EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha responded in a low whisper, perhaps even quieter than necessary. Even though her parents' room was all the way down the hall, she spoke as if they were standing right outside the door. "I know, I know, but you don't know them like I do Fendros. They're very devout followers of the Eight. Unless something has changed, they're in the temple every Sundas, and hardly associate with anyone who isn't. And, by how they spoke earlier, I don't think anything is different from before. We are the result of a Daedra's influence; there is no way they would see us as anything but monsters. Abominations. They would probably want to have me caged up until they could find a 'cure,' or some nonsense. They wouldn't be able to do that, but you get the point. They would disown me for sure, and at that point, I would rather they just think I'm dead."

Admittedly, Ahnasha was making a lot of guesses as to how her family would react. But, at the very least, she had little reason to believe that they would accept her. "Look, we can do this, I know we can. They don't have to know. Let's just...write down what we've said so far, to keep the story straight. Once we're back in Bruma, we can just exchange letters, and they won't have to know."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'll probably be getting to bed soon. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Shevari smiled. "Oh, it is no trouble. I always enjoy cooking for family." She answered. Ahnasha too found herself quite satisfied, as it had been quite a while since she had eaten a well-made Khajiit meal, or had anything to drink but nordic mead, for that matter. Although, she suspected she would have plenty of opportunities for that once they were in Elsweyr. At any rate, she was quick to thank Shevari as well.

As Vasiq volunteered to handle their plates and cutlery, Ahnasha's parents finally stood up from their seats. As much as they wanted to spend yet more time with their daughter, they had been eating by candlelight for a while now. Ahnasha's arrival had delayed their dinner, so it was well-after dark by this point. It was about time for all of them to retire for the night. Shevari was the first to decide it was time to take her leave.

"It has been nice meeting you all, but I should get home now. I've already been out later than usual. Have a good night." She said, which was followed by farewells from everyone else.

S'nashi glanced over to the window and let out a sigh at the darkness outside their home. "I suppose it is time for all of us to get to bed. You can all use Vasiq's old room for the night. He now lives in what is soon to be his restaurant. The room may not be cleaned up at the moment, but we never took out the bed."

"Thank you, mother." Ahnasha responded. She walked up to her mother and gave her a hug, followed by her father. "Have a good night. I promise I will try to stay as long as I can tomorrow."

Eventually, everyone retired to their rooms for the night. Vasiq's old room was down the hall from her parents', and as her mother had said, it had not been cleaned in a while. The bed was disorderly, and there were a few small crates that indicated it would probably end up becoming a storage room over time. Nevertheless, it was more than they could have asked for on such short notice, and certainly more comfortable than their accommodations back on the ship. Ahnasha took a seat on the bed and breathed out a sigh of relief. Overall, the day could have gone much worse than it did, though it was obviously not perfect. The lies she had told could cause problems if they were not careful. She had no intention of bringing that topic up herself at the moment, but she had a feeling that Fendros would be.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gwindir shook his head. "My wife is, but I am not. I am from Valenwood, originally. My parents were not the most traditional of Bosmer, and their efforts to raise me into the Green Pact were half-hearted at best. They did raise me under Y'ffre and the rest of the Bosmeri pantheon, but it only took coming to Leyawiin for me to see the light of the Divines. We've both been traders most of our lives. It was business that brought us together, and love that has kept us together."

S'nashi chimed in afterwards, her eyes glancing around at the building itself. "This shop was originally my parents'. They passed it on to me about ten years before they passed, and I ran it alone for a short time before we married. I had intended to pass it on to my children originally, but, well, my husband will still be able to run it even when our grandchildren have grown old. I have decided to leave it in his hands."

The conversation continued back and forth for a short while before the last of the dishes Shevari was cooking finally finished. One by one, she brought out plates with a wide variety of foods. For Ahnasha and Rhazii, there were two sweetfish fillets, along with a bowl of Elsweyr fondue and caramel pudding that Ahnahsa could portion out appropriately for him. Both Shevari and Vasiq had a dish that Ahnasha could not quite identify just by looking at it, but she knew she recognized it from Morrowind. Gwindir's meal was simply a steak with sides of carrots and corn, and for both S'nashi and Fendros, there was a Dunmer-styled meal. As Shevari had said, she did not have any ash yams, but the potatoes she brought to them smelled almost identical to one. She did, however, have scrib jelly as a topping, with a side of scrib jerky. For drinks, there were the options of water, red or white wine, or canis root tea.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I am trying to remember if Ahnasha's parents are actually locals of Leyawiin.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, I think could have guessed that." S'nashi commented. "Ahnasha has always been obsessed with hunting, ever since she was allowed to use a bow. Once she finally decided to settle down, it only makes sense that she would find some way to make a living with it."

Gwindir stroked his beard, thinking about their plan. Being a merchant, any and all details of business were familiar to him. "You're going to Senchal? I suppose you could obtain moonstone there, though it might be easier to get a supplier in the Summerset Isles, or Valenwood. It is more heavily mined there."

Ahnasha nodded, having to think quickly to provide an explanation. Luckily, she had learned something from all of her parents' teachings. "True, but like I said before, we have a contact there. One of our friends in the hunting club put us into contact with her, so we can get a good price."

Gwindir returned her nod. "Sensible. At least you have a plan. I...hope it all goes well for you. Just remember that you still have your family if it doesn't. Now Fendros, why don't you tell us more about yourself, just in general? We didn't get to meet our daughter's husband before the marriage, but we can at least get to know you there. From what Ahnasha said, I doubt you ever imagined yourself with a Khajiit."

Vasiq, who had left to gather the ingredients from Shevari's home, did not take long to return, allowing his fiance to start on the meal. There was quite an interesting mix of aromas in the air from the variety of styles in which she was cooking.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was quick to add on to Fendros' answer. She knew that it was true that Rhazii was the result of a drunken night, but she didn't want her parents, of all people, knowing that. She would much rather make it seem more innocent. "Yeah, it did take a bit of alcohol to actually get him talking to me." She said with a lighthearted chuckle. "His parents...aren't the most accepting of people. They're from Morrowind, and are pretty traditional. The bad kind of traditional. I don't like hiding it, but they don't know about us. They would never accept me being Khajiit. Fendros, though, he just needed a bit of encouragement to get to know me. Obviously, he's nothing like his parents in that regard."

Despite the fact that she was admitting to lying, Ahnasha's parents gave no protest to it. They had both experienced bigotry as a result of their relationship, so they could sympathize personally with the desire to keep their "marriage" hidden from Fendros' family, for the reasons she had described. "Well, that's unfortunate." S'nashi commented. "But at least you have a good life without needing them. What kind of shop are you going to be opening?"

Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

Fa-Val-Kul

~| Day 3, 19:55-19:56 GST |~
~|Location: Mos Eisley, Tatooine|~

Vebra’s knocking was answered rather quickly. Although, as soon as the door opened, Fa found herself staring ahead at the torso of a hulking being. As he was pretty much directly in front of her, she had to crane her neck back considerably to actually make eye contact. Off the top of her head, she had no idea what he actually was, if he was even a he. Fa thought she could remember seeing something like him in a spaceport or something, but she had never spoke to one, and certainly had never bothered to look into what they were. Regardless, she guessed, and indeed hoped, that this was one of Lyric’s Jedi. Having someone of that size on their side came with some advantages she could think of pretty readily; some definite disadvantages as well, but they could work around those.

Fa let down her hood so the Jedi could see her face clearly, in case Lyric had given his Jedi any physical descriptions. Of course, someone would have to be exceptionally inattentive to mistake Fa for anyone else; she would not be surprised if she was the only Tiss’shar in this sector. ’Looks like that old master did actually radio ahead’ She thought to herself before she responded. “Yeah, we were ordered here by…well, you know who.” Fa answered, as she did not know who they were in the presence of, literally. She tried to peer around the massive Jedi into the building, but he was wide and close enough that she could not get a good look inside. Honestly, she had a hard time imagining how he managed to get through the doorway in the first place.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For both Gwindir and S'nashi, the sour mood they had been in had not entirely passed, and likely would not for a while. But, since this was perhaps the only chance they would get to be with their daughter, they could make an effort to have a normal dinner.

"Hmm, has Ahnasha not been teaching you about the Khajiit?" S'nashi commented. "Sweets area part of our culture; I would be surprised if he didn't have a sweettooth. Why don't you make him the sweetfish fillet, Shevari?"

"Of course." Shevari answered, nodding affirmatively.

"I think I'll have the same thing, if that's alright." Ahnasha added. Shevari already had the ingredients for what she had intended to make for the others, so she wrote down a few additional ingredients on a sheet of parchment, then handed it off to Vasiq to go collect.

Since there was going to be a wait before dinner, Gwindir decided to ask one of the many questions he had formed. "So, how, and when, did you two meet?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While Shevari's nervousness did not diminish entirely, the fact that the mood was not so entirely severe as it was before did help her to become somewhat more at ease. She clasped her hands together and spoke with some measure of excitement when Fendros asked about their business. "Oh, it is more of a...restaurant, actually. I'm a chef. I've been cooking all my life, ever since I was old enough to use a fire. It's always been my dream to make a living of it."

Vasiq added on to Shevari's answer as he went to grab some necessary ingredients for his fiance. "I'm going to be dealing with the customers and handling more of the business side of things. Shevari will be doing the cooking. We're calling it the Sugar and Sap."

Shevari rubbed the back of her neck. "It's kind of misleading, honestly. We're not going to have either moon sugar or Hist sap, but...I like the name. Anyway, what would you like? I can cook recipes from all over Tamriel. I don't have all of the ingredients here, but it wouldn't be much trouble to run home and get what I need."

"Nonsense, I can go get them." Vasiq interrupted.

Shevari smiled. "Thank you, love. I could make a Khajiit meal, like maybe a sweetfish fillet with caramel pudding and Elsweyr fondue, without moon sugar, of course. Argonian dishes I know very well, of course. I make a really nice hackwing roast, maybe with a side of fishy sticks and venomroot tea. Oh, Dunmer cuisine I also really like, though I don't have too many ingredients from Morrowind. I do know a trick with potatoes and dragon's tongue nectar to emulate the taste of ash yams, though. If you want something from far away, I have been working on my Nordic cooking too. I think I have everything I need for some horker stew, just not enough for everyone. Or, if you want to try something with more of a Redguard flavor..."

As Vasiq passed by Fendros, he chuckled and leaned in to whisper to him. "She can go on like this for quite a while."