< from Cargo Bay >

As he climbed the last couple of stairs from the cargo bay, his stomach soured at the thought of meeting Kale and the rest of the crew.     Damn, Kale, you can even interrupt  thoughts about a beautiful girl.  I have got to get you outta my head.

He stepped into the dining area and the first thing that hit him was the smell.  Someone was cooking something good.  May not be as good as Becky’s…   Dah, Becky.  He was going to have to talk fast and bring a big gift to get back in her good graces. … but he planned on enjoying dinner all the same.

He nodded back to Conner.  ”Nice to meet you, too.”      Ok, he must be Conner, unless the parents of one of the ladies in the kitchen really didn’t like them.  Conner seems like a nice guy.  I wonder what his job is?

He set the bottles on the table and then stepped into the doorway of the kitchen.  “Kudos, ladies.  The food smells wonderful.”  He decided Kyoko fit the stunning blonde.  An exotic name for an exotic woman, so that must mean the young gal is Lei.   ”Can I offer anyone a drink?   I brought Scotch and Vodka.”

Wei-Li smiled, and then gave Dake an appologetic look, which turned sheepish.

"I uh...I'll be right back..."

She nodded to everyone there, then litterally bounced out of the Dining hall and back towards her quarters.

"I thank you for the gift to add to the meal, we can see if there is anything to mix with them, though I think wine would go better with a meal." Kyoko smiles and bows slightly. "I am Kyoko Monroe, licensed companion, and my assistant is the quite capable young Lei." She gestures to her rapidly improving student.

A frown creased his brow for a moment.    What is up with her?  I thought we were getting along fine.  Ok, well, except for the fact that I am a bumbling idiot and a perv, but beyond that, I thought she was diggin on me.

He mentally shrugged and turned back to Kyoko and smiled.  ”As much as it pains me to disagree with a beautiful woman, let alone a registered companion, the product of the grape is a vicious  monster that attacks my head the next morning.  I avoid it whenever possible.”

Winking at Lei, he whispered, ”Don’t worry, I know who really runs this kitchen.”

He started to break the seal on the Vodka.    Things are going well so far, but I had better have a shot at hand when I need it.

Connor sat down in a seat and looked around, figuring it was best to try not to get in the way. He merely sat down, observing everyone. Dake seemed to be an amiable enough fellow, and he was trying to be friendly. The only thing that seemed out of place...where was the captain?

Lei grinned at the man who had introduced himself as Dake.  She liked him almost immediately and Lei had learned to trust her gut instincts about people.  What puzzled her the most though was why the Captain had seemed so upset about dinner company.  Lei had been expecting some mean business partner or someone similarly scary - but Dake seemed nice.  Lei was beginning to become convinced that she would simply never understand why people did what they did.

Lei frowned slightly as Dake began to open the bottle of vodka but didn't say anything.  She just hoped that Geoff had enough sense to stay away from it.  He'd promised her, and he'd promised Wei-Li and everyone else that he wasn't gonna touch another drop ... but Lei still worried.

She glanced back at the stove top and shut off the burners before turning back to everyone, "The food has cooked to completion ... someone should get the Captain, I'll go find Charlie." Lei said and slipped out of the room.

[To Destiny: Cargo Bay]
This message was last edited by the player at 07:31, Fri 16 Feb 2007.

Connor looked at Lei, here's how he could help.

"I'll get him, Lei..." Connor stood, smiled and nodded to those in the room, then began to walk out of the room, figuring it was a small way to help. Not to mention he wouldn't have to force conversation at all...which was a bonus...

[From Destiny: Kale's Bunk]

"No need ta be gettin' me - I'm right here." Kale said as he stepped into the warm light of the dining hall.  His stomach was a knot of dread and all he could think of was how much he really didn't want Dake onboard his ship.  How much he really wasn't ready to face everything that seeing Dake again was causing him to face.

So of course instead of showing any of that he smiled broadly and approached the man, "Dake, you 'ol hun dun - ya showed.  That's - that's just ruttin' great, ain't it?" he said, he shifted awkwardly, unsure once again whether it was alright to just greet the man from across the room or if he should be shaking his hand or something.  To try to play off the awkwardness he turned to Kyoko, "Somethin' smells good ... so you can be sure I wasn' the one cookin'." he laughed - a little too loudly.

When Dake heard Kale’s voice, the room got a few degrees cooler and his mind started to race.

Ta Ma Duh! Here I thought I was doing so well, then Kale had to be here.   Funny how that works being his ship and all.

Now I am glad that Wei-Li left the room.  If I make myself look like a *Feh Feh Pi Goh one more time, she might write me off.  I can’t have that.  I gotta get to know that girl.      WHAT ARE YOU THINKING.       You are not going to see her after they lift off, so shut your gorram face and focus.  Kale is talking.

He downed the one shot of vodka, poured another, and by the time he was focused again, Kale was complimenting Kyoko.

His stomach rolled over, and he tried to think of something to say.  Most of what his mind came up with was useless drivel, so he said, ”Love the ship, and your crew’s shiney."    Oh yeah, that was better then drivel.  Yup.  Much better.  Shut up and take another drink.

He took another shot and when he put the glass back on the table, the clank seemed to echo in the silence.      Nope, not awkward here.

*Baboon's ass crack

Connor looked at Kale as he spoke and nodded, stepping off to one side as the captain entered the room. It was strange to Connor, both Kale and Dake seemed to be forcing reactions...leaving for a feeling of awkwardness that permeated the room. Connor didn't get it...the captain had invited Dake for dinner, so that would mean they were friends, or at the very least acquaintances, so why the tension and nervousness from each man? What had happened? Or was this just how they were? Connor cleared his throat and looked at Dake.

"So, Mr. Collins...how do you know our esteemed captain?" A simple question...

Torn between being relieved at having something to talk about and having to talk about Kale and Nate, Dake covered his ill ease by saying, ”Call me DC, my friends do.”  He thought for a long moment about what to tell Conner.  ”Kale was best friends with my big brother Nate.  Has been an age since I have seen him.”

I don’t know what Kale told has told them.  I don’t want to blurt something out and really set things ablaze.  A smolder will do me fine.

”They used to let me tag along on their adventures.”      That should be safe enough.

Kale forced a smile at Dake's compliment and nodded his head, he probably would have responded with some other awkward comment but Connor saved them from an awkward silence by asking a question ... just not on a subject Kale was really lookin' to be talking about.  Five minutes and they were already expected to be drudging up the past.  Kale looked to Dake as he responded - finding it slightly amusing that he was going by DC now.  When they were younger Dake had always been telling he and Nate to call him that - so of course they didn't cause it was just plain hilarious to see him whining about his name.  Kale could so clearly remember Dake - back when his hair was still white-blonde and his cheeks chubby ...

Ai ya, I wish like hell you were elsewhere ... Kale thought before cutting into the conversation, "They weren't really adventures - we were just stupid kids ... but all that's past anyway.  I'm sure we don' want ta be borin' everyone with stories.  Weren't we gonna be eatin'?" Kale said, trying to change the topic, although he wasn't exactly sly about it.

”Yeah, stupid.”   The anger behind the statement startled Dake.     Ok, maybe the second drink wasn’t such a good idea.  Just cause this is dredging up all sorts of memories, doesn’t mean these nice folks need to pay for it.   I gotta reel it in.

He tried to cover his emotional slip with a story.  ”Kale is too modest.  He and Nate used to be notorious base jumpers.  If it was tall enough to fill their ‘chutes with wind, they would jump it.”  The alcohol in him fueled his story.  ”I remember the Mikkos brothers daring Kale and Nate to jump from the Prestige, the tallest casino in town, into the stadium during the regional races.  The jump itself was fairly easy, but the trick of it was they had to do the jump naked.  He chuckled remembering how angry his dad had been.  ”That wasn’t good enough for Nate though.  He figured it was the perfect time to do a little advertising for pop’s restaurant.  Dad was so pissed at having to bail them out of jail wearing nothing but banners with the restaurant name and logo on them.”  His chuckle died down, as he remembered his own reaction.  Quietly, he said,”I swore right then and there I wanted to be just like them.”

Connor looked at Dake, then at Kale, seemingly amused. He would seem he had misjudged the situation and mistaken quiet for tension...meh, the things happened.

"That sounds pretty outrageous for our down to earth captain, Dake..." Connor turned on eye to Kale to see how the captain was reacting to all of this...ahhhh, stories of days long gone could always be interesting...

For the briefest of moments a smile crossed Kale's face as Dake recalled the day he and Nate had jumped from the Prestige.  Kale had forgotten about that, had purposely pushed all memories of the carefree days of his youth as far away from himself as he could.  But hearing Dake tell the story Kale was shocked at clearly he remembered every moment of it.  Nate making up those banners - Mr. Collin's screaming at the two of them, which didn't last long because Mr. Collin's could never stay angry at them for long.

Kale shook his head - now this was exactly why he hadn't wanted Dake to be here.  Kale frowned.  He didn't want this.  All this dragging up of the past.  He spoke to Connor while giving a rather pointed look to Dake, "Like I said - we were stupid kids."

Dake saw the look Kale shot him, and had just enough alcohol in his system to keep him from caring.     I’ll be humped if I am going to let you stare me down.  Nothing wrong with a few stories.

He thought about pouring another shot, but then a moment of clarity kept him from reaching for the bottle.   Unfortunately, it didn’t keep him from opening his mouth.  ”Nate was always game for anything when he was with you.   He always trusted that you had his back and he could let go.  He was always happiest when the two of you were plotting something…  He didn’t mean to, but he let his sentence trail off as he thought about his brother during some of his happiest moments.

Connor looked back and forth between the two...nope, there was tension there. And what better way to ease tension than changing the subject.

"Kyoko...if the food's ready...would you like help serving it?"

----->from Engine Room 1---->

Charlie drifted into the Dining Room, wearing her usual blue coveralls that had started to become a murky colour due to years of use.  She unzipped the top half, tying it around her waist so that she was wearing her white shirt, which was just as stained as what she was previously wearing...but at least this way, she didn't have sleeves in the way.  "Hey Cap'n."  She passed by Kale, touching one of his shoulders lightly as she did so.  "Ah'm not late, assumin' all, right?  Don'like t'keep y'all waitin' on me'n such, jus'cause ah'm out'n throwin' all'f th'parts 'n such in order, y'know.  Someone's gotta keep us all'n one piece n'all..."

Yup, I am glad I didn't take that last shot.  That gal is talking and I didn't understanding a gorram word she said.

He looked at the shot glass in front of him and shook his head a bit.    Man I didn't think I was that far gone.

He stood and tested his legs before he took the few steps in Charlie's direction.  "Hi, I am DC."

"DC?  Ah'm sure y've got a bit more'f a name'n that."  She smirked a bit, tapping one of her temples and smudging the grease that was there.  "Otherwise, we'd have all'f th'sorts of wond'rin what yer folks'r up'ta, throwin 'round jus'tha letters n'all fer a name.  None's matter, though."  The smile got a bit wider, and even through everything that had happened over the past few days...it was still genuine.

"Ah'm Charlene, but most'f th'folk are t'be callin' me Charlie.  Second one's better, 'less y'don't want me t'know yer talkin' t'me right offa th'bat."  She held out a hand to him, most of the grime on the outside of her hands and her arms.  "So y'know the Cap'n, ah'm takin?"

[From Destiny: Engine Room 1]

Lei slipped into the room behind Charlie, "Found Charlie." she commented and then went to help Kyoko finish setting the table and putting the food out for everyone as she listened to the conversation.  Although Lei had become more social during her time aboard Destiny she still usually fell into the role of the quiet observer.

Kale frowned when Dake just kept right on talking.  The gorram boy didn't know when to shut his trap and Kale was liking what was comin' out of it less and less.  And his last words sent a pang right through Kale ... "If ya really need me to go with ya, if it has ta be you an' me ... then I'll go.  I'll go if ya ask me to."  Nate's words flashed through Kale's mind like a Reaver's harpoon - and Kale knew what that felt like, and it wasn't at all pleasant.  Kale met Dake's gaze evenly, he didn't know if the other man had seen the pain cross his face but it had only been there for a second.  Now his face was unreadable though, a mask where he carefully hid all the feelings that Dake's visit had stirred up inside of him.

When Charlie came in he offered her a small smile as she squeezed his shoulder, "Hey 'lil Charlie." he said and grinned as she called Dake on that stupid nickname of his, "The boys got a name, Dake Collins, and he was a friend growin' up." he shot a look at Dake, "End 'o story."  Kale wasn't looking for a night of reminicsing - he didn't know what he was looking for but he was damn sure that none 'o it involved having a ghost from his past sitting beside him at his own ruttin' table.

Dake shook Charlie's hand. "I haven't been called Dake in an age.  Not since my racing days."

He noticed the grease and grime, and asked, "You the wrench that keeps this fine vessel running?"

Dake didn't see the pain in Kale's eyes, or maybe he just didn't want to see it.   People change I guess.  I am not sure he has smiled once since I seen him the other night.  Maybe you gotta be a cold hearted bastard to captain a ship in space.

Deep in his heart, he knew that wasn't Kale.

"We're almost done captain if you want to help get everyone situated." Kyoko says as she takes count of the number of folks here and considers taking her place in a conveint corner. Bettter to give the visitor more room for confort, especially since Kale was so twitchy.

"S'okay, we all'r holdin' sum'thin from th'past that we don't gotta flash out 'ta all'f th'folks tha'cha know, y'know?"  Charlie smirked as she answered both Kale and Dake, crossing her arms.  She could feel the tension that was building between the two, but unlike the others, it didn't bother her too much.  There were two kinds of tension, and this was not the kind where they had to worry that a gun was going to be drawn on them.  Besides, if Kale said he was a friend, then he was a friend.

"Ah'm more'n a wrench, hun...but ah'll accept all'f th'accounts on who's gotta be keepin' th'ship runnin, yea.  Suppose y'know a thing'r two about it, if'n y'says you're a racer'r sum'thin.  What're we talkin', like...ah dunno, skiff racin'?"  She raised an eyebrow at Dake, the grin still at the corner of her lips as she leaned against the wall.  "S'was a big sport back'n Whitefall, last ah'm rememberin'...then 'gain, so was gettin' drunk'n leapin' offa th'bridge.  Big planet, small place, y'know..."