Baby, You Don't Know

[Kalak the Raykkan]

​

​

Raykka
Gadana City

It was warm here.

The City of Gadana stretched out for kilometers down the crust of the planet. One some plants the upper levels might have been the most preferable one, it was that way on Coruscant, the way on Maena, but Raykka was different. It was populated by species that loved the heat and the dark and this was reflected in Gadana City. The deeper you went, the warmer it became and the grander the debauchery projected itself outwards.

Sentients were fat here and the common rules held no ground anymore.

Kalak stood on the balcony of his apartment. Beneath him the city burrowed further into the depths, the bright firey amber burning and going on for miles.

"One day, mhm." The Raykkan mumbled. "I will hug myself to the center of the planet. Let the warmth seep in." Oh, it would get bloody and dirty, but in the end? Kalak would gorge himself.

There was something in the air though. It made him think of old memories, of a scent he had not smelled in years. But what was it and why was it here now? Did it not realize that this was the time he reserved for a good old fashion brooding? He eyed the Dalan standing in the corner of the balcony.

Always at attention.

Its eyes deaf and singing an ancient song.

A shame that bark held little taste to it, Kal would have enjoyed hearing it sing in truth.

@Ao'Xian​

 

[Ao Xian]

A decade.

A lifetime.

It had been over ten years since Ao'Xian had come home, and she decided that, at least here, nothing had changed.

Within herself?

Everything.

Ready to embark on a new chapter, stars rising swiftly and surely into the night. Burning. So why was she here on Raykka instead of on Bastion? Why had she requested a week before taking up her new post? Why shifting through the bowels of Gadana City, seeking an address far deeper than the one she remembered? Why, did she think, that he would care to see her..... if he even remembered her at all.

Raykkan's were not, as it happened, particularly known for sentiment, after all.

Ao was not particularly prone to bouts of insecurity or hesitation. Even in her younger days- ah to be there again in those moments, courted and courting. The sharing of a meal such an intimate thing really, especially how they.....

She set that aside, gentle with herself.

It was, she had decided, a flight of nostalgia. Something about the cold, dry climes of Bastion had brought an ache for home. And with it, a stirring of memory.

Reaching out a claw, she pushed the ringer to the address she had managed to find. Of course the chances that he was here, instead of the new business she had tracked to Maena, well. It would probably be better. She could say that she had tried of course, and put those thoughts to roost with a clean conscious.

She had no apologies to make. She had left for her own reasons- good ones- ones that she had ultimately found what she searched for.

But she had always wondered.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

Kalak's head tilted as the ringer went and echoed through the apartment building.

This was unexpected.

The crescendo of anticipation grew louder by the moment as the ring died down, its sound bouncing from wall to wall, weaker every little second until it went out with a soft whimper. Ah, to have a proper home in the depths, where the walls had been erected with proper geometry to allow for perfect pitch. It would have made every lunch just so much more pleasant.

Alas.

The Dalan was already gone, it knew its duty. Kalak followed close-by for the first time in a long time. It was that feeling of anticipation that kept him going, allowed a spring in every jump he made to get deeper and deeper into apartment.

Until the door was opened by the Dalan and there she stood. "Ao," His ears flicked next. "Xian?" Oh, another Raykkan would not have noticed the distinct patterns of her scales, the subtle way her ears quivered, that beautiful nose that stood so regal. It was almost as if he was coming home once more, even if he was home already. Too much time spend with ugly apes and primates.

"This is a surprise." Head tilted once more and it almost seemed as if Kal was going to ask something next. Until he remembered his... manners. "Ah, but you must be ravenous after all this time. Please do enter."

It did not occur to the Raykkan that she might have been able to procure grander cuisine in... a decade was it? Seemed about right.

@Ao'Xian​

 

[Ao Xian]

She waited, not really expecting the door to open with a familiar face- and in that she was correct. The Dalan gave her a small surge of warmth- that Kalak had come far enough to have one- but then behind it- him.

She blinked slowly, long golden lashes falling over sapphire gaze in a singular moment.

He was the only being outside of her own kind that always remembered the flick. It was, perhaps, what had caught her attention all those years ago.
She had always been able to forgive that the flick was with his ears..... it was the thought, in this case, that counted.

Ao didn't look at him with the same admiration he had always held for her. Instead there was warmth. Affection, if guarded after so much time. Truth- no being, even a Raykkan- would consider their kind physically attractive. But that in no way changed the appreciation and endearment she'd had for him, once upon a time. In his own way, he had become beautiful to her, because of everything he was, rather than any physicality.

"I have eaten recently," she said a little more primly than she had intended. Her mane rippled, indicating a softening however, a twitch for forgiveness requested at the tone, subtleties of language usually missed by non-Xykans.

"But I would never turn down a table set by Kal," she continued, offering perhaps the highest compliment she could. She had almost said my Kal but that was a long time past. She had been the one to do the leaving, and knew she had no right to call him hers any longer.

She didn't apologize for coming by unannounced. She would have to be sorry for that, and it didn't occur to her to mention it out of some social nicety. Certainly she knew many of them, and the Xykans had their own versions of such verbal fripperies, but apologizing when she didn't mean it was never a habit she had gained.

"You are doing well, Kalak," she said quietly, flowing into the foyer of the apartment and looking around. That sapphire gaze fell on him again.

"It is good to see you. I was not sure at first- but I am glad you were home."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

@Ao'Xian

Kal looked back at her tone in something resembling surprise, but then her mane shifted as it always had.

Difficult to make out the meaning immediately after all these years.

Back then the Raykkan had managed to figure out the subtle meanings after a while. The quivers, the thrill, the shakes, the direction it was set and the way the eyes eyed all combined, but now Kalak cheated and did not feel remotely bad about it. Why would he? She had her fur, her tail to relay meaning and Kal? Kal had his mind. It didn't overtly made itself known, but it swiftly captured the meaning. Regret. Apology. The Raykkan inclined in acceptance, before they passed through the foyer.

Slightly mollified by the next sentence.

Ears flicked again, but this time there was a jump to it of pleasure. She had always known how to mollify him. Cuisine had always been his hobby after all. "Mmm, I recently imported some exotic variety of meat, mm mm mm." Ao recentered herself in the middle of the foyer and studied his home. In the meantime Kal studied her. To say that the Raykkan worshiped or had worshiped her would be an overstatement. Only Kalak himself got that particular benefit. But those eyes of burning fire drank in the sight anyway, the shimmering scales, the sheer health of her shape, those eyes of sapphire and the subtle flicks of her ears. She mentioned the state of his affairs and that got a... softening around that almost permanent frown.

It was almost a smile.

Sharp teeth and all.

"Cannot complain... much, but the plans are always in motion, that is truth." He turned back-half, signaling that she should follow him. They went through the corridors, before ending at an elevator. It went up and was there in exchange for stairs. His physical limitations made stairs... challenging to say the least. "Ditto, Ao-" Flick. "-Xian." It was certainly possible to just limit it to Ao by now, but in truth Kalak enjoyed saying her name. There was rhyme to it.

The ding sounded and they lift doors settled open.

"Surprised as well, but your shine has only grown brighter after all these years. Your journey is equally successful then?" Kal had never truly minded that she left. It had been expected. Not in the sense of: "Oh, woe is me, of course she would leave." If there was one thing that the Raykkan had in spades it was self-confidence. No. It was the simple matter of belief. She had her path and he had his. Their paths would cross, if they needed to be.

But she had deserved a chance to shape herself into what Ao needed to be.

That was when the second door slid open before them, paving way to Kal's freezer. Rows upon rows of pods, the glass misty, but the room itself regulated to bare comfort. "Mm, they are still alive, of course. What does your taste run for this evening, Ao?" There was meaning behind that shortening of the name.

Underlining that as far as Kal was concerned nothing had changed and that they could continue on with comfort.

 

[Ao Xian]

She caught the near smile, the almost smile, and her eyebrows rippled in a signal half appreciation, half nostalgia.

In their youth, the unlikely pair had appreciated each other for different things. And just as she took pleasure in the knowledge that he alone saw her perfection the same way she did, she knew he took his own in her acknowledgements of his accomplishments, in the pride and faith she had in him even before, when all of his planning had still be mostly dreams and smoke.

Ao moved delicately behind him, body flowing more like water than like muscle and scale. Claws takked against the hard floor, a staccato counterpoint to the thumping hop of Kalak's gait. Her head shifted back and forth, tilting his way and that as her ears swiveled- less now in communication and more in exploration. Her tail swished high above the ground, and that did offer indication of the combination of comfort and curiosity in this place and time.

She curled into the elevator, around him but not touching, merely present in a way she had not been in so long. She smiled as he said her name again, settling a little deeper into her curl, the faint puff of her breath stirring against his ears after they offered that flick. Not a deliberate act- but it was the equivalent for these two of accidentally brushing hands, only to look away flushed but not truly ashamed as they returned to center or pockets.... but only for a little while until the accidentally deliberate touch would happen again.

Ao preened visibly at the compliment, scales rippling slightly and eyes closing as she shook out her mane.

"Very successful," she rumbled in agreement. "But there is still far to go. I have traveled far, seen many things..... but nothing is quite like home."

He knew what she sought, understood as well as a non-Xykan could (and better than even some of her own kin could accept). From the moment she had hatched, she had known in every waking moment that she was perfect (and on the rare occasions she doubted, it was merely dropped to the idea of potentially perfect). That deep seated knowledge of perfection did not mean that she had nothing to learn, no possibility to improve- but that if ever there were a Xykan destined to take back their godhood, well.... it would be Ao'Xian.

She paused at the door to the cold room. In part due to the temperature. There was no potential for comfort for her in there, so she stopped without self consciousness, perfectly content to wait and watch. In part, however, it because of his familiar use of her name.

In the early days of their courtship, he had always been so careful to include the proper inflection. It had only been later, once affection was clear that he had asked permission to call her the more familiar Ao. Others called her that, or Ao Xian without the flick and she endured it as necessary. But from him, now, to say it in that fashion....

Despite the chill wind coming out of the room behind him, she glowed, tail curling over itself, scale sliding against scales.

"I have always trusted your judgement when it came to the culinary, Kal," she murmured, watching him with heavy lidded gem stone gaze. "Something Avian perhaps? I have had a craving I have been.... unable.... to indulge for some time."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Kuraii"]

Layer upon layer of interaction folded into itself.

There was too much to detail every single part of it, because both of them were creatures of the smol. His ears flicked in the barest sign of pleasure at the soft touch of her breath brushing against them. More followed, while Kal bathed in her presence around him and hummed softly to himself. Odd how it seemed so natural, so easy to pick up right where they left of after ten years.

Ten hard, difficult years where Kalak had learned a thing or two about humility and patience.

"Avian? Mm. Mhhh. Rishi..." The Raykkan mulled while allowing a small smile. Only the tugging around the corner of his mouth would be visible from her angle, but it would be enough for her to know her comments pleased him immensely.

If there was one sure-fire way to get into Kal's heart, it was by acknowledging his culinary talents. Through the stomach... so to speak. He mulled it over a touch more, because there were other species frozen here. None of them were as large as this beautiful Rishi though. "Rishi it is, then." It was difficult to be a Raykkan, unless you had the foresight to design your house in such a way that it accentuated and supported the physiological limits of the Raykkans. No arms to manipulate the most of the equipment designed for regular sentients.

:: Pod Three-Six-Cresh-Beta, please. Bring it up to the kitchen. ::

An affirmative beep sounded next.

Then the pod hissed, before mechanical arms hitched around it and started pulling it upwards through sudden holes appearing in the ceiling. "Why don't you tell me of your travels, while I cook for you?"

 

[Ao Xian]

"Mmmm you are so good to me, Kal," Ao practically purred. She'd caught the smile, an actual upturn of his lips, and her own had grown wider, mustache rippling in pleasure. Perhaps things had changed and he smiled more readily. But once upon a time she had been the only one who could coax such an expression from him. Of course, modesty was not a trait Ao held in abundance. She had learned to fake it- there was a place for false modesty that made her look better- but those times were few and far between and in truth she was far more likely to toss her head and declare of course I am that wonderful than demure. So while part of her knew that it was possible he had more easily learned to smile.....

Most of her assumed that it was still a gift that only she truly gave him.

*****

It had always been a joy to watch him work, and time had not changed that. If anything, it only heightened it, as she compared and contrasted the Kalak she had known- still learning his trade- to the master that now stood before her.

They had moved to the kitchen, warmer and far more pleasant to Ao's preferences. She lounged, curled out of the way, perfectly content to wax on and on about her travels, the places she had been, the things she had seen and experienced, all while watching him work the knife with the expression of an artist at a canvas. She didn't get tired of watching him work- nor of her own voice- and the time passed quickly and easily.

"It smells divine," she finally said, stopping to shift a certain claw arch that offered marvel.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Kuraii"]

Eons of evolution (or perhaps devolution) had ensured that the Rayykan physicality was misshapen and malformed.

Large heads, legs barely capable of carrying their bodies and instead strong arms to hold the burden. That was the main reason why every Raykkan wore these large, thick suits wherever they went. To hide their bodies and seem more imposing than they really were. Most Raykkans let their legs go to waste completely, but that was another thing that set Kalak aside from all the others.

He used his legs like another species would use his arms.

Only in the privacy of his own place, of course. Which seemed to include Ao as those limbs came out of the suit and deftly started to work their meal. It was bloody, it was a mess, it was art made surreal through physical expression.

This was exactly how it had always gone.

Kal listening calmly to her chiming voice, while the knife cut, cut, cut. Every once in a while the Raykkan would fill a hesitating silence with a few pointed commentaries, a question to coax out more details that she had overlooked, underlining that he was in fact listening to her. Even if it seemed that Kal was completely enveloped by the masterpiece slowly taking form on his table. "I admit," Kal finally said, as he sprinkled some more salt into the mix, while letting the pan shake over the fire to spread out the heat. "-compared to your tales, mine have been quiet... dull in comparison."

It was said with good-humor though and Ao would not detect even a shimmer of envy.

There was none, because Kal enjoyed what he did. Every step taken with passion, every little fine-print read with joy, every life sorted into a meal done with excitement.

"You already know my time with the shipping concern wasn't long for the world." Ao had always been rather good at figuring out the little secrets here and there. Oh, no patience to become a real broker, but the talent was there. "They were quite disinterested in my creativity." Head tilted at that, smile shifting down in a subtle frown. It did not bother him as much as it had back in those days.

But it was still a tender thing for him. "Ah... the plans I have, Ao." Humming softly at her name, ears flicking in joy at the warmth of the kitchen and the pleasure of her name shaping itself in his mouth. "So much to be done."

The Raykkan flopped back a bit and allowed his former love to watch what he had created.

The scent wrapping itself around them, the warmth bathing, the creation pure art.

 

[Ao Xian]

"Dull," she said flatly, "Is never a word I would use to describe you."

She'd watched with evident pleasure as he had worked, not put off by the sight of shrunken, malformed arms that the Raykkans so infrequently were willing to show outsiders. The fact that he did not hesitate to use them to work swelled her breast slightly- she was no outsider, not to him, the action proclaimed, and she watched him with a soft, affectionate gaze, small smile on her own face.

She had missed him, even if she had rarely admitted it to herself. Too much like doubt, that would have been, and Ao had no room in her heart or mind for such a petty little emotion.

Uncurling from her place, she stretched luxuriously, a wide yawn of gleaming teeth expressing her own comfort here with such a vulnerable motion- the stretching exposed the length of her belly, and with eyes closed it was a sign of trust.

Those sapphire eyes opened again, nostrils flaring as she took in the scent and looked down at the dish was true admiration.

The Rishii, of course, was very much alive. Kept unconscious by whatever methods Kalak had believed were appropriate to the preparation he intended, she salivated slightly, licking her muzzle. He had done something, slicing the meat from arms and legs into a delicate curling pattern that resembled her own scales, the brilliant scarlet of the meat contrasting with the glistening white of the length of bone. Her gaze turned soft as she glanced appreciatively over at it.

"You are a sweet darling," she murmured, moving to curl around behind him, her words warm on his ears- never touching, they had never, and would never. That wasn't what any of this was about.

"It is beautiful and I love it."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Kuraii"]

He shivered ever so slightly against the warm breath caressing his ears.

Oh, Ao had always known what buttons of his to press and it was no different here. Kal choffed, a sound between a groan and a rumble with a deep nasal inclination made only by Raykkans and those select sentients who had similar nosal faculties, to underline his pleasure at her words and actions. Before softly reaching out to her.

Not through the physical, no.

Theirs had never been and never would be that. Instead they had found other ways to share their affection, their combined joy, their love even. A Raykkan was weak of body, but their mind... Well, that was a different story altogether.

Back then Kal had still been young. Inexperienced. He simply had not been able to keep it up for very long.

His mind brushed that old spot that had always made her whiskers *curl* and gave it a good scritch, while making the last couple of preparations onto the dish. Then it was ready. They moved to the table and Preston moved it over for them.

Placing it neatly in the middle while trying to ignore the dessert occupying said dish.

 

[Ao Xian]

It had been a decade since someone had hit that spot (it would, after all, require someone knowing it existed) and as expected, Ao's eyes closed, her muzzle wrinkled, her whiskers curled, and she offered a rumbling purr deep in her throat.

Transferring to the table, she carefully shifted two of the chairs out of the way between two claws. If she had informed him ahead of time of her arrival, she would have been annoyed by the lack of furniture suited to her form. But she had arrived unannounced, and she could forgive the transgression. After ten years, she could not have expected him to keep her preferences in mind, after all.

The fact that he had cooked specifically for her helped. But if the next time she visited there wasn't something, well, then she might be a bit put out.

She watched appreciatively as Kalak administered the 'finishing touch'.

Their eyes met across the table, hers liquid gemstone and affection, his smoldering coals- warm and banked. Between them, the Rishii groaned softly, still paralyzed but brought back slowly to a certain level of consciousness.

"Still amazing after all these years," she said softly.

The Rishii whimpered, slow dawning as pain and awareness seeped in.

"How did I ever get through my days without you?"

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Kuraii"]

It was unclear if she was speaking of his eyes, the dinner between them or simply their combined presence.

Kalak supposed it didn't matter, all three was good for him. "Mmm, not quite sure." The Raykkan teased back while taking her in. All of her. The subtle curls of her scales, her whiskers still quivering delightfully from the echo of his touch. The shimmer of her eyes. Bleeding liquid sapphire, she was beauty. Briefly Kal wondered if she would allow him to keep her, if she would die before him.

He could presumably find a taxidermist competent enough to preserve her.

Then Kalak would be able to look upon his love forever. Watch over her and ensure she would be treated with proper respect even after her passing. "But now our paths have joined once more, darling." His knife already started slicing through some tender thigh. It prompted a dull screech, just a soft whine at the edge of their shared conversation.

"I used the Teesha Lotus extract to keep our dinner docile, I know you prefer when their song is... less pronounced." Kal enjoyed it when they sung high and bright, but this dinner was for her. "Her song will grow in intensity as we eat as the extract loses its property." Interestingly enough it also kept the Rishi alive for far longer than she had any right to.

That was an additional benefit as far as the Raykkan was concerned.

"I wonder, would you like to be included in my plans, like in the old days?" Kal wouldn't assume here. She had her life and he had his. Their paths would cross here, there, but he wouldn't force it.

 

[Ao Xian]

When he said Teesha Lotus extract, Ao oooooooed softly in appreciation.

"You are so good to me," she murmured gently, watching him softly from beneath golden lashes.

Absently, the claw of one hand traced patterns against the grain of the table (Dalan wood, if she didn't miss her guess), a symphony of meaning and expression in the Xykan language. Even if he didn't understand all of it (even when they had first connected, he had not been fluent, and it had been years after all) there was meaning there, offered to him. Another claw reached out, hooking on the edge of the large, oval platter- she didn't pull it toward her, as she might have in another situation, just claimed the edge of it as she arched her neck and laid her muzzle delicately against the opposite thigh.

The Rishii shuddered, a whimper offered between them.

They had supped once, as Kalak preferred. She had offered to try, for him. But it had been simply too painful, the level of noise, and reflexively she had snapped, severing the creature's larynx with razor teeth. She had even apologized after for ruining the evening for him, but he had been so gentle and refused to accept it.

Ah, had they ever been so young?

Tearing a strip of meat, she ate slowly, savoring, chewing with evident pleasure.

Her eyes opened when he asked, however, and she tilted her head slightly.

"You know that I have always admired your work," she said demurely. "I would be flattered to be involved again. Perhaps we can discuss the details at length after dinner?"

The Rishii sobbed softly.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Kuraii"]

Head inclined slightly in acceptance.

In truth talking business was paramount to pleasure for him, but Kal recognized it was different for Ao. They had ten years to catch up to together and the Raykkan believed it had been a good decision to pick the Rishi. Plenty of time to explore their time spend separate from each other, while enjoying the meal. All in all it took them more than an hour to clear out their dinner and then retire in his study.

They settled down near the burning hearth.

Its radiance embraced them, kept them warm and above it all Kal lit up one of his cigars. He offered one to her. She never accepted, but that wasn't the goal of the exercise.

No, instead Kal simply shared what he enjoyed with the one he enjoyed most of all. "How often can you detach yourself from the Sith, love?" There wasn't an expectation that she would be with him more often now. Maybe she would increase her visits, maybe she would stay distant, he hoped for the former, but Kal wouldn't be angry over the latter. Both of them had their own lives, their own plans and goals. But he needed to have an image of the state of affairs. So plans could be changed, modified or even created with it in mind.

 

[Ao Xian]

She had missed this.

His company. The scent of his cigars- she had no interest in smoking them herself, but the scent brought her back and she sighed contentedly as she settled her head the warm stone of the hearth. Her ears lay flat but relaxed against her head, and the tip of her tail flipped back and forth, back and forth at random intervals.

A deep rumble in her chest as she opened one eye to look at him.

"Any time I wish," she said, jaws parting into a wide, indolent yawn. That wasn't strictly true. There were expectations of her, though she would deny that anyone, even Tai Fa, was truly her master. She simply agreed to do as was needed because it suited her to do so. And when it didn't suit her, but in truth there was little choice?

Well then she exercised her prerogative to change her mind and act as though it had always been her intention to do whatever it was in question.

"I do, of course, have responsibilities," she demurred, covering those moments in question, though there was no humility in her tone. "I am, after all, indispensable. What do you have in mind?"

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Ao'Xian"]

Head inclined ever so slightly to agree with her on that.

It would have surprised Kalak, if she had told him they didn't need her attention. The fact that they did not constantly vie for it and make it impossible for her to detach herself from her duties was already a surprise. A pleasant one to be sure. He wondered briefly just how they could work together. Back in the day his ambitions had been... relatively small, but the risks taken had been larger.

That is how it often went with youth.

Their perspective limited, but their hunger dominating good proper sense. "I have positioned myself as something of an... outsider against the Makesh Cartel." Kal informed her slowly as he pondered further. "My business lies outside of Raykka for the most part, but I serve as a connect between that outside world and the Raykkans that hunger for a slice of the galactic pie, so to speak."

His own business had started with a single deli on Raykka.

Little did people know that the coming week things would start to change in terms of scale. "I have determined three vulnerable sentients." Another drag of the cigar as he studied the flames and enjoyed the way they danced.

"I want to take them out and take their business."

As easy as that.

And why not? This was the Raykkan way- sure, you could build and build and build, but if you could take? That was just as well. If not better.

 

[Ao Xian]

She tilted her head, ears turning toward him fully in the equivalent of 'I'm listening, you have my attention' despite the heavy dropping of eyelids over pools of sapphire. The comfort, the warmth of the fire relaxed her and it showed in every curl of her body there against the hearth.

"Is that all?" She yawned lazily, picking her head up from the warm stones and shaking out her mane.

It wouldn't be the first time Ao had 'removed' an obstacle for Kalak. It was how they had met to begin with- a recommendation from a relative too busy to do a particular.... job. As far as Ao was concerned, 'working' for a living was beneath her. But this wasn't exactly the same thing (and besides, at the time she had needed the credits she simply wouldn't admit that), and it had been a long time, even before their separation, since Ao had done work for Kalak in exchange for anything so base as money.

"Tell me who and where and consider it done," she stretched, letting the light scratch of the warm stone slide over her scales as she turned lazily onto her back in the firelight. It was the perfect level of abrasion to be comfortable and enjoyable, and she wondered idly if that had been a deliberate choice on his part, the hearth made of sandstone not far from where she was hatched-

Of course it was, she reasoned.

When presented with the choice between 'coincidence' and something that put her at the center of the universe?

Well, she would also choose the later and consider it no choice at all.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Ao'Xian"]

Where to start, where to start?

Some part of him felt like making that strange noise some felines made, when they were pleased with something. Sadly Kalak didn't have the lips to make such a sound possible. So the instinct was pushed away and instead once more his mind reached out, scritching her softly and showing her just how much Kal appreciated it.

"Look at us now," The Raykkan commented softly while staring into the flames and trying to coax meaning out of it. "Ten years and it seems like we were never truly apart."

He took a drag from his cigar and let the heavy smoke settle inside his lungs. Let the burn do its job, let it clog up his veins and filter through the purity of the moment.

"I will prepare a list." As he had often done in those days. There was no questions about compensation and neither did Kalak seek for reassurances. Which, in itself, showed how nothing had changed as far as Kal was concerned. Because he always double or even triple-checked.

No matter what.

Except here, for some reason.

"Tell me of this Sith Empire, sugar-eyes." An old one he hadn't used in ages... by the way her eyes shone as sugar crystals at the reflection of the fire. "Is there profit there?"

 

[Ao Xian]

Ao did purr, a low rumble in her chest as he reached out with his mind. She rubbed the side of her face against the stone, closing her eyes and basking.

"I was not sure what to expect," she murmured, the close to an admittance of insecurity anyone would ever get. "If I had known, I never would have waited so long."

It was also rare for her to express any sort of regret over a choice. More often, especially with other people, there was no such thing. Whatever choice she had made of course was the correct one. And when it wasn't? Then she had known all along, of course. Or that she had never thought anything else at all whatsoever.

Ao was a fickle creature about many things.

But not about Kalak.

"Mmmmm for you? I would think there was profit anywhere, doodle-bug." She tilted her head all the way down, so that the top of her head was on the hearth, whiskers curling in satisfaction at the old nicknames.

Despite those words, she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I would think, yes. The Empire is strict with its own worlds and citizens however. You could sell I believe but not.... procure without attracting attention of a sort we would both regret."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]