thefirebringer | It's business time (for xevslave)

It's business time (for xevslave)

Upon getting Xev's note, Lansil was expecting some kind of surprise. Knowing Xev, it probably wasn't a bad surprise- it was unlikely as hell she was setting him up for assassination, for example- but he rather suspected she wanted to catch him off-balance.

So when he set the meeting place, he wanted to make sure it was a good spot to catch her off-balance as well. (Besides, he had an image he had to maintain for her, right?) Thus it was that he booked a reservation in a favorite resort, sending back the invite to Xev with his reply. At the moment, he found himself relaxing in the lounge, kicking back in a memory chair at one of the panoramic view-windows that overlooked the scene outside.

Really, he was looking forward to sharing it with some company.

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She arrived a moment later, walking over with the normal sway to her hips, coming to finally slide into a chair opposite his. She looked well, at ease and confident. If she was off-balance she hid it well.

On the inside, though, she was bouncing a bit. The surrounding did its part, sure, but so did some recent events.

"Hi, Lans," she said, leaning her elbow on the table and stretching her long legs out under it. "It's been a while. How've you been?" Some brief small-talk before they got down to business. She hoped they would get down to business.

"Xev." He raised his snifter with a smile, saluting her with it. "I'm all the better for seeing you again. We'll have to keep it from being so long, this time." Lans went ahead and poured her a measure as well, just taking the chance to enjoy.

"You're certainly looking to be in good spirits; I take it things have gone well for you?" That little gleam in her eye just seemed impossible to suppress; she was up to something, all right. He just hoped it was as good as she thought it was... and that she was willing to stick around afterward.

She was indeed up to something. She picked up the glass, smiling even as she sipped the liquid. It was good, wonderful even. Too bad she was too wound up to savor it. Maybe later.

"They have," she said, a wicked, pleased gleam in her eyes as she leaned further forward, closer to Lansil. "I need to show you something." Ah, to hell with small-talk. She really couldn't wait to tell him. "I need to show you something." She held up her hand, and for a moment light played over her palm, shimmering and twisting under her skin. "Can you guess what this is?"

Oh, she does look like the cat that had gotten the cream and the canary, all right. But what was she so pleased about with that moment of iridescence? He'd seen something similar in diseases, and in other places as a fashion statement; this must be something different, but what?

Well, he'll set up a passive disease-barrier, just in case. Xev probably wouldn't like it if he tried giving her a proper examination, so... "Not a clue. It certainly looks pretty on you, though."

Hmm, would she be like that all over?

Disease? Humph! If she'd known that line of thinking, she would have been insulted.

"This means that The Lexx has a new captain!" She grinned a Cheshire grin and leaned back, smacking a kiss to the center of her palm before picking the glass up again and draining it in one long swallow. "I finally got the key again, and this time I'm going to keep it."

Yes, well, she'd never seen anyone consumed by the swirling lights inside them, as if all the starry universe was contained in their flesh... and then didn't stay contained.

Still, that news got him to pause. And to blink.

And then, a slow-coming grin. "So you did it! That's some of the best news I've heard for awhile. Any plans to just kick up your heels before you settle down to business- or have you done that part already?" Oh, she's totally getting a wink there.

"I, um... Needed some time to recover. After getting the key." She really didn't want to say what she had to do to get it. Ugh! "But now that I feel like myself again, I though that maybe, maybe, it's time we talked some business. And that, maybe, you'd want to come aboard for a little tour?"

Okay, say no more; we all have some things we don't want to share. But it's her next words that got him leaning forward, an answering gleam in his eye. "Well, now. I'm always up for some... negotiating. But maybe the tour should come first?"

The way he said that, negotiating, it made her smile in anticipation. Knowing Lansil, negotiating a deal would probably be quite a pleasurable thing. Not that she was just going to give him everything he wanted just because he could, ahem, keep up. No, absolutely not. Stay sharp, Xev. But she could still enjoy him, right? "You think so?"

Oh, he likes that smile, that smile means there's a good chance of fun in the offing. If he were any less of a gentlebeing he'd be leering...

But he does pride himself on having class, so he'll ogle far more discreetly. "I'd like to see what I'm in for before signing on the dotted line, at least. But maybe we should work out a few... kinks before that point." Lansil leaned back in his chair, artlessly posed in a way that showed his body to advantage; it's just unfair if he's the only one who's getting hot under the collar, you know.

She leaned forward even more, elbow on the table and her head propped up with her chin on her knuckles, tracing a finger of her free hand slowly along the rim of her now empty glass. "What kind of... kinks... do you have in mind?" She was far less discreet with her ogling, really didn't see the point of discretion. She'll devour him with her eyes best she pleased. It wasn't like he didn't already know that she found him attractive, and she couldn't care less about what other people thought.

He'll pour her another measure, taking a sip from his own glass before looking her over with heavy-lidded eyes. "Just a chance to spell out the terms of our business relationship, making plain what I want from you, what you desire from me. It's important to know your desires, wouldn't you say?" His voice went low and smoky at the last sentence, suggesting all sorts of things he wanted from her; it's growing harder and harder to think in terms of contracts and agreements.

"Mmmh, it's very important to know what one desires," she agreed. They both knew what they were talking about, but pretending and speaking between the lines, in the silences between words? That was fun. It build up the anticipation.

She picked up her refilled glass taking a long, slow sip. "So should we go on with the tour, then? I'm sure you want to see all there is to see. The bridge, The galley. All the storage spaces. The sleeping quarters, and all the other... goods." She gave him an impish smile, and a wink.

Edited 2012-10-20 12:57 (UTC)

Finishing off his own glass and setting it down with a practiced twist of the wrist, he stood and adjusted his opulent robes ~~perhaps hiding a certain inconvenience in the process~~, before offering her his clawed hand with a subtle smile. "Oh, you can be certain I'd like to handle your goods as much as I may, dear Xev. But as you said, the tour first- and I'm up for it when you are."

Anticipation was the key, building eagerness, building tension. And when it came time for their release, it's remarkable how intense such an experience can be.

She gave a bit of a laugh and stood up as well, taking a hand. "Come on then. I have a moth waiting."

It was indeed a biomechanical bug there waiting for them, large enough that they could both fit comfortably inside it. They left the resort and the spectacular waterfall behind as Xev steered the moth with experienced ease to the far side of a nearby moon where Little Lexx was waiting. It truly looked alive, more so than its predecessor had, with all it's spindly legs and moving tail. "The original Lexx was much larger," Xev said as she steered the moth to the docking bay. "But Little Lexx is still growing. I see changes in him just about every day."

They entered through a narrow corridor where membranes closed behind them. An air-lock. The corridor exited to a cavernous room where other moths stood, waiting and ready to be taken out.

"This way. I thought we'd start with the bridge." She led him through more corridors. Where the old Lexx had looked to be made of flesh and metal, the new Lexx lacked the metal. Hard, gleaming chitinous material gave it structure instead, and it was very clear that they were walking inside a living thing.

The bridge was almost as large as the docking bay had been, but mostly empty. The frontal wall was covered in rounded clear windows that allowed a good view to the space outside. In the middle of the room was a large, throne-like construction, stretching all the way from the floor to the high ceiling. The Captain's seat.

Could they both fit comfortably in that moth? Oh, absolutely. Did that stop Lansil from pressing up close behind her? Not a chance.

He nodded as the bug-ship came into view, looking... well, looking like a giant ship-insect of the sort he'd only heard of from elves before. "It's certainly an experience unlike any other, I've no doubt. Did your little Lexx grow this flittering conveyance as well? I'm none too familiar with bio-ship building."

Not that that stopped him from appreciating the finer points of the tour, of course. It was interesting to see how biological components were used to perform the functions he was used to machines for... and most of it made its own bizarre kind of sense.

But he couldn't help but chuckle when they got to the bridge, cavernous and over-throned as it was. "I take it whoever designed this setup had a rather grandiose opinion of themselves, eh?"

"Flittering conveyance? Oh, you mean the moth? It did, yeah. Back on the old Lexx we had moth builders making them, but Little Lexx seem to handle it by itself." There were a lot of differences between the old Lexx and the new.

"Actually, I don't know if anyone really designed Little Lexx. It was born as the old died. The old one was designed, and a lot more mechanical. This one is more... organic? But it still has all the things a crew needs, so... Maybe it was somehow designed even if it was born." Xev really didn't know, but she didn't particularly care. It didn't seem important to her.

She turned her head up a bit. There were no particular point used to interact with the Lexx, but it just felt right to look up. "Lexx?"

"Yes, captain?" The voice was a bit high-pitched, almost childish and very calm and level. Artificial.

"How are you today?"

"I am starting to get hungry. I must eat soon."

"I'll find you food in just a little bit." She turned back to Lans and gave a little shrug. "It gets hungry quickly. I guess it's because it's growing."

He nodded thoughtfully, considering. "If the old was designed, and the new sprang from it, perhaps the core design came across as part of the, I guess you could say 'heritage'?" It was an interesting question, but really just an academic concern.

Much more relevant was the part where the ship could speak and have a mind of its own. That was something he'd generally tried to avoid; there's very little to do about a ship that might choose to turn against its own crew. He'd want a more expendable outlay than that, unless...

Well, 'unless' could be handled later. For now he'll look attentive- yet with a furrowed brow. "Regular feedings make sense, but if you told me what it eats I've forgotten. Does it need to eat organics in order to manage organic growth?"

Xev wasn't worried about the Lexx turning against its crew. It could speak, yes, but she didn't know if she could say it had a mind of it's own. Or rather, will of it's own. It would do everything its captain asked of it, including things that terrified it, or even when it didn't really have the energy to. They had asked a great deal of thing from The Lexx -at least the old one. She wasn't worried.

She nodded to Lansil's question. "Usually we just land of a suitable planet or planetoid and he'll eat his fill. If landing isn't possible, we can bring up food in the moths. We've done it before on the planet Water. Lexx was too weak to even move then."

See, these are things that it would be good to mention.

Ah, well. Her unflappability is well-proven, and hopefully well-founded; he hoped it wouldnn't be an issue. "Just land and it have at, then? How much food does it usually require?, and how often as a growing ship?" These were things worth knowing, but the key remains Xev herself. He could use some more of that tour, now.

She seemed to be on the same page as she set down another corridor, assuming that he'd follow. "Umm, about once a month or so at the very least. It makes sense to stock up on emergency rations if possible. Back with the old Lexx when it was just Kai and Stan and 790 and me, we never had the time to. We were always running for our lives, so... Food became an issue sometimes. And if the Lexx starves, we starve. It can't make food for us if it doesn't have any, itself."

Speaking of food, they arrived at the galley. The surroundings here looked more fleshy than the bridge and corridors had, more purple and red instead of the harder grays and blues. "Okay, so, I know most people don't find this appetizing at all, but it's really not that bad." She walked over to the far wall. There were something like a bench there, over which hung a... Well, something decidedly organic, a fleshy tube or hose. Xev picked up a semi-transparent bowl from the counter and held it under. "Lexx. Food, please." And so, out from the tube, came a thick, blueish goo. "It took a bit of getting used to, but it's very filling."

"Emergency organic rations for the ship... Hmm, let's see. It's probably a good idea to have at least 5 percent of the cargo capacity at any given time devoted to said rations, if flavor and texture aren't an issue then I could get some slab rendered for the job..." Lansil's brain started clicking through the calculations of cost-efficiency as they walked together, the scaled back of his hand occasionally brushing against her own. By the time they arrived at the galley, he'd come up with a good line to pursue and was ready to be amazed anew...

And indeed he was, given the way her food was shaped and, shall we say, 'dispensed.' Does that mean she's been basically living all this time on an insect's...? Not that it caused him more than a moment's pause; Great-Grandpa knew he'd seen weirder. (Not much weirder, admittedly, but that's beside the point.)

A clawed finger poked at the blue goo, seeing how it reacted. "Looks efficient, sure; depending on the crew, I can see more work with rations being an issue. But how does it taste?" He dipped his claw into the bowl, coming up with just enough to get an idea of the flavor; it slipped into his elongated mouth with a contemplative look.

"Lexx eats anything as long as it's organic, but it seems it prefers things high in protein. Meat. The first Lexx was fed from the protein bank at the Cluster when it was growing. Actually, that was all the protein bank did: feed the Lexx."

As for the crew's food, the blue goo. It was one of those things that was hard to place. It wasn't good, nor was it horrible. As long as you could get past the consistency and where it had come from, it was perfectly edible. But it did not invite for seconds.

"Maybe some rations for the crew would be good, too," she mused. She could eat the go without complaining. She was used to it. But she could easily see how the morale of a crew could be easily improved by having something additional, something actually tasty in their diet.

"So the ship isn't a connoisseur, thankfully; that would make things a lot more complicated." He nodded, considering. "I know a few bug-folk who would work plenty well enough off such fare, but to meet your standards I'd think a ship's cook and some equipment and material to work with would be necessary. Is there anywhere on the ship where a stove could be made up without bothering the ship's insides with its smoke?" Food issues for the crew were one of the perennial reasons to gripe, along with booze and lack of women; even if he kept them from needing to eat, that would only make them more focused on the booze and women part. Hardly something to force on Xev.

Though that did bring up another point. "Considering how you're used to this stuff as a standard- do you find it makes you appreciate luxury foods more when you can get them?" He might be able to sweeten the deal with some more in the way of fancy meals, you know.

"You know, I have no idea." There had never been any incidents that had caused smoke on the old Lexx, at least not in any large quantities, and never on Little Lexx either. "I guess we'll simply have to run a test or three to see how it reacts."

His other question brought a smile to her face. "Oh, you know me... I always make sure to enjoy different things when I get a chance to."

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It's business time (for xevslave)

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Gah, I'm sorry. I thought for sure I had replied to this.

Hey, it happens to us all!

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