RP: The Wayward Wandering Medic (Ep 1.1)

Ana watched as Veronica left and then looked over at Quinn. She asked, "Do my hair?" She remembered when her mother used to put her hair up in a ponytail, just to keep it out of the way. Most days, that was what Ana would do herself. She had it down when she came off the ship with the others because she had figured hiding her face would keep people from noticing her. Though that didn't seem to stop Quinn from doing so.

For now, she was in a rather large shirt, almost like a night shirt, so she was at least decent enough. Not that she would have cared either way. Lifting a hand up to her hair, she tried to imagine what he would do with it. "You won't cut it, will you?"

((OOC; Almost Frikkin impossible to find some way to do Quinn's hair up that wasn't "in a bun".))

Quinn snorted, getting up and going over to his gear to dig out his hairbrush, comb and hair ties. "I would never dream of cutting it. You're far too pretty for that." He settled in behind her, touching her shoulder as a warning before the brush touched her hair. He was surprisingly gentle, working free any tangles or knots, and once he had the whole thing brushed out he started in on something simple and reasonable and a good bit later he waved his hand for her to go look at her hair in the mirror. Quinn set in on doing his own hair, a quick job really since he didn't have much to work with. "A wise man once told me that if you can't be flawless, be flashy, no one will ever know the difference. Lift your chin, dress you right, and I betcha those three idiots would walk right past you and never know." He gave her a smile from where he remained on the bed playing with his hairbrush.

Ana could feel the tug of his brush when he hit the snarls, but surprisingly enough, he was very gentle. She was a little nervous at having him at her back, but when his only touch was to her shoulder as warning and then all he focused on was her hair, she remained still. Once he was done with her hair, she blinked and got up to go look. All of it was up, showing off her small, round ears, her neck and, most importantly, her face. Just standing there in the large shirt, she looked a lot different and she almost didn't recognize herself. The only things reminding her were her eyes.

She turned to face Quinn and gave him a shy smile, "It's pretty. Thank you."

Veronica soon came back with many different articles of clothing in hand, mostly for females but there were some male clothes in the bunch as well. She placed the clothes on the bed and looked at Ana's hair "Oh that's cute. I didn't think Quinn would be that good with hair." She smiled as she started sifting through the clothes and pulled out a skimpy black dress "Let's try this one first." Her smile was way too noticeable, and that dress was definitely a dress for picking up guys at a bar.

Quinn had to fight to keep his eyes on her face and not let them wander. "You're beautiful." He coughed and turned around, getting up and rubbing the back of his neck. "Welcome. You're welcome." He corrected. He had to take a moment to get himself back together, looking up when Veronica came back into the room. "I had a sister growing up." He shrugged in response to her comment about Ana's hairdo. Quinn eyed the dress Veronica pulled out and, because he was sure it wasn't the best idea for Ana's sake, he gave Veronica a shocked look and then glanced down at himself and ran his hands from his ribs, over his hips and down to his thighs. "Are you sure it'll fit?!" He twisted a bit to look at his hip. "Will it make my butt look big?" He inquired of Ana, attempting to get at least another smile from her.

Ana had blushed a little when he said she was beautiful. She had heard it before, but never from one of the opposite sex. She looked at Veronica and the dress she was offering. Though the color drained once she realized how little the dress would cover, she was even more shocked when Quinn directed the attention to him. As she watched him, she couldn't help but start to giggle, which turned into a snicker and finally became a full laugh. She couldn't respond...at least not at first.

When she was finally able to calm down, she wiped at her eyes and shook her head, "No...I don't think it would." If it were not for her mother having told her of such things like that, Ana probably would not have known how to respond at all.

Veronica laughed at Quinn's response to the dress. Though she wanted to get Ana's response she found this rather interesting and decided to play along. "Oh if you like that Quinn, then I have just the thing for you." She sifts through the clothes again and pulls up a tiny pair of red shorts and a white tube top that says 'Rot Mädchen' on it, obviously for advertising purposes. "I got a lot of customers with this, though the staff didn't want it to be the official uniform." She then layed said uniform down on its own and pulled out a casual blue dress that went to the knees and showed it to Ana.

"How do you like this?"

Ana covered her cheeks as she watched Veronica and listened. She took in the blue dress, though, and gasped. Blue was her favorite color. It looked wonderful. "Oh, Veronica! You are sure about this?" Oddly enough, it looked similar to one of the ones she had been looking at on Quinn's data pad. The only reason she didn't mark it for herself was because she was thinking more practical. This dress would be a good fit for her, even though she had never worn a dress since she was a little girl. She couldn't, since dresses would be in the way of working on engines. Focusing on the "here and now", though, she stepped forward to take the dress and hold it up to herself. Even with the modest cut, she still felt as if she'd be naked, but she had seen others wearing similar dresses as well as less.

He was glad to have earned laughs out of both women, grinning at it. His grin fell into a scowl when Veronica decided to tease him. That look didn't stick around long either when the blue dress was finally pulled out and shown to Ana. He turned his eyes completely to Analiese and waited to see what she thought of it. When she held it up to her his grin returned. "Much better," Quinn commented "You'll look great." He picked through Veronica's pile of clothing. "Now something for me that won't threaten to rip at the seams the first time I have to bend over to tie my boot laces." Though the thought was amusing he doubted he could fit into the tiny shorts and tube top Veronica had set out.

Veronica smiled seeing Ana look pleased at the dress. "That'll look great on you Analiese." Her voice was still excited and full of energy as she spoke, and soon she turned to Quin and sifted through the men's clothes with him.

Unfortunately most of the men's clothes seemed to be costumes, after all they seemed to belong to Veronica and she didn't have much need to be walking around in men's clothes. "A butler will stand out too much...and we'll have to have something where it wouldn't look weird to wear a hat so we can keep your face hidden." She soon pulled out a hoodie and and some baggie pants, looking them over "Hmm...it works but it'd be weird to see you standing next to Analiese in this."

Ana stepped into the adjoining bath in order to change her clothes. Once she was in the dress, she came back out. The dress was a good enough fit, though it did seem a bit too big for her small frame. One could see that she was still in need of food, even though she was not starving. She looked to the two with her and waited to see what Quinn would be able to find.

Chewing on her lip, she looked through the costumes and tilted her head. "What about doing these with that?" She indicated the slacks from the butler outfit with the hoodie. For though the hoodie wasn't too fancy, it would dress down the slacks without it looking too odd.

With his attentions on going through the clothes he didn't notice Ana slip away to change in the bathroom. He actually seemed a bit startled when Ana spoke up but recovered quickly, glancing between said pants and the hoodie. "It'd work." He agreed, glancing to Veronica for her input on the matter. Quinn was showy and flashy so this was an absolutely different look for him and with his hair up out of the way he'd look completely different, at least a distance if nothing else.

Veronica smiled at seeing Ana in the dress, it looked good on her, better than she had expected even. Though the girl was still rather thin she did look nice in dresses, something Veronica would have to take note of. The suggestion on how to dress Quinn so he didn't stand out was also amusing, she thought it would look a little odd, but it would definitely stand out less than either of the two alone. "We can try that, just stay close to each other and don't get separated." As a finishing touch she grabbed a simple sun hat and handed it to Ana. "And use this to hide your face if you need to."

Ana looked over at Veronica and took the hat she offered, putting it on her head. She angled it down over her eyes and said softly, "What do you think?"

She had planned on staying close to Quinn. Mostly because she didn't know anyone here and she had no way to walk around by herself. She was both nervous and excited. Nervous because she was not sure what was going on with the other three. Excited because she will get to explore in a way she never had been able to before. She was getting hungry once more. More so than before.

"How soon can we go?" She asked. She then gasped as she realized she had spoken in a way that wasn't suitable and looked between them. She said softly, "I...I'm sorry..."

Quinn grinned at the hat and had been about to reply when she started muttering an apology. He blinked and gave her a slightly gentler smile. "Don't apologize." He told her. "I'll go change and then we can go for a walk." That much said he turned and headed into the bathroom. He wasn't long in coming out, tucking his other clothes into his pack and swapping his calf-high boots for some ankle-high work boots. That done he hid his pair of knives and his peashooter away just in case and he tugged the hood up over his head. "Now we can go." He added, offering his hand to Ana in invitation.

Veronica looked Quinn over once he was dressed and gave him a nod of approval "Yes this will work out." She got the rest of the clothes situated once more and then smiled "You two have fun, I'll get things in order for you to head to Dawn Station for when you get back." She then stepped out of the room to put the clothes back in their proper places.

Ana chewed on her lip and then placed her hand in his. She didn't seem to worry too much about what was, or in this case wasn't, on her feet. If it weren't for the fact that shoes protect her feet when working on engines, she would have gone barefoot all the time. She did note that he had armed himself, but since she didn't have anything really for herself that she could hide in the dress, she would just trust that he would protect her if needed.

Quinn nodded to Veronica and then he gave Analiese a reassuring smile. "Come on. I got to see a bit of the station yesterday, but I hear there's an amusement park somewhere around here. Betting you've never been to one of those before." He walked with her from the room, not nervous seeming at all.


Ana tilted her head, confused. "What is an amusement park?" She didn't struggle over the words, for she had heard and seen them before...just the concept was odd to her. She was rather intrigued, since he seemed to be looking forward to their outing.


Quinn thought about it for a moment and as they left the bar and set out into the station he answered her question as best he could. "Well It's a place where people go to have fun. They have rides, games you can play to win prizes, food booths that are usually over priced and sometimes they have a part where you can go swimming." That was the best he could do for the moment. "You'll see when we get there, for now I encourage you to look around. We've got plenty of time so if you see something you want to look at just let me know." He kept his strides short so Ana wouldn't feel rushed.


Ana walked along beside Quinn, looking around. She was still amazed by what all there was in a place like this. Being too used to alleyways and dirt and grime, this was amazing. But even with all that, she was focused on learning about the amusement park. "People have fun? How? What makes it fun? Wait...will I need shoes?" She stopped and looked down at her bare feet and back at him, chewing her lip. She'd have been fine just walking around without shoes, but after observing some people, it appeared that everyone was wearing something on their feet, even if it barely covered.


"All very good questions." He admitted. "We can fix the shoe problem." He added, gently encouraging her to keep walking. He showed her into one of the more decently priced shoe stores and took her back to where there were shoes about her size. "Find something you like that fits and is comfortable" He said simply, letting go of her hand and encouraging her to work her way through the walls of shoes while he fetched some general sized socks so her feet weren't rubbed sore when she finally did find shoes she liked.


Ana looked around at the shoes. All various styles. Her eyes are drawn to the ones that look more comfortable and she starts to reach for a pair of boots, but then pulls back, shaking her head. She had one pair of those already and didn't need any new ones. Besides, they wouldn't go with what she was wearing. Tapping her chin, she contemplated the other shoes and then stopped as she saw a pair of sandals. These would be perfect. Letting her have a sense of freedom and still protect her feet as she walked. She took them out of the box and put them on, trying them out.


Quinn watched, quiet and passive, and when she decided on a pair of sandals he gave a small smile. "Do you like them?" He asked finally after she seemed to have tested them out a bit.


She looked up at him when he spoke and smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm not used to...all of this."


"That's alright." He picked up the box the sandals had been in and didn't even bother to check the, thankfully low, price. He carefully wiggled the socks from their packaging and handed them to her. "Get yourself settled and we'll keep on." He went up to the front to pay.


She nodded and put the socks on her feet then the sandals once more before going back to where he was paying for the items. She said softly, "I will be owing you a lot."


Quinn studied her for a moment and then gave a slight shake of his head, leaving the box and empty socks wrapper with the clerk because they wouldn't exactly need either of those later. "Nah" He offered her his hand again. "You need things like this more than I need the money. I can always sing for my supper and with a potential job around the corner? Well I can easily make back whatever I spend on you." As long as their prospective captain didn't charge him for all the food he'd inevitably eat.


Ana sighed a little as they walked along and shook her head, saying in reply, "I have only ever worked...to earn my keep. Nothing more." She looked around, a small trace of fear in her eyes and voice. "I am still not sure what I am doing. I've never been...idle."


"It's alright to not be sure of yourself." He said gently. "I live in a constant state of not knowing where I'm going next or when I might actually get paid." He shrugged. "I let the wind take me where it will and enjoy the ride."


She gave a small, mirthless chuckle. "Paid. There's a concept I know from my mother, but never thought it would ever happen for me." She walked along for a moment, chewing on her lip in thought. "What about my...I mean...well...you know..." She trailed off, not sure how to express what her old "master" was to her.


"Your Old master?" He asked, confused. "What about him?" He wasn't sure what she was trying to ask exactly.


She nodded and shrugged, "Do you think he will try to find me?"


He blinked and thought about it. "Depends on if those three we managed to shake earlier are stupid enough to tell him they lost you or not. My bet is that by the time he comes looking, if he does, we'll be elsewhere and virtually untraceable." He shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it Analiese. I'm not about to let anyone else hurt you."


Ana nodded and tried to shake it off. Looking around once more, she spied a shop that has what looked like toys. In the main display window, she could see a train going around what looked like dolls. She vaguely remembered playing with such things before, but nothing like this. What she had were made by hand...and destroyed as soon as the Master had found them. Like the dresses she had seen on his datapad, she didn't ask for any of them. She just gave the dolls a fleeting glance of longing.


Quinn noticed the look and he gently steered her towards it. "Go on. You can look." He went to the window of the shop with her to peek inside, not particularly interested in anything they had, but giving Ana time to actually look and enjoy herself as much as possible. Quinn's mind was already working, trying to figure out what she was staring at the most. When he had a bit more to spend he'd use that bit of information to give her a little surprise.


She stood at the window and looked all over at the different types of dolls on display. Some were more like toy soldiers. Others were the kind that a little girl would want to have for either dress up or just to hold. One in particular caught her eye. It was a doll that looked almost like she did now, though the eyes matched. The dress was a deeper blue than the eyes and the hair was done in ringlets. Ana placed her hand on the glass and whispered very softly, "Someday." Soon after that, she turned to Quinn and said a bit louder, "Let's go. I'm getting hungry...well...I've been hungry."


Quinn made note of the doll and he gave her an easy grin when she turned back to him. He offered her his hand again. "Alright. There's only a few places we can safely eat at and one of them is up here. It's got take out so we'll get something to eat while we walk if that's alright with you?"


Ana nodded slowly, "Alright. I remember the others got some sort of flyer that said where the safe places were...but I didn't get a chance to see it for myself."


Quinn tapped the side of his head. "Ah, but I know." He said with a grin. He led her to the place, got them something easy to eat while they walked and then headed off again, keeping his pace slow so she had time to eat and enjoy it while they did.


Ana looked at what it was he had ordered and frowned, not quite sure what to make of it. "What is this again?"


"It's fried rice, egg, vegetables and finely chopped chicken and beef." He said holding up a plastic fork for her. "Typically eaten with two long sticks, but I think that's an eating lesson for a different time." He ate a few bites with his own fork. "It's Yamataian. Girls with kitty cat ears, lovely but deadly."


She took a bite of the food and looked up at him in small shock when she experienced the flavors. "It looks odd, but it tastes good!" She smiled a little, liking the fried rice with the bits of meat. She could walk and eat easily enough.


Quinn gave her a smile at her surprise and pleasure. "It's one of my favorites whenever I'm close enough to Yamataian space. Some people like to claim that it's as addictive as certain drugs." He shrugged "I can't say if that's so or not, but it is good." He was happy enough to just walk along in silence with her for the moment.


She nodded as she ate, saving the question about 'drugs'. She didn't know what that word meant, but she figured it was probably nothing really good, either way. She was just enjoying her time with him, eating as they walked.


They were mostly done with their food by the time they reached the amusement park. Quinn found somewhere to toss their leftovers away and he walked with her around the place, letting her see everything the place had to offer.


Surprisingly enough, she didn't have any left over. She was that hungry. But now that they were at the park, she looked around at all that it had to offer. The noises and the lights, the smells and the amount of people. It was a bit overwhelming for her. She reached for his hand, holding on for dear life to ensure she wasn't lost from him. She couldn't say anything, for there was too much.


Quinn gave her a few minutes to take it all in before he found a little niche out of the way where he could stand with her. "You're alright." He said gently. "You're actually probably safer here amongst all the people and the sights and the sounds than we were walking here." He mused, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb in a subtle effort to soothe her a bit.


Ana could hear him, in spite of her heart beating loudly in her own ears. She breathed in slowly and let it out, nodding some. His rubbing on her hand did help soothe her and she looked over at him. "Hide in plain sight, huh?" She tried to smile at him.


Quinn nodded "That's the idea." He gave her an encouraging smile. "Take a few minutes, look around, see if there's something you want to get closer to and we'll work our way there."


Looking back towards the booths, Ana let the sounds wash over her as she tried to focus on something in particular. Anything. She finally spied one of the rides he had mentioned and her eyes widened. "Wait...people ride in..a train?...on that thing?" She looked up at him for reassurance.


He followed her gaze to where she was looking. "Yes. That's a roller coaster. Would you like to give it a ride?" He asked, knowing it was a small, tame ride compared to some of the others in the park.


She looked back at the roller coaster and studied it more. A part of her wanted to see more of it. Maybe she would go for a ride. But first, she needed to know how it worked. Looking through the crowd, she tried to think of a way to get there without interrupting the flow and started walking, still holding onto his hand as they went. "How does it work?" She asked him as they went to the contraption.


"Well as I understand it the car, or train, rides along the rails and it goes up and down and around and brings you back to the point you started at. It's pretty simple really. Some of them have straps to keep you firmly in your seat, but this one probably has a bar that will sit across your lap." He got her closer to it and gave her another moment to watch it run. "Want to try?"


She stood by the rail that kept people back from the machine and tilted her head, watching as she could see the engine that powered the chains lifting the train of cars up the first hill. As she watched, Ana could see that the frames for the rails were rickety, but holding the weight well enough. She watched the car make its circuit, chewing her lip as she debated. "It seems safe enough." She nodded and turned to him. "Do you like riding them?"


"They're alright. Not my favorite but I've ridden a few." He shrugged. "I generally play some of the games and enjoy the scenery, and watch the people. There are some shows we can go watch if that's something you think you might like."


She looked back at the roller coaster and sighed softly. Shaking her head, she replied softly, "There's just so much...I don't know where to begin." She chewed on her lip for a moment in thought and then said, "I...I want to go on this, though..."


Quinn nodded. "We'll go on this, and if you can handle it afterward I'll get you some ice cream on the way back. How's that sound?" He took her hand and kept her carefully close as he led her into the line for the roller coaster.


Ana brightened a little at the mention of the sweet treat. "Ice cream? I haven't had that as a treat in so long." She stayed near him as they got in the queue and walked forward when they were able to. Soon enough, they were able to pick a car and she followed him to whichever one he chose, not knowing where the best place to sit would be.


Quinn decided to take her up to the very front so she could see everything. He got her seated and settled and then tugged the restraints into place, keeping a hold of one of her hands. "You'll be alright." He promised and once the others were seated they were off. It was short and sweet and Quinn kept a hold of her hand the whole time.


She was a little nervous getting into the car, but once they got moving, and she heard the gears taking them up, she was getting into the whole thing. She even looked relaxed as they went through the small course. Her face only showing some surprise at the sensations, but for the most part, she was calmer than the others. When it was over, she looked to him. "That was...interesting."


Quinn gave her a grin as the cars coasted into the place where they got on and off. When the restraints released he directed her towards the exit and didn't allow the others getting off to crowd her. From there it was a slow working through the crowds and out of the amusement park and back towards where Veronica waited for them. "Did you like it?" He asked finally once they were away from all the noise and hustle and bustle.


Ana was glad to be away from all the noise. Though she could understand why it was that way, she is not used to being around so many people. Her noises were always machines that were making the cloth used to make most of the clothes here. Looking at Quinn, Ana shrugged a little and said softly, "It was a lot."


He gave a her a small, soothing smile. "It is. It's alright. We'll get ice cream from a place just down the way and then we'll go back and you can rest and relax for a while." He didn't blame her for being overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds and people. They'd just have to take it bit by bit until she felt more comfortable with various things.


She nodded and gave him a small smile in thanks. "That would be good." She felt as if she was needing to do more in thanks, but at the moment she couldn't think of anything.


Quinn got them ice cream in short order, letting her pick her own flavor, and then he headed them onwards. "Anything you'd feel comfortable telling me about yourself?" He asked after a long moment, wanting to get to know her.


Ana had kept her choice simple. Chocolate. She licked at the spoon as they walked along in thought and then shrugged. "Not really sure what you don't know yet. Or what you want to know." She wasn't trying to be evasive, just honest.


"Well... what's your favorite color? Have you ever had an animal as a pet? What's the best memory you have? Do you know how to read? Or write?" He shrugged. "There are a lot of little things that make up who you are. If it's something you'd ask me to learn more about me, then it's something you can answer yourself." He gave her a slight smile and took a big bite of his cheesecake ice cream "Any question you answer, I'll do the same, if it makes you feel better."


Ana swallowed and took another bite of ice cream before she answered slowly, "Blue. No. Cooking with my mother when we were able to spend time together. Yes and yes." She kept her answers simple as she spoke, figuring he would ask for details whenever he wanted to know more.


"Alright, fair enough. My favorite color is actually pink, but don't tell anyone else that. I had a dog and a cat when I was a kid, my favorite memories are of when my sister brought these little honey drops home for me and my brother when she had money to spare. I know how to read, write and speak two languages quite fluently." He gave her a tiny smile. "Have any questions for me?"


She frowned a little in thought, not used to being able to ask questions of others. Usually, she would just be told to do something and had to get it done. Questions would be asked of her, but it'd be about what she was working on. She shook her head, eating the chocolate ice cream quietly as they walked along towards Veronica's.


"I'm sure you'll think of some eventually. When you do please know I won't ever be angry at you for asking a question, no matter what it is." With that said he let her eat in silence, enjoying his own ice cream until he was done and could toss it away in one of the public trash cans. By that time they were back where they started and had soaked up several hours with walking, talking, shop surfing, food eating, and that single ride at the amusement park. Quinn pushed the door open, held it for Analiese and followed her inside.


Ana tossed her trash as well, finishing up when he had. She replied softly to him, "I know. You would have shown signs of being angry before." She gave him a small smile as they walked through the door, looking around for the proprietor. Though she had a rather easy day, for her, she was still rather tired from the outing and all the walking and talking.

"Honey we're hhhooommmeee!" Quinn called out in a sing-songy voice in order to summon Veronica to them. He was also sure it would earn them amused smiles from anyone in the establishment at the time.