Dew-ality

[Antera]

The chiss was awake before her eyes opened, the increasingly familiar throb and pulse in her skull pulling her from slumber. Eyes squeezed tightly shut in dreadful anticipation, she fumbled her hand on the nightstand until she found her lamp. With a grunt, she thumbed the activation switch and eased herself upright. No sudden movements, that would only anger the growing headache even further.

"For feth's sake..." Antera muttered to herself, blearily glancing around her quarters aboard the Carcosa. A few empty bottles, they appeared to have multiplied since she'd last taken stock, but not the worst damage she'd seen to date.

She attempted to stand, realized it was not in her best interests just yet, and instead settled back into a seated position on the bed. She rubbed the back of her neck with her left hand, blinking and attempting to re-focus her vision on the nightstand. A glass of water was already set out for her. Had she been that prepared or...

Legion.

That was most likely the answer. She'd been drinking and her Sithspawn passenger had seen fit to try and take care of her. In the months following the death of Emperor Kahoshi and the scourging of the Inquisition, Antera had found herself adrift. Out of fear she'd be tracked by the vengeance seeking government of her homeworld, she'd fled Fringer space and make her way further and further along the Outer Rim, taking odd jobs here and there to build up what credits she could now that so many of the Inquisition assets had been seized.

Her stomach knotted, and she took a long, slow sip from the glass so thoughtfully left for her.

Whatever there had been before, was gone. Burned to ash and scattered across the galaxy. She found herself adrift, anchored to no homeworld or cause. There were no orders. No life but what she made for herself. At first the thought had terrified her. Then depressed her. Now, months later, she merely found herself hungover, but functional, most mornings.

She attempted to stand again, and found it much more manageable on a second try. She dressed herself and did what she could to quickly straighten up her appearance, before throwing on her terentatek hide duster.

She grabbed for the half-empty glass and quickly drank what was left of it, shaking her head in a futile attempt to chase the pulsing pressure away that only managed to make her vision swim for a moment. She walked to the galley and set the empty glass aside, frowning for a bit in thought.

Just where was that girl anyway?

 

[Legion]

Today the Sithspawn wasn't particularly hard to find since her peals of delighted, if hushed, laughter cut right into [member="Antera"]'s hungover ears. It was evident that she wasn't huddled around her bug collection or tucked away reading something as per usual, considering the unusual shuffling, gurgling, and otherwise downright weird sounds coming from the other end of the galley.

Upon hearing the Chiss's approach, Legion shot up like a guilty child attempting to hide an obvious misdeed. She offered a warm, disarming smile, her brows lifting at the sight of her only friend in the world.

Well, maybe just her first friend in the world, now...

"Ehm... h-hallo, Ms. Antera. How are you f-feeling?" she ventured, keeping her voice as soft and docile as possible. Her friend didn't seem to appreciate loud noises in the morning, even when those mornings arrived well into the middle of the day. "I l-left an extra blanket at the foot of your b-bed, if you need it."

Her hands clasped behind her back and she shuffled as a prominent snuffling sound emerged near her feet. The girl was quick to shift her stance, her cowled robe doing an excellent job of hiding whatever the source of the sound was - or so she thought, at least. Surely the other woman wouldn't notice.

 

[Antera]

Antera blinked. Strange, snorting, snuffling sounds were not normal on her ship. Nor was she particularly prone to auditory hallucination (she hoped). She leveled her red eyes at the Sithspawn girl, reaching up with right hand to lightly press and rub her index finger against her own temple.

"[member="Legion"]..." she started, before the snuffling started again. Her mouth remained open wordlessly for a moment. Then closed. Then opened once more, remaining silent for a few more seconds, "... is something behind you, Legion?"

Her lips pulled into a narrow frown. She had no idea what this was, but regardless this was certainly not the right time for it.

 

[Legion]

...Somehow she knew. Legion caught herself looking down at her legs, as if attempting to discern whether or not the dull brown material had suddenly turned invisible. Granted, her Chiss friend was quite intelligent and frighteningly capable, but she'd hoped the previous night's indulgences would persuade her senses to overlook the change in the galley.

"Ehm ... ah..." Legion stammered, her own reptilian-slitted eyes rolling upwards. She couldn't possibly tell Miss [member="Antera"] a lie ... and the defeated sigh confirmed it. "I... I-I found a dewback!"

The girl stepped away to reveal an olive-colored lizard, then crouched down to gently hug the beast. It was obviously little more than a hatchling considering that it was able to fit comfortably inside of the galley without crushing the two women.

"S-She was abandoned! I w-watched her all morning and she was c-crying but no other dewbacks came to help! Isn't she c-cute?"

The Sithspawn beamed up at Antera with hopeful eyes, the lizard turning its own large, wobbly eyes up to regard the blue woman as well. It could only be described as a calculated cuteness strike.

 

[Antera]

A dewback.

She'd had concerns about landing on Tatooine. The heat. The sand people. The chance of a freak sandstorm or attack by wildlife while out in the desert. The chance of criminal elements attempting to betray her or otherwise subvert their deal once she was out in the desert with them. But this...

A dewback.

"I... Legion..." she sighed, clenching her teeth for a moment as her head began to throb once again. She took a slow, deep breath, trying to find anything even remotely resembling her center.

I'm not even sure who I am anymore, how am I supposed to balance myself like that? a strangely sober voice in the back of her mind chastised her. She shook her head and instantly regretted it.

She paused the conversation to lean over the sink and refill her glass, trying not to spare too long of a glance at the sithspawn or the dewback. A few moments passed in awkward silence.

She downed half of the refilled glass before speaking again, "Look... I... appreciate that you were trying to help, Legion... but... well. Let's start simple. How were you planning to keep a dewback on the ship?"

 

[Legion]

Legion lowered her gaze, sensing Miss [member="Antera"]'s frustration. She hadn't meant to upset her and the girl was all too aware that she was already a burden on the smuggler. Not to mention the fact that there was the very real possibility that Legion's mother would, in all likelihood, track them both down and that would be a whole different kettle of rotten fish...

She shook her head, giving the dewback another affectionate squeeze, her eyes closing tightly at the thought that she'd been quite selfish in bringing the creature here. Certainly she was aware of the impending size (and likewise hefty expense) that the creature would grow to. It wasn't a logical decision.

But that was why mother kept putting her back into the tank, wasn't it?

"I-I ... I did not th-think it through. I am sorry. I c-could get a job!" she insisted, though she quickly fell silent, drawing comfort from hugging the dewback. That plan didn't sound too logical either.

The dewback stared up towards the Chiss before resuming her tasty tuber brunch, blissfully unaware of the awkward situation.

 

[Antera]

She could have chastised. She could have scolded. She could have simply explained. The last had been the most tempting thought, and in fact she nearly began to speak. Instead she stopped, lips parted and the tip of her tongue resting against her teeth.

Her head swam for a moment as she instead knelt down to Legion's level, falling to one knee and resting a forearm on the other. The leather hide of her coat creaked slightly, and she silently regarded the two of them.

It was a rather cute lizard.

She lifted a hand towards her chin, fingers opening and closing against her palm as she debated internally. The lizard grunted. Legion looked for all the world like she was about to be kicked.

Instead, the smuggler put her hand gently on the sithspawn's shoulder.

"You've got two months. You clean up after it and feed it. It stays in your bunkroom or the hold, and I don't want to see it elsewhere. When we make our return trip to the desert, we figure something else out. Got it?"

 

[Legion]

For all intents and purposes, Legion expected to be kicked, metaphorically if not literally. In fact, as [member="Antera"] reached out towards her, the girl involuntarily cringed in anticipation of the blow. She didn't move to avoid it, however. In the deepest part of her heart, she truly believed she deserved it.

And then ... it didn't come. Instead, her companion showed benevolence, mercy - alien concepts to the Sithspawn, even after these blissful months. Legion's face instantly brightened and she nodded so enthusiastically that her cowl bounced away from the top of her head, coming to rest against her back instead.

"Y-Yes Ms. Antera, I understand! I-I promise that I w-will not disappoint you!"

No sooner than the words were uttered did the girl lunge forward, hugging the Chiss's neck in a tight hug, accidentally displaying her hidden strength in the process. She intended to say more, but words failed her, replaced with giddily incoherent giggles.

 

[Antera]

Caught flatfooted (or, to be more accurate, kneeling awkwardly), Antera found she had few directions to go beyond down and backwards, and gravity was quite willing to accommodate. With an 'oof!' and grunt, she landed firmly on her rear as the young woman threw her arms around her. She blinked, vision continuing to swim with the sudden motion.

She was unmoving for half a second, the giggling horned girl quite unintentionally contributing to her ever expanding headache. After another deep breath, she reached her hand up and around to gently pat the sithspawn's back, just below her shoulder blades.

"It's fine, Legion... it's fine. Just see to the lizard, okay?" hug-related duties completed, at least in her own mind, she shifted her hands to Legion's shoulders and gave her a gentle, guiding push back.

 

[Legion]

The poor girl forgot herself in the joy of the moment, though when [member="Antera"] had reached her monthly hug limit, the Sithspawn immediately eased back away from her, instead offering a hand to help her up. She'd have to brew a kettle of apology tea later.

"I-I ... s-sorry. Sorry! I will! I th-think I will name her..." she glanced towards the dewback, her head tilting in contemplation. After several long moments she decided with a nod, "Mustikka!"

It just sounded right.

Her mind raced with all the supplies she needed to acquire in order to properly feed and care for her newly-acquired pet, though it didn't take long for her attention to shift back to her beleaguered Chiss friend. Legion's lips pursed as she regarded the other woman who had done so much for her and yet had seemed so listless these last few months.

"Is th-there anything I can do f-for you, Ms. Antera? To th-thank you or to l-lessen your burden?"

 

[Antera]

She accepted the offered hand and pulled herself back upright, putting her empty palm down against the galley counter to steady herself. She blinked again, and promptly downed the remaining contents of her glass.

"Mustikka, huh?" she quirked a brow, "Certainly a new one to me, but she's your lizard."

She turned and started towards the main hold, shaking her head softly and with far more care. She was already almost in the hallway when she replied, "Don't even worry yourself, Legion... you just make sure that dewback's going to be fine while we're traveling."

Her hands slipped into the pockets of her long coat, and she made her way to the ship's hold. Whether Somarae cared to do it or not, Antera had a job to fulfill.

At least by having Legion around, those jobs felt like they had a bit more purpose.