Have Paws, Will Travel

[huntressofworlds]

“Haha. I told you that thing would never hold!” Cel giggled with her paw over her face, looking across the room at one of her fellow researchers who was currently covered in a green bio-gel dripping down his head and all over his furry face. She simply couldn’t hold back the large grin that spread near ear to ear, displaying some of her crisp white dental features. Her tail bounced back and forth as she let her paw down and reached for a cloth that was covering a few items and handed it over towards the male so he could start wiping the gunk off.

She snickered a bit and went to retrieve the bits and parts that had flung apart from the newest failure in design. This was the part she genuinely loved the most about research and development, getting to make mistakes, get messy. Of course it wasn’t her that was messy as much as her young assistant Deryk. The young male had a great capacity for generating up ideas, though the fabrication of which could still use some work.

Picking up a few of the gel coated pieces she was momentarily grateful she was wearing gloves over her paws, holding them out she headed back for the counter and dropped them into a small plastic tray. Looking down at them she canted her head a bit, reassembling the device best she could though more than a few of its bits had sheered off and/or broken.

“I know you hate the newest model, but if you’ll retrofit this with the new containment cell it can probably handle the stress of the energy you’re wanting to run through it.” Celeste pointed out, looking back towards the young cat that had managed to get most of the green from his face, though he had missed a noticeable spot right above his eye. She chuckled a bit and headed back towards him, taking an end of that cloth and helping him to wipe off the last bit, even with him giving her a bit of a pouting stare.

“Come on, it wont be that bad. Why don’t you go get showered and head home for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow after classes?” Cel questioned, perking her ears a bit. She gave a slight smile to the young intern as he affirmed such before returning his few tools back to the work bench and heading off through those automated doors that ruffled his fur up as he went through the blowers. It certainly had a unique look for him with that wet fur afterwards, sticking up all over. He glimpsed back to her and she could only smirk before he headed on out through the second set when the cycle was complete.

Cel shook her head a little bit and went back to cleaning up the mess and putting things away, stepping to the automated panel she called for a cleaner droid to come in and help clean up the remaining mess that had splattered on the floor. Cel on the other hand set about cleaning off the goo from the broken device. While it had to be rebuilt, she was never one for throwing anything away till the end of a project.

Once she’d cleaned it off she stepped into the storage locker and stuck it on a shelf next to various other projects in certain stages, each labeled and cataloged by the computer. Deryk’s project was no different. Finishing that she headed back to her office off of the main research area she’d been in, a large glassed in room, with perfect views of the lab surrounding it, elevated up just a bit and retrofitted with all kinds of the latest technologies and interfaces. Some that she’d designed herself as a matter of fact. Flipping up the protective lense of her goggles she sat in her chair with it’s distinctive V backing, cut out to allow her tail to nestle between the opening. She leaned back enough, accessing the holographic computer system that spread out over her terminal. Discarding her gloves into the trash receptacle beneath her desk she reached out, the interface responding to her movements as she started a log of her days activities. Working out the details of a few conclusions and a few ideas that had filled her mind through the day.

She had noticed that her data acquisition request had yet to be signed off on by Delun though, in fact, he hadn’t even read it yet. She wrinkled her feline nose a bit, whiskers twisting back and forth as she accessed the central database, querying the last time Delun Aldatan had logged into his office terminal. A few days, poo.

She bounced her tongue around in her mouth a bit in contemplation before she reached and tugged out a datapad, grasping the holographic requisition request and dragging it over to the pad, transferring it before logging out of her terminal. Standing up she stretched out a bit and looked to her time piece, maybe she’d grab dinner first on the way.

Taking her headset off she nestled it back into the docking station at her terminal so it could recharge. Turning off the lights as she padded down those steps towards the doors, and through them. Faced with the same air blast that Deryk had faced earlier she at least could pat her fur back down before stepping through those doors and sending a swipe of her flimsicard, locking the room down tight save for the cleaning droid which had it’s own entrance and exit to the room.

Heading down the hall she had a little bit of a bounce to her step, her tail bounced around behind her, and maybe even in her head she had a little bit of a tune. It would be a few minutes for her to cross the complex back to the security station where she could sign herself out for the day. When asked what she seemed so cheerful about she simply grinned, “Sushi night.” She explained. She could practically taste all the fresh fish in their rolls with little sauces. It was the one thing she looked forward to at the end the day starting the work week.

Heading on out through the grand entryway she headed towards the parking area. It had only been through some lucky contacts and a few favors that she’d gotten permitted to fly one of the things. For a civilian it was more rare, but there she was, climbing into her own personal aircar. Nestling herself in she secured her harness and brought the power up. Soon enough she had lifted off and was starting to head towards downtown. Accessing her musical database she soon had some audio entertainment as she followed the flight path laid out in the windscreen of the vehicle. Of course, thankfully, her singing wasn’t required to fly the thing, otherwise she would have surely perished. It didn’t stop her though, one of her favorite songs no less.

She managed to actually get through her song in it’s entirety before she brought her aircar in for a touchdown in a metered spot. Plunking in a few coins she locked up and was soon bouncing down the sidewalk towards her favorite restaurant. The wait wasn’t long at all and soon she was situated at a table by herself, drinking a nice glass of wine. Making her order selection was always the hardest, she always mulled over the menu for far longer than she really needed to, yet in the end always ended up ordering the same thing.

She looked down from her location on the second for of the restaurant, near the balcony so she could peer out over the other Kushari there, watching them eat, have their conversations. It was always fun to watch them and imagine what they were talking about. A game of sorts she’d been doing for years now. When her meal actually arrived, she fiddled with the two slender strips of wood, always seeming to have more trouble with them than they were worth with her big paws she finally mastered them and drew one of the first rolls into her mouth, the whole thing fit in perfectly, those powerful jaws chewed as the fresh flavor of the fish and veggies filled her senses. Was delicious as always, and perfectly done. It certainly didn’t take her long to devour the whole set and the side dish that came with it.

It was the perfect compliment to her glass of wine. Alright – who was she kidding, two glasses.

Dinner was everything she'd hoped it would be, the food was great, and it made her evening of course! Her bill paid for, with a generous tip as always she was on her way again after about an hour and half worth of time. Back at her aircar she'd decided she probably shouldn't drink and fly, no doubt her boss would kill her if she got into any trouble. Sticking a few more coins into the meter she'd walk off that fun little warmth that she felt through her body. Plenty of time to get that little buzz worn down. Walk to Delun's place wasn't all that far away, besides, she loved the exercise, ever staying fit with those long runs in the morning before work. Her ears stayed perked forward, listening to the sounds of the evening, there was nothing she didn't enjoy about being there, such a fun and inviting environment.

 

[huntressofworlds]

The jaunt through the ever bustling city was a invigorating one. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d set out on foot like this with the intention of traveling as far as she was about to, especially at night. Sure she ran often, and ran hard. But that was on a route, a track of sorts for sports, and physical conditioning. It wasn’t often she merely bounded around on foot like this, though she couldn’t honestly say why.

Her crisp blue eyes scanned the towering buildings around her, focusing on the rooms that had lights on. Her mind worked to imagine all kinds of possibilities going on within. There was much curiosity in the young Damarian female, perhaps it was only perfect that she found herself in a field where her curiosity could lead her, and she could explore so many new possibilities.

Her tail bounded around behind her, in rhythm of her pace as she let her eyes adjust to the decreasing light. Still an hour out or so before it would start setting. Good thing too, she’d need it considering the walk - Even at her faster than average pace. Still the walk was fun, was still cool out, the air filled her lungs and heightened her senses a little bit. Such nice long full breaths, then.. She wrinkled her nose and tensed a bit, maw parted to show her fangs just slightly before she sneezed out. Her hand rubbed at her soft pinken nose slightly before her tongue flicked out and across it. Silly dust.

That time transpired quickly as her feet carried her out of the downtown district and towards the residential areas. Her eyes bounced among the houses, houses she’d flown over a few times in the past. Getting to see them close up and in person as she looked along the expensive structures. Sleek, modern, some even featured art out on the grassy areas nearest her. Her nose picked up all kinds of scents, though she was careful not to inhale too deeply, least it send her into another sneezing fit.

She greeted a few of her fellow felines as they took note of her, sent her greetings, both in hellos, and waves. She lingered at a unique statue nearest the sidewalk, admiring the workmanship that had gone into it. Had crafted, no real direction to it. A beautiful chaos of metal curves and shapes. Her eyes looked beyond it finally, up towards the impressive abode that loomed over it. One day maybe she’d have a nice big fancy house like that, get to spend her time making art and displaying it on a lawn of her own one day.

Soon enough she continued on her way, last thing she wanted was the home owner within to find some stranger out in front of their home staring at their stuff. Best she continue onward. Delun’s home was somewhere around here, she couldn’t remember exactly where though, she’d never really gone there on foot before, always flown in and let the auto-piloting program take her there.

She’d spend the remainder of her daylight wandering down the street till she finally spotted the Alda Residence. It was dark, her grin at finding the place faded quickly as her tail stopped it’s bounce, those blue sapphires scanned the exterior of the place, Delun’s aircar was missing, she frumped a little bit. The closer she came the more she realized that it looked as if no one was home yet. She exhaled out a bit, looking to her datapad and then back towards the abode. A slight twitch of her nose as she tried to determine where she could leave the pad. Was true she could leave it laying near the doorstep, but leaving company property with confidential access requests there for the public to see, well, that would probably get her more than a ear chewing by her boss.

As she approached the entry door she brought her paw up and pressed the chime and waited. Then she waited a little bit more, even with her ears perked she couldn’t hear any movement inside. Her eyes looked back to the paw-scanner there, tail twitching nervously as she wondered if her earlier access there was still valid. Had been awhile since Delun had asked her to bring those reports to his house, leave them on the table just inside the door he’d told her. No one had been home that time either, she gave a slight chew onto her lower lip in contemplation, tip of her pinken tongue sticking past as she held her breath and brought her paw up, pressing it to that pad and let that beam scan over it.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall had the Aldatan house all to himself.

Delun had decided to take his family out. A road trip or some other delightfully familial activity. Keller'd taken off to see his family. Nadzir was lurking about somewhere, but she hardly counted - the fiery little snow-furred Makuran was still recovering from wounds suffered on Tatooine, and so was fast asleep in the cockpit of one of the recce mechs kept in the workshop. Her choice of sleeping arrangements was a bit odd, though he could hardly judge. In the war he'd slept in all manner of uncomfortable places that, at the time, seemed the height of luxury. Sleep truly was the key to happiness, and he'd happily vouch for that.

The feline'd made good use of his day. A swim in the river cutting through the fields alongside the Aldatan estate. A bit of target practice on the shooting range. Nothing strenuous, just a bit of casual plinking with a target rifle and shotgun. He'd fiddled a bit with his armor. Opened it up and serviced all the synthetic muscle, tended to the jump jets and all the assorted systems responsible for keeping it working. He'd taken a quick drive into town and bought a few of his favorite snacks - savory rolls and pies from the open markets, and some new clothes. A pelt-trimming and conditioning at a specialist, along with a bit of care for his mane, and he was feeling quite good. It was a blessing that Del had left him with a bit of pocket change; it definitely gave Mohatu access to creature comforts he'd never had in the past.

He returned from town just in time to settle in for lunch. Jamall watched a bit of a show and lounged about like a lazy bum, then headed back to the workshop and tinkered with his gear some more. His rifle, in particular; while he didn't mind the plasma pulse rifle Delun had loaned him, he strongly preferred his own magnetic accelerator rifle. It felt better in his hands, though perhaps that was because he was used to it. He preferred ballistics - always had - but his rifle had been damaged badly in the crash that had landed him in Welais.

Speaking of which, he'd taken a little drone he found laying about the workshop and sent it flying on up to the wreckage to check on it. He wasn't terribly surprised, but was somewhat distressed regardless, to find that a swarm of Federation Soldiers still stood on-guard over that crash site. Not many, perhaps two dozen, but still enough to cause worry. At least he had no personal possessions aboard that ship; he'd been stationed on the Solace of Fire, not the Howling Dark whose service had come to such an ignoble end atop the mountains.

Hours ticked by. More fiddling passed, another swim in the river. He accidentally muddied himself quite badly while fooling about on an ATV in the orchard, thus convincing himself to get in water - again. A quick shower to set himself right as rain. As nobody was about and Nadzir hadn't stirred all day, the feline felt comfortable enough disrobing at the door and leaving all his things just inside the entrance. Jamall darted upstairs and took a shower. Something of a rushed one, admittedly. He only needed to rinse the mud from his pelt.

The warm water felt heavenly, regardless, and he took a bit longer in the shower than he probably needed. Either way he wrapped up in reasonably short order. A quick session in the vertical drier - a machine designed to blast a Kushari from head to toe with hot air to dry their pelt - saw his fur rid of water. The big cat slipped out and headed downstairs, black-tufted tail dancing behind him. He'd left his new clothes in a bag in the living room; he figured he'd dress in those, and so had only wrapped a towel around his waist. He was halfway down the stairs when the door softly chirped. The same sound it made when someone palmed the scanner outside the home and it granted access. There was an audible thunk as the door locks retracted and the door itself swung open.

He cursed under his breath - he didn't particularly fancy being caught near-nude. He turned on his heel to head back upstairs, started, and promptly slipped. Jamall's blue eyes widened to roughly the size of saucers as he went tumbling backwards, the big cat landing squarely on his butt and going skidding across the hardwood entrance of the home at a good speed. The visitor would, for a split second, see a massive, muscular cat go sliding past on his ass end, absolute shock and horror plainly visible on his features. His slide came to an abrupt halt when he collided soundly with a wall right next to a window.

He hurriedly scrambled to his feet. His towel'd gone missing - just past the door, in fact - and so in desperation he snatched the crimson drapes from the window and wrapped it around himself as though it were a toga. He wasn't entirely sure what would be worse - Delun stepping in, or a Federation soldier. At least the latter would end his embarassment in a hurry.

"Sorry! Sorry," he apologized, as the big cat clutched to the sheets protecting his modesty. He stepped back into the entrance hall as soon as he'd collected himself and offered up a broad, sheepish grin. It wasn't Delun - thank the gods - but rather, a very pretty Damarian woman. Given his view on Damarians, it was somewhat startling he could think of one as pretty. "...Can I help you?" he inquired, the feline's deep voice carrying that guttural Makuran accent quite heavily.

 

[huntressofworlds]

Celeste had not a thought that she would be presented with a big skidding Makuran sliding right past her and thudded into the window nearest to her. If Jamall’s eyes had become as big as saucers, well Celeste’s must’ve been plates by then. Surely there was a moment of shock for the small Damarian standing there in the door. Her paws had carried her in far enough that the door sensors had shut it back behind her, at least avoiding displaying a big pile of feline fur in the buff to the outside world, though she certainly would’ve thought it more humorous to see Jamall’s rump pressed up against the window as he snatched those drapes and hid them around his body.

Cel’s maw parted just slightly, her nose twitched and for a moment she didn’t know what to say, what to do. It wasn’t until the big Makuran scrambled to his feet, issuing that accented apology that it drew a slight pinkness to her ears as she grinned just a bit watching the big male clutch those coverings around himself in modesty, though failing at it a bit. She stepped forward into the room a bit more, bending down and letting her hand retrieve the towel that had been promptly discarded just at the base of the stairs.

Looking to it and then back to Jamall she grinned a bit larger and extended it back towards him, her head canted just a bit to the side as she set those sapphire colored hues on him. “You.. um.. dropped this..”

Celeste’s tail bounced back and forth behind her, there wasn’t a chance in all the galaxy that she’d be able to resist yanking the towel back if the big Makuran reached for it. Though that certainly brought up a good point in her mind, he certainly wasn’t a full blooded Damarian, even if he did have striping. Her eyes examined over him a bit, that tufted tail was what really gave it away though. But he had asked her a question though didn’t he?

Her nose drew in a deep breath before she finally replied, almost smirking as she stood eye to eye to the mostly nude male, “I’m sure you can..” she answered, pivoting her head a bit, drinking in the big muscular cat's build and coloring. He was hot, so far as being well built, sculpted, even his coloring lent its accents to making him look more fiercesome, at least to the young tigress standing there before him, she didn't attempt to hide her eyes path as they outlined him. She'd never seen a Makuran before, at least, not in person. Soon she returned with a question of her own, might’ve been less than proper for her to ask him such, but her feline curiosity certainly was getting the best of her.

“You’re not from here are you?” she questioned, though it was more than obvious with Jamall’s accent that he wasn’t, so she quickly clarified. “ I mean.. not Damarian?” she asked, letting her tail curl around her side, a paw coiling around it in a bit of uncertainty. Oh now the thoughts came racing into her mind. Did Delun know he was here? She didn’t think he’d be strutting around Delun’s house nude otherwise though. But what was her boss doing with.. with.. one of his kind holed up there?

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Zis is a Makuran town," Jamall replied softly. "It is you who are not from here. I vas raised here."

He paused a moment. There was no reason to tell her anything - she was Damarian. They'd been his enemy for as long as he could remember. But Delun, a half-Damarian, had shown him endless kindness. He was married to a Makuran, lived in a town filled end-to-end with Makurans. Now that he thought on it, it was actually quite odd that she'd already picked his race out. For the most part, Makurans were visually identical to baseline Kushari, merely shorter. And he was hardly short.

His sable-tufted tail curled up to touch his shoulders, then began to flick and dance about behind him as the cat took a few steps closer to the obviously nervous female. Her body language spoke volumes as to her state of mind, and he decided that, if nothing else, he should at least assure her that he wasn't about to rend her limb from limb with his bare hands. "Samanya und Suri are my sisters. Delun is letting me stay a vhile to spend time with zem," he explained. Judging by the woman's datapad she was likely working for - or with - Mr. or Mrs. Aldatan, and so knew the two young women whom the couple had 'adopted'. Samanya was hard to miss; she spent her days working down at Alda Industries. She had a talent for machinery, particularly of the naval variety.

Jamall's heavy hand stretched out to gently seize the towel. "You did not have to pick zat up. I vould have gotten eet," he remarked, the big male taking advantage of his relative proximity to Celeste to give her a quick once-over. She was pretty, there was no denying that. A lovely lady if ever there was one, and as pretty as he'd thought when he first saw her. Soft curves and intricate striping, striking coloring, and a nice taste in clothing. She was quite easy on the eyes, that was certain.

"I should introduce myself, ya?" He offered up a thin, sheepish smile. "I am Jamall Mohatu. Vhat is your name, miss...?"

 

[huntressofworlds]

Awkward couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling that settled over her when Jamall pointed out the town and that really she was the outsider. Her ears drooped back a little, tail lowered a bit, perhaps looking a bit out of place herself now before she looked from side to side, much like she was ready to bolt for a place to hide. At least Delun hadn’t been around to hear her question, though hopefully he would’ve known it was mere curiosity than discrimination. Gods, what if the Makuran before her told?

Her attention quickly refocused back on him again and her ears perked forward, by then he’d nudged himself a bit closer towards her, already towering over her she found her gaze averted upwards as she gave him a bit of a nod, a slight swallow as he told her just how deeply she was getting herself into trouble by her little Makuran question. She was totally getting fired!

“Oh yes..” she finally replied, thinking up a quick compliment, “Very smart young women. Probably take after their big brother I assume?” she grinned a bit, ah yes, that was the stuff, a little more of that and maybe he’d forget her silly question all together. She inhaled a breath, filling her lungs with Jamall’s scent as he neared, reached out, and attempted to seize the towel.

Making good on her promise to pull it back towards her she smirked a bit, taking a glimpse towards it then back to Jamall’s blue eyes with her own, perhaps even catching those roaming eyes before she brought the towel back and placed it in Jamall’s palm, though she didn’t quite let go of it right away. In fact she kept snug hold of it as her tail swayed just a little bit in playfulness.

“Celeste Delmar.” She replied back in kind, “I’m one of the Researchers at Alda Industries.” She explained with a bit of a grin of her own, “I came to get Delun’s signature on a document..” she finally revealed, taking a glimpse towards the datapad she held in her other hand before she gave an even bigger slyer smirk as she looked back up to Jamall again.

“Though I didn’t expect I’d get quite an…impressive… welcome right through the door.”