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 Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:58 pm
If Varun didn’t accept… well, Mal would just have to find another pirate willing to transport. It would be more costly and more dangerous. The money could be dealt with, since Mal had suddenly found himself as the son of a noble family. But the danger… he didn’t want to bring Aaralyn into any more danger. He was done with that part of his life. It was a relief when Varun finally accepted.
If things went bad, it would be Mal’s fault. But, he was willing to accept the risk. Besides, what was life without a little risk? He returned the grin, pleased that things were going well for once.
Aaralyn leaned back in her chair, her eyes flickering between the two men. There didn’t seem to be anything there, but Mal was very good at seeming, especially when it came to seeming to be something he was not. Was it just her imagination, or did Varun’s clap on Mal’s shoulder last just a little too long? The relevance of it being a subtle warning to Mal was completely missed by Aaralyn and her mind went to the most likely explanation. Well, ‘most likely’ only in her own mind.
“So...” she started, looking directly at Mal this time. “How long have you two been… you know.”
If Mal’s mind had been a train, this simple phrase would have caused a total collapse of the entire infrastructure. As it was, he simply looked at Aaralyn with a blank expression which was rapidly becoming less blank and more disturbed. With just the hint of redness around the edges of his cheeks, he backed away from Varun quickly, his hands raised slightly.
“Lynne! It’s not like that at all! We’re not… He ain’t my type. ‘Sides, even if he was, he’s amber.” At least, as far as he could tell Varun liked women. It was as simple as that. Oh, and as he said before, Varun really wasn’t his type. A good friend, great taste in alcohol, but not a good lover. At least for Mal.
An argument quickly broke out between Mal and Lynne, all in Cambrian. Cambrian, by nature, was one of those lovely flowing languages, with far more y’s, r’s, and w’s than should be possible. The point is, it wasn’t a very good arguing language… still, Mal and Lynne managed as best they could, with lots of hand-waving, shouting, and general noise-making. After a good couple minutes, they quieted down to simply glaring at each other, like two cats in a box.
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:31 pm
Varun remembered a time several years ago, when he and his entire 'fleet' were out in what could basically be considered the middle of the known sea. They had run across a ruined ship, floating without a destination. On that boat, there were dead men...in dresses. That was one of those moments that he had to stop and think about his life.
There was an incident on the outskirts of a rather remote village, home of a very prominent drug lord.....that incident was another where he had to stop and think about his life.
Those instances were relatively short in thought time. One, maybe two minutes.
This one topped both of those.
All of a sudden, they were "you know"? That stopped him right there. Then, before he had a chance to recover from what was apparently being insinuated...they started yelling. And not the loud, obnoxious yelling....the loud, obnoxious, foreign yelling.
His eyes glanced to those plants. A bit of one of those would probably make more sense than what was happening.
The sharp-eyed Captain just...stood there, watching the two argue. There was really nothing else for him to do. He remained perfectly calm...perfectly confused, but perfectly calm. He waited until they slowed, cleared his throat, and asked the only question he knew to ask.
".....'at just 'appened?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:12 pm
Naturally, both Cambrians had completely different answers.
“Nothin’ important. She asked somethin’ completely out of line.”
“It was perfectly reasonable, Mal! You’re my friend! I think I deserve to know whether or not my friend has a new man in his life or not! Especially since you keep disappearing for months on end without contacting anyone about it!” That was a particular sore point with Aaralyn, to be honest; she didn’t mind that Mal traveled. Everyone needed to move around a little bit… but the fact that he would move, without warning, for no apparent reason at all, galled her. How was she supposed to be friends with someone who did that all the time?
“For the love of…” this quickly devolved into yet another argument. Another loud, obnoxious, foreign argument with more hand-waving and similar emphatic gestures. Still, it died down quickly enough, with both of them sending glares at each other once again.
Mal sighed, one hand going up to his forehead. “Lynne… you know I have my reasons for travelin’.” Naturally, he steered the conversation away from the whole ‘man-loving’ thing. People always looked at him… differently, which he didn’t like much. It was all fun and games with someone like Rem but Varun was, so far, an untested element.
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