Two Blonde Besties in Alderaan

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Well, I do like to pay back my debts. Like it or not, nothing comes free. All this..." she raised her palms slightly in the air to indicate the chateau, "... is thanks to the credits and help that my faction is giving me. Besides, I also have a contractual agreement with Commenor. I have tried to retire before, to leave everything behind. Well guess what? I still need to eat," she paused, putting the hot dog onto her bread and decorated it with onion flakes and hot sauce.

"Mmm... yum...."

She took a big bite, tasting the juicy meat against the sweet bun with the spicy as a backdrop. The flavours were definitely there, especially the quality of the cut. When she was still poor and roughing it out, the hot dogs she had with [member="Marina DeVoe"] were straight out of a can. It was food to fill an empty stomach and could never hold a candle against the current gourmet sausages they were having.

And while she was happily munching on her bun, Marina came up with the wild idea of her meeting a man.

"What? No, don't be ridiculous..."

The chef interrupted their conversation, coming up to serve them with a hot sizzling plate of grilled vegetables and nicely barbecued nerf meat. Mariya took a stab on some of the food on the plate and chewed in her mouth.

"I haven't met any man. The last person I dated was Captain Marcus Gray, alright?"

The blonde suddenly felt irritated by the question. Annoyance. Anger. Grief. Multi layers of emotions.

Captain Marcus Gray was gone. Probably dead somewhere in the galaxy, where his remains would never be found. It was always a sore spot for Mariya. In fact, the loss of the Underworld was always a painful memory in her heart. Marina might had stumbled upon them by accident, but her friend had a family here in Alderaan. Mariya's family was the bunch of outlaws and criminals who no longer existed. The last time she spoke about them was to Aes'ona from the First Order when she was being treated for injuries.

She stared blankly at the bonfire and fed it with another dried log. The food in her mouth now tasted bland and meaningless.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Alright, alright...chill." Marina were surprised at her friend's reaction to her excitement that she could have met someone.
Only to discover that Mariya had, and- ...........How in hell did she just come to find out that her friend had dated that scoundrel? Ok, maybe not a scoundrel. Saede's boy toy Burke was.
Marcus was more a character...a pirate.

"Yea, I remember him...." She then said in a thoughtful tone. Was her friend sweating the guy? Marina knew she'd have to choose her words more carefully, as this then were a sensitive subject. But him of all the other hunks she could have picked, she dated Marcus?
" Pirate...yea, I remember his hair...lots of hair...." She recalled the man in her mind. The longer she dug at it, the clearer he got.
Yea, he did have that air about him as some bad boys do. Marina couldn't deny he were pretty suave in his own way. Wait, what am I doing?....She cleared that thought out of her head and returned to her friend.

" Ok, I didn't know that. The dating part...Hmm..." She looked over to her friend. Wow, Mariya was really thinking about him.

She wanted so bad to just right up and ask, 'WHY!!!?' But she held her thoughts. If Mariya had developed an attachment to the pirate fellow...then OK. But now she thought he were dead? Marina had not been around when the Underworld party collapsed. It w, vineyardsere coming,as such factions rarely efficiently sustained itself. They weren't a viable party as there existed no real laws, only codes. And those codes were more like guide lines...more or less.

"Yea...well who knows...he could still be around...out there...pirating. I mean, sheesh, he pretty much got out of a lot of scrapes...LOTS of scrapes.
Mariya, just because you haven't heard a peep from him doesn't mean he scuttled his SD into a star or something... " Her way of being supportive in her friend's hope that her pirate dude was somehow still out there pirating.

"I mean,...well I didn't hear a peep out of you for over a year, till like two days ago!
And here you are now...chateau, stone hearth,roasting hot dogs with your crazy friend...." It didn't seem to be cheering her friend up, bringing those memories back. After all, it were the only family her friend thought she had at the time.

"Gah..." Marina got up and dragged her cushy chair right next to her. She elbowed Mariya's arm and sat down right next to her.
"Come on....you never know...he's likely out there....you know...6 wives...82 pirate kids with runny noses...Hehe...."She teased, making light of her friend thinking the worst.

"Kidding....
Yea... I remember Marcus. Did you know I met him on a cruise ship, before I met you?...." She started to poke and stoke the fire.
"Well....more like he and his crew boarded said cruise ship I was on. Pft!...Yea...made for quite an exciting vacation." She elaborated, telling her story of her encounter with Marcus and his pirate crew and shipmate at the time...Saede.

"Still, as horrid as his reputation was, no one was seriously injured. I mean the ship's security staff. Saede was there too.
I was pretty sensible enough to lay low and let them do what they had come do do...take their booty and scat." Marina continued.

"You could imagine my surprise when I ran into them again...as your friends... Hahahaha...." Yes that was funny now that she thought about it.

"Come on..seriously.... they're infamous...Saede and Marcus. Legends don't die....don't you know that?"

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya stared glumly at the blazing fire in front of her, her mind whirling about the past. In all honesty, she had only gone for a few dates with Marcus Gray and nothing really came out of it. But they were still memories that she enjoyed. The ballroom dancing at the Yule ball. Hanging out at the beach on Velusia where all the other pirates were.

"Yeah, the most infamous pirate. Marcus might be out there somewhere. Alive. Maybe even forgotten about me," she gave a sad smile, summing up the possibility that could have happened. The pirate was never known to be someone whom would stick with one lady only. There were already countless others before Mariya.

Suddenly she felt like having a drink. All these talk of the past made her thirsty for some alcohol. She waved her hand at her butler and asked for a bucket of beer. He nodded his head and returned swiftly with a bucket of pale lager, made by her company. She had called it Soul Sisters Lager. Soul sisters. Just like [member="Marina DeVoe"] and herself.

"Ahhh, what the hell," the blonde opened a bottle and handed it over to her friend. She fished a second bottle from the bucket and opened the cap. "Cheers, my friend," she said and took a long gulp. The beer was light and foamy, unlike the heavy body wines that they had been drinking in the days before. She continued munching on her hotdog bun.

"I think I am just tired of losing my friends. If Saede Taggart were around, I can probably still lean on her for support when things get thing. Not literally, but she is a source of strength."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Teh he..." She couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape.
Marina had never seen her friend like so. She were actually sulking over a guy. It weren't that Marina had never thought of her friend getting together with one, it were the attachment that Mariya had developed for the pirate.

Despite the fact that Marcus proved Marina's intuition right of her first impression of the man.... It were that Marcus was a playboy.
And how she jested about him having 6 wives and children by now didn't seem to matter to her friend. Mariya just missed him, Saede and her other companions.
It were not until maybe she realized Marina new of Marcus' reputation, that she started to back peddle and close up her feelings again.
Marina picked up on that and dropped her silliness. Her friend's feelings mattered to her.
She had certainly met the man and the other leader of the brat pack Saede. And at the time, she kept herself low key among them, lest they figured out she had been on that cruise they had looted months before.
Her friend Mariya had not participated in those or any other raids. She weren't like that. Mariya was cut from a different cloth. She were a bounty hunter, soldier..mercenary. She had never participated in any heist, lootings or anything like her associates did. Mariya simply had pirates and characters of the Underworld as friends. And how Marina came enter that circle was an entire story in itself.

"No.... I'm not laughing at the idea of you and Marcus.
Dear God no. Although after a few of those bottles I'm sure I'm gona know all the grinding details....hehe.."
Ok seriously, this was no time to play around, her friend was really sinking into the void of sadness.

"Mariya...listen....I'm sorry. I do care about your feelings, however off the plane they are on Marcus, but I understand." She took a deep breath to compose herself from being silly. Her friend had feelings and this was the very first time Mariya had opened up to her about them.
This was no joking matter. Marina knew what it was to loose close ones.

She tugged at the comforter that her friend seemed to be sitting on and pulled it from under her.
"Here... come on..." Marina then slung one half of the comforter over her friends shoulder and the other she wrapped around herself.
"Now we're both confy." The chill of the night air had started to bite, despite the flames from the fire-pit.

"Lets see what we have here..." She then took the bottle and swigged down a good gulp, just like her friend demonstrated.
Marina's eyes and expression seemed to indicate fire..or some kind of indigestible substance had just been lit down her throat and were hitting her stomach. "Yeha..hhh..gck...gahhh.." She had not expected it to taste as such.

"Oh my God...please...please don't tell me this came from Jawas..." Apparently Marina never drank lager...or any kind of beer.
"Seriously...this is the same thing that's in your bottle?" She offered to exchange the brews, which her friend obliged.

Marina took to sniff the bottle, then gave her friend a not-so-certain kind of look, before she curled her nose and took a sip from her friend's beer bottle.
"Oh no,no, no.... I can't do this.... oh God...I can't believe you swallowed it too." She gave a shiver and put the bottle down on the patio floor...under her chair.
Nope, she weren't a beer kind of girl.

"Mariya... I'm not going to go on and tell you I'm here for you or anything of that bullish nature.
We're getting packed..tonight, tomorrow morning..but we're getting you packed and I'm going to go fetch my ship. And no, I'm not going to say anything more." She drew her friend closer and starred into the flames. Marina wasn't about just talk. When she made up her mind, it were made up. Hell, she had made up her mind a long time ago at the age of 7 that she were going to reach for the stars and no one, not even her family found the means of stopping her.

"Girl...we need drinks...not strained Jawa piss..." She then said, before they both burst out in laughter, sitting side by side in their comfy chairs wrapped up in a shared comforter.

For a girl who had more words than what was necessary to be said about trivial matters; Marina often said little to much larger scale important matters. This were because once she were committed to doing something, it were going to get done.
Between the two of them, Marina was certain they would find her two lost friends. A sith couldn't have been more determined than Marina was.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Jawa piss? Ewww...." she made a face at [member="Marina DeVoe"]'s comment and looked at the half drunk bottle in her hand. True enough, the light bubbly liquid did look like piss. She laughed and continued drinking the yellow stuff from the bottle. At least now she knew her friend preferred stronger spirits. She cuddled herself against the warmth of the other blonde, smug under the quilt. Her hands remained uncovered and remained near the bonfire as she took another stab at the mixed grill.

"Why are you asking me to pack my bags?" She glanced at her friend from the corner of her eyes while she munched on the food. "And your ship? Mariner IV? If you are thinking of going for a hunt to find where the underworld cartel members are... I don't think it will work. Don't even know where they are."

Mariya made an intelligent guess on what her friend was thinking about. They were happily relaxing in Alderaan and now suddenly Marina wanted to go on a trip? The talk about their past lives might be just the trigger.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

She gave her friend a good elbow nudge.
"You're a bounty hunter, silly.
Don't pull that 'I don't know where they are' schlep your clients hire you for. If they knew where their mark was, then they wouldn't need you to find them." Yes, Marina was smarter than the average cookie...she were a chocolate chip cookie.

"You may believe different, but I miss hanging out with you and that rag-tag gang you ran around with. It makes me look like a bad-ass too...so there." She were naturally joking about wanting to be a bad-ass, but she did like their 'I don't give a hoot what the man wants, i ain't giving' attitude.

"And don't you be pulling that 'I ain't taking you on a hunt' thingy thing. I can take care of myself...most times. Besides.." She turned to face Mariya,
"... we aren't going on any bounty hunt. We're looking to find some misplaced friends of yours... ruffians that can tolerate me." She cracked a smile before turning to look at the fire.

"You can't get soft on me. If you do, I'll just dump you and find me a man... a jerk of a bounty hunter...a Mando'ad...or however they pronounce it. They are pretty tough and tough....pft...hahaha..." She burst out in a laughter wrapped up in the comforter.

"But seriously.... you have to go. You'll never rest until you know for sure....
And I can't stand seeing you all chocked up like you are right now. It hurts me. It really does and I can't just let it go until you are good with it yourself. It's like that, Mariya."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Believe me, I have tried," she found herself finishing her bottle and placed the empty glass aside. Marina's remained rather untouched, but she decided there was no fun drinking alone without her best friend. "You are talking about a cold trail. Saede disappeared years ago, mysteriously gone. We tried to keep the place going, but I got tired of the constant quarrels and left. By the time I came back, a brunette lady called Kassey Daklin picked up the pieces to keep the cartel alive."

She stared blankly at the fire, recalling the details as best as she could for the benefit of [member="Marina DeVoe"].

"Things had changed by then. The Last Chance cantina where everyone used to hang out was renamed to Chalmun's cantina. The pirates, the lovely Crimson Ferrets were gone. I even saw Force users hanging around. So if you consider the revamp, the renovations done and the change of leadership, there is practically little information available to track them."

Marina was a smart chocolate chip cookie, but an inexperienced one. Mariya was a battered cookie which had gone through sufficient knocks to know that there was little she could do.

"So my answer is no. I will not go and look for them because it's not worth the time. If they ever turn up alive, news will spread quickly without the need to even hunt them down.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Sigh... sorry." She replied. But it didn't have that apologetic ring to it, no. It were one that were spoken when being defiant.

"....but can't go back on the covenant I made to the gods just now. You can stay here, grow graciously old and push up pretty daisies when its all said and done, but I will search the corners of the galaxy-
Wait, there are no corners. Who the hell ever came up with that saying?...a Mando?... Sheesh!" Yes, sometimes Marina's thoughts bounce around her head knocking the other off balance for a moment.

"...anywho, I'm zipping around...mind you, I said around.... zipping around here and there across the galaxy for the FWC and volunteer transportation of that goody group Doctors Without Borders, not to mention that venture we agreed on,,shipping the Sovereign...I will inquire." She then said matter of fact.

"And noooo... I know what you're thinking. I'm not going to throw those names about. That would be stupid. They are or could be in hiding for a reason, and doing that will only bring attention to them and to those out to hunt them down. I have ways..." She nodded, confident of her methods of tracking even the most notorious of them all. Hell, she were better than any tracker. Better and smarter than any stupid--- screech---- The track suddenly skipped to an abrupt stop.
Ok, so she couldn't locate her friend who for the past year had been right down the continent a few thousand miles in the fertile wine land valleys of Alderaan.

"Shut up!"

She elbow nudged Mariya again under the comforter.
"I can keep my eyes and ears open... that I can do. If they are out there, they'll show....sooner or later....
Daklin, heh?... hmm....I know I crossed that name a while back....brunette...yea..." Clues..familiar names...places that she'd been...the smell of burning hot dog-

"Shoot....my dog is burnt!"

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

She raised her eyebrow at the comment of her staying permanently in her chateau. Marina was probably mentioning it as a jest, because there was no way she would stay stationary in Alderaan. She had other assignments and contracts to do. "Do as you will. I know that I will never be able to persuade you to think otherwise, even though I know it is a wild goose cha-" Mariya stopped her sentence halfway, interrupted by the shout from her friend about the burnt hot dog.

"Serves you right for talking so much," she laughed. Laughter certainly helped to make her feel better. She took the skewer from Marina's hand and tossed the burnt meat onto a nearby plate. Her own cooking had fared much better, so she ended up giving Marina her own plate while she worked on the burnt pieces. A few knife strokes later, the charred areas were removed and the hot dogs looked decent enough to be eaten. In fact, the burned aftertaste added an additional layer of crispiness to the food itself.

"Mmm... you won't believe it but your sausages actually are nicer than what I had done for mine."

As she tucked in on the remaining food, Gordon came in with a tub of ice cream made from Mariya's favourite blue milk. It was strange to eat cold desserts in the cold weather, but the mercenary had a soft spot for them.

"Leave them here, Gordon. We'll have them later. Say, Marina... instead of running around aimlessly in the galaxy, why not we do some hiking on the Alderaanian mountains? I have never done it before ever since I came here."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Yea?..." Marina looked over to her friend who was indeed enjoying the crispy hot-dog. "...Hmm...let me have a bite."
And so she took a bite of the extra crispy hot-dog that her friend held for her to taste.

"Yea... sure puts a bite on it." Marina wasn't kidding. It certainly upped it a notch. It did taste much better and even the bun seemed to compliment it.

"Leave it to you not to waste rations..." She chuckled, remembering Mariya and her in one of her friend's mock survival outings. It were where Marina got her taste of ruffing it outdoors.
But was her friend serious now? Hiking in the mountains this time of year? The winters came early in the Aedian Mountains. Surely she weren't suggesting they hike up there in her Northern mountain range?

"You're meaning the Peinsol Mountains you see past the vineyards..right?" Marina asked, dropping the comforter off her head as she tried getting her bearings.
"The one's you'd see over that way.... She pointed to the far dark horizon. The light of the fire in front of them made it even more difficult to make out any ranges. The only clue was how the stars broke up in the horizon. If one were to look at them a moment, the lack of stars on the horizon created the dark against starlight sky silhouette that if one concentrated enough could make out the mountain range.

"Those... we could hike up to about 4-6 more weeks, before they're under heavy snow. You'll still have to dress for cold weather at night. Even now those mountains may be close to freezing temps at night...it's the winds. The one's you're feeling tonight, so you know. But during the day...and it looks pretty clear skies...standard high flex attire will suffice." She then looked over to her friend.

"A hike will keep me grounded a bit...yea. So is that's what you're planning?... To keep me from going back home, fetch my ship and hunt for them there pirates, matey?...arhhhg...hehe..." Yes, she did a lousy job at mimicking pirates.

"Listen though, honestly.... I'm interning under the queen of Alderaan. b
Basically I'm in support of the Free World Coalition and kind of also volunteered to be one of the first Explore Team member.
Long story....maybe I'll tie you up and tell you about it when we're in one of my long jumps... Good rant for you to doze off to..hehe.
Anywho... I'll be going to places most never heard of and meeting new factions..all that jazz. I'll keep my eyes and ears out.
Besides... I wouldn't have JOINED the Explorer team if YOU had contacted me like months ago. Now I'm committed and you know I won't give it less than my all. So thank you very much for THAT...." Once more she lightly elbowed Mariya.

"Well, at least it'll give me an opportunity to either run into them or eliminate those systems..." She continued, getting the comforter over her head again.

"I mean...like sooner or later out of the hundred thousand systems that they could be out there-... shiet, it's a crap shoot, huh?...hahaha"

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I have no idea what are the names of the mountains, but judging from your description on the temperature at night, I think I'll pass," Mariya felt almost like an idiot to suggest the possibility of hiking in this weather. The temperature here in front of the bonfire was already sufficient to make her cringe if the wind blew. She would rather not try her luck ascending any mountain range. "Let's do it in the summer then."

The mercenary knew her friend always had a liking for adventures, so she was not surprised to find [member="Marina DeVoe"] volunteering for some exploration team.

"I am quite sure it is your dream job to do all the exploration. And you still want to drag me to go looking for the pirates when you are already going to fly all over the galaxy? Trust me, someday you will be so sick of flying that you will want to slow things down for a bit."

Mariya recalled the days in military, where rapid deployment to different planets constantly made her felt sick of flying for a period of time. All she needed to do was to catch a glimpse of a space port and felt her stomach churning. Putting the flying aside, the more interesting tidbit was her friend becoming an intern for the queen of Alderaan. Considering Marina's father to be a Duke, some strings might had been pulled to make it happened. Working directly for the queen meant having access to confidential information. Information which people would love to have, including the Collective.

"Remember the Collective I told you about? They would love to have those fancy confidential documents that you have access to when helping the queen. So as long as you are working for the queen, don't ever send me any holo messages without encryption. It's troublesome, but will be good to ensure the safety of both of us."

She wrapped the quilt over her head as well, mimicking Marina's action.

"Fine, looks like mountain climbing is out because of snow. But that means skiing is available right? Ski resort stay?"

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Sure, there are such places. But my family has it's own mountain getaway just south of the Aeiden Mountain range...the Southern end. It's not as harsh as where our main estate is situated on.
Right now, it's perfect for skiing.. here..take a look."

She activated her wist crono to project an image of the smaller estate that was the family's Southern getaway.

The holo projection showed a smaller but similar looking structure as Marina's main estate.
"This is current by the way. See all that snow already? prime for skiing and stuff. Although we'll start closer to the base, than take off from the estate...lol" She explained.
"And hey, don't fret, I'm not into the military stuff, just politics as it concerns peace efforts and opening up dialogue with governments. But yea, no pertinent info by comm...got it." She did a mock salute.

"Anywho, unlike ancestral Alderaan, this system wobbles in it's orbit. No amount of terra-forming has been able to stabilize it. But it's all I grew up with...the ever changing 4 seasons." This was true. As close to the ancestral world of Alderaan this system were created to look like, this one had real temperate climate changes..all four seasons that made the planet seem more alive.

"Actually, I think it's better...you know...like the planet is alive. Not many systems wobble on their axis...and the majority that do aren't in elliptical orbit either....and the given distance from the central star...if they had a single star..." Oh-oh, was Marina going to go on explaining the reasons for the seasons here on New Alderaan?
"Pretty lucky this system was prime for such an endeavor as terra -forming. Turned out...perfect in its imperfections...you know?" Marina leaned her head on Mariya's shoulder.
"Hehe..figured I'd beat you to it, since you've always dozed off when I go and explain astronomical physics..." She laughed, then removed her head from her shoulder. It were just a jest, knowing Mariya's attention span concerning such mundane boring science stuff, as Marina often hear it called. But Marina had a love for exploring the stars and one just didn't seek the means of flying to and from them; one also studied their physical attributes...what made star systems unique from one another and still similar as it pertained in sustaining habitable life.

"I'm actually surprised you haven't skied before, as you're like an acrobat on your feet. You're sense of balance is ALMOST as good as mine..." Another light nudge with the elbow to Mariya.

"Seriously....I think you'll find yourself a natural on the slopes. Snowboarding too. It's no different than hover-boarding...only gravity is the motivating force....then there's sled runs...canine sled racing...snow-speeders...lots to do in a Winter Wonderland." Marina ran through a few of the fun activities. Then aof course there were nights like these in front of a good fire, next to a bestie..even out on a snowy night. Ok, well maybe not as it snowed, but after it snowed. Couldn't beat huddled around a fire shooting the trap.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Wow, nice! Look at all the snow," Mariya glanced at the holo image. This was the first time she had actually seen [member="Marina DeVoe"]'s estate, and it was definitely something she looked forward to visiting some day. Even if Marina's grandfather's birthday was a fake, she could still offer the older gentlemen a few good bottles of her wine. The Alderaanians seemed to be loving their wines more than any other alcohol, treating it as their lifeblood. Look at her friend for instance. She could clear up bottles of wine easily and yet refused to drink a beer which had less alcohol content.

"Aha, that's where you are wrong about physics. I do know a thing or two. Gravity is proposed to be a curvature of space and time dimensions. And jumping to light speed is possible because of precise calculations where the ship cuts through the space and time dimensions."

Mariya had never attended formal school, but she had spent enough time in the officer academy to learn how to read and write in Galactic Basic and High Galactic. True, she always preferred her weaponry compared to books, but she would still occasionally read a book or two that looked interesting. One of her recent reads was "A Brief History of Time, Space and Galaxy" by a well known physicist. A tough read, considering her lack of schooling but she somehow managed to sit through the book after many months. The mercenary could now proudly declared her newfound knowledge to her friend, though she still had no clue about astronomical physics for planets and land formations.

"It's true, I have yet to ski before. I do look forward to it if we are going. We are going to see snow right? I want to ride a sledge and make snowmen."

She grinned broadly at the thought of seeing winter in its glory. Marina might find it mundane, but Mariya always loved snow. Even if the temperature forced her to pile on a ton of clothing.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Get out!" This time she shoved her pretty hard enough to almost knock her friend off her chair.

"Eeeik..." She grabbed hold of Mariya, pulling her back toward her, nearly bumping heads. But she laughed...laughed at the fact that her friend had not expected that at all. it weren't like the multi-times they were on other systems where Marina although appearing cool, calm and collective, had always been on her guard. But at this moment, perhaps all the while she were with marina here on Alderaan, Mariya had relaxed too much.

"Oh my God!... I'm so sorry..." she continued to laugh.
" I...I'm really sorry. ....just that I never seen you so ...so relaxed." She tried her hardest in not laughing at the fact she almost knocked her over the chair. it were pretty hilarious though. Something like that wouldn't have ever happened anywhere else.

"We'll do it. Come tomorrow, pack up and spend a few days up in the Northern mountains." Marina took to pull her friend closer, sitting shoulder to shoulder with her.
"We'll have you meet my grandfather...and my dad if he can pull himself from the Council. Then we'll head back South to the smaller chateau and see if we can fit you in some skies." Marina was so excited that she could finally host her friend Mariya, who for the better part of their friendship had always, always hosted her. Say for a few trips they took on the Mariner IV. But that didn't count really. And here Marina was again, going on three days... if they made it to morning...three days, hosted by Mariya again.

"We'll start you off where i got started...on a bunny hill..."
She then leaned forward and picked up a split log and placed it on the fire, followed by two more, before returning back snuggled next to her friend.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Hey!" She almost fell off her chair. Almost was the word. Luckily she caught herself with her hand on the ground and found herself being pulled back by [member="Marina DeVoe"]. How could someone be on guard when you were wrapped in the same quilt as your friend? Nope, not possible.

"Yes, you should be sorry. I'm trapped under the quilt while getting elbows and nudges from you."

A pretend pout. Mariya was definitely in her relaxed state. Feminine behaviour even. It was times like this that would remind people that the mercenary was still a woman. Mariya was still vain enough to use sun block when she went out in the sun. Ultraviolet rays existed, even in winter season.

Okay, we will leave the manor and try some skiing tomorrow. I trust that your ship is ready for us."

Marina was now snuggled up next to her. Mariya was delighted to return the favour. Her hand glided towards her friend's abdomen and she suddenly started her tickle assault. "It's payback time..." she laughed, making her friend squirm under the covers. This time, she would not be so merciful. She would make her friend laugh until she surrendered. Abdomen and under the arms were good spots.

"So, who's the mistress now, Marina? Is it me, haha...."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Ok ok...ok....oh god....stop it...." She squirmed trying to slide herself down off the chair to escape her friend's clutches, but to no avail, as the fire pit wall prevented her from getting away.
But no, she weren't going to give in..not now, no how.

"Ok...stop it...come on...no...hahahaha.... s...stop..." She did her best not to call it, but she were nearing her limit, reddening in her features, under the duress of laughter and getting tickled like so. There was no getting out of it and she were about to call out the safe word 'Aunt Bee' when suddenly the one end of the comforter somehow started to burn as it was being trashed this way and that by the feeble attempts of Marina trying to squirm her way out of the tickling.

Before they even realized it had caught on fire, they were enveloped by a cold cloud of fog...the CO2 fire extinguisher that Gordon had somehow got a hold of. With a live fire-pit on a furnished patio, it had been placed nearby as a precaution...not expecting it to be used in both putting out a fire and cooling off two wild crazy friends.

"Wow...what the-?" But before she could finish, she were enveloped in another cloud of CO2.

"Yea... " Marina threw the charred blanket aside.
"I kinda had that coming..." She looked at Gordon, then broke out laughing, when her eyes went over to her partner in crime.
"Oh my god..you should see your self...your hair!... Hahaha..." She then pointed at Mariya who had taken the worst of the blast.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya suddenly found herself being sprayed by carbon dioxide. She coughed a little, trying to figure out what was happening. The smell of burning cotton made her realise her friend's attempt to escape had ended up in flames. While Gordon had definitely saved the day, Mariya was not exactly done with her friend. Not when her hair was being laughed at. She would need to correct that. She reached out of her hair, brushing it as best as she could to make it neater.

"Stop laughing. It's all your fault... My lovely quilt..." The blonde made a sad face and waved to Gordon, who walked over with the fire extinguisher. She grabbed it and the sadness was suddenly replaced by a huge grin. White pearly teeth smiled mischeviously at Marina, the nozzle pointing at her friend's face.

"Surprise!!!"

Whooosh, went the cloud of gas. The blonde could not stop herself from laughing at the fuzzy hair of her friend. "Hahaha... that's so funny..."

"Mistress Fleischer, may I humbly suggest that you consider postponing your fight with your friend till tomorrow? A snowball fight should be more interesting."

"Oh Gordon... alright..." the blonde allowed the fire extinguisher to be taken away by her butler. Her mood for fun seemed to be more unabated though. It was rare for her to do so, but Marina had turned on her crazy side after all these days of spending time together. Her fingers reached out for the soot around the fireplace and rubbed against it discretely, before proceeding to decorate her friend's cheek with a long black marking.

"Catch me if you can!"

She gave her surprised friend another marking on the other cheek and scrambled off her chair, running towards the inner pool area.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Eeeek...that's freakin cold!..." She ruffled her hair, getting off what had resulted from moisture of the night air condensing into snow, by the CO2 discharge.

It had quickly turned into one of their signature escapades, despite the fact that no one sustained any burn or frost bite. And lets not mention if the fire ha not burned them, but had spread along the patio overhangs which were of local wood, the entire chateau could have burned to the ground. But this was far from any of the girl's minds as they just ran away with what they did best together...have fun.

"Nooo....
No you didn't!.." Marina took to wiping her hand over to where her friend seemed to have marked her with war paint. Sure enough it were...the charcoal from the fire.
"Gasp...this means only one thing..."she were shouting as her friend took off in a tease of tag once more.
"..WAR!!..."

Marina jumped over the chairs to give chase.
The night air had certainly picked up a chill, but not for those two, who were now hyped up with adrenaline. Cold night?...what cold?

Marina chased her around a bit outside, but obviously her friend were heading indoor for cover. Marina sprinted to close the distance so she wouldn't be locked out of the house if that were her friends only defense. But it weren't, as Mariya seemed all to certain of where she were running to.
The indoor pool. Just as her friend took a leap to escape by diving, marina did same and grabbed hold of her midriff and both hit the water with a huge SPLASH!...

Up one head then the next came up to surface. Gordon by this time had made his way to the house and closed the glass doors from the outside elements. The motion detectors had lit the pool area as soon as Mariya had entered. Now with both girls in the pool, and the doors closed, the system's climate control took the pool area up to a comfortable level, should they come out of the water.

But they didn't. Marina especially took to deep dive a few times coming up wiping her face, the turned on her back and did a few backstroked before turning about and diving again. This time she grabbed her friend's leg and pulled her down unexpectedly, then using her sinking friend as leverage to pull herself up to surface. Marina's linage on her mother side were from the Great Lakes. Hence her given name, as it were of no mountain people.
This was her tag.

Marina broke surface and make a bee-line for the nearest ledge, swimming full strokes.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Too slow, Marina... look at your face!"

The blonde gleefully laughed at her friend who was chasing behind. Seeing the soot face running around to catch her? Priceless. Mariya navigated around the house, hoots of laughter and annoyed screams from her friend catching the attention of everyone else. The maids stopped whatever they were doing and stared, avoiding the two blondes as much as possible. The mercenary skipped past the sofa and saw the inviting pool, which she leapt in.

And found herself suddenly being grabbed by someone else.

The two of them were wet. Mariya blew some bubbles, her clothes heavy and weighing her down. But the surface was nearby, merely a few kicks to reach it. She surfaced, treading water to breathe and caught sight of Marina who was nearby. Apparently the water had washed out most of the soot, but a little remained on the right cheek. She gloated, then saw her friend diving under.

Where was Marina going?

A tug on her leg gave her the answer. Mariya sank downwards, dragged by her friend who made use of the opportunity to swim away. She blinked, blowing bubbles again in the water depths. Marina was definitely a good swimmer, she gave her friend that credit. But her friend was still clad in an outfit that was soaked wet. The mercenary surfaced again, stripping off her attire to reveal her undergarments. Plain black cotton and more modest than a bikini. She was suddenly thankful for wearing these set instead of something frilly or sexy.

With the weight gone, she began catching up on her friend. Both hands in the air, dolphin kick. Butterfly strokes to catch up the gap. She closed in from behind just as Marina was pushing herself out of the water at the ledge, dragging her friend back into the pool.

"Nope, not running away!"

 

[Marina DeVoe]

How in blazes had her landlubber friend gotten to her so quick?

It were the first thing that ran through her mind as she were snatched from making her getaway. Back in the water she went, opening her eyes to see the how and why as to her friend got to her.
Marina came to surface, treading water and wiping her face.

"Hehe...forgot how fast you change...damn it.." She laughed.
It were true, her friend Mariya could not only get up, out of bed in the middle of the night on a moment's notice but be in full combat gear to boot.
But Marina?...nope.
On her quickest, maybe an hour at the least....why with shampooing, conditioner, moisturizers, styling her hair, make up...and the 'what am I going to wear today' decision...
An hour on record as being her fastest.
But her friend Mariya..yea. No competition. Her friend could slip in and out of outfits faster than marina could switch footwear.

She took a deep breath and submerged, doing the same...taking off her attire. Thank the gods she could hold her breath for a good 5 minutes. Only that if she stood still and relaxed. Marina weren't idle underwater to stay submerged for that long as she slipped out of her clothes, no ... but it took nearly a minute, and still had a breath to spare.

"Gasp..." She finally came up for air.
"How the frak you do that so fast?!" She came up for air, tossing her bundle on the patio.
It weren't a question looking for an answer. It were marina 's exasperation as to how quick her friend was in just about all situations.

"You know...this is nice.." She looked around at the domed glass interior of her friend's pool.
"Say... does your pool-..." But as she were about to complete her question, she decided to check it out herself.

"Lights!...low dim!" The interior pool area dimmed.

"Lower!..."

Lower still......good!...hold there." She looked up at the high curved glass ceiling.

Stars...they were under the stars. And as her eyes acclimated, more stars filled in all over.
"Cool..." She gasped, taking in the star-lit sky above them.

"Pool lights!......low." The pool water lit all around them, enveloping them in a surreal world of sort.

"Wow...I thought so... perfect...
Now this is nice..." She waded about looking around.
Marina was enjoying her friend's indoor pool and patio.

"No chance of burning this down, huh?.. Hehe."