The Dark Horse, in its Khattan Yacht disguise, sets down in the deep-water harbor of Halea island, where there is a Khattan run resort along with plenty of beaches and coves that can be rented. There are no ground vehicles in the town and resort, but plenty of walking paths and canals. The harbor next to the spaceport swarms with archaic sailing craft from around Known Space. The sky and water have a nearly turquoise color to them.
Tasha steps in to the sun as if she hadn't seen it for years. She stretches under the light, hands at first behind her head then reaching up towards that life giving warmth. Ever since their victory she's been in a good mood. Now that she's reached their vacation resort without aliens, gods, artifacts or some other doom intervening, she's feeling even better. When the wind blows, she exhales.
"Ahhhhhhhh~" It feels good. While spacecraft can be many things, places of wind, rain, and sun they generally are not, a distinct downside Tasha has learned to both live with and look forward to ending. It's rather different from her previous time on ship, where the sun, wind, and rain were more of a nusance, but she's come to realize absence really does make the heart grow fonder. "I miss the wind."
"Hey, this world actually smells like a world," Aaron agrees, while the other join Tasha on the dock. Gabriel in particular spots the nearby sailboats. Having used the lower cargo hatch, Kaa and Moka launch up into the air and splash back down next to the pier, splashing anyone that's too close to the edge.
"Open biosphere," Jonas says. "Haven't been in a real one in.. six years or so." Katie and Hakeber both stretch under the sunlight, and even Shojo seems to be in a good mood. Lacci blinks a lot as well, since she's never been on a world quite like this. Vartans aren't general big on oceans.
"I've prepared a budget," Liza tells Tasha, holding out a datapad. "We will likely need local clothing. Shelter is optional on this world, since the nights are almost as warm as the days."
Tasha doesn't even mind being drenched. She might otherwise, a part of her changing personality she'd wonder at if she wasn't far more interested in not wondering about any problem what-so-ever for the next few days. Her expression remains pleasantly contented as she turns around and faces the crew on the dock. "Speaking of open, you are officially on shore leave. While I expect you to remain in communication for all the usual reasons, you're otherwise free to do as you please." She then turns to Liza and nods to her, resisting the urge to pat her on the head affectionately. "As Liza says, we now have a recreation budget. You'll recieve your pay, of course, but if there's anything beyond that you'd like to do, well, we have a recreation budget."
Yue is the last to exit the ship, and notes, "How much does it cost to rent a private cove? We've got crew that needs privacy after all." She then holds her hands out, palm down, and makes scurrying motions with her fingers.
Samael remains quiet, but has a habit of staring directly up at the sun.
Tasha turns back to Liza. "Can we afford a private cove? While I'm sure we'll interest and amuse the locals, it'd be nice to not be gawked at for at least a little while. We can always go socialize later, if we feel like it."
It takes Liza a few minutes to connect to the island's network and access the leasing agents. It isn't particularly difficult, but the Lapi is still getting used to such things. "There's one on the far side of the island, at the edge of the jungle. It's got lots of.. shellfish? Includes fishing permits. Nobody near it, too shallow for boats but not for Phins. It isn't very popular, for some reason.. well, not much beach I suppose. And rocky. But it's only about 20% of our total budget for ten days. We have to provide our own transport, but Kaa and Moka can just lead the Jotoki there underwater I think."
"I guess we can't park the ship nearby?" Tasha rolls her shoulders, still feeling a bit tense even after days of exquisitely boring travel. Their latest adventures left a mark, in more ways than one. "Well, whatever you think is best. We should probably make getting something better to wear a priority. I know you all love you uniforms, but we don't want to get them dirty do we?" She smiles like the sun overhead, hair plastered to her face from the drenching.
Liza holds up the tablet so Tasha can see an ad for the latest island fashions - thongs for men and thongs with ruffles for women. Also waterproof pouches-on-straps for those who don't want to bother with the thongs. "They seem averse to shirts, but there are a lot of waist-accessory options. 'Sarongs' they're called. And there are.. bouquets of flowers that you can wear around your neck."
"Wearable snacks?" Aaron asks.
"New Calafia is known for having a very relaxed attitude towards clothing.. and pretty much everything else," Yue notes.
"So we'll stand out if we aren't.. mostly exposed?" Lacci asks with a squeak.
"I'm up for it," Katie says with a big grin. But she does tend to enjoy teasing people.
"With the Lapi around to draw attention from us, it may not matter," Jonas observes.
It won't be the first time Tsha has gone topless, nor during a kind of recreational event, but at least thing time she thinks she'll leave proud of the memory. "Well, I won't make anyone wear what they don't want to; your choice of clothing is your own. I won't even ask you to go along, not today. Not this time." She does, however, shoot Katherine a thumbs up followed by a wink. "Personally, I don't mind. New world, new customs, new excitement."
"As long as they serve drinks I'll wear just a neckerchief," Hakeber claims. Her tail is wagging and she seems in much better spirits now that there aren't any eldritch horrors to deal with (Samael excepted).
"There's a shop at the harbor entrance," Liza says, and points the way. "Our dock fees are paid. Uh.. can we lock the door?" she asks.
"The inner airlock is keyed to just us," Gabriel assures.
Hakeber's neckerchief stirs ideas in Tasha's mind she decides to pursue later, when there's time. It makes her smile all the more. "Oh, I'm sure the ship can eat anyone that tresspasses. Really, we're some of the least dangerous things on board." She gives a big, exagerated shrug. "Well! Off we go then -- or don't go. You don't have to listen to me for ten days! Barring an emergency, anyway."
"I'll take care of the Jotok-k-ki," Moka says. "Kaa is already off to check out the local pods and look for whales."
"Taking a sailboat out to do some whale-watching would be nice," Gabriel suggest to Tasha and the Karnors.
"Five minutes off the ship and he's already looking for his next captaincy," Tasha notes with a laugh. "Me, I think I'm going to lay on the beach with a cocktail until I get bored, then I'm going to look around. Talk to people, have another drink, that kind of thing."
"Alright.. we'll wait until Kaa reports in so we know where to find them," Gabriel says, and puts an arm around Tasha's shoulders. And the other around Hakeber's. "A beachside bar should get everyone comfortable!"
The Sea Snake Tiki Bar is apparently run by Nagas. At least the bartenders and servers are all of the ophidian variety, although the females do wear leis to distinguish themselves from the men. The structure is open on three sides, and even the roof is something called a lanai, which is just a bunch of evenly placed slats to provide some shade while still exposing the sky. There's a white-sand beach 'porch' leading to the water, and a central pool for dolphins and whoever just wants to be in a pool. The seating consists of loungers, include those for Vartans.
Hakeber has flopped herself into a beach lounger with her very complicated and colorful looking drink, which has fruit and other things in it.. but the glass is very big, which is the important thing. Katie lounges next to her, looking.. well, like a star. Hakeber may be naked, but Katie just seems more naked even though she's wearing a thong and sarong. Gabriel and Shojo are wearing a bit more.. but not much. Their thongs are halfway to being trunks.
Lacci is wearing the most, as she's got a frilled thong and a sarong, but she's used the sarong to wrap her chest with in a criss-cross manner (the only option for someone with wings). The Lapis sit at the edge of the pool, both in thongs. This serves to drive attention to Liza, since she's not covered in scars.
The two humans, Yue and Jonas, have split off to look into a few things for now.
Samael is on the beach staring at the ocean.. or the horizon. He has a bottle of something in his hand, but hasn't drunk from it.
Tasha is currently occupying one of those loungers, having changed clothing in to one of the local fashions that leaves little to the imagination yet does include a cute skirt made to resemble tribal feather-and-bead decor.
The hybrid rests between Katherine and Hakeber, eyes closed, expensive looking drink a quarter of the size of her short friend held in a hand. If Hakeber looks casually happy, and Katherine projects the aura of celebrity, Tasha could be said to radiate a confident power. She has become accustomed to being the ship owner, the big boss, to a degree its seeped in to the way she situates herself. The drinks she orders, the choice of where to sit, and the quiet impetus to flaunt it all. What was once uncomfortable has become instinctve. "This," she indicates with her drink, making a circular motion, "Was a good idea."
Gabriel sits next to the girls, holding a brown bottle in his hand, which takes a swig from. "Ahhh, real beer," he says. "Feels like it's been thousands of years since I had one. Abbadonian and Sinaian brews aren't quite the same."
The only one not drinking alcohol is Shojo, for obvious reasons: any impairment or relaxation of his brain would leave him either a statue or a rag-doll for the duration. Still, he has a big glass with a lot of fruit and slush in it. Lacci hasn't worked up the courage to order anything yet, as she's still looking through the drinks menu. It isn't clear what the Lapi are drinking, but Liza is getting petted a lot by the human clientelle. The rabbits seem to make Celestials uncomfortable though.
"I feel that way about Abaddonian liquor, except in reverse, and now that I've had this I feel that way about both of them." Tasha has discovered the wonders of Galactic space really to put parts of her home world to shame. Sure, Sinai may be as beautiful as a planet may be, and both Abaddon and Sinai have a rustic, backwater charm, but they both lack tends of thousands of years of shared refinement and convience that the Great Black has to offer. Between a choice of one or the other, she thinks more than half the people she knows back home would be here in a heart beat. She opens an eye to offer an apology to Hakeber and Katie, but then spots Lacci being Lacci. "Do you want me to pick you a drink, Lacci?"
"Alright," Lacci accedes. "Everyone has something that looks like candy, but I have no idea what I'd like."
Tasha holds her hand out, accepts the menu, then peruses it for a moment before picking something with a tap of her taloned thumb. The choice is indeedy candy-like, but also very alcoholic, enough to make her take it slowly. It looks like so much layering of pink whipped fruit atop layers of alcohol, red and white, something called a Candystripper. "There you are!" The menu is returned and Tasha resumes being a lump. She looks forward to the results; Lacci really does need to relax, or else she thinks she might snap.
Within minutes, Lacci joins the loungers with her tall drink. She's using a straw to sip it, since Vartan beaks are more for quaffing drinks. "This is pretty good," she tells Tasha, and sits in the sand. "Why's your demon staring at the water, it's creepy."
"He's a who-knows-how-old demon, you should understand where he's coming from. He's probably seen thousands of different worlds across millions of years. He sees things different than we do. And besides, I mena, he's a demon. You weren't expecting him to be jolly and comforting, right?" Tasha shakes ehr head. It'd slipped her mind to ask Samael to assume a form less, well, demonic. Especially given he's a demonic, male version of herself, with both elements raising a great many questions, concerns, and most recently memories for the young woman. "And, well, maybe relaxing is foreign to him."
"He's not the only one," Aaron complains as he and Liza come over to join them. With the loungers taken, he just sits in Hakeber's lap, making the Karnor go 'oof' - the buck is a lot heavier than he looks. Liza sits in Tasha's lap. "There aren't any Silent-Ones on this island. Probably not on the entire planet," Aaron says in a huff.
Gabriel smirks at this, and Lacci asks the obvious question: "So what? I don't think they take vacations."
"There's nobody to run with," the buck says.
Tasha absently wraps an arm around Liza, shifting so that she can lay against her side. She then takes a sip of her drink and nods, slowly. "They've always been a bit uncomfortable with that sort of thing, you know? But I think it's the influence of culture, they're so worried about showing weakness to the rest of the Galaxy. Sometimes I think they make up for their low self-esteem by stubbornly trying to act superior to everything else. I know how that goes."
"Vartans have horse legs," Katie points out. "Can't they run fast?" She then reaches out to poke Tasha in the butt, since she's shifted over a bit.
Tasha's flick and her left leg twitches. "Ow," she deadpans, then she rolls her head to the side and wigglers her ears. "We prefer to fly, not run. Legs are just for when we can't fly."
"They probably do have some stables on the island, if you want to race a real horse," Gabriel suggests.
"You can't bet with a 'real horse'," Aaron says. "Takes half the fun out of it. Hmm.. Liza needs the exercise though," he notes, eyeing the topless bunny in Tasha's care.
"You could just start running on the beach and see who tries to join you," the doe suggests.
"You could rent one of those one person boats and race the Phins, they'd like that," Tasha suggests. For her part, the hybrid woman strokes Liza's head with all due care. It really is very soothing, she decides, no matter how scary Liza can be. As for Aaron running, she quips, "With his luck it will be monsters or women, or women monsters."
"Well.. I suppose a run on the beach will be fine," Aaron agrees, but gives Tasha a look at the suggestion of monster women. "The only monster woman I've dealt with rode a Vykarin. Gah, none of them to race either. I'm going to run down towards the resort. The magic mirror thing says they have a water-park. I'm going to see what that is." He hops off of Hakeber and starts jogging away.
"Be sure to regale us with your discoveries!" tasha calls after Aaron. With the buck gone she rests her head on Liza's, sighing contentedly at it all. She feels she probably ought to do more, but then quickly quashes that mutinous line of thinking. "So, Liza, what other entertainments are there?"
"Well, there is live entertainment in the evenings at the resort," Liza says from memory. "Nightclubs for dancing, something called parasailing that I don't quite understand, a casino, dancing classes and you can swim with the dolphins too. There is a special area for mermaids as well."
"Mermaids like on Ashtoreth?" Gabriel asks.
"Mermaids?" For Tasha, mermaids are an actuality rather than a sailor's tale. The discovery of Ashtoreth's oceanic life quickly turned old takes in to new realities. "I would like to do some dancing, with Katie and Gabriel. Maybe when the sun goes down, before or after the live entertainment. I may swim with the Phins, mmm, tomorrow."
"That is just a term for people that wish to experience intercourse with Neo-Dolphins," Shojo explains. "I looked it up."
"I can dance too.. for a while," Hakeber notes, then glances at Shojo and gets a curious expression on her face.
"They're very open aren't they?" It's part of what tasha likes about Phins, they have all the Vartan straightforwardness without any of the conservative stoicisim. She elbows Hakeber subtly in a 'go for it' gesture of support, then sips her drink again. "I wonder if they have an entire group of personnel dedicated to ... mermaiding." Inwardly, she bets they do. What an interesting job interview that would be.
"Lifeguards and snorkel vendors I'm sure," Gabriel says. "I'm surprised there aren't any.. uh.. red-light districts."
"They may not advertise them," Katie suggests.
"Khattans will sell anything," Lacci says, then looks ashamed. There's a Khattan couple a little further down the beach, but they look like they're asleep in the sunshine.
"Do you really need any with Phins around? They probably think the whole idea is rediculous." Tasha takes another sip, noting her drink is getting low and guaging how drunk she wishes to get on her first day. A bit drunk, she decides. At Lacci's remark, she turns to look at her. "That's no way to speak of your august masters, Lacci, nor your august boss." She grins, however.
"They prefer to rent if they can," Yue says as she comes up to the group over the beach. Jonas is next to her, the two making an odd pair given the height differences. They're both in thongs, along with the ubiquitous strap-pouches. Yue decides to sit in Gabriel's lap after seeing Tasha cuddling Liza. "Have we missed anything? You're down a bunny."
And then something occurs to Tasha, somewhat late and languid between her slight inebriation and her will to relax. "Why, Gabriel, are you looking for a Red Light district? Is there soemthing you're looking for, maybe?" She reaches a leg out and prods him with a hoof, then turns to look up at Yue who she also prods. "Would you like to swap? And oh, Aaron went for a run. He has a lot of pent up energy."
"I've got my own bunny now, so I'm fine," Gabriel remarks, and cuddles Yue with a grin. "I always wanted a pet human."
"Hey, I'm not a bunny," Yue claims, but doesn't object. Gabriel is fluffy after all.
"There's a massage pavilion not far from here," Jonas tells Shojo. "I think you should try it. Your muscle tension is far too high, and it's safe for you to relax there."
"Hmph," goes Tasha, who then resumes hugging and petting her own cuddling partner. After engaging in a brief and sudden cuddle-off with Yue and Gabriel, she glances at Shojo and nods. "Yes, you really should. We'll pay for it, you've been reliable and deserve to relax, too."
Shojo considers, and then nods and leaves with Jonas - apparently the doctor wants to supervise.
"I'm going parasailing, I think," Yue says, not at all concerned about being felt up by a wolf. "For us not-winged types, it's pretty fun. And the Phins always follow underneath."
"They're both dedicated. Even on vacation, Jonas choses to work." Tasha finishes her drink and sets it aside. She'll order another in an hour, she decides. Moderation is important, and there is too much to see and not do for losing herself to drunkness. Besides, she doesn't exactly trust herself with so many half-naked men and women, her relationships can be precarious to balance at the best of times. She lifts a hand and waves Yue off. "Enjoy your Vartan envy, tiny human!"
"It sounds fun," Katie admits. "What's involved?"
"They strap you into a sort of parachute that's also a wing, with a long tether attached to the harness," Yue explains. "Then a robot boat or a Phin pulls you until you're up in the air. The Phins tend to be more playful about it, so you end up going high or getting your toes wet."
"Enjoy your Vartan envy, amazing girlfriend." Goes Tasha, who couches her teasing by hugging Liza to her in adorable fashion, heads together, lashes fluttering. "I'll be here if you need me, unless I decide to wander."
So Yue abandons Gabriel's lap and leaves with Katie, who waves back and blows a kiss. The cornea-camera film they've got will at least let Tasha see how it went later.
"All this activity," Hakeber says. "Relaxing is about drinking and.. activities that don't involve parachutes. Are we sleeping on the ship still?"
And so the group slowly drifts apart. Tasha is both happy to see it, and a bit sad, deciding she'd better do something herself before her mind wanders in to brooding reflection. She considers what to do, then spots Samael again and decides she'd better make sure he's situated. Before that happens she turns to Hakeber and shrugs her shoulders. "On or off, it's your choice. Once we have our cove, you can sleep in a tree if you want. I think I'll sleep on the beach, it's been forever since I slept with the wind blowing through my feathers."
"We can have a campfire and hula dancing," Gabriel notes. "And rub pineapple on your nipples."
Tasha sits up and peers at Gabriel, trying to tell if he's joking or not. He aoften seems dignified, but then there's moments like this. "Should we maybe take a little walk, Gabe?"
"I guess Liza will have to sit on Hakeber then," Gabriel says, and stands up, still holding his bottle. Heavy drinker he is not. "I'll keep her out of the sand," Hakeber promises.
"Don't lose her, or my hair will never recover." Tasha lifts Liza up, settling her down gently beside Hakeber. She then takes Gabriel's hand and stands, giving him a smile before they walk off together.
As evening begins to fall, one of the planet's other features makes itself known - rainbow-hued aurora. While Gabriel arranges for dinner at the resort and coordinates everyone else, Tasha finds Samael where she left him earlier, still sitting in the same spot, holding the same undrunk bottle of beer and watching the ocean.
Tasha walks over to look down at her ... demon? Friend? Loaned minion? Spy? She never has been sure where to place Samael; for all his help and insight, he remains an ongoing mystery in her life. Even keeping him close these last weeks has done little to help her understand him. She knows he has no soul, which has renewed her interest in discovering just what a soul is. She also knows he serves Thotep as a kind of created servant, of a particular caste of servants, and that he has for a long time. He sabotauged the Stonecutters. Beyond that, well ...
Tasha decides to sit. She lowers herself to the sand and turns to face the ocean, trying to see what he sees. "I guess you must have seen a lot of these. Sunsets, I mean."
"A few," Samael admits. "I understand that this is a beautiful world, but I still have not fully grasped the concept. Perhaps it is a matter of perseverance in observation."
"Or maybe you're not like us? You don't have to be like us, or is understanding something you want to have? Sometimes I feel like you're looking for something, but that you don't know what that is, or would if you found it." Tasha lowers herself back, then lays her head on her hands to watch the waves roll in, to feel the wind and see the sky. It's been only a few months, but it always feels longer.
"I have no task at the moment, until you need me to activate the Dagger again," Samael points out. "I wanted freedom, and now I seem to have it, but I'm not sure what to do with it. There are whales here. I can hear them singing out there. The Phins talk of them without going into much detail. The people here whisper about you and the Lapi after you've gone as well."
"That's a handy ability," Tasha notes, trying to sound conversational despite how heavy Samael seems to make things. She can feel the weight of his presence, as if his long years, deep knowledge and otherworldly nature curved her perception and mood, much as mass curves space-time. "So what are they saying? The whales and the people."
"I don't understand the whales," Samael says. "What the others whisper about you though.. who is Dr. Moreau?"
"The Phin hold whales in a kind of reverence. They're not exactly like gods, but they seem to have had a strong influence on them before and after Uplift. There are whale-gods, too, like Nuktapai. Have you considered trying to talk to them?" Tasha then shakes her head, not having heard the rogue doctor's name in some time. "Dr. Moreau is -- was -- a Terragens Council member. He disacreed with the Council about how to proceed with future Uplifts before disappearing to continue his work out in the Black. I've heard he's a Karnor. They associate us with him because he apparently likes to experiment and I guess the results look like, well, us."
"The Lapi are unsanctioned Uplifts?" Samael asks. "You are a hybrid, then. But one that isn't natural."
"The Lapi were created on Sinai by the remnants of the Expedition to the Primus System. Now that I've traveled so far and learned much, I think that they Uplifted them and many others and then gave them cultures based on Terran historic cultures that fit the region they were sent to. There are a lot of similiarities between my homeworld and old Terra, but that makes sense when you assume the mainly Terran Uplifters used their home as model for new life and civilization." Tasha takes a moment to breath in, enjoying the clean air and warmth of it, the humidity, before continuing. "I am a hybrid. I was created by the ghost-memory of a woman named Nora, who kept going after Nora died, using the failing Sifran systems. I have a mother, and a father, but I was shaped and created intentionally."
"So, you are a Servitor like me," Samael says. "The Bird of Hermes - Herald of the Gods. And patron of thieves and doctors, I understand. My studies branched out once Lacci fell asleep. And now you are the Herald of Hastur, if he calls on you. Perhaps, anyway. I'm not certain about that. So, do people support or condemn this Dr. Moreau, whom you are the herald of the patron god for?"
"I guess you can understand now why I show sympathy for beings others don't. Mel's a lot like us, too: He's an AI created to serve. They all are. Were. Only he's around now. We served are purpose, anyway, we succeeded. It can be hard to know what to do next. It must be even harder for you and Mel, because at least I was only nudged to do what I was made for. Of course," Tasha cocks her head to the side, as if in thought, " ... I sort of ended up doing what I had been made to do, just in a new way." She's silent for a moment, shifting her thoughts, then she nods. "I do seem to be the patron of a lot of outsiders, outcasts, people looking for somewhere to belong, you included. I don't know what to make of Hastur, and I'd rather not think about that until we leave. As for Moraeu, I think it's mixed. He's a big problem for Terra, but he's also a free agent that can do that the Terragens Council can't."
"Galactic Society of the past placed value on Client Uplift," Samael says. "Such that great lineages were founded, so that it became common practice that species with the greatest number of Clients, or those who raised the most successful Clients, were honored as great Patrons and rewarded with influence. Has this changed for the current cycle of civilization?"
"I think if it's the same we're very early in the process," Tasha hazards, having vaguely considered the matter but not at length. After all, she has more pressing problems than the nuances of comparative history. "There are only a few Galactic powers, not thousands of them, and they only have a handful of Clients, some of which have since failed and are no longer around. The pride and the competition seems to be the same, I think, though. The Khattans and the Celestials are the big powers, with the others lesser by a large margin. Yet, the Khattans only seem to have one Client, while the Celestials have a few. The Terragens have just about as many, the Silent-Ones, well, one, and I know less about the others."
"So, it is not so much that the Terrans wish to halt their Uplift efforts, but that the larger Galactic powers pressure them to do so," Samael concludes. "This could mean that Dr. Moreau is a rebel, or a convenient excuse for Terrans to continue Uplift without drawing ire. Patrons will often go to great lengths to ensure that pre-sophonts in their care will be granted Uplift. Wars have been fought over such things. The 'underdog' species generally does not fare well in such."
"You just described the Jotoki's position," the young woman notes with a sigh in her voice. She shakes her head, so many things to deal with, wrongs to right -- and occassionally to cause. "We think they're someone's insurance, so we're trying to find their homeworld. Their actual homeworld. As for Dr. Moraeu, we'd like to help or at least contact him. Depending on what he's doing and why, we may help him."
"How did you find the Jotoki if you do not know what world they are from?" Samael asks.
"We didn't, the Terrans did. We were dropping off Yue's project, and the Jotoki were beign investigated by a Terragens ship. They live in a, um, ring," she holds her hands out, indicatingly, " ... or breathable air around a sun. Don't ask me how they keep the air from dispersing in to space, I assume mass effects? I have no idea. But it's there, and they were probably planted there." And then she shrugs. "But we don't know for sure. We'll find out, if we can."
"This really is just the beginning of the cycle then," Samael says. "A small part of the galaxy. Of a single galaxy. I see why the Vril-ya decided to act. There must be other active areas though that you just haven't encountered yet."
"I've been wondering about that, if there are other pockets of civilization out there. I know there were more Progenitors active than there are current Galactic powers, some of whom actually killed their Progenitor! But we know almost nothing about these others, all the others I have a name for are, um, local actors. But there are more, and there may be civilizations that had nothing to do with the Progenitors. When you think about it, though, it is sort of lonely compared to what was, isn't it?" Tasha looks over, brows raising. "The Vril-ya took what happened personally, did you know that? They almost never intervene. They usually just withdraw."
"I understand something of guilt," Samael says. "That which comes from having the ability to prevent something, but failing to. I failed in killing K'thogga-hem. I don't know what became of the species I had Uplifted specifically for the purpose of poisoning the Ogdru-hem. Twenty-thousand years of effort, gone."
Tasha grimaces, opening her mouth to say something but then realizing she doesn't quiet know what to say. She hasn't even been around twenty years at her ebst estimate, let alone a thousand. So instead she offers, "I don't really know how to offer comfort with something like that. I haven't been alive anywhere near that long, I haven't Uplifted anything, I can't even have children without help. All I can do is this," she waves a hand, as if the horizon held all her work. "I pick up the pieces and the people who don't belong and try to fix what was broken, or break what needs to be broken, usually because of some being greater than I am."
"There are no greater beings, only more powerful ones," Samael claims.
Tasha tilts her head, but then nods slowly. "An interesting way to look at it. Sometimes I feel like I'm cleaning up the mistakes of beings who are supposed to be so far beyond me their belivers would try to kill me just for suggesting they're wrong, and yet they've told me themselves they're neither gods nor infallible. Their power, though, that I can't deny. T'throgga-hem rewove our universe while sleeping, I can't even keep my hair from being a mess while sleeping."
"So, they are not greater beings," Samael notes, but then offers, "For the most part. But you are unlikely to encounter any. They tend to exist outside of this reality. When you met Katherine, did you think of her as a greater being to you?" Samael asks.
The question makes Tasha giggle quite before she can stop herself, something that often happens when Katherine shows up suddenly, in whatever form. She clears her throat. "Actually, I thought she was beyond me and would never stop to talk to someone like me. I liked thinking of her as being above me, someone bigger than me, because I had just really started learning the truths I know now, meeting the beings I had, seeing the Big Picture and what dwells in it, and I really needed to feel small. I was losing touch with the people around me." She then looks off, ears flattening, nervous laughter. "Eeeeeeeeexcept Katie wanted me, too, and I never saw it coming. I've seduced people. What Katie does is something beyond that. She used a whole team of experts! Experts."
"And gods use priests," Samael says. "Or impressive temples. You have an ancient ship, and.." The demon pauses, then reaches out with his free hand and causally fondles Tasha's chest for a moment. "And those, possibly. They seem to impress Gabriel, and he does not seem to be the easily impressed sort of person. So you are impressive as well, and at some point somebody will think of you as greater than them. When that occurs, you should have some perspective on it at least. Although it may have already occurred with the young Vartan girl."
The result is tasha giving a yip of a bark, then covering herself with a hand. "You know it's weird when you do that, especially with how you look and what happened!" She then scoots a good foot away before eyeing the demon. "I guess you are a demon, though, so I shouldn't be surprised. Touchy little imp." She makes a face, then flops right back down again. "So, you think Lacci is actually impressed by me? Because I can't tell if she hates me, fears me, wants to be my friend or just doesn't care about anything. She's so different from other Vartans I knew back home, at least the ones away from Clans. Maybe that's another reason I bought her on."
"Fear is a sign of being impressed, I think," Samael notes. "Unless it is a fear of small things with many legs. I should accompany you to dinner with the others. Is there anything you'd like me to look into while we are here?"
"Watch out fro any dangers, such as peopel spying on us or who want to do us harm. That's the big one. Beyond that, any useful news, gossip, or other things that might help our work or provide useful information." Tasha scootches away a little more, then begins to rise. "And maybe you should try meeting a whale. Not for me, but for your own sake. Maybe you an even speak to Nuktapai? She seems to be good at knowing how people feel and what they're looking for, maybe she can help you."
"Perhaps meeting a new god will help, yes," Samael agrees and stands. "There are so many I have not met yet."
"Another thing we have in common, I guess. Well, come on, and are you going to drink that beer or not? A clone of me should not be ignoring his beer." Tasha reaches out, but instead of taking the beer she grabs Samael's hand and begins leading him off towards the sparkling light of the resort, now cast in the dull red-orange of the setting sun.
On the way, Samael drinks the beer. And burps.
Dinner included a floor show. This consisted of mostly naked, brown-skinned humans dancing to drums and wielding flaming torches that that are spun and juggled in mesmerizing patterns. These were followed by the hula dancers. There isn't a dolphin show, however - but there are Pan tumblers and acrobats, which perform seemingly impossible feats.
At Gabriel's urging, Tasha had the 'Surf-n-Turf' dinner, which consisted of two tender steaks and two sea-bug tails weighing a pound each - but which tasted fine with garlic and butter. There were also baked potatoes and some vegetables, just in case, and bowls of different dipping sauces, gravies and juices. For the most part, everyone had the same meal - just in different degrees of size. The obvious exceptions were the Lapis, who had vegetable bread, veggies and several different kinds of potatoes and some sort of souffle.
All in all, Tasha enjoyed the meal. While she had never been a big eater of things that lived below the waves (proper transport refrigeration of fresh water and sea food on Sinai being an expensive prospect), save when she happened to actually be by a lake or ocean, she though it was an acceptable alternative to meats. She also learned that the meal she had is, much like back home, a mild delicacy for similiar reasons of transport and local rarity.
It was a good evening. The lack of an immediate disasters along with good food, good friends, and family did much to ease her mind and calm her spirit. Even the strangeness of remembering a whole other life felt distant, like an old wound.
"So, are we going to head to our private cove and sleep under the stars?" Gabriel asks Tasha while reaching to pat her belly. "Or bunk in the Horse tonight?"
"This feels like something that needs a vote," Tasha replies, martini in one hand as she resists the urge to slide down in to her chair. Her free hand moves to rest on Gabriel's, which remains on her tummy. "It's been a little while since I slept under the stars, and not so comfortably. My vote is for staying outside tonight."
"That of course begs the second question," Gabriel says. "Going to fly in the dark, or go by dolphin? I know you've done it before on Encante."
"I'm fine for either, in fact not making decisions sounds very nice right now. I'm going to not decide. I think, what's that?" Tasha leans an ear closer to her drink. "Yes I think my martini says I should drink it some more and not worry about transport, that's a good idea." She sips, then smiles.
"We'll figure out logistics after the dessert tray comes around," the big Karnor says. "They probably have stuff made with rum."
"You know, I don't think I like rum?" The young woman says this in a tone of wonder, as if not liking something alcoholic were one of the universe's many mysteries. "I think I wnat to try something with pinapple." Then, without further words, she scoots herself closer to Gabriel and rests her head against him, another one of life's irreplacable pleasures.
Jonas elected to remain behind with the ship, as he still wasn't entirely comfortable with 'open life support systems' like planets. Samael did elect to come, however. The actual logistics involved getting some rebreathers and safety straps, along with a small inflatable raft to carry a few supplies (like towels and breakfast). Then it was just meeting with Moka and Kaa and a few local Phins they'd recruited. Lacci was the most nervous, never having been in an ocean before. "They won't just leave us somewhere will they?" she whispers nervously to Tasha.
"That would probably lower the resort's rating," Tasha whispers back, not wnating to embarass Lacci by voicing her reply too loudly and thus giving away Lacci's concerns. The hybrid knows very well what it's like to be in a new place fully of scary unknowns and how it's all too easy to make unlikely or even wildly incorrect assumptions as a newcomer tries to make sense of something outside their experience. "Besides, we have several Humans with us. If that's not enough, we're a bit scary looking?" She then makes an exagerated shrug for the Vartan girl, as if she couldn't comprehend why anyone would think they seemed dangerous.
"Vartans gotta wear floaties for safe-t-ty," one of the Phins declares. Vartans are notoriously non-buoyant. Each of the dolphins has a simple harness on with handle grips on the back and sides, along with safety straps in case someone looses their grip. Yue has the floaties - simple devices that strap around the upper arms and waist, which will inflate if needed. Hakeber also asks for some - her time swimming was pretty much just today, apparently. She still walks a bit funny after trying the mermaid experience earlier.
Samael declines the devices at first, but then accepts them to allay any suspicion about his origins.
Tasha tries very hard not to laugh all over again at poor Hakeber's plight, and mostly succeeds. And to demonstrate her leadership skills in the realm of shared embarassment, she doesn't complain when she puts on the floaties even if she does actually know how to swim. The Rake was designed for water landings, although it was a rare event and always came with more work as Captain Eyeshine bore a deep suspicion of the effect of water on a hull. The ominous creaking on contact only seemed to bring him to new levels of captainly scowling, even when it was his idea. She peers at Samael as they get ready, asking, "So how are you enjoying our vacation?"
"It is my first one, I think," Samael notes. "The locals have not brought out torches or other means to set me on fire, so I believe it is going well."
"Well, you know, we still have several days! Things could happen!" But Tasha punshes Samael in the arm before walking past him to her assigned Phin. After mounting, she asks in a cheery voice, "So how do I control this thing? It's a robot right?" It's said to amuse herself, but also to play up her 'Khattan origin' in a kind of tongue-in-cheek, look at the awkward Khattan way, while drawing attention from Samael and Lacci.
Liza also looks nervously at the water and the large predators waiting for them. She's got extra safety straps on her wrists, and keeps checking that her rebreather is secure.
"You just-t hang on and enjoy the motion-of-the-ocean," Kaa tells her, making it sound lascivious... since he's the one Tasha's riding. After all, he and Moka are the ones that know how to get to their cove.
"Just try not to crush anything delicate," Gabriel asks of Moka as he mounts up as well.
"I'm not used to riding someone," Lacci notes, taking her time to get on her Phin. She's got a big one, too. The smallest of the pod grabs the loop-line to the inflatable with their supplies on it.
"At least the water is warm," Yue says, being the most exposed of the group. Aaron helps Liza before holding on to his ride, muttering something before putting on the rebreather unit. There isn't going to be a chance to talk once those are in place.
"Is everyone ready? Captain, Pilot, please set course for rest and relaxation. We're in no hurry at all." And so Tasha grabs the harness and settles, reminded of riding on of the Abaddonian motorcycles Katie likes to ride. She slips the rebreather down, then makes 'vroom, vroom' noises which she knows at least the Phins will pick up on.
"I'm recording this for sure," Katie notes, before securing her mask. And then the Phins take off! They do not take it easy, either, beginning right off with leaps and dives before rocketing off under water. Due to the nature of the harness placement, the masks are needed above water as well, since the rider's faces are rather close to the blow holes. And Tasha can't tell if Kaa is deliberately rubbing up between her legs or if it's just a side-effect of how his tail works.
Tasha has to grit her teeth here and there, and one point resist the urge to knuckle-punch the cheeky pilot but decides that would be admitting some sort of defeat -- and then there'd be the teasing. It does make the whole ride that much harder to concentrate on, especially given she's in the mood and doesn't have her libido clamped down by stress or the need to focus on a mission.
The dolphins have as much fun as they can for the trip, which takes nearly an hour to make it around the island - the Phins take a wide arc to avoid the many reefs. Even at night, the water is clear and well-lit by the aurora display, making seem even more alien when they dive down. There glowing creatures as well, some of which the dolphins avoid, and others they grab and play with or use as lamps. While they all have the cybernetic socket, none of them have equipped it with anything - other than Kaa and Moka, who have their communication bulbs plugged in. Unlike on Encante, these Phins don't go armed, which is reassuring in an alien ocean. By the time they reach the cove, Tasha's arms are a bit sore and her hands feel cramped from hanging on so tightly.
Not to mention she's a bit horny. Too little clothing and stress make for difficulties, lending one more element to being glad to see the end of the ride despite how wonderful it was. And it was wonderful, all else aside: She'd neevr really appreciated oceans before meeting the Phin, to her they were just strange black skies where her kind weren't welcome, as if they were rival foreign nations where the citizens and sky and water knew not to intermix. While she's no more aquadynamic than she had been, experience has taught her to enjoy places where she might otherwise feel unwelcome -- often to find that she was never realy unwelcome at all.
Or, in the case of the Phins, perhaps a little too welcome, the young woman thinks, chewing her lip beneath the mask.
The Phins can't go very far into the cove - the shallows are a bit rocky and dangerous. But they can come to where the water is shallow enough for their passengers to walk. Well, most them - Yue and the Lapis still have to swim a bit. Shojo takes the line for the supply raft and thanks his Phin, and everyone dismounts. Although for some reason Gabriel scoops up Tasha and decides to carry her to the beach. Kaa and Moka promise to be back tomorrow when they've found a whale pod to visit. "Time for uss to have an orgy, sleep well!" Kaa bids.
"H-have fun!" Tasha calls back, even more distracted now that Gabriel has nabbed her. She doesn't resist, thinking the move is definitely for the best. After that she's content to let the others sort themselves out, needing a moment.
It takes a few minutes to set up a simple camp - mostly blankets on the sand, towels and handheld fur-dryers. Aaron gets a small campfire going, and the Jotoki emerge from the jungle to greet everyone. A clothes line is set up, and whatever people were wearing comes off so it can dry on the line - it's a salt-water ocean after all, and few people enjoy salt drying against their skin. Even Lacci admits to the necessity of this, and Samael offers up his thong as well. It probably doesn't do much for Tasha's mood to see everyone naked, either. Shojo and Aaron head into the jungle to dig a latrine at least, so the only males left are Gabriel and.. Samael. As disturbing as that is, the demon 'relaxes' and stops looking like a male version of Tasha. Instead, he looks like a bipedal ram with curly wool made up of tentacles. He's also got a squirmy mass of them where his masculine parts would normally be.. unless those are his normal masculine parts.
It's about there that Tasha decides to tune the entire idea of Samael, male clones, being a male clone, and other associated elements right out of her head. She fixes on Gabriel and makes a show of dropping in to his arms, where she closes her eyes. "I've changed my mind," she mummur-mutters, "I don't want my own species if it means I don't have to see a male version of myself ever again."
"So, does that mean you want to graft wings onto me instead?" Gabriel says, then scoops her up again and carries her to their beach blanket.. which is partly taken over by Katie. Now that they don't smell like wet canines, it's harder to hide what they do smell like. "I think my dolphin was molesting me on the ride over," Katie notes with a grin.
"Do you wnat wings? Because I'd budget for Gabriel-with-wings," Tasha insists with a wag of her tail. She lays down on the blanket and wiggles under the sand beneath has a nice indent for her hips, winding one hand around Gabriel's and the other around Katie's. Then, she makes a face. "I'm almost sure Kaa was. It's not a big secret he's interested in me, and I might be mad about it, but I knew what he was like before I hired him. It's all part of the Phin, um, package." Package, she decides, was probably not the best choice of words. "I'm glad we got in when we did though, my anatomy isn't built for ... that. You knew, didn't you?" The hybrid untwines the hand holding Gabriel's and pokes him. "Was it that obvious?"
"They all do it, I think," Gabriel says. "Even Moka.. unless it really is just from the way they swim. Would be a lot worse if you were hanging on from the other side. I have seen them swim upside-down."
Katie's hands begin to wander a bit. "Don't mind me, I'm a dolphin in disguise," she claims.
"Mmmf," goes Tasha, whose ears lay back. "If that trip had lasted any longer I wouldn't have, and then Kaa would have te--" Whatever she was going to say is cut off by a sudden, muffled yelp, then lip-chewing whining. She turns to eye Katherine, and then conversation and pretense dissolve soon after.
"I just need to loosen up my hands," Katie claims. "Hmm, good idea," Gabriel agrees, going for some softer areas..
Sleeping under the stars has an odd effect - only Hakeber and Shojo got much sleep. Lacci was between Gabriel, Tasha and Katie on one side and Yue, Aaron and Liza on the other. While the young Vartan probably got the same treatment as everyone else during the ride over, she seemed content to just let it wear off. With dawn comes the sound of splashing as the two Jotoki return from fishing, having managed to catch a variety of creatures in a net they wove the other day. Shojo has the fire going, and is brewing coffee the old fashioned way.
Tasha is awake as well, but found herself avoiding tasks that by experience should probably be her job: Creating a fire, building a pit. They're all things she's done since she was a child, on a world far more primitive than this one. Perhaps that's why she avoids them, deciding to leave the new experience to those who appreciate and distance herself from who she'd been, not wanting to slip in to old habits and times. So instead she wanders over to sit on the shore, letting the waves crash against her hooves as she watches to Jotoki display their own skills from the point of a more advanced observer, appreciating the switch from once having been the being observed. "Having fun, Rock? Rainbow?"
"Water not float," Rainbow whistles, in what seems a happy tone. "Fish not fly." Rock is busy sorting the still flopping haul, using his elbow-beaks to snip off heads and gut the fish, while another arm cracks open mollusk shells.
"Mmm, there's a smell to wake up to," Aaron notes, stretching. Yue doesn't seem inclined to wake up, but Liza is stirring, perhaps sensing that her boss is awake.
"Living wild on a tropical island," Katie says from the blanket. Gabriel has gone to visit the jungle. "Wild and naked!"
Hakeber is more interested in the coffee, draping herself over Shojo's shoulder so she'll be the first to know when it's ready.
It's a familiar enough sight for Tasha, though one she hasn't seen in roughly half a year. Fishermen, fish mongers and fish markets all seem to go the same way, whatever world she ends up being on. She lifts a hand and waves Katie over, then gestures out towards the waves while patting the ground beside her.
The lanky Karnor sits next to Tasha, wiggling her toes in the surf. "I've never seen a whale," she tells Tasha. "Are they like the dolphins at all?"
"They're like how Hakeber is a Karnor, right? But then, so is Gabriel. Dolphins are Hakeber, whales are Gabriel." Tasha then holds out her hands, indicating largeness by virtue of the gap between them. "They're supposedly the size of large vehicles. The one I met was kind-of-sort-of in my head, but she was spaceship-sized. The Phins see them kind of like how they see Humans. Well, if Humans were wiser, more majestic, and not short like Yue."
"Dolphins have been making fun of humans for thousands of years," Yue claims, having gotten up now and waded out to wash up a bit. Of all of them, she has the worst 'sex hair' look, so she has to dunk her head too. "They still do. They don't razz the whales."
"Is it because they're linked to the whale gods?" Tasha asks, never having really looked in to the relationship between Phins and whales save that she knew it existed and had a kind of spiritual element. "Or is it more complicated?"
"Dolphins are like humans," Yue explains. "They're basically insane. But in their world, the whales are the biggest, grandest things there are.. except they also have devils, that live down in the deepest darkest parts of the oceans."
"Devils?" Tasha perks her ears, then she points back at Samael in a very indicating and questioning sort of way.
"Giant squids," Yue says, and does glance at Samael and his own tentacle motif. "Lots of devils seem to involve tentacles."
"It's a fashion thing," Samael claims.
"I don't really mind them, I mean, they're useful aren't they? That's why there are robots that use them." Tasha shrugs good naturedly, then slides her hands back through the sand before dropping down in a tangle of her own hair. "It's not like Dark beings are all that bad, right? So, there's devil squids, what are they like? Do they have horns?"
"No horns, but they fight with the sperm whales," Yue explains, finally coming to sit on the sand and dry off. "The sperm whales are the largest predators on Terra. Probably in all of Known Space. They dive down and eat the squids, but also bear horrible scars. That's how we knew the giant squids existed."
"The sperm whales eat the squids, but the squids are the devils?" Tasha frowns at that, sitting up a little, resting her head on her hands. "Do they do anything, um, actually devilish? Like how Sam keeps ... being Sam?"
"They eat lesser whales, apparently, and the dark depths are considered to be the equivalent of hell to the dolphins," Yue says. "It's different when you know the monsters exist, and are lurking beneath you. You're a flyer.. so imagine never being able to land, because the ground is death."
"Monsters?" Lacci asks as she joins the group, still seeming a bit uncomfortable about being naked. Or by other people being naked.
"Well the ground is death when we can't fly, and Phins can rest higher areas, right? It just seems weird to me these squids are devils just because they eat and live in a lower area. I feel like that's not unique to Phins, either." The hybrid woman rubs her nose, scrunching up in a frown. "It's not like brighter waters are any safer, you know? Back home, we were afraid of falling, but also afraid of everyone who lived above us. I guess it's about power and understanding, because we thought of the no- um, the higher ups as being a bit like demons, too, while people below were kind of beneath us -- both ways."
Sensing Lacci's discomfort -- Lacci being the only pure Vartan female making her scent distinct among the crew -- Tasha waggles her hand out in the air for Lacci to take if she wants it. "We're talking about deep sea squids, how they're the demons of the Phins, so I guess the whales are the gods."
"Maybe it's more like the Maelstrom and hyperspace," Yue says. "D-Level is dark and mysterious. The deep ocean is dark, mysterious and crushing, where you might drown if you can't get back to the surface in time.
"So.. really quite a lot like D-Level," Yue notes, and smiles to Lacci.
"They do sound very similiar," Tasha agrees, nodding slowly. "It just seems unfair to call them devils just for living in a harsh place. I mean, maybe they do do devilish things, but so do Humans -- and Vartans."
"We help them to be more devilish," Samael notes, as he heads past into the water. His tentacles grow as he does so, become full blown limbs. "Devils on their own do not do much."
This makes Tasha sit up fully, ears up. "Are you saying the Outer Gods, or at least their servants, talk to the ... The deep sea squids?" Her mouth opens to ask something else, then she pauses and lays her ears back, muzzle scrunching. "Hey that's not what you're doing with me, is it?"
"I'm fairly certain you are the one corrupting me," Samael claims, then blinks all four of his eyes and sinks down beneath the water, moving off as a dark shape beneath the clear surface. Probably to scare dolphins.
"Well ... That's ominous." Tasha watches the dark shape for a long moment, up until it vanishes from her keen sight, then she turns around and holds out her hands in a helpless shrug. "Sooo. I corrupt demons. You heard that too, right? Don't look at me that way."
"Are you trying to corrupt me?" Lacci asks.. although in a joking tone at least.
"Not hard enough, apparently," Yue claims.
Tasha focus on Lacci immediately -- then she rolls on to all fours and stalks over closer to the Vartan girl. "Want me to try harder, Lac-ci? I should try harder, shouldn't I Katie?" And so Katie gets brushed against as the hybrid pads along.
Lacci's feathers poof out a bit, and Katie asks, "Did you want me to do it?" Yue laughs a bit, and pats Tasha's shoulder. "Don't scare her, she was feeling lonely last night once everyone.. tripled up."
Gabriel emerges from the jungle, carrying large things that might be fruit. He hands these off to Liza before heading to Shojo and his shoulder-wolf. "Did we pack cups, or do we drink right from the pot?"
"Hmm," goes Tasha, who watches Lacci for a long moment before side stepping and crashing in to Katherine's lap, where she immediately sprawls out and smiles. "Hi," she says after gettingo comfortable, tail wagging. She's content to cuddle there for a moment until she hears Gabriel's question, and so calls out, "Try using coconut or other shells!"
"We have cups," Aaron declares, and produces a pack of folding cups, which he brings to Shojo... while ducking under Hakeber's grabbing hands. "I'll take care of you later," he tells the wolf.
Soon, there are cups of coffee.
"Hakeber's surprisingly durable for how often standing up seems to be too much for her," the hybrid tells her girlfriend, and then she looks up. "Hey, have I been neglecting you any? Am I being a good girlfriend? Glad you came with me?"
"This is all new. I've never been away from Mr. Invention for so long before," Katie notes. "So I may become clingier! Or I'll steal your valet."
"Cling as much as you want." Tasha emphasizes this by rolling over and hugging on to Katherine's midsection in an exageratedly melodramatic hug, which comes with a lot of "mmmmmmmmm"ing and tail wagging.
"Hmmm, there's a view," Gabriel notes as he comes over with coffee. "I'm tempted to try and swing from vines and beat my chest." Aaron is behind him, bearing coffee for Yue and Lacci.
"I'm happy to hug Katie and be a view whenever you want," Tasha insists. She does untwine a hand to accept her coffee, however, wedging it down in to the hand so it won't fall over. After that she settles in for a more relaxed hugging, laying her head in Katherine's lap and indicating the top of her head. "So, is there anything on our itinerary for today? And if there is, do we want to forget about it?"
"Liza is the Keeper of the Schedule," Katie points out. Liza is sitting on her blanket and working at the fruit with a large knife. Well, large compared to the bunny. She is listening in though, and says, "The Phins are in charge of things today. They were going to try and find whales."
Yue gives Aaron a hug in exchange for the coffee. "Maybe you should help Lacci relax, Gabriel," she suggests, while watching for Tasha's reaction.
"What?" Gabriel asks, before drinking any of his own coffee.
Lacci puts her head down and hides inside her wings in embarrassment.
"Oh. Well, be ready for angry gods or something. Do whales like fruit and alcohol?" Tasha waits for Gabriel to sit down, then wiggles until she's spawled across both him and Katherine. She looks extremely cozy until the quip makes her ears shoot up and tail stop moving. An eye cracks open. "Ha. Ha."
"Maybe Aaron then, he's less imposing, except for the scars," Yue suggests. The bucks grunts something and drinks his own coffee a bit further away.
"I'm fine," Lacci declares from her wing huddle.
"Who wants fish fillets for breakfast?" Shojo calls from the campfire.
Tasha heaves a sigh, then slowly untangles herself from her comfortable spot, grabs her coffee, and holds out a hands for Lacci to take. "Lets take a walk, Lacci? Somewhere where there isn't crazy Humans."
"All humans are crazy," Lacci claims, but does unfold to stand up and walk with Tasha.
"They really are," Tasha agrees. She takes a moment to look around, then picks out a path that looks deserted -- no foot or other prints in the ground, no signs of disturbed foliage -- and walks that way. "We'll be back sooner or later, don't wait for us if the Phins want to go!"
"Of course we'll wait for you," Gabriel says. "I know Moka and Kaa want to impress you after all."
"I hope I'm not causing trouble," Lacci says once they're presumably out of rabbit-eavesdropping range.
"They can impress me with patience then!" The hybrid ducks under some branches, then pushes them aside and gestures for Lacci to continue on now that the way is clear. "See you later!"
And then she and Lacci are gone beyond the jungle.
Later, Tasha turns to Lacci and shakes her head, but holds on to her hand because she knows what contact can mean for Vartans in a stressful situation. "No, no, Lacci. It's not ... Well, let me start from the beginning. Then maybe you'll understand a little better." She takes in a breath, gaze wandering across the view of canopy, distant beach and rocky cliffside as she thinks. "See, Lacci, most of us have a lot of ... experience about these things. Gabriel has had kids, Katherine's job used to be dazzling the public, the Phins are Phins, even Liza and Aaron are used to this sort of thing. Liza especially. And it's not really a secret that, well ... How do I put it?" She spreads her free hand, head tilting this way and that as if weighing options. She was going to turn and face Lacci for this, but decides to stare at the cliffside instead. "That I want you. Yue knows, Gabriel knows, it's not really a secret, so they've been teasing me about it -- and you, too, by proxy."
There's no way for a Vartan to really blush, but Lacci drops her beak as if she wants to hide again. "I never had to think about these things before," she notes. "Nobody really paid much attention to me. Last night.. Yue can sense emotions, right? I guess I was lonely and confused. I don't know if the dolphin was flirting with me, even. And all of you are sexually intimidating. Even Liza! But the men especially, except for Shojo I suppose.."
"The place I come from is very different from the world you seem to have grown up in. We do things, well, I guess faster. I'm not used to people who haven't had that experience, even less with Clan Vartans. I made some mistakes, I assumed things I shouldn't have and other things didn't even occur to me." Tasha makes a point of keeping her gaze on the rocks, knowing at a deep, personal level how powerful a sense Vartan vision is. For Vartans so much of what they do and are is invested in seeing, with being seen carrying social complexity far beyond what other species -- though she knows that species like Humans invest a lot in the nature of sight as well. She's seen Yue's varied looks, the way she tilts her head when joking. Yet, for Vartans, the gaze is a kind of spotlight, and Lacci doesn't need a spotlight right now. It's why she took her away from the others.
"Did you know I used to date a Vartan woman? For many years. She was older than me, and I didn't really know anything. She was, um, rough. Not always, but often. Even so, I still miss her now that she's gone. Maybe I had hoped I could replace a bit of her with you. I'm not sure. I guess my point is that I learned these things early, and I forget there are gentler ways. I assume everyone did it like I did it, never really thought about what happens when they didn't."
"Well.. for some Vartans this sort of stuff is easy," Lacci notes, also looking out to sea. "In our Clan.. well, it's usually siblings that learn with each other. Pregnancy is pretty well controlled after all, so there's no risk. It strengthens family bonds, supposedly, and then Clan bonds. But.. you still have to be interesting enough to be considered, and I didn't have any siblings or close cousins. I just.. assumed that's how it would always be for me, until I got married off to someone from another Clan."
"I guess I don't know how to handle being interesting," Lacci admits. "But I also don't know how to feel when.. I'm not being interesting, among lots of other stuff. The Lapis are scary, Yue is scary.. Shojo is scary, even. Gabriel.. is a commander. I know how to deal with that. You confuse me sometimes."
"Hakeber is comfortable. Katie is intimidating. Her friends were also intimidating," the young Vartan continues. "I'm not supposed to be intimidated! Vartans are the biggest and strongest.. except for Titanians."
"Siblings." Tasha can't help but wince, both because of the taboo but more immediately because of the confusion surrounding Samael and Sasha, not to mention Nora and the whole line of female copies of herself that have cropped up. She thinks the problem must have began when she had Nora's memories crammed in to her head, creating a lasting sense of both self but also a sense of seperation from self, as it had never come up before then. Of course, neither had copies of herself, either. She hopes Lacci isn't watching to have caught her expression, but soldiers on regardless. "I didn't have any siblings, and where I come from that wasn't allowed anyway. Actually, besides Samael I'm really just the only one. Mostly, I'd been with Vartans before Karnors." She shrugs and thinks.
At length she goes on. "I can't really do anything about being scary, Lacci. All I can suggest is to keep trying to know your crewmates, keep trying to learn new things, figure out what it is you want to do and be -- even if you don't stay with us. But if you do, or even if you don't, remember there's a whole universe of people who would have neevr stepped aboard our ship. It takes a lot of courage to join us, even if you're just letting us push you along." Tasha nods a little, squeezing the hand tighter. "You know, I picked you because I believe in the person who yelled at that man even though she was scared. I thougt 'I bet she could be someone great, some day'. I mean sure I also had that plan about you-know-who, but I have a lot of plans at once. I have to. That doesn't mena the other ones are less important."
"So.. you're supposed to be challenging me then so that I'll grow," Lacci concludes. "Peck my way out of my shell a second time, I guess. So I need to stop hiding and step out of the nest for real."
"Sure, when you're ready. If you like I can offer suggestions, assign you roles and duties -- well, I mean, suggest to Gabriel and he'll assign roles and duties. I'm the owner, not the Captain, I don't interfere with his duties." Tasha bites her lip, but then she laughs a little. "Okay, sometimes it's hard. I used to crew ships, not own them. Sitting on my but getting my hair done is hard sometimes." She then exhales, roling her shoulders to try an escape the tension. Interacting with another Vartan isn't quite like interacting with anyone else, there's a indescribable intimidacy among Vartans, even for a hybrid like herself. Perhaps it's what Jonas said she lacked for Humans, her version being distinctly Vartan and not translating, whatever her head looks like. "Well, I'd like it if you pushed yourself to find a role on board. There's no rush, but there isn't forever, either. As for the other thing, well ... "
Tasha turns her head just enough, ears perking. "How about this: You just tell me yes, or no, and that'll be that. I can't say I won't tease you either way, but that's my job. For the rest, I'll accept your decision."
"Maybe.. I should just hook up with the first Vartan I meet on the island," Lacci says. "No awkwardness of attachment or having to work with them or.. anything. Then I should be more comfortable dealing with the rest, right? I mean.. was your first time with someone in your old crew?"
"It was. And then again and again and ... " Tasha swallows, reading Lacci's expression. So instead she turns back to look at the waves. "A-annnyway, I'd rather be with someone I know these days, but I understand it makes things complicated. Maybe I should find a Vartan woman, too, just get it out of my head, and move on? I have to avoid men, because of a promise I made to Gabriel. Not that Kaa was helping."
"You are attracted to Kaa?" Lacci asks, then pauses. "You come from a world with a lot of intelligent species. You probably consider personality more than physical compatibility. But you are mostly Vartan, and will find shiny people more attractive. Karnors are more curious and form bonds with other species more easily than others.. except maybe humans. Or.. or I am over-analyzing things, which is a bad habit I have."
Something bursts up from the water below and quickly scales the cliff. For a moment the two women are joined by something made of tentacles and eyes and mouths.. and then it is Samael, as a male Karnor-Vartan hybrid once more. "I did not find any giant squid in the depths," he reports.
Tasha looks back, but she's smiling. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Lacci, I thought it was a good insight about things. You're right, I come from a ... cosmopolitan place, with a lot of intermixing between species, although we still do tend to group together even so. I do appreciate personality, a lot more than I used to, because I used to care about personal power, physical attractiveness, and physical power a lot more. It didn't help I wasn't very nice, either. Aaaaaaaaactu-"
Whatever she was going to say cuts off as something scales the cliffside. Tasha turns to face it fully, arms tensing, waiting expectantly with her expression set until she sees it's 'just' Samael, and wonders when demons in her life became so common place as to be a 'just'. "Well. Um. That's .... good. We were kind of ... Oh, nevermind. Do we need to head back now?"
"The dolphins are returning," Samael says, and looks to Lacci. "If you are uncertain about Tasha, I can offer to deflower you. I have extensive experience with virgin sacrifices."
Lacci starts choking. Luckily she hadn't had breakfast yet.
"ISN'T HE JUST SPECIAL," Tasha walks over and suddenly slings an arm around Sam, using all her not inconsiderable strength to try and angle him back towards camp. "I THINK WE SHOULD GO BACK. NOW."
Samael doesn't say anything more, and once Lacci gets control of herself they're able to make their way back. Of course, now the seed has been planted: are tentacle monsters good lovers? Perhaps more coffee will make it go away.
Whatever the case may be, Tasha decides Samael is on a whole other level, and Lacci is decidedly at Level 0. She plots along the way, trying to figure out how to salvage both Lacci's and her own needs, and comes up with a simple plan: She'll figure out a way to gte Lacci and Hakeber off together on some errand or another, then see if she can find a Vartan woman who is interested and see where that goes -- and where it might go even she isn't sure. Still, whatever happens it will be interesting, and isn't that part of what it means to be an explorer?