Small Universe

Jevon Ecoaly lounged out on what once resembled and old world beach chair, next to him was a simple cardboard sign, that read “TRANSPORT SHIP, PASSANGERS WELCOMED…MONEY UP FRONT, PLEASE”. Behind him sat his ship, The Enigma, a firefly class transport, she wasn’t much but to Jevon she was home. The name of her, well that was the mystery to it all, Jevon was never exactly sure why he bought her, just felt right. And the Enigma lived up to that name, every time he thought he had it all figured out, something would cause him to question it all over again. Little less than a year had passed since he’d been arrest on Beaumond. Although he technically was only under arrest from the time they put the cuffs on him, to about when he knocked out those two troopers in the alley. It would certainly be a while before he set foot on Beaumond anytime soon.

Persephone on the other hand was different, the plant was a unique, a cross between high end luxury and the lowest of the slums. Persephone was also a place where if one was looking for work or transport they’d come to the right plant and the best place to start was the Evesdown Docks. There was activity all over the place, from merchants trying to sell their many wares, along other ships from all over the Verse stopping by to do business. That’s where Jevon found himself, besides meeting up with a few questionable folk for some not so legal work, he decided taking on passengers as well would always be a good way to bring in some easy cash. Plus Enigma needed repairs and he has kind of running low on funds as it is.

He decided not to wear his duster it wasn’t exactly the best thing you wanted to have on when you were trying to pick up guest. No today he decided on a dark green long sleeve shirt and tan pants as always with ends tucked into the tops of his boots, even without the duster very few people had even shown interest in his ship….it was gonna be a long day

Since enlisting in the military, her parents had moved a few more times, finally settling on Persephone as a retirement home. Nemesis was stationed for a two-week break in Persephone: none of the newer planets needed any assistance, and the ship needed more than one serious repair and preventative maintenance. A stop on her parents' planet always meant a few home-cooked meals and potentially a real bed with a room to herself. Of course, such luxuries came with a price: her mother always wanted spices or accessories, her father wanted an ascot or an unofficial report on a planet he'd worked on. The past year had taken her very few new or exciting places, meaning Brie walked through the market Evesdown Docks hosted, scanning every ship's wears for something exciting.

The gigglings of a group just to her left grabbed Brie's attention - apparently the bloke just ahead in the green shirt and tan pants was "just Alyssa's type." The group was a good deal younger than Brie was, which meant that the pilot had to fight the urge to look for the man, but the urge was lessened, knowing that he was also probably younger than she was. The thought of meeting a man, however, brought back some of her mother's words in their last correspondence. Yes, Brie's parents were getting "old and frail," but that did not mean it was time for Brie to start searching for her future husband, one that could convince Brie to give her parents grandkids. They all knew her parents weren't going any place soon, but that didn't stop her mother from attempting to set Brie up with any eligible man in the area.

With that in mind, however, Brie had taken the time to comb her ever-growing hair properly, twisting and weaving the upper half of it into an intricate bun, leaving the rest to fall gently down her back. Per usual, she wore pale brown jodhpurs and knee-high boots, comfortable clothing that did not limit her range of movement. Breaca's top was form-fitting and navy, a shirt her mother had purchased years ago, again with the idea of suitors on her mind. The sleeves ended between her elbows and wrists, allowing her to regulate body temperature fairly easily. Her outfit grabbed merchant's attention, quietly stating she had money to burn if the right thing was offered, a useful trick she'd learned after a few times of forgetting to grab her parents gifts. Slowly, she moved from stall to stall, looking for something shiny her parents would like, until a cardboard sign asking for passengers crossed through her vision. An irritable sigh escaped her lips, aware she was running out of time to buy something.

The funny thing about Persephone was you never knew what kind of person you were going to run into, the docks were filled with all kinds of folk, merchants, workers, rich, poor, honest people, and those who weren’t. Jevon was no stranger to the places like this, see he wasn’t born on the border worlds, originally his family had grown up in central plants, it was civilized and peaceful, but Jevon’s father grew tired of the Alliance’s constant control, watching every moved everyone made. So one day he packed up and moved his family out to the border. It was tough living but Jevon’s family made due. It was this kind of live that help Jevon get this far in life. But, all that was a story for another time, right Jevon was trying to look friendly, but, was also waiting for some questionable cargo to arrive for him to transport off world.

Jevon sat back in his beach chair watching people to pass the time, so far today there were no takers interested in his ship. He got up and rechecked his sign, no problems there. Was it him, he looked at his reflecting in the hull of the ship, he checked his hair, no looked fine maybe a little meshed up but it seemed fine to him. He combed through it with his hand just in case, in the reflection he could see a group of young women looked his way then giggled whispering among themselves. He smoothed out his work shirt and flashed then a smile “ladies” that only caused them giggle some more before moving on stealing glances as they left. Jevon just shook his head, it wasn’t that he didn’t think about finding a potential lady friend. But, given his present situation, bringing on an innocent women into his line of work won’t make for a healthy relationship.

Of course that didn’t mean he wasn’t keeping an eye out. So, when a lady passing by caught his eye he couldn’t help but watch. She was pretty, hair partially held up in a bun, and he couldn’t help but notice that her cloths fir her well. She had money, he tell that and she walked with a purpose checking out each merchant stall as she based.“Looking for passage? Enigma here is the best in her class.” He was about to say more when he finally got a good look at her face, “You?"

Brie managed one or two steps away from the sign before the captain rushed up to her, ready to sing praises of his ship. A brief glance at Enigma didn't leave Brie with any striking impression beyond the fact he managed to keep a Firefly running so long after production had been halted. While the outer shell wasn't exactly in disrepair, it had definitely seen better days. Without a second thought, the pilot looked at the next stall, confident the captain had nothing else to offer her. The "you" made Brie stop and really look at the captain's face - it was Jevon, if memory served correctly. A surprised laugh found its way out, while her hand went instinctively to her purse, checking it was still there. Her personal cruiser had been expensive to replace, she didn't need him taking the rest of her savings with him.

"Yes, me," Brie answered, taking another look at his ship and his sign. "How long have you been doing this for?" She gestured at the sign, realizing she had asked only half of what she wanted to know. "Rather, how often do you try to recruit passengers, and are you successful, ever?" An honest answer would probably be rarely and never, but Jevon wasn't exactly an honest person, if she judged by past experience. Hopefully, he wouldn't hold last year's activities against her. If he hadn't decided to hold Al and her at gunpoint outside of the bar, Jevon wouldn't have been arrested, Al wouldn't have been dumped in a lake, and Brie would not have been up close and intimate with every toilet on Nemesis.

Nine months after last time scrubbing toilets, Brie had nearly forgotten about the whole incident, but memories flooded back now that she saw Jevon again. She had felt bad for the smuggler at the beginning, and then annoyed as the reality of two months of toilet duty set in, occasionally furious as those two months ended. At the moment, she was ambivalent - it had happened, she was a better fighter now, and he wouldn't pull a gun on her in the docks. He might anyway, but she could walk away in the docks. Al and Brie hadn't had that option on Beaumonde when it had been just the three of them in the alley behind the bar.

If it had been another time and place, Jevon would have dawn his gun but, it wasn’t that easy on Persephone too many people and the occasional Alliance patrol made it difficult. He saw her reach for her purse, this made Jevon laugh “no worries mis’ I have no interest in your ID cards...not after last time.” It had been almost a year but Jevon’s memory was good, he recognized Brie. She asked him about the sign “I take on passengers when I can or when I need the income, not all of us get a shiny paycheck from the Alliance. As for successful, well it comes and goes” Jevon indicating to the lack of passengers lining up for a trip. Generally Jevon won’t be this friend with Alliance Feds, especially after one tried to put him behind bard, but, this girl was different somehow.

Back on Beaumond, while her commander had chewed her out, she watched Jevon and after all that she apologized, she’d left him to be carried off to jail, but, she had at least shown some remorse for it. Jevon’s father used to tell him though that out in The Black nothing was simply black and white. That everyone had a reason for doing what they did. He knew that if she spoke up against her commanding officer, Brie’s punishment would have been much worse than simply cleaning toilets.

Still she was Alliance and he didn’t need her hanging around while he conducted his business. So he turned the sign around- on the back it said “BACK IN 5.” Jevon then took Brie by the arm leading her away from his ship “So, first time on Persephone?”

He took a swing at her paycheck - Brie supposed that was fair, though his answer to her question confirmed her suspicions. She took the time to look at his ship again. Sure, the Firefly was in rough shape, but it was a general condition. Quite a few panels had dings from impacting smaller debris, other showed warpage that occurred from constant exit and entry of various atmospheres, but there were no holes between panels or disconnects where joints should be. Ships no longer in production were very difficult to maintain - once the entire ship stopped rolling off the line, so did their parts. Brie guessed the inside would be similar to the outside. Everything from the engine to the control display would be factory original, or a mess of parts that clearly were never meant for their new purpose.

Without realizing it, Brie took a step forward in an attempt to see the engine room (Al would have a field day). Before she'd even finished moving her weight from back foot to front, Jevon had his hand on her arm, gently leading her away from the ship. Annoyed, Brie looked at him, the ship, his sign, back at the ship and finally at him again, begrudingly matching his pace. She fought not to give Jevon a face in response, wondering what he'd tried to show her that she hadn't seen in the past two years. "You might be able to get more passengers if you listed your destinations," Brie commented, examining the stalls as they walked. Some pushy browncoat didn't want to show off his ship, but Brie still had to shop for her parents.

"Suppose I haven't been here before," Brie finally responded, pulling away ever-so-slightly to look at a tray of silks. From a distance, they managed to meet her father's standard, but the second she got close, it was clear they were poor replicas. The silk was cheap and rough, designs were printed on and nearly every edge was frayed. With a look of disappointment at the merchant, her eyes moved on to the next stall, one full of tourist trinkets for Persephone. The idea of going home empty-handed was miserable, but Brie was slowly coming to terms with the fact she might have to. Armed with the knowledge that the next stall held nothing for her, Brie examined Jevon's face, trying to pick apart his plan so she could get out of it.

Now Jevon had nothing against Brie but, it didn’t look to good for business when you had an active Alliance pilot snooping around when you were trying to move certain cargo. Most of his clients weren’t exactly up standing citizens and Brie didn’t seem like a person who would let people like that walk freely. So Jevon made sure as they walked that he kept an eye on his ship. He was sure that it was being watched, that they were keeping track of him as he walked about and he knew that when he got back to his ship later there would be packages waiting for him to “deliver.” He just had to get Brie as far away from his ship as possible for that to happen, and if that required him doing it himself then so be it. And yet…. Jevon couldn’t help but be kind of glad she came along; it gave him someone to talk because he was getting might bored waiting for passengers.

As they walked she criticized his sign and he hated to admit it but she was actually right. He refused to tell her that though, “If I did that, then most people won’t like where I decide to go, no I prefer that they pick the destination.” Jevon walked past the many different stalls with Brie on his arm, to most people they probably looked like some kind of couple. If only they knew what they really were it would definity change the way they viewed them. An Alliance and a Browncoat, sounds like something from some fairy tale, Jevon had to keep himself from laughing out loud at the thought. Besides a girl like her probably had a line of suiters courting her. A lot more proper then some browncoat smuggler like himself. Still he stole a few glances at her before looking back at the stalls pushing away any more thoughts such that from his mind.

Jevon felt Brie pull away from him to go look at one of the venders. Jevon took the opportunity to quickly look around the market a lot of the merchants were selling common tourist crap, stuff only the tourist would fall for buying, Jevon also noticed that the market was slowing starting to empty out, this made him antsy, they needed to move on soon. After inspecting the merchant’s wares Brie came back with a look of disappointment on her face. She stared at him and Jevon just flashed her a grin. “You need to know, that nothin’ on Persephone is as it seems.” Jevon walked back to the silk merchant, after some careful bartering and the passing of some cash, the merchant went back to their ship and then returned with more silks and fabric, these ones were the real deal high quality fabrics. “That what’s on outside isn’t all there is. So, you shopping for someone in particular?”