[h2]Home Sweet Shuttle Part 2[/h2]
[h3]New Melbourne, Day 2, Early Afternoon[/h3]

OOC: JP between [@Winters], [@MK Blitzen], [@Yule], [@wanderingwolf]

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[cell][center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5281589][img] https://i.imgur.com/66r372Q.png [/img][/url][/center][/cell][/row]
[row][cell][/cell][cell][center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5276915][img] https://i.imgur.com/pg6Bb2R.png [/img][/url][/center][/cell][cell][/cell][/row]
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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dneG0Ho32qU[/youtube]
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“Rent’s paid up front, in creds, usually--and, pretty as she is, the China Doll ain’t a passenger ship, per say, so no turn-down service included. Also, I reserve the right to commandeer the shuttle in an emergency. ” Pivoting his boot, Cal ground the last embers of his cigarette into the moist Pensacolan dirt. 

Cyd twisted one side of her mouth, thinking - not just about his terms and conditions. She considered taking up smoking. Captain Cal made extinguishing a cigarette look positively dashing.  “Rent paid up front. Credits, usually, no coupons.” She tried not to sound giddy, which was bad for negotiations, but It’d been a while since they’ve slept on the same pillow more than two nights. [i]Home.[/i]  “We’ll clean up after ourselves in the shuttle and the common areas.  Rent include both room and board? You have a lekker cook, but if you'd rather we can bring our own padikos and fend for ourselves in the galley. Am I forgetting anything?” She asked Mathias.

“Given the last ride, we are happy not to ask questions. We just expect the same sentiment in return. We're big on fairness.” Mathias added.

“And privacy,” Cyd added. 
 
Eyeing Mathias he could already tell they were going to get along just fine. No questions asked? Music to his ears. The less he needed to talk about what mess Ms. Baker had brought to their doorstep, and by extension Badger, the better off they’d all be for it.

“Board’s included. You’ll be livin’ on the China Doll the same as crew, and we pull together. And if you’re keen, I’d knock some off for pitchin’ in for chores. S’far as privacy, the mechanic needs to be able to give your accommodations a regular once-over, once we find one,” he shook his head, “but other than that it’d be yours under these conditions. Oh, and don’t take the shuttle out of atmo. Am I missin’ anything else?” He said, interrogating the ground as if it would reply.  

Cyd nodded her head, mulling it over.  They were used to working off their keep, and the practice could come in handy.  “We keep odd hours, so we’d like advanced notice of once-overs, no surprise inspections, and you got yourself some tenants.” She held out her hand to shake on the deal. 

Cal looked Cyd in the eye and shook her hand decisively. “Paperwork’s with Abigail who should be riding the lawn chair hereabouts any time now. Few signatures, boilerplate liabilities, and you can start movin’ in. I’ll warn you, ain’t nobody lived in the port shuttle, so might take to a cleanin’. Rex’ll take your first week in creds, and after you been around a spell, we’ll take them month to month.” 

“A fixer upper? Kiff, Kiff.” Cyd agreed, slipping her data pad back into her bag. She’d planned to just transfer the credits, but as she fiddled absently with the lace choker around her neck, she chalked up the Captain’s antiquated cash-in-hand, pen-to-paper policy as a nuance of the swashbuckling charm she was building up for him in her head. Also occupying her thoughts -  a shopping list of what they’d need for [i]home[/i]. 

Looking to Mathias, Captain Strand added, “Can I ask you a question, son?”

"Sure?" Mathais shrugged innocently.

With a glint in his eye, Cal asked, “How do you feel about a weekly game of cards?”

Mathais was a little surprised, usually when people heard street magician he typically got the exact opposite response. The normal policy was they didn't gamble but if they were nesting on the ship for an indeterminable amount of time … he guessed it would be wise to make nice. It was a friendly game after all. "Sure why not, I ain't opposed to a friendly game." 

Captain Strand nodded, “It’ll be friendly, alright, ‘til I beat you a few times,” he gave a wink as he tucked his hat back around his ears. “See you all in your new place when I get back.”

Cyd was about to ask where the man was headed but stopped. Not only did it violate the no-questions-asked rule they’d just established, she’d rather believe it was somewhere adventurous.