High Cost of Living

[Cassandra Paige]

Etti IV​

Taunsday​

2pm​

​

"Lily."

"Um. It's- Yes Miss Paige?"

She knew her assistant's name was Lila. She simply didn't care. And there was part of her that wondered just how long she could make the mistake before the girl exploded.

"What.... is..... that....... thing?"

Cass was behind her desk, staring in a certain disgusted, fascinated horror, at the figure on the small recording from the waiting room.

"Um. Your two o'clock Miss Paige?"

She reached up and pinched her nose between thumb and forefinger.

"What. Species. Is. It." She spoke as though to a particularly slow child. But then, this wasn't new.

"It's in the appointment notes Miss Paige."

The girl's voice was very small now.

"So. Go. And. Look. At. Them."

A moment later: "H-he's a Raykkan, ma'am."

A beat.

"What even is that."

*****

Cass wasn't standing to greet him, as she often did. She was settled comfortably behind her desk. It was easier to not offer a hand to shake in that position. There wasn't tea coming, nor would she offer- she didn't want it to linger. She had a pleasant enough smile on her face (she was good at faking those), and when he-

oh gods the way he moved

'walked' in, she smiled a little broader, but internally she was grotesquely fascinated that such a species could evolve, let alone attain the sentience necessary to make an appointment.

"Welcome to GenPals, Mister Kalak," she said warmly. "My name is Cassandra Paige. Please, take a seat? What can I do for you today?"

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

The first thing that Kalak was hit with was just how ugly this human was.

You'd think that after brushing... shoulders with them for a few years would prepare him, but no, each and every time was a rude awakening that the Galaxy was truly testing him. Day in and day out with new challenges to overcome.

He flopped into the room and was followed by two of his Dalan slave- indentured servants. For some reason many worlds outside of Raykka believed that each species had equal rights.

Preposterous.

"Miss Paige." He flopped down in one of the seats and one of the Dalan leaned in, lighter and cigar already at ready for him. This world was far too clean. He could practically taste the fresh air burning a hole into his lungs. The sentient tree lit his cigar, a spark touching its bark and it winced. Yet, the Dalan knew better than to complain.

Kalak was a carnivore, but his taste for the rude never rested.

"I am interested in ordering a pet as a surprise for my lovely snugglebunny. I have been made to understand you could make this happen, yes?"

He avoided thinking of his pet smollac that had died a few weeks back. It had been a disaster, what self-respecting creature wasn't able to keep its meat down?

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Snugglebunny, oh gods. The thought of it in a romantic (and presumably a- no don't) relationship with something made her vaguely nauseous. She managed to resist wrinkling her nose, and she thought she kept a neutrally curious expression on her face. She swallowed, wishing she had a glass of water to wash the taste out of her mouth.

"Oh I'm sure something like that could be arranged. Have you looked at our current catalog? Surely something in there would be suitable for your.... paramour."

She smiled, tilting her head, hating this. Hopefully it just hadn't realized they had a catalog and it could order whatever it wanted without bothering her, without cluttering up her office. She suppressed a cough as the smoke from his cigar reached her- smoking didn't usually bother her, but then, no one she knew smoked anything like that.

But why should it surprise her that something that ugly smoked something that disgusting?

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Oh, this one was... *rude*.

Mm.

More often than not sentients kept their thoughts in check when they encountered a Raykkan. Hard lessons had taught them better than to let their minds wonder too much. Once Kalak had met a rather amusing Givin for instance.The moment Kalak came into view it had started solving eye-wateringly difficult equations in its head, while competing in a 5D chess match against three of its own selves. It had been... fascinating to study, if the Raykkan was being honest.

"Oh, no. The standard catalogue will simply not do for my honeysticks." Kal shook his head and his little ears flip-flopped just a bit as well.

Smoke was drawn in and then slipped out of thin lips in the direction of Cassandra. He hadn't blown it, but the heavy cloud was moving in regardless. How unfortunate. "I must get her the most amazing present ever, you understand. Love... it does funny things with you."

His tone even seemed a little dreamy.

"Dirk, please show miss Paige the Star of my life." Kalak ordered suddenly and out came that walking tree once more. In its large, mossy hand lay a holo-projector.

Soon enough Ao in the middle of a jump was shown.

Graceful and lithe like the Goddess she was.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She didn't think she could handle the pet names for another instant without needing to vomit noisily in the trash can. It was a small hyperbole of course- but it took all of her self control to keep the revulsion off of her face. Cass, of course, had never heard of a Raykkan. She had no idea of their particular, native talents. If she had? Perhaps things would have gone differently.

Oh, not that she would have thought anything differently of course. Just that things might have gone.... a little..... differently.

It had been worth a try, to pawn him off on the catalog. Futile, ultimately. As the fog of smoke drifted more heavily into her space, she actually did cough, waving her hand once in front of her face. Her throat and eyes stung. Gods she just wanted to get this over with and him out of here as quickly as possible.

Ugh, she'd probably have to burn that chair if someone couldn't get the smell out.

In truth, if she'd been paying more attention, she wouldn't have made the next mistake. But she was distracted enough by her disgust that she hadn't been fully listening, and when the sight of a frankly interesting animal appeared, she made an assumption, based on dozens of similar meetings before this one.

"You would like a miniature version of that? Easily managed."

Relief.

"We would need to obtain a genetic sample, but if I know what it is, that should be no trouble."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

The fire in his eyes deepened in its intensity.

As if someone added more oxygen and the fire hungrily took to it. There were insults and rudeness that Kalak could overlook, of course. If he attempted to make every rude sentient sing in this Galaxy, he wouldn't be able to have any rest *ever*.

But Ao?

His sapphire star? The joy of his life? Ah, how the Raykkan wished that she was here as well- then it wouldn't have mattered that they were in the heart of her power.

Together they would have neutralized any threat and then *feasted* together.

"This... is not a pet, miss Paige." Kalak retorted rather smoothly for the raw anger he was starting to feel rise from beneath. "This is my love and dream. My graceful Schmoopie." One chance, one chance to set things right in her words and her thoughts.

One.

After that he would become calm and then pragmatism would be enabled.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"Oh. Oh my apologies, of course. How very silly of me, of course she is. How could I be so blind?"

The expression on her face, the tone in her voice- they were both very sincere in her apology. Almost worried that she had offended (which, of course, she had)

But in her head- Seriously? Is that thing even sentient? Ugh he's into bestiality, should I risk selling him something? Well, plausible deniability. Hmm. And if something got out into the news, it would only generate outrage and sympathy. Alright. No true risk here, in fact, only the potential for gain. Onward then.

"What, precisely, can we do for you then, Mister Kalak?"

With a swipe of one finger, she drew a holographic order form out of the top of her desk.

She had no capacity to read the emotions flickering across the Raykkan's features in that moment.

"What does she like? Fur or feathers? Something large or perhaps small enough to fit in a pocket?"

Gods would she eat it? It seemed likely. Buying animals for animals, how perverse.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

The more she thought, the deeper the intensity of his eyes grew.

This was easily missed because of the outpour of smoke coming from the tip of his cigar and the sheer diversity of his alien features. Had Paige bothered to read up on Raykkans she might have been so much more careful about it all, but... ignorance was bliss sometimes.

"Oh, fur, certainly fur. My love gets absolutely peckish when something avian comes around and I'd prefer not to have to be forced to put up new orders repeatedly." Not because of the expenses... he simply wasn't certain if he'd be able to make future orders, what with Cassandra being not long for this world anymore. Perhaps it would be best to cannibalize the company once she was out. That would be nice, then it would be possible to create more presents for Ao!

Mm.

Large or small, large or smol.

"No, no, I'd say smol for sure for my little JuJuBee. Same issue." He wheezed a bit and surely enough Cass would realize he was chuckling softly in endearment. "It needs to be... warm, if possible radiating heat itself, my love loves the warmth."

Never touch.

But if it radiated heat on its own? Then Ao could simply sit next to it and soak up the warmth like that, kinda like a portable oven or hearth, it seemed like a very good idea. Were there any other things that she would appreciate? Hmm, carnivore or herbivore? The latter would maybe be more difficult to take care of- needing extra supplies and the sort, but the former could run into the problem of competition. Ao was gracious, but there were instincts in play there.

"It also needs to be respectful of personal boundaries- no touch. Absolutely not. Only if my love wants it to." Which would be never, but he surmised there had to be some kind of behavior encoded where proximity wasn't a problem.

Just consent.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Lords why would anyone want to touch it?

"Of course," she said smoothly. "All of those features can be accommodated."

She checked off box after box. They had a new feature in their order software, allowing a mock up to be created based on the guidelines check off. They discussed, altering the physical attributes based on his reporting of her preferences. Frankly, she thought he was making it up, but it didn't matter. She just smiled and nodded and wanted him out of her office as quickly as possible.

"There," she said, twirling her finger and projecting the image around to face him properly.

It was actually a fairly interesting creature. Fortunately GenPals kept the patent on all special orders. Perhaps she would see about offering it in a wider capacity later.

"It will take approximately six weeks, but if you like periodic updates on the project's progress can be sent to you," she said with a smile.

"An invoice for the deposit will be sent, and once that is settled we can start creating your..... lovely partner's.... special GenPal."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Eyes squinted a fraction of an inch at the slight hesitation at the end of her words.

This one had no... class. Oh, Kalak had already made his decision before it, but this would have settled it if he hadn't. There was a certain sense of class that Kalak expected from those he worked or interacted with. If one such as him could remain polite and dignified, even when he had to flop around in air clean enough to poison him, while shaking proverbial hands with hairless apes that had the social acumen of a recent Raykkan hatchling?

Then surely this human could too.

If not? Well, then. Lessons could be applied to teach the high cost of rudeness. "That sounds absolutely perfect, miss Paige, thank you." Now Kalak smiled and it showed rows upon rows of sharp, sharp teeth. Made specifically to tear, and chomp, and bite off chunks of randy meat. "I have but a single additional request, if you'd be so kind, yes?"

After a - hesitating - nod was given, that smile grew wider.

"Thank you! I'd absolutely love it if you'd deliver this present in person? I would be remiss not to reward you for such excellence. My love would adore meeting you as well, I am sure." Before Cass could decline, he quickly added. "Of course, I would pay all travel expenses and will pay extra for such representation."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Wasn't he just the most grotesque thing? She settled him somewhere next to the thing Dr. Larry Fisher liked to coo over. Oh, Larry would be over the moon to meet Kalak, she was certain. If he wasn't such a competent scientist with some of the stranger genetic samples they worked with she would have fired him simply for being unsettling.

Her smile stayed frozen in place. Tash would have been able to see just how stiff it was around the corners of her mouth.

Ugh. He was serious.

The last thing she wanted to do was present a pet to his pet. That sounded like the worst possible way to spend a day. She'd rather sit down to a meal with Ana and slowly gouge her eyes out with a spoon- her own, gouging Ana's out would have been vaguely satisfactory if she were being honest with herself.

Maybe more than vaguely.

But there was no good way to decline in this case. GenPals was doing well, but part of running a business was doing things one might rather not.

"I can think of nothing I would like more," she said with a gracious dip of her head. "I am very busy you understand, but for such a.... special.... order, I am certain this can be arranged."

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Oh, even without knowing her eventual fate, she had dozens upon dozens of things she'd rather do.

They were currently flashing alluringly past her mind-eye.

Part of Kalak was amused that she was so wrapped up in her own little world that she did not deem it worthy to see reality for what it was. Those who eat... and those who are eaten. "That is most graceful of you, miss Paige. You have no idea how fulfilling this will be for my love and me." Literally. He hoped that Ao flick Xian would have time to attend his little dinner party he was already organizing in his head.

Just her and him and some beautiful music to drone out this human's... singing.

"Thank you. I cannot wait to meet with you again in person, this was most enlightening." He flopped up from his chair and per cue the two Dalan moved into operations. Perhaps that should have acted as a tip to her.

One of them opened the door for Kalak to flop through, the other offered a mossy hand for Cassandra to shake.

It was most insistent to finish that shake. "To business?" It spoke in a slooooow wiry voice.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Six weeks later​

Raykka​

Talik carried the crate easily. The size of a domestic cat, the animal inside the crate was quiet and calm (something specified, unlikely to make sudden, sharp motions, Cass assumed to not activate his 'snugglebunny's' prey drive, ugh).

They had only just stepped off of the ship, and already Cass could barely breath. The air was like acid- it stung her eyes and her throat. Talik, one of the Didact guards barely seemed effected, but then, they seemed more like robots than real men most of the time anyway so it shouldn't surprise her. Protocol of course said that she should have two with her in situations like this- going into a strange place, unvetting by their company. However, as far as Cass was concerned, this fell under business meetings, where one guard stayed outside of the door while she met with her appointment. It was a private apartment for goodness sakes- not someplace likely to pose a risk. There were no other security guards, no one was going to storm the place. Cass had dismissed Talik's concerns, and he'd stopped arguing after pointing out the actual protocol after all, so that was good enough for her.

Cassandra was accustomed to having her opinion acceded to.

Talik shifted the crate, ringing the bell.

Cass tapped her foot, just hoping the air inside was better than the air outside was.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Soon enough the door was opened by a Dalan.

Of course.

This one was longer than most, eyes sad and amber bright, looking down upon the new 'guests' that were waiting at the door. Matthis felt bad for them, they didn't know that more often than not those who entered the apartment... didn't necessarily leave again. Not in one piece anyway. After all, the Master had certain peculiarities when it came to the food palette and he was picky with his produce.

"Miss Paige, welcome. Quite punctual too." It spoke in its slooooow voice. Matthis hated when the Master did this. It felt like he was drowning in cold water, black water, filling him from every side.

It was not good.

"Please come in! The office is down the hall, up the stairs to your left."

Talik, crate in tow, squinted at the Dalan with suspicion. But then moved in, ushered by Cassandra.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Cass was by nature and nurture, dismissive of servants. So beyond oddity that these were trees, an oddity she'd had time to get used to already, she did not for even a moment see anything in it beyond 'servant opening the door for its betters'. Not unlike the idea of pets owning pets, aliens served by other aliens just seemed wrong. Oh, she supposed some of them were rich enough to employ them, but perhaps that shouldn't properly be allowed.

They followed the instructions- down the hall, up the stairs, to the left. There were no windows in this damnable place. Coming from Coruscant, born and raised there, the higher up you were, the literally higher up you were. Space, open and wide, was at a premium- a mark of your status to have it. This apartment was cramped (the ceilings lower than she was accustomed to, but perfectly suited to the Raykkans), and without a view. She sniffed slightly. Well, she'd already known everything she needed to know, this merely confirmed it.

She reapplied the smile to her face the way another woman might lipstick. Carefully and with intent, checking it in a reflective surface before heading into Kalak's office.

"Why hello, Mister Kalak," she said with that smile.

Talik moved a bit slower, settling the crate down on a table. Something was bothering him, and he was just as happy to have both hands free again.

"That will be all Talik," she said over her shoulder at him. "Your presence is not required. Wait outside."

He hesitated for a moment, eyes moving around the room and landing on the Raykkan for a moment. Then nodded slowly. He did not leave the apartment, merely settled to wait outside of the office.

"Delivery of your very special gift, as requested." Perfect teeth, perfect smile.

"Is your partner here? I was so looking forward to meeting her. "

Liar liar liar.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Oh, I am afraid I have to disappoint, miss Paige." Kalak sighed softly, before turning in his chair and away from the burning fire in the hearth. It showered a flicker of flames across his eyes, before he finished the turn and faced them both.

Talik was unsure if it was wise to leave her alone with... that. How rude. And something was itching at him, but he wasn't sure what. In the end the orders given by Lord Itash were prioritized over trivial feelings. He left them alone and stood at guard, making sure he remained in contact with the rest of the collective. It felt safer that way, more comfortable and pleasant.

There was always some gossip around.

"--so you see, my love couldn't make it today." A warm, hot and hungry smile flashed bright. "Oh, do sit down. I had another proposition in mind and I think the offer will be quite... irrefussable, yes?"

The smile grew wider.

"I'd pay the premium for you, miss Paige."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Something about the wording on the last line gave her pause. Only a moment, something offered alarmed exclamation points in the back of her head. But she dismissed it. Of course basic wasn't his first language and could she really expect proper syntax? No, she could not. It wasn't his fault, not really. But even those brought up to it, no one but humans spoke the language properly. It was simply an issue that it had been formed by a race with particular physical traits, and those without those? Well. It wasn't their fault. It was to be expected.

"Only for a moment," she said, a little more crisply than she had intended. She was irritated that she had come all this way for a particular purpose and then have it fall through.

Of course, she hadn't wanted to meet his pet. But it annoyed her that he had wasted her time.

"I have other duties today, you understand," she added, apologetically as she sat.

Just barely, she perched on the very edge of the chair- her suit was white and she didn't want the likely stains from his cigar smoke that had inevitably built up in his home to discolour the fabric.

"What else can I do for you, Mister Kalak?"

Lords, prayers that this would be blessedly quick.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Of course, Miss Paige." A very understanding nod followed and for a brief moment Kalak wondered what could have been had Cass not been... Cass. "As you might know Raykka is informally governed by the Makesh Cartel. They run... well, everything."

Hopeless shrug followed next.

Kalak had a lot of contempt for them truth to be told. They had... little imagination and that was simply unacceptable in his opinion. "We are avid hunters, did you know? Predators who have lived up the top... or the bottom of the food chain on this world for millennia." It really depended on the perspective. "It is my understanding that you do not only create new species, but you can clone old ones? Would it be possible to resurrect species that have become extinct, if genetic samples exist?"

This wasn't a Makesh Cartel request, of course. It wasn't a request at all. But Kalak was actually curious, if GenPals was capable of this feat.

The Raykkans were many things, but this sort of science was beyond them for the most part.

"We used to make wonderful dishes of two species that we have hunt to extinction quite a while ago. It would elevate GenPals to the closest friends of Raykka, if it would be capable of bringing them back."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Cassandra listened with only half of her attention. Oh, she wore a politely interested face to be sure. She was particularly good at that one, after all. It was so frequently useful.

Truth be told, she didn't really care about the origins of his species. They, like so many others, had crawled up out of the mud and insisted on slopping it around all over everywhere else. To make other worlds more like home, at the expense of their neighbors. It seemed particularly rude to her, really. It seemed as if the Raykkans were not as far removed from the primordial sludge as they would like to hope they were, all this talk of predators and whatnot. It was tedious. She didn't know why they couldn't simply stay here, out of the way of everyone else. If they liked it here so much, pined for the ways of old, why leave their filthy little world and stain the rest of the galaxy? Why they didn't seem able to know. Their. Place.

"With a genetic sample, GenPals would be able to recreate them easily," she said smoothly, a touch dismissively, no trace on her features of what she really thought. Of him, of his race. Of his very world.

She didn't care about being a friend to Raykka. If they would pay, she would deliver.

Because this was business, not personal.

And that was why she kept smiling despite how vile she found all of it.

[member="Kalak the Raykkan"]

 

[Kalak the Raykkan]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Hm.

This was no longer rude. No, this was something else and Kalak had heard enough.

"Oh, we do know our place, miss Paige." He spoke those words with warm kindness and affection. It was completely affable. Like they were simply speaking as two friends, if not for the fact that this sentence was a response not to what she had just said.

But what she had been *thinking*.

"We have known our place for a very long time now and our memory runs deep." Still in a matter of fact tone, like nothing was wrong.

Except... everything was wrong now, wasn't it?

"You have quite the vile mind, miss Paige. I could be acceptive of that if it had just been me." Now the fire in those eyes grew deeper. "But you insulted my love and *that* is quite unacceptable." He flopped up and got out of the chair with that same comedic jump.

It might seem less comedic now.

"You were rude." Kalak pointed out.