Tea and Sympathy

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

Madame Kalleeiha Maillanaarro eased her way into the turbolift, opening her hand fan to counteract the close air within. Stuffy things, lifts. The Empire certainly didn't take that consideration into account when they constructed this station. Or much anything else for that matter. The angles were so brutal, the colors offputting. Everything cool and clinical like a slaughterhouse or a mortuary.

Still, when on Coruscant as it were. It didn't mean that the good Madame had to demean herself with an austere wardrobe to accomodate the alien aesthetics. No, she was in the hospitality business, and part of being hospitable was looking the part. Warm hues, exquisite raiments, finery. She was everything that Jovan was not. Well, that Jovan was not yet, at least. The station was still changeable, pliant putty in her hands. She simply needed to knead it - coax it into position.

Hmm, now to figure this damned lift out. Madame Maillanaarro bent down at the array of buttons, each representing a level accessible to her. Ah, there. Right at the top. Command Deck. She tapped it with a smile, and just before the lift closed, another person stepped aboard. Human female. Some kind of uniform, looked foreign. Suddenly conscious of the shared space, the good Madame shifted to the right, mindful not to swish her tail like she owned the whole space.

"Good dajy, mm?"

The turbolift hummed in near-quiet operation, and Maillanaarro yearned to fill it with conversation. It was her profession, after all.

"Mmhm." The woman responded in affirmative. Or was that a grunt? Was a response without vowels a response at all.

Kalleeiha glanced sidelong to see if there was any change in demeanor. As stiff as a mannequin. Well then! The good Madame adjusted her hair in the idle time.

"Gojing to the Command deck too, jI ssee."

"Yep."

Like blood from a stone. The Madame fanned herself again, suddenly wishing for a fellow passenger with personality. After a few more awkward seconds, the lift feathered it's deceleration as they reached the apex. The lift doors opened, and the human female quickly exited before...

"Have a wonderrful dajy!" Maillanaarro called out brightly with a smile that went unrequited by the back of the departing woman's head. Her smile dissipated, and the Madame muttered behind her hand fan "...forrda ssavage."

Nevermind her. She wasn't here to chat up common people. Not today. No, the object of her hospitality was decidedly uncommon. With resolve in her pace, the portly Cizerack exited the lift, strolling past the array of uniformed officers. Hello and Ja irra were dispensed when appropriate, until she arrived at the threshold of Commander Kes Akiena's office door. And through the glass, she could clearly see he was inside.

She tapped the chime.

[Kes Akiena]

"No. No no no. I don't care if you're worried about some sort of extra tariff. We need those supplies-"

The sound of a chime interrupted his conversation, and Kes looked up briefly from the translucent holo on his desk to peer at the body on the other side of his door. He blinked, then sent his eyes back to the object of his ire.

"I've got to go."

"Don't expect much, Akiena... "

"You're pushing your luck, Izekk."

"I ain't pushing anything, I'm just telling you the truth."

"Get off it," his hand came out to swiftly cut off the transmission, and Kes leaned back in his seat as the holo dissipated into nothingness.

A long breath, and the redhead finally looked back up, letting a deceptively easy smile fall upon his features as his arm lifted up to gesture that his guest enter his office. Whatever in the world she was doing here he had no idea, and a brief moment of worry flashed through the back of his mind. Had there been some sort of merchant's dispute that would need mediation? Or perhaps one of her patrons had seen fit to bring some sort of questionable business practice suite against her? The possible reasons for Madame Maillanaarro's presence were limitless.

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

"Commanderr!"

The Madame spread her thick arms wide in generous greeting, a glowing smile on her face as she passed the threshold towards his desk.

"Ja irra korra'nai! Arre jyou jin good health?"

He hadn't risen from his seat in greeting. Was that not a human custom? It made a greeting embrace...difficult. Kalleeiha reluctantly lowered her expecting hands to clasp around her middle. A gracious smile would have to do.

[Kes Akiena]

Though he'd not initially risen, Kes at least made a show now, to stand from his seat. He still felt stiff, his body painfully wailing in silence at his attempts at movement. Still he pressed on, the genial smile on his face never leaving even as he skirted his desk.

"I'm in good health, Madame. My thanks."

He did make sure, at least, to keep a respectful distance from the woman.

"And you?" in an attempt to maintain a small amount of casual behavior, he let his hands bury themselves in the front pockets of his uniform trousers.

"I hope that the repairs to your establishment are coming along at a pace you're satisfied with?"

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

"Nothjing a glazjierr and a few pajinterrss can't handle." she dismissed with a haughty wave. "jI beljieve thejirr chojice grraffjitji forr me wass Bourrgeojiss Collaborratorr."

Maillanaarro pursed her lips a bit and smiled.

"jI've been called farr worrsse."

But alas, he was deflecting. The good Madame began the casual/intentional act of circumnavigating Akiena's desk, her fingers running along the polished wood periphery. It was a beautiful species of barrier.

"But enough of that. jI'm not herre to whjinge at ssecurrjitjy orr to wheedle extrra amenjitjiess frrom mjy grracjiouss hosst. Good mannerrss arre a two-wajy converrssatjion, Commanderr, and jI adorre the arrt of jit."

[Kes Akiena]

"Is that so?"

She approached, and to his credit he remained... mostly steadfast. Still though, in the face of her advancement, Kes couldn't help but retreat in some fashion. He back away, back around the way he'd come as she ran her fingers along the edge of his desk.

Making himself seem somewhat useful, the Commander gave her a gracious nod before finally pulling a hand out, and gesturing to the chairs that rested in front of his desk.

"Then sit, I insist."

He hoped that she would. For his part, he - as gracefully as he could manage - reclaimed his own seat.

"Now. What can I do for you?"

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

Clever maneuvering and repositioning. He danced a very military sort of dance, didn't he? With reluctance, Kalleeiha took the seat offered to her, hitching up the hem of her dress slightly as she wedged into the confining space with her tail escaping under one of the arm rests.

What can I do for you?

She blinked at his question, as if the answer well and truly should be under his nose, because it should.

"jI ssent jyou a messsage, djidn't jI? No, jI ssent jyou thrree, jI beljieve." she corrected with an assured smile.

"Ssjince jI neverr hearrd back, jI fjigurred we'd rreached the ljimjitss of good converssatjion bjy electrronjic meanss, and came to ssee jyou jin perrsson."

[Kes Akiena]

"Oh."

That.

For the second time in too short of a span of time, Kes entertained the thought of the escape hatch in his office.

Instead he pushed forward, intending to meet this particular matter head on.

"Well, as you can imagine, I've been a bit... busy."

It was the nicest way he could think of to recall the more recent unfortunate events that'd befallen Jovan. She had one fire to quell; he had so many more.

Of course, her messages had been sent before the attack, but he ignored that technicality.

"My apologies for never being able to return word," he clasped his hands together, leaned forward, and rested his forearms on the glossed surface of his desk.

"But you are here now, and we can certainly discuss whatever you wished to discuss here."

In the safety of my office.

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

"jYou can rresspond to mjy jinvjitatjion herre," She corrected with a patient measure to her voice "but therre arre naturral ljimjitss to the benefjit of prroperr djisscussjion jin the offjice wherre jyou worrk. The tenssjion, the sstrresss, jit'ss a parrt of the backgrround rradjiatjion."

With an authoritative nod, Kalleeiha leveled her steepled chubby index fingers in the Commander's direction.

"Tea would benefjit jyou. jIt would ljiberrate jyou jin wajyss jyou neverr underrsstand untjil jyou do."

The way he shifted in his seat, was that discomfort. At the mere invocation of the word?

"Do jyou know of ourr cusstom?"

[Kes Akiena]

"I've been informed," came the nearly grimaced answer.

His features became a strange mixture of amiable and iron. He truly had no wish for tea of the Cizerack variety. Or rather, of the Madame's variety at least. Whatever concoction that T'yeellaa had brought him during the brief time he'd been displaced from his quarters was enjoyable, and he'd managed to get the recipe for it. But he had limits. He also had a great many eyes watching him. Being demoted upwards was a hell of a first, and it meant the level of scrutiny he now found himself upon to be that much more frustrating. And, to be perfectly honest, a healthy shade of nerve-racking.

"Madame Maillanaarro, I'm afraid that tea is the absolute last thing I need right now."

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

"Arre humanss naturralljy sso guarrded, orr jiss that less the cusstom and morre the man jin frront of me?"

The Madam gave a deep sigh, shifting a bit in her seat. A rather uncomfortable piece of furniture that looked not-dissimilar from the one in which Akiena presently inhabited. No, that was the end of it, and the Madam discarded her uncomfortable perch as she rose.

"Sstand up."

[Kes Akiena]

"Ah, no Ma'am."

He was as firm as he could be, his brow furrowing as he watched her rise up from her seat.

"I've enough to do right now as it is."

Kes didn't move a muscle, his arms still resting on his desk, and his fingers still laced together.

"If you've issue with official matters in regards to your business," he stopped just short of including 'and not me', then went on.

"... I would be more than willing to help in any way that I can. But if not, I'd recommend you return to your shop."

And find another victim.

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

"Pah!" The Madame dismissed with a wave of a hand. "jI am cerrtajin a Commanderr of jyourr sskjill and experrjience knowss the arrt of delegatjion. Even a humble sshopkeep ssuch asss mjysself musst at tjimess hand off some ljittle tassk to an emplojyee. That dourr-faced K'ohta'rrou, jI'm cerrtajin sshe would be able to handle whateverr trrjivjium hass jyourr bodjy sso tensse."

Couldn't he feel the strain in his neck? His limbs? He seemed as taut as a steel cable. Again, Maillanaarro gestured in a beckoning way for him to join her on his feet.

"Mjy bussjinesss jiss the communjitjy, Commanderr. jYou arre the communjitjy leaderr. Gjive me fjifteen mjinutess of jyourr tjime, and jif jyou arre no betterr at the end of thosse fjifteen mjinutess than when jyou began..."

Kalleeiha laced her fingers together over her belly, deferring a gracious nod.

"...then jI wjill darrken jyourr doorrwajy no morre."

[Kes Akiena]

He blinked then, leaning back in his seat as he continued to stare up at her. Her offer was gracious - or at least he suspected that in her particular terms it was as such. But his kneejerk reaction to what he now perceived was also not to be ignored. T'yeellaa's comments from before, about his need to assert dominance and not look as though he was simply some bauble or bit of decoration came flooding back. A moment later, he smiled.

"Fifteen minutes."

He would deal with this mis-translation the old way.

One finger came up, the genuine smile on his face still present.

"But. After my duties for the day are finished."

Kes made a conciliatory gesture.

"Agreed?"

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

Two could play at stipulations. Kalleeiha's tail looped wide as she pondered his offer.

"When jyourr worrk jiss done, jojin me jin mjy parrlorr. We arre sstjill clossed to the publjic forr the lasst of the rrenovatjionss, but jI wjill hosst jyou prrjivateljy."

She paused, raising her eyebrows in consideration.

"And anjy guesstss jyou wjissh to accompanjy, of courrsse. Tea jiss what jyou make of jit, jyou wjill fjind. Brrjing an open mjind, Commanderr."

[Kes Akiena]

He considered this, eventually giving a slow nod.

"Very well."

One hand came down to rest on the surface of his desk while the other took hold of a datapad that'd been set to the side.

"However, I would ask that you extend to me the same courtesy of an open mind. Yes?"

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

Madame Maillanaarro's grin pressed her lips together, giving rise to her full cheeks in a mirthful expression.

"jI wouldn't be verrjy good at what jI do jif jI djidn't."

She turned to exit Akiena's office, casting one last warm glance in his direction before she departed.

[Kes Akiena]

He watched her leave, a peculiar smile on his face as she stepped out of his office. Another few moments of thought, and the redhead set his eyes downward to the 'pad. Flicking it on, he scrolled through folders until finding the one he wanted, and with a fingertap it opened, revealing a list of names. It was a list that peeled the lingering smile from his features, replacing it with a much more sobering thin-lipped expression.

One name in particular stood out from all the rest. Perhaps due to familiarity? He knew many of the others, but this name...

A sigh, and the Commander reached out to his comm, keying in a number. Eternity seemed to pass before a small click sounded, and the holo sprang to life. In small translucent blue, a woman appeared.

"Hello Tish."

* * *

1922 Hours

The merchant sector was like a flood of construction and cleaning crews, even as the evening hours progessed. Some storefronts had been able to open back up, but many of the larger establishments were still closed. It was a hectic sight to say the least. Even the presence of the station's commander went largely without notice, though a few nodded in his direction as he passed by.

One arm was draped over the shoulders of a demure woman. She looked almost a mess; like she'd not slept. Like she'd been scrambling to make sense of a crashing reality so unexpected. She was also very obviously pregnant. She leaned into the commander as he led her through the crowds of workers and wanderers. He'd asked her to join him, and that he had something for her. Something that she needed.

Stopping at the shuttered doors of Madame Maillanaarro's 'shop', Kes gave an angled look down to his companion.

"This will help."

She didn't answer. Instead, she simply kept her eyes downcast. She nodded.

He said nothing to that, and raising a hand, the redhead gave a soft rap of his knuckles to the closed door.

[Kalleeiha Maillanaarro]

A few moments passed, and the rarely-closed door opened. Greeting the pair was one of the Madame's boys, Far'jaanderr. The Meera'in wore only a sarong and a smile as he bowed his head slightly in polite greeting.

"Ja irra korra'nai, Commanderr Akjiena, and?"

His eyes moved to the rather obviously-pregnant female in the Commander's company. Was she a consort? Didn't humans keep multiple wives of some fashion?

[Kes Akiena]

A returned nod was given to their greeter.

He knew that Tish wouldn't speak up on her own, so Kes introduced her himself.

"Tisha Nellis."