Introduction back into the world was fairly gentle at first. Akiili's water was a cool and faint reminder that he was not yet among the deceased. The boy swallowed reflexively and his dry mouth yearned for more. Sound did not yet reach him, but the water in his throat seemed real enough. A whispering moan escaped his thin chest. Bey couldn't feel his wrecked body or his rattling lungs, only his throat. The rest of him seemed to be floating in a sort of numb comfort. It was the nicest he'd felt since he'd seen his Wrathwine home.

However, the serene sense of weighted deadness was slashed aside by a horrid invasion of his nose. Something burned into his nostrils and stabbed at the fragile membrane. His mind took a hard and sizzling shock. In his state of half-consciousness, Bey gasped, but the smell only then flooded his lungs. His chest convulsed and he loosed a cough and a long groan. Sound returned in a mangled form, he rolled his head weakly to the side and coughed again. Bey's eyes watered from the stench and he opened his eyes. He felt like retching.

"Whoa, I think he's waking up. Get that stink out of his face, will you? You'll burn 'is nose out." He knelt down next to Bey, tapped him a bit. "Well, come on then. Let's go find the galley and we'll see if I can't feed you anything." He extended a hand to help the other boy up, whil mentally categorizing what he'd brought from the Moon. He couldn't possibly make broth from scratch now; he didn't have anything to make broth with, for one, and it took hours he didn't have. Did he have boullion cubes on him? Yes, he had gotten some of those. So they'd have to do. For now, at least, until he could get some decent food into the kid. And the rest of the crew, of course. Couldn't forget them. They all could use some food, in any case; everybody was looking a little lean.

"C'mon, I'll give you s'more water in a second."

Carefully, Bey rolled his head over to the world above him. A tiny silhouette blocked most of the light that came his way, and other foggy shapes were present. Light. Light, even in the dim atmosphere of the warehouse, was torture and he dearly wished it would go away.

It seemed that he was alive, for now at least. The world had not gotten rid of him and he would not find himself fostering the health of nearby vegetation (or sewer rats). Not today, anyhow. Bey was dimly aware of a question asked him. At least someone had said something, he thought. He peered up at Juniper and blinked, squinting his eyes.

"Wha'?"

"I'm the cook, kid. Gonna get you something to eat if you can go with me." He found Bey's hand, and took it in preparation to help him up. "Y'just have to stumble to the kitchen and sit down, and I'll get you a glass of water and start making you up some soup. 'Kay? The ammonia smell left you, perchance? Y'poor thing. Stuff's awful. Didn't want you lying on the floor when soon you can be fed and get some decent rest, though."

He waited for a response, upon which he'd lead Bey to the galley, wherever the hell it was, and try to get some broth in him, so he wouldn't pass out again.

One long blink later to clear his blurry eyes and Bey croaked: "Oh...".

The idea of more water put a little more feeling into the lad's legs, but the prospect of food gave him drive. That was his first reason for coming, after all. Food, water, rest, work. Life. And now it was being offered to him and like a starved animal he shamelessly leaped at the chance. He would have even begged. Pride was an easy thing to loose when it was all you had. Dignity went out the door right after pride. Sanity came next, but Bey didn't think he was quite to that point yet.

With what strength he could manage, Bey tried to pull himself up, using the smaller boy as an anchor.

Seeing that the mudpuppy was awake again and satisfied that the new cook had everything under control, Molly nodded vaguely in the direction of the kitchen.

“Th' Mess is over there, I trust ya kin take care o' yerselfs fur th' time bein,” Molly ground out, suddenly bored with the events as she turned and left the group with her usual swagger.

“Ifin ya need anything... ask someone else. I'll be in mah cot.”

Grisha looked to the two boys headed to the mess and at his daughter hitting the rack. Bit of bad form, adjourning to sleep while the rest of the crew were standing around. Still, it was late, and he might as well finish this particular debacle.

"Well, for what it's worth, this is it. Welcome aboard and all that. If you don't have a place to stay, we got hammocks and a lease on this warehouse. We don't have a fixed schedule currently, but we do have a lot of work ahead of us. The capn's laid down her rules, now here's mine. Don't do anything that'll endanger the crew. You do, and you won't deal with the captain. She won't even know what happened. I'll just have to explain why you won't be joinin' us anymore." He took another glower around at the different faces before finally leaving himself. Unlike his daughter, he had work to do. So much work. How would they get it done?

(( Okay, unless anyone has anything to add, this seems like a good place to end the thread. We can discuss where we go from here in Projects and Proposals, please see the thread. ))