Making Friends
grilka & ixaaliot & kreska ido
osiris lunar colony
grilka & ixaaliot & kreska ido
osiris lunar colony
"Kreska Ido?" Ix repeated, eyes narrowing. "As in, Teraka Ido?"
The tiny green woman struggling furiously against Grilka's tendrils rolled her eyes, as if she had any room to be exasperated. "Can we not do this right now?" she snarled between grit teeth.
Grilka – who had previously been trying to coax the girl into performing unnatural acts – was now watching Ix curiously, instead. The Krotazi was smarter than ey looked, and more aware of Terran Allied culture than ey let on. Ey may not have recognized the name, but ey recognized Ix's recognition, the significance of his incredulity.
She looked about right, now that she said it. Not quite entirely Jobari, as dark-skinned and tall and foul-mouthed as she was. There weren't many half-Jobari floating around the universe, not with their superiority complex and propensity for making themselves toxic. About the right age, as well, to have been born after the signing of the treaty with the N'sazz.
But what the hell would Captain Robinson's daughter be doing cheating at mahjong on Osiris, of all places?
"How many times have you been to jail?" he asked, because there was no way in hell she was a first-timer. Her grin was oddly carnivorous, considering her apparent species.
"I'm clean's a whistle," she said, all smug, which only confirmed what Ix had been suspecting.
He gestured for Grilka to bring her closer to him, which ey did only because ey wanted to see what he would do. Ix didn't take charge very often in these sorts of 'negotiations', and Grilka had learned the value in letting him do so when he wished. Unfortunately, Grilka's delight in making people assume uncomfortable poses displeased Ix almost as much as Kreska.
"Could you – would you make her comfortable, please?" Ix asked, exasperated. "I'm trying to have a conversation, I can't talk to her like this."
"I don't see why not," the Krotazi said airily, tracing a talon over the curve of one of eir horns. "I haven't put anything in her mouth, yet." Nonetheless, ey made a small effort to accommodate Ix's request, rearranging eir tail and the woman ey was holding. In the end, she was sitting in a manner almost demure, though her wrists and ankles were still bound with scaled tendrils to keep her from darting.
Ix tried to see the echoes of old propaganda posters in her face, bloodlines that had lead armies. "I'd heard they had a kid," he said finally, "but I thought you were on Kotii."
"I get that a lot," she said, snarling less now that she'd been given some semblance of dignity.
"Based on the fact that you sound like station scum–"
"–hey!"
"– I'm going to guess you and your mother aren't close." He didn't mention her father, because that wouldn't have been a matter of choice, not when he'd been lost in a deep space anomaly before she was born. Half the Terran Alliance was still in mourning – that was what made her untouchable.
That was what made her useful.
"My family's nunna your business," she said, with a curl of her lip that did not suit the delicate features of her face.
"Right. You realize most of the things I want to know will be matters of public record, right? Moving around would have left a records trail, now that I know to look for it." Kreska sneered, and Ix rolled his eyes. "For right now, I do not care even a little how much of a disappointment you are. What I care about instead is that my friend and I have been looking for a courier. Someone who can handle more delicate deliveries."
She looked intrigued despite herself. "What kindsa deliveries?"
"That is none of your business," Ix said shortly. "These deliveries are gifts. They are for the recipient's eyes only. They are not to be looked at by the courier or anyone else." Enforcers, he did not say, but he could see by the way she narrowed her eyes that she got the gist.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he was blackmailing the daughter of two of the Terran Alliance's greatest heroes into becoming a drug mule. He registered, too, how easy it was for him to do it.
"So I do this job for ya–"
"Not a job," he corrected. "A favor. For my friend. Who will be, subsequently, your friend. And therefore willing to overlook this minor indiscretion on your part. Won't you, Grilka?"
"I am very forgiving, for friends," ey conceded graciously, and Kreska snarled again as Grilka tried to run talons through her hair. "More forgiving for friends who play nice," ey added with a disapproving click of eir teeth.
"I'm willin' t' settle for less forgivin'," she said, and though Grilka was clearly displeased ey refrained from trying to touch her again. It was one of few traits about em that he appreciated.
"We'll see," ey said, a glint in eir eye, a testament more to eir opinions about eir own irresistibility than anything. What was most surprising to Ix was how often ey was right. "Do we have an agreement, Kreska Ido?"
She seemed to take her time mulling over her options, as if there were options at all. She hummed, she sucked at her teeth, she made faces more obnoxious than thoughtful. How she could be willing to risk that kind of behavior when Grilka seemed as ready to eat her as negotiate was beyond him.
"Yeah, a'ight," she said finally with a shrug. "One favor ain't gonna kill me."
The tiny green woman struggling furiously against Grilka's tendrils rolled her eyes, as if she had any room to be exasperated. "Can we not do this right now?" she snarled between grit teeth.
Grilka – who had previously been trying to coax the girl into performing unnatural acts – was now watching Ix curiously, instead. The Krotazi was smarter than ey looked, and more aware of Terran Allied culture than ey let on. Ey may not have recognized the name, but ey recognized Ix's recognition, the significance of his incredulity.
She looked about right, now that she said it. Not quite entirely Jobari, as dark-skinned and tall and foul-mouthed as she was. There weren't many half-Jobari floating around the universe, not with their superiority complex and propensity for making themselves toxic. About the right age, as well, to have been born after the signing of the treaty with the N'sazz.
But what the hell would Captain Robinson's daughter be doing cheating at mahjong on Osiris, of all places?
"How many times have you been to jail?" he asked, because there was no way in hell she was a first-timer. Her grin was oddly carnivorous, considering her apparent species.
"I'm clean's a whistle," she said, all smug, which only confirmed what Ix had been suspecting.
He gestured for Grilka to bring her closer to him, which ey did only because ey wanted to see what he would do. Ix didn't take charge very often in these sorts of 'negotiations', and Grilka had learned the value in letting him do so when he wished. Unfortunately, Grilka's delight in making people assume uncomfortable poses displeased Ix almost as much as Kreska.
"Could you – would you make her comfortable, please?" Ix asked, exasperated. "I'm trying to have a conversation, I can't talk to her like this."
"I don't see why not," the Krotazi said airily, tracing a talon over the curve of one of eir horns. "I haven't put anything in her mouth, yet." Nonetheless, ey made a small effort to accommodate Ix's request, rearranging eir tail and the woman ey was holding. In the end, she was sitting in a manner almost demure, though her wrists and ankles were still bound with scaled tendrils to keep her from darting.
Ix tried to see the echoes of old propaganda posters in her face, bloodlines that had lead armies. "I'd heard they had a kid," he said finally, "but I thought you were on Kotii."
"I get that a lot," she said, snarling less now that she'd been given some semblance of dignity.
"Based on the fact that you sound like station scum–"
"–hey!"
"– I'm going to guess you and your mother aren't close." He didn't mention her father, because that wouldn't have been a matter of choice, not when he'd been lost in a deep space anomaly before she was born. Half the Terran Alliance was still in mourning – that was what made her untouchable.
That was what made her useful.
"My family's nunna your business," she said, with a curl of her lip that did not suit the delicate features of her face.
"Right. You realize most of the things I want to know will be matters of public record, right? Moving around would have left a records trail, now that I know to look for it." Kreska sneered, and Ix rolled his eyes. "For right now, I do not care even a little how much of a disappointment you are. What I care about instead is that my friend and I have been looking for a courier. Someone who can handle more delicate deliveries."
She looked intrigued despite herself. "What kindsa deliveries?"
"That is none of your business," Ix said shortly. "These deliveries are gifts. They are for the recipient's eyes only. They are not to be looked at by the courier or anyone else." Enforcers, he did not say, but he could see by the way she narrowed her eyes that she got the gist.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he was blackmailing the daughter of two of the Terran Alliance's greatest heroes into becoming a drug mule. He registered, too, how easy it was for him to do it.
"So I do this job for ya–"
"Not a job," he corrected. "A favor. For my friend. Who will be, subsequently, your friend. And therefore willing to overlook this minor indiscretion on your part. Won't you, Grilka?"
"I am very forgiving, for friends," ey conceded graciously, and Kreska snarled again as Grilka tried to run talons through her hair. "More forgiving for friends who play nice," ey added with a disapproving click of eir teeth.
"I'm willin' t' settle for less forgivin'," she said, and though Grilka was clearly displeased ey refrained from trying to touch her again. It was one of few traits about em that he appreciated.
"We'll see," ey said, a glint in eir eye, a testament more to eir opinions about eir own irresistibility than anything. What was most surprising to Ix was how often ey was right. "Do we have an agreement, Kreska Ido?"
She seemed to take her time mulling over her options, as if there were options at all. She hummed, she sucked at her teeth, she made faces more obnoxious than thoughtful. How she could be willing to risk that kind of behavior when Grilka seemed as ready to eat her as negotiate was beyond him.
"Yeah, a'ight," she said finally with a shrug. "One favor ain't gonna kill me."
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