forum OxO with @Davadio

Started January 25, 2023 by @Emmrii

tune

The Boss had to smile. "I like you, Conner. I'm sure Arriss will do very well here." He leaned back.
"I haven't spoken to the other two yet. You were the most awake. Ronnie is just now waking up post surgery, and your Charad-ti friend is still on the list. I'll be asking them after I have your decision.
……………
Moro-12 guided Arriss to the commons, made sure she got her food, and waited till she sat down. "Would you still like the info on Muwellorians, or perhaps some of the people you see around you?"
The room had about 20 people in it, most of them alien. There were some who were roughly humanoid, and several that were very different.
There were also 3 humans, one of which made eye contact with Arriss briefly and flashed her a smile. He was a big guy, muscular, platinum blonde, and he hurriedly picked up all his stuff and walked over.
"Hey there! Always good to see another Earthling aboard. I'm Romulus, you can call me Rom. First day?"

Conner let out a sigh of relief. He had been desperately worried about Valiel, but even more so for Ronnie because of his injuries. He didn’t know what kind of state he was in, but he did know that it must’ve been bad. It was the only reason he knew of that would make Arriss surrender so fast.

“Well, you have my decision.” He slid the board with his signature back over to the commander. “What now?”

“I would like to learn more about the Mu—“

Arriss paused, watching as the man gathered up his belongings and went to sit down with her. This was… unusual. Normally, it was Arriss who had to approach others and try to make some sort of connection with them. Not the other way around.

“I’m Arriss.” She sent him a smile. “And yes, first day. My ship was captured early this morning.”

The Boss smiled broadly as Conner signed. "Welcome aboard, and thank you. My name is Commander Verrick." He tapped his communicator twice. "You'll be moved from your current room to a more comfortable one, you'll be given access to more of the AI's files and knowledge, and you're officially part of the crew. For now, just get acquainted with the ship and your crewmates, and we can figure out the rest later." The door slid open, and the guards were waiting, but not to guard him so much as guide him.
………………………………….
Moro-12 went quiet as Romulus approached. She pulled up the Muwellorian info, just in case.
"Arriss, good to meet you!" Romulus plopped his tray down across from her. "Yikes, captured… Well, I guess you've signed on now though, huh?" He nodded at the earpiece. "Did your crew come through ok?" His face was sympathetic, despite some rather significant scarring.

Conner glanced over at the guards as he stood up. They didn’t look nearly as intimidating as they did when he had first been captured by them. He still had his concerns about joining the new crew, but so far, it seemed to be going alright.

“The new ship? Cool.” He glanced over at the captain. “Will the others be released into the ship too once they’ve agreed?”

“Mostly. My… uh, friend got injured, but I think he’s stable.” She let out a shaky breath, picking at her food. “But the others are fine.”

Was friend the right word? It felt like too simple of a word to describe what they had, but their relationship had remained only professional up to this point. She was sure it wouldn’t change now that they were on a new ship, so maybe friends was the best term to describe them.

Commander Verrick nodded. "Assuming they agree to join, yes. In fact, I think Arriss is out and about somewhere. The AI can help you find her." He flashed Conner a smile, before shaking his hand. "Glad to have you join us." The guards stepped back out the door, signaling Conner to join them, and the Commander sat back down to prep another contract.
The Charad-ti was next, and she would be hardest.
……………..
Romulus raised his eyebrows. "Your 'uh, friend'? You know I'm human, right? I can read those signals a mile away." He smiled at her. "Husband? Boyfriend?"
He'd ask about the others soon, but clearly Arriss was worried about this one in particular.

Conner headed out into the halls, eager to find Arriss. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too grumpy today, but her ship had just been taken over, so he had no idea what to expect. Plus, Ronnie had been injured.

He made his way into his room first, looking around and putting his belongings away, before he headed out towards the dining hall. Part of him wanted to see if he could locate which rooms Valiel and Ronnie were in, but he knew he would likely get in trouble for that.

Was she really that obvious? She knew her and Ronnie had had a… complicated relationship, but for now, it was nothing more than a friendship. Besides, Ronnie was strictly professional. He wouldn’t want to get involved with her like that.

She laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “No, no. Just friends. He’s my engineer,” she told him. “I’m just worried about him.”

Moro-12 had indicated the earpiece to Conner, and was guiding him towards the Commons, expecting he'd want to see Arriss. They made it without incident.
……………….
Romulus smiled at her. "If you insist. Was he hurt badly? They'll take care of him as long as he doesn't make trouble." He started eating again, before noting the salad on Arriss's plate. "You like pie? This ship has a weirdly incredible apple pie." He offered her the slice on his tray.
"I assume you're the first from your crew to join up. Have you seen any of the rest of them yet?"

Conner looked around for Arriss, and it wasn’t long before he spotted her near the back of the cafeteria. She looked to be in fairly good spirits, but she was speaking with a man and he didn’t want to bother her. So, instead of going straight up to her, he went and ordered food at the counter. Sure, he’d already eaten not too long ago, but there was always room for seconds.

Once there was a pause in Arriss’s and the man’s conversation, Conner headed towards them, food in hand.

She felt like saying no at first; she had never been a big fan of pie. But, she was still hungry after finishing her salad, so she decided to accept her offer.

“Thanks.” Arriss took a bite of the pie before she continued. “No, I haven’t seen them since we were taken captive. I just hope they’re alright…”

Arriss went back to eating the pie before she noticed someone out of the corner of her eye.

“Speak of the devil…”

Romulus happily slid the remainder of his tray over to her. "Of course."
He gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure they'll be alright. My crew was after we got picked up, despite the fact I got into a slugging match with Commander Verrick himself." The big man chuckled. "He probably could've broken my neck, but here I am."
He glanced up as Arriss spoke, noticing Conner headed towards them. "Well, hello. I guess you're the devil, huh?"

“Mm… you could say that. Arriss would agree with you.” He slid into the chair next to Arriss. “I’m Conner, one of Arriss’s crew mates.”

“He’s our cartographer,” Arriss explained. “We have two other crew mates that are still being contained…”

She sighed and glanced at the door. It was weird how strong of a connection the four of them had formed, but that’s what happens when you spend every hour of your day on a ship with the same four people.

"Conner? Romulus, good to meet you." He smiled broadly. "And hey, if the captain doesn't think at least one of their crew is the devil, then someone's not doing the job right."
Romulus glanced at Arriss, nodding, then stiffened suddenly.
"So… you were a 4 man team?" His voice had dropped, getting quieter and more even. "What side of the war were you guys on?"
The sudden tension became clear.

Arriss could sense the tension in the conversation. Crap, did she say something wrong? She felt like ignoring his question, trying to find a way to brush around it, but she knew that it would be brought up again.

“Well, I’m from Spain, Conner’s from America,” she muttered, trying to not answer his question directly.

Romulus narrowed his eyes for just a moment. "I'm from Callisto." That would have placed them firmly on opposite sides of the current conflict. He was from one of several colonies causing trouble.
"Only you people send out 4 man killing teams. That's what tipped me off" His face relaxed, though his posture didn't.
"But we're on the same crew now, so… are we gonna have problems?"

Arriss eyes hardened slightly when he mentioned where he was from. He seemed like a nice guy and all, but they were supposed to be enemies. They were fighting for completely different things. But, she had a crew to worry about, and they were on a different kind of mission now.

“Not unless you and your crew cause trouble for me,” she replied. “The war… it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Romulus visibly relaxed at her final statement. His face went from serious to smiling quickly.
"I'm glad to hear you say that." His voice had lightened, going back to the friendly tone from before. "I agree. That's why I'm here. But…" he shrugged. "If you still had feelings about it, I needed to know that." He went back to eating. "I'm not going to cause trouble for you. And I was the only one from my crew who chose to switch, so. They won't either."

He was the only one to switch? Arriss couldn’t imagine how lonely that would be. Sure, the people on this ship seemed nice, but she would be lost without her crew. She just hoped that the other two members came to the same decision and signed onto their new team.

“Does if get lonely sometimes?” Arriss asked, sending a glance in his direction. “Being without your crew, I mean…”

The big man shrugged and looked down. "I mean… there are other humans onboard, and the xenos are nice enough… and its not like my crew or the ship was a happy place. They didn't really like me." He looked back up at her. "You can guess what kind of people they were to go back to the war after what they were offered here. And I picked this, so… yeah, we never really got along well."
He looked over at Conner after a moment. "Hey, are your Captain and engineer dating? Or is she telling the truth about them being just friends?"

“I’m really sorry to here that. But, you know, if you’re lonely, you could always join our crew. Become apart of the family,” she insisted. She then laughed at Romulus’s question to Conner. “Really. We’re just.”

“Why are you so curious? Wanna make a move on our oh so lovely captain?” He laughed as Arriss elbowed him in the ribs. “But, lucky for you, she’s telling the truth. We all ship them, but alas. They’re just friends. But maybe that will change.”

Arriss smiled and rolled her eyes. “Our relationship is only professional.”

“Mm, sure.”

Romulus smiled at her. "I appreciate that, but we'll have to see where I get assigned." He laughed at Conner's response. "Maybe I do. She's only the second lady on the ship, and she's the pretty one." His smile changed to a mischievous grin.
"Only professional, huh? So what you're saying is, I do have a chance…" He winked at Conner. "Hey, man, quit nudging them together. Help a guy out, huh?"

Arriss laughed at the comment. She had always wanted a relationship, but her job… well, she was too busy for one. Besides, she worked in a dangerous environment. Something could easily go wrong, and she could end up losing the person she loved most.

“Pssh, the only relationships I’m gonna have will be work related only,” she teased. “But nice try. I’m sure the other lady would love to have you.”

“Yeah, and Ronnie and Arriss are cute together anyways,” Conner insisted before he received an eye roll from Arriss. “But, I mean, if you pay me enough money, maybe I’ll help you out.”

“Really, Conner? You’re trying to bribe him?”

“Gotta get some extra money here and there, you know?”

Romulus's grin just grew. "I like a challenge." He laughed at the back and forth between Conner and Arriss.
"Speaking of other humans, would you like to meet them?"

(sorry its short!)

(( You’re all good! ))

Arriss looked at the entrance again. Part of her didn’t want to see anyone else with her two friends still missing, but she would eventually have to meet the other members of their team. Besides, there was no telling what decision Valiel and Ronnie would make; they choose to separate from them.

“Pssh, I’d like to see you try,” she teased, “but as for the rest of the team, I would love to meet them, even if they are a bunch of guys.”