Private To Seek Passage

[Artur (Γ013)]

He drained the last of his bowl, setting it in the dishwasher before following along behind Kalyn. The Ortolan pin-up was an...interesting aesthetic choice, to say the least. Diminutive blue elephantine creatures were strange enough, but this was something else. He reached up, trying to grasp at the edge of the poster, but it just smoothly proceeded into the hull. No noticeable, moving edge to be found, no seam between flimsi and durasteel. "How strange," he mused, glancing around the rest of the room.

Turning back towards the hyperdrive, and lifting a finger to point at it.

"That's not a normal hyperdrive casing." The unit inside might otherwise be a normal one, but the actual casing for the entire hyperdrive was overly large for what would be expected on a vessel of this size. Whether it was some sort of insanely modified, extremely fast hyperdrive, or something else...he couldn't really tell short of opening it up, and he didn't want to expose himself to any of that sort of radiation. "Would your integrated astromech know anything about that?"

Maybe this could prove the key to unlocking the secret of the ship's name.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Strange" she mirrored, with a nod of her own, "No clue who even wanted it up in the first place, frankly. But it's here, and apparently to stay. Maybe that's ole Hangry." She grinned a little, clearly finding the whole thing more amusing than spoopy.​

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What he said next however had her drawing her gaze toward him, "Well most of it's salvaged," she said, "I just figured they'd thrown together whatever they could to make it up, even if it wasn't a thousand percent, uh, legitimate."​

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He didn't seem quite so sure though. Suspicious, one might argue.​

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"Maybe. You can ask him if you want. Frankly all I know is the thing works."​

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A thin sheen of sweat had already begun to gather, the small mechanical room was warmer than the rest of the ship after all, so soon enough she was heading back out into the main body of the vessel. Another tap to the ceiling which lay just below where the astro was.​

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Further on and into the cockpit, she turned her head to see if he was following.​

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"Hey, uh, RQ," she said into the com-system, casually lounging in the Captain's seat, "What's the dealio with the hyperdrive, exactly? Why's it, y'know, so big?" She looked over to Artur as an idea came to mind. "Maybe there's just a backup in there too..?" Sometimes people did that, right? Put the two togehter. Wasn't exactly ideal, but still. This whole ship was janky, let's be real.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

A backup unit certainly didn't seem like enough to explain what was going on there. If anything, for a proper backup to be present the hyperdrive would have to be bigger than it was. But, the astromech's quickly rattled off answer over the comms answered his questions well enough. The eyebrow raised again without him even having to find a screen to try and translate the string of droidspeak.

"Did it say helldrive?"

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Scuse me, what?"​

​

That had her sitting upright in her seat. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and shook her head slowly. "You're fethin' with me, RQ. Those things ain't real, they're dumb spacer superstition. There certainly ain't such a thing in my damn engine room."​

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He beeped another response.​

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She slumped back in her seat and groaned.​

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"Great. Great. I'm gonna give that fethin' Ithorian a piece of my damn mind..." Just the thought of having such a machine on her ship gave her the heebie-jeebies. "Why the feth would I wanna go through the damn Nether?" More beeps.​

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She rolled her eyes.​

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"Faster? Fethin' impatient little... ugh."​

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Faster. ​

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Stupid excuse for a stupid thing.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

"At least we know why it's called the Hellbucket now?"

Through the Nether? What an odd concept. What if that was also why the Ortolan pin-up was in the engine room? The ship would essentially count as haunted, in that case. Minorly, but still. "So what was that you said earlier? You didn't want to turn the ship into literal Hell, and all that?" Not a very comforting idea, knowing that the ship just travelled through hell instead if given the chance. "The price we pay for innovation and celerity, it seems." Innovation far beyond the sensible.

Now he just had to wonder if this was why the ship was sold in the first place.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Yeah" she remarked, a bit of a faraway look in her eye and wrapped around the tone of her voice, "Would'a been nice to have a heads up like. But whatever." Maybe the Ithorian had displayed as much on the storefront, quite frankly she couldn't recall she'd just been mesmerized by the rest of it. The salvaging table, the yellow hull, the gluk... Perfect little ship for someone like her.​

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Oh welp.​

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Her gaze shifted across to him when he made what she took to be a sarcastic, yet funny comment. Sardonic? Whatever. She shook her head, though the faintest trace of a grin pulled at her lips. "Yeah, well, I meant your mug driftin' around this place, not literal Nether chit."​

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Well with the mystery well and truly solved, she shoved up from the seat and made to pass him by, headed back toward the lounge.​

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"Ain't a dealbreaker for ya, right?" she inquired. Not that she planned on using it, of course. Not that she even knew how to use it... The latter part was a bit unnerving, in truth. Note to self: don't press random buttons.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Constantly up and moving about, back and forth, never stopping for more than a moment. It was almost dizzying for poor Artur, watching the woman pace the limited space she had aboard the vessel so quickly. "I don't fancy a trip through Chaos, so if you do figure out how to activate that, I'd prefer you didn't. Otherwise, no, I'm fine with it." It definitely explained the mysteriously-unremovable Ortolan pin-up, though; there was nothing else that could explain just why it was impossible to even tear the thing. Evidently some ghost had a sense of humour.

If he was a ghost, though...

He shot a glance back at the captain as she retreated to the lounge. Thus far she'd proven quite animated. Awfully high energy. "No, I don't think I'd stick around for a haunting," he murmured, turning back around to face the stars instead. Even dead he doubted he'd be able to keep up without feeling like he had his head on a swivel. Easier to contemplate the galaxy before him, consider where he might end up next, what else awaited him. Good or bad, at least he'd finally be out of Sith space, at least once they were far enough past Jamineer's gravity well to jump to hyperspace. Should be any minute now.

He quickly passed a trained eye over the instrumentation and controls, looking for anything out of the ordinary. It didn't take much effort to find; a small switch, next to the handle that engaged the hyperdrive. It appeared to be in the off position. Hopefully it would remain such, although if the Helldrive truly could prove faster, then in the event that they needed to make a quick getaway, it would be useful to know how to activate it.

Misgivings about the arcane technology be damned.

After another moment or two of contemplation, he shook his head, turned, and made his own way back to the lounge.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Yeah, no, I don't plan on it" she stated, casting another somewhat worried glance toward the back of the ship where the hyperdrive lay. Helldrive... There was a helldrive onboard. It would definitely take her some time to get used to that. For a moment she wondered if there'd ever be a time she'd put it to use. Would she ever have the nerve to try it?​

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What did it even entail?​

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Maybe she'd speak more to her droid about it. When she didn't have guests...​

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Her eyes shifted back to him when he said he wouldn't stick around if he was to die here. "I'm sure that's what they all say" she replied, with a dry chuckle, " 'til they find themselves stuck." Okay so that wasn't a particularly nice thought now, was it? She shook her head.​

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"Bith, I wish I could drink at times like these," she muttered to herself, headed for the sofa before deciding against it and turning to lean against the salvaging table instead. Boy did she feel like she had ants in her pants right about now, more restless than she'd felt in a long time. Having someone there gawping at her as she paced certainly wasn't helping, was it?​

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And why was it so hot in here?​

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"I'm goin' for a shower" she stated, pushing away from the machine and rummaging through one of the cargo lockers for something a little cooler to wear. "There's a holoscreen over there if you're bored, some holobooks lyin' around too. Uh.. Yeah. Help yourself to whatever."​

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And just like that, full whirlwind mode, she was gone.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

He glanced with some mild alarm at her after she responded to what he'd said—rather quietly, or so he thought—although that, at least, she didn't seem to notice. Evidently his voice carried more than he thought. As he entered the main hold, however, she quickly buzzed around the room. To the sofa, then the workbench, then bent down rifling through one of the lockers. He turned his gaze away—it seemed impolite, it felt wrong to look while she ran through her clothes—before she straightened again, outlining some of the options for entertainment in the space, and then rapidly disappeared into the refresher.

He blinked in mild shock and surprise, and really only stirred from it as soon as he heard the shower start up. Sure enough, the space was his. He rapidly set about organizing the holobooks. He couldn't do much to clean up the entire space, not even knowing what went where, but he could at least keep the limited entertainment together. After having done so, he sat down on the sofa, and activated one of the holobooks.

A collection of fiction, none of which he was entirely familiar with, but none of the titles sounded appealing. Pass.

The next holobook was about being a starship mechanic, from small fighters all the way up to working on capital ships. Useful, but not something he was in the mood for.

The fourth book was a collection of philosophy. Uueg Tching's Sayings, The Fallacy of War, Principles of Power, The Paths to Power, Of Minds, Men, and Machines by Plaristes...he quickly clicked along on the display to The Fallacy of War, deciding that Romanthus's work seemed the most immediately interesting, and he'd still be engrossed in it by the time the captain returned from her shower.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Though the shower itself was admittedly rather fast - she was, if nothing else, rather efficient and had no real reason to linger beneath the water - Kalyn dawdled a little in the bathroom. One might assume she was fixing her makeup, or doing something with her hair, or countless other things, but truth be told she was just buying some time for the poor fool who had gotten wrapped up in the madness that had become her ship.​

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Helldrives, and limited space, and the dang heat, to make no mention of her boisterous and restless state, she had no doubts it was a lot to take in. And she really didn't want to have him hiding away in the cargo hold like some damn animal. So she busied herself in ways she usually neglected, cleansing her face, moisturizing, that sort of thing. Hey, a little self-care's never a bad thing especially for one who had become so used to having only her own company that she didn't even think about such things anymore.​

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Everything had fallen into a routine. At least Artur was shaking that up.​

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Tucking a swathe of hair behind her ear, and cleaning up a smudged bit of eyeliner, Kalyn finally stepped out of the refresher feeling a whole lot better. Tank top, light trousers which wicked away the heat, yep much better than the gear she'd been wearing planetside.​

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She dropped the dirty clothes into a hamper as she passed it by, and approached the locker with the rest of the stuff she had no use carrying while on her ship. Blaster, scramble key, the tools she'd taken up to fix the hull before resorting to the pit droids. It was like a burden had been lifted, and in response she smiled an easy smile and glanced his way.​

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"Watcha readin' there?" she inquired, tilting her head to get a good look at the 'spine'. "Nothin' too heavy, then" came her amused response, as she glanced around for somewhere to sit that wasn't directly beside him. She settled into a stool that lingered by the 'galley'. If she noticed his attempts at reorganizing she made no mention, likely because she hadn't really looked at the rest of the holobooks.​

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Figuring she might as well leave him to his reading, she didn't remain for long and instead approached her workbench which lay alongside the salvaging table. There were a couple of projects on the go, each of them small and lending themselves to precision work. It was quieter than running the machines though, in fact the one she turned her attention to just needed a little soldering. She took up her visor, and got to work.​

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They could exist together without having to constantly interact. Even in so small a space as this... Right?​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

"Philoso—" He glanced up as she cracked her joke after getting a glance at what he was reading. He'd always had a bit of a habit of getting too caught up in a book to notice some of what was going on around him; while that had been trained out of him to a fair extent, it really only applied when he worried he might be in danger. Captain Mara exiting the refresher and walking around him didn't register on the danger scale at all, so he hadn't exactly bothered to put his guard up any more than average.

No point being paranoid when she'd already shown she wasn't the sort to try and hurt him. The strictures of healthy caution had already been fulfilled.

However, what he hadn't been prepared for was the change in clothing. It certainly wasn't anything immodest, but as he looked at her walking from the stool to the table, catching a sudden view of her in profile, he couldn't help but notice how certain aspects of her form were accentuated by the fit. His eyes quickly dove back down to the holobook, as he hoped she wouldn't turn and look back at him. Trying to return his thoughts right back to Romanthus.

Everything else that had started to try and bounce around up in his head didn't bear thinking about; it would only cause more problems than he knew to deal with.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Philoso?" she teased, as he dropped the word mid sentence. Setting down the soldering iron, she lifted her visor and peered over her shoulder at him with a grin, "Oh, I've never heard of that one. Must be a 'book left behind by the previous owner." Well that wasn't much of a lie, there were still a few things Jerec Asyr had forgotten to take, after all, like that damned stuck-to-the-wall pinup, and some tools. Might be one of the holobooks too, she really wasn't paying that much attention.​

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Either way with her poor attempt at humour out of the way she was preparing to turn back to the project when she noticed how flustered he appeared. He'd stuck his nose back in the book though, so maybe he was just confused about some of the phrasing or something.​

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Her gaze lingered for a moment longer. "All good?" she heard herself asking him, before she could stop herself from being nosey. Her hand rose, fingers braced ready to tip down the visor once more if he didn't want to get into it. Or if it really was just his I'm trying to focus face.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Sithspit, she noticed. She noticed something at least.

He glanced back up over the holographic display, giving his most nonchalant shrug he could. "Nothing bad," he replied, before looking back to find the passage he was on.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Having no real reason to suspect that anything was amiss, Kalyn simply shrugged in response.​

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"Fair's fair" she said, pulling down the visor in the same breath and turning back to her soldering. There was just the faint sound of crackling as she made the few connections that needed repairing. ​

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After a few minutes though she was done with the first. Set it aside, ready to add it back to some remote that lay on an upper shelf above the workbench. She lowered down the soldering iron, setting it atop something that was heat resistant while it cooled, and then removed the visor entirely.​

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Swiveled around to face him, back against the bench.​

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He was still reading.​

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She still felt like she should have been interacting with him, though. Hopefully that feeling would fade once they got into their stride. "You ever been down the Corridor?" she asked, unable to keep herself from poking. Poor kid was probably regretting his choice in pilots.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

'Reading' was a bit of a generous term, at least regarding the first minute she'd been working. That time was more spent staring at a single passage over and over, spending effort to make himself truly focus on the words. Trying to get his thoughts to quit flitting back and forth like they'd been doing for a moment there. Not the easiest thing—certainly not considering who else came to mind with where some of those thoughts tried to go—but he managed it. Eventually.

By the time Kalyn turned back around, she'd see that Artur at least looked a bit more visibly relaxed, just before he glanced up again as she spoke. "No...no further than Jabiim, no," he answered, after a moment of thought. Long after the world had been claimed and the problems thought dealt with, the Sith had seen fit to send him and Sara to deal with one of the trade princes who had gone rogue. Evidently, he had been emboldened after the attack the Silver Jedi had launched from Jabiim to Voss, and started making trouble for a few years.

Trouble that was ended once he proved a bit too meddlesome to ignore.

His mood—which had seemed finally a bit relaxed, after their initial meeting and all the mess with the Helldrive—rapidly grew a bit downcast. "I...do not wish to impose, but..." He really didn't; he could already feel the urge to just bite down on his tongue and keep from speaking growing within him. Even a few years free didn't do make it any easier to actually ask for himself. "I should very much like not to visit Jabiim, or if you do need to land there, to remain on the ship. I'd be happy to clean, or organize, or do anything like that you ask, of course, but..."

But what? Nobody would recognize him anyways, even if he pulled on all of his armour. Sure, they'd at least recognize the appearance of the armour itself, which could prove troublesome, but there'd be no link to what he was sent to do. Just some other Sith-Imperial Commando who didn't get the memo that their government wasn't a galactic player anymore.

"...Well, I don't like the mud," he finished, a bit lamely. He probably didn't even need to give any explanation, the captain had been more than accommodating thus far, but the couldn't entirely help himself. Lying about his immediate thoughts was one thing, that was simple and easy, lying about his past felt oddly more difficult.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Been a while since I traveled it myself" she remarked, with a shrug, "Still, it's the closest route. At least, fastest to get you out of here without hitting Imperial space." Shrugging, she listened to the sheepishly made request which came next.​

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Poor bastard, she thought, he was paying for her service and he was still somehow acting as though he had no say in where they wound up. Just who had messed with him to make him so?​

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She pursed her lips against that thought, for a moment feeling as though her blood might boil at the injustice of it all. She'd been quiet and timid once herself, thanks to the likes of Luh and even her own mother whom they'd tried to have her follow in the footsteps of early on. Until she proved to be a late bloomer, at least. Meek and mild, at the whims of her employer, Tiiona's nature had left its mark on Kalyn for quite some time before Killian and Borsk saw fit to toughen her up.​

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She'd been fourteen then, still young and malleable; Artur looked to be on the cusp of his twenties... She didn't envy him the difficulty of such a recovery, if indeed he ever saw fit to try and fix that part of his nature. So many just dealt with it, for all the hindrance it brought.​

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"Jabiim, Jabiim," she muttered to herself instead, approaching a holoprojector that lay somewhere in the lounge through which she could observe star charts and the likes on a whim. It was a ways down the lane from them, one of the final spots before they'd hit Silver space. But it wasn't exactly isolated. "We can plan around it" she said, with a firmer set to her tone. Louder at least than the previous mutterings, "I'll just make sure we refuel at Lakonia so we're sure to avoid it. No problem at all, man."​

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Kalyn offered him an easy smile, and shut off the projector. She got the feeling the reason he gave wasn't exactly the real one, but it didn't matter to her. This was a job, and for the most part she wasn't the sort to ask too many questions. The less she knew, the better. It made it easier to claim ignorance later.​

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"Is there anywhere else you want me to avoid?"​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

That had proved somewhat easier than expected. He gave her a thankful nod in response to the smile, before her next question gave him some pause. They were headed away from where he most wanted to avoid; however, it would be right into Silver Jedi territory, most of whom were about as likely as the Ashlan Crusade to give him any opportunity to speak before trying to cut him down, as far as he knew. Not ideal, but at least Jedi were still rare, and the general populace was likely far less fervent.

Beyond that, it would prove nearly impossible to avoid Silver territory while still being able to travel in any sort of timely manner, and even the attempt would run the risk of bringing them afoul of Mandalorians. That was even further from ideal. "No, other than that, this direction is the best for me to travel," he said, slightly more confidently than before. "Even with them mostly gone, Sith-Imperial space still isn't a very good place to be. I'll be happy to have put their like far behind me."

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"You an' me both, buddy" she replied when he talked of wanting to keep Imperial space at his back. Though she largely went where she pleased and took whatever jobs were afforded to her, Kalyn would've been lying if she tried to claim she didn't pick around old Sith holdings and leave them untouched. Too many memories for her, too much bad blood.​

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Mere thought of it left a bad taste in her mouth.​

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Not to mention the bounty she'd received just for fleeing it. Damn bastards didn't even get me on a good reason she dredged through her thoughts, outwardly shaking her head to try and dismiss it. She couldn't hold on to such grudges forever, of course, and if it ever really got to the point in time where it was either take a job there or else run out of fuel and starve she'd obviously do it but...​

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Yeah.​

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No.​

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This way was best.​

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"You want a drink? I'm gonna make a drink." Even thinking about it was making her frustrated, though it didn't help that she was beginning to click together pieces of the puzzle that was Artur. Were those prissy Imperials responsible for Artur's timidity? Her eyes narrowed at the caf pot as she set the machine to brew them something hot. If he didn't drink it, well she would.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

A new dilemma for Artur: Would it be rude to refuse?

He rarely drank caf, normally he just stuck to water. Or, at most, water with some sort of electrolyte mix added in, or fruit juices on the rare opportunity he'd ever gotten to have something like that. Caf hadn't been explicitly denied them, of course, he knew others drank it, but...almost never him. It almost surprised him to think of how he'd held so firm to the same restrictions that he'd been forced to live under even after having been free for a couple years, though; with that in mind, and wanting to avoid looking rude...

"Sure," came his one-word reply. He honestly couln't even remember the last time he'd bothered to have caf. Wasn't it bitter?

...Maybe that was why he never drank it. No time like the present to figure out to really solidify the memory, though.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"I'm gonna have some caf', but there's some other chit in the cupboard too. I forget what, mind you..." While the water boiled inside the maker, Kalyn reached up and began to rummage through, leaning up onto her tiptoes in order to get to the top shelf where more of the less used items were stored. "Uh... Some sort of tea, no clue if it's flavoured though, don't know where the box went. Cocoa, too..."​

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Dropping back to her feet, she frowned. "Damnit, now I want hot cocoa."​

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Still she'd already begun to make the caf' so she'd may as well put it to good use. She reached into the lower cabinet to pull out two mugs, then turned her head to look at him. "So what'll it be?" she asked, the machine beeping soon after. She poured herself some of the caf', mixing in some sugar and some sort of milk product soon after.​

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She didn't really drink it for the flavour, so she'd typically dress it up until it wasn't so bleh.​

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Artur (Γ013) ​