Mater Familias - 9.082

[Ben Merasska]

"Corporate Sector, eh?" Ben repeated to himself lowly. He'd never worked for the Corporate Sector before, but it wasn't unusual for independent freighter captains to be hired for short runs out of the sector. Usually it was bulk freight, so the captains of the larger boats were favored.

He blinked and raised his hand to block out the sun, and admired the speeder.

"Hoo," he whistled. "That's gotta cost the better part of my life."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taataani stopped short of entering the gull-winged sedan and spun about to look at Ben.

"Don't jyou everr ssajy a thjing ljike that, everr agajin."

Still keeping a calm veneer and a soft tone to her voice, she was too tired to give any bite to her scold. But it was plain to see that she was hurt at his cavalier comment. The Matron knew at this point Ben's flair for self-deprecation, but she had to believe in the sanctity life, and that it wasn't just another piece of trivium.

Taataani climbed into the sedan's back seat, sliding so that Ben could sit beside her. She looked out the other window, at nothing.

[Ben Merasska]

Ben stopped, taken off guard by Taataani's reaction to his off the cuff statement. He grimaced, both warmed and a bit uncomfortable with how she held him in such high esteem. He was just a pilot. Not even an amazing pilot; he knew he was good, but he'd been flying for most of his life. It was practically obligatory that he develop some sort of finesse in his chosen profession. There were more than a few pilots he knew that could out-fly him any day.

He climbed in after her, and scooted in quickly, sitting next to the woman and placing his hands in his lap. He wanted to apologize, but the words got stuck in his chest and wouldn't rise. Instead, he kept his mouth shut, so at least he wouldn't make things worse. But he couldn't even do that.

"Ah," he said after a few moments. "Do... do you really own all those ships?"

The thought of owning a ship in and of itself made him giddy, much less owning more than one, or having the wealth to buy any ship that caught his fancy.

[Kallum Romanoch]

Slipping into character, Kallum played chauffeur and closed the door after Ben. He rounded the speeder and stopped by the matron's door, noting the languid expression and the far-away look in her eyes. He gave the glass a gentle tap, which snapped her out of the stupor, and she obliged him by rolling down the window. In his hands there was a ornate silver case from which a lengthy stim poked, then, rethinking his strategy, Kallum's hand opened, offering his employer the stim case itself. It was a multi-stim problem.

"Ye're talkin' teh deh Baroness Executeh o' Koensayr-Meorrrei, Cap'n'. Der's little she doesn' own. Yeh'll see! Jus' wai' 'til Life Day!"

Kallum settled into his seat with a faint squeak of leather. He glanced in the mirror to see if his light-hearted waffle was having the desired effect upon the matron. She was already sucking the life out of her first stim. When the keycard was swiped, the engines barely gave a murmur, and the speeder took to the night sky without so much as an opening lurch.

"Yeh 'ungry?" he asked, his fingers hovering expectantly over the onboard comm, "Reckon yeh mus' be sick o' da' 'ospital junk. Deh crew back 'ome can whip yeh up some tip-top scran in no time a' all. Wha' d'yeh reckon, mam?"

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taataani had to fidget in her seat to mask her contented smile from Kallum's view in the rear mirror, but there was some manner of vulgar delight that she derived from his enthusiastic puffery over her empire. Like a court barker for a Hutt in all those kadjic holos. Well...maybe that part wasn't so self-flattering.

It was also probably for the best that the fast-talking rogue sold her starship credentials to Ben. She simply nodded to the Captain's question as she reclined, watching the cityscape fly past her window.

"Captajin, jif therre'ss one jI don't own, jI can prrobabljy arrange next-dajy deljiverrjy. Thejy go frrom pojint A to pojint B. jIn that wajy thejy'rre ljike sshoess."

Her face twisted a bit as she thought it over, turning to Ben in a candid admission.

"Not the besst analogjy? Orr the besst one? jI'd prrobabljy take comforrtable sshoess overr a fasst sshjip."

Kallum chimed in with a food query. She held her middle, still unable to muster any serious desire to eat, but deferred to Ben.

"jIf the Captajin'ss hungrrjy. Wjith all the famjiljy comjing home and everrjyone elsse, jI'm ssurre we'll all be fat and mjisserrable beforre long."

[Ben Merasska]

Ben shook his head.

"I stuffed myself in the hospital," he replied. "If that place had bad food, I want to see what the good food is like when I'm hungry."

He paused, thinking a moment.

"I'm not hungry though," he resumed. "Only thing on my mind is getting into some real clothing."

He blanched.

"No offense or anything," he added. "I'm not saying nothing bad about you, or anything like that. I'm sure appreciative of all of this. That said, this is the worst thing I have ever laid eyes on, much less worn, in my life."

[Kallum Romanoch]

"An' 'ere I thought deh 'yuppie abroad' look was beginnin' teh grow on yeh," he replied, through a thin smile.

The matron's new friend was a strange one, he thought, to have survived what he'd been informed had been a traumatic experience only to be so heavily concerned with his own appearance. A quick glance in the mirror served only to multiply his confusion: Ben had a face that looked like it was made of rubber and a chin that could surely double up as a lethal weapon. No, it couldn't be vanity. He spoke with the ironic defeatism of a man who knew his place in the verse, which was a trait Kallum himself was reluctant, nay, refused, to acquire. It was humour then. Taataani did have good taste in people, real people that is, as opposed to the blustering marionettes she collected in boardrooms.

Gradually, the golden skyscrapers receded, and the swarm of city traffic became a trickle, shimmering like fireflies over a swell of crepuscular forest. Departing the stragglers, the airspeeder start to drift downwards towards the tree canopies, which in turn parted, revealing a large bald patch on the hillside. Although, to call it bald was an injustice. It was a veritable oasis of lushest greenery and considerable acreage, bejewelled with an expansive villa at its heart. Already there were manservants assembling outside to recieve their matron.

"Figured yeh can stay over a' my place tonight. Make yerselves a' 'ome."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

The Meorrrei matriarch could see the familiar expanse of her Kuurr'alli district villa. It was the closest thing to a slice of honest privacy that one could afford on Carshoulis Prime, and relied upon when that illusion of privacy was most cherished, such as times like this. She didn't dwell on the fact that she hadn't instructed Kallum of the destination. He'd had the resourcefulness to make the arrangements with the family to take care of all that. That kind of attentiveness was certainly job security. Even his current braggadocio she humored.

"That jiss kjind of jyou, Kallum."

The speeder descended like a feather on the breeze, touching down without protest on the cobblestone tarmac in front of the villa. Rows of conical Tuura trees flanked colorful flower beds, with a commanding view of a fountain nearby. Towards the villa, she could already see Ruulathaai, her most-senior husband, standing attentively with Kieran, one of her human consorts. Beyond her two mates, she saw Aleeha and Rai'faani, two of her daughters, standing in the shade of the villa's immense porch.

The matron closed her eyes, and said nothing for nearly a minute. She needed to draw on her reserves.

When she was ready, she didn't wait for Kallum to open the door. She took care of the drudgery herself, expecting her human companions to follow. Ruulathaai was the first to embrace her, as was his right, and she held fast to her mate as if he was keeping her from washing away in a maelstrom. Words in Cizeri were whispered between the two as they held fast, and she was passed on to Kieran.

Other husbands too emerged from the villa, as did other daughters and other sons, and other relatives of note. What was once a trickle became a flood, as the true tidal wave of the Meorrrei family fell upon them. Waiting in line to pay condolances were Rai'faani and Aleeha, who settled for passing their time with Taataani's human handler.

"Kallum-arr, jit'ss been too long."

Rai'faani nodded to the Nar Shaddaan in greeting while her older sister only offered the same cryptic smile he'd been afforded on Corellia. Her eyes settled on the man to his side, and her left ear flicked.

"And anotherr frrjiend? Motherr sseemss to collect jyou, no? Come have tea wjith uss. That'ss now prroperr, jI thjink. Gjive motherr tjime to collect herr ssjympathjiess."

Already, a throng of manservants and other relatives had descended on the tarmac, determined to deliver in the order of importance their heart-felt respects. Even the act of laying a loved one to rest carried with it a demanding level of pomp for a Rrou'fai.

[Ben Merasska]

Ben stayed quiet for a moment, somewhat shocked at all the people thronging his new boss, before turning to the girls standing before him and nodding distractedly.

"I'd figure friends are a good thing to collect," he murmured. Being a man of few close friends and thousands of acquaintances - almost like a politician, he thought with a little wince of distaste - such a large group put him off.

"So, uh, how many children does the mater familias have, anyway?" he asked quietly as even more piled out of the house and formed a messy, almost liquid procession to Meorrrei.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"Therre arre fjifteen of uss."

Aleeha spoke to Ben as the four detatched themselves from the rest of the group and headed to the villa's west entrance along a manicured walkway lined by topiaries and goldfish ponds. The elder of the two Meorrrei sisters carried a bit of noticeable girth at her middle, signs of a pregnancy a few months in progress.

"Motherr rrajissed a trradjitjional famjiljy becausse sshe could afforrd to."

She could see Ben's expression and understood the human's mind must be boggling.

"jI'm havjing mjy fjirrsst, and jI can't tell jif sshe'ss amazjing orr jinssane. Sshe ssurrroundss herrsself wjith people to love and to be loved bjy. Sstjill..."

Aleeha looked back at the throng, the skew of her ears betraying mixed feelings.

"...sshe'ss neverr had to face losss. Not ljike thjiss."

They were losing ground to Rai'faani and Kallum, and Aleeha took Ben's hand and picked up the pace a bit.

"Forrgjive me, jI'll jusst talk all dajy. We haven't even been jintrroduced, and mjy ljittle ssjissterr'ss neverr been long on mannerrss."

Rai'faani's tail snapped at that comment, but she otherwise didn't look back, instead keeping close with Kallum.

"jI'm Aleeha, and mjy jyoungerr ssjissterr, Rai'faani. Arre jyou the Captajin?"

[Kallum Romanoch]

"She's no' all dere when she looks a' yeh, y'know? S'pose da' could be deh drugs, dough. An' we sorta snuck ourra deh 'ospital wirrou' consul'n' any doctors or any'n' so I dunno if she should be surrounded by people or if we should jus' leave 'er alone... 'e always knew wha' teh do, didn' 'e? Maybe we shouldn' be leavin' 'er righ' now, maybe..."

Kallum's waffle trailed off into silence. He considered his shoes, his impeccable shoes on the impeccable floor, while he regathered his thoughts. Remembering himself, and his company and surroundings, he unpocketed his hands and offered Rai'faani a smile to which he couldn't quite commit.

"I' 'as been too long, Rai'faani," he said, recalling their first encounter with an absent stroking of the throat, "Yeh arright? Wha' wi'... dis an' all?"

[Ben Merasska]

"Ain't a captain," Ben answered before thinking, allowing himself to be dragged along by the pregnant Cizerack.

"At least, not yet," he amended when they'd caught up. "My name's Ben."

He lapsed back into silence, letting the others talk, soaking in the feeling of family that pervaded the place. He felt odd, like he was looking at everything from long ago and far away. Even though many of the things in the compound were hideously expensive and looked it at a glance, the place had a vibrant, earthy feeling of life; not the stale, museum like quality that many very wealthy homes sported.

Ben felt like he was intruding, a stranger in a place he didn't belong. He blinked, and brought himself down from that familiar meandering line of thought and focused instead on the conversation that had carried on without him.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

The younger Meorrrei daughter's gaze was locked in the direction they had come from, Kallum's words wedged firmly in her brain as she considered the warning signs; the hairline cracks in the unmoveable edifice that was Taataani Meorrrei's will and strength of resolve. Usually quick with a barb or a smart remark, Rai'faani said nothing.

Aleeha looked at her, also without a reply, but mainly to make sure her younger sister didn't let the silence overwhelm them. They both knew Taurrifar was Rai'faani's father, and exactly how far into the quick this loss cut her. She hadn't eaten in two days, and spent that time pushing herself to put everything just right in preparation for mourning.

Rai'faani pushed her glasses up a bit on her nose, turning to face Kallum at last. She nodded, steeling herself in some manner of stoic tunnel vision.

"Mjy motherr doessn't rrajisse weak daughterrss. jI'm fjine."

Unnerved at being put on the defensive by mother's unofficial handler, the younger Meorrrei once again led them on towards the tea room. Kallum had once been this offensive little thing to her, but now he was dangerous. Not overtly, but because he was close and familiar, and at the same time not at all. What he might see, on the outside looking in, might tear down her menagerie.

The two Cizerack women and their two human male guests made their way to the lounging couches of the tea room. The appropriate number of couches had been laid out in advance, and arrangements for tea were already prepared. Rai'faani tirelessly made sure the men found their proper places to recline, after they had removed their shoes of course. Once that was done, she helped her pregnant sister to her own seat, and then saw to herself last.

"jYou've come a long wajy ssjince that Correlljian orrphanage, Kallum. Motherr long-ssjince djisscarrded that ssjilljy aljiass of jyourrss afterr sshe fjigurred sshe wouldn't have to flajy jyourr hjide."

A conciliatory smile. She was trying to be friendly, or at least together enough to play the right social games.

"Sshe jiss sstjill cojy about exactljy what jyou do forr herr, parrtljy becausse jI thjink sshe deljightss jin makjing uss thjink sshe jiss jinssane."

Her eyes moved onto Ben.

"And jiss the Captajin anotherr ssuch mjyssterrjy?"

Aleeha corrected for Rai'faani.

"Not-a-Captajin, Rai'fa."

The younger sister flippantly dismissed Ben's modesty.

"Motherr wjill make hjim an Admjirral jif he fljiess jin a sstrrajight ljine and batss hjiss ejyess jusst sso."

A laugh, and a flip of her tail as Kuur'allo, Aleeha's first manservant, attended to everyone's tea, pouring a piping hot, fragrant, and exotic concoction into dainty porcelain for each person. A smell of flower nectar and spice lifted with a subtle kiss to the air around them.

[Kallum Romanoch]

"Don' take i' teh 'eart, Cap'n'. Cizeri women jus' like teh play wi' dere food."

Kallum did not recline in his couch. There was something inherently not right about a man of his particular calibre lounging about on antique furniture sipping aromatic tea. It was like the old brandy in the smoking room cliché, a high-society tradition which was about everything but brandy and smoking, and, similarly, tea was never just tea. Even in the face of such personal loss, the lioness prowled, and the wheedling began. The flattery fell on deaf ears, however, because, it was as Rai'faani confessed, when it came to his work she knew next to nothing. Such a rare crumb of power was to be relished.

"So, 'ow does dis work?" he said, before humouring tradition with a gulp of Kuur'allo's tea, which he discovered to be quite rejuvenating, "Deh funeral, I mean."

[Ben Merasska]

"Don' take i' teh 'eart, Cap'n'. Cizeri women jus' like teh play wi' dere food."

Ben laughed awkwardly before downing some tea quickly, and scalding his tongue in the process. He winced, swallowed, and wondered when he'd be able to taste something again.

Kallum asked about the funeral, which Ben had not thought about; not purposefully, but it had been years since he'd attended a service that was more than just a firming of his face and continuing to fly. Uncle Den was still floating around that asteroid that used to be a part of Alderaan; or at least his body was still floating around that little room.

All his fellow pilots when he'd been a Rebel had services, but it was a rare occurrence to have a body to bury.

Given that these people were adamant on making him the 'Man of the Hour' (or the 'Living Man of the Hour'), he figured there wasn't any way he'd be able to get out of showing up.

He set his tea cup down gently and tried to keep from sticking his tongue out to relieve the burning somewhat.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Aleeha shifted with some discomfort, easing her teacup and saucer back to the table before them.

"The sserrvjice jitsself jiss rratherr brrjief. Lasst blesssjingss frrom a prjiesstesss, crrematjion at mjidnjight, and sscatterrjing of asshess. Beforre that, we all gatherr forr a lasst vjiewjing, tell sstorrjiess, eat, dance, and..."

The pregnant Cizerack flicked her left ear lightly.

"...whateverr the mood brrjingss jyou to. jIt'ss asss much celebrratjion asss jit jiss mourrnjing."

Rai'faani remained silent, looking at the table as she sipped her tea. Aleeha paused a moment to see if her younger sister had anything further to add.

"jI'll ssjing ssomethjing. fatherr would want that."

Seeking anything to break out of somber introspection, Raifaani smiled a bit at Kallum.

"jYou sshould tell that sstorrjy. He told me, when motherr wanted jyou to be prressentable. Gojing to the boutjique, to the ssalon. He wass sso amussed bjy jit all. When thejy brrought out the hot wax, he ssajid jyou fajinted."

[Ben Merasska]

"You sing? He sang too." Ben asked, before grimacing and sitting back. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

For a few moments, there was quiet, the sounds of the wind in the draperies and voices of adults and children carrying through. It was very domestic, despite all the wealth.

Ben frowned as he realized that he liked it here, and felt a bit lonely. Passing it off as a reaction to the circumstances, he ignored it and looked at his empty tea-cup, feeling like he needed to get up and walk around.

[Kallum Romanoch]

"I didn' faint!" Kallum squeaked, and, in an effort to quash the slanderous assault upon his manhood, he turned to Ben, "Deh salon was 'ot an stuffy, an' stunk o' perfume, so i' was dead 'ard teh breath. I stood up after 'avin' me 'ead swilled in a sink an' jus' go' a bi' light on me feet!"

His audience looked unconvinced. It was an unfair fight. Raifanni appeared to be getting some enjoyment from his suffering (a family trait it would seem), although she was less skilled at disguising it than her old man; less skilled, or less inclined. Kallum was no stranger to self-deprecation, for a man in a matriarchal society it was a survival skill. In that regard he was something of a performing monkey, walking a highwire of bravado from which his female overlords nudged him at their whim and for their pleasure. Given the circumstances, it was the least he could do.

"I'll tell deh story," he conceded at last, "Jus' don' expect me teh sing i' - no' even deh afterlife would stop yer father from comin' back teh punish me fer da'!"