[hider=Title of the Recording: Doctors 0738]
“While you can't always judge a book by its cover, you can judge a doctor by their lab coat. After all was said and done, I knew I should have known better.”[/hider]

Ryen let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding as captain disappeared behind the sliding door of the mess hall, the technician shortly on his heels. Within a few seconds even their resident solider, Gunther [i]”Gun..ther? Ironic?”[/i], was heading for the door although she noted that he turned in the opposite direction. 

[b]”I wonder what’s going on.”[/b] Ryen wondered out loud before bringing another lox covered cracker to her mouth. She was a little surprised that her hand didn’t shake. Meanwhile her mind was whirling with possibilities, and imagining the various conversations Lazlo was having with the Syrae patrol ship. Ryen reached and gracefully wiped off her hands with a nearby napkin. [i]”Maybe it’s a routine thing since we’re on a new ship.”[/i] Her hands folded neatly into her lap. [i]”Or maybe our gracious captain stepped on one too many feet. That wouldn’t be too surprising.”[/i] Through her lashes, Ryen noticed that the doctor was still looking at her. His gaze looked curious and remote at the same time, similar to the way her father would stare at a new mechanical model. It almost felt like Quincy was trying to somehow dissect her and made her feel discomforted and gross at the same time.

[b]”What!?”[/b] Ryen snapped, her eyes suddenly meeting his.

[b]”I was waiting for your response.”[/b]

Ryen pursed her lips. She didn’t need to ask ‘to what?’. She already knew. [b]”Yes. As in the Dr. Arleth who was found murdered this morning.”[/b] In her lap, her fingers slid back and forth across one another. Try as she might to hide her emotions, but the distress was plain to see. [b]”It was… quite a shock.”[/b]

The dam she had hid behind was starting to crack under the pressure, threatening to flood her with the emotions she’d avoided over the past hours. Her eyes began to glaze over, but she was holding the water at bay- at least for now.

[b]”I’d imagine so. Where you close?”[/b]

The first image that popped into Ryen’s head was her father turned away, stopped over a workstation. This was quickly replaced by another image where her father was leaning in, looking at the paper in front of her. His face was blurred in her peripheral vision but she didn’t need to turn her head to see that he was frowning. [b]”Close enough. Why?”[/b]

Quincy shrugged nonchalantly. [b]”Maybe I just like to get to know people? Or maybe I just like to make sure that if I’m going to get stabbed in the middle of the night, I know who it was.”[/b]

It said it with such a lack of affect that it was difficult for Ryen to determine if he was being serious or being sarcastic. [i]Maybe neither. Maybe a little of both.”[/i]

[b]”If you’re dead, then why does it matter?”[/b] Ryen replied, trying to lighten the mood.

To that comment the doctor merely reached into his lab coat and pulled out a cigarette. Within seconds a line of smoke was spiraling towards the ceiling and he was leaning back in the chair. [b]”You know that things kill you, right?”[/b] Ryen suggested, her disgust evident.

[b]”What!?”[/b] he said glancing at the cigarette in his hand. [b]”These things!? And here I thought they were the universal cure for common cold. I can’t believe I’ve been lied to for all these years!”[/b] his tone sounded almost genuinely surprised. [b]”I never would have suspected that they would be killing me the entire time, slowly leaching the very life…”[/b]

[b]”Enough!”[/b] Ryen chuckled, [b]”I get it!”[/b]

[b]”I’m glad.”[/b] Quincy said, taking another drag, [b]”And besides, if I had a choice, I’d rather die by cigarette than being murdered by you in the dark on night… wouldn’t you agree Gunther?”[/b]

At some point the solider had returned, slightly more armed than before. Currently he’d found his way over to the replicator. Ryen wondered how much of the conversation he had caught. He didn’t bother to turn around but continued to study the complicated machine in front of him. [b]”I’m not really a fan of being murdered, myself.”[/b]

Ryen snorted. [b]”Well that’s good. I’m not really a fan of murdering people.”[/b] As if on cue, that was the exact moment their captain walked back through mess room door. Something about his presence made her wish she could take back the comment. Fortunately it appeared he hadn’t heard. 

[b]”If you want a steak the code is… the recipe book is in the drawer under the replicator.”[/b]

There was something about Lazlo that made Ryen want to slump down into her chair a little more especially when the man took his seat at the head of the table. While Quincy might be modeling indifference, their captain seemed almost placid, like a clam lake with a sleeping kraken underneath that was waiting at any moment to appear and drag you down to it water depts. Sure he was sitting there, smiling away, friendly as could be… for now. Maybe you could afford to be friendly every now and again when you were an overpowering brute.

Gunther took the same seat he had occupied before, crackers now replaced by a steaming dish of steak and potatoes. The soldier looked like he’d gone to heaven and was certainly piling food into his mouth at a rate that made Ryen thin he’d end up there pretty soon if he didn’t stop to breath every now and again. Ryen glanced around the table. She wasn’t the only one showing interest in Gunther’s eating habits.

[b]”Speaking of getting to know people, what did you do before being a member of this fine crew?”[/b] her question was directed at Quincy, but Gunther momentarily stopped shoveling food before realizing her words weren’t directed at him.

[b]”Similar to what I’m doing now.”[/b] Ryen waited for him to continue but it became obvious he wouldn’t.

[b]”So nothing much.”[/b] The vagueness of his reply along with his name and the subject of murder reminded her of an ancient game involving a candle stick and a billiard room.

Quincy chuckled at her retort. [b]”Et tu, mechanic, et tu. Although I’ll tell you what, if everyone does a good job, we won’t have much to worry about, will we?”[/b] 

She couldn’t disagree with that. [b]”And you, Gunther?”[/b] Ryen asked right as the solider finished his last bite.

[b]”Just keeping busy, miss.”[/b]

[b]”Keeping busy and staying full.”[/b] This came from Quincy.

[b]”Exactly.”[/b] Gunter gave them a thumbs up before depositing his dish into the repository.

Ryen turned her attention to their captain. [b]”So…”[/b] This ship was brand new and so was the crew and Ryen couldn’t help but have the feeling that good captain Caesar wasn’t everything he appeared to be. He fought like a solider, yelled like a tyrant, was strong enough to easily dislocate her arm, and was rich enough to purchase (or at least she was assuming he’d purchase) a brand new spaceship- the down payment alone for which was probably more than she could make in a few years. Who was this man? She was almost afraid to ask. [b]”So… I take it everything from before went well?”[/b] Again she tacked on the word “captain” a few seconds to late. [b]”May I ask where we’re headed… sir?”[/b]