting in. He knew Will liked Faith and it seemed the man had her interests well in mind despite the fact that none of them really knew what to do with the former slave-girl's skittishness.

[Athilea Majiri]

((Love the Avatar, and the one you had before this one as well.))

"I was never big on gambling myself. It's to easy to lose, and the house almost always wins in the end." She shrugged, but realized she wouldn't be able to see it. "There must be other things to do as well though. Gambling all the time seems like it would just get boring." She put a few more numbers in the data pad.

--------

"That is not a bad idea." He nodded thoughtfully, "It could be fun too." Another taste of his sarcastic humor. He stood up straight and sat the practice pistol aside. "Of course it depends on what they want to actually do when we get there. The last then I would want to do is cause her any stress." Of course he meant Faith. He'd been around the Captain long enough that any worries she may have had about Will should have disappeared. She certainly had never acted as though she were nervous around him. Thinking of the Captain a sly smile came across his features, "Are you going to try to do anything with 'Ri'?" He would never call the Lastiriana that to her face, but he would tease Hermes about the nickname that the woman so disliked.

[Shenandoah]

((Thank you. Yours is pretty cute, too. And I find amusement with the whole 'gambling all the time thing' Lastiriana spoke of. While I do enjoy gambling, it's kind of a once every six months to a year sort of thing. And I usually wind up playing penny machines. Loads of fun without too much expense.))

Faith finished her cabinet before closing it and moving to the next one. "Do you think that Hermes will stay in the casino and not try to do something else?" Faith was of the opinion that the hyperactive thief (despite the laconic attitude he had a tendency to display) wouldn't want to just stay in one place too long. How far ranging his movement would be was another matter entirely. It could be from slot machine to table to another slot machine or it could be away from the casino. Faith assumed that Lastiriana would know better as she had elected Hermes as her second. One wouldn't just make another a 2IC without trusting them and in order to trust, one has to know the other, right? "I mean, if he gets bored enough or loses enough, do you think he'd want to go do something else?"

Hermes thought about it and shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not gonna get grabby by any means, but an arm around the shoulders here and move a little close there... maybe I can heat up her engines enough she wants me to maintenance them." His features lit up in a semi-feral grin at the thought of Ri under him as he 'did maintenance' to her. Or, hey... she was captain. Why not let her 'pilot'? Shaking himself out of his revere, he gave a mock glare at Will. "And I'm the only one allowed to call her 'Ri'!" he shot at him, though the tone in his voice was amused and didn't exactly have the sting of an actual angered retort.

((Speaking of currency, what should we have as the dominant one? It should either be one that's a powerful one today [such as the American Dollar or the Euro] or we can do something like "Batman Beyond" and have a 'cred' or credit currency which is essentially no real currency at all. I kinda like the idea of the Euro, though, for some reason. It does have influence over the entirety of Europe, which is a fairly wide area.))

[Athilea Majiri]

((Thank you. I think that Euro's could work just fine. ^^))

She shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, he wants to go to a Casino planet. He may want to get involved with some of the other attractions, but being as he's so intent on Mars he may just be interested in the gambling." After a moment she moved on to another cabinet as well. Faith was faster then her, but she also did this more often. "Personally, I think the Casino will hold his attention for half a day, maybe a day. There may be another reason he chose this particular planet."

---------

Will snorted at the response. He got a far different answer then what he had intended with the question in the first place, "That wasn't exactly what I meant. I was trying to ask if you were going to try to take her out for a fancy meal or something. Though I suppose it could end the same." He tried to shake of thoughts of the Captain himself. She could be cold and distant, where Faith was just afraid and needed to break out of her shell. The woman was attractive and more so for the killer instinct he'd seen her display, but something about her demeanor just turned him away from trying. That and the fact that it was obvious Hermes liked her, though he wasn't sure if the Captain felt the same.

"I think she would have my head mounted on the outside of the ship if I tried to call her that. You, however, she's given up for a lost cause." He laughed again, "You have fun trying to 'warm her engines' though, man. I think it will take more then you realize."

((Edit: I have never actually gambled so I have no idea if I would like it or not. I've not even so much as played strip poker. Also, I love Hermes terms, though that's seriously not what I was trying to get at. lol))

[Shenandoah]

((Hermes is something of a pervert, for future reference. I knew what Will was talking about could have gone many ways, but Hermes decided he meant 'are you gonna try and seduce her?'.

Have you ever played Black Jack or at least know some poker hands?))

"I wonder what he has in mind? And how long do you want to stay there?" asked Faith, entering her data as she went. So far, they really didn't need much, it seemed, but there were still two more cabinets to go. She had already made note of the lack of small stick-on bandages as well as hydrogen peroxide in the first cabinet, so some shopping had to be done.

"That would work, too," Hermes answered almost flippantly in response to the dinner idea. "Actually, that's sort of how you should lead into those sorts of things if it's a first time, from what I hear, unless it's a prostitute." He flashed a grin then. "I will tell you, though... once, I called her 'RiRi' and she shot my ass. My literal ass. I've still got the scar. She'll tolerate the 'Ri' so long as I don't make her sound like a toy poodle. Her words, not mine."

((Sorry for the minor back-history god-moding, but I figured Lastiriana would do something like that.))

[Athilea Majiri]

((Heh, that's okay. ^^ I giggled, I just didn't now if maybe I came across differently then I intended. And yes, that is totally what she would have done.))

"I don't really know. I doubt that we'll see much of the men to be honest. I think two, maybe three days. Though three is stretching it." She entered a few more things into the slate. There really wasn't much that was needed. Though Asprin and Vicodin were low, apparently they never restocked the Vicodin when they used it last. "I think we could use a little extra time off the ship, don't you?"

-----

He snorted, "I had heard that dinner and such was part of the 'mating ritual'." As he listened further, though, the snort turned into laughter. Will could easily imagine the Captain hating 'RiRi' and shooting someone in the ass for it. "You know, I think I would have helped her on that one. That is a horrible nickname." He sighed, "Hey, you want to play cards or something? I know we are going to be on Mars soon, but I am a it out of practice."

[Shenandoah]

((As I said, she certainly seems the type.))

"I do. It'd be nice," agreed Faith. "It's nice being on board and helping you guys, but there are times I'd like to see the sky and we don't have a holographic projector here." Indeed, the Voyage was far too small to house any kind of holo play unit like one could find on larger cruisers. Faith didn't mind it for the most part. She loved to read, especially romances and books where everything is done for the right reasons and the woman lived happily ever after. She closed her cabinet and reviewed the list of stuff quickly. The medicine cabinets weren't numerous. The supplies required for a small ship with a crew of four wasn't extensive like larger ships with crews of twenty to over a hundred. And that made cataloging and ensuring they were well equipped that much easier.

Hermes shrugged in response. "I was a bit drunk at the time and it seemed like a good idea. I don't usually risk my hide like that, especially with her. She could always deny me food." He grinned at the prospect of cards. "Sure. Need to get my groove on anyway. We betting anything to keep it interesting? Like actual Euros or maybe nuts and bolts, seeing as I've got my extras in the engine room."