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| - Razorback moves slightly closer to Pierce, his eyes cold as he replies, "We arrren't wherrre you come frrrom, ssirrr." The Artemis' intercom hisses, suggesting someone is fiddling with the controls, followed by what sounds like a loud burp. Pierce raises an eyebrow at the Denaran. "Well then, that's what I get for trying to help people, eh?" Bini pulls a murky bottle out of his hip pocket and staggers for the nearest overhang, ignoring the argument. He slumps to the ground with a wince while still holding his ribs, and opens the bottle with his teeth. "I got all the doctor I need right 'ere." The hatch of the IND Jackal cycles open, revealing an orange-furred Demarian, who walks down the ramp. Upon sighting Razorback, she pads over in that direction. "Hey.. what's up? Sorry I'm late." Upon the intercom activating, she waves a paw dismissively in the general direction of the Artemis and rolls her eyes. Pierce sighs, and turns his back to Swiftfoot, nodding to Razorback as he walks into the Artemis. Razorback's cold glare doesn't diminish as he stares down at the man. Hearing a familiar voice, and scenting a familiar...well, scent. He turns slightly to face the other Demarian, his expression softening. "Missss Sstarrrchasserrr," he says by way of greeting, trying to conjure up a smile through the irritation in his expression, "I am glad you werrre able to make it." He holds up a small, folded piece of paper. Pierce walks out of the ship, nodding again to the Demarian as he heads for the shuttles. Bini is lying against the wall of the Shuttleport with his bottle, watching the rain contemplatively as he swigs from it now and again. Wiendrbac steps out of the Artemis, zipping up his jacket to his neck, peering upwards. "Wonderful. So much for a nice, peaceful trip to the New Paris beach." Bini notices the captain from his vantage point and waves his bottle, slopping a little out. "Eya, Jack! Come share a swig. Make ya forget th' rain." Swiftfoot winks at Razorback. "Did you everr doubt that I would? I paid that kid good money to deliverr that message to you." She chuckles. "I'm glad you could get some time away." As Wiendrbac speaks, her ears swivel in that direction, but she doesn't turn around. Razorback's eyes catch the movement and he spots Wiendrback. An obvious snarl of distaste crosses his face for a moment but he suppresses it and looks back at Swiftfoot, "As am I. Sso, sshall we head into town?" He offers his arm with a slight bow and a toothy grin. Wiendrbac blinks as someone calls out his name, focusing on Bin for a moment. "Uh, sure... why not." The La Terran glances at the two Demarian, as he walks toward the Timonae, nodding at them. "Swift, uhhh, Razorback." Swiftfoot grins at Razorback, and takes the proferred arm. "By all means. Let's shall." She throws a glance over her shoulder at Wiendrbac. "Evening, Jack." The greeting is polite, and quite carefully neutral. Bini takes another swig of his bottle, shifting a little with an uncomfortable wince. "Aw, e's awful unfriendly, don't stress yerself. Blames a guy for tryin, an all. Now me, I say, no point in gettin all upset, yeh?" He continues rambling, more to himself than anyone else. "I mean, no 'arm no foul an all that. Th' thing is..." He stops for a moment, looking around. "Th' thing is...th' thing...'ere, wot was I sayin?" Jack sees the gesture, quirking a brow, before turning to hold his hand out for the bottle, holding the gesture as Bini begans to ramble. "I'm not worried about a large black kitty, honestly. So, what kinda rotgut shit you got in there anyway?" Razorback's eyes flick back at the humanoids, focussing on Wiendrbac with a hard glance. "Captain," he says, a cold edge in his voice before turning back to Swiftfoot and beginning to make his way to the street. Bini hands over the disreputable looking bottle. "No idea, but didn't cost much. Burns like whiskey but tastes like mud an' dog piss. Got alotter alcohol in 'er, though." He presses a hand to his ribs, grunting slightly. "That's what we call a painkiller where I'm from, yeh?" Swiftfoot walks beside Razorback, the end of her tail flicking. "So, wherre arre we headed?" Wiendrbac takes a swig of the liquid, grimacing slightly. "No lyin' about the taste, but.. compared to what they serve on Antimone, this isn't much." He takes another swig and offers it over, free hand snapping in a dismissive wave at the Demarian's acknowledgement. Razorback sighs, considering, "I had thought about visiting ssome of the forrresstss herrre, but the weatherrr does not sseem to be cooperrrating. Perrrhapss the rrresstaurrrant on Malibu Way?" Bini takes it back and takes another long pull, losing a little down his already rain-wet shirt in his slight drunkeness. "You hain't lyin, either. Though most of the stuff this bad back 'ome's at least got some narcs in it, yeh?" Swiftfoot bobs her head in assent. "Sounds good to me. Anywherre it's not rraining sounds good rright now." Razorback smiles at that and passes into the street. Swiftfoot follows, whiskers abristle and eyes wide. "I'd neverr actually been herre beforre a few days ago. Lucky forr me, therre werren't a whole lot of dark-colorred Demarrians doing heavy lifting." She chuckles. Razorback eyes Swiftfoot with a grin, "And what exactly is that ssupposed to mean?" Swiftfoot drops her eyes demurely, looking away. "You werre easy to find. I'm glad about that. Seeing as how I'd no clue wherre you went afterr I left forr trriple-ninerr. I just knew I wanted to find you." She shrugs, and glances sidewise at Razorback, smiling. Razorback smiles, "I'm sstill quite ssurrrprrrised that you werrre able to do sso. Pleasantly ssurrrprrrised, though." He turns as he reaches the intersection. Swiftfoot chuckles. "It's amazing what one can do with a computer and some time on one's paws." She shrugs vaguely. "It wouldn't have been nearrly so easy if I was looking forr a human. We'rre a little more... noticeable." Razorback chuckles slightly at this, "That is indeed verrry trrrue." He comes to a stop at the door to the Blue Nose and pushes the door open, waiting for the other to enter. Swiftfoot smiles, walking into the restaurant, sniffing the air. "It smells wonderrful in herre." Razorback sniffs the air as he enters and nods, "It does at that." He makes his way over to a table, pulling a chair out and guiding his companion towards it. Swiftfoot takes the proferred seat, looking up at the darker-colored Demarian. "You'rre going to spoil me, you know." She grins, and flicks an ear. Razorback moves over to sit down with a smile, "And what would be wrrrong with that, may I assk?" Swiftfoot chuckles. "Absolutely nothing, to be quite honest. I just thought I'd point it out." She quirks an eyeridge and looks across the table at Razorback. "So why La Terre? It's hotterr than hell herre." Razorback grimaces, looking slightly embarressed as his ears droop guiltily, "It was farrr frrrom Ungsstirrr." Swiftfoot nods, a sympathetic cast crossing her face. "I'm rreally sorry about that..." She looks down at the table, then back up again. "At least you didn't go to U-999 like I did," she finishes lamely, a weak smile shining through. Razorback smiles again, flagging down a waiter with a flick of his tail, "It is alrrright." As the waiter approaches, he says, "Sso ... What will you have?" Swiftfoot blinks, nonplussed. "Well, you'rre familiar with the place... surrprrise me," she says, with a cheeky wink. "I'm easy to get along with." Razorback thinks a moment, some discomfort creeping into his usually self-assured veneer. He resigns himself to the trap, however and looks at the waiter, "In that casse, honey-glazed ham, ssauted mushrrrooms, and blueberrrrrries and crrream. Forrr two." It is breakfast after all. He turns back to the other Demarian, gauging her reaction. Swiftfoot blinks, then applauds lightly, jokingly, a smile on her face. "Verry good, you pass." She chortles briefly, eyeing Razorback. "Sorry... I guess girrls just have to play theirr games, meh?" Razorback rolls his eyes slightly. He smiles though, "Ss I've been told. Well, how was you'rrre trrrip out herrre?" "Long trrip, even forr the Jackal. She's fast, but this is a bit out of the way. Courrse, at least it's saferr than Tomin Korra. That's the last place I was at." She shrugs noncommittally. "It's not so bad, as long as you watch yourrself." Razorback nods slightly, grimacing at the mention of Tomin Kora. "I have been therrre a couple of times. One will neverrr find a morrre wrrretched hive of sscum and villainy." Swiftfoot shrugs. "I can't say that I enjoyed the trrip therre, with all the nonsense with "Fagin" and all, but it didn't seem all that bad. Courrse, I rrun with a differrent crrowd than most, you might say." The orange-furred felinoid chuckles, then sobers. "I saw morre things that botherred me on Ungstirr than I did on Tomin Korra." Razorback nods at this with a frown, "Sso you have told me." He pauses for a moment, "Has therrre been any rrresolution to that matterrr?" Swiftfoot shakes her head. "Not yet. We... that is, the Arrtemis crrew, myself, and some other crrew that Captain Wiendrrbac is making some kind of deal with, arre supposed to get togetherr on it. The details haven't been rrevealed to me yet." She quirks an eyeridge, then chuckles. "It's rratherr irronic, actually. Some of his crrew arre leerry of dealing with "pirrates"." Razorback's fur stiffens slightly at the mention of Wiendrbac but he does not say anything on the subject. "Well, pirrratess are not always known to be men of theirrr worrrd." Swiftfoot chuckles. "Orr women, I suppose," she retorts, a gleam in her eye. "I suppose prrivateerring isn't -quite- the same thing, but still." She grins, and flicks an ear. "We went salvaging at Nalhom, with perrmission frrom the Demarrian goverrnment. That's prrobably the most fun I'd had in a long time." Razorback nods at this, "How long ssince you left Demaria?" Swiftfoot blinks. "Shorrtly afterr the destrruction of Sanctuarry. It's ... not something I prreferr to talk about, orr think about... hence my earrlierr deception." She looks away, ears laying halfway back. "I've found if I just deny any knowledge of Sanctuarry that people just think I went crrazy from the strrain and leave me alone about it." She shrugs, rubbing at her arms with her paws. Razorback listens carefully as their food arrives. He nods, not pressing the issue. He nods to the waiter as well and turns back to Swiftfoot, "I can understand that." Razorback shrugs at this, "Of courrrse I carrre. But you harrrdly knew me at the time. To expect you to tell a perrrfect strrranger about things that you conssiderrr very perrrsonal would not be rrright eitherrr." Swiftfoot flicks an ear and blinks, nonplussed. "I'm glad -someone- underrstands." She looks away, down at the table again. "I'll have to tell you about it someday... not now, but someday." Razorback nods again, "When you arrre rrready. Though, in the futurrre, if therrre is ssomething you do not wissh to ssharrre with me, ssimply telling me sso would be apprrreciated." Swiftfoot nods, abashed. "Sorry. It's a habit, I suppose." She picks at the food a bit, sampling everything. "This is rreally verry good. I don't think I've had a norrmal brreakfast in... weeks. I can't cook," she notes, with an embarassed chuckle. Razorback chuckles somewhat himself, "Norrr can I. It was not a sskill that I felt would be imporrrtant to cultivate while grrrowing up." The chuckle deepens into a giggle, and the orange-furred Demarian works hard to stifle the gale. "A norrmal brreakfast on Jackal is usually accompanied by a half-empty bottle of whateverr you'rre hung overr frrom." Swiftfoot grins. "They'rre a good crrew, when you can bloody -find- them." Razorback smiles, sampling some of the food himself. "I do no usually find time forrr a morrrning meal eitherrr. I find that it usually rrresults in my rrrequirrring a mid-day meal as well." Swiftfoot chuckles and nods. She eats a bit, chewing thoughtfully, then swallowing, before pointing at Razorback with the fork. "So how's a guy like you get into the carrgo hauling business?" She shrugs. "Call it a nagging feeling, but I don't believe that's all you can do, any morre than you believed that I didn't know about Sanctuarry." Razorback smiles wryly, "Well, you ssee, I have thiss sstrrrange addiction to food that was thrrrust upon me in my youth. I do not believe I sshall everrr fully rrrecoverrr." Swiftfoot blinks, then chuckles. "Fairr enough. You'll talk about it in yourr own due time, same as me. In the meantime... did you want to go back to Ungstirr with me when I leave? I didn't know if you werre at all interrested with this Factorry business." She shrugs noncommittally. "We could use everry set of hands and paws we can get to man the ships." Razorback nods slightly, "I would be glad to help in any way I can." He smiles a bit, looking away for a moment. "As to my reasons for pursuing such a base line of work, my original occupation no long exists. As things stand, I must make the best of things until I learn how to do something else." Swiftfoot continues eating, picking and choosing carefully so as to continue the conversation. "I wouldn't say it's base... you do what you can. I had a few bad jobs beforre I landed the pilot position on the Jackal." She shrugs, licking a stray bit of cream from her lip. "If I can help you in any way, I will. I meant that when I firrst said it, and I still mean it." She lays one paw out on the table, palm up, and smiles. Razorback takes the profferred paw in his own and looks down at it for a moment, some degree of sadness in his eyes. "I know you did," he replies. He looks up now, smiling somewhat, as he releases the other's paw. Swiftfoot tilts her head to the side, looking across the table at the other Demarian. "I feel like I should say something smarrt, but the worrds just arren't therre rright now." She chuckles embarassedly, and goes back to eating. Razorback chuckles quietly, "I will not hold it againsst you." He watches her quietly for awhile, taking the opportunity to finish off some of the mushrooms left on his plate. "Who did you ssay captains the Jackal?" Swiftfoot quirks an eyeridge, and grins. "I should hope not," she notes, with a wink. "Mika Tachyon captains the Jackal, but she's been away for awhile. None of us know wherre she is, norr have the slightest clue wherre to starrt looking. She took this solo job awhile back, and just... neverr came back." She shrugs noncommittally. "Mika can take carre of herrself, though. Torr is securrity, and he's in charrge rright now, when I can find him." The orange-furred Demarian chuckles. "Mostly, I'm in charrge of myself rright now." Razorback nods, listening, "That cannot be too bad." Swiftfoot shrugs. "Sometimes I'd rratherr they werre arround, you know? The ship is awful empty rright now. Therre's me, and then therre's Rrokke. He's ourr engineerr. A Ydahrri, if you can believe that. Therre's Harrmony, too, but she's away on Sivad rright now." Swifty snorts. "So yeah, basically I fly herr arround and look forr whateverr trrouble I can get into all by myself." Razorback nods, considering all this, "Well, I would ssuggest not to look too harrrd. These days trrrouble seems to be quite rrreadily available." Swiftfoot laughs. "Tell me about it. Trrouble seems to have it out forr me. And rright now, without a full crrew..." She trails off, picking at the remains of her breakfast. Razorback chuckles, "Well, taking carrre of trrrouble is one thing I _am_ able to do. Sso, if therrre is anything _I_ can do to help, I would be more than happy to do so." Swiftfoot quirks an eyeridge and smiles slyly. "Oh? How do you prropose to take carre of the trrouble I get myself into?" She chuckles lightly. Razorback smiles, somewhat predatorially, "It depends on the trouble." His tail twitches gently back and forth. Swiftfoot blinks. "If I didn't know any betterr, I'd think you werre coming on to me," she says primly. After a few seconds of trying to hold a straight face, she fails miserably, chuckling to herself. "Alrright, so I'm dirrty-minded. It's Mika's fault, I swearr." Razorback eyes Swiftfoot for a moment, frowning in confusion for a moment before grimacing in some embarrassment. "You, missss, arrre incrrredibly difficult to prrredict." Swiftfoot chuckles to herself. "Sorry. I get nerrvous, so I make snarrky rremarrks. It's a defense thing." She looks away, embarassed. Razorback smiles a bit now. "Well, at least I am not alone in being nerrrvous thiss morrrning." Swiftfoot looks down at her paws. "Not in the slightest. If you thought you werre the only nerrvous one... what, do you think I'm a statue?" She grins, looking up to meet Razorback's eyes. Razorback holds the gaze for a moment. "If you werrre, the ssculptorrr would have to have been divinely insspirrred ..." He trails off, slightly embarrassed at the slip, "I apologize, I sspoke out of turrrn." Swiftfoot looks away demurely, a shy smile on her face. "Not at all. Sometimes a girrl needs to hearr those sorrts of things." She chuckles to herself. Razorback seems to still be trying to re-collect himself. He looks at the other silently for a moment before saying, "I am glad that you came looking forrr me." Swiftfoot tilts her head to the side, golden eyes gleaming. "As am I, frriend. As am I." She stretches a bit, the tip of her tail curling languidly. "I wasn't surre I'd be able to find you. Just lucky, I guess." She chuckles. Razorback smiles again, "Sso. When do you think you will be heading back?" Swiftfoot shrugs vaguely. "Sometime in the next few days, unless something comes up to eitherr make me leave earrly or stay longerr. I think I was told that I should be on Ungstirr by Wednesday to get the storry on what exactly people know and don't know so farr." The orange-furred felinoid chuckles. "It doesn't take Jackal long to get anywherre, so I'm not all that worried." Razorback nods, considering the information. "Well, if you rrrequirrre any assssisstance, I would sstill be morrre than glad to do whateverrr I can." Swiftfoot smiles. "I'd be happy to have you along. If nothing else, you can keep me company while I fly the crrate arround." She wiggles an eyeridge and winks. Razorback chuckles slightly, rising from his seat, "In that casse, I shall hope to ssee you beforrre then." Swiftfoot nods and stands, grinning. "I'll look forr you beforre I go. That is, if you don't mind being trrapped aboarrd a mid-sized frreighterr with a crrazy pilot." She blinks, and walks towards the exit, with one quick flirt of her tail. Razorback grins, "It would prrrove an interrressting jourrrney. Take carrre of yourrrsself." Swiftfoot throws a glance over her shoulder and winks. "It would prrove interresting indeed. You take carre of yourrself too." Razorback watches her leave with a chuckle and a grin.
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