"We've been invited to a swanky shindig," Hakeber says with a grin. "Fancy dress and everything! The boys will be wearing tuxedos. Or whatever the Vartan version is for Shojo."
Tasha continues to slowly slide down in to her chair, as if her strings had been cut. "That sounds nice. And fun. Fun and nice, I could go for fun and nice." She reaches over, trying to pick up Hakeber's drink in a casual motion. "So when do we go, who is hosting it, and what do I wear?"
"Tomorrow night," Liza explains. "It's in the ballroom of the Khattan Embassy, a fundraiser hosted by one Dassen K'tar. The Phins are invited too."
"Even the Phins? I wonder what K'Tar's politics are, it's an interesting choice." Tasha sips from Hakeber's stolen drink, not really caring what's in it. "Well," she says after a moment of gearing up to thought delay, " ... I was going to go buy some new clothes and get my hair styled. I wanted to try the hair extensions, I've never been allowed to have really long hair before."
"Well, if you want a makeover.." Miss Necessity starts to say.
"I definitely want a something." Tasha reaches up and rubs her nose, then she frowns. "Oh, isn't ... yes that's right, I met K'tar briefly in the Starseed lounge. Well, that settles things, this should be a safe event and I even know why he wants us there, he's a Seeder, of course they'd want us there. It'll be, um, a good opportunity. You should all try and meet whoever you can." She then turns to Miss Necessity. "You'll take care of me won't you?"
"Well.. you'll be a challenge," Necessity notes. "I may need Liza as backup, since she's more familiar with dressing you. Since we got here I've been looking into what the tailors here can really do, and some of it is mind-boggling. Well, to me. You are used to magic."
"I know what I want," Hakeber says, then nudges Lacci. "Have you ever even worn a fancy outfit?"
"I have a dress uniform," Lacci says quietly, clearly feeling a bit outclassed when it comes to parties.
Tasha rolls her eyes at 'being used to' magic, though without any heat. "Just because I'm from you know where doesn't mean I'm used to magic. It's not like all of us are waving around miracles back home; it's really only the powerful and the connected." She throws back Hakeber's drink, then returns the glass to the Karnor. "You'll get used to the technology. Everyone will." She squints. "Lacci, you look like the only bird in a swimming race over there."
"Fancy dress can be clingy," she notes. After their beach vacation, she's gone back to being a bit body shy. "There'll be Khattans there."
"If they give you any trouble remind them you belong to me and my House," Tasha insists, too mind-blasted from earlier to really have the energy to pick her words carefully; they're good enough. Probably. Maybe. "Besides K'Tar's politics won't let him just stand around and let my crew be harassed, it'd, um, reflect badly on him. That's it."
"What are his politics?" Yue asks. "He's the one with the request to go some out-of-the-way corner of space."
"He's a Seeder. Like all of them, they believe in a bigger-picture view that we all have the same origins, that we're linked as life forms. They're typically inclusive and permit membership from all Galactic species, maybe even from the more unusual Clients, too, though I've never seen something like a Tandu in Lounge. They have bases -- Lounges -- all across Galactic space and push for general things like inter-species peace and cooperation, but also research in to things like the Star Seeds and the origins of sentient life. It's where they get their name." Tasha then spreads her hands, though she has sunken far enough it's just hera head and shoulders visible. "In other words, they really like us, and we really like them."
"And we have convergent interests," Yue notes. "The migration route of Starseeds would help us with our other little mission."
"They may even be connected, an automated planting system." Tasha can't quite help laying her ears back a little at the thought of who sent them on their way, however. "They had this idea Terran Whales might be able to talk to the Seeds."
"Hmm, everyone has these mystical notions about whales except for us non-Phin Terragens it seems," Yue says. "I think it's the Phin's doing. Talking about them in space bars. I'm more concerned about finding the home of our multi-limbed wards."
"I wish we had better leads on that. If we could find a better Library link, maybe that would help. I can try my contacts, but so far I haven't found anything -- and you know that I've been distracted by more immediate problems." Tasha finally pushes herself up, leaning forward heavily as if a bit duzzy. She studies the table, clearly thinking, and then notes, "I think I'm going back to the ship to get a drink and rest for a while. I need to think about a few things. Miss Necessity, Liza, please come and get me when you need me."
The first stop after Tasha has recuperated a bit is a Salon. Given how many Galactic races have hair and fur, it shouldn't be a surprise how many differently configured stations there are. What is a bit of surprise is that Tasha's stylist is a Naga. A Naga wearing a wig.. or with implants. "Ssserxess will take good care of you," the reptile promises. "You are.. Karnor with wingsss, or Vartan with muzzle? If you are two people who had bad accident, forgive my rudenesss."
Tasha feels better for having rested, a lot better in fact, though she still can't quite shake the feeling that learning what she had has somehow fundamentally tainted her in a way she can't quite narrow down. Was it knowing the truth of beings she'd given the benefit of a doubt, truly understand how awful their existence and the mean by which they procreate is? The feeling of betrayal, having defended them? The sense of naivette, broken by harsh reality? Or was it simply knowing another terrible aspect of the wide universe, something her mind had remained closed to in ignorance, now forever there for her to remember? For however many wonders she finds, the horrors seem equally endlessly. Betwene that and the sad shape of her ship's core, she finds herself standing at the edge of a kind of inner abyss.
But it's not the first time she's been wheer she is, mentally, and she's still here. Still searching for an answer to it all, always believing there must be one beyond the horizon. She'll keep going, to find it.
Tasha blinks and looks up. "Oh, sorry, I had been thinking about something." She wrinkles her muzzle as she tries to remember what was said to her. "I'm a Vartan," she answers slowly, " ... a Vartan with a muzzle."
"She's a couple, actually," Yue claims. "A Karnor and a Vartan. Surely you've heard the Terran idiom, 'Joined at the hip'?"
"We only get along some times," Tasha agrees, though she's slow to react to the joke.
"Ah, not having hipsss, I am clearly misssing out on sssomething ssspecial," the Naga says, bobbing its head, which rattles the beads tied into its dreadlocks. "What were you looking for in a styling, miss? And do you want your tail to match?"
"Something long and impractical, something beautiful, or at least elegant. I'd like my tail to match," Tasha replies, faster this time, as she's drawn from here own mind to the here and now. "I usually don't do my own styling, so I don't know more about it than the basics."
"Ssso, something long and impractical.." the Naga muses. "The sssame for your tail? Should it flow behind you as a train?"
"Just as long as no one steps on it," Tasha confirms, even managing to grin lopsidedly. "I want to look ... I don't know ... Not tough for once. I want to try something new. It'd be nice to not have to appear tough."
"Perhapssss something out of legend?" the Naga asks. "You could be Lady Rapunzel Godiva, and wear your hair asss a garment. Or a nice mermaid effect?"
"It's for a formal dress party, so wearing just her hair would violate the dress code," Yue notes.
Tasha wrinkles her nose. "I don't know about a garment, that's what garmets are for aren't they? And mermaids ... They're like fish-humans, right? I don't want to give the wrong idea about Kaa, Moka, and I." she then turns to nod to Yue. "Yes that's right, I have to follow the rules."
"Well.. we will ssstart with the lengthening then," the Naga says, as he inspects Tasha's wings. Once he's certain they won't get in the way of things, he begins to recline Tasha's seat. "Firssst, your hair must ressst in the lengthening ssolution." He slithers behind Tasha, and she can hear the sink (or bowl, it's hard to tell) filling with fluid.
The young woman wiggles a moment, getting comfortable, then closes her eyes. The hair washing may be her favorite part of having her hair done, along with the massage that follows. It's a lot like being petted and a nice bath all at once, without the indignity of either. She hopes this will be like that, and so closes her eyes.
Her head is tipped back, and her hair gathered up and put into the bowl. "Pleassse remain unmoving," the Serxes urges, and then.. he's doing something underneath the chair. There's more fluid sounds, and sloshing, and handling of her tail. It has to soak as well. By then, Tasha can feel the fluids crawling up her hair. There's far more motion than expected, considering the Naga isn't doing any of it.
It all makes the hybrid wonder if something like ProgMat or even nanites are being used. She's heard of nanites and other micromachines, but she's never seen them at work in any way she could really point to, other than ProgMat. She does assume the hair dresser knows what he's doing, so she does her best to remain still.
He seems to hover over her with some sort of spray-tool in hand, but from her perspective he's clearly watching her hair. "Pleasse do not hessitate to sspeak if your ssscalp or butt begin to itch," he notes.
Tasha resists a laugh, normally it's really something she'd take care of herself. She's come a long way. "Hokay," she agrees.
"Becausse I musst use the inhibitor ssspray to keep your hair from being eaten," the stylist explains, never once blinking as he stays on vigil.
"Eaten," Tasha repeats. It always seems to come down to food. "Well I don't want my hair eaten, so you can count on me." She even gives a thumbs up.
"It rarely happensss," Serxes assures. "Thesse are Confederate hair-spinners. So long asss they do not taste blood they are very good."
"I try to bleed as little as possible," the young woman assures the hair dresser.
"It's.. quite the sight," Yue comments. "I don't think you could get me to lay my head back into a bowl of.. maggots."
"Are you trying to ruin may day out?" Tasha reaches around, hoping to find something nearby she can throw. "I would like to relax this evening, I DO NOT WANT something else to worry about -- not even jokes!"
Soon the Naga starts returning Tasha's seat to the upright mode, very slowly. There are lots of spritzing sounds as he goes about it, occasionally dipping down below to deal with her tail.
With no further attempts at her sanity, Tasha settles back in and resumes thinking about exactly nothing at all. She lets her mind drift, simply enjoying the gentle spraying and the touch, without any greater consideration of what it may mean. She exists in a nice little pocket of comfortable self.
It's still several minutes before Tasha can notice that her hair feels heavier. "It isss quite tangled," the Naga explains, and goes to work with tiny combs. And probably some sort of magnifying gear. "It's colorless," Yue tells Tasha. "Transparent really. Which is an interesting look of its own. I suppose you want it to match your natural hair?"
"Would anyone notice if it were transparent? Wouldn't they step on it?" Tasha asks, resisting the urge to turn and peer at Yue questioningly. "I do want the light strands extended in to it, so the whole think lights up. Sparkles." Shiny hair, the envy of all Vartans.
"Transparent like glass, not see-through," Yue clarifies. "Fiber-optic hairs."
"If wish light, can leave those ssstrands transsparent and inssert nano-diodes," Serxes says.
"I bet Mel would like that. With the lights, they remind me of computers." Tasha thinks, pursing her muzzle. Does she want to look like a computer, a robot? It's not unappealing, but she decides it's not something she wants for today. "No, I think I'll just have it match my own hair. Maybe another time."
"I will procure the dye," Serxes says, and makes his way around a young Vykarin having its shell waxed and buffed. "You have to think of a style now," Yue comments. "You've got an extra half-meter I'd guess."
"But I don't know anything about styles, that's why I got Liza," Tasha tells Yue in a hushed not-exactly-a-whisper-voice. "Um, um. Braids? Maybe? Long and, um, braids. It'd be easier if I could see my dress, but it's not like I spend a lot of time on fashion out here, that's Katie and Liza."
"Luckily, I have my spy dress with me," Yue says. "It's sheer enough that it can fold down enough to fit in a pocket. I'd suggest something gold and sparkly for you though."
"I like gold and sparkily. Oh, and black. And red. Those are really the best colors," Tasha agrees, trying very hard to resist wagging her tail. "You can't have gold-on-gold though, can you? So my hair would ahve to rest on the black parts, and the gold would be for where it isn't. That makes sense, doesn't it?"
"Well, are you going for elegant, eye-catching or sexy?" Yue says. "You could do a dragon-belly dress.."
"And you'd need a backless one of course," the human points out.
"I don't feel like being sexy," Tasha admits with something of a sigh. "I'm just not in the mood. So, elegant, I guess? I do still need to look like the owner, but I don't want to be intimidating or tough looking either. I'm going to play politics or make deals, and I know that's how parties go, but I'm skipping it this time."
"So.. fancy up-do maybe?" Yue suggests, eyeing Tasha's hair. Serxes returns with the appropriate dye, and asks, "Do you wish the sssame color all the way, or different color at the end?"
"Maybe ... black streaks?" Tasha chances. The mysterious world of fashion is new to her, and she can't help but feel herself second guessing everything. And, why is everyone asking her for ideas? That's why she hired other people.
"That could work well with braiding," Yue agrees.
"Ssshiny black?" Serxes asks.
Tasha nods, but quickly stops herself in case something breaks. "I like that, braids and shiny black. Lets go with that."
"It will take two passssses," Serxes says, as he loads the dye canister into a small air-brush that looks like something Kem the artist would use. It must be a precision instrument though, since no protective gear is employed. Maybe the Naga just likes the hissing sound it makes as he spritzes the new hair.
"Hmmm.. what says 'explorer'... maybe a Viking braid?" Yue asks. "It's a big French braid in back, with two smaller ones in front that are swept back."
Tasha considers that. She doens't know what a Viking is, but then again she's become accustomed to the TerraGens talking about things she has no reference for. If Nora knew what one was, it didn't copy to her mind -- or else she forgot. Still, the braid itself sounds amazing. "I'll take one of those. That sounds like what I want." It does. Doesn't it?
"The Vikings were a bit like human Titanians in Terra's pre-industrial age," Yue explains.
"But they had fabulous hair!" the human adds.
"Ohhh. Were they taller? And did they actually have muscles?" Tasha doesn't turn her hed, but Yue can almost feel her height-assessing gaze. "Humans seem like the opposite of Titanians, sometimes."
"Ancient humans were very beefy," Yue says. "No easy living back then. Nearly constant warfare, crossing oceans in little wooden boats, fighting dragons.."
"That sounds, um, familiar." Very familiar; like home really. Tasha wonders how many old civilizations resembled Sinai. Her own research suggests Sinai's own cultures are in some way derived from old TerraGens ones, as the resemblace is uncanny. She can't know for sure, given the timetable and the lack of access to old Temple records, but it seems probable. "So then they got shorter with civilization?"
"No, taller," Yue claims. "Better access to protein came with better technology."
"Dragonss are important," Serxes claims, switching cartridges. "All great heroess and kingss and godss have to defeat dragonss to be taken ssseriously."
"Vikings carved the prows of their ships into dragon heads," Yue notes. "We really should do a survey of Titanian ships someday.."
"I know I had t- erm, uh. I mean I saw a holovid. About it. Once." Tasha scratches her nose, ears going back. She has met a lot of dragons, real, metaphyical, and metaphorical. She even got accused of becoming one once, but who doesn't love big piles of treasure? It seemed unfair, especially since she gave half of it away.
Serxes dips down to spray Tasha's tail, and while that sets he starts the braid. "Thisss iss very simple braid, but looksss impressive with long hair," he notes, as he weaves lengths of hair.
"I like that sort of thing," Tasha admits. If it's simple enough, maybe she could learn to do it. Vikings do sound like a style that would work for her, being both TerranGens-oriented, but also a bit Titanian. It wouldn't feel like betraying anyone, but rather supporting two of her allies through style. And supporting people through style sounds very Katherine Vesuvius, and how could that be wrong? "Can you copy the method for styling it to my datapad? I'd like to try it later."
"I know how to do it," Yue says. "My sister never cut her hair, and it was either braid it or inhale it."
"I can add a sssilver or illuminated ribbon into it if you like," the Naga says.
"You can't go wrong with more shiny pieces -- I'll take the ribbon." Tasha then lifts her hands and points two splayed fingers at Yue, indicating she's 'watching' her now even if she can't move her head. "I didn't know you had a sister. You met mine, are they anything alike?"
"My sister has three children and is expecting a grandchild," Yue says. "She is a chef. I do not think she is anything like anyone in our little sphere."
"We're kind of different, aren't we?" Tasha shrugs with her hands, as if to say what can you do? "My sister is an officer, athletic and smart. I think she's heroic, but don't tell her I said that. Sometimes she gets on my nerves, though. I punched her once, it was a huge mess. But, I like her."
"My sister and I fought often as children," Yue says, smiling at the memory it seems. "She nearly put my eye out with a stiletto-heeled shoe. I forget what we were fighting about.. it could have been stolen boyfriends or pizza toppings."
"Nora and I didn't meet until we were way older," Tasha notes, wonderign if the older Human might think her exagerating by refering to herself as 'way' older when she's only nineteen and some time travel hours. "So she was already deep in her career and I just started, but I looked up to her anyway, and I think because I did things she couldn't at the time I really got on her nerves. So, she can be vengeful, right? So she got ... what's the word ... passive aggressive. And she's a smartass. Then I punched her and stormed off the ship. I got confined to quarters and my permissions revoked for days."
"So.. I wonder about the clone challenge now," Yue says, still grinning. "If you met your exact duplicate, would you fight, or.. well.. the other option," she asks.
"You mean ... that. Well, I did consider it, and there was the fighting too of course. But, we decided it would make things too complicated, so we chose to be sisters instead." Tasha wrinkles her nose, still remembering Nora sitting in her lap after leaving the shower, twirling her hair. "I think she'd be a little abusive anyway," she admits a second later. "She's a alpha-type, and aggressive."
"And you're just so demure and passive," Yue notes. Serxes finishes the main braid, and comes around to the front to do the side ones. "It is frowned upon to devour your sssiblings," the Naga notes. Maybe he didn't get the innuendo of the options.
"She's bigger than me anyway, she'd be hard to get down," Tasha insists, then she grins. "And I'm demure and passive today, at least. Besides, I'm a lot better at dealing with abusive women than I used to be, you can't compare me now to then, I'm completely different! Thatw as like, forever ago."
"Yes, now you let a fluffy little bunny half your size boss you around," Yue notes, since Tasha can't really move right now.
Tasha does at least try grabbing with her cloest arm, but all she gets is air. "I'll have you know I hand-picked that fluffy bunny, she works for me. She does. It's all part of the service," she insists. "And she's nice to hug when I'm sad, Aaron isn't nice to hug when I'm sad."
"He is a bit hard, but that's not a bad thing for.. other things," Yue says and winks. "He's still fluffy aside from the scars, at least. But Hakeber is probably the fluffiest non-bunny."
Tucking and securing the side-braids to the main braid, so that they loop beneath Tasha's ears, Serxes dives down to work on her tail. Which has never been braided.
"I must agree completly. There's a reason I call her Hake-bear, after all. I still don't understand how so much smart can fit in such a tiny head. And did you see her with her little scarf? I saw her." Tasha smiles at the memory, turning her attention tailwards. "You know, I never braided my tail before. Wove things in it, yes, but not braided. That was a style more popular with others." And by others she means Rhians, but can't say so.
"Well, I have no idea how braiding a tail would work, to be honest," Yue admits. "I'm not going to peek either. It's taking some time though, that's for sure. So.. black and gold power-dress. Katie is being seen to by Miss Necessity. I haven't seen them really dressed up yet. What do think Hakeber and Lacci will wear? Neither are exactly the ball-gown sort."
"I'd be happy with just the scarf, but I can't expect Hake-bear to be sexy when I don't want to be. And, um, it'd probably cause a scene." Tasha does giggle at the idea, though. She clears her throat; back to seriousness. "Well, Katie is going to beat us all, because that's how Katie works. Did she know she used to do that before she joined the crew? She did. It was overwhelming. As for Hake, I really don't know. The Hake-bear I know isn't any better at this than I am, and I'm maybe better than she is because I have my bunny to help me. Lacci's so stiff I think she'll either go with her uniform or be horrible embarassed, like one or the other."
"She is a scholar though, and probably more informed about ancient religions and myths that most people in Galactic space," Yue notes. "She doesn't have to act sophisticated when she's smart. And this group seems particularly interested in creation myths and such. Just keep her from talking with her mouth full, drinking too much, or pinching Silent-Ones' butts."
"All done," Serxes announces, rising up from the floor and flexing his fingers.
Tasha wonders if 'she doesn't have to seem sophisticated when she's smart' is some sort of crack at her, but since she can't reach Yue and couldn't really get her even if she could, she lets it go. "Well, it's not like I don't have experience keeping her out of trouble. The la-" She pauses when Serxes announces completion, switching mental tracks. "Oh. Does that mean I can sit up then? All done?"
"Yesss, no dripss or tangles," the Naga claims. "Very little chance of hair getting into ears to strangle your brain. But we alssso sell ear-plugs.."
The Naga then gapes, and says, "I make a joke. We do not sell ear-plugs."
Tasha squints. She then reaches over and tries to pat the Naga on the snout. "You're a very interesting man-snake, Serxes. Very. Interesting." There's more patting. "So I can stand up?"
"Yess.. I saw you ssstand up before," the Naga assures.
"Yeesssss," Tasha enuci-hisses. She slides out of her chair and takes a little walk around, making a circle, then wanders towards a mirror display. "My head feels heavier, but I guess that's expected. Weird, though."
"We can add some helium to it later," Yue notes. Of course any salon is going to have a 'mirror' disk. Once she's on it, Tasha can see her own rotating hologram, letting her see her back. The braid is impressive, and looks like it could, with little effort, be weaponized. The black interwoven with the blonde, with a silver lattice seeming to hold it together, looks a little dangerous for some reason. Her tail is.. not like it's ever been. It isn't a single braid at all, but a forest of small ones, making her tail look feathered but still retaining a lot of its natural volume.
"I look amazing!" Tasha squeels in a particularly uncommon way. She even bounces on her hooves and clasps her hands together and against her chest, which of course makes the whole makeover shift and move. This seems to dazzle her, because she leans in when she really doesn't have to. "It's so nice! Why did I ever not do this before? It almost looks like ... industry? Or, a weapon, I guess? But I don't wnat to think about having to kill anyone tonight. Weapon hair isn't even real. Is it? Yue?"
"There is a tradition of it in some cultures, and who knows what the Confederates may have done with hair," the spy notes. "But almost any body part can be weaponized if you're creative about it."
"I'm pretty creative," Tasha insists. She bounces a little more, then flunces over to Yue's table where she swats Yue on the knee. "That was for teasing me! I'll wait here until you're done though."
"I'm too short for hair-styling," Yue notes, and brushes through her short hair. "However.. I will get a manicure and pedicure. Have you ever had that done?"
Tasha looks at her taloned hand. "Liza's done them, but she always says she wishes she had better files. I guess I should get one too, since Liza is off getting herself ready."
"Well, you can get them decorated too," Yue says, and flashes her nails. "It's a spy trick. You can encode secret messages in the artwork you get."
"Normally I'd ask about lasers or something, but today I want to be as far away from lasers and demons as possible." Tasha thus drops back down on to her chair. "Nails and hooves, please!"
"Do you wish to have them chromed?" Serxes asks. "That is very popular with Vartans. But I would suggest gold for your right-hand claws."
"Yes I would like them chromed," Tasha enthuses. She leans back and waggles her hooves. "I agree, gold and silver it is."
Tasha oops, net burp