[sylvanSpider]

For the moment, Mendez was content. No, he wasn't fond of the way his love was treated on this planet, but knowing Atrix, she was probably used to it. Racism against the Terskix wasn't unique to Verdaqua, and it was something that he now had to adjust to. Standing on his toes, he looked down at the small crack, running his finger on the outside of it. “I'll go with you,” he said at some length after getting back down to his level, “You'll be harder to harass if there's a member of a different species around backing you up. Is...is shedding hard? I can care for you when you go to shed if you'd like.” The anatomical processes that Atrix had to go through were another thing requiring adaptation. Her entire physiology was different from everything he grew up knowing about women of more humanoid races, and he wanted to learn if only to make both their lives easier. He grabbed one of her hands, “C'mon, mi alma, let's go get you fixed.”

The future hung suspended on unstable strings for Magali as well. She'd spent her entire life serving one purpose as well, and as far as actual skills went, charisma was perhaps the one thing she had going for her. There were none that hated the female felis that she could think of, earning admiration from just about everyone that she'd ever met. It made her a popular choice at the club. She thought of Fikri and how he'd been used in similar ways to her, but when he spoke, he sounded intelligent. He was well-articulated and the one chance she had to look at his journal, she saw that it wasn't written in common. He spoke at least two languages, and she wondered how he did it. If he was a sex slave, like her, where had he learned all that he had? Maybe he would be her gateway to finding out what she could do. “I...well, my clothes were fancy. But now? Not so much...I'll clean them as much as I can I guess,” she said, then added smiling, “But it doesn't matter! We'll get new clothes eventually, and we can now! We're free!” She wrapped Nokra up in another hug, breaking it only to keep her hands on Nokra's shoulders beaming at him, “I think you still can make friends with them. Fikri seems nice, I'm sure he'd be willing to talk to you.”

The mention of the Terskix made Magali look down and she shook her head, “No. No, she's not bothering me. I've ah...I've seen hungry Terskix. I've been with hungry Terskix – you saw what happened that night – and she didn't seem like she was going to eat me.” She fidgeted where she stood for a moment before plastering on another slightly less genuine smile on, “If anything, she's being nice to me. She's been treating me almost the same as she treats that red-haired man. The one with the hair on his face. But, if things ever look bad, I will let you know, alright?”

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A full-hearted belly laugh came from Rosalind, ever the sucker for puns and she leaned in to embrace the Edensian, resting her head on his shoulder, “He's a quick learner, that lad. Ah'd love t'see what 'e can do with practice an' a good stress-free lesson. It also means ah might get a chance t'rest once in a while. Spend some time with the man I've been pinin' over since 'e boarded.” She broke the embrace to plant a kiss on his cheek. “That pilot won't say no to some good freshly brewed coffee an' a nap.”

The topic turned serious again and Rosalind found herself sighing, “There's one good thing 'bout 'er though. Everyone thinks she's a goner. No one but the king's goons and the shits from Edensia are huntin' for 'er. That...an' we got a good portion' o' the king's coffers at our disposal now, provided Hyun continues t'share.” She shook her head, breathing in deep through her nose, “There's a lot t'think of, but ah think if anyone can find out what the princess is thinkin', see if she's makin' 'er grand reveal or what have you, ye'd be the one t'do it. But, for now, let's put all that behind us an' spend some much desired time together, aye?”

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Ashi cringed under that glare, despite having many more things to cringe at. The room was cold as was evidenced by certain features on her body. She wanted to curl up, wrapping her arms around herself. She wanted to be behind her piano, letting her fingers dance across imported Earthen keys. She wanted to think about anything but the people chasing her, anything but the lives that had been lost because she was in their presence. She was at a loss as to how to respond to Hyun's words and she closed her eyes for a moment trying to decide how to respond. “I'm...I'm glad to have met her. I just...I wish things ended differently. I wish they could have seen how harmless she was, left her alone. I won't...I won't offer myself up. And I'm not going to reveal that I'm alive yet. That right now would do more harm than good. We need to plant seeds first, get organized. We've lost so much already; we need to be smart about where to go from here.” She stopped to look up at Hyun as she attempted to subtly cover her chest with her good arm.

“Scrubs would be fine, anything to cover up once I'm out. Do you...do you know if this place has any modest clothing stores or anything like that? If not, we'll get our chance someday,” she mustered a laugh and immediately regretted it, her face recontorting to a wince, “Well, I'm thankful you like me at my worst, here's hoping you like me at my best, right?”