[PRP] Belly of the Beast

[Blood_Goddess]

Her first impression would be right, and Jerome answered with a shake of his head.
"Nah, Not really."
He sounded like it wasn't something he had put a lot of though into doing either.
"Didn't really cross m' mind all the much. 'Knew a couple other 14's who read. Ain't sure bout the other Lieutenants, but ours did." He muttered.
"When yer the one doin' the thinkin' I guess S'a good idea T'read."

He brushed this off though with a glance away, over to Xander and the others, then back down into his lap.
His teeth played absently with the back of his lip piercing before he spoke again.

He paused when she explained about the ship they were in, giving her a look that bordered disbelief.
"This whole mother ********' think flies?" he repeated
"Science fiction s**t like that S'real?"  

[Tinnunculus]

"I hope so, or we're up in the air supported by nothing." That was Hayes, who sounded a lot better for his spate of unconsciousness. The blond pushed his nonexistent glasses back into place and rubbed at his eye with the back of a hand, squinting with the other at the dark blur that was Jerome.

"Most've their tech borders on the theoretical." Like the others, he kept his voice low and an ear to what Aulus was doing. Hopefully not making things worse.  

[Blood_Goddess]

The lump of blond hair laying on the ground spoke,
Jerome turned his attention to the man that had returned in staggering, and suffering the affects of whatever the Galactics had done to him.

It was a good thing that he seemed to be recovering since then, at least enough to speak with them... even though Jerome got the impression he wasn't going to really understand what he was talking about.

The gangster let out a hiss of a breath though his teeth. Yeah, this whole team thing was in a completely different league then he was used to.
"Theoretical tech... ain't that like... not supposed to exist yet?"
It was very clear that this was not Jerome's strongest topic.
A word like "theoretical tech" spoke from his tone didn't seem to flow, or fit at all.  

[Loreven]

The guards Aulus was addressing glanced at each other, then frowned at the Rockets, "You were gonna get rations this morning but obviously some things have changed. You can wait a little longer."

Lore groaned, "S'that mean the caf goes down when this thing's in the air? Cause I'm pretty sure we'd settle for granola bars and juice boxes at this point.."

The guard who'd chosen to speak rolled his eyes. "We'll see what we can do. Now shut up."  

[Tinnunculus]

Hayes grinned weakly. "Theoretically."

The blond carefully rolled into a sitting position. "Far's we can tell his stuff works off ideas the rest of the world hasn't figured out yet." His voice still had a touch of grogginess to it, but his brain was firing on all cylinders. Slowly, with small repeated swipes of his fingers, dried blood fell away from his eye until he could open it. The effect was.. disorienting; his lone contact put things half-in, half-out of focus.

Hayes put a hand over his other eye and fell quiet as the guards took notice of them.  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus grunted and stepped away from the bars, slouching back over to Hayes and flopping down beside him. "Must have juice boxes on this thing," he muttered, "their boss seems to love the things. Maybe they're his personal property though... but I'd just settle for some sodding water at the minute." Hayes - who had been talking about something - had gone quiet. Aulus shifted slightly closer to him so that their shoulders touched and then didn't know what else he ought to do or say. For the time being he settled on 'nothing'.  

[Gwennythe]

"Fourteens?" Tambrey caught herself asking, no she didn't think he was talking about when he was fourteen so that left a group or, well, a gang.

She listened as Hayes explained the technology, smiling softly as the word 'theoretical' was thrown around.
The grunt seemed very mildly surprised when Jerome didn't see to know the word, but didn't make any mention or note of it; It wasn't like she knew how any of this worked either. There were sciences that she could do, but technology and engineering were remained rather alien; fascinating but somewhat mysterious.

The grunt was glad to see Hayes speaking like this though- he seemed better than he had been. She watched him rub his eye and thought, not for the first time, how she wished they'd been allowed to get cleaned up.

Well, Aulus seemed to have gotten the attention of the guards and now Lore was piping up too... She listened to the exchange and bit her bottom lip gently as they were told about rations and things being changed.
Tambrey really wished they could learn more about what had happened.

As Aulus rejoined the group and the guard told them to 'shut up', she found she couldn't help but deliver a glare in the rough direction of said guard.
Still, if they were planning on giving them rations...

"It sounds like we'll be getting -something- but... when whoever is in charge remembers, I guess..." She didn't really have any reason (beyond the Galactic uniform and him being a guard of the cell) to think the guard might have been lying about rations being planned; besides, why would he have told a lie like that anyway?  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome raised an eyebrow when Hayes elaborated, finding it hard to believe still, even though these guys were insisting that they were in a giant flying base.
What... so is that why these faerie haired ******** followed Eyepatch?

His head nodded when Tambery repeated the number 14 at him in a questioning tone.
He glanced at her before lifting his good hand back up, and shuffling his fingers though strange signs, at least four of them before pressing his knuckle sharply to his heart and lowered his hand back to his lap.
One might suspect if was sign language, only the slightly awkward way he was able to twist, or curl his fingers while others remained straight was far too complicated and oddly intimidating to be the kind of sign language that was learned for the deaf.

But it was used to confirm Tambery's suspicion that the "14's" were a gang. And from the effortless and quick way he was able to move from one sign to the other, he wasn't new to these signs.

His face didn't carry any pride for it though, as he seemed to slip back into a quiet posture, slumped against the wall, Watching Scars heading back to join the blond one once they got their answer.  

[Gwennythe]

The signs were rather interesting.
Tambrey watched as his hands changed from position to position so fluidly. Of course, to do that like that would mean a lot of practice and for a fair amount of time. As far as she was aware, gangs, apparently, weren't unlike Team Rocket in their policy for a member trying to leave so the fact that Jerome was with them now gave just a few options. After seeing the signs performed so readily, without words spoken, she found herself doubting his leaving had been entirely without reluctance, though the fact he showed no pride made her ponder on the reasons for such; had he been.. thrown out. Was she incorrect in her earlier assumption? Maybe banishment was something that could happen after all, but then he'd have had to do something to earn that banishment. Perhaps that wasn't it at all.

She'd looked back from the Galactic to speak and then found herself staring just a little after seeing Jerome make the signs... and her thought process, plus tiredness probably, had led to her staring a little longer than she'd intended.
She caught herself, looked at the ground, then found herself looking to check on the others.
She found herself wondering who was looking for them, missing them.

The grunt sighed gently and sagged again; she wanted to phone her mum.  

[Tinnunculus]

When Aulus drew close, Hayes gave him a companionable shoulder bump.

Looking over at his partner a deep frown of concern creased Aulus' face; "How're you doing there?" He looked better... but that was relative. He couldn't forget the sound of those screams.

Hayes glanced askance at his partner - still his partner, never mind rank. "M'alright." The blond gingerly fingered the small burnt marks on his arms. "Little burnt, but that's all - s'really just an 'in the moment' thing." He kept an ear tuned to Jerome and Tambrey's conversation, but there wasn't much to say. That the bulky, tattooed man was a gangster was hardly a shocking revelation, and if anything was a bit of relief to have him on their side. In spite of the broken arm he'd been quiet, put together, and seemed to know what was going on.

"...Good." He didn't know what else to say. After his babbling apologies last night (earlier?) he didn't know if there was anything else he could add. "maybe if they bring us some extra water we can get your face cleaned up at least." That was s**t. That was all he had. He gave Hayes another subtle shoulder nudge.

Aulus would sacrifice part of his water ration for him - a thought that gave Hayes pause - but not for something like cosmetics. Wouldn't he? The blond shook his head slightly. "Nah; drink it." He nudged him back; if they'd been playing co-op back on base the back-and-forth would've turned into roughhousing, but not here; despite his assurances Hayes' actions were muted.  

[Loreven]

About 30 minutes after Aulus made his demands, surprisingly, the demands were met. The doors to the brig swung open and a Galactic pushing a cart came in. He looked bored, considering the craziness of the morning. "Food rations here.."

One of the guards nodded, "Just push 'em through the bars."

"Right-o." The bored Galactic unloaded a container of very basic food items. Some sort of bread, something that looked kind of like oatmeal and silver juice packets. The selection didn't come with any silverware, plastic or otherwise. They were probably meant to use the bread to eat, or just drink the glop from the little tupperware-like bowls it came in.

"Bon-appetit.." The man muttered, pushing the foodstuffs through the bars.

Lore watched all this without getting up from his spot in the corner. He still didn't have much energy after his two hours of being punched in the face last night. "..I think I ordered tacos."  

[Gwennythe]

As the food was pushed through the bars, Tambrey found herself taking an interest in the bored Galactic who had arrived, and his cart. Until Lore spoke up about 'tacos'.
The grunt looked to him, considered a snort or some other noise of amusement, yet couldn't quite manage to bring up more than a very tired smile.
It soon turned into a wary frown as she regarded the... oats? Was it oats? As hungry as she was, she wasn't sure she wanted to eat whatever that was.
At least there was bread there and... unmarked juice.
Well. They hadn't been killed so far so it likely wasn't poison, though she supposed there were other things that.. No, best to deal with it later. If they wanted to live, they'd have to drink and that meant the oat slop or the juice.
The grunt looked to the Galactics then, choosing to speak up after Lore's taco comment.

"... There is a chance one of us could be allergic to what you've given us and I doubt you know everything of all of us, so for our own self preservation and to avoid the hassle for you all- what is in this and what sort of juice are those?"
She surprised herself, first, that she'd managed to speak up at all and second at how worn out she sounded while trying to sound 'calm'.

She didn't really expect a reply though- they were prisoners and supposed to take whatever they got- but it felt oddly, a little, good to just say -something- to their captors- at least while there didn't seem to be a threat of getting someone else shocked anyway. Maybe that was why Lore kept making comments?
She made no move to take any food yet.  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus grunted, though whether his disapproval was directed at the guards, the food, or something else wasn't clear. Mainly this was because he wasn't sure himself. Everything was so very... and far too....

Stuff.

It was all stuff and he didn't know how to deal with it or what he should think or feel or so....

He knew what he should do.

Getting to his feet once more Aulus moved over to the bars and gathered up the food items, because it didn't look like anyone else was taking the initiative and he didn't imagine the guards would have much to say to Tam. "I suppose there must have been a mix up in the kitchens," he muttered as he started to pass out portions. Bread, gloop, juice, handed to everyone. He was being useful. Maybe that made up for his display of weakness earlier on. He felt pathetic for it but... but... it had been his fault, and he'd known it, and he just hadn't been able to stand it. They wouldn't think less of him for crying, would they?

Still worrying about this amongst a million other things - mainly Hayes being taken away and hurt again - Aulus rejoined his partner and passed over the blond's share of the rations. "Better than nothing I suppose," he muttered, piercing his own juice package and taking a slow sip. Savour it. Never knew when they might be fed again.  

[Tinnunculus]

The guard, who apparently couldn't be bothered with this sort of thing, gave Tambrey a Look. It was a very emphatic look which said 'Part of our airship blew up this morning and you're asking me about allergies?' "It'd be more hassle to find out," he told her sourly, and pushed the cart off before more discussion could be had.

- - -

"Thanks." Hayes inspected the foodstuffs Aulus handed to him once the guard was gone. Some sort of bread, some sort of.. gloop, and some sort of juice, vaguely space-age in packaging. "Reminds me of grade school," he commented without rancor.

Aulus raised his eyebrows at that and almost smiled. "Really? I always took my own lunch to school." Mainly because he'd never been satisfied that anyone in the kitchen had understood/cared about the word 'vegeterian'.

"Oh yeah? Me too, sometimes." Hayes squashed his unopened juice packet thoughtfully; it was probably a more rewarding recourse than drinking it.

Aulus nibbled at his piece of bread without appitite and commented; "Sounds like a delightful school, though. A bit Dickensian in terms of dinner?" Dickensian? Where had he just pulled that from?

Hayes shrugged. "It was public school, man," he laughed faintly. Think in five minute segments. Talk about a place that's not here. "They got their pudding in five-gallon barrels and served pizzas the size of small blankets."

Aulus managed a weak smile. "Only passing familiarity with vegetables?" Takling - and thinking - about anything other than what was going on was good, right? It was easier said than done though. Somebody else would be taken away and hurt soon. They were helpless. "And lumpy custard."

"Round peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," Hayes agreed.

Aulus looked baffled. "Round?"

"Oh yeah," his friend nodded knowledgeably. "If you didn't have a lunch on a field trip they gave you this flimsy white box one. "Apple, raisins, milk in a carton and this little round sandwich in a plastic bag. No crusts - kind of like a giant potsticker with jelly inside." He gestured vaguely, shaping the invisible food of his memories.

Aulus pulled a face. "That sounds... odd." Surely round sandwiches were harder to make and made more waste than normal sandwiches... he was probably over analysing that, but wasn't that a good thing? Stay distracted. "My school banned any snacks but fruit when I was about thirteen. We ended up with a kind of playground blackmarket for sweets and crisps, people swapping their trading cards and things...." Probably best not mention how he'd got hold of the snacks he wanted, he didn't imagine threatening other students was something Hayes would be pleased with.

"I dunno," Hayes mused. "They made pretty good spaceships."

Aulus managed a short laugh and gave Hayes another gentle should nudge. "You would think of something like that."

A grin ghosted across the blond's bloody face. "They shot jelly lasers."

Aulus lent back against the wall, returning the faint grin. "Death by jelly. That sounds embaressing."

"Delicious," Hayes corrected, and stabbed a straw into his juice packet.

- - -

They weren't given much time to eat. Ten, fifteen minutes at the most passed before more Galactics were back - two of them, one the woman with the apple red hair who'd escorted Hayes and Aulus off earlier, the other a man with a dark purple ponytail.

The woman gestured at Xander and Tambrey with her gun. "Get up. You're next."  

[Gwennythe]

Information.
Curtly delivered, but still, even if they hadn't been enemies in this prisoner and guard situation, it would have been understandable and information was information.
'More hassle to find out'; those words ticked away. So they were either confident enough in their ability to treat them swiftly for such things... or more likely the explosion had indeed been a pretty substantial one. Substantial enough that the situation turned prisoner 'neglect', at least in this, to be 'acceptable', despite the selective care taken so far...
This was an uncontrolled response to a, so far, very controlled situation.
She watched the Galactic go with a thoughtful glare then turned her attention to the food as Aulus passed it out.
"Thanks." She could, at least, still manage her tired smile, though obviously lacking some unidentifiable feature that would render it authentic.

The grunt went for her juice first of all; she was hungry, true, but found herself moreso thirsty. It probably wasn't amazing juice, but for now, it actually seemed to taste very, very good; the result of being without, she supposed.
She eavesdropped, of course, on the conversation between Hayes and Aulus nearby- it was hard not to eavesdrop on anyone in here- but she remained quiet as she ate, though smiled at the 'sandwich spaceships' a little. It was nice to have something to.. imagine, to visualize.

She found she didn't trust the 'glop' of whatever it was, hungry as she was, and pushed it aside in favour of the bread.
Again, this was unlikely to be actually as pleasant as she was currently finding it to be and that thought gave her pause, though only once or twice before she was finished.

She'd barely finished her bread when the Galactics arrived to take... Xander and herself.
She hesitated, looked warily from the gun to Xander, and then, reluctantly, stood to go. If they didn't, with that little bit of information she'd decided she'd found earlier, she imagined they might just actually shoot someone right now. It didn't mean that she couldn't show her reluctance while complying though, of course and each step, she hoped, showed her mood.
It would have been nice to have had a witty comment or something to say, but she couldn't think of a thing- she -could- however, try to stick close to Xander as they were escorted out and then she thought of the only thing that did seem right- she'd try to reach for Xander's hand to give a gentle squeeze.