Private Elevated Episodes: How I Met Your Mother - Jungle Rehash

[Aver Brand]

"I barely had to lift a finger."

She side-eyed her mate, a wry smile pulling at her lips. No, you lifted three.

Without waiting for a cheeky riposte, Aver collected everyone’s plates and disappeared into the kitchen to serve the first course.

“Don’t pay her too much attention,” she called from behind the counter, her grin clearly audible. “Retirement’s left her with too much time on her hands, and she loves to spout bullshit.”

The smirk was well in place as Aver returned, the three plates of black pasta salad floating obligingly behind her. “It’s an… unfortunate combination.”

 

[Quietus]

"Just because the truth is beyond belief doesn't make it bullshit. Bullshit makes it bullshit," Quietus sipped.

Lenda's eyes pivoted between the two women, landing on Des, "And is it?"

"What? Bullshit? Of course not, the scope of my truths is merely beyond most people. Aver's the professional bullshitter." Her smirk grew but she gave her mate no opportunity to interject, "What about you Lenda. Were you born here on Nadir?"

The woman sat up slightly, so alarmed at the prospect of talking about herself that her nictitating membranes blinked. Lenda wiped her napkin at her face and gently cleared her throat, "No. No I wasn't. I am ... well, I was born on a space station called Novelta in the Outer Rim. My father was in trade and I never knew my mother. When I was young, Novelta was taken over by a rival federation and my father was forcefully enlisted into their Naval fleet as a pilot. He died in combat when I was 10, leaving me to be sold into slavery to pay for his debts."

Quietus frowned.

"One thing lead to another and I found myself on Nadir."

 

[Aver Brand]

“Hey, what do you know.” Aver stabbed at her plate, not quite looking at Lenda. “It’s a family tradition.”

Her brow was dark when she looked up again, fork abandoned to a hopeless tangle. “Why— why didn’t you leave? Soon as you had the credits for a hauler lift?” She found her mother’s eyes then, so much like her own – unwilling to give up any of the secrets locked behind the ice.

“Anywhere else woulda been better than here.”

Until she’d taken her iron fist to the place, Nadir had been a first-rate shithole on the galactic stage. It still was in many ways, only it was harder to see the mud on the streets when you spent half the year away and the other half looking down on the place from a skyscraping spire.

Aver scowled at her plate and fished out another cigarette to give her itching fingers something to do.

 

[Quietus]

Quietus wasn't going to apologize for Aver's attitude, though it almost felt like she should. Aver's past still had yet to reveal itself to her in fullness, but what she did know of it was nothing short of nightmarish. Apparently her mother's hadn't been much different. She sipped slowly from her glass, carefully watching Lenda.

"Believe it or not," Lenda began over a short sigh, "Nadir was the first place I knew any kindness. Beirric bought me out of the brothel as his personal companion... before he found his trophy wife, of course. Those were some of the best years of my life. He treated me well, I lived in his lap of luxury, until he no longer had a reason to keep me. When he kicked me out with nothing I stayed at a friend's home, she got me my job at the diner." She gave a faint shrug, "I liked working there. Bought my home from my friend whose mother had died in it. Just about got it paid off."

"I would have left after he took you and your sister from me, but I knew if I did, any chance of ever meeting you again would be lost. So I stayed." Lenda looked Aver in the eye and gave a withering smile, "I was right."

 

[Aver Brand]

For all of her strengths, Aver didn’t have it in her to look at her mother as the woman bit out her answer over long moments. Instead her gaze was fixed unflinchingly on the vista beyond the terrace, the roiling red clouds of her – their – home a strangely comforting sight in a conversation that set her every nerve on edge.

With a hard click of teeth and slow effort, Aver unwound her clenched fists and soothed her dry throat with a long drink of Whyren’s. The play of emotions on her face was a faint thing in the low light, undecipherable for anyone who wasn’t Desdemona Shamalain.

“You don’t work at the diner anymore?”

Of course she’d focus on the easier of those answers. Not that there was anything she’d left to say of Beirric that she’d not told the man himself before hurling him off his own tower.

That Lenda might well have ended up being wrong any number of times that Aver had nearly died in the half century before they’d met was left unsaid.

But…

She sighed, running anxious fingers through her hair. “I tried looking for her.” She did look at Lenda now, her mouth all twisted in a frown. “She’s… I think she may still be alive.”

 

[Quietus]

A pale, strong hand silently wound its way over Aver's knee, squeezing it out of sight under the table. She was handling this conversation well, all things considered. All histories considered.

"Oh I do," Lenda nodded, taking up her wine again, "just a few days a week now. My long-time boyfriend moved in with me. He's a ship mechanic, makes good money out at the docks."

Well that was a nice turn of events in the woman's comparatively short life. The tone of her voice made it sound as though she had a good thing going with this boyfriend of hers. Qui was about to ask after him but Aver arrived with a bit of fresh news.

Lenda blinked broadly at her, "She ... your sister?" Her lips drew thin with uncertainty at such good news, "How ... ah, what makes you think she is?"

 

[Aver Brand]

With her nose wrinkled like that, Aver looked very much like a disgruntled cat. She certainly had the attitude to match.

Fidgeting in her chair, the firrerreo dropped her gaze to the tumbler in her hand, meditating in the lapping of the amber liquid against the glass as she sought out Qui’s hand on her leg.

It helped.

“I hired… someone to find her,” she offered eventually, willing the tension out of her shoulders. The topic of her family was fraught to say the least. “Didn’t find her, exactly, but I know what happened to her.”

“Well, mostly. It’s, ah, a nasty story. You know.” She took a hard swig of the whiskey.
“The usual.”

“Some crazy scientist piece of shit had his fun with her. She… killed him, got out, but… dropped off the face of the Galaxy after.” Aver chewed on her lip and worried the tip of a sharp canine with her tongue until she tasted copper.

“For my money, she’s doing what I used to.” A hard smile curled her lips. “Twins, right?”

 

[Quietus]

"O-oh," Lenda cleared a tensing throat, brow pinching somewhat as she patted gently at her chest and put her wine glass down, "what is it you used to do again?"

"Terrorize the galaxy one sector at a time as the purported lesser of evils," Des filled in with a wayward smile.

Lenda made a sound that felt flatly between a choking sob and a forced, uneasy laugh, "You're ...um, ladies room. Where is it?"

"Over there, around the corner."

"Thank you. I'll just be a moment." The woman tensely rose from her chair and hurried off to said corner, but not too quickly.

Quietus watched after her, reading the waves of emotions as she went. Lenda was a difficult read physically - good poker face, which explained a lot about Aver. Perhaps her mate's challenges with feelings weren't entirely tied to her horrific past, but hereditary.

She's overwhelmed, she sent to Aver through the silence and turned to set an easy gaze of jungle green on her, "More Whyren's?"

 

[Aver Brand]

With a long-suffering grimace, Aver closed her eyes on her mother’s hasty retreat.

No kiddin’?

She swung back in her chair with a groan and wordlessly stuck out her empty glass towards the source of the knowing question.

I fuckin’ knew this was gonna happen.

Frustration outpaced any accusation in her voice even as glanced at the empty seat at the table. She rubbed the back of her neck and offered a wry smile to her mate.

So… impressions?

 

[Quietus]

The smirk was persisting. Qui took up the empty tumbler and stood from her chair, migrating back into the kitchen and the bar area.

I see a lot of you in her, the mental tone was light and unaccusatory, if I knew her better I suspect I'd also see a lot of her in you. Don't be so quick to dismiss her because of her emotions.

Pale brows raised as she slowly poured out another measure of Whyren's for her mate, You of all people know how difficult emotions are to navigate. She's being very strong and I'm not sure you're seeing that. You've been through a lot in your life, but so has she, and she's been through some very difficult challenges that you haven't.

Bare feet padded back across tiled floor, silence reigned until the deft thunk of the glass on the table, She has been through not just one, but two pregnancies after which her children were stolen from her. Now she's just learned that all three of her children might yet still live in a life where the odds were severely stacked against them.

One of them has done so well for herself that she's seated on a pedestal her own mother probably hadn't even hoped or dreamed to achieve.

Greens connected with blues pointedly, It's a lot to take in for someone who hasn't spent the majority of her life wreaking havoc across the stars.

 

[Aver Brand]

The amber liquid warmed her belly as it burned down her throat like so many thousand credits. Just as pointedly, Aver looked away from that piercing gaze. The jagged skyline behind the blonde lit her up with a halo of fire, stirring fonder memories for a brief moment.

She knew what I am.

Blue found green again, this time with a set jaw to boot. What am I supposed to do? Lie to her fucking face?

 

[Quietus]

She knew what I am.

Quietus nodded, and still she showed.

What am I supposed to do? Lie to her fucking face?

A droll, sideways smile replaced the vanished smirk while a pale hand moved to cup that strong, stubborn jaw, No. That's not what I'm saying at all. I don't think your truths are what's overwhelming her, she curled down and planted a warm kiss on lips that had grown frigid from Aver's emotional struggles.

She's here to try and forge a connection with a daughter she lost decades ago. Give her a chance, hm?

 

[Aver Brand]

Give her a chance, hm?

Aver whirled on her mate, nearly splashing her expensive whisky all over her expensive shirt. “What do you think I’m doing?”

Her whole body burned with the instinct to fist a hand into that blonde mane and bite down on that wry smile. Instead she folded her hands neatly in her lap, taught by decades and trial and error and many, many dead people to recognize the urge to violence for what it was.

You think this is easy for me?

 

[Quietus]

I think you're mentally blocking her at every turn.

There were likely very few in the galaxy who wouldn't flinch at an outburst from Aver, and one of them just happened to be standing in front of her.

I know it's not easy for you, the smile was gone from her expression but not for a hardness she might've worn early on in their relationship. Aver needed less hard edges in her life, especially today. Over the years Quietus had found that being fluid, going with the flow of things and bending into challenges she faced with the woman were far more successful than simply giving Aver Brand a harder surface to bash herself upon.

That's why I'm here. Knees bent into a stoop at the side of her mate's chair. Qui sighed, green eyes glancing off in the direction of the washroom. Lenda would be out again soon, she could sense it.

I wish you could feel what I feel from her. ...do you have your ring?

 

[Aver Brand]

A noncommittal grunt was the best she could do in the moment, so she washed down the sour taste and tension with another generous sip of Whyren’s.

As you do.

She made side-eyes at her mate at the mention of the ring.

Considered lying.

Abandoned the notion with a sigh.

Her shoulders slumped a little as she leaned back, cradling her tumbler like a lifeline. Yeah. But I don’t—

Aver looked up, taking in the firm, patient expression on Qui’s face. She’d not seen it in some time now – years, maybe – and it stirred up a wealth of frustration to see it lurking there in the corners of her eyes and mouth.

I’m sorry.

 

[Quietus]

I'm sorry.

Two words fewer than few had heard from the mouth of Aver Brand. They softened the line of her brow just so.

It could help, she insisted gently, pushing herself to stand again as the sound of Lenda Thiir exiting the washroom echoed out into the kitchen.

Lenda looked a little flushed, but her skin still maintained a pale golden hue that accented the hint of pink around her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just," she took a deep breath and offered the two a wane smile, "needed a moment."

"More wine?" Qui offered, giving Aver's shoulder a firm squeeze before making her way a second time back over toward the bar.

"How did you know?" Lenda took her seat again, composing herself with a gentle clearing of her throat, "The food is delicious. Which one of you is the cook?"

 

[Aver Brand]

Aver cast a wary glance Lenda’s way as she reappeared, but wisely kept her mouth shut – and chased the silence down with another healthy sip of her drink. For once, she wasn’t the only one partaking.

“Well, being a mind-reader helps.”

She jumped on the opportunity for something more lightweight with a crooked grin, tipping her glass in a conspiratorial salute even as the woman in question returned from the kitchen with the vintage.

“The cooking’s all me, though.” Her grin grew in a flash. “Des is… quite hopeless. She’d eat meat fresh off the bone if it weren’t for my… civilizing influence.”

Aver batted her lashes at her mate as she stood to bring the next course. And if she managed to stealthily return the shoulder-squeeze on the way to the kitchen, well, that was just a coincidence.

 

[Quietus]

Intuition, Qui mouthed toward Lenda with a smirk and a wink. Truth be told, she hadn't pried into the poor woman's head at all. Reading open emotional currents wasn't intrusive, it was receptive. If nothing else, more wine was an educated guess on how the mother of her mate handled stressful situations - much in the way her mate did, with more alcohol.

Lenda graciously accepted the fresh pour and took a strong sip.

"It's true," she decided to play along with Aver's big lie, "if you weren't here I'd be running around naked gnawing marrow from a bone." Not that Aver hadn't shared plenty of naked-and-gnawing-marrow-from-bones on Thral with her. Marrow was fucking delicious. "I understand you also like to cook? At the diner?"

"Baking mostly. I love to bake. I've memorized a few of the cook's recipes to help him out when we're busy and short-staffed. I'm good at a few things in the kitchen, but I'd like to learn more. Just aren't too many ...mm, friendly tutors for such things on Nadir."

Quietus made a thoughtful noise as she cut into the next round of served food, "Pity. Wish I knew a friendly cook..." there was that smirk again, and the telltale brow arc. Hint hint, Aver.

 

[Aver Brand]

Her smile was all teeth and sparkling eyes as she played along with her mate. “That’s basically how we met, darling.”

Didn’t have to stretch the definition of ‘naked’ and ‘gnawing marrow’, either – freshly fucked and covered in blood was a right cozy neighbor.

"Pity. Wish I knew a friendly cook..."

Sure enough, though, her mirth was as quick to evaporate as it had appeared. Aver’s grin turned strained as she fixed Qui with a look.

The merc hid her grimace in a long swig of her recouped cups, stalling and steeling herself for the conversation. There was no avoiding it, because among the many things her mother wasn’t, stupid was perhaps foremost.

“I could maybe… tutor. But I’m afraid that…” Aver cleared her throat before picking up her careful path through her… professionally limited vocabulary, “there are quite a few constraints on my time. And… presence here. On Nadir.”

The smile she offered up was much more muted now, but it was there.

Progress!

 

[Quietus]

Des very much ignored the look, maintaining her own of wry contentment she often kept when intentionally poking the limits of Aver's social/emotional skills. This was how she learned. She being Aver.

Lenda did not miss the look and hovered over it with another drink from her glass. Considering everything she knew, and all the things she thought she knew, cooking lessons with her were probably nowhere on the list of things Aver had any desire to do. But there was the offer, with pointed stipulations. At first Lenda wasn't sure how to respond, her own emotions a mix of many conflicting things.

"I don't ... want to put you on the spot. You don't need to feel obligated because of, well -" her brow pinched slightly but a faint look of pleasantry shown through, "but it would be nice," Lenda nodded, "I would like that very much." A fleeting smile showed before she dabbed it away with her napkin, "So you don't spend much time on Nadir anymore then? Am I allowed to ask where you spend it?"

"At my home," Des replied, nibbling at a baked vegetable, "at the other end of the galaxy. Though we both do a good deal of our own travels for our own reasons. Mine mostly for my family needs, I recently inherited the title of Matriarch."

"Oh," Lenda leaned forward a bit in interest, "is it a large family then?"

"Obnoxiously."

"Several generations I think you said?"

"Yes, well - one less generation now, but plenty enough to keep me busier than I like in my retirement. I'm currently in the process of building our new house."