Misfit [Continued!]

[Daxen]

[Resume chattiness here!]

Bartelby: Bartelby was glad that things had settled down. The overhanging tension that he felt seemed to be dissipating. Although Dean was still making Bartelby a bit suspicious. What was with that guy? Bartelby just shook off the feeling for now and returned his attention to the food.

Bartelby grabbed a breadstick and took a bite. It wasn't the best he had ever tasted, but it was definitely tasty enough. After swallowing his fist bite, he decided to try and initiate a pleasant conversation. Who knew, maybe someone would drop a useful bit of information. "So... Where is everyone from?"


Deux: Deux reached forward toward the breadsticks. He grabbed one of them between his finger and thumb, turning it over before deciding he wasn’t that hungry. The way Daxen ate amused him. If nothing else he would sacrifice food just to stay amused. It also made him feel safer not coming between the two. Losing a hand would be unpleasant.

He looked away from Daxen and up at Dean when he thought he heard the man speak. It was a quick quiet noise, and figured he must have been mistaken. He returned his attention to the whole table as Dean spoke to the others.

“I was born on Bitumen, from what I understand. We moved around,” Deux said and pulled at the edge of his hood. He wasn’t sure if that answered Bartelby’s question.


Overlord Daxen: Daxen stared blankly at Archer for a moment before returning to his beloved bread stick. After munching on it for a few more moments, he heard Bartelby's question about everyone's origins. This ought to be interesting, shame Daxen couldn't stay focused long enough to actually comprehend what the others would say. He'd likely interrupt someone as he shared his own story.

"I'm from Ortho. I worked as an assistant to a scientist for a while...until..." He paused for a moment then continued as if he hadn't left off, "Anyway, I eventually came on this ship though...I don't really..." He paused again and thought, trying to remember how he got on here. He took another bite, the irony being he had probably wandered on following the scent of newly stocked food.


Dean: Dean raised an eyebrow a Daxen, trying to figure him out. Man , pondered the ex-soldier, is this kid realy this clueless or is he just baiting everyone? surely no one can be this out if it?

Dean crossed his arms, shaking his head at the thought. He was kind of glad he stepped in. Who knows what a Charlatan like Bartleby could have done with such a greenhorn?

He had already dedcided not to devulge his origins to the group. The weeks before he got hired on the ship where ones filed with chasing bullets and Dean didnt feel like repeating the experiance any time soon by giving anything away.

[Bartelby]

Bartelby listened to what the others had to say, pretending to be very interested. He nodded and smiled where appropriate and was careful not to eat his breadstick in a rude fashion as he listened. When you took on the guise of a holy man, you had to pay attention to these thing. It was annoying, but potentially worth it. If you were good at your craft, that is.

"I, myself, am originally from Earth. Obviously I wasn't there when it disappeared. I have my faith to thank for that. If I was not so devoted to the ancient teachings, I would surely have not paid attention to the prophesies. Alas, I was the only one of my order who actually left the planet at the time of Earthfall..." Maybe that would bait them in.

"But let's not bog down this conversation by discussing all that. It doesn't make for good table talk."

[Daxen]

Daxen frowned sympathetically at Bartelby mid-breadstick, "Oh...that's too bad." He didn't comment further though as his mind switched focus towards Dean, "So uh...what do you d--" He stopped as he made a disgusted face. Just how old were these sticks? Treating it like it could explode at any moment, he set the remnants on the table and completely forgot about it.

He absentmindedly took another one out and tore off a piece as he tried to snuggle inside his hoodie a bit more, not really feeling comfortable with all these "grown-ups" around. Poor Daxen was just a hungry passenger, he wasn't even sure if he had paid for entry, if he was even supposed to. All Daxen wanted was answers and he got a crowd.

[Deux]

For a while now Deux had heard something had happened to Earth. As the others talked he felt extremely out of the loop. He wondered how an entire planet could disappear. It was disappointing as well, he’d never been to the central planets and the one he hoped to see one day was missing.

“Do you know what happened?” He asked quietly, “To earth?” He didn’t care about prophesies, just hoped someone knew what was going on.

Deux nudged the basket of breadsticks closer to Daxen. The older boy was peculiar, even by his standards but none the less was pleasant. Why he took another breadstick after throwing the last one away confused Deux. He looked down and pulled a crumb off of the thin material of his sleeve. From now on he would only wear clothing he didn’t care about in the mess hall.

[Fitter]

It had taken a good amount of time to persuade the rest of the kitchen staff to let her take a short break, but Fitter finally made her way into the mess hall, eager to rest her weary legs. Feeding her family back home was nothing compared to providing a meal for each member of the rather large crew.

As Fitter sat down at one of the few empty tables, a long stretch of fur jumped onto her lap and quickly nestled in its favorite position. "Hello to you too, Ero," she smiled fondly, scratching the chestnut ferret on the back of its neck. The poor thing had startled one of the other cooks and consequently spent a majority of the day locked in her room. Wait-she picked him up, facing the ringed-colored face toward her own. "How did you escape from the bunk? Sneaky little thing."

She tapped the creature on the nose once before placing it back on her lap. Her dark eyes drifted aimlessly around the room, landing on a group of males at the table next to her. Fitter frowned as she watched a look of repulsion spread across the a hooded youth's face when he took a bite of the bread sticks she had spent an hour making. How dare he? To add insult to injury, instead of eating the bread stick, he set it on the table before picking up another.

Disgusted by the flagrant waste of food, Fitter rose from her seat. Ero scurried about around her feet, not happy about the sudden drop. Ignoring him, she strolled over to the table and pushed the abandoned piece of bread toward the insolent child. "Was the first one not good enough for you?"

[Daxen]

Poor Daxen suddenly had a girl snapping at him, causing him to be utterly terrified. He never understood girls and their temper tantrums, much less why they were so concerned over the most trifling of details. He tried explaining, "Th-The first one was old! I-I think you m-might need to check the e-expiration date on s-some of the food y-you've got."

Worried that flame might shoot out of her mouth next, he swiftly took another breadstick, hopefully one that wasn't also old, and offered it to her, "Want one?" He looked to Deux, Bartelby and Dean with a pleading expression, hoping at least one of them would come to his rescue.

[Deux]

Deux looked up a the girl who had approached the table He hadn’t seen her before and nodded at her in greeting. If she saw he wasn’t sure, she seemed pretty dedicated on glaring at Daxen. Glancing at the older boy he wondered what he did to upset her.

He tilted his head at Daxen’s offer but reached over and took one of them all the same. Taking a bite he thought about how the other seemed concerned about their food. Everything tasted the same to him. Old or new or just in general, as long as it was filling me was content.

“Hello,” he said simply to the girl after he had swallowed the food in his mouth.

[Fitter]

"Expiration date? I just made them this morning!" Fitter protested, before pausing. Wait-had it been this morning or afternoon? She wasn't used to the time difference on the ship yet; not having solar bodies to orient herself with was very confusing. "I think."

She took the bread stick the boy offered, and munched on it thoughtfully. A tad dry, but nothing a good stick of butter couldn't fix. "Tastes fine to me. Just don't put good food to waste, clear?" With a final pointed look, she turned her attention to the other boy that said hello.

"Good day," Fitter smiled politely. Hidden beneath her skirts, she felt Ero tense. She nudged him slightly as he started to hiss. What was wrong with the creature? Perhaps he was having issues adjusting to the new environment. Hoping neither of the crew members had good hearing, she nodded toward the bread stick in the other boy's hand. "Everything okay with you?"

[Bartelby]

Bartelby was actually relieved that the whole breadstick fiasco took place. It gave him time to think of an answer to Deux's question. How had he not thought of that before and prepared an answer. Bartelby was just glad that his devoted follower, Patsey, didn't ask a lot of questions. At any rate, he just had to hope that the subject wasn't brought up again until he had time to go back to his room and make something up that was really good. He didn't want to have to improvise if he didn't have too.

Now that the apparent cook seemed to have calmed down about the breadsticks, Bartelby felt it was safe to get back into the conversation. He didn't want to get drawn into a pointless argument while trying to make good first impressions. "Excuse me, miss?" he asked Fitter, interrupting politely. "I don't think I caught your name. I myself am known as, well, I suppose just Bartelby will suffice. No need for official titles in the Mess Hall." Bartelby shot a warm smile to everyone in view, despite his true opinions about most of them.

[Daxen]

Daxen nodded sheepishly, "R-Right...s-sorry...it's just I don't know where this ship has been so for all I know there c-could be...y'know...bacteria crawling around on it. Th-there are some particularly nasty ones that like to grow in dark, cold places like ships." He would offer to check them for her, but he didn't want to risk contaminating himself (or risk eating all the "dangerous" food for himself).

He blinked towards the priest. Didn't he tell him a few minutes earlier to use titles with his name? Maybe she was special 'cause she was a girl. Daxen's mouth took on an expression of shock as he came to the realization that Bartelby had a thing for the snappy lady! How totally scandalous and not-celibate! He gave him a very I'm-on-to-you look as he took a quick bite of breadstick, not caring anymore whether or not it seemed old.

Ero the ferret might just happen to notice Daxen discreetly dropping a few crumbs on the ground as well. On purpose? Perhaps.

[Deux]

“It’s fine,” Deux answered the girl. The food was just that, fine. Not that he could taste much of it, it wasn’t really the stronger of his senses. “The bread stick, unless you were asking about something else.”

He observed Bartelby talk to the girl but did not really care about the sudden lack of titles. Deux did notice Daxen’s reaction on the other hand. Leaning closer to the other boy he tilted his head and asked, “Are you alright?”

After that he was not sure what to do. The topic seemed to have changed after the girl’s arrival and he did not know if he should address it again. Perhaps they had moved on, if that was the correct phrase. He was also interested in learning the girl’s name and shifting the attention might leave the question unanswered. Sitting quietly Deux turned the bread over in his hand and took another bite.

[Fitter]

"Pleased to hear it," Fitter nodded, sending a pointed look at Daxen. Maybe he'd get the hint and be grateful he even had something decent to put in his mouth. Bacteria? Not in her kitchens. Well, technically they weren't her kitchens. At the moment, the head chef needed someone to do the grunt labor. Eventually they'd realize her potential, but still, no kitchen she worked in would dare to function in anything less than a pristine environment.

Her attention focused to the man who had addressed her. Noting their age difference, Fitter's demeanor abruptly shifted into one with more formality. Back home, her parents had instilled the importance of respect for elders. Unfortunately, they had left 'elders' loosely defined as anyone appearing more than five years older than her current age. She couldn't quite pin Bartelby's status, but it clearly outweighed her own.

"Pleased to meet you sir," she curtsied. "My apologies for not introducing myself sooner. My name is Fitter."

Ero's warm body disappeared from beside her, causing Fitter to briefly glance downward. He had better not make any trouble, otherwise she would ensure that he stayed locked within her quarters the next day.

[Bartelby]

Bartelby was still perplexed by Daxen's odd behavior. Still, the boy didn't seem threatening or otherwise dangerous, so Bartelby just mentally shrugged off his strangeness. At least for the time being.

Deux seemed a bit more level-headed, but still basically harmless to Bartelby. He would have to add him to the list of potential con-targets, along with Daxen.

Now as for this new girl... it was still hard to tell. "No apologies necessary, Miss Fitter. No need to rush what was probably inevitable," he said with a wink. "Please, if you can spare the time, please sit and share of our breadsticks that you have worked so hard to make. I'm sure you will be able to liven up our conversation tremendously." Then, worried that he may have unintentionally offended the others, he quickly added, " Not that it wasn't lively already, of course."

[Fitter]

Slightly put off by the man's wink, she paused. Fitter hadn't actually planned on joining them; she had just wanted to make sure that Daxen didn't waste any food. But could she find an easy way out of the conversation? Chances were likely not. And, since the request had come directly from an elder...she would appease him.

"I can spare a few minutes," she replied, reluctantly pulling out a chair at the end of the table. As fate would have it, the only open one resided next to the waster of food. "I'll have to return to the kitchen soon. Dishes and such." Fitter's voice silently trailed off. It wasn't that Fitter didn't like being around people; she just didn't like talking a lot. Listening she found to be much simpler.