Shuffling the Deck

[Ray Hudson]

Once Ray was outside the kid from a month ago waved at him and said hello. Ray smiled and waved back at him. The kid had a good attitude, really cheery and happy. Ray didn't think that attitude would have lasted after the kid watched an entire ship full of people get killed in front of him. Maybe the kid was insane. Maybe he was the most heartless killer amongst them. It wasn't impossible, thought Ray but he didn't think it was likely. 

Two of the short man's people came out of the ship. Two woman, only one that Ray recognized. The other woman was dressed differently from the others. She spent some time in front of the mirror before emerging from the ship. The first thing Ray noticed about the girl was just how young she looked. Ray stopped getting surprised by how young some of the people in his line of work were. Young people were stupid and make terrible decisions so crime was a common place for the youth of the universe to end up.The new woman claimed that she was famished and introduced herself to Morse and Ray.

"Amelia." said Ray, repeating the name a few times in his head to help him remember it. "You look a little more than famished. If you were any thinner I'd think you were a coat rack." Ray quipped, commenting on Amelia's weight. "You'll have to excuse me if I don't shake your hand. I think those two fingers have spent a lot of time in a traditionally non-sexual hole." Ray said, referring to self induced vomiting. Ray always left people with bad first impressions because he almost always opened up with an insult or utter silence.

Ray was in no position to insult the short man's people but he went through with it anyway. He wanted to hide what he was feeling which were feelings of loss and uncertainty. The short man probably knew Ray as a rude and inappropriate man so he would continue to give that impression. He was embarrassed to display his fear of the future and so he would continue to act as if nothing was wrong.

"But no, I'm just dickin' around. You look fine." Ray had been getting into the habit of letting people know that he was joking. It didn't usually help but it made Ray feel better. He believed that people should be secure enough to take a joke about themselves and if they couldn't then that was their problem. He believed that people take things to seriously and he shouldn't have to specify that he is just joking. He specifies anyway, out of some convoluted sense of common courtesy. He really didn't think that she looked fine but he said it anyway, out of politeness.

"You all look fine, coming in on your fancy ship. I hope you replaced the beds." Ray said to the group. He wouldn't want to sleep in a dead man's bed but who knows if these people cared or not. Ray had newly introduced himself to the short man's new addition and he introduced himself to the others a month ago, so he felt his part in the conversation was over.

Another of the short man's people exited the ship, the Superstar. The overly dramatic man from a month ago, going into battle with two pistols in hand. Oh the stories they would tell. Ray remembered the man's name, as will the rest of the universe. Hawkeye Hamlin. Ray didn't like him a month ago and nothing had happened to change his opinion. Hawkeye asked what had happened to the Logan which stripped the small smile on Ray's face. He tried not to show the indignation melting his stomach so he just stayed quiet and let Morse answer however he wanted to.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus's face did a 180 from calm to shock when Morse calmly said he sold his ship. There was a blank space in his head as he tried to comprehend it.... It just didn't fit? What happened? It was a puzzle and he was missing most of the pieces. So his brain just pushed it aside and he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Sold it.... wow... must have gotten a fair deal on it. Seemed a sturdy boat." Ray showed up to save the day by providing Marcus with a change of topic.

"Buddy?" Marcus laughed. "That's new, Ray." He chuckled a bit as the rest of his group gathered. His two newest members had already vacated in the days on Persephone. Seems they'd had enough of Marcus. Guess he didn't make a good first impression.

Ray's exchanged with Amelia got an open smirk out of Marcus. "Low Ray," The grin sharpened a little bit. "Boot to the gut, low..." He shook his head and laughed.


"Well, I hope you got a deal on her." He scratched his chin. "Lead the way."

[Bishop Morse]

Straightening his back out so that he could crack it, Morse felt his spine align. As it did he could feel a few of his bones snap. He didn’t know if it was good or bad, but he did it frequently, and he didn’t quite have a problem. But that was how a lot of his life went, doing things out of habit and them not being a problem. But he wasn’t stupid, he was always very wary of issues when they would appear, or even before it got to that. Morse liked to be quick at fixing problems, especially before they became real problems, and he was relatively good at it. Though with a change in the equation like the one he had, he might have his ability to do such things tested. He decided not to think about such things and keep to the present and what he knew. Morse heard the two questions about the ship come up at the same time. His eyes darted from one person to the other. The first was a person he remembered, he just didn’t know his name. But this is what happened for a lot of people, the second was Marcus. ”Was a bit more then sturdy.”Morse remarked on the ship. The Logan flew and looked better then factory fresh, and had a better rating then the model that came after it. ”Simple explanation is I figured it was time.” Morse spoke with his snide smile tearing into view. ”Can’t sit on a boat like that for too long, gotta let other people have a turn.” Morse mentioned. That was a good enough explanation he presumed, it was good enough for him.

Morse took note then of the people who were coming out. Two woman, he recognized one, not the other. She was blonde and dressed in a style that didn’t quite meld with everyone else who was there. It wasn’t particularly out of style for Beaumonde, but then again, what wasn’t. People there wore everything that they did on the rim or the core. It was a strange world like that. Of course she reminded him of certain… other people he’d known throughout his life, and he was very much the sort to make a judgment based on appearance, even after he knew a person better. ”Found yourself a Ǒutù ñ bùxíng?” Morse asked quickly and more at a mumble to himself then anyone else. But it was quick, and referencing hookers that would starve themselves till they had a ‘models physique’ to make a bit more money. But Morse wasn’t concerned about people doing that. He heard of people having ladies of the night on their vessels to rack in extra cash. He’d never needed it himself, he’d always been rather well off in terms of money. Though that situation may have been a bit fluid, it was likely to become easier to handle without a vessel for him to run.

Recognizing that everyone that was coming was standing before him, namely due to the fact that Marcus was telling him to lead the way, Morse turned on a swivel. His left foot remaining on the ground, spinning on its heel, he looked off to his right. Looking forward before them not but a few dozen yards was a large yellow vehicle hovering three feet off the ground. Morse began to walk towards it, at a rather quick pace as was the way he walked. Tall and taking relatively long strides he didn’t look back to see if he was being followed. ”Speaking of deals” Morse began with his arrogant smile tearing away. ”I got this from that money I got from handing you off to Parkhill.” He was very pleased with himself with the notion of that. The vehicle was rather large, and it seemed the perfect thing to emphasize the hilarity of his statement 

Morse came up right behind the vehicle. It was very large yet had only two seats. The front of it however was a massive flat bed, which could probably hold dozens of people, along with cargo. That was the allure of buying a heavy mule, less comfort, more carry. Morse climbed up the ladder at the back and moved to the seat on the left. ”Hop it up.” Morse said as he got aboard. He presumed it would be obvious that the rest would sit or stand on the flat bed front. Morse got to the console and dropped the front railing so that they could get on easier. 

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus noticed the way Morse replied about the Logan He guess the man didn't just sell it for the sake of things. Morse had his shot at Amelia and Marcus just sighed. "She came with the pilot. Package deal I never knew about." That's near enough to the truth of it. 

Marcus let out a long whistle at the sight of the Mule. He'd seen smaller ones of the hover variety, but this one had a nice look to it. Sturdy, stable. He guessed it wouldn't be the fastest ride, but you needed a strong engine to keep that thing up in the air, might be that it would run fair and fast; if you kept the weight off it. He let out a light laugh when Morse mentioned how he paid for it.

"Damn I didn't think I was worth that much to Purple-Bellies..." He vaulted up onto the flat and held out a hand to help the next person up.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Hawkeye

Hawkeye couldn't help but laugh at Ray's comments, Amelia was a complete whore, and though he hardly thought that Amelia made herself vomit, but of course Ray was joking, Hawkeye still thought that Ray's statements were completely valid, as were the statements Morse attached to the Amelia, she was the village whore, the only difference was she slept with you and stole everything you had, a mistake Hawkeye had been lucky enough never to make. Apparently Morse had sold the Logan, Hawkeye couldn't fathom why, the one thing Hawkeye knew is he wouldn't be one to give up flying without good cause, and before it had taken a charge of drug trafficking to force Hawkeye out of the sky, an action which in retrospect, he probably could have done without, there had been no reason to change his name and spend six years on Beylix. The one good thing about being stuck on land seemed to be, that Morse had bought himself a set of wheels, sure Hawkeye had driven the likes of it but it wasn't as nice as flying that was for sure.

Hawkeye followed Marcus onto the mule, he opted not to take his captain's had, Hawkeye was more than capable of getting up himself, and besides Marcus had tried to pin Amelia's existence on him. "The Captain forgot a few key facts though Morse, one I strongly suggested against allowing Amelia to come along, two Marcus was the one that said she could come, and three I never offered her a job, so yes we have our own pet hooker, yes she has some other skills, yes I know her from the war, but no we aren't any kind of package." Hawkeye wasn't angry, he just liked having the facts straight, and of course he said all this with a smile on just to make it seem less like he had a stick up his ass.

[Bishop Morse]

Shifting some of the controls into various positions, Morse settled right in to his seat. He looked forward as Marcus found his way up onto the craft. He couldn’t recall ever having so many people on that vehicle. He’d only had it for about two months or so, he couldn’t quite recall when he’d purchased it. He just knew that it was sometime after April. He mulled around the idea of how many people he currently had with him. The weight wasn’t going to be a problem, it was more just thinking about who was there. He knew Marcus, though a series of rather unfortunate events. But that was how many people wound up in similar situations. Back during the years of 2508 to 2509 a great many people wound up coming around him that he didn’t have the easiest dealings with. But coping with such situations weren’t terribly difficult for him, he’d suffered worse, and he could suffer this. 

Starting up the craft wasn’t very difficult, but Morse didn’t want to kick it up fully till everyone was on, just because the increased pressure on the ground might make it more difficult for them to get on. Morse heard Marcus mention his value in relation to the purchase of the vehicle they were on.”Don’t worry, with the deal I got for this, you weren’t worth that much.” Morse knew about how the general pricing went for all of the people he’d handed off that day. It was a rather set rate for the lot, and Parkhill didn’t seem like he cared much who was there, and gave Morse a flat rate for all that was handed off. He knew that in particular there were a few that had warrants, but he couldn’t remember if Marcus was one of those. Either way it didn’t matter, he’d leveled that playing field pretty good. ”Then anyway.” Morse pointed out, at least to himself. The good thing about playing smart was the lack notoriety. Of course the money wasn’t a terribly large amount, but it was enough for someone desperate to buy a piece of land off on a rim moon. 

He moved his focus over towards the other one who was there. He tried to remember who was the pilot, and he presumed it was the one who answer. He really could not remember his name. For some reason the thought of ‘ham’ was coming into his mind. ”Ham..” Morse mouthed to himself looking at him. ”…let” That sounded right in his mind. Hamlet. So he’d stick with that. Morse listened to the bits and explanation of their situation. Apparently the Ǒutù ñ Bùxíng was called “Amelia”. Morse was absolutely terrible with names, so that was bound to be forgotten in a few moments. He heard mention of the war, and he started to remember a certain suspicion he had before. He looked at the man again. He didn’t particularly look like the usual Rim trash that had signed up. Morse, and most of those from Beaumonde, didn’t consider themselves in that bunch, even though they were farther away from the Central Planets then just about anywhere else. But they had a civilized world, unlike most. ”What exactly’d you people do in the war.” Morse asked openly. He didn’t care who of them answered, he was more just filling out in his mind what he was dealing with.

[Jay Fuller]

Jay followed the lead of the others and hopped onto the large craft. His stomach growled at him and he set a hand on it.

He sat cross legged, leaning against one the guards, listening in on the conversation of the others.

[Ilana Logan]

Amelia


Amelia scowled, something she rarely did. Amelia didn't like these men, she didn't like what they insinuated, Amelia was actually quite well nourished,  Amelia tried to keep herself fit, her legs we quite muscular, well of course they were one of her main weapons, Amelia was a solider, a mercenary, she was smart enough not to make herself vomit, and she, well actually whore was an aplicable describer, though she was so much more. Even when Ray admitted he was kidding, she still didn't buy it, "You know, there is a difference between eating healthy, and exercising, and bulimia. And I'm so much more than just a pretty face, I pride myself in my ability to coerce information out of people, and my ability to memorize everything I see, and my official title isn't Whore it's Public Relatons" Now Amelia was grumpy, which was all to unseemly for a woman, all the same she climbed up onto the mule.

[Ray Hudson]

The short man claimed that Ray's statement to Amelia was low. 'Boot to the gut low'. This reference got a chuckle out of Ray. He remembered driving his foot into the short man's stomach. He remembered the reason why he did it and how much pain he wanted to inflict. If that Alliance officer hadn't been there, Ray would probably hit the tired looking man in the teeth with the butt of his pistol. Ray grinned at the short man, remembering the reason why.

Morse explained to the group his 'reason' for selling the Logan. It was a good enough explanation for these people. They didn't really care, they were just strangers making small talk. Morse then directed the group to the hover mule. He told the short man how he got the money to pay for it which got a light laugh out of him. The short man mentioned that Amelia came with the pilot, like a toy in a box of cereal. Cheap, poorly made and fragile. That was the impression that Ray got from the man's answer. The Superstar, Hawkeye, decided to give a few more details. Hawkeye claimed that he didn't want her along, knew her from the war and called her a pet hooker. He also said the short man's name, which Ray hadn't heard since he first stowed away on the Logan. Marcus, he was the leader of the group.

When Amelia spoke, Ray felt a great deal of satisfaction. She displayed insecurity and frustration. Ray now knew that she was sensitive about her appearance, which was common for woman. He had expected her to turn her nose up at him, maybe even make a snide comment back but instead she just got angry. Which was exactly was Ray wanted. He felt that he gave her to much credit, expecting her to respond with a counter insult but she just got defensive. This meant she was easy prey. For a second, Ray thought he was salivating.

Ray always left bad first impressions. Since he was a child that was how he was. He got on the mule right after Amelia. After seeing how she reacted, Ray considered attacking her again. Why shouldn't he? Her group didn't defend her the first time so nothing was stopping him. Her feelings? Those were never a factor.

He watched Amelia's serious expression for a moment. "Relax, we're all gonna have a nice meal and have a good time. And we'll be sure to bring you back home by nine. No need to worry your folks." Ray decided to treat her like a child rather than comment on her appearance again. Ray had no clue how old Amelia was, but she did look very young.

Ray sat in his corner of the mule, grinning at Amelia.

'Why! Why are you like this?'

A pre-teen blonde girl with freckles sat on her knees, crying. An overweight girl with black hair and dark clothes was kneeling down, holding the blonde girl. Ray was an eleven year old boy, standing in front of them. The overweight girl stared at Ray in disgust, waiting for an answer.

He clenched his fists and his eyes were fogging up. He didn't mean to make her cry. He wanted her to stop crying. He needed her to stop. He looked to the right and a man with a button up shirt approaching them, with another pre-teen at his side. The man was coming to punish him. Suspend him for his behavior. He didn't mean to make her cry.

Ray sat in his corner of the mule, grinning like he was proud.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Hawkeye

Hawkeye was good in his seat on the Mule, when Mose asked him about the war, it was an innocent enough question, and one that he'd be more than happy to answer, he just had to answer it before Amelia did, because if the tramp answered first she could mess up his story, "We were stationed out of Greenleaf, on an independent boat, I was the pilot and later the Captain in the last year of the war, about the same time I became captain, Amelia volunteered, had some gooey eyed romantic view of war, was chasing a boy, she was a grunt on my boat." 

Hawkeye watched everything that went down with Amelia and Ray, he really was a master at getting under people's skin, Hawkeye had never seen Amelia this angry, this under a man's thumb, sure Guy had gotten er all gooey eyed, but ray got her angry, it was magic.

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana stepped off the ship and made her way to the nearby gathering of people, all of whom she'd met before.  Jay smiled at her and she smiled back.  It was pretty hard to keep a straight face when the kid was smiling.  She couldn't quite pin down the reason she thought of Jay as a kid.  Probably something to do with his sweet nature and the air of innocence that all but radiated from him.  He came to stand beside her, looking quite out of place with all these rugged men milling around chatting, and he asked her, "So, what's up?"

"Not a damn thing.  Nice to have my feet on the ground for a bit though," she replied.

No sooner than the words left her mouth, Ray made some disparaging comments about Amelia's weight, which was wrong on so many levels, Ilana didn't know which to consider first.  Amelia was a stick-thin little thing, but that didn't mean she was fair game to every asshole on the planet to make nasty comments at. . . or did it?

Ilana wasn't sure whether to laugh at the humor on his voice, or be angry at the nasty words that surrounded it.  She had known upon meeting him that Ray was one of the biggest assholes she had ever come across, but she hadn't quite known the depth of it.  He had never been mean to Ilana, but she'd heard him say terrible things to other people.  In the end, Ilana did neither of those things though.  For some reason, her mood just couldn't be quashed. 

Ray told Amelia he was kidding, and Amelia didn't seem to believe him.  Ilana didn't blame her; she wouldn't have believed him either.  Ilana climbed up onto the mule, adjusting her little bag as she did.  She took a seat next to Jay and asked, "Hey, you didn't happen to drug my whiskey did you?"

[Bishop Morse]

Morse fiddled with the controls on the heavy mule a little bit more and he finally had it ready. He was surprise no one opted for sitting in the seat to his right, especially since it was the most comfortable seat on vehicle. In fact, it was the only other seat on the vehicle aside from the one he was sitting in. But that suited him just as well. He could keep an eye on everyone who was down beneath him, and try to make sure no one fell out, or at least he’d know if someone did. He got an answer on what two of the people now on his vehicle did during the war. He knew more then those two had fought, though he wasn’t sure if some of the others had. He knew Marcus had, he wasn’t quite sure what he did though. He guessed infantry, since he was a bit short for just about everything else. ”Navy boy.” Morse echoed in regards to the response he got from ‘Hamlet’. ”Navy Boy Hamlet” It made sense in his mind. He knew he had too much of a stick in his ass, straight back way about him to fit in the cavalry. ”Me n’ Ray were in the navy, back in 07… that is till right after Boros.” Morse had the images of the navy in his mind right at that moment. And he quickly remembered how much he despised it after the fleet action of ‘Adamant 83rd”. ”Hopped off right after, and hit the cavalry. Lot more fun.” He explained. As far as he was concerned that was absolutely true. It was an easier life knowing you could be outnumbered and still be able to fix your situation rather then how it was floating on that tiny little Remora-class boarding vessel.

His mind came back into reality after mentioning that, and he looked down to see the people now occupying the bed of his vehicle. Morse was good at seeing peoples emotions, or at least what was shown. He had been, especially after the mutiny of 509, and it served as a useful tool to keep things on an even keel. It also helped him have a bit of fun every now and then. His snide smile widened a bit as he assessed the situation. Some people there didn’t seem the most content. ”Hahahahaha” Morse gave an evil sounding cackle to himself, as he was prone to doing when he had something where he found he was higher up then someone else in anyway. He reached into his coat and pulled out a little black cylinder which was very similar to thing cigar. It was in fact a Xaanbii Stick. It was more or less like smoking water vapor with flavors, and no tobacco. Morse had always had an oral fixation, and since he’d stopped biting his nails, this was a satisfying alternative. ”I smell discontent.” Morse said with a forced frown, then right back to his smile giving a bit of a cackle. ” Zhuǎnfā nǐmen límíng!” Morse called out towards to the distance looking straight ahead, saying something he sometimes did when he started out on a ride. ”and to find food.” He finished, then pushing his hand forward on the throttle. 

The vehicle gave a loud roar, similar to that of lighter mules, but it was much deeper, and a bit louder. The vehicle ran off six primary hover boosters and two rear thrusters, so it was bound to be a loud thing. In spite of that, it wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t be heard over it. Morse moved the vehicle forward, and towards the outer fence. The gate opened when they arrived and they were out on the street. A number of other hover vehicles were out on the street, as well as a few that didn’t. But Morse would be taking the highway, which was a hover only zone. He moved up the street, relatively quickly, and off they went.


19 Minutes Later


The trip across Bellforge was a relatively quick one, compared to many other places. It wasn’t so large that it couldn’t be trekked across on a vehicle in relatively good time, like on most of the Core World cities, but it also wasn’t just dirt. It had a very impressive road system across it, allowing for ease of travel. It went all around and was very quick. It also would lend itself to a great view of the city. One could see straight out across the ocean at the high points on of the highway, if one could peak at the right second so as to not just to get a view of the tall buildings. But once a person was passed it you could see it. Of course the city of Bellforge was very definitive of an industrialized rim world. It was a blend of the core and rim cultures. It had lots of innovation, yet it seemed to take a life of its own, which was no doubt why its people were so very independent minded. The fierce opportunists that most them were was what made it such an appealing place for many. Morse got off the high way and took to some of the regular streets. People walked all around, but away from the street so vehicles could get by. Once back on the regular streets it was a sort of anything goes attitude. So all sort of vehicles were being driven around. 

Morse brought the vehicle into an area where there were a lot of people, who all moved as the vehicle came close. They were clear on the other side of the city, and in very good time since the vehicle had moved so fast. He came up to an area that had other vehicles parked, at the end of the street. It was the end and had two large posts with red quickly blinking lights suggesting that it was. It was really a magna-barrier, and if it scanned a large vehicle coming through it was magnetize and stop it, so it wouldn’t run over people. On the other side of the two blocker posts, there were a set of streets that forked off in three directions. Hundreds of people walked around in what amounted to a courtyard where all three streets came together at the start. It was large, and there were several stores and businesses along it. The buildings at that surrounded it were tall, and cast a shadow on the people within. The sky above however was completely exposed. 

Morse brought the vehicle to the edge of the street and locked it on to the parking bar, as well as placing a full identification lock on it. Vehicle thievery was rather common in a place like that, and if Morse caught someone trying to steal his vehicle, he’d probably shoot them in the leg, before asking them why, then shoot them in the chest just to teach them not to steal other peoples vehicles. ”Here we are.” Morse said stepping down the steps behind him. He hopped off the vehicle and came around the front. High above there was a sign, but in case some of them didn’t see it, Morse announced it for them. ”The Mù Dí Bazaar.” Morse spoke with a proud tone, but everyone was proud of their homeworld and everything on it, or at least he believed they should be. He led them forward passed the magna-barrier and into the courtyard. Before them was a large area, with people all talking and going about their business. Off to the right is where Morse led them. They didn’t even have to go down one of the streets, where they were going was right there in the courtyard. Off to the right there was a long business that was all connected. It was bigger then many of the others near it. In front of it there were a number of tables with large umbrellas over them. A sign above it read “Sing’s Qī Shí Yī.”

Morse walked up to it. There was no place to go in, there was just windows with people inside who were feverishly making food. There was a lot of machines working in the back, with screens with all sorts of words on them moving around. ”This is simple.” Morse started, walking backwards. ”You order what you want, whatever it is… and they make it.” Morse explained. He wasn’t sure if some of them were from the deep rim or not, or if they’d been to a Tōngyòng, or Universal Diner before. The concept was a great business move. Have a huge amount of ingredients, and computers that recognized any spoken word sort of food, and laid out the recipe quickly. It was cheap, it was easy, and it was very good. Morse looked around to see if ‘Sing’ was indeed there. He knew Sing, had been served by him several times, enough to be called “Buddy” every time he was there. Unfortunately he did not see him. That was fine. He approached the man that was there. He had brown skin, black hair, and appeared to be just under thirty. ”Wǒmen dàjiā yì qǐ” Morse started, pointing back.

The man nodded, acknowledging that they were being paid for altogether. Morse then placed his order quickly. ”Niú jièzhǐ, Qiè dá, Cheddar. Yǔ shuǐ.” Morse said. It was a very simple meal, though it was just meat for the most part. He moved on down to the left to the next window to get the food. He received it in less then two minutes. The fast cookers that they had inside were working on a lot of food, and very quickly. The ‘fast burners’ and dispensers inside made all food fast and good. Of course you could get better food somewhere else, made in a more personalized style, but these places were made to give a person what they wanted quickly and to fill them up. 

What Morse got was on a disposable plate, and it was three circles of ground beef, which had cheese melted on top of them, and had ketchup to top it all. Morse couldn’t handle a lot of spice, he was a very meat and potatoes style eater. He was given a cup of water, something he’d asked for at the start as well. He grabbed the food and moved off to one of the larger tables, which seemed just large enough to accommodate everyone there. There was some trash on it, but all of the tables had it. He knocked it off with his hand, and sat down. His breathe smelled like cherries from the Xaanbii stick, and he waited for everyone to get their food.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus had been to bazaars and markets before, but he had to admit; something this size always made the rancher in him a little skittish. Hustle bustle, movement and energy, and no clear line of sight. Mostly because he was just short enough that he could get lost easy in a crowd. 

He was wondering when Ray would make his joke on THAT. 

Regardless he followed Morse, leading his group toward the source of all the great smells. While Morse ordered, Marcus thought quickly about what he wanted to eat, it came to him rather quickly. So when he stepped up to order, he knew.

"Grilled Chicken, steamed carrots and Spinach, Mango smoothie." The man nodded and Marcus moved down the line and got his food, casting a thank you toward the man who brought it out and taking the plate and drink. 

Morse wasn't hard to miss, and the table he sat at was one of the bigger ones. Marcus sat down on the side opposite the man, placing the plate down and waiting for the rest.

[Jay Fuller]

When they entered the giant bazaar, Jay couldn't hide a little smile. He enjoyed the huge crowds of the city and the hustle and bustle. He contemplated moving into the core when he left Paquin, after all it had more culture, and a lot more acceptance than the outer planets. Alas, he needed a job, and catching Longstreet on Persephone was a stroke of luck. And hey, he probably wouldn't have this much adventure had he stayed on one planet.

He walked through the food line and ordered a turkey melt and a soda. Luckily Morse was wasy to spot in a crowd, so he made his way. He twisted and swerved out of peoples way, trying not to drop his food.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Hawkeye

Hawkeye followed Marcus into the bazaar, he hadn't been to a rim world bazaar in years, and the one on Greenleaf hardly counted, for a second it felt like Hawkeye was back on Londinium, but a few moments in he was able to pick up the differences between here and the core.

As they headed towards the shop Morse had pointed out, Hawkeye noticed how proud Morse seemed, Hawkeye didn't know why, unless he was the owner of the bazaar, or more likely he was from here. Hawkeye liked the idea of a made to order restaurant. "I'll take a burger well done with cheese and grilled mushrooms, a small side salad with oil and vinegar, and an apple juice. Thank You." hawkeye walked over to the other window grabbed his tray and sat down with Morse and Marcus, in a seat on a vacant side of the table.

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana made her way to the buffet line through the crowded bazaar.  She'd never seen quite this many people all in one place.  Sure, she had been to similar places, but always on smaller planets or smaller cities.  Even the shopping area of Persephone wasn't this crowded.  She was small, and not unforgettable, so it would be pretty easy for the others to lose sight of her.  With any luck, she wouldn't lose sight of them.

She went through the jam-packed line and said, "Zhīshì hànbǎo yǔ yīqiè jiāotàn hē."

She walked to the end of the line, picked up her tray, and made her way back through the crowd to the eating area.  She looked around for a minute, spotted Morse, who wasn't quite as easily lost in a crowd as she was, and shouldered through the cluster of people the basically made up the entire area.  She sat down with the others and waited for the rest of the group, having completely forgotten her earlier question to the medic.

[Ray Hudson]

The bazaar wasn't a location that Ray was particularly fond of. It was crowded, had a strange odor and there were kids running around everywhere. For whatever reason Morse enjoyed it but Ray just tolerated it. Sing's place was the only decent thing about the Bazaar in his eyes and he always ordered something different. When he reached the counter the man inside smiled at Ray.

"What can I get you." The man asked in his thick accent. Ray noticed the man's eyebrows, thick and nearly united.

"Yeah, let me have a...salted pretzel and a Wailin' Crimson to drink." Ray hadn't had a pretzel in month's. He remembered going to large shopping districts with his mother as a child and whenever they reached the food court he would always ask for a heavily salted, high calorie pretzel.

"You want cheese to dip?" The clerk asked with the clearest of tones. Despite his poor grammer and accent Ray still got the gist of what the man was asking. Ray nodded his head and reached in his pocket for his wallet.

Once Ray got his food, he joined the others at their table. He looked around the bazaar, watching various people walking around. People shopping, friends laughing, couples arguing. Ray thought he saw a woman with a black eye, locked arm in arm with her husband. She probably fell down some stairs. Two small children chased each other, bumping into the legs of strangers. An attractive, heavily tattooed, woman browsed at a shop, eyeing a very fancy looking handmade bracelet. 

Eventually Ray stopped observing strangers and went to his food. He opened up his small container of cheese and he broke off a piece of his pretzel. He dipped the overly salted piece of dough in the cheese and popped it in his mouth. As he chewed Ray felt a sense of warmth and satisfaction. Several memories popping in his head while he enjoyed his meal. He looked over the groups individual meals and the one that stood out to him was Hawkeye's. Ray never entertained the idea of eating a burger with apple juice. Before Ray decided to judge he recalled a time in middle school when he dipped carrots in milk. 

Ray went back to looking out into the crowd, waiting for someone at the table to start a conversation.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus had been munching at the edges of his meal by the time Ray sat down. When it was clear his group had gotten their meals he started eating with earnest. Breaking up the chicken with the side of his fork, spearing a piece and some spinach and eating them together.

It had a good taste too it. 

"SO, Morse." Marcus started, speaking between bites. "Without your ship, what are you going to do for work?" Another bite, this one rather delicious, after weeks of space-fare. "I mean, It wasn't long ago I was hitching rides between work. It's unreliable and there's no telling WHOSE ship your gonna walk onto." 

That was a jab to Morse selling them out, but it was also a smack to his own gullible nature.

He looked at the man, waiting for an answer, sipping at the mango smoothie.

[Bishop Morse]

Looking around the Bazaar was a fun sort of thing to do. Morse loved it in that place, he liked the space. It was a strange sort of feeling to be walking around in massive groups of people yet at the same time remain completely invisible to everyone there. He liked the smell of places like that, because it was a mixture of just about everything that was being sold there. Some food, leather bits, all manner of things that gave off a distinct scent. Not to mention it was a very elevating feeling, since he knew that he had a much different sort of lifestyle to most of the people there, not to mention more money. But regardless of that, Morse still find it to be a safe place. One could get lost easily, but it wasn’t terribly uncommon for someone to pull a gun on someone and take a shot at another, or at least threaten them. There was probably a mugging in that area at least ten times a day, and anything less would slow. Crime was common on the rim, though in that area it was more so just the selling of illegal substances. Morse had never been a drug user himself, but he knew dozens of people who did, and typically Morse could pick out those that did fairly easily. The thought as to whether or not Morse himself was one of those was quite a mystery to many for a long time. He certainly fit various aspects of the profile, but after a decent amount of the question occurring, he began to boast about his vanity being a strong anti drug. Ironic that a sin would be the thing to keep him from sinning, but it was good enough for him. 

The sheer amount of people there was a fun thing, as people were always coming and going. Some wore wide brim hats that had nothing on them but wiring. Morse always found that style rather funny. He didn’t like wearing things unless they had a use, and the only use he saw in those was telling people that the wearer was poor. The verse had always lent itself to a very wide variety of styles. There was a heavy set man of some sort of Asian descent with brown skin, who wore no shirt, and some sort of leather ‘skirt’ like thing. He was an intimidating sort of person, and not one Morse would want to try to fight. The fact that he was sweating made Morse think the man could spend some time running, or at least ‘walking it off’.

It was shortly after Morse found that everyone else was joining him at the table. He looked over what food they were bringing over. Though he had not yet paid for there food, he knew how that process went. They didn’t see it, but there was a man around there that was watching everyone, who would make sure people didn’t leave the tables without paying. Morse had seen what happened when they didn’t, and he wasn’t going to have that happen. Looking over the food the rest brought over, he found the combinations to be rather odd for some. ”Nǐ zhège rén chī yīxiē qíguài de lā shǐ Morse said with a pampas grin on his face, commenting on the weird food that they’d all chosen to get. His at least seemed more practical and wasn’t an odd combination, as far as he saw it anyway. He cut the beef circles with his fork and brought some it to his mouth. It was as good as it always was. It smelled good, was juicy, cooked well. That was all Morse wanted. ”Bet you war fighters don’t do this much.” Morse mentioned. ”After gettin’ outa the camps, we were done with protein. No more of that fake fèihuà for us. I’ll eat real food till I die.” Morse mentioned. Of course real food was prone to more health problems then the protein, but Morse would die like a human was meant to, with a full belly of dead animals.

Morse took another bite of his food. It wouldn’t probably take him too long to eat it, he generally ate fast because he didn’t like to hold things up. His eyes moved to Marcus when he said his name. ”Well I aint quite ready for retirement to teaching.” Morse said remarking on what his higher education future was going to lend him to. Morse always did like the idea of it, but he’d spent the last decade doing only one thing, and he wasn’t quite ready to leave it yet.”Been working towards a more solid business enterprise, but I’m kinda dead in the middle of it, and such things take time.” Morse didn’t mention what that was, but he’d say it if it came up. ”Truth of the point, I haven’t quite gotten ready for sitting permanent planet side quite yet.” He looked over at the first person to catch that wasn’t Marcus. He wound up looking at their pilot. ”A point dear little Jacky would be eagerly awaiting.” It occurred to Morse that perhaps “Hamlet” wasn’t aware of his family situation, but that didn’t matter. ”Really, I’m lookin’ for a bit of an intermediary placement. Somethin’ to do while I finally decide when the stopping point is, and he’s commin’ along for the ride” Morse said nodding towards Ray. ”What I know is I got a lot hard wear, and not much to do with it.” Morse pointed out, regarding the fact that he had a massive arsenal of vehicles, weapons, and equipment from his ship still left over. ”You wanna do merger?” Morse offered the aspect quickly. ”I know the ‘Colonel’ would love it.” Morse had actually just offered a very serious business proposal. He’d done them before, such a thing was practically what got Andy, Scruggs, and Bobo onto his ship in the first place. And looking at what Marcus was holding, such a concept would probably be beneficial to both of them, since he could probably use Morse’s assets, and it would give Morse something to do in the meantime.

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana heard Marcus and Morse talking to one another, and she suddenly realized that she was staring at her tray of food.  It didn't look like gourmet by any means, but it definitely had an edible smell.  She raised her head and met Jay's eyes.  She rolled her own, showing him that her mood had not diminished, hopefully making him feel a little more at ease.  He looked wildly uncomfortable.  She looked around the bazaar at the throngs flowing around the tables and through the rest of the open area.  It was sort of overwhelming how many people were in this small space.  Empty of people, it would seem like a fairly large space, but there had to be at least a thousand people crowded into the area, almost all of them going different directions.  

Just as her eyes were scanning back in the general direction of her own table, she spotted a chubby little boy, maybe two, wearing a tshirt, diaper, and strange looking shoes, trailing behind a young woman.  She wasn't holding his hand, which seemed like a bad idea in a crowd this large.  The child could vanish very easily.  Just as she was looking away, the child stripped his diaper off in mid-step, dropped it on the ground, and continued on behind the young woman.  Ilana snickered, as she thought of the look on the woman's face when she saw the child, and then again, as a few other people gaped after the boy.  

She shook her head, smiling, and returned her eyes to the people sitting with her.  Ray was chowing down with a look on his face like he was seeing a different place altogether, Morse and Marcus were talking amongst themselves, Hawk was being unusually quiet, and Amelia had not made her appearance at the table yet.  As she thought of Amelia, she thought of the words she had exchanged with Ray.  She smiled, despite how she had felt at the time.  

"Hey, Ray," she said to get his attention.  "You make anyone cry lately?"  If nothing else, Ray was always amusing, so getting him talking would be a good thing. . . she hoped.