Chapter 6: Here We Go Again
After no more then ten minutes the shuttle attaches to the now legendary pirate ship Nirvana. After the shuttle joins, the passengers begin to disembark in a very routine manner greeted by the sight of Magno waiting patiently in the docking bay area looking less then pleased. As soon as B.C. makes his way to the top of the ramp he is met with an uncharacteristically straightforward Captain.
" B.C. I take it you recovered that escape pod Jura, Meia and Barnette hijacked a few days ago." Magno's eyes narrow and look quite serious as B.C.'s face is overcome with a look of shear amazement. While at the same time in the background the three responsible are just kind of looking around hoping no one confronts them about it.
" Captain… I'm really not sure what you're talking about…" Almost immediately after B.C. finishes his sentence Magno continues.
" What? Did you think they took their Dreads down? Or do you think that they decided to take a little stroll through space and explore the scenery of Taarak just because they could?" B.C. unable to argue with that kind of logic, just hangs his head a bit and shrugs in embarrassment.
" Well… Captain… I honestly never thought about it. It reminded me of day to day events on the Nirvana… so the familiarity of it all left me a little dull witted I suppose, I apologize." Magno smiles and nods at B.C.'s statement.
" I thought just as much… so I had Parfait start forging a new escape pod from the scraps of metal we have lying about. Speaking of Parfait… Duelo, if you could assist her, I think she'd be overjoyed." B.C. lets out a sigh of relief after Magno forgave his indiscretion but Duelo's reaction was anything and everything far from relief.
" If you don't mind me asking Captain… why do you think she would enjoy my assistance?" Magno rolls her eyes and says gruffly.
" You know, for a smart man you're pretty stupid sometimes. I thought you of all people would realize she has designs for you. And I'm not talking floor plans here…" She says that last part with a smile and a bit of a chuckle in her voice as Duelo nods and understands.
" I understand… I will go off to assist her right away. I take it she's where she usually is?" Magno nods and Duelo heads off to meet with Parfait leaving Renz in a sort of awkward position without a familiar face to show him around.
Unaware to Renz though he and Meia were standing very close to one another and Magno, even though old, is anything but slow and reads this rather quickly.
" Meia, I would like you to show Renz around the ship, Barnette you take Alexei and Jura, Jukkai is yours to escort." Meia blushes as she nods and turns to Renz.
" Well, no better time then now to start. I'll show you your room first… then we'll go from there so it's a little easier to navigate…" A few seconds of awkward silence, she sharply turns on her heel and heads down the boarding ramp and begins walking towards the area they were just discussing. Renz on the other hand stops just to watch her walk and admire the rear view for a moment or two before realizing he should follow her or he'll be lost. So he quickens his pace and catches up to Meia walking in stride with her taking in the sites of the ship.
Barnette smiles after hearing Alexei is assigned to her as she grabs his arm playfully and grins. " Let's check out the kitchen first… I'm kind of hungry and I bet you could use a nice home cooked meal that isn't a pill." She grins and tugs at Alexei's arm until he gives in and moves. All the while thinking to himself, " She's bossy, and a little abrasive but… cute."
Jura on the other hand watches Meia walk off with her Renz and Barnette being close with Alexei causes her to clench her teeth and her eyes would be spitting fire if it were humanly possible. Jukkai seeing this tries to lighten the moment… or at least divert her attention and speaks up. " So being that you're the most beautiful of the women on the ship, you must have the most interesting spot of all to show me." Jukkai, is a man that knows when to pick his battles and what to say during nearly all of them, and he has indeed scored himself a point here.
Jura spins around and smiles, " Ya know? You're right; I'll show you a special place. Why don't we start with my room! " Meia and Renz were right at the end of the docking bay and Barnette and Alexei were right off the ramp when Jura said that last part… which was screamed loud enough for the whole ship to probably hear it.
Jura tilts her head high and smiles as she takes Jukkai's hand and walks down the ramp. Passing the dumbfounded pair of Barnette and Alexei in stride as she looks ahead towards Meia and Renz, who did stop momentarily… but turn and walk off together. Jura's right eye twitches a bit as she sees this but somehow maintains her cool as she walks past Magno, who doesn't seem shocked, or anything, she just stands there as if to say, 'what else should be expected of Jura, the almighty diva'.
While all of this is going on Bart is just standing at the top of the ramp next to B.C. awaiting some sort of order as he hears a scream from the shuttle. " … the hell?" Right after getting those words out of his mouth, Bart is slammed into by Pyoro causing them to fall and roll down the ramp, Pyoro winding up on top of Bart as Bart's eyes are swirled and dizzy with Pyoro looking around frantically.
" I feel asleep in the shuttle!" His eyes narrow a little and look at Magno… " Yes… I know the trip was only a few minutes… but I bore easily… so don't go there. Just tell me where Pyoro 2 is!" Magno raises a brow and then smirks.
" Oh you mean Kalluah?" She smiles purposely-baiting Pyoro into getting bothered.
" Her name is PYORO 2! So tell me where she is! I am her daddy after all! I demand to see her!" Pyoro's screen is red and his eyes are flaring as Magno slowly points towards the door and grins.
" Out the door…" Pyoro's eyes begin to flinch as he mutters something about humans having a shorter life span then robots all while he is flying off out the door in search of Kalluah.
With Bart still dazed on the floor, and B.C. a little lost as in what to say or do Dita and Hibiki stroll slowly to the top of the ramp.
" See Dita, this is why I take my time doing things. Sure we miss the drama… but then again… neither of us end up like Bart." Hibiki snickers and points towards Bart who is still on the floor. Dita just smiles slightly and nods in agreement that Hibiki's tactics seem to have worked this time.
Magno smiles widely seeing the two once again and speaks, " Well kid, I take it you've adjusted to Dita?"
Hibiki brushes his nose a bit and grins, " Of course, she's not too bad company once she calms down. Plus she's a great cook." He smiles as Dita quickly hugs him.
" Oh Mr. Alien! I'm soo happy you don't hate me, or feel funny around me anymore!" Dita nuzzles Hibiki's neck a little as Hibiki half- heartedly returns the hug still feeling awkward about affection.
" Now let's just hope you're less impulsive and less of a brat too…" Magno chimes in to set the tone back to where they left off.
Hibiki and Dita both smile and walk down the ramp passing the dazed Bart and still awe struck Alexei and Barnette, stopping right in front of Magno.
" I'll guess we'll have to see about that one. But it's nice to see you too old lady." Hibiki smiles and Magno returns the smile and coughs a little as she then motions towards the door.
" You two go get comfortable… we changed Dita's room into a double for both you and her. So this way, you're forced to go to Dita's room, and you get more personal time together."
Dita hears the news and quickly runs off towards her room screaming happily. " Come on Hibiki! I want to see our room!" Hibiki laughs slightly as he nods to Magno as to say thank you and then goes off with Dita.
After a few moments of reflective bliss B.C. walks down the ramp and smacks Bart a few times to wake him up, B.C. then looks directly at Barnette. " Wake up out of your daze and go escort Alexei!" The words are barked at Barnette in an all too familiar way.
Barnette and Alexei blink a few times as Barnette feels a little embarrassed and nods, " S-s-sorry B.C. I don't know what came over me." She takes Alexei's right hand as they then walk off. Whilst Barnette thinks to herself, " Who the hell does Jura think she is? I'm only doing this to get back at her. Sure Alexei's nice… and probably the best male I've ever met… but I still don't feel for him the way I feel for Jura. I just… can't believe her!" She visibly huffs as they're walking but Alexei doesn't comment, just takes it as a sign to not try and piss her off.
Leaving only three people left in the hangar Bart slowly stumbles back to his feet and leans on B.C. grinning as though he were drunk. " You smell nice…" B.C.'s eyes widen as he gives Bart a quick and hard slap across the face as Bart blinks and rubs his cheek and smirks.
" Thanks… I needed that. Ya know, for such a small robot he sure can tackle hard." B.C. and Magno both laugh slightly as Magno turns and starts heading out. Seeing this B.C. asks…
"What would you like us to do Captain?" Magno smiles and while walking replies. " Well you both know the ship… but do you know each other? Perhaps you two should just catch up." With those words Magno walks out towards the bridge leaving B.C. just standing there blushing a bit because he's unsure how she meant that.
Bart the places his hand on B.C.'s shoulder and smirks. " How about we do that dinner you promised me? I'm kinda hungry and that way we can satisfy Magno's orders." Bart's eyes are warm and his smile is gentle forcing B.C. too chuckle and nod.
" Sure… I did promise you one… so why not. Let's go get dinner Bart…" With that the two smile at each other and right before walking out Bart offers B.C. his arm in the very gentlemanly way.
" It's only proper that I show a lady respect… or at least that's what the book said… and with those things on your chest, you defiantly look like a lady." Bart grins playfully as B.C. smiles and places his arm inside of Bart's as they walk out arm in arm, feeling comfortable and oddly at ease.
To Be Continued…