Day 4 | Night| The Unbearable Lightness of Being

[Kannon]

"A few more days of my daughter in coma and I'll be just an honorary member of that club."

He took a bite of beef to calm his nerves. He nodded to Cuyler.

"I am glad I could."

[Laila Bridger]

"Tell us about her."

Laila was looking at him with a kind of focus.

"I haven't really met her, and I don't think Ms. Gray really got a lot of time with her under... pleasant circumstances. Tell us what you're gonna do when she wakes up."

She took a morsel on her fork and contemplated it.

"'Cause no way in hell did we get out of that cave alive just so you couldn't reunite."

[Kannon]

That coaxed him to leave the miasma and refocus on the positives, to convince himself that Sinsei was stronger than the poison.

"She's very much like her mother. Bright, unrelenting, hungry for new ideas, stubborn to boot, suffering no condescension and sticking it right back where it comes from. She's going to be a much better planetologist than me. Apart from the pigment, I think my genes didn't even make an honest attempt. But then, her mother was something else."

[Cuyler Gray]

"She's quite feisty." She grinned.

[Laila Bridger]

"Can't wait to meet her."

She looked up at the bull's head.

Ugly fucking thing.

"But it'll have to be after I get back from my trip."

[Kannon]

"I suppose you can put it like that. I hope she didn't give you all too much trouble."

The man nodded to Cuyler's remark.

"You're leaving Cala City?"

Xard had this irrational hunch that it would be better overall if Laila was around.

[Laila Bridger]

"Yep. Going on a little trip to Harmonthep."

She chewed a morsel of beef, sighing happily.

"And of course, I find it a topic of conversation as I wander in. What are the odds?"

[Cuyler Gray]

"I have a feeling there will be a few familiar faces traveling to Harmonthep." Cuyler said. "I hope to visit it myself."

[Kannon]

Xard didn't know what to say. Sinsei was here. Yet his agency to help her wasn't. And apparently neither would be the people whose support he thought he could count on.

[Laila Bridger]

Laila looked at him and smiled- not a sardonic one, either.

Something Kiran had mentioned to her that had happened in the infirmary that morning...

"So. Xard. I believe there was some talk of calling in favors in a certain exotic sandbox? Might be we don't need to do that. If you take my meaning."

Hawat's head might pop if I tell him outright.

...

That could be fun, but it would add even more chaos to my life right now, and I don't need that.

She glanced at Cuyler.

"Ms. Gray, I don't really know you all that well, but I understand you were there too?"

[Cuyler Gray]

"Yes." she nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

[Laila Bridger]

Laila was all innocence.

"Why, simply that there might be some stores of useful culinary additives on Harmonthep we could peruse if we find the right suppliers. A little medicinal seasoning that might be of interest to a chef."

[Cuyler Gray]

The thought had occurred to her.

"Such ingredients are a part of my interest in visiting." She nodded. "I'm by no means a physician, but there has always been a strong connection between food and medicine. Various herbs and spices are known to aid in many different maladies when prepared correctly, especially among cultures that have adapted to their environment. I'm interested in learning alternative practices of many kinds."

[Laila Bridger]

"Well. We'll have to keep our eyes open, won't we?"

[Cuyler Gray]

"Absolutely." she agreed. "Anything that might help our friends."

[Kannon]

Xard.jpg (31.9 KiB) Viewed 1212 times

Xard wondered why there would be obtainable melange on Harmonthep given the Emperor's surcharge crisis but these two seemed confident in making that assumption so they must be privy to something he wasn't. He steeled himself to think and act as an Imperial Planetologist, not solely as a dead-worried father.

"Since my work on Caladan seems to be over for the time being, I suppose the golden lion natural reserves might benefit from an overview. I haven't encountered any recent reports. Besides, there has been a rather embarrassing case of anti-Corrino dissent on Harmonthep recently. The Emperor might want to know if any other infringements of his prerogatives and privileges have occurred on the planet. Jaxson Aru has been fomenting turmoil in many places."

[Laila Bridger]

She arched an eyebrow and glanced at Cuyler.

Xard was committed, but he'd also been through hell.

Of course, so had Laila, but that was... slightly different.

"A Mutelli chef, an imperial planetologist, a Caladanian vintner and an Ecazi mercenary... I think I might well be lowering the tone of this excursion a bit!"

And be as ignored as any offworld arrival of a military bent could be.

Which wasn't much, but... could help.

[Cuyler Gray]

"A Mutelli Chef, Melange Sommelier and CHOAM Auditor." Cuyler added. "If any of those titles may help find something useful on Harmonthep, I will do whatever I can."

[Kannon]

"A very haphazard company." Xard rubbed where his hair were receding. "Both hard to connect and hard to justify for someone with authority who asks. I am not sure I know what's in the cards, or rather I am sure I don't, but if you need a figurehead for whatever you are planning to do, I can be one as long as your actions don't harm Imperial interests."

[Laila Bridger]

Laila chewed that over... as she chewed on another morsel of beef.

"Hadrian and Ms. Grey have the culinary link- food and wine. I can just be hired muscle. Probably Hadrian's, everyone else would have more respectable options open to them or show more trust in their hosts, but he's a vintner of common birth engaged in offworld commerce- not exactly the most elegant social strata. Perhaps you're the one we've attached ourselves to like barnacles to open doors and markets..."