Ten Days

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Day 1


Sitting in a small pavilion that'd been set up to the side of the main work area, Teagan s'Ilancy watched in silence as the Cizerack engineers and workers went about their tasks of pouring the durracrete foundation. It looked to be such an arduous and tedious process, as each worker poured, then leveled, then poured, then leveled once more. She could hear grunts and calls for tools, and the ever-present sound of some holonet station blaring some sort of Cizerack music to cut the normal drudgery. It was a unique experience, and the young Lupine watched for a few more minutes before her eyes went back to the basic blueprints that'd been layed out on the table she sat at.

The house that Major Verratoa had said would be built was just that. Basic. But, it was better than nothing, and she let her gaze roam over the single sheet of hardcopy paper. There was a kitchen, of course. Attached was an open area, and along a hallway that led ultimately to a large master bedroom was another series of two rooms; no doubt Master Vymes would appropriate one as an office and study. A small open area further separated things. In the back of her mind she hoped that the remaining room would be her own, but it was a fleeting thought. Still though, she held out hope. Perhaps even when he grew older, Markos would be moved to this new residence? A shake of her head, and she lifted her eyes back up.

Each man and woman worked in tandem, and they'd gotten nearly half of the foundation poured.

Biting her lower lip, Teagan looked over to the person sitting beside her.

"So... how long does it take to dry... ?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"On an arrjid worrld ljike thjiss, perrhapss thrree hourrss."

Major Untaaura Verratoa took a break in the heat of the day for a cigarette and a quaff from her canteen. The human girl, who answered to the name Teagan and was no-doubt some relation to the Jedi Master, seemed to follow her crew around with an insatiable curiosity. Initially, the Jaani'saari officer attempted to run her off, but upon seeing that she wasn't actually meddling or interfering with the build, reluctantly allowed her to stay for the view. And on rare days like today, she even humored her with conversation.

Drawing a pull on her cigarette, the Cizerack blew purple smoke from her slanted nostrils.

"We wjill tesst jit at that tjime."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Oh." She looked back out at the work going on in the small distance before them. "... ok."

The smell of the Major's stim wasn't exactly overpowering, but it wasn't all too pleasant, either. Her last bout with inhaling leaves had been decidedly less than pleasant at the end result, not to mention nearly disastrous. In her mind, it was still a worrisome thing, to fess up to being the vornskr that the Major had seemed to take a shine to. Teagan cast a glance to the plans that rested on the table, then back to the workers.

"Thanks for doing this."

The girl leaned forward then, letting her mind's eye imagine what it would look like when completed. She could already see whisper trees growing at the corners, and a garden of kessa flowers and sorami vines growing along the edges of the house that had yet to be built.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Thank Massterr Vjymess." Untaaura corrected, a flick of her ear as she recalled the interesting dialogue that had cajoled her into embarking on this fool's errand.

"He jiss a verrjy perrssuassjive male. jI would not wjissh to be the female to take hjim asss a mate."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Teagan blinked at that, but kept her expression level as she only gave a passive nod.

"I s'ppose."

Again she looked out to the work being done, trying to think of a way to change the subject from 'mates' to something... anything else.

"Is this the shortest time you've had to build something?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Harrdljy."

Untaaura gave a scoffing laugh at the notion. Ten days in a war zone was a rarely-afforded eternity.

"Mjy battaljion arre combat engjineerrss bjy trrajinjing. Though we bujild mosst thjingss jin tjimess of peace, we have bujilt durrjing warr asss well."

The Major swigged deeply from her canteen. She paused as it parted from her lips, and considered it fitting to share the drink with the girl who she shared her words.

"jYou have hearrd of Thalasssjia?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Teagan took the offered canteen gratefully, and taking a small sip, handed it back. She swallowed, trying to recall anything she might've heard about... Thalassia? Finally, she shook her head.

"I haven't, sorry."

It felt strange, talking with the woman who knew her and yet didn't; like some strange mix of lives that had suddenly overlapped, yet only one half of the consciousness was truly aware. She felt awkward; not due to any shortness or curt behavior from the Major, but from her own mind. It was a little bit frustrating, and giving a sideways look to the Cizerack woman, Teagan found herself biting her lip, wishing she could confess to everything, yet scared all the same that if she did, she would lose the small amount of companionship she'd found in the Major.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"A borrderr worrld nearr wherre mjy people ljive. Full of crraven crrjimjinalss and sslaverrss."

Punctuating the distate in her tone, Untaaura spat on the ground.

"We've warred wjith them often. jI am a veterran of the Thjirrd Thalasssjian Warr. One of the sslaverr warrlorrdss bujilt an jimprregnable forrtrresss between two rragjing rrjiverrss, darrjing uss to do anjythjing. Of courrsse jif we werre the Empjirre we could have cerrtajinljy bombed the currssed thjing jinto glasss, but that jiss not ourr prreferrence. An enemjy jiss besst met closse and perrssonalljy."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She nodded, knowing the penchant for such up close fighting that the Major tended towards.

"Makes sense; the personal side of it," her eyes tracked away, "Doesn't let you forget your own... humanity. Even if you're at war."

Was 'humanity' the right word?? Suddenly self-conscious, Teagan furrowed her brow as her mind raced, hoping to quell the perceived notion that she was projecting a mindset that wasn't even hers to begin with on another who was no more human than she herself was. There was nothing she could think of, and she gave an apologetic wince to the Major.

"Well, maybe not humanity I guess, but... existence... ?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Major Verratoa laughed at the girl's tortured wordsmithing. Not a spiteful laugh, but one in the sense that she was on a completely different supposition.

"Harrdljy. jIt'ss harrd forr an enemjy to fearr a vague jidea. We could all be vaporrjized rrjight now bjy a turrbolasserr blasst frrom orrbjit, but would the fearr of that posssjibjiljitjy frreeze jin jyourr brrajin? No.

The Jaanni'saari arre eassjy to fearr. We prromjisse jusstjice not wjith a pussh of a button, but wjith thjiss."

Untaaura reached to her belt, pulling slow a glinting durasteel knife from a composite sheath. The grip was dark and knurled. The double edged delta blade carried staggered serrations down the last third of each edge, and a pronounced blood groove ran down the middle.

Holding the weapon out, she moved the handle toward the younger girl.

"Hold jit."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Taking the knife, Teagan held it in a grip that was at first tentative. She felt the contours of the handle, the history that the blade itself held. Teagan held no illusions. This weapon had found purchase within the inner workings of a living being. It didn't repulse her in any way, and she focused on it, her grey-hazel eyes glued to the razor's edge. It was a honed blade, and well-cared for. She had seen her mother's curved Cathar blade often enough that she knew what to look for.

And though it was normally an unnoticed thing to many, the weight of lives rested in the soul of the Major's knife.

"You've killed with this," came the candid observation, devoid of emotion in such stark contrast to her previous words.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"jYess."

Untaaura replied plainly without boast or embellishment. The girl's thoughtful examination of her weapon hinted at enough maturity to handle that truth without the need for gory exploit. The Major kept to herself exactly how much she'd killed with that knife. Some tellings were only for herself and those like her who'd been baptized in blood and knew the curses hidden under the honors.

"Everrjy Jaanni'saari carrjiess a blade. We learrn to bujild brrjidgess overr flooded rrjiverrss, thrrough arrtjillerrjy fjirre and rrajin...to deljiverr thjiss."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She thought about what the Major said, and another moment later gave a nod as she turned the blade back around, presenting the handle to her Cizerack partner.

"No shortage of excitement, I guess."

Which made it all the more puzzling to her. Why come to Ossus? More than likely it was the same concept of 'posting' that her mother was subject to. Unless of course, the Major had volunteered for this assignment?

"So then, what brought you here, to Ossus?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Orrderrss." The Major put simply, lips taut as she sheathed her knife with a silken sheen of singing metal. Untaaura glanced to her human companion and rolled her shoulders slightly.

"jIt'ss the farrthesst posstjing awajy frrom home. Not bjy chojice, but jI do not mjind the djisstance."

Verratoa's cerulean eyes turned to the ground at her boots.

"jI do not wjissh to go home."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

It was a sentiment that jarred her, and Tegan looked away as her mind raced, unsure of how to respond to such words. For her, her life had been spent in search of home; whether it be Cathar, Layla, Dauntless, Schwartzweld, or here on Ossus. Finally she braved a look back to the Major.

"That's... kind of sad, really. Everyone should want to have a home to go back to."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaura turned her head to look at her young friend. There was a tiredness in her expression that seemed so out of place for the diminuitive hard-charger.

"Everrjyone wantss to belong. jI do mjiss mjy homeworrld. The ajirr, the trreess. But jI have no famjiljy to go back to. Onljy sstrrange facess."

The sway in Untaaura's tail slowed contemplatively.

"jYou arre a Jedji, jyess? jI would thjink thjiss concept would be famjiljiarr frrom what jI know of jyou."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

A strange expression fell over her features then, and the girl blinked slowly while looked back out at the workers and the foundation that was very nearly complete.

"I... well, I dunno."

Master Vymes had given her a day, but she had avoided any possibility that the subject would come up, and that single day had turned into a week.

"I'm not sure if it's what I should do; I mean, my Mom used to be one, but now she's a captain in the Alliance and off doing whatever they tell her to do. She doesn't get to visit very often."

It wasn't exactly a line of conversation that she was entirely comfortable going on about, and Teagan changed the subject back to the Major's homeworld.

"What's it like, where you're from?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

There was a familiar caged reluctance to the way that Teagan chose to sidestep her question. It only lead to more introspection from the Major, which parted only when the human diverted her with another question.

"jI come frrom Taltimant. jIt jiss a Prrjide worrld, but not a majorr one. Therre arre mountajinss, grreat mountajinss. Tall crrowded pjiness below. Above, alwajyss ssnow."

Major Verratoa's ears hung wistfully as her eyes looked up to trace Ossus's own majestic splendors.

"Ssjimple beautjy."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She tried to imagine the Major's homeworld, her mind's eye painting a beautiful picture. She closed her eyes.

"It sounds wonderful."




Day 2

Her morning had started much as all mornings did, with the unbidden chiming of her alarm. Teagan rolled from her bed with a groan, and shuffling her way to the small dresser, pulled out whatever her half-lidded eyes cast upon at their first dreary-eyed gaze. Classes - especially the morning ones - went by in a sort of daze that was a strange mix of attentiveness and listlessness. She took whatever notes were required of her, and even seemed to pay more attention in the mid-morning meditation classes that Knight Hicchoru taught. Sparring followed, though she had still yet to actively volunteer herself for a match. As always, she watched from the edge. Then came history. After that was the lunch hour.

Instead of making her way to the mess hall, the young Lupine headed in the opposite direction, passing through the outskirts of Sanctuary One and up along a fresh pathway that would lead her to the Major and her team. Instead of the previous day's music, the radio now played a continuous news feed, the filtered, purring lilt of Cizeri mingling with the gruff shouts of those once more hard at work.

The foundation had dried without any cracking, and had been deemed satisfactory so that now the frame could be put into place.

That pavilion stood as it had the day before. Teagan moved into the shade it offered, but the Major was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes scanned the work crew, hoping to catch a glimpse of the diminutive Cizerack woman.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

A hover lorry trundled down the road, laden with corrugated durasteel girding and binders. So much so that the bulk of the load hung off the lorry's flat bed, and was supported by ratchet straps and modular brace posts fitted to the bed of the duty vehicle. Major Verratoa sat atop the metal piling with a handful of laborers, pilfering from an array of food cages as she brought both building material and midday repast to the build team.

Discarding a chuba bone by tossing it into the dirt below, Untaaura licked a bloody trace from her hand as the lorry coasted to a halt. The workers debarked at once, and she followed suit as her team first dove into their lunch. The Major drew down her sun blockers along her nose, noticing a familiar face waiting at the pavilion. She hopped down the front of the lorry, bounding off the bumper as she approached Teagan.

"Don't jyou have sstudjiess to attend to?"

Their conversation always began with a half-hearted attempt by Untaaura to convince the human to go away and let her work. Teagan was doggedly committed, however, and Untaaura now simply let the matter go with one customary attempt.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"It's the lunch hour."

She let her eyes move from the Major to the workers and their own midday meals. It was decidedly more primal than what normally went on in the mess hall.

"I'm not very hungry, and besides; I wanted to see what was happening today."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Wetting her mouth from her canteen, Untaaura habitually prepared her post-meal cigarette in waiting, gesturing with the yet-unlit tip at the foundation.

"We have drrjiven soljid durrassteel pjiljingss wherre the load bearrjing beams wjill be affjixed. Thejy arre ssmall prrotrrussjions, do jyou ssee them?"

On the duracrete slab, a dozen or so squat cylinders of dull metal stood in slight dull gray gradient difference against the more washed shade of foundation.

"Thosse, we wjill arrc weld the ssupporrt beams to crreate a frrame that wjill ssupporrt ssecondarrjy beamss. jYou wjill ssee the sshape of the housse bjy the end of dajy."

A small tracked vehicle maneuvered into place with a pneumatic arm to pull individual bundles of heavy durasteel binding from the lorry. Each load was sorted according to weight bearing, grade, and size, so that they could each be put into play exactly when needed.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Oh."

She followed the line that the Major indicated, looking at each piling with a strangely critical, yet cursory glance. That the shape of the house would be seen by the end of the day was encouragement enough though, and elicited a light smile, in the form of the barely upturned corners of her lips.

Silence fell then, as the young Lupine listened to the sounds of lunch being eaten, and the calls of a myriad of birds high above trilling in the afternoon daylight. The click of Verratoa's lighter was small but sharp, and drew Teagan's eyes away from the waiting foundation, and she watched as the cigarette was lit by an expert pass of the flame over the tip. She gave a slight wince, a still very fresh memory pulling at her.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Remembering that she'd premeditated their daily meeting somewhat, Untaaura fished into a pocket to retrieve a holoflimsy.

"jYou assked about mjy home the otherr dajy. jI brrought jyou pjicturress."

The human was a convenient unbiased third party for the Major to pour her soul out to. She dared not speak of these things to her fellows.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Teagan took the offered flimsi, looking down to the pictures displayed.

"Thanks."

Scrolling slowly, she stared at each one, taking in the crisp details of each high mountaintop, and the blanket of snow that covered every peak. It was breathtaking even in picture form, and she could only imagine what it would be like to see them with her own eyes. Craggy pockets poked out from the white in places, outcroppings that seemed to reach skyward. Thumbing down, another picture of a steep valley, full of deep green needle pines that crowded so close together that all that could be seen were the crush of slender green shoots. There were trees somewhat like these on Ossus, but a majority here seemed to have much broader leaves.

"These are beautiful."

She kept scrolling, and eventually hit the bottom of the list. The last picture had been taken from the top of one of the ridges, and afforded an immense view of the pines below, and even a thin, snakelike river of blue that seemed to cut through the earth. The sun's glare washed everything in a gentle haze of light, giving the picture an ethereal quality.

Teagan looked back up to the Major while moving to sit in the chair she'd occupied the previous day, and setting the flimsi down on the table, she idly scrolled back up through each picture.

"How come you don't want to go back?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Verratoa handed another flimsi to Teagan, this one with many of the same vistas included, though with more personal shots. A younger Untaaura clearly visible dwarfed by taller men and women. One woman kept showing up in most of the pictures. She looked to be the same age as the Major, though nearly a head higher and with fairer features and longer blond hair. The pictures ranged from stoic to action to downright goofy at times. The taller woman was clearly the clown of the lot, taking opportunities wherever possible to pose with crossed eyes or a tongue out or with both hands full of Untaaura's ears. The younger Verratoa tried to strike as serious a pose as she did presently, not always successful.

"Mjy parrentss both djied a few jyearrss ago. jI don't have much jin the wajy of famjiljy therre now. Therre'ss not much to go back to, and jit rremjindss me of everrjythjing that'ss gone."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She listened while looking through the second set of pictures, a bittersweet feeling beginning to manifest itself in the pit of her stomach as the happiness in each photo seemed so starkly contrasted with the words being spoken. It tempered the joy captured in the past with the pains of the present. It was a feeling that she herself was all to familiar with. But, all the same, Teagan felt unwilling to dwell for too long on such dreary thoughts; not when - looking up - she could see the promise of a future being built in front of her eyes.

The younger Major in the pictures, while constantly trying to appear as serious as possible, still held a freshness that the Major of today had in much more measured doses. It wasn't gone, but it had been tamped down firmly.

Which was to say nothing of the scars, and the sizable missing portion of her right ear.

"Who's the blonde girl?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Herr name wass Kuurramaai."

Untaaura punctuated the simple response with a ponderous draw from her cigarette. Blue eyes lingered on the photograph, and she could almost feel the chill of mountain air and her snarky jokes lilting on it.

"Sshe wass mjy besst frrjiend."

A day much later than that flashed into memory, dispelled forcefully as the Major refused to return to the end of things. The terrible end.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Kuurramaai.

Teagan blinked, looking at the woman in the picture with a renewed sense of interest.

Kuurramaai.

The name that the Major had 'given' her when they'd first met. The woman who was the Major's best friend. There was such an easy relatability, even through the photos, that was seen. The dancing blue eyes so happy and full of life. The faces she made at the camera.

Kuurramaai.

The past tense was what hit her the most though, and Teagan bit her lip.

"She's very pretty," came the eventual words, spoken low.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"jYess sshe wass." Untaaura admitted of her friend, abandoning herself to memories past. The time they'd went to pasture to break hay bales for the kaatho on Kuurramaai's family ranch. They worked so fast to beat the oncoming torrent of rain rushing into the valley, but had to beat a hasty retreat to the old barn before the deluge arrived.

Alone and in the shelter set against downpour. Untaaura's ears shivered, remembering the hypnotic sound of rain on a metal roof. Kuurramaai gave her her jacket, and they cut a hay bale open to lie together and pass the time.

"Sshe wass all jI everr wanted."

Words she'd never uttered to a Cizerack soul flowed like strange confession. The ash on the Major's cigarette sagged in neglect.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Looking up from one of the pictures, Teagan rested her gaze upon the Major, silent in the face of what was spoken. Respectfully, she switched off the flimsi, laying it atop the first. So much of their fateful run now made a strange sort of sense, and the young Lupine leaned back in her seat as she continued to look up. The pain of loss was clearly visible on the Major's scarred features, and it was a feeling that she herself had become very well acquainted with. Maybe that was why she'd become so good at detecting it?

There really wasn't anything she felt that she could say. Her mouth opened, but no words came and so she snapped it shut once more.

Her chrono beeped at her.

A heartbeat later, and she switched off the alarm while sliding from her seat.

"I have to go back now," it wasn't exactly a whisper, but it wasn't spoken loudly, either. The flimsis were slid from the table, and she held them out to the Major.

"Thank you for showing me your pictures."

It didn't need to be said aloud, the depth of understanding that Teagan now looked at the other woman with.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Ja irra, Teagan."

Thankful not to dwell on the past in more than small doses, Untaaura attempted a genial smile, but she had no practice at it. It was obvious from her expression that the exchange had left her with a lot on her mind.

"Thankss forr the talk."

Untaaura dropped her spent cigarette adjacent to a boot, putting it out with a squelch as her toe pivoted atop it. She had little doubt that the next day on site would involve another exchange with the curiously engaging human.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Day 3

Her morning began much like yesterday's, except that before she'd left for her classes, Teagan had made sure to collect a small selection of her own pictures; pictures that she made sure to always have. Pictures of her mother, and her father, and of herself at times. There were even a few of Wyl and Sanis and Cirr and Daani, as well. It wasn't a large collection, but it was enough. Two flimsis worth; the same amount that the Major had let her look through the day before.

Classes went by quickly, and before she knew it, the lunch hour had once more come. And, just like yesterday, Teagan was ducking away to trudge up through the path that would lead to the build site. Already she could hear the sounds of hard work, and Cizeri words floated through the air to her ears.

She could smell sweat and wielded metal mixing in with the normal scents of nature. It was a mix that she'd come to regard as distinctly belonging to Ossus and the Jedi who had settled upon it. She knew it wouldn't be like this forever, but in the here and now it had become... normal?

Again the pavilion came into sight. Major Verratoa was there, trading what looked like a heated discussion with another Cizerack, and Teagan slowed her pace. She still approached, but it was a slow process now as she did not wish to intrude.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Leekta! Ya nu'e taageyana'ei sha'shaa! Naalo'ai faan'eithaya'mo!"

Major Verratoa was clear on the warpath, giving a much larger male Jaanni'saari a thorough dressing down. The heat hit the work site like a thick damp quilt, and tempers were having their day as nearly every Cizerack had peeled away their BDU tops in exchange for the simple sleeveless undershirts below. The male Cizerack, a pale-skinned marine with trace spotting and a black low-cropped mohawk, looked like he was about to chew his lower lip off rather than risk trying to land a word in between Untaaura's twenty. The Major thumped a diagram on the table with an electronic level tool, pointing out exactly where her subordinate had gone wrong.

Untaaura drew in breath, ready to cut loose into another salvo when a punctual visitor drifted into view. The Major's ears relaxed from where they sat against the sides of her head, and she sharply cranked her head to the side to cause her neck to audibly pop.

"S'ind a kotha nai'yee. Ca'pe duyatti?"

The Meera'in Jaanni'saar almost looked relieved to see Teagan arriving to take the Major's tempestuous attentions. Refocusing his attention where it ought to be, he nodded in understanding, taking the level and diagram from his commander with a "Ya ve, rrou'a!"

Untaaura watched him head back to the build like a hawkbat, never breaking eye contact with the marine as she addressed Teagan.

"Djid the guarrd not ssend jyou awajy? jI told hjim no ssjightsseerrss arre allowed on a consstrructjion ssjite."

Another customary attempt to make Teagan turn tail.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"I learned how to do Jedi mindtricks in one of my classes this morning."

It was the very first bit of humor that she'd ever used in the Major's presence. Even though she'd admitted to not being sure about going down the path of a Jedi, it still didn't mean she would abandon her studies.

Slowing to a stop beneath the shade offered, Teagan looked at the frame of the house, her eyes following the retreating Cizerack as he ducked beneath a temporary support beam.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaura fixed Teagan with a stern, square-faced expression. Then, like a volcano suddenly erupting, a single sudden laugh.

"Hah!"

Mouth pressed into a tight, bare-bones smile, the Major proceeded to fill her canteen from a large decanting tank of water resting on a pedestal beneath the work pavilian. She drank deeply, slaking her thirst in the baking heat as she again offered the human the remainder of the contents. Sitting once more in the shade, Verratoa allowed some of the day's stress to roll off as her shoulders rolled against the edge of the table she leaned back against.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Declining the offered water, Teagan moved to sit beside the Major. She kept her eyes on the slowly forming skeleton of what would be a home. In silence she sat, and in silence she watched. The flimsis she held in her lap, and presently the girl turned to look at Verratoa while gingerly holding them up. It was a half-hearted yet earnest gesture, as she didn't want to seem as though she was foisting anything on the other woman.

"I brought some of my pictures," she bit her lip.

"If you want to see them."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The Major drew an open hand toward the younger girl.

"Let me ssee."

Taking the flimsis from Teagan, Untaaura again prepared her cigarette ritual, sparking it to life as she cycled through each image. Like with her own, there were the occasional scenic vistas, but the main focus was on the people. She paused on one, of a very young girl perched in the arms of an older woman sharing the same shade of straw-colored hair. It was set against an arid landscape and a desert bazaar full of grubby alien children.

"Thjiss musst be jyourr motherr. On Catharr?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Leaning over to look, Teagan gave a nod.

"Yeah. The big market at Joffa. We went there a lot before leaving."

Reaching over, she scrolled to the next one, a photo showing the cargo hold of Layla. Again her mother could be seen, standing rather stiffly, her short stature almost seemingly puffed up as she seemed to be arguing with a very unkempt Zem Vymes who looked more interested in a whole barrel of nothing than whatever was being said to him. She couldn't help the sly grin that peeled her lips back in a rather conspiratorial expression, her eyes tracing up to read the Major's expression.

"Doesn't even look the same, does he."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaura's face fell into grimace, squaring the picture in her own hand to angle it closer to her eyes.

"That'ss Massterr Vjymess?"

He looked a wreck. Hardly the cool customer Jedi she knew from her own experience. He looks like an old drunk, she bit her tongue on that thought.

"Well, jI am glad to ssee he cleaned hjimsself up."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"So's my Mom."

Other pictures were thumbed through; of Sanis, Cirr, a younger Daani and herself making faces, even a somewhat out of place picture of one of Cirr's terrifying lunch spreads. Each was cycled through until the first flimsi was spent, and slid behind the second. On the second were what she felt to be the far more personal of the collection. Photos of herself, her mother, and her father.

The first was of both parents, her mother looking at the camera while standing beside her dad who was sitting at that oh-so-familiar desk in what had once been their home on the Dauntless. Her dad seemed caught unawares, in the process of removing his reading glasses as the picture had been taken.

Teagan gave slight point of her finger.

"That's my Dad."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The Major held the flimsi aloft next to Teagan's face. Exhaling a breath of smoke, she examined both the photo, and the girl who offered it.

"jYou have the ssame ejye colorr."

Humans always seemed to come in a rainbow of strange eye colors, but these two were exact. Not much else though.

"jI ssajy jyou take morre afterr jyourr motherr."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Yeah," she looked away. "My Mom used to say that I was lucky I only got my Dad's eyes... " A memory triggered, making her crack a small smile. "She said I'm gonna be tall like him too though."

From the corner of her eyes, she watched as the Major scrolled through a few more. More picture of her parents, and even one of her Mother and Cirr, after he'd been given a new ship of his own. Both looked so crisp in their uniforms. There was even one of Uncle Dage, pestering her father over some matter or another.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

That part wasn't difficult to believe. Even early in what had to be human adolescence, Teagan ranged a few inches over Verratoa's short stature. That didn't bother the Major, who was used to being the last person in a group to know when it rained.

Was that a Cizerack male...in uniform??

Immediately, Untaaura paused with the flimsi in hand. Curiosity appeared as a flick of her ears, in time with the ash kicking off the end of her cigarette as she returned it to a resting place between her lips.

"jI've got to hearr the sstorrjy on thjiss one."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Teagan cast a glance to the picture in question.

"What, you mean Cirr?"

It was more than obvious that was the object of the Major's curiosity, but the question had to be asked, even if it was rhetorical.

"He's a captain, in the Alliance."

There was a pause as she tried to remember the details of how Cirr had gone from Layla to the Captain of the Novgorod.

"I don't really know the details, you'd have to ask my Mom."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Certainly not by merit, Untaaura made a face. A promotion like that had to involve suspension of disbelief, and a powerful woman's bed, no doubt. A Cizerack male captain.


Lunacy.

Shaking her head in diverted disbelief, Untaaura slid the flimsi away.

"jYou've sseen nearrljy asss much trravel asss jI have, rrou'ani."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"I've seen a few places, yeah."

Which was a gross understatement, but Teagan shrugged away the observation with the sort of lazy acknowledgement that came with children her age.

"Most of it was cause we had to. But it was neat seeing places like Cloud City and stuff."

And like a tiny, chiming sound that brought with it the end of a much too short lunch hour, her chrono sang its' song of dread. But, she supposed it wasn't quite as terrible a sound as she'd once thought it as. Since she'd begun to actually apply herself, the young Lupine had taken to much of her studies with a strange sense of new vigor. It had flummoxed her teachers to a healthy degree.

"I gotta go," she waved off the Major's attempt to hand back the flimsi's. "Keep 'em for now. I have the originals in my room already."

Standing, she took a few steps away before turning back. Her eyes fell on the Cizerack woman in a thoughtful gaze. Yesterday, she'd simply accepted the offered farewell with a hurried nod of her head. Today though...

She was compelled. The major had shared with her, and she had shared with the Major. Still though, there was more that she felt was deserved, and in a moment that seemed far more suited to her mother, Teagan faced her companion fully, her hands coming together. Each finger seemed so precisely placed so that they interlocked in unison, and she gave a deferential, yet slight bow of her head.

"Nri'esodek, Major."

The next moment, she had turned, her gait lengthening into a casual lope that took her away from the build site.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

She'd plied words with gesture in a way Untaaura surmised to be some alien means of farewell. The Major dipped her head in a nod, dropping her spent cigarette to be put out under her boot.

"Ja irra, Teagan."

She returned her attention to the offered flimsis, feeling openly renewed by her little lunchtime chats with her regular visitor.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Day 6

Again, the day started as it usually did. Her alarm chimed its' hated peal, and she grudgingly reciprocated with a roll out of bed and a fit of grumbled complaint to the Bloodline about how the early morning was not meant to be spent awake. Her classes passed as they normally did, and Teagan - while studious - could not help but find herself looking forward to what had now become a midday ritual.

She gathered her things at the signaled end of her last morning class, but rather than make straight for the build site, the young Lupine ducked into the sandwich shop. She'd been saving her daily allowance, and had decided to splurge a little bit. She'd developed enough of a rapport with the Chiss proprietor to instill upon him the need for no Shaak dairy; it had been a masterful application of impressing the need for further business to be had if there was the single option of nothing dairy related. The assurance of Cizerack patronage had been guaranteed, and while she knew that in the grand scheme of things she was just another patron, she'd managed to connect with the Chiss sandwich maker in a way that not many had been able to. She had spent much of her lunch times plying the inconsequential with him, praising his skill and trade. She knew that he was aware of her appreciation of his food in the constant visits that she made.

And so he had only nodded at the request for a Tarkin with no cheese. Which essentially made it a hearty meat sandwich with minor accents of condiments. She'd ordered a nuna salad in the precise way that he insisted upon, and with the trading of credits and a wide smile in thanks, Teagan hurried from the unassuming deli with speed in her step.

As always, there was no 'guard' posted, and no one to try and turn her away no matter how many times the Major tried to insist there was.

The pavilion was empty save for Major Verratoa, who was already pulling from her canteen. A look to the construction of the house yielded the site of walls, and even more of a solid shape forming nicely. And yet, strangely, Teagan found herself more drawn to the company of the Major. In the last few days, her visits had taken a strangely personal turn.

The major looked up then, and Teagan held up a grease-stained bag while smiling. Stepping beneath the welcome shade offered, she set the bag on the table, mindful to keep it away from the ever constant presence of the blueprints.

"I brought lunch, eh?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Do jyou know the penaltjy forr trrjyjing to brrjibe an offjicerr of the Jaanni'saari, Rrou'ani Teagan?"

Untaaura fixed the human with narrowed eyes and a hand on her hip, an uptick on her lips betraying her daily farce. The Major's eyes then traveled down to Teagan's bizarre peace offering. A paper bag stained with something that wasn't blood, and absolutely redolent with a smell that seemed somehow appetizing and intimidating all at once.

"...food?"

Forrda fussed and arranged their daily meals into oblivion. The smells here were unique, but unique in a familiar way that reminded Untaaura of the forced offering she'd taken gratefully under the watch of a horde of grubby Gossam children. Major Verratoa took possession of the bag as if she expected it to tick or explode.

"jIf jyou put me jin the latrrjiness forr the dajy, jI'll kjick jyou out of herre forr rreal."

She still wasn't quite able to pull a fully serious expression to back up her warning.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"No no, I made sure there's no shaak cheese; or dairy of any kind."

She took the seat that had unofficially become hers.

"Just a meat sandwich."

She'd heard stories.

Besides, even the Major in a good mood was enough to intimidate. Taking the initiative, the girl pulled out the Tarkin sandwich first, placing it almost reverently in front of the Major.

"Just meat," she reiterated.

The nuna salad was pulled out, the shockingly white bread a perfect companion to the chunky, white-glued clumps of nuna shreads mixed with nuts, kessari, and perriberries. She smile to the other woman, gesturing at the wrapped delight contained withing wrapped wax paper.

"It'll be good, I promise."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Lips taut in cautious appraisal, Verratoa picked up the...

"Ssand whjich?"

A cautious finger poked the mystery sponge surrounding what was assured to her to be "meat" (arrayed like sheets of vellum unnatural in both texture and color).

"jI don't ljike ssand..." The Major protested weakly, in spite of the fact that she'd never tried sand because that would be ludicrous. And seriously what is this sponge???

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

There was a certain amount of strange maternal instinct that overtook her then, and Teagan waved at the Major's inspecting hand.

"Just pick up and eat it. You'll like it."

As if to demonstrate, she unwrapped her own meal, small chunks of nuna dislodging from the otherwise firm compaction that made up the innards of her own sandwich. A split second later, and she took a healthy bite, chewing happily at the explosion of taste that manifested so strongly in her mouth. She chewed, then swallowed.

"See? Nothing bad."

Another gesture.

"It's good; I've had that one before, and it's... "

A throwaway look to the ever-forming walls of what was Master Vymes' steadily forming home.

"... it's divine."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

And here she was again, trying to argue down children and being proffered with strange edibles. With a sigh and a change of face to the resolute, Verratoa hefted her sand which and tried to focus only on it, and not Teagan's own sand which, the sloppy contents within looking distressingly like vomit as they oozed from the periphery.

Stow it, Marine!

Untaaura rammed a mouthful in defiance, filling her face so there would be no room for any more whining. The foam tasted wholly alien to her, with a strange tangy character that seemed to mingle with the smoky and salty meat that sheared against her teeth with a strangely interesting texture. Cheeks bulging, Verratoa negotiated the act of chewing, noting with some dismay that the foam seemed to transform in her mouth, drawing all of her saliva to it like a magnet as she attempted to negotiate the bolus.

It took forever, but finally the Major managed to hork down her mouthful. Which was followed by another. And another.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She'd paused in the midst of another bite from her own lunch, watching as the Major took in a good half of the Tarkin (wherever that name came from). It was amazing in its' own right, and the girl slowly lowered her sandwich down just a little bit.

With raised eyebrows, she couldn't help the growing smile that pulled the edges of her lips upward.

"Good then, yeah?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaura's mouth was full, and she raised a single finger to delay Teagan's question as she continued to process the sand which in an assembly-line fashion of bite-chew-swallow-bite-chew-swallow. When finished, the hand did not lower, but remained up in a pausing declaration as Untaaura quaffed down half her canteen to compel the dense food item down her gullet.

The Major wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, belching deeply.

"jI djidn't even tasste the ssand."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

A chuckle, and Teagan turned back to her own meal, chomping a large bite from the sandwich clutched in her grasp.

She chewed, then swallowed, still smiling.

"Well that's cause there's no sand in it."

Another bit of silence passed as she finished her lunch, and with her hands now free, the young Lupine picked at the leftover bits of nuna that'd escaped her on the first go-around.

"It's called bread; soaks up all the best flavors and makes them better."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Alright then. A sand which that contained no sand. Which sand? Why none at all, naturally. Untaaura's face was a state of flummox as she tried to parse the maddening etymology of it all. Nevermind the sponge which was called bread and no...she wasn't even going to ask what that was.

"jIt tassted good. jI don't thjink jI want to know anjythjing morre about jit."

Forrda and their food, by the Goddess. It was all dark magic and science to her.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Forrda and their food.

The unspoken phrase made her almost roll her eyes as her thoughts strayed past her normal boundaries without intention.

Meticulously she folded up the thin paper that had previously been wrapped around her sandwich.

"I had sajoi once," a pause as she rephrased. "... well, I tried to have sajoi."

An indifferent shrug.

"Never could get around the wriggling legs and tail. My mom loves them though."

She blinked then, realizing too late the incredibly odd string of words that'd left her mouth.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Now that'ss prroperr food."

Verratoa nodded sagely in agreement with Teagan's mother's decidedly cosmopolitan sensibilities.

"Cizeri food doess not take fusss, and doess not prretend. jIt jiss what jit jiss. Ssjimple."

That being said, the Major was starting to develop a reluctant taste for the exotic. First, Gossam food. Now human food.

"But jI can underrsstand the appeal. jYou do not have to catch a ssand whjich."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Well, in a way I guess you don't. You just have have enough credits to buy it."

Reaching out, Teagan gathered the leftover rubbish, replacing each bit into the paper bag before rolling the opening closed and compressing it as much as she could. Her chrono beeped, and with an apologetic smile, the girl moved to drop the now compacted brown bag into the trash bin.

"I'll be around tomorrow, if that's ok."

Which, as the days had passed, had become a needless thing to ask. Despite that half-hearted objections that the Major gave every afternoon, Teagan suspected that the company was appreciated. At least as much as she herself appreciated the Major's. It had become a sort of ritual that was always looked forward to, and she enjoyed the short time that the two spent together. Even if Major Verratoa was a gruff individual, there was something more beneath the surface. She'd gotten a glimpse of it during their first encounter, and knew it was there.




Day 7

Picking her way along the upward path to the pavilion, Teagan moved with a shuffling of feet that spoke of a bit of tiredness. She'd spent a little bit too much time last night running about, and had lost track of the hour. She'd finally crawled into bed at the 2 AM hour, and it'd seemed like her alarm had gone off the moment her eyes fluttered closed. But, she wasn't about to not visit the work site. Stepping onto the makeshift floor pad, the young Lupine fell heavily into the chair she frequented every day.

Half-lidded eyes stared out at the house. It was easily recognizable now, as the frame had been filled in and walls had gone up.

She could see the Major working alongside a group of her subordinates, but opted to not call out. Instead, she simply sat, slumped against the seats backrest as fatigue took its' toll on her.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The plumbing and wiring were coming along well, with fittings being threaded with the final runs of noncorrosive alloy tubing and the electrics being fed through wall sheeting to the necessary mounts. Untaaura was pleased with the progress, but there were still a litany of tasks on the docket before the job site could be considered a wrap. The hard part now was to coordinate the dozens of small tasks in play. For instance, the roofing material hadn't been requisitioned in the proper square meterage. So now the Major was forced to sit on her tail while the discrepancy was delivered from base.

Heading back to the pavillion, Untaaura spotted her daily companion, nearly asleep in the chair in the shade. Placing two fingers to her lips, the Jaanni'saar zipped a loud whistle in the air as she stood over the girl.

"No lajyaboutss on mjy worrk ssjite. jYou've got a bed jin the dorrmjitorrjiess forr that."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

The whistle pierced into her brain like an ice pick, shoving through each nerve with the grace of a stampede of banthas with their tails on fire. Jerking forward, Teagan let out a surprised yell, yellow eyes tracking up to stare at the Major in wide-eyed wakefulness. A slow blink, a long breath, and the exhaustion fought back to slump her tensed shoulders. Another moment passed before she opened her eyes, now once more their normal grey-hazel. Her jaw clenched momentarily, and she leaned to the side to prop an arm on the table.

"Sorry," a small groan as she exhaled tiredly.

"Long night last night."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The color gradient in the girl's eyes was a surprise to Untaaura. She'd had limited experience among humans, and certainly wasn't a noted observer of their sleep cycles, but that seemed to be a fascinating change. Humans wore so many shades of eyes that she wondered if they could all change them at will?

"jIt musst have been. jYourr ejyess changed colorr."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She frowned at that, her brow knitting in sudden concern as she looked back out to the site, away from the Major.

"They did?"

She bit her lip, and rested her chin on her arm before offering a weak final word.

"Weird."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaurra stared blankly at the girl in the wake of her odd response.

"Sso then...thejy don't norrmalljy?"

Maybe it was a cycle humans couldn't control. That would be confusing.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

A yawn as she answered without thinking.

"Well, not in humans, no."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Well then. Surprise etched on the Major's face as her eyebrows went up slightly in time with her ears.

"jYou'rre not human?"

She seemed perfectly such to Untaaura. Then again Humans had so thoroughly multiplied across the galaxy that they'd littered dozens of worlds with their own cousin races. Sub-species like Lorrdians and Zeltrons and the like. While Untaaura could certainly pick apart a Zeltron and a baseline human, she could do no such thing with humans and Lorrdians. So somewhere, humans had evolved the ability to change eye color. For some reason.

But Teagan didn't appear so flippant about the matter. There appeared to be something heavy on her mind.

"What'ss wrrong?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She stared at the house, eyes half closed as she thought about the question asked of her. What's wrong. A simple question with a not so simple answer. Not looking to the Major, Teagan spoke up once more.

"You ever have a secret that's not really a secret, but maybe a person that you like doesn't know, so it's still sort of a secret?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Teagan had never seen Untaaura appear even halfway afraid before, but in that moment a look of trepidation came and went so fast as to nearly question whether she'd seen it at all. Hopefully not, and Untaaura averted her eyes momentarily to make sure as her ears quivered slightly.

Returning blue eyes back to the young girl, the Major spoke carefully.

"Morre often than jyou'd rrealjize."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

It had been so easy to tell Kazahan and Hal; of course that might've been because of... other factors. Now though, in this very moment, things were most assuredly different. Still though, Verratoa's words buoyed her somewhat. She felt a little bit less awkward, but the fact that the Major was the one that didn't know...

Teagan closed her eyes, resting her forehead in her hands.

"I have a secret," she finally whispered. "And I'm afraid to tell you."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The Major didn't have to be an expert on humans (near humans) to know Teagan was racked by something heavy on her conscience. For the life of her, she had no idea why she would be? What could she have done in their meager interactions that would have worried her so much? Verratoa's ears skewed, and she put on a reassuring half-grin as she tapped Teagan's shoulder with a reassuring fist.

"Hejy, c'mon rrou'ani. jIt can't be that much. Djid jyou brreak ssomethjing on ssjite?"

She sighed, keeping her smile as she clapped Teagan on the knee.

"jIf jI haven't thrrown jyou off the worrk ssjite jyet, jI'm not gojing to now. Jusst let me know what jit jis, and jI'll fjix jit, alrrjight?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Even in the seriousness of her started confession, the Majors words made her smile lightly.

"I didn't break anything, no."

Still though, she didn't move from her head-in-hands position. She sighed.

"We met before the time you came to Master Vymes' tent. You just don't know it."

Her eyes seemed to screw together even more.

"We met... we met when you took that run up toward the Gossam village."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"We met..."

She tried to parse Teagan's staggered words, and none of it made sense. Finally, Untaaura shook her head.

"No we djidn't. jI would have rrememberred ssomeone elsse up the path. jI rran alone."

An increasingly bewildered look fixed on Teagan as the Major wondered how she'd even known of the run to begin with.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"No, you didn't."

It was spoken with such finality and conviction. Finally she lifted her head, leaning back in her seat before angling her head to the side, staring at the Major.

"You ran with a vornskr. You ran with me."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Ku..."

Her name caught in Untaaura's throat before she corrected.

"Tak?"

But Teagan was still speaking in riddles. She knew of their shared run, how?

"Sshe'ss jyourr pet?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"She's me."

Her features screwed up into a strange mix of impatience and remembering that day.

"We ate the spice rolls that the Gossam gave us, you showed them pictures. You tried to pay them for the food. We were attacked by Ysanna, and you were captured. After that Knight Hicchoru and I rescued you... "

She stopped then, waiting for the expressions on the Major's face to catch up.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaura shook her head, eyes fixated on the girl in firm disbelief.

"No...that'ss not trrue."

There was no way for her to know this. Untaaura was alone for much of the journey. The things she now said, she could have only gleaned by...

The Major's mouth gaped. Her eyes shifted to yellow. Tak's eyes.

"That'ss jimposssjible!"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Not really."

Again she looked away, back out to the construction site.

"I was skipping class that day, and exploring. When you ran by, I couldn't help myself. I wanted to run too."

Teagan let out a long breath, looking down to her hands that were folded in her lap. She wasn't exactly sure that she wanted to look back up to the Major.

"I'm... sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

She remembered every part of the day vividly. It started out with so much promise and ended as a tooth and nail fight for survival. Somewhere along the way, Untaaura had lost her reservations, and poured herself out in quantities she never dared to do to anyone she thought would actually hear her speak. It seemed like betrayal, but Teagan had no cause to betray her at all. She was just a girl with her own secrets, and Untaaura knew how that burden felt on one's back.

"jYou told me. That'ss enough."

Who was she to judge her on that? She'd never even comprehended the possibility of such a metamorph, but there was nothing tenable to cling to now with which to deny it. And whatever remained, however ridiculous, must be the truth. Then what manner of special terrors awaited someone who lived two completely different lives?

"Few arre that brrave."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

That made her look up, and Teagan locked eyes with the Major. To essentially be called brave was not something that she'd expected, and the young Lupine felt a little bit taken aback. It made her hesitate, made her mull over the words that'd been spoken.

Finally, she ventured on.

"I was scared to see you again when Master Vymes called you about the house. I was certain that you'd recognize me, and then be mad."

A ghost of a smile was sent to the Major then.

"I knocked the comm out of his hand, I was that scared."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

With a taut-lipped smile of the barest degree, Untaaura's ears tipped up a little.

"Sso that explajinss all the damned rracket. jYou'rre luckjy jI djidn't let hjim have jit."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She blinked at that.

"My mom has said that a few times before, too."



Day 10


She'd not visited on the eighth day, and only stopped by briefly on the ninth to deliver another sandwich to the Major. On the tenth day though, Teagan returned to her normal ritual. It still felt strange, to know that the Major knew. Lingering awkward feelings had kept her mostly away, but on the last day of the build, she really couldn't help herself. Her curiosity was too great, and the girl again made her way up the small path to where Master Vymes' house was so very near completion.

Stepping up toward the pavilion, Teagan saw no sign of the Major. Her eyes scanned the house, and she froze.

It looked... it looked perfect.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The front door opened, and Untaaura stood in the door frame, leaning against it slightly as she watched the Lupine in the midst of marveling.

"Arren't jyou gojing to come jin?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

Her mouth slightly agape, Teagan stumbled over a small root on her way to the front door.

"It looks amazing!"

Wide eyes went right and left, taking everything in that she could see.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

There was a noticeable funk of dried paint in the air, but aside from that and a few small last minute items like fixtures and cabinet facings, everything else was finished. The land around would need to be sodded or landscaped in some way, but there was no mistaking the abode for a solid and permanent dwelling.

Untaaura pivoted away from the frame to allow Teagan to enter, following the girl's awe-filled eyes as she inspected each part.

"jIt'ss no brrjidge overr the rrjiverr Kungaada, but no one elsse could do jit, jI asssurre jyou that."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

It looked just like the blueprints had said it was supposed to, and Teagan walked slowly through the front living area, turning about as she walked. The thin, tan carpeting seemed much more soft than its' initial appearance, and she crouched down to run a palm over the surface.

A wistful smile, and she rose back up to stand before moving to stand beside the Major. Another few moments of awestruck gawking, and she turned to wrap her arms around the Cizerack woman, pulling her close in a strong embrace.

"Thank you."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

The hug took Untaaura by surprise, and the scar-faced Cizerack stood stock still for a moment as Teagan showed her appreciation. The last time she'd had a hug was the last time she'd seen Kuurramaai alive. A fleeting moment alone between deployments. She'd be back in a day or two, tops - she promised. Every day after the one Kuurramaai never returned, Untaaura walled off her heart. She didn't want to feel anymore. Didn't want to be vulnerable and hurt so completely. By degrees, Teagan was reminding her that she was still flesh and blood, and could feel.

The Major's arms slowly drew up in reciprocation. She was happy for the young girl.

"jYou'rre welcome, Teagan."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

One last firm squeeze, and Teagan slowly pulled back. Again her eyes went to look about at the freshly painted drywall, and everything all around it. Moving deeper into the house, she inspected everything that her gaze fell on, mindful though, to keep her hands to herself lest she disturb anything too much. Rather, she simply looked and observed. Stepping down the hallway, the young Lupine stopped at each doorway to look inside. Her ears ticked back, though more out of intense curiosity than anything else.

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Untaaura trailed behind, giving the girl a bit of a tether as she explored her new home. She was happy, clearly so, and this had now become more than a matter of Untaaura's own pride and espirit de corps in getting the job done. She wanted Teagan to be happy. She deserved that.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

The small things, like outlet plates and fixture plates and all of the little things didn't bother her so much in their incomplete state. In fact, it gave her a little bit of room to think, and the young Lupine did exactly that. Pausing in the doorway of the master bedroom, she gave it a once over before turning on her heel, heading back the short distance that she'd come.

"When is Master Vymes supposed to come look at it?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"Wheneverr he ljikess."

Untaaura shrugged her shoulders in answering. To be frank, Master Vymes' appraisal of her work had become second priority days ago. Her team had completed the build in the time allotted. If he liked it, that was good. If not, then he'd have to learn to live with it. It was a house built free of charge, courtesy of the Pride. She'd promised no mansion for the Jedi Master, and the house was sturdy and simple. It was a home.

More important was that Teagan liked it. Untaaura's personal investment was tied up in the young girl.

"jI wjill mjisss ourr talkss, rrou'ani."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

That caused her to look to the Major suddenly, a surprised expression on her face as she blinked a few times.

"Well, you know, just because you're done building it doesn't mean we can't ever talk again."

She offered a tentative smile of encouragement.

"We could even go for another run, if you want."

[Untaaura Verratoa]

"We can."

Untaaura dipped her head in agreement, but there was something left unsaid.

"But ssoonerr orr laterr mjy mjisssjion herre wjill end. Ssanctuarrjy hass alrreadjy grrown sso fasst. jI loathed comjing out herre jin the begjinnjing. Now? I'm drreadjing leavjing."

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

"Oh."

That was a thought that hadn't exactly occurred to her, but now that it had been mentioned, she felt the wind taken out of her sails.

"Well," she gave the Major a light punch to the shoulder, in echo of the one that the Cizerack had given to her a few days back. "Guess we better make sure we spend the time the best way we can, yeah?"

[Untaaura Verratoa]

Something in the way Teagan aped her little arm slug. The easygoing words, even if the girl who spoke them was anything but. It all reminded Untaaura of familiar things from her past.

"Ssomeone once told me to ljive each dajy ljike jyou sstole jit. jI neverr knew what thejy meant when thejy ssajid jit."

Untaaura squeezed Teagan on the shoulder, and turned to catch the view from the window.

"jI thjink jI do now."