Tylen selects a black coverall made of ballistic cloth,  as well as shirts , trousers, nad jackets made of more conventional materials, all in black or grey – some with security emblazoned on  them, others plain. Most of the clothes that have  SECURITY written on them show little or no subtly – it is either writ large across the back of the jacket or across the left breast.  If he decided to look like a full blown security man, then there is going to be no doubt about it.  However, there is just enough subtlety about some  of the items that he could look more like a perimeter patrol guy, if he chose to.

The costumes are finished off with the ubiquitous ‘Security Man’ belt that comes with a number of detachable holsters, loops and pouches. Along with a black beret, complete with a stylised security badge at the front.

He packages most of the items. And then arranges to have the packages delivered to the ship.  Then, with a nod to Ash, he prepares for dinner and checks the route to the restaurant.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Sun 18 Dec 2011.

Saskia wipes at her face, then checks her hand.  Sure enough, there is a fresh smear of lubricant there.  Looks like Yas wasn't just winding her up.  "Oh, I have enough to do.  You know how it is.  I sit at my station, where nobody ever shows their face, and I read fashion magazines and sip fine wines all day.  Then I ask Jago for cash.  He gives me it, thinking it's to buy parts for the thing, you know, the watchamacallit?  The engine or whatever it's called.  In fact it's for me to buy best Darrian chocolate, which I eat while sipping my wine."

A sigh, and a sad smile, "And for doing all that, I'm almost as overpaid as you are."

As Yas explains about the upgrades for her power armor, Saskia nods, "If you need any help with fitting the upgrades, let me know."

Finally finished with her purchases, Shui removes herself to the local facilities, where she can deal with her preparations in private.  Finding an unoccupied stall, the steward quickly divests herself of her clothing and changes into her newest purchases, staring with the long-length, slit-side cheongsam.  It only takes moments, legacy of her training; her father would, no doubt, be impressed by how much she has retained despite the years separating her from him.  The steward's uniform goes in the bag, and Shui slips out to the mirror, her footsteps clicking slightly.

Stiletto-heels are impractical, but medium-height works quite well for her.

She's not much one for anything but very light makeup, fortunately, for the mirror isn't exactly top choice for that kind of delicate adjustment.  A touch of eyeshadow, a small change to the lipstick, and not much more.  Judging herself adequate, Shui then turns to her hair.  It's one thing for which she holds a fair amount of pride.  The work she did aboard the ship still holds up - again, simple, and meant to go with her long, straight locks rather than fight them.  Small hoop earrings replace the simple studs in her ears.

The dataglove goes in her small doctor's bag, set to alert her if a message comes in.

Finished, she slips into a short-length jacket, tight, its style a contrast to the dress without clashing, the groatle wool shimmering slightly to compliment the thick silk of the cheongsam.  Retrieving her dataglove, she checks the placement of the restaurant and finds a delivery company on the way - a quick stop and a sealed package will send her clothing back to the ship, leaving her with herblack bag.

One final check and, satisfied, she marches out of the facilities on the way to the delivery service.

Tylen had part taken Ash’s advice, and although he wasn’t dressed in his new security guards uniform he had selected parts of it to wear.

A shirt, worn open necked over a white t-shirt matched with black trousers and plain black boots  - all brand new today.  While they might not be the most sophisticated of clothes, they are probably the smartest that he was worn for a good many years.  A new lightweight black jacket, still cut informally, completes his wardrobe for the evening.

Back on the public transport system, Tylen suddenly remembers another purchase he wanted to make, and uses his data glove to order some wine sent to the Margin in his name.  However, not really being much of a wine buff, he chooses a half-case selection box – which promises, in its advertising, to give him a taste of half-a-dozen different wines that are among the most popular on Denotam.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Thu 22 Dec 2011.

Jago returns the smile, considers his cigar for a moment, a fresh one for the occasion, and makes an offer.

OOC.
I’ll try for 130,000 for the whole caboodle and accept whatever I end up with, (writing this before rolling the dice and not knowing target numbers).

12:58, Today: Jago Lanza rolled 5 using 2d6+2. Bargaining using JoT.

Oh well, never mind :O)

The broker smiles at Jago.  This is, of course a familiar game for her.  "I would probably be able to accept 145,000 for the entire mixed cargo.  I'd need to confirm the individual prices with the vendors.  But I'm almost certain they would accept pro rata shares of that, but it's unlikely I'll be able to go any lower." 

On the ship, Saskia and Yas continue discussing just how hard their lives are aboard Profit Margin, a ship which ensures that they nestle securely in the lap of luxury, and consume only the finest foods and beverages.

In separate areas of the vast orbital city, Tylen and Shui make their own preparations for the dinner date, while Ash continues with his shopping...

“One hundred and forty five,” Jago considers for a while, it’s more than he hoped for but not unreasonable, he could push for a better price, but wants to keep the broker on board for another matter.

“Very well Miss Armitage, if you could arrange that I’d be grateful."

"I have another matter you might be able to help me with,” he goes on, “do you think you could find me a good price on general medical supplies, anaesthetics, antibiotics, equipment and instruments, the sort of higher tech stuff rather than bandages and disinfectants. I’m looking for five tones, ready to go in the next day or so.”

"Yeah, like he trust me to keep this place safe, leeting me play with big guns and shoot things and people, and he pays me for it so I can get more toys!" Yas replies, sounding very much like the ship's fool while sporting an equally foolish grin.

"But yeah, wouldn't trust anyone else to fit upgrades," she adds, switching to a more serious yet cordial tone.  She sips from her cup and muses for a moment until she swallows and clears her throat before speaking.

"So what do you think of Ash?"

Her package sent, Shui continues her stroll toward the restaurant, taking in the sights and sounds.  Occasionally she pauses, opening her small black bag to check the directions on her dataglove.  The starport would be a bewildering place without it, all stores, levels, and milling crowds of people - this one is quite busy.

Different, also, than many starports of she has experienced in the past.  There are no holstered pistols, no shok-rods, not even knives (vibro or otherwise) in evidence.  No armored groups, no suspiciously-hanging jackets.  Weapons, for a change, are not de rigure.

She cannot help but smile.  Then a thought crosses her mind, and the smile wipes away.  Shaking her head at her own foolishness, Shui picks up her pace slightly, the iridescent threads woven into the small jacket flaring and shimmering in the artificial light.  Better to arrive in the area a touch early and survey the views, the stores, and the crowds, than show up fashionably late.  Certainly it makes for a better entrance, but it also keeps someone waiting.  In Shui's mind, to trade the one for the other is not equitable.

Fortunately, the spaceport can only be so large, and she hasn't taken too much time with her shopping.

Finally back at around the right levels for the restaurant, Tylen checks his reflection in a window and kills time window shopping.

"Ash?  Well, he seems like he knows his job." Saskia says, cautious in case this is some sort of trap.  Yas does like to play games, after all.

"And he's polite.  Not like Ridge.  I guess he's all right."  Then, just to divert attention away from her own answers, she adds, "What about Tylen?  You have the most to do with him, how is he to work with?"

Ash nods approvingly to Tylen's choices and does not ask what else his crewmate might be contemplating also getting.  He is interested, but not that interested - and likely anything too ostentatious will be seen by him eventually.  Besides, the navigator has his own list to complete anyways and time is starting to grow short.  He gives Tylen a thumbs up and a quick "See you back at the Margin" before he returns to patches on the counter and orders a dozen or so, making a choice of one of them.

He then wanders through a couple of the departments grabbing some various work related items.  Most of them are work clothes and uniforms, but he also picks up a set of reflec coveralls as well as a couple of ballistic cloth coveralls as well and a bag to carry everything.

Purchases in hand, Ash heads back towards the Profit Margin.  Of course, that means that he needs to go through security and customs which he suspects that may take some time, especially with his new purchases.  And he still needs to grab something quick to eat, However, with a little time to spare by his calculations, Ash doesn't rush too much and tries to enjoy the ride and scenery back out to the port berths.

"Heh, certainly not like Ridge," Yas grins and then watches the engineer silently for a second or two, the expression turning inscrutable.  A small shrug and then she speaks again, "Ty's been with us a while and he's all right.  Works surprisingly well with others, considering he's an ex scout."

"And, he's not like Ridge either," she adds a moment later, with another, bigger grin.

Finally reaching the level proper, Shui strolls for her destination.  She has some time, but not much; shopping has eaten up the minutes and navigating took what remained.  So while she doesn't hurry, neither does she stop to check the nearby restaurants.

As always, she unconciously surveys the crowds, an old, trained reaction to being in the open and surrounded by people.  And while her skill at picking people out has dulled over time, Tylen is someone she knows and expects.  So it's hardly surprising she catches sight of him.

Shui pauses to study the gunner as he lingers at a window.  They match, colourwise, though Shui is all in ebony, her coat lustrous with the groatle, her cheongsam deep, heavy silk.  She nervously checks her own clothing again; perhaps she should have gone for deep red, insted?  It's fine, Shui.  Calm yourself.  She adjusts her half-length, full-sleeved jacket, settling its open neck around the collar of her night-black, subtly patterned cheongsam, checks her hair, then moves toward Tylen, edging into his line of sight as he turns from the window.

"Mr. Orgesh," she calls out, just loudly enough to catch his attention.

OOC - I put a picture of the cheongsam in my character description.  :)  The jacket is an open, bolero type, the sort without a collar.     

Tylen turns at the sound of his name, and the corners of his lips turn up slightly he recognises the familiar voice of the steward.  As he turns, he catches his first sight of her new style.  A long, slit sided, evening dress cut in the oriental fashion, the jacket with iridescent threads, the heels …

”Wow” Tylen says softly, clearly unprepared for the sight that stands before him ” You look spectacular.”   he shuffles his feet for a moment, perhaps unsure of where to go from  here or perhaps wishing that he had dressed up a bit more himself.  Although, for Tylen, this is probably the smartest he has been for years.

The with a smile he steps to one side and holds an arm out towards her, ”Shall we …” he asks.

Shui and Tylen enter the restaurant...

Jago, meanwhile, concludes his negotiations with Miss Armitage. Cr145,000 for a mixed cargo of metal ingots, machine parts, crystals and protein concentrate.  While the broker doesn't deal with passenger bookings herself, she is able to provide Jago with information regarding places where he should be able to contact people who are interested in passage to Rangent.

Ash arrives back at the docking bay and enters his access code to gain entry to the ship, the familiar screech of the ramp echoing through the otherwise quiet Profit Margin and interrupting Saskia and Yas as they discuss certain other crew members...

Ash intends to stop by his quarters to drop off his purchases before heading up to the bridge.  He stops dead in his tracks as he runs headlong into Saskia and Yasmine talking.  He has a 'deer in the headlights' moment and a slightly crooked, slightly shy smile appears.  "Ms. Blake, Ms. Crow." he says with a nod.  Then when Ash realizes that he has interrupted a conversation, he averts his eyes as a "Pardon me." escapes his lips and he bustles to his quarters to drop off his relatively full new duffel bag.

He reappears a few minutes later sans duffel and duster and notes dutifully to Yasmine, "Reporting for comm-monitoring duty, Ma'am."  Ash moves to the counter to grab himself a cup of black coffee.  The reticule on Ash's headband is down close to his eye and there is a faint backlight implying that it is active and streaming data.  As he brings the cup to his lips for a taset, Ash turns and pauses for a pregnant moment to regard both Saskia and Yasmine to see if his presence is welcome or if he is intruding...
This message was last edited by the player at 06:34, Wed 04 Jan 2012.

Just finishing her comment about ex-scouts and not being like Ridge, Yas wonders how long Ash been out there and focuses on her drink until he reports for duty.

"Ma'am?"  She sounds amused.  "Really, no need for all that.  Yas'll do, Ash.  So, found anything when shopping?"  The question seems earnest, moments before she eyes him from top to toe from behind the rim of the cup, the eyes and cheek seeming to suggest a smile is playing on her lips, although the reason for it remains unclear.

As the cup comes down she is still smiling and nods to a free seat.  "Relax, sit down.  We'll hear any activity ont he bridge from here easy enough.  I'll soon be out of you hair, well, figuratively speaking."  She puckers her lips in a crooked smile.  "Never been in it literally, yet."

"Of course.  Please forgive my formality." the lanky navigator conceded.  He offers an explanation, adding, "Old habits die hard."  As for Yasmine's query about shopping.  He shrugs slightly and says, "It's nice out there, hopefully, both of you get a chance to take a look.  As for me, I needed to pick up more work clothes - coveralls and such."

Ash looks thoughtful for a moment, before his hand goes into one of his breastpockets and comes back out with a couple of round clothing patches; ones that have an emblem with a set of stylized stars, planets and a ship that looks remarkably like a Vanrijn-Class Frontier Merchant in the foreground.  A motto 'Profit Margin: Soaring to Unimagined Vistas' adorns the lower edge.  Ash offers one each to Yas and Saskia, noting, "I picked these up as well."  He gives them a moment before prompting, "What do you think?"

"Thank you," Ash notes with a nod, and then after a brief pause, "...Yas."  He smiles and sits in a nearby chair as bidden by the Security Chief.  Ash tries to be nonchalant about it, but is only partly successful.

He sputters slightly, eyes slightly wide open, when Yas' innuendo catches him mid-sip.  Ash glances uncertainly at Yasmine, not quite sure what to make of the flirtation, "I-if, if you insist..."  His free, left hand moves instinctively to his short cropped hair, running his fingers over it briefly, if a bit nervously.

Obviously uncomfortable with all of the attention, he glances over at Saskia and clears his throat slightly.  "Umm... " the navigator ventures, "I seem to have stumbled into the middle of something here.  You weren't talking about me?  Uh, were you?"  A slightly rueful smile accompanies his words, "I mean, I can say with some authority that there's not really that much to talk about..."

Saskia studies the patch carefully.  "No, we weren't talking about you.  Not when you came in, anyway."  There is a slight smile accompanying the statement.

She turns the patch over and examines the back of it.  Apparently satisfied with that side of things, she turns it over a scrutinises the design again, holding it closer to her eyes.  "I think this is a later model, maybe the Mark Three or Four.  The sensor housing is a different shape.  And it has a standard turret.  The Margin's dorsal turret was replaced with a new one, different design, to house the plasma guns.

"But somebody would have to really know the ship, and look frelling close at the picture to notice the differences.  Is this one mine?"

The engineer doesn't offer the patch back to the navigator.

Jago takes a leisurely stroll back to the Margin, indulging in a little window shopping, a lengthy conversation with a friendly tobacconist and a good twenty five minutes in a fast food establishment. He arrives, eventually, with a large package of cigars and a ‘cat that got the cream’ expression.

Ash quirks an eyebrow when Saskia tells him that he is not the current topic of conversation.  As slight shrug accomanpanies the rather noncommittal "I see.  Umm... That's good.  I think."

His expression and demeanor relaxes visibly into a geniune smile when Saskia offers some tacit approval of the livery patches.  "Of course.  It's yours.  I have enough for everyone, plus some spares..." he offers, when the Margin's engineer asks about keeping it.  After he takes another sip of his coffee, his tone is slightly rueful as he concedes, "The graphic of the Vanrijn is a stock one that they had on file."  With a slight shrug, he adds, "Besides I figured that it would likely not be best to advertise all of our ship upgrades on such simple patches ..."  Another slight smile and another sip.

He glances at Yas before looking back at Saskia as he ventures, "Do you think that Captain Lanza will approve of them?"  He purses his lips for a moment and then adds, "Mr. Ogresh did not think that such patches were quite appropriate for the crew of the Margin.  Not his style, I suspect."

"Working clothes?  All work and no play, eh?  Yeah, I was planning to go out soon, in fact.  Heavy weapons and stuff.  Here that probably means toothpicks," Yas says and nods slowly.

She watches him call her Yas as she picks up the patch to study it, the smile going slightly crooked before she focuses on the patch.  "Don't worry, I don't bite.  Usually," she comments offhand and then waves the patch like a fan, almost touching it with the other, cupped, hand.  "Not sure about the patches, but it gave me an idea.  Well, one I am willing to share here anyway...  Coasters, with images of the real Margin on it.  Probably one of those things that 'accidentally' ends up in people's luggage, but it'd be a nice little touch, what do you think?"

"Oh yeah, we were talking about you just before.  Usually the best time to talk about people, when they aren't around, don't you think?  Not talking behind your back, mind you, wouldn't do with shipmates.  Well, except Ridge, but let's forget him as quickly as possible again and focus on someone else.  There, all gone," she says with an slowly growing grin on her lips, watching Ash carefully.

It doesn't look like Ash will have to wait too long to find out if Jago will approve of the patches, as the captain returns to the ship and steps into the lounge around about then, just as Yas is explaining about talking about people when they are not around...

The navigator is looking up at an incredibly interesting spot on the ceiling when Yas notes he is 'all work and no play'.  The spot is incredibly interesting.  So much so, that Ash apparently forgets to respond.

Once the patches are distributed and the two women have had a chance to look at them, Ash tilts his head slightly, his brow furrowed and smile grows lopsided when Yasmine mentions using the patches as coasters.  He purses his lips and notes, ever so slightly dejectedly, "Well... while I have some spares, I didn't quite get enough of these to give away to every potential passenger..."  He gives a slight shrug and then he adds, "We could likely order more, though ..."

When Yas and Saskia mention discussing their crewmates, the lanky ex-Scout swallows hard and nods silently.  He seems a bit at a loss for what to say, likely he would be getting himself in more trouble no matter what he said with respect to gossip and whether it should be done behind one's back.  However, his curiosity does get the better of him just a little.  "Uh," he ventures, "who is or was 'Ridge'?"

He starts to stand, pushing back his chair when Jago enters the lounge.