Memories of Scales

[Thryykarr]

Thryykarr sat in a clearing on Mandalore, staring into the small fire he'd made earlier. His sleeveless leather shirt was hanging off a branch, drying off a bit as the wind gently blew through. Cutting bald patches in the fur on his chest and back were a myriad of scars that many would have assumed to be blade marks. They would have been wrong. The scars were claw marks.

The Mandalorian Juggernaut sighed as he picked up a bottle of something alcoholic. Remembering the source of those claw marks wasn't exactly pleasant. Bloody lizards and their aggression issues.

[member='Zandra Tal'verda']

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra rubbed her arm, slapped the crook of her elbow. Anything to make her veins visible again. She just needed a little. Just enough to make the headache go away. No. Not just the headache. The pain deep in her very core. Like a cancer eating away at her the more she smiled.
She said she was over it. Said she'd accepted it. But...

She bit the cap off of her needle, then stuck it under her flesh into the vein. Already it felt like heaven. She pressed it down, forcing the liquid acceptance into her blood stream.

Yes.

This... this was what she'd been needing. She pulled the needle out again, rolled it, the vial, and the rest of her 'equipment ' back up before standing and heading back to camp. She made sure to roll down the sleeve of her jacket before joining [member="Thryykarr"] .

"'Ey Furball."

She hid her hands deep in her pockets, not quite looking at the wookiee.

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk might've said something about the fact that Zandra was looking guilty for some reason, or a less aggressive comment about the weather or his beer, but he simply chose to sit there and look at his old captain, then back into the fire. He'd wanted to sit out here, alone, but at least she wouldn't be loud.

"Hey, cap'n."

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

"Ain't been a cap'n for a long time, [member="Thryykarr"]," she sighed, rubbing her arm as she walked around the camp site, "Can I sit?"

She doubted he'd say no, but still, didn't hurt to ask. Any second, the high would hit her. She'd be seeing glitter in the corner of her vision.Maybe she'd even hallucinate Cal again. No. She'd need a much higher dosage than what she'd taken. If she was lucky, she might stop feeling for a bit.

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk laughed, somewhat sadly, as he took another pull at his beer and looked at Zandra again. She looked just as bedraggled as he felt... And that was very bedraggled. Plus, if he was right about the spice, she'd probably get dizzy enough that he'd have to keep her from collapsing anyway.

"Still my first boss, Z. Go ahead and sit down."

He pulled another beer out of the cooler and put it on the ground next to him.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

She sat, shaking like a leaf in the cool autumn wind. Her knees were pulled up to her chest. She looked away. What to talk about? Nothing. Nothing at all. Maybe silence was what was best. For the both of them.

[member="Thryykarr"]

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk took a quick look at Zandra, leaned over towards his tent, and grabbed a blanket. He pretty much dropped the wookiee-sized piece of cloth on her, and it fell over her of its own accord. He chuckled at the sight, and then leaned back against the rock he'd been resting against.

"Hope that's warm enough."

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

It almost didn't register that a blanket had fallen over her face. That was how the drugs worked when they seeped into her blood stream. Slowed her down. She was still thinking she'd just closed her eyes for a moment. Then it hit her. She snatched it off, wrapped it around herself.

"Yeah, it's great. Thanks."

Silence.

[member="Thryykarr"]

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk just sat there for a bit, cleaning his goggles and the more easily maintained parts of his armor. They didn't have to talk, really. Just sitting quietly with another person was an improvement on sitting alone in a forest on some hell-spawned forest world somewhere. In the end, he looked at Zandra a little bit expressionlessly.

"Have you been glit-biting the whole time since Cal died?"

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Ah... So, it was obvious. The Echani shrugged, looking away.

"Nah. I mean, I thought if I looked hard enough, I might find 'im alive. I had hope. It weren't until... Well, three years ago that it started ta hit me that he ain't comin' back."

She'd been pretty clean up until that point too. Only lapsing now and again. Now it was every day if she could get it.

[member="Thryykarr"]

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk couldn't think of an appropriate response except to give Zandra a sympathetic pat on the head. The expressionless air went away as the Wookiee sighed resignedly.

"Godammit. I wanted to get on your ass about the spice, but now I'd feel bad."

He ruffled up her hair once and then smirked as he leaned back on his rock.

"You were too damn loyal, y'know. He ditched you with two kids on a mountain."

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

The Echani grinned as he ruffled up her already messy hair. There was nothing for it. She was a mess. Always probably would be. Unless some miracle happened.

"Yeah," she admitted, "I probably shoulda known better. Guys like that? They don' go fer girls like me. Not for long. Been thinkin' this whole time that maybe somethin' bad happened to him. But then, more I thought about it, more I started ta think... Maybe it was just me? Maybe I was the reason he's gone."

She sighed, pulling the blanket closer around her, itching the swollen vein in her arm.

"Maybe he really did ditch me an' I was just too damn stupid ta see."

[member="Thryykarr"]