Letter of Marque

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Of course. T'yeellaa remembered talking to Rai'faani and Aleeha about a minor row back on Corellia when mother had made the questionable decision to invite Kallum Romanoch to a social engagement. This had been before she'd had time to properly attend to her cunning right hand's housebreaking. He'd gone pink at the notion of Cizeri matrimony customs, insisting that the entire room had gone mad. Speaking of pink, the Commander once more seemed to be that particular hue which served as a precursor to a dangerous comeapart, so the Captain eased down her teacup to prepare.


"jYess, Commanderr. That'ss tjypjical. Marrjied women ussualljy take multjiple hussbandss. jI'd guesss fourr to ssjix jisss ussual."

[Kes Akiena]

"... Four to... six... ?"

His exposure to Cizerack customs, or well, the lack thereof, shone rather brightly now. Even moreso than his misunderstanding of 'tea'.

He blinked again, and gave a final nod as the information sunk in more fully.

"Seems a respectable number."

It seemed his crash course in Cizerack customs was indeed just that.

"And you? How many will you have?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Oh, Goddess.

T'yeellaa pursed her lips, deciding how to answer that. Her best solution was to once again reach for her tea, and raise it to her lips as she mumbled the answer at a volume hopefully inaudible to him. Maybe he'd think he heard something rational.

[Kes Akiena]

Well now. That was a response he'd not expected, and Kes pulled his arms back to clasp his hands at the small of his back. He leaned forward only slightly, intense curiosity on his face.

"Come again?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Shit.

The Captain lowered her teacup, swallowing heavily and no longer disguising the grimace, which was for too many reasons. She could just tell him to mind his own business, but they'd already crossed the threshold into familiar interaction. Still, she broke eye contact, trying to find something interesting in space beyond her window.

"Fjifteen."

Still a mumble, but he probably heard right this time.

[Kes Akiena]

This time he kept his expression level, and rocked back just a small bit to once more stand up straight.

"That's a rather large number."

It was certainly not a number that he'd expected to hear.

"I'm told that just one spouse can be costly. I couldn't imagine fifteen of them."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Well, he had that part exact. A large reason atop a litany of others why she was in no hurry to even consider marriage.

"Mjy motherr jiss worrth a forrtune."

T'yeellaa's tail flicked.

"Sshe'ss alsso jinssane."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes gave a half-quirked grin.

"I've met her; she's a very... unique individual."

He could still remember the whirlwind of a woman that was Taataani Meorrrei, and his first and only meeting with her. It'd been a rather muted yet unexpected time, as he'd finally been given a face to the massive amount of funding that'd been given to refurbish the Novgorod.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

If the dialogue shifted to her mother, it might take hours and feel like therapy, so T'yeellaa simply nodded at the Commander's needlessly-polite appraisal of the elder Meorrrei's eccentricities. But more than that, something puzzled her.

"jYou assked jif mjy fatherrss and jI talked. Do humanss not?"

[Kes Akiena]

"Oh they do. Before my father passed, I talked to him whenever I was able."

He smiled warmly.

"It wasn't often, but I did make sure to send him messages when the opportunity arose."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Ss'ai'rreit'ha.

She wished she could've taken the question back, and knew exactly how it felt to have that bandage on the soul tugged at.

"jI'm ssorrrjy."

A useless thing to say, but you had to say something. Now there was an awkward pause and she didn't want the progress they'd made to end on being forced to dwell on the dead.

"Commanderr, would jyou ljike to go out?"

Barring disaster, they were off duty for the rest of the night. It might do them some good to stroll the concourse, see the sights, maybe get something to eat, and continue to get to know each other.

[Kes Akiena]

"Think nothing of it," he waved away her apology.

"My old man died peacefully in his sleep. Sad to say the passengers in his speeder went out screaming like wild tuskcats."

His smile warmed even further at the thought of possibly getting a small lunch. And a drink.

"And I would love to go out."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Her eyes went wide at the recounting of the elder Akiena's fate, and then her tail tuft suddenly poofed, and snapped out of view in shame at her gullibility. That was a joke. Probably. Before she could keep a suspicious look on him, he warmed up to her suggestion, which put her at ease.

"Grreat."

A few seconds went by as she kept up her smile.

"jI have to get drresssed agajin."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes let out a slight laugh.

"Probably a good idea."

He jerking a thumb at the front door while taking a half-step back.

"I'll wait outside."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Ten minutes later

She wasn't lying about her sense of fashion. The door whooshed open, and T'yeellaa stepped out in utterly bland regalia. Freighter denims tucked into boots that didn't match her belt, a shirt a size too large for her, and a CHF PT cap, her hair pushed through the back of it in a lazy ponytail. No makeup, no nail color, no lipstick.

"Rreadjy?"

[Kes Akiena]

For a moment he stared, not quite certain what to make of her current ensemble. But, he'd seen stranger things, and stepping to the side, Kes nodded at her.

"You're a far cry from the model of military parade dress when we first met," he grinned as they started down the corridor, heading away from the officer's block.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Her ears swiveled a bit and she gave a glib expression.

"jI'm off dutjy and jI'm comforrtable. At leasst jI have a brra on."

Foot traffic here was light. A few people in uniform passed, and it felt good to not have to be shaken down for the salute-and-dismiss rigamarole.

[Kes Akiena]

Stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his trousers, Kes laughed.

"And I thank you for that."

The few people they passed only gave acknowledging nods, which the redhead and his Cizerack partner returned in kind. It was a deceptively peaceful walk, and he let himself imagine that Jovan was over the final hurdle of coming back into operation. It was a fallacy he knew, since he was sure that their reprieve wouldn't last, and they'd be once more thrust into the next emergency. Hopefully the station would wait until tomorrow for that, though. He supposed that it could be worse however, and that Captain Wygraant could show his dour face again.

The two stopped in front of a pair of lift doors, and Kes reached forward to push the call button.

"Where are we going on this walk-about, then?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The lift was prompt (and actually functioning), so T'yeellaa breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped inside.

"jI have no jidea. The concourrsse sseemss to be packed, sso jI fjigurre we can fjind ssomethjing of jinterresst."

Honestly, she'd steered clear of the entire area as much as she could for this first week. It was a zoo. The chaos of merchants scrambling to lease shop space or a kiosk, combined with the crush of cargo inbound. Decor, wares, and everything in between. Unless she specifically had to respond to an issue the security detail couldn't sort out procedurally, she'd focused her energies on the Command Deck and the docking spires.

Their inertia was slowing, and a second later, the lift doors parted, revealing a crush of people moving in every direction across the wide concourse expanse. The din of a dozen languages filled the Captain's ears as she dove into the scrum. To every side of them, signs flashed and glowed in every shade of neon, with Aurrebesh script, Cizeri glyphs, and a few other unrecognizable scrawlings. It was an assault to the senses, including olfactory. Perfume, spice, the particular alien aromas of cooking food, the musty smell of livestock, the sweet backnote of blood, and...and...

"Commanderr!"

T'yeellaa pulled Kes sharply to the right, just in time to help him avoid a very fresh accident on the floor.

[Kes Akiena]

Not quite expecting T'yeellaa's sudden grab, Kes was pulled swiftly to the side. He nearly lost his balance, and one hand went out to clamp onto the Captain's shoulder in an effort to keep him on his feet. This was not exactly what he'd had in mind, but the passing sight of what he'd very nearly stepped in was enough to bring him jarringly into the present. Livestock on his station was not something he'd imagined.

He turned a level gaze to T'yeellaa, his hand gripping her shoulder for a moment longer before he released her.

"Why is there livestock on my station?"