2011-03-20 - Cookies For the Argama

The day after St. Patrick's has a number of people staying indoors, nursing hangovers and avoiding the sunlight and sound of the busy streets. Still, with the Argama having not yet undocked - mostly due to waiting on a few last wayward pilots who hadn't made their way back after eventful nights - it had given Lin more opportunity to exercise her all too recently gained freedom.

The young woman is dressed similarly to the previous night, although in a long-sleeved t-shirt and a thin vest with a hood that hides her hair from view. One difference is the fact that her hands are covered by thin black gloves, which hide the more noticable tatoos that had been visible yesterday. "Let's see, I need eggs... milk, shortening, chocolate, walnuts, vanilla..." The pale woman ticks the items off on a datapad, borrowed from Quatre, who seems to have bene set free of shaperone duties. They'd actually allowed her out by herself - although that may be due to there being a lack of able officers to get up this early in the morning after a night of drinking.

Stopping in front of a small bakery shop, Lin peers in through the window, taking a deep breath of the smell of bread and sweets. She had a bit of money that Quatre had given her to help get her on her feet - more than she would have liked to accept, but he'd been insistant. For now, she double checks the list while standing outside the shop, just a bit nervous about actually stepping into the store by herself.

Inside Edward was dressed in what looked like a a rust and burgendy toned three piece suit trimmed in grey. He was clearly not hung over. He was also clearly eyeballing different pasteries. No not the doughnuts. Actually he was eyeing breads, crunchy breads. Freshly baked bread. He had a loaf in each hand and seemed to be considering the merits of each thoughtfully.

It's just about the time that Lin gets up the courage to step into the shop, the little store bell giving a jingle that she spots the hulking form of Edward. How she hadn't noticed him before is a wonder, but she was likely preoccupied by her little list of ingredients. Scooping up a hand-basket, the pale young woman ducks between the aisles, making an unusual bee-line towards the Trailer accountant. "So, we meet again." She muses, a smile forming easily on her face as she reaches towards the nearest stack of bakery ingredients, plucking a bulk-sized bottle of vanilla from the shelf.

"It must be fate." She's teasing, and there's a playful sound to her voice as she chuckles to herself, checking one of the items off her list. "Or at least bad luck on your part. You should really make sure you don't run into strange women quite so often. You'll probably be happier, and live longer." With a smirk, she looks down the row of items, trying to visually identify things from the recipie that the kitchen staff of the Argama had given her.

"Hmm... Well it seems I'm not the only one in this town not suffering a hangover." Edward rumbled deep before turning slightly to look Lin over. On seeing what was in the basket he tilted his head slightly, "You'd think with as big as I am I could cook but nope..."

Oliver is a little worried about Camille, who, odds are, is probably in pretty awful shape right now. The young man drank far past his limits and got into a fight. Sure, Oliver himself had a lot to drink too, but he can handle a lot more due to his size and overall tolerance. So with the Argama still roughly in the area, somewhere, he's decided to pick up some kind of snack for Camille. Because surely the first thing one wants after a nasty hangover is a cherry strudel?

Well, it's what Olly usually wants, too.

He's also, secretly, hoping to hear something about Britannia here in the Isles, although one gets the impression anything related to the British /or/ Britannia is not terribly popular around these parts. It's worth a try, isn't it?

Oh, and he could really go for a walnut brownie right now, which is admittedly the /third/ reason why a blond youth nearly as tall as Edward himself is approaching the shop.

"Not me. You see, I ran into this insanely huge man who saw fit to rescue me from a bar fight. Unfortunately, he also rescued me from being able to get myself properly drunk." Lin had seen the pilots of the Argama as they'd come back, in various of disarray, and had been more than a little jealous. Rather than having a night of fun, flirting, partying, and actually enjoying her freedom, she'd ended up organizing her closet with Quatre. Which - as fun as it might be - doesn't even come close to what she'd expected for the evening.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if I can cook or not." She chuckles, and gives a little 'aha' as she finds a box of baking soda, reaching up to the top shelf to grab it. Looking at the back of it for a moment, she nods and then places it into the basket. "I just figure that sometimes the easiest way to win over a crowd is through their stomach, right? And I've got an entire battleship full of people I need to win over." She sighs softly, but it doesn't seem to disrupt the smile on her face. "I figure cookies are pretty non-threatening."

For the sake of Oliver, who probably would have heard by now, the Argama had a not-quite-prisoner in the form of a Martian framerunner, and the pale woman might just be recognisable. Thus far, she's still working to earn the trust of the ship's crew, but with Quatre's good opinion, she's made a bit of progress there.

"Ah..." Edward mulled the evening over in his head and shrugged. "Generally food works, or booze." He grinned a little at that, "Though it's somewhat hard to get a working stil going, plus if you're already in bad cooking's the less likely to blow up in your face option." That was, of course, barring the smoke alarms going off and the local fire department hosing your house down because you wanted to try making a cake for your cousin and accidentilly had an in-oven blaze going.

Some of that must have shown on Ed's face. "If you're not sure I'd suggest having someone on hand that won't get in your way unless you accidentilly start making things all black crispy and inedible." His glance flicked to Oliver and stopped there. Big Guy. Not quite as big as him but.... doooooood this guy was like House Sized big.

Macua Huitl has been crasheed at some hotel or another or prehaps on The Ardygunship in the local space port. Either way she's out and about and still reeling a bit from her hang over. She /remebers/ last night pretty clearly but damn. She's wearing some clubbing outfit it's not techinally her's it's a long story but she's not indence tat least aw she enters in and starts looking around. The Brazilian fighter is clearly a bit on the showy side with what's she's waring though she does spot Oliver and Alina.

"Hey...some party last night."

As for Oliver, he actually doesn't see the talking two until he enters the shop himself, to what might either be the delight or mild horror of the shopkeeper at seeing the big fellow and Edward in the same food establishment. Actually, he keeps to himself for the most part at first, until Alina catches his eye. He's seen enough of her in reports to grasp who she is, but Quatre vouches for her, right? And the person she's talking to is...

Well. Oliver has to look up to face Edward. That's a new experience. He usually towered over everyone, even Gym. He considers speaking up, but that would involve interrupting, which means he would have to explain himself, which would mean a lot more...talking to people he doesn't know than Oliver's usually comfortable with. On the other hand, he should at least meet Alina, and-

And Macua makes the decision for him when she addresses both of them. "Oh...Macua! Uh, yes, indeed, it was quite a fracas. I enjoyed myself, but I hope no one was seriously hurt." For as big as he is, his voice is awfully low and soft. "Ah, um..." He turns to Alina. "I'm Oliver Evlien, from...around." It may not be wise to mention where he's from around strangers. "I know Quatre." There, that's vague enough. "And, um..." Again with the looking up at Edward for once. "You are...?"

"I'm sure the kitchen staff will keep me from making a mess of things." Lin muses, checking her list once more as she tries to figure out what some of the items are. The frustrating part is that they all sound /so damn familiar/ even if her memory doesn't see fit to fill in the blanks. "Besides, if I do make a royal mess of things, at the very least it's one more thing they won't make me do. I mean, I'm supposed to be a pilot, not a laundry worker or a cleaning lady or a cook." Supposed to be - because that's what everyone keeps telling her. The Orbital Frame belongs to her, and thus she must be a framerunner. If nothing else, her doctor-enforced visits to the machine had proved her tie to it.

She's scanning the rows of items when the sight of Macua stepping in, still in her outfit from last night has the young woman's eyes widening slightly. In all the crowds, she'd missed even seeing her at the bar, but gosh that outfit! Then again - Quatre had bought her a few things that could probably rival it. "Oh, hey there Mi--" She cuts herself off, trying not to use the more formal 'Miss Huitl' that wants to come to her lips. "Macua." She offers a smile, distracted from her shopping. "It /was/ pretty fun. I felt bad for Quatre though... he got a bit flustered." And shouted something about Trowa playing his flute.

When Oliver makes his way over, though, Lin can't help but feel a little bit short. Even at nearly six feet - which is actually quite tall for most women, she still has to look up between the two hulking men. "Oh. Nice to met you." She easily makes the connection, just by the name offered. "Lin. At least that's what I'm going by for now." Running rumor onboard was that she was an anmesiac - something some people had doubts about. Still, looking between the two, she holds the basket in her hands. "Do you think the crew would like cookies?"

"Something tells me I'd probably best not pry miss." Ed frowned and put the sourdough loaf back. "I'd like to help if I could, but memory is a tricky thing. Best i can advise is go with what feels familiar and things will start to come back on their own." Damned holes in his head were filling in, but it was /So Slow/ that he wanted to scream.

That's when Oliver greeted him. He offered the other big man his now free hand. "Edward FAwkes. Accountaint, Mercenary Pilot..... also in search of a loaf to stuff with cheeses, meats, and such for my mid-flight snack back home." Wait. Whole loaf. Stuffed.... a /Snack/???? He didn't look all that fat. Then again there was a whole frakking lot of him there.

"Did see a deli nearby. Was gonna hit them after here. Wanna get everything going while the bread's still warm."

Wait... cookies.... cookies. Ed snorted as if the idea of people not liking 'em was absurde. "Who doesn't like cookies? Really?"

Macua Huitl grins at Olier for a moment, "It's good to see you, and hey it's fine. Jiron and his friends normally party harder. I think he held back a little bit. I thought the party was great. Then again my father's a trailer captain."

She looks to Alina and grins a little bit. "Are you okay and it's good to see you I'm glad you got out. To be honest Quatre gets flustered his men occsionally have parties and drag him to them to try to get him to lighten up a bit."

Man the Corps really knew how the heck to partyy. She's looking around for food now and Edward gets a glance but as she looks at the prince and grimaces and is there a look of Guilt on her face? yes ... yes there is.

"Jiron's so nice, though! He let me have the last slice of pie." By this Oliver means 'the last slice of pie the place had in stock.'

Oh, right, the strangers are addressing him. Oliver has a kind smile, but something about his expression suggests he's kind of shy around people he doesn't know very well. "Oh, Miss Lin, I see. It's nice to see you in person. I'm glad you're well after everything that happened last night. Oh, cookies? Yes, I think cookies would make you very popular there." He means it, too, and not just with himself. He's seen how other Katharon pilots react to free sweets.

He's taken aback by the handshake offer, it seems, and the handshake he offers in return is oddly timid, but it's also apparent he's got a lot of physical strength in that arm. "Oh, a snack?" Somehow, he's not too taken aback. Go figure; unlike Edward, he is rather fat, though not not too out of shape to be a pilot. "You'd...for that you'd want some kind of crusty bread, something that won't break or spill. I, uh...I came to pick up some pastries for friends. Though I've never been here and I'm not sure what's good..."

"It's not prying if someone offers, you know." Lin replies, shrugging her shoulders. As much as she was being a bit cautious about strangers, for the most part the young woman seemed pretty open. Afterall, it isn't as if she has much to hide - being in the realm of a month old memory-wise. "Well, the medics claim that I'm young enough the ... what's that word?" She closes her eyes, seeming to concentrate, "Synapses? Anyways, the connections in the brain might re-form themselves ... or they might not." There is the very real chance that she might spend the rest of her life not knowing who she was before being brought to the Argama, and that's a frightening thought.

She offers the Brazilian pilot a nod of her head, "Doing much better, actually." Her mouth opens, about to say something, but then her mind thinks better of it. They were being secretive about where they come from, so it's probably best she do the same. "I was actually hoping I'd run into you." Taking a breath, she seems to bolster up her own courage to ask something, "I was kind of hoping I could get who might be willing to teach me how to fly one of the machines in the hangar." She clears her throat, getting to the important part. "And maybe vouch for me to to learn, too. You know... since I'm not exactly running off to join the legions of evil." She tries to make it a joke, antough her eyes tell that it's something important to her.

As for Oliver, Lin gives a more warm smile, "Good. I was hoping it would go over well. I'll be sure to save a few for you."

The idea that Lin might be permenently in this state of not knowing, even if she was otherwise healthy from this point forward, made Ed somewhat sad. After all what if he never figured out what the jumble in his own head amounted to? That was even less a problem than the lady faced since this was her life, the one she had now, that she couldn't make sense of. "I am sorry for pulling you away from what you thought'd be fun, but it looked like you and Quatre both looked like you needed an exit... no matter how much the guy claimed to not be drunk." At lest he looked the part of drunk before they parted ways.

Oliver doesn't want to interfere too heavily in that conversation. After all, he was too busy-almost getting into a fight with a drunken Irishman for reasons he still doesn't quite understand. "I hope your memories do return soon, Miss Lin," he offers sympathetically as he starts choosing pastries from the display case. Does Camille like blueberry? He does have blue hair, so it seems like a reasonable guess.

"A-and thank you! I'd...definitely appreciate that," he adds at the offer to save him cookies. "But, um, let everyone else have some first, okay? Otherwise I might..."

Well, he'd eat more than his share, probably.

Macua Huitl says, "Tht's good..." She a pauses tilting her head a little bit and she nods a bit. "I could be depending on what sort but that be a issue best talked about not in a Bakery humm if you don't mind?" She's not being mean just honest about it. She also seems to like the fact she's can't really refuse cookies shouldthey ever been offered right?

"Just note I'm not going to go easy on you just to warn you."

As she finally seems to spot a huge bag of flour, Lin ducts down and lefts it into the basket, somehow able to still hold it upright. For a Martian, she certainly was quite fit. Standing back to full height, she shakes her head at Edward. "Don't be sorry. I'm not actually mad or anything. I think you just surprised the hell out of poor Quatre." She covers her mouth with one hand, trying to stiffle a laugh, but failing. "I'm not sure he's used to huge men dragging him off places." Or maybe he is, ohohoho.

With most of her ingredients now in the overfilled basket, Lin just smiles towards Oliver. "There will be plenty. So don't worry about it. I'll probably make a few batches anyways." Especially it might take a batch or two to perfect, or at least to convince the crew that she wasn't trying to poison them or something equally stupid.

Her expression softens, but doesn't quite go totally serious as she nods her head towards Macua. "Understood." A simple, quick nod, like a soldier who is taking in orders they are given. "And I wouldn't want you to go easy on me. I fully intend to earn my keep." And to pay back the crew of the Argama for saving her life - and giving her a second chance at it.

"Well," Ed sat down the remaining loaf and pointed to an apparently just-sat out loaf of Rye he continued in that low rumble. "If I can help you find the bits of yourself you haven't managed to recollect, even if it turns out you don't like it... alright?" Too many melodramas about people learning they were some twisted genius or planet destroyer or something when they got their memories back floated through his head. Then again for all he knew the warmachine he used to be could have been some terror weapon... but he didn't think so even though there were too few scraps for him to go on.

"What kind of cookies?" Change subject nao! "Plain vanilla wafers, chocolate chip... macidamian nut?" Oooo Macidamian nut chocolate chip.... woooooooooooo

"That's very kind of you." Oliver's voice is still awfully soft, though his tone is at least sincere. He's clearly just not used to talking a great deal. "You, um, I hope those memories return soon-I'm sure they will." Not that he can promise such things. She might be that way the rest of her life.

He turns back to Edward, thinking he should really Say Something, but searches his mind and shuffles his feet a little out of shyness. Eventually...

"You're tall."

Oh come on Oliver you get that all the damn time and you know how embarassing it is you should really know better by now stupid stupid stupid!

Macua Huitl is now gtetting some bread and some other things. She rubs her head a little bit she's still suffering from the hangover she had. She humms for a moment. "Heh he should be more worried about small women who can o/~" Gundam fighters are a strange olot after all. She Give Edd another look she's seen the guy before the night at tbe pub but where.

Macua is also someone whose had someone who'd be able to chill with Kenshiro for a martial arts trainer. She's not really going to make Alina punch a river in half, really.

Strangely enough, this is actually the first time anyone has offered to help her reclaim her memories. Most people seemed so afraid that she might discover she was some terrible monster that they hadn't even broached the subject. Then again, Staren had asked her: What would she do if that were the case? The reminder of that thought causes her stomach to feel just a bit ill. Still, Lin puts on a brave face and nods her head, keeping that smile on her lips that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I wouldn't mind the help, actually." Just how she'd manage to do that, when she didn't have access to a radio, is still a mystery. Maybe she'd convince them to let her use one supervised for a while? Hrm

She glances once more at her list, content that everything on it is in the overfilled basket. There is certainly enough for quite a few batches of cookies there. "Chocolate chip. I've got a couple of different types of nuts to try with it. The kitchen crew gave me a recipie." Although, she had made some modifications to it, because some things didn't seem right. "It was nice seeing you again Edward, and nice meeting you Oliver." Pause, and then a brief curious look towards Macua at her humming. "I'll talk to you later Macua about... well, things." Things. Things being her trying to actually do something of use on the Argama, other than making cookies and folding people's underpants. Oh god, if she ever sees another pair of pilot tighty-whities again... ugh.

When Alina was gone Edward nodded t othe door. "Nice girl..." He was at some level aware of the fact she was an Ender, but it was more to him like just any other region. Hey he's a child of the Sides. Not a chance he'd throw stones at anyone else's home.

Tall? He snorted softly. "Not often you find someone bigger than you hm?" Easy voice to Oliver. He seemed ot understand why the big man was so timid seeming. One wrong reaction and... well... someones' got something broken and you need to put things right. Have a care with that Fathead. Too Tall. Hey mind getting something off the top shelf? How 'bout the weather up there? He grinned a little. "Anything left of the bar after I cleared the lady and her friend out? Looked like one of those 'clear out because it's not gonna stop' things."

"Hah, yeah...it actually is unusual." Oliver was the tallest person he knew back home, and probably the biggest all around, too. He's definitely the biggest person on the Willgain, and probably on the Argama, too. Thus he's gotten quite used to carrying himself in a way to appear smaller, and by now he's pretty much internalized it. Of course, having moderate social anxiety in general doesn't help.

"There was quite a fight," he admits, "but I doubt anyone was seriously injured. The pub is probably used to that, one gets the impression. Some of my friends did drink past their limits, but they should be fine-that sort of thing just heals with time. It didn't really...stop, though; we just went home during a lull. And there were two individuals fighting outside..."

Headtilt. "Ah, figured." He got asked to break things up often. Sure he'd stopped being a for-real-on-the-payrole bouncer for anybody since he graduated, but he generally didn't like people hurting eachother. "I'm honestly kinda surprised more people arne't crawling to places like this for a post-hangover cure. Carbs, grease, fats... a Good Solid Breakfast does wonders to pick you back up." He paid for his bread and frowned at his wallet. He was an accountaint for Bob's sake! He should stop wit hsplurging so often. It just does not do to have to constantly dip into banked funds. It makes one look bad in front of the clients. Eh well he had enough, in his opinion, for the morning's shopping.

"Macua... Free for a match in the arena when my suit gets fixed? Kinda got mangled in the free for all but then agai nI was the only guy there that didn't bother bringing a gun." Yea, missle hell... and Kaz's... whatever that suit was... trashed him fairly soundly.

Macua Huitl replies, "I'll see you then, and get ready to be run through a wringer." She grins at this she might enjoy this a little bit too much. She looks to Edward. She narroes her eyes a little. "Jenice wait a second! Your that one from the arena a few weeks ago. There are not many in the pits right now with a Jenice who I don't know." She looks at him hard for a moment.

Oliver gets another look now as she shifts gears. "Ig's good to see your getting out more and not hiding in a ship. Your comrades need to get out more."

"Is it really true that heavy and greasy foods are good for hangovers? I was not sure if it was merely a rumor." Oliver's a little more comfortable now, at least, though he speaks just as formally. It must be how he talks normally. He recognizes how expensive it can be to feed someone his size, so Edward gets a sympathetic look. At least The Willgain and Argama feed him for free.

"...I, uh, y-yes," he adds to Macua, "I am trying to get out a little bit more. Well, Captain Lineford suggested I should, at least. The other day, I even went to the pub without having to be dragged out there! And I was...assertive! For a little bit!"

About a chair, but still.

Slow nod from Ed on Macua's recognition. "I also sprang for your repair bill. It had been a very.... eventful week." Fortunately whenever he had flashes of his old life it /USUALLY/ didn't cause him to have that pinprick OMFG reaction. "Plus R and I had words over the event and he seems satisfied." Granted people occasionally died in the Arena as a result and Ed wasn't exactly sure what he'd done. It's not like he could've cracked her cockpit open or anything? Actually that's exactly what /could/ have happened but then again any number of things could cause a breach. "I'd talk to Kaz if I were you. Missles do not for precice weapons make and if I'm to be judged harsh for how i acted then the same stick has to apply to everyone no?"

Only that last part was in that half-oddball-Gaean. Nutbunnies Not again. Ed muttered both in Gaean and English. "Hate when that happens."... .and probably a few other things besides.

Macua Huitl grins "Good your getting better I'm glad to see it."

She looks at ed for a moment and she humms at him for a moment. "I have nothing else to say on that incident." She doesn't have more to say she now stretches a little bit. "Anyhow, what else o we need here."