"Well maybe you can take me around a little and help me get use to the place. It's nice to have a tour guide now and then." He said casually. Patiently he waited to see how she would react. He liked her thus far and wanted to get to know her better. Hopefully he hadn't just blown it.

Rin had stayed mostly tuned out of the conversation, her thoughts on the men in her life. As they had been for some time now. Shaking her head to pull herself out of the trance she picked her food tray up. "Gotta go. See ya later." She mumbled out in passing as she stood and walked off. Before exiting she dumped her barely eaten food and put away her tray. Tess had caused her to worry whether Marcus would be okay waiting a little longer to tell John. She needed to talk to Marcus, make sure he wouldn't do anything rash.

Tess cracked a grin at that, looking over at him. "One for subtleties huh?". She teased before finishing off what was left on her plate. Leaning back in her chair then she looked over at Richard expectantly after watching Rin go with a worried expression. " what would ya like to see?"

"Look he took mine and shredded it! It's freezing in this tin can I need something to warm up with! Not all of us got girls or guys to bundle up with.". Chad blustered in defense, earning blistering retorts from both Marcus and Casper who leapt to their feet at the insinuations.
" hey hey shut up and sit down! ". Shouted Kyle, deciding to cut it off before things got out of hand. Stepping over he yanked the wadded up blanket from Chad's hands. " wraith, your own damn fault you got yours torn. If you can't keep an eye in it you don't deserve it. Go get another one from the supply sarg. Ghost, you let him take it. You don't deserve it either so go fetch. Marshall law has spoken."
Casper darted forward, snatching the blanket out of Kyle's hands and scowling at him and Chad. "Go fuck yourself." He hissed at Chad before disappearing out the door.
"You just had to make a gay joke didn't you...". Groaned Marcus, face buried in his hands and clearly exasperated with this all.

Richard smiled mischievously. "There are many things I'd like to see. Just start with what you think is important." He told her. Standing up he put the chair away and pulled a lighter from his pocket. "I'm putting myself at your mercy..." He teased and then lit the cigar.

Rin found herself at Marcus's quarters before long. She could hear the shouting and then saw several of them exit. She gave them a silent nod before entering the room. "Hey" She said a little awkwardly. She found herself lacking the confidence she usually had.

Tess laughed with a mischievous grin, shaking her head as she to go to her feet. "Boy you never want to be at my mercy". She winked, leaving her tray and gesturing for him to follow her out. " we'll start with the basics."

"Yeah that was uncalled for." Kyle said turning to Chad. "Apologies are necessary."
"What!? You gotta be kidding!". Chad gaped in disbelief before yelping in pain. Kyle's hand had lashed out and was now hauling Chad to his feet by his ear.
" come on, March!". He barked, dragging a whining and whimpering Chad along behind him and dipping his head with a smug smile to Rin on his way past.
"Hey, good timing" sighed Marcus with a tired smile when he recognized Rin in the door way. "What's up?".

Richard held his cigar with one hand, puffing it regularly, and stuck the other in his pocket. Waiting until she had a head start of a few strides he started to follow. "I can think of worse things than being at the mercy of a beautiful woman, even if she has evil things to do to you." He remarked. "Basics, basics are good." He added.

Rin shook her head at the scene. It was like everything they ever did was some kind of comedy routine. She wished she wasn't so preoccupied by all her troubles and could enjoy their company a little more fully. A soft smile flashed onto Rin's face when she turned her attention to Marcus. "I just wanted to come see you, and talk." She said approaching him.

"Bit early for flatter, keep up don't want ya to get lost!" Joked Tess, glancing back at him before heading for the 'basics'. "Since your a pilot, figuring you know where the hanger is huh?"

Marcus moved over to make room for her on his bunk, admittedly surprised by the reason for her visit. "Talk? Last time we talked you punched me " he pointed out at an attempt at lightning what he was worried might be a tense situation.

Speeding up slightly Richard matched her pace and walked alongside of her. Regretting he no longer had a view of her ass. "Yeah, I forced myself to memorize that one as soon as I got here. Kind of top priority." He chuckled. "I know where my bed, my Viper, and my food is. And more or less how to get from one to the other." He joked.

"Don't worry, I won't hit you. Unless your into that kind of thing." She joked to relieve tension then realized how stupid her remark had sounded. "Anyways." She continued. "I just want to make sure we're on the same page. Misunderstandings lead to fights and neither of us want that. So let's just make sure we know what's going on." She explained. As she sat on the bunk she tried to relax, she didn't want this to be ridged or awkward. After all, Marcus was the man she wanted to be with forever so she needed to be able to talk to him comfortably.

"Good! So you're not a complete idiot." Tess winked. "Here, I'll show you where to go to request supplies. You're gonna want to get real friendly with the supply sarg while you're here."

Listening patiently Marcus leaning against the wall at the back of bunk. "Mkay," he said with a slow nod when she had finished. "So, what pahe are you on?" He prompted, folding his hands on his chest and watching her face for hints as to what she would say. Privately he was hoping she had come to tell him it was done and over with John but, somehow doubted that was the case.

"Nice to know you think so highly of me." Richard teased. He nodded at her advice. "Seems reasonable. Piss them off and suddenly you don't have any towels for the month, or whatever." He said casually.

Rin scooted closer to him. "Are you actually okay with me waiting to break things off with John? Well, I don't expect you to exactly be happy about it but you know what I mean." She rambled then took a deep breath. "I wouldn't be putting it off if I didn't feel like it was the right thing to do. I'm not just avoiding conflict. John is a nice guy and he has a lot of weight on his shoulders right now. I don't want to be what pushes him over the edge." She explained.

"Worse then that sometimes, but best not to try to figure out what they'll dish at you" laughed Tess, "just remember, doesn't hurt to kiss up to them"

Marcus straightened up a bit, frowning slightly. "Look Rin, its gonna suck for him whether you wait or not " he pointed out, now on the edge of his bunk. "He'll be fine if he's as good as a guy as you say. But you can't just drag this out. Hes gonna find out eventually, and it'll be better if you tell him now when its only been a week instead of informing him you've been cheating for months." Maybe a bit bitter in his tone, but he didn't like this sneaking around at all. And it felt wrong. Which sucked cause he knew what was between them wasn't wrong.

The idea of swallowing his pride and kissing up to someone who very well might be a pain in the ass didn't sit to well with Richard. He tried to pick his fights and this didn't seem like one to push. "You seem to know what your doing. Something tells me you learned some of this the hard way." he remarked.

Rin sighed in frustration. It wasn't that she was mad at Marcus, it's that she knew he had a good point. Being with Marcus was what she wanted more than anything, yet she hated what situation she had gotten herself into. Pulling her legs up onto the bunk she tucked them up to her chest. "Alright. I'll try to do it as soon as I can."

"No faster way to learn" sighed Tess, raking the fingers of one hand through her bangs to tuck them back into place. "You're lucky you're good looking though, people will be more likely to help you out". She added with a wink.

Marcus nodded slowly, before wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her closer and against his side. " its gonna suck, but just for a sec". he mumbled into her hair.

Richard grinned. "oh, so you find me attractive...?" he asked with a tilt of his head. Tess intrigued him. Though he wasn't sure whether it was a shallow attraction or if he actually wanted to get to know her. He didn't doubt that she saw him as just another guy with one thing on his mind. But was he?

Rin huffed and relaxed into him. "Or we could just fake our deaths and run away." she joked dryly. This had been the hardest problem for her to face. Why though? She constantly asked herself. She had killed people and mercilessly tortured a man. What made this more difficult? Perhaps it was that she spent so much time trying to please others and look after their feelings. She didn't consider herself a particularly sympathetic person, but she was much more considerate than she realized.

"Don't let it go to your head boy, lot of pretty faces on this ship. If anything, its making yourself a bit ugly and different that'll catch my eye.". Tess laughed. Flittering was fun and stress releasing in this high pressure occupation. And if someone was responsive to it, even better. It was a fun game, but she had yet to see it become more then just that with more then one or two people.

Marcus smiled crookedly and hummed. " yeah that could work, we'd be unemployed though. Kinda like having a pay check...hey! We could be space pirates!" He said excitedly, bumping her slightly and grinning down at her. "It'dbe fun, you pilot I'll be the gun slinger."

"Your face has been by far the prettiest I've seen yet." he said in a softer voice. There was a certain energy about the woman that he couldn't get over. It wasn't just her beauty he found appealing. He felt sure that he'd like to have her as a friend, regardless of anything else. "So where do we go after this stop?" he asked.

Rin laughed at the notion. "Sounds fun. We could gather a crew of misfits and travel the universe!" she rambled. The idea sounded nice, but so far from reality that it was like a fairy tale. "They'veturned me into rto much of a soldier to quit now." she remarked with a sigh.

Tess looked back at him curiously, before straight ahead again as they neared the supply store. "After this? I figured the scrap and junk storage lockers. Best place to find pieces to repair your fighter or make stuff if you're a decent welder. Really just a ton of possibilities crammed in there."

"Nah, you just act like one more often then not. You're still always gonna be pink haired Rin to me. Back when you had it nice and long, remember? Maybe we should be started the whole purate thing back then before we got all these responsibilities and shit,". Rambled Marcus aimlessly, playing with her hair idly as he chatted away. It was nice pointless conversation, something he had been missing for months and months and it was all the better now with her.

Rin chuckled. "I'm still that girl, somewhere." she mumbled. What he said was painfully true. It really felt like their lives had become to complex and full for them to have the freedom to explore. Overall Rin loved her life as a soldier, a pilot,t but she wasn't sure what else she might want to do. "Back on topic though." she said wiggling around slightly. "I'll talk to John tomorrow, I'll tell him and I'll break it all off. Sorry it's taken so long already." she said.

Marcus shook his head, wrapping both arms around her now to pull her back against his chest. "Don't stress over it, I understand.". He sighed, testing his chin on her shoulder and watching the door tiredly. " sorry if I pushed you, can't help it.". He added, muffling a yawn against her shoulder.

Rin shifted herself closer to him. "it's alright. Your good at keeping me balanced, it's part of why I love you so much." she smiled. Glancing around the room and then backto him she ccontinued. "But it looks like we have the room to ourselves for awhile so let's not waste it..." she commented then started kissing his neck .

Tired as he was, Marcus grinned in response to her 'subtle' change in topic. "Randy aren't we?" He teased, before pulling Rin up for a proper kiss and tugging the small bunk curtain into place to obscure them from view.

Eventually the three other squad nates returned that night, a good Amount quieter then usual, and slunk into their bunks to sleep. The one Marcus and Rin occupied had gone quiet as the two gradually fell asleep tangled up in sheets and limbs. By the time they woke, the others were gone again barely leaving any trace of their ever having been there.
"Sleep ok?" Mumbled Marcus drowsily into Rin's hair after he was certain he was to awake to fall back asleep.