RP: The Wayward Wandering Medic (Ep 1.1)

[Syaoran]

Waypoint Trade Station - Port

A Courier 2A class vessel had just brought itself into port without incident. The vessel was named the ISC Bulldog, a trade ship run by a Nepleslian man and crewed by a little under 20 people of varying nationalities. Though it was a little out of it's normal trade route, the Bulldog had made a good profit at their last stop and were now trying to expand their trade route into Abwheran space.

Quinn Cathal was also aboard this ship, he was acting as an extra medic for the crew in return for passage into Abwehran space. Though there was that attack by pirates, the crew sustained only a few injuries so the work was easy, and there were a few rather attractive women on board the ship as well that made the ride that much more enjoyable.

However the ride was now over and it was time to explore this new station and get a look at Abwehran culture. However there was this one segment of a advert pamphlet that Quinn was handed when he stepped off the ship that was a little curious, it said "Non-Abwehran's please be careful of what you eat, Abwehran food is not safe for most humanoids." And then it proceeded to give a list of places on station that serve food for Non-Abwheran visitors. Hopefully the list was just abridged and there were weren't just four places.

 

[Enansel]

Perhaps one of the more boring trips he'd ever been on he was more than happy to shoulder his bag and the pair of kits he carried around with him once it had been announced that the freighter was docked and all who were getting off could do so. He made his way through the halls and down to the ramp and finally out into the port itself, sucking in a deep breath of that recycled station air and then he made it down the ramp and took a hold of the paper that was offered up to him.

Arching an eyebrow he headed for the recreation district while he read through the short note and snorted at his plethora of available options. Probably a good thing he brought munchies with him wherever he went, this place was going to be hell until he could find a ride out of it. That wouldn't be as hard done as said though. No ship he'd found protested taking on a medic, especially if he was willing to work for his room and food rather than get paid with money. As it stood he headed for the cheapest hotel on the station soon as he reached where he needed to be, getting himself an almost literal pill box of a room.

Really all he needed the tiny place for was to store his gear and possibly actually use the bed. He locked the door on the way out, tucked the key in his pocket and headed out to find the four places he could eat and see if any of them had anything worth eating. As he walked he did a systematic check of his pockets, the Litte Killer tucked away inside his duster, the peashooter at his hip, the pair of knives tucked away inside the hidden pockets of his vest and finally the feather weight guitar strapped across his back.

It would be the fourth place he stopped that he found had something edible so he went inside, got seated and placed his order for a good bit of food and "A bottle of Industrial Cleaning Alcohol. If you've got an unopened one, I mean, and can sell it to me. If not that's alright." At the assuredly confused look he got he chuckled. "Yes. I drink the stuff." Just like ninety nine percent of all the ex-Nepleslian military he'd ever meet on Vandenberg.

 

[Syaoran]

Finding a hotel was not difficult at all, and while there wasn't many places on the station that someone that wasn't native could eat from, most of them were of course centered around the different ports. Quinn found such an establishment with a sign of an attractive red haired woman out front and a shop front that looked more traditional, and not like it belong on a space station, but rather out at a street corner.

The place was called Rot Mädchen and there were a few people inside having their meals. Inside soft music could be heard playing as it filled the almost entirely wood interior of the bar. The place had an aura of elegance and refinery very different from most modern establishments, feeling more like someone's home than a place of business.

The waitress was an abwehran surface walker and she did indeed look confused about the remark about the cleaning Alcohol "Umm I vill azk ze boss." She had a rather heavy accent obviously not used to speaking Trade and scurried off into the back. Moments later a rather loud laugh could be heard from the back and soon followed by a woman with long bright red hair and honey skin stepped out. She mad her way behind the bar grabbing a bottle and then began to make her way over to Quinn.

She was the kind of woman that would make a room grow quiet when she entered but despite her womanly figure and vibrant hair, a good portion of the customers did not seem to look longer than the first few seconds. She made regular appearances in the bar, after all she did come from the back with staff. However she was not wearing the staff uniform of brown slacks and a burgundy polo, not she was wearing a red blouse and black capris along with red heels. It would take a moment but the familiarity of tee woman would make a connection with the sign outside the bar, this woman was the proprietress of the store, and the sign was modeled after her.

The redhead took the bottle and sat it down in front of him, it was Nepleslian rum a rather good brand too. "Don't worry, you don't have to worry about expensive luxury taxes here." She chuckled softly and then sat down across from his at his table.

 

[Enansel]

Quinn absolutely enjoyed the whole home style feel of the place he'd wandered in to once he was settled enough to look around and appreciate it. Quinn gave the waitress a gentle, soothing smile and let her go off, picking up on the laughter from the direction of the back room where he assumed the kitchen was. He glanced away one minute, his eyes actually never moving, and then he lifted his head to find a woman sitting down in front of him. He blinked out of pure surprise as his cybernetics didn't exactly require him to keep them moist like real eyes did.

He took in the woman from head to toe, the dip and rise of his chin more tell tale than the almost gentle adjustments his eyes made to take in her as a whole and then details. Her outfit, the hair, her skin and the numerous other little details that gave him quite a bit of information about her. "Mmm" He finally tugged his guitar into his lap so he could lean back in his chair "Even without a luxury tax..." He reached over and took up the bottle of rum and lifted it up, tilting his head to study the labels on the bottle. "Industrial Cleaning Alcohol is far cheaper."

He wasn't complaining however, his tone made that clear. He worked the top off of the bottle, took a sniff and his eyebrows went up out of plesant surprise. He capped the bottle and set it back down on the table. "Doesn't particularly matter where you are. Can usually get six or more big bottles of Ica for less than I'd pay for a few shots of good rum." He tapped the rum bottle she'd set down. "That and it gets you far drunker, far quicker." He glanced around and lowered his voice "And between us, I was hoping to eat, be drunk, and passed out in the next few hours. Pretty sure finding a warm body to share my pill box of a room is asking a bit much of this place."

He wasn't particularly picky about anything concerning warm body, but he'd never been through his particular Station before and usually hadn't strayed outisde Nepleslian space except on a few occasions. As far as he could tell there wasn't any tell tale sort of red light district anywhere on the station so he figured he'd keep the rest of his night simple and look for work on a different freighter come morning. While he waited for food he really did consider drinking the bottle she'd set before him, the cameras in his eyes moving between the bottle and the woman in indecision for a long quiet moment.

He stirred after that moment, moving the guitar so it sat leaned against his leg and he reached a hand out across the table towards the woman. "Forgive me, where are my manners? The name is Quinn Cathal. Nice to meet you. What would you like to be called by?" Not the usual of 'What is your name?' for the general reason that, as a medic, Quinn had made so many mistakes of thinking someone one gender only to find out they were another. He'd taken to giving a slightly better question that not only implied someone's name, but also allowed for many other answers including but not limited to choosen pronouns if any. When she gave her name he repeated it comitting it, and her, to memory.

He finally made a decision on the rum, opening the bottle and sucking down a few deep firey swallows. He sucked in a deep breath thereafter and blinked. "Well. That's certainly better than Ica by far." He mused, taking another small swallow and sitting the bottle down on the table once more. He fully intended to drink the whole thing if she let him get away with it, after all he was pretty serious about the going back to sleep off being drunk.

 

[Syaoran]

The woman did not seem to be bothered by the appearance of Quinn's eyes, having seen something similar before. She did let out a light chuckle at the mention of the price of Cleaning Alcohol compared to the Rum. "I don't give my customers anything but quality ingredients, don't worry though, this one is on me." She sat back with a bit of a smile continuing to listen to him as he spoke.

Soon Quinn's food was brought to the table and sat in front of him. The waitress was the same one as before, and she looked relieved that the man was not drinking anything unusual, but a proper drink. "Here iz your meal." She gave a slight bow and continued to wait tables.

"You can call me Veronica, I'm the owner of Rot Mädchen." She extended her hand to his to shake his hand. "Unfortunately I can't say much for getting a warm body, unless you're a smooth talker. But we're in bar hours right now, so getting drunk we can surely help you with." She let out another laugh, but looked at the guitar that was now at his legs. "Though I see you have a guitar, are you a musician or is it just for picking up girls?" Veronica had a lighthearted and warm tone as she spoke, it did not seem like she took much of any thing seriously and that she was more interested in chatting with her customers than running the bar.

 

[Enansel]

Well now he sort of felt obligated to play her a song in exchange for the bottle of rum. He shook her hand when she slid it into his, giving a slight stroke to the back of it before she withdrew hers. He eyed the food on the table and licked his lips, not quite where to start. Her next words finally poked at his brain and he left the food alone for a moment to eye her once more and he smirked. "Smooth talking huh?" He mused over that for a moment before he spoke up again "If anything might be smooth, it's your skin and I'd love to get a scan of it." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and turned his attention to the guitar, racking his brain for something halfway suitable.

"I'm actually freelancing medic." He replied to her question, lifting his guitar back into his lap and scooting his chair back a bit to give him some room to tune the strings up to par. "I do however trade my entertainment services if that's what needed to get me where I want to go." He shrugged "If it picks me up someone for the night then that's an added bonus." He took a few more deep swallows of the rum for some delicious liquid courage and when her ancient music player finally went silent he picked up the tune, his big fingers surprisingly agile across the strings of the guitar.

*"Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone,
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.

One step closer

I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more."

He finished the abridged song with stares and ignored them, setting aside the guitar and giving her a satisfied smile before he turned his attention to his meal and started in on it, taking all of twenty minutes to eat the three plates, two deserts and drink half the bottle of rum. There wasn't a single crumb left, the plates and silverware neatly stacked off to his right and the whole time he'd been more than happy to make small talk with her about anything she wanted to know. When he was finally able to relax back into the chair, he pulled a tooth pick from a pocket and worked it through his teeth to get out the bits of food. "So, I guess it's about time I ask if you know of anyone who might need me." He didn't mind a bit of a wait until they showed up again, especially if he could convince Veronica to let him sing for his supper.

 

[Syaoran]

Veronica was rather amused by Quinn's witty comments and behavior, it had been a while since she heard good Nepleslian humor and it was comforting. The singing was pretty surprising though, she half expected the guitar to be a prop, not thinking he could play it, let alone sing as well. The patrons in the bar were rather impressed as well, quieting down to listen to the song and clapping once he was finished. There were no awkward stares or rude comments, in fact the comments he did get were rather joking in nature, mostly about how he's another guy on 'the list'.

The scarlet haired woman did not seem to mind chatting with Quinn after his song as he took in quite a few portions of food. "You eat like you haven't had to good meal in a while, or is our food just that good?" She chuckled once more as a cherry soda was brought to her that she drank as she thought about a reply to his question. "Well I do know a few Captains I could set you up with one. In fact I know a personal friend who just got a crew started, she doesn't have a medic though. If you'll stick around with her I'm sure she'd be fine with hiring you. You'd be getting paid if you join the crew and not just take some time as a passenger."

 

[Enansel]

Quinn was pretty pleased with the turn out of the place. It wasn't every day that people actually appreciated him being able to sing and play. He chuckled at her question and set the tooth pick on the top of the plates and took another sip of the rum. "Mmm. The food is good, I'll give you that much, but I eat like that all the time if given half a choice on the matter." Of course there were times where he either didn't have the money, the ship he was on were on rations, or the food was just that terrible. Thankfully those were few and far between, and usually it worked out better in favor of captian and crew to just give him food and board for his services instead of paying him.

"Mmm. Sounds like a deal to me." Better than anything he was going to find on a freighter at any rate. "I think I'll be happy with just about anything as long as I'm not getting shot at." He gave the pretty red head a relaxed smile. "Might as well let her know I'm interested and when she gets back to port I'll be more than happy to meet up with her and have a talk." And inevitably attempt to work his way into her pants as was usual of him. He sighed and glanced around the bar, wondering what else there was really left to do at such a time of night. He'd probably be back to the same place tomorrow for a bit of breakfast if they served it and then he'd have to go about finding something to do with himself.

"I guess I'll treat you to another song and head back to my pill box of a room." Alone. That was alright though he mused as he picked up his guitar and re-tuned it to a slightly different sound. He started in on another song putting just as much into it as the last and quite clearly enjoying himself as he played. When the song tapered off he finally capped the bottle of rum and came to his feet, easily seating the guitar on his back and and tucking the bottle into one of his pockets. "How much do I owe you for the food?" He inquired of Veronica.

 

[Syaoran]

"Well I can't guarantee that you wont be shot at. She is kind of running 'free enterprising' ship. As long as the work pays well and isn't too dangerous she'll take it. When she was last here she had a few tough looking guys join, so you might not need to do any real fighting, but if you're afraid of bullets it might not be the job for you." At his remark of the bill she counted the plates and nodded. "That'll be 30 Abwehran Credits which is 20DA."She finished her soda and gave Quinn a warm smile "I'm sure though the captain will keep you way from the fighting if she can. It's pretty rare to get medically trained people that want to join such a rough crew, and Tanja is pretty attractive, well you have to like girl's with tail's though. Cause both the girls on the ship have one."

 

[Enansel]

He stood there for a long moment, just thinking, and then after a long moment of indecision he sighed and slid the guitar off of his back and sat back down. "You had me at 'tails'." He said honestly as he fished his card from one of his interior pockets and set it down on the table in front of her. Summoning the waitress he gave her a brilliant smile "Bring me two slices of that red velvet cake and a cup of tea please?" and once that was said and done he turned his attentions back to Veronica. "Rough was the slums on Vandenberg." He mused in response to her comments about him being willing to sign on with a rough freelancer crew. "Attractive, tail, and free to do as she pleases. Sounds like a woman I'd enjoy and possibly in more ways than one. Tell me more?" She had his attention, and it was a reason he was more than willing to sober up for.

 

[Syaoran]

Veronica was rather surprised he still intended to order a bit more, he was a good customer to have. "It's good you are into tail's, I don't know about the Gartagen girl, Embel was it? But the captain, Tanja is really proud of her tail." She did notice how much interest he was taking, but decided his wording was just in good humor. "She's Abwehran and former military, but she's not really a combat junkie or anything, she just wants to see what all is out there outside of Abwehran space. She is pretty tough though, so don't get on her bad side.

 

[Enansel]

"A Gartagen huh? Don't think I've meet one up close and personal yet." He mused over that and after a long moment. "I'm not usually on anyone's bad side, except for that nep I knocked out, and I really do feel bad for that but he was trying to stick me with my own scalpel." And clearly he didn't take well to getting attacked by someone he had been attempting to help. He brightened up when the pair of desert plates were set down before him, along with the steaming mug of tea. "Thank you." He purred to the waitress and he munched into the first slice, sliding the other halfway across the table as an offer to her. He'd eat it if she didn't, but in his mind it was impolite to not offer. He was quiet until he'd finished the cake and tea and once that was done he picked the last bit of icing and cake off of his fork before setting it aside. "Delicious." He meant the food, but if she thought he was talking about her then that was okay too. "I guess I'll be back tomorrow morning." He added where he was staying so she could get in contact with him if she needed, or wanted, to.

 

[Syaoran]

Veronica gave a light chuckle once more at his brief mention of his past with a Nepleslian that tried to stab him. "It sounds like you had an eventful past." She did not refuse the slice of cake when offered to her, it might've been her shop, but the food was still good, so of course she'd eat it. After they did finish though she smiled and gave a soft nod "I'll contact her, and tell her about you."

--------------------
The next day

Quinn woke up in his economy sized hotel room the next morning without much issue. Well the bed as a little too firm but at least it was softer than the floor, so it wasn't that bad. Now that it was day time, there was a wider selection of things to do at the station and more locations were open. However according to the brochure the station operates on a 48 hour day cycle, and it does suggest naps for those who are not used to the longer days. They really seem considerate of those who are not accustomed to Abwehran culture.

 

[Enansel]

Quinn woke with a yawn and a stretch that ended up with him having his toes and the tips of his fingers shoved against opposite ends of the walls both at the head and foot of the bed. He sighed and curled up again for a long moment, not quite wanting to get out of bed even if it wasn't the most comfortable thing to remain on. He had slept on worse, and on far better, and after a long moment he got up and dressed. It took a few minutes to brush his teeth, tame his hair back into some semblance of order and finally change into clean clothes. That done and he left his guitar in the room, tucked away under the bed and hidden by the rest of his gear. A check of his pockets on vest, pants and coat and then he left, locking his door behind him and pulling on his gloves as he did so.

He certainly looked a little rougher for wear when he showed up at the Rot Mädchen for breakfast. He settled at the table he'd been at the night before, fishing the half-drank bottle of run from his pocket and taking a few swallows of it before tucking it away again. When the lovely waitress showed up he gave her another bright smile. "Good morning. Can I get a cup of coffee, a cup of hot chocolate, a salad and some grilled lizard? Thank you." He hadn't had grilled lizard before, but it absolutely had to be edible if it was on the list, and if not it would end in a field trip to the Abwehran medical facilities. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, waiting to see if Veronica would make an appearance or if he was on his own for the morning.

 

[Syaoran]

Rot Mädchen

The waitress was different from last night, this time it was a Nepleslian woman. it seemed the one form last night was not there, possibly a night shift only worker. The new waitress gave him a bit of a strange look at his order "Two drinks, you expectin' someone?" She only waited a beat for his response though, it seemed like she wasn't all that interested actually and walked off to go take care of his order, did not seem to be the social type, or maybe she just didn't like getting up first thing in the morning.

The few was brought to him in a matter of minutes and the same waitress was serving him. "Here is your food." The food looked as expected, though the plate of grilled lizard almost looked like cut of beef grilled and served with a light salad, the only indication it wasn't before tasting was the subtle difference in the aroma. As for Veronica she had not yet been spotted by Quinn, it would take a few more minutes for someone to come into the cafe and head to the back, probably a cook, and moments later Veronica would come out and wave to her customers, which was a bit less than they had last night, mornings weren't their strong point since their menu was mostly lunch and bar foods.

Port

At the same as Quinn's activities at Rot Mädchen, a ship pulled into port. There was nothing special about the old Sojourner class vessel , no one would give it a second look. To those on board it was a lot more significant however. The ship's engines were malfunctioning quite a bit and they needed to be repaired. Aside from the normal inconvenience this would cause there was an added problem.

There were only 4 people on board the ship however one of these person's was Analiese, a slave who had gotten caught up in even more mess and ended up being kidnapped by these men and forced to work on the ship's engines as they traveled.

Currently the ship needed to be serviced though, and it would take more than just a few hours, meaning they had to stay here. Clay, a lorath man and leader of the small group, had already warned Analiese that if she tried anything he couldn't guarantee her safety. This was to scare her into cooperating while at the station, as it was not possible for them to overtly treat her like a slave and still get out of the station with no problems.

Now the group of four stood on the other side of a pressure door, being greeted by a female Abwehran woman and handed a pamphlet that explained the features of the station. Clay received the pamphlet and looked it over, to his left a Yamataian man was attempting to flirt with the abwehran woman, a lecherous look in his eyes. The man to Clay's right was a bit more well behaved, a tall Kohanian, that looked over Clay's shoulder trying to decipher the pamphlet as well.

"It looks like we'll be here a while Snake." The leader, Clay spoke up as he hand his hand through his grey hair.

"Yeah, hopefully Fiend wont cause any trouble." The Kohanian male replied. Their names were code names, they had decided to stick with them while in front of Analiese to make sure she coudl not discover their identity and possibly report them later.

"Well let's get ourselves some food." Clay motioned them to follow and began walking without hesitation.

 

[SmokeEmpress]

Analiese kept her eyes down as she was ushered with the others out of the air lock. She is rather glad they didn't make her stay on the ship, and also are not making her make the repairs. She was really lucky to have rigged the fix that got them at least this far. Since she wasn't given a pamphlet as well, she doesn't make a try of trying to read it. She just follows the others, keeping close to Snake, for he was the least likely of the three to try anything with her...again.

She doesn't ask where they are going, figuring that Clay would know where to go. She is still in shock in how she had gotten messed up with these three. Her hands are in her pockets, one holding onto the makeshift knife she had created to fend off Fiend, the other lightly fingering the wires she has to help keep her occupied. She could only do so much on the ship as it was, even cleaning up after the three. She wrinkles her nose a little at remembering some of the things she had to clean up and shuddered a little.

Now she was walking along a corridor of a space station that she had only heard of, but never seen. She can see various writings, only some of which were in Trade. She is rather curious as to what they say, but she can't stop and read now, since Clay seemed determined to get to where they were going.

 

[Enansel]

Rot Mädchen

"Nope, All for me." He replied to the woman with a slight smile at her question. He was halfway through the salad when Veronica made an appearance. He didn't attempt to draw her attention to him however, figuring he'd be back later and say hello to her then. His appetite left him with only the three minutes it took to chow down the salad, crunch through the delicious lizard and down both the coffee and hot chocolate. He paid up like the good man he was and stretched, settling his clothes and slipping his hands through the access pockets in his coat and then into the actual pockets of his vest. He headed out of the cafe-bar and headed for the port docks, intending to go ship watching.

 

[Syaoran]

Port

Clay was not exactly sure where to go but he had gone a good while without decent food and he was hungry, he was not about to do sightseeing before he got some food, and besides he was there on business. Snake decided to simply follow the quickened pace without much worry, understanding his situation, keeping and eye on Analiese as well.

Fiend however was once again trying to flit, talking up any woman that passed by. He was not really paying attention to his surroundings and he didn't care about them. This lead to him bumping rather roughly into Quinn as he passed him by to get to a particularly attractive woman, who of course did not look at all interested in him.

 

[SmokeEmpress]

Port

Analiese tries to keep up with Clay and Snake, but their pace is a lot faster than what she is even used to. Though she keeps her gaze down, she can't help but look around some as well, and so she notices Fiend and is flirting. She is just glad he is trying with others and no longer drawing attention to her in that regard. When Fiend bumps into someone, she watches the others, waiting for her chance to run. For though she doesn't know this place as well as home, at least she can try to get herself lost here.

 

[Enansel]

Port

Quinn however was watching where he was going and he was more than ready for it when Fiend ran straight into him, or almost anyway. He read the situation quickly, the head of the group clearly intending on getting somewhere, the second right behind him and just as intent on going where they were headed. The third of course was distracted trying to flirt with anything that had breasts and the fourth didn't fit. At all. Trying to stay small, hidden, not wanting to be noticed. She was frightened. Quinn was going to hate himself for this! He grabbed the back of Fiend's shirt and promptly dragged the man into the closest support beam. "Apologize!" He grouched. "Or did your mother not teach you manners?!"