The Beginning Of The End

[rassafraggin]

From the direction of the crate motel comes a slip of a thing. Heading into the spaceport proper her head swivvels about to spot anyone familiar. Celise's hair is a tumble of curls seeing as she forgot her grooming gear back at the ship. She even had to put on her spare pair of jeans. Tugging at them she grunts a bit. "Too tight."

There's a rather unassuming ship docked in the spaceport, lettered with generic white blocked letters as the 'Siren'. There is no fancy painting on the side, no pin-up girl decorating the nose of the vessel. For all intents and purposes, its just a factory grade Dragonfly ship. Its from that plain jane vessel that a woman emerges, standing in a sharp contrast. "I don't care what it takes, just get it done." She clips in crisp tones, a finger pressed to her ear to obviously spark an icomm to life.

One of the wave terminals that line the curve of the Cargo Office wall is occupied by Lee, the teen leaning close to the view screen with his arms bracing the privacy shields on either side. Huddled around his feet are a full, chunky travel bag and a medium-length black instrument case. After a few moments spent in silent reading, he remarks, "What could /possibly/ go wrong?" and from his tone he really means a great deal of things can and will go wrong. He shifts one hand down to the touchpad and rapid-pecks a response.

Celise's head does a double take as she spots Lee on her way toward the shuttle. "About given up on you." Her steps slow as she nears, her eyes catching sight of his travel bag. "Where ya headed? Or still wanting to come see the new ship? Its incredible. Bar, casino, restaurant.. there is even gunna be shops." Footsteps finally stop, her hands stuffing themselves into her pocket as she stifles a wide yawn.

Lee is just winding up his message when the familiar female voice filters through his concentration. Under the drawn line of his blazer, his spine goes from slack to stiff, and his head lifts and turns just enough to catch a glimpse of Celise over his shoulder and just beyond the barrier of the terminal. A second or so later, he returns his focus to the screen and his one-handed typing resumes its ticketytick, but within that mere slot of time his eyes had all but devoured the young woman's presence, ending at her own eyes as a springboard back to his activities. Ticketytick. Then he says, "Sounds fascinatin', Celise. How long you been back?" What's it been, a couple weeks now? More? He pauses to think that over, then adds rapidly, "Just not stayin' with the General no more, s'why I'm packin' it around again."

Celise frowns at that. "Why not? You seem a perfect fit for companions." Flashing him a brief grin. "And no not that kinda companion." A hand comes up to rub gingerly at her still sleepy eyes. "Got back last night late some time. I was a bit disappointed that you didn't come on over. Ship's not open yet, but you can take a peek about." She leans against the wall and peers sorta over his shoulder. "Whats that you are doin? You know my offer is still open for joinin the crew. I am pretty positive that we can find you some non hard labor to do. Ohoh. What about public relations? Greeting the guests as they board? A Hospitality sort of person?"

With a quick scan of the non-grammatical drivel he'd just spewed into the transmission, Lee takes a moment to touch a word on the screen that just looks wrong to him. 'Irregardless' isn't a real word, is it. He uses the touchpad to replace the highlighted word with 'Anyrate'. /Someone/ here did not attend Alliance-sponsored Skool. The words burnished on the dark, floaty background of the screen are a mix of phonetic Mandarin and English, much of the sentence structure devolved into some short-form street slang. At a glance the message appears to have something to do with the world of slave trade, and Lee's indignant distaste for it. Then it's dissolving into the media stream, as the young man confirms the transmission, and a generic message center interface reappears on the screen. "Now then," he keys the sign-out tab, and steps back from the terminal to face her, with a deep steadying breath taken. "You wanted me to chase you to the Resolute, r'whatever it's called now? Why didn't you say so in your note?" he inquires, with an attempt to push the conflict from his expression and adopt a pleasant, noncommittal smile.

Celise blinks a bit and sighs. "I thought you'd a read between the lines. Well what is done is done. So what happened with you and Von? Nothin bad I hope? He really doesn't seem a bad sort. Maybe a touch of temper but we all got that." She leans in and grins teasingly. "Though I missed my pillow. Stole some from empty cabins, but it just wasn't the same."

Lee drops into a crouch to gather up the straps of his luggage, keeping his head cocked to keep her in his sights, while she speaks. Another vaguely guarded smile drifts up at her teasing, but he responds to that with, "Kidding? I can't be th' only idjit who gets tied up in bed with you. The Resolute short on men, 'r somethin'?" Halfway through, he's turned his attention to snapping the travel bag shut and untangling the straps. His jacket pulls up along his torso, revealing the waist of his trousers, and the black matte finish of the small pistol wedged there against the wheat cloth of his shirt. "About the General though.. not really sure what happened. Nothin' happened. Just figured it was time to kick myself out b'fore he did." Up he comes again with his bags strapped over his shoulders.

Celise laughs a that. "Oh come on. I don't hop into bed with every Joe yaknow. Despite what it mighta looked like. And you have to admit it was fun. And I really don't know all the crew yet. They are spread out between ships for the moment. And again I am not like that honestly." Her ear piece beeps quietly, and she listens a moment before giving a grin. "Ships moving to Paquin. Supposed to meet them there. Think they are doing a test flight." Pausing before answering. "Yes Cap'n. I'll hop the shuttle for Paquin and meet you there." Muttering the quiet reply before giving a grin to Lee. "Well interested? Or have you had a better offer? What is it you have skills in anyways? So I know what to tell the boss lady."

He says nothing in response to her initial remarks, either because there is nothing to say, or the incoming transmission preempted his reply. So he just watches her quietly until she's done with her communication. "Well, you might've already worked out that I play the strings," he notes, barely shifting in place to indicate the narrow stem of his instrument case jutting on an angle from his shoulder. "Caterwaul the odd tune too. Sure I could handle relatin' the public too, s'long as I'm not made t'wear a fluffy bunny costume or other silly whatnot. Gettin' bit tired of the data entry scene I've been doing here the past week... 'N'by odd happenstance, I'd been buildin' up funds t'head for Paquin, myself." He impulsively tips his head to indicate the elevated landing pads of the port, and starts in that direction, as though the plan was to take off /right this instant/. "The General's even been plannin' to head that way. Could be he's there already, haven't run into the bloke for a spell."

Celise's head tilts a little as she listens to him and then sighs a bit. "You seem a bit.. reserved. Did I do something to offend? It wasn't intentional if I did."

Lee slows to a halt, stands blankly for a moment with his back to her, then turns. "...Look. It's nothin'. When you just took off like that, after... things were..." The boy's words stumble, and he stops talking for a moment until he feels more coordinated with his thoughts. The blue in his eyes shifts between fragility and slate hardness, though never straying all the way to either extreme. "Well, any rate. I didn't know what to think 'bout it. Picked a fight with the General. Went out to be on my own again, since it seemed how t'was meant to be, at the time." He offers a wounded shrug. "I'm all right now, though. R'should be. All right?"

Celise watches him intently as he speaks and she sighs a bit, a dull flush creeping up onto her cheeks. "Well I am sorry. I got a com from the captain. The shuttle was waitin right on the docks. I didn't have much of a choice in the matter." Her hand snakes out to rest on his arm lightly and she leans in with a grin. "Well I will find a way to make it up to you. And we'll all hit the night scene and you and the General can make up." Her fingers come up to brush away some of his messy locks, her smile almost a shy one. "And I am sorry I didn't realize that would hurt your feelings too. Aparently I have some to learn about this sort of thing."

"Oh well. You make it sound all so reasonable," he laments, then flashes a slick grin. Maybe his feelings had been hurt, but it'd be hard to tell now. "Don't you let it bother ya into learnin' stuff, Celise. Then you'd get t'be somethin' other than Celise. Can't have that," he intones with a sober wink. "When're you shovin' out?"

Celise ponders this a moment and nods sagely back. "Full of surprizes.. thats me right?" A slight smile tugs on her lips and she goes to prove just that; leaning in to give him a sound kiss on those soft lips of his. Right there in the middle of the space port.

Lee's head tips forward just enough so that she doesn't have to strain to get the job done proper. His mouth gives easily into hers, sliding smoothly on an angle until they fit together. Just tingling there until she breaks off. His eyes had slipped closed for just a moment at the start of it. But now they're open, half-lidded and observing her coolly throughout.

"Tsk tsk," says a stern, grey-headed man in a long suit, as he walks by towards the wave terminals.

Celise pulls back slightly and grins slightly. "What has gotten into you? You certainly are acting different." She ignores the comment of the passerby studiously.. and doesn't even cat call a rude comment back.

Drawing back his posture until he's standing at his full height, Lee looks quizzically at her, the line of his mouth evening out again before he says, "Oh. Y'mean the fact that I'm not gibbering nervously and going to hide behind a hedge? I could do that, if you like." He grins amusedly at the idea.

Celise sighs and tilts her head. "You are like a chameleon. I dunno what to think. But enough of that. Want to hop the shuttle over to Paquin? Shouldn't be a very long trip." She is still studying him though.. talk about surprising. He is throwing her for a loop.

He looks skyward consideringly, as though he had some telescopic sight that could gauge the vast distances between the colonized planets. He says mildly, "Even on the speediest shuttle it'll take more'n a day. Hope you're wearin' the eighteen-hour support harness." He snaps at an imaginary elastic at his own chest, looks at her expression for a moment, then relents. "Just gimme some time, right? I'm still gettin' used to seein' you again." Like he wasn't expecting to, ever again, or something.

Celise blinks at his comment and grins slightly. "Who says I am wearin one at all?" Shooting back with one of her own, giving him a wink before she sighs and nods faintly. She leans in and grins. "Well when we get there, I'll have to show you the bubblin tubs. They are called hot tubs. Had to try one out myself. Verrry relaxing." She glances toward his gear, then back up to him. "Want me to nab one of those for you?"

"Huh..? No." He shrugs his shoulders a bit to demonstrate just how light the distributed load is. Note that he didn't get his shoulders up /that/ high - but he's managing just fine. "Let's go board if you're ready then." He glances over her non-burdened state.