Honor Among Thieves

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Jo almost didn't hear Sean at the door, but the voice filtered through the excitement of the device in front of her. Hopping up, she crossed to the door, opened it and held out a hand for the glasses he had in one hand. "Here, no sense in not helping you with that. You are offering to share, after all." She gave him a grin as he handed over the glasses and stepped back to let him in. She hadn't bothered to put her sweater back on, but had at least gotten out of the harness.

"So, I thought I was the only one who went climbing without safety lines." Using her foot, she pushed the door closed and gave him a curious look. Moving back to the computer and the inactive tracking device, Jo took a seat and set the glasses down. Part of her wanted to dive right into pulling apart the device, but she held off since she had company.

[Sionnach001]

"Aye," he lied smoothly, "Well it's been awhile since I've had a good climbin' work out. Figured I could use one on an easy like climb." as he moved to let her ease the hatch closed behind him.

He took the glasses and the bottle from her and unscrewed the lid, taking an appreciative sniff.

"Ah Jolene m'lass.  This here particular brew is Kilbeggan's own whiskey. Brewed in County Westmeath, Ireland on Earth-Tha'-Was. Smuggled aboard an Ark ship by a wiley ol' grand dame of some Irish well t'do who couldn't bare to part with her dram, passed down bit by bit to her grand children, then her great, then great, then so on, as the barrel got lower, and lower. 'Til some enterprisin' great relative o' mine nicked the last wee cask off 'em...I'm of the Travelin' Folk ye know, we're known fer that sort of business, knickin' an' what not, 'til this last bottle was passed down t' me Mam...the fair Maiden Quinn, before me Da married her o'course...who gave it to her favorite baby boy Sean when I was but a lad on Paquin just before I set off into the wide 'Verse."  he said with the appropriate flourish here and there as he poured two healthy cups full.

He gave her a wink and a mischievous grin, and passed hers over to her.

"Odds are excellent all that's bollocks of course. If we're really this stuff was actually made on Paquin by Irish descendants at all." and he took a nice warming drink, "Still, good whiskey still an' all."

[Jolene Blaylocke]

Jo listened to his tale of the drink, clearly a bit skeptical. It wasn't that such things weren't possible, but it was highly unlikely. Then there was the little confession at the end that brought back a laughing smile. Carefully, she lifted the glass and sniffed at it. "Well, it at least smells real. Not that the other stuff didn't." Lifting the glass, she took a tiny sip knowing full well she didn't need much to drink. The burn definitely let her know it was real.

"Oh definitely the real stuff. Now I remember why I don't drink it often," she laughed, one hand resting on her chest as she struggled to not choke on the drink. Taking a deep breath, she set the glass down and looked at him for a long moment. "So, aside from the little issue with the Tong, how have you been? It's been a while since we last talked. Well, traded nicknames anyway." As she started to speak, her hands found her tools and she pulled the tracking device closer to her so she could start to pull it apart.

[Sionnach001]

"Truth be told I rarely drink m'self," he admitted, "and almost never to excess. Bad habit to get into in my line of work," he finished with a gotcha sort of wink and cheek snick.

"A secret I'll thank ye not to pass on is that I let folks think I'm a drunken, loud mouthed, blatherin' fool of an Irish stereotype.  Makes the rubes underestimate ye 'til it's too late so it does."

"As for how things've been until...recently" he added less than comfortably, "They'd been goin' pretty gorram well I have to say.  I'd been doin' what I do. Makin' good money at it...no
yuèliàng dǐngbù bein' able to retire scores or anything, but enough excitement to keep things fun but not so exciting that I've had to worry about pickin' up any new scars."

"So," he turned the conversation around while she worked on the transmitter, "how long ye been with this fine,"...that bit was said a little wryly..."crew?"