EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I shall take us to the point where they get back to Darahil, check on his progress, and make their final decision on which reinforcements to use. I imagine that will be a short scene.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

We could probably start to bring them to the end of their evening.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Throughout Lunise's story, Meesei remained clinging to her, listening intently. She continued her now close-to-inappropriate massage under the surface, but her thoughts were more traditionally romantic. Just as Meesei had hoped, the awkwardness and worry that Lunise had possessed before seemed to have diminished now that they all had a chance to settle in. The night itself had gone wonderfully, as Sabine was speaking with Lunise just as comfortably as with anyone else in the pack. The hints of anxiety and uncertainty that had permeated their meeting after the pack had learned of Lunise could no longer be felt. Meesei was starting to believe her own encouraging words on Lunise's chance of being considered part of her family.

There was a part of Meesei that wished Lunise could be more completely a part of her family. Not necessarily by being a lycan herself, but at least by living among them. However, Meesei knew that was simply a dream. For their plans going into the future, Lunise had far too important of a role using her position within the Thalmor, and besides that, Meesei did not think that she would want to give up her life so completely. Still, it was a thought that Meesei quite enjoyed having.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, it is not so much of a story. Do not worry, I am just joking with her." Meesei responded to Karl, deciding to be merciful to Sabine.

With a smirk, Meesei's massage continued down Lunise's back, then beyond. Though, her expression returned to normal quickly as she finally decided to shift the conversation away from Sabine. "I wish I could tell some of my beautiful Lunise's tales, in the interest of fairness. Sadly, you have me at something of a disadvantage compared to Sabine. I did not know you during your awkward, formative years, so all of your embarrassing tales are locked securely in your mind. I do not have any magic to root through your memories; although, now that I am thinking about it, that could be a useful rumor to spread among the enemy."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a hint of bashfulness in Meesei's reaction, however short-lived, as it was quickly replaced with her usual confidence in her reply. "Well, I did not claim to be an...expert on the habits of city-dwellers."

Focusing back on Sabine, Meesei still had her sly grin. "But that cannot be the best you have to offer, can it? I also happen to recall a time when we were on a ship; you were young, and starting to find yourself curious about some things. You were maturing, and started asking me some questions about some changes your body was going through. Perfectly normal questions, nothing to be ashamed about at all. Except...you were asking them within arm's length of a few of the crewmen. One woman loudly exclaimed her relief when you had finished your questions, if I remember. It can be easy to forget that non-lycans tend not to be nearly as comfortable with their bodies as us."

"I have plenty of ways to turn your face that cute shade of red, Sabine. Perhaps I should shift the topic to grandchildren..." Meesei added, interrupting herself with a laugh.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei let out a rare, high-pitched sound of surprise when Lunise lifted her up onto her lap, though she did not allow the subject to linger upon it. Lunise's lie seemed to be well-thought-out, but then again, Meesei expected nothing less from a professional. It answered Karl's question sufficiently while limiting the chance of follow-up questions.

Meesei's grin towards Sabine may have been somewhat frightening to her, depending upon what stories she feared that she might share. She kept her eyes on Sabine to observe her expression as she answered. "Oh, there are quite a few of those stories as well. The biggest question is which one I should share? I do recall an incident shortly after Sabine found her first boyfriend..." She chuckled, letting the words linger in the air for a few moments before continuing. "But I believe I have shared that story before, at least with Lunise."

With the hand that was not currently rubbing Lunise's lower back, Meesei placed a claw on her own chin. "Hmm, there is one story I can recall, before my pack was complete. Before we found Fendros and Kaleeth. It was not too long after we found Sabine; she was a timid girl back then, as you can probably understand with what she just explained. It was her first time going into a city, or a town, rather, with us, so I was trying to keep a close eye on her. To give some context, Sabine was raised among a coven and, correct me if I am wrong on any of this Sabine, but they greatly valued personal responsibility, so to speak. The idea of personal property did indeed exist among them, but most of what they had was allotted to the members and shared. Theft was heavily punished, but it was only considered theft if they took something that was placed properly among a person's belongings. So, if someone just left something laying around, then anyone could use it. If they left it laying around and did not intend to, then it was simply their loss. So, you can imagine my surprise when I turned my back on her for a few moments, only to have her grab a piece of fruit off of a merchant's table, take a bite, and walk away with it. I am assuming he was having a bad day already, because he did not even attempt to force us to pay. He simply called the guards on us immediately. That was also the first day that my pack was chased out of a town by guards, though not for our lycanthropy, fortunately."

Meesei was expecting that Sabine would not doubt retaliate with a story of her own, but she was looking forward to it. If nothing else, Sabine might share a story that Meesei had told her of her own years as a hatchling.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's mood hardly diminished. Most of the more unpleasant parts of their past were old, well-healed wounds, and they had plenty more interesting or amusing tales to tell. "Oh, we have enough stories to fill months' worth of nights like these. We have had our share of pain, but our years together have been nothing short of an adventure."

"If you ever get the chance, and since you are with Sabine, I am sure you will, I highly encourage you to travel, Karl." Meesei advised. "There is nothing quite like experiencing the world. If one is locked only into one place, seeing only what is around the limited scope of their home, then they will miss out on so much. The world is immense, and there is a great deal of knowledge to gain that cannot be found in just one place. I can hardly even imagine what my life would be like had I never left Black Marsh. What I would be like. Traveling can cure one of a great deal of misinformation as well. Had I stayed in my village, there is so much I would not have learned. I would not have known that Dunmer are not all violent savages obsessed with enslaving the innocent, and one of my closest friends would not be a Dunmer. Had I not traveled the Dominion extensively, I would not have learned that the people there can be just as...warm and beautiful as anywhere in the Empire."

With her last statement, Meesei leaned more closely onto Lunise and rested her head against her shoulder, which was as just the perfect level for her due to the height difference between them. At the same time, she continued to massage Lunise's skin, this time on her thigh. In the distance, the group may have been able to hear a sound telling of a rare sight: the faint roar of a dragon, off in the direction of the Throat of the World. Dragon attacks had dropped off sharply in the years since the dragon crisis, but they could still be spotted in the skies from time to time. Many of the more violent dragons had been killed off over the years, so most of those that remained usually just ended up flying on overhead without incident. Meesei had certainly been in Skyrim long enough to know not to be worried about it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"It is rare for lycans to choose to remain within large cities, particularly with a child. It presents challenges that we do not normally face. Your parents must have been talented teachers in order to instruct you to maintain your control in such a challenging environment. I have been to the Wayrest clan before, but not the city of Wayrest. It is one of High Rock's greatest kingdoms, and a true rival to Daggerfall, if I remember correctly." Meesei replied

Underneath the water, Meesei started to massage Lunise's back and abdomen, though she continued on the conversation as normal. "I myself was not hatched a lycan. I only accepted the gift of beast blood after I started to serve Hircine. I was raised in my village to replace my father as Treeminder. It is a role that you might think of as a shaman within my old village. It came with the responsibility of leadership, of caring for the Hist trees and performing important rituals, and of course, significant magical knowledge. It was difficult for me to leave my village, but I knew my replacement was a competent and devoted man, and my true calling was elsewhere. It may not be as interesting as some of the rumors about my upbringing, but it is true. I know that I have heard some of the rumors about Sabine being a dangerous witch raised among a coven of wild women...and they would be right." Meesei said with a grin.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei returned Lunise's embrace enthusiastically. She sat up enough that she could comfortably wrap both her arms and tail around her, then allowed a few moments to just settle in.

Allowing time for Lunise to get comfortable in their bath, both mentally and physically, Meesei continued her conversation with Sabine and Karl. "So, Karl, I have a sense of your work and what you do now, but where are you from? Which clan, I mean? Were you a part of the original Bruma clan, or did you come to Blackreach from elsewhere after we established ourselves there. Our clan's numbers have swelled so much over the years that I simply cannot keep track of everyone, and as I mentioned before, I have not had too much of a chance to speak with Sabine in detail about you."

A grin came across Meesei's face. "And for that matter, how much has Sabine told you about her own past? Has she told you all of the embarrassing stories of her childhood, or shall I have that pleasure?"

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Paradise

Mid-level Hotel

The Mandalorian had parted ways with the rest of the group, which had been something of a relief for Sirka. A part of her had suspected that Elias intended to get Delni drunk so he could sleep with her, but the fact that he suddenly left seemed to dispel that theory. It had been why Sirka had not gone too overboard on the drinking herself, but perhaps he had been more honest than she had given him credit for. Sirka had a distinct buzz at the moment, but Delni had either underestimated the Mandalorian ale, or vastly overestimated her ability to handle it, as evidenced by the fact that Sirka was currently carrying the highly intoxicated Togruta down the hallway in her arms.

“That droid was just…really something else. Really something else. I mean, who even makes that, right? I mean it even tried drinking with us. Drinking! A droid. Then it started dancing…it’s like it thinks it’s…people!” Delni stammered at least somewhat coherently, but heavily slurred. “Right, sis? Right?” She added, jabbing her thumb into Sirka’s ribs.

“Right, sis.” Sirka responded, if nothing else, to get her to stop poking her.

Delni allowed her head to fall back and started to watch the walls of the hallway pass by upside down, from her perspective. She was silent for the rest of the way to their room, seeming almost mesmerized. Sirka did not notice as they walked along, since she was trying to avoid breaking the silence. Eventually, they reached their room, and Sirka had to disturb Delni’s position to open the door enough to cause her to suddenly lift up her head.

“Heh, it’s like I’m on the…bottom of the world. And…uh…” Delni began. Sirka, upon glancing down at her, noticed that she was looking just a bit green.

“Hey, careful, you don’t want to make yourself si-“ Sirka started, but it was already far too late for warnings. Before Sirka could do anything to stop it, Delni ended up purging the contents of her stomach all over herself, her dress, and Sirka. All Sirka could do was stop, close her eyes, and let out a long sigh.

Over the course of the next few minutes, Sirka struggled to get the largely-unhelpful Delni out of her soiled clothes and into the refresher so she could take a shower. Or at least, she managed to get her to sit down in the shower while the water poured over her. Under the circumstances, it was the best she could hope for out of Delni. Sirka stepped away for just a few minutes to get her clothes into the wash, clean up herself with a wet cloth, and the floor afterwards. Once all of that was done, she returned to the refresher and sat down on the floor next to the shower so that she could supervise Delni and make sure she did not find a way to drown herself in a few centimeters of water. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but Sirka did not give much thought to it as long as she was able to keep track of Delni.

There was silence for a while between them. Delni had protested the cool water at first, but she now seemed relaxed, to an extent. She was sat in the floor of the shower, slumped over slightly. She was making no effort to actually bathe herself, but the water alone was doing a decent enough job. Eventually, she slowly craned her head over to look at Sirka to finally address the thoughts that had been going through her head. “Hey, sis…you think…you ever think ‘bout our parents. I mean, you ever think they’ll get to go home. Not, uh, our home, you know, but, um, theirs. You know, uh, Cora…Corku…”

“Coruscant.” Sirka interrupted. “Yeah, I have. What brought that up?”

Delni leaned her head back, sluggishly closing her eyes once the water started to fall into them. “I don’t know, we’re just all…havin’ a great time out here. Enjoyin’ ourselves. But they always, uh, talked ‘bout how much they enjoyed things back home. They’d really like to go home.”

“That was back during the days of the Republic, before the Empire. That time is long gone.” Sirka replied.

“Yeah, but…there’s a Republic again, right? I’d just…love for ‘em to be happy again, and if there’s a Republic now, uh, don’t you think they could finally go back home?” Delni asked. She was wide-eyed, and the way she was looking at Sirka almost reminded her of a child. Although, her blatant drunkenness quickly diminished that illusion.

Sirka looked straight ahead, staring intently into a wall. “Yeah, I think they’ll get to go home.” She said, though she was not completely sure how much she believed it. She did not follow the news too closely, but the last she heard, Coruscant was in the midst of a civil war, which was hardly the kind of place she wanted to send her parents. It could not last forever, but there was no way to tell what kind of planet it would end up being after the dust settled. Even if the Republic faction prevailed, Coruscant was an expensive place to live. At least, the part that her parents were from was. Sirka would not be able to afford to support both them and herself in a place like that at the moment. Still, all of that was no reason to ruin Delni’s mood.

Her sister just smiled as she stared up at the ceiling. “That’s great! They’ll…love it.”

With a brief groan, Sirka slowly stood herself back up to her feet and extended a hand down towards Delni. “I’m sure they will, but right now, it’s about time to get you dressed, and get you to bed.”

Delni snickered. “Get dressed. Why do I have to…get dressed? I mean, look whose talkin’? You’re always, like, just, walkin’ around everywhere naked. Just like it’s nothin’. Why do I have to wear…things?”

Still laughing, Delni shakily stood herself up to her feet, still in the shower. “Oh, look at me! I’m a giant lizard! I don’t need no…pants!” She mocked.

Worried, Sirka held out her arms wide to try and catch her if she fell. “Careful, Del. It’s wet, you might…”

Delni looked like she attempted to step out of the shower, but with an impressive lack of coordination, she managed to slip and fall in the exact opposite direction as Sirka, landing face-first on the bottom of the shower. She groaned in pain, to which Sirka could only stop, close her eyes, and let out a long sigh.

Over another few minutes, Sirka was able to get Delni dried off and into a nightgown, then laid her down onto her bed. Sirka had managed to get her to drink some water, but she was still somewhat uncooperative. At the very least, she seemed to enjoy finally being able to lay down in a nice, comfortable bed, so Sirka did not expect her to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sirka was sat on the edge of the bed, dabbing a wet washcloth against Delni’s face to wash away the last traces of blood from her split lip. She did not seem to be in pain, which was fortunate. It was frustrating enough to deal with the happy version of her drunk sister, though she made no outward complain in any case. All she cared about at the moment was keeping her comfortable. Sirka had filled up a full glass of water and prepared some headache medicine on a small table next to the bed for when Delni woke up the next “morning.” As well, Sirka had dimmed the lights in the room so that they would not exacerbate her inevitable hangover. Delni was not yet asleep, but she was finally willing to stop and relax.

After another few minutes, the pair received a visitor to their room, which Sirka was naturally the one to deal with. It was one of the ship’s droids, and at first, Sirka wondered if a camera had witnessed her sister vomiting on their floor before she cleaned it up. However, the information that the little floating machine transmitted to her datapad told a different story.

Once more, Sirka sat down on the edge of Delni’s bed, scrolling through the details of the job on her datapad. Normally, Sirka did not immediately accept a job, no matter the pay on offer. She was always careful to allow her sister to do her research on the client and make sure they were someone they would want to work for, who could be trusted to pay on time. However, this was a different story. This job was coming straight from Koren: the very owner of Paradise. Sirka knew exactly who he was, and exactly what kind of an opportunity this would be.

Taking in a long breath, Sirka slid over and placed her hand gently upon Delni’s shoulder. “Hey, sis, good news. I found another job. A great one, in fact.”

Delni smiled up at Sirka. “A job? That’s, uh, that’s great. I need to, uh, check it out or something?”

Sirka lightly shook her head. “No, no, it’s definitely legit. Koren is the employer.”

“Koren…Korrreeen…”

“The owner of Paradise.” Sirka reminded her.

Her sister nodded her head. “Ah, right, right. So…good credits?”

Sirka smiled and patted Delni’s shoulder. “Very good credits. I finished my obligations to my last client, so I’m free to accept. It’s just…well, I’ve got to leave soon. Like, now.”

While she did not quite frown, Delni’s smile did start to fade once she registered in her mind what Sirka was explaining. “Oh. So you’re, uh, going…then?”

Sirka lightly nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I did hope to enjoy Paradise with you for a bit longer, but you know, we’ve got to make a living. I went ahead and ordered room service for you in the morning, and I made sure this room is paid up for a while. If it takes any longer than I’m expecting, I’ll make sure to send you more. Just try to get some rest, okay? I promise I’ll call you as soon as I can.” She did not particularly like leaving her sister alone and drunk, even if it was in the relative safety of their room in Paradise. But more than that, despite how much Sirka had harped on Delni about wasting credits for wanting to come along, she had been looking forward to spending some time with her sister away from Nar Shaddaa. Now, their much-anticipated vacation was being cut short before it could really start.

Delni remained wordless for a while, but eventually, she managed to sit herself up and get her arms around Sirka for a hug. “Love you, sis.”

Sirka wrapped her free arm around Delni to return the hug. “Love you, Del.” She said before finally pulling away so she could stand back up to her feet. “Enjoy your vacation, sis, you deserve it.”

---

Paradise

Staff Hangers

After leaving her room, Sirka had made her way to her assigned meeting place as quickly as she could. She was still a bit buzzed from drinking, but it would not be noticeable on the outside, and she would be perfectly fine by the time they reached their destination. It seemed that her acceptance of the job was expected, as she was re-united with her weapons and other equipment that she had parted with on check-in as soon as she was in the hanger. She supposed there would be no delays before they could get moving, she supposed.

Now fully-equipped, complete with all of her bandoliers, harnesses, and the rather conspicuous heavy repeater on her back, Sirka approached the vessel at which she had been instructed to meet. As she neared, she saw a Marialan man, who she assumed to be the courier she was meant to be guarding. Compared to him, she was a towering presence who loomed over him once she was in front of him.
“You, uh…Boqo?” Sirka asked, glancing down at her datapad to double-check the name as she spoke. “Name’s Sirka. I’m here to guard you.”