<div align="center"><strong>~ Sasha Dearing, First Officer of the Gamble - On Persephone with Si and Steve, in the back room of The Best Little Hot House in Town, meeting Ferret about a job ~</strong></div><br/>Before following the petite pixie to the back room, Sasha glanced momentarily at Si and then Steve, making sure Si was positioning himself directly behind her, preferring to have her trusted wingman at her back instead of the new guy. A quiet chuckle fluttered in her throat as she pictured Steve’s look of confusion which had quickly devolved into a scowl of angry exasperation when she had veered off-script from his expectations. However rigid Si might be, his ability to attune closely to her when on a mission and his willingness to follow whatever lead she presented were both key elements that allowed them to work well together as a team. On the other hand, McPherson apparently had his fair share of aversion to improvisation on the fly. Although he had done his best to play along - another soft chuckle threatened to bubble over her lips as she recalled with amusement his play-acting the part of her fiancé - it was obvious the big man was extremely tense about the entire situation. Giving the guy a break, Sasha acknowledged that they had in fact thrown the brand new guy into the deep end of the pool right out of the gate. He might not appear a graceful swimmer at the moment, but he was at least keeping his head above water so far.<br/><br/>As she moved through the doorway and down the hallway leading to the back room, Sasha heard Si speaking quietly behind her.<br/><br/><strong>"Given the Captain's recent preoccupation with certain feminine aspects of the crew, perhaps it would be better not to tell him you like to call me 'Daddy.' I would hate for him to get the wrong idea."</strong><br/><br/>Si’s deadpan humor was usually a welcome divergence from his usual straight-laced persona; but the offhand reminder of Griff’s absence elicited an unexpected sharp pang of longing in Sasha’s chest. The unwanted and alarming emotional reaction to such an innocuous mention of the Captain caused an unsettling churning to take up residence in her gut. Focusing on the anchor of Si’s reliably sedate and staid presence, Sasha used his calming influence to steady her perplexing reaction.  Even though only moments away from having to be completely guarded and on high alert while interacting with Ferret, Sasha allowed for a lighter moment before reaching the back of the shop, almost to prove to herself that she had actually been unaffected by the mere thought of the maddening man they all called Captain.<br/><br/>Pausing in mid-stride, Sasha gracefully turned around to face Si, her low, sultry voice for his ears only as their bodies stood close. “You shouldn’t worry so much, bao bei. Maybe I enjoy being a bad girl...Daddy.” To make herself feel a little better about her own aggravating slip of control, Sasha hoped to elicit at least a modicum of fluster from the ever-unflappable Si.  Reaching up to curve her slender index finger under his chin as she spoke, Sasha gently beckoned his face slightly toward hers before puckering up her sensuous lips to blow him a kiss.  Softly releasing his chin, Sasha turned back toward the departing form of the young girl as she continued onward to the back of the shop, not even giving Si a smile like she normally would to diffuse her comments and let him know she was teasing.<br/><br/>The dimly lit hallway opened up to a brighter, small room as the group arrived at the back area of the shop. Their young escort entered the room and moved quickly to the side and stood still, allowing the three visitors to enter the room after her. Automatically, Sasha’s sharp gaze quickly took in her surroundings, scouring the room for any potential threats and making careful note of what she observed. She didn’t expect any foul play from her...associate, but caution was always a wise precept.<br/><br/>The beautiful older woman sitting at the workbench seemed oblivious to their presence as she continued to carefully prune a flower blossom, by all appearances completely relaxed and serene, simply a lovely woman enjoying an obviously much-loved occupation. Except, of course, for the hulking heavy lurking menacingly in the shadows and the oversized pair of razor sharp shears in the woman’s slender hand. And Sasha knew the shears wouldn’t be the only potential weapon close at hand. Adopting a more friendly version of her typical cold tone, Ferret dismissed her employee and then addressed her visitors.<strong>“Thank you, Charlotte, that’ll be all.”</strong>Without hesitation or comment, the petite young woman moved past the three Gamble crew members and headed back down the hall to the front of the shop, closing the door behind her with a soft click.<br/><br/><strong>“Please, come in so we can talk. Miss Dearing; ever the heart-breaker you are, my dear Sasha.”</strong><br/><br/>Strolling leisurely forward to position herself in front of the woman and assuming her men would keep a close eye on the heavy, Sasha kept the workbench between herself and the older woman, slightly bending one knee and leaning her hip nonchalantly against the workbench, her elbow casually resting on the table top. “Ferret.” She greeted the woman succinctly with a brief nod of her head. Well aware of the woman’s well-educated background and capabilities as a former Companion, as well as her untrustworthy and devious nature, Sasha respected the woman the same way she would respect a coiled rattlesnake.  She kept her shuttered gaze on Ferret as the woman greeted Si and made her calculating assessment of Steve.<br/><br/><strong>“Wo de ma, who’s the beefcake?” Ferret inquired suspiciously. “Damek, where’s Griffin Kingston?”</strong><br/><br/>Sasha watched impassively without outward acknowledgement as the hulking heavy stepped from the shadows and repeated the intel he had just received through his headset.<br/><br/><strong>”He’s on Persephone, Lao ban ni'un, but he’s headed west. It seems he has some sort of mechanical part with him. I think it might be something of value he’s trying to sell to a competitor.”</strong><br/><br/>Curtly dismissing her employee back to the shadows when she no longer had immediate need of him, Ferret turned her attention back to Sasha, any trace of pseudo-friendliness now bled from her tone.<strong>“So, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure, Miss Dearing?”</strong><br/><br/>Sasha had little patience for the dramatics that Ferret was known for, such as the elaborate passwords and the none-too-subtle performance she had just acted out for their benefit. But she also knew that Ferret was an expert at discovering a person’s “buttons” and vulnerabilities and using that knowledge to her best advantage. So keeping her true thoughts and feelings closely guarded, Sasha played her part in the game with a flourish.<br/><br/>“Well fuck me silly, Ferret. I thought for sure you must be more’n bored with the same-ole same-ole, so I brought you some fresh meat to tantalize those beautiful eyes of yours.”  Tilting her head briefly in Steve’s direction without taking her eyes off of Ferret, she smiled in feigned conspiration.  “Ain’t he somethin?  Oh, and thank you for letting me know where the Cap’n got off to, I was wondering what peck o’ trouble he might be fixin’ to get mixed up in since I last saw him.”<br/><br/>Standing up straight Sasha spread her arms wide and steepled her fingertips on top of the workbench in front of Ferret, leaning her upper body toward the shorter older woman, her long ponytail brushing over her shoulder to fan teasingly over the swell of one of her breasts. Her voice low with a tinge of hardened steel, Sasha let the master manipulator know in no uncertain terms that she was in no mood for gratuitous delays. “However, my beautiful peng you, if this is truly an unexpected visit then I’ve got no time for fang zong feng kuang de jie, and the Cap’n’s gonna be mighty unhappy to learn he’s been misinformed about a certain opportunity.”<br/><br/><br/><em>bao bei = darling<br/>peng you = friend<br/>Fang zong feng kuang de jie = A knot of self-indulgent lunacy</em><br/><br/>