three twins mingle!

[nedstarksbastard]

Who: SS Three Twins crew and visitors!
Broadcast: no?
Action: Three Twins
When: NOW NOW RIGHT NOW

[so what's all this about a nudist ship???]

Comments

[goodjob]

[She shakes her head.] Nah. Drive a taxi during the day, one guy couldn't pay with credits so I let him pay in what he had on him. [She gestures to the alcohol, now neatly stacked on the counter.]

[catamite]

What, really?

[however many drinks he already has in his system add a good overdramatic flair to his surprise, drawing out the word. and he moves on over to the stack of alcohol, as if he needs to touch it to believe it.]

Are serious? I did some taxi stuff too, but nobody paid with something like that...

[goodjob]

[Okay, maybe somebody needs to be cut off. Fiona starts putting the alcohol away, wondering if he'll remember her promise to mix him something.] It was getting late, and I pick people up in the, uh, weirder neighborhoods. Y'know, the 'bad' ones. [Coming from a bad neighborhood herself, Fiona has precious little respect for this concept.]

[catamite]

[whether he remembers or not, he picks up one of the bottles as she's putting everything away, and just kind of hangs onto it so he can look at the label.]

Maybe I'll have to try that next time.

[--because he sure isn't batting an eye at the mention of bad neighborhoods. he still considers that concept a comfortable and familiar one.]

[goodjob]

Yeah, it's not so bad. I never even been shot at. [Wusses. She finishes putting the alcohol away and stares at the bottle in Nel's hands.] You trying to read its mind?

[catamite]

[...oop. at that question, his ears fall back a little and his face starts to tinge with color.]

No, I was just... trying to read the label.

[because guess what someone isn't great at doing. and now he feels dumb.]

[goodjob]

[Fiona squints. It doesn't take a genius to tell he reacted poorly to her comment-- the mood ring ears help. She's lived with occasionally sensitive children long enough to bounce back fast,] Yeah, I heard they gotta different alphabet in Lord of the Rings. Need any help?

[catamite]

[he doesn't get that reference at all, but he laughs like he does, and he shakes his head. the embarrassed blush is still there, but he's forcing a smile through it.]

No, I guess it doesn't matter anyway. Probably won't even be able to tell what it is after we mix it.

[--yeah, he still remembers the offer and is still ready for a drink.]

[goodjob]

Okay. [Fiona files this away for later. Nel is weird about reading. She's not someone who inserts herself in others' lives, pestering and improving; she has enough on her plate. But she's been a caretaker for too long to stop cold turkey.] It's tequila, anyway. They got that on your planet?

[catamite]

No, but I've had it before. I've been somewhere else before this, and they had all kinds of things there.

[get him talking about booze and he perks right back up again. this kid is one to gleefully abandon negative thoughts if there is any space to do so whatsoever. so, that little hiccup in his demeanor is smoothing out again as if it hadn't been interrupted at all.]

My favorite was this stuff that was flavored like... uh...

[and he mimes with his free hand, curling his fingers and moving as if he's running his hand over something, to show the shape of it. whatever it is, it's kind of longish and a little curved...

it's a gesture that is maybe good that children aren't around to see.]

[goodjob]

[Fiona narrows her eyes.] A banana. [Please, oh Jesus God, tell her there isn't dick-flavored booze in space.]

Hey, how many you had? [She says, as casual as you please. The kid's proven himself a little shaky on his footing, so she's guessing acting like everything's no big deal is the best way to get honest answers.]

[catamite]

--Banana! Yeah, that was it. I guess it's a fruit or something?

[Hallelujah, no dick-flavored booze today. and he finally offers the bottle out to her again, before finding a seat to plunk down into at the table.]

Oh, I don't know. Not a lot. I was out for a while, so... [he just finishes the sentence with a shrug.]

[goodjob]

Yeah. They don't have 'em on your planet, do they?

[And then Fiona starts an old trick she used to use with her father, watering the booze down significantly and taking a long time to mix it.] You always pass out?

[catamite]

[he shakes his head to the first question and folds his arms--loose-boned--on the tabletop, drooping comfortably forward.]

After going out? No way.

[but, the lie doesn't actually go very far before he sheepishly catches it and takes it back.]

Well... I mean, only sometimes. Like, if it's been a really good night, you know?

[or a bad one. whichever.]