Relocating [2430-1-2-Mon 7:30pm]

[Olive]

Olive had finally begun to feel comfy in her room that she had made her own, and was starting to think about pretty things that she could hang on the walls. So she was a bit surprised when Sol had shown up after coming back from the farm and asked her to switch rooms to the other side of the ship.

While a little disappointed that she had to remove everything she'd nicely put out, Olive was even more excited about the fact that she was being added to the crew side of the ship. That meant Sol must be considering her crew, she realized. He'd let her pick which of the two rooms left that she wanted, telling her that Cassandra would likely move into the fourth.

Olive had decided on the room in between Booker and Magdalen's, and had spent the last few minutes trying to transport her things down the hallway into her new room. It had thrown her off at first, since the rooms on the other side of the ship were flipped around and backwards compared to what she'd gotten so used to in the other room. But she quickly figured out the right places to put her things-dresses in the closet, the wooden horse, her flute, and hair brush all still found places on her new desk.

She smiled and sat back on her new bed, feeling like she'd just accomplished moving a mountain. She couldn't wait to tell the others that she'd gotten to join them on their side!!

[Solomon Taylor]

Sol had felt a little guilty asking Olive to move all of the things that she'd just finally settled into, but thankfully it was only an armful of possessions, rather than a lifetime's worth of human-style collections. The main motive behind the move was to clear up more space on the passenger side, as they needed more room for paying customers--hopefully of the unillegal kind.

With Cass being considered a crew member now, he'd decided to upgrade Olive as well. He couldn't let her simply act as a tag-along any more, as it was no longer fun and games. They were in a possibly dangerous situation now, and they needed as many people pulling their weight as possible. What Olive was going to be able to do, Sol still wasn't sure, but there had to be jobs that could be found for her.

He stopped by the room she'd chosen in order to check on her, and knocked lightly on the door frame before peeking into the open door. "Hey Olive... all moved in?"

[Olive]

Olive beamed when Sol peeked in. She found it slightly amusing that he was already checking up on her. "Hi! Yeah! Look!" She motioned towards the desk that held her things, including the wooden horse. She realized she hadn't shown it to him when she'd first brought it onto the ship.

"Good thing I didn't have tons of stuff to move," she said, getting up to poke in the closet again. "Though it might be nice to have some more..." She tapped her finger on her chin and spun around once more. "I saw Magdalen carrying a pretty painting into her room earlier. Can I get one of those??"

[Solomon Taylor]

His eyes landed on the wooden horse as she pointed it out. His eyebrows raised, recognizing it immediately. He smiled, heading over to the desk and picking it up. "Wow, you still have this?" He asked, running his fingers over the crude carvings he'd done so many years ago. "I made better ones, you know."

He noticed her looking thoughtful, and then she asked about the painting. He set the horse back down. "The painting was a gift to her from the Denvers. I'm sure we could find you something nice to bolt on the wall in a store eventually. First we need a job that will pay instead of get us into more trouble though. I'm not sure how long we can run on Reese's payments alone..."

[Olive]

Olive smiled as Sol inspected the wooden carving. "They only look better. But I know the truth. That one is the best, cause it was the first." She would have brought them all if she'd had the arm space for them, but instead she'd opted to grab her favourite. She could always go back and get the others the next time they were on Antheia.

She got up off the bed, glancing at her wall. "Bolted on the wall? How come??" But her mind then immediately went to the thought of stores and money. "Money is so weird. We should just trade stuff like regular people do."

[Solomon Taylor]

It wasn't terrible, Sol pondered as he mulled over the horse some more. But it was his first carving ever, and it showed. He smiled, realizing it meant something so special to Olive that she would choose it over the ones he'd made further down the line... ones that looked far more like their intended destination. He'd learned a lot from the Elves over the years, as well as enough of his own discoveries, and yet looking over the wooden horse from his first days on Antheia, it was like he could still remember how it had felt to be completely out of his comfort zone in the forest. Now it was home.

He glanced back at her as she questioned him some more. "Well, you've spent enough time in the ship now, I think you can figure out why anything on the wall would need to be properly attached. Remember the problem we had in the kitchen when we landed? That bottle someone had forgotten to put away?" The remnants of someone's meal had definitely ended up all over the floor. Sol was pretty sure it had been Olive's mess, but he hadn't pressed the matter. It had been a small, silly detail amidst his distracted thoughts.

He moved on. "Trade stuff? I'm not sure what we could trade." He wandered over and sat down next to her. "Though the idea of money is still trade based. Your trade your time and effort from your work for money, which is like an 'I owe you'. Which you can use to get other things later on. Like a postponed trade. Because not everyone who needs help from you has the exact things you need in return. Get it?"

[Olive]

"Oh. Duh." She forgot that the ship moved. In regular space, it was smooth and usually she forgot she was even flying through the air--or whatever it was space was made of. But every so often there would be debris to move out of the way for, and landing was certainly not always smooth. Suddenly she had an image in her head of a painting falling off the wall and bonking her on the head while she slept. Not pleasant. "That's why the kitchen cupboards have latches too, right?"

She warily looked at her things laid out on the desk, wondering if maybe she should put them in a drawer instead. They might be safer there, even if she couldn't look at them all the time. She caught Sol's comment about the bottle in the kitchen and couldn't help but let her eyes go a little shifty for a moment. She'd definitely left it out and it had been a mess to clean it up.

Olive smiled as Sol mentioned not knowing what they could trade. Or sell. Or whatever it was that people did in order to get money in the universe. She pointed at the horse. "We could make stuff! You're good at those! Get a bunch of wood from the forest before we leave!" She tapped her chin a little bit. "I dunno what I could do, but I'm sure I could figure out something I'm good at making..."

[Magdalen Verena]

Having finished putting the rest of her things away, Magdalen had settled upon the edge of her bed and clapped her hands together with a contented sigh. A few minutes passed then as she appraised the painting she’d laid carefully across the sheets, wondering idly where she might keep it. That’s when Olive’s cheerful voice floated into the corridor outside and the young woman decided that maybe the faun would have an idea. She always seemed excited to be involved in some way.

Lifting herself to her feet, Mags slipped into the hall and moved to stand outside Olive’s doorway; clasping her hands together awkwardly as she discerned Solomon’s voice as well. Perhaps she shouldn’t bother them? But then if they discovered her eavesdropping … wouldn’t that have been even worse?

Rolling her eyes at the ridiculous nature of her thoughts, the young woman tapped gently on the door and waited. “Hey Olive? I don’t mean to be a bother. Just thought I’d see how you were doing.”

[Solomon Taylor]

"Yeah. That's exactly why the cupboards are latched," Sol nodded. Olive was sometimes too naive for her own good, and often slow to catch on, but she wasn't stupid. She simply had a lot of learning to do, coming from the simple life that she did. Sol silently wished she'd stayed back in that life, for her own safety, but she was just too happy about traveling with him. He really hoped he wouldn't come to regret his decision to give in and let her come along again.

The idea of gathering some wood in order to do some more carvings actually didn't sound like a bad idea. He didn't think anyone would take them as payment, but it would give him something to do on the ship during his down time. Despite the ridiculous numbers of movies and television and books at his disposal through the Network--including 15 years worth of new content that he hadn't been around to experience--something about sitting and creating something with his hands still seemed to be a much more appealing idea to him. "Hmm. Maybe you have a point."

The new voice slightly startled him, and he glanced up to realize it was Magdalen. She must have finished with putting her things away, he determined. He directed a smile in her direction as greeting, but stayed quiet since she'd technically greeted Olive and not him.

[Olive]

Sol seemed to like her idea, which made her proud. Well, at least he seemed to be thinking about it. She definitely would miss the things he made for her if there were no trees in space in order to get carveable branches from.

Olive glanced at the doorway as Magdalen appeared. She grinned. "Hey! Look I brought my stuff over here! This is way cooler, being on this side of the ship with you guys! Did you get your stuff all moved in? I saw there were a bunch of boxes..."

[Magdalen Verena]

Returning Solomon’s smile, she stepped into the room and took a quick look at what had been brought in. Immediately she noticed the wooden horse and nodded enthusiastically. “I remember you told me all about the things Solomon made you. I’m assuming that one is your favourite?” She didn’t see any others after all and Olive had only mentioned the horse specifically when they’d last spoken about it.

Pausing for a moment, she proceeded to answer the faun’s questions … clutching the painting in her hands somewhat uncomfortably.

“Yeah, I really didn’t expect them to pack very much. Just the essentials, however it seems that silly pair decided to sneak in a few extra things as well. I thought maybe … well, you could help me figure out where this would look best?” She held up the water colour with a sheepish smile. “I can’t really decide. But wait until you’re done your conversation. I didn’t mean to intrude or anything.”

[Olive]

"Yep, it's my favourite, cause it was the first one!" Olive grinned proudly at Sol. "I'm trying to tell him he should make more that we could trade! or... sell... or whatever you do to get us stuff we need on other planets." That was going to be hard to get used to. Other people's customs were so foreign to her, that much had been made very clear on their stop on Terra.

She noticed the painting in Magdalen's hands, surprised Magdalen hadn't put it up yet. She was happy to get a closer look at it, getting up to peer at it some more. "Ohhh it's so pretty. I'd love to help you!" Olive liked Magdalen a lot, and had no qualms about spending more time with her. She hadn't seen much of her on Antheia since they'd both been off doing their own things for quite some time.

[Magdalen Verena]

Magdalen blinked as Olive stepped closer to take a better look, smiling after a few moments as the faun expressed her enthusiasm. “Wonderful! I suppose I’m just a very indecisive person when it comes to these sorts of things.”

Glancing at the picture again, she was filled with a sudden nostalgia; eyes taking in the soft, pretty colours that made up a lush green field overshadowed only by a single oak tree. Beneath its expansive branches sat two people – their backs turned as they pointed at a flock of birds flying overhead – and although Magdalen couldn’t really say for sure, she’d always assumed it had been her and John.

Shaking herself out her reverie, the young woman proceeded to address Olive’s initial idea.

“Sell? Well wood is a coveted commodity on most planets now.” She turned to speak to Solomon directly then, cradling her cheek with one hand as she lapsed into thought. “However you’d probably have to take on larger projects if you hoped to make any sort of significant profit … at least that’s what I’m assuming.”

Realizing she might be putting a damper on Olive’s suggestion, Mags was quick to place a comforting hand on the other girl’s shoulder and smile. “But you never know, it’s an excellent idea regardless.”

[Solomon Taylor]

"It's a good suggestion though," Sol nodded, standing to his feet once more. "When you'd spent so long on a planet, you tend to take it for granted. I'd forgotten about how much wood is worth in some places, even in it's raw form." Terra especially. Heimdall as well. Not so much on Corus, or Nox where trees grew enough to be not considered rare, though.

He glanced at Olive. "I'll see if I can look into it. But our first priority is Cassandra." He headed for the doorway. "I've got some things to organize to get this going, so I'll leave you ladies to your decorating."

[Magdalen Verena]

Magdalen nodded as Sol took his leave, turning back to Olive with a warm smile.

“I’m glad you’re on this side of the ship now. It must have been somewhat lonely over in the passenger quarters with next to no one occupying it. At least for the beginning of our trip.”

Stepping curiously over to the desk, she took a moment to examine the wooden horse once more and clutched the watercolour in her hands protectively to her chest. It was strange how something so seemingly worthless could in fact mean the world to one person.