RPlog:When It Rains, It Pours - Part 2

A section of the spaceport is filled with broken down old ships. Chadra-Fan run this way and that, trying to attract the attention of passersby. However, very few stop to look, and those that do take one look at the condition of the ships for sale and keep right on walking. Bill is seated on a bench. Technically, he is asleep on the bench. But he begins to stir, the honking of a large beast being unloaded from another, nearby ship, causing enough of a ruckus to wake him up. He blinks a few times, looks around, and looks concerned. He stands up, turns all the way around, as if looking for something, and finally says, "Captain? Where did ye go now?"

There's movement somewhere nearby. Something vaguely human crawls out from underneath a make-shift canopy made of scrap and tarpaulin. Stretching and yawning for a bit, the person stands and looks around at the bustle. Nobody seems to mind his presence or the fact that he made a scrapheap his sleeping quarters. The person begins to rummage in the pockets of his coat and trousers, trying to find some small change.

"Don't get yer shorts in a bunch, Bill, ye ol' barnacle. I'm right here." And after a moment, this is actually true, because the quarren tramps into view from behind a speeder that seems to have just arrived. The speeder swoops off, and Jack begins to limp toward his first mate, a slight smirk on his face. "I got some interestin' tales for ye. Wonder what ye'll make o' them." Not really paying much attention to where he is going, intent as he is on making it to the Mon Cal, Jack nearly trips over the ragged young person that emerges from the pile of rubble. "Blast ye, ye nearly..." but then he seems to recognize the human, and his ire turns into a chuckle, "Oh, it's ye, What're ye doin' grubbin' around down there?" Conveniently forgetting that he hadn't given the lad another option. "Ye can stay in the inn in town 'til we set sail, just mention me name ter the owner. Jack H'gar. But come 'ere first 'n' meet me first mate."

Bill gives the youth an up and down look, his keen eye (for he only has one) appraising every aspect of Jack's new recruit. "Ye need to be thrown into the sea for a good scrubbing," Jack declares. He throws a glance around the spaceport, but sees no sea anywhere, or even a decent substitute. It was times like this that he desperately missed his time aboard The Squid's Ink back on Dac. "But I guess that can wait. Me name be Billious Qarrack, but ye may call me Barnacle Bill, or SIR Barnacle." He is quite interested in the tale the Captain has, but that can wait until the introductions are over.

"What the feck -", the young person protests when he's almost tripped over, but eases up when he recognizes Jack and gives him a sarcastic smile. "Aye, fine... jes' like I have the gold for a fancy hotel...", he mutters and trudges after the man to meet his fishy first mate. Blue eyes, half-hidden under the fringe of dark hair eye him up and down and he holds out a small grubby hand in greeting. "Hey Bill. Nice to meet ye.", he smiles, "I'm Kit. 'tis short for Christopher." Oh yes.

The quarren chuckles, and says, "Don't ye worry none, lad, ye'll not be payin' for it. It's already been settled. Just get yerself over there, we can't have ye sleepin' there, or the vrelts'll eat yer nose just as sure as ye can say 'unpleasant.'" He nods as the two introduce themselves, and then turns to the youth, saying, "Now, Kit, ye'll be answering to me, or to Bill, but after that, don't ye let no one give ye orders on me boat, mind? Though I've no doubt ye'll be able to stick up for yerself, little cannon like ye are." He chuckles, then turns back to Bill, "Well, when ye decided to go for yer little nap, I got a look at some other ships," He gives Bill a meaningful look, "better ships. But the one who took me..." he shakes his head, "Well, she offered me a deal, but she weren't the one offerin' it, if ye get me meanin'. Though the leader didn't show hisself."

Barnacle Bill eyes the dirty hand offered to him, reaches out, and shakes it. "Welcome to the crew. Thar be a little creature with a handle around here somewhere. If ye find him, ye can use him to mop yourself off. And then ye can do the room's floor too." Bill smiles and turns his attention to the captain, listening to his story while thoughtfully tugging at his eyepatch. "T'was the offer better 'n the one we already 'ave? Bigger ship?"

Kit smirks a bit but doesn't seem to be too offended. "Awright.", he says and looks around for said creature with mop, but turns back to Bill with a frown. "What room? And don't ye worry, capt'n -", he remarks cheerfully to Jack, "I ain't taking no crap from no one..."

"Nay, not a bigger ship. Well, actually, I don't rightly know, as I've not seen t'other one. But it ain't big enough for all o' us, that's for true. An' I'm wary o' the offer. I don't like workin' under no one, least of all if I don't know who 'tis. The devil ye know's a sight better'n the devil ye don't." Turning back to Kit, he laughs, "That's right, lad. Ye'll fit in fine 'round here."

"Our room at the inn, o' course! Pay attention!" Bill gruffs to the young new crewmember. It was not that Bill was angry, or even mean, he just has fun bossing around new crew members. It has been only him and Jack aboard the Freedom Fish for so long that he had missed having a good crew. "Arrr," Bill agrees. "A ship that can't fit us all is no ship worthy of such a crew as we have gathered! And thus we shall have nary a thing to do with it!" he exclaims. Then he pauses. "How many are on the crew now, anyway? This ragamuffin. The woman in the bar, I guess she hired us. The mop.." Did the mop even count as a crewmember? Bill wasn't sure, but included him for good measure. "Anyone else me should know about?"

Kit just grins at the two men and nods, though something seems to bother him. "That new ship of yers, be big enough for me to have me own cabin?", he asks somewhat hopefully and picks up his dirty bag. "I be off then to find that mop and get meself some caf..."

"Aye, lad, don't ye worry, ye'll get yer own room. From the looks o' it, that'll be the best thing for all o' us." He chuckles as he once again takes in the state of the youth next to him. "Remember what I said about the inn until then, though. Don't let me catch ye sleepin' out in the cold again." He says this gruffly, but he pats Kit on the back in an almost fatherly manner, reaching into his pocket and flicking him a credit chip, "Here, and don't worry 'bout the mop, ol' Bill's pullin' yer leg." With that, he turns back to his first mate, "Aye, an' a squib what claims he can cook, but we'll see about it when we get our ship. That be it, so far...so, countin' us, five." He shrugs, "Not much, yet, but we'll be gettin' more."

Bill's eyes light up at the mention of a cook on board. On the Freedom Fish, there had only been readymake foods and whatever they could afford in addition to their grog and ale in cantinas. Even on the Squid's Ink the food was less than divine, due to a cook who was afraid of water, despite sailing on it all day long. "Arr, me hopes he can prepare deep fried sea heckfish in lemon sauce and wonderful bantha deep fried in butter, and deep fried nerf and piku eggs," Bill says, reminiscing about these, his favorite dishes. The calamari takes a moment to smack what would be hils lips if squid had lips, and smiles happily.

The young human groans when he hears all the food being mentioned. Grabbing the credit chip, he beams a cheerful smile at Jack. "Thankee, capt'n. I'll be off then. See ya later, mates!" He waves and walks off in a hurry.

Watching the youth run off, Jack smiles, but shakes his head slightly, "There's somethin' about that kid, I dunno, I can't quite put me finger on it." But he shrugs, "Ah well, s'long's he c'n fight an' he don't get in the way other'n that, he'll be a'right." He turns back to Bill, ready to open up more now that the two are more or less alone. "So, Bill, as I were sayin', this little twi'lek wench comes up ter me, offers me a ship." He pauses, looking around as though he's worried about being overheard, "But I'd be workin' fer her. Well, not fer _her_, but fer her boss. Didn' say who."

Bill listens closely and begins to toy with his eye patch once again, a nervous habit that made some people nervous, that he might show them what was underneath it, but Jack was likely used to it by now. "Arr, so that be where ye went wanderin' off to, eh? Me knew it must've had something to do with a fine young wench! Bet ye was pretty disappointed she just wanted to talk business, eh?" Bill chuckles lecherously for a moment, but then is all business again. "What kind o' ship did she offer?"

A chuckle emerges from the captain's throat, as well, and he nods, "Aye, Bill, ye know me too well for yer own good." But he also knows when to sober up, and he does so, saying, "Nothin' much. A light freighter, an' it wouldn't be enough ter hold a gundark, much less th' whole crew we've got now. She took me to this great compound, an' ye've never seen such a sight, Bill. Fountains'n plants'n all sorts o' kark. Whoever they are, they's got more creds than the Imperial bank. And she put it in me mind that it ain't wise to turn 'em down, but ye know I don't like ter be bullied."

Bill makes some hrming sounds in the back of his throat and nods. "Aye, well, if this deal with the New Republic works out, we may be handed enough credits to protect ourselves from them, whoever they are. An' if'n not, at least we've been handed another river of opportunity to explore. Makes old Bill nervous though, not knowin' anything about them." He shakes his head. "I hope we hear soon, either way. Me old bones ache to get off this dry land."

The gnarled old quarren nods, pushing his hat back from his forehead and stroking his tentacles with his other hand thoughtfully. "I know what ye mean, Bill. I'll feel a mite more comfortable once we get our bearings and set sail once more, that's fer true. An' who knows," and all of a sudden his features spread into a rather devilish grin, "we might find ourselvs a bit o' adventure wi' these mysterious lads, eh? I could do wi' some good ol' fashioned firefights like we had raidin' on Dac."

The memory brings a smile to Bill's face. "Aye, remember when we ran into me old crew outside of the Blue Straights? We certainly showed them what happens when ye throw yer cap'n overboard! But me am glad it happened, fer here we be, about to set off on a grand adventure!" Bill looks back and forth mischievously. "Mebbe we outta go hang around that compound, see if we can learn anything. Do ye know how to get there without hte speeder?"

"Arr, that were a far beauty of a fight! Those mutinous nerfherders got what was comin' to 'em, all right!" The captain then gives his first mate an affronted look, though it's obviously feigned as he cracks into another grin, and says, "Bill, who're ye talkin' to? O' course I can. And ye read me mind, matey. C'mon, let's go. I'll show ye, and ye'll not b'lieve yer eyes." With that, he claps his companion on the back, and they set off in the direction of the Zhao compound.