"Does this planet suck,

Everyone on this goddamn planet was at a stalemate, moping around with none of their things (or maybe one that was useless without the others) and basically boo-hooing about it. Audrey wasn't going to deny that she was lamenting right alongside these people, but she was pretty frickin' tired of hearing about everyone else's problems. They weren't as important as hers. Were they in charge of warning the general population of impending doom? Omg Watchers sit down. She didn't think so.

Needless to say, she was fed up. But while her work generally dealt with the microscopic, not all of it did. Part of the beauty of microbial growth in soil was that it also greatly contributing to life on a macroscopic level - hence her research. Thinking on a smaller scale than the environment or life as a whole, the little buggers were greatly responsible for plant life. Like, for example, this weird weed thing she was pulling out of the ground that looked an awful lot like Ragwort but almost certainly wasn't. She'd need to look at it more closely to know for (nearly) sure, but she didn't have any point of reference... Maybe she'd track down a botanist on this god forsaken planet and see if they could be of any help.

Anyway. Ragwort was a pretty forgiving plant, but it did need a certain few bacteria in order to grow. So if this thing was close enough, maybe their were microbes here that resembled those back home. It was the longest of long shots, but really it was the only thing Audrey had to occupy her time, so she was going for it. And she was going to make sure it wasn't in any of the Cultivator's fields because it was poisonous to their livestock. You can thank me later, she thought bitterly, though she knew no one would.

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a voice behind her, visibly jarring before turning around, still crouched to the ground. "Jesus christ, girl..," she breathed out, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I'm doing my job. What are you doing?" she asked shortly, eyes scrutinizing the young woman. What in the dickens was attached to her hip? Was that a machete? "Out to kill an ex?" Audrey asked, pointing to the weapon briefly. "I wouldn't worry about it, he probably didn't make it out," she finished, returning to the task of getting the whole taproot out of the ground in one piece.

She never claimed to be the most pleasant person on the planet, okay?

"Does this planet suck,

"The machete," she added, jutting her chin in the thing's direction. It seemed a little much to her, but then again she wasn't one for adventuring into the great abyss and determining what big creepy crawlies existed on this planet just to eat them. Audrey was more concerned with the little creepy crawlies.

Her eyebrows tented toward her hairline at the girl's crass retort, though when she returned her attention to the not-Ragwort, Audrey was smirking. It was nice finding others with her sense of humor, even if they were doing it less for the humor and more for being straight-up assholes. But that was alright too. "It's a fair question," she said, giving a delicate shrug. "I would insist you find out, but considering I don't know what sort of organisms are in this dirt and how quickly they'd kill me.... I'd rather you not."

She'd only just retrieved the last of the root from the soil when the girl asked her question. Audrey looked over her shoulder at her, one eyebrow raised. "I'm not sure yet," she answered honestly, even though she'd been tempted to come back with something sassy. "Since I don't have any of my equipment yet, I'm trying to get by on what might be important, but..." She shrugged again, a little annoyed that someone was asking. Really, she hadn't the slightest clue if digging this thing up would be helpful or not. It probably wouldn't. But it was something to do, and was way more important than the sun tan she wasn't getting every day she laid out. It was just burn, fade, and repeat.

"So since I'm not the ginger for you, what are you going to do now? Continue on to find another? I must say we are few and far between here. A brunette might be a better choice." She eyed the girl's hair a moment, still styled enough from her time on Earth that it was impossible to tell whether she had brown hair or a very dirty blonde.

"Does this planet suck,

Audrey was a little taken aback by the smile. Was the girl bipolar or something? She seemed awfully agitated one second just to turn around and do that a second later.. Though, with a little introspection, Audrey supposed she might be viewed the same way.

At the girl's offer, Audrey gave her a small smile but shrugged. "I'm not sure yet if it'd be worth your time. Let me give this one a look over first, and then maybe if we run into one another again I can have you grab them." Really, she was probably completely wasting her time even digging this one up, and as much fun as it was to inconvenience others she wasn't going to twist the girl's kindness into a cruel trick.

'Who says you're not the ginger for me?'

Raising a brow, Audrey chuckled. "Me." That should be enough. Smirking, she sat back in the dirt, taking a few seconds to look the root of the plant over. It would be ideal to keep as much of the soil with it as possible, but she knew a lot would fall off in transit. Raising her gaze, she looked around for something with a larger leaf that she could lay it on. Just as she was getting up, the vehement 'no brunettes' came. Audrey cast the girl a glance over her shoulder, expression interested. "Oh? And why is that?"

Returning her attention to her surroundings because in her experience people were less likely to open up with someone staring intently at them, Audrey continued to look for something to carry the plant with. There! Something akin to an elephant ear, but it was kind of high up. Putting her hands on her hips, she stood there deducing how to retrieve it. Meanwhile, she mentioned to the girl, "Brown hair is pretty common. You may want to rethink that bias. Unless, y'know, you have a good reason..?"

"Does this planet suck,

Raising a brow, Audrey looked back to the girl. "All over the place? How far out have you gone, exactly?" she asked, curious. If the little sprite of a girl had really explored the land, maybe she could be of some use information-wise; but if she was in the same situation as Audrey, stupidly stuck because nothing of hers had come in yet, then she assumed the girl was just about as useless as her. Which, for the record, was not an insult.

No reason. Well, Audrey might have bought it if there wasn't a pregnant pause afterward. Narrowing her eyes, she looked the girl over. It really wasn't one damn bit of her business, but really what else was there to do on this dreadful planet? It would be rude to prod, but when had that ever stopped her? She opened her mouth to maybe push, but then the girl gave her name. Dusting her hands off on her pants, Audrey stood, leaving the plant where it lied. "Audrey," she said, extending a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Zee."

Formalities taken care of, she crossed her arms over her chest and chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought over this Zee. She was bothered by something, and, again, it was precisely 0% her business, but Audrey was a curious creature. That, and she loved to know all the gossip everywhere. Knowledge was power, and it was fun to remind people of it later. Not in a menacing way, but more of a ... "how the hell do you know that?" way. Just thinking about it made her giggle, and she covered her mouth in an attempt to hide it from Zee.

"So really, what's your beef with brunettes?" she asked, raising a brow again. She was very good at the whole motherly-look thing, and she donned it now. Usually it got people to open up, if there was something they needed to get off their chest. Zee should start talking any second now....