Yule

Firefly - Second 'Verse

The Kids Are Alright Part 2

The China Doll

OOC: JP between @Winters, @MK Blitzen and @Yule

After cleaning up enough to look presentable, the trio made their way towards the galley across the catwalk that stretched high above the ship's cargo hold.

“You think there is any food left? I don’t mind cooking if there ain’t.” Mathias said messing with his still moist hair.

Isaac bounced in front. "What do you think Cookie made today, eh?" He mused aloud. "Sausages? Chicken with rice? Ooh! Steak and potatoes??" The boy's mind reeled at the possibilities.

“Protein Paste,” Cyd teased, as she looked over the spacious cargo bay. “All you can eat.”

“All the fake flavors of the rainbow too.” Mathias said with a dramatic wave of his arm.

Isaac's spirits were immediately dashed by the awful suggestion from his sibs. "Protein paste sucks" he groused, dragging out the last word to show the depths of his distaste for the gritty provision. Just then, something caught Isaac's attention down below them in the hold. "Hey...are we allowed to go down there?" he asked, his head motioning in the direction of the main part of the cargo hold.

“No we are not.” Mathias said as he moved to drag his ferret of a sibling along.

Isaac squirmed as he tried to free himself from his brother's grip to no avail. Since brute force didn't work, he opted for a different tactic. "I saw something cool" the teen crooned, hoping to rouse just a hint of curiosity out of Mathias.

Cyd exchanged a quick glance with Mathias before ticking her head.

Mathias sighed letting the mischievous monkey have at it. “You get us spaced, it's totally on you.” He accused his younger twin.

“On everyone’s second day?” Cyd asked with a quirk of her eyebrow. She grinned and elbowed her older brother playfully in the ribs. “Like you’d let that happen,” she said with full confidence. Turning her attention to her younger sib, she waved him on. “Make it quick, Lolo,” she warned.

“Yea yea yea rules are only broken if ya get caught …” Mathias chuckled.

Isaac had no plans to waste this golden opportunity. He looked up as he lazily let his combination lock fall from his hand. The silvery device plunked and plonked seemingly hitting every loud metallic object on the way down. The younger Skye sheepishly looked at his siblings, wincing with each kid clang. "Oops?" he said apologetically, "I...seem...to have dropped my property." he said with a weak grimace.

Cyd watched the tow-headed boy with amusement as he playfully took the stairs. Despite everything, he had a way of always making her laugh, it was nearly impossible for anyone to be in a bad mood around Isaac. He was silly-hearted, and she loved him all the more for it. She couldn’t help but wish things were different for him, for Mathias too, but the ping of her data pad reminded her they weren’t. If something so small would make him happy - there’s no way she could bring herself to deny it. She knew Mathias, despite his demeanor, felt the same.

The youngest Skye trotted deftly down the stairs like a ‘footpad’ in a vain hope that his quiet movements would somehow make up for the impromptu metallic drum solo his lock decided to perform in its trip to the cargo bay floor. It landed nearby some crates that were neatly stacked away from the rest of the cargo. There were some kind of seals on them as well, clearly to prevent prying eyes and fingers. "Well, lookie lookie here..." the teen said as he retrieved his lock.

Firefly - Second 'Verse

Skyejacked Part 2

Eavesdown Docks

Abby, Mathias, Cyd, Isaac

OOC: JP between @Winters, @MK Blitzen, @Yule and @sail3695

“Depends on which is the least expensive?” Cyd replied, avoiding the word cheap, which some folk tended to get indignant over. “We don’t mind a double, I’ve shared a room with my brother’s before.”

"Dibs on the single then!" Isaac chimed in with enthusiasm.

"Cute. No Short Round … she ment us three cramming into a double." Mathias explained as Issac skated out of slapping range.

“He gets the sleeping bag,” Cyd tsked with a shake of her head.

“So,” Abby glanced from the big’un to the green haired girl to the blond Asian kid. “A double...fer all three of yah.” She shrugged. “Bit close, but we can setcha up. Standard fare fer each. Ten percent off fer each.”

Cyd shifted the candy in her mouth again, this is normally where they’d haggle, Mathias or Isaac most likely given the orange headed girl’s disposition, but getting off Persephone seemed like a better option. And the take was pretty good this go round, plus with sharing a room… She bobbed her head affirmatively. “Kiff,” she agreed. “Standard minus ten percent each sounds great.”

"Bomba!" Isaac and Mathias cheerfully concurred as they bumped fists.

The girl opened the clipboard. “Whilst yer diggin’ out yer coin, I’ll take yer names fer the log.”

“Cyd,” Cyd replied, pointing to her brother’s respectively. “C-y-d. Not S-i-d, it makes a difference. That’s Mathias, an’ Isaac, Skye,”

“Sky,” Abby repeated. “Like the wild blue? All three of yah?”

“Where the sun rises and sets,” Cyd agreed, “Only with an e at the end.”

"So … Who do we pay? Captain? First Mate?" Mathias asked.

Abby replied, “That’ll be me,” before returning to her clipboard. “Sky with an E. All three. Travelin’ family.” She conjured sayin’ somethin’ ‘bout the strong resemblance, but ruled that one out. Passengers was paychecks. No need fer her to go pokin’ their stories. “Alright...I’ll walk yah back after yah pay up.”

Cyd held her backpack straps a little tighter.

Isaac snorted a laugh as he hopped off his board. "Had a deckhand say that before. Cash up front, no guarantee. Go to board and the Cap knows nothing about it. Tell him we paid up in full and even pointed out the one we paid. Skebenga pretended to know nothin'." Isaac popped his gum as he slung his board under his arm and shifted his weight, leaning against his big brother. "Not much on a replay of that kind of...unpleasantness. Yabai. Need a guarantee or pay the Cap direct." he said, folding his arms and exaggerating his gum chewing with a smile.

"Cho. We don't mind waiting or you can walk one of us to him or her direct." Mathias offered. They weren't unreasonable, just very cautious.

“I can show you we got ‘em,” Cyd added in a softer tone as she nodded to Mathias. “But we were stranded for a pretty long time after that. Can’t blame a body for being cautious.”

The clipboard remained aloft, ink drying on the names of the three Skyes. Abby regarded them, feeling the burn of her honesty impugned by strangers. This is the part where Uncle Bob woulda gone back tah full fare, she thought. But Uncle Bob was dead. This was a new boat, with a new Captain, and if what she’d heard ‘bout Badger rang true, a skinny thread of a deal to carry them through.

“Bad luck, friends,” the girl swallowed her anger. “But here’s how it is. Cap’n trusts me tah log in passengers an’ cargo, and ta collect cashy money. Yer guaranty?” she turned toward the smallest of the three. “That was me tellin yew I’m walkin’ yah back soon’s I gotcher fares in hand. That ain’t good enough, then y’all can wait outside. Cap’n’ll be around presently, but with a boat fixin’ tah launch it ain’t gonna happen fer awhile.”

“We were just askin’ for a guarantee, you know, a piece of paper sayin’ we paid and who took our creds,” Cyd replied, unsure why that would be an unusual or difficult request. Maybe she couldn’t write? No, that couldn’t be it, she added their names to the clipboard.

“A receipt?” the girl asked. “Shiny. Happy tah oblige...soon’s I have yer fares in hand.”

“How long you been running with the captain n’ ship?” Mathias asked casually, thumbs hook on the strap of his shoulder pack and Cyd scribbled their names down.

R-e-c-e-i-v-e-d f-r-o-m Abby wrote onto a blank page. “Today’s muh first day on this boat,” she replied.

Cyd gave her another warm smile. No wonder the hiccup!, she mused. “Bon Bagay,” She congratulated. “It should be a good trip. I have a good feeling about this boat.”

Firefly - Second 'Verse

Street Credits Part 3

Persephone City

OOC: JP between @Winters, @MK Blitzen and @Yule

Isaac snickered and shook his head at yet another poor sap whose blatant advances were shot down by the insurmountable Cyd. The boy's mocha skin and distinctly Asian features betrayed the fact that, while he may not have been a Skye by blood, he was family just the same. As he shook his unnaturally blonde shaggy hair out of his eyes, he couldn't help but noticed some in the crowd were a little uncomfortable with the jerk that tried to put moves on his sister.

My turn he thought to himself and without missing a beat, Isaac changed up the rhythm to something simpler and alluring. As he did, he continued the rhythm with one hand while he lifted his shirt with the other, playfully imitating the jerk to the delight of his buddies and to break the tension.

Playing the fool came easily for the boy as he looked down at his not nearly toned stomach as his muse and, with an exaggerated pout, poked at it pathetically with his drumstick, eliciting laughs from the crowd. With the crisis averted, he surrendered his brief moment in the spotlight and changed up the rhythm yet again with a deft flourish.

It wasn't hard, honestly. The three of them had been doing this for so long they learned ages ago that, while the faces change, the behavior of the crowd is always the same, predictable. And you can shift their mood this way and that with just a little bit of effort. Still, let Cyd's movements feed their fleeing fantasies or Mathias' charm excite and amaze, if just for that brief moment. He was exactly where he wanted to be, right behind his sibs.