| More Questions |
| Summary: | Cidra gets the lowdown on the cultist find on WoR. There are more questions than answers to go around. And not just about what the Cylons are up to. |
| Date: | 25 Dec 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Mirror, Mirror specifically, and all of the new Five/Tauron logs generally. |
| Players: |
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| Galley |
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| Behind the two hangar decks, the Cerberus' Galley is the largest room on the ship. Nearly half the size of a football field, the eating area is made up of long lines of stainless steel tables that can be folded up and placed against the wall for larger events. Individual seats are the standard military issue, boring and grey with lowest-bidder padding. The line for food stretches across one of the shorter sides of the room while the kitchen behind works nearly twenty-four hours a day to produce either full meals or overnight snacks and coffee for the late shifts. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #302 |
Roland makes his way through the food line, taking careful note of what the other in front of him take. Not taking any chances, he gets much the same as them, before he finds a near empty table, and slides into a seat. He rubs his face with one hand, and checks the clock before he picks up a fork.
Food. A sad necessity, really, considering Maggie is both starving and gets heartburn at the thought of eating, but she can't avoid the stuff. So, she makes her way up the mid ship stairwell and down the hall to the galley, only a touch breathless for the trip, in her usual over sized swears. She's also getting tired of never being able to put on a different style of clothing. She waddles her way into the room and up to line.
Cidra has already gotten her chow and is settled at a table. She eats quickly. Not quite wolfing. Toast does not wolf. But she seems to be in something of a hurry. She's dressed in her flight suit, sans helmet. With Condition 2 still in effect, she hasn't felt the need to change out of it terribly often. A tin cup of tea sits within easy reach, and she sips on it briskly between bites.
And not but a few steps behind Quinn, is Leyla, who seems less interested in hunting down food than in trailing in after the beachball-burdened LSO. She even has her hands full, a stack of paperwork, and some handwritten notes. "Go sit, I'll get you something, Maggie." She does try to hand the paperwork off to the waddling woman though. Hot potato!
Roland starts to eat, but pauses, and looks down at something on his tray. A experimenting prod with his fork give him uneasy results. He glances around the table for someone to ask, and notes the major nearby. He pales slightly, and checks the clock again, before turning his attention back to his tray.
Quinn blinks towards Leyla, smiling wide to see the woman's face. Apparently, she and Maggie have gotten comfortably close as of late. "Sure thing, Sweet Pea… I got it…Convenient shelf here for paperwork storage." She teases lightly as she accepts the stack of stuff, resting it atop her watermelon of a belly as she looks over the room for somewhere to sit.
Cidra's cloudy blue eyes uptick to Roland. Noticing him, not far off, noticing her. A small inclination of her head. "It is…Blue, yes? Trouble?" His paling earns an arch of her brow. Catching sight of entering Quinn and Leyla, the pair of women are offered a slight wave. Before she sips her tea again.
Leyla is more than happy to hand off the potato, before she takes Quinn's place in line, shooting the men she's now standing in front of a look, before she settles in for the wait to collect something edible. Thankfully, Sweet Pea seems to try to hunt down and kill all beef jerky at any location she goes to, because she has a piece to pull out and start gnawing on as she waits. "It won't kill you, Blue, really. Just close your eyes."
Roland blinks a little in surprise, and looks over to Cidra. He clears his throat, "Nothing to speak of Major… I thought those were carrots, but…. They move more like…. Well jello.." He looks back to his tray for a moment, before reaching for his coffee cup. He smiles slightly, and glances over to Leyla, "Sweet Pea…. I'd like to know what it will do to me before I'm locked in that Viper for a double CAP."
"Ahhh… reconstituted algae.. is that what we're onto today?" Maggie asks in the direction of Roland's plate, sounding falsely thrilled. "It gives me heartburn…but, well… -everything- gives me heartburn these days so… don't trust that." Maggie is still carrying Leyla's paper work, and she makes her way over to a point rather near both Cidra and Roland, where there is a seat near by her for Leyla too. The paper work is put down, then she goes about lowering herself down into sitting.
"It shall not kill you, Lieutenant," Cidra replies to Roland. Perhaps not a particularly encouraging sentiment, but she eats her own orange cubes with no particular hesitation. "Jugs. Sweet Pea." Nod to Quinn as she sits, paperwork eyed. "At work on anything in particular? Busy times these days."
Leyla seems quite content to wait her way through the line, all things considered, now that the Package of Great and Frightening Importance has been handed off to a Captain. Things are always better when they're handed off to someone with more brass, yes indeed. But Leyla continues along, with a, "Toast," before she settles into the task of trying to find something both edible and not likely to cause heartburn.
Roland listens to the CAG, and picks through the orange mess, choosing a likely cube. He chews it for a few seconds, and shrugs before finding another cube. He eat quietly, listening as the conversation around him moves from algae to work.
Quinn looks down towards the papers that were handed off to her as Cidra asks about the work, "Uh… I'm not certain, actually. Sweet Pea's work. Looks like some stuff to do with the cult museum we found down on the moon, Toast…" She pages through a few more things. "Sweet Pea… whatcha got here for us?" She calls back towards the line. Roland is given a brief smile as she looks away from the work. "See? Not so bad."
"The one on Wreath of Roses?" This piques Cidra's interest, eyes narrowing a touch more at the paperwork. "I had meant to ask you both more upon that. Events moved apace quick, and I shall admit it slipped me. There is much old left upon this world." Another drink of her tea. It's cooled enough that she can gulp it.
"A catalog of what we collected, and as much as I could find in the ship's library on the story." Not religious myth, not belief, just a story. But quickly enough, she collects dinner for herself and Quinn, before she starts back on her way to where Quinn's now settled in with Cidra, taking the seat between Quinn and Roland. "I figured you might know more than me," Cidra being more with the religiosity and all.
Roland glances between them as they speak, having no idea what they're talking about. He frowns, and eats a few more bites of orange before moving on to another color. He nods over to Sweet Pea as she sits down, and listens quietly.
Quinn nods in affirmation to Cidra, accepting the tray from Leyla as she returns to her side. "Thanks, L." Maggie's smile is warm and immediate for the other pilot. Whatever has happened over the last few weeks, she seems closer to Leyla than she's been to anyone on board other than her three boys from the Victory. She's comfortable, relaxed. "Ah, excellent. Yeah, we… collected a lot of… strange things. As far as Sweet Pea and I could tell, they're real too.." Maggie slides the paper work in the direction of Cidra, so she can focus on the food before her. She wrinkles her nose. "Blue… you might be right about this stuff…" She doesn't sound thrilled.
"Are you up on CAP next, Roland?" Cidra asks the LTJG. The question an idle one. As if asked more to get the schedule straight in her head than anything else. Attention still for the most part on Leyla and Quinn. "Perhaps," she affirms simply to Leyla. The CAG is Gemenese and - in many ways - all that that implies. "What was the tale that you found told there?" A soft "Thank you" to Quinn as she takes a closer look at those papers.
Since it's clear Roland isn't in the loop, and it's certainly a case of whomever knows anything, please step forward, Leyla takes up the story. "Quinn says it's was some sort of cult following. The story of Pentheus, a king of Thebes, who forbade the worship of Dionysis and later, was torn to pieces by women worshiping the gods in a frenzy of divine blindness." That's it in a nutshell, right? Leyla looks to Quinn to make sure. "We have a list of the artifacts they had in the museum, and they're all safely in storage. The dress he wore, the shackles he used to try to bind the god, the mirror he looked in, bunch of other things. But his helmet was missing."
Roland nods to the Major, and automatically glances back up at the clock. He answers the CAG, "Aye Major. Soon as they clear my bird. The chief wouldn't let me run check out until they replaced a part." He listens to the talk about the artifacts, but his mind is now on the flight, and the clock as the minutes tick off.
Quinn nods in affirmation to Leyla's information. "But… the story that this museum told, and apparently the people that kept it, was that Pentheus over threw Dionysus and became a god because he overpowered him. It was a very… Strange telling of the story. The helmet that is missing was the one Pentheus supposedly wore when he became a god. And the cylons, or someone large and destructive, -raided- the museum area. Everything was shattered, ripped apart, glass everywhere. It was ransacked by someone before us. The Helmet was the only thing taken." Maggie informs professionally, her expression moving to one more clinical and not so relaxed and warm.
Quinn adds quietly, "Well…safe flyin' when you're out there, Blue. Enjoy it…" She misses going out. That much is achingly clear.
"Don't let Skeeter scare you too much. She's a good sort, once you get to know her." There's no smile on Leyla's lips, but there's certainly a glimmer of humour in her eyes, as she mentions the ECO who's got the raptor detail on the next CAP. And a wicked sense of humour to go with her skeetery little voice. "You cleared to do repairs on the vipers?"
Cidra nods short to Roland. "I shall be flying with you most likely. Pending clearance of your Viper, that is." She sounds like she's looking forward to it, tension of CAP on Condition 2 or no. Though her attention is still in large part on the papers before her. Lips purse. "Horns of Zeus the Bull…the search party to that museum in Knossos recovered an artifact related to him as well. Though none seem quite sure of its import. The commonality is…curious…"
Roland shakes his head, "Not yet.. I need to talk to the Chief. I haven't had time since the dust up." He looks over to Cidra, and nods once, falling silent for the moment.
"Good hunting. Both of you." Maggie curtly offers to the new pair of flyers, still oddly jealous but she hides it very, very well. She finally begins poking at her food, knowing she needs to actually consume no matter how little room is left in her torso. She eats like a bird these days. She also nods to Cidra…"Seems the frakking toasters know something about these artifacts we don't. We should start looking up that legend more… "
"It seemed as though it must be important in some aspect. I mean, they went into the estate and did not take anything else. Despite the fact that the museum itself was ransacked, they were very deliberate in what they wanted. And they clearly took only what they wanted. But this sort of thing isn't really…my thing. I thought, we thought maybe you might be the better person for this." Odd that they'd pick their CAG, rather than anyone from the chaplain's corps, but eh. They're pilots, what do you expect?
"Should at that. Our ground troops reported sighting Cylon skinjobs of the…Model Five configuration…" Cidra's lips twist scornfully as she speaks of the things. "…ransacking an abandoned Temple of Ares in the city of Minos. Yet they do not seem to be taking truly aggressive action against us, crippled as we are. Not in force. They have some strange motive still left upon this planet." A small inclination of her head to Leyla. Right person or not, she seems to understand having it brought to her. "I shall inform Sister Karthasi. As well as Captain Nikephoros in Tactical of its import. If nothing else, perhaps it shall serve as a clue to some motive the Cylons may have."
Roland empties his coffee up, and slides his tray away from him a bit. His eyes move to each of them as they speak, every once and again checking the clock.
Quinn falls quiet now, having given her report about the surface. Her brows furrow, thoughtful about it all, but this still isn't her area of expertise. She just picks at her food, eating slowly but surely.
"Don't worry they'll announce on the ship's comms when you have to report down for the CAP." Leyla, for her part, is digging into her meal. Truly the pilot never saw a plate of processed food she didn't love. It's the real food that always makes her look funny. "I've been thinking about when exactly they attacked us, but didn't finish the job. It could be that they're scared of what we can do." Which would be the Big Gun, "Or, what if the whole point, is that they wanted to slow us down? Get us to focus on fixing the ship, so we turned a blind eye to what they're doing on the surface?"
Cidra frowns at Leyla's words. Not disapproving. In fact, they clearly take quite deep root in her mind. Thoughtful, and she does not like where such thoughts take her. "The Gun did those Raiders who jumped in upon us grievous damage. And it…it was only Raiders. Bootstrap reported spotting a basestar during the engagement that did not attack us but seemed to…record our actions. Or The Gun's actions. And at least a small part of Cylons *has* returned here, to this planet they abandoned months ago. I fear you are hitting near the right of it, Sweet Pea."
Roland nods several times to Leyla, and shrugs, "I haven't flown many of these yet. I like to get a second look at them before I bet my life on 'em." He looks between all three of them, "What if they're mad… I mean.. What if there's not any logic to Cylons at all? Maybe it's a program crash?.."
Quinn listens quietly to this all, slowing down even more in her eating. Wondering about the mad machinations of the cylons is enough to make anyone (but Sweet Pea apparently) lose their appetite. "Or…they're studying us… like rats in some sort of lab."
Leyla offers a nod to Quinn and around the table, "Well, as much as we don't know what they're doing, they also don't know what we're doing either. So it might well be that they're trying to figure out what our next move is. Whatever they're on to, what if they think we're on to it too?" That would make it a race to get to the goal, "Only they don't realize we don't know what they do, which means we need to get up to speed. The prisoner might help there. We haven't killed it off yet, have we?" Leyla is not really up on what's been going on with the Five in the brig. "Or they think we still have something they need. I mean, they could have easily jumped in half a dozen more basestars. Flasher and I saw their defenses over Picon. They could have swatted us like mosquitoes. And it wouldn't have cost them anything, since they apparently seem to be able to crank more of themselves out factory style." A beat. "You won't fly a better ship than what the deck puts together."
Cidra shakes her head. "The abomination on Tauron still remains in the brig. I wonder if it is not the reason for their return. Or at least wrapped up in it. The creature had some sort of…episode…not long after its capture. It started babbling about being 'late' for something. If this is a race, perhaps they are not running it so well, either." Not that the thought brings her any particular comfort. Another gulp of her tea. Long cold, but she drinks it anyhow. A firm nod to Roland. "The mechanics know the inner workings of these ships better than we do. Just as we know better how they should 'feel' in the air. All parts together, Roland. Stronger whole."
Roland shrugs, "I'm not saying I know the insides better. I'm just the pilot. I'm just going to know everything I can about that Viper before I bet on it is all." He falls silent again, and leans back, "Do we have to figure the longer we sit here.. The more likely they'll be back?"
Quinn shivers just a bit as she hears Cidra and Leyla's considerations. Yes, she was thinking it herself, but hearing it aloud doesn't make it any better. Hell, it makes it a bit worse. She finishes two more bites of her food and carefully pushes it away, already so full she'll be burping soon. Her hand rubs lazily across her very pregnant belly, quiet again.
"They're always going to be back. Until they leave or we do. So we work on getting the ship repaired, and we hope they have an escape plan worked out for the rest of the fleet if they do and we can't get out." Leyla does look to Cidra at that, and Quinn, since they're both much higher on the food chain than she is, "They will jump the other ships to safety if they come back and we can't save the Cerberus, won't they?" Wouldn't be much point in saving the last of humanity to have it blown to kingdom come trying to save one crippled ship. "Most of the deckies out be happy to go over the ship with you, if you ask them."
"I think it best we are gone from this place the split-second the ship is able to jump," Cidra says. There is no real worry in her tone. She schools it too well for that. But it is grave. To Leyla, a mere nod. "If worse comes to worst, we can evacuate to the Praetorian, the Corsair, even the Elpis, and make our escape." Which would mean leaving the Cerberus to rot over Tauron. Clearly the 'worst' option in her mind. "I pray it does not come to that."
Roland looks down at the table, and lets out a long breath. Clearly that doesn't sound like a very good prospect to him either.
"Hey… we're alive now. We've survived this long. Every moment we remain as such… that's what matters. We're here, we can fight, learn… live… Keep the human race going. Frak the cylons." Maggie does her best to get that good, optimistic streak going again with a weak smile to back it all.
"We still have a lot to do on the surface. A whole list of places we need to check for survivors." Yes, despite the damage to the ship and the situation, the air wing and the marines are still doing everything they can to save everyone they can, "We still have too much work to do to give up now." SO yes, she agrees with Quinn, but she's equally at ease that Cidra's reassured her that those that have been saved will be safe, if worse comes to worse.
Roland sits at one of the tables next to Leyla, Quinn, and with Cidra nearby. He listens quietly to the serious talk about the table, without offering anything else to it. He reaches up to rub the back of his neck, and looks down at the half eaten food on his tray.
"Worse has not come to worst yet, however. Our technical crews have not failed us before. We merely need to maintain the ship's defense and give them time, so we *can* make our escape. And find that which we can find." Cidra offers Leyla a small nod. Indeed. They aren't finished here yet. Faintest of smiles is offered to Quinn. "Fight and fly." And 'and die' that is so often added to the end of that saying is left off just now.
Quinn nods in affirmation to Cidra…"Well, those of us who can fly. I don't even know if I could -fit- behind the console right now… Soon, though. Soon." She'll be back in the pilot's seat in two months max, she kept telling herself. If everything went well.
Leyla will let that affirmation go unsupported. Not that she doesn't agree, but she's already said her piece. And as she's currently in the midst of stealing the last of the orange would be carroty jello stuff from Quinn's plate, she's a bit 'mouth full' and all. Hey, no need to let food go to waste!
Evandreus is like the poster child for wasting food. Or, at the very least, he would be, if he ever actually took human-sized portions of everything. As it is, he flakes out of line with a palm-sized bowl of something sweet and comes to dip down behind Quinn, pecking a kiss on her cheek. "Mumsie."
Roland glances over silently as Evandreus arrives. He stays quiet, and crosses his arms across his chest, elbows on the table in front of him.
"Bunny" is offered to Evandreus from Cidra as the other Raptor driver joins the table. She's nearly done with her meal, for her part, though she nurses the last of her tea. "Sweet Pea and Jugs and I were just speaking upon that small adventure you lot had on Wreath of Roses. Before the Cylons came upon us again. There are things about it I find most suggestive, though I know not quite what to make of them." Head tilts at Roland a notch. "Was the meal to your liking, Blue?"
Quinn smiles a bit more as Evandreus comes over and greets her like that. She turns her head and presses a brief kiss in turn to his cheek. "Bunny…" Seeing him always makes her happy, but for her sometimes unpredictable moodiness, Maggie actually seemed pretty content to be sitting there today as it is. She grins a moment to Leyla as she sees the woman stealing her left overs. She slides the tray over to the woman. "Eat… enjoy… I can't fit one more piece inside…" She pats her belly.
"BunBun." Leyla pauses in mid-motion, as she was just about to grab the last of the meat substitute from Quinn's plate. No, she doesn't look a bit sorry about that, no she doesn't. Whatever Evan lacks in the eating department, Sweet Pea most certainly makes up for. "You can have some of my jerky, if you like."
Evandreus doesn't sit down. He sort of finagles a knee next to Quinn's side and rests his chin on her head, resting his elbows over her shoulders and making an awful face at the stuff Lala's taking from mum's place. Or maybe it's at Cid's mention of WoR. Brble. "Suggestive of what?" he wonders, in a tone of voicd that indicate he fully suspects he'll end up sorry to have asked. Dude over there gets a bob of his head, one that rubs his chin over mum's skull. Nawrm.
Roland nods over to the CAG, "I can't complain.. Even the orange stuff… Wasn't as bad as I thought. I just don't fill up before a flight it all…" He glances from Cidra to Evandreus / Quinn, and back again, falling silent.
"An open question at the moment, the 'what'," Cidra replies to Evandreus. Tone perturbed. "But I do find it very odd that one particular artifact was missing from that collection. There is something about it which tugs at the mind…particularly since our ground teams have spotted small parties of Cylons at a religious site in Minos. Whatever has made these creatures return here - and employ some manner of stealth rather than force while our ship lies crippled - it seems they are taking an interest in matters spiritual. And perhaps did so as well before, when they still held this planet."
This interaction between Evandreus and Quinn is, apparently, par for course. Maggie seems quite comfortable with it, sinking her sore back into the younger pilot's front as she relaxes there. She chuckles at his elbows on her shoulders. "You know, if you're going to use me as a resting place, you could at least do some rubbin'…" She teases him lightly, even if she is a nice line of tension along most of her back muscles. Leyla is given a bit of a smile again, "We need to share meals more often… hell, you I and Roland.. no food goes to waste and the growing girl here can get her fill." She nods teasingly towards the Tauron. She then falls quiet, letting Cidra say her worrisome piece.
"As long as it's not more deer." That was just too unsettling for the daughter of the Black Country, "I don't like food that can look back at me." Real food=bad food in Leyla world. "It's the downside of being a viper pilot. You can't just jump back when you want to." There aren't many advantages to being a raptor pilot versus a viper, at least most people would say, but FTL is one of them. "Good to have you with us though, Blue."
Evandreus has a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, but these two he passes to Quinn as she requests rubbins, his hands moving to her shoulders, thumbs sweeping inward toward her shoulderblades, then deeper, kneading at musculature. He's nothing if not a devoted son. "So, if the Cylons are putting some kind of stock in religion… why this weird Penthin shit? Are they just that full of themselves?" he wonders.
Roland smiles slightly, and nods over to Leyla, "Thanks Sweet Pea. I appreciate it." He stands up from the table, "I better get going. Need to find out about my bird before launch." He nods to the group, then to Cidra, "Major. See you out there."
"Perhaps they do not know *what* precisely they are looking for," Cidra says, still pensive. "They abandoned this planet readily enough, like Sagittaron and Aerilon before it. But something has drawn them back. Perhaps it was just interest in the Areion's weapon. Bootstrap's readings of that basestar that appeared during battle make it seem they were more trying to spy upon us than destroy us. But that does not explain the skinjobs crawling about in temples on the planet's surface. And trying to stay out from under our noses. I know not why, Bunny. Or what stock they might place in the Faiths. They have their own twisted religion, a blasphemy from ours." The CAG *is* Gemenese. She has no care for monotheists.
Cidra inclines her head to Roland, as he rises. "Clear eyes and steady hands, Blue. I shall see you out in the black."
Quinn nods curtly towards Roland, "Safe flying, Blue…" And then her shoulders are being rubbed and that's enough to take her out of almost any conversation for a bit. Gods, she was sore. She releases a quiet moan that is probably not meant for public consumption, her mind reeling just a bit more…"So… they're taking certain artifacts… but we know, or we can assume at least… they're taking people too. We've seen signs of kidnappings around, not just killings… " The memory of her empty, too recently used home echoed still too fresh for Maggie. She shook it off and moved on. "Something to do with the gods. Perhaps they're… trying to understand the power… the dreams the gods have given us?" A shiver goes through her again. "Pentheus… the cult… Maybe they are trying to become a god themselves."
"It's like I was saying recently. We built them. We made them out of metal, after a fashion, in our own image. Like golems." Even the first war cylons look vaguely human/bipedal. "But we did not give them our humanity. We built a slave race, but gave them sentience. Now they seem to have created creatures that look like us. Like humans. They seem to be wanting to become us. But they don't seem to have the individuality that humans do. Even twins do not think or feel or act alike. And they are a race of twins, in a way. Perhaps that is what is missing. They have perfected our bodies. Clearly, they have perfected our minds, so what else is left?" Leyla, not the most religious sort, but she knows religious sorts and her own traditions enough to comment on that, "Our souls. The one thing perhaps the gods gave us that they lack." Another pause, as Leyla finishes her stolen meal, "Safe flying, Blue. See you back home."
Through the doors comes Andrea Demarcos, looking tired after nearly an entire day spent giving what assistance she could on her damaged Viper. She gives a small wave and a smile to the room before moving to the line to get something to eat. She's missed her usual shift, and she's starving.
Roland nods over to Layla, before getting rid of his tray, and moving toward the hatch. He nods over to Andrea as he passes, stepping outside, and into the hall.
"Well,if they're looking for a sick, twisted blasphemy, they've sure come to the right place," Evan mutters, looking to his discarded supper without appetite. Moody, for a Bunny, and snarky, to boot, as far as Bunny's snark capability goes. And as the conversation goes on, the more on-edge he seems, focusing further on mum's shoulders.
Cidra's head tilts at Evandreus. Curious. Quite curious. But she doesn't press the subject. Not here, at least. "At any rate, I shall be slating a planetary patrol at least to Wreath of Roses to check for any signs of new Cylon activity." She wipes her lips. "For the moment, I shall have to join Blue on CAP soon."
Her tray collected, Andrea glances over, spots a small group and heads over to them. "Evening, everyone," she says with a smile. "Mind if I join you? Catching a late bite."
Quinn winces a bit as Bunny's massage goes rather deeper into her shoulders, but gods know she needs it too. She hisses just slightly and then lets that breath turn into another small moan. Bunny is doing good things to her shoulders and it helps distract her from the uncomfortable conversation. "…Yes… that… that seems sickening like the best possibility. Looking for frakking… souls." Maggie breathes out, shaking just a hint beneath Bunny's fingertips… What the frak were they doing with her family? She goes dead quiet, leaning back a bit closer against her adopted son's legs, her eyes trailing between the other two women. "…Be safe, Toast." She whispers after Cidra.
Quinn gives Andrea a small nod, but she's half caught up in the conversation right now.
Leyla might be many things, but eventually she can prove that she's not completely oblivious, and as Cidra gets ready to leave, "Fair winds an full sails, Toast," she allows the subject to shift around her, "Would you like me to make you some coffee, Bunny?" One of the few things Bunny doesn't seem to turn his nose up at, wonder of wonders, "Come and sit, Hosedown, there's plenty of room."
If the bunny could be said to have anything resembling aggression, he'd surely be taking it out on Quinn's shoulders, by now. His attention withdraws inward, his exterior cooling and hardening into something not unlike a shell to keep whatever aggravation he's undergoing inside. Looking for souls. Scouting on WoR. Coffee? Bunny hates coffee. He'll drink it in needful times, but it can't stop tasting like mud to him. "No," he finally answers. "I gotta go. I'll see you guys later." And he's off. Never mind that h never even touched the stuff in the bowl.
Quinn blinks across her shoulder, frowning just a bit deeper, "Bunny? Your food… you need to eat…" She calls back to the man, truly worried, having snapped slightly out of any relaxation he actually managed to gain from her with the attentions of his hands. She sighs, it being too late to get him back. She just shakes her head and breathes out a quiet, "Frak."
Andrea starts to sit and watches in surprise as Bunny makes his exit. "Something I said?" she asks, weakly, glancing over at his tray still full of food. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything…"
There's a shake of her head, as Leyla sees Bunny move off, and then Andrea ask after him, "It wasn't anything to do with you. It was probably me." The problem with being overly logical, is you tend to be somewhat tactless, "We were discussing a recent trip to Wreath of Roses."
Quinn shakes her head…"No… no… just the whole conversation. Bunny isn't…Fond of that place. He'll go cool down. It'll be fine." Maggie reassures both the women, a weak smile crossing her own pale, freckled face. And then she burps. And it's not a pretty one. It's one of those very long, very heart burny burps that she's gotten all too used to in late pregnancy. She winces. "Ugh..frak… Sorry girls."
"Oh," Andrea says, quietly. "I have to admit I haven't heard much about it, been spending most of today helping the deckies get my bird up and running again." She frowns after Bunny. "All I've got is some pretty dark muttering."
"Except for the museum, I actually rather liked the estate. They had an amazing humidor and indoor wine and liquor cellar." Yes, Leyla did do some salvage. "I think the opulence upset him. It didn't really bother me." Unlike Boots, Leyla doesn't really have any prejudice against the privileged, "It's alright, Quinn. She's just showing she enjoyed the meal too."
Quinn arches a very skeptical brow in Leyla's direction as the woman murmurs about the baby enjoying the meal. She continues to smirk, "She could show in slightly more pleasant ways for everyone around. I think she's more determined to prove to me her sleeping place is getting -way- too small…and all my other organs are agreeing." Maggie mutters, rubbing one hand against her sore side as if that would help shift her body around enough that she could be comfortable. Good luck. "…It wasn't that bad. Bunny just has… problems with it. Yes." She affirms quietly.
"Privilege is relative. Papa had a big farm. On Aerilon, our life was the good life. Then I saw Caprica." Andrea shrugs, then eats. "Don't that I'd have traded, to be honest. Show me a Caprican who knows the first thing about good tilled earth. Too busy being all fancified." She sighs a bit, but then gives Quinn a grin. "It's good she likes it. Gods, a kid raised on mess food. She'll probably learn to love it, end up the perfect soldier or something."
"You'll be wishing the worst thing she did was make you burp in a few weeks." Leyla has spent enough time around babies to know that. "I agree. Most people live the best they can in their circumstances, find things that make the way they live seem special. That's how it should be. Not better or worse than anyone else. Just different."
Quinn allows a small whimper to escape her throat, not even realizing she's making that noise until it's done. "I know." She confesses. She's got ten siblings — or had ten siblings, before the Cylons took them — she's seen childbirth. And she's not looking forward to it. Hell, she looks genuinely scared for a moment before she tries to shake it off. "And yes. We'll see… Perfect soldier, I don't know. I'll stick with happy for now."
Andrea leans forward with a grin. "Sure she'll be happy. The whole bleeding airwing for aunts and uncles? Not to mention that school they got going over on Elpis. I know the Teacher, Northern Lights. Well, that was her callsign. Uh… Astra Koios. Great lady, a hero in her own right. Our kids'll have it good. She'll know she's loved, and thats not nothing, right?"
"She has everything any child could want. A mother and father who love her." Yes, clearly Bran is not getting out of this. "Aunts, uncles, a brother and two sisters." A nod, to Andrea, "She's a good woman. I don't imagine the kids think so though. I'm betting there were quite a few who were hoping they'd never have to see school again." But there's humour there.
Quinn nods in affirmation, smiling wide to Leyla as the woman practically pulls the thoughts right out of Maggie's head. "…Yes. Exactly. She's got a bigger family than I ever had, and that's a good thing… it'll work out just fine." As long as the baby is healthy. It's all that weighs on her mind these days. She rubs her full palm quietly, protectively, across her belly even if she doesn't voice the worried words.
"Fully a third of the kids over there are alive because she saved them. I imagine lessons are the least they can do." Andrea gives a soft laugh at that, and then shakes her head. "Of course, she occasionally acts like I'm one of the kids she has to teach, but she's earned that. I think I remind her of a problem child or two." She notes Quinn's worried look and gives a sympathetic smiles. "Our docs know what they're about. You'll be in good shape."
"I don't know about that," Leyla offers, as she pulls over the dessert Bunny left behind, "I recall being that age and hating school, if for no other reason than because it was school." A sniff of laughter, "I get that from a few people myself, Drips especially, but I don't let it bother me. I know I'm not seventeen anymore." A hand reaches out, gloved and all, but settles on Quinn's arm, "They baby is just fine, and she's going to keep on being just fine."
Quinn is fairly used to being that easy to read, even if she looks just a bit guilty about it. "…Aye, I know… I hope. We have great care. I still just worry about Leonis… This whole thing has been a crazy miracle, really… Hopefully it stays that way." Maggie admits, but nothing will ever drive the memories of a month and change on radiated Leonis, pregnant and unaware…. she rubs her hand across her belly again. "Thank you, girls, though.. really."
Andrea nods, and then pauses. "If… if you'd like…" she seems a bit embarrassed. "I brought… a teddy bear on board. Made by a Aerlonian Craftsman in town near where I grew up." She gives Leyla a sheepish look. "Speaking of not being a kid anymore, you know. But anyway…" her attention swings back to Quinn, "If you'd like, you and she can have it. He's a little bit of home, and not radiated, I checked. A bit of Aerilon warm in the cold black." Her voice gets really down home for a second. "Pa always said that I wasn't home without him. But I think y'all could use him more."
Leyla waves away Andrea's look, "Nothing wrong with having a bit of comfort. I have a teddy bear of my own." Well, "Although I don't imagine your teddy's knees are as knobbly as Bunny's." Yes, Leyla is one with hugs. Of the chaste, platonic kind. "If he is irradiated, we'll just have him hosed down again and throw him in a drier." See? problem solved, with an innocent smile to go along with it.
Quinn smiles a bit wider, "Oh, hon… that's remarkably sweet but you keep your bear… I suspect this baby will have thorough amounts of spoiling all told. If she's in need, I promise I'll come knocking, alright?" Maggie reassures the woman gently and then looks back to Leyla and chuckles. "Bunny does make a good teddy bear, usually… We all really are one big family in some weird way. It's… it's good." She then stifles a bit of a yawn, fully belly and tired body really starting to kick in…
Andrea nods and smiles. "Sure thing. North or south, we farmer's daughters gotta stick together, yeah?" Andrea looks down in surprise… her food is gone. "Must have been hungrier than I thought." She leans back and stretches. "Well, now all I gotta worry about is getting my bird ship shape again and getting something to wear for once we're stood down." Hosedown, zero to girly in .5 seconds.
"You look like you could use some sleep, Maggie. Need someone to walk you back to the bunks?" She's a fair bit smaller than the LSO, even beachball-less, but she can still help, "Are we going to a party when this is all over?" That to Andrea.
Quinn nods warmly to Hosedown, "Absolutely, Hosedown… but now…" Once more, Leyla does seem to read her mind, or her yawn. She nods, "Might as well try for an hour or two. Not certain my eyes are going to give me much of a choice. But I don't want to pull you away if you want to stick around here. i think I can find my way back on my own…" She teases lightly as she shifts her legs around, readying to get out of the chair. Three, two.. one… Hoist! And she's up.
Andrea stands up as well. "I think a party would be perfect. Bubbles said she had some shoes that I'd look good in. Haven't worn a new pair of shoes since… " Warday. She changed her track of thought. "Maybe see if we can't get some boys drooling over us, then get 'em stupid. Or cozy. Whichever we feel like." She gives Leyla a cheshire grin. "Sound like your cup of tea?"
"We'll walk you back, Maggie, we're both finished eating, and I think we could do with the exercise." Leyl will take care of putting away the trays and odds and ends, before she moves to join the LSO, "I'm not really big on drooling from anyone, even the Evans. But feel free to have fun with the lot of them." Vulcan pilot is Vulcan.
Quinn waves off the party/drooling talk…"I think I'm far, far beyond my new shoes days, unless I'm borrowing them off of some wide footed Marine." She admits. The single, cute pair of pumps she owned that Trask gave her to match her green dress (the one that got her knocked up in the first place!) they'd probably never fit again. She waits for the other two girls, but then starts the drowsy, slow sort of waddle down the aisle towards the hatch.
Andrea smiles as she falls into step. "Thanks for the permission, I intend to." She smiles as they walk on.