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Jackie was a bit thankful that the others were taking care to make sure Fitz was ok. She wasn't about to put in much effort, but it seemed he was calm enough to join them for the game. Who knows? Perhaps he would surprise them all and be a wicked card shark?

The people at this table were working together and according to Captain Ballcruncher, they got stuff done. Jackie would believe it when she saw it. She may not be the best judge of character, but it still seemed like very little would get done or they would run into trouble constantly like they were merely playthings for some cruel overlord.

Or Jackie could be drunk. Very distinct possibility.

"Oh, I'm a small town girl, living in a lonely world..." She took a moment for that bit to settle, before she chuckled to herself, "Nah, fuck that. I'll be honest with you lot, but don't let it get to your heads. I'm a...well I'm not a nice person, to say the least. Usually paid to do dirty things in a variety of settings. I can shoot with the best of them, drink any man under a table, take what isn't mine and make it look like you meant that to happen. Oh and I can do this." She took her left hand in her other hand and gripped her thumb, maneuvering it like she was able to remove her thumb from her hand. Such a classic trick.

"Kind of ran into him here when he was about to be suckered and pickpocketed by two dumbasses who were SO obvious about it. Quite sad, really. But that's about it. I tend to move around a lot because life is short and I usually overstay my welcome. Mainly because the authorities start searching for me. Hasn't happened here yet, which is a miracle."

She felt a little happier when she heard the captain's response to Jackie's question about work. They did tend to get things done, when they weren't stranded because of a crash landing or something. The captain was definitely not taking anything from this woman, and it made Daphne almost laugh at the fact. She was glad that Fitz seemed to be doing better now, and was actually conversing with other people.

Daphne didn't really care much for what was on the menu, but anything would be better than nothing. The conversation around the table was still much more interesting than food, but she supposed that eating something would give her an excuse to keep quiet and not express her opinions about Jackie. When Harper asked her, she shut the menu and gave a shrug. "Not really," she said to Harper, as she set the menu down.

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There was something odd about the other man at the table. He had asked Fitz to repeat where he was from - when he hadn't said so in the first place - and then he refused to give Fitz information in return. Then, he had caught a glimpse of an odd look from him, though it vanished within a blink of an eye. Ironically, the more uncomfortable he felt with Harper, the less terrifying Jackie became to him. She hadn't done anything but be kind to him...in her own sort of way.

Once Harper, Anisa, and Daphne finished ordering, Dorothy glanced up from the menu and smiled at the waitress. "I'll have a hum bao plate and...Oh, some sweet douhua." She then folded her menu, content with her choices. She figured that she could give a hum bao or two to Daphne if she was hungry - it usually ended up that way when they were kids. Once she was full, she'd see if her sister wanted to finish off her plate.

Picking up her hand of cards, Dorothy perused them while keeping an eye on the panicky engineer simultaneously. While he was still jittery and the stutter was present, he seemed to have gotten a bit of a grip. "Dr. Townsley, better?" Dorothy asked, wanting to get a verbal confirmation from him.

Fitz had been feeling better, even managing to only squirm in his seat slightly at the soft jabs from the female captain. He couldn't help his social anxiety. He knew that he was making a fool of himself. Dwelling on it only made it worse...Like if he told himself that he was being ridiculous, he'd end up hyperventilating and only looking even more outlandish, and if that kept up he'd be liable to pass out and create an even bigger scene. He'd then later wake up to start the cycle over again - though it wasn't as much of a cycle as it was a ladder.

Jackie was.... a criminal mastermind? That was the gist that Fitz was able to comprehend. His eyes went wide and he nearly forgot that the waitress was patiently waiting to take their orders. The first thing that popped into his head was Shepherd's Pie. All of the food being ordered sounded amazing - and he had had the chance to try some of the more working class street food fare recently. Nothing reminded him more of home, though, than Shepherd's Pie. His mother was awful at making it - bloody awful. "Ah, hi, yes, I'll...I'll h-have Shepherd's Pie, if you've g-got it?" Fitz inquired.

He then turned to Jackie, his voice dropping. "S-so are you...are you a...m-murderer?" Fitz asked.

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Anisa tapped her cards somewhat as she sat there. "Sounds like the usual application for this crew," she said without batting an eyelash. Granted her current crew had't really had that much of an application process. More of an elimination process but that was neither here nor there. The only ones she really didn't know what was up with was Jahosafat and Foy. The rest she had the information she needed, either from them already being a member of her crew for sometime or because they were rather upfront about things. Anisa herself despised the alliance yet she had her reasons for tolerating the three new comers. Why Daphne and Dorothy were was beyond her. Their hate, as far as she knew, ran just as deep.

Jahosafat at that time didn't care who thought what about him as long as they didn't think he was poor. The woman in his lap obviously didn't. He sat there talking to her but there really wasn't much information to be had. He went on about his home, his money, his breeding. Didn't mention the ship other than he could be useful on giving the girl a checkup yet he was meaning anything but medical right then.

Glancing over towards Daphne Anisa grunted slightly. "We haven't exactly stocked since landing. You don't get something now, don't expect anything anything to be available later," she said before her attention was turned elsewhere. She wasn't playing this game anymore and letting her act like a child. If she so much as saw her eating off her sisters plate again she wouldn't have a place on the crew. If Dorothy wasn't going to force her to grow up, Anisa would. Captain, mother hen, bitch - it was all the same to Anisa.

The captains brow quirked as Fitz asked if Jackie was a murder and she nearly snorted her drink when he spoke. Kid was either dumb or had balls the size of Osiris. This would be interesting to see how the woman answered. Not that if she had killed someone it would mean much to Anisa or any of the crew probably for that matter. There might have been one person who hadn't put a bullet through someones skull on her crew. Maybe one but even that was doubtful. And Murder was just a broad term. Some people deserved to die, so it wasn't murder. It was just justice.

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Jackie realized she hadn't ordered yet and drinking without eating was dangerous. Fuck it though, maybe the others would be kind enough to share with her? After all, she was the friendliest of people!

Some didn't seem to think so. She had a feeling the chick with guy giving Fitz the third degree wasn't a big fan of hers. Didn't much phase her really. In fact, it could be kind of fun. She knew just how to twist the knife. "Is that right?" she asked Captain Ballcruncher, "Just so happens I'm looking for a place to call my own. Running to and fro gets ever so tiring. Wouldn't mind having a space to put my feet up without watching my back constantly."

Fitz posed the question to her and she nearly spit out her drink. Seemed Fitz calmed down enough to grow some balls. She had to give it to him, when push came to shove she didn't expect him to do anything but weep. Maybe there was hope for the poor boy. "I can't lie to ya darling. Well, I could, it would be really easy to do so, but I won't. It depends on what you define as murder. If you mean did I kill people, yes. If you mean did I kill people because I secretly like watching the light fade from people's eyes? No. I'm messed up, but I ain't THAT messed up. I would rather steal from ya than kill ya, but it doesn't mean I back down from a fight. In fact, the only reason you still have ANY money with ya is because I stopped those two bozos from robbing ya and took enough pity on ya to not do so myself. And I like ya, cupcake. Not an easy feat, I gotta tell ya."

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Jacqueline was proving to be something of a puzzle for the former Lieutenant Harper. That puzzle was quickly tossed into a drawer and immediately forgotten the moment she mentioned that she was routinely sought after by law enforcement. While his identity would likely remain intact under all but the most intense of Central inquiry, the concept of it was, in theory, an anathema to him. Unless the woman exaggerated the level with which she got hassled by the constabulary, they had a problem. Of course, now her talk had turned to finding a place to settle, that sword had become double edged. Were she to "settle" on board Prometheus, regional lawfolk would be easier to avoid, but she would have to answer to the ever-present authority figures on board. And if her threats were to be taken seriously, one of those authority figures had a nasty habit of tossing people who displeased her out of the airlock.

Was it the best idea to surround himself with people such as these? The standard crew aside, which was already chock full of conflicting personalities and varying levels of sociopathy (himself included), they did all have certain skills that could assist in his survival. Even the foppish Barber that he wasn't too horribly fond of was supposedly some sort of mercenary badass. Like him or not, he was a useful ally to have in his corner, like the exothermic Shepherd or the former Alliance doctor. These people who had insinuated themselves into the crew's table, though? It was a bit of a coin toss. One was a naive but highly educated Engineer and fellow Osiris native, while the other was a self styled "not nice person" with a talent for getting the hell out of town when fleecing the locals gets hairy.

The one had no idea how to survive outside of the Core. The other seemed to do just that, to the exclusion of anything else. Harper leaned to Anisa and spoke quietly, so that even one close to either of them would have to strain to hear, "This whole thing could be a con, Ma'am. But you did say you wanted to bring on an Engineer and a Grifter." Yeah, this felt shady. So did everyone else on that boat. Nothing a well placed rap with a wrench couldn't fix, if it came down to it.

Harper took a sip as the conversation progressed. He was a little disappointed that Daphne decided not to join them in taking a meal. "Grab an app," he suggested. "Shouldn't drink on an empty stomach. Besides, it's on me." Harper offered a reassuring smile. His eyes showed an intelligent twinkle as he turned Fitz and Jacqueline. "My apologies," he started with melodic, low tones, "It has been a very long week, and I have forgotten my manners. Jacqueline, Dr. Townsley, my name is Harper. I'm a Pilot, among other things. Our Captain picked me up on the Rim, though it's more accurate to say that I'm from a colony near Persephone. It's a pleasure, of course."

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A thought suddenly struck Fitz: what if he couldn't find a ship that would take him on? If the typical application for a crew member involved killing and other crimes, then he was severely under-qualified. The only thing he had ever killed in his life was an exam at university. Unconsciously, he had started tapping his hand against his knee in increasingly complex patterns. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap taaap tap tap taaap tap tap taaap. He genuinely enjoyed the company of people - his nervous stutter and his naivety often made it appear otherwise.

It would've been easy for him to just get twitchy and run as soon as Jackie explained to him her moral philosophy. She was a liar and a thief - he imagined probably some sort of hired muscle too, maybe. But she had saved him, hadn't she? His mind then flashed back to Royus - he had spent a long time traveling the 'Verse and he handled the kids in the shop easily with his piece. It was possible that Royus was like Jackie one day.

Fitz stopped tapping his fingers, making up his mind. Truthfully, he liked Jackie - she seemed like a good person, deep down. Everyone else at the table, even Daphne, probably had written him off as a nervous kid over his head. But he was more than that - he was an almost thirty year old engineer trying to get out of his comfort zone in the most extreme way possible.

"Th-th-thanks," Fitz said to Jackie. "I l-like you too...Not like like but...n-not that you're not pretty or anything but...you're...n-nice...to me, at l-least," Fitz added.

Dorothy wasn't too sure what to think of the entire situation. The fish out of water engineer seemed to be a little insane, just straight up asking someone like Jackie if she had ever killed someone. But at the same time, he was lucky. Ask anyone else that type of question and the response wouldn't necessarily be so friendly. She shrugged it off, looking back over towards her sister and Harper. She was about to suggest to Daphne that she might like the hum bao plate as well, but she bit her tongue.

She needed to let Daphne make her own choices, make her own mistakes. She wasn't the little girl she left on Boros anymore. Harper and Anisa's nudging - some gentle, some not so much - was enough. She didn't need to jump in and baby Daphne. The engineer may have been tripping over his words, but she could see him putting in an honest effort. That was all she ultimately wanted from her sister.

"We've got a few wild cards, looking over your shoulder isn't always such a bad idea," Dorothy commented. "Might find a Bible flung at you otherwise." Of course, she wasn't extending an invitation for Jackie to join their crew. She wasn't even certain where/when Anisa would want to start bringing on more members. She merely was musing about Atticus' proclivity for explosives and spiritual warfare - though she had chucked a few anatomy texts at him in return.

"D-Don't worry about it," Fitz replied. "It's n-nice to meet you - Harper."

Daphne let's out a laugh when she hears her sister's order. "Dorothy, seems like you still like your sugar. You used to have so much when we were little," she said, giving her a smile. Her sister has always had a sweet tooth, she kind of does too, but she wasn't going to mention it. The idea of the doctor having a thing for sweets is a little ironic in her mind. When Fitz asked about Jackie being a murderer, well, it wouldn't surprise her, but you generally don't ask those sorts of things straight out, unless you were just asking to be killed. That's just crazy.

"Hey, I don't have that much of a history. I haven't technically done anything wrong," she responded to Anisa. Though most of the crew does have a criminal background, she only did because she joined the Browncoats, nothing too horrible, compared to the history of just about everyone else. At least as far as she knew anyway.

Jackie's comments annoyed her. The idea of having her on board the ship was the last thing she wanted, though she had no say in the matter. The woman did not seem like the type of person that would really be useful on board. Rolling her eyes as she mentioned not killing for pleasure. Most people in the crew have done that, or at the very least shot at someone. Having to distinguish that you don't kill for pleasure clearly means you might, at least in Daphne's mind.

It was starting to bug her with everyone telling her to eat something, though at least Harper was being somewhat nicer about it. "Alright, I'll get the hum bao too". It was the only thing that she could think of that is decently good compared to everything else. As she finished her drink, she heard Harper introduce himself as the pilot, made her turn to the waitress, "I'll have another drink too". She has never been much of a drinker, but her life is kind of not the best right now, the Captain is pissed off at her, and she doesn't even get to really fly the ship, so she doesn't really care.

When Dorothy spoke of her book war with Atticus made her let out another laugh. Her sister and the preacher were pretty great, watching them throwing books around. It was always a good source of entertainment. She thought of Fitz, and the original conversation she had with him when they first met. She smiled at his response to Jackie, but she couldn't help but think about how he was looking for a ship. "Hey Fitz, still looking for a ship? Your an engineer, why not join us? Of course, she'd have to give permission or something like that," she said, nodding towards Anisa. Daphne hadn't meant to jump in like that, but Fitz had said that he was looking for a ship, and she had said she would see about talking to Anisa about it. No time like the present since everyone was in one place.

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The Captain of the rag tag crew simply nodded to her lead pilots words. She tended to think that everything was a con, it was probably one of the reasons that she had stayed alive as long as she had. She kept on the defensive to ensure if someone tried to drive a knife into her back she could turn around and shoot them in the chest first and see the look in their eyes as life left their body. It wasn't that Anisa was a sick and twisted homicidal maniac, even though they did look like everyone else, it was just that Anisa did not tolerate betrayal on any level and when it happened she acted swiftly and emotionally. It was personal then.

Now the next series of events were taken with a grain of salt. She had mentioned bringing on new people and Harper was just reminding her of that. She could accept that. He wasn't questioning her, he was advising her. Dorothy, like Harper, took the better road. She just warned the two about bibles. She wasn't offering them a job or anything. Then it went south and quickly. Daphne spoke. Anisa smirked at first and then spoke dryly. "No, other than mopin' about the ship for the last several days because you got demoted. Other than wanderin' off to leave people to do your job which in turn left your sister and our barber to run off after a stowaway and leavin' us even more short handed but you didn't know that did you because you were fuckin' off sight seein'. Shit, I would rather you have killed someone than turn your back on the crew like that," Anisa spat with an icy tone as she turned in her chair. It was a good thing that Harper was between the two of them right then because she would have just bitch slapped the girl right then and there for her attitude. Yeah, she hadn't technically done anything wrong. No what she had done was far worse. She had turned her back on her crew because she got exactly what she deserved. Demoted for acting like a child.

It seemed that Daphne wasn't done showing her ass. She went and offered a job to the stuttering bumble boy and then slipped in the captains permission to join as an after thought. That was the last straw. Anisa spared a half a second glance towards Dorothy as a warning that she was about to snap. Then all hell broke loose as it no longer mattered to the Captain that Harper was between her and Daphne. It mattered that the woman had the nerve to act like she had any authority on the ship, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. That shit would not stand. She might have just chewed her out if they weren't in front of people but this was going to pull into question her authority on her own damn ship and that she couldn't have. She had to put Daphne in her place, in front of god and everyone - right then.

And so she did. It half looked like Anisa as fallen off her chair as she faced Daphnes direction but she hadn't. She had merely slipped down off of it to kick out her leg between the legs of Harpers chair. This made it a simple thing to kick Daphnes chair out from under her and send her spilling out onto the floor before she could even have a chance to react or Harper an opportunity to stop her. (Rolls were made in chat for these actions.) Coming up and standing straight Anisa had pulled a gun and stepped around Harper as she eyed Daphne with fire. That look was well known by the longer standing members of the crew. This was usually the time that Anisa through someone out of an airlock when they were in the black. "Yi Dwei Da Buen Chuo Roh...I don't know who the hell you think ya are givin' out positions like that on my ship but that gonna stop right now. Yer Jei-Jei is the only reason I haven't fired yer ass yet but that stops right bloomin' now. Mei Yong Ma Duh Tse Gu Yong... I tried to school ya, teach ya, be the hard mother to ya that yer sister couldn't be and this is how ya gonna act?" Anisa said in a fiery voice as she pointed the gun at Daphnes head as she laid sprawled out on the ground.

Anisa was actually tearing up as she spoke and it wasn't clear if she was or was not going to pull the trigger. It was clear that the Captain had had enough. It probably didn't help they had just lost a ship, that Anisa had just lost Jackson; the last remaining friend from her planet which had been utterly destroyed by the Alliance. Didn't help she had been drinking. Yet tears? From Anisa? That was not something that happened.

(Rolls must be made for ANY actions BEFORE you post - PM me or hit me up in chat for rolls on declared actions. Failure to do so before posting will result in boot from RP. Let the games begin.)

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Jackie sipped her drink before Fitz spoke. She expected the boy to be put off by her shenanigans at this point. Hell, she would be tired after hearing her. As truthful as her words were, she figured the boy to be taken aback by the fact she had killed before and would do so again. It wasn't anything new. She didn't have many friends. She wasn't expecting or looking for any either.

And then Fitz spoke. And it was like her heart grew three sizes that day.

Or maybe that was indigestion? Either way, she hoped it passed.

Still, she was touched that Fitz expressed his fondness for her. She nearly spat out her drink, but she coughed it down. She looked over at the boy. It was honesty in its purest form. Truly, this baby needed someone like her in his life. For good or ill. "Fitz, that was probably the most sickening fucking thing I have ever heard. Thank you! If anyone, from this point on, ever tries to fuck with you, Fitz my boy, you tell me, and I will take care of it. That is a promise worth more than gold." She even forgot for a second that she was debating about joining this crew. Needless to say, if Fitz joined, she joined too.

However, things kicked off rather quickly as Captain Ballcruncher knocked over Daisy Ditz. It would have shocked her, but she was pretty much expecting the Captian to go off at some point. Call it intuition, but it only made Jackie like her more. She wasn't about to get involved, but since she figured they weren't going to be playing the game anymore, she stood up too. She fingered (giggity) her guns, on the off chance things took a sharp turn, but she wasn't about to stop this from happening. Perhaps Daisy Ditz deserved it. It was the Captain's right, after all. She did, however, make her way over to Fitz in a protective mom kind of way. She meant what she said. No one would be fucking with him.

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Mei had been silent, slinking off and following those that left the table. She didn't get any useful information off of them and she cursed herself. It was becoming a hassle. But there were no other Alliance vessels and she couldn't wait for the next one to dock. She had to be proactive.

She heard the Chinese words being thrown about that the card table and looked just in time to see one of the girls falling over. The other woman in the duster jacket stormed over and drew her gun, pointing it at the woman's head. It was only a matter of time before things escalated. Mei figured this was as best an opportunity as she would get.

Mei recognized the other woman at the table. She was the one that shot her. She had been doing her best to avoid her, in case she got the idea to shoot her again. Now, more than ever, it was best to get involved. Worse case scenario, she was shot. Best case, she got her information.

She made her way over, jumping around everyone at the bar now watching the scene until she got near the woman. She had her gun in her hand and she got right behind her in the midst of the commotion. She whispered to her, "You remember me, yes? I will look past the gun shot in the leg seeing as there are bigger problems right now. I will help control this situation and save the woman on the ground. After that, I wish to speak to your captain. Words only, that is all."

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Throughout all of the drama unfolding around him, Harper's mind went back to something that the highly anxious Engineer asked a few moments ago. Through the stutter, he could clearly discern the question, "Are you a murderer?" It seemed fairly relavent to the situation just then. Were any of these people murderers? He couldn't speak for the newcomers, but he did have enough in the way of conversation with the rest of the crew over the past week to know that several of them fought in the Unification War. He was part of that too, once upon a time. Not as a ground soldier, but as a pilot. Harper was rated on damn near every type of craft that saw action during the war and he used most of them in pursuit of following orders. That would be Alliance orders, and they were rarely for Harper to go on a coffee run. He got his hands dirty from time to time, but really, he was no better or worse than a common soldier in that regard.

Some of the others were in the war, too. Browncoats. Considering the imbalance of numbers in that conflict, every one of the Independents likely had blood on their hands, too. But did that make them murderers? Harper didn't think so. Things happen in wartime. People do the worst of actions just to survive. Soldiers were not necessarily the same as murderers.

But they weren't William Harper. Technically, neither was he, but that was a debate for another occasion. The others may have killed in the heat of the moment, knifed some guy in a barfight, traded gunfire with opposition, it could be easily justified enough to place the loss of life squarely away from murder. But Harper was. The guy may have deserved it and the enigmatic pilot had desperate reason to, but he was dead and it wasn't supposed to be Harper's call. Perhaps that is why he acted in the manner that he did, with Anisa standing to one side of him, Daphne on the other, layed out on the floor.

He began to chuckle.

It grew into a silly, barely restrained laugh. But he wasn't laughing at his Captain, nor the other pilot. No, this was aimed nearer at Fitz. Ordinarily a quietish type unless conversation was necessary, it was very possible that no one in his crew had heard that sound issue from his mouth before. He leaned forward, plunking his mug down on the table with the handle still in his fist, letting himself just enjoy the moment of raucous, situationally inappropriate mirth. There were even tears. Of course, he had no clue whatsoever whether that was joy or if he was truly weeping. It seemed that when he cracked the emotional dam, he wasn't fully in control of what came tumbling out. It gave his gale of guffaws a wiry, slightly crazed note. But he kept on laughing. It was distracting at best.

"Oh, oh my dear and shiny Lord, Fitzy..." he started, finding a brief truce with his outburst, "I just got that "are you a murderer" bit." He held back another series of giggles, leaning his head forward as his free hand slipped off of the table. He continued in a loud voice "Shénshèng de gǒu shǐ, that was funny. I haven't laughed that hard since I was a little girl."

Harper leaned back in his seat, partially putting himself back into the mix with Daphne and Anisa. Looking up, he could barely see the Captain's extended arm. He could see her face clear enough, and wondered academically if intervention in any way was possible, let alone preferable. He was competent, but no professional gunslinger. He could fight as well as the next soldier, though kicking off a brawl with guns drawn was stupid. Differing tactic would have to be utilized.

"Hey Captain? May I have the next dance?"

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At first, Dorothy was happy to see Daphne relaxing a bit and joining the conversation. Even the bit of teasing about the Sugar Incident from her childhood was welcomed. While Daphne hadn't said anything to her, Dorothy imagined that her behavior lately was probably stemming back from Jackson's death. It would explain why she left the ship and even a bit of her jealousy over Harper being made lead pilot. Whether this was actually true, having this explanation allowed Dorothy to feel a bit better. Daphne was hurting, just like Anisa was.

Yet Dorothy's brief bit of happiness vanished when she heard Daphne suggest to the engineer that he ought to join their crew. It was a bad thing to say around Anisa while sober - but she had been hitting the alcohol and was grieving her best mate. Dorothy bit down on the inside of her lip, hoping that maybe somehow Anisa hadn't heard Daphne.

"O-Oh....You're welcome," Fitz said bashfully. He smiled at Jackie, glad to have made another friend that day. Despite bumping into Daphne earlier, he didn't really know her. Jackie brought his friends to two, including Royus. Having an ally like her helped to calm his nerves slightly about being able to find passage on a ship. She was looking for someplace to go - he'd just follow her, then. He turned his attention from Jackie to Daphne as she made an offer for him to join up.

The color drained out of his face before he could reply, hearing the utter tongue lashing Anisa was giving Daphne. As Daphne's chair was kicked and she fell to the floor, and Anisa drew, Fitz was horrified. Talking about crime and violence in the abstract was one thing - this was completely different. He whispered a small thank you to Jackie as she protectively stood in front of him like a mother hen. "Can we....c-can we help her?" he then asked, his voice low enough so only Jackie could hear.

He came from the safe, insulated bubble of a university. Bosses fired employees they wanted to get rid of - they didn't shoot them.

Tears escaped Dorothy's eyes as she watched her sister being held at gunpoint by her best friend. One of her deepest, darkest fears was that she would lose Daphne. Her breath caught in her throat and at first, she didn't notice the woman she had spent the better portion of the day chasing. Hearing her words, Dorothy wanted nothing more than to either throw herself in front of Anisa's gun and take the bullet for Daphne, or quite honestly, lose the contents of her stomach. This wasn't going to end well, with two hurt and emotionally wounded people locked into confrontation.

She could've punched Harper with the flippant remark he made, if she hadn't been so stressed. Maybe he had some sort of logic behind it to lower the tensions in this situation. Maybe he had removed the rounds from Anisa's weapons while she wasn't looking. Yet Dorothy was afraid that if she did anything, she'd make things worse - that Anisa would take it as more evidence of her babying Daphne and only escalate the tensions.

"I don't figure I have much of a choice," Dorothy replied to Mei quietly.

If this all blew over, she was going to have to track down Atticus and ask him to "teach" her about alcoholism. She needed a drink now.

Well, that was not what she had expected to happen. The only thing she meant was that she'd suggest it to Fitz, since odds were he wasn't going to ask himself. The thing she had been avoiding the entire time was getting Anisa even more pissed off at her, and now it seems that she has failed at doing so. Her head was a little dizzy, either from being thrown onto the ground or from the drinks, though her bet was on the latter. She needed to come up with a way to at least try and calm Anisa down, without getting shot. Her sister probably was not too thrilled about the situation, but there wasn't much she could do about it now.

Looking up at the gun that was pointed at her, Daphne thought about what she could do to fix this. Apologizing was probably the best option, but she felt like that still might end with her being shot. There was nothing that she could think of, that would calm the situation, and she probably was going to get killed. The best that she could do, was apologize and give a compliment or something, to try and make things better.

"Look, Captain, I'm sorry. I respect you and everything, but at the rate the conversation was going, I didn't think Fitz would ask if he could, so I made a suggestion. I probably shouldn't have, and I'm sorry," she said. It was all she could do. Daphne felt horrible for the way this had gone, and there probably was a better way to have phrased what she had said to Fitz, that much was clear. There was no way she'd be able to pull a gun on Anisa fast enough either, and her sister probably would never speak to her again even if she was able to get a shot off. She didn't even want to pull a gun on her. Daphne still respected Anisa as both an individual and her Captain, she wasn't lying about that. Moments like this, well, it made her think about how she's been acting since they merged with the crew of the Retribution, and it made her wish that she could redo it all again.

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The rate the conversation was going? They had been sitting there all of ten minutes. Anisas eyes narrowed and she could feel herself starting to squeeze on the trigger. This child was laying there on the ground with the actual audacity to suggest that she probably shouldn't have opened her mouth. Anisa couldn't even wrap her mind around how stupid someone had to be to ever think it was a good idea to offer a job to someone in the presence of the Captain and then mention permission from the Captain as if it was some negotiable afterthought and follow up that by... Anisa was done. She wasn't putting up with this anymore from Daphne. She had let her slid too much, should have put her through a wall when she came back to the ship after abandoning the crew like that to take a joy walk through the city while everyone else worked. That was nothing compared to this blatant disrespect. Anisa was triggered and she pulled the trigger.

The sound of the sound of the gun going off cut through the Lady Luck as a Anisa stood there over Daphne, a small trail of smoke curling up from the barrel of the slug pistol. Growing up on Shadow, Anisa knew how to handle a gun before she could walk. Several tours with the Independents during the war, and a life time since then as the Captain of a ship doing questionable things had made Anisa a crack shot when it came to pistols or riffles. She was no assassin by any stretch of the imagination but the woman didn't miss a target. Not when she was mad, not when she was drunk. The Captain of the newly named Prometheus was a Jack of all Trades, and master of several.

So she hit her mark. Thankfully for Daphne, or more so Dorothy in this case from Anisas point of view, the Captain aimed for the knot in the floor board right next to Daphnes head. The wood splintering and kicking up, it would most likely cause some cuts across the womans face but all things considered it would be a small price to pay. It could have been much worse. Much much worse. Anisa had offed crew members for far less in the past. Maybe she was getting soft in her old age. Lowering the gun she took a breath. "You're fired," she said in a flat tone before her eyes darted over towards Dorothy. The only reason Daphne was alive was because of Anisas friendship with Dorothy and the look she gave her friend more than conveyed that. Add to the fact she had said she was fired and not banned from the ship was something else. yet that might best be addressed later.

Most of the establishment really didn't even notice what was going on. A couple of security folks were making their way over but didn't seem to be in a hurry. To them it looked like whatever was going on was wrapping down and this wasn't exactly the type of place where shoot outs never happened. If they got through a night without three people being shot over cards, it was a dull evening.

Anisa had been so tunnel visioned it hadn't even registered Harper laughing and the following question. Yet now that things were as they were her attention turned towards the ships pilot. Her head cocking to the side like a dog that was confused. It took her a minute to ponder the full situation before she did. "Get yer escortee off the gorram floor," she said as she placed the gun on the table and had a seat. Picking up her cards she looked them over before downing another shot.

It was about at that time a rather over exuberant ebony enchantress placed his hands on the railing and grinned broadly at the table below. There was a twinkle in his eye. "I dare say, there are shenanigans a foot! Most exciting! Drama, tension, all the making of a right rip roaring joyous time!" he exclaimed as he ran the tip of his finger along the rim of the hat that was positioned in a very jaunty manner atop of his head.

Turning and banging on the door that his esteemed colleague had vanished behind, he sought to get his attention if it had already not been gotten. It seemed that the good doctor didn't care if people were shooting at each other. Out of everything that had transpired his ears had picked up on one word and one word alone. Dance! "Mr. Coiffer! Cease with your fornication! We have a dance at hand and we cannot let these heathens have the first round! Let us show them how things are done on Farraday!"

Atticus' attention had been gotten and his door opened, peeking out of his room he looked around. Standing there with nothing but a pillow to hide his sin. His head craned this way and that to see what was going on. Didn't seem like there was much other than Anisa popping off. He didn't know what caused the captain to pull the trigger but he wasn't seeing blood so it was all good in his book. Looking over to Jahosafat he gave a nod of his head before shutting the door and going back to his debauchery.

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Jackie wasn't sure how she wished this would play out. She didn't much like the girl on the floor and she only recently met Captain Ballcruncher, but she could feel some camaraderie with her. Still, wasn't it a bit much to knock the girl to the floor and point a gun at her head? Who was she kidding? This was the most entertaining thing to happen in a while! She still stood by Fitz, like a protective mother. The other patrons in the bar weren't glancing and she couldn't blame them. Half probably weren't even aware and the other half were so used to this type of thing.

Then the gunshot.

Jackie instinctively shielded herself, but she also did something she hadn't done before. She shielded Fitz. After a moment, she looked up to see the girl, very much alive, Captain Ballcruncher, very much upset and pissed still, and a hole in the wood floor. With the Captain now back at the table, the guy interested in Fitz laughing like this shit was the funniest thing in the world, and the others not doing much else, she wondered what would happen now.

She sat back down, took another swig of her drink, and picked up her cards too. "So, got any fours?"

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Mei nodded in agreement. Despite their past, she had no ill feelings towards this woman. Given the situation, she supposed what she felt was grief. Mei moved over towards the two women, gun in hand, should something happen. She was curious as to why those in the bar weren't more worried about this, but she supposed it was usual. After all, there had been a gunshot at the port and after some confusion, it was business as usual. Mei got near before the standing woman took her shot.

Mei would have dashed in and tried to stop it, but it was too late. However, much to her surprise, the girl on the ground was alive. A hole in the floor proved how lucky she was. The standing woman turned and sat down. Mei didn't know what to do at that point. She expected a fight. She did offer to help and help she would. She walked over to the girl on the ground and offered her a hand up. She would make sure she could stand, at least, and let the woman who shot her before handle this.

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Harper wasn't sure what about his little performance was most disturbing, the fact that both the laugh and the tears were genuine, coming from some place slightly off-kilter in his psyche, or the fact that absolutely no one seemed to react to it in the slightest. That was a Grade A distraction, and it seemed to be for naught. When the pistol in her hand barked, the enigmatic pilot forced himself not to react. It wasn't easy, though. Not when a gun goes off that close to one's head. Harper's eyes widened in sudden surprise for a half second before relaxing back into something casual, lest any unwanted attention come his way from the authority figure holding the recently fired gun.

Ah well, at least nobody died. And he seemed to have a touch more in the way of job security, such as anything was particularly secure right then. He did feel a little bad for Daphne, though. The indiscretions of youth slamming hard into the life-and-death consequences of life out in the Black made for the occasional painful lesson, as Harper himself was fully aware. Fully, and painfully aware.

He gave Anisa a nod, following her order to help his "escortee" from the floor. Harper put an understanding look on his face and slipped from the chair, coming to crouch slightly over Daphne. "Come on. I've got you. Let's get you up." he said softly, extending his free hand down to her. It was at this time that he realized that someone was already offering her assistance. He wasn't a huge fan of people that invested themselves in other people's dram. It was the opposite of a survival plan, much of the time. Switching to a more neutral tone, he looked the woman in the eyes and intoned, "It's okay, Miss. I've got her."

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It was certainly an act of thoughtful concern for Foy's near and dear friend to put knuckle to door, alerting him to the potential frivolities in store for a well appointed man of the Gentlemanly Arts. Indeed, the slim but dangerous man had since wrapped up his more personal recreation and was toward the end of a truly masterful knot for his very fine necktie, having otherwise dressed and re-armed himself appropriate to the setting. He pulled on his jacket and procured his bowler hat from the lamp on the nightstand, giving his compliments to the stalwart and dexterous professional in his midst.

"Madame, I commend your talent and commitment to the unabridged satisfaction of your clientele! Indubitably, despite never having entertained a guest from the Farradayan Gentry (as was your earlier assertion, yes?) you assuredly have grasped the proficient and vigorous application of a proper Stacheing, indeed! To wit, here..." Foy placed an amount of hard currency back upon the nightstand, "...is ample gratuity. May your bedsprings ever be agreeable, madame. Now then... continued Foy as he placed his hat upon his head and tapped it into place, "I must away."

Of course, he had heard the gunshot just earlier. It was taken with a grain of salt at first, but it did cause him to strap on his Derringers and give a listen for other, supporting sounds. It was not a firefight, more than a argument that happened to have 9mm punctuation, and when Jahosafat gave a little knock at his door it fully convinced the man that most was well. And so, with confidence befitting a man who had his Stache and eat it too, he opened the door leading out to the balcony and strode to meet the main room as only he could: From up above and with perfect posture.

"Dance you say, my ebon counterpart? I should adore the notion of a lively exchange of partners, settling into a robust Schottische, and organized Line, or a precocious Square, would you not?" Stepping to the edge of the balcony, Foy quickly located the rest of the crew and took great interest on the floor-bound Daphne. Not so much the young lady herself, but those around her. The two new faces at the table were still present, the Captain was playing poker as if nothing had transpired, Harper was offering her Daphne a hand up, and no one was dead.

Oh and that woman he was tracking through a sewer earlier? She was also there, for whatever reason, right beside Harper and Daphne with her hand out. "Indeed, let us demonstrate the proper execution of all things Farradayn..." he mused, before turning his head slightly to Jahosafat. The change in the pitch of his voice, though slight, was enough to color his words with a touch of professionalism. He carefully released one of his Derringers into his hand. "Though first, my friend, it is time to get back on the clock, as it were. That audacious young woman with our Pilots is our uninvited guest from earlier. I daresay she owes me a pair of Madisons."

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Dorothy's breath hitched in her throat once more. She wanted to turn her head, in order to avoid having the image of her best friend pointing a gun at her little sister seared into her memory. Daphne's apology only increased Dorothy's nervous distress, with the ex-Alliance doctor sitting perfectly still. Had she been standing, she would have been in parade rest. It was the most she could do to not scream and vomit up everything she had consumed that day, with the dread eating away at her.

Daphne's apology would either fix everything or make it a thousand times worse. Maybe Anisa would see it as Daphne truly apologizing - or maybe it'd come off as more teenage angst. Dorothy couldn't look away, she couldn't avert her gaze. But somehow, when Anisa pulled the trigger and the shot went off, her eyes were shut tight. A primal wail threatened to rip its way out of her, as she believed her sister to be dead. She slowly opened her eyes, feeling weak all over again when she realized Daphne was fine - fired, but fine. Her relief was apparent in her face as she returned Anisa's gaze.

Fitz seemed to be malfunctioning, to say the very least. Gun violence and alcohol didn't seem to be a great mix and the naive engineer simply sat down, looking across the table in shock. Every few seconds, he'd turn to Jackie as if about to ask her a question, only to shut his mouth and look back across the table. No one seemed to be hurt. His difficulty came with an inability to figure out how to process this entire situation. "Is th-this sort of thing normal?" Fitz whispered to Jackie.

Had Anisa not delegated Harper to help Daphne, Dorothy likely would've sprung up to do so. But as she reminded herself, that would only make matters worse. The more she tried to do for her sister, the more incompetent Daphne appeared to the others and the less chances Daphne had to grow. She tried to look over her cards, but found herself too stressed and relieved to even focus on them. Looking up, she tried to get an idea of who was in this establishment and where - more specifically, looking for Atticus. A drink was definitely appealing.

Daphne had no idea how Anisa would react to her apology, but two thoughts crossed her mind after she said it. Either she was going to get shot, or somehow Anisa would let her live. She heard the shot, and expected for everything to go black, but the Captain surprised her. Instead of a bullet, she felt wood splinter up, hitting her face. The bullet had hit right next to her, and that was way too close for comfort. She had expected to die, but was glad to be proven wrong.

She was alive, for the moment anyway, but it wasn't the end of it yet. Daphne knew that she deserved some sort of punishment for that, especially since the Captain hadn't killed her. Her words sank in, and it made her glance down slightly. She had lost her job, but she hadn't really said anything about her leaving the ship, so she probably was still allowed to be around, which was probably better than she deserved.

When she looked up again, she saw that two people held their hands out to her. One was a woman that she hadn't seen before, the other was Harper. Even though she still didn't really care much for Harper, he was at least someone that she knew. So she reached up and took his hand, getting up off the ground. She didn't say anything, deciding to keep her mouth shut again, thinking that it would probably be better for her in the long run. Since the last thing she truly said, aside from her apology, resulted in this whole situation.

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Looking over at Jackie from the top of her shot glass, Anisa quirked a brow at the womans card request. The liquid burned slightly as it crawled down her throat. Hissing slightly she turned over the glass and let it back down on the table before running her tongue along her bottom lip, getting the last dram of whiskey from it. Then a curl tugged at the corner of her lips and she chuckled, then it grew into a more solid laugh. Apparently whatever had affected Harper had snuck into Anisas blood as well. Was something happening to them to make them see or hear things that they were finding funny but others had no idea about? They had been on the ship longer than the rest and Harper had been the first on the ship while Anisa had finished the deal. Was there a gas leak?

Anisa felt a few tears slip out as she laughed and wiped them away with the back of her hand. "Go fish!" she was finally able to choke out. The words made the laughter come out even more. The entire things was hilarious to her. She had no idea who this Fitz character was and on principle alone she probably wouldn't hire him even if he was the best in the verse because of Daphne but this woman had something about her she liked. There was something about her she didn't like as well but the like out weighed the dislike and for Anisa to admit to herself that she liked anyone took a lot.

Or maybe it just took a good game of Go-Fish. Others had found the game wonderful in horrid circumstances. There was the fabulous tale of Froggy and Dick Play Go-Fish During The Apocalypse that was a childhood favorite of hers growing up. Froggy and Dick had many a great adventures together but Go-Fish was always the best of those Golden Books. Screw Elmo and the Monster at the End Of the Book - Froggy and Dick for life!

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Jahosafat rested his hands on the banister and looked out on the crowd below, paying particular attention to the crew he was now a part of and grinning broadly at them. "I dare say they are the most peculiar group of cohorts. This must be what the great Jane Goodall felt like when she immersed herself with the chimpanzees and was able to observe up close and on a personal level their familial patterns and hierarchy. At the rate they are going it is good we are here old man. They need a messenger of peace if I ever did conclude." Yes, that was exactly what this whole situation was like. He was Dr. Goodall watching the lower life forms who were not as able as he and his hetero lifemate were. He was with them now but he would study them and be their peace bringer. Show them the way of Faraday, how to better themselves. They would never be on the same level as he and Foy were, one could not change their true self but they could be taught the most rudimentary of things.

"I say in honor of your newest Foy'er we should celebrate accordingly. There would be only one tune that drifts to our ears and makes our feet tap in a jocular manner enough to fully encapsulate the feeling of utter joy that comes with the opening of such an establishment." Jahosafat clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. Oh yes, he had a song in mind. A dueling song, a song of Faraday, of Coiffeur! And by extension, himself. Turning his head he locked eyes with Foy and his grin broadened even more, his pearly whites glaring in contrast to his ebony skin. "Mustache!" he exclaimed before turning his attention back to the group blow as Foy pointed out one small hitch in this idea.

"So that is the minx in which absconded from your sight. Yes, she does in fact owe you a dashing pair of Madisons, and a matching ascot for the inconvenience. It would be the least she could do yet I wonder what perchance had her digging around the previous vessel. Few things would have caused her to sneak on one would think. Oh yes, I must speak with this one, back on the clock it is my dear sir. Do lead the way," he said motioning towards the stairs with a flamboyant sweep of his hand. "After you."

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Jackie merely shrugged at Fitz's question. For all she knew, this crazy lot did this every weekend. It had been a long time that she felt her heart race like this. She looked over at Captain Ballcruncher as she retorted. Her laughter was kind of infectious. So much so that Jackie herself started cackling. She hit the table a few times too. There was something about this woman that she liked. She didn't like ANYONE. She hated people. People were dumb. People did stupid things. People abandoned you...

But now she had come across not one, but two people she actually liked. The first was this lovable goof next to her that looked like he peed himself about 20 times. The other was this captain that just shot a gun at some girl's head and fired her, only to sit back down and start laughing. Jackie set her cards down before she looked the captain in the eyes. "Figured you'd like that. Had a feeling you could use a laugh. Now, not sure what all that was about, but it sounds like you got some free space on that ship of yours. I'm willing to throw my hat in the ring, if you need someone. Of course, your decision since I just witnessed what happens when someone assumes something of ya."

She put her arm around Fitz, drawing him closer to her "And my boy Fitz here. Now, I don't know nothin' about his engineering skills, but maybe he can prove himself? Either way, we're a package deal. Think of the fun!" Jackie didn't let her msile down, until she saw the random woman that came over walk over to the table.

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Mei knew she was in a predicament. She let the man help the woman up as she stepped to the side. She would let them handle things. She knew the woman who shot her would be on top of her if she let her, even if her concern was towards the other woman. Mei put her gun back in to the holster.

She stepped forward as she heard laughter. Those at the table seemed to enjoy themselves. She saw the event, she saw the gun shot, she saw the woman who held the gun ad fired the poor girl. That had to be the captain. So she walked over to the table. Eyes on her, she said her peace.

"Hello. I imagine you may have heard about me, but if not I will tell you. I'm the one who snuck on board your ship." She heard the blonde woman cough a bit in surprise, before she continued. "Your men followed me, but couldn't find me, but they pursued vigilantly. I am a woman of honor first and foremost. I only snuck on board your Alliance vessel because I desired information. I am looking for someone. He's....a bad person. I come to ask for forgiveness," Mei said as she took to a knee and bowed her head, "though I know I am not deserving of it. If you have any information I seek, it would be of great help, otherwise I will surrender to whatever you desire." Mei knew she was putting herself in scope, but she had no other choice.