The Firestarter
Jonyna led them into the kitchen, a full set of utilities being ready for use, the Cathar grabbing a pain and seasonings out as she prepped for a meal. "Yeah, Dice. He's in the bridge. How do you like your steaks?"
Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos
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Private Cats in the Cradle
- Thread starter Jonyna Si
- Start date
Jonyna led them into the kitchen, a full set of utilities being ready for use, the Cathar grabbing a pain and seasonings out as she prepped for a meal. "Yeah, Dice. He's in the bridge. How do you like your steaks?"
Nemean Daughter~
Jonyna Si
Rayia sighed under her breath, and let the glass vial containing the sedative slip back into the pouch on her hip. She'll have time enough to worry about that later. While riled, the beast was still rousing from the calming, comforting presence Jonyna had presented. Eventually, however, she knew. She wasn't exempt from her troubles. She followed Jonyna into the kitchen and watched while the Cathar grabbed a pan, two steaks and some seasonings. Feeling as if she was imposing, Rayia stood awkwardly in the center of the kitchen crossing her arms in front of her. Her culture had raised her to assist in the preparation of food, lest she not pull her weight. Everyone in the tribe had to work together to survive the harsh savannahs after all. But on the other hand she wasn't sure she fully trusted this Cathar woman quite yet.
She had certainly been kind, but neither was this the first time others attempted to use kindness as a weapon. A few pirates and slave traders had tried to wheedle their way into currying favor with the tribe. They had dropped off a few supply crates of food under the guise of aid. The tribe discovered only after some of them had been taken that the food had been drugged. Rayia remembered those days vividly. Her mother, Nemea, had issued the first great hunt to be called since she had taken the throne. Her mother's fuse had grown ever shorter, and the young Felacatian had spent several days avoiding the nest so to speak while her mother strategized the culmination of the pirate's systematic assassinations.
She blinked as the Cathar asked her how she wanted her steak. Rayia contemplated the question as the silence stretched on. Finally, after a pregnant pause Rayia said, "I like it with just the barest hint of pink." However, just like with the water before, Rayia would not touch the steak when it was finished. Once again, she pushed it towards Jonyna, waiting for confirmation that it was safe before greedily snatching it up. "So, is Dice a good pilot? Will he be able to take us where we need to go?" Rayia asked, between bites of steaming, savory meat.
The Firestarter
Nemean Daughter~
Jonyna Si
Rayia hungrily devoured the steak and perked up as she felt the slight shift in the air as the windship began to warm up. The fur along her arms and nape began to idly rise and she scratched at it anxiously. 'I don't really have a way to test that.' She thought in response to the claim that Dice was the best pilot Jonyna had. She was also all too aware of the particular wording of that sentence considering her own lack of experiencing with piloting. She was beginning to realize that they were heavily relying on Dice to get them to their destination. 'If something should go wrong, no one will be able to steer.' A little voice in the back of her plagued her. The beast growled, and Rayia felt the fur on her arms grow slightly thicker...and sharper. The tawny orange fur seemed to glisten like metal under the light of the illumination panels. Rayia coughed and continued stroking her fur. 'Maybe if I'm lucky, she'll just think I'm cold,' she privately hoped.
The offer of a room to herself caused a strained smile. "I think that might be best. As I mentioned before, I do tend to get very... sick on long voyages. I would not... want to impose," Rayia said, eyes briefly flicking towards the pouch attached to her hip. It would also be useful in isolating herself when she took the sedative. She had no desire to let this kind Cathar see her curled up on the floor, straining to keep herself together while every fiber in her body screamed at her that she was in danger. That she was abandoning the physical world for the beyond and crossing the threshold in the form of hyperspace. It would be shameful, and counterproductive. How could she earn this hunt-sister's trust if she was but the slightest twitch from... 'Well, I don't actually know. I never remember anything when the beast is freed.' Rayia finished, before slowly standing up and waiting for Jonyna to direct her.
The Firestarter
"Alright. You can bring your steak with you if you want." She smiled, leading them down the hall from the kitchen into a long hallway, Jonyna pointing to the rooms on the right side. "All of those are open, save for the last one. That's mine. You can pick any of them and make yourself at home."
Her tone was pleasant and inviting, the calm tone of someone who had lived on this ship for years. She idly took a bite of steak, still speaking with her mouth full. "You'll haf your own bed and eferfing. It'sh pwetty gwoovy."
Tag:
Rayia Si
Nemean Daughter~
Jonyna Si
"Mmph." Rayia said, mouth still full of the delicious steak that the Cathar had prepared. In fact, if Jonyna hadn't revealed how prized the steaks were, she would have ravenously asked for a second or third. As it was, she contented herself with simply inhaling the meal that the Cathar had offered and turning her attention to the proffered rooms. Rayia padded along after Jonyna as she led them to a long hallway connected to the kitchen. Rayia couldn't resist the urge to poke her head into each one and check to see what was inside.
She'd never really been on a privately owned windship, as she didn't really like space travel. It made her violently ill, and other things besides. And so, she had never considered the fact that windships could be comfortable. The transports or other cargo vessels she hitched a ride on had all been very pragmatic and spartan. Not to mention the myriad of intermingling scents and sounds that reached her ears. They always felt sort of musty for whatever reason. So she appreciated seeing a different view. That engaging in a bit of wanderlust on ones own ship could be exciting, homely even.
Plus having a bed would make the next part easier. Much more comfortable to be sedated in some sort of cushioning than on a cold, metallic floor. Rayia had learned that lesson the hard way, and her back twinged sympathetically as she thought back to the long hours she had spent huddled up in the corner of the room shivering as her beast tried to fight off the effects of the sedative and lash out. She thought she could even taste it, her lips growing clammy with the very thought. Rayia could sense the scents of two people lingering strongly in the ship. The last one radiated a sweet warmth that clearly belonged to the Cathar beside her. Jonyna confirming her guess a moment later by telling her that it was hers. The other was a complete stranger, but suffice it to say the room was occupied even if the scent was old and the occupant not physically there.
Rayia decided to take the one next to Jonyna, throwing her small pouch onto the foot of the bed. "Thank you again. You have shown me such care as I have never received," she replied.
The Firestarter
"That's...kinda sad." Jonyna admitted, frowning at the thought. "Well, you're always welcome. The Reaper might sound like a scary name, but he's welcoming to all those who feel they need help. That's why I named him that."
The bedroom was quite quaint. A queen sized bed, across from it a small holovision, and a desk under it to give whomever used the bedroom somewhere to work. Off to the side, a private bathroom with walk in shower and sink, as well as a toilet off to the side.
Rayia Si
Nemean Daughter~
Jonyna Si
Rayia scratched her shoulder awkwardly as she heard the kind Cathar pity her. The pity stung. Hers were a proud people and to voice the admission had been hard for Rayia. 'Perhaps what stings more is that truth is a bitter pill to swallow,' Rayia thought, realizing just how true the admission was. Her sisters and mother had been loving perhaps, in their way, but not... kind. 'At least not in the same ways that this Cathar is,' Rayia thought again. To the tribe, great huntresses were expected to be protective, to pull one's own weight, to embody all the traits of Illuna and ensure a future for the tribe. They were kind in that way. Yet this was perhaps true empathy, all for someone suffering from a mental prickling... a headache of all things. Or at least that's what Rayia thought it was. It seemed to only happen in the presence of people.
Speaking of which, it had faded now that Rayia and Jonyna were isolated aboard the ship. Rayia couldn't say she was entirely fine; her newfound journey with the Cathar to hunt down the Luckless Lot had sparked new anxieties. But she did feel better than she had before when cowering within the throngs of people at the spaceport. The brief oxymoron of the ship's name did cause a curious flick of Rayia's ear. To name something welcoming to all in need of aid Reaper was a curious choice. But Rayia might understand better than most. It was the same reason the tribe venerated Illuna, now Great Goddess of the Hunt, as their patron deity of protection. It was a sort of promise to the future that they would always be safe.
Rayia let Jonyna guide her to the room, and cast her gaze about. She looked about ready to say something, but then her ears drooped. She had already embarrassed herself once today. To admit that this was more than even she had experienced during her time as a trade's guild apprentice in Vossport would have broken her. "Thank you once again Jonyna. I think I will lie down now. I was serious when I said that windships make me sick," Rayia said, before perking up once again and glancing around the room. "Is there still a way that I can talk to you in here if need be?" She asked.