Miss Necessity has done a number on Tasha. While there wasn't much that could be done about the oversized canine teeth, the woman did restyle Tasha's mostly-in-the-middle hairstyle to curve over elegantly towards the right. This purposely exposes the Vartan-feathered eye, which has been redone with gold and purple feather-paint to make it look more like an elegant half-mask. Her gown is backless and strapless, consisting of a black semi-rigid bodice connected to a golden dress. Tasha was also warned to be careful about lifting her arms over her head.
The rest of the group is no less remarkable. While Rapatia and Riddle wear previous part gowns, Katherine is dressed in a sparkly silver and blue wrap-dress that reveals her midsection.
"Ah, my favorite bar!" Rapatia claims. "How I missed it."
"The one-year ban ended months ago," Riddle points out. "I was back as soon as it expired."
"The one year ban?" Tasha asks as she walks along with the others, trailing at the rear. This is a new experience for her in more ways than one, so she's perfectly happy with letting her more experienced friends take the lead.
There's a good mixed crowd tonight, mostly male. There are people in hospital uniforms, some of the Titan crews and officials who work in the council building and embassies. "Oh, we were kicked out for brawling," Riddle explains.
"She started it," Rapatia claims, pointing to the human dignitary.
"I can believe it," Katie notes, nudging Tasha with her elbow. "You two have the look of ruffians after all."
Tasha barks a laugh at the answer, then she laughs all the more when she pictures Rapatia and Riddle having at it. Katie's nudge just makes her laugh harder. When she's finally done, she leans towards the model and mock-whispers. "I know. Maybe we should associate with a better crowd of people? I know some Titanians ... "
"I will say that I won too," Riddle claims. Rapatia clacks her beak, and says, "That broken arm didn't slow me down any! I'd have taken you if they hadn't managed to kick us out.."
"You broke Rapatia's arm? Well, I'm impressed," Tasha notes as she begins to warm up to the unfamiliar setting, the banter of her friends making adjusting far easier than if she had come alone. "What was the fight about, anyway?"
"I hope they mellow out a bit once they've started drinking," Katie asides to Tasha.
The bartender-owner makes a pained expression when the group reaches the bar. "Oy, you two.." the old wolf grumbles, and gestures to a blank spot where a bar mirror or a painting would be. "I still ain't seen sign of the painting you two promised. Looks like you're expanding your gang.. although Miss Kaboom is more than welcome here anytime."
"I kind of like them this way," Tasha admits to Katie in a whisper before they reach the bar.
After hearing the man's comment, not to mention his favoritisim, Tasha's brows go up. "This is the problem with walking places with 'Miss Kaboom,' you know," she asides to Rapatia, ""Welcome Miss Kaboom! And whoever that person there is too, we suppose.""
"Heh, just means if any trouble happens, she'll be the one they remember," Rapatia notes with a wink. Then tells Caleb, "Still haven't found a painter! Or decided on the poses.."
"There's only one acceptable pose for a bar painting," Caleb counters, and eyes the two women. "You can't decide who gets to be in front can you?"
"We can put it to a vote," Riddle offers. "But first, how about some of that honey brandy of yours?"
"I'm not used to being forgetable," Tasha admits to no one one in particular. As the only one of her kind, being unremarkable is another new experience for the out-and-about young woman.
The youngest of the four listens for a moment more, then notes, "I paint, but I don't think I'm good enough to do what you want. I do know a paintr though, so maybe I can bring something back the next time I'm ... in the field."
As the brandy is poured into four small glasses (that's how you know the place is classy, because it has tiny shot glasses) Caleb looks at Tasha. "You're the Titan pilot," he notes. "It ain't any painting, see. These two made a mess, and as payment they're supposed to pose nude for a painting to hang over the bar. They're conniving though and will probably always have an excuse for not having it with 'em."
"I do have a photographer and a decent graphics crew," Katie offers to Rapatia and Riddle, who just.. drink.. instead of replying.
"Naked huh?" The not quite red anymore hybrid woman remarks as she glances at Rapatia and Riddle, looking them up and down with a raised brow. "I know those kinds of paintings. As it happens, the man I know is a pervert, so he'd be happy to do them, but he's not, um, local." She then turns back to the man and grins, saying, "Not that they've done anything to earn that from me, so you're on your own!" Though I wouldn't mind seeing the results ... "And, you got it, I'm the Titan pilot! Aldara Tasha Argentine. I knew Elamoore when it was back on Sinai, and I was back droving pteras."
"Ah, you got the look of someone from Sinai," Caleb notes. "Had a bunch of Sphynxes show up one day, from.. uh.. Paradys, I think it was. Figgered I'd get to see a Jupani-Sphynx at some point."
"I'm a magical hybrid, acording to the Guild! One of a kind, though if I keep at it I'll be as Vartan as Rapatia!" Tasha notes as she waves her new Vartan hand at her new Vartan half of face. She then turns to the aforementioned woman and asks, "Think I should give up the fur and go Vartan?"
"You're big Captain into Vartan girls then?" Rapatia counters, one eyebrow raised and grinning a bit sinisterly.
As she waits for a reply, which mainly involves waitng for Rapatia to stop hiding in her glass from art related phobias, the Titan pilot examines her own glass. I could never figure out these tiny glasses, she admits to herself as she picks her's up and eyes it, avian style. Why would you want a smaller glass of alcohol? She ponders the mystery until Rapatia answers.
Looking up, Tasha replies, "Gabriel? Nooo, he says Vartans smell like something called 'chicken' and the make him hungry, and not in the right way." She then waggles her finger in warning at the older Vartan woman, adding, "You leave my man alone, or we'll be getting kicked." Then she grins before throwing back her shot and downing it in one go.
The reason for the small glasses becomes apparent. Some booze is a lot stronger than beer and beer derivatives. It burns, but tasted really nice for the brief moment it touched Tasha's tongue. Which is another revelation: booze can have flavor.
"You should try to enjoy it a little first," Katie recommends, still sipping at hers.
"Hrrm," goes Tasha as she lowers her shot glass, eyeing it with new interest. "I think you're right, Miss Kaboom." Turning to the bartendr, she sliders her glass towards him. "Help me understand these tiny glasses and alcohol with a flavour, barkeep!"
"It's brandy, which is.. sort of like candy.. since it's usually made from fruit," Caleb explains. "This though is special! Fruit is too valuable to let ferment here on Abaddon, but they've got lots of honey. Making honey into brandy is a process that only I know how to do. Anyone else does it, they get mead, which is.. somewhere between wine and rotgut."
Caleb does refill Tasha's glass again though.
"Well I've never met a drink I didn't like, but I definitely like some of them more than others," says the hybrid. She accepts the drink, takes conservative sip, then smiles. "And I like this a lot more than most, even if it is a bit sweet. It's a lot better than what I was drinking while away, that's for sure." She then turns to Katie and admits, "I challenged a Titanian to a drinking contest, did I tell you? I don't know what it was but I could taste my lungs, and my friend said I was unconcious for three days! Three! My old record was two."
"Why would you.." Katie starts to ask, then blinks. "Never mind, it was a contest. Was there a prize at least?"
Tasha considers that for a moment, head tilted and muzzle sipping. "There might have been ... But I think the answer melted along with my three days," she answers after a moment, drink lowering. "At least I learned a lot."
"From drinking?" Katie asks.
Tasha grins at the question, answering, "No, about Titanians. I regretted from drinking. But you know, there's only one answer to those regrets." And then the younger woman has another sip of alcohol!
"Caleb, do you serve mixed drinks too?" Katie asks the barkeep.
"Sure do ma'am, even have a special mix-em-up machine and ice," Caleb notes. Katie gets a look in her eye..
"Mixed drinks?" Tasha asks, ears perking. This reminds her to have another drink, which she then does while listening to the answer.
"Could you make a Rainbow Coalition for my friend here then?" Katie asks sweetly.
"Of course! It.. may take some time though. The layers can be tricky.." Caleb cautions.
Tasha pauses in having another sip, eyeing the model with suspicion. "Am I about to lose another couple of days?" She asks Rapatia and Riddle.
"No, but you might lose some nights," Riddle says cryptically.
"You planetbound and your nights and days," teases Tasha, who then shrugs good naturedly. "Whatever your scary drink is, it won't beat me. Well," her head then cocks to the side, "or I won't remember it, so I can't be sure I lost."
Several minutes later, Caleb produces what Tasha first mistakes for a flower vase, except it has a stem like wine glass. At the top, it must be four inches across and at least that deep, filled with six differently colored layers of.. slush? It's the chunkiest and most colorful drink Tasha has every seen. It comes with a straw too. "Here you go, one Rainbow Coalition for the young pilot!" Caleb declares.
"Oh, wow," goes Tasha in a hushed tone of awe as she inspects the drinking masterpiece. Until very recenty, all of her drinks came in only two colors: clear and yellow-brown, and if she was lucky the brown wasn't because the mug needed cleaning. Coming to Abaddon, moving in to the stars ... It has opened up a whole new world, and that world serves drinks.
Exciting drinks.
Reaching out with both hands, Tasha pulls the ... mug? Glass? Pitcher? Flower pot? ... She doesn't know what to call it, but is glad when it slides closer. "You're the best Katie," she insists, looking like she might hug it -- but instead she just takes a sip.
Tasha is familiar with rum. It's cheap and easy to make, and of wildly varying quality. This drink is made with rum, but it's very good rum. And fruity.. and cold. She's never had a drink made with so much ice! It's.. like a dessert. And each layer is a slightly different blend of rum and other alcohols.
"This is widely considered to be the girliest drink in the world," Katie points out. "If you can afford it, sometimes it will have chunks of fruit in it. Or the top layer will be set on fire."
"Why's that? Can this one be set on fire?" Tasha asks, pausing in her merry drinking of the world's girliest drink to ask and then resuming with gusto. Despite the warning, she decides a good drink is a good drink, and she has to admit it appeals to her eyes as well as her palette.
"Well, because it's fancy and colorful and sweet," Katie notes. "Also finicky to make. And any alcoholic drink can be set on fire. It's a an old trick to see if the barkeep is watering them down too much.."
"Alcohol is cheaper than water in these parts," Caleb points out.
"I wish I knew that before, but fire was always a problem back on Sinai," Tasha notes. She pauses to examine her drink again, head planted on her hand, elbow on the counter, then she admits, "I like it." Then she glances at Katie and asks, "So where were you drinking that needed that test, Miss Kaboom?"
"Oh, I've never had to to it myself," Katie notes. "And the first time Mr. Invention served me a dish that was on fire I nearly panicked."
"Fire is good for testing for contamination in meat," Rapatia notes. "Used to always set fire to the meat, and watch for certain colors or sparks. Then cook it."
"He seems like the type to go from calm and collected to causing panic, doesn't he?" The hybrid notes. "I need someone like him."
"I'd be worried if there were another Mr. Invention out there," Katie notes. "Imagine what two of them could do?"
"Ah, I hear about your infamous 'manager', heh," Rapatia notes. "Secret Super Karnor, or maybe spy master.."
"We've all been spies," Riddle points out. "It's the only way to get anything done afterall."
"I don't know, but whatever it was would have more style and probably frown at my choice of clothes," is the girliest drinker in the world's response. She turns to grin at Rapatia, opening her mouth to make a remark about Riddle, only for the woman herself to beat her to it. "Well," she says instead, train of thought momentarily derailed, " ... um, there's that? Um, you know after I had known Katie a while, I thought maybe she was a spy. Now I know you're all spies." The younger woman shakes her head in mock-disapproval.
"Hey, spies are important," Rapatia notes. "Like Riddle say, we get things done. Because higher-ups have to listen to us, while 'official channels' are slow and cumbersome. And of course, we only tell 'em what we want them to act on.."
At the last part, Tasha turns to focus on Rapatia with sudden intensity. She sips at her drink a moment while considering what the older Vartan said, then asks, "You all have experience with that, don't you? I'm still struggling with figuring out what to tell people -- the JEF, PHTO, and the world. How do you do it? On one talon I feel like I'm keeping secrets -- or lying -- to people who are supposed to trust me, but now I also feel like there are things that they may be off not knowing about. That maybe they don't want to know, or, are dangerous or what. You and Riddle were there, Rapatia; You saw how poorly my meeting went, after all."
"You'll learn as you go," Rapatia notes. "We get away with it because the ones who put us in the field trust us to use our judgment. There are different types of spies, after all. The sort that sort of steal secrets... and the sorts that provide intelligence that matters."
"But you have to now which intelligence matters," Riddle chimes in. "That's why it's called intelligence and not information."
"I think I've become the ... um ... 'former' and the 'latter,'" Tasha notes, putting her language course to good use. "I know things now. A lot of things, things maybe the world isn't ready for. I have a lot of information, but not any ... intelligence as you say." The young woman then eyes her fellows, clearly daring them to make a joke about her 'lack of intelligence.'
"Well, because you aren't from any nation of Abaddon," Riddle notes. "How could you know what they'd find useful? You've only got your perspective. But this isn't your first little misstep, either." The woman takes a drink, and notes, "That would have been the introduction of the rest of your 'crew' back in Tartarus."
"Remember that you can always come to one of us and ask if something is worth informing the Council about," Rapatia notes. "We'll explain why or why not they should be told."
"I know," Tasha says, admitting to her fault. "But it seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't want them to have to hide, and ... " Realizing arguing the point won't really accomplish anything, the youngest sighs, then turns to her drink for a long contemplative sip. After a moment of this, she glances back and says, "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Here's the thing, Tasha," Riddle says, holding her empty glass by the rim. "You have to understand that other people have their own problems. Once you grasp that, it becomes easier. 'Is this information going to cause more stress or worry? Is it something that relates to their current problems? Is it anything they can do something about?'. The Council doesn't tell Gabriel about fish-farm population or crop rotation issues, because he can't do anything about that. It would just add to his list of things to worry about. The same goes for the Council. You won't know all the stuff they're dealing with, because it isn't stuff that relates to what you do."
"I suppose that as an explorer, I tend to look for problems rather than settle down and deal with more practical concerns," Tasha conceeds, nodding to the human. "I wasn't always like that, of course. I think maybe I've forgotten regular problems in my drive to keep pushing myself, to keep looking deeper. Not that I'm oblivious, I just ... Somtimes the problem, or the discovery, seems important to the world, or a nation, but to individuals it never ends up being that way." She pauses to have a sip, taking a moment to gather her thoughts and wet her throat, then continues with, "I'll try to follow your advice, though. It may not matter as much in the future, at least, it'll matter less often and 'll have more immediate problems of my own to deal with. That is, um, if things go my way."
"I also suspect you see problems on Abaddon that really aren't problems to those of who live here," Katie comments. "It's a harsh world, and we're all subject to.. well.. natural selection. That's sort of the point though. What would we be if we had it easy?"
"Maybe you'd be me," Tasha answers, giving a sad smile. " She pauses for another drink, then says, "Not that I have it easy, though maybe I do in terms of basic Abaddonian survival. My battles are fought against giants, they're wars of information, and they span ... They span the ages, and the stars. Maybe that's it: I don't live 'here' as much as I used to. Do you remember when we first met, Katie?" The young woman glances to her lover, and asks, "How I was? Scared? I was scared of losing my connection to the world, and it seems like I did anyway. I think, maybe, maybe ... Maybe it's time for me to turn my attention elsewhere, so I'm not heaping problems on this world. Besides, there are things I want to see and do. It's just sad, you know? Sad to see it happen again."
"You gots to follow the path that challenges you," Rapatia says. "Lots of challenges though. Can only work on one thing at a time, after all."
"I have a bit left to do here, at least. And I'll always come back, of course: Abaddon is my home. I'd miss all of you," Tasha confides, ears cating back under the sudden emotion. Or, perhaps under the steady alcohol.
"You have to drink the whole thing you know," Katie says.
"Then you'll be ready for arm-wrestling!" Rapatia claims.
"No way, darts!" Riddle says. "Something at requires actual skill.."
"Singing," Katie suggests.
Tasha blinks, looking between the three women and biting her lip. Slowly, though, a smile creeps back to her face as she lays her head on the counter, watching her friends argue.
"I love you three," the cadet says after a moment, "Thanks for saving me from drinking my way in to a pit."
"That's the beauty of going drinking in a Pit to start with!" Riddle notes.
"I love the Pit too. It's my new home," Tasha notes. She pulls her head back off the counter and resumes her sipping, stopping now and then to talk. "How has the Pit been, anyway? I know the wells are working, but have I missed anything else?"
"That's the big news," Rapatia notes. "Things have been quiet. Everyone gearing up to use the water now that it's available. Canals have been calm since Tesla was blown up."
"There's a new restaurant opening in Expedition City," Katie adds. "PizzaWaffle BrewPub."
"Ahhhh that's good! I was worried I'd miss another attack while I was away. I may need to train someone to handle JEF planetary defense duties once I'm away more. If things go even better, I'll even have a Titan for that pilot," says the intrepid drink explorer. She turns then to Katie and nods, "That sounds like it would be good, kind of a mish-mash? Ever have a fish taco?"
"I've had fish," Katie notes. "What's a taco?"
Tasha grabs a napkin, then folds it in to a U shaped holder. "It's like this," she explains, then she takes a few more napkins and stuffs them in to the first one, so that it holds them. "The taco is the holder piece, which is made from some kind of flat bread that's hardened by cooking in what I think was oil. Then you put shredded fish or meat in to it, and you eat it holding the bread, which they call a shell."
"So.. like a sandwich but more spillable?" Katie asks.
"Had fish pizza," Rapatia says. "And fishnuts."
"The crispy bread makes it better. You can add cheese and other things on the taco to make it better. I liked them a lot," the pinkish hybrid insists. "I also had something called a "hogey.""
"Maybe if you had a small pizza you could make it into a taco?" Riddle suggests.
Tasha nods to this suggestion. "Maybe! They had special shells, but we could probably duplicate them somehow," she explains.
"I'd like to try Bromthen Hog someday," Katie says. "I hear it makes Karnors very happy."
"It made Gabriel and I very happy," the cadet notes. She has a big smile as she sips her drink after.
"Pink meat," Rapatia says with approval, and gestures for another round. For everyone but Tasha, who still has a few more drink layers to get through. The straw is there to keep you from guzzling it (plus.. all that ice would cause brain freeze for sure).
And sip at it she does; Tasha has decided she's going to finish it even if it means waking up with it stuck to her head. "Do any of you know of talented people who might like to work for an intrepid explorer such as myself? Loyal people? Who might like to avoid attention, or, well, see something new? Elsewhere? With skills?"
"You mean spies?" Rapatia asks.
"More like ... would be crew. Of a ship. Soldiers, technicians, talented people who can be trusted and wouldn't mind seeing ... Um, the 'world,'" is Tasha's explaination.
"I'll need to talk to Raehab too," she then adds, in afterthought.
"Yeah, spies," Rapatia says and nods. "Old bug-bird not exactly know loyal types, eh?"
"I thought you had your recruits for your mission to Sinai already?" Riddle asks.
"Hummmm, yah, but he knows other things and I ned to know those. We might be doing ... Um, business now and then. But not for loyal people. Not unless he knows someone who got a bad deal, like he did. He won't cheat me ... Not easily anyway," the youngest notes.
"This isn't for the JEF. This is different ... An extension maybe. Maybe my own thing. It'll be different, 'out there.' The JEF is concerned with 'here' mostly, like you said: Immediate, tangible problems. Practical, but also exploratory. This is um ... It would be different," she continues, moving to Riddle's question.
"Sounds like you don't have anything definite yet then," Riddle notes. "You should focus on your immediate mission, worry about after-stuff.. after."
Tasha nods her head to the advice, but then says, "It's something I need to keep in mind. Keep the lists in mind, sorted. It'll take a lot of my time if it works out, but, I can start looking for people now -- just in case."
"Sorry," the hybrid offers a second later, "I only know how to talk about work these days, don't I?"
"Yes, we should talk of something else," Rapatia notes.
"What then?" Katie asks.
Having nothing also, Tasha then turns to Riddle.
"Tomorrow's-Hope's butt," Riddle suggests.
"Oh, yarr, that a nice subject," Rapatia agrees.
"I like it," is Tasha's answer to the new topic, tail beginning to wag and expression brightening. "He made a pass at me, did I tell you? When we were getting massages."
"Oooo," Riddle goes, and proper her elbows on the bar. "Did you massage it? I'm curious about Silent-Ones hand-to-hand combat styles.."
"I have my Gabriel now, so I have to be good. I only ... uh ... " Now that she's some shade of reddish pink, Tasha's blush is hard to make out. Her averting her eyes and looking suddenly interested in her drink, however, is not. "Um, anyway, ... No. We were doing Titan combat, because I'm a Titan Knight, I think? I'm not sure what my title means ... Um ... He's cute though. If I wasn't with my Gabriel, I'd have, well, you know."
"So.. did he make a pass at you because he likes Karnors?" Katie asks. "Or Vartans?"
"He wondered what it would be like to ... " Tasha's ears cant back, she bites her lips and then has a sip for courage before admitting, " ... make love to, um, a strong woman."
"Because I'm a Titan pilot too," Tasha then mumbles for clarity.
"I didn't think Silent-Ones women were particularly fragile," Rapatia laughs.
"Ah, so you didn't have to beat him in combat or anything?" Riddle asks. "Did he even know your Titan does require the sort of physical effort that Silent-Ones machines do?"
"Scholar-to-Aliens could stop a daikaiju with her frown alone," notes the cadet, who grins a little. She glances at Katie and nods. "I told him. He seemed interested anyway, probably because ... uh ... my will I think. My fighting, that is, my fighting spirit."
"Oooh," Rapatia says. "So he just needs to see us fight.. and go with the winner," she asides to Riddle, with a beaky grin. "Hah, like you could beat me," the smaller human replies.
"Get a Titan too, that would help," Tasha suggests as she turns to grin at the two. "But you'll have to be second 'cause I'm first. Decorated Titan pilot, you know!"
"But you can't take advantage of your position," Katie points out to Tasha, still sipping on her original brandy. "Do you know hand-to-hand combat though? I didn't think you'd gotten that far in your training at the Citadel."
"Pahhhh, I was fighting with my fists before I had a gun or ... swords. I fought at a tavern in every city in ... on ... Sinai. I don't do it here 'cause I'm being good. Tore a Titan apart with my hands too ... well ... Mel's hands." Tasha tilts her head a moment, thinking, then says, "Some training at the Citadel too, um, Vartan QCB and hand-to-hand."
"Ah, so no match yet for a trained soldier," Katie notes and winks.
"Next time I sit and watch you go fight daikaiju and gods, show me how a real soldier does it -- maybe with dancing and pretty hair and announcements Miss Kaboom," Tasha tells the illustrious Katie, who then attempts to steal the starlet's drink.
Katie deftly switches her drink to other hand before Tasha can snatch it. "You need to be able to fight and defend without any weapons you know," she claims.
"I couldn' afford weapons before, what did you think I used? My tail and whip?" Inquires the hybrid, who is at the 25% remaining mark. "Whip is no good for fighting, good for pain though. But mostly, my fists."
"You kids are cute," Rapatia notes. "But remember: age and treachery always beat youth and pride in the end. And I have both!"
"We can't all be as old as you, certainly," Riddle digs.
"I in my prime," Rapatia hisses.
"She patted my butt, so I can vouch for treachery," Tasha insists, turning to eye the older Vartan woman. "Yah Riddle can only be almost old, and Katie almost older ... less. But I am an explorer and that include archaeology and plaen ... palne .... palentology."
"You've been digging up old ruins?" Katie asks Tasha. "Besides these other two, I mean.." she jests.
"Heh, paleontology is just right for figuring out Rappy," Riddle claims.
"You know I like older women ... Uhh, I mean men?" The hybrid's ears go flat, and she quickly turns to take a big, long pull off her drink in the hopes she only imagined she said that in an alcohol induced fog.
At Riddle's jab, though, Tasha suddenly snorts a giggle around her straw, having to wipe her chin a moment later.
"We settle this now," Rapatia says, standing up and turning to face the room. "Hey! Who you rather see naked up behind the bar; real woman like me, or skinny little thing like Riddle?" Not one to back down from a challenge, Riddle also faces the rooms and wiggles a bit.
"We want the one that looks like Katie Kaboom," someone calls out, and there's much laughter.
"Better drink faster, just in case," Katie whispers to Tasha.
Tasha's ears shoot up at the sudden display, then the redirect airmed past her to Katie. "Hok-" Turning to eye the starlet, Tasha begins to nod, but then frowns. "Hey! Why not me?"
"You want these people to decide if they want to see you hanging naked over the bar?" Katie asks.
There are more comments and suggestions, including a few for 'both of you, kissing' thrown out by the braver souls.
"Uhhhhh," goes Tasha, who upon remembering that she needs to drink faster promptly removes the straw and sets it in the counter. She thinks for a moment longer, then admits, "Nooo, probably not. Had enough of that. Just hate losing." And to prove it, she grabs her drink and throws it back to finish it quick.
Caleb is starting to get very frowny, as there are suggestions for the pair to go up on the stage and audition. Older, regular patrons are being very quiet and trying not to draw either of the women's attention on themselves.
"This is going to be fun!" Tasha asides to Riddle, a slow grin sliding to her face as she turns around to watch, listen, and dab mixed drink off her muzzle.
Everything has a bit of a rainbow aura to Tasha now. Possibly another source for the drink's name. It looks like Riddle is about to dare Rapatia to go up on stage, when someone interrupts in a mechanical voice: "This is obviously a matter for an artist to decide." Standing near the door is.. Tomorrow's-Hope, along with another of the pilots, Stone-Breaker. The former looks very amused, while the latter appears a bit frightened.
"Hey it's Tomorrow's-Butt and Stoney!" Tasha calls as she gives the two men a big wave. "Come sit with us! Age and treachery are competing!"
The two Silent-Ones approach the bar, and Tomorrow's-Hope seems to stare at Tasha's 'fangs'.. and then reaches out to rub her lips with his thumb! Of course, he's just wiping away the coloring from her having drank the colorful slush directly.
"They are going to fight?" the speaking glove asks. "I have heard of their legendary battle here." Tomorrow's-Hope turns to size up the two rivals.
"No fighting!" Caleb barks.
"Mmmphhmmph!" Goes tTasha, who looks bewildered by the sudden attention, eyes widen and ears askew. Her brain, on vacation in rainbow-land, is no help, so reflex -- who is not very good with social situation -- panics and does what comes first: She bites Tomorrow's-Hope's thumb.
Thankfully, she doesn't bite very hard at least.
The felinoid lets out a chirp at the bite, which is about the only vocalization his kind is known for.
Tasha jumps at the noise, then blinks down at the thumb in her mouth before letting it go. "Sorry," she mumbles, then she pats the seat beside her. "Are the old ladies fighting yet?"
In reply, the 'old ladies' appear on either side of the Titan pilot. "You can help us settle this," Riddle says to him. "Let us use your gym," Rapatia adds. "You have combat area, yeah?"
Tomorrow's-Hope gives Tasha a 'there is no way to answer this without trouble' look.
"Hey you could have asked me, I'm an official pilot-one," Tasha notes, meanwhile her hand snakes to recover Rapatia's abandoned drink.
Stone-Breaker looks intrigued. After all, Silent-Ones women aren't allowed to train for combat, much less do battle with one another.
"Will you referee, Winged-Gift?" the pilot's glove asks after a suitable amount of shorthand gesturing.
Of course, then the attention turns towards her and Tasha is left wide-eyed and ears up again. "Uh, yes? They break it they uh ... Fix it?" Despite her surprise, she still reaches for the drink. "It'll be fun! If Collar-to-Aliens complains I'll jus' try to hug her again."
Tomorrow's-Hope grins. "I think we have a match then, ladies," he sign-says.
"Up we go!" Tasha declares as sh hops off of her seat, wobbling a little after touchdown. "This way!" Then she thumbs towards the exit as she marches torwards it.
"Oh." Tasha then barks, pausing. She turns around and walks back to the counter, throws back Riddle and Rapatia's remaining drinks, takes Katie's hand, then she heads out.
The trek from Caleb's Cantina to the Embassy did little to sober up Rapatia or Riddle (who may not have been drunk in the first place when challenging one another) but it did help Tasha's head clear a bit, especially as Tomorrow's-Hope explained her duties as referee. These primarily dealt with keeping the opponents from 'clenching' or otherwise immobilizing one another, stopping them getting carried away and trying to kill one another, and calling the fight if it was clear that one of them was in no condition to carry on. The only rule was that whomever was ejected from the ring lost (except for Tasha, who also had to keep fairly close to the action).
The other rules are that there can be no armor or weapons in the ring. The practical application of this becomes apparent when they arrive, and both Rapatia and Riddle begin to strip down (but in all honesty, a Vartan bustier would certainly count as body armor). Katherine becomes the keeper of the clothing. Several late-night cheetahs come over to watch, besides just Tomorrow's-Hope and Stone-Breaker.
"Whhhhhhhhhy is the always so much nakedness in my life," Tasha bemoans to Katherine as she stands beside the ring, head shaking in the kind of overwhelmed stupor of the tipsy and the disbelieving.
"How does this happen?" "At least it's not meee ... " "I think the universe is out to get me." The youngest of the women continues to complain as the two fighters get ready, having sobered enough to realize her mistake, but not enough to know what to do about it.
Finally, Tasha concludes with, "It's not fair," and, "This is your fault," though it's not immediately obvious whether she means Katherine, the fighters, Tomorrow's-Hope, herself or the universe itself.
The contrast between the other two women is striking. Riddle is no taller than Tasha, and a naked human looks so.. vulnerable. She has a lot of faded scars though. Rapatia, somehow, looks even bigger. Broad of hip and shoulder, a head taller and fitted with talons.. the only thing that seems to break the impression of strength is that she's wearing a frilly thong for underwear (whereas Riddle at least has Templar-issue gray panties).
"I'll hold your gown," Katherine offers to Tasha, as a sudden reminder that she has to be up there with others, and ready to enter the fray if needed.
Tasha's expression falls, then falls farther once she realizes Tomorrow's-Hope tricked her. "I'm going to get you," she promises the Silent-One, turning and shaking an unsteady hand at him. "Just you wait ... Heyyy ... " She then turns to Katherine and asks, "Why do I have to do this?"
"Because it's less likely either of them will hit you?" Katherine suggests. "Also, who else here could tackle Rapatia if needed? But really.. you're an honorary Silent-One, and the pilots aren't likely allowed to manhandle women."
"The Archon tricked me!" Tasha declares, suspecting in a half-drunken haze a new conspiracy. "That's why all the kissing!" She fumes a moment, glaring off in to the distance and attepting to melt the Archon's mask at range, to no apparent avail.
"Feeehhh," she mutters a moment later before asking Katherine, "Do I have to? I don' wan-ooo ... "
"Well, if you do have to do something.. will the gown survive?" Katherine asks. "I don't know if it's one of Mr. I's combat cocktail dresses or not.."
"Can't I jus' punch them or something?" Tasha offers, ears perking a little at the idea.
"Up to you!" Katherine notes. "Just remember that you have to wear that gown home from here, so you'd better take care of it."
Riddle and Rapatia are up on the raised platform now and flexing to 'loosen' up (or just mesmerize the cheetahs). They're both well preserved for their ages, certainly, and Riddle almost certainly has the flexibility edge over the larger (but slightly older) Rapatia.
Katherine gets a particularly sullen look before Tasha just shrugs and climbs in to the ring, gown and all. "If you break my gown I'm goin'noo get Mel and step on your home," she warns as she walks up to the contestants. Then she pauses and calls back to Katherine, having suddenly realized something, "Is this what being mature is?" She waves exageratedly at the two older women.
"It's what letting loose and having some fun as a reward for being mature the rest of the time is, I think," Katherine says, giving Tasha a thumb's up. "Go ahead and get them started! Oh.. and you should probably mention the prize for winning or something."
"Oh," goes Tasha, whose ears do a kind of drunken dance as her expression shifts between comprehension and confusion. Having heard what she wanted to, she then turns towards the two contestants and says, "Hokay! You heard rules, so you break them and you lose annnd ... We make fun of you. Or something? Um ... " The younger woman scratches her head a moment, then perks and nods as her memory pays attention. "Oh. Prize ... Winner gets uh ... " She looks around a moment, having not actually thought about prizes, then spots the sneaky Titan pilot and points at Tomorrow's-Hope. "Him."
The pilot stands up straighter, and even his ears stand at attention. He also points to himself in a 'who, me?' gesture.
"Yah, sounds good," Rapatia says, and cracks her knuckles. Riddle winks at the Silent-One, and blows him a kiss.
"Yah you! See if you trick me again!" Tasha remarks, shaking her hand at the pilot all over again. "No one beats Titanian Tasha! In! Uhhh ... What we're doing!"
The only female pilot of the group then rounds on the contestants, then snap-points at them and roars, "Fight!"
"Hah, this will be.. oof," Rapatia says, just as a bare, furless foot launches past Tasha and strikes the Vartan in the stomach. Rapatia may have the wind knocked out of her, but she doesn't double over and instead manages to grab onto Riddle's leg..
Tasha jumps back -- nearly two seconds too late. "Hey watch it!" She notes, despite having been in no real harm. Realizing her not-danger, she scoots farther away for not-safety.
Scooting back helps, since Tasha then doesn't have as far to duck as Riddle goes sailing overheard, swung around by Rapatia! Before can fling the human out of the ring, though, Smith manages to fold in, twist, and grab onto to the Vartan's wings.
Tasha watches with building interestest. Though at first uncertain about what she had gotten herself in to, watching her seniors use their considerable talent for troucing others on each other is the kind of interesting spectacle the young Vartan would hoot and holler for only a year ago.
But she's matured now -- so she just grins stupidly and watches with interest. Wobbily interest.
The Silent-Ones gathered to watch.. are silent of course. They cheer with their gestures. Katherine just says, "Be careful, Tasha, I think she's going to.." and then somehow Riddle is rolling across Rapatia's back with her leg free. Even through the haze of the Girliest Drink in the World, Tasha can pick out nuances in the fighting. Since she's always been a 'petite' Vartan, Tasha has never had to really worry about her footing. It becomes clear that Rapatia can't use her wide hooves and strong legs to fight with - she needs to keep them firmly planted for stability. Riddle's technique is more about applying and redirecting force, and her primate physique lets her balance easily on one foot.. or even on her hands, as she drops down onto them and kicks upwards to catch Rapatia's cheek with her heel.
"Don' make me regret bein' Vartan!" Tasha barks, which might test her sense of fairness as a judge, if she remembered what that was at the moment. Still, she does appreciate the lesson, even if she doesn't realize she might not remember any of it tomorrow. Or anything else that's happening, for that matter.
"Hah!" Rapatia responds, and manages to get hold of Riddle's leg again while the woman is upside down. Instead of swinging, she just jerks upward and then down to bonk the human's head against the floor of the ring.
"Ow," goes Tasha, who rubs her head in sympathy pain -- a sympathy made all the worse by how her head is already under The Girliest Siege in the World. "Don' make me regret bein' Karnor!" She offers to Riddle 'helpfully.'
"Watch the edge, Tasha, you're getting close to it," Katherine points out. She must be the only one still watching Tasha.
"Wha?" Goes Tasha after she's done being 'supportive,' who turns around and bends over to look behind her. It's a more literal edge than she usually walks.
Riddle bends at the waist to reach up and grab onto Rapatia's arm as it holds onto her leg. "Monkey, monkey monkey," Rapatia teases. "You get banana as consolation pri-" And then Riddle has jerked the Vartan's arm back using all her weight. "Was this the arm I broke last time?" the human finally says.
Meanwhile, Tasha makes an apparent show of scooting away from the edge she had been peering at; In actuality, it just took her that long to process the move. Turning, she is just in time to watch the move, and then to wince and rub at her own arm -- the wrong one. "Ow," she repeats. "Doesn't that hurt?!" Then she remember something and adds, "But not as much as your face melting don' give up and be weeeeaaaaaak!"
Rapatia squawks and has to turn to keep her arm from being twisted to far, and this leads to one hoof slipping and the two women both hitting the floor and rolling around. Tomorrow's-Hope makes desperate gestures at Tasha now to 'break up the clench' between the two.
Tasha gets gestured at, so she gestures back which includes smiling and waving for several seconds until the meaning sinks in. "Oh, yah ... " She goesm turning to the two older women, walking over to them and then nudging the pile with her hoof.
"NO CLENCHING!" The halfbreed yells at the two a second later.
Two hands reach up from the pile, one taloned and one manicured, and grab onto Tasha's gown as if their owners were both determined to use the hybrid as a means of climbing back up! There is a very loud (to Tasha) ripping sound as a result.
"Wha-noo!" Tasha steps back reflexively, then looks down on her now half-dressed self and her eyes widen, then something other than her gown snaps. "I SAID NO BREAK GOWN! WINNER IS- DIIIIIIIIEEE!!"
And then it's chaos, with Tasha leaping on to the pile and trying to simultaneously punch both Rapatia and Riddle, swinging away with both hands!
This goes on for longer than it really should, before the watching pilots finally decide to get involved and try to pry them all apart. This does not go that well.. but at least Tasha manages to emerge with a mini-dress if not a cocktail gown.. and lots of kicking! The Silent-One trying to manage her is having a hard time of it, both because of the wings and other thrashing limbs. Tomorrow's-Hope has to use his translator glove at maximum volume to announce: "Tie! Tie! Both Win! Stop Fighting!"
"HA MINE," Tasha declares, stumbling up but not quite able to manage it between the being kicked and the Silent-One grabbing on to her. The latter annoys her greatly, far more than the former, so she bends at the shoulder and tries to hurl the pilot over her shoulder and out the ring!
This tactic actually works, sending the cheetah over Tasha's shoulder to land upside-down against the wall. This also causes his mask to slip, making him hard to identify at first.. but he does look familiar.
"I WIN!" Is Tasha's victory cry, having suddenly decided the rules apply to her somehow. "Best pilot! EAT IT ... uh ... you?" The woman pauses to peer, wincing when she's kicked in the shin again.
With a bit more focus, it looks like Tasha has thrown Archon Strength-of-Stones out of the ring and into a very undignified looking landing, from which he is slowly falling over to one side from.
"Uh ... well ... yah! Not so strength of uh ... stones ... now! Like big stone on ... uh, grou-" Perhaps to the relief of all, Tasha's drunken insult is curbed by her getting kicked in the gut, which causes her to stagger a step away before she turns around and pile-kicks again. With that done, she indigantly walks away, glaring at her target, then scoops up the Archon's mask and declares, "I'm the Archon now!"
Katherine has her head in her hands, but eventually looks up to suggest to Tasha, "You should help him up. I think you've just won him or something." The other pile is sorted out quickly, once Tomorrow's-Hope's announcement gets through. Riddle and Rapatia get to their feet, looking none-the-worse for wear.. and then high-five (or five-and-four) each other, as if this was their plan all along.
Tasha does help the Archon up, once the nstructions sink in anyway. Since she needs her hands -- not because she can't haul him up with one but because she has decided she needs both using drunken logic -- she has to put the mask somewhere. Being a mask, drunken logical logically suggestes she wear it, which she does. "So, mine now?" Archon Winged-Gift inquires, smiling at the man as if she hadn't just hurled-robbed him.
"Sure," the Archon signs a bit shakily. "Have to fight Feather-Tail though. She is very tough."
There's still commotion behind Tasha, but it seems to be fading into the distance. Apparently Rapatia has Tomorrow's-Hope over her shoulder while Riddle clears the way before them.
"Huh ... Well hokay," the 'new' Archon remarks, though she doesn't look about to run off and do it, or for that matter, punch anyone else. Remembering she has two prizes, she peers at the mini-dress she just remembered was there, then shrugs and steps in to it, wiggling until she gets it to fit.
The torn off fabric is nowhere to be seen, and the ragged edge sort of gives Tasha a cave-woman look, despite the rest of the gown being quite elegant. Katherine is at Tasha's side then, checking her over. "Did you get hurt?" she asks.
"Pfffft nooo," Tasha insists, wiggling a bit more until the torn gown settles in. She then turns to smile at Katherine, stolen mask at all. "They lucky they not have to fight me and ... " The younger woman pauses to look around, then cocks her head to the side, setting her new mask askew, " ... run away?"
"I think they were working together," Katherine says. "I would not play cards with them." She finally seems to notice the mask, and read it - which causes her eyes to go wide as she turns to look at the 'officially' naked cheetah trying to finger-brush his fur back into place.
"Old and sneaky," mutters the hybrid, who turns to stare at the door with a certain revenge-filled look in her eyes. "I get them later." Then she realizes something and asks, "Will we be that some day?"
"Well.. hopefully," Katherine says. "They certainly seem to have fun.. and get away with it, somehow."
Tasha considers this for a moment, then simply decides it's: "Scary." That matter solved, she turns to smile at Katie and declare, "I love you Kaaaatie," and to Strength-of-Stone, "Hi there!"
The cheetah smiles at Tasha, and taps at his eyes to request his mask back.
"Hunh?" Is Tasha response. Making a guess of it, she taps his head.
The Archon then just reaches up and retrieves the mask from Tasha's face.
"Hey I won that," sulks the hybrid, but she doesn't make any attempt to steal it back.
"I came in late," the Archon claims. "Would you like some tea? Your breath is powerful tonight."
Tasha thinks about this for several seconds, and comes up with, "Iunno ..," before looking down and adjusting her sudden miniskirt.
"I will take that as a yes," the Archon signs, and pats Tasha on the butt. "Plus, Miss Kaboom has your companions' clothing. I do not think they can leave without them."
"Tea might be nice," Katherine agrees.
"Mmm, they're tricky," Tasha notes with sudden insight, then she looks up, around, and back to the Archon. "Is this the gym?"
"Yes," the Archon confirms. "Where did you think you where?"
Tasha considers that for a moment, then shrugs as she realizes, "the gym," is the right answer and she isn't sure why she asked in the first place. So instead, she asks, "How'd you come?"
"I was told two naked women were fighting over a pilot," the Archon notes, and wiggles his ears. "Why would I not come?"
"Huhhh, that' makes sense," Tasha notes, head bobbing. "So tea ... Have anything to drink?"
"Yes, tea," the Archon notes. "You have already had something stronger I think."
"My fault.. I thought Tasha could handle it better," Katherine admits.
"Nooo," Tasha insists, but she follows after the Archon anyway. "Hey I drink good! You cheated somehow ... Or ... Am I bad?" At this, the younger woman's ears wilt. "I used to be good!"
Tasha is given the biggest chair, as if there is worry she will fall over otherwise. Since Feather-Tail is apparently asleep, the Archon works to prepare the tea. "I understand you will be visiting Sinai again soon," he signs.
With some time to sober a bit more, Tasha is more coherent if a bit sleepy looking. She sits half-curled in the chair, legs pulled up and head resting against the side, which makes her look very comfortable indeed. "I can't believe I got drunk," she mutters, hearing the question but finding the matter of drunkeness more important at the moment. "Druuunk. I used to be good at it! Um, drinking! I could drink anyone under the table ... And now I lost to Bumper and a drink with rainbows. What happened to me?" It's about now she decides she better answers and so says, "Oh ... Yah that. Got-ta go yell at a god! Maybe kill him, him kill me ... ehhh ... Why can't I drink anymore?"
"You've been through a lot of changes, Tasha," Katherine reminds her. "You were fed intravenously for a long time. And there wasn't any alcohol during that time."
The Archon returns with some very strong smelling tea. "Warrior Tea," he signs, before offering cups to the ladies.
"Stupid god broke my drinking," Tasha grumbles. "Religion, my face, my robot, my hand, my drinking. Next god probably break my wings and color ... hair? ... wait ... " Her face scunches up as she realizes those are broken too. It's all too much for her, so she just declares, "I better get a spaceship!" before accepting the tea and throwing it back.
It is incredibly bitter, like an herbal version of Mateh, but without the 'stick to your ribs' aspect of the beverage. It is also surprisingly sobering, and a reminder that Tasha hasn't had any actual food yet tonight.
"Some day, I wish to visit Xenea and meet with the Queen," the Archon signs while sipping his own tea. Katherine has a polite sip as well, and manages not to show any adverse reaction to the taste.
"Uugh," goes Tasha, who leans back and peers at the tea a moment. It helps clear her head, though, so she leans forward and risks it again. After a bit of this, she settlesin to regular, polite sipping. "So yah anyway, go to Sinai, go meet angel, talk to angel, maybe get angel leave ... Maybe get fight. Titanians ask, and no one else cares except me and Jay-Eee-Eff, so I do it. Gabe says no one cares because it long time ago, but pahhhh ... Maybe my fault though, forget about colonization. Stupid! makes me feel like fossil though ... Old fossil from a yesterday I never was." She then looks up and asks, "The Queen ah? She's nice, even if I lectured her! You should see her, she'd like you. Xenea is nice too. Jungle, warm, humid. Comfortable, and hot."
"I may not want to leave in that case," the Archon says. "I have been to the Garden in Star City. Such environments feel very natural to be in. Did you feel any such things on your recent excursion with the dreaded star-wolves?"
Katherine perks her ears. There just hasn't been a chance for her to really 'debrief' Tasha on her space adventure.
"Feel natural to be in..?" Tasha tilts her head, thinking longer and harder than she otherwise might, but it's still a topic she would have dwelt upon sober. "Yah," she concludes after a long moment. "With, um ... With the Titanians."
"But are they not fierce brutes with savage desires?" the Archon asks, sounding a bit like the cover of a cheap romance novel.
"Yah, s'why I like them," Tasha answers, focusing on the Archon and looking a little clearer for it. "They don't judge really, they don't mind me, they just do and live. But they're more than that, they have a lot of pride. Pride in doing things themselves, with their two hands. Their ships look like junk, but that's a lie -- they're made and powered by their own knowledge and ability. Titanians understand, Khattans automate. Even Terrans do it, but Titanians rely on themselfs ... uh .. themselves. And they don't care, they do what they do. They're different. Different from society here, I mean, and from Rephidim. It's uh ... Hard to explain. I felt welcome. Could have learned a lot. I liked the life they lead. I just um, I couldn't leave everything behind and I don't always agree with their ways." She tilts her head a moment, then says, "Nooo, maybe I was scared that I like them. Not all of them, but, um, some. It's not ... It's not com-pat-ih-ble with Cadet Tasha."
"Ah, the Going Native Dilemma," the Archon signs, while sipping some more of his tea. "It is more common than one thinks. When being thrown into a new environment, the lifestyle of the natives who are adapted to it seems very alluring. It is easier than trying to adapt your own social mores to a new place."
"Iunno," goes Tasha, sounding unconvinced. "S'not like I have social, um, moors from here. I jus' tried to copy Nora, to be Abaddon's 'new savior,' to try to change so everyone liked me," and here she rolls her eyes, " ... and then I realized how dumb that was. I thought we wanted to return to the stars, but Gabe reminded me most of the JEF were colonists. So I don't know anymore. I'm jus' fighting old battles, digging up old gods no one remembers or cares about except me -- and the Titanians. Abaddon doesn't really need me, not me and my old gods and old machines and old dreams of the stars. It's nice as a home, but even Gabe isn't that interested in what I'm doing. So I think to meself ... uh ... myself, what about the stars ... "
"'Course," Tasha continues after a moment, head tilting the other way, " ... going native s'what I did here, isn't it? You think this is me?" She waves a hand at herself. "Nooo, it is not."
"Are you under the control of a parasitic alien then?" Strength-of-Stones asks, ears wiggling. "Sometimes it is best to let yourself be, instead of trying to find what you wish to be."
"I had my brain mash together with an old dead woman's memories, but Remy doesn't think the damage was too severe. You think I learned Sign? And writing? Nooo, I got them from Nora," Tasha points out, then she shakes her head. "I was a drover, then I found a space ship, then I was here and then the stars. I don't know who I am anymore, I can't even drink well. I thought I changed, but it all fell away. So am I who I wanted to be, or who I was before? Or the wanting to change? The seeking?"
"Almost all knowledge comes from the memories of others," the Archon claims. "Whether passed down in sign, song or voice, recorded and read in books, or by more direct means as you have experienced - it is all the same. Knowledge does not change you. How you use it does."
"Hokay, so ... " Tasha waggles her mostly empty cup at the Archon, " ... so say I have this ship. I want ship, but the ship won't be around when uh ... I'm on it. So I won't be here. But my duty is here, and that's what the JEF is. But I want to be there ... So do I take ship and be happy but guilty or stay here and be sad but loyal? Or um ... I love Gabriel, but there was this um ... this person. So I love her- im too. But I wanted to be loyal ... Now loyal to both? Can't have both ... doesn't work inside, so ... guilt ... Feelings or beliefs?"
"The answer is not in yourself, but in others," the Archon signs. "Who do you care about? What place do their feelings have in your decision? I wish to travel and explore, but I am an Archon. I have specific duties and responsibilities." He then gestures to the decorations and art in the room, all of it Savanite in origin. "I do not have to give up my dream. I can bring some of it to myself. Experience it through others for now. It is not necessary for all things to happen at the same time, Winged-Gift. Your companions tonight are well respected, influential women. That did not stop them from enjoying themselves tonight, however. There is always a balance to be found, if you truly wish to find it."
"I don' know ... " Goes Tasha, whose ears flatten with uncertainty. "I couldn' do this," and then she gestures to the room, "it jus' feels wrong. I think maybe I'm a terrible person ... I think I should stay ... I think I should go ... And I jus' end up feeling bad about both. I didn't have this problem before! I though' bein' re-spec-tible would help, bu' it just disppeared once I got tired and couldn't crusade anymore." She throws back her tea again, then shifts in her seat until she's a bit more comfortable.
"'M tird of the question. With the Titanians, I could stop asking for a while. There were places to see and things to do. An' tha' was enough. maybe that was the lesson, huh? Jus' do, an' see. I'm better at doing," the hybrid concludes.
"So what is the problem, exactly?" the Archon signs. "Are you so certain that your desires are all mutually exclusive?"
"I know ... it's justice an' right un' wrong. One thing tells me this an' one thing that, an' if I fail I have to deal with that and it won't leave me alone. 'M tired of feeling guilty ... Because I feel like I deserve it. But I want more, so if I get more I feel worse, if don't do the thing tha' makes me feel guilty I also feel bad. Or mistakes which I do because I'm weak, and now I just feel it all hang over my head like a big axe. I can't live up to whatever it wants! It doesn't work out.: Tasha then heaves a sigh, sliding to rest deep in to the chair. "I don't know, see? I don't know. I can't even put it in to words."
"You think too much for a doer," Strength-of-Stones claims. "You worry about how you appear to others, it seems. But appearance is just that, appearance. It is not as important as results. You do, because it must be done. It does not matter if others do not see it as necessary or vital. It must be done. Everything else is distraction that feeds your insecurity. Do what you feel must be done, and let the rest sort itself out. Nobody remembers the small mistakes or failures. You only think that they do, that they judge you, but do you do so to others? Do you remember the trips or mistakes or gaffs and hold them against them?"
Hummm, goes Tasha, who considers the Archon's words at length. Eventually she nods, then scootches up a bit so she can resume sipping. "I guess so," she conceeds after her first sip, "Remy says I get 'broody' when I'm alone, so ... Yah. Uhm, anyway, ... So doing ... Doing ... Ever hear of Neith?"
"A goddess of the Pre-Contact era," the Archon signs. "Eventually to become an angel of the Star."
"I've heard of Progenitor Neith as creator of the Silent-Ones," Tasha notes, head tilting and left ear getting amushed as she snuggles in to the side of her seat. "But you call her a angel. Does it say how that happened? What is the Star?"
"The Star is the source of all life, the creator of the universe," the Archon signs, looking a bit surprised by the question. "Neith is unique among the old deities. This clear from her name, which is also the root-sign for war, the hunt, and wisdom. Her symbol was a pair of crossed arrows upon a shield. This can still be seen in some depictions of the Star, which can have arrowheads on the ends of the rays, or appear upon a shield."
"I won'er what happened?" Tasha murmurs aloud, muzzle wrinkling as she considers the question. "Neith ... and then ... that Star. But they overlap in old picto-graphy, so maybe cnfused? But why ..? The Star and Neith sound very different, and I know enough about Progenitor legends and myths to think they weren't universe-spanning forces o' light. So .. so why ... " Her head shakes, then she waggles her cup at the Archon again and says, "My friends say I should ask for advice, so now I'm asking. Or asking then telling. See, um, I'm chasing the Progenitors. But things like this ... um ... I should keep to myself right?"
"The Silent-Ones are hunters, and some factions of our religion are more aggressive than others," the Archon notes. "I know of Neith, because I am a scholar. I imagine even fewer would be familiar with the myths of the Progenitors, since it was a relatively new thing at the time of the Expedition. Popular with conspiracy fetishists, or those seeking to bind the different civilizations to a shared origin - often with an agenda of peace. Today? On this world, the Progenitors are only thought of as something to do with the Kampfengruppe.. and thus easily dismissed."
"Hummm ... well, I believe in them, yah? At least, enough to pursue them ... It's what I've really been doing. But I believe in it, so it's not my doubt. But it scares me some times. I'm still goin' to do it though," the younger of the two women notes, waggling her free hand in what she thinks must be a determined way. "So I look for more information. I'm trying to understand them, I um, I have leads ... But I shouldn't talk about them. I want to, but I shouldn't. I was stronger when my search began, though. I wonder what the angel will say ..?"
"Know anyting about Ahriman, Horus, Eve and Adam?" Tasha asks next, head tilting again. "Origin Markers? What Neith wanted? Have you ever read the Book of Ascending in to Light?"
"None of those, save Eve and Adam, are familiar to me," the Archon signs, looking apologetic. "My education in foreign religion is only cursory.. and generally involves focusing on their flaws."
"S'okay," Tasha says with a smile, waggling her cup again. "The flaws are maybe the most impor'ant part! So, Adam an' Eve? Oh: Ahriman is talked about sa relating to them, uh, a snake-god. Some sources say he wanted Eve."
"That signs familiar," the Archon notes. "The Serpent. Ahriman was the Adversary in ancient Terran lore. This came up once in a legend of Neith. It was said that her wisdom was so great, she was called upon to negotiate a dispute between Horus and Seth. Horus may be the Archon of the Vartans, I believe. It is possible that Seth is another name for Ahriman."
"They have many names," Tasha agrees, head bobbing. "Not so different from us, mebbe? So wha' happened in these stories?"
"Oh and Horus is probably the Progenitor of Vartans," Tasha confirms in afterthought. "There's a big statue of him on Varta, n' fact."
Strength-of-Stones closes his eyes, as if gathering his thoughts. "I recall the names more than the events," he signs. "Seth was a god of disorder and violence, but held the duty of battling Apep, the serpent of Chaos. I believe the issue with Horus was one between lovers."
"'S nice to know they have as much trouble with them as I do," Tasha says with a grin. "Maybe theirs is the religion I need, af'er all? But tha's besides the poi-t. I haven't heard of any 'Apep,' or 'serpent of chaos.' Ahriman is described as 'evil,' or at least very different from some of the others, li' Adam. Oh. Uhm, you call Horus an 'Archon' an' you call yourselves 'Archons' too, is that the same kind of Archon? Is there a connection?"
"It is an term of authority," the Silent-One notes. "Context is important. It may mean many things."
"Oh fuuuun, more 'many interpretations' part of religion. That is my favorite part along with vague uncertainties an' factless mystery guesswork," Tasha remarks with amused sarcasim as bitter as the tea they drink. She shakes her head, grin lopsided, but then her head shaking slows and her brow furrows. "Uhm wait, when you said 'Horus and Ahriman' and 'between lovers,' you meant between their lovers ..?"
"Horus and Seth were male lovers," Strength-of-Stones clarifies. "And being gods, they were able to produce offspring, such as the bird-headed god of knowledge, Thoth."
"Really?" Goes Tasha, who sits right up and scootches forward. "I hadn't heard that story before? Is there more? What about Thoth?"
"The primary moon of Zion was named Thoth," the Archon explains. "It was destroyed in the construction of the great star gate. There may be books at the Star City Library dealing with old religious tales, but things are a bit mixed, due to contact with the humans and cultural cross-contamination. It makes it difficult to tell for certain the origins of some things."
"A problem I see a lot," Tasha says as she slumps back. She goes for another sip, but sees that she's out, so puts her cup aside. "Was the destruction of the moon intentional or an accident?"
"Intentional," the Archon claims. "A large amount of mass was required."
"Interesting ... Probably not important, but it's interesting. An' it was called Thoth too ... Above the planet of Neith. Neith fought snakes. I'm no' sure what it means. Maybe nothin'," the hybrid woman remarks, then she glances over to see if Katherine is still awake. "I'd like to see Zion," she tells them both, "an' Varta. I hope to, some day. I think maybe ... Maybe I want to resume this path again. I never left, but I hesitated when things became scary. It's, um, how we met Katie. Part of what I was running from; Maybe it's why I've been so uneasy. I was happy, when I was on the road, chasing it. It was only when I hesitated, an' thought maybe the world didn' need me, I started to get lost. Bu' we met, so I can say it wasn't so bad after all?" And she smiles.
Katherine blinks to show she's still awake. "Ah, Tasha.. just remember that you don't have to travel alone," she replies. "What's the point of meeting all these wonderful people if you just leave them behind again?"
"Um, because they don' want to come," Tasha points out, eyes widening and ears going back. "It's um, it's like my mission planning a few days ago. Most people jus' don' care. They live here, they have, um, here problems. Even the Archon barely knows who the Progenitors are ... Why would anyone else wan' to see them with me?" Then the younger woman frowns, muzzle pursing a moment before she adds, "If tha' were possible, anyway. At least they're there when I come back, right? I grew up on an airship, I was always leavin' people behind. You jus' can't take everyone with you ... You have to be the one who comes back. And it's like that. An' for some places, I think I have to walk them alone."
The hybrid stares at her friend and lover for a long moment, and then asks, "Do you want to come with me, Katie ..?"
"Real adventure? Who wouldn't?" Katherine notes, and then sighs. "Maybe if I could manage vacation time.."
Tasha snorts at that, then waggles her hand towards Katie. "Real adventure makes you quit your job. If I 'ad stayed in mine, I wouldn' be here. Do you wan' to be Katie Kaboom forever, or Katherine Vesuvius, space adventurer."
"Because if I succeed, I'm goin' to have a starship," the half-faced, half-sober hybrid tempts Katherine. "No' jus' a spaceship, a interplanetary vehicle, a starship. Inter-ga-lactic!"
"And what would you do with it?" Katie asks with a grin.
"Chase the Prognitors, put my nose where it doesn' belong, smuggle, explore, trade, an' see the universe! But it'd be my ship! My ship Katie!" Tasha claws the air in anticipation, wiggling her fingers and talons as if she could grasp the idea itself. "I've dreamed of a ship! An' this would be ... It would be ... amazing! I was on the Mauler. It was amazing too. The power, the freedom to go anywhere, to see so many new worlds ... When I think about it I can hardly stand it!"
"Eeeeee!" Squeals Tasha whose clawing hands rub together.
"Certainly sounds romantic!" Katie agrees. "Now.. we should probably be thinking of getting home. No telling how long Riddle and Rappy will take.. maybe we should just leave their clothes here." The Karnor then wiggles her eyebrows and suggests, "Or just take them with us.."
"Age and Deception can 'andle themselves, it's what they said isn't it?" Tasha leans over and eyes the clothing pile, then turns and grins widely. "Plus hearing how they came through would be educational. An' as a student, I should take the opportunity, especially since somebody ripped my gown to trick poor Tomorrow's-Hope using me."
Rising, Tasha stretches and then returns her cup to the Archon. "Thanks for the tea and stories, sorry for throwing you an' stealing our mask! It was nice to see you again. Oh: An' if Tomorrow's-Hope wants to declare a Titan dual against me for earlier tell him I accept." She then turns to Katherine and holds her hand out. "Ready?"
"Let's go," Katie says, standing up and taking Tasha's hand. "These extra gowns will mollify Mr. I over yours getting torn, I'm sure!"