Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 2:57 pm Post subject: Ghosts and Wine: Ishale, possible curious crewmates
Glass of wine in hand, Xerxes stopped to take a good look at her room.
It wasn't as luxurious as her previous residence, but she felt much more comfortable. No blind spots, spacious, and little possibility of breaking anything. The walls were smooth and looked strong, though a little bare at the moment. Not to worry, she smiled. Next shore leave, she'll definitely take care it.
The basics were unpacked. The bed was made, desk cleared of dust and now home to her stereo and Venus fly trap (something she had to smuggle off-world). Asides from folding and reorganizing the mountain of clothes that she brought with her, all she had left to do was set up the corner.
Pulling out the box, the mercenary opened the box and stared at its contents. Pictures, candles, offering plates- it was all there, and then some. Sighing, she turned up the pop station and set to work.
Xerxes had been the first to arrive; admittedly, she'd seemed the most excited to join her crew, and Ishale would be lying if she'd said she wasn't happy for the company. Pulling her jacket back on, the woman made her way down the small staircase from her room to the hall where the other crew members had their bunks. The lock on Xerxe's door was green, but she still hesitated before knocking. It would take a while before she got used to being around these people.
She stopped unpacking her box once she heard the knock at her door. Paranoid, she waited a few moments to see if she had imagined the sound. When the captain called out to her, she swore under her breath.
"Just a moment," she called out. This was to be her first impression of how she lived. Running around in "skimpy" clothes may push the buttons, but she wasn't about to sacrifice comfort within her own living quarters. A tank top and shorts covered enough, anyways, and socks and shoes were irritants indoors. Scanning the room, she grabbed her holodiary and threw it under her mattress. The clothes that were thrown carelessly across the floor were scooped up and dump unceremoniasly in a box. Turning down the stereo, Xerxes smoothed her hair, now let down to let her head breathe, and opened the door.
"Hey Boss," she smiled. "Come on in." The woman motioned for her employer to follow her in as she returned to her desk, pulling out another glass. "Would you like something to drink? I've got plenty to go around."
Ishale flashed a shy smile as she slipped in to the room, looking around almost bashfully. It was bizarre to have other people in the hunk of junk she called her ship; she was going to have to put forth effort to get to know them, something she wasn't really quite sure how to go about. Checking in on the merc seemed like a good start, however.
"That depends on what you're drinking," she answered, wrinkling her nose. "I've not had much in the ways of alcohol that I've really liked. I just don't have a taste for it, I guess."
She popped the cork and poured a little of the alcohol into the new glass. "That was my first reaction to alcohol as well. But, a little taste won't hurt." As she handed the glass to the captain, Xerxes added, "It's a vintage wine from Earth, from what I remember. It's a little strong, so sips are best to start if you're new to it."
She pulled out the chair from her desk and slid it over to the captain. "Here, sit down and make yourself comfortable." She then flopped onto her bed and smiled. "What can I do for you today?"
Ishale sat down, pulling her legs up to sit indian-style rather than sit in the chair "properly". "I just wanted to come check up and see how things were coming," she said, taking a sip of the wine apprehensively. She grimaced briefly when the flavors exploded on her tongue, but after the initial sting, it wasn't that bad. Strong, heady, but not bad.
As she let the flavors linger in her mouth, the box of odds and ends caught her eye, especially the pictures and plates sticking out. It seemed like a strange combination, and she was pretty sure she could make out candles in there too. "That's an odd group of things," she said, nodding to the box in question.
She followed her gaze over to the box with her altar items. Cat's out of the bag, now. Rolling off her bed, she went and brought the box for Ishale to look at.
"It's my 'death box'," she joked as she started to pull out the photos. "Whenever I have personal space, I set up an area for people that have died, gone on to the next journey, or whatever you like to believe." She pulled out a turian model- generally a child's toy, but repurposed- and smiled lovingly at it as she dusted its back. "Squadmates, heroes, family- they're all in there, waiting to come back out to keep me company."
Reaching in next, a corner of Illick's picture peaked through. She frowned; he wasn't dead, but it felt like he was half the time. Maybe she won't notice that the turian's picture was a bit more recent than the others. She rummaged through and pulled out a photo of her last squad. "Some of them aren't even dead. These guys were a hoot," she laughed. "Best drinking friends I ever had."
It made Ishale's stomach twist in knots to think about the people in her own past. It made her feel a bit pathetic; Xerxes had surely mourned the passing of many team and squad members, whereas she'd only buried her mother. "It's a nice idea," she said, swirling the wine around in her glass.
She had no pictures of her mother, so even if she'd a mind to, she couldn't have a special area dedicated to the fragile woman who'd died trying to protect her from her father. "I've not lost many people close to me; only my mother. It would be nice to have a shrine like that for her."
"You should try it," Xerxes encouraged. "I tend to use a big space, but that's probably because I tend to go over-the-top with things. Even a small corner will do."
The woman felt bad for her captain. She personally had never known her birth mother, but her grandmother was the closest thing she had. Not getting closure or some sort of peace can be dangerous, and had Xerxes down a bad path for a while. "Do you have anything of your mother? Doesn't have to be a picture. Piece of clothing, a letter- anything that reminds you of her can work."
Ishale took a bigger swallow of the wine than she'd intended, and although her eyes watered, the burn was welcome. It would be easy to lie, probably in her best interest. But sometime, she would eventually have to try to open up to someone.
"My mother was killed when I was a young teenager," Ishale said, biting her lip. "Shortly after her death, my father burned all her things. I didn't think to try and get any of her things."
"Oh." Xerxes's eyebrows gathered in concern. That sort of history didn't match up with the captain's appearance. Then again, neither did the fact that krogans were out for her head. The merc didn't know how to handle monstrous news like this. She had been repressing outrages and distraught emotions for years, but she did feel very sorry for her boss. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed the wine bottle and filled Ishale's glass, then her own.
"I'm very sorry to hear that." She took a big swig of her own wine to help calm down the growing panic in her stomach. " It would be a waste not having something up for her. I'm sure your mother was a great woman, and you obviously care a lot for her."
She looked down to her box, and then scanned the other boxes in her room. "If you're interested, I can teach you how to set one up and how to maintain it. You can even take some of my stuff to start."
Ishale sipped her recently refilled drink, finding that the taste was rather growing on her. Or was the becoming inebriated? She'd never really even been buzzed before, never had enough liquor in her system, but it was a pleasant, floaty kind of sensation. She really couldn't hold her alcohol, could she?
"I'd appreciate that," the woman replied after what was probably a slightly too long pause. "I still remember things about her, like her favorite flowers and the perfume she used to wear," an image of a black-clad woman smelling faintly of jasmine and sandalwood and a to-sad smile flashed through her mind.
Xerxes immediately dove into her boxes. "Scents, scents," she muttered as she tore apart her things. She had packed the incense last minute, and surprise!- they were not where she thought they were. Having dumped the "death box" unceremoniously with no luck, the mercernary continued to talk to herself absently.
"Smells are fantastic to work it. Lavender, sage, and sandalwood- they work like a charm. The room smells great for hours. Not good for allergies, though. One time, a turian ran away from my apartment once he realized what had burned in the room. Shame, though."
On that note, she stood up, bundles in hand. Grinning, she headed back towards her employer. "He was a particularly fun one," she said, finishing her train of thought as she handed her incense packs to Ishale.
"Anyways, these are basics for me. You're welcome to pick and choose what you'd like. If you end up not liking to use incense, you can use oils, but we'd have to wait for next shore leave to stock up."
Ishale gingerly took the offered sticks from Xerxes's hand. The first whiff of the strong scents made her sneeze, so she decided it would be prudent to smell the sticks one at a time. Most of them were unfamiliar and just too strong for her to distinguish easily. But eventually, she stumbled across a single stick of sandalwood. It was stronger than what her mother had worn, but it made her stomach twist and a warmth fill her from head to toe.
"You don't have any jasmine, but this reminds me of the perfume she used to wear," the commander said eventually, handing the rest of the scents back. "If you don't mind, maybe you could help me find some oils when we dock next. We're heading for Erebus, a small human colony on the moon Europa. I have some contacts there who would be willing to give us work."
"Excellent choice. Jasmine's an easy one to get, so we can get you stocked easily. And of course I don't mind," Xerxes added, smiling. " I amgetting you into this mess in the first place."
She paused and chewed on her lower lip, thinking on what to do next. Burning the scents was the easy part, but what about actual ceremony? Burn things, greet them, feed them...Hell, I will just show her, she concluded.
She normally did it privately. Some of the faces were still a bit painful to look at, but time had allowed her to hold things in place in front of company. Plus, she can do the really private things later, if she became too uncomfortable. Xerxes gathered her things into a pile, getting them ready for placement. "Tell you what. I was actually getting ready to put my altar up when you came. Would you like to set it up with me?"
Ishale hesitated before answering. This was the sort of thing she wouldn't feel comfortable doing in front of other people. Her relationship with her mother wasn't a normal one; she was one of only two other people she knew existed most of her life. She'd clung to the woman, desperately, for she was the one who'd bandage her arm and wipe her tears and kiss her forehead when she was fighting off the effects of the drugs. Her mother had been her angel, and she'd almost killed herself after she died. Anything that had to do with the woman provoked a strong emotional response from her.
"Only if you're comfortable with it," she answered in length, studying her glass carefully. "It seems like a private sort of thing, so I'd hate to intrude."
Xerxes winked at her captain. "No worries. I'm just getting the guys set up, anyways." In several swoops with her arms, the mercenary swept all of the things into the box, which she then lifted up.
"Come on over." She motioned with her head for Ishale to follow her and began to hobble to the corner. Normally it was a bit easy to carry things, but the wine was a little stronger than she had anticipated. Imagining that she was like a penguin strutting across ice, Xerxes giggled as she wobbled side to side across the room.
Meeting her destination, she plopped the box on the floor and began to pull out the photos. "Wanna help decorate? I'm sure these guys are tired of seeing only my old face." She found the photo of her old squadmates and scrunched her nose at them. "Of course you two would," she said absently. "You old lechers." A snort escaped as she put the frame on the shelf, followed by a small copper plate. "Ah, don't mind me chatting," she said, remember her guest. "Bad habit of mine."
A bit unsteady on her feet as well (but not nearly as much so as Xerxes), Ishale made her way over to the box, sitting down rather clumsily next to it, crossing her legs to sit Indian-style. She eyed the plate and photograph that the other woman held in her hands, she reached in to the box herself after a moment's hesitation, pulling out a photograph. Tangible photographs were rare, and usually hard to come by; all the ones she'd ever seen were digital ones like on her omni-tool or her datapad.
"I don't mind the chatter," Ishale said honestly. "I get a bit twitchy when it's too quiet; I thought I was going to lose my mind before everyone else came on board."
"Ha, silence freaks me out. When it's too quiet, I always expect someone's gonna jump out and kill me." She stepped back to eye the rest of the shelves. "Personally, I love noise. The only time it's ever quiet in here is when I'm about to pass out. Doesn't happen as much as I'd like it to, though."
Xerxes bent down and gingerly looked through the box, looking for an action figure. "Everyone's back on board, huh? Still just the four of us? The halls looked pretty empty when I got here."
"Yes, everyone is here," Ishale sighed, handing Xerxes the photograph, being careful not to touch the glossy surface. "The ship still feels empty, though. I wasn't expecting many people to jump on board, but it would have been nice to get just a couple more. I'm sure we'll pick up more people as we go along. At least, I hope so. One of the information brokers I talked to said to be on the lookout for a drell if we get near Illium. He's also an information broker, but looking to travel."
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