Ask In a Little Pocket of the Galaxy

[Darth Tiamat]

The overall mood among those in Empire was significantly more reactive lately after the attack on the academy. Despite most being moody on a normal day to day basis, the simmering undertone of the servants of the Empire were reasonable, even Tiamat was feeling the murderous urge to seek retaliation. However, revenge would come, but for the moment, she needed to find her calm; it was at least one thing that stuck from her own training as an acolyte. To rush in bullheaded was unwise; and she worried about the acolytes she had so far supervised being present when the temple was desecrated. Most of them made themselves present, but there was one and now her equal as he was recently granted Champion.

She was dressed a little too formal as she had just finished meeting with engineers to build hypergates that opened to several other sith worlds. Layering robes of a deep midnight blue didn't wash her out like the black or red many chose to wear, and her hair, worn long, parted evenly over each shoulder. Tiamat hoped she didn't look too intimidating as she knocked on Altair's door. It wasn't difficult to find out where many were temporarily staying, she also had her own methods with a blend of certain key tabs and a malfunctioning server, she could see nearly everything.

The woman waited to see if he would answer, though her face didn't show much emotion, internally she was pretty excited to share her news and hopefully it would pique Altair's interests too.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

To say that Altair was moody since the academy was gone was an understatement. They had been given some temp housing, and it was a half step above some shitty soldier barracks. He shared a room with six other Sith, and the personalities clashed horribly. Altair only managed because he just plain looked scary. Of course, luck would have it that one of his new ‘roommates’ happened to be a Feeorin he had some bad blood with from the past.

When the knock on the door came, nobody moved. It was a game of ‘you get it’ until Altair finally groaned and jumped down from his bunk bed. The tiefling was dressed in flannel pajamas and a simple band t shirt, his hair messy. He expected this was some RA or something coming to see if anyone was doing drugs.

Altair opened the door, looking decidedly unamused. However, he quickly straightened up when he saw Tiamat, his tail waving energetically, “Oh.. hey!” He said cheerfully, suddenly feeling self conscious about his living situation. He closed the door a bit more behind him as the boys inside all craned their necks to look.

“What’re you doin’ here in this dump?” Altair asked curiously, taking in sight of her attire. She definitely looked intimidating and that was unfortunately distractingly hot. The tiefling, however, did remarkably well to keep that from manifesting on his face.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She probably stood there for a few seconds too long as the guys in the room decided who was going to answer. She could hear several different voices, grumbling, and then foot steps and the door opened to the tall and familiar tiefling. His unamused features quickly turned around as he realized who was knocking at his door. Tiamat quickly noted the lazy look, and suddenly wished to be cozied up in her own sweats and hoodies.

He closed the door some, Tiamat already catching the eyes of his room mates looking around him to see who it was. Though the sight of the room wasn't much of bother, but the smell of guy and body spray hit her nostrils rather swiftly. She remained unmoved by it, despite the internal ew that echoed in her head, "I came to see if you wanted to get out of this dump." Tiamat paused, hearing someone spraying something in the room and tried not to smirk.

"Some of my instruments are picking up a clouzon decay trail." she explained, "Clouzon-36 is the gas used by the purrgil, I think I found a pod of them." she grin widely, having yet to see the legendary space whales. She lowered her voice, trying not to sound too excited for the venture, "Plus, you can have your own room on my ship while we go check it out." she said, her blue eyes flickering to the nearing guys still trying to get a good look.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair could practically hear the guys spraying air freshener as soon as they spotted Tiamat. They were also not doing a great job with their whispering and Tiamat would be able to hear discussions and speculations about her dress, who she was and why the fuck she was here to see Altair with them ultimately drawing the conclusion that he was in trouble, much to their glee. Altair sighed and closed the door behind him to spare himself more embarrassment.

“I’d love to get outta here,” He responded at once, unable to hide how miserable he was here. He attempted to stay aboard his ship, but all students were to check in and be accounted for in these stupid quarters. When Tiamat explained about clouzocoin or whatever the hell, Altair’s eyes glazed over. However, when she remarked about purrgil, his face scrunched up.

“But…they ain’t real, are they?” Altair asked. He had heard stories about them, usually children’s tales, but he largely thought they were a myth. Then again, even chasing after fairytales sounded more fun than spending another day smelling the farts of five other dudes.

“What are the odds of me breakin’ limbs on this ‘adventure’?” He did air quotes, giving her the suspicious side eye. He wasn’t going to forget their last little adventure anytime soon. Altair gave her the chance to respond before excusing himself to get ready. He emerged a few minutes later in his usual baggy attire - barely a step above his pajamas - and a duffel bag with supplies.

“Ready when you are!” He said excitedly, gesturing for her to lead the way.

“Diggin’ the fit, by the way,” Altair complimented her on the attire as they walked.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

He questioned their authenticity, but with the stories from spacers she had heard and the history of hyperspace technology she had no doubts they were real. She would just need to calculate jumps that trailed and not necessarily hop into a middle of a pod that would lead to ruin for the ship and possibly themselves. Her smile dwindled on this thought but when he mentioned broken arms, it returned.

“No broken bones of any kind. she swore and waited quietly for him to get his things. When he re-emerged she had to think carefully to see if he really changed at all, but it wasn’t anything formal and she would most likely return to her frumpy style as soon as they jumped. He gestured for her to lead the way and commented on her attire.

Cheeks glowed with a kiss of red, “I had a meeting right before, giving orders, fixing calculations, sometimes I feel I have to look tougher before anyone takes me seriously.” Tia explained, “At least within the Empire, outside they expect you to look pretty, not sound like you know too much… it’s a reason why I won’t seek tenure at some of the universities.

She glanced at Altair, “I wish I had horns like yours, I am sure they intimidate some, but at they same time they are lovely. she said as they approached the hanger and to her ship. The woman’s droid unhappy they had returned so soon as it rolled inside to warm the engines and Tia would make her way to the cockpit for take off.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair frowned a bit as Tiamat justified needing to dress a certain way to be taken seriously. He came from a family of self assured, bullheaded women. He couldn’t even fathom this line of thinking, but he found out quickly it was how a lot of women operated and it was how the galaxy treated them.

“Fuck what they expect,” Altair blurted out before he could stop himself, “You don’t owe the galaxy nothin’. If you the expert in your field, it is what it is and they gotta accept whether that comes from someone big and huge like President Thorne or a little lass like you,” He grinned widely at her, “I’ll go to your classes to cheer you on!”

Altair stopped dead in his tracks and almost tripped over himself when she complimented his horns. For a moment, he appeared to be malfunctioning, and he blinked a few times while flushing. His skin, despite being so dark, was changing colors and turning a deeper shade. He idly fiddled with one of his horns, fidgeting a bit, “Y-You like my horns?” He asked in a voice that was barely audible. For all his confidence and swagger, compliments on his horns always shot right to the chest. The tiefling looked completely flabbergasted and at a loss for words. It took him several seconds to recover before he finally cleared his throat and kept walking, his face burning intensely hot.

“Th-Thanks..” He mumbled under his breath as he stepped into the ship. She had looked surprised when he joined the cockpit last time, so he politely made his way over to the crew quarters until take off this time.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

His blurting moments earlier didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. She had taken time after their last venture to remember how many times she just blurted out her thoughts when she was undergoing her training. Regardless, the image of him cheering her on during a lecture sounded humorous; knowing how he checks out as soon as she adds something technical, it may put him to sleep instead of his cheerleading. Tiamat let him emotionally flail about in the surprise compliment on his horns and flashed him a delighted smile.

While in the cockpit, she readied the ship for take off as she listened for Altair to finally stumble onboard. She smirked again to his reaction, not having missed the deepening of his skin tone; but she hoped he realized she meant it. He looked like a god, no fancy armor needed to make him stand out. He didn't join her in the cockpit and she took off anyways, not giving it second thought as she assumed he probably just wanted to sleep or something without five other fart sacks in the same room. Breaking atmosphere, she guided the ship into position, using coordinates calculated from her data before heading off to where her sensors were picking up the atom decay.

Once they were in hyperspace, she went to check on him, wondering if he was going to play any of his music when she realized she didn't see him with any guitars or other similar instruments. The woman frowned, thinking about Dromund Kaas and how much he possibly lost there despite her own sense of relief to have moved her lab out there a year or so earlier. She passed by a pile of notes and picked them up, stashing them away as she was trying her best to be tidier. It would never be at the same level of Emryc's need for things to be clean, but she was able to remove the mud stains from the floor, brought back from last time. "Make yourself comfortable," she told Altair, "I have some snacks, some are spicy so be careful, other foods...things...too" she wasn't too sure what else to really point out.

Disappearing into her own quarters, she emerged a few minutes later in a large sweatshirt, leggings, flats and her red hair tied into a lazy bun. Her droid rolled by giving some cheek comment before beeping away as Tia glared at it. "Where you able to salvage anything from your old room?" she asked him, frowning from just the memory of watching it burn.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair emerged from the crew quarters once he realized they were in hyperspace. He may have been a bit mopey lately, but he wasn’t going to sulk in a room by himself despite how much he enjoyed the privacy. He wondered how long he would be stuck in the temp housing. When he saw Tiamat picking up around the ship, he opted to help by cleaning up and arranging clutter as well. His mother always taught him that polite guests always helped out the host whenever they could. If this was Tiamat’s ship, she was the host right?

“Spicy?” He perked up, smiling at her, “I love spicy. Whatcha got? We can share!” He said cheerfully. His expression soured a bit when she asked if he managed to salvage anything. Altair sighed a bit, “Some random things here and there. I lost all of my guitars except for the one I luckily left on my ship. But the one I had since I was a kid is gone,” He said nothing for a moment, appearing as if he were going to cry just then. Instead, he swallowed and cleared his throat.

“But hey, I can get a new one with my Huttball money,” He flashed a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“So what you hopin' to do once you find your space whales?” Altair asked curiously, “And why’d you wanna find my ass to go with you? I figured after last time you didn’t want anythin’ to do with me.”

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She watched him for a moment as he helped clear her work bench, finding it a bit odd, but it was welcoming. He perked up when she mentioned the spicy foods and Tiamat grinned, pointing to the cabinet, "All sorts, I just got some reaper chips from the core." she said walking over and taking out the bag to show him as he continued, explaining the fate of his guitars, especially his one from childhood. She remained quiet as she watched him in his thoughts, a subtle shift in his posture, eyes glassy; Tiamat waited for the tears, but they didn't come as he passed through the moment, suggesting he could just buy another with his huttball winnings.

The forced grin and suggestion wasn't convincing. She knew that feeling he had, to have something precious and then suddenly it was gone.

He refocused on the conversation back to her, asking about the space whales and why she wanted to drag him along. Tiamat opened the bag of chips and took a couple for herself before handing the bag to Altair. "I just want to collect some data on the space around them. Sensors should pick it up from the ship, sometimes watching how the rest of the environment is impacted can give more data than the actual object, or well, animal." Tiamat explained, crunching on a chip that burned all the way through her ears and sent her chills. "Like music you know, the sound waves move and bounce until they lose energy, what I'm looking for is how particles in space move and bounce when hit with hyperspace portals." she explained, hoping that made sense without using technical terms.

She paused though when asked why she wanted to bring him, thinking she had given the impression she didn't want him around anymore. "I," she stopped again uncertain how he would respond, "Well, for one, I wanted to make sure you were okay, and I do like being around you." she explained, cheeks were starting to red, "And, well, I feel like I'm not so odd after all, and you understand normal things...like families, school life, friends, going to normal places..." she wasn't sure if she was making sense. Tia scratched her head as she stood up, "When I started my training, many in the Empire have literally been in the Sith since they were small children, they were raised sith, no one I knew at the time understood the things I knew outside the Sith." Tia explained, "I felt so, awkward...and still do sometimes when I'm around them. So, I feel like...normal when you were around and why I asked you to come with instead of anyone else."

Her cheeks were now bright red, but it felt good to just it off her chest.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair eagerly drew out some bags of spicy snacks, happy to try out the variety and munch on them. He could handle all levels of spice, including ones that humans simply couldn’t manage. He listened vaguely as Tiamat explained her reasoning for the whales, most of it flying over his head. His face scrunched up a bit, “Is it so you sense ships before they arrive or somethin’?” He asked as he took the bag of chips from her and popped a few into his mouth. What she said next gave him pause, and he stopped mid-chew to stare at her.

For a moment there was nothing but silence after she spoke, and he despised himself for not chewing while she spoke. Because suddenly there was a crunch as he continued to chew, and to him it sounded obnoxiously loud and ill timed after she had opened up so much. Altair rapidly chewed and swallowed so he could get to actually talking.

“I think you try to act like you’re the same as the people that have been Sith all their life and that’s why you feel different,” Altair explained, “The real you is the girl that dances or shoots the shit. But you stop yourself from ever goin’ further. The only difference is that I’m still the guy I was when I left Bandomeer and a part of me will always be that,” He looked at her with a smile, “And I like bein’ around you too….when you actually loosen up a little,” Altair chuckled a bit before handing the chips back.

“So, how do you s’pose we kill time while we wait to find Doby Mick?”

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

There was that awkward silence that was measured by the redness and heat that were now emitting from her cheeks as she waited for the tiefling's response. She seemed to have caught him mid-chew as he quickly crunched away, breaking the moment and then speaking. It was a response she was not expecting, and she stared for a long time as she slowly processed what he was saying; to the point, but the validation was...refreshing. Her shoulders relaxed as he shared his own opinion and handed back the bag of chips where she grabbed a few more before closing the top to prevent eating it in one sitting.

He asked what they should do in the meantime and Tiamat flipped on the holo, "Do you like playing games?" she asked digging out a controller for herself and him if he decided, "'Cuz we can play Super Smash Friends." she suggested, setting the controller for him down next to her on the small make-shift sofa as the screen rolled through the credits. With an outstretched hand, the bag of chips returned to her lap as she grabbed a few more, the conflict of eating the bag versus saving it for later battled in the back of her mind as she waited for his response before choosing one player or two player.

"We can see who is the better Champion." she winked.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair lit up when she mentioned gaming, “No way, you play too?!” He said excitedly before floating over a controller to himself. He plopped down on the couch next to her, staring at the Holo, “I’ve actually done Smash tournaments before,” Altair grinned widely before he picked his go-to character, a tiny little fluffy rabbit that was assumed to be the weakest of all the character selections.

“You’re full ‘o surprises,” He said as they clicked past the selection screen, “What other surprising hobbies you got besides dancing and gaming?” Altair asked as the countdown began and the fight started. Right away it was obvious he knew what he was doing even with his very unassuming character, easily dodging and countering with solid blows. The rabbit moved in a blur, almost impossible to hit.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Her grin widened as he seemed just as enthused to play, but when he mentioned he had done tournaments, there was an internal "oh shit" feeling as an excited giggle turned to a nervous one. Though he picked the tiny white bunny and Tiamat shot him a look and shook her head, wondering if she assumed the worst and it wasn't going to be that bad. Tiamat picked her character, the blue cyborg with one arm as a laser canon.

She scooted up on her seat, sitting on the ledge as she waited for the start, fingers hoovering over the buttons as Altair mentioned something about her being full of surprises. It caught a side glance from the woman and a coy grin, "I know how to sail. I read a lot, and I love math, space, and stars." she said watching the game begin, quickly pressing the combination of keys as she tried to get the upper hand on the rabbit, "What the fuuuuck.." she watched as his choice of character seemed to dodge every blow she attempted. She watched as her character was obliterated in a few quick moves and just starred at the screen flabbergasted.

"Rematch, my keys are sticky." she pouted, picking her character again, knowing very well, she was going to get her ass handed to her again. Her keys were not sticky, he was certainly a lot better, but she wasn't going to necessarily admit that yet...

"What else do you like to do?" she asked him.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was barely paying attention to the screen, clearly very adept at this game. He hadn’t been lying when he said he played in tournaments - but he did neglect to mention he often ranked in the top three. The tiefling nodded to her comments, “I love the stars too,” He remarked, “But I don’t ruin it by tryin to study what I like,” He quickly flashed her a wink before looking back at the screen.

The tiefling laughed when she claimed her keys were sticky, “Well just wipe some spit and clean it up!” He said casually before starting another match. This one didn’t go too differently than the other times, but he wasn’t smug about it at all. While she asked what he liked to do, he shrugged.

“I like singin’, break dancin, Matukai, being captain of the combat team,” He rattled off as he played the game, “Wanderin’ the galaxy without giving a fuck, smokin’ herbs,” Altair tilted his gaze at her to see if she’d give him a judgy look. He only grinned before looking back at the screen, “Pleasin’ ladies,” He said while attempting to keep a straight face. However, he ended up chuckling a bit as he smacked her character around yet again.

“You seem like you been alone for ages,” He stated quite bluntly, “You one of those loner chicks?”

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

He shared how he loved the stars just like she did, but clearly he did not passionately go in depth as her with the creation of groundbreaking hyperspace technology. The next round, still feeling surprised by his response to also use her spit to clean the controller, was a quick one as she delayed her own plays in the game and just played continuous catch up until her character ran out of respawns and was out. The screen asked if they wanted to continue and Tiamat quickly hit for another match as Altair listed some of the things he enjoyed.

At some point in the next round of fighting, she was now standing as if the physical movements as she pressed the buttons were going to improve her ability to beat him and his rabbit. He seemed really chill, never flinching even when he mentioned his smoking herbs, though when he mentioned last was pleasin' ladies, she had to pause (her character being flung into the pit below), giving him a look before he broke into a chuckle.

"The ladies probably flock to you knowing you can sing, dance, and fight. Girls like that stuff: serenade them, beat the crap out of their uninteresting prospects..." she said grinning, it was probably also the plot to several romance holos she watched on repeat. Altair continued, making an observation of her lack of partners, asking if she was the loner type, which made her pause long enough for his rabbit to smack her character into an abyss. Her jaw clenched realizing she was losing again and let out an exasperated sigh and sat down.

Her cheeks were a bright red again and she instinctively reached up to find a lock of hair, but realizing it was tied back, she dropped her hand back to her lap, watching as the screen asked if they wanted another match. "I am one of those loner chicks." she sighed and glanced at him, "You're too good at this game." she said setting down the controller and gave another quick glance at the teifling again, "[/color]I'm a dangerous type of loner girl.[/color]" Tia added.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair shook his head, opening his mouth to debate the notion of ladies flocking to him. However, recently that had a semblance of truth to it, and that was surreal. He shifted a bit awkwardly as he focused on the screen, ignoring her own face turning red or her fidgeting to his question, “I mean, they’re prolly just impressed ‘cause I got Huttball MVP,” He shrugged, “I look too scary for ‘em to really be into me.”

He paused for a moment before he laughed, “But those traits were oddly specific. Are those all things you like, Tiamat?” Altair flashed her a grin.

When it asked for another match and the screen remained there, Altair made himself comfortable by plopping down against the armrest of the couch and half laying on it. His tail playfully swished back and forth near Tiamat as he kept his gaze on the screen, backing out and cycling through different characters he didn’t usually play. Perhaps that would give her a better chance.

He scoffed when she answered, “Dangerous?” He eyed her finally, quirking a brow, “You threaten guys with long lectures or what? 'Cause those hypergate sermons can be pretty lethal, not gonna lie."

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

"Scary?" Tiamat scoffed, "I hope they are not Sith, they have no clue what is true fear." she grumbled, her brow narrowed thinking of who she had seen turn away from Altair, mentally noting about confronting them and how she would show them what they should fear.

He thought the traits she listed were humorous in how specific they were and her features relaxed, sharing a grin, "Tia, you just need to call me Tiamat in more formal settings." she said watching as he moved his marker around to different characters. She decided to play another match, though for herself, picked the princess apple character instead of her usual. Leaning back on the couch as Altair lounged, she could see his tail from the corner of her eye as he questioned her lethality of her methods.

"I...well, my lectures are very fascinating, no one sleeps when I give them at the university." she said matter-of-fact, "Its more like..." she pursed her lips in thought, "I take big risks, burn brightly, quickly, like fire." she explained, "I can't stop, so others get burned if they get in my way." Tia sunk into the couch further, thinking about the times Emryc and even Renfry were burned by her.

"So I stay alone, keep to myself and my work." Tia stated.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair eyed her curiously when she almost took on a defensive tone at the topic of others treating him like some demon. It gave him unexpected warm fuzzies, though he would say nothing about it. His tail, however, betrayed him as it swayed eagerly for a moment before he got it under control. Altair focused back on the game, picking a sword and shield character that was more sluggish than his rabbit. He was doing decently, but not as well as before.

He glanced back at her when she mentioned calling her Tia. Altair smiled briefly, “Tia,” He repeated, “Well in that case, good time to tell you how my name is actually pronounced,” He then proceeded to say it with the accent.

Altair was focused back on the game when she explained how scary she was. By the end of it, he had a shit-eating grin on his face. He looked at her and gave her a playful wink, “Well good thing I’m fire and burn proof,” He said confidently before he bashed her character in the face with his shield before Princess Apple bitchslapped his character down.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat listened carefully as he pronounced his name with the accent and she repeated it a few times under her breath to remember it. Her mind refocused to the game, pronouncing his name in different tones as her brow narrowed, then eyes widening, facial expressions changing to the moves she would play and counter, "I like it..." she nodded in approval and repeated his name again and then tried to repeat her own name in his accent, stumbling over the syllables until she let out a yell as he seemed to gain the lead in the game again.

She was moving closer to the edge of the couch as she continued to play, hearing him mention he was fire and burn proof. She managed a solid hit on his character and she let out a whoop of joy, "Fire and burn proof?" she slid back, looking at him curiously as a new round was counting down. He didn't seem put off by her warning, maybe he was calling her bluff? Tia was uncertain what to think of his response and she set down the controller, in fact, she was having a hard time processing this, like the terminal going blue screen, "I need fire proof." she blurted out, her cheeks glowing and her internal voice yelled at her for such a stupid response.

"I mean..." she paused, suddenly feeling as though she just needed to space herself now, "I like your tail, we should like," she shrugged and stood up when she heard the hyperpsace sensors beeping from the cockpit, "Go see a holo or something." Tia blurted out as she walked quickly back to her pilots seat, internally screaming.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair stared at her as she fumbled her way through speech. He blinked a few times when she mentioned needing fireproof and then jumped to complimenting his tail and then….what? His eyes practically popped open. The tiefling could only vacantly stare as she suggested watching a Holomovie. Between that and how red and flustered she looked, Altair sat up straighter.

“Are you askin’ me out on a-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before she bolted. Altair was left in stunned silence, hearing the cheesy video game music in the background. For all the ways he was burn proof, his entire body felt as if it were ignited from the inside. Altair was frozen solid, staring at the spot where Tia had been sitting moments prior.

That was what he thought it was, right? For all his experiences with girls, he was still a moron about this topic. It hadn’t been long since he and Aadya had parted ways, and a part of him still hurt even though it was a very amicable split. However, this was a curveball he hadn’t seen coming.

Nah. That’s probably not what she meant.

The tiefling grabbed the chips bag and thoughtfully crunched on a few chips, still staring. He didn’t move from where he sat as he had a feeling Tia was actively hiding from him. After a few awkward moments, he made his way over to the cockpit because the beeping got more frantic. Altair cleared his throat as he plopped down next to her and buckled himself in to prepare for the hyperspace exit. He made a point to stare straight ahead.

@GABA