Savage Introductions

[Admiral Hart]

The first thing Hart did when Clara was on the ship was to have a party to welcome her onto it.

Clara was, at first, very cautious and somewhat skittish. She was sure that these humans were going to assault her or study her or something at the drop of a hat. But they did not.

In fact, for the most part, they treated her like the star of the show, the life of the party. Like some great tension had lifted from the ship. In fact, she felt that some great tension had lifted from the ship, given her empathic powers.

Perhaps she had misjudged humanity a bit. Maybe they did not all need to die. Perhaps there was a role for humans yet.

And this ship would give her an excellent place to study them.

[Cassiopeia Reyes-Hart]

Cassiopeia stared at the girl that Jo had introduced as her birth daughter, Clara, her eyes widened in pure shock and wonder. It was the tiger, the one from her dream! She would recognize those violet-colored eyes anywhere. Not to mention the pale ivory skin striped in those wicked-looking red tiger-stripe tattoos. Her hair was Josetta's curly red, her ears pointed like a cat's, her fingers and toes tipped in deadly-looking black claws.

Cassi crept forward after a little while, uncommonly nervous and timid. She had never met another Magi before, let alone the fact that Clara was Jo's real daughter. What if Clara didn't like her? What if she resented Jo adopting her? What if she made Jo give her up? As she neared Clara, who still stood next to a beaming Josetta, turned immediately and those powerful violet orbs locked onto her.

Cassi's eyes swirled for an instant, showing her a familiar vision of whom she now knew to be Clara standing proudly, expression triumphant. When they returned to normal, Cassi attempted one of her normal, friendly smiles.

"H-hi," she murmured somewhat shyly. "My name's Cassiopeia."

[Admiral Hart]

Clara could feel her intent to speak to her before Cassiopeia had reached her. There was something so...familiar about the girl, obvious mage-hood aside. Like something she had seen in a dream.

"Hello, Cassiopeia. I'm Clara Le...Hart. Clara Hart." She replied, politely and somewhat awkwardly. "I...I don't really know what comes next."

"We talk, silly. Just about stuff. Like, how do you enjoy things so far?" Cassi replied, smiling widely.

"I....it's nice. And strange. I'm not used to people. People who aren't trying to hurt me." She clarified. There was an awkward pause in the conversation.

"So, uh, are those tattoos or are they natural?" Cassi asked.

"Natural. I have had them forever." Clara replied, examining the red stripes on her arms. "It feels like I'm in war paint."

Cassi did not seem to catch that Clara liked that feeling. "I know how it is, to look different, I mean. I feel like a reject from a fantasy vid sometimes."

"You should be proud of how you look." Clara replied. "We have a gift and everyone knows it, just by looking at us. It sets us apart and levitates us."

[T.K.]

T.K. couldn't help but grin as he made his rounds through the party. And that was before the generous amounts of alcohol.

With the data he'd gotten so far from the VAILIENCE, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be strapped for cash anytime soon. Not to mention the tidbits of Technical information he found inside as well. And so far, he'd only scratched the surface. There were still Yotabytes of data to sift through.

He did his best though, to ignore the few stares he got from people, once they finally noticed his hair.

Apparently, while he was engaged with the Computer, his body had been building up an electric charge for some reason. The results as he tried to remove the goggled had been... spectacular. As it was, his hair was still standing straight up, and some of it was even still smoldering a bit.

He'd definitely have to look into that problem. It wouldn't do if he electrocuted himself every time he tried to hack into something. But, that was for later.

Now, was for drinking, and enjoy the Captain's successful reunion with her daughter.

[Beau Altair]

Beau nursed a drink near the edges of the party, surruptitiously watching Cassi as much as he was able without being completely and totally obvious. As it was Cooper kept chuckling teasingly at his side every now and then, causing Beau to color a little with uncomfortable embarrassment, but he ignored it for the most part.

She looked as beautiful as ever, especially as she had dressed for the occasion--wearing a fluttery silver dress that matched her bright eyes, with short puffy sleeves, empire-waist and a fluttery skirt that was just barely long enough to be considered decent. Cassi stood with the Captain's biological daughter at present--both chattering at a hundred miles an hour as if they had been best friends their whole lives and had only just now reuinited--completely oblivious to his or anyone else's attention. Beau watched her suddenly laugh at something Clara had said, a small dimple appearing in her right cheek, and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest.

She was just so damned pretty . . . .

"Mr. Altair."

Beau jumped nearly a foot in the air, almost spilling his drink as he whirled to see the Captain standing next to him. He hadn't even noticed her approach. He did his best to ignore the woman's faint teasing smile or Cooper's merciless giggling, clearing his throat. "Ah, y-yes Ma'am?"

"I just wanted to thank you," she pronounced softly, "for all the help you've given us these past few weeks. With the attack and the clean up efforts afterward. Coop here tells me you went above and beyond, and that you helped look after my daughter in the meantime." Beau felt his face heat, somewhat nervous. From the ambiguous tone of her voice, he couldn't tell if Josetta was exactly pleased or annoyed by that last one.

"I-it was no problem, Captain," he assured, his voice cracking only a little with nervousness. She nodded to that, then sighed.

"Unfortunately I'm going to have to drop you off at the nearest inhabitable port we come to, after this."

Beau stilled, his eyes going wide with shock. "What? B-but . . . why? I thought--,"

"With my biological daughter on board now, there are certain risks I have to be aware of," she announced, tone hardened. "Risks that are too great for me to have an untested former UE soldier in my midst." Beau just stared at her, devastated. To her credit, the Captain's expression softened into a faint look of sympathy. "I am sorry, Mr. Altair, but I cannot risk her safety. We'll be putting you down on Jove City, and I'll give you enough credits to see you on board another vessel to take you wherever you want to go."

Beau still didn't speak, couldn't bring himself to, so just nodded slightly and did his best to cling to his dignity while the Captain sighed and walked away. Cooper eyed him silently, expression pitying, but Beau ignored that too.

The military was all that he had. Without it, he had nothing. He had no marketable skills, no money, no home. Like hell he was going back to his parents on Earth, to go to work at the factory with his old man and be stuck in a miserable dead-end job for the rest of his life. And, as Josetta Hart had just painfully demonstrated--even among cutthroats and thieves he was an outcast.

He turned to stare at Cassi for one last time before setting his drink down and turning to leave the mess hall, suddenly no longer in the mood for celebration. Cooper followed him silently.

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Normally Andromeda wasn't one for parties. She didn't like to drink alcohol nor did she like to be around people who did, and wasn't generally seen as a celebratory sort. There were always things that needed doing in the med-bay, after all, tasks that needed completion, chores that needed to be seen to. Yet today was a special occasion, and Andromeda couldn't bring herself to absent herself from it.

Josetta looked so happy, standing beside her daughter Clara, looking near to bursting her buttons with pride and affection. Andromeda couldn't ever remember seeing her so at peace, male or female, not for the entire two years that she'd known the Captain. The knowledge did funny, melty things to her insides. Which immediately made her feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and no small amount of guilty afterward.

The Captain was married. She'd at least had that one suspicion correctly, though she would never have guessed to whom. Andromeda's gaze flickered through the room until she fell across the First Mate. He stood in the background as he usually did, looking withdrawn and lost in thought with everyone else's attention elsewhere. As if he sensed her stare, Morgan suddenly glanced at her. Their eyes met for a brief moment before he grimaced slightly and turned away again, throwing back the rest of the contents of his glass in one pull.

Andromeda felt her face color, wondering if he knew, if Josetta had told him about their one kiss. From that reaction, she would venture to say yes. Andromeda nearly groaned pitiably. That just made things so much more uncomfortable.

She turned back to the Captain, frowning now with determination. This didn't have to be an issue. It wasn't as if anything more would ever come of it. Despite what Josetta thought she wanted, or needed as the woman had achingly put it, there couldn't ever be anything more between them. She was married, and Andromeda wasn't attracted to women.

Josetta suddenly glanced in her direction, caught her staring, and grinned. Andromeda whirled away immediately, face turning beet red, while all the while the voice in the back of her mind that she did such an admirable job of ignoring was calling her a liar.