The Drama of Chaos
IC Time: Sep 14, 2521 - 11:38:56
Eavesdown Docks - Persephone =>Persephone<=
This lesser kept portion of Persephone's port city is home to legions of disenfranchised entrepreneurs, each tent or stall vying with the next in line. Vendors shout their own particular brand of advertisements or allow the pyres of smoke from their grills to do the advertising for them. Practitioners of every walk of life fill the dirt-covered roads, buying and selling goods of every imaginable value. There are cargo containers stacked in high hills throughout the area creating a set of walls for the outdoor market with exits and entrances to each of the landing platforms that circumnavigate the area outside of the Market. Eavesdown is not well kept, as is a common Spaceport, and the lack of tarmac proves a disruptive force whenever a ship engages its powerful engines: kicking up the red dirt of the port relentlessly. To the Northeast, a section between two landing platforms begins the road to the Spacer's District, where those who are less restricted to Eavesdown may find additional business options.
"She's just not handling pain well I guess. Everybody deals with their stuff different." Steven shrugs his shoulders at Tayen, nodding to Delilah's point, "I call everyone ma'mam, if'n they look like an adult. Or sir of course, for the fellows."
Tayen chuckles at Delilah's explanation, "Well, now ya got that fancy walkin' stick to whack him with. It's a nicer trade, if ya ask me." She smirks at Stevan, "I think I'm round near your age, feller. I ain't none's ma'am or momma neither. Just a feller, like yourself."
Delilah is standing near the Chaos Theory, supporting herself with a brace-like crutch. Steven is standing near her? in that area, and they're both slightly facing Tayen, who is sitting on a crate. Tayen's got a pleasant expression on her face, and while Delilah doesn't seem upset, she certainly looks concerned.
"Awfully pretty looking for a feller." Steven remarks with a wry slight smile as he makes his quiet joke. He seems a reserved and quiet type, calm and relaxed as he nods and turns to Delilah for a moment, "What's got your knickers in a twist, D?"
Delilah nods at Tayen, remarking, "Somehow I don't think it'll be a good plan. He's still lighter on his feet than I am." At Steven's question, she looks back up to the ship and says quietly, "I jus'...these people are nearly all I got now. An' with my habit of offending every Browncoat I meet either by being myself, being sensitive, or tryin' ta kiss 'im, I'm runnin' low on people ta care about, who care 'bout me. Matty...she's 'portant ta me, is all. Don't like knowin' somethin' is wrong."
Delilah is standing near the Chaos Theory, supporting herself with a brace-like crutch. Steven is standing near her? in that area, and they're both slightly facing Tayen, who is sitting on a crate. Tayen's got a pleasant expression on her face, and while Delilah doesn't seem upset, she certainly looks concerned.
The rumbling sounds of a ship's hatch cycling open are followed by a small figure stepping out onto the Invictus boarding ramp. She pauses a moment, squinting upwards to take note of the grey clouds beginning to mass on the horizon as the winds start to pick up, ruffling her fair hair. Pushing it back out of her eyes in an absent gesture, she scans the docks as she steps down the ramp.
Tayen is getting some interesting gossip, just by sitting there on a crate near the Chaos Theory. Delilah and Steven are better than the latest soapy drama vids. "Go for the knees," she suggests to Delilah.
Ashlyn meanders down the ramp of the Chaos Theory, her tool belt on and a tool box in one hand. There's grease on her arms up to her elbows as she steps into the light. She, too, casts a glance up at the massing clouds, then looks down at her tools. Perhaps today’s not the best day to work on the ship from without. She shrugs slightly to herself and sets them down at the top of the ramp. "Mornin' Delilah!" she says brightly. "Up and about?"
"Aww shucks Delilah." Steven says dryly to the woman with the crutch, "And here you ain't never tried to kiss me none, I feel plumb left out." He smiles a bit then, but stops talking when Ashlyn settles on down and opens the ramp, "Hey Ash, how feeling?"
Delilah, who has turned bright red now, opens her mouth to sputter out a reply to Steven, but is thankfully interrupted both by Wren's arrival and Ashlyn appearing from the Theory. "Ash!" she exclaims, trying to hobble over to the engineer, before giving up and waiting for Ash to get to her. "Lu took me ta Ariel ta get me outta that wretched chair, an' we had ta stay longer than we thought, acourse, but I'm back fer good now. Jus' gotta use these a bit longer, an' then I'm all set! Anythin' interestin' happen here? Other than hirin' new crew, course."
Wren steps into the swirling chaos that defines the Eavesdown Docks, letting her feet wander where they will, directed more by the pressure of crowd movement than conscious thought. A pen full of chickens draws her eye for a moment, and she glares at one in particular, muttering something under her breath before letting her feet continue their ambling. Fetching up near the Chaos Theory, she pauses again, studying the name of the ship with interest.
Tayen pulls her legs up and tucks them under her, turning into a spectator with a nice view of the Chaos Theory. She glances at Wren, who seems to be doing similar, "They make for a right entertainin' show," she remarks, rather amused.
"Feelin' just fine," Ashlyn says, smiling. Apparently her previous caution towards Steven is all water under the bridge now. "What's all this `bout kissin'?" she asks with a wry grin that says she really doesn't expect an answer. She turns to Delilah as the other woman speaks to her, grinning over the good news of the chair being gone. "Always interestin' `round here," she says, without going into any more detail. "S'good to have ya back. Erm, if ya find anything /melted/ ta the stovetop that I missed, sorry in advance."
Steven tips his hat to Wren while the girls talk, not wanting to interrupt them or anything, "Howdy, morning ma'mam." Yep, he calls everyone ma'mam, see, no one is special, no exceptions, "How you doing?"
"Mm...melted? On the stove? I guess..." she begins slowly, "I guess I could forgive ya for that, iffn' ya can forgive me for..." She scuffs her left toe in the ground a bit, and then fesses up. "For tryin' ta kiss James." Delilah turns a bit more red, and suddenly becomes rather interested in the ground.
The sound of a voice addressing her from nearby makes Wren jump just a little, turning to look at Tayen in surprise. "What're they showin'?" she wonders after a moment, looking back to the crew of the ship. She blinks a little as Steven tips his hat at her, mimicking the gesture even though she doesn't wear a hat herself. Her head cants to the side as she tries to find an answer to the question posed her. "Cells are breaking bonds in the molecules of ATP to form ADP, primarily," she says eventually.
Tayen asides to Wren, "He calls everyone ma'am. I think he thinks he's bein' polite, an has yet to reckon how most ladies feel 'bout their age." It's a stage whisper in a broad Rim Born accent. If Steven's listening, he may indeed hear that. "I think it's called 'th' Drama of the Chaos Theory', but that's just a guess."
Steven nods his head quietly, mostly trying to ignore Delilah and Ashlyn, there are things he'd rather not know about his fellow crewmembers. He simply smiles calmly and replies to Wren, "Always feel the need to be a smartass and show off how intelligent you are, or did I just catch ye on a bad day?"
Ashlyn doesn't seem to have much reaction to that, other than being relieved that she's not in trouble for possible remnants of melted cheese. "Don't bother me none," she says with an easy shrug. But since the topic is on her brother... "He's packin' up ta leave soonish. Tonight or tomorrow I think." She sighs and scratches the back of her neck. "Don't know where he's headin' off ta. Not home in any case."
Hazel green eyes lose their focus for a moment, letting words wash over her as Tayen speaks. "Oh..." Wren responds a heartbeat later, blinking a little. "Dynamics are intresting," she adds a bit uncertainly, her attention wandering to Steven. "No snakes. No nuclear devices. No bodies," she says slowly, puzzling a little over his words. "So far, it's pretty good..."
Delilah nods thankfully at Ashlyn, and then catches her words. "James is..leavin'? Soon?" About five different emotions flash across her face in the span of the next few seconds, before she nods again, slowly. "Guess...guess he ain't got a reason ta stay, now that he knows you're okay an' not gonna get Reavered anytime soon."
Tayen asks of Wren, "Y'all run into snakes and nukes regularly? Cause ... I ran through monkeys on my last ship, an that was pretty much it fer me." She shakes her head.
Steven falls quiet, he does that a lot, tipping his hat back a little and leaning against the ship, just watching and listening to all the conversations going on with cool and quietly attentive eyes that say he's catching every bit.
Ashlyn nods to Delilah before looking to the others assembled to see just how within earshot they are and leaning in close to Delilah to say something quietly. She draws back and sighs a little up at the dark clouds encroaching on their nice blue sky. As the wind picks up a little more, she draws a length of string from one of her pocket and ties her braided hair behind her head. "Looks like a heck of a storm brewin'," she says to n one in particular.
Wren frowns a little, a small crease forming on her forehead at Tayen's words. "Just once," she says with a shake of her head, falling awkwardly silent then. "Never seen a monkey," she adds eventually, scrambling for words.
Delilah nods again to Ashlyn, appearing to have learned the lesson of when things should be dropped, shock of shocks. At Wren's statement, she turns as best as one with a crutch like hers can, and asks in surprise, "Did you just say monkey? Please...please tell me we're not talking about eating monkeys?" Tayen listens to Wren carefully, patiently, as if the long pause was something that happens everyday. Nodding, Tayen lightens up her accent a bit, sounding a lot more like a generic person from any planet, with just a might less schooling. "They're annoying little pissers," she tells Wren, "Monkeys are. Like to throw things and steal things. One took my beer," she laments. "One of the crew wanted to catch on," she remarks to Delilah, absently. "But thankfully he thought better on it. I doubt he was going to eat it."
Steven shakes his head as he settles down on a box near the ship, adding no comments but reaching into his pocket, removing a small block of wood that seems to be being carved, halfway formed into a vague ship-like shape, and a little carving knife, quietly beginning to carve off slivers of wood.
Ashlyn settles down on the spaceport tarmac, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms loosely about them. Not like a little more dirt and soot is going to make much of a difference. She watches the clouds rolling in to the distant tune of thunder in silence as she listens to the others talk. Another series of rapid blinks follows Delilah's sudden question, Wren's eyes losing focus again for a few seconds as words pour over her. "No...?" she answers, glancing to Tayen as if for confirmation of that. Her mouth silently echoes the girl's first comment, 'annoying little pissers', as if trying the words out. "We ate the snakes though," she confides after some additional thought, glancing up at the ominous clouds with the low rumbling of thunder in the distance.
Delilah blinks as well, taking a step back from Wren, and waiting a moment before regarding the small girl with a new look of respect. "Good for you," she remarks offhand, before extending her hand. "Name's Delilah, I'm the Chaos Theory's chef."
Tayen shrugs at Wren, unable to confirm or deny if someone else ever ate monkey. "Snake's a bit ... peppery. Don't hate it, but if folk tell you it tastes like chicken, don't eat their chicken." She leans back in her create throne as Delilah and Wren chat.
"I ain't never minded a bit of snake meat. It's pretty good for making into strips or nuggets. Keeps well." Steven remarks idly from his position of carving, small wood-chips beginning to pepper the area around his feet.
"Alabaster cooked'em for us," Wren informs Delilah, staring at the hand in front of her for an uncertain moment before taking it with her own, her grip light and releasing the instant there's a suggestion to do so. Her outstretched arm displays a set of twin pink puncture wounds, which may eventually form into scars, but they're too new to tell just yet. She looks back to Tayen and then to Steven, listening to their opinions solemnly. "I don't wunna have it again," she says after a little pause.
Tayen watches the arm motion, "Snake's better'n rat and a lot of things, but it's still not vittles I'd pick given a choice of it and, say, a steak." She grins at Wren, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll eat worse things."
Delilah glances at Wren, becoming more interested with everything the girl says. "Alabaster? Is he your cook?" She looks over at Ashlyn with raised eyebrows, as if to say, would this be okay? before turning back to Wren and asking, "Could you introduce me?"
Wren frowns at Tayen, clearly nonplussed at the idea of eating worse things, but refrains from comment. Delilah's question is far easier to answer. "Preacher," she tells her, nodding a little at the same time. "He's not here," she notes, looking around as if to verify the man's absence.
Tayen thinks about that, "Alabaster Smith? Saw him the other day, I think." She frowns a little, as if that brings up some other thought, less pleasing than eating strange, distasteful, foods.
Delilah's eyebrows arch high, and she asks in a high-pitched voice of disbelief, "You have a *Preacher* on your ship? An honest ta goodness Preacher? Is he...on the ship? Do ya think I could meet 'im, could ya introduce us?"
From her place on the ground quietly watching the storm roll in, Ashlyn looks back at the ramp to the Theory and half-makes to get up. But halfway through the movement, she looks at Delilah and settles back into place. "Ain't seen Mr. Smith in a while," she says, looking for something to keep her included in the scene, but not really having much to discuss.
Alabaster Smith emerges from the Invictus, as though the mention of his name was enough to summon him. Cue the Man in White. He wanders halfway down the ramp, and glances up at the sky. "Hm. Storm's a'coming," he muses. Then, catching sight of some familiar faces, he leaves the ramp to head towards the Theory.
Shifting her gaze back toward Tayen, Wren nods at her before Delilah reclaims her attention. "Cook, counselor, cat-herder, and humble servant of the Lord," she reports with a bob of her head, regarding Ashlyn a bit curiously as the wind kicks up a little dust storm that blows right over her.
Wren is standing beside a girl sitting on a crate beside the Chaos Theory, talking to Delilah while Ashlyn sits on the ground nearby. A storm is rolling in, the wind picking up with the sound of thunder rumbling in the background. Alabaster is walking over to join them.
Delilah opens her mouth, probably to ask about the cat-herding, but stops when Alabaster steps out of the Invictus. She's standing over by the Theory, crutch-brace under her arm. Ashlyn is sitting close to her on the ground, and if Tayen is still around, she's sitting on some crates. Wren is near Delilah as well, and Alabaster is making his way towards them.
Delilah quickly grips her crutch thing, making her very slow way to meet Alabaster halfway. Once near him, she balances on the crutch and holds out her other hand, greeting him rather breathlessly, "Preacher? Are ya the Preacher?" Glancing over his clothes, she looks back up at him and beams, "Ya have ta be."
Tayen sighs a little, as if seeing where this is going, and simply not being interested. Easing her backpack on, Tayen unfolds her legs and hops off her throne of crates.
Ashlyn closes her eyes as the dust whorl smacks into her as well, catching in the grease on her skin and clothes. She grins as talk of the man seemingly summons him out of thin air. She waves to bring attention to herself, possibly lost due to her short stature and the general nature of being seated on the ground.
Alabaster Smith beams at Delilah in greeting. "Ah am indeed. Ah see mah reputation has preceded me for a change. Alabaster Smith, at your service. What can Ah do for you today, mah dear?" As he talks, he studies her curiously.
With long strides, Father Solomon steps down the Headhunter's cargo ramp and onto the docks. His chin lifts, gaze taking in the weather while nostrils flare. For a moment he stands thusly, black leather long-coat whipping about his tall form in the gathering storm's winds. Nagasaki exits the ship beside him, drawing his attention back to the here and now it seems. Those eyes take the time to scan the gathered crowd, locking almost immediately upon Alabaster Smith and a certain girl. "The Lord Above seems to think we need a storm. Wonder what He's planning to wash clean."
Content to fade into the background, Wren watches the interactions around her with the same interest Tayen gave the Chaos Theory Drama which was playing earlier. The girl's departure is noted, and she gives a little wave to her back as Tayen slips away.
Tayen ducks out as the conversation carries on, headed to another part of the district, tossing a wave to Wren as she vanishes. Poof.
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