Good Morning [2430-1-1-Tues-7:45am]

[gnirmar]

Hearing a sort of silence in the room in front of him, the orc looked up from his thoughts to sweep his gaze around the room. Besides the one he already know, there were three others who were genuinely human. One looked nervous, and another smelled of fear.

Wiping one hand across his sleep fogged eyes he focused on the last one, cautious but relatively calm, before blinking and looking down at himself briefly. "What? Is it the lack of pants?"

[Klove Makem]

Klove snorted. He didn't mean to, but he couldn't help it. The reactions were better than you could usually expect. People didn't tend to warm up to Goblins too quickly. But as someone who'd been on the other side of some nasty words and reactions, he found it pretty easy to take it in stride.

"Morning Gnirmar." Klove pointed to the rest of the crew, "That's Enan, Quillan, and Castle. Gnirmar was a last minute addition this morning. He got on just before we took off." He didn't bother mentioning that he had signed onto the crew after he'd gotten on the ship.

[quillan]

Thomas looked at Klove who was introducing the goblin.

"Oh criminy, I thought he was just some random goblin that walked aboard the ship. ... Nice to meet you, then. I'm the cook and I cook... Would you like anything? I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with any traditional goblin... cuisine."

He looked back and forth between the other crew members and the new addition. Thomas was unsure if goblins could really be trusted, but he got the feeling that Klove wouldn't let just anyone onto this ship. He had an air about him that exuded confidence... Maybe it was his deoderant.

[Jared Castle]

Castle was confused. Klove greeted it like it was nothing. Was the goblin part of the crew that had recently been hired? Gnirmar. It's name didn't exactly roll off the tongue. That's how it usually was with Goblin names. They were normally harsh sounding names.

Klove had said everyone's name. He assumed the man he didn't recognize was named Enan. The goblin wasn't wearing much. A loin cloth was pretty much all he wore. It made Castle uncomfortable. He wasn't used to seeing green skin, and that much all at once was unnerving.

[Grace Forjacks]

The course plotted, contacts contacted, and all the necessary work done, she finally got up and headed downstairs. Her stomach was rumbling, but she found she worked best on an empty stomach. When she was full, she was lazy, content. Hunger made you sharp. She'd learned that in the Below.

It looked as if everyone else had showed up, and that she was coming in just in time to defuse a situation. "Gentlemen." She said, "If you'll all eat up, we can get on with the briefing."

Grace turned on the picture-in-picture on the viewscreen, putting the radar up to show here if there was anything surrounding them. They were all on their own at the moment, and unless anything unexpected happened, it would be two hours before they encountered anything.

She took a seat beside Klove and grabbed a plate, helping herself to eggs. One mouthful later, she was raising an eyebrow. Eggs and milk? Grace glanced at Klove, who looked blankly back at her. Had he told, or had the chef just gotten lucky? Either way, delicious eggs had cemented Quillan's position in the crew.

[Enan Breese]

Enan looked up from his food when he heard Grace walk in. At least there was one familiar face in the room now. Maybe he'd survive it, and learn a few new things along the way. He was just grabbed and tossed completely out of his comfort zone. He was used to a cleaner, less communal living environment than this.

On the plus side he was off of Terra and away from a schedule filled day like he would be at the clinic. Which wasn't so bad. He could attempt to relax, maybe try to get more sleep or something.

[Klove Makem]

Klove loaded his plate, stuffing his face. He pretended not to notice when Grace looked at him after eating the eggs. They were pretty good. Klove was glad he'd gotten a sudden spurt of spitefulness. Otherwise he'd be eating Grace's cooking.

He also took the moment to study Enan. The man seemed handsome enough, though a little soft for her. Most of the men she slept with were rough and tough, all sharp corners. But he could see the roughness in Enan, just lurking under the surface. Given some time, Grace would grind back all the extra and make something ruthless out of him. She did it with everyone.

Klove chewed at the meat and glanced at the others. He didn't know if they'd get over having a goblin on board. Enan looked less concerned already. Castle was probably a different story. As long as the gob stayed out of Castle's way, things would probably be alright. He looked like the sort of man who preferred his own company.

He stopped to appreciate the meat. Quillan was a good cook. It made you wonder why the man had been willing to leave Terra to go work on a smuggler's ship. Then he thought of the man's nervous frantic energy, and his mouth. He'd probably said something he shouldn't have to somebody like Castle. That was more than enough reason to get offplanet.

[Jared Castle]

Jared felt more comfortable when Grace came down into the room. She was a sight for sore eyes. She seemed okay with the Goblin on board, and she was the captain. So it must be fine. He relaxed but still kept a close eye on everyone. Especially the goblin.

Briefing would be nice. It would be a fine way to get out of all this socializing. He quickened his pace of eating so they could get to briefing faster. He wanted to know what was happening. When they would arrive on Nox so he could find a Were to inflict pain on.

[Grace Forjacks]

Grace was used to silence when eating for the first time. By next week, people would be taking while eating, but at first, everyone was trying to suss out everyone else. And it didn't look like Castle was much of a talker, even when he'd warmed up.

She ate the last mouthful of eggs, washed it down with some tinny-tasting water and got to her feet. It was easy to bring up the flight plan, replacing the news with it, radar still going in the bottom corner of the screen. The flight path was direct and quick, skirting around a few loose meteor fields.

"Gentlemen, and Goblin, we're heading to Nox. The journey should take just over eight days." Most ships took nine, but the Queen of Spades was not most ships. "We're delivering blood. I'd done this once before, and it went smoothly. Klove and I have both been to Nox dozens of times on delivery runs. We've got a few spots picked out, and it should be smooth, in and out within a day."

She brought three photos up, the vampires she'd made contracts with a few times, all male and all with that typical young-but-ancient look. "I've dealt with the first one before and we can trust him, as far as you can trust any vamp. The other two are new customers and, if we have trouble, it'll be with them."

"Regular bullets won't work on vampires. They'll just shrug them off unless you manage to get them in the face, and that'll just slow them down. There are two things that will work. The first are incendiary rounds, which we have plenty of and you can feel free to help yourself to, and the second are traq-rounds filled with a mix of traqs and wereblood. It won't kill them, but that's not so bad. A drugged vamp is perfect if you need to send a message to the rest."

"I'll be announcing when we get close to Nox. Until then, you're free to do whatever you wish. I encourage group meals, but if you'd rather eat on your own, feel free to." She looked over the group, then added, "There will be no fighting. If you have a problem with a shipmate, work it out. If you can't, I will work it out for you." The threat was left unspecified, but everyone got her meaning from the tone she used.

"My door's always open. Come on up if you want to chat." Grace took down the radar and brought the news back up. "Welcome aboard the Queen of Spades, In eight more days, you'll all find yourselves much richer."

Grace nodded to the men, then headed back out. The cockpit was waiting. And while she was feeling social, what she felt like even more was keeping an eye on things.

[Klove Makem]

It was the usual talk. Klove listened and ate up, and then watched Grace was she turned back around and headed out. He'd heard variations of it enough times that he could tune most of it out. Anyway, there was meat to eat, and good eggs, and even some flapjacks. He finished stuffing himself, giving a low little burp at the end.

"Great food Quillan." He said, leaving his fork on the plate. "I'm off to play darts." It was about as much as an invitation as he usually gave. Klove got up and headed to the bunks.

He got the chest open and dug the darts out, leaving it unlocked if anybody wanted to get into it. Klove took the red darts, like he usually did, and threw them one by one. He was only half-trying, and they ended up all over the board. It wasn't a contest, so it didn't matter if he was sucking.

[Jared Castle]

Jared pushed his dish aside as Grace began to speak. Delivering blood? That was why they were going to Nox. He really hoped when they got there he could somehow escape to be by himself. Maybe hunt a few weres and return before anybody noticed.

Then the photos of the Vampires came up. He didn't like Vampires but he didn't hate them as much as the damned weres. He'd never thought that trusting anything on Nox was even an option.

Incendiary rounds sounded fun. He loved fire, and if that was a weakness of Vampires then he wanted some. But were blood, it was poison to Vampires? Castle didn't know that. Well that's good. The weres I hunt can be useful to fight against vamps too.

Castle listened farther. He didn't think he'd have too much problems with the crew. Hopefully the goblin was trustworthy. Quillan wouldn't be a problem. Enan seemed a little threatening at first but he was a doctor so how tough could he be? He could most likely trust Grace, but to a certain extent. Klove seemed like an okay kid. He appeared to be tough and a little rough around the edges. He may get along with the kid.

He listened to the conclusion of Grace's talk and then watched her as she left to go back to the cockpit. Klove's subtle invitation got Jared into the rare mood of socializing. He hesitated then decided to join Klove. He walked to the quarters.

"Care if I join you?" He asked quietly.

[Klove Makem]

Klove was pulling the darts out of the board when Castle asked. He grinned, "Sure, better than trying to play by myself."

He opened the chest and grabbed the other set of darts, offering Castle the black ones. Klove kept the red, since he was fond of the colour. He got himself set the proper distance from the board and made his shots. One in the inner green, and the rest hanging around the inner circle. Not bad, but still no bullseye.

He stepped to the side to let Castle take his turn, sitting on his bunk. That was the best part about having the dart board so close to it. The downside was risking the occasionally badly-aimed dart. "Have you ever been to Nox before?"

[Jared Castle]

Castle accepted the black darts. He never cared what color he got in games like that, he just liked playing. In fact, Jared was a pretty good dart player. He's gotten his fair share of bullseyes. He aimed one of the darts and threw it. Close to the bullseye, but not enough. He threw the second one. Even closer now to the middle. Castle was determined to get a bullseye.

"No." He answered bluntly, "I've never been there." The bad memories came back now. His step-father coming home from Nox, and then the incident. The memories mad him angry. He threw the last dart withot even aiming.

Bullseye.

[Klove Makem]

Klove raised an eyebrow, a mannerism he'd rather unconsciously learned from Grace (who had, supposedly, learned it from Holo, though he tended to glower these days). That was quite the throw. Nox didn't seem to be a good memory for Castle. Likely he'd had a bad experience there. Klove glanced at Castle's neck. No vamp bites there.

"Nice shot." He went ahead and changed the subject as he pulled the darts out and handed Castle his. Klove took aim and shot. Once again, close, but no bullseye.

"How long have you been mercing?" That seemed safer. Maybe less likely to bring back something awful. If mercing was so bad, he wouldn't still be doing it. Granted, it didn't look like Castle could do much else. Klove understood that. There wasn't anywhere else he could be.

[Jared Castle]

Castle shook his head and he controlled the anger. Then he nodded at Klove's compliment. He was slightly surprised that he got a bullseye while angry. He normally did things worse when he was mad. Although he did seem to be a better shot on the job when something angered him.

"About ten years now." It really had gone by quickly now that he thought of it. A decade. It was after his incident with his step-father that he had became a merc. He fought off the memories again. It seemed there wasn't much that wouldn't remind him of his terrible experience of having to shove a spoon into his step-father's head. That wasn't the sort of thing you ever forgot.

"How long you been with Grace?" He asked. He was curious about Klove's story.