And She's In

"I think it will be fine," Cooker chuckled as she and Theo stood outside of Xyra's door.

"You say that even after you saw how angry she was earlier? Is there any way we can make her think it's her idea and then we pretend we never said anything to Ava? We would have to coordinate our stories but I'm sure Ava would be willing to lie so we don't get yelled at," Theo tried to reason, staring at the X marked on the cabin door.

"There is no we in this situation. You asked Ava to interview for quartermaster before running it by Xy," Cooker reminded Theo of the situation they were in and Theo crossed her arms in thought.

"What if..." Theo trailed off then groaned and hit her head against the wood in the hallway, "I've got nothing."

Just then the door opened and Xyra walked out with a small cigarette hanging from her lips, a dirty undershirt, and flowy pants. She looked both of them up and down and narrowed her eyes.

"What happened?"

Neither of them said anything they just looked at each other and then back at Xyra. Finally, Theo cleared her throat and rubbed her neck, "Nothing's going on. Just wanted to check on you."

"You look guilty," Xyra pointed at Theo and then over at Cooker, "and you look like you came along for a good show."

Cooker ducked her head to hide a silent laugh and Theo shoved Cooker causing her to stumble a bit.

"I might have some news but you seemed busy so we can just wait until later," Theo said dismissively, shrugging her shoulders.

"Not busy. I was just going out for a smoke," Xyra said.

Theo stepped forward with a frown and snatched the cigarette from Xyra. She rolled her eyes and turned to Cooker, cigarette pinched between her fingers.

"Oi, don't look at me," Cooker said, "I don't sell sard. Shit's useless."

"It's not sard," Xyra said and took the cigarette back, "It's ravci. Thanks to a certain someone, sard is banned on the ship and anyone that has it won't sell to me."

The certain someone was Theo. Sard was a nasty tasting plant that when smoked produced a fruity aroma. The drug had little to no effect on the user but it was addictive. It was a common drug in Nefriti to socially use with friends and it had been Xyra's vice for lengths. The drug had no negative effect on the brain but it was known to sometimes cause a rare disease in the stomach that caused death within months. Theo's first action as captain was to ban the use and the sale of it on her boat, specifically to prevent Xyra from using it.

Theo huffed and said nothing, trying her longest to stall. Her plan of lecturing Xyra on smoking sard to avoid coming clean had failed and now silence was her only option.

"Can you move along with the news so I can go smoke and be in peace?" Xyra asked, irritation growing with every passing second. It hadn't been more than a few hours since her fight with Morgana and she was clearly still testy from that.

"I might have asked her if she wanted to be quartermaster," Theo rushed out under her breath.

"Come again,"' Xyra asked, not having caught what the captain had said.

"Morgana brought up her name for quartermaster and I thought maybe it was worth a shot. So I offered her an interview for quartermaster and she said yes," Theo stated firmly that time. Chest puffed out and my head held high.

"Who are we talking about?" Xyra asked, in the rush of things Theo had forgotten an important part of the story.

"Ava."

Xyra stared at her blankly as if she was waiting for Theo to say something else. Theo stared back and motioned her hands for Xyra to speak up.

"Oh. That was all?" Xyra asked and then put a hand to her chest and let out a breath, "I thought it was going to be something bad."

"To be fair, I assumed offering Ava an interview without your approval was bad," Theo said slowly, her eyes were narrowed in Xyra's direction. She had been far too casual as of late with large pieces of news.

"I mean, really Theo? Who else were we going to pick for it?" Xyra rolled her eyes, "thank fuck you finally had the sense to see it. You really shouldn't be the last on the uptake, yet here we are. Again. "

"She's got a fair point. Kinda assumed she had already been asked and had said no," Cooker unhelpfully chimed in, she had really just come along expecting a show.

"So, I'm the only one out of the loop?" Theo looked at both of them and got nods of confirmation, "Why wasn't this brought to my attention earlier then?"

"You would have said no," Xyra said, "you get weird when it comes to her. Same reason you won't let her on the vanguard."

"I won't let her on the vanguard because she isn't ready for it," Theo shot back.

"And when she is ready it will take you about a thousand cycles to realize it," Xyra challenged and got a snap of approval from Cooker.

Theo hated it when they ganged up on her. She had to remind herself it was not captainly to wrestle Xyra to the ground anytime she got slightly annoyed, "Cooker is one thing but since when have you been on a pro-Ava ship?"

"I haven't disliked Red in a long time. I think she'd be good for the position. Better than Morgana."

"Speaking of, have you apologized to her?" Theo raised an eyebrow.

Xyra rolled her eyes and began to walk "Shut up. I'm going to smoke."

"We are coming with!" Theo announced and followed. She dropped the Morgana thing until they were all huddled up on the poop deck, like deviant children hiding something from their parents.

In reality, they were huddled up to keep the cigarette lit and also to avoid having to share with anyone. Once they were all pleasantly buzzed and Theo was satisfied with the amount of ravci she had siphoned off of Xyra, she brought up Morgana again.

"I think you really should apologize to Mor, sooner rather than later," Theo pressed the issue.

"I am not ready yet," Xyra snapped, "I know I was out of line but I still need time."

"That's fine but you cannot take a cycle to muster up the courage to say you are sorry. It has to be within the next few suns. I doubt she'll call a trial but she has every right to until you apologize," Theo reminded even though Xyra was the last person to need a brush up on the rules.

Xyra just gave a tight and uncomfortable nod, uneasy at the idea of someone actually calling a trial.

"We should also probably get this whole quartermaster ball rolling. Not just for Morgana but for the ship. It's looking like we might get a sudden increase in our crew and I am not dealing with an angry Xyra or an angry Morgana again," Cooker steered the conversation into a more productive realm.

"Aye, I will speak with Ava to see when we can get an interview done. Probably first thing in the morning if she doesn't have anything to take care of," Theo said.

"We are still going for an interview?" Cooker chuckled.

"Why wouldn't we? There are rules," Theo reminded.

"The rules state that all candidates must be confirmed by a majority vote by your inner circle before the motion for a quartermaster election is considered by the crew," Xyra chimed in

"And interviews are not written in the rules. It was just customary so we could give everyone an equal chance and favoritism would not come into play," Cooker said.

"But Red is the only one up for the job. So as long as we get a confirmation for Ava from the inner circle we can bring her candidacy up," Xyra helpfully followed up.

"And there is no way we won't get at least five votes. She will probably get confirmed unanimously which means that the general vote will go the same way as well," Cooker strategized.

"No need for an interview," Xyra finished with a proud smirk.

Theo rolled her eyes at them both. She swore they practiced their little antics and plans to gang up on her when they were alone at night.

"First, Ava will not go straight to the floor. If she is confirmed by the officers, her candidacy will not be introduced until she has had at least ten suns of actual training for the job. Second, I don't care who does it but it has to be one of you. And Third, I need the potential votes to be counted as soon as possible. Both the officers and the crew. I want to know where we stand before we go through with this."

"I will do that," Xyra said, "Least I can do to get Morgana what she wants."

Cooker laughed a bit, "Probably best to get on her good side again. I mean, you did call her a cunt."

Xyra scoffed and shoved Cooker a bit, "Shut up. I'm aware."

Theo couldn't help but crack a smile, "I don't think I've ever heard you use that word."

"I don't think I ever have," Xyra said with a slight smile.

There was a long way for Xyra to go. There was a lot going on with her and it had taken Theo a few cycles to realize it. She had been so caught with her own things and getting the shipment there on time, and dodging obstacle after obstacle that she had forgotten to tune into her friend. In the routine they had fallen into since leaving Alenroux, there was enough time spent together to notice. It was not that Xyra was sad but she wasn't exactly happy either.

Theo theorized it had to be a mixture of things. Bari and Pika's deaths, being so close to home, stress from the job, stress from getting so close to Navi again. Theo put her arm around Xyra's waist, too short to go for the shoulder, and began to pull her along.

"I've got jerky on my desk. I'll share some with you so you can get something in your stomach before you go to whip the votes," Theo offered in order to take their minds off the fight with Morgana, "I also want you to take a few suns off from first mate duty. I need you rested."

--------

"I'm in?!" Ava jumped up out of her chair with a happy squeal. She planted her hands on the desk in front of her and jumped up and down.

"The votes were tallied. You were unanimously confirmed by the officers to be a candidate for the quartermaster election," Theo confirmed, an amused smile playing on her lips.

The door opened and Ava turned to it quickly, after spotting it was Cooker she ran over and crashed into her with a hug, "Cooker! I'm a candidate!"

"You're a candidate," Cooker repeated with a half-enthusiastic smile and a measly pump to her fist.

Ava frowned at the cold reception, "I'm going to go tell Oceane."

No congratulation or big smile, not expected from Cooker. Ava decided she would be holding a grudge on Cooker for the rest of the sun as she walked to Oceane's room.

"Guess what?" Ava asked as she opened the door.

Oceane bolted up from the bed and ran to the doorway, "You're going to be the quartermaster!"

She took Ava's hands and began to jump up and down. Ava joined her and they both bounced around together laughing until Oceane almost knocked over one of the plants. Once Oceane righted herself, she pulled Ava into a hug.

"I'm not the quartermaster just yet. I still have to train and then get voted in," Ava pointed out, "I start tomorrow once all the passengers have left for Jiorma. Xyra is going to train me."

"That's fun," Oceane said, optimistically, "Xyra is a great teacher. She taught me how to use cannons and now I am the master gunner."

"Let's hope my luck is the same. I haven't been able to keep too many jobs, as you have seen,"

"You are going to get voted in. I promise. If it takes me having to cry and beg in the lower decks every night then so be it," Oceane promised then began to sing-song, "I am going to have a man on the inside! Unlimited power, what will I do?"

Ava laughed and began to dance along to Oceane's song as she continued to improvise lyrics to a shanty about Ava's soon-to-be position.