The Exegetic Episodes of the Bloodtrailed Bashtok and the Emergent Matriarch

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver considered the grin below her with a slight smile of her own. Her lips moved with amusement. She canted forward to steal a swift, sharp kiss.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]And then she was gone, springing off the bed with the sprightly stride of a well-rested killer. She yanked her clothes on in the time it took her to stroll to the other end of the room. Blue eyes cast a half-lidded gaze over her shoulder.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Not [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]here[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt].”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] A beat. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“And not cuddling.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Of course not. That would be too easy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Aver turned back to Qui with a wide grin, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“I miss the other jungle.”[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]The kiss left a warm tingling on her lips that lingered long after the cold-bodied woman had left the bed. Quietus sat up and rolled to her side, watching Aver stroll across the expansive open studio chamber, collecting articles of clothing and pulling them on. Made her wonder sometimes if she missed wearing her Vong armor - redressing herself at a simple hissed command. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Des smirked and smoothed her fingers through the ruff of the pelts beneath her, gaze turning down to the patterns of pale stripes slashed across an obsidian hide.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]As do I.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She missed her solitude and the quiet of the planet Thral, where the minds of millions weren’t openly communicating their thoughts for her to hear and to ignore … or not. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]You have a ship coming to Irontown?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Quietus was loathe to travel by ship when she didn’t need to, but the thought of spending another several days recovering from Bloodcard travel was equally as unappealing. How her daughter managed to stay inside her own ship for extended period of time she’d never know.[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]Nothing quite so pleasing as feeling those green eyes follow her around the room. Her lips twitched at the corners. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Always do.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It was brief – both her message, and the trip from the Citadel to Irontown. Flying’s quick, ship or skreev or fucking drexl. Thral wasn’t exactly on the way to… anywhere, really, but what the boss wants, the boss gets.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The air was clearer, somehow, in this other jungle. Freer, perhaps, of the pollution of sentience, permeated instead by predatory spirit down to its petrified bone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Or, more likely, a storm had just passed through.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Either way, Aver welcomed the change, the solitude, and the motherfucking [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]food[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt].[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]The flight from Onderon to Thral had not been a quick one by any means. Several weeks spent in and out of hyperspace, following trade routes and hidden galactic corridores to one of the most out of the way planets in Wild Space as one could hope to find. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Needless to say, by the time Qui got her bare feet on solid ground she was ready to kill just about everything. So, naturally, a hunt was in order. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]By twilight they had bagged not a prey animal, but one of the greater predators of the jungles after several hours of effort. Quartered, skinned, with the hide stretched and drying, Aver indulged in a satisfying meal while Quietus left for the river. She returned nearly an hour later clean and accompanied by a tired, panting Shai. Almost forgotten about the tuk’ata hound and Vong armor stranded here on one of the most dangerous planets known to sentient-kind. They faired well enough - everyone was still in one piece. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Quietus joined Aver at the fire of the first floor of the treehome, settling down onto the pelt and laying on her back. It was good to be home, but she felt drained from the flight there. Hadn’t been sleeping well, what with the return of her dreams. Eyes closed to the crackle of the fire and the sound of crab armor scuttling across wooden floors and rafters, she felt the curious warmth of Aver’s vong helmet and cracked an eye open at it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Strange thing, still far beyond her understanding. It nudged her shoulder, clicking insistently.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]What does it want?[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver half-turned her head towards Dhaladii. Her nose wrinkled as she listened. Stories delivered quickly, efficiently, precisely.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Tales of how the vong siblings had hunted down prey, how Puppy had lounged in the sun and rolled in the mud and generally slept through the whole fucking absence like it was nothing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her eyes drifted closed as she leaned into the side of her mate, caught in that same lazy haze again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her mouth split into a smug grin. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]It wants cuddles.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]The sound of a low, murmured chuckle could only just be heard over the crackle of the fire. Qui had some doubts that cuddles were what all that fuss was about, but she wasn’t going to press for a full translation. If she really wanted to know she could just pull the helmet on and commune with it that way, but the night was warm and humid and her mind and body were rather resistant to going through the trouble. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]An arm lifted to loop around the helmet, scooping Dhaladii off the floor to place it on her sternum where it snuggled in just below her chin. Both hands idly petted and stroked the crab helmet as it if were a cat. She smiled as Dhal emitted a pleased trill.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Well at least someone likes cuddles.[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]Her cheeks puffed with something that could’ve been indignation; could’ve, if she weren’t too busy stifling back a chuckle of her own.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I wouldn’t be opposed myself.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]The thought emerged accompanied by a low thrum in her chest, a deep-seated satisfaction within the moment. These nights brought warmth, and they brought peace.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver promptly shooed Dhaladii to take its spot instead, settling into the comfort of a familiar royal cleavage. Her fingers lingered idly at her sides to count the ribs, the hollows, the scars. She ghosted her lips over bronze skin and closed her eyes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]You’re alright?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]And, immediately, to herself – have you ever asked that of anyone?[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]Snort.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Dhaladii scuttled from her chest, an odd sight for certain to see such a ghastly looking war helmet traipsing about on its own. Looking for cuddles. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Eyes still shut, a breath pushed its way out between her teeth as the weight of Aver Brand settled over her. The woman smelled of sweat and earth and blood - smelled like home. Des smiled briefly to herself while her fingers found red hair to comb through. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A single green eye cracked open at the question, glancing lazily down at her mate with measured curiosity before promptly letting her head fall back again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Better, now. Why do you ask?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It wasn’t like Aver to be interested in the feelings of others or to check in. Was she, perhaps, starting to empathize? [/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]Her spine curled with a frisson of delight as Qui scratched her scalp just so. A smile smeared against a tattooed sternum, persistent, insistent.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Words emerged at long last, muffled for the breast pressed against those smirking lips. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Because you looked like shet?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Turns out it was only as complicated as you made it.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]Well, she supposed it was just a little too much to think that Aver’s progress had been anything more than a small step forward. Qui suppressed a snort of derision, though she wasn’t quite capable of holding back the facial twitch. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Nothing was said for several minutes while the mute considered what to say. In the end she opted for the truth, because that above all was one thing she held on to. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I’m having trouble sleeping and meditating. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her fingers continued to stroke along Aver’s scalp, green eyes now staring open and upwards at the wooden planked ceiling above them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]...started dreaming ever since Ereza woke me up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The woman’s brow furrowed as she tried not to think directly of those dreams and the memories that had returned to her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I haven’t had dreams in … a very long time.[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]These conversations held with thoughts unbound lent themselves to idle gestures well. If it was just an itch to keep her hands busy or another fondness in disguise, Aver couldn’t say – she didn’t pay much mind to it, content to listen and luxuriate instead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]When Quietus fell quiet, the merc traipsed fingers up her forearms, capturing her wrists to still the next caress. Aver propped herself up on her elbows and peered down at her mate.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The edge of ice grew dulled as the warmth of evening trickled through the heady jungle air and pooled inside the blue. She studied the blonde with a soft curve to her mouth, a ghost of a smile.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]For all the years between then and now, Des looked unmarked by their passage. Her eyes the same window to a forest of green, her hair the same gold behooving a queen. Even the shadows underneath bronze skin traced the same patterns she’d seen in black ink.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It was Aver’s gaze that took her in so different; Aver’s mind that married thought of Bestia and Friend and—[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]You could come sleep inside my head[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt],[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] she offered, a smile finally cut loose on lips of red.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]Though her hands no longer had red hair within their grasp, they continued their subtle, idle gestures. Fingertips tracing lines over ink over golden skin. It had become surprisingly easy to simply be herself in Aver’s presence and to speak openly, candidly where she so rarely did with others. Barriers long since standing for centuries had weathered over the years, cracking and crumbling to let the ice in. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Endless jungles had greeted the cold, unrelenting in their fury despite the chill. But they’d somehow managed to find equilibrium when sharing these mental landscapes. Ice over earth beneath wild green--and though there were still many paths that Aver had not yet traveled down in the subconscious of Desdemona Shamalain, some paths remaining overgrown and not yet passable, hidden walls and barriers buried beneath years of emotional detritus--she’d ventured farther than anyone else before her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Des returned the smile briefly, head canting to one side as she considered this offer, one bronze leg lazily shifting to loop around one of gold. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I wonder how much sleep there would actually be had…[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] the smile returned as a flickering smirk that faded like a flame in a sudden breeze, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]my dreams might invade your mind. I cannot even control them in my own - I’m a little out of practice.[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver grinned easily in turn, mouth split wider to reveal the glimmer of sharp fangs. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I’ve not slept alone in decades.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A pause, then – a split-breath as she leaned forward, pecked the corner of her mouth. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]It would be easier[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]For whom, she didn’t say.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]She didn’t smile back.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver’s willingness concerned her but she knew it all tied back to the woman’s ability to look the unknown in the face without fear. Aver had no idea what she’d be opening her mind up to, yet here she was leaping before she looked. In many ways it was an endearing attribute, but in many others it made for greater concern. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A line formed on her brow, lips faintly tugging downwards. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I could hurt you. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver still was in training where all things empathy and emotions were concerned. To subject her to the unbridled whims of a Master empath’s mind was probably not a great idea. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]...I don’t want to hurt you, Ygdris. [/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]The more Qui sampled of concern, the more Aver smiled. It was a particular type of smile; more of a quirk of a mouth than anything else, and recognizable as amusement manifest only by those who knew her best.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I thought you’d know by now I enjoy that[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]And then, after a beat of that easy, lascivious Aver— Ygdris dipped her head down to murmur in her ear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“And that’s what sacrifice is about, innit?’[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Six centuries or four; didn’t make much difference far as dreams of fire and blood were concerned.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Besides – she felt at home in both.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver’s smile may have grown other feelings and desires in Quietus were it not for the present subject of conversation. The mute’s frown deepened. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her mate was a glutton for punishment, that she did know. Aver reveled in conflict and pain and feth if some of their foreplay wouldn’t be counted as torture for most anyone other than them. Yet in those instances what hurt inflicted was never done with the purpose for permanence or the intent of harm or retribution. It was to encite pleasure - blood spilled that both were willing and prepared to clean up and care for should the need arise, as evidence of that night that felt so long ago on Nadir. Sa Sevai’s gleaming trails of crimson dutifully tended to when all was said and done.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Conscious and present-day Desdemona knew these things. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The Desdemona of the past, trapped within her subconscious and memories, did not. When her dream-self took over, there was no predicting just who she might be. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Yet as much as she knew this woman that currently nuzzled at her ear with warm breath and teasing lips, she also knew how much she hated being undersold. Aver wanted to prove herself, test herself. Perhaps Quietus had pitched this all wrong. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Now, if she refused, Aver would likely feel spurned and unappreciated for trying to help.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Stuck between a rock and an iceberg. Goddamn. Quietus took a deep breath and closed her eyes, knowing--[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]absolutely knowing[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]--that at least one of them was going to regret this and she did not abide by regrets.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Not here,[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] she relented finally, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]the last time I dreamt by a fire I burned down my mate’s home.[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]A hum conveyed her agreement. In one smooth motion she rolled off and coiled back to her feet. She did not offer her hand – neither of them were the sort.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]On Thral [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]not here[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] meant the Nest. Warm and private and rife with comforts Aver had brought from the civilized world with months as her tides.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her pace was easy and unhurried as she led them both to the bed; to undress; to lay down in a dearth of pillows.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It was her gaze that bore skyward this time as blue eyes scoured the starless firmament.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]If Ygdris was indeed out to prove something, she had a strange way of showing it – blood cool and heart calm, the beast rested easy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It wouldn’t be the first she kept guard before ancient nightmares.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]She would have been content to simply lay there beside her mate, listening to that frozen heart beat long into the night. But Thral was entering the wet season and dark clouds plagued the skies more often than not. Aver gazed at stars peeking out between drifting shadows and the moon was well hidden.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]No moon bathing tonight. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Quietus sat by Aver’s middle, a rare expression on her face. One that spoke of uncertainty. So few people in her life that made her concerned in the way that Aver did, even if the sentiment was rare enough between them. It bothered her on a deeper level than Ygdris even knew - a level only reached by one of those pathways she’d yet to take. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her left hand lifted in offering, hovering just before red lips. Aver knew this song and dance well enough by now: the host drank the blood of the guest. It only took a few drops. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]More magic and blood, though Qui did faintly smile in knowing how well the Merc took to Dreamwalking with her. Recalling with great clarity the very first session and the many to follow after. Teaching and watching Aver learn to build and create; these memories were some of her prouder moments. Maybe if she was lucky she would dream of them instead of the other moments in her life that she’d rather not think of at all - the very ones that seemed to plague her mind during those restless hours. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Unwelcome, untamed - a bit like her younger self. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Once the blood was taken her fingers drifted upwards over Aver’s face, unspoken words commanding an ancient power.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Sleep[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Icy blues disappeared beneath heavy lids and, shortly after, wheaten braids coiled into the bed of pelts as greens drifted away to join them.[/SIZE]

 

[Aver Brand]

[SIZE=11pt]They woke up on a beach.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Perhaps Aver’s subconscious just liked beaches; perhaps it was just as simple a construct as they get.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Either way – beach.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She wriggled her toes into the warm sand and took in the level horizon of parisian and azure blue. There was a weight pressing down and around and below this idyllic summer resort of a bubble, but Aver resisted it with the same ease that she burned down cities and toppled governments.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]When you can’t conquer worlds…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her mouth curled into a lopsided smile as she eyed her mate out the corner of her eye.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I meant sleep, you know,”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] she said without heat, and leaned back on her palms. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“Like, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]actual[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] sleep. But since we’re here…”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver gestured towards the horizon. It shimmered and began to tear at the edges, careful and measured like the cut of Sa Sevai across bronze flesh.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Knowing one another deeply never came without a price.[/SIZE]

 

[Quietus]

[SIZE=11pt]Quietus blinked up at the sky and did not bother to look back at the woman. She lifted a hand with a lazy gesture and spoke, verbally, with Aver’s own voice. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“You could come sleep inside my head.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]And then she gestured to the whole of Aver’s subconscious. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Eloquent as ever, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]dearest[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt],”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] back to Qui’s voice, drawn over a bare, tired smirk. Her hands drifted back to the sand, falling still, failing to play in the texture as they so often did when they were here. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I can sleep here, inside your head, and you will see first hand what keeps me awake. But here I can’t wake up,”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] she thought she felt the sensation of Sa Sevai curling over her skin as the horizon split and tore. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Invigorating[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], it grew goosebumps across the bronze. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Here you have to kill me.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Aver knew the rules.[/SIZE]