Ray Hudson
Independent | Browncoat
[M:3357]
Keep diggin' that hole
Posts: 150
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Post by Ray Hudson on May 5, 2012 20:23:52 GMT -5
It was all impulse, all of the assumptions Ray was making. His Father had told him never to make assumptions but it was unthinking. Ray rarely caught himself doing it, it simply happened. What harm would it cause? He would never see these people again, They would never know his thoughts. It was a habit that he had lazily attempted to rid himself of over the years. Looking at a man with facial piercings and assuming stupidity, eyeing augmented breasts and assuming spoiled bitch, these were the assumptions that Ray made without thinking. He understood that it was a trait he should fix but he always wondered if he should even bother. Everybody judges, everybody assumes.
Ray continued to stare out into the crowd and eat his pretzel while he listened to Marcus and Morse's conversation. Ray heard Ilana say his name and he turned to look at her. She asked him if he had made anybody cry lately and the question put a puzzled look on Ray's face.
The office was large and everything inside was a tint of soothing blue. The walls were made of glass with the ceiling reaching high above everyones heads. One could see the stars in the sky when they looked up in this massive dome. The decor of the office was expensive and tasteful with the exception of various bits and bobs on the desk that was at the far end of the dome.
It was eight months ago, on the moon Tilottama. There were six people inside of the dome. A short balding man dressed in the finest of business attire sat in his extravagant desk, staring at the wall, catatonic. In the center of the office was a group that consisted of Jordan Kruger, Amy Kruger, Franco Moon and Ray Hudson. In front of the group was a handsome, professional looking man, who was on his knees with his hands tied up. The tied up man was staring at the ground with tears falling to the floor and his face was red as a cherry.
"Well you're the fucking idiot who decided not to cover his face!" Amy yelled at her husband, Jordan.
"I didn't think I had to! I didn't expect chicken shit over there to pussy out!" Jordan yelled back, pointing at the short balding man sitting at his desk.
"This is fucked up guys. He didn't do anything!" Franco noted. It was true. Other than unintentionally getting involved in an act of adultery, the tied up man was completely innocent.
"What choice do we have! If we take him back, he goes right to the cops." Ray pointed out to Franco.
Everything had gone wrong. Everything about the job had gone completely wrong.
"I WON'T!! I SWEAR TO GOD I WON'T!!" The tied up man screamed, tears still streaming down his face.
Ray stared at the tied up man. None of this was supposed to happen. The tied up man was supposed to be some moraless piece of garbage, not Richter Collins, loving father of two. It was too late. The tied up man could identify everyone in the room and the office stood out enough to be found by the police.
It was too late, the man had humanized himself. They knew more than they needed to and now they were suffering for it. But they had no other option.
The tied up man continued to cry and beg, while the group looked at each other, wondering who would do the deed.
Ray was a bit surprised by the wording of Ilana's question. It seemed a bit forward but Ray assumed that it was just a funny conversation starter. He hated the word, crying. The simple mention of it left him uncomfortable and distracted. The more he thought about it the more the question reminded him of his visit to Tilottama eight months ago. Ray felt a chill go down his spine and the knot tightened. He lost his apetite but conversing with Ilana would excuse him from eating his food.
"Not lately." Ray answered with a smile and mocking disappointed tone. "Not since I got banned from the local abortion clinic. Some of those girls are so easy to guilt." Ray joked, trying to lift his own spirits as well as Ilana's. The last couple of months had been strange and draining and Ray was never one to take hardship well. He needed distractions. "I'm thinkin' of moving to alcoholic recovery meetings. I hear they're real moody there."
Ray thought about Ilana's question again and it made him laugh. "Why are you asking me if I've been making people cry? I'm not a Tear Vampire, I don't drink peoples sadness for sustenance." Ray claimed with a smile on his face.
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Post by Ilana Logan on May 5, 2012 20:32:27 GMT -5
Ilana watched Ray curiously. When she first asked her question of him, he looked at her like she had grown a second head, almost like he didn't understand what she said. Then his face looked troubled, as though her question had upset him. Oh man, Ilana thought. Upsetting Ray cannot be a good thing. She was just about to retract the question when he finally spoke up.
"Not lately," he said with a smile and mock disappointment. Well, maybe it was real disappointment. She didn't really know him well enough to accurately gauge it. "Not since I got banned from the local abortion clinic. Some of those girls are so easy to guilt." Ray joked, at least she thought he was joking. Again, with Ray it was kind of hard to tell sometimes. "I'm thinkin' of moving to alcoholic recovery meetings. I hear they're real moody there."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, then he laughed and asked with a smile, "Why are you asking me if I've been making people cry? I'm not a Tear Vampire, I don't drink peoples sadness for sustenance."
His question triggered her own burst of laughter. With a grin, she replied, "No, you don't drink sadness for sustenance, but I've seen you upset a good few people just by speaking. Personally, I think you're funny, but I seem to be one of a small few."
After that last bit came out of her mouth, she thought maybe talking at all had been a bad idea for her. She has a tendency to open her mouth and shove both feet straight in, and for a moment she wondered if she hadn't don't just that. He did look a little green. Then she thought of who she was talking to, who gave no more thought to what he says at any given time than a horse does to shitting in the dirt. She didn't feel so bad after thinking of some of the things he had said to other people, and she just wondered what he would say, if anything at all.
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Post by Marcus O'Terra on May 5, 2012 20:32:49 GMT -5
The chaos in the bazaar was growing on Marcus, there was life here. People were going where they needed to go, and even if they bumped into someone along the way; there wasn't anything wrong with that. Sure that was bound to be a pick pocket or two, but they'd get there's.
And the smell of food and life and sounds of laughter.... Marcus could understand why Morse brought them there.
"Never seen a REAL city have you, Marker?" The old captain laughed. The young man looked from atop a yellow hover mule, as they passed mile after mile of people. "Well enjoy it while you can, we've got work to do after this.
Emotions bubbled to the surface as Morse spoke, and Marcus registered the words. Hardware and Merger were prolly the ones that struck him harder. He set down his fork and looked Morse in the eye. The man was experienced, skilled, connected, motivated, and above all alive after all the crap he'd gone through.
Marcus would be an idiot not to take on someone like that.
But Morse had sold them out to Feds, pointed guns at them the first time the met again...and.... well honestly that stuff was just a matter of circumstances.
So really why wouldn't he take him on? Bygones and all that.
Marcus's face was, for once, unreadable. His mind raced as he tried to make a decision on this; or even just form a real opinion on the offer.
"Got lots of mouths as it is." Marcus began, but after a moment, he recalled the Logan; and how the pantry had been stocked FULL. "Though I don't suppose you've ever had a problem with that sort o' thing..." He jabbed the carrots and spinach and started chomping them down.
"We 'merge'; I'm gonna make this clear. I'm captain. Not you. You're not getting in as first officer or anything special. We do jobs and find where everyone fits...." The thought brought him to another. "It just gonna be you and Ray? What about your old crew?" The old mechanic and medic would probably be a helpful addition. The Aardvark was big enough to warrant two mechanics to handle it's engines.
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Ray Hudson
Independent | Browncoat
[M:3357]
Keep diggin' that hole
Posts: 150
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Post by Ray Hudson on May 5, 2012 20:33:32 GMT -5
Hearing Ilana laugh put Ray at ease. He never knew when someone would take his comments the wrong way and he just felt like joking around. He remembered her laughing at his comments once or twice when the group was on the Logan and that left him with a good impression of her. A sense of humor went a long way with Ray but people who shared his type of humor weren't all that common.
Ilana's reply held a lot of truth. When she mentioned that she found him funny, Ray's eyes brightened. Not a lot of compliments came his way so hearing some positivity coming his way felt nice. Ilana mentioned that she seemed to be one in a small few of people who find him humorous but Ray didn't take offense. After all, it was obvious.
"Small few?" Ray repeated, an eyebrow arched but a gleeful smile on his face "Your breaking my heart Sunshine, crushing my dreams." Ray claimed, taking false offense. Ray had called Ilana Sunshine back on the Logan for reasons that even Ray didn't understand. It was just a name that he threw out sometimes and it didn't mean anything. It was an unthinking thing that he did and some woman took offense to it and others ignored it. It didn't really matter to Ray.
"Something I learned growing up is that...most people don't share your sense of humor." Ray stated, deciding to share some of his opinions. "I had to get kicked out of quite a few classrooms to figure that out." He claimed, with a hint of pride on his face. "'You can't put the word 'hard on' in your essay.'" Ray said, imitating his teachers in a mocking way. "'Dont make fun of Albert, he has autism.'" Ray continued, still maintaining the mocking imitation.
"How was I supposed to know he had autism?" Ray asked rhetorically, raising his voice. "The kid was eatin' glitter like it was his last meal. He wanted fabulous puke, his face was covered in little stars." Ray explained, loudly. Ray had always been a loud individual who had a tendency to get 'immersed' in his stories. He thought about what he just said. "I don't condone picking on mentally handicapped people, but I didn't know. I didn't know." The story was true, he had gotten in trouble for picking on an autistic kid in his class when he was young. Ray had always been a bit bitter about being suspended after continuously explaining to the principle that he was unaware of Albert's autism. He never apologized to Albert, but he always wanted to.
Ray thought for a moment, unsure where he had taken their conversation.
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Post by Bishop Morse on May 5, 2012 20:34:04 GMT -5
Cutting into another bit of the meat that sat in front of him, Morse took in a bit of what was happening around him. He heard Ray talking to the one who was there mechanic. She seemed to be dealing with him fine. Being around them was just something that people had to understand. They were realists of the firmest sort, and they said just about everything that came into their minds. Whether or not it meant anything, or they should take it personally was more up to the person they were talking to. Regardless of that when Morse heard Ray mention that he wasn’t a ‘Tear Vampire’, only one thing came into his mind, and he said it immediately. ”Ya you are.” That was all there was to it. He didn’t go in much deeper then that, he wasn’t going to start throwing things in on the claim, it was the sarcasm of the thing that made it worth what it was. He picked up his water cup and drank down a bit before continuing. Lifting up another bit of the food in front of him, Morse listened to Marcus’ response.
Morse found him rather receptive, which wasn’t necessarily a surprise. In Morse’s opinion he found that they had been in an indirect way played towards the concept of killing each other by forces that weren’t them. When he was on his ship, there were people trying to steal it, and likely convinced him that Morse was the bad one. Of course those same people wound up killing thousands of people the next night, all because they refused to accept punishment for their crimes, which they had committed. Since then the situation had taken a dramatic turn, and when it was left without outside influence coming into play, they seemed to have reasonable business interest. But it seemed Marcus was quite caught on maintaining ownership. That was a common trait for people that were out on the Rim, and with what he had, it was likely he needed such an attitude if he wanted to keep it. Of course varying degrees of autonomy didn’t always make a person seem so appealing, but in this case it wasn’t a bad thing.
”Crew all went home for the most part.” Morse said. ”Scruggs ran off towards New Cannon to meet up with his wife. Bobo hiked off towards Santo. Hoffman’s on the other side a this world, getting ready to head off towards the border to set up shop, and Andy I think was gonna make a trip back over towards Sihnon to see his brothers.” They all really had gone their separate ways the second the ship was getting ready to be sold off. The crew had frequently taken time off, and gone this way and that way. Every two months or so they all disappeared for a month before coming back, and this time wasn’t much different other then they were going out to set up permanently. They all had skill sets enough that they’d live without problems or needs. ”Oh and there’s Slink.” Morse mentioned. ”Haven’t decided whether to hang onto him or hand him off to Jacky.” Morse hadn’t given much thought to what to do with his Sloth, but he’d figure it out when he needed to.
Morse got his snide smile running across his face once more when he recalled Marcus mentioning he would be commanding the vessel and not him. ”I don’t wanna be commanding anything anymore.” Morse said. ”I’ve spent the last decade leading anywhere between five and five hundred people at a time. I’m very tired of it. Right now, if you wanna point the direction, then I’ll leave you to it. But I’m tellin’ you now, the last thing I wanna do at this point is be callin’ the shots.” Morse was very exhausted from spending a third of his life doing nothing but telling people where to go, what to do, and how to do it. When he originally signed on for such things back in 2506 he didn’t think it would be a life time sort of thing, and actually had only thought it would be a two year deal. Instead the war went on far longer then anyone thought it would, and it landed him with a situation that while somewhat safe, was not ideal for a life long position. ”It’s your boat, your people, and it’s all Fákuǎn hé huā shì” Morse said with compliance. He had no urge to run a ship anymore, especially not one that was full of people he didn’t know. So he’d just let Marcus lead, and he’d just follow behind.
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Post by Ilana Logan on May 5, 2012 20:35:00 GMT -5
Ilana heard Morse tell Ray he was a tear vampire. Ilana smiled at that. All Morse had said was "Ya you are." Still, it was a little funny.
"Small few?" Ray asked, repeating what Ilana had said as a question, one eyebrow raised, and a huge, really happy smile pasted on his face. "Your breaking my heart Sunshine, crushing my dreams," he added, with mock offense in his voice, and she laughed.
Ilana laughed. She remembered Ray calling her Sunshine back on the Logan. It was right before he asked her name. She didn't mind being called Sunshine. In fact, it made her feel good after a lifetime of being called "Tiny." "There aren't many people who understand a sense of humor like yours. I myself tend to say whatever comes into my head. Most times, it doesn't even occur to me until I've already said it that maybe I should keep some things to myself. And other times I say it whether I know I shouldn't or not, because I find it funny. Some people don't agree with my humor either," she said, explaining her comment.
"Something I learned growing up is that...most people don't share your sense of humor." Ray said. Ilana waited, figuring he had more to say about it. "I had to get kicked out of quite a few classrooms to figure that out." He said, looking just a little proud of that. "'You can't put the word 'hard on' in your essay.'" Ray said in a mocking voice, and Ilana figured he was repeating something a teacher had said to him. "'Dont make fun of Albert, he has autism.'"Ray continued, still using the mocking tone.
Ilana started to speak, but Ray continued raising his voice, "How was I supposed to know he had autism?" She figured he wasn't looking for an answer here, so she said nothing. "The kid was eatin' glitter like it was his last meal." She laughed a little at this. "He wanted fabulous puke, his face was covered in little stars." Ray said, still quite loud. "I don't condone picking on mentally handicapped people, but I didn't know. I didn't know."
"I don't condone picking on the mentally handicapped either, but autism isn't something you can see," she said, thinking it would ease his mind about it a little. "Though if I remember correctly, you have no qualms about picking on the physically handicapped. The first thing I ever heard you say was that you were gonna hide Hoffman's wheelchair if he didn't turn the gorram heat down. That was funny as hell," she said, remembering how she felt when she had heard him say that. She had thought it was funny, at the same time, she had hoped whoever had said it was joking. After meeting Hoffman, however briefly, she knew he wasn't the kind of person you took pity on. Even if you wanted to, he would have killed you in your sleep for it. At least, that was the impression she had gotten from the small amount of contact she had with him.
She turned her full attention back to the here and now, still smiling. It had been a great day so far. She didn't know any of the people she was here with very well. Morse seemed like he was kind of uptight, Marcus was kind of introverted but funny when he felt like it, Jay was shy and she thought he was sly but a nice person, Hawkeye was a nice guy, but not very bright, Amelia was a slut but funny, and Ray was serious one minute and had her laughing the next. All of these assessments could be wrong, she didn't know any of them very well, but for the most part, she didn't think so. She looked up at Ray with a smile, wondering what, if anything, he would say next.
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Post by Marcus O'Terra on May 5, 2012 20:35:52 GMT -5
Marcus's food was good, and was sitting well. The mixed veggies was the right way to go. Different nutrients, balanced meal; the words kicked in his head from an someone's voice. His Sergeant's? That might have been it. But so long ago it didn't really have a voice to it. Maybe just Morse's mixed in with the Colonel's? Voices of experience and authority...
That set less well. He took another bite while Ray and Ilana bantered. It seemed they were getting along well enough. That was actually a good sign as far as Marcus was concerned, he smirked. Ilana was more of a second officer to Marcus than Jay was... that first incident with Hawkeye reading into things...
He exhaled once Morse started talking again. It seemed fair enough that the crew would go their separate ways. He smiled when he thought of a few of them with families, it was their own right; and he wondered how it would be to have a hearth and home, a wife and kids....
When Morse mentioned 'Slink' and 'Jacky' Marcus titled his head a bit. "And those two are?" He hadn't met either of them on the Logan.
He jabbed his fork into a small piece of chicken, this time spiking carrots onto the fork as well, and taking the lot into his mouth. The tastes clashed but Marcus liked that. He chewed briskly and swallowed, before taking a short sip of the smoothie. The tastes went back and forth and it all gave his brain a funny sort of 'dizzy' as the tastes lingered, mixed, and bled away down his throat.
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Post by Bishop Morse on May 5, 2012 20:36:13 GMT -5
Things seemed to be in a decent spot from where Morse could see it. He didn’t often wind up in a situation where he was eating with such a large group of people. At Longstreet’s compound, those that stayed there tended to keep to themselves. Longstreet held a strong distinction between enlisted men and officers during the war. Being of such a high rank and at an appointment that he was holding, he didn’t come across enlisted men much out of reports or men on base. He was wealthy and powerful, in character and as a person. So he didn’t keep a strong bond throughout most of his people that was much further then he presented them with a good opportunity. Certain among them who had been there for a long time had a stronger place then that, such as Morse himself and the ‘lieutenant’ Carl. Most people that had dealt with Longstreet had a strong loyalty towards him, and he maintained loyalty towards those that had proven their worth. It was that sort of thing that had helped Longstreet build all he had, and Morse had known that. But while many of the people had loyalty to Longstreet, loyalty to each other was a different story. And that was a good reason they stuck to their separate groups, and didn’t intermingle much. As a result, this was an odd, yet not unpleasant time for Morse.
Chewing on a piece of meat, and lifting up the remainder of one of the circles preparing to go after it after he was done, Morse caught bits of what Ray and the mechanic were saying. It was a conversation that Morse recognized well and had no need to move into again, at least not at that second. Morse didn’t have a problem talking to anyway, and quite often started conversation first. The talk about the sense of humor, which was generally shared by many who had been around where they were, was one he knew very well. He’d had it and been part of it a number of times, but for now there was business and food. He could get in towards it later, so for now he’d keep towards what was right in front of him.
Morse grasped that Marcus didn’t know who the last two people he mentioned were. ”Slink would be that rope climbing hair ball that was sitting on my ship…” Morse said. He then realized that could lead to a misconception. ”… The one that wasn’t missing both his legs and cleaning a shotgun four times a day… the sloth.” Morse mentioned making a distinction between the sloth and his mechanic. Then there was the second person mentioned, and Morse recognized that Marcus had never met her. Of course he wasn’t exactly planning on changing that, but that was more because there was no reason to keep her around where he was given what he was doing. ”And Jacky would be that strange little fiddle playin’ shǎnyào de guāngmáng of mine.” Morse said remarking on the fact that it was his daughter. He wasn’t quite sure where she’d got the idea to pick up playing as many instruments as she did, because Morse could only play the one, and he couldn’t read music at all. But there musical talent was something they shared, among many other things, so it didn’t bother him at all, especially since he’d sometimes thought he should have picked up the fiddle instead of piano.
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Ray Hudson
Independent | Browncoat
[M:3357]
Keep diggin' that hole
Posts: 150
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Post by Ray Hudson on May 5, 2012 20:36:50 GMT -5
When Ilana mentioned Ray's exchange with Hoffman from a month ago, he let out a laugh. He couldn't remember how many times he had yelled at Hoffman to turn the heat down in the years they were on the Logan. His irritable nature wouldn't allow discomfort and shouting at Hoffman brought the most personal satisfaction.
"Well with Hoffman it's different." Ray stated, in an attempt to justify threatening a handicapped person. He smiled at the absurdity of it. "I've known Hoffman as long as I've known Morse." He claimed. This was most likely the first Ilana had heard of how long Ray and Morse had known each other."Since we were this little." He said, putting hand near the floor with an open palm to signify that they had known each other since they were children. "We grew up together, went through the war together. There isn't much we can say to offend the other."
Ray started to think of his lifelong friend. The silent, wheelchair bound man in the engine room. Hoffman wasn't always so silent and depressed. Growing up, he was never very social but he was loyal and energetic. He would show his friends extreme kindness and Ray always felt unworthy. Hoffman's family was kind hearted and always willing to help. Hoffman was a friend who actually cared and wanted to help. Unfortunately, after the incident that took his legs, he was no longer the same person. They had all gone through changes, but Hoffman, Hoffman became empty. It was hard to have a conversation with Hoffman without feeling like you were talking to a painting on the wall. After a few years, Ray began to suspect that Hoffman had become suicidal. He worried about his friend but never wanted to show it.
Ray didn't think long about Hoffman during his conversation with Ilana. He wanted to change the subject without making it obvious. He didn't like to think about it, about his friend no longer existing. He especially didn't want to talk about it.
"But I guess to an outside person it's looks kinda bad. It's good that you laughed though. Maybe I should threaten handicapped people more often." Ray looked around the crowd for a while until he spotted someone. "What about that guy, he's got crutches." Ray said enthusiastically, pointing to an individual in the crowd. "If I swipe 'em from him will you get a good laugh?" He asked, trying to make Ilana look cruel. "Bet he'd fall like a rock...and he'd never catch me...and hey, free crutches. They're expensive and we'll probably need 'em eventually." He continued. Ray watched the man with the crutches for a moment, pretending like he was really considering it. After a moment Ray turned back to Ilana and let out a short laugh.
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Post by Ilana Logan on May 5, 2012 20:37:53 GMT -5
When Ilana reminded Ray that she had heard his shouting match with Hoffman, he let out a laugh and said, "Well with Hoffman it's different. I've known Hoffman as long as I've known Morse." Ilana hadn't known how long the men had known each other, only that they had known each other before they met her. It wasn't exactly pertinant information, but it was interesting to know, and she filed it away for possible later use. "Since we were this little," he added, holding his hand above the ground, in the universal gesture for small children. "We grew up together, went through the war together. There isn't much we can say to offend the other."
Ray looked thoughtful for a moment, and Ilana let her thoughts drift. She was thinking of her brother, John, and their childhood. There wasn't much either of them could say that would offend the other, either. So she understood the bond of growing up together. Just as she was drifting further down memory lane, Ray began talking again, and she turned her attention back to him.
"But I guess to an outside person it's looks kinda bad. It's good that you laughed though. Maybe I should threaten handicapped people more often,"Ray said. He looked around the crowd for minute, then said, "What about that guy, he's got crutches?" He enthusiastically pointed to a man in the crowd. "If I swipe 'em from him will you get a good laugh?" He asked. "Bet he'd fall like a rock...and he'd never catch me...and hey, free crutches. They're expensive and we'll probably need 'em eventually." He seemed to really be considering snatching the crutches from the man.
Ray let out a short bark of laughter, and Ilana laughed with him. "Just don't get too swept away in your endeavors and start beating him with them. The crutches would get broken, which would make the entire escapade a bust. Aside from the humor of course. You can call me mean, cruel, or even a bitch, but I think you running up to a man on crutches, snatching them, and running away as he falls on his face would be hilarious. It would be too absurd not to laugh," she said, grinning.
She knew what she just said would probably make her sound cold-hearted, but she wasn't really. She was being serious when she remarked on the absurdity of something like that actually happening. She scratched her ear, and took a long drink out of her cup. In truth, she had asked for something cold, having no idea what they would give her. The ice clinked in the cup as she brought it to her lips. It tasted citrusy, more orangy than any of the other fruits, but there was definitely lime in there too. It was pretty warm out there today, so the cold drink was welcome.
"I suppose I would feel bad later for laughing about it, but that doesn't change the fact that I would definitely laugh," she added to her previous statements. She would feel bad later on for laughing at something like that, but the thought was absolutely ludicrous. Whether he actually did it or not, which she didn't believe he would, it was so absurd, just thinking of it again made her let out a short peal of laughter. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. She truly enjoyed Ray's company, though she was undeniably one of a very small few. Ray wasn't exactly a people person. In fact, he tended to do everything in his power to make people hate him. Ilana was pretty sure he was trying to rile her up with the comments about the man on crutches, which is a part of the reason she actually voiced how she felt about that. She wasn't angry with him for saying it, she'd heard much worse, and from Ray's own mouth at that. She found him more amusing than anyone she'd met in a long time. She was actually having fun.
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Post by Marcus O'Terra on May 5, 2012 20:38:12 GMT -5
Marcus's mind was kicking back into gear as he munched on the food, and considered more of Morse's proposal. A memory of a fuzzy critter returned to Marcus. The word 'sloth' went well with the creature. If he remembered it's pace correctly.
He wondered about having the thing aboard, it would be an interesting addition, but Marcus didn't have much experience with animals as far as space life went. It's not like they could chew through the airlock and get outside.
Morse's daughter was another recollection he'd set to the side. But that was something for another day. Honestly the man's idea had a lot of potential. Plus if he'd already told the Colonel about it; it might look bad if he shunned Morse.
Ah, there's the trick of it. Marcus guessed.
He swallowed what was left of his previous bite and went to spike more chicken with spinach again. "Well, I don't mind the critter, so long as he's seen not in the way. We certainly have enough room on that ship... Might be able to rig up some prefabs in the cargo bay for extra passenger space." The idea of stuffing the container sized "trailer homes" into his ship seemed a bit redundant, but given the dimensions of the ship he could fit a bunch in and hook them up no problem.
"Course then I'd have to upgrade the life support for that to work..." With that big open space there was so much potential, Marcus was starting to realize that. He took a bite, enjoying the taste.
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Post by Jay Fuller on May 5, 2012 20:38:52 GMT -5
Jay had sat next to Ray, setting his plate and drink down. He looked at Ilana, who rolled her eyes at him. He smirked and managed a chuckle, though he realized that she probably wouldn't hear it in the crowd. Jay picked up his turkey melt, examining it briefly. It had toasted bread, green peppers, turkey, melted cheese and onions. Jay wished he had something to dip it in. He had a weakness for greasy food, especially when dipped into some delicious sauce. He brought the sandwich up to his mouth and took a bite. It was hot and burned his tongue, he gasped a bit and screwed his face up in pain. He fought through it and chewed and swallowed. Jay hoped no one noticed what just happened. He set the sandwich down and took a sip from his drink.
He turned his attention to Ilana and Ray's conversation. He found Ray to be hilarious, and wanted to get to know him better. But there was the one problem: Ray was a guy, and Jay trying to be friends with guys didn't work. At least, it was really hard. He knew it was all tied into the fact that he was secretly sly -- the majority of his problems, if not all of them, were. Jay unintentionally closed himself up when he was around guys. Their more brutal nature annoyed him. It also made him angry when they would try to talk to him about girls, but Jay knew that was because he couldn't fully comprehend what it was like to see a pair of breasts and be turned on. That thought process led Jay down a dark road, his mind flashing back to the times when his parents would try to lecture him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" was the one phrase he could never shake. His father had said it one day, after a long discussion where Jay tried to explain what he was going through. Those words echoed in his mind often. Whenever someone else would say that to him, it would just slap him to the ground. He would always think, what was wrong with him? He sometimes felt like the only one in the Galaxy who didn't grow up normally. It was then that Jay realized he was clenching his cup rather tightly. He sighed and released it, folding his hands into his lap. Jay shoved the bad thoughts to the back of his mind. He looked up and tried to get an idea of what everyone else was talking about.
From what he could tell, Morse and Ray were joining the crew. "Well, I don't mind the critter, so long as he's seen not in the way. We certainly have enough room on that ship... Might be able to rig up some prefabs in the cargo bay for extra passenger space." Marcus said.
"Wait, we're getting a pet? Oh wait, the sloth on that last ship? Awesome, that thing was adorable!" Jay finally spoke up.
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Post by Bishop Morse on May 5, 2012 20:39:10 GMT -5
Spinning the remainder of the dark grey piece of meat with red center on his fork, Morse brought it to his mouth. There was not much left of it. The main reason he didn’t do that earlier is it would be too disproportionate in weight on the fork, and it would likely break off, or the things on top would leak off. This was an outcome Morse wanted to avoid, and so he waited till he’d gotten all the way through it to do such a maneuver. Everyone had their particular eating habits and when Morse was eating this sort of food, this was the kind that he had. He didn’t tend to look over to see how the other people were doing on there’s, with the exception of seeing how far in they were. Morse ate very quickly, so as to not leave anything, not have anything taken, and not get left behind. The idea of not getting left behind at the table and holding everyone up came from when he was younger. He didn’t like the concept of being stuck on the spot and people waiting for him. Even though ninety nine out of a hundred times that sort of thing absolutely did not matter, he still kept on with it. He had several times during the war where such a habit came in handy, and he was done eating about one minute before something that immediately called for his attention came up.
Morse seemed to take for granted the idea that someone would know about this kind of animal that he owned. He didn’t know a whole lot about them until after he’d gotten it and done some research of his own on it. It was a very interesting sort of creature that Marcus seemed to have the wrong impression about. ”Only thing this thing needs is somethin’ to climb up, that’s about it.” Morse mentioned. Slinks species were an extremely easy to tend to breed. They only defecated once a week, they didn’t eat much, and so long as they could climb up something, they were fine. Morse then heard the mention from one of Marcus’ people. From what he presumed he was the youngest of the group. He seemed excited about the concept of merging, if only in an indirect way. The sheer optimism of his sound did more for Morse to think that he probably wasn't in a line of work he was used to, or fit into the best. It was either that or he was psychotic, but in general optimism like that wasn't something Morse found common. ”I aint even decided whether I wanna bring him along yet, its more of ‘I might’, right now.” Morse stated. This was true, he was not sure if he wanted to carry that creature on board. It wasn’t that it was too much work, but it seemed like it might be a problem.
But Morse could figure that out. He did like the animal, that’s why he got it in the first place. It was a strange and unusual sort of thing, and keeping such things as pets wasn’t exactly uncommon. Morse didn’t really want to deal with a dog, and he did like the idea of having something that was not particularly commonly seen. He’d known a few people that owned things like tigers, but that sort of things was very impractical, especially for what Morse did.
These things alone however were not the only thing Morse had to bring along, and he’d have to mention it at that point before it got to a situation where it was a surprise. ”I’ve also got two vehicles, that one we rode in on being one of em, along with about thirty assorted fire arms that I’d have to stuff over. Don’t know if you got guns already, but I got a bunch I’m not exactly wanting to sell of yet.” The arsenal that the Logan had was a very impressive one, more then most people had. But it came in to where Morse and the crew may not be sure what they wanted to use at any specific moment. Aside from that, he had times when there were other people around and they’d need them. Some moments didn’t call for machine guns and assault rifles, so there were other weapons for such moments. The variety led to many options being available, and the advantage always being on the side of the Logan. Such things were more then suitable for him, but that was up to Marcus whether he wanted the same.
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Post by Marcus O'Terra on May 5, 2012 20:39:24 GMT -5
Marcus could only laugh as Jay pipped in his thoughts on the matter. "Well if the good doctor doesn't have a problem with the critter, I can't see a reason to deny it." He yawned, mildly. He started picking off what was rest of his meal. Morse started talking weapons and the little voice in the back of his head was laughing.
"Well if my recent history is any indication; I'll be needing it, and hands that know how to use it."
He quickly finished the bite and started scrapping the edges of the veggies into the centre of the plate. "I don't see any real reason to say no. We settled that our past was past last go round." He poked a bunch of the veggies onto the fork. "So sure." He held out a hand. "Welcome to the crew of theChainless, Morse."
If it was a sign of change it was this. Offering work to an old foe. Kinda had a weird feel to it. But it wasn't a bad one...
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Post by Ilana Logan on May 5, 2012 20:40:03 GMT -5
She was pretty sure she had offended Ray with her last couple statements. Some people got like that around her. She had always been like that. Since childhood, she'd opened her mouth to talk and shoved both feet in. She was used to it by now, but she'd also really liked Ray. She hadn't had a crush on him or anything like that, but she'd liked him. He was a funny guy who made her laugh, and she'd made him laugh a few times. She knew that by his personality, it would take a lot more than a few laughs to be his friend, but even so, she had thought that maybe they could be friendly acquaintances. She took another swig of her drink. The ice clinked together as she tipped it up, and again as she set it down on the table. It tasted like summer in a glass.
She looked around the bazaar. She saw a woman leading two small children through the crowd, a man playing a guitar with a metal can on the ground at his feet, a boy dressed in girl's clothing (that or it was one ugly girl), a teenage girl dressed like a doxy, and a thousand others that melted into the scenery. Everyone there seemed so different from everyone else. She didn't care much for crowded areas like this, but she didn't really dislike them either. One thing she did like about them was looking at all the different people.
She turned her attention back to the people at her table. She thought about apologizing to Ray for offending him, and then decided against it. She'd only heard him apologize to one person, and she'd seen him piss off, or otherwise offend, just about everyone that got onto the ship with her. Since he made it a habit to forego apologies, she figured he probably didn't like hearing them from other people. She thought that maybe eventually he would come around again.
Carefully schooling her face, she glanced at Marcus, who was still talking to Morse. She wished she could talk to him as she had when they had been on the Logan, but as he was no the captain, she figured that was pretty much impossible. He had been so easy to talk to, and he had told her probably a little more than he meant to. It doesn't matter, she thought. He's the captain, and I'm not some lovesick school girl. I'm not a lovesick anything. She sighed, looking away, unable to complete the thought, even in her mind. She wasn't in love with him or anyone else, but she had allowed herself to like him a little more than she should have when they were on the Logan, and probably a little since. It wasn't a crush, or anything as mundane as that, and it definitely wasn't love. It just made her a little sad to think about how long it had been. Don't go there, she thought, mentally shaking herself. Although, after so much solitude, she found herself reaching out to the people around her. Maybe she just needed to get a little. Amelia had said that she would make her look nice and show her how to pick up a guy without thoroughly pissing him off, or making him think she was a whore. Ilana sighed again and shook her head at herself. I don't know what's gotten into me, but it's gotta stop. Hell, RAY hasn't even pissed me off today, and he pisses everyone off, she thought.
She opened her mouth to speak, and then found she had no idea what to say. "Wǒ méiyǒu huà," she said quietly, and took another swig of her drink.
"Wǒ méiyǒu huà" means "I have no words"
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Post by Bishop Morse on May 5, 2012 20:40:22 GMT -5
As far as Morse went in life he always looked backwards as much as he did forward. He couldn’t stand those people that were totally locked up in the past and couldn’t see what was in front of them, but at the same time he didn’t like the ones that didn’t seem to have any kind of grasp on what came next. Morse liked to think he found the best way to balance that. Even from when he was younger, his voice was that of logic and reason. He knew so many people, and got along with them all well enough. In spite of not seeing them, he kept a general grasp of where many of them were and how to get a hold of them, and what they were doing. Burning bridges was a deliberate action, but it was far more common for people to let bridges fall to bits due to lack of upkeep. That was how Morse saw it anyway, and did his best to make sure both areas were kept up. He wondered if that came into play with new people he came across, even though they weren’t as much of mark in his mind as others way. If it did that would explain certain portions of his position at that very moment. Regardless he would keep at things the way he always had.
Putting his hand forward to take the one in front of him, he grabbed it quick. ”To whatever end.” He said with his usual arrogant nature. He didn’t know necessarily how that ship was run, or worked. But knowing what was on it and how it came to be, it couldn’t be awful. Either way it didn’t matter to Morse. He was totally burnt out of being the one in charge of large amounts of people. He’d spent too much time at it, and wanted to get back to having someone else take the lead. It always was better knowing that someone was above or ahead of you to make it seem like they knew what they were doing. In his own mind Morse could insert various people to fill that role. Longstreet or Parkhill depending fit rather well. However in general that was just a made up point since he himself was doing most of the work on that end. One of those items still existed, but at this point he’d now be taking orders from someone younger then him, and probably less experienced. But that didn’t really matter to Morse, since he hadn’t wanted to do such a thing much further then the war. Unfortunately it hadn’t wound up that way, but now had been his opportunity to change that, and he took it quickly.
Cutting up the last circle of meat that was on his plate, Morse placed two pieces in his mouth, chewed them up and continued. He looked around, grasping in his mind that these were people he’d now be on with. He wasn’t sure whether that was something to be nervous about or not, but he wasn’t scared. This was his decision, his opting, his idea, and he found it to be the best. Placing more of the food in his mouth and getting it down quickly he decided to move them along. ”Alright team, wrap it up, munch it quick.” Morse said. ”We got a city to see.” Morse pointed out. He recognized that he’d just signed on a subordinate and was giving an order. Maybe Marcus was setting rules of him not being an XO, but there was always room for Morse to change his mind on that. He wasn’t particularly anxious for such a thing, but roles would be figured out in time.
(Suggesting end to thread, if you post again, I’d suggest it be only as a finishing post)
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Ray Hudson
Independent | Browncoat
[M:3357]
Keep diggin' that hole
Posts: 150
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Post by Ray Hudson on May 5, 2012 20:40:46 GMT -5
The last few days were tough for Ray. The end of of his time on the Logan left him in a state of confusion and uncertainty. His spirits seemed to be finally lifted thanks in large part to Ilana. He still was unhappy with how things had turned out but he welcomed the distraction. The last few days consisted of Ray sulking and feeling sorry for himself and the news of Marcus' group coming didn't fill him with much joy. But Ray was a fan of surprises.
While Ray listened to Ilana talk, he started to think about his impression of her. He thought she was interesting and fun to be around but that didn't affect his overall opinion of her. Ray was always uncomfortable around strangers, especially those in his line of work. Ilana may be easy to talk to but she was with Marcus' group, which greatly damage his opinion of her. Ray watched Marcus and his group walk right onto Steve's ship and murder everyone inside. Why? Because Morse told them to. Morse was higher on the food chain than them so they just did what he said, no questions asked. A simple name drop was enough to have them armed and looking for blood. Then, once the fight was over, Morse offered Marcus the ship and once they heard that they practically skipped back onto the Logan to grab their things. All they saw out of the slaughter was their own personal gain and it was that trait that disgusted Ray.
Ray insulted nearly everyone he met, but most of the people he met where outlaws, just like him. He kept them away, forced their disapproval. He pushed them away so he wouldn't have to relate to them. If nearly everyone you meet is a monster you probably don't want to find out you like the same Cortex programs.
Ray didn't hate Ilana, he liked her more than most of the people he met, but he didn't know anything about her. One conversation over lunch wasn't enough to make him open up and accept her as anything more than one of Longstreet's workers. But Ray would make an effort.
When Ilana finished talking Ray just smiled at her and looked back out to the crowd. He didn't think much about what she said, he just sat in silence. He didn't feel like talking anymore, he just went back to thinking. Ray was a very talkative person when he was around friends or family but around strangers he tended to say very little. He listened to Morse and Marcus' conversation and he knew they would be leaving soon. Ray finished up what was left of his pretzel and waited for everyone else to stand up.
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