Quinn's chat with Maysen and Kelsey

After pleasantries were finished with Xin's family, Quinn returned to the ship and flopped in Shai's chair, eyes squinted as she leaned forward and fiddled with the keyboard. She really hated computers and had the hardest time getting the system to do anything she wanted it to, but was eventually able to call up Maysen, with whom she planned on giving an earful.

Quinn leaned back as she waited for him to answer, her arms crossed and a fresh scowl set on her features.

Maysen was fast asleep, the small communication device laid next to his ear just in case someone should call...unluckily for him Quinn choose that moment to make contact. The irritating ring buzzed over and over...it took awhile for it to truly wake the man up, leaving Quinn to wait on the other end of the call...anyhow, in his attempt to turn off the device, the half-awake man turned the speaker on instead.

The captain would first hear a lot of muffled movement as Maysen sat up, rubbing his eyes with a mumbled "Whointhahell...." Blinking a few times it took him a moment to figure out just was calling. Oh. His expression fell. "wǒ kào!...just tha jiàn nǚ rén I wanted ta wake up with..." He cleared his throat, the irritation in his tone that he was unaware Quinn had heard replaced with an overly sweet one "Quinn! Was jus' thinkin' bout ya! Figure you'an my brother must be livin' the life now that ya got paid, yeah?"

He sighed, flopping back onto the bed as he made a face at the device. It was a good thing the captain couldn't see it, though Maysen's dislike for her was no secret already.







wǒ kào = Fuck me!
jiàn nǚ rén = bitch

This could go two ways, Quinn decided. Either the bastard didn't know anything about Brown and was still oblivious... which she grudgingly knew was the more likely option... or he'd done something seriously stupid to get back at her for kicking him off the ship a few months back. She knew how angry he'd been over the situation and trusted the man even less than she did before because of it - in fact, if it weren't for Kelsey, she probably would have severed all ties. Kelsey was creepy but he had proven he was trustworthy.

Quinn swiveled in her chair, sighing as she waited for Maysen to answer... or not. Tentative relief smoothed some of the lines between the woman's brow when the line picked up - that is, until Maysen's unorthodox greeting. She had just opened her mouth to say something equally venomous when he continued with something nicer. She paused, closing her eyes and leaning back some, glad there wasn't a video link.

"Funny thing, gettin' paid... don't happen less I got clients hungry for what I'm sellin'." Quinn tested the waters, narrowing her eyes at the blank screen. "Either you've gotten sloppy or yer good as dead. Tell me which it is."

"Sloppy?!" Maysen's 'nice' voice was gone, the man immediately getting defensive as he glared at the small device. "If ya didn' get paid it'd be cause ya screwed up somehow, opened up yer mouth an let yer nasty tongue make Aimee back out? Don't blame me cause you ain't got no skills with people." He growled, confirming for Quinn that he knew nothing about Brown's take over and assumed that she'd wreaked the deal somehow. "Ya seriously turned Aimee off'a the guns? Ya got'ta be kiddin' me, she was desperate for 'em..."

Maysen sounded baffled, sighing heavily into the speaker as he sat up. "God I need a gorram smoke..." He mumbled, bringing the device closer as he continued, a little more calm...for now. Judging by the pairs past interactions the conversation was bound to continue to go downhill. "So...ya want me ta find ya another buyer or somethin'? Plenty'a folk out there lookin' for firepower, shouldn't be hard. I'll talk at Kelsey when he gets back with my damn cigs." He grumbled, knowing full we that if his friend was out buying such a thing it'd be for himself. "We done?" Maysen sounded hopeful...

Quinn gritted her teeth and waited until Maysen was done with his little rant. Living with him taught her that if she interrupted he'd only yell louder, which made him even more annoying. Still, despite of how unhappy his words made her, she knew he was in the dark about the situation because he wasn't smart enough to lie about it. Kelsey was, so his confirmation that the weirdo was out was slightly relieving.

"Found buyers myself. I need you to put me an my crew on a guest list fer some Halloween shindig on Bellerophron this weekend. I'll send details tonight." Quinn massaged her forehead with one hand. She paused for a few moments, deciding not to go into detail about what happened on Triumph... until she remembered Shai's injuries. Quinn wouldn't miss an opportunity to try and make Maysen feel bad. "Compound was taken over by someone named Brown. Prolly had Aimee lure you in with the idea of stealin' our ship 'n lives instead of buyin' my cargo. Yer brother was shot," she cleared her throat some, again allowing some time to lapse. Bastard.

---

Kelsey chose that moment to enter the room, a plastic bag full of goodies slung over his shoulder. He tossed it on the floor and shook off the wet from outside, discarding his coat and hanging it to dry, both hands carefully soothing his hair after the removal of his wide-brimmed hat. Finally the blonde peered Maysen's way... and paused. Green eyes flicked to the device and he lifted his hands, asking what was going on.

Maysen hoped the next words he heard from Quinn were along the lines of 'good-bye' but he had no such luck. He seemed confused at first, if she'd found buyers then what was she bitching about? He wouldn't put it past her just to call him to set him off, though from past experience he knew she'd rather avoid talking to him altogether. "Ya want another fav-" He began to interrupt but stopped when Quinn started in with just why the deal had gone sour.

Maysen had heard of Brown, at least enough to know the man was a bottom-feeding nobody and he was rather surprised to hear he'd knocked Aimee out of power on that side of the 'verse. Good to know for the future...that train of thought was interrupted by the captain's last words. Shot? "Shot?"He thought and spoke aloud. The man's expression went blank, immediately assuming the worst. It was true that he and Shaiyat were never truly close, but he certainly didn't wish him dead...logically he should've put together that if the pilot was truly gone Quinn wouldn't be on the other end of a device, she'd be right in the room with him planting a bullet in his own head. But, the shock of it all negated any sort of logic, not that Maysen had much common sense to begin with.

Kelsey's entrance made Maysen jump, guilt written all over his features. He reached for his sunglasses first and slid them on, hiding (or trying rather) what he could from his expression before facing Kelsey fully, leaving Quinn in silence as he signed quickly and a little erratically. Quinn on the line. Mad. Job went bad. Shaiyat got shot. Fuck. He turned his head towards the bag that Kelsey had brought in, speaking aloud now and perhaps cluing the captain in on the fact that they were no longer alone. "I hope ya brought back somethin' good Kels." He grumbled, speaking louder then as he returned his attention to the device. He held it smashed against his face, his words slightly muffled. By doing so he inadvertently turned on the video link, though all she'd get was a picture of his unshaven cheek in her face."Yer not askin' me ta find ya a new pilot too are ya then?" His tone was angry again and he looked almost desperately back towards the bag his friend had brought back. Like always, talking to Quinn made him want a drink, a smoke, a hit. Anything...yeah, he could blame the urge on her but they all knew it didn't take match to set off his cravings. Maysen bit at his thumbnail, waiting for what seemed like forever for Quinn to answer, fidgeting where he sat...even though she couldn't see him fully surely his silence clued her into his distress over the situation.

Quinn was pretty satisfied to hear the distress in Maysen's voice, but she wouldn't torture the man forever. "He ain't dead," she sighed. Her eyes flickered to the screen when it suddenly lit up... showing the squished side of Maysen's face. Nice. "Ain't that pretty," she added with a snort, trying to clue the man in.

"So," she started, quirking a brow at the screen, "y'all will be workin' for me unpaid a little longer, considerin' yer not askin' the right questions and where it landed me."


----


Kelsey ignored Maysen's cues for the bag completely, instead moving toward the bed and sitting beside the man, one hand reaching out to snatch up the device. Although he appeared the epitome of calm he really was worried - he liked Shai and valued the man's honesty and near innocence - but he also knew that Maysen overreacted. Though, judging by Quinn's smug expression, she was probably to blame.

The blonde smiled sweetly into the screen, lifting a hand to wave a bit Quinn's way as he signed to Maysen with the other, asking what he just missed. His smile stayed, undeterred by Quinn's frown. He didn't really like that he seemed unable to fool her... people were normally pretty easy.

If this all smoothed over nicely Kelsey planned on offering Quinn another job. Something she probably wouldn't refuse, despite whatever recently happened with Aimee.

Maysen went from distressed to angry pretty quick, especially after Quinn broke the news that his brother was indeed alive...Kelsey grabbing away the device didn't help the situation much. He signed back to Kelsey to fill in him on what he missed, mostly repeating that the job had gone bad because Aimee was no longer in charge if things, Brown was. He'd tried to steal the ship, etc. Maysen hardly seemed concerned with the mess anymore, rather butt-hurt by Quinn's pulling his leg and being pushed aside by Kelsey. The later he should've expected, as his friend did control much of their contacts and jobs for good reason. With a sigh he moved to grab the bag Kelsey had brought back, searching through it as he leaned closer to his friend and the now lit-up screen.

He'd finally noticed it was on. He pushed his sunglasses up onto his head with one finger, just to be sure that Quinn got the full effect of the glare he sent her way. "Bullshit we work fer ya fer free longer, ya said ya sold the cargo so ya got what ya needed in the end. We ain't yer bitch Quinn." He snorted, rather the opposite of his partner's calm and 'sweet' act.

Kelsey elbowed his friend somewhat gently, eyeing the screen and hoping Quinn wasn't about to disconnect as she usually did when Maysen got started... but thankfully she just snorted a laugh and shook her head. The blonde elbowed Maysen again, this time signaling a change in conversation. The device was placed down on the bed, propped up so Quinn could continue viewing the pair while he had full use of his hands.

Kelsey signed away. Skywake, his son, needed transportation and despite their rocky working relationship, he really couldn't think of anyone he trusted more than Quinn and Shai to pick him up. Quinn frowned, waiting for Maysen to translate.

Kelsey's prodding got Maysen to shut up at least, though he didn't look happy about it. He stared off to the left with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest and scooting away from his friend a little though he was still close enough to be nudged again. He looked back over with a frown. "This is bullshit." He grumbled again before catching on that he was going to get to act as a translator again. Normally he didn't mind, but his desire to continue the conversation with Quinn was pretty much zero.

"Looks like we have another job fer ya...since we're so nice'an all." He watched Kelsey as he spoke, not glancing at the device at all. His expression changed once he realized just what Kelsey was asking...he calmed himself some for his friend's sake. As the silent conversation with Maysen continued he understood just why he wanted Quinn and her crew to do this particular job...and he also knew he needed to word it in a way that would get the captain to agree. "We got a special delivery that needs ta be made and as much as yer a bitch yer the most trustworthy one we know ta do it." He blurted quickly before she could gave any objections. "Would need ya ta go ta Harvest..I know it's a bit far out but the pay would make it worth yer while and then some." He paused, rubbing his chin a little as he figured out how to venture in to just what (or who) she'd be transporting. "The cargo's not even on the shady side, so no worries there. Just a person who needs'a ride from one side'a the Verse to the next..." He left it at that for now...deciding to hold off on more details once he knew how open she was going to be. "Lot'a money ta be made..." He reiterated with a small smile as he faced the screen.

Quinn forced herself not to react to Maysen's attitude. It was really easy to get in a yelling match with the man, and now was not the time. Especially with what Kelsey had brewing.

"Harvest?" she snorted, leaning back in her chair and shaking her head a little. "So y'all want us to go 'n pick up one passenger... in Reaverville." Quinn's reaction to most of their propositions was similar, but the pair probably knew her well enough by now that, if promised good pay, they could convince her to do almost anything. She eyed Kelsey distrustfully. "Who is it 'n how much we talkin'?" Quinn knew the real problem would be convincing Shai to pay the rim a visit, even if the pay was good.

Kelsey's hands flashed, letting Maysen in on what the group was willing to pay. Fuel costs and any necessary repairs before or after the child was delivered, plus 800 credits.


((800 credits = $20,000 USD = $4,000 USD in each crew pocket))

Maysen was confident the captain could be convinced after her first reaction. She'd not given a flat 'no' and hung up, and she seemed interested in the money. Good. Now was the tricky part. "One passenger's better then twenty, yeah? Lot less work fer you." He tried to reason a little with Quinn as he diverted a good part of his attention to Kelsey and what he was 'saying.' "You'd be paid fer fuel an any repairs yer boat would need durin' the trip..." He paused, reining back his want to insult the old ship out of spite. He managed to keep a small smile instead. "And 800 credits. Notta bad deal just ta taxi a kid around." He let that bit of information drop casually before he continued, waiting for a reaction.

"Kelsey's son just needs'a ride back home after a visit with his mother...an she's willin' ta throw money at ya ta take him. What ya think?" He leaned back some, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited. He'd managed to remain calm so far and smirked proudly to himself before glancing at Kelsey. "You get cigs?" He pestered his friend some before moving his view back to the view screen.

He didn't respond to the captain's concerns of Reavers in that territory. Quinn knew the risk and he hoped the promise of pay would be enough to pull her and her crew in that direction.

Quinn didn't show much of a reaction when the pay was mentioned, though inwardly she was a little surprised. It wouldn't make them rich but it was generous. Although the ship wasn't in need of any immediate repairs it would be nice to get a few things fixed that had been bothering her.

The mention of who the passenger was caused Quinn to hesitate for just a moment. She was awful with kids and tried to avoid interacting with them at all costs, but to say no just because of that would be stupid. Plus she figured she could get everyone to pitch in with childcare if they wanted their half of the cash.

"I'll talk with my pilot," she said. The screen went blank shortly after.

Kelsey sighed and leaned back against the wall. He knew Quinn would more than likely take the job but was a little worried she wouldn't. He didn't have any alternatives to get Sky across the 'verse.