Coming Home

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili perked her brow, a small smile crept upon her lips as Micah made passing mention of dungeons and crazy experiments. It didn’t take long for the smile to fade away and get replaced by a grin. A toothy grin that would have Micah know that, no, he was not in any immediate danger. Yet.

“Experiments, huh?” She chuckled. “Let’s leave my bedroom out of this, okay?”

A reverse bomb as her nerves began to fold back into place. Nothing said siblings like inappropriate jokes and cheap laughs, did it? Nah, nothing did. Kaili eased her grip around the controls and took a deep shaky breath.

“Well, two things come to mind. In one hand I have the story about the time I fixed a droid and got myself a date.” Kaili shrugged and looked over at Micah. “Aaaand on the other is the story of how I was thwacked in the head by a droid dic-... tator. Dictator.”

“One of them jarring and terrifying, the other… Far from it. Have your pick. Which one do you want first?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Now that was news that perked a thick bushy brow.

One arm rose to perch against the speeder’s door, and a rather scoundrel grin spread from ear to ear. This was to be a good tale, I can feel it, he mused. There was a vibrating giddiness to the Talith, and it showed.

“Fixed a droid and got yourself a date?” he quipped, “You don’t need to tell me about Henry, Nohei -- we all know!” oh he went there, deliberately playing off her words. It followed suit with, “And good for Henry!” he sang, “I imagine he would smack you here and there to keep you in place.”

Oh this ought to be good…

 

[Kaili Talith]

“What, like this?” Kaili said as she curled her right hand into a tight little ball and repeatedly thrust it towards her brother’s upper arm. “No! It’s not Henry.” She laughed it off, playful teasing and all. “... It’s Allyson.”

The hand that had punched her brother was already latched onto the controls again. A few moments of silence passed as Kaili got herself readjusted to flying the speeder again. Deep breath, time for the reveal.

“She came by the store one day with her broken droid. A BB-unit she had scavenged from some really old spaceship a while back and gotten back into working order.” Kaili smiled again as she thought on the memory much as she had the last time she got started on Allyson. “Now, she’s a spacer, right? Don’t make much of a living, can’t really afford to pay the price for a full-blown droid repair, but she was pretty insistent that her droid fixed.”

“... So we cut a deal.” The kid snickered, again. “I lowered the price, but in return she had to install the parts by herself as well as pay for a dinner that-”

No, Micah was probably more interested in the broad strokes rather than the finer details of the story. Which wasn’t to mention the fact that not everything went as smooth as Kaili could make it seem. Something that the Talith kid was more than willing to make use of.

“Look, just, long story short: I am still seeing her and I kind of really appreciate her company.” Kaili shrugged. “Kind of a lot.”

“She’s coming back soon, maybe I’ll let the two of you meet some day.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Needless to say, that was some... really odd, curious bit of news. The Talith's only reaction was a thick arch of his right brow. It was a bit confusing, but then again, Nohei was a confusing bag of tricks herself. She was going through a hard time though, so whatever made her happy he supposed. If it was finding a new friend, more power to her. Mainly because if it was one thing Nohei had always said, is that she was never, ever gonna do much of anything until she was waaaaaaaaaay older. Plus with being alone, not really seeing much of their friends save Mara now and then, having her experiment was normal. That was something their father had told them many a time.

They all, after all, had high expectations.

He knew well that everyone had been concerned that the young woman was hermiting herself away a bit too much. "Maybe." he said off handedly. With as much as he and Vex traveled, he did more comm calling than actual stopping by. But he always did drop in to check on his youngest sister; he'd always been a social creature. Far more than the rest of the Talith siblings.

"If your shop doesn't get run downed by customers." here came that crocked grin again, drawing back another cookie and chewing it voraciously. He did love himself some cookies.

"Here." he said, shoving another cookie into her mouth. Honestly, he thought it would have been a better story other than his sister making a new friend. But one can only guess that is better than jarring and terrifying.

"I am hungry." he told her, leaning back against his seat. "Feed me woman!" he followed along with a poke on her shoulder. They would arrive at the shop soon. It really wasn't that far at all, considering the closeness of the various islands.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“If my shop don’t get run over by customers.” Kaili nodded before she placed the sugary treat between her teeth and proceeded to chow down. “I’m gonna, I’m gonna! Just gotta get there first.”

Her shoulder was poked, the speeder began to slow down and home was within sight. It was funny that, how the road home always seemed like the shortest trip when in reality they were just about the same. Kaili held back a snicker at the thought. The speeder approached the garage and the gate opened by itself as if it had longed for its roommate while Kaili and her brother was gone. In reality it was, of course, the built-in sensor contained within the particular speeder unit, but hey, Kaili could always dream about it.

Sentient vehicles. What a world.

Their speeder touched ground and with it Kaili let go of the controls only to feel herself let an involuntary deep breath fill her lungs to the brink before she let it go with a deep sigh.

“Home.” She spoke underneath her breath. “Sweet home.”

Shaky hand grabbed at the door and pulled. “Now, let’s just hope that pheasant isn’t raw in the middle, right? … Or burned to a crisp.”

The two of them stepped inside the girl’s apartment. No burned aroma, just cooked pheasant. Good. It was a good sign.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"I don't mind if it is a bit crispy," Micah teased her, walking along carrying the goods behind her, a few inches taller than her. All the Talith children were rather tall, dwarfing their petite mother. They took after the Talith and Shamalain side of the family with that. At some point, their mum had mentioned that she wished she knew more about her biological family so that the kids would know more about where she came from and what it meant.

While history and tradition were certainly a part that Micah held in high esteem, he had told his mother that while lineages were all nice and dandy, all he cared about was that she was his mother. No lengthy bloodline would change that. That wasn't to say that the children were not introduced to Lorrdian culture and the language. That was how all of the Talith brood were perfectly capable of using and understanding kinetic communication.

A skill that came in handy when reading the body languages of others.

Micah gave a deep breath, letting the pleasant, mouth watering aromas of the pheasant lick his nose. Alex and Henry joined them shortly after, each with their own little quip of course about the passage of time.

"Oh," he said, as if realizing something. "So how is Mara doing?" it had been a while since he caught up to the Shortstack, and he knew that Nohei and Mara were very close.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Just about the same as you’d expect for a quadro-whatever-illionaire with more money than she’d know what to do with.” Kaili muttered before giving Micah a half-hearted shrug and a rather worried smile. “I worry for her, but I think we’ve got things under control.”

The two Taliths stepped inside the kitchen. Kaili knelt down to withdraw the pheasants from the oven. She paused for a second, realizing that mittens were handy tools for not catching burn marks. She boldly equipped two gauntlets, one for each hand. One blue, one pink, both of them soft and comfortable enough to place today’s dinner on top of the stove.

“She hired me, you know.” Kaili looked to Micah. “Not in a particularly official way, but still… Kinda. Call it a vent-for-rent. Someone to keep tabs on how she is holding up, not letting the stresses of running a corporate conglomerate get to her. Make sure she doesn’t let greed and lust for power get the better of her.”

“Though so far I am glad to say I haven’t had to do my job. Yet anyway.”

Attention went back to the pheasant.

“So, side dishes. What’d you bring us, and how much do you want? Fifty-fifty?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"Hired you, eh?" Mara had the same bit of issue that the Taliths did. That is, come from family with a bit too much money than they ever really figured they would have. Granted, neither one of them really ever considered to be an issue, it was more their parents wealth than their own. Mara just has it a bit harder - well not harder, but more as in complicated - due to the fact that she's the sole heiress of more than just what her father had done with Silk Holdings.
But that was a story for another time.

"A vent-for-rent?" a thick bushy brow perked at that, moving on towards one side of the suite kitchen to plop down the sack and the goods they brought over from their parents. "So...paying you to be her friend?" that was a bit confusing, and it clearly showed as it both brows drew forward in a minor taken aback.

"Aren't you that already?" he asked, removing items from the bag and setting them down upon the counter. A nod motioned over to some potatoes he nabbed. "Mash some maybe as one," to her answer of side dishes. He went back to the topic in hand thought.

"I mean... you are friends already. Venting is part of the arrangement."

 

[Kaili Talith]

“No. We’ve put more thought into it, Micah.” Kaili looked to her brother. “We both agreed that we can’t overlook the fact that she has an insane amount of power in her hands compared to the average person. Appearances are expected to be kept, you know?”

“I am her friend and student,” Kaili reassured her brother. “But on paper I am her therapist or advisor. Someone to keep around for the hard decisions that could weigh on her conscience, that kind of thing.”

“She can’t afford to look weak, Micah.” The younger Talith grabbed a potato and got to work on the mash. “She was taken aback like you were when I proposed it, but we both figured it was a good deal. I look out for her, keep her sane and non-darkside-like and in return she does the same for me. So, professional on paper, but far from it in practice.”

“Just to keep up appearances, y’know?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

It didn’t stop the rather befuddled arch of an eyebrow from the Talith. Oh, it made sense… to a degree. Up until you put into consideration it was Nohei, who was supposed to play the part of the therapist.

He set down a potato on the counter, then braced his weight on his forearms as he went leaning against it. Here it goes. You can see it in his eyes, what was coming.

“So… you are on paper… supposed to be Mara’s therapist.” it was a rather preposterous consideration. “I get that you want to put some kind of legalized veneer to it all but…” his head went dipping lower, a bit nearer, as he stared straight into his youngest sister’s eyes.

“Tell me how it looks like when people dig into your past and find out you are not a therapist. Much the less, younger than your supposed client.”

His expression, for once, was pretty deadpan.

“You don’t think that is as much of a red flag as anything?”

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Do I look like a therapist?” Kaili extended her arms and twirled around in disbelief. “Mara works the titles, I work the work. For all I know she has marked me down as a charity in her papers, something to make a rich girl our age feel better about her insanely huge chunk of wealth.”

“The idea still stands though, we can’t just have her younger friend waltz around and make her look all bad and stuff, I do… Well, friend stuff while Mara does quintadoxillionaire-whatever stuff.”

“Now, should we eat or should we discuss my perfectly imperfect cover some more?” Kaili went as equally deadpan as her brother had. “Because force know I’d much rather talk than eat father’s leftovers and pheasant, right?”

“I am sure once Danger or whoever notices exactly what’s going on and the red flags rise, we'll uh… Meh. Can only really take that as it comes. Not particularly worried about it just yet.”

Note to self: Write to [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] and propose the title of 'Apprentice.'

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

His answer was to walk beside her and ruffle her hair energetically with his hand. Her dead pan expression was met with the familiar smirk was twisting across his lips again, his eyes a bright orange in humor. Leaning across her shoulder, he plucked one of the apples from the bag that he'd pilfered. With a resonating crunch, he wagged his brows and curled his lip back in amusement.

"Oh I'm all for eating," he said, his free hand rubbing over his abdomen in dramatic display. He really did inherit their mother's flair for the theatric. He went about, taking the rest of the food from the bag and setting them into play. The rest would need to be warmed up.

"But that is what I am here for!" he added, not quite ready to end the conversation without a last word. It was the challenge you see. To get the last word in.

"To shine the light on things likely missed!" oh did that grin ever grow wider as he cast it over to his youngest sister.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"]

That glare. Micah knew it, Aela knew it, heck anyone who had ever seen Kaili get frustrated knew it. She watched him eat the apple with a stare meant to set the fruit on fire or quite possibly explode, but to her great dismay there was no such thing to be had. While Kaili without a doubt had grown up there was also no doubting the fact that when it came down to it she was still the family’s youngest child. The one that got just a little more upset at the other siblings when they teased her.

“Well, good thing you were here then to point it out.” Kaili refused her brother the last word.

The table was set, the food was brought and at long last it was time to eat, but Kaili had to think fast. Micah still had an opening to get the last word. She had to avert it and change the topic, make it something more interesting.

“What have you and Vexen been up to?” The girl took a bite of her food and proceeded to chew. “Anyshing intereshting?”

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Oh, I know what you are doing there, kiddo.

There were few times that Micah took on the nicknames their mum would hand out like candy. It was more noticeable when he was feeling rather high at himself. He got her good that last round, that was for sure, and he could see his youngest sister’s mind already ticking away with her little gears in motion. She was plotting on getting the last word. That was just how she was. She took what Micah did as a direct challenge and was now considering the best place scenrio and path to get the one up on him.

Predictable, he mused, smugly taking another bite of his apple that by all accounts, should have blown up at the icy glare she sent his way. Instead of making him back down - it never had, honestly - it only made his smirk worse.

Point, me!

A mental tally of who was winning their silent little competition was checked off as he took two clean dishes and set them on the table. With food served, he was by no means holding back on taking his fill. Forks and knives might do Nohei some good, but Makai wasn’t too blue blooded to dig in with his hands. Which he did

"Went traveling a bit... ended up going for a Taozin hunnt," he said after popping a thick, slippery piece of Pheasant into his mouth. There was a brief flare of enjoyment in that. If anything, Nohei took their dad's culinary skills to heart. Which is why he was perfectly willing to bring over to her place whatever she could cook to her little heart's content.

"Got some extra leather and some pieces of Greater Calama shell." he pointed a greasy finger at her, "I can finawly mwhake yous tha armorah if youlike."

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili smiled and let the belief that she won the round sink in. Micah had nothing on her, it was all about having the actual last word in and she had most certainly done that. The food in her mouth continued to shuffle around and get grinded down into a thin paste before she swallowed. A disapproving glance shot out at her brother as he dug in with his hands. Oh, she was used to it but that didn’t mean she had to approve of it. No doubt mother and father had tried to make him use the appropriate cutlery but the results of that was still rather, well, evident.

“That sounds… Nice.” Kaili grimaced still as they discussed the Taozin hunt and moved on to the armor. Only, there was something else that needed to be addressed. “Draith, please,” Oh snap, she used his actual name! “I gave you the fork and knife for a reason.”

Deep breath, exhale.

“You know, I nearly thought you had forgotten about that armor.” She tried to joke and perk her brows in the hopes of lifting her prudish mood from the floor but it ended up rather half-hearted. “How many months has it been since I asked about it?” She finally managed to crack a lopsided grin. “Eleven? Three? Eight?”

“... One?” Well, it was most certainly not much more than a month. At least not that she could remember. “Do you have any ideas for it? What it would look like? What it could do?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He gave her a devilish grin when Nohei cried out his name in exasperation. He almost believed that she would reach over and smack his hand too! A smirk danced wider into a full blown grin. Oh she may think she got the last word, but the fact that he got her to snap out was just the icing on the cake. With a deliberate suck and lick of his thumb, Micah arched his brows in broad humor.

"That's because it took a while to gather what I needed!" some of the items he preferred to go hunting for himself. Gave him an excess of materials and he was sure he could practice not only his skills, but also learn more. That's what it all was. Learning more and more of the worlds, creatures, and what else was out there.

"I've some. I doubt you are the sort to find yourself weighed down by heavy armor." that was more Aela when she went into full battle mode. "I was thinking imbued leathers. Get you to work on a few of the small technological additions that you may want -- things to work on the bracers and everything else I made you. Or kind of like that gauntlet you helped me made." He grabbed the fork - if only so that Nohei wouldn't jab her with her own -- and promptly went reaching over to grab a chuck of potato from her plate.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Eh, Kaili couldn’t remain upset for long. Her brother had always been the more ‘feral’ of them when it came to food. Really, the kids had a fifty-fifty split on where they stood whole manners-to-free-spirit table. It was prevalent enough for the kid to start thinking it might just have something to do with hair color. Maleah, Micah, both brunette and both of them hard to house train. Then on the other end they had Aela and Kaili, the blondes who seemed to have a stick up their rear one way or the other. For the youngest it was just overall manners and value in keeping herself clean. Sure, she hadn’t always been that way, but she grew up eventually.

Well, almost. And rambling aside the point that was to be made was this: Kaili couldn’t hold it against Micah when he was just being himself.

“Good, that’s good.” Kaili nodded. “So a body glove, kind of then. I mean, tight-” She burst her fork in a quick downwards movement in a desperate struggle to reclaim the food that was being stolen from her. She failed and helplessly watched as Micah devoured her potato. “... What I was trying to say was… I am not keen on the idea of running around in something overly tight.” She shrugged. “Girl has to be able to breathe, you know?”

She perked her brow at a sudden flashback to when they were still kids learning how to wield armor properly.

“I still remember what it felt like when we had outgrown our first few sets of armor but kept reusing them until father found us new ones.” She snickered. “You landed that one hit that had me gasping for like two minutes.”

Warm smiles. “Good times.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He matched her impish grin.

There was a softness in his eyes amidst the mischevious at the reminicing. Their childhood had certainly not been what one would consider normal; not with their family. However, amidst the training and the laughter, there had been affection and love. Their parents had done their best to ensure that he and his siblings had a good life, that they were able to be children and not have to worry about anything.

That is why they lived on Boreleias. Why the traveled so much. Not only to explore the galaxy, but learn what was out there. They were lucky. He knew that. Not once did he ever take it for granted. THeir family bond is what drew them together, kept them strong.

“I got lucky.” he added, giving her that compliment. A smirk drew after, tossing another piece of pheasant into his mouth. “You also enjoyed pounding my head into the sand after.” A half chuckle and perk of his thick eyebrows followed.

“Also, yeah. I figured you’d be like Esmae and freak out over anything riding up your jimmies.” he had heard from his parents how [member="Aela Talith"] had gone undercover for a bit. The tales he heard from Jacen afterward were fantastic. He was sure to poke fun at her next time he saw her.

“Nah, we’ll give you a liner, but nothing tight. I’ll need you to move. You’re good at that.” and she was. “Anything in particular you want added?”

 

[Kaili Talith]

Once more the blonde’s lips twitched in a lopsided grin at the mention of heads getting pounded into the sand.

“Yeah, I think I enjoy that a little too much.” She tilted her head and gave her brother a one-shouldered shrug. Her eyebrow perked at the mention of her similarity to Esmae and how they reacted to having their jimmies rustled. It wasn’t too far from the truth, but then again Nohei’s short fuse wasn’t much of a secret to anyone that knew her. Especially not for her family.

How many times had she been forced into the timeout corner as a kid? Far too many to remember.

“I would love a grappling hook, but I could probably make one of those myself.” Another piece of food entered her mouth and she gave it a good few contemplative chews trying to think of cool things an armor would need.

“I need pockets. For spare parts and such for Henry or any other kind of tech I bring with me.” She looked to the ceiling for another few moments to think. “I mean, means to not die of lightsabers or blasters would be really nice too.”

“But mainly pockets and things that would allow me to move with ease in all terrains. Like Henry.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"Then if that is the case, we should probably see to getting you some material that can be Ee-Em-Pee proof." he added, grabbing a roll of bread and breaking it in half. Their mum had likely baked them earlier that morning. He offered one to Nohei and promptly began to spoon some of the pheasant gravy onto his plate.

"There is a material we can use. Along with the Plastiray spray I found from Arceneau Trade. We'd just need to spray all your items down with it." Plastiray was a new substance created by Browncoat Arms and Industrial by common materials to provide a rapid and safe method to fix and repair an item that requires electrical insulation from EMP, Ion weaponry, and electrical surges. Most common applications are frayed wires of a headset, of any electronic component, and much more.

It has the same technology as that of the Fused quartz cryztaline mesh, the technology of Quantium Crystaline fused quartz mesh allows an increased resistance to electricity, EMP, and Ion weaponry due to its electrical resistance. It is a fast drying product, but requires at the very least 24 hours to completely set. This can be utilized in multiple layers, but can become bulky if done so. It is flexible and allows an ease of movement without damaging or straining the sprayed on product.

"I can also see about grabbing one of their liners... maybe go to Vanir for their kinetic gel." the half broken bread roll dipped into the gravy and he stuffed his face. A finger gestured.

"Yuus still gonna-- " he swallowed, grabbing a drink. "You still gonna use the cloak i made you?"