Two Blonde Besties in Alderaan

[Mariya Fleischer]

She was a little concerned when Marina choked on the wine. Perhaps she had been pushing it? Luckily, her friend seemed to have recovered and even held up the glass for a second helping. She looked at the bottle in her hand, then moved her vision back to Marina's expression. A mix of nervousness, apprehension and yet determination. Mariya poured the glass again, this time filling it to half before taking the glass away. She was not a meanie. Asking her best friend to drink up the whole bottle was never something she would really do.

"That's enough," she gently brushed her friend's beautiful curls slightly and took a long drink herself, finishing the glass. "One for myself as well... to even the odds a little."

She hopped onto the chair next to her friend while the servants moved her half eaten plate over, together with her utensils. She passed the bottle to Gordon, who would dutifully seal back the wine for later consumption. Well, that would have to depend on the mood later. For now, the meal should really proceed without further interruptions. She decided to proceed with her soup, her free hand making a gesture of eating to urge her friend to carry on, who might be thinking of something dramatic again.

"Everything's fine now, Marina. You have paid for your little lie and I have paid for being a meanie. Let's just continue with the food. If you don't have the appetite, we can keep some for you to tuck in later when you feel like it."

A hand stretched out to her friend's shoulder, giving [member="Marina DeVoe"] a much needed shoulder rub to make her feel relaxed and reassured. Hopefully, there would be no more drama. At least till the end of today.

"So, still want to stay around for a few more days since there is no birthday party to attend?"

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Her friend's rendition of punishment was biased...especially for those whom she cared. Marina knew first hand what Mariya were capable of tho those whom deserved to be punished for anus crimes committed against the innocents. As thus, this were no real punishment, but a good lesson in humility without taking it over the line.

Marina had indeed not only replenished her second plate but again wiped it almost clean. She had never taken more than she consumed, despite her eyes being bigger than her stomach. Perhaps it were the fact she had never really experienced hunger till she had been out in the wild of space. But then, her upbringing superseded what later on she experienced. And more than once, it were with Mariya that they shared going hungry for some days.

With the servants under the guide of Gordon, they cleared all of the used plates and utensils, leaving behind fresh platter of sliced fruits and finger snacks. marina nodded and smiled a thank you to a refill of coffee. Somehow she weren't in the mood for tea...it just wouldn't go well with the Sovereign red she just had before. Besides, she needed a little perk, having had seconds...

"Seriously....you want another day or two of pulling your hair out with me?..here?" Marina could see her friend meant it and in her usual sense of humor was teasing.
But it were sincere...her friend's notion for them to spend a bit of time together, that is. And it stirred up the ol' Marina/ Mariya dialogues. But marina had put her friend through so much and for no good reasons other than being all of Marina's shortcomings and jumping into horrid conclusions. All unfounded of course, and if it had been someone else, unforgiving. But it were the two of them and even though they joked about being besties, it were beyond that. They could as well of been sisters, as they were that close.

Relaxing a moment following their brunch, Marina reached for one of the small stuffed pastries and sat back a moment, before remembering something.
Once more, her eyes drew on Mariya's, with a curious look to them.. They must have triggered her friend's spider senses or something for Mariya returned back a look, like ...'what now?'

But Marina paid no heed to that, she simply lifted up the table cloth and seemed to peer under the table.
"Oh... my...God..." She was heard followed by an amusing laughter before her head popped back up.

"I thought I caught that...but with all the fuss...OK, all my fuss...I had simply brushed over it, forgetting all about them-..." Marina was very amused and excited.

"Slippers?...you're wearing slippers?...Hahaha.... Oh my god. I never seen you in slippers before!" She laughed, before peering back under the table again to take another look.

"No, don't pull hide them away behind your chair....I think they are adorable!" Yes, Marina had never, ever seen slippers on Mariya...ever.
And yes, they were as she said, adorable...especially on someone who had once been battle hardened and known as the badest bounty hunter in the galaxy.

"Yea..now that clinches it... you just convinced me staying." Mariya got her answer. Well, her friend did invite and Marina did ask if she were up to a few days with her..so..yes, a few more days of craziness would do both of them good. Hopefully it would follow suit of their former time before duty and obligations had divided them.

"Besides...I still haven't toured the old vineyards in like..ever! Now I'd love to check out what you've done and plan to do..."
No doubt her friend would both enjoy and regret these upcoming few days. But that's what made them besties... One couldn't think of not having the other as their best friend. Wondrous things seemed to always await them...good or bad.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"What's the fuss with my slippers?"

Mariya laughed, looking down at the ones she was wearing. They were simply designed, saved for the white fluffy coat of fur covering her toes. Overall, it was still a conservative feminine look. She found them to be comfortable to wear and also for practical reasons. Walking around barefoot on freezing floors at night were not exactly fun, so the slippers saved the day. It seemed the habit had somewhat extended to her daily lifestyle.

"So the slippers convince you of staying? Guess I bought the right pair then," she smirked and nursed her cup of tea. [member="Marina DeVoe"] had only gotten half right with the vineyard tour. Sure, she would gladly do it with her. But there were other things they could do together. Things she would show to her friend later. For now, the sun was shining brightly and the workers were in the fields. She pressed lightly on the hololink on her wrist, spending a minute or two to ask her butler to get ready for a tour. She had already done the tour before, but it was also a chance for her to ask new questions about the wine making process.

"Let's do the long awaited tour then. The weather's kinda cool, so you should bring your coat along in case it turns bad. Ah, Gordon..."

Her butler walked in, with two sets of warm clothing ready for the tour participants to put on.

"You are more prepared than I have expected, thanks." She smiled and picked up a set, handling it over to her friend. "We'll change up and meet back here... in like five minutes."

***​

She came back down a few minutes later, dressed in a trench coat with a warm scarf around her neck. The trio was ready to begin as Gordon led the way, opening the backyard door. The sun shone through the entrance, giving the ladies a glimpse of the beautiful fields that Mariya would still marvel every time she saw it. She said nothing, but merely beamed in delight to let her eyes feast upon the lush greens.

"This way please," Gordon stepped through the door, bringing them on a well paved track that led to the fields. It took less a minute of casual strolling to reach the edge of the fields.

The trio stopped, letting Marina have a good look at the growing fruits hanging from the vines. This tour was for her, so it would follow her pace. Afterall, there was plenty of time to spare till dinner.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Ok...at first it weren't so bad and Marina figured to just grin and bare it. But after just a brisk walk out into the vineyards and under the valley's mid-afternoon sun-

God, she were like melting under the jacket. But she did as she had planned and bared it without complaining or questioning as to why, for it wasn't freezing. Ok, so it were a cool afternoon, even for the valley...but jackets?..and of all that was Holy, her friend was doming a scarf!. After all, how could she refuse her friend when she had been thoughtful enough to have Gordon fetch her a jacket?
Marina was from Northern Alderaan...more precisely, the Aeiden Mountain Range. Cold.
Aeiden providence was cold in Spring...bearable in summer, cold again in the fall... and if caught outside for too long a spell deathly COLD in the Winter.

Marina were baking in that jacket, while she observed her friend Mariya happily snuggled in near same temperate wear.
To the mountain girl (that would be Marina), this was Summer weather up in the mountains for her... a time of trecking through old mountain trails, passes, making across glacier runoffs... all in shorts and hiking boots.

Thank the gods though that the vineyards were beautiful and helped a great deal in taking her mind off being wrapped up in a portable sauna. But she figured that with having a second helping, that if anything, she'd only sweat those unwanted calories off and not have to explain to her grandfather as to why she had returned from her friend's estate looking like she had been starved to death.

Still...those grapes looked more than delicious...they were like candy to a child. They begged her take one...then two right off the vines.
"God, these are so good..." She said, reaching now for a small cluster.
Yes, Marina loved her grapes as much as she loved the Sovereigns. Only now she thought of what shame it was to send these crops to the press and then the fermentation caskets. The grapes were unbelievably sweet. Much sweeter than the ones the estate had shipped from the other vineyards.

"Marina...if you wish, I can have a basket prepared for you..." Gordon took a moment from explaining the harvest process and due time for these particular vine rows.

"Oh...oh my...yes, that would be great..." She replied, plucking another small cluster to plop into her mouth. "Thanks Gordon.." She smiled over to him.
Then in a quick little catching up shuffle, she caught up next to Mariya again... with some freshly picked grapes in hand.
It were only natural for marina to share with her friend and kindly elbowed Mariya to go ahead and take some off the cluster, she held ...not like she was going to bite her friend's finger off.

By now, Marina had a bead of sweat running down her forehead..slightly dampening her banks. But she wasn't going to fuss over that and have her friend think she didn't like her kind gesture of giving her a jacket to wear. At least she hadn't been given a matching scarf like the one Mariya was wearing. THAT..would have laid her flat like 20 minutes ago. besides..there was a slight breeze, that blew left..then west..then came around again. This was enough of a cooling factor in evaporating her perspiration to keep her from overheating. Again, she thanked the gods that she wasn't wrapped in a scarf.

"Mariya?..." She then directly asked. yes, it started out in a question.

"I'm not saying one thing or another... and please, believe me, I am so..so, happy that you are here now on Alderaan. But ...but why did you wait so long to tell me you were here?" She couldn't help it, as it had been bouncing around in her head since she realized that her friend couldn't have done all this overnight. Not an entire new year's worth of Sovereign. Like, minimally it took like 6 and more weeks to naturally ferment wine.
And of all the varieties... and lots of it..en entire season..last season's yield to put it in perspective.
For what she were now tasting was this years upcoming harvest.

"Look, I will ...*gestured zipping up her lips* ... if you tell me it's about Nunya." Ok, she had to pop another tasty grape into her mouth.

"It's just that I missed you so much and ..." She stopped... "...you don't know..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya was enjoying the cool weather, warm and smug in her jacket and scarf while taking a casual stroll in the fields. She took the opportunity to taste some of the grapes as well, enjoying the sweetness of the harvest. Things were definitely looking good. A new house in Alderaan, a new business and her best friend around to enjoy the scenery. What else she need to worry about? Probably nothing, except her own weight and whether she could still squeeze into her armour after all the days of eating.

"Hmm...?"

She paused, noticing [member="Marina DeVoe"] was actually sweating under the jacket. Alarmed, she walked over and unzipped the thick overall. She had forgotten that her friend was more used to the cold weather than she was. The last time they were on the moon, Marina was happy with her thin clothing while she wrapped herself under the blankets to stop shivering.

"Are you actually warm? If so, you don't need to keep mum about it. As for Alderaan..."

Emerald eyes glanced at her friend, wondering what was her brain was coming up with again. She ruffled her friend's hair, a sunny yellow blonde that felt different from her own but still well taken care of. She could even smell the shampoo that she had bought for the manor, surprising herself. She leaned in closer, cuddling her friend in a friendly hug that only best friends deserved. Her mouth whispered softly into Marina's ear in a grave tone so that no one could hear her.

"What I'm about to say... you have to promise to keep everything to yourself. Not even to your family, your dad or grandfather. Understand?"

This was important. Too important. Marina needed to promise not to blabber about it. Mariya was taking a risk to reveal her recent past but she knew her friend would keep her word.

"I actually had a run on a prison ship for a while. Then a strange organisation called the Collective did a prison break and I got out. But I had no credits, no communications, no help. I eventually found myself injured on a First Order medical station. A kind doctor from the Order, Aes'ona Terrani patched me up..."

She paused, taking a look around to see if anyone was eavesdropping. No one, saved for her butler who was discretely standing far away.

"The doctor even helped me escape and kept my identity a secret. But until I could establish a foothold for myself, there is no way I will risk contacting you. So I had to join the Collective. Not such what their agenda is, but..."

Mariya raised her eyebrow and tilted her head towards the vineyard.

"I mean, look at all this stuff. They paid me so well to buy all these. I would never be able to earn all these on my own without some powerful backing."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"I really don't...mind-..." She weren't fighting her on that one, as he jacket came off. Oh the cool breeze as gently as it caressed her felt like heaven . She could feel herself cooling off.
It were wonderful...but not as wonderful as her friend suddenly hugging her.
Then as Mariya's words called for her silence, marina's heart sank. What was it? Was her friend leaving Alderaan?... what secret could she be asked to keep from her own family?

Ohhh... Yea, the prison part.
Yep, that wouldn't go to well around the DeVoe dinner table at all. She immagined her father's dinner conversation with Mariya:
'So Miss Fleisher...how was your accommodations at the Big House?.
..Get plenty of fresh sheets and soft pillows to sleep on?..
I'm sure their bath house had plenty of hot water....'
Nope...that secret, Marina was certain she would take to her grave...and even after that...

But as Mariya continued on...why were Marina feeling ...rejoiced? Oh God, she was actually relieved.
Ok, first, shedding that jacket was a relief in itself...but no, that weren't it.
No.
No, Marina's current solemn look on the outside were quite different with what was churning up out of control on her inside.
She were so finding herself conflicted by it, that she didn't realize that she had dropped the grapes on the ground.

But that solemn look weren't because Mariya had somehow wound up in some detention center...nor were it the fact that she had somehow associated with those low lives..scum of the galaxy..scourge of all scourges...The Imperials.
The dirty rotten Imperials of all the scum!
No, it weren't even because of the vile No good Imperials that she were looking solemn. Marina was looking solemn because inside, she couldn't believe she was rejoicing of the fact that her best and closest friend had been incarcerated and had to dreadfully beyond her control be among those swine imperials.
And why did she find relief in discovering those facts?

Well, one must read this carefully; because her friend Mariya had no choice in not contacting her. The very fact that her most cherished friend had been detained in some dirty prison was way better than her friend not having the time or notion to have contacted her. And because of this conflicting feeling she were feeling, Marina felt horrible that she would rather hear of that reason than something which suggested Mariya just didn't want to contact her.

This was what was now bouncing about in Marina's mind and conscious. And she felt horrid about that...but still somehow and uncontrollably rejoicing of the fact that Mariya was forced to stay away, and it hadn't been by choice.

God, she so loved her best friend...so horribly.

This time, Marina took hold of her friend and squeezed her tight. No, she wouldn't tell her that she felt happy and sad at the same time for her winding up in jail and having to put up with those nasty Imperials.
"God....you don't know how horrid I feel..." She said, now her turn to whisper in her friend's ear, hugging her tighter.

..only that somehow she had the most beaming smile escape her, as Mariya couldn't see her while in that hug,. And thank God for physical limitations he gave mortals; otherwise Marina's smile could have run from one ear to the other.
Naturally she didn't hear of how the Imperial mentioned helped her..no. All she heard was that her friend couldn't ...and that wasn't like she didn't decide not to contact her sooner.

Ok..get a hold of yourself...deep breath. Good...Again.
Ok, another deep breath.....good. Now wipe that grin off your face Marina, cause you are a horrid friend for rejoicing of what your friend had gone through...and slowly pull away from Mariya and look sad.

Sadder!

Don't look into her eyes yet..look down....that's it...real sad...

With new found self control, she spoke...very carefully and praying to the gods that she don't break out in a happy dance.
"Sigh.... God...I'm really....gulp.... I can't believe it...
Yes. Yes, I'll keep it a secret.
I swear it..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"In short, everything's fine now. As long as you keep this between us. Sometimes I think I am more lucky than others, you know?"

Mariya rubbed gently on her friend's shoulders, letting the embrace last just a bit longer before breaking up. She had always thought of herself being a lucky girl. The tattoo on her inner right forearm was a reminder of her past in Nar Shaddaa. After that came military in the Republic, followed by a long stint with pirates and criminals. All these years of fighting and she had kept her limbs intact. Even the complex fracture on her left arm was operated by Aes'ona's skilful hands and recovered successful. The metallic rod which held her bones together proved little hindrance to her weapon handling.

Speaking of luck, someone else recently told her that luck was more than it seemed. A special relationship with Force sensitivity. It was something worth exploring in the future, but she got other more important things to worry about some space magic. Things like making sure [member="Marina DeVoe"] could see the rest of the vineyard.

"Let's go. Gordon, what's next?"

"I think Marina would be pleased to see how the wines are made."

"Indeed. All the Alderaan blood in her, hehe," Mariya laughed aloud and allowed her butler to lead them to the wine making area. Workers carefully put the different varieties of grapes into whirling machines to be crushed.

"Allow me to explain everything, if you wish," Gordon was clearly excited to share his wine knowledge with the two ladies, judging from the tone of his voice. Mariya happily obliged by nodding her head.

"Wonderful... how should I begin? Yes, let's start from the basics. As you know, we make red, emerald and white wines. Red and emerald wines come from red and emerald grapes obviously, getting their colours from the grape skins. White wines are peeled grapes and generally are destemmed before being crushed gently. For now, we are making the emerald ones."

He pointed to the squashed grapes sliding down the pipe into the pressing machines.

"Regardless of the variety, the crushed grapes will then be pressed for juices and be cooled down."

A few more steps into a separate room, where giant vats were stored. A large digital thermometer hung on the wall, indicating the current temperature ideal for fermentation.

"Here, see this tall vats? All the juices are kept here for fermentation. The trick to getting the best grade of wines is precision and careful calibration. Everything from the weight, the acidity of the grapes and the amount of yeast added are measured and taken into account for each harvest," he beamed proudly, waiting to see if the ladies had any queries.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

And thus, Marina coming to terms with her unorthodox feelings about rather hearing that her friend was detained against her will, than consciously avoid her, walked alongside her friend.
Yes, no doubt wine came from grapes and ladi ladi da...

" how should I begin? Yes, let's start from the basics. As you know, we make...

...red, emerald and white wines. Red and emerald wines come from red and emerald grapes obviously, getting their colours from the grape skins. White wines are peeled grapes and generally are ..

...destemmed before being crushed gently. For now, we are making the emerald ones."

...and so went Marina's attention span, as Gordon lead on.
It weren't that she didn't care or were interested. Sure she was. But not when it came from someone other than Mariya. She figured one day they'd finish off a bottle of red and maybe an emerald and she'd ask with full attention as her friend, who by then should have picked up on how her own wines were made would give her the entire rundown. That would be sweet, as it would be narrated by her bestie.

So as the muffled voice of Gordon seemed to come in and out like the ever changing winds, Marina's attention also wandered about...
the vineyards were a wonder...as it were rows upon rows of beautifully maintained vines...and with delicious grapes to be had...just by plucking one here...one purple one there... a yellow one here...simply delicious. It were a wonderful walk, especially down here in the valleys, as Marina had only conifers, ferns and other higher altitude greenaries...in the short summer months of Northern Alderaan.

So it were easy for her to just let her mind and olfactories take in all the low land scenery and aromas.

"Oh!"... Marina suddenly came to a stop.

"Oh wow.... this is....." She were lost for words as she stepped closer to the gardens from the row of vines that had led her there.

"...nice." She said as she took in the estate gardens that opened up to her.

"Mariya..why didn't you-" But there was no Mariya nor Gordon for that matter anywhere in sight. Ok, so the vines were just a tad higher than she, so she got on her tipsy toes trying to see them over the vines...nada.
She retraced a few steps into the vineyards, but neither of them were anywhere to be seen....not this row, nor the other three she peered down.

"Oh..shoot..." She Marina realized she had wandered off...missed a turn...maybe a few turns.

'Yea...nice work, Marina....very nice. Now what?...'
"Oh shut up!" She scolded herself, still standing there at the edge of the garden patio.
Yes, what now? How the hell could she have become separated from Mariya and Gordon? Marina couldn't begin to guess. She blamed herself for all of the troubles and craziness she brought on to her best friend here.
"God..she has to believe I'm nutzo..." She spoke to herself.

Well, what could she do? Go back, and check row after row for them? "Damn it... why do I do this?!"

Marina turned back around, looking out across the beautiful and ornate gardens...it were what grand estate were known for. And although her home on Mt Ceitril was where her heart was, she couldn't deny the lure of the lowland gardens.
And to boot, this was her friend's garden.
A smile graced her sunlit features as she now had no choice but to walk among her friend's beautiful garden. Maybe Mariya wouldn't realize she were missing...hopefully not till Mariya and Gordon got back to the chateau.
Speaking of chateau, Marina's eye then caught the masonry through one of the open hedge.
"Oh..thank God..." She had somehow wound back almost where they had taken the tour from...only these gardens had been hidden to the side by their own hedges that bordered it at places.

These gardens were actually the back courtyard of the chateau. She was somewhat relieved. Somewhat as there was no way she could explain wandering off like that... Lord, even Marina now was convinced she were truly crazy.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Thanks, Gordon. Marina, do you have..."

Her voice stopped when she looked to her right. Her friend had disappeared to somewhere again during the whole tour. Mariya rolled her eyes, wondering if she should go find her friend. She shot a glance at her butler, who seemed to know what she was asking immediately. He replied, "I actually saw Marina sneaking off towards the gardens, so let me send the gardeners to look for her."

"You did? That's good," she replied and took quick glance at the time of her hololink on her wrist. 4:03 pm, galactic standard calendar. There were at least a few hours left before dinner, so Mariya decided to plan something to increase her metabolism. "You know what? Why don't you prepare the gym equipment instead. An extra set of exercise attire as well. I'll go look for her myself."

"Certainly," Gordon bowed and left, executing his mistress's instructions with a precision that all butlers would pride themselves in. While that was happening, the owner of the chateau had went to the gardens and gathered her gardeners swiftly. The pruning of shrubs could wait while they began combing the hedges for the sign of a missing blonde.

"Marina! Where are you?"

It took a few minutes of hollering before the blonde found the other friend. She pulled a face and walked over, "Since you like exploring so much, why don't you join me at the gym?" The mischievous twinkle in her green eyes meant she would ignore all forms of miserable excuses that [member="Marina DeVoe"] would toss at her. The athletic blonde dragged her friend easily back into the chateau. A flight of stairs up into the gym room. Gordon was not around, but two sets of boxing gloves, a few kick pads and two similar exercise outfits were laid out neatly on the table.

"I figured that a workout would do both of us good. Lose some weight after all the days of eating. So put on your gloves and I'll teach you some moves."

The last time they went to the shooting range, Marina had misfired and nearly took out a nearby bird. Mariya deemed this to be a much safer activity.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

There she was, out of breath, pinned like a patch on a tapestry and about to get permanently sutured. What had possessed Marina to get herself in this particular predicament?

45 minutes earlier....

"The gym?...you got a gym built-..." But before she could finish, her friend took a good hold and hauled her back into the chateau.

"Wait...what are you talking about?.... come on where are going?" Her futile effort in averting the inevitable just wasn't taking. Her friend knew her too well and no amount of negotiating was going to get herself out of it. She knew what her friend meant. Marina had quite a few times been ringside so to speak watching her friend sparring.

It were always the same answer from Marina... no, no...not putting on those silly gloves...they don't even match... your Under Armor!
Of course the under armor was nothing more than a sports bra and spandex shorts. Not that Marina didn't wear the like. Sure she did, but when cross-country or mountain running. Of course, in Norther Alderaan, it was only in summer time.

Sure enough, adjacent to the main kitchen, closer to the rear stables, were what looked like an exercise room. Mariya released her as she went over to the sparring equipment, pointing out to marina that she'd be doming a set on.

"B...but I'm not dressed for-" Sure as she said it, a set of under armor landed on her features.
marina managed to save the sports bra from slipping to the floor...yes, her reflexes weren't exactly honed.
"Oh come on...you know really mean it..do you?"

Yes her friend did. The look Mariya shot her was undeniably serious. Marina was instructed to pick up the shorts off the floor and go change. "But-"
No buts..only Mariya's butt was seen as she disappeared to go change herself, leaving Marina there holding the sports bra and looking down on the short shorts she had to done on.

"FINE!...But don't go crying... after I whoop your butt!" She shouted, not certain if her friend caught that or not.
"Hehe... Oh this is crazy..." She then said, mostly to herself as she picked up the shorts she had let drop to the floor.

"Hmm... well what do you know, Under Armor brand...
Heh, and I thought they only called it that." She examined it, even putting it close to her jeans seeing the fit from outside. Certainly they looked much tinier, as they were of a spandex material for a good tight fit without too much shifting about.

"Ahem... Miss Marina.." Gordon was still standing near the gym entrance.

Marina turned to him, hoping he would suggest she make a run for it. But no. Gordon pointed her in the direction of a changing room on the other side of the gym.

"Thanks, Mr Gordon... I was about to change out here on the floor...but yea..." She started to drag herself over to the room. "...thanks. Hope you have a first aid kit handy...or some bandages...your mistress is going to get her butt laid out.." She spoke as she neared the changing room. "...laid out across the mat. yea...all over the mat..."
Her voice faded out as she closed the door behind her.

10 minutes later....
"BUSY!"...getting dressed in here!...." She shouted in reply to her friend calling her out.

10 minutes more...
"It's not my color you know... Yea, yea...give me a minute..."

10 long silent minutes more passed...

Marina stuck her head out to peer if -
"Damn it.. I thought you'd have left or something..."
Nope, her friend weren't going anywhere, it was her house.

Marina finally walked up next to Mariya.
"So where did you put the head gear and gloves?" Marina asked.

Obviously the sparring equipment were still exactly where her friend had pointed them out before. Mariya had not put her gear on because she were to help marina put on the gloves and head gear.
But at the moment when Mariya went ahead and played along, as it was an obvious Marina procrastination ploy-

Marina pounced on her friend and both went down on the mat. Marina's ploy was to pin her best friend down on the mat and have her give in.
Ahh, if such dream may come....
And then some dreams end so horribly wrong, that one wakes up knowing to call it a nightmare.
Sure, there was a slight tumble about as Marina tried to wrap her legs around her friend to flip her as she saw Mariya do so many times to others...but Marina quickly found out that seeing and doing were entirely two different things. Besides, she was not Mariya by a long shot. And what she had done was not very sportsman like. Ok, so they were women. But still, it had been a futile sneak attack....and failed.

Present moment before the death blow...

And so Marina found herself looking up like a helpless annoying little bug that was about to be squashed.

Mariya was poised to give Marina a nasty one...

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

For some reason, the training session became a tussle. Her friend had pounced on her, a sneaky attack that took her by surprise. She found herself landing on the floor swiftly from the impact, her friend trying to pin her down using the position on top. Mariya was on the bottom, a position that was disadvantageous. Her legs were pinned, making them useless to lift them up to form a guard position. All she could do was to put her arms up instinctively to protect her face.

However she still had several advantages to count on.

[member="Marina DeVoe"] was at least 10 centimeters shorter than her, which meant the mercenary had more reach, strength and power. Her friend was also doing some fancy move instead of trying to bully her into submission by pounding her face. Mariya bullied her way through by giving her friend a jab on the cheek using her elbow, buying her enough room to follow up with a few fake punches and scrambled backwards, legs kicking to stop Marina from coming closer.

"Not bad, girl... but you should have simply hit my face to make me submit," she smiled a little and slammed her friend down, this time taking the advantage of being on top. To prove her point, she lifted her fist up and swiftly rewarded Marina with a soft bloop on her nose. She followed up with some tickling on her friend's waist to make Marina squirm.

"See, all I need to do is to make you yield, hehe..."

Mariya giggled, clearly amused by her friend's unpredictable ethics. When was the last time she had so much fun and laughter? Quite a while ago. Every time she went on an assignment, she had to suit up, make herself into a tough cookie and take on the heat. The past few days were different, her little girlish behaviour brought out by her friend.

And that was Marina's gift. Bringing laughter to the mercenary.

"Alright, I'll be merciful and stop," her fingers stopped tickling as promised.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It had pretty much ended as quickly as she had charged.
Marina did all she could do to keep the advantage; after all, weren't it a surprise attack? But seriously, what did she expect? All her moves were from watching her friend on a few occasions sparring, and although Marina never participated, she certainly had observed and took to memory. She was of that nature; a good observer and learner. Just that she never honed that connection between mind, reflexes and muscle tone.

Mariya had indeed not expected it and she had been taken her by surprise...for all of say a few short breaths. After that it were a jab to Marina's exposed side, which made her switch gear from offensive to defensive and that resulted in getting herself all out of balance and in less than a handful of heart beats and strained breath; upsy turvy and flat on her back.

"Aheeek!..." Marina cried out when her nose got thumped...or was it squashed?...punched? She couldn't tell... only that it certainly felt it had been smashed, maybe for good. This threw her all off, or rather put in her place real quick. There she found herself, out of breath, broken nose...maybe, and starring at a mercenary with no mercy in her eyes.
Marina in shock, could only draw her breath in as Mariya drew up her arm in a clenched fist that was no doubt going to come down like a hammer on an anvil. Only Marina's frightened features were no anvil.
In that split moment as time slowed to a torturous expectation of having her face flattened...

"Ahhh...s...ssop...stop it!!" She found herself squirming. "No...n...nnnnno...ssop it...come on please.... Mariya"... begging for her friend to stop tickling her.

And her towering friend...or rather her friend who had her pinned down on the floor, was laughing hysterically.
Marina was absolutely out of breath and panting still, as she remained on her back. No, her friend wasn't going to plummet her fist into her face, she was commending her for that sneaky maneuver. She hadn't expected Marina to pull anything like that and quite frankly had learned a lesson too on never underestimating even a little baby lamb.

It took a few breaths to catch up before marina too started to laugh, but not without first putting her hands on her nose to see how bad she were bleeding. Although by now the little bump knock that Mariya had gifted her wasn't even tingling anymore. Sure enough, Marina's nose was fine.
"Shoot... I though you really hit it.." Marina lightly punched her friend in her abdomen. Yep.it were rock hard.
"Seriously?... " She tapped it again. " That's what they call a six pack, huh?" Yep, her friend was toned solid.

Her friend was laughing over the whole little skirmish still, finally deciding to release her and got up off her.
A helping hand extended down to Marina, who readily took it, and was soon pulled back up on her feet. Naturally she rechecked her nose again. Nope, her nose was still fine.
"Hehe.... hahahaha...." Marina could laugh now as hard as Mariya...still a bit winded though, but nothing worse for wear.

"Didn't think I remembered watching you spar did you?" Marina then said.
"Got the surprise jump/attack from you..." So it seemed that Marina although always declined to participate in Marina's sparring rounds when on Nar Shadda, she was observing and taking mental notes.

"Never got a chance to try it on anyone before...." She shrugged her shoulders. " ...figured..why not?" She chuckled. "Well, I knew if I got those gloves on, all I'd be is a punching bag.
I did hope I'd at least get you down for a full minute...hehe. Well, that dream was short lived.." She laughed her silly futile attempt at taking on Mariya Fleischer, the bounty hunter...mercenary...soldier.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"It was a good attempt. If you don't know, sometimes imitation is the best form of learning," Mariya said, glad to know her friend had somehow picked up something along the way. The original plan was to teach [member="Marina DeVoe"] a few basic lessons, but it ended up with groundwork. Mariya had learnt all about melee combat from the street brawls while growing up in Nar Shaddaa, but hardly find herself engaging enemies close up as she grew up. She preferred to stick with her rifle and pick people from afar, a much safer approach.

Boxing ended up becoming more of a gym workout. She had actually missed the gym for the past few days already and was more than ready to make up for it. Since her friend was in the gym together, she decided to ease her friend into her training regime. A regime that might make her friend sweat a little more than usual.

"Let's leave the gloves for another day. We'll just do some warm up and agility exercises," she walked over to the equipment rack tossed a skipping rope to Marina. "We'll skip for one minute continuously to get the hear rate up in any style you prefer," she said, demonstrating how to skip in the traditional two feet style for a few hops before switching over to the alternate leg version, also known as the boxer style.

"Then we will do agility ladder for one minute, which is this ladder on the floor using any variation you like," she pointed to the yellow stripes cut across two pieces of rope. She hopped into the first box with both feet and alternate each leg with subsequent jump to clear the ladder, hop scotch style. Then she did a tango, hopping in and out in a zig zag pattern to return to her starting position.

"Next, we will do push ups for a minute," she laid on the ground and did a few. "Then mountain climbers for a minute." Another demonstration. "Then finally we will do a plank for a minute."

She recovered from the plank position after the whole explanation, a little sweaty but feeling ready to go.

"We will just do two sets, with a small break in between. Looks easy right? Ten minutes but enough to burn all the calories for our lunch. Better than a long run, because we are doing high intensity interval training. Might even call it a day if we do it good."

The blonde decided to leave out the fact that HIIT was designed to be tiring. No point trying to discourage her friend from sticking through, right? She turned on the workout playlist, which began to blast the popular tune "Naturally" by Seline Gomeza.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQb_JzeWccQ&feature=youtu.be&t=40s[/media]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Marina was certainly no fighter, nor ever needed gym equipment to keep her form looking like it did. And despite eating two portions at brunch, she did have quite an active metabolism that burned quite a few calories pretty fast. Hense, she always had military MRE's in her backpack when off world exploring. She needed calories...and burning them was not exactly a problem for her.

But despite her fast metabolism, she were a mountain girl...or so the valley and hill people in this providence called the Northern Alderaani.
So she smiled a little, as actually she were keeping a huge grin abated, when her friend showed her a few exercise routines, that used equipment rather than actually going through the real motions and experience. Sure, she had gone to accompany Mariya on her exercise routines in the past, but they had been in populated areas..on Nar Shada and the likes. Then of course the notion of actually running and climbing as a girl in those parts of the galaxy kind of killed the outdoor motivation.

Marina watched her friend sweat out the demos, still keeping that huge grin inside.
Lord, she used to love watching Mariya at the gym then and still could watch her here now, all day.
But her friend wanted them to exercise together this time. And this time they weren't on a system that were mostly made up of less law abiding subjects...the Underworld. They were on Alderaan.
And Alderaan was full of countrysides, hills, mountains, streams and lakes galore.
And Mariya wanted to exercise indoors?

Marina watched the entire demo, yes-ing and nodding..hu-huh-ing and smiling lightly..holding back quite a grin.

Ok, she were not entirely certain, but maybe..just maybe her friend had spent a little bit of energy to maybe be down to Marina's own level.

"This is all well and good...for winter exercises when you just can't do anything but cross country ski and stuff...but it's not hailing out there, Mariya." She said, in a sort of taunting tone...were she challenging her friend? It certainly had that tone.
Marina knew it were now or never, as her friend's features revealed she knew Marina was up to something...and not in line with what she had laid out for them.
But before her friend could ask their age ol'WHAT NOW?...

"What say we play a little game of .." Marina suddenly gave a hard shove..."TAG!' ... to her friend, and took off like a bat out of hell-

Ahhk..." right smack into Gordon, when she turned and ran, knocking him and herself down on the mat.

"Sh....shoot...sorry, Gordon!." Marina managed to scramble to her feet and run out the gym and toward the courtyard where she had been found an hour before.

"...come on, bounty hunter..."She was shouting back as she ran. "Come tag this!" Had the gods just seen Marina point to her derriere as she sprinted off? If that weren't a call out to Mariya, to come and try to tag her, what was?

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Ooof..." Gordon went down onto the mat as the guest knocked him over. He looked at [member="Marina DeVoe"] who scampered away quickly after her apology, wondering if it was a good idea to run around in that skimpy exercise attire out in the chilling weather. He got up and retrieved the athletic windbreaker hanging on the coat rack to hand over to his mistress.

"Might wanna bring one for our guest," he took down a second jacket and looked at Mariya. "She is going to catch a cold, even if she is from the North."

"Oh..." the blonde slipped on her windbreaker and raised an eyebrow at Gordon. "Perhaps it would do her some good then. The sun is setting soon..." A smirk was written on her face as she declined the second jacket and ran out of the chateau doors, heading to the courtyard where the garden was.

She ran through the rows of greenery, trying to catch her friend.

"Just you wait, Marina!"

The chill picked up, blowing on her cheeks and hair while she increased her pace. Marina was ahead of her, taunting with each step. A few more steps in. She found herself looking at her friend who was standing just behind a row of hedges.

"Having fun in the gardens? This is definitely a good place to hide and seek."

Orange rays bathed the courtyard with a delicious rose orange, the sun slowly disappearing behind the peaks. The two blondes stood there, their golden hair fluttering in the wind and their rosy cheeks from the chill in the air. A perfect moment for a selfie.

"Wait... stop... It's selfie time!" she tapped on her hololink and activated the camera, making sure the two of them were in view. "Move your head over here, yup... that's right. 3, 2, 1, smile!"

A snappy sound of happiness from the camera shutter, capturing the hologrammable moment of the two friends.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

She was sprinting across the courts like a bat out of hell.
Only after a hundred meters did she chance giving her back a flash. But what was this?...no chase?
Marina stopped and looked around in the direction she had come from. No way Mariya could have gone the distance to try to flank her....that would be too much ground to cover. So...she wasn't going to run after her? That was disappointing...

"Gasp!...pant, pant, pant"
No, there she was!
Marina caught her friend hightailing it out of the chateau...in a raincoat?
Hell no..it was a windbreaker.

"Shoot!" Marina wasted no time in darting off, now knowing for certain the chance was on.

Imagery of that windbreaker flapping away gave marina even more assurance that her friend wasn't going to close in on her...not with that amount of wind resistance...hell no.

She resumed her sprint, pacing it so as not to over exert herself...after all she loved running and this was pretty much a flat run, until she made for the hills. but somehow or other Marina decided to play with her pursuer. She darted left...darted right...
quick left...right again...pretty much zig-zagging through the garden and raised hedges so as to put off her trail from being a straight line.
But the gods again must have been favoring her friend these past few days, as Marina couldn't shake her off. This went on and on and on till she reached...her second wind!
Then still keeping her friend at a good distance away, she kicked it up two notches. marina was certain, mariya who had already dropped a sweat in the gym with her machine demos and wind-sail she was wrapped in would have fallen to the side by now.
But wrong once more. That merc friend of hers wasn't giving up..no way, no how...actually she seemed to be gaining on her.

Marina tried giving it extra...just a tad...but that tad wasn't available, not at this stage.

Another left..then a right...a look back and ...
"Oh...frak....what's wrong with that woman?...." She spoke to herself as she now were running with what was on low reserves. Mariya was still a bit behind, but Marina could swear she was feeling her breath pressing down on her and it felt like a hell cat just about to pounce on her.

A futile left...another right...the hills were shortly up ahead. But unlike before where they were inviting to her in believing that Mariya would plainly give up, it were her who knew she couldn't make it up those hills.
One more look back and Marina found her friend just a few steps behind. All the past few minutes it were Mariya in pursuit that was taunting marina now.

Marina had no choice but to completely round a stone bordered hedgerow and try to keep the hedges between her and Mariya.
She was panting like she had just run 5 kilometers...only it were really 6 at full run. her heart thumped like a pod racer's engine and as overheated to boot, despite the drop in air temp as the sun decided it had seen enough of these two and was calling it a day.

"Wai... pant, pant....wait...hold up...pant, pant..." Marina bade her pursuer from jumping over the stone border and through the hedges.

"You gat...you....you got me....I give..." She surrendered, still maintaining herself upright. it had been a good run...6 kilometer at full speed...much more than she had anticipated, but even with that, her friend had not given up.

"Hehe...pant, pant...you look horrible..." Marina took in that Mariya was just as spent as she was. Both were red faced and drenching wet with perspiration.
Maybe if she had run a bit further...
Naw...Marina discarded that notion as if she had indeed gone another few meters, she'd be face down on the ground. She had run all she could and Mariya had caught up to her...that was that.

Both took some time to regain their breath and Mariya like most times wanted to capture a moment of their escapade.
A selfie of the besties on Alderaan this time...and their first hologram by the way on Alderaan too.

"You just don't know how to quit, don't you?" She laughed, pulling Mariya closer to her before the holo-vid started to record...

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"No... I don't know... how to quit," Mariya was sweating profusely. Marina's laughter was infectious as she joined in, laughing at the hololink which was snapping away holo photos every second or so. Multi shot capability. She posed for a few more candid shots, including one which she almost lost her balance due to Marina's sudden jump onto her. She recovered though, giving a quick tap on the screen to switch it to holo video mode. A gleeful wave at the lens to start off the hologram video on the right note.

"Look who I have here in my home. My bestie, [member="Marina DeVoe"]! Come on Marina, wave and say something!"

She pointed the lens to her friend, capturing whatever Marina shouted. Then she panned the lens at the beautiful gardens surrounding them. "And it's sunset now. So beautiful, isn't it? But I'm telling you, it's going to get cold soon."

The sun was setting in the distance quickly, so she did a quick take at the glowing ball of fire in the sky before it completely disappeared behind the mountains. "See that? Don't you wish to be in Alderaan forever? I do, because I love everything here. Don't you agree, Marina? Hehe, now let's sign off the video, shall we?"

The two blondes giggled and blew their kisses as the video ended.

"So, it's kinda getting late," the blonde looked at the sky which was rapidly darkening, mist forming out of her mouth. "I'm not sure if we should run back in this chilly weath-"

She was cut off by the sudden roar of engines from the distance. A hover speeder drew near, ridden by her favourite butler. "I was thinking both of you might want a lift," he smiled and let the two ladies hopped into the back seats. An extra windbreaker was lying there, presumably for Marina if she needed something warm. Was that a sly look on Gordon's face? She blinked, but her butler had turned his attention back to the steering wheel, speeding back towards the chateau.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"You had this constructed and never once used it?" It were difficult for Marina to understand at first as to why.

Sure, the fire-pit was indeed pristine and had not seen any fire when she and Mariya started loaded it up. Gordon had brought them enough dead wood to last them the night if they had an inkling on doing so. in a way, he had figured on it.

"So this is like the first time ever for it...like an initiation." She stood back a bit, watching over the new logs taking to the fire. The content smile on her lit features indicated the fire was getting rightly underway as she had hoped, just as the early evening light faded and the cold of night came to pass.
Marina rarely got a chance this time of year up on Mt Ceitril to burn outside, as the winds were much too severe for the fire pits normally reserved for summer outings would do little to provide enough warm from the cold.
But down here in the hill valleys of fertile Alderaan...it was perfect.

And what made it perfect was the company of two friends in the chilly air being warmed by the fire.
Marina put another few pieces in and the fire started to really ward off the nigh air.

She hopped back on the outdoor cushioned chair, which she had pulled righ up next to her friend's.
They two had gotten cleaned up and dressed, with Marina once more in comfy borrowed clothes from Mariya's closet.
This time, she had the opportunity to pick them out herself. Not that it would have mattered, but it were nice to rummage through her friend's closet and try this and that on.
Took quite some time to settle on what she was going to wear...turned out it was the first outfit she had tried on. But hey, it were fun nevertheless trying on a lot of neat and foreign apparel. At one point, she even donned on a flack vest. it had it's appeal, as it was custom tailored and did make her look somewhat like a merc...but the dull practical color of the tactical vest was what made her put it back.

"You're just teasing now...you didn't build this for us..." Did she?
Well then, why hadn't it been used before until now? Marina looked over to her friend, getting an even warmer feeling over the notion that Mariya had waited for her to use the fire-pit out in the court.

"Well... whatever the case..." eyes taking a quick shot to her friend. " It's awesome right now."

"Would the ladies care for some skewers...long fire-forks to cook over the fire ..or should I have the cook prepare something for you?" Came a friendly voice asking from the side.

"Oh, hello Gordon...skewers...yes!... " She quickly jumped at his suggestion. "...what can we cook...what do you have?...hot dogs.."

"We have hot dogs Marina, yes." Gordon replied. " I can bring them out here, along with buns, fixings and warm beverages."

"What do you say?..yes?" She eagerly nudged Mariya to agree.

"It'll be fun...like we used to..." Marina didn't realize she didn't need to convince her friend, as why else would Mariya have had a fire --pit built with a comfy couch outdoors like this?

"I really missed our camp-outs..."
Her friend knew Marina loved cooking over an open fire every chance she could. Again, not an everyday thing Marina could do on Mt Cetril.

Sure, House DeVoe had an indoor vented fire-pit in it's all season indoor garden... but it weren't really outdoor now was it? Nothing was better than cooking outdoors, as it had a limited season and then only when the winds weren't overwhelming. Even in summer the winds passed through the mountains like they were in a hurry.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I would have thought you wanted to use the BBQ pit, but I am guessing you find this to be more fun," Mariya laughed and merely agreed to the suggestion. She was clad in a new outfit, a comfortable hoodie that she had fallen in love with recently and was suitable for the cool weather. Marina was wearing something thinner as usual, thanks to her natural adaption to the weather. She whispered a few words into her butler's ears, who promptly ordered the chef to make his way to the backyard with his cooking utensils. It was obvious that Mariya wanted more than hot dogs, because the chef began to sizzle nerf meat and mixed vegetables onto the grill.

Mariya poked several items onto the skewer and rested it over the fire. Meanwhile, Gordon had put hot dogs and buns on a portable stand, along with a pot of hot cocoa that he served dutifully in mugs. With Marina around, it was a good time to try something different instead of wine every time.

"This is indeed awesome," she giggled and let Gordon serve her friend with the cosy warm beverage while she helped herself. A long drink. "Mmm hmmm... nothing beats hot chocolate in this cold weather."

The fire was going on well, with Gordon at the side to keep the flame going. It would take a while for the food to be ready.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if I should just quit my mercenary work and concentrate on building my business. Might not be a bad idea really..."

The blonde asked the question aloud, being serious for the moment. Perhaps [member="Marina DeVoe"] could give her some advice.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It were almost like their out in the wild camping trips...only with confty chairs and the option of opting to sleep in a cozy warm bed afterwards. But the cozy bed was far from Marina's mind, as she carefully roasted her hot dog over the hot ambers on the corner of the pit. Sure she could have gone with the choicer cuts of steaks, but she loved ruffing it, as all her life she had been somewhat sheltered up in that mountain outpost. Well, that is when she weren't hiking or mountain climbing ..skiing and snowboarding...and some pretty wild sled runs. But all in all, real camping hadn't presented itself to her until she met Mariya. Then it were roughing it in the wild, as her merc friend had often taken her on some good survival outings.

Out there in the wild, ruffing it with Mariya, Marina took to trying the local cuisines...land snails, small game and wild mushrooms, among the many survival food abundant out in the wild. One just had to know what was edible and what could kill you. Then of course, how to snare, trap and plainly hunt down your food.
Of course there were many days, she'd stay from trying the cuisines...but hunger eventually won her over and she quickly acquired a taste for wild game and such. her friend Mariya had taught her how to survive in the wild...or in essence, surviving behind enemy lines. That's what Mariya was honing, while Marina went along for the camp-out. But as it turned out, marina acquired a taste for the ruffing it outdoors.

Ok, so the hot dogs weren't ruffing it. But they were what Mariya would bring in reserve, just in case. Needless to say, even if game was abundant, it were the hot dogs to go first in marina's belly.
So here she were now in Alderaan, ruffing it as best an Alderaani could in a system that was far removed from systems like Nar Shadda and those of the Underworld.

"I never seen you mercking...mercineringly.?...sigh, whatever... so I don't know, Mariya." She answered keeping her hot dog turning so as not to char.

"If you don't like to do it....then no, don't do it." She shrugged. Marina never had gone with Mariya when she was contracted, so in reality she didn't know what really was the difference between bounty hunting and mercenary.
Again, she never accompanied her friend on a bounty hunt...only seen the end result of the criminals she brought to justice and got good credits for. To Marina, that seemed like a Win-Win deal, as baddies were brought to justice and the law/governments actually paid bounty hunters to do that.

"But I've seen you coming back from bounting....bounty hunting...whatever... and you were like...buffed!" She said, before making like a tough chick.

"Like yo, mo...don't be lookin diz waiz, cuz I frak yu up!..Huh!...hehe.." She always loved over dramatizing her friend's adrenaline rushes. And when Mariya was hyped. up like that, Marina herself knew enough to curb her silliness.

"Ooo...I think mine's done..." She blew on the sizzling hot dog looking it over.
"Oh yea...you gona taste so good in ma belly!" She chuckled, grabbing a bun and placing the dog inside it.

"Mustard, Marina?..."

"Uhmm.... OK yea, I'll gourmet it, Gordon...thank you." She extended her hot dog so that he could put a line of mustard on it.

Marina carefully took a first bite, being careful not to burn the roof of her mouth on the dog.
"Hmmm....Oh yea....Hmmmm....so...so, good...." She chewed her first bite. Marina then looked over to her friend a moment, thinking now why would she ask her if she should or not do something?

"Why are you asking?...looking to get domesticated?...Hehe..."
You met somebody, didn't you?" maybe that was it. her friend met a guy and was now rethinking her-
"Oh my god..you did, didn't you!.... come on you have got to tell me!
I'm going to be your Maid of Honor no matter anyway...so tell me. Who'd you meet? He's cute isn't he?" Her beaming smile, lit by the flickering flames was all full of wonder and happiness for her friend soon to maybe get married right here on Alderaan...