Leaving Terra [2430-1-1-Tues-7:30pm]

[Caden Breese]

Caden ate quietly and just listened. He carefully watched every one and couldn't help but smile. Sometimes Olive's over enthusiasm would more than likely frustrate him to no end. But occasionally she could just put a smile on someones face. From the small amount of time being around her, she was always smiling.

He also made a note to himself about Magdalen. The color of the new dress she was wearing suit her very well. And the added touch of her hair being down, she was gorgeous. But he kept his mouth on the food as to not say anything stupid. Especially having not known people for a long amount of time, he didn't want to be stuck in space with everyone on board against him.

[Cassandra Nida]

Cassandra had been awake a few hours now, with her left arm off and set on the desk. She'd been tinkering with it when Solomon made the announcement. Her stomach rumbled a little, and while she didn't want to leave, she did need to eat.

She carefully sealed her left arm back up, carefully gluing the skin together. The slit was slightly visible. In another hour, it would be invisible again, the artificial skin built to bond and reseal itself. As long as she kept her sweater on, she'd be fine. Cass snapped her arm back into her socket, the heavy metal clunk comfortingly familiar in a place that had nothing familiar about it.

The mess was easy to find. The number of people there caught her off guard. She hadn't known how many people were on the ship until she saw them all. Cass kept her hood up and took the nearest empty seat, trying not to draw any attention to herself.

She looked at the table. Salad? First course then. She'd wait for the main course. Salad was fine as a pallet cleanser, but Cass needed something with protein in it.

[Nick Blaine]

Blaine gave a small wave to Magdalen. He didn't care if she noticed him he just wanted to be nice. He wasn't usually around all sorts of 'good' people. Normally the people he hung around with weren't as nice as these. These people actually followed the law. For the most part.

He took some salad after realizing that every one has had a helping. He scooped it onto his plate with his fork. He didn't usually have salad very often. But Olive was happy and disappointing her would be a bad idea. He forced himself to like the salad. For Olive.

He watched as someone new came into the kitchen and sat down. He'd never seen her before. Must be a passenger. She looked shy and quiet. Booker would probably say hi so he kept to himself.

[Olive]

"Ohhh," Olive nodded at Magdalen. "I get it! Like the one he got for me too. Did you see it? It's pretty!" She stuffed more salad into her mouth. "Sol's never bought me stuff before. But sometimes he made stuff for me when I was a kid! When we get to Antheia, I can show them to you!"

She looked up in surprise as another girl wandered in. Olive didn't even know she'd been on the ship. She seemed a little shy, but that was okay, she would probably be another cool friend. "Oh hi!!"

[Solomon Taylor]

"It's hard to buy you things when there aren't stores around," Sol waved his fork at the faun with a smirk. Then he poked it into some more lettuce. "But don't expect it to become a regular thing. Since we don't have regular jobs, we don't know when we'll be paid next, and it'll have to be saved for food and fuel."

His attention turned to Cass, who had just wandered in. He was a bit surprised, since she'd blown him off at the suggestion of dinner earlier. Nonetheless it was nice to see her out of her room. "Oh, everyone this is Cass. She's travelling with us as a passenger." Then he remembered they hadn't talked about the length of her trip. "Speaking of which, were you getting off at Antheia or did you have an alternate destination in mind?"

[Booker]

There was a new girl that walked into the kitchen. "Hi!" He said after olive said the same thing. The girl looked kinda shy and probably didn't want a giant guy attacking her with greetings and questions. He restrained his excitement at the new person.

Sol introduced her. Cass was her name. Short for Cassandra no doubt. She was a passenger. He really wanted to introduce himself but waited for her answer to Sol's question. Because Sol probably would introduce everyone.

[Cassandra Nida]

Everyone was looking at her. Cass shrunk deeper into her hoodie. Suddenly she didn't feel like eating. All she felt was wanting to go hide in her room and wait for time to pass again. Maybe she could make up an excuse to leave in a moment.

"hi." She said quietly, tugging on her sleeves. She hadn't really thought about where she wanted to end up. Not Antheia. The boy had said to stay mobile as long as possible. One planet over wasn't nearly far enough, not when someone like Cass would stick out. "no. not antheia. ... where else are you going?"

[Solomon Taylor]

"We have no definite plans after Antheia," Sol explained. "We've got some business there, and then after that it depends on whether we can find a job to pick up or some more passengers to transport." He really really hoped it was sooner or later. Maybe a farmer on Antheia would have some goods for them to transport. That would be an ideal first job in his mind.

He suddenly realized she didn't seem to have a real destination in mind. Was she simply running from something? Maybe he should have asked before he accepted her on board. It was too late now. Like he'd said to Magdalen, it was probably safer for the rest of them if they didn't know anything. "So am I safe in assuming the destination doesn't really matter?" he wondered out loud.

[Cassandra Nida]

Cass nodded reluctantly. She'd tried to come up with a destination, but nothing seemed to be good for her. The only solution, as far as she could see, would be to ride until she ran out of money, or until they got suspicious and started looking her up. Then she'd have to get out and find someone else to take her.

"i've never been off terra." Which was true. Until a week ago, she'd never even been out of the Top. "i don't know where i want to go. but i have money. just... let me know when you need more." Hopefully she figured out a solution before she ran out. Otherwise, who knew what she'd have to do?

[Caden Breese]

Caden glanced up as Cassandra walked in. Another girl? Not that he thought there was anything wrong with that, it just surprised him that no one seemed to be told she was there. Either way he made a nod at her to acknowledge that she was there, instead of a hi because of the food in his mouth.

He had met more people in the last two days than a lot of people would meet in a month. He just hopped these meetings didn't kill him in the future. But so far all was well.

[Solomon Taylor]

Sol nodded in agreement. It sounded like a fair plan. In fact, a good plan. If she stayed for a more extended period, it might be handy to have that income. "Alright," he replied. "But if we reach a planet you think you might want to stay on, don't be afraid to speak up."

"In the meantime," he continued, beginning to point around the table in order to introduce everyone. "That's Olive. That's Booker, medic. Caden, mechanic. Blaine, our pilot. And Magdalen. Uh... translator and other various help?" He glanced at Magdalen, still unsure what to categorize her as on the ship. Well, maybe she didn't really need categorization. Still made introducing her kind of strange, though...

[Magdalen Verena]

Magdalen continued smiling at Olive, nibbling on her salad and nodding as the faun girl spoke. Taking advantage of a brief pause in the midst of this the blonde then nodded and set her hands demurely in her lap. “I did see the dress he bought, and it’s quite lovely. I’m sure the colour will suit you. And he made you things … really? Well that was kind of him. Of course I’d like to see them! I’m actually anxious to return to Antheia, it’s so beautiful.”

A thoughtful, faraway expression crossed her features at that and she allowed herself to reminisce momentarily before Cassandra appeared. Lifting her chin, Magdalen appraised the woman briefly before turning her attention to Nick and Booker who seemed to be in pleasant dispositions. Obviously their new crew member wasn’t particularly chatty and seemed to shrink away from being the center of attention.

“Well it’s good to have you here with us in any case, Cass. Otherwise the testosterone level would be far too overwhelming.” She grinned at that, attempting to lighten the suddenly sombre mood. Solomon then went on to make introductions and she laughed a little when he called her name.

"Yes, a helping hand wherever it's needed I suppose."

[Cassandra Nida]

Cass tried to give a little smile to Magdalen, but it just wouldn't come out. She hadn't been surrounded by this many people since... since she threw herself out the window. All the doctors and staff standing around her, and her daddy holding tightly onto her hand, telling her how sorry he was, that he didn't mean anything by it, that she should never, ever, do anything that dangerous again.

The loneliness and homesickness hit her like a ton of bricks. Cass could feel the tears building behind her eyes, and knew they would be coming out one way or another. Even after all the surgeries, all the careful delicate work done to the rest of her, her head was still nothing but human and she had nothing to stop her dumb emotions from hijacking her body.

"excuse me." Cass said, quickly standing up and fighting to keep her voice level, "i'm sorry. i'm feeling a bit... sick." She barely managed to excuse herself from the table and was out the mess when the first tears started coming down her face. Her room wasn't far away and if she could keep quiet until she got in, she'd be fine. Well. Not fine. But better than crying in front of a bunch of strangers.

[Olive]

"Yeah! I think I still got em at home. They're real cute!" Olive replied to Magdalen in reference to the little wood carved animals she had loved when she was smaller. Sol had made some nifty things for her to keep her busy.

She watched in surprise as Cass got up awkwardly and left the room. She sure hadn't stayed long. She'd barely even eaten anything. Olive made a frowny face. "Was it something we said??"

[Magdalen Verena]

Magdalen watched unhappily as Cass excused herself from the table, feeling partly to blame for the uncomfortable and awkward position they’d put her in. There hadn’t really been any need for an onslaught of questions.

Obviously there was more to that girl’s history than what she was likely willing to divulge, and that was fine for the time being. Solomon would make the decision to interrogate her further when he felt the need. Until then, they should all try to become accustomed to her shy behaviour.

Shaking her head, the blonde looked over at Olive and proceeded to finish the rest of her salad. “Don’t worry, she’ll warm up eventually. Some people just need time … that’s all.”

Still she couldn’t help but be concerned. Suddenly tired however, Magdalen shook off any consideration of going to try and console Cassandra … instead bidding her goodnights and thanking Olive for a lovely supper.

“I think I may turn in early. Its been something of a long day.”

And with that, she disappeared down the corridor and into her new room.