Little Moments...

[Sanis Prent]

I didn't take the old man's bait. I leaned against a bulkhead, letting s'Il take point.

"It's just a formality. I have to ask to keep things fair."

I'd leave it to Lok to get the details out of him as far as his whereabouts.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She was not about to take her old master's bait. Of course, he'd made sure that she was oblivious in his little crime - offering to share with her a bottle of specially procured Ithorian wine. It had been something that she'd initially thought sweet, and a bit of a peace offering between the two. Little had she known that she was participating in the scene of a crime of sorts.

"You knew what you were doing back then."

She continued to straighten out the rat's nest that was his hair.

[Zem Vymes]

He patiently let her sort out his bed hiar. It was the sort of thing she found peace in. Still, the question chafed a bit.

"Do you think I did this?"

He ignored Sanis for now. This was between them.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Not really, no."

Gving his hair one last comb-through with slender fingers, s'Il folded her hands once more back into her lap.

"But I know you."

There was far more in those four words than any thousands of words could convey. It was nothing accusatory, simply it was the fact that She - yes - knew him. She knew his ins and outs. She knew his passions and love. She knew his desires and heart.

[Zem Vymes]

He raised an eyebrow.

"So you're going through the motions, then? Asking me just to make you feel better about it?"

He sighed, crossing his arms.

"I went to bed at 21:00, like I do every night. I didn't even know Sanis brought doughnuts aboard, and if I did, I wouldn't eat them."

He looked to Sanis.

"You've already talked to the most obvious suspect, what did he say?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She was never one to be subtle - Zem knew this from long-ago experience. With that sort of thing, it came back like a slap in the face. She was that forward and less-than-delicate creature as before, so many years ago. It was what had drawn him to her in the first place, and as he'd said so many time before, had made her so endearing to him.

"Teagan said she heard you in the galley last night."

Her hand moved upward to run through across his stubble. It was grown out enough that she'd need to run a razor through it.

"Did she?"

[Zem Vymes]

"She did."

Zem rested his hands on the box he sat on.

"Last I checked, that's not a crime. I had some hot blue milk."

He challenged the pair to prove him wrong.

"Had some trouble sleeping. This close to the engines, sometimes it happens."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Zem-El."

He was not a light sleeper - that much the both of them knew. They had shared so much in the past, and s'Il found herself leaning into him more than decency allowed. It was how this game was played, no? Sanis had often regaled her with tales during his visits on Cathar, and she had only just stepped into the role. Of course, the object being Zem, those old feelings swelled up within her, and she felt almost overtaken.

"You can sleep through most anything," she whispered into his ear.

[Zem Vymes]

He resented her ability to cut through his defenses, but that was due to all their time shared. Nothing could be said in his defense.

"If you must know, I was up taking medicine."

He deferred to look at her.

"It's for my hip."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

At that she rolled her eyes, choosing to be a bit more expressive than her morning routine - or any of her routines for that matter - allowed.

Whether Sanis wanted to hear or not, she did not care.

"Your hips were in wonderful condition last time I checked."

[Zem Vymes]

Zem surpressed a smile.

"It's been a while since you put them to the test."

Double entendres aside, this wasn't helping. He clasped his hands together, again all business.

"But yeah, I've got sixty years worth of mileage, so don't be surprised if I have some maintenance issues.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

And at that, the spell was broken. She straightened back up, her hand going up into the air in a show of helplessness as she shrugged. All in all it was quite the display of aged resignation.

"Eh, I tried."

It was Sanis' show now.

[Sanis Prent]

I held back the bile in my throat at Zem and Lok running through their past. It was a journey down memory lane with no exit ramp, and I wasn't staying on the ride.

"Let's see this medicine."

It was grasping at straws, and Zem looked plenty annoyed, but I wasn't gonna be bluffed. The Jedi looked like he was always a bit rough around the edges, but the shit I'd seen them do, I knew better than to let that fool me.

Zem, for his part, produced the bottle, passing it to me. I gave it a shake, and heard the tell-tale rattle. Read a bunch of chicken scratch on the label. I wasn't a doctor, but that was enough for me.

"There's a tap in the refresher. Why make the extra trip?"

Now, the knife.

"Tak's romping keeping you restless?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Her eyes narrowed only slightly, and s'Il angled her head to afford Sanis a sideways look. Of course, this was soon enough overtaken by the look she gave to Zem, and with a quick hand the Lupine took the bottle from Sanis' hand to inspect it herself.

She let out an exasperated breath before turning to Zem.

"What's this all about," she gave the bottle a slight shake in his direction, the pills inside rattling about. "You don't need to be taking these."

[Zem Vymes]

"You don't have a durasteel hip"

Annoyed, Zem took the pills back.

He looked back to Sanis, giving a shrug.

"Kids will be kids. She was up like usual, yeah."

He kept it curt, leaning back a bit as he pocketed the pills.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

More disturbed at this new revelation than the actual reason for Sanis' own ire, s'Il fixed her old friend with a scrutinizing stare. What exactly had happened to him during those long years the two had been apart?

Finally, she looked to Sanis once more with a sigh.

"Your list of suspects is exhausted I'd wager."

[Sanis Prent]

Time to turn the knife.

"Not quite."

Arms crossed, I shifted my feet, giving her a look.

"Kids will be kids, right?"

Sacred cows make the tastiest burgers after all. Nobody was fooling anyone into thinking that little Tak was a saint.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The Lupine gave him an unimpressed stare, and she crossed her own arms to mimic his stance and posture.

"My daughter is no angel I will be the first to admit, but are you telling me that you seriously think that she would even sleep at all if she had eaten those abominations?"

[Sanis Prent]

"Maybe. Maybe not."

She had a point at that, and it was all a bit too convenient.

"Maybe the sugar rush would push her into a manic over-nighter. Or maybe she went down for the count under the weight of a full dozen."

War of attrition. That and a slug of blue milk would put a bantha down.