Kiran chuckled a bit as Zasha stalked off. Perhaps it was the environment, he wasn’t terribly used to being on a ship, and it was possible that the atmosphere on ships had different courtship rituals than he was accustomed to, no matter, he’d come to pick them up in time. Regardless, he’d figure out the crew eventually. It seemed as though most of the men on the ship were dead ends for him, if the hostile looks were any indication. No matter, it wouldn’t be the first time a man had started by glaring at him and ended up panting his name. He’d figure his way around the new crew eventually.
Not that getting in shouting matches with the captain was going to help with that. He sighed and started towards the elevator. Everyone else was in their bunks by now, so Ju Min would probably be alone by now, which made her easier to talk with. Stepping off the elevator, he passed by his own cabin's door to knock on Ju Min’s.
“
Hey…Ju Min?” He wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when she answered the door. This past week she’d been a nearly random collection of reactions and emotions. “
Ju Min, I know you’re not asleep yet.”
"
Fuck off, you blue-haired leach." The voice behind the door was ever-so slightly-slurred, a sound so familiar to him he could almost guess how far into the third drink she was.
“
Look, open the door and share your whiskey.” As the door slid open he chuckled, he hadn’t expected to have called the liquor she was drinking too. But there she was, her shirt shrugged off next to her bed, her pants askew and undone, a half-full glass of whiskey in one hand and the half-full bottle in the other. Ju Min always seemed to have a new bottle of liquor each night. It would be impressive if it wasn’t a little concerning.
"
I don't gotta share with a Tian Di Wu Yohn Kai Tze like you..." It hardly seemed possible, but Ju Min did indeed get more profane when she was inebriated.
“
Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He took the bottle from her, getting no resistance as she slumped down against the door frame. “
Gon Beh, mei-mei.” He took a drink and sat down across from her, passing her the bottle back.
“
I'm older than you, chwen. Don't you mei-mei me” She filled her glass from the bottle, then paused, staring blankly at the bottle. “
Kiran...what the fuck am I doing?”
“
You're hogging the bottle, like a jerk.” He took the bottle back, a little taken aback when Ju Min simply let the bottle go with no resistance.
“
No, I mean...all this. This storm of mi tian gohn that I'm in. I'm all wo toh wu now, and here I am dragging this chai neow crew around the 'Verse.” Her eyes were fixed on the glass of whiskey in front of her, as if there was some sort of revelation in the ripples for her. “
I mean, sure, we're better off on the Qi than we would ever be laying low planetside. But...” Her shoulders shuddered, a strangled little whimper following a few seconds of silence. “
You know what it was like...before...I don't know how to run this thing myself. If it weren't for Xhava, I probably wouldn't even have been able to get a crew. I don't know what I'm doing here Kiran.”
Kiran took another swig from the bottle. It wasn't great whiskey, and drinking wasn't one of his favorite pass times, but he had the feeling Ju Min could use the solidarity right now. “
You've got us a job, right? Just keep the crew paid, keep the pantry full, keep the Qi pointed in the direction of your next payday. That's all you need to do Ju Min, just keep doing what you're already doing.” He remembered something, reaching into his pocket. “
By the way, I brought you some of that protein paste you like so much.” He handed her a tube of the paste. “
It's easier for you to keep down, right?” He smiled softly as she nodded and took the tube. “
Eat, then get yourself to bed. You need to be lucid if you're going to pay me back.”
Ju Min chuckled harshly and stood up, stuffing the tube into her pocket. “
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all this is, huh? You keep me propped up long enough to pay you back?”
“
You know it.” Kiran smirked and stood up. He handed Ju Min back her whiskey, watching her as she stumbled to her feet and closed the door. He chuckled and turned back to his cabin, needing to head to bed himself.
OOC: Alright folks, sorry this took me so long to get posted. I'll time-skip us to the day before we hit the station with my next post (hopefully tomorrow).
And I also promise it won't be this long.