Titans of the Stars- War Among the Brave

[Jay]

Lien's face was on fire. He was out of words for the moment, let alone smart comments. He furrowed his brow. "That is fine..." he said airilly.

[Doom]

After she swallowed the last drop of water, she casually through the empty bottle into the trash can about ten yards away, and made it in. Her lucky shot was a mood brightener, and she wanted to keep her spirits up until the moment of departure. She glanced at her watch, and it read 6:68, (Yea, 10 hours in a half a day, 100 minutes in an hour.) but she found that the hands had ceased moving. She wasn't sure how long her watch had been dead, so she looked around for a clock in the lobby. In Synoro's time, the clock read 9:47. It wasn't quite noon yet, and she hadn't noticed her watch all day. She sat by Lien again, and cleared her throat, asking, "You wouldn't happen to have any watch batteries on you, would you?"

[Jay]

"Why no, miss. But, I've a comrade over there that may." he motioned in a direction, standing up. "I shall go get you some, yes?" he said before walking over.

[Doom]

"That would be nice. Thank you." Mercia stood, picking at the battery cover on her watch.

[Jay]

He came back with some, sitting back and handing them to her. "The things people bring because they think they'll need them somehow.~" he sighed.

[Doom]

"Well, I'm glad he was carrying some." She swapped the batteries and replaced the cover, then set her watch to the planet's timezone. She sat again, and tapped the watch, making sure it was in working order. "So...." Mercia was terrible at small talk, but she tried her best to strike up a conversation, "Tell me a little bit about yourself."

[Jay]

Lien looked shocked at that question, which nobody usually asked him. "Ladies first, my dear.~" he replied smoothly.

[Doom]

Mercia was short of words for a moment, then began to say, "I grew up without a father. My mom always left me with my aunt, and my aunt was always drugged up. I cared for her son, and we grew up together very closely. My aunt died of lung cancer when I was only 12, and my mom died on her way to one of colonies because of a shortage of oxygen supply when I was 14.... I suppose I sound really, really negative right now, don't I? I'm interested in flora and animal study, and I also dabble in geology. Your turn." She looked expectantly at Lien, a grin on her face.

[Jay]

"Aw. And I had the dull hope in my head that you'd want to go on all day." he grinned mischeviously. "Well, my mother and father had me at an... early age. They decided on not keeping me... so~" he shrugged "I grew up on the streets a bit, until I was a young man that had found interest in these sort of... occupations. I became what I am now, so... not much to say about me." he smiled, sitting back and looking up.

[Doom]

"Oh, my! That sounds awful! You poor thing." She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He was amazingly compassionate for his history in Mercia's mind. "You must feel so bad about that! Maybe you became a leader to prove you were strong, or something..." She sputtered, and slapped her palm to her forehead. She always did make a fool of herself when she was attempting sympathy.

[Jay]

Lien cocked a brow. He didn't want to embarass her by refferring to the latter, so, he spoke. "I'm uh... okay, thank you." he smiled. She had already managed to make him blush in embaraassment.

[Doom]

"Sorry if I'm a bit awkward, but I'll try hard to keep my mouth shut." Mercia put her hands in her lap, a bit disgruntled. She wasn't sure what to say, but then a service drone approached them, and said, "Only 18 minutes left for departure. Are you staying the night in the landing bay lobby, sir and madam?"

[Jay]

Lien cocked his head at the drone. "18 minutes. That's a relief." he sighed, not comfortable with the conversation he was previously having. "I had better make sure everybody is prepared."

[Doom]

"Ok. I suppose I'll go find myself a room to stay in. I'll see you later, I guess." Mercia shot up and hurried away, certain she had only made a fool of herself in front of Lien. The android made what sounded like a questioning grunt noise, then hovered away. Mercia walked through the hallway and found a door that didn't have a "nonvacancy" mark on it. She went inside and lay down on the bed, throwing her shoes off. She rubbed her feet, the shoes leaving huge calluses. "Well, so much for a grade A first impression." She mumbled, then got up and locked the door.

[Jay]

Lien went to usher everybody into thier rooms, and help them get ready. By the time he was ddone, Lien was covered in sweat and exhausted. He sat back in a chair, heaving a large sigh.