Anything But Routine

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The Cizerack officer gratefully accepted her ale, and taking a moment to sip at the strange libation (much more unusual than the local offerings she was accustomed to), she licked a trace of persistent foam off her upper lip and fell into an even expression at Dage's prognosis of her career path.

"jYou make jit ssound ljike a funerral, Arr Dage. jI have morre than the ejyess of the Admjirraltjy on me herre, but all of ourr Alljiance. Ssometjimess the path to ssuccesss jiss not the path we envjissjion. Arren't jyou ambjitjiouss?"

[Q. Samus Dage]

"I've had my fill of ambition for the time being," came the somewhat level answer, suddenly devoid of the humor that had laced his tone before, "... not to mention the men that have more than they ought to."

Taking up his ale, he brought the glass to his lips for a long pull. It was wonderful, and he could taste each layer of flavor that came and went over the top of his tongue. He swallowed, held his breath for a brief second, then let it out in exhaled troubles as his glass was returned to the table. It was refreshing, and gave him a momentary taste of normality.

It wasn't a moment later though, that he smiled, returning to his good spirits.

"But, Jovan doesn't seem all that bad; I can certainly think of worse places to be stationed."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"A fjingerr on the pulsse of the Hjydjian Wajy, not to mentjion at the nexus between the Alljiance and the Empjirre. Harrdljy a forrlorrn ssectorr of the galaxjy to ssajy the leasst."

T'yeellaa leaned back in her seat slightly, eyeing the unusually strong lacing the ale left on the rim of her glass.

"Sso, no ambjitjion forr jyou then? jYou'rre the executjive offjicerr of Loklorrjien ss'jIlancjy, who neverr fjindss herrsself farr frrom actjion. Then jyou fjind the tjip of the sspearr to be a comforrtable place to rressjide?"

Nevermind Manaan, T'yeellaa knew there were even greater stakes Dage's ship had dealt in. They'd helped to put down a dangerous insurgency amid the formative Alliance's ranks above the Jedi sanctuary world.

[Q. Samus Dage]

"It's a place I've been for a very long time."

Leaning back in the booth seat, Dage fixed her with a knowing look.

"Just because I've no intentions to move on right now doesn't mean I won't in the future. I've got a fair amount of miles put down from where I started out, and I've lost a lot of good friends along the way. I'm not about to settle, gods know I'm not that old yet," he gave her a wink, "... but I'm old enough to know when to stay put for the time being."

A small laugh, and his eyes closed as he shook his head, taking another level off of his drink.

"And Captain s'Ilancy just has bad luck I s'ppose. She certainly doesn't go out looking for fights to pick. We all did enough instigating in the old days to get sick of it."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Sso jI keep hearrjing. It'ss eassjy to hearr of thrrjilljing explojitss frrom the Alljiance."

The K'ohta'rrou clinked claw tips against her glass, drumming them slightly before she lifted the beer to drink once more.

"We prrovjicjialss arre plajyjing catch-up. Hopefulljy the lack of open confljict doess not borre jyou."

[Q. Samus Dage]

"On the contrary, it's a delightful bit of a refreshing break from the norm."

Again he smiled, but it wasn't long before he took her attentions to a much more pressing issue.

"If you haven't figured out what you want, I'd suggest you do it soon. I'd also suggest the Bindreg Hills style grass snake skewers. Nothing like 'em."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"jI...deferr to the authorrjitjy."

T'yeellaa gestured at the menu flippantly. It was clear she wasn't about to make up from down of any of it.

"Parrt of mjy tassk herre jiss to sserrve as Commanderr Akjiena'ss ljiasson, sso thjiss jiss an opporrtunjitjy to ssee how the otherr ssjide ljivess."

That being said, T'yeellaa recalled from her mother's missives her little misadventure on Ando, and she flicked an ear.

"jI trrusst jyou not to pojisson me, Dage. jYou have a grreat rressponssjibjiljitjy."

[Q. Samus Dage]

"Call me Samus."

He grinned, but it was easy to see that the trust she'd placed in him was taken seriously, and after another moment of looking through the menu, he gave a nod.

"Grass snake skewers it is, then."

And as if he'd heard, their server returned to stand over them, his notepad in hand. "You guys figure everything out then?"

Dage nodded while collecting the menus.

"I'll have the smoked shaak plate, and the lady here will have the skewers."

The man nodded. "Good choices," came the normal conversational fair as he took the menus, gave a quick smile, and was gone once more.

Left alone again - more or less - Dage made himself comfortable in his seat.

"And how is the good Commander Akiena taking everything here? Behaving himself, I hope?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

And just like that, first name basis. The K'ohta'rrou's ears perked as she finished another sip. Samus. Awfully close to Sanis to the unaccustomed ear.

"T'yeellaa."

He asked about Commander Akiena, and T'yeellaa mildly rolled her eyes.

"jYou sseem to be qujite famjiljiarr wjith the Commanderr, sso jI'll asssume hjiss sstrrange maverrjick bent jiss norrmal behavjiorr. Let'ss jusst ssajy jit'ss been exhausstjing plajyjing catch-up to hjim."

[Q. Samus Dage]

At that, Dage let out a laugh.

"Maverick? Well, that's the first time I've ever heard anyone call him that."

Reaching for his glass, he took another drink.

"Me an' Kori used to always just call him 'Squirt'." There was a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, and he seemed to stare over T'yeellaa's shoulder to some invisible spot on the far wall.

"He's a good guy though; you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone better." His eyes returned to her then. "But, he plays a mean game of Sabacc. Never could beat 'im."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Ssqujirrt?"

Raising an eyebrow, T'yeellaa wondered if explanation would be forthcoming. A highly unusual name to say the least.

"The gambljing jI can attesst to, at leasst. Not sso much at ssabbacc fjirrsst hand, jI do not gamble. But he cerrtajinljy djid sso when the Empjirre prrobed ourr defenssess not long afterr we arrjived herre."

Recalling the event led to a series of quick tail jerks, and T'yeellaa shook her head.

"jI asssume thjiss jiss a trrajit manjy of the old guarrd jin the Alljiance ssharre."

[Q. Samus Dage]

There was no real need to answer that, and Dage only settled for giving her a knowing look from over the rim of his glass. There was more small talk, mostly inconsequential tidbits about this that and the other, and another small bit of time passed before their server arrived carrying two plates. One, with a pile of shredded shaak on a bed of grated tubers and boiled greens, was set in front of Dage. The other, containing five skewers with healthy-sized chunks of seared grass snake drizzled with a garlic and butter sauce and fried karo, was placed before T'yeellaa.

A word of thanks, and the two were left to their meals.

Like a man possessed, Dage took up his fork, at least mindful enough to drop his napkin into his lap before tucking in with ravenous abandon. He chewed the first forkful of shaak, eyes closing as he swallowed.

"Now this is food."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Compljicated forrda."

T'yeellaa spent an unusual amount of time inspecting the dish in front of her. She knew what a snake was, but what was arrayed before her looked like nothing she'd seen before. A cursory sniff of the dish did little to assure her, and the K'ohta'rrou flicked her blue eyes back up at Dage hesitantly before inspecting the instruments of dissection arrayed to her right. Studying Dage's form, T'yeellaa also spread out the serviette across her lap before clumsily handling the fork in front of her.

By the time she'd committed to the task, it seemed Dage was nearly a quarter of the way through his assorted slop. She watched the method used, and applied it to her own dish. The first sliver of snake on the skewer did not easily relent to prodding. It seemed somewhat stuck. Considering that she might cause a breach in etiquette in simply removing the meat parcels with her teeth, T'yeellaa raised the skewer up in an attempt to dislodge a bite with the tines of the fork which slid around the middle of the skewer. She pressed against it, but again it did not relent. Pressing her pink tongue through her lips in concentration, she tried a little more pressure...

...which freed the bite of snake, sending it flying through the air. Horrified, T'yeellaa promptly put down both fork and skewer alike, and quickly drank from her beer and pretended not to notice.

[Q. Samus Dage]

He'd caught sight of her attempts to free one of the bits of snake from the skewer, and watching quietly as he continued to eat, Dage couldn't help the sly grin that began to form on his lips as she continued to be stymied by the stubborn bit of meat. It all culminated in a rather expected display of flying food, and at her immediate reaction to simply set down the fork and skewer and bury herself in her drink.

He laughed, rocking back a little bit in his seat before leaning forward to reach across the table, and with his off hand grasped a skewer.

"Let me help you," the grin remained.

A little bit of careful negotiating, and he'd managed to slide each chunk down onto her plate.Now empty, the skewer was placed on the outer edge of her plate.

"Course," pulling back away, he returned to his own food, "You could always just use your teeth; it's usually easier that way as it is."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

She rolled her eyes, knowing he'd let her make an ass out of herself. Setting aside the fork for good, the K'ohta'rrou resumed her meal, this time with the proper use of hands and teeth. A morsel of snake disappeared past her lips, and T'yeellaa chewed carefully, not exactly sure what to make of the Corellian delicacy. It tasted better than it smelled, though now she distinctly worried about the state of her breath after finishing the plate.

"Harrdljy tasstess ljike ssnake at all." T'yeellaa muttered dismissively, even as another bite angled up to her mouth.

[Q. Samus Dage]

He didn't really say anything to that, instead favoring her with another grin as he continued to wolf down his own meal. Even if it wasn't fancy, it still reminded him of easier times, and Dage welcomed it with gusto. Taking up his drink, he finished it in one last, long pull.

"To be fair, when was the last time you had a snake that was cooked?"

Another bite, and he took up a forkful of his smoked shaak, depositing the small pile onto her plate.

"There, try that... " a moment of thought, and he followed it with a small dollop of red sauce on the side.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"jIt'ss a dajy of fjirrsstss, Ssamuss."

T'yeellaa held up another piece of snake for appraisal as her eyes drifted past it to her human companion. She dispatched it more casually this time, prepared for the unusual.

"Perrhapss next tjime jI can acquajint jyou wjith the ssubtletjiess of enjojyjing jit when jit'ss sstjill movjing. Perrhapss even tiia'haa'ko jif jyou'rre morre adventurrouss than Commanderr Akjiena."

The K'ohta'rrou eyed the offered portion Dage eased onto her plate with renewed suspicion, which melted away into bravado. For this, she again took up the alien utensil, carefully prodding the shaak through the sauce. It looked like semi-clotted blood, and smelled nothing of the sort. The smell was strong and acrid, and the Cizerack could feel her eyes starting to water at it. Her resolve wavered.

"Thjiss ssmellss djirrtjy."

No, not dirt. Ash. Like it had been rolling in something burned. Even through whatever pungency of the sauce, the meat reeked of soot. T'yeellaa's face reflected her resistant disgust.

[Q. Samus Dage]

"It's the smoke," he assured her. "No dirt, just a good long time spent in a closed bin with probably some Corellian riverbirch tree chips."

He watched her, his own features intensely curious at the sight of her bravado and subsequent distaste at the scents she was picking up.

He scooped up another bit onto his fork, slid it through the sauce, and lifted it up to his mouth.

"You'll like it," he reassured before putting his own forkful into his mouth.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

As repellant as it smelled, T'yeellaa wasn't about to be undone by the bizarre forrda, and she guided the forkful to her mouth. The texture of whatever she was eating fell apart, requiring almost no chewing. There was an assault of too many flavors to quantify, and as she negotiated it, T'yeellaa's eyes watered in earnest. Her ears flicked as she closed her eyes, trying to get the mouthful down before her instinct to spit it out overtook her. The K'ohta'rrou dropped her fork to her plate with a clatter, and with a mighty effort, she at last swallowed, reaching immediately for the beer which she drained promptly to rid herself of the taste.

The beer was quaffed down quickly, and T'yeellaa wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then wiped that on the serviette. She wouldn't even tidy up with her tongue, lest she renew the trauma.

"That wass...horrrjible!"

[Q. Samus Dage]

With a somewhat wounded yet mirthful expression, Dage raised his brow in a show of surprise.

"Horrible?"

He looked down to his own plat then, making a show of studying its' contents, and spearing a small bit of the shaak, brought it to his mouth in some sort of second examination, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing.

"No, no I'm pretty sure this is good stuff."

A crafty grin, and he gave her another wink before taking a sip of his drink.

"But that's ok, can't win 'em, all." A gesture with his utensil to her own meal. "Least you like the snake, yeah?"