The Bridge Is A Great Hangout

Christian closes the door to the bridge and settles down into the co-pilot's seat. "... I will be very, very happy when we release our passengers. Both human and non-human."

As is usual when she's pulling an evening on the bridge, Nika's got her boots up on the console and a cup of coffee next to her. She rolls her head on the headrest so her eyes are on Christian and she grins at him. "That's an understatement. I'm tellin' ya man... No. More. Livestock. None." She chuckles.

"We should put that in our charter." Christian says with a chuckle. He leans back in the chair, laces his fingers over his stomach and closes his eyes. "I will say one thing, though. This whole business has me thinking about the nature of identity."

Nika looks thoughtfully at him. "How so?"

Christian draws in a deep breath and releases it. "We were willing to think that those apes were sentient. And they are intelligent, even capable of concern... but..." She smiles, "... I was off. On this whole mess. I should have seen things sooner. Known the problems sooner. Not just his but the doctor's as well. I think I might be losing touch with myself."

"Frankly, I didn't know *what* to think," Nika admits. "Given everything else we've seen? Hell, I guess I figured better safe than sorry, right?" She laughs at the whole lot of us. "Monkey telepathy. Sheesh, we're so gullible."

Christian grins. His eyes open and he turns to glance at Nika. "Some things you've said. They've made me think as well." His smile fades. "I left the Guild because I thought I was sparing them trouble. Doing the honorable thing. Now though... would I leave this crew for the same reason? My parents? No.. because that's what family does with each other."

Ah... so that's what's on his mind. Nika studies Christian's face a moment and then resumes her relaxed pose in her chair with her face toward the viewport out front. "So you thinking you're going to get back into the Guild? Or.... something else? Not sure what you mean by identity."

Christian notices that pause and he laughs. "I am, yes. Not back to the Temple, though. I'd stay here. There's business out on the Rim."

Nika blows out a breath and is quiet a while. She glances at him, her expression one of those 'oh lord.... really?' kinds of faces. Not angry, not upset, not even shocked, just... not sure how to react. "Sooooo.... you're going to be bringing men and women back to the ship? I think that might sort of cramp your style, right?"

"I would ask to rent one of the cargo containers. Fix it up. Companions who ship out on luxury liners do the same with shuttles." Christian explains, "How do you feel about that?" He stops and turns so he can face Nika. "I'm not going to pretend we're heading anywhere specific, you and I, but there is something and your feelings are important to me." He pauses, then smiles, just a little. "Of course, there's something between you and Arden as well."

There's a chuckle at that. "Arden's.... interesting. I'm not in the market for anything permanent, and mixing it up with crewmates is always fraught with problems. So in all honesty? While I might flirt a bit once in a while cuz we all spend a lot of time out here in the Black together? Not sure it's entirely worth the potential trouble to get involved with one of you guys. I'm weighing it," Nika admits candidly enough. "It can be a lonely haul. But if it goes south, it impacts everyone. I'm generally real cautious about bringing sex into the mix with a crew."

Christian nods in agreement, "Yes. I understand that. Honestly..." He pauses, then says, "I value your friendship. Its something unique for me. I've been friends with women but it always involved sex. Companions play as a matter of practice and time with male partners is always in demand. There are fewer of us. With you, I feel a bond without that. That makes our friendship unique."

Nika looks surprised. "You're serious?" She doesn't really know anything about Companion culture. "Have you never had a real *friend*, Christian? Someone who doesn't want anything from you, just hangs around you because they like your company? Not the Companion kind of company but just... like this?"

Christian laughs. "They are real friends, Nika. The love I share with my friends, those that are Companions... that love is very real. But, yes. There's a part of that. They are like sisters and brothers but, at the same time, we practice on each other. Not just sex but also reading, therapy..."

There's a roll of the eyes. "You don't need to *practice* on your friends, Christian. You just accept them, quirks, foibles, and all -- there's no trying to 'fix' them unless they're really really broken or they ask."

Christian shakes his head. "No. It isn't like that." He sighs, softly. "Its a way we help each other be better at our work. This is my other concern. You and Rena don't really understand what it is Companions do, partially because of your backgrounds, perhaps because of your feelings about sex and love. Will this make things difficult between us?"

Nika grins at him a bit. "My feelings about sex and love, you don't really know -- you never asked. You only know that I'm mildly squicked about sex for money." She shrugs slightly. "I don't know how it'll be between us with that... I'll get used to it, if you decide to do it."

"I have asked." Christian says, "You have answered. We've just never used words." He shakes his head and smiles. "But that's a dance I don't feel like dancing tonight. I do want your respect and support if I do this. It will be important to me."

Now Nika looks at him. "Someday you'll have to tell me what it is you think you know about me," she says mildly. "At least give me the opportunity to decide if I like what it is that you see. But if you choose to go back to being a Guild member, I'm not going to act like a wronged friend. If you choose to make money on the side doing something you've been raised to love doing, then it's your life, Christian. It's your body, your choice; so long as *you* are happy with it, it makes no real nevermind to me." She grins a bit, the look almost feral. "But the gods help anyone who ever puts you in a position like the last one you were in.... cuz if you don't kill him in self-defense, I'll just outright kill him."

Christian stands up and walks over to Nika. He leans down and looks into her eyes. "And that," he says, "is exactly what I know about you. And exactly why I wanted to talk to you before I made my decision. Thank you."

There's a look of surprise on her face as he leans down to look in her eyes like that. She really doesn't get what it is that he just took from the conversation, and the question is asked silently in the quizzical expression she gives him.

Christian taps Nika's lips with his fingers, glancing down her body and then back up again with perhaps just a bit of lechery there, "My big, bad protector." He winks. "I'll sleep safe tonight with you on the job." Then he straightens up and walks to the door of the cockpit. He pulls it open.

Then he walks out.

His lecherous look is met with one of incredulity. He's not seriously implying he's actually interested, is he? She never can tell with him! And then he's gone. She glances out the hatch after him and just shakes her head. She'll never understand Companions.