The Mouths Of Babes
The Mouths of Babes
Summary: In the Game Room, Cass and Epi draw and discuss. Ezra wanders in and they all talk about Idi Station. Cass draws and points things out in his own non verbal way. It raises suspicions!
Date: PH183 (18 October 2009)
Related Logs: Simultaneously with: Unconscious and before Pulling the Pin.
Players:
Cass..Epi..Ezra..Jacobs..

CEC Kharon, Deck 3, Game Room

IC Time: Post Holocaust Day #183
OOC Time: Sun Oct 18 16:27:15 2009


An extension to the general lounge but not attached, this room has no such divisions for officers and enlisted. Along the back wall is a well-used billiards table done in green felt that is kept carefully leveled by cardboard sheets under one leg. On the other side of the room is a large and rather nice liquid crystal display that couldn't possibly be Navy issue by the brand name. The screen can often be seen displaying recent video games or even movies for rent from the ship's library. Elsewhere in the room are a few stacks of Triad cards as well as a locker full of board games that can be used on any one of the many tables.


Despite the lure of many other sorts of activity in the Game Room, little Cass is holed up at one of the coffee tables near the couches, furiously coloring away on some paper, with a whole slightly crinkled stack of drawings beside him. Some of the drawings are more crinkled than others, hinting that these may be the work of a couple of weeks. There's about thirty drawings in all, all done in Cass' childish hand.

And right across the table from little Cass is Epi, head tilted to the side a little, the tip of her tongue poking out as she concentrates on her own drawing. She's in her off duties, looking quite comfortable and relaxed. "Can I have the red, please," she asks the boy, finishing up with the green and studying her work intently. Out of her pocket she fishes a slightly worse for wear packet of cookies, familiar as ones that were shared about six weeks ago. The open packet gets put between the two artists. "Yours are looking good," she comments, leaning over a little and smiling at the boy.

The Turn of the catch and the soft bootfalls herald the entrance of a fellow glad in the simple tan's of the marine personnel. The only thing distinguishing him, from perhaps another grunt would be the rank pins right at his lapels. However his shirt is slightly unbuttoned-denoting that he is off duty-or just came offduty, never mind the gun worn at his hip. There's a look over to the pool tables for a moment, as one calloused hand reaches up to rub at his jaw. Fingers brushing over the thick mustache, before he's taking in the further sights. A shifting of his weight, and the Major begins his walk on over towards the occupied card table-which have been taken over by one of his Corporals-and his own scion.

When he does come to stop, not too far away, but still enough space to not be fully 'invading' yet, Ezra's lips finally curl up into a smile. "Hey there, little man." the coarse voice with that heavy Aerelon accent coming out, softer than the usual growls marines might be used to. Still, his old eyes are on his grandson. "Mind if I come an join you, an your friend there?" Or is Cass too old to be seen with his pappy?

Cass pauses in his drawing to reach for the crayons in his mitt. He reaches over to hand Epi the red, his tongue still just poking out of the corner of his mouth. His eyes find the cookies, and he regards them for a moment, nods to himself, and then is promptly distracted by the elder Cass. His grin answers Ezra's question. He nods, but still isn't speaking, and points to the end of the coffee table. A piece of extra paper is ripped off and laid over there with the dark blue crayon.

A look at the top of the stack of finished drawings reveals a drawing of a blonde next to what looks like a robot with glowy red eyes — perhaps a child's interpretation of a cylon centurion. There are some blobby looking creatures around the pair, that look like they might be some kind of animals? His current drawing is a larger one of a blonde lady. He's working on a tshirt with more detail than before.

Epi grins broadly at Cass, comfortable with the boy, clearly. It takes her a second when the elder Cass shows up to process things, and then she's on her feet, saluting. Little Cass is comfortable with Big Cass, but Epi clearly isn't. The red crayon is left next to her drawing - at least for the time being. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Yet there's just a tiny bit of playfulness about her as she drops her eyes to Little Cass and hisses briefly at him, pointedly straightening her posture even further. A hint, perhaps, that Grandfather or no, All Good Marines Salute Their Majors.

There's a look back to Jarot, and a hint of his smile lessens. Which isn't to say he's not happy to see someone spending time with his grandson when he's on duty. Specially, someone whom his grandson is comfortable around. Maybe it is the Salute. Still he brings up his hand to catch the salute given and he returns it to his marine(s). And with that he comes first to greet the young man, a ruffle of hair and a half hug, as the old man deposits a kiss on the boy's head before he's moving to his appropriate seat. Chair pulled a little closer. "Drawing I see."

And with that as he has blue, he starts generic looking wave patterns. A slight nod, as eyes move to catch in what his grandson is doing-or has done. "Jarot." intoned to Epiphany there, finally greeting the other woman. Still eyes are focused in on one of Cass' pictures. "Jeremiah.." said softly. "What's that.." his blue crayon going to indicate at one of the shapes with the blonde lady, and the robots. These pictures…He's seen before-though he can't make head nor tails of who the blonde is.

Cass glances over at Epi, smiles to her as well, but doesn't reach for the packet of cookies. He's working quite hard on his little tshirt drawing, but it's still coming out a little lopsided. He reaches for his stack of drawings, and points to the blonde in the first one, then spills some of the across the table. He looks to Epi to explain.

Once she's been greeted, Epi simply collapses bonelessly back to a sitting position on the floor and crinkles her nose at Little Cass playfully. Oh, there's a touch of formality about her now that Big Cass is here, but she seems to bounce right back to where she was. At the look from the boy, she smiles a little and nods. Communication doesn't have to be verbal. "This is the woman he thought was going to hurt him back on the station, Sir," she says, picking up her crayon - though not coloring yet. "When he threw the grenade, he thought it was her. She hurt people." Epi pauses for a moment after saying that, head tilting and eyes going distant. She gets that goofy 'ow, thinking hurts' look on her face, then looks to the boy again. "Hey Cass? Was she fighting the toasters or was she …" Again there's a pause, as if Epi KNOWS what she's about to say is silly. "Or was she with them?" Nah, can't be.

"I figured she was there…I was meaning these.." he motions to the animal shapes. "Those animals..or?" obviously Epi knows much more there than the Major does. However when with the boy- the Major works on keeping his kiddo safe and happy, along with the occasional drawings. Despite raising a number of children of his own, Cass is still not the best people person there is out there. "So he thought…" Quiet before he's nodding and looking to his own colouring. A faint sniff before he's looking right up towards Epi.

"No human in their right mind-" he starts, but then stops with a grumble. A look to the boy, as if expecting an answer-even in the negative. And eyes slide over to the t-shirt, being coloured. Briefly.

Cass shakes his head 'no' to Epi's first, and yes to her last question. He confirms that the woman was with the cylons. He points to his new drawing, and goes back to finishing her tshirt logo. His hair, in need of a good trim, falls into his eyes as he looks down at the drawing. When he leans over, he grabs the maroon crayon and goes about finishing that item. He also draws on some mean eyebrows and a big frown.

Epi reaches out to brush little Cass' hair out of his eyes, the gesture absent. At the boy's answer, she looks to Big Cass, eyes wide. Currently, the three of them are seated on the floor, around a coffee table. "That looks like a bunny," she tells the boy, keeping the surprise mostly out of her voice. "Did she wear bunny shirts?" Ok, so she's trying to keep things on an even keel as she settles back on her heels, picking up her red crayon again. Where Little Cass has been drawing pictures of what he saw on Idi, Epi's been drawing pictures of explosions - albeit much more slowly than Little Cass has been producing things. "So she was helping them," Epi muses. "Did she say anything?"

Ezra is quiet for a moment as he looks from Epi and then back to the woman on the piece of paper. A turn of his head as his own paper is in turn flipped over, and now it seems the major is writing something down in smudged out crayon. Still the bunny shirt is pretty hard to not simply just make you think, or be surprised. "Frak me.." muttered before he's looking on back towards Cass And right now, you know the sick feeling that can come with a sinking realization.

"Go on son.." urged quickly before he's rising form his chair, coming to stand behind the boy. Focus on that frakking picture.

Arranged around the coffee table by one of the couches are Epi, Ezra, and Jeremiah Cass, Ezra's grandson (rescued from Idi Station all those weeks ago). There is a slew of paper over the table, and assorted crayons and colored pencils scattered over it. A stack of finished drawings, in childish hand, are being looked over. He finishes his little rendering, and sits back on his heels. He looks to Epi as she questions him. His brown eyes are very intent on her words. He draws an arrow to the tshirt, and writes B-U-N-Y. He points another arrow to her head. B-A-D. He goes over the eyebrows, emphasizing the evilness.

Epi nods to little Cass, ponytail swinging as her head bobs. "Yeah, if she was working with the toasters, she's very bad," she tells him, looking briefly up at Ezra before she returns to the boy again. "Luckily you know what to do if she ever bothers you again. First thing is to run and tell Pappy or me." Did Epi just…call the Major 'Pappy?' She did. The woman's playing it cool, though. "Did you hear her say anything? Did she yell at you?" A few swipes get colored on her paper, her attention ostensibly there for a minute. "And you do good bunnies. I can never get the ears right."

A seemingly less rare moment of rest has come for Corporal Jacobs and he had been looking for someone to pal around with. That's what brings him to the Game Room, even though he is still in his scrubs. The Cass' and Epi are pretty easy to spot and he limps his way over that way without a word, ankle having an icepack taped to it. He raises his eyebrow when he sees the drawings, head tilted curiously. "Mornin' Sir, Corp, Jeremiah." A quick address for everyone.

"Bunny." said out loud as eyes look to the word written. "That her name- or?" A look from Cass back over to Epi for a second, as a hand goes to rest on his grandson's shoulder. "Yeah, very bad." A cough back as he turns his head quickly towards the Medic who has come limping in and there's a curt nod. "Jacobs." Dismissive as it is, he's looking right on back to the drawing. "you're doing good son..But, Bunny, that what she was called, or?" Goddess forbid, did she like bunnies? Maybe he's placing too much emphasis on the shirt, or the fact said lady was wearing a shirt with a rabbit on it. "Anyone else with her and the badguys?" A lot of questions to throw at the little artist.

Cass nods solemnly to Epi and glances over to Ezra, whom everyone now generally recognizes as 'Pappy'. He spreads out the drawings a bit more. One has a big syringe floating ominously above a crowd of those lumpy looking animals. Looks like his attempt at dogs and at least one cat (though it could be a really angry bunny too). The blonde lady in that drawing doesn't look so mean, and is wearing a coat with some white crayon depicting a white coat (the paper is yellow, so you can tell it's meant to be a white coat). He shakes his head in the positive at Ezra's bunny question. N-A-M-E B-U-N-Y A-N-D L-I-K-S B-U-N-S he writes carefully. Now, that probably only sounds funny. He clearly has difficulty with his spelling. His tongue pokes out the corner of his mouth and he writes carefully in the cramped space left: B-U-N-Y A-N-D S-I-L-O-N-S.

Epi catches Ezra's look then glances past him to Jacobs, offering a smile, though it's a little disturbed. "Evening, Corporal," she calls - though isn't distracted by his ankle. "You know Cass," she tells the boy, smile still in place. "You'd probably really like Sunshine. Jules. She loves bunnies and is really pre…" Pause. Epi goes still for a moment, utterly still. This is Epi. Utter stillness is one of those things reserved only for when she's setting a charge or defusing a bomb. Apparently this is one hell of a bomb. She leans in to look at the picture more closely then looks up at Ezra, utterly stricken. Because Epi is who she is, her emotions are clearly written on her face. She's going from shock to denial to disbelief and back again. "Bunnies and Cylons," she tells Ezra softly. "Blonde woman who loves bunnies." There's something very, very quiet about her voice. Then, finally, "Jules."

"Jules?" Jacobs says. He catches Epi's quieted tone and seems to have reacted poorly to it. One eye opens wide, the other squinting as he shakes his head. "Wait…What about Jules?" He sounds more confused than he probably actually is. Drawings of explosions and blonde-women who like Bunys and Silons make things kind of obvious.

Ezra is quiet for a second as he leans back from the drawing though eyes are no longer on the woman, but over on Jarot for a second. "You all keep quiet." No need to have hysteria, or someone know that someone is looking for someone or has been named a collaborator. And with that he's looking back from Cass, over towards the Corporal. "Jarot, come over here, for a second. Jacobs- you stay with the kid." and with that he's moving to walk over to where the wirelo is hanging on the wall.

"You absolutely sure-that that woman is Ozymandias? Or at least a strong frakking inclination.." And there's a grit of his teeth "because I'm not about to have a damned witch hunt on my ass…"

Cass finally looks up with his drawings and glances from his Pappy to Jacobs, the corporal. Though he doesn't know his spelling so well, the kid clearly knows ranks. Never mind there's not really anyone else in the room except Pappy, Jarot, and Jacobs. He nods to the man, though his eyes are on Ezra and Epi in short order. His gaze is intent.

It only takes a second for Epi to be on her feet, jogging to catch up with Ezra. Though she pauses to ruffle Little Cass' hair and murmur, "You do good drawings." It's apparently important to reassure the boy. She waits until after Ezra's finished speaking before she looks up at him, eyes huge. "It sounds like her, Sir," she says softly, voice very low. "Sunshine's always going on about bunnies, and she was talking about wanting to go down to Scorpia for a duty rotation, so she could work with the animals there." Damning enough, as it is. Any hysteria she might be feeling is overshadowed by the fact she's in front of her CO. "I'm not absolutely, Sir. But she's blonde, she loves bunnies, loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian." The little woman falls silent for a moment. "I don't think she was with us on Idi, Sir, though. I think she was back here on Kharon. So he couldn't have met her there."

In trying to keep the attention on himself, Jacobs smiles at lil' Cass and reaches down to ruffle his hair. That overly pleasant Caprican voice lets out a smooth "Hey there, buddy. Remember me? I'm the medic, yeah?" He then sits down and starts to run his eyes over the drawings.

"goddes frakking.." muttered and the rest of the prayer is cut off. hand reaching for the wirelo receiver before he's looking back to Jarot. "Only way to find out-" he's shaking his head "We'll bring her here.." But, not alone, not alone at all, because that would be stupid. Specially, if she's armed, or the real one in them pictures. If not- then we're all golden. "I'm calling Nikos, we're keeping this quiet…Right now try an clear out the room, save for us and the kid? If any pilot or navy shit gives you lip.. Tell em I ordered it."

With that he's Dialing and waiting for a moment for the other end to click in. "Nikos-Cass…" The rest said softly and so as not to cause alarm, not at all.

"But Sir," Epi protests, the need to do as ordered warring with the need to protect Little Cass. "We need to tell Cass. He's been through…We can't just walk her in here." But she doesn't wait for more. The order overrides the rest of her objections and she starts clearing the game room out. Yeah, a pilot gives her lip, but whatever she says to him has the man heading for the door, one hand adjusting the boys - or making sure they're both there. Not too many people seem to want to hang around anyway. Not with the fact that Epi's ramped the bounciness up to 11.

Cass continues to watch them, though it's doubtful he can hear everything they're saying from his side of the room. He fiddles with a crayon and nods to Jacobs a little absently. He hands over a crayon to the man, without looking, in case he'd like to draw. It's almost as if he's babysitting the medic.

The medic takes the crayon willingly with a smile. "Thanks, buddy." He chuckles then, realizing what just happened as he gets himself a piece of paper. His art isn't even as good as Lil' Cass', though. Guess those hands are best used for pulling bullets out of people's guts and stitching them up.

"We'll tell him, but right now I got a ship full of people to worry about, besides My grandson.." muttered back. Cold, but the damned truth. And he's moving to hang up the Wirelo. "Sides, he is safe with us here..And we will make sure he knows that-Because his identifying her outside of the picture is what it is going to take.." At least for now to make sure, that this is in fact the right person There's a look back towards Cass. "And if for some reason she tries anything, I'll kill her right where she stands." Not conducive for trial or investigating-But it is what will happen.

Epi glances back toward Ezra at the last, going still for just a second. "One of us will," she replies quietly. Her circuit brings her back toward Lil Cass once the room is clear and she reaches out to tug at a bit of his too-long hair. "You keeping Corporal Jacobs out of trouble," she asks. No, she doesn't force a smile - the kid's too smart for that. But she does drop to a crouch next to him. "He's the one who grumbled at us about playing fort. So I think he should get the icky color crayons."

Cass nods smartly to Epi, and turns back to Jacobs to take away the crayon, and hand over the poopie brown and the florescent yellow-green and the purple. Cass keeps the red, blue, green, and maroon crayons. He slides them awaaaay down the table, clearly noting they are off limits.

Jacobs blinks, "Wait…" Then Lil' Cass takes his crayons away to give Jacobs the nasty ones. "Well, that isn't very nice." He fackepouts then and stands up. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to Sick Bay and get to work." He sighs as he has to make his exit. "Call if you need me, sir."

*BOOM*

[Intercom] Praxis says, "Action stations, action stations! Set Condition one throughout the ship. Repeat, action stations, action stations."

[Intercom] Praxis says, "Damage control teams to Deck Two. Engineering, place a call with a report to CIC immediately."

(At this point, Epi took Cass to Medical, and Ezra went off to handle the marines after assigning Epi to kid patrol.)

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