Goldilocks and the 3 Stooges [bastian]

[Toni Star]

THAT. FACE. OF. AN. ANGEL.

[/color]
COMES. OUT. JUST. WHEN. YOU. NEED. IT. TO.[/font][/size][/center]

She felt lost and out of place there, moving through the crowd, trying to stay unnoticed. It was nearly impossible with her clean and soft features. She wore a dirty cloak and had the hood pulled up over her head, hoping no one would recognize her from any kind of wanted poster or the like. She knew her father was a man that didn't like not getting what he wanted and would not rest till she was back home. She had to be careful and sneaky and pray a lot that she wouldn't be caught and sent home or worse, caught and brought elsewhere.

She took a deep breath and wandered into the nearest building,her stomach growling. It was a rather dirty and sketchy bar but she needed something to keep her going. She kept her eyes down, having been told once that you don't look a dog in the eyes, makes 'em predatory. Trying hard not to be disgusted by the dirty bar or seat, she sat, setting her bag on the counter and wondering what to get. Everything she'd ever eaten was high class and quite obviously probably not served here at this dingy bar.

Her ears perked and she glanced down the length of the bar, making sure her face was still shrouded by the hood. A man was surrounded by three rather larger men, muscular and had tattoos all over their torsos. Quite scary indeed. They were trying to convince this other guy, who was rather drunk, that he should buy this ship off them. But by the looks of them and the class of ship they were telling him, she could tell it was a scam. The way they described it did not add up.

"Those ships are Alliance owned. If a random person like him had one he'd immediately be taken into custody for theft or murder. Plus they're not used for long distance and use up a lot of fuel. Its a bad deal." Her mouth opened and the words fell out like vomit before she could stop it.

The three hulking men glanced at her and glared, walking over as the man, the drunk one, decided he was against the investment. "Oh why lookie here.. looks like we got a woman who thinks she's smart. Shouldn't you be in the kitchen where you belong? Bet you're ugly... is that why you wear this hood... so no one has to look at your disfigurement?" He cackled and before she could react, he'd grabbed her arm and yanked the hood off. One of the three whistled, a cat call.

Her golden curls fell around her face and she winced as he held her wrist tighter, blue eyes almost pleading him to let go. She knew this was bad. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? "Well you ain't a horse after all."

Toni kicked her captor in the crotch and attempted a getaway but another one had grabbed her by the hair and held her there, yanking it painfully. She cried out, tears springing to her eyes as he hissed in her ear. "I think we should break that 'tude of yours. I'm sure a lot more guys would like to see you my pretty. Parade you around in small outfits and you can spread your legs all you want you little whore bitch."

[Sebastian Gates]

“Ya wanna ‘chanic? Cain’ go wrong wit Sparks,” said a squat man with mud on his boots and liquor in his hand. “Sparks got da way wit da ‘chines. Knows ees da best too. Don’ come cheap. Been tryn’ ta get’em on ma boat fer months. Won’t touch nuttin bigga den a Vanderdecken. Damn shame.” He took a rather large drink and wiped his face with the back of his hand. “’Course if ya wanna know where ees at, it’ll cost ya.”

“Yeah? What doesn’t?” replied a tall, muscular looking man with a laugh. “But I’m not so sure I’m interested in finding him. See, I got myself a nice a drakken, and I need more than a machine whisperer to keep her in the air.” Sebastian Gates took a drink of his own beer, one hand resting comfortably on the hilt of his gun tucked nicely into its leather holster. “You send me a wave if you get something worth buying, Gopher. I got work to do.” The dirty lump of a man gave a half assed wave and a grunt of disapproval as Bastian finished off his drink and stood.

He’d been on this rock for a week now, looking for a decent mechanic, and so far he’d only found crazies, drunks, and crazy drunks. The day before he had gotten wind of some genius who was working out on the rim, but that wasn’t going to do him any good here. Without a competent mechanic, he wasn’t going to be able to even break atmo. Getting desperate, he had half a mind to pay a drunk to get him as far as the next closest rock, but seeing as how he didn’t know a lick about this particular engine, Bastian wasn’t too keen on hitting the sky without a guarantee that his bird was good to fly. As it stood, her wings were clipped.

Discouraged by the day so far, he threw some money on the table for both drinks, much to Gopher’s delight, and resigned himself to calling it a day. As he walked towards the door, he caught eye of some commotion going on at the bar. Normally, he would just turn the other cheek and carry on his way, but there was something about this particular exchange that bothered him. Maybe it was the fact that he was having a shitty day and needed a good fight to let out some frustration, the fact that it was a shiny little girl getting pinched, or maybe it was that balls kick to the crotch, but Bastian couldn’t help but get involved.

“You know,” he said, strolling up to the bar, “Pretty girl like that is likely to have someone looking out for her. My money would be on a fed, judging by those duds she’s hiding under that cloak. Where did you get that by the way? A bum on the corner?” His questions were aimed at the girl, smirking at the thought of her getting anywhere close to a bum.

[Toni Star]

Even though her eyes were watering with tears, a fire burned in her eyes as she attempted to yank her curls out of the big man's grasp. His fingers were tangled up in her locks with an iron fist and she couldn't budge his sausage sized fingers. She glared up at the new comer, hoping to god he wasn't there to join the 'party'.

One of the bigger men laughed and the other snorted,

[/size] "Get out of here this is none of your concern." People tended to disappear all the time from this shady part of the city, it was no secret that there was underground human trafficking, drug dealers and the like. "Someone's looking for her... then the bigger the reward will be." The three laughed and the one holding Toni yanked her slightly and pulled her against him. She hissed in pain and squirmed.

"Let go of me you creeps!" The last thing she needed was to be held hostage. Sure she didn't want to go home but its not like she hated her parents.. she didn't want to put them through /that/ kind of situation. "I'm not going anywhere with you so you can just forget it. I'd rather die first!"[/blockquote][/color]

[Sebastian Gates]

Pulling a cigarette out of his coat pocket, he lit it and took a drag while the man threatened him, not so much as blinking an eye. Shaking the flame off the match, he flicked the burnt stick into the guys cup which let off a quiet sizzle. “Now see, I was talking to lady there, but I’m glad you said that. Been having a bad day, you see.” Puffing a bit on the cigarette, he assessed the situation. The two guys closest to him didn’t look too bright. They wouldn’t be much of a problem. In fact, they looked like the type that would swing blindly and end up knocking each other out before ever getting around to him. Now the big guy was going to be a bit of a problem.

“That can be arranged,” he said in response to her statement, drawing his gun in one fluid motion and pointing it square in the middle of her forehead. “Tell me, how much do you think you would get out of a corpse?” This particular bar had seen its share of shootings, and barely anyone even flinched when Bastian pulled out his pistol. Naturally, they all prepped themselves for the worst, but for the most part they took to being spectators. Of course, if he actually shot the girl, all hell would most likely break loose. Fights were fun for everyone involved, or at least those doing the shootin and not those getting shot.

“You wouldn’t shoot her.” he said with a bit of a twitch, hoping he was right. Just in case, he nodded to the others to attack Bastian, who couldn’t have been happier by the development. Tossing the gun into the air, he grabbed the barrel out of the air and clocked the first oaf over the head with the hilt and proceeded to ram it upward through the other’s chin. His head snapped back with the pressure, but he only stumbled back a bit, angrier than he had been before. Head wound guy had recovered by now and lunged at Bastian, who easily side stepped the brute. For added effect, Bastain grabbed hold of the back of his coat and shoved him into the nearest table, sending drinks flying and causing the patrons to get in a huff. They stood and started fighting too, knocking one ruffian out of the picture.

That still left the littlest pig, who had shaken off the surprise of the attack and set his jaw right again. Growling, he too lunged at Bastian with better control than the other had, knocking Bastian back into the bar. The cigarette that had been perching on Bastian’s lip this whole time hit the ground and was stamped out in the shuffle. “That was my last one, you rutting feh feh pi goh!” he said incredulously, grabbing a dusty old whiskey bottle off the bar top and crashing into the side of the pig’s head.

“I guess that just leaves us,” Bastian said calmly, dusting off his jacket as the buffoon toppled over himself and hit the ground with a thud. Looked like he wasn’t going to be getting up right away. “Tell me, son. Is this worth dying for?” he asked, training his pistol between the guy’s eyes, inches away from his face.

[Toni Star]

Toni could have fainted right then and there, having never stared down the barrel of a gun before but she swallowed and held her cool. The rest seemed to go by in a blur and by the end, she wasn't even sure she knew what had happened. But somehow.. this man... he had managed to turn the situation around in his favor.

The large gruff man holding onto her snorted and shoved her against her savior. She tripped into him and held onto his shirt for balance as she righted herself, head aching from the hair pulling. "Fine take the whore. Ain't worth that much, take her!" He growled to his minions and kicked them, muttering as he walked away, probably needing a stiff drink. At least he was a little smart and knew when to back off. Perhaps he thought himself too pretty for a black eye. No matter the reason, Toni was just grateful to be free of him.

But now she had this man to worry about. Was he like the others? Was he just looking for a quick buck or toss in the hay? She let go of his shirt and braced herself to bolt should she need to. She really didn't want to end up in the same situation again.

[/size]"Thank you for helping me..." She muttered under her breath, "But I really think I should... be going now..."[/color][/blockquote]

[Sebastian Gates]

Bastian grabbed the girl’s shoulders as she fell into him, trying to help her get back on her own two feet. He felt rather satisfied with himself at the moment. That is, before he looked around to see fights breaking out all over the little dump on account of his little show. “That’s isn’t a bad idea,” he said in reply in to her saying she ought to be leaving. “How about I buy you dinner and you can tell me how you ended up in this mess? Or is dinner with the old man who just saved your life too much to ask?” Winking, he ushered her out of the door whether she was willing to go or not.

Once they were safely outside on the crowded streets, he popped the hood of the cloak back on her head. She was probably hiding from something, so it seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do at the time. Stepping back a bit, he held his hands up in front of him to show her he meant no harm. “I can tell you’re shook up over all that, so I’m going to go down the street here, order a couple bowls of ramen, and possibly have a chat with a shiny looking runaway.” He was taking a stab in the dark at the runaway bit, but there weren’t many reasons for a rich looking girl like her to be in a bar like that, and that was a fact.

Without waiting for a real response, he disappeared into the crowd and headed to his favourite little ramen shop on the corner. Every time he visited Persephone, he made it a point to stop at the little hole in the wall shop no matter how broke he was. They had spotted him a bowl on more than one occasion. He was probably their best customer. Pushing back one of the red flaps and stepping into the steam filled little stand, he said “Heeeey!” along with everyone else in the place. He held up to fingers and pointed to the back table, if you could call the wooden crate with two broken lawn chairs next to it a table, before heading to the back of the small area. The ceiling was just draped cloth that hung so low he had to duck the whole way.

Now it was just a matter of waiting to see if the girl showed up. If not, he was just going to have to eat her portion himself.

[Toni Star]

Toni blinked and felt herself being herded out of the bar, which she was rather grateful for. She blinked and glanced up at the man as he spoke to her, only then realize she was shaking a bit. Perhaps she was a bit shook up.

He spoke fast and didn't really wait for her response. Which normally she would've found rather rude but today she was actually grateful, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do or how to answer his questions. She blinked as he shoved the hood back over her head and she pulled it down further as he mentioned her being a 'shiny runaway'. Did he know? Was she being paranoid or was it that obvious?

She watched him walk off towards whatever restaurant he had mentioned. Should she follow or... book it? Taking a deep breath, she slowly wandered in the direction he had gone. She watched him disappear under the red fabric. She paused just outside the shop and weighed her options one last time before wandering in and following him to their uh... seats? She swallowed and bit back the vanity that threatened to surface as she sat with him. It was hard to get out of that mindset but that wasn't her life anymore and she had to work on it. But that was left for a different day. She pulled the cloak off and sighed, attempting to brush her hair back down, glad to be rid of the smell of the attire.

She really was a young, beautiful girl with soft features. It was pretty obvious that she hadn't really worked a day in her life and could probably get anything she wanted. "Thanks for helping me out back there..."

[Sebastian Gates]

Bastian smiled while she took a seat across from him. As she pulled down the cloak, he couldn’t resist shaking his head just a little at her naivety. In all honesty, Bastian had an intimate relationship with the slums of Persephone; he knew that this little noodle shop was one of the few places a guy could get privacy for his business, so to speak. If they had been anywhere else she could have just started screaming ‘look at me’ and manage to get less attention than smoothing her cloak hair.

The captain tended to pride himself on his ability to notice that which don’t belong. They had the best stories worth hearing. “Most often when I save man’s life,” he began, tapping his chopsticks on the table so they popped out of the wrapper. “I don’t offer to feed them unless I see a person worth saving. And shinnies like you,” he began before cutting himself short and leaning back a little, accept his bowl of ramen with open arms. “Sheh sheh!” he thanked the man graciously before cracking his chopsticks and digging into the food.

Slurping the first bite of noodles, he said, “You should really eat it like this. Slurp it.” to the best of his ability before biting it off and wiping his face with the back of his hand. “It cools it off so you eat can eat faster and get on your way. But good food aside, my name is Bastian, I am the captain of a lovely boat, Steamhardt, and I am desperately trying to find myself a half a decent mechanic. Your turn.” He continued to eat his noodles while watching her process everything that was going on.

[Toni Star]

Toni wrinkled her nose slightly, watching him eat and listening to him talk, really not sure what to do or say to him. She watched him eat... feeling it was rather almost.. barbaric.

She sighed and shifted slightly in her seat. She swallowed her pride, or attempted to without choking on it and broke open her chopsticks. Funny how she was starving but somehow not really hungry at teh same time. She watched him for a minute before attempting to mimic him and the way he held his chopsticks.

Surprisingly the ramen tasted.. well great! Maybe being a commoner wasn't as bad as it seemed. Diamonds were made from coal right? However, she almost choked on the mouthful of noodles as she heard what he was doing there and suddenly she was talkative.

"A mechanic? I could be your mechanic! I know I don't really look like it but I grew up around ships and my dad taught me everything I know. He designs and builds giant Alliance ships. Please can I see your ship? I bet I could get it in the air!" She grinned and her eyes lit up as she talked, suddenly excited that things seemed to be turning in the right direction for her.

She flushed, embarrassed at her sudden outburst and how she'd rambled a little bit there. "My name's Toni, Toni Star. Its nice to meet you..."

[Sebastian Gates]

His eyes widened a bit as began rambling and he nearly choked on his own food by the time she was done. Was his luck so bad that he had managed to stumble onto yet another useless prospect of a mechanic after already giving up for the day? Of course, she still had a story she hadn’t told him, so there was still a chance… Well, there was until she told him her name.

“Jao gao,” he muttered under his breath. She was Star’s girl. Everyone seemed to be looking for this girl, Alliance and rebel alike. Her daddy put a good price on her head. But seeing as where she came from, Bastian was torn. He knew she had to have some of her daddy’s blood running in her by the way she talked, but she also seemed to still be just a child. She had to have no idea what she was getting herself into by the way she spoke so openly. Rubbing his arm absent mindedly, he thought, ‘Misfortune does not come alone.’

“What are you doing out in a place like this in the first place?” he asked, before putting up a hand to cut her off before she could even spit out a sentence. “Actually. Don’t answer that. Just follow me.” He tipped generously and motioned for her to put her hood back on. “I’m going to show you my ship.” Grinning at her as nonthreateningly as possible, he grabbed her hand and pulled her swiftly out of the cart. Assuming she didn’t break free of his grasp, he would probably drag her all the way to his ship.

In the crowd, he kept his eyes out for anyone watching. The bar scene from before just got a bit more dangerous that it was supposed to have been. Honest bar fight. Help a damsel in distress. No wonder chivalry was dead these days. When they got to the ship, he strode straight to the engine room, not saying a word. “Okay. Now then. I’d like you to answer my question now, if you don’t mind.”

[Toni Star]

Toni almost bolted for it when she saw that he'd recognized her name. It was all over his face and she was worth a lot. Would he decide to turn her in now? She sat rigid in her seat, feeling almost glued to her seat and hoped it wouldn't backfire on her.

She opened her mouth to answer but he cut her off, grabbing a hold of her and dragging her along. She blinked and squeaked, following him almost obediently, glad to know they were going to his ship and not... well the Alliance.

Being pulled through the ship she couldn't help but glance around in amazement. Sure to others it probably would be a piece of junk but to her... it was an opportunity. She walked away from him and circled the engine in awe, not even realizing he was speaking to her. "Oh my you just don't see these ships anymore..." She smiled softly and pressed her hand against the cool metal and closed her eyes as if listening to the ship talk to her and she probably would tell you it did.

She blinked, suddenly realizing he was talking again. "What question would that be?" She asked and pulled the hood off her head again, glancing up at him innocently. "You don't believe me when I say I can fix this ship up to be better than it was when it was new... do you?"

[Sebastian Gates]

“Well, I can’t say that I do yet,” he admitted, watching her curiously as she took in her surroundings. “But before you go fondling my engine and making yourself at home, I’d like to know why you are slinking around Persephone in a dirty old cloak getting in bar fights. Actually, scratch that. I’d like to know why there is a bounty on your head from your extremely well to do Alliance father.” He felt as though his request was a reasonable one. Whether or not she was the mechanic of his dreams, the fact remained that she was currently a fugitive.

It wasn’t the fact that she was on the run that made him iffy. Heck, he had been on the run for most of his life. He was more concerned with the why. He wasn’t about to let a spoiled brat on his ship, nor someone who was likely to kill him in his sleep. The verse is a big place, and there isn’t much stopping for air along the way in a job like this. It takes a special kind of person to live close quarters with a bunch of strangers and not go insane. From what he’d seen so far, this girl wasn’t likely to survive his kind of work.

“What you tell me now don’t leave this room,” he said, gesturing around him. “You’ll have to prove to me you are worth keeping around, and that you can handle this. I need to trust you. Now I can’t trust a girl who won’t be honest with me. Been down that road and it don’t end well. If you don’t like it, then there is the door, don’t steal anything on your way out.”

[Toni Star]

Toni sighed softly, knowing very well he deserved the truth. He'd proven himself truthful, bought her food (even if she hadn't eaten it), and saved her from a life of pain and misery. She owed him this at least... didn't she? Swallowing, she shifted nervously, knowing he had no reason to bring her along. There were plenty of other mechanics just as good who didn't have a bounty on their return.

"Well.. its rather complicated... You know my dad of course... he's... well a top shot engineer, designer and mechanic. He taught me everything I know. I think he was disappointed when I was born... you know, that I wasn't a boy. So he brought me to work a lot when i was younger. Hell I even had a short hair cut and such. But puberty hit and things changed. I wasn't 'slugger' anymore I was 'princess' if you catch my drift. Obviously my hair grew out as well as other things filled out. I still went with him to work for awhile but I was... a distraction. We had a fight... a couple years ago. He didn't want me to go with him anymore. We made a deal. If I paid attention in my homeschool classes and became familiar with high society and blended in well and charmed my way into many eligible bachelors' hearts at every function he would send me to while keeping up my lady-like persona, I would still be able to go to work with him and learn the ins and outs of everything mechanical." She took a deep sigh, pausing with her story for a moment.

"Then a couple of months ago he told me I was done with the grease and grime. I was going to college to become a politician or something. He had a bunch of dates lined up for me and I was to marry into someone of high stature or blood. I fought it for a little while but he wasn't budging. My mother was all for it, having hated me getting dirty with a bunch of gruff guys in the first place. She had always wanted a daughter. So I caved... for a little while.. I went on... a total of three dates. Each was worse than the other. They all wanted me for arm candy. So I ran from home. I knew I'd never be able to convince them so I decided I was gonna do what I wanted, want, being a mechanic, whether they approve or not. I refuse to be someone's possession. If that's so wrong of me then I suppose I'm not the mechanic for you."

She finished and rested her hands on her hips, that fire back in her eyes, standing tall and just waiting for him to say she was stupid or something. She wasn't, she knew what she wanted and had the balls to go for it even though she knew nothing of normal society. But she had the brain of a computer and knew she'd figure it out.

[Sebastian Gates]

Folding his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall, he listened to her story intently. While he didn’t particularly care about her tom boy childhood, Bastian was quite interested in her urge to continue working with machines. It meant that she was solid. That is, if she was being honest. Sometimes, it seemed that the high society ladies and gents always had a well-rehearsed story in their arsenal to impress anyone who asked, whether they actually cared or not. For some reason though, this girl seemed to be sincere, which was a rarity to find in the trash of Persephone.

By the time she finished her spiel, Bastian was torn. A part of him didn’t want to touch this situation with a hundred foot pole, let alone keep her on his ship, but he was scraping the bottom of the barrel as it was. Steamhardt needed to get in the sky as soon as possible, or his dream of a better life was going to slip through his fingers before he even had a chance at grabbing it. Finally, looking at her with her hands on her hip and spoiled stubborn look in her eyes, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Who am I to stand in the way of a girl and her dreams. I’ll tell you what though, Toni. You get my girl in the air, and I’ll keep you just out of your father’s reach.”

Motioning for her to follow him, he began to explain the basics of what he could offer her. “You’ll make 15% of all of our hauls. You have free run of the kitchen or cargo bay, but I ask that you stay off the bridge unless invited. Nothing personal there, but I until I trust you completely, I’m not comfortable having you poke about. Not that you aren’t capable or anything. Your room would be here,” he said, stopping a bit ways off from the engine room. “There isn’t a bathroom here, but there is one down the hall here. You can decorate however you want, but I ask that you keep the engine room as clean as possible. Any questions so far?” he asked, wanting to make sure he wasn’t moving to fast for her.


_{OoC: I'm sorry, it came out a little crappy. BUT I LOVE YOU AND JUNKS! <3}

[Toni Star]

Toni giggled and bounced slightly in place, excited that he had believed her and was giving her a chance to be his mechanic. She nodded and followed him excitedly. "I promise I can get this girl up into the air. Its no problem at all!"

She blinked as he continued on his conversation, explaining how the ship was set up and where she'd stay. She pouted slightly, knowing he was the captain but if he knew half as much as she did about the ship then perhaps he could tell her how to run an engine room. The nerve! She pouted but kept her mouth shut and nodded slowly. How could he not trust her? She had such a cute innocent face...

"I'm sorry but other than cosmetic stuff, I could have this baby flight ready by tomorrow morning... Its gonna be hard and messy but I could do it. If I get all these rules for being your mechanic I got one rule for you then sir. You can't go into the engine room without permission. I'm sorry but I can't have people skippin' 'round in there, who knows what could go wrong and that could be a problem I don't see and how the heck would I know how to fix it then. It could be severe and we could all be floatin' in the 'verse with no oxygen and our brains coming out our ears. No sir I'm not taking that chance. You won't even realize I'm on the ship either. I'll stay to myself and make this baby tip top shape as if she were brand new."