RP:The Things We Lost In The Fire

Part of the What You Leave Behind Arc

Summary: What's left of the Catalian Royal Fleet is invited back to Cenril for food and drink, in exchange for the answers that Lionel, Brand, and Khitti need to piece all of the things that happened in Rynvale together. Meri is summoned to the Tranquility to listen in on the information and Onyx is... apparently alive(-ish).

The Tranquility, Cenril Wharf

Khitti || The journey back from Rynvale was likely not quite as exciting as the goings-on at the island’s main tavern. Khitti was… well… in panic mode. Why did she invite what was left of the Catal’s navy back to the Tranquility for food and drink? Is she insane?! Well, mostly, yes. I blame the Catalians. -All of them-. Anyway. Khitti is doing her thing, with scouring the galley for the aforementioned food and drink, and simultaneously sending one of Brand’s crew to go fetch Meri once they reached Cenril’s wharf… AND MORE CHEESECAKE. “Goddamn it, Brand! You ate all the cheesecake again!” There was carrot cake at least, for now--and while that could be considered a type of “cheesecake” what with that frosting and all--but it likely wouldn’t suffice. On numerous occasions, people have given her a side-eyed look of disbelief when she’s mentioned the words carrot and cake in the same sentence. She had no idea how many of Auditore’s crew was going to show up on the ship, besides Auditore himself, and was scurrying about like a chicken with her head cut off (sorry, Dominic) setting at least one of the large galley tables for now, with the intent on setting up another one if need be. The adrenaline hadn’t quite stopped flowing since the mess at the tavern and it didn’t even occur to Khitti just yet that she might be scrapped up and singed here and there--she did set the tavern on fire, after all. It didn’t even compute. Why did she invite these people into their home? So what if Brand attempted to make friends with Auditore? That doesn’t mean the guy was on their side. This could go very bad very soon and once again, Khitti was the cause of it. Joy.

Lionel | “I see he isn’t here,” Auditore said. Doubtless he meant Lionel. Somehow Auditore knew that if Lionel were present he’d have awaited them ahead of the Tranquility -- probably out of mistrust. “Can’t say as I blame him, if only on this.” He was the first to step onto the wooden planks leading to the Tranquility’s deck, and the first to shake hands with Sundance on his way up. The admiral had brought four men and two women with him, all dressed sharply in the olive green garb of the Royal Navy. They were the last six officers under his command. They were younger, some by a measure of decades, and each of them looked even more forlorned than the admiral himself. One of them, a short-haired thirty-something with a plain face and dull eyes, nevertheless brightened up at the sight of a sailor rushing across the deck with a bowl of Khitti’s cake-making ingredients in hand. The sailor disappeared into the galley below, and Sundance bellowed an all-too-loud “Follow that scallop! Friends, I shall introduce you to the finest culinary cuisine the world over.” Apparently, ‘culinary cuisine’ was its own brand of flavor now. Auditore’s entourage did as they were advised, and a few of them chatted quietly over the fact that for all her refits and refinements, it was still obvious the Tranquility used to be a Catalian warship almost like their own. Soon, Sundance finished his trek to Khitti’s whereabouts, and he splayed his big hands welcomingly. “Many thanks for the warm reception,” the admiral said, standing at attention.

Meri was sent for, but the details of what is about to transpire were sparsely given to the werewolf woman by the crew member who was finally able to locate her. By the time that she is actually located, Auditore and his party have already arrived to the Tranquility. Meri is fashionably late to the party. By the time that she makes it to the Tranquility, the group that is entirely unfamiliar to Meri is already boarding the ship and making their way to whatever meeting has been set up. The blonde is not so keen on brashly inviting herself to this strange party, even if Khitti has sent for her. She's not entirely sure what she's waltzing in on. Does she really want these unfamiliar people seeing her face? She's not entirely convinced. The roguely werewolf opts to hang back, letting the group board the Tranquility. She'll follow and keep out of their sights. For now. Until someone can explain to her what the heck is even going on. Were the setting different, Meri might have been inclined to put that shadow-laced disguise to good use while creeping around. But this is the Tranquility, Brand's crew is familiar enough with her. They just might find it weird that she's trying to dodge out of sight of these strangers.

Brand || A disguise, shadow-laced. More than just Meri holds such a thing. Before she can get far into the ship, a hooded sailor appears as if from nowhere and beckons her to follow. One of Brand’s crew? Well, who else would be able to guide her so quickly to the galley? They’ll arrive ahead of Sundance, Khitti, and the Catalians, in fact, and the shadow will meld silently into a corner just as they arrive. Brand gives Meri a look as he enters, an eyebrow raised. She beat him here? He scans the galley, gaze pausing briefly on the hooded sailor, but it appears Brand doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary here. Shrugging off Meri’s speedy arrival, Brand turns to introduce his guests to the galley. “The heart of the ship. Well, they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, anyway, so -- yeah. Figure it’s the same for ships and galleys.” Okay, Brand. Whatever you say. “Anything you’d like to eat here is yours for the taking. But you’re gonna have to spill the beans on what exactly the frak happened back there in Rynvale, and why.”

Khitti would’ve gone up there to get Meri, but before she could get the chance to do so, the blonde was already there. Several cheesecakes were shoved into the second of two magic ovens Khitti owned. This one wasn’t the original of course, but it was something that was necessary to have on a ship with as many people as it had. A teapot was left to start boiling as Khitti shoved a couple of bottles of whiskey on the table. She’d almost put three down, buuut, decided against it--Khitti and Brand were probably going to need this later. “I don’t know who the hell that woman was, but she frakking grabbed my circlet. It was literally -on fire-. She grabbed it like it was nothing.” It was clear that Khitti was screaming internally. She was likely going to make good on her promise to that woman. The cheesecake was soon done and left to cool in the middle of the table for now, a bowl of a sugary strawberry sauce set beside it. Eventually, she’d get around to telling Meri just who these people were--it was either going to be very surprising to the werewolf or not really at all. Catalians seemed to just pop up out of nowhere at least once a year--they were like stubborn little flowers that refused to wither after the fall of their homeland.

Lionel | “They’re so big.” The boy was mystified by the few warships he could even spot from his inconsiderable height. Their silver, gleaming hulls reflected the setting sun at the beautiful Bay of Gems. “They’re as big as they need to be,” the boy’s mother explained. “To protect us against our enemies.” An ever-growing list of enemies it was, too. The southron rebels, the separatists at court, the invaders from Sceir Shea, even the queen’s scheming sister. The boy did not take his eyes off of the warships when he asked his question. “Am I to command them? I’d rather not, mama… they’re very pretty, but I don’t like fighting at all.” Queen Everyn of Catal could have explained to her son the procedures in which naval officers were selected, and why as next in line for the throne he would never be chosen. She could have taught him about the kingdom’s military branches, and the strategic role the Royal Fleet would serve in the years to come. She could have used his question as a teaching moment, as she often did. But something in his soft, worried voice, compelled her to assuage him instead. “Then you shall not fight.” She kissed him at the crown of his thick blond head of hair and let him gaze upon the very pretty warships in peace.

Lionel swallowed hard, sniffing back his tears. His throat was dry as the Nameless Desert. He turned away from the three Catalian warships and disappeared into Cenril’s bustling portside crowd.

Lionel | Admiral Auditore didn’t need to give his officers permission to feast. They were clearly salivating from the moment they smelled the cheesecake. “I’ll be a queen bee,” the young officer with the short-cropped hair declared. His voice was oddly formal for his word choice. “Haven’t seen a cake since Blue Harbor. Haven’t seen a cake that looks edible since Fall Harbor before that.” He grinned ear-to-ear, even as some of his fellows were only marginally moved to joy. These people had lost the vast majority of their long-time peers to dark magics only days ago and it showed. Still, the food was eaten, and with much gusto. Auditore took only a small portion for himself, and although he appeared to enjoy the taste of the cheesecake he was so delicate with it that it may have only taken any for the sake of decency. “That woman…” He sighed. “I’ll speak more of her a little later. I feel there’s something what needs saying first.”

Lionel |The old man sat down with some difficulty. He carried himself quite well, but his age caught up to him at the damnedest times. “Let me begin with the oliphant in the womb: why the Catalian Royal Fleet still exists. Simply put, we weren’t in Catal when the cataclysm began. If anyone ever tells you our realm knew true peace again after the pretenders to the throne were slain, well, don’t trust them as far as you can throw them. Do you know how much ‘true peace’ can be attained scarcely a year after a bloody coup? Catal was healing, but so slowly there were days I wondered if she’d ever be the same again. And that’s why her navy was elsewhere. The Sceir Shea -- that’s a hostile country to Catal’s north -- were stirring. They sensed weakness. And they were right. I took the Fleet north in anticipation of an attack. Whether or not my hunch was right will never matter. By the time we got word of what was happening back home, there wasn’t enough of the color green left in Catal to fill a single ship. The clouds of smoke and ash climbed so high into the sky that I have no doubt the Sheai could see there was nothing left to invade.” Auditore had let his guard down; his shoulders sank into his seat and his hands were no longer at attention on the table. They were fidgeting, perhaps shaking, by his sides. “I took us up to the Bay of Gems… all we found were corpses. Ashen corpses, human remains, men and women and children that no longer had faces, piled like firewood from the hills all the way to the shoreline. Took the Fleet around the coastline. Never encountered an enemy vessel, but never encountered a town that wasn’t corpses, either. In time, I pieced it all together. Dark ones from far-off Lithrydel, the remnants of some war we barely knew a thing about, had exacted their toll on the people of Catal. I never found out why. I only knew what I saw with my one eye: me and mine could not go home again.” If Auditore spoke the truth, he and his soldiers never discovered Kahran’s purpose in scourging Catal -- revenge upon Lionel O’Connor. In the interest of peace, it might not be wise to fill him in just now.

Meri is not typically one to trust hooded sailors appearing from nowhere, giving her directions to follow. In most cases, the woman would stubbornly dig her heels into the earth. Don't know you, not following. Today would be an exception and it would prove to be a mistake on her part. There she was in the galley that she didn't know that she wanted to be in because she didn't know who the heck these people were, nor was she sure that she wanted to be thrown in the middle of this mystery. She's quite envious of the sailor melding into the shadows, for that was exactly what the rogue intended on doing herself. And also hateful of whomever this stranger was. Lesson learned. Next time she's mistrusting of a situation and does not want to throw herself right in the middle of the scene, she'll do better. Khitti's explanation that these blocs are Catalian is met with a lofted brow, the amount of surprise that Meri may or may not be feeling is kept to herself. She may not be able to be a silent observer from the shadows, but she can still be a silent observer.

Brand will try not to eat all the cheesecake. Try. He’s behaving himself for now, taking only one small piece for himself and nomming on it thoughtfully as Auditore tells his tale. “Can’t say I’m sorry to have missed that,” he murmurs as Auditore describes the burning of Catal. “Was shipbound myself, at the time. Only heard the stories later.” He licks frosting off the back of his fork. Impropriety. But he’s the captain and it’s his ship; he can do as he likes. “So, what of the years after?”

Khitti || FINALLY. Finally, Khitti settled down into a seat next to Brand with a heavy sigh. She’d been listening to Auditore and then Brand throughout the duration of her taking care of the food and whatnot. “For what it’s worth, you’re not the only one who can’t go back to where they came from. There’s lots of people here in Lithrydel like that. It might not seem like home in the beginning--in fact, it can be pretty damn awful for awhile--but it could eventually become home, if you felt the need to keep your feet on dry land for a bit.” Despite being the one to offer it, Khitti didn’t touch the cheesecake or the carrot cake. Instead, she just stared at it while the others dug into it. As per usual, the mention of Catal and its fiery fate reminded Khitti of her own homeland’s equally as awful destiny. It may not have been the whole country, but… it was still pretty bad. She wanted to stick up for Lionel, because she knew how he felt. Sure, she’d smacked him before they left, but it was more of a ‘respect the dead’ sort of thing. His words had seemed hollow and uncaring, but now that she was looking back on it, it was likely just because of the situation as a whole. Khitti said nothing to Auditore about Lionel, but was determined to put her foot down the next time he was brought up in an ill light. She was also going to have to have a serious talk with Sundance about demanding people show Lionel respect because he was technically royalty. This whole mess was all frakked up and Khitti wasn’t even sure of where she should start untangling it all.

Lionel | The entourage listened to Khitti talk of newfound homes. “Aye,” one of the women interjected. “A few of us have thought about putting down roots for good, even, although at this point I’m convinced the admiral never will.” She gave Auditore a solemn glance not akin to an old friend worried for another. Auditore himself was stuck on something else now. What of the years after, indeed? Brand’s question prompted Auditore to look upon the Captain of the Tranquility meaningfully. More consternation was expressed in the man’s one eye than most men could have mustered with a full pair. His officers briefly stopped chewing their morsels of baked and sugared carrots and cheese, too; it wasn’t a suspiciously well-timed pause, but more of a pall passing over their faces anew. This wasn’t a tale they were happy to tell. “We sailed port-to-port for years. Thirty-nine ships… a migrant fleet. Few dared think to tussle with us, and fewer still succeeded. Our reputation began to precede us, however. and we turned to mercenary work in order to keep port authorities open to our considerable expense.” Auditore’s right hand was on the table again, clenched into a loose fist. “I’m not proud of some of the things we did. But we never murdered the innocent. That was one rule we held no matter the price.”

Lionel | A touch of light graced the officers’ faces again. “That was life for awhile. But then word spread, somewhere out beyond the Confederacies, that the bastard who burned Catal had returned to Lithrydel. And so we sailed. We navigated the Lithrydelian shorelines from a few short leagues away, and all we ever heard from the fishermen we, uh, ‘welcomed aboard’ were tales of mass destruction through the means of a warlord who’d gone missing in a jiffy. So we did what the Royal Navy always did best -- we figured out what the frak was going on and acted upon it. The warlord was Kahran, we soon learned, and he wasn’t ‘MIA’ so much as biding his time. Some band of rebels hit him hard with a single hit and he was back in the shadows sowing discord all over again. For now. Wasn’t long before we made contact with enemy scouts… and that’s when I signed us up for our little barside meeting with that bitch emissary. My plan, such as it was, was to get her aboard my ship and force her to divulge all her little secrets. Where Kahran is, how we can reach him, and the best place and time to express our sincere Catalian sentiment. Parlor tricks, smoke and mirrors… we were gonna lull her into a false sense of security. But something in her cold eyes told me the moment I saw her that I’d underestimated her. She wasn’t the sort to take free drinks and a pony ride, if you catch my drift. Figured I’d rope ‘Rinaldi’ here into bewildering the blackhearted bitch into submission, and then you and me and Captain Brand and all my men and women and that frakkin’ barmaid for all I care could make like the trees and get the frak out. Reassess. But now, for all my foolishness, I’m down to three ships and fewer options.”

Lionel | The young officer with short-cropped hair cleared his throat but looked suddenly nervous when people paid him heed. “I was, well,” he stammered. “I was, um…” Sundance patted him hard on the shoulder. Something cracked when he did. But the young officer gritted his teeth and went on. “This dwarven fellow here --” “Name’s Sundance!” -- “He and I got to talking a little bit, and… we need to get back whomever we can, Admiral. We need to fight for them.” The woman who had recently spoken gave the lad a shake of her golden locks. “Tymure, I sympathize. Trust me, I do. But the best those crewmates can receive now is cannonfire to end things quickly.” Tymure bit his lip and stayed silent. “Maybe,” Auditore thought aloud. “Maybe not. Either way, I think Captain Brand here can concur with me that if three ships go sailing into the Royal Fleet, three ships in that slaughterfest don’t come out of it.”

Meri is a fan of Khitti's cheesecake, just like everyone else on the ship...but Meri is also not partaking in any tonight. It's hard for Meri to find much connection to the conversation in the same way that Khitti does, for Meri's homelands were not destroyed like Catal. In fact she does not talk about where she is from...like at all. To anyone. Any history given always picks up in Rynvale, with Meri painting a picture of her being about as good of a vagabond any of them. Lips are pursed together, the conversations is absorbed in the same stoic silence she's been displaying from the start of the meeting. There was no interest in attempting to lay on the charm by offering interjections of any sort, not tonight.

Brand opens his mouth, but before he can speak there comes a voice from the corner, unbidden. “I know this kind of magic. There’s nothing left of them but husks, now.” Brand whips his head toward the sound. He knows that voice. The person in the corner has lowered their hood and stares out at the group, unblinking. One eye is ice blue, almost white. A gnarled and jagged scar extends from brow to chin, passing through the ruined eye. But there’s no denying it: Onyx has rejoined them, somehow, some way. The undead stalks over to the table and fetches themselves a slice of cheesecake. The whole while, Brand’s mouth is still agape. He rubs his eyes, but Onyx is still there. Brand stammers and tries to collect himself. “How -- ? You were -- I thought --” Onyx shrugs, as nonchalant as ever, and pops some of the strawberry topping into their mouth. “I missed eating sweets,” they say, as if that should answer any and all questions regarding their return.

Khitti heard the things that were being said. She’d not have much to say on them now--the people who knew ships were talking. Khitti might live on one, been around them enough, but it was never really something that interested her much. She was already pretty quiet for most of this conversation, but now she was positively tongue-tied. Entirely bewildered and unable to find words, a hand goes up to the choker on her neck. Yep, it was still there. Yep, it was still the necklace Onyx had given them. Yep, Khitti’s about to have an aneurysm. Her face did this weird twitching thing; she wasn’t quite sure if she should be angry or if she was going to cry. Brand’s seen this look plenty of times as he was the cause of it quite often--either him or Dominic 1.0 anyway. As if on cue, version number 2 of the raven-haired kid could be heard crying from down the hall. Mmm, yep, there goes Khitti’s tears too. “Excuse me,” she said quickly getting up from her chair, nearly in a run to go deal with her child before he gets any louder--and before it could actually be noted that she was indeed not in the greatest of moods now. Khitti’d find Dominic sitting up in his crib, waving around that green hat that’d once belonged to Onyx, his tears subsiding for now. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. They’re back. I know already.”

Lionel | Tymure was as startled as the rest of the officers, but despite his relative youth he showed it the least. He was too preoccupied in mourning. Whatever the identity of this strange new arrival, they shattered Tymure’s hope just like that. He settled into his seat with resignation. Admiral Auditore waited a moment for the oddness to pass, holding his eye to Onyx’s form for several seconds in an unsuccessful attempt to parse what had happened. “That is regrettable.” His voice may have been sincere, but it didn’t mask the fact that he had already accepted it as the most probable truth. Those soldiers’ bodies twisted in ways too unnatural to sustain human life any longer. “In that case, I believe my options are binary. Either we surrender our mission or we fight on despite the odds. We’ll need some sort of plan to wither away at the enemy bit by bit, and I reckon that’s nigh-on impossible with all those ships swimming around in tight little circles…”

Lionel ’s soft footsteps could be heard as he climbed downstairs into the galley. He was dressed all in black, a form-fitting short-sleeved black shirt and matching slacks, and he looked strangely determined. Even seeing Onyx from behind didn’t deter that, although it certainly gave him pause. “I had a drink to salute the memory of the people you lost, Admiral.” Auditore raised his eyebrows cautiously. “It was a piss drink, just like they always are at The Whaler’s Bar. Protip: don’t go there. But it gave me an idea. We send a crack team to steal the Vandal’s Heart when she separates from the rest of the Fleet. The woman in black is aboard -- her name is Vylyra Waesberos, by the way -- so your original plan is secured.” Auditore and the other officers stared in shock. “And how the hell do you know any of this?” The admiral’s tone was not kind. “I planted one of Nett Reno’s homing sigils on Vylyra Waesberos’ back,” Lionel said. “And I planted one on Tymure’s over here, too, because I didn’t trust you people until I heard your words myself. The Vandal’s Heart separates from the rest of the Fleet once every three days for approximately two hours to take on fresh supplies. It’s a narrow window, but if we find the right people for the job I think we can pull it off.”

Meri :: It would seem that Meri's ire is not entirely misplaced, Onyx has always had their very particular way. Meri has more of an invested interest in Onyx's return than this Catalan history lesson, no offense to Catal. The history is deeper there, on a more personal level. Brand is shocked. Khitti is shocked. Meri...is not without her shock but having been the first one to interact with this now-not-so-disguised figure, she had a hunch. Werewolf intuition or something. "Jerk," Meri murmurs beneath her breath, confident that Onyx will hear it even if she has not muttered this statement loud enough for anyone else to really overhear. On the scale of one to definitely mean that, Meri fell somewhere in the middle. Onyx did save her tush once. Meri frowns at Khitti's reaction to Onyx's presence, yet she can very easily not blame the woman for this reaction. That's a whole different can of worms. Enter Lionel. Maybe the plan Lionel is announcing would be the time for Meri to raise her hand and volunteer to be that crack pot team. However, she doesn't know that she likes anyone in this room outside of Lionel, Brand and Onyx (Khitti and Dominic are in another room.) She's not keen on making such a public offering, where so many could put a face to the job. Meri also excuses herself. Given the timing some might assume that it would be to offer Khitti some sort of comfort or assistance. It's not. That's not for a lack of caring on Meri's part. She just assumes that Khitti would like some space first, and then maybe some time to yell and talk to Onyx. No, this time Meri is sneaking off because it's time to return home relieve the babysitter.

Brand || The conversation carried on, despite the revelation of Onyx’s return. Brand half-listened; the rest of his brain was churning over the implications. If Onyx could escape the necklace, was it possible Facilier could return? What was with the new scar? Was this somehow related to Kahran, too? That last thought brought Brand back around to the conversation, just in time to hear something about stealing a ship. “Commandeer. You wanna commandeer a ship? From right under their noses? Sounds like the perfect job for a bunch of ex-pirates, if you ask me.” Auditore earned a sly wink; Brand didn’t so much care about their sordid history, having plenty of his own to speak of. “Onyx, you’re goin’ with them.” The undead stared. “...Assumin’ I can still call you part of my crew.” After a pause, Onyx nodded assent.

Khitti was leaving Dominic’s room, with the kid in tow, as Meri left the galley and headed off the ship. She wasn’t quite sure what the issue was, but she merely shook her head and sighed at the blonde. The redhead wasn’t quite composed enough to go back in there right now, unfortunately, so instead she put a finger to her lips and went ‘shh’ to Dominic, to which he mimicked her and giggled a little. The two (well, mainly Khitti) continued to listen in on the conversation, a frown prompted when Brand instructed Onyx to go with them. Why? Why were they back when it wasn’t of Khitti’s own doing? For over a year now she’d been trying to sort out a way to even just talk to Onyx somehow and then suddenly poof! They’re back. Thinking about it all made Khitti’s head and heart ache… and unfortunately for Onyx, whether they had good intentions or not with their return, Khitti’s thought process was starting to line up with Brand’s. This very well could be another of Kahran’s tricks. How were they to know it was the real Onyx? Neither Khitti nor Brand and Lionel would’ve forgotten about all of those CopyKhats Facilier made… So, who’s to say that -someone else- didn’t follow in Facilier’s footsteps? Khitti’s stomach turned at the thought, and instead of saying something--instead of objecting to Onyx doing anything at all with these people they’d didn’t fully know--Khitti headed past the galley and went up to the top deck with Dominic to get some air. Quite suddenly, Khitti was overwhelmed again, the air on the ship stifling, making it hard for her to breathe. It was like nearly drowning all over again.

Lionel | “I had wondered what this thing was,” Tymure admitted, fetching Reno’s device from his pocket. One of the other officers grabbed it from him and flared at Lionel. “Some prince,” the officer shouted. Sundance was already agitated by the abrupt appearance of Onyx; the insult to Lionel nearly threw his wits over the edge. Lionel raised a hand into the air to stop the hotheaded dwarf from acting on his feelings. “None of that matters right now,” Auditore said, taking the homing sigil from the other officer and handing it back to Lionel. For his part, Lionel slowly retrieved it, and the two men exchanged a look. “What matters is we have a plan,” Lionel agreed. “Time enough to sort everything else out later.” He meant the blatant feud between Auditore and himself. It wasn’t going to be a comfortable discussion, for multiple reasons, but at least he didn’t have to think about it right now. Admiral Auditore stood up, and his subordinates soon did the same. “My regards to the chef,” the admiral said with a difficult bow. “Same,” Tymure added, licking his lips. He gave Onyx a wide berth on his way past them. “Sunset in three days,” Auditore told Brand and Lionel. “We’ll reconvene and strategize. The sooner we do this the better. I want that woman to pay for her crimes.” He stormed past Lionel and the entourage departed. When they were alone, Lionel let out a sigh. He studied Onyx more thoroughly this time, opening his mouth to speak... and then looking at Brand and closing his mouth instead. “I’m staying tonight,” Catal’s Last Prince said finally, preparing to leave the galley himself now. He didn’t need to tell Brand why. Between Onyx’s arrival, his sister’s worries, and the tension in the air over the pending mission, there were any number of reasons he didn’t want to be alone.

Brand || “You’ll get no argument from me,” came Brand’s response, quick as could be. Lionel was family now, for one thing -- and in the event Khitti had the right thought and this Onyx was not to be trusted, it would be handy to have him nearby to assist. “Your, uh, old room is still available if you’d like it. It’s barely been touched.” Onyx nodded, seemingly oblivious to any hint of mistrust. Not that it was easy to read an expression like the one they almost always wore. “But Khitti’s gonna want to know how the frak you’re back here.” Sure, throw Khitti under the proverbial wagon. It wasn’t like Brand was curious too, of course not.

Brand || “In time,” was Onyx’s only response before they were once again vanished into shadow, off to who knows where.