Galaxy's Edge Space Bar (archive)

[Terenia]

<I'm sorry,> Terenia says, looking honestly abashed for causing Keshin's inconvenience, <I'll still pay you, I promise. When I get back to the Blade Ship, I'll smuggle some meds and get them shipped to you, somehow.>

She rubs the back of her neck, looking up a the stars resentfully as Keshin talks about starting over.

<No. If they free her, then I will have to find some other way to vindicate myself. Tammy isn't the only person I have hurt in my life. There is no starting over for me, only an endless cycle of terrible deeds followed by unbearable guilt followed by trying to make it all better and usually failing.>

[Shenmue654]

Keshin shrugs and puts his arms behind his his back, thinking as he looks up at the stars. He then turns back to Terenia with an oddly piercing look and states, "The way that I see it, only half of everything that's happened to you has actually been your fault. Your impulsive nature and your psychological wounds have probably led you to make some pretty piss-poor decisions that haven't helped matters much. But on the other hand..."

Keshin paces about on the dirt, and then returns to staring at Terenia. "...the fact that Visser Three is a monster and a sadist is not your fault. Whatever you might think to the contrary, your sister becoming a voluntary host for some reason just means that she's as probably big of a jerk as your father was and it isn't your fault. Besides...dumb mistakes are dumb mistakes. If you try to pay everyone back and look down on what you did all the time, you'll never be able to look yourself in the mirror straight. I'm not one to talk, but I know someone intimately who can."

Keshin then shrugs, looking almost bored. "But whatever. It's your life to try and make right. What do you think this Sub-Visser guy wants with you, anyway? Does he normally call you off on bizarre blackmail errands too, or is that just Visser Three's problem?"
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Mar nods, standing up and wandering over behind Elayne, resting an arm around her. "I understand people fairly well---their desires, their fears...it's something I was..." Mar suddenly glances away very sharply and mutters "designed for" under his breath. He then quickly snaps back into a more pleasant mood. "There are things about people that I can no longer grasp, and I do not always cater to them. But what I do know well I can use to control them. Useful, no?"

The odd rumbling sound seems to have settled into a constant hum by this point. Mar smiles and says, "Perhaps if you had been rebelling against me, your rebellion would have been fiery and fun to confront. But this secular, technological and bigoted world seems to have made it hard for you. You must tire of the place if you’re wandering so far afield of it.” And perhaps you would enjoy a little vacation, sweet Elayne. I am ever so accomodating, now aren't I? Simply lovely. What happened to her and her father is hardly fair.

[Terenia]

<I never said Visser Three or my sister were particularly great people,> Terenia says, a scowl deepening her expression, <but I deserve most of the punishment I receive. My decisions may have been 'piss-poor' as you say, and maybe its a result of Tammy or Visser Three or whatever's influence, but they're still my decisions. I still made them. And I still ****ed up.>

She averts her gaze from the stars; it is painful to look at them. Once they had promised adventure, now they only brought pain. After a long pause Terenia addresses Keshin's question.

<Sub-Visser Seventeen and I rarely see one another. Despite being on the same ship as my sister we are, for the most part, kept apart. I am Visser Three's property, not Zorish's. The only reason he is calling me is because of the trap that Myitt helped to engineer. They want to lure him in with a fake morphing cube. He needs an Andalite to deliver the morphing technology to his host body, and I'm the best option he has. Of course, there isn't really a cube. Just some fake with stunners in them or something. I don't know. That was the plan, though, and if Zorish is contacting me then I guess they're following through with it even in my absence.> Terenia looks less than pleased about this fact.

[KitsuneMarie]

Elayne leaned back against him, her cheeks still a little red from her last blush. "So are you working to control me?" she murmured, eyes on the tabletop, head turned down to keep her dark hair as a shield for her face. But even if he was controlling her, she realized, it wouldn't really matter. If he can lie about himself to make him seem this appealing, so be it. I could use someone interesting to spend time with, especially someone who can give me sound advice... whenever I decide I'm ready to face life again.

"I guess I hadn't really thought of my departure from Earth in those terms, but you're right: I couldn't stand the thought of being there anymore. I just had to get away from what had happened there. I'm not sure I had a friend left on the planet." She turned her head up to look at him, smiling slightly. "Not trying to be dramatic or anything. I was just grieving and lonely. Being alone in space sounded like it would be an improvement; at least there I wouldn't be surrounded by people--all of whom couldn't care less."

[Johnny Xtreme]

“That would not be a problem.” Lucan replied as he led Genie down the corridor towards his personal quarters. They passed through a lounge area that had a small kitchenette and a holo board. They reached Lucans quarters and proceeded into the room. It was very much like the quarters that Genie had except for the large bird in a cage by the viewport.

The bird was exactly like the ship in color and structure. It was easily three feet from beak to tail. It also had a five-foot wingspan. Lucan walked over to the cage opened it and carefully removed the bird. “This is a Koltan and his name is Ace.” Ace held onto Lucan’s forearm with powerful looking talons, but did not appear to harm Lucan.

Lucan held Ace out toward Genie and said, “You may pet him if you wish he is friendly and gentle.”

[Shenmue654]

Keshin smirks. "Well, that's what you get for getting everyone in the entire Bar riled up. Looks like I did it too when I took the job from Sukohn. Things are getting pretty out of our hands now. Guess it's up to those pin-headed idiots in space. I know you're hoping they won't accomplish anything, but it looks like your sister's Yeerk is already involved. All that's left for us is to sit back and watch the fireworks."

Keshin then sits down on a large rock and shrugs. "It's weird talking to someone like you. You're like Joanne was a couple years ago. Sullen and bitter. Though when she was coming into the Sharing, a bit of that now-boundless optimism was coming in again."
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Mar lightly begins to stroke Elayne's back, his expression still that odd mix of warm and amused. "Yes...you could say that I am attempting to control you. But I do not intend to stop, and you seem to be rather receptive to it. "As for the people in space not caring about you...you'd be surprised. We may not know exactly what sort of world came to exist in your future, but I think many people would be sympathetic here."

Mar laughs a bit. "This Bar is filled with misfits, rebels, pirates, and monsters. You really couldn't have picked a better crowd to spill your guts to. I certainly didn't know it was like this when I came in. I was just following Myitt's trail...I do hope she will become less ornery when her war ends."

[Terenia]

<It sounds as though Joanne has had a rather tough time of it as well,> Terenia comments mildly. She absently plays with the buckle on her holster as she speaks. There is a long pause before she asks her next question, and when she does it is not without trepidation, as though she is afraid that she may be stepping on Joanne and Keshin's toes and getting too personal.

<What changed, though?> Terenia asks, <how did Joanne stop being so...unhappy? Did she manage to fix everything that had gone wrong in her life?>

[KitsuneMarie]

Elayne watched him as he spoke; indeed she was receptive to it, at least to what affection he was showing her now. She was finding it difficult to not get attached to someone who appeared to actually care about her, particularly after spending so long as a political enemy.

She turned her eyes to the Bar, giving it a long survey before chuckling. "I hope so, too. How long have you been pursuing her--your Precious?"

I suppose I'm just entertainment on the side until she gets back, she thought, looking back up at him. On one level, that bothered her--she was receptive to him, so she should not have to compete--but on another she was relieved: she was fairly certain she didn't want him following her every new incarnation.

[Shenmue654]

Keshin glances off a bit. Though Terenia was obviously not trying to bother him, the question edges at a subject he doesn't like dwelling on for long. Keshin sorts tiredly through sad memories and Joanne's incredible sense of betrayal and loss when he first infected her. Like a kicked puppy. Hatred, fine. Joanne resisting? Amusing. But the depths of the sorrow coming from such a confused, weakened, simple mind...it was not something Keshin could allow.

Keshin then looks up towards Terenia and shakes his head lightly. "Nah...Joanne didn't fix anything at all. Her alcoholism, her sickness, her constant trouble with the law, her confusing relationship with her "friends"...nothing has changed and nothing has gotten better. But by going inside her head, I took Joanne away from that world. And Joanne...found some other way to make her life worthwhile. Staying in the past forever just would have slowed both of us down."
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Mar turns towards Elayne and thinks for a moment, putting his gauntlet arm's palm on his chin. He then glances towards Elayne and says, "I...I'm not sure. It has been...long enough that the species on the planet Precious was from that were there when I first met her have mixed and become a single species. The original two species have long since died out. It was...before I modified the castle and before I made a home for myself in the place. That's probably..." Mar moves his fingers as if counting up the numbers. "...about seven hundred thousand to a million years, then. Could have been longer."


Mar smiles. "I know you think it's silly that I'd be pursuing someone who does not love me, but...it isn't the individual mortal that I love. It is the soul, which sometimes loves me and sometimes does not. I can only hope each time for better odds...that is, until now. Now Myitt's soul is mine."

[Terenia]

<Ah...> Terenia looks a little disappointed, as though she was hoping for some magical answer that would solve all of her problems, <I guess that's what makes The Sharing so effective, eh? Slug in the head and your problems don't seem as problematic anymore. Your life goes a whole new direction, whether you want it to or not. That's how they got my sister and brother. If I were on Earth at that time, I'd bet they would've gotten to me too.>

She gives Keshin an Andalite smile, a wry one at that, <Too bad I decided to get stuck as one of those slugs. It'd be rather hard to make me a Controller now. I guess I'll just have to find my own way to put things right. Dunno if I could ever get away from this world, though. It seems no matter what I do, I get wrapped up in the same old crap over and over again. Kind of gave up on fighting it awhile ago.>

[Shenmue654]

Keshin laughs a bit. His mood is still a bit distant, but he can't help but think of something. "Sounds like you're not too different from most people. We all fall into the same patterns and carry the same habits, year after year. Joanne and I will take on what sounds like a routine job and run into trouble, almost every single time. It's as if Murphy's Law orbits around our heads. As for the Sharing..."

Keshin shrugs. "...to be honest, I think Joanne would have taken any excuse to get away from it all. She was feeling sicker by the day and life meant little. The Sharing was just a convenient cult to pour her problems on. ...not to look down on her, though. She's made a pretty phenomenal recovery since, and is now my partner in crime. Heh. People follow the same old habits, but they can alter those in any which way they'd like. They can use what they've got to do something better. Sounds silly coming from an apathetic bounty hunter...but it happened."

[Terenia]

<Apathetic, huh?> Terenia says with a chuckle, <you're probably the least apathetic apathetic person I've met. Of course, that could just be Joanne's influence, I suppose. I've heard that when a Yeerk stays with the same host for awhile they take on aspects of their personality. Not sure I can speak from experience, as Efaen and I don't really have what you would call a conversational relationship.>

Terenia glances back towards the bar, which seems to be relatively quiet considering all the insanity that has occurred since she first landed...what, a day ago? Two? She has lost track of time. All she knows is that she isn't hungry for Kandrona yet, so it's been less than three days.

<So much can change so quickly...> she murmurs, thinking out loud, <going from a minor espionage mission to being stuck on a rock, my host being threatened to be taken out from under me, stuck in between rebels and Andalites and bounty hunters alike, some ridiculous time-stream corruption,> she shakes her head in bemusement, <I guess if ever there was a time for change, now is it.>

[KitsuneMarie]

"Well no one can blame you for not being persistent," Elayne smirked, shaking her head in amazement. "I don't think it's silly, but I feel like I would have looked for someone else by now. "But then again, this is all my mortal perspective; I don't have time to waste. Everything I do is performed with the knowledge that I only have fifty or sixty more years, tops."

She gave a small frown. "So what is going to happen now her soul belongs to you? Will she be more receptive to you when she dies?"

[Shenmue654]

Keshin nods a bit, sitting back on the rock. "Change happens whether you want it to or not. Joanne and I are just worried that the next big change is going to end up with both of us dead. That tends to happen in our line of work. And if the work doesn't kill us, the disease will." Keshin shrugs with a bit of a grin. "And as for all the trouble you've gone through...well that's just another day at the Space Bar. This seems to be the place you go to relax when you can't relax."

"And as for whether I act like Joanne...well that probably isn't too far off," says Keshin with a laugh. "We've been stuck with each other for quite a while now. I wouldn't be half surprised if we start talking in the same accent within a few years. I'm certainly more open then I used to be."
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Mar purrs and grins a bit nastily, gesturing with an open-palmed gauntlet hand. "Well...you could say that, yes. To be more accurate she will have no choice but to love me. She will be trapped forever with me in my primary home...and her attitude will be altered to my liking. Precious will be safe and happy, and I will at last be able to end this maddening chase across the multiverse."

Mar then shrugs. "I suppose it would be easier if I simply gave up...but you must understand that at the time, Precious was the only person willing to love me. The only person who gave me a chance. I would have never dreamed that I could find kinship again anywhere, a Bar or otherwise."

[KitsuneMarie]

Elayne gave an unsettled shiver at Mar's words. "So is that just the way of it? She has to love you?" Shaking her head slowly, she murmured, "I suppose I could understand it if I had been chasing after someone as long as you have been after her, but it seems unfair to make such a choice for her. I guess I just can't stop thinking like a mortal.

"So are you going to do the same to me: follow me about or simply try to obtain my soul here and now?" Her eyes narrowed a little. And I do wish you'd sit down, Mar. It makes me uncomfortable having you standing over me like that."