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Thread: The White Phoenix

  1. #21
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    "jI djidn't rrealjize jI'd be sspendjing mjy tjime wjith an old mated couple," Rai droned, glancing to each of her escorts with an unimpressed flattening of her ears.

    "Pleasse ssparre me the warr ssstorrjiess of the tjime when jyou ssharred a foxhole and jit wass too cold to be alone. jI've rread that one, and jit wass trrasshjy the fjirrsst tjime."

  2. #22
    Heading downward, Phrexus only offered a grunt. Two of his hands moved up to begin unfastening the hasps of his overcloak as he walked, a gait that demanding a body keep up.

    "Ain't that way, girl."

    He pushed through another door, this one leading into another corridor, though now the temperature had considerably warmed and his outer layer was pulled completely off to reveal a surprisingly chiseled form; rather than the normal gut that those of his species developed in their old age, Phrexus Krale had maintained a trim, fighting figure. His aged BDU's clothed a solid rock of a body.

    "I'd recommend you start reading better novels if that's the sort of chatter you intend on starting out with."

  3. #23
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    "jI don't carre forr novelss, rrealljy." Rai coolly deflected, drawing her parka back to shake her hair free. It was utilitarian movement, and she quickly pushed her shoulder-length locks behind her ears.

    "jI'm morre jinterressted jin prractjical rreadjing, and otherr prractjical thjingss. jI'm ssurre Ssamuss hass gjiven jyou the detajilss alrreadjy."

    She glanced to the human, interested in exactly what measure he'd seasoned his explanation to the Besalisk. She still didn't fully understand his reluctance to handle her training himself.

  4. #24
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    "I said you wanted to learn how to take care of yourself," he spoke up, shedding his own thick overcoat.

    As the hallway ended in yet another door, he went on.

    "No need for flowery existential silliness."

    Letting the coat slide from his shoulders, Samus stepped out into an open receiving area as he draped the outer clothing layer over one arm. To the left stood a pair of double doors, and to the right was a familiar wall that separated the common area from what had once been an old rec area that'd doubled as a mess hall. He remembered well enough the layout of the old base; one floor up was another level of barracks, and 'toyland', the old term they'd come to use whenever talking about the armory. A level below was where the heavy munitions had been kept, as well as the old warfighter tunnels. Those led to a buried motor pool that'd been blown to pieces during their evacuation.

    He doubted that even Phrexus had the patience to dig it out of the snow after so long.

    "He knows you're not here for a vacation," he further confirmed.

  5. #25
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    Samus was digging a hole for himself with his words. Flowery existential silliness? She hadn't a notion what he was on about, and it wouldn't do any good to take a swipe at the bait. Instead, she soldiered on with her ruck, opting to keep her parka on her shoulders if only because it would be more cumbersome to carry her luggage otherwise. Still, the weight of the pack was more than she was used to. The Heiress grunted, shifting the bulk again over her shoulder.

    "Well, that'ss cerrtajinljy not the casse. jI don't rrememberr the lasst tjime that jI carrrjied mjy own luggage."

    She paused with the others, taking a glance at the multiple doors at the corridor intersection.

    "What jiss thjiss place, anjywajy?"

  6. #26
    "An old place," Phrexus grunted the short answer.

    He bulled through the doors to the rec room, heavy metal slabs that had durracrete and gavra-lead cores. They could withstand a thermal detonator, and had on at least one occasion. Inside the spacious room, a pair of tables had been set up, and a few old sofa sets lined one of the far walls. They were simple pieces of furniture, their upholstery faded in spots and worn smooth in others from years of use. A hutch to the right, an old weapons locker to the left; each one scuffed and scratched. There was a heavy-duty coat rack beside the locker, which the Besalisk now hung his hide overcloak on.

    "Leave your gear by the door," he went on, voice full of grit and gravel.

    A sectioned off corner, in the back of the room, had been turned into a kitchen of sorts. An upright cooler unit, polished metal countertops, an industrial-sized gas oven... everything a body needed to prepare at least the basic essentials of a meal. It was this area that he tromped into now. A sliding pantry door was opened, and three boxes were pulled down from one of the shelves.

    "We can get to your rooms later. Right now it's lunch."

    One of the boxes, an Alliance-issued MRE, was tossed onto the counter. The second, he held up for the girl to see.

    "Is Cizerack," he intoned, making sure to hold the box in such a way that she could see the glyphs of her native tongue.

    "Kaalowai Ala Queen," and without ceremony that box too was dropped to the counter.

    "Eat."

  7. #27
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    Rai'faani unburdened her shoulder of the ruck she carried, taking a brief moment to massage the spot the strap had rested on before she shook out of her parka. The ruck was tipped against the wall where instructed, and she hung her coat on the little space afforded by the space-hogging Besalisk clothing item.

    Phrexus returned with his parcels, and the Heiress inspected the Kaalowai Ala Queen with skepticism before taking a seat. She knew that military rations existed in about the same way that she knew quasars existed - purely on a secondhand basis. Most starships carried them in the event of an emergency to provide in the event that fresh or live food was unavailable. That was the extent of her knowledge. Therefore, it was a rude awakening when Rai carefully clawed away the flimsplast cover on one of the food cartons, revealing a form-pressed bolus of protein slicked with oily residue. She took a careful sniff, and immediately withdrew a few inches to safe distance, fixing the dreadful concoction before her with a look of metered disgust.

    "jI'm not hungrrjy."

    Which was a lie, but a conditional one. She could certainly eat, but under no circumstance would she eat whatever this was.

  8. #28
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    His own gear stowed for the time being, Samus sauntered his way to the counter, palming the unopened box of barely-food. It sure wasn't Idiri's cooking, but it would do. It was fuel, nothing more nothing less. And while he'd become somewhat spoiled on the Kaleesh woman's cooking, he also knew when vacuum-packed - he gave a quick look to the aurebesh - Zuunbury Steak, was a necessary evil.

    Sitting down heavily at the table next to Raifa, he tore open his own box. Out came the 'steak', followed by a mint, tuber-wafers, a stick of gum, a packet of sugar-preserved namana chunks, and a small pouch of 'sauce'.

    "Best eat anyway," he tried to encourage.

    "Out here, your body is a machine, and food is the fuel for that machine. These things -" he tore open the plastic holding the wafers, breaking them into quarters before popping one into his mouth and moving on to the fruit.

    "- they're not great, but they'll keep you alive."

  9. #29
    For his own part, Phrexus pulled apart his own packed lunch. For himself, he didn't really care what he ended up with. It was all necessary and filled his stomach; it put energy to his muscles and kept him moving. The cardboard was pulled away to reveal a sealed bit of plastic pouch containing what was supposed to be the main meal. Nuna chili with rice and tuber paste. The sides were a small buiberry and nut bar, a stick of chewing gum, a mint, and air crackers. The gum he saved for Nanti, though the ingrate never seemed to want it, and so the bowl on the counter beside the cooling unit had grown full-to-overflowing. Hells, he'd even thrown a few of the offending sticks away since there wasn't much room left in Nanti's gum bowl.

    At Samus' explanation he gave a customary grunt, and a single nod of his head that turned into a rolling motion, cracking the bones of his neck in the process.

    "Can't afford fine dining when you're out here, Girl."

    A fingertip tore open the chili packet, and he shoved a thin metal spoon into its' unseen depths. stirring.

    "Maybe tonight you can go out and get yourself some wild animal to feast on, but if you don't eat now, you won't make it back from that hunting trip."

    He spooned out a measure of chili slop with a single, rather small chunk of nuna, not even staring at it before shoving it into his mouth. It went down quickly, and another spoonful was shoveled into his maw. The third spoonful was dispatched in much the same way, but the fourth was pulled up and out, and held it at eye level. His gaze focusing on her.

    "Fuel."

    It disappeared like the rest, and he sent his full attentions to his lunch, his last word a repeated rumble of his previous instruction.

    "Eat."

  10. #30
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    The heiress pressed her lips into a thin line, drifting her eyes from Phrexus back to the embalmed thing stewing in the carton in front of her. There was no amount of digging heels that would get her out of this. Worse still, they both were right. This wasn't a vacation, and she'd come here for a reason. She'd be damned if she left this frozen waste with her tail between her legs on account of going hungry.

    Still, there was confronting that truth, and then there was eating it. Rai figured that the more she spent dreading the moment, the worse it would be, so she snatched up the vacuum-formed cutlet and snapped a brusque bite into it. Immediately, she felt a strong urge to spit her mouthful back into the carton. The protein was salty and mealy, seeming to turn to wet sawdust with every chew. Her jaw tensed, and her eyes watered. Rai took a heavy gulp to finally heave it down, and swished down half of a water bottle to chase it. Her eyes averted both Samus and Phrexus, and she simply worked in silence, forcing another mouthful under duress and repeating the ritual again and again.

  11. #31
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    With one hand wrapped protectively around his own meal, the blonde tore into his 'steak with the vigor of a starved man. Old habits died hard, and mealtime in a place with so many memories attached to it seemed to bring out a bit more of the primal instincts bred by so many years of being in the Rebellion. He guarded his food, all while relentlessly shoveling it into his mouth at a concerning speed.

    The sauce packet looked as though it'd been torn into pieces before its' contents had been smeared on the main entree.

    Quick, darting eyes spied a small pack of unopened freeze-dried spicy wei'aashi peas that Raifa had dug out of her own box, and quick as a whipsnake he reached out. Greedy fingers snatched it up and away, only to deposit the packet within the safety of his sentinel-like arm. He'd had the little things once when he and T'yeellaa had gone out for dinner, and they'd actually been quite tasty. Of course he was certain that the military touch had made them a bit less than appetizing, but he wanted to give them a try anyway.

    He swallowed the last of his 'steak' and oozing sauce, let out a slight hiccup, then set into the peas as though they'd been his all along.

  12. #32
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    The dinner table thievery elicited an immediate response as Rai'faani draped a sauce-grubby hand over Samus's wrist. Her claws extended to the point of being felt, but not so far as to break skin. With the back of her free hand, the heiress wiped her lips clean.

    "Thosse arre mjine."

    It had ceased to matter how abominable the food was. Rai'faani was sure that ration-grade wei'aashi was as execrable as the entree, but it was now about fundamentals and boundaries. She wasn't going to let Dage cross over hers without pushback.

  13. #33
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    A snort, and Samus shook his hand free before popping one of the peas into his mouth.

    "Guard your food," he said simply, "... or else it'll get stolen."

    Still his free arm remained around his small amount of boxed food, and reaching over with his other, he shoved Raifa further away down the length of the bench seating.

    "Remember that next time."

  14. #34
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    The moment Samus pushed her, something white-hot snapped in Rai's chest. She clamped down fully with her opposite hand over the one Samus used to shove her along. This time her claws definitely bit. Rai's eyes were cobalt fire, and she could feel heat surging in the tips of her ears as she squeezed Samus's hand with all her might.

    "Gjive. Them. Back."

  15. #35
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    If he was surprised at her reaction, he certainly didn't show it. In fact, there wasn't even an eye twitch when her claws came into play. Maybe it was the fact that his tolerance had grown since his time with T'yeellaa? Either way, he gave not an inch in the face of her order.

  16. #36
    A harsh laugh sounded out as he watched the two, and the Besalisk skirted around the counter edge, his chili finished. One half of the buiberry nut bar had disappeared behind his teeth, the other half still held in hand.

    "Best get used to thieves when it comes to chow time, Girl."

    Moving to sit on the opposite side of the Cizerack, Phrexus let his bulk rock the bench, creaking protests from the aged metal and wood construction following his settling weight. One of his arms snaked around her back to roughly grab the bag of peas from Samus' hand, and he jerked them away before dropping them in front of her. Samus didn't really protest, only giving a shrug as he was still held in her no doubt prickly grasp.

    "Arms around your food," a hand gripped one of her wrists and guided it around the scattered bits of her box, "... like this."

    The rest of the nut bar was popped into his mouth, and he didn't even swallow before going on.

    "Eat fast, and protect what's yours."

  17. #37
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    The hard-eyed stare remained on Samus for a moment longer, then Rai relented. Her claws withdrew into fingertips as she released her hold on his hand. She pecked out a handful of peas from the sachet with her bloodied fingers, pushing them through her lips without ceremony and with just enough pause to chew and swallow. She manned the ramparts as she ate and swigged water. When she perceived Samus drifting too close again, her tail swatted him across the back.

  18. #38
    Another rumble of amused laughter, as Phrexus leaned back slightly to give a harder shove to Samus, roughly pushing him further away from the Girl.

    "She's wise to you, Myomarian," he angled his head to elicit an audible crack from his neck.

    "Quick study, this one. Quicker than the one-eyed wolf woman, even."

    A crashing came from the floor above, followed by drifting laughter and a clatter of footfalls that faded into the distance. Ignoring the sound, Phrexus huffed out a breath from his nose as his features shifted into a sideways look at the Cizerack. He gave an uncharacteristic wink

    "That one... I had to bloody her nose and black her eye before she learned."

  19. #39
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    Now it was Phrexus who caught a wary gaze. Rai drank eagerly the last gulps of water in her bottle to push the last glue-like bolus of rations down her throat and hopefully banish the offensive aftertaste. The only thing that broke her attention were the sounds from above. Sensitive Cizeri ears twitched and triangulated upwards, followed a moment later by eyes tracking the sound to the tiles above. The noise subsided, and the heiress returned her attention to the besalisk as her ears lowered towards him.

    "jI thought we werre to be alone. Who jiss above uss?"

  20. #40
    He grunted a partial-answer, letting his gaze track back to the countertop and his mug of water.

    "Sykes most likely."

    A hand came up to wave away the admission.

    "You won't see her, probably. She's one of those private types. Too much time in the field; doesn't trust anyone really."

    "But Sykes- "

    His eyes snapped back to Samus, who was now staring at him with a healthy amount of incredulous worry. It was a hard look, allowing no argument.

    "She's here, just shy."

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