An Aur Diamond in the Rough [Kinsey]

[Rune Shamalain]

Despite resting chest-deep in aromatic, boiling water, Rune felt anything but relaxed. The herbal infusion of his sten had managed to take the edge off what was starting to become a very strong need, but not even that could take the point off the overwhelming feeling of discomfort.

"Mr. Shamalain," the attendants had already seen to him that he had everything he needed, and even though he knew to be expecting someone it still caused his skin to crawl to hear the voice of the stranger. A dulcet, honey'd tone did nothing to calm his frayed nerves. It took a great deal of effort to open his eyes and look up to see just what his order had gotten him.

She was lovely by every definition of the word that he knew. Golden-skinned and sleek, the body of a dancer revealed as she unfurled the bathhouse robe and set it aside, leaving her in a bikini that she slowly moved to untie. He stopped her, managing the utterance words of disinterest.

"Do I...displease you?" she asked delicately, not seeming to be emotionally unbalanced by this small revelation.

"No, forgive me. You are-" the man's eyes skated across her figure, taking the time to silently appreciate what was there. Somewhere back in with his belongings, his comm chimed an incoming message. He didn't hear it, "lovely. That is not-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, darling. I read the missive, I know what I'm here for." She slowly slunk down the steps into the water, dark hair drawn high atop her head in a perfect bun. A sanguine smile of red lips drifted across the ripples towards him, eyes like molten amber taking him in as she drew closer. There seemed to be some mirth there in her gaze as she recognized his shyness.

There wasn't a shy bone in her body, Rune was certain.

"I could order some drinks if you like. Some Atrisian sake to calm your nerves?"

He'd had Atrisian sake and it would do far more than calm his nerves, but that wasn't the type of calming he was in need of, "No, thank you. No drinks."

"Straight to it then?" the woman asked, a light smile on her face. Rune swallowed as she drew up against his front, tipping her head to one side, "I realize this might be your first time paying for a meal darling, but I do this for a living."

There were many things that could take away Rune Shamalain's breath, and admittedly there were several of them happening at once doing just that job now. Releasing a slow breath, blue eyes honing in on her exposed neck, he could hear the woman's pulse beneath her skin. Could see the veins as if they were lit up incandescent.

"Beautiful eyes..." her hand was on his jaw, gently pulling him to look at her, to plant a simple kiss on his lips, "ready when you are."

Rune felt a twitch in his expression, short of issuing a snarl, and wiped the sudden flash of backhanding her for touching him uninvited from his mind. "Turn around, please."

"As you wish," she smiled, releasing his chin, and turned her back into his chest, closing her eyes as she felt his hands wrap firmly around her. One at her waist, the other along the front of her neck, cradling her own chin and tipping her head to the side. The moments to follow were filled with her stilted, shuddering breath as his fangs sunk into her neck.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

First, Kinsey had tried his room. After several knocks and no answer, she found herself back at the concierge desk of the hotel. Checking her comm screen one more time, the frown already on her lips deepened with no new notifications other than a spacebook like. Briefly, she’d wondered if he’d been in such a deep sleep and he hadnt answered. That, or passed out with fever. Clubbed and kidnapped. Murdered.

Or out.

Most likely out.

As luck would have it, a woman at the desk had seen her with Rune earlier and pointed her in the direction of the faux hot springs. The man at the desk had been very unhelpful and believed Kinsey to be some ex-vengeful lover. Briefly, Kinsey had thought about shooting him but that was neither here nor there.

Kinsey soon found herself pacing outside the entrance to the bath rooms. She eyed the sign about water. Squeezing her eyes closed, she allowed herself a quick, mental talk. Get. It. Together. The water wouldn’t be deep. She wasn’t going in. Drowning was a ridiculos fear for an explorer/adventurer to have.

And she was too worried about Rune to turn back now.

She just had to see him. Make sure he was breathing. Alive. Here.

With fists balled at her side, blues snapped open and she marched in. Past the desk. “Miss. MISS! You can’t go in there without a robe or swimsuit attire. No clothes. Miss!”

Kinsey kept on marching.

“Just looking for someone,” she called over her shoulder and rounded the corner. Took her a minute to scan the area. Past the startled attendants. Past the other pools. There was one in the back, somewhat secluded. Gaze almost went over the woman with her head tilted in the man’s arms only, there was no mistaking the man.

She blinked.

Had she been reading him wrong this entire time with his intentions of a potential relationship? Or maybe he was just THAT kind of guy.

She blinked again, catching the glint of his fangs even in the steamy air. Small trail of blood on her beautiful neck.

Oh.

He was feeding.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

He drank deeply, for as long as he still felt the grip of the woman's hands on his arm and in his hair, her stifled moan of a blissful pain barely escaping her lips - let alone the private enclosure they occupied. A lifetime ago those fingers raking over his scalp, those sounds in the air, would have driven him to further carnal desires, instead they were things very forcefully ignored. Taken for the taste of iron on his tongue, he pulled his fangs free as he felt her slowly beginning to lose strength and go limp.

Never stop the heart.

Tongue passing over pointed pearls, Rune dipped his head once more to lap up the glistening line of crimson, lips and tongue pressing saliva over the bite to seal it. He heard the woman croon and chuckle sleepily.

"Such a gentleman..."

She sunk against his chest and he gathered her up in his arms, walking across the pool to the steps and carrying her up, golden limbs gently swaying as he stepped out as naked as the day he was born. He took her to a lounge chair just a short distance away, gently settling her on the cushions and leaning to grab a nearby towel to wrap around his waist.

"Don't be shy darling," her hand trailed after him as he picked up another towel, "there's so much more I can give you."

The man raised his brows faintly, and for once his cheeks were touched with color, "I have what I need, thank you," he wiped at her neck, blinking curiously to find the wound fully healed. The woman smirked, touching at his jaw again, her thumb on his lips, "You're not the only one with tricks, handsome."

Rune took hold of her hand, smiling in earnest, and turned it to kiss her knuckles, uttering something to her in a language she did not understand but it made her smile in return. He left her side, turning to his things to find Kinsey's message on his comm.

Whoops.

Meet me at the casino entrance in 20?

That should be enough time to get cleaned up and dressed.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

She thought she’d seen it all. Shock was making her frozen to the spot of that entrance to the private room. The back of her mind was screaming for her to snap out of it. Stop staring.

You shouldn’t be here.

But then one nude Rune Shamalain got out of the water.

This time, she didn’t blink,

The sound of her comm pinged at her side, the sound like an explosion going off in a private and relatively quiet place. Uninvited. It probably wasn’t that loud. And who knew if it carried to Rune? But it made Kinsey’s ears ring and redden.

With a turn, she was backpedaling out of that entrance. Back into the main room. Running like a spooked nexu, without all the grace. The look back was her first mistake. The second was the ill-placed and timed attendant that stepped in front of Kinsey’s scrambling retreat. The third was the slip of her boot on the pool deck’s surface. The fourth was her trajectory so close to the lip of the main pool.

Tangle of limbs met air met water.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

"Would you be a dear-"

Ping.

Rune blinked from where he stood, blue gaze casting around. Had he just heard...?

"fetch me my robe?" his meal, now languidly sprawled on the lounge chair as golden as a Tattooine desert under a sunset, smiled at him and removed all momentary distractions from his mind. The woman wasn't a Zeltron but Force if it weren't for his steely willpower, those eyes could command him without a single word.

He still felt himself compelled to oblige, taking up the plush robe and walking it over to her, draping it across bare shoulders as she slowly sat up. Rune watched her curiously, finding a well of questions for her rising in his chest but failing to take flight from his lungs. "Do you require anything else this evening?"

"I don't suppose if I said just you that I would get it?" she smiled up at him.

"Somewhere in another lifetime we never left the pool," Rune replied to her, eyes sobering at the look on her face, "but in this one I have another Lady to see to."

"Lucky girl."

He would have brushed off the notion. It's not like that. But he rather liked the idea of letting her think that it was. Pulling back on the last of his clothes, Rune hung his jacket over his arm, opting to leave it for after he exited the heady warmth of the bathouse, and made his way back out along the promenade between the open pools. He didn't get far.

Towards the front there was a ruckus of noise, a commotion of bodies. Someone hadn't been watching their step and sent themselves and an attendant into the shallow end. Rune was attempting to excuse himself through the forming crowd, not intent on getting caught up in someone elses' drama, except for the fact that someone in that very crowd had hissed an expletive about a dirty spacer whore.

That caught his attention. He turned to look towards the chaos of a woman thrashing and gurgling and people trying to help her up. By the time he managed to get himself somewhere near the front of the crowd he could see the sopping wet figure of Kinsey Starchaser in all her clothed spacer glory being peeled out of the waters by a lifeguard and bathhouse attendant.

What in the Red Nebula?

Alarmed, he pressed himself forward, "Excuse me - pardon me - that's my wife-" the last part popped out of his mouth without any thought and it even took him by surprise, but it had caught their attention and people were moving. Good. Elsewise he'd be forced to cause even more of a scene. Rune was there as they got Kinsey back to her feet, sputtering and sopping wet but otherwise unharmed.

"Kinsey, are you alright?" Rune took her from the Aqualish currently helping her stand, looking her over before hissing at a nearby attendant to bring towels.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Kinsey sputtered, a mouthful of water escaping her lips. Ugh. She hated the water so much. Blue eyes bulged beneath the curtain of wet-tangled hair that hid her face as she heard Rune's voice.

Then he was by her side.

Hand on her - checking her.

The spacer, no longer dirty, could feel color rushing to her cheeks currently hidden by that hair.

Did he know? Had he seen her?!

And this time, her ears managed to pick-up the lack of 'miss' in front of Kinsey. Did he always do that when he was worried about her?

"I'm fine," she squeaked, fingers coming up to push her sopping hair away from her face and rub at her chlorinated eyes. The girl coughed, clearing her throat. She didn't have golden skin or golden eyes - or a flawless skin. She looked at Rune hesitantly. She'd missed the part about his 'wife' as she'd been spewing pool water from her lungs.

People were grumbling around her. Kinsey turned. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to...."

".........should've watched where you were going!"

"Could've caused a real accident."

"Stupid girl barging into this place but can't expect much from a karking spacer..."

The attendant came back with towels. Kinsey grabbed one and wrapped it around her shoulders. She needed to get out of these clothes and change. Kinsey, a dripping mess, turned back to Rune, voice lowering meant only for him. "I was just trying to find you. Got kinda worried when you didn't answer and wasn't sure if something had happened." Voice trailed off as she couldn't help the downward flicker of her gaze along his torso.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

A heated glance had been sent the way of the woman who deigned to call Kinsey a karking spacer. Rune's jaw drew tight, eyes narrowing as he fixed on an appropriate rebuttal, but was cut off by Kinsey as she explained herself.

Shoulders sinking a fraction, the man furrowed his brow, "My apologies, I did not mean to worry you. I was..." how best to put it? "...briefly indisposed. I will be more attentive to my comm in the future."

Sneaking glares and underhanded words slithered from the crowd as it slowly dissipated. Passing a glance around, Rune pressed his hands lightly at her upper arms, rubbing them over the towel, "Let's get you dried off. Do you need to return to the ship for fresh clothing?"

He could just buy her a new outfit, but he was slowly learning she didn't like those sort of offers.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

OH THANK THE STARS HE HADN'T SEEN HER!

She gulped at his touch.

Lips pursed slightly, grip tightening just a fraction on the towel. Head shook in the negative. By the time she took a speeder cab in and back, the cost would probably more than just buying something new.

Kinsey, ever practical.

"I'll get something...new. I think there was a boutique in the entrance of your hotel." Turning, she began walking gingerly in her soaked boots on the slick floor. Footsteps left a dripping-puddle-trail as she left. Squish-slick. Squish-slick. Squish-sllrrrp.

To her credit, the spacer held her head high even though feelings of embarrassment were making her skin crawl.

"Would it be alright to use your room to change and hang these clothes to dry?"

The front desk attendants shook their heads at Kinsey as she and Rune walked by.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

Had to admire her pride. She had lots of it.

"Of course," Rune followed just behind her, letting the soppy spacer lead the way. It was better she didn't see the very subtle lines on his face indicating the warring emotions going through his head. He couldn't recall feeling this concerned, amused, and mildly hopeless all at once. Felt like Kinsey just couldn't catch a break.

He opted not to voice a thought on the boutique at the entrance. Some very foggy doubt settled on the likelihood of there being clothing in there that would suit the tastes of the woman. By his recollection, he hadn't seen anything quite like what she normally wore.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Rune Shamalain"]

The boutique owner certainly raised a brow in their direction, or rather, Kinsey's direction. However, this was a vacation port and the owner had seen much...stranger things. If Kinsey was aware of the disapproving stares, she didn't show it. Eyes flitted around the shop, lips twitching.

Of course they didn't have leggings. Or pants. Or vests. Or simple tunics.

Dresses, dresses, skirts, semi-formal, and formal wear.

A soft sigh escaped pursed lips. A simple black, laced dress with long-sleeves caught her attention. Settling, she snatched it off the rack, satisfied it was the right size. She passed Rune.

"Not. A. Word." Going up to the counter, she dug in her back-pocket and pulled out her dripping cred-chit card. The boutique owner took it, holding it delicately between index and thumb, as if it were diseased and ran it through the machine.

"Um. Miss. The card's not working. Do you have another?"

Kinsey patted down her wet clothed-form.

She did not.

If she hadn't promised Rune she'd let him teach her the game. And if she still wasn't worried about his health, wanting to stick around and watch him to make sure he was okay (minus what she'd seen at the pool!!). She would've been holed up in her ship by now, fingers wrapped around a warm cup-o-caf and snuggled in her hammock. Maybe this was a sign to give up.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

Rune Lysander Shamalain said not a single word.

He, instead, decided to take a rather vested interest in a glass display of cufflinks, watches, and tie bars. A set of black pearl cufflinks settled at the center had managed to catch his eye. Having never been one for the ostentatious, their simplicity and natural beauty were curiously fetching.

"They're Krayt Dragon Pearls," said the attendant behind the counter, a blue-skinned ... well, he wasn't sure what she was. Human, but not quite, "would you like to see them?"

Some consideration. A glance towards Kinsey at the register caught him a glimpse of the cashier making the unmistakable grimace and shake of the head that her sopping wet credit chit wasn't going to take.

"I'll take them."
"Oh, well lovely. Would you like the box?"
"May I wear them out?"
"Of course, Sir."
"Bring them over to the counter, then."

A few moments later, silent as he ever was, Rune's arm reached over Kinsey's shoulder, credit bar in hand, "And the Pearl Cufflinks."



Some time later they were walking the hall across the resort campus to the Casino, Kinsey in her dress and Rune with his finest cufflinks keenly hidden away beneath the sleeves of his jacket. Kinsey was mumbling something to him, having been avoiding his gaze ever since the bath house, but he heard enough to understand the gist.

"Growing up, my eldest sister taught me that living a life filled with regret is not really living at all. I do try to live it, instead, with purpose but I do have several regrets to claim," an easy gaze turned to her as they walked, brows faintly lifted, he was looking her in the eye if she choose to look up at him, "I have no regrets for my journey with you. There's no other Pilot I'd trust more, and certainly no friendship more surprising and welcome than yours."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

She had new shoes too. The shortest heals she could find. Kinsey hadn't worn heals in a long time. Not since her wild days and she'd found she'd gotten used to the reliable sturdiness of boots. Shoes with more stability and function.

Blues lifted to Rune's glacial pair, feet wobbling slightly as they met the plush carpet of the casino ground floor.

Even with the flashing lights of surrounding game systems, buzz of all sorts of folk, and clinks of ice in exotic and bright-colored drinks, she had no problem finding Rune's eyes. His wife's necklace was tucked safely beneath the black fabric of the dress, chain just visible around her neck.

"Rune. I," she had a thousand things to say. Maybe a hundred things better left unsaid. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him in a quick embrace. One for a friend. "'m glad I took this job." The rest she didn't need to say. It was in her touch - a familiar squeeze.

Stepping back, eyes traveled to the bar.

"I am officially off the clock tonight. First round of drinks are on me. I think you and I both deserve a celebration after Avirr. Would you agree?" He had color back in his pale skin. More energy in his step. What she saw at the bathhouse had really helped. Even if she was having trouble un-seeing it.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

The hug had been unexpected and briefly pressed the air from his lungs. Rune had never much been good with sifting through his emotions where it came to the women in his life - he'd always been caught in a constant struggle between propriety, expectations, respect, and his own desires. In the end, these were the sort of moments where his gracelessness really shined.

At least, that's how it felt to him.

He missed reciprocating the hug out of sheer surprise, arms curled open at his sides, blue eyes blinking. Kinsey felt particularly warm against him. Before he could catch his breath she'd detached from him, now looking at the bar.

"Ah-" words stifled as he reminded himself to breath, feeling that lingering warmth furl up his spine and neck to settle somewhere in his fair-colored cheeks, "yes. Certainly. Drinks."

He smiled - an expression that would not be considered unsettling if he hadn't smiled with his teeth. Rune never smiled with his teeth, except for right now, double sets of fangs glinting for the world to see. A couple walking by stared and hurried their pace.

Wait, had he just agreed to drinks? Oh bother.

Smile vanishing, Rune cleared his throat and gestured for Kinsey to lead the way, "After you."

He was a terrible lightweight.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Kinsey was breaking all the rules with Rune. Being reminded of a past that shamed and haunted her. But right now? She wanted a drink. She’d be careful. Rune wasn’t Sage. He wasn’t targeting her because of her uncle. And she trusted him.

It would only be one drink.

It was the third time she’d seen his fangs. Once when they first met almost a fortnight ago. The second time tonight. It made her neck tingle and for a moment, she found her fingers curled around the silver chain there, nails against skin. Letting the moment pass, she used her skill with finding open spaces in crowds to slide fluidly up to the bar.

There were no mutterings of dirty spacer here.

Several men of different species snuck glances her way. Even a twilek woman. The bartender was a humanoid with jet black hair and pale pink skin. The kind of skin that was easy to miss.

“What can I get a lovely lady and her friend?” The bartender smiled at Rune. It was a sparkling smile that put Kinsey at ease. In fact, this whole thing seemed like a better and better idea. She felt as though the stress and worries of their previous night were melting off her shoulders. Quick to order a lum on the rocks and hand over her now functioning credchit, she waited for Rune to order.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

Rune lagged behind through the crowd, taking the opportunity to collect himself as he waded and wended between people. Kinsey moved effortlessly as always, something he'd noticed before and still found not reasonable means for her seeming grace of way. By the time he had arrived she was already one order and rounded shoulders in.

A quiet, chilled glance looked her over very briefly, noting the relaxed composure as somewhat off-character. At least, he thought it was. Kinsey had an ambiguous way about her - able to navigate her way calmly through a crowded backport of space while maintaining a steeled spine of suspicion and what he assumed to be a healthy disliking for people in general. Now here she was, in apparent complacency to be where she was.

In a dress no less.

Left the man in a state of uncertainty.

"Your house Malbec," he said to the bartender, easing against the bar with one arm. Rune neglected to claim a stool, instead opting to stand at Kinsey's right side.

"Excellent choice Sir."

An easy smile worked its way onto Rune's face, curiously infectious from the one of the bartender. The warmth he felt at his collar had yet to subside, leaving him feeling self-aware.

"Do you get much time off the clock?" the question sort of slipped off his tongue, one of several circulating his mind and probably not his first choice.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Rune Shamalain"]

Kinsey was usually a person looking for the next thing. When was the next adventure? What were they doing next? She surprised herself by stepping up to perch in the empty stool she'd been standing in front of. Now she was able to swivel in a quarter turn to face Rune in the crowded space, creating their own bubble of intimacy.

Head shook from side-to-side in response to Rune's question, though there was a small smile that lingered on her lips. It was easy to smile here. "I don't think my lifestyle lends itself to much time off but that's okay. I get to choose who I work with, get to travel all over and explore new places."

She may have said she was off the clock but she really wasn't until Rune was delivered to his location safely.

Gaze traveled down to his neck, seeing the red along his skin. Sandy-brown brows scrunched up in concern, lacking any feelings of tact and feeling like appropriateness was becoming something like grasping at fog. "Are you sure you're doing okay? You look a little flushed."

The bartender came back, hair-flipping his jet-black hair over to another side of his face as he set the drinks down and told the pair to keep him informed if they needed anything else at all. Anything.

"And same question would go for you, Rune Shamalain. Do you enjoy a lot of leisure trips?"

 

[Rune Shamalain]

Rune might've hooked the barkeep with a sharp stare for the way the man's eyes were lingering on Kinsey for too long, but the man's eyes were lingering on both of them for too long. This wasn't helping the heat of his collar. Trying to focus, instead, on Kinsey's response, the man curled his fingers around the stem of his wine glass, drawing it up to take a sip only to cough as the space brought up his apparent reddening.

Sputtering -elegantly- he found the bartender pushing some napkins his way and carefully mopped up around his lips and chin. A short nod given, he cleared his throat once more, "Fine, the ...chemicals in the spring tubs sometimes irritate my skin..."

Rolling the napkin into a wad, he closed a fist around it and tried not to think of how nicely that dress accented her shoulders, "Mm, no, not really. Not for a long time."

Did being dead count as an extended vacation? He didn't think so.

"I recently found my life at a point of..." fingertips drummed across the counter as he pondered an appropriate term, "abrupt and unforeseeable resuscitation. Starting anew, as it were. Previously the only leisure time I spent was with my wife."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

The red of the wine on his lips and skin reminded Kinsey of something far less alcoholic. This time she couldn't keep the involuntary drop of her hand to the side of her long, slender neck. Eyes turned away from Rune's gaze to her own drink, free-hand picking it up and bringing it quickly to her mouth. Any discomfort and embarrassment she felt seemed to flutter away as quickly as it came.

Kinsey didn't recall lum working this quickly.

Starburst-blues lifted finally.

She was beginning to realize how little she knew about Rune's past. He'd spoken about his wife before. Deceased. His family sounded powerful when he spoke about them, yet distant. Rune could certainly use the darkside and yet...she trusted him after what they'd been through. Or perhaps, more appropriately, she trusted her own abilities to defend herself.

Otherwise, she never would've continued their journey at the shadowport when Rune first showed his....tendencies.

Hand dropped from her neck and reached across the small space between them, finding the lean muscles along his upper arm for a squeeze. It was meant to be an empathetic gesture. Kinsey knew what it meant to lose family. And she knew Rune was still very much in love with his deceased wife. There was pain there and there always would be. She blinked, mildly surprised at her own actions as words escaped her mouth. "What about now? Do you think your wife would be proud of how you're starting new?"

 

[Rune Shamalain]

It was difficult not to miss the way her fingertips trailed across her neck and had Rune not fed earlier, that sort of gesture would have effected him far differently. Would have piqued at a different sort of hunger than the one he was presently quelling. His gaze dropped briefly to her hand, a sobering expression filling his features.

This was certainly not the direction he had envisioned the conversation going this evening.

"Yes," he nodded, "I think so. ...apologies, I don't mean to mention her so often. Most of my life that is worth speaking on revolved around her." Kinsey was kind to ask after her, but though his thoughts did linger on his late wife he did not find speaking of her to be cathartic. Rune had already found peace with her death in the waking realm, he merely needed to learn to break the habit of her. Needed to find new focus in his life.

"What about you Miss Kinsey," time to turn the conversation back on her. He sipped his wine, managing to do it with grace this time, "is there a special someone waiting for you to return home from your adventures?"

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

As quickly as her hand squeezed his arm, the gesture was gone, limbs returned to her own space.

She waved off his apology. In her mind, there was nothing to apologize for. It was easy asking the questions sometimes. When the attention was on someone else. She took a measured sip of lum, cubes of ice clinking delicately against the glass.

Thoughts drifted to Armaud.

They were both wanderers. They’d been together through a lot. And for a brief moment, they’d shared something more than friendship. Maybe in the end, they both knew it’d be hard for two wanderers to stay together. To define something that managed to stay out of reach. Glass lowered as she blinked away memories of the braided-haired man’s verdant gaze.

Green replaced with glacial blues.

“No. I do think so. There was someone not too long ago.” Hand twirled the liquid in her glass, cubes circling. “But I think we’re on separate paths.” Glass returned to the bar top. “And Mister Shamalain. Since my threats hold no weight at getting you to stop being so formal with my name, I’ll be asking the next question. What do you intend to do after I deliver you safely to Ceto?”

And unspoken, she wondered if he was able to order people as meals wherever he went. And were they always so beautiful?