Lei looked up when she realized that Dake was talking to her, "Faith." she repeated the word as though testing it out on her tongue.  She had heard it before but had not really put any thought into what it meant.  God, however, Connor had tried explaining to her once and Lei had come to the conclusion that he was Connor's imaginary friend that lived in the clouds.

She peered up at Dake, "Do you have a friend named God too?" she asked.

Hearing that Charlie was going to be giving the ship a once over, Wei-Li twisted in the webbing until she was hanging upside down.  "Charlie, if you need any spider-monkey work done... let me know..."

She had never fully figured out if the mechanic liked her or not, but any chance to 'play' was a good thing in her books.  There hadn't been enough fun as of late.

Dake looked at Lei, trying to figure out what to say.  He hadn't really thought much about religion since his brother had died.  Lei's innocence made Dake remember his own moments when he wondered what God really was.

"No," he answered.  "Not since...not in a long time."

Dake found himself looking at Kale.  It was easy to blame the captain for the death of Nate.  But Dake knew that he would have to give that up eventually.

He looked back at Lei.

"God hasn't really had time for me and my family.  But I'm sure he'd love to meet a great little lady like you." Dake put a large smile on his face.  "But you'd need to understand about him a little more."

Just don't ask me to explain, the pilot thought to himself.

Geoff nodded.  "Fair enough.  I'll be back in a bit."

He looked to Rhaef.  "So, two pistols, the sawed-off, and a rifle.  Ammo for each.  Anything else?"

Rhaef paused and thought, he could think of more than a few things but honestly, that would be pushing their luck upon entry to the casino.

"Nah, Geoff. Couple of flash-bangs'd be nice, but that's pushin' even the Twins patience." He answered plainly.

"Well whatever it is ya need just get it quick.  I don' intend on makin' the twins wait.  That'd be pushin' patience as well, I hear they got themselves a bit of a temper.  Ain't good business to go 'round makin' folk mad 'fore ya even get to the dealin' part." Kale said to the two men as they discussed what they were bringing.  Connor's goodbye party had run a little longer then he'd been expecting, they'd need to get going soon if they were going to make their meeting with the Buckley girls.

Rhaef thought about a few things he might add or suggest but realized that at this point, his place was to be seen and not heard. Kale and Geoff had to work out their dynamics of the new command relationships, at which they would indicate to him his new role. Until then, he would speak when spoken too on tactical issues, and treat the job like he would hiring to gun for any other ship that was not Destiny.

"Geoff gets the arms, I'd good to go, Captain." Rhaef said with a nod, checking the pistols he'd already holstered, and the knife tucked away in his boot.

Friendship was also something that Lei did not always completely understand.  Much of the time it could be quite illogical.  Like now, she did not understand why Dake was not still friends with God and why he thought that she and God would be good friends.

Lei peered up at Dake, "If I read the bible will I understand?" She was already mentally adding the book to her reading list.

Geoff was only gone for a few minutes.  He knew exactly what he was looking for and where to find it.  Truth be told, he was anxious to get back to work.  The less time they spent hanging around the ship, the better.  He wanted to get back out there, get his boots on the ground, his finger on a trigger, his fists ready to knock some poor bastard back into last week.  His pocket full of money.  His mind off everything that had happened recently.

He returned to the Cargo Bay with the rifle and sawed-off in one hand, two additional pistols in the other.  He handed all of it to Rhaef before digging in his pockets for the extra ammunition he'd brought.  It was a strange role reversal; he still wasn't used to being the first mate.  Neither were Kale or Rhaef, from the looks of it.  It would take some getting used to, although Geoff doubted it would last long.  He wasn't first mate material.

"An' there ya have it," he said.  "Sorry for the hold-up.  But if that does it, I'm ready when you boys are."

Dake looked at the innocent, quizzical face looking up at him.  The more questions she asked, the more he regretted bringing up the subject.  But he tried to keep the regret from his face, letting a smile creep over it instead.

"If anyone could, mei, it would be you," Dake answered.

It took a moment for him to realize that he had refered to Lei as his little sister.  In a way she was, for everyone on the ship.  And it make Dake happy to think that someone on the ship did not have a problem with him.  The thought made Dake genuinely smile.

"But enough talk of serious stuff," Dake said, letting a bit of mischief enter his voice.   He glanced over at Wei-Li before speaking again.  He had time before he took her out.  And the destination he had in mind for Lei was nearby.  "When was the last time you acted like a kid?  Have you ever been to an arcade?"

Rhaef nodded and took the weapons, adding the pair of pistols to shoulder holsters and the shotgun in a holster across his back. He knew the weapons were in fine working order, and he did not need to worry about them failing if they became needed.

He took the extra ammunion and pocketed it as well. Turning back to Kale, "I'm ready as well. You two lead the way, and I'll keep my eyes open for trouble and scragglers - although they're prob'ly the same thing."

Kale's hand went to the single pistol at his hip for a moment before he nodded to the other two men, "Then let's get on with this." He headed towards the ramp, just before he left he turned back the rest of the crew still gathered, "Ya take good care o' Destiny while we're gone, an' hopefully we'll get us some seed to give her a little TLC - us too."

With that Kale, Rhaef, and Geoff departed the ship heading towards the Prisma Casino and the Sin Twins.

[To Santo: Prisma Casino]

Kale, Rhaef, and Geoff disappeared down the ramp and out into the city of Delta.  The remaining crew were left to their own devices for the time being although they knew not to wander too far.  In there line of work you never knew when a quick getaway would be in order.

[Kale, Rhaef, and Geoff to Santo: Prisma Casino]

Lei noted the way Dake changed the subject.  Something people frequently did when they did not like the topic being discussed.  Lei found it interesting and wondered why Dake did not want to talk about God or the bible.  She did not prod any further, however, she was beginning to understand when certain things should be left alone.

Instead she cocked her head to the side at the mans question, "I am a kid." she informed him, "Therefore it would be logical that I acted as one at all times.  Am I not?" Lei questioned, "And no ... I haven't been to an arcade before."  she stumbled a little bit over the word, she hadn't even heard of an arcade before.  Even in the books she had read.

Wei-Li watched Geoff gather his gear and head out with the Captain and Rafe.  She wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting, but she was at the very least hoping to wish him well.

With a resigned sigh she lowered herself from the netting and stuck her hands in her pockets.  "How long do you figure we have until they get back?" she asked of no one in particular.

Kyoko folded her arms and leaned back against the railing on the stairs. She smirked at Wei-Li's comment and looked towards the ceiling.

"Knowing our captain, it will be a very short exchange followed by a hail of bullets and a quick escape, or, a long adventure. Nothing ever seems to go quite smoothly..."

Wei-Li smiled and turned, her eyes twinkling.  "So... it isn't just me?"

She laughed.  Having grown up on Paquin as a member of the Latrans family trouble seemed to be the guiding star of her life.  Up until that moment the idea of a non 'interesting' existance had never crossed her mind.

Kyoko flashed a genuine smile at Wei-Li and shook her head.

"It most certainly is not you."

Kyoko sighed quietly and ran the last few times Kale had gone out on this kind of mission through her head...yeah, Kyoko figured, at some point, she might want to actually learn how to use a firearm.

How unlady-like...

Wei-Li laughed and gave Kyoko a relieved smile.  "I'm not sure if that really makes me feel better or not."

She looked back up at Charlie.  "So... do you need any help or am I back to mending the netting?"

While Kale, Geoff, and Rhaef made their deal with the Sin Twins the rest of the crew went about their day.  Charlie fueled the ship, and couldn't help but wince at the cost.  Fuel was an import on Santo and came at a cost because of that.  Hopefully Kale had landed the job, otherwise he wasn't going to be too happy.  Not that it could be helped, ship needed fuel to keep flying.

Back in the cargo bay Wei-Li mended the netting for a bit but all in all it was actually in good shape and needed little repair leaving her with more time then she would have liked to become a little nervous about her impending date with Dake.  A butterfly filled stomach had led her to Kyoko's shuttle where the companion had shared some of the finer points of dealing with men to the naive girl from Paquin.

Meanwhile, Dake decided to take Lei out to an arcade near-by the port for an hour.  Lei had been surprised by all of the lights and noises and colors that suddenly surrounded her.  It was unlike any place she had ever been before and quite a far cry from the "white place".  Dake swiftly found the Lei needed very little instruction in any of the games and easily mastered them, setting a few high scores on the machines much to the dismay of a few teenage boys who had watched with sullen faces as she neatly wiped their names from the leaderboards.

Laughing the two of them were just making their way back to Destiny where Charlie was finishing up some repairs on the landing gear and Wei-Li and Kyoko were still talking in the shuttle.  Kale, Geoff, and Rhaef were expected back at any moment and hopefully that meant that there would be work to do.

[From The Arcade]

Lei led the way up the cargo bay ramp with a grin on her face and a gigantic purple bear in her arms.  It was so large, in fact, that anyone in the cargo bay would probably have missed seeing Lei and been wondering about the purple bear that was now boarding the ship.  Dake had offered to carry if for her but Lei had insisted.

She'd never won a prize in her life, she was familiar with the concept and had honestly thought it was a little silly ... of course that was before she was the one with the prize.

"And then I just calculated the trajectory that the computer used to generate assailants." she finished explaining to Dake, glancing over her shoulder at him which almost caused her to trip and tumble forward.  She giggled at that, "I don't think that the boys really knew about the math involved, they were playing wrong."

So Lei had missed the point a little bit ... but it was obvious that she had had a good time.  Dake seemed to bring out in her that little girl that had never had a chance to just be a kid.

[From The Arcade]

Dake chuckled as Lei explained the finer points of "Arcade Game Mathematics".  It only slightly amazed him as everything she touched turned to a high score with only a few minutes.  Even some of the games that he had mastered in his time on Santo were wiped clean by the little genius in front of him.  For a brief few moments, he wondered if Nate had ever felt the same way when Dake was the younger member.  He quickly pushed aside the thoughts, however, focusing on the now.  He had had too much fun to get mired in the past.

"I'm glad you liked it," Dake answered Lei as she shuffled foward with the bear.  "I'm sure the boys will get over it soon enough, once they figure out how to beat your scores again."

As he spoke, Dake looked around for Wei-Li.  She had already finished her jobs in the hold, however, and had moved elsewhere on the ship.  Realizing that dinner was fast approaching, Dake needed to get ready for his date.

"I hate to play and run, kiddo," he said, genuine regret visible in his eyes, "but I have to get ready to go out again.  You need anything before I go get ready?"

Charlie had been working most of the day on repairs that she couldn't do while the ship was flying, although she wasn't able to patch things up nearly so well as she'd like given their small coinpurse.  But you did what you could and luckily Charlie was quite skilled at makin' something from nothing.

She was just finishing up tightening the bolts on the landing gear, cause things had been getting a bit rocky their last few touchdowns planet side and for once she figured it probably wasn't Dake's reckless flying, when she heard voices.

Poking her head out from behind the landing gear and peeking at the ramp her eyes widened slightly at the sight of a giant purple teddy bear moving up the gangway.  A moment later she heard Lei's voice, slightly muffled from behind it and Dake close behind.

Charlie smiled and walked up to the ramp, leaning her elbows on it and peering up at the two people standing above her, "So's it's lookin' like ya'll had y'rself a good time." she said and moved her hand up to push a stray piece of hair from her face, not noticing the large grease mark that it left on her cheek.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Wed 09 Sept 2009.

Lei smiled at Dake and shook her head, "I don't require anything further." she said, giving him leave to go.  She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about Dake and Wei-Li going on a date.  She had never talked about it with Geoff - he tended to get all stuttery when she started asking question about guys and girls but she knew that he and Wei-Li were good friends and now Dake seemed to want to be good friends with her.  And Lei knew that Geoff didn't like Dake much.

She turned then when she heard Charlie's voice, "Hi Charlie." she said and set the big bear down at the top of the ramp and moved over to where the mechanic was.  Squatting down she wrapped her arms around her legs, "Dake and I went to the arcade." she glanced behind her, "I won a replica of a bear ... but not a very good one.  Bears are not purple."

Charlie smiled, "Ah'm s'posin' they ain't.  Not that'ahm knowin' much 'bout bears'n all."  seeing that Lei was about to launch into a lecture about bears (she could be as bad as the Professor sometimes) Charlie quickly changed the topic, fixing her gaze on Dake.

"Dake, ah'm not one ta'be pokin' mah nose'n others business, but ... you do right by Wei-LI."  Charlie knew that Wei-Li came from a big family, just like she did.  She was probably used to her family looking out for her in these sort of matters so Charlie figured it'd be nice to help out in that area, course, she wasn't normally the one doing the looking after so this was new territory.

Charlie had seen what had happened with Wei-Li and Geoff though.  Wei had been all sorts of confused and none too happy about it, and Charlie trusted Dake a hell of a lot less then she trusted Geoff.