New friend old memories

[river]

River went into the kitchen. She felt everything in the and she loved it. She had some memories that were good and bad. Shepherd Books were always good.

'You can live off of protien from here until judgement day if you have enough rosemary'

River smiled at the sound of Shepherd Books voice it was always calming to her for some reason. Maybe it was because he was a preacher and he was always patient with her no matter what she did. She could feel Wash strongly in the room to he was always so friendly.

'This sounds like something from Science Fiction'
'Honey we live in a space ship'
'So'

River smiled despite herself Wash could always get her to smile. Her brother couldn't do that half of the time. River could feel guests and crew she'd never met on the ship not as strong as Mal and the ones she had met but they were there. They were ghosts lingering on the ship in some strange way that no one knew about. Some were alive some dead all there though strong or weak they were there. River knew Bella was close behind her and that was all that mattered at the moment.

[Arabella Hart]

Walking to the kitchen, Bella was impressed. In all the ships she had ever worked on, this was the cleanest kitchen ever. Setting her bags down, she walked around the island counter, running her fingertips along the surface as her own memories surfaced.

‘Bella Baby, you have the cooks touch-a rare gift Baby.’

Bella started to hum an old lullaby her mother sang to her as a child. Letting it trail off, she smiled at River and nodded. “You helped me out there down there without realizing it.” Bella was referring to her slight moment with Daniel. She knew River could read her mind, and for the moment didn’t care. Bella hadn’t had a friend-even of the slightest nature-since she escaped her grandmother’s clutches.

[river]

"Not a problem at all" said River "I knew I was helping you and my nephew"

River was still feeling memories from the others. She felt Bella's memory and then went about finishing what she started. River felt that Bella and Daniel could help each other but they needed to relax first.

"Everything you need is in the cupboards if there is something you need that we don't have just make a list to give to Mal" said River "He will obtain the proper materials for you"

[Arabella Hart]

Bella nodded and smiled. She had noticed crates of food in the cargo bay, but she didn’t know when they would be brought up. “Walking in I noticed the crates of food there.” Walking around some more, Bella leaned against the counter. “I can go down and grab the food in a bit.” Letting her smile fade, she put on a face of deep thought.

She was figuring out the best thing to make for tonight. Seeing as they seemed to have been planetside only today as far as she knew, this was probably their first order of fresh food in a while. Having a real meal at least twice a month was her motto. Other times she alternated with fresh foods and protein or canned goods and protein. She learned quickly to spread the fresh fruits, vegetables and how to make the meat last longer.

[river]

"Go right ahead and yes it is our first day planetside and once Mal comes back we are going to be departing" said River

River was going to tell Mal about the people from the school even though she had calmed down considerably once she was back on Serenity. That was the thing about River she was tense until she was on Serenity and then she felt like she was home. Simon was starting to feel that way to at first the only reason he had stayed was because Kaylee loved it but it grew on him to.

River looked at Bella she could always tell when people were in deep thought such as Bella was now. River knew that this girl had no idea what she could do and that could be a problem if they ever had to face reavers again.

[zoe]

the soft sound of Inara's skirts enter the room as Inara appeared in the doorway, the crates of fruit and vegetables in her arms.

"I thought this might be useful for awhile, Mal never does concern himself with luxuries like this, but I happen to think of nothing else." she said as she set the crates on the kitchen counter and began to pull things out to put them away.

"How do you like our Kitchen Bella?"

[Arabella Hart]

Bella turned as Inara came in. When she was young she used to threaten to her grandmother that she would become a companion just so she’d back away from Bella. Nodding, she looked about. “This is amazing for a ship. I’ve never seen one kept so well.” She wrinkled her nose up and smirked a bit. “I used to have to spend a day scrubbing down the kitchens of other ships before I could cook.”

Bella was curious about their captain. She hadn’t met him or even laid eyes upon him, so obviously her interests were peaked. Usually it was the captain who hired who so this was something new. She was actually nervous. Looking between Inara and River, she needed to ask them something though. “Are then any special diets either of you have? I just like to know before hand because I will make stuff on the side for anyone who does.”

[zoe]

"No, nothing out of the ordinary for me, should something come up I'll let you know. You should speak to Haven however, she has some special needs you might want to know about." Inara answered. She finished putting things away and drew a small wrapped box from her pocket and handed it to River. Inside she'd find pieces of her favorite chocolates.

Inara always new what everyone liked on the ship. She'd get them presents around their birthdays and sometimes when she just felt like giving presents. This was one of the latter.

[river]

River gave Inara one of her classic smiles as she took the chocolate. They didn't last for long with her because of what happened to her.

"Thank you Inara" said River "Nothing special about my diet either, Bella"

River could feel Bella's nervousness and it was actually making River herself nervous. River put a hand onto Bella's shoulder.

"Bella you will be just fine" said River "Mal doesn't do a lot of the hiring of people for the ship he has barkers like Kaylee and I for that. Mal is easy to figure out and trust me you don't even need to be a reader to figure him out"

[Arabella Hart]

Bella nodded, making a mental note to talk to Haven and the rest of the crew. Curling her toes a bit, she thought a moment more. “I usually work for room and board. The only time I really need a bit of money is when there are things that I really need, which is usually once every two months.” Bella learned fast to be frugal when out in space. Over the years, a bit of the things she dragged along she either sold, gave away, or just left behind. But it was never anything that her grandmother could find where she is in the verse. The last thing Bella needed was to go back there.

Scrunching her face up in thought, she thought to herself, ‘Maybe this time will be different. Maybe I can get over the incident.’ To keep herself calm, Bella would call the attack and “incident” if she had already had a problem with a memory. “What time does the crew usually eat?”

[river]

"Understood and I will make sure that Mal understands your terms for being here." said River

River went and put a hand onto Bella's shoulder. River knew how Bella felt and she wanted to help her as much as possible.

"Depends if Mal wants to get off planetside quickly or if he decides that we can afford a night here. Because if we leave right away I would suggest that we don't eat until we get out of atmo otherwise you can make dinner right away. Mal just requires that we have one sit down meal a night with everyone on the ship." said River

River still could remember all of the dinners that she had had on this ship. It was her home and she loved it she could still hear Wash's voice in the ship. His dinosaurs on the helm and things that Zoe kept that left reminders of him. Shepherd Book was still a strong prescence on the ship as well. River shuddered at the thought of his hair.

[Arabella Hart]

Bella felt relief flood her about her terms. Bella didn’t ask for much and would rarely argue with anyone. “I can cook things for breakfast and lunch that I can put away for people to make as needed as well.” Bella could be as versatile as needed. What she wanted to make tonight wouldn’t take long so she wondered if she could be showed someplace to sleep.

Wanting sometime to unpack a few things and rest she spoke up. “Could I possible be seen to a bunk or wherever I shall be sleeping? I just want to rest for a few moments before I start some dinner.”

[river]

"I shall escort you to one of the guest bunks temporarily if you want to nap Mal will assign you a premenant. You may decorate as you wish once you have a bunk" said River

River loved this ship it was as much a part of her as it was Mal. Mal would probably marry the ship given a chance though. He fell in love with it the day he first saw it and that was that. It has flown true since but it was like he said 'Take a ship in the air that you don't love it will buck you right out of the sky'.

[Arabella Hart]

Bella ran her fingers lightly over the counters as her own memories engulfed her again. A time when her aunt Betty as she liked to call the old cook would teach a younger Bella the ways of the kitchen. When every year on her birthday, she’d wake up to some lovely dress from her grandmother, but a fresh picked bouquet of roses from the one she considered her second mother. Bella love for her grandmother, yes she did. But her grandmother was more often fierce then kind. And well, Bella ran from that fierce spirit. A spirit that still haunted her.

“A place to lay my head is a good place to me. It doesn’t matter much where it is.” She let her smile remain in place this time. The memories would good, but she couldn’t let the past catch up until it was necessary. It was time to move forward, and this ship seemed to be the place to move forward.

[river]

River smiled at Bella's last thought of the ship moving forward. All Serenity did was move forward everyone was running from something it would catch up to them hopefully when they needed it most.

"Come along then" said River

River had her hand on the door way. She was flooded with the memories on the ship some hers, some others, all good, bad and inbetween.

[out-guest rooms]