video;

[deal]

[Cassandra glances over before focusing on her wind up music box, and begins slowly turning the handle. Music starts to play, a tune that may be familiar to people from Earth. She's not doing this to play music for everyone though, so she stops after a handful of seconds, looking thoughtful.]

It's funny. You hate home until you've been gone from it long enough, and then you get homesick and home is all you can think about. No matter how shitty it is, you forget about all of the bad things and only care about the people you left behind.

[The music box is picked up and clinched in her hand.]

Do you think it's possible to get a message back to someone? Has anyone tried communicating outside the ship yet? If things like this - [She drops the music box in her hand on the table she's sitting at.] can come through the Ingress to us, we have to be able to send things back through it.

Comments

[deal]

I think that's something that only time will tell.

[She's very curious about the ship he was on before, and wants to ask more about it, but she knows she wouldn't appreciate a lot of questions about where she was last. So she keeps them in for now, and makes a mental note to ask him more about the other ship he was on when they've become better friends.]

Safe is always good. It gives you time to regain your strength, so you're ready when the next bad thing happens.

[ryuuzaki]

Mm.

[It's a soft noise of noncommittal agreement.

He sets his fork on the plate as a delicate frown develops on his face.]

Ideally, that's true... unless there isn't enough time between bad things. One thing I haven't yet been able to determine here -- is it significantly safer to stay on the ship as much as possible? It seems like that might be the case.

[deal]

Maybe. But what's the point in being here if you're not going to take advantage of getting to see new places?

[She didn't want to come across as lecturing, so she gave his foot a nudge under the table, smirking a little as she did.]

If you start staying here all the time, this place will turn into a prison.

[ryuuzaki]

[He shifts a little in surprise when she nudges his foot, and the frown is replaced by the hint of a smile.]

Yes. And to be honest, I think staying on the ship really won't help anyone stay well-informed. This universe is our home for now -- we need to know about it, particularly if something that happened in one port affects events we encounter later in another.

[deal]

Next time we dock somewhere, you should go explore the planet with me.

[The fact that he's smiling after the foot nudge means he'll be pretty likely to take her up on the offer, she thinks.]

[ryuuzaki]

[The look he gives her isn't skeptical, but while his expression remains pleasant, his eyes narrow a little: he's weighing the idea. After a beat, he gives a single firm nod.]

All right. Then... [his eyes go wide, and he looks very innocent and serious]... we'll both have a group.

[She's not wrong about that. While he's worked alone in the past, most of the situations he's been in on the Tranquility, and most of the situations he might have gotten into here, either were or all would have been better in the company of reasonably competent associates.]

[deal]

[She wonders if he knows how important having a group is to her. Belonging is something she craves, and to find people who get her and like her for who she is means so much to her. So for him to say that they'd both have a group makes her fall into a stunned silence, and she looks completely awestruck.]

I won't let anything happen to you. If you're worried about getting hurt.

[She knows that's what some of the others worry about, and he looks like he may need her to keep anything like the zombie prisoners she encountered on Del Pascia away from him. So she reassures him that she has her value beyond just good conversation.]

[ryuuzaki]

[He suspects it's important, but he hadn't really expected this response to his slight impishness. He watches her for a moment, then half-smiles again, more of a general brightening and softening of his expression than anything.]

Then we'll be sure nothing happens to either of us.

[He says it as if they're making a deal. Then, with more casual interest,]

What sort of skills do you have in that direction?

[He's not carrying the Walther P99 today, although now that he has the belt holster back, he may choose to do so once in a while. Without it, there's little indication that he knows how to defend himself at all.]