[sylvanSpider]

Mendez shrugged again, eating his crepes much more slowly, savoring each bite. It was exponentially better than the soup he'd had in Tysix with Atrix, and he assumed he'd better get used to that if they're going to continue going on dates where humanoids were on the menu. So the crepes were a godsend. “You know, he just might, actually. From what I've seen of him, he doesn't hold grudges very well, and he's got other things on his mind right now, gato. Who knows how long the pilot will be sleeping? She's already gone much longer than she should have without it. But you see, that's where you could come in if you wanted. The chica needs a back up. She can't just fly all the time. It'll break her.”

Magali paled, finally understanding what was in the bag and was so fortunately out of the room and already on her way to Fikri's room when the arm was ripped off of its former owner and thrust onto the table. Mendez sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Amor, you know that Rosalind won't appreciate this mess...We'll have to clean up after you eat. I'm ah...willing to help, but I don't know what can get Faleeshian blood out of uh...surfaces.” He tried to say this gently, but was afraid that Atrix wouldn't be pleased regardless. When he finished with the crepes he stood taking his plate as well as Nokra's and washing them.

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Fikri looked Riola with a small smile. He was right. Things weren't as terrible as they could be. Shit. Everyone could have been killed. Instead, it was just one. Numerically, it wasn't bad. Emotionally, Fikri wished it had been himself. If he had only been paying attention, it could have been him. It should have been him. What purpose was he serving prior to this anyway? It shouldn't have had to take a death for him to start being useful, to start making a difference.

“Yeah, I saw him all too clearly,” Fikri said, sighing. “I'm just hoping that because she and Hyun seemed to have something going on that I don't know...that he'd go easier on her or something.” He, unlike Riola, didn't snicker. She was one willing to own up to her mistakes, and that was rare in a person. More so in royalty. “It doesn't mean anything that she renounced it and is working on bringing her family down? I mean, I would think that's got to count for something, doesn't it? I mean, her fight is kind of similar to ours, if you think about it. It's true that the males on your planet have it worse, but my point is, she's not blind to injustices and is working on fixing them.”

The felis leaned back and looked up at the ceiling of his room, “But, if we do want to look at Hyun as a potential ally, you're going to have to get beyond your hatred for Ashi. Remember, we're looking for things that could compliment each other. We will lose if we don't have some solid allies with us.”

The smile was back though as the conversation shifted to the spider woman and her food that she played with. “Well, whatever it was, Mendez doesn't seem to mind it. The entire situation is just strange to me. If I was in his position, I'd run. Not going to lie. Death by Terskix sounds...well, it sounds...painful.” He smirked, “I could do that. But, I think I won't say it explicitly. Just, you know, heavily hint. Make him incredibly uncomfortable. Maybe make a painting of him and 'accidentally' leave it in his view.” He snorted, imagining the different reactions he'd get when a timid knock came at the door. It was so soft that he almost thought he was imagining things until it came again.

“Uh...come in?” Fikri said as more of a question than a beckon. When the female felis came in with a plate of sweets he could only blink in surprise.

The timid little creature with the food also blinked in surprise, “Ri-Riola! I thought you were sleeping, or I would have made you a plate as well!”

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“No, no, no! That's not what I meant at all!” Ashi said, snipping it without giving a countdown or anything so as to just get it out of the way and take any anticipation out of it. “What I mean is one that is so...so very beautiful and so strong.” She held the now disconnected piece of tendril in her hand, a bit of blood oozing out of the end, wondering what she was supposed to do with it. “Basically, you're everything that I could only ever dream of being,” the princess' voice was soft like she was imparting a secret that everyone already knew but didn't want brought up in attention again.

Heat flushed into Ashi's cheeks as the conversation took a turn toward the lewd and blinked at Hyun, not in surprise, but more wondering how she was going to react to that. Again, her mind was in the gutter, but she wasn't used to it being spoken out loud. Ladies were to be proper, after all. “I think that I would like to be clean--” Ashi said, gulping. “But I've ah...never been seen by anyone else.”

She shivered, Hyun's finger giving her goosebumps. “Well, no. But I'm quite agile when not...ah...like this. I'll...I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll exercise more.” Ashi looked down, shamefaced.