RP:Days Of Our Lives: Lithrydel Edition

Part of the The Day I Tried To Live Arc

Summary: "Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives." Well. It's actually probably more complicated than a regular soap opera, but KhittiBrand sure as hell create good drama! Also, Brand's first mate Onyx is not at all a good wingperson. Sheesh.

The Tranquility, Cenril

It had been a few hours since she finished translating the scroll. Lydia’d been looking over her shoulder the whole time up until one crucial moment, and then Khitti snapped at her. The vampiress had left her sister, the ship, and almost even Cenril, because she needed to think, needed time to process things. When she returned, she’d seek out wherever Brand was on the ship, her demeanor one of concern and even just a bit sad. Whether she needed to knock on his door or interrupt his work when it came to the ship, she’d give him that signature frown of hers, complete with the furrowed eyebrows. “Ve need to talk,” she’d say to him. It wasn’t that ominous ‘we need to talk’ that some couples ran into -- were they even -really- a couple right now? It still felt like some odd limbo again -- but he really had no way of knowing. She’d not fed from him in so long, their link was dead, and they were both stuck in their own heads, alone, without the slight comfort of being able to feel how the other was thinking.

Much rearranging of things had taken place in the days since Khitti had disembarked the ship. While the vampiress had been off conferring with Meri, Alvina, and others, Brand had been busy with repairs and modifications to the ship and planning for their next string of voyages. The cabin adjacent to Brand’s was labeled for use by one First Mate Onyx, for the captain had given someone the promotion at last. The large room across the hall was now a situation room, a private abode for delicate matters and sensitive documents. It was this last room that Khitti entered with her furrowed eyebrows and her look of concern. The door opened to a sea of papers and maps littered across a large table, with none other than than the pale, dark-eyed child accompanying Brand at the head of it. The child looked up abruptly at Khitti’s entry, their expression stuck in a cautious neutral, but the Captain’s eyes were still on the notes before him even as he gestured for Khitti to enter.

“It’s fine; we were just wrappin’ up the details here, anyhow.” Several papers were gathered up in the captain’s hands and handed off to the child. “Prepare the crew, Onyx. We’ll depart for Rynvale within the hour.” The child departed with only the barest nod to either of them, and as they departed Khitti earned her first glance from Brand that day. The Catalian looked… not unhappy to see her, just fatigued, perhaps. But it was a good fatigue, the kind that accompanied a much-loved but exhausting job. “An hour oughta be enough for this ‘talk,’ aye?”

Leaving? Already? Well… she should’ve expected it really. There was an uneasy turn in her stomach as the kid walked by, a wary glance given to them. The furrowed brows and that bit of sadness remained, “I-I guess so, “ she said at length. Khitti remained by the door, giving another side-eye to where Onyx had been when he exited, “They don’t like me.” It was more of a statement to herself than anything. None of Brand’s crew likely did enjoy her presence much -- and with good reason too. But, that issue isn’t what she was here for and the clock was ticking. Now that she knew he was incredibly busy, however, she suddenly didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to bother him with things.

“Y-you know, it’s not important.” But it was important, and he’d definitely be able to tell. “I’ll just go...gather up my zhings and grab Lydia and let you be on your vay.” She was practically an echo of her former self or even Dominic; she didn’t want to bother him, didn’t want to interfere with his life. He seemed so happy with it and she only brought rain clouds to his sunshine. So, instead of spouting off the newly translated information to him, she whispered an apology and turned to leave.

A burst of flame lit up the space between Khitti and the door, tiny but bright and loud enough to catch her attention. Brand could have just called out to her or whistled or something like a normal person, but where was the fun in that? “Oi. That’s not what your face told me a minute ago. Where do you think you’re goin’?” Whether or not she was moving, the Catalian’s legs were bringing the distance between them to a close and placing him before her. Soon enough, there was a firm hand on her shoulder and green eyes seeking hers. “C’mon now. You’ve been back on my gorram ship all of five minutes and you’re already gettin’ ready to leave again?” Surely it had been longer than that, but he was trying to make a point, dammit. “And don’t mind the kid. They know their stuff when it comes to the ship -- kinda freakish, really, for someone that age -- but they’re like that with everyone. No talk except the bare minimum.” He shrugged. “I’ll take the good with the bad.”

Khitti nearly leapt back a foot or so away from the bit of flame, resisting the urge to let out a shriek; she was still a little touchy when it came to things that might burn her, besides her own magic that is. No sooner had she taken those few steps back did he show up in front of her, and put that hand on her shoulder. “Just...keep an eye on zhem.” There wasn’t any point in bringing up that smell of undeath the kid had on them. She was undead too, after all, and Brand let -her- on the ship -- if that’s even what Onyx was anyway. “Zhey give me zhe creeps.”

From within her duster, she pulled out Dominic’s notebook, the one she’d given him for Yule, slight wear and tear on the binding and cover obvious from the extensive use between the raven-haired Catalian and Khitti. His research inside had been taken out and hidden away elsewhere, likely with Khitti’s things, the memory of him kept close even if she didn’t allow herself to dwell fully on things where Brand’s other half was concerned. New pages had been sewn in to replace the old, her own work on the parchment, and were now flipped through to where she’d stopped. “I finished translating zhe scroll.” The ingredients started off simple, but soon grew into strangely worded things, and finally something unspeakable: ice cap mushrooms tainted by the past, crushed mermaid scales, teeth of a leviathan, ambrosia of the Dark Mother, Vakmathras’ blessing, the purity of Arkhen, a lament of the star-crossed, heart of the betrayer, and a blood sacrifice of kin -- specifically a sibling. It was clear that a fair few of the ingredients were designed to hurt her in some way. Khitti didn’t say anything else as she held the book out to him, her frown returning as she directed her gaze away from him.

Brand shrugged again. It wasn’t that he was entirely discounting her opinion… he just hadn’t gotten the same creepy vibe from the child that she had. “Will do. Let me look.” He took the book out of her hands, studying the pages with a growing frown. “You sure this is the right translation? -- No, it was Facilier, of course it would be. ‘Heart of the betrayer’ sounds like what he meant about havin’ your first ingredient already, and -- what the actual frak even -is- half of this?” He snapped the pages closed and offered the book back to Khitti. “You’ve got a gorram riddle there, not a recipe. And…” His voice lowered, as if that would even make a difference for whether or not a ghost could float through the walls and hear. “...Blood sacrifice?”

“I zhink she vas telling him zhings. Vhen she got stronger, I zhink she had more of a link to zhe Shadow Plane zhan I zhought.” Khitti side-stepped away from him, hands wringing one another in that anxious way of hers, “Zhe scales and teeth are easy enough. Probably Amarrah’s doing since she knew all along about my love for zhat mermaid story.” She paced a little, finally taking the book back from him as she passed him, “Zhe only ‘Dark Mother’ I know of is Delisha, and it’s very possible zhat it -is- her, considering Facilier follows Vakmathras. Seems like zhey know about Lithrydel’s deities too. I’ve no idea vhat zhe ambrosia, blessing, or purity is, however. Ice caps, zhey’re from Frostmaw, and likely from zhe ruined city, if by ‘tainted by the past’ he means zhe dead. And zhe lament…” Damn it. It really -was- it, wasn’t it? Amarrah’d been mocking her, tittering about it in the back of Khitti’s head the entire time that she wrote that song for Brand, and when she played it for him in Vailkrin. She purposefully didn’t finish her thought though, instead sinking into the nearest chair with a heavy sigh. “It vas all carefully planned. Most of it are zhings zhat are dear to me...or zhings zhat could kill me. Or both.”

Brand didn’t take a seat but instead leaned back against the table, facing Khitti with his arms folded across his chest. “So is this all just to mess with you? Or do you think it’ll actually work at the end? It can’t actually all be Amarrah’s ideas -- she wouldn’t’ve signed off on somethin’ that required her own death, right? I mean, she was nuts, but she must’ve still had -some- sense of self-preservation, right?” There was another question lurking in his consciousness, but it wasn’t one he was certain ought to be brought up: What if the spell not only didn’t cure her, but did something else to her entirely…? “I don’t imagine there’s any way to verify that it’ll do what it’s s’posed to?” he asked instead.

“I don’t know if it’s going to work.” Khitti set the book on the table, then put her hands on her face, slumping down further into the chair. “I doubt she did. She vanted to be alive again. It’s all she ever vanted.” And I took that from her. “I don’t know if it can be truly verified, but it’s possible zhat it might still vork. Vakmathras does deal in death and he seems to be a popular god to worship amongst zhe necromancers in Vailkrin--Larewen follows him. Hell, I zhink even Gevurah does too from vhat I recall. And Arkhen, he’s all about forgiveness and light and healing. Both of vhatever zhose ingredients are -might- do something. Delisha zhough, I’m not too sure about. She’s all about pleasure and hedonism and... “ Khitti let out a groan, realization striking her like a lightning bolt, “...getting everything you vant. Zhis is more or less one big sacrifice to gods I’m not even supposed to be believing in…” If there was anything at least out of all the gods that she believed in, it might very well be Arkhen, if only because she -felt- that magic of his and was promptly burned to a crisp by it.

Brand seemed to need a long time to process this. His gaze dropped to the floor as he pondered, his expression grim. “Typical,” he murmured at one point, though he never elaborated what he meant by that. At length he stirred from his perch and reached over, gently peeling Khitti’s hands from her face. It was really only a hint of affection, as he squeezed her hands and then withdrew, but for Brand that display was a feat akin to scaling the tallest mountain. “Tell me what you need me to do, peach. How can I help?”

Khitti looked at her hands once he withdrew, then up at him, her verdant stare studying him carefully. “I-I can’t ask anything of you.” She motioned to all of his things on the table, her frown reappearing, “You’ve got responsibilities, a ship and a crew to look after. I know vhat you said before, about helping me, but… I can’t.” With a sigh, she pushed herself up out of the chair, “I don’t know if I can do zhis. Most of zhe stuff on zhe list is likely doable, but...Lydia? I literally have everything I zhink I’d need to bring her back… except zhe nerve to do it.”

“So don’t worry about it yet.” He stated it like it was truly that simple, like someone could simply ‘turn off’ the worrying mechanisms inside of their brain. Maybe he could -- it would explain a lot about him, actually. “Everything else is gonna be hard enough. Maybe by the time you’ve figured the rest of it out, a solution will present itself. Maybe there’s multiple possible translations, or ‘sibling’ is metaphorical, or… somethin’. I dunno.” He rolled his shoulders into another shrug that morphed into a long stretch. Stiff joints. Sheesh, he really -was- getting old. “Anyhow, much of the crew has debts to pay and mouths to feed, even if it’s only their own. I’m takin’ jobs as I find ‘em, but that doesn’t mean one of ‘em can’t be yours. And I can still take my leave when I need to. They’re a good crew. I’d say the ship practically runs herself if it weren’t for need to talk to people, coordinate contracts and the like, settle disputes, so on. But they’d hardly miss me for a few days here n’ there.”

Don’t. Worry. About it? Brand does realize whom he’s speaking to, yes? Khitti’s middle name might as well be Worry or Anxiety instead of Elysse. Dark olive-colored eyes watched him as he spoke, the occasional furrowing of her brows tipping off her cynicism. By the time he finished, though, she almost looked like she might cry--she resisted though!--as she wrapped her arms around his middle without warning and hugged him. Well, she -really- wanted to kiss him instead, but she was being respectful since they were on the ship. Hugs weren’t always intimate displays of affection, you know. This one was more of a way to thank him, and she was sure to voice it as well. “I really don’t zhink I can do zhis vithout you. Zhank you...” Knowing how he is with such displays, she kept the hug brief, taking a step or two back to give him space, even going so far as to apologize for her abruptness. “How long are you going to be in Rynvale?”, she’d ask after a while, if he’d not said anything, her attention falling to the floor again.

Brand seemed… slightly uncomfortable with this ‘hug’ business. He’s just not the cuddly type, y’know. Or maybe it wasn’t even that and he was just caught off guard. Whatever the case, it wasn’t enough to cause him to pull away, and ultimately his hands came to rest gingerly upon Khitti’s hips before she parted from him. “It’s nothin’, peach. I keep tellin’ you,” was said to her words of thanks, and as for her question: “I’m not expectin’ it to be more’n a few days. We got us a repeat customer, wants us to ship their wares off to Chartsend again. It’s not the most -interesting- work, but it suffices.” He cracked a grin; either by that smirk or just by being familiar with his personality, she’d know his definition of ‘interesting’ was something more akin to those life-risking adventures they’d been on with the Warrior’s Guild. “I’ve got one other contract I might be pickin’ up, but the prospective’s all cautious and will only gimme the details in person. Gotta head there while in Rynvale, hear ‘em out, give ‘em whatever assurances they’re after. Why, you thinkin’ you’ll stay on for a bit?” Not that he was hoping for that or anything. Nope. Not the cuddly type, remember. Khitti totally wasn’t semi-officially ‘his woman’ now or anything.

Khitti squinted a bit at Brand, her lips pursing together in thought. “Hmm. I don’t know. I’m bad luck. Vhat if I make your deals fall zhrough?” Clearly, she was teasing him, her tone implying as much. “I might be able to make zhings ‘interesting’ for you. It sounds like I need to head out zhat vay anyway for two of zhe ingredients. You could take me mermaid hunting and we could see if zhere’s a leviathan out zhere as vell. Seeing as how zhere vas a giant turtle--and more bugs zhan I’ve ever vanted to see in my life--out zhere, I’m zhinking ve might find ourselves a sea monster too. I’ve got zhose breathing masks packed away just in case and if ve need help, and she’s out zhere, ve could always grab Meri to go vith us.” It sounded like Khitti actually had a plan for once. “Buuuuut, you know, zhat’s only if you vant to. I know how much you hate fighting zhings and burning zhem to a crisp.” Khitti batted her eyes and gave him an innocent grin; she knew full well that sort of thing didn’t work on him, but she did it nevertheless, her demeanor an obviously playful one. “Besides, I’m sure you must be retired from zhat now zhat you’ve got your ship. Content vith staring at maps and ordering people around all day, hm?”

Brand restrained another grin from emerging and opted for a serious tone. “Well, yeah. I was thinkin’ maybe I should try out bein’ a pacifist. Read books in my spare time instead of fightin’, maybe start drinkin’ tea… eh.” He folded his arms across his chest, frowning. “Sorry, kiwi. Looks like you’re gonna have to find someone else to help you with your mermaid huntin’ business. I’m jus’ not interested.” Finally, the facade gave way, and Brand could hide his amusement no more. “We’ll take the job. Crew needs somethin’ to keep ‘em on their toes every now n’ again.”

Khitti’s grin faltered a little. Okay, it was more like it went away almost entirely. Brand had clearly been poking fun at Dominic and his ways, and Khitti knew it, and that led her thoughts back to the now M.I.A Catalian. It was true that Dominic turned into a selfish little brat--or maybe he always was and she never really noticed it--but...she still loved him and she certainly missed him. The redhead’s line of sight drifted away from Brand, that flirty behavior of hers dying away as she started to dwell on it, on Dominic. Only when she realized she’d phased out somewhat, and thought on him too long, did she finally muster a faint smile for the ship’s captain, looking to him again, “I’ll make sure zhey all get fed vhile I’m on board and if zhey end up vanting gold, I can do zhat too.” She did her best to return to that semblance of happiness she’d had only moments ago, but it was ever so hard to do as those thoughts of Dominic, and the fact that his leaving was very clearly her fault, was creating quite the din in the back of her mind.

Brand had known, even as he’d been cracking jokes at Dominic’s expense, that there was a chance it wouldn’t be received well. He’d forged ahead anyway, already too committed to the bit to back out of it. Khitti’s reaction hadn’t gone unnoticed, however, and so like any good semi-official romantic partner it was time to do damage control. (...Right? That was what he was supposed to do? He’d maybe picked up a book on the subject not too long ago. Definitely nobody tell Khitti.) The blonde closed the distance between the two of them, placing a few fingers under her chin and bidding her to meet his gaze. “Hey.” Er, okay. Step one accomplished. What now? He could apologize, but that would of course be ridiculous. Brands don’t apologize. “Y’know, you look that worried all the time when you're human again, you'll give yourself wrinkles.” Well, it was... something. Points for trying?

“What’s the point in being human again, if there’s a chance you might leave me too?” At least, that’s what she wanted to say, but didn’t. Was it really worth all the effort? No. She needed to do this regardless of what might happen with Brand--though there was this part of her that still wasn’t happy with the prospects of a blood sacrifice. Thankfully for Brand, however, she knew that he was trying. And, while, it wasn’t an outright apology, she knew he meant well, even if he’d not gone about it the right way. “Can’t go getting myself all vrinkled up, can I? I don’t zhink you’ll find me too attractive zhen.” Yeah, she said it. He totally thinks she’s a smokin’ hot babe, even if he won’t admit it. Somehow along the train of thought of her being human, she remembered about her promise to Alvina that she’d made when she ran into the bard and Meri in Cenril. “Oh. Um. Zhere’s, uh, something else I forgot to tell you.” There was a brief flare of anxiety again, but it wasn’t so much that she couldn’t quell it almost entirely.

“Well frak me sideways, you think there’s a way I could find you -un-attractive?” At least, that’s what he wanted to say, but didn’t. Was it really worth the embarrassment? No. But he totally thought she was a smokin’ hot babe, even if he wouldn’t admit it. Instead, well -- there’s a certain expression a man makes when they’re trying very, very hard not to let on what they are thinking (because it’s almost certainly about having sex with the person standing right in front of them). This was the face Brand was making at this very moment. “Yeah. That’d be bad.” There was a long, long pause (was that the faintest blush on his cheeks? Surely not) before he collected himself enough to realize she seemed to be giving him a nervous preamble to some awkward news or something along those lines. Right. He fidgeted at his collar but ultimately left it the way it was. “What’s happened? Alvina burn the Tavern down while we were gone?” Truthfully, he might do the same if he ever got stuck taking an extended stay at Frostmaw’s inn ever again. Too long with the same surroundings tended to make the Catalian a mite… twitchy.

If Brand -had- actually said that, Khitti probably would’ve forgotten about the whole Alvina thing entirely, shoved all of his papers off the table, pushed him onto said furniture, then had her way with him--multiple times. But, alas, he did not, and so he went unsexified for awhile longer. Poor Brand. She did catch that look of his though, and then the slight raising of color in his cheeks, confusion temporarily written on her features until she remembered the topic at hand. “No, uh, she did, erm… ask me and Meri to be her bridesmaids.” She stepped away from him, hands raising in the air near her head as she spoke, the woman looking like some sort crazy conspiracy theorist. “I originally just mentioned I could make her a cake, you know one of zhe big ones and vhatever other sort of dessert they vanted. But zhen she asked me zhat and I panicked and almost made zhings awful.”

Khitti started pacing again, carrying on in that slightly crazed way of hers, “I-I-I vasn’t even gonna go if I vas just baking for her. I didn’t zhink she’d vant me zhere. Vhy vould anyone vant me zhere? I even told her. I-I’m not like zhem at all--I’m not normal.” Of course she meant her vampirism, and perhaps even the fact that she’s a necromancer. Neither of those were exactly high up on the list of ‘awesome things’ when it came to the living. “S-so I’m doing both… and apparently I’ve got to help out vith zhe bachelorette party too even zhough I have no idea vhat I’m doing vith any of it.” She finally stopped and spun around to face him again, crimson brows furrowed and that frown of hers obvious, “Vill you go vith me? Not to zhe bachelorette party, of course. Y-you don’t have to do anything and you probably don’t even really need to dress up ‘cause you von’t be in it. And, you’re allowed to say no. I don’t vant you to be uncomfortable or anything. I just need someone to help me not feel so...out of place.”

Brand had his hands raised in front of him in a gesture of ‘chill, woman’ well before Khitti had finished speaking. She’d kept at it, of course. As soon as he was able to get a word in, he cut in with a, “Yeah, peach. I’ll go.” All of that anxious rambling for nothing, or almost nothing. -Obviously,- Alvina had invited her because she considered Khitti a friend. Was that really so hard to believe? Sheesh. “I guess she patched things up with that Hudson guy, then?” Maybe he’d get an ‘in’ to the guy’s bachelor party if he played it right. Dude seemed to have the right idea of how to have a good time, as far as Brand could tell from their one meeting.

Khitti realized far too late that he was trying to get her to chill out and by that time, he’d said he’d go and it took even longer for things to process in that spazzed out brain of hers. “Vait...vhat? Y-you’ll go?” And yes, Brand. It is definitely hard to believe that Alvina considers her a friend. -You’re- the only one that’s stuck around the longest, you know. She’d stare at Brand in disbelief for a few more seconds, then ever so carefully closed the gap between them. That pesky urge to kiss him was there -again- and finally she gave in to it. She really would’ve portaled them off the ship if there was time, but he’d said that he wanted to leave within the hour--that’s not enough time for -anything-, Brand. She did take the precaution of icing the doorknob so no one could walk in on it, the vampiress balancing precariously on her toes to reach her lips up to his. One of these days, she was going to invest in platform shoes to deal with her stupidly short height. Probably. Maybe.

Brand wasn’t sure why this was suddenly happening -- him getting all romanced upon like he’d said something worth kissing him for. Then again, he was usually about as confused when Khitti got angry with him, too. She was a mystery. Yep, totally mysterious. (Never mind that he understood her inner workings better than most, and she his. This was more about the narrative Brand told himself. Alternative Facts, yo.) Despite all that enigma, he was… gonna let it happen? Yeah. He was. Brand returned that kiss, and even picked her up and deposited her onto the table, one hand grazing up her thigh (surely they had time for a quickie, right?) and --

The door came bursting off at its hinges, and into the room raced none other than the child from before, bow out, arrow at the ready, with three of the crew reinforcing behind. It was immediately obvious they’d expected to come upon some scene… other than the one they found. They gaped, and the three in the back lowered their weapons, but the child stood as if locking eyes with Khitti had turned them to stone.

“What in the seven -bloody- hells, Onyx.” Brand was the first to break the silence that ensued, his voice that dangerous quiet that forecasted a display of wrath in the very near future. There had better be a good explanation for this.

“I sensed dark magic.” Onyx was quick to respond, far quicker than they were to finally sigh, lower their bow, and return the arrow to its quiver. “I feared for your safety. But I see now that I misread the situation. My apologies, Captain.” Generally, the next proper thing for a subordinate to say was that this wouldn’t happen again, but such promises were omitted from the child’s statement. Their eyes hadn’t left Khitti from the moment they locked on, and they hardly blinked.

Khitti had needed this, you know? Sex with Brand was...well...it was damn good stress relief. It was even better that they were a thing now--sort of--and she could really -show him- how much she cared about him. Between the worries of that scroll and being away from Brand for more than she wanted to be, she really -really- needed this.

But, nope. That god damned kid--that god damned -dead- kid! Oh, if this hadn’t been Brand’s ship and crew, she would’ve torched that motherfrakking kid right where they stood. The flames would rise higher than those in that made up Hell that everyone’s so damned worried about going to!! (Yeah, she’s not like you -at all-, Brand. Nope. Nuh uh.) Much like Onyx with her, Khitti could only stare back at Tranquility’s First Mate as Brand first spoke and then Onyx explained themselves, her own stare unblinking. Unblinking and filled with utter hatred, that is.

The redhead hopped off the table, taking carefully measured steps towards the child, her line of sight never straying from their form. “Don’t you dare ever assume something like zhat again, do you understand me?” Her right hand moved behind her, pointing at Brand as she continued, her tone oddly calm despite the fact that she was very clearly pissed. “He is zhe last person I vould ever harm. Ever. You know nothing about me, or us, so don’t. You. Dare.” Khitti paused, taking a very unneeded breath and letting it out in a sigh before speaking again. “Vhat you -can- do is tell me vhat zhe hell an undead is doing on zhis ship? And vhy you didn’t zhink to mention it to your Captain? Because you, my dear, are quite past your expiration date.”

“Of course someone like -you- would sense it,” Onyx scoffed. It was clear even to Brand now that this wasn’t the First Mate’s usual temperament, but disdain for Khitti -- or ‘someone like her’ -- in particular. “But my status has no bearing on my position here, nor my intentions. I imagine you’d like to claim the same, necromancer.” The last word was nearly spat at her feet.

“All right!” Brand interjected, his voice a clap of thunder. The room was ready to spark. The three mates in the back, previously fidgeting and miserable and unsure whether to linger, stood at attention. As for Brand, he strode to the center of the quarrel. “I’ve heard about a gorram ‘nough. Onyx, only secrets on this boat are mine. You’ve a problem with that, or a problem with -my woman- on my ship, you can get off here and forfeit the day’s pay. I expect your resignation or a damn good story in half an hour. Khitti…” Yeah, he said her name for once, but he was exasperated. Beyond it, maybe. “You hold no rank over the kid, or anyone else. You’re a guest here. Start actin’ like it.”

“I’m not a child,” Onyx seethed, teeth clenched so hard they might crack.

Khitti narrowed her eyes at Onyx, her mouth opening to start in with her snarky retorts, but she was soon cut off by Brand. Wait…’his woman’? Did he just? Well, that shock was quickly washed away by his insistence that she -wasn’t- acting like a guest. She’d done absolutely nothing wrong, albeit besides trying to defend herself. Khitti actually looked hurt as she shifted her attention towards the Catalian with a frown. Really, Brand? Really?

She’d not say anything, though, choosing to hold her tongue instead. No amount of protesting against Brand’s claims of her not doing what she’s supposed to or fighting with Onyx about whether or not she might -actually- be a good person and not hellbent on hurting Brand or summoning up a legion of undead would do her any good. No one would believe her. They never did. Instead, Khitti pivoted away from the rest of the group and moved to the wall nearby, shadow-stepping her way through it mid-footfall as she headed back towards her room, not even bothering trying to squeeze through that doorway with everyone there. Time to make no noise and pretend she doesn’t exist, right? That seemed to be the way being a "guest" seemed to work on the Tranquility.

What else was he supposed to say? Brand had a crew to keep in line now. Sometimes, that meant managing disputes such that every party walked away equally unhappy -- but alive, and able to set their feelings aside enough to keep everyone that way (semantics regarding undead crew notwithstanding). In a way, that -did- make Khitti part of the crew. She was on the ship now and she’d be on it again, whether as Brand’s guest or a client or whatever else. Her snark could sow discord amongst the crew as surely as anything else could, especially when worded like she had a position of authority over them.

“Your story, sir.” Onyx interrupted the Catalian’s thoughts with hand outstretched, a folded paper pinched between two fingers. The other crew had departed. Brand would have to have words with them, later. And with Khitti. “Cross-reference with the late Captain’s log and with the ship manifest, dated just before and after your arrival. I think you can put it together from there.”