ᴠᴇɴ.

ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ ʜᴀꜱ ɴᴏ ʀᴀɢᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴛʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴜʀɴᴇᴅ, ɴᴏʀ ʜᴇʟʟ ᴀ ꜰᴜʀʏ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ꜱᴄᴏʀɴᴇᴅ.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

ᴘᴏᴇᴛʀʏ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙᴜʀɴ.

ᴜɴᴇᴀꜱʏ ʟɪᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄʀᴀᴠᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴏᴡɴ.

ʟɪꜰᴇ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ɪꜱ, ᴏɴᴇ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍꜱ ᴏꜰ ʀᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ.

#SWRP | #DestinyRP | #MVRP

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... justification.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

There's a narrowing of her eyes at Alax's chipper demeanor, even in the face of Ven's usual vitriol. In Ven's experience, Alax rarely ever let her facade crack, but there was something different about these smiles, something that she couldn't quite place. It bothers her.

+

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

Alax soaks up all that bitterness but doesn't dwell. This is just how Venlana is. "I didn't feel like it." At least the issues between them are obvious, easy to get your head around. Whatever goes on between Ven and Ryale is beyond Alax. She doesn't ask. Instead, she smiles ...

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

Still, nothing makes Ven frown quite like that. She scoffs and steps to the side. "Don't say it like that. *I'm* doing *you* a favor." Even despite Ven's usual protestations, it's hardly a negotiation: she's already decided that she's going to tag along. All else is merely... +

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... step closer to Alax as if considering pushing past her into the lift. "Is that an order?" Every encounter between them doesn't *have* to be a power struggle, but Ven often chooses to make them one anyways.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

Ven raises an eyebrow at her. "I'm surprised you can't just send *Ryale* to deal with it." There's an unfocused jab in there, struggling to find out whether it's aimed at Alax or Ryale, but Ven lets it wither without further clarification. Instead, she moves along, taking a... +

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

The scent of t'bac makes Alax's nose twitch, a reaction she can usually suppress. Before she comments on it properly her mind's swept up in the question. That's the issue with Avabush, always distracted. "There's some hiccup on deck," she says, "they've asked me to come up."

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... break, undertaken in an underutilized room away from prying eyes. The faint scent of t'bac still hangs on her, which makes the lie all the more ridiculous, and yet she brushes past it. "What about you? Shouldn't you be getting your *beauty sleep*?"

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

Running into Alax Sang isn't that unusual for Venlana. What *is* unusual is for it to happen at an hour like this. Normally by now, most people aboard the Ch'at Cssun'i have made their way to private quarters or personal ships or a barracks, and very few still roam the halls... +

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

[ @MaskOfThePoet ]
The fact that Alax wakes up when her comm pings is a miracle—once she's put Avabush in her system, it's at least three hours of deadened sleep. Waking up *is* a good sign. If anyone ever tries to kill her, she'll open her eyes in time to feel it.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... simply, without her usual sword at her side.

For a moment, she stands in slight surprise after they come face to face, but eventually she respond, simply stating "Fresh air." For inexplicable reasons, she's lying about this: she was actually on her way back from a smoke... +

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... briskly makes her way out of the room, leaving Alax to enjoy her new room in solitude once more.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

A beginning is better than nothing; though, at this point, she and Alax had more 'beginnings' than anything else. Maybe someday, one of them would stick, and they'd be able to figure out if they were doomed to kill each other, or if they could be something else; until... +

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

Alax has to accept that this is another beginning like all the others, and as with anything it requires time. This won't be perfect today, or tomorrow, or even months from now. Better to see it in small pieces—how a single change will shape the whole. That way it's not so ...

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... then, "Sang" sounded too impersonal, but "Alax" was far too familiar, so Ven sticks with the former. "Alright, Sang. You'll be hearing from me." Her sentence trails off, like it's missing an ending, and that's more emblematic of their lives than anything else as Ven... +

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... you've got here, Sang. Guess you'll be needing my help with it." This isn't a question, of course; Ven *will* be a part of this, even if Alax changes her mind.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

No doubt there'd be time to iterate on the room in the future; for now, they seem to have the bare minimum equipment they need. Ven digs through it all, taking inventory and occasionally pulling something from a box and setting it to the side.

At the end of it all, Ven's... +

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

"Tough love as always."

There's space for something more elaborate, like weight machines or treadmills. They'd be easier to maintain without crew members using them all day long, but Alax hasn't made the move yet. She likes the open space, more importantly the room to dance.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... sitting on the training mat on the floor, though she stands up before turning back to Alax. "How forward thinking." Saving time is one thing, but saving the pain and effort of slowly trudging to the medbay... that's worth more than gold. "This really is quite a project... +

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... away to inspect everything around the training floor, pushing Alax out of her mind as if they were no longer in the same room.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

Even with her sore arms, Ven wouldn't make things easy on Alax; still, there's not much to be learned from fighting a tired opponent. No, better to let this training room wait a bit for the perfect time to break it in. Ven glances at the divider, towards the small remaining... +

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

Should anything happen now, at least Alax has the advantage of Venlana's tired muscles. "It won't be so terrible anymore, now that I can crawl to bed after bruising my ribs." It helps that the shower's so close, too. No more long walks to recuperate. The only downside is the ...

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... living space that hides behind it, and savors the thought of kicking Alax's ass that bad in a fight. Somehow, the thought of throwing Alax to the ground filters into "Get used to it, because I won't be helping you to bed." Then, as if she hadn't said anything, she turns... +

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... next training session right now." It's not an idle threat; after all, Ven has nowhere else to be, and if Alax can be doing this then she's probably free too.

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

It's a fair assessment: if Ven just wanted to kill Alax, she would've gone for it by now, and moving their training to a private venue didn't give her any greater chance of actually getting away with it. Ven wasn't the only threat anymore, though, and it'd be a lot easier for...+

[tick tick boom @varmintchatter]

"It *has* been humbling." There's another facet to this, too—a fear of schemes. If Venlana wants her dead oh well, but if someone decides to challenge her again they'll be smarter about it this time. Watching her for vulnerabilities. The easiest way would be spying on her ...

[ᴠᴇɴ. @MaskOfThePoet]

... someone to kill Alax in a duel than an assassination. Ven has to admit it's a good idea, even if it won't stop her from poking fun—thus is the nature of their 'relationship', after all.

Speaking of... she rolls her eyes languidly. "Watch your tongue, or I'll start our... +