Whiskey and Philosophy

"Yeah, hang on a minute."

Immediately after the meeting, Dresden had headed right for the shower. Travel always had a way of leaving one with a certain funk, and the sanisteams aboard most ships never really seemed to do the trick. Add that in with the stress of dealing with Riplian in confined quarters and in obvious pain for three days, and one might understand why he needed to relax a bit.

He came out of the bathroom still slightly damp, wearing some comfortable-looking white board shorts and an old black T-shirt that had long ago faded to grey, the slogan rendered illegible by time. He noticed the attention his guest gave to the interior, but remained silent until after he had plopped down on the couch, leaving a respectful distance in between the two, and picked up his own glass.

"Koko did the interior design. That woman is a wizard, I swear. No matter how much work I give her, it gets done quickly, and then she complains about being underutilized."

Dresden sighed and took another drink.

"She'd argue that she's perfectly sane, but then again, she'd likely do that arguing with herself."

The whiskey by this point was starting to warm his innards and soften the edges on the solid block of stress that had built up the last few days.

"I don't know that 'story' quite covers it. She set a trap, using herself as bait. It worked brilliantly, but that left her stuck between Diva and me. Should have killed her, but she has a fine tactical mind, and she's one of the most talented illusionists I've ever met. Gave her a second chance. On her way to meet up with me the next morning, she got ambushed. She took out something on the order of 15-20 troops with nothing but that damned musket of hers, but there were too many for one human, and I had to pull her ass out of the fire. And spend the last few days nursing her back to health, because she had to get shot up in the process."

While he was talking, the fallen Whill studied his guest every bit as intently as she had studied him. She was a little older, a little more careworn than when last they had met, but not in a bad way. Most humans seemed to fall apart after a certain point, but Sin went the other way. A few lines and a bit of grey suited her well, and lent a certain character to features that were already quite attractive by human standards. Much to his surprise, he found he thought the robes suited her far better than the bodysuit from earlier, even if they weren't quite as revealing.

"Once or twice we've had what you might call a moment, if one were inclined to use euphemisms, but they were always fleeting at best. Honestly, I thought she hated my guts until her reaction to seeing you."

He let loose a bark of harsh laughter.

"HA! Vex. That's putting it mildly."

Dresden paused for a moment, staring into the rich amber whiskey at the bottom of the glass.

"It's not impossible for a Shard to feel emotion. Look at Koko, for instance. She embraced it so wholly that most don't even know she's a Shard without being told."

He killed off the rest of his glass and poured another. Ordinarily, he wouldn't waste more than a glass or two of this particular brand; they had gone out of business years ago and he had yet to find a suitable replacement. But hell, he only had a year left, and it wasn't like he got to enjoy company like this every day. No reason not to make the most of it.

"I've always tried to isolate myself from it, even when using my HRD chassis. The consequences of an undying vengeful Whill always seemed to be too great a risk. And now that I don't have any choice in the matter, well, it's hard."

The former Shard seemed to be at a loss for a moment. The thousand yard stare that all combat veterans seemed to adopt after a while was out in full force. His eyes were seeing, but his mind was a million miles away.

"I'm having to deal with all sorts if new things, and she's one of them."

Well that was interesting. The tattoos had been a bit unexpected, but the again, she was a Sith. Still, the effect wasn't unpleasant. At least she didn't go for red and black. That old cliché was far more annoying now that he had fucks to give about aesthetics.

"Koko is like a daughter to me. I rescued her crystal from a lab, where they were experimenting on Shard and Tsil crystals. Whatever personality had been in her crystal was gone; she was a blank slate. I commissioned a special HRD, more of a biot, really, that would start at infancy and grow to adulthood, at which point it would stop aging. That was the only way to give her a chance at having some sort of personality. So in a very real sense, she is my daughter. I raised her. As for the Major..."

The last bit of liquor in the glass was tossed down, and was quickly followed by a healthy slug from the same glass after a refill.

"She's fascinating, beautiful in her own peculiar way, and I can't help but be drawn to her. But I'm not going to beat my head against the wall, waiting for something that will never happen. I'll be patient with her, try to be her friend, or at the very least someone who won't stab her in the back at the first opportunity. And if she ever thaws, cool. We'll take it from there, but I'm not holding my breath."

There was a slightly haunted look in Dresden's eye as he stopped drilling holes in the bottom of his glass and met Sinistra's gaze.

"Not this close to the end."

The former Shard smiled warmly.

"I never doubted either your ability or your aptitude. I just found it odd that you would indulge in such a thing, given the inherent risks to one in your position."

There was just a hint if sadness in his voice. Dresden knew what it must have cost her to even admit that out loud. If any of her "colleagues" ever found out, her lover would be a marked man. He didn't have many friends, in this world or any other, but he valued the ones he had. He made a mental note to make sure that if that day ever came, they would have a safe place to escape to, and that anyone wishing to harm them would pay with their lives, but only after weeks in agony.

"I'm sure your lover is a remarkable being."

"It's a good thought, Sin,"he said quietly "and I hope it works out for you."

The fallen Whill chuckled sympathetically as the Sith Lord burst into a coughing fit, patting her on the back to help clear her windpipe. His engineered body was slightly buzzed but not truly drunk...or so he thought until he tried to stand up for the purpose of fetching a napkin.

"Whoashit."

He tried again a few seconds later, this time compensating for the room's spin, and made it to the kitchenette without incident. Dresden grabbed some napkins and a bottle of water without incident, and plopped back down on the couch with a contented sigh.

"I don't think it's supposed to go down that hole."

Well that was a new one.

"Generally speaking, they don't. Shards reproduce asexually."

Dresden knew that, statistically speaking, sex was a fairly common topic for discussion among organics. Get any group of them together and, barring societal or species taboos, it was bound to come up sooner or later.

"Those that can get their hands on replicant droids will often as not give it a go, and they seem to like it well enough."

It was unfortunate that she asked the question just as Dresden was taking a sip from his glass. While the whiskey was extraordinarily smooth going down, it was not nearly so kind to his nasal passages.

"ACK-"

It took a minute for the sputtering coughing fit to die out. It was probably a good thing he had grabbed the napkins when he did.

"Honestly, I haven't had a chance to try out the equipment. Wouldn't know where to start, really. I know how it all works on a mechanical level, but..."

The former Shard shrugged.

"Knowing how it works doesn't get me any closer to using it. And hell, haven't even really had much in the way of desire to, not until the last few days, for all the good it did. She was shot to shit and then decided I was the devil, and..."

Some part of his brain that wasn't swimming in alcohol had the foresight to clamp his mouth shut before he could say anything stupid.

Dresden glared indignantly. If he was frightened by Sin's enthusiasm, he didn't show it.

"Neither. It is not in my nature to take what isn't offered. If she wasn't such a wreck, both physically and emotionally, things might have...might be different. But she is, and they aren't."

The former Shard took a moment to compose himself. Being angry with Sinistra would accomplish nothing. Once the initial anger subsided, his sense of humor peaked its head up from behind the alcoholic stupor.

"Besides," he said with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Who the hell would want their first time to be with someone just as clueless as they are? Gods, I think the universe might just implode from the awkwardness."