trans_9 | It's five o'clock somewhere!

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It's five o'clock somewhere!

It was easy to find the Drunken Dragon Tavern, due to the train, and the fact that a good portion of the crew was familiar with the establishment and could point the way. Kang knew that there were a few already planning on stopping by, and that Kaylee could use the help. He also wanted to get more information on the new people, see who was likely to cause problems (Farseer Ildraniath already had) and who wasn't. There were a few he hoped would show up, as well.

Feeling a little happier than usual, despite the Farseer, he took care of business as usual, being sociable and refilling drinks.

[Open post is very open. Feel free to talk to either Kang or Kaylee, or both, or to threadjack (with permission, of course)!]

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"It's terrible. Everything in the world can smell us. The Andalites say we smell like fleer, whatever that is." She presses her lips together. "They can mimic everything else."

She snorts. "You're not the only one," she says dryly. Obviously he doesn't hate it enough to put his foot down, in her mind. She's aware of how unfair she's being to Kang, and what a burden that responsibility is, but Tom may as well be family to her.

Kang chuckled, "It's not a horrible thing. It's rather useful, actually." He could remember the sense of smell he had in the human body, and they were... blind compared to what he was used to.

Maybe it was time to steer the subject away from Tom. "I met someone else that I think is from your universe. His name is Jara Hamee."

"But it's always frustrating to be exuding something we can't control or detect. It's like having a stain on the backside of your clothing," she says. "It makes you self-conscious."

Not that that's a much better subject. "Oh, I ran into him. Sweet as a lamb, about as bright as one, but a lovely person. Too bad he thought I was still the monster that sentenced however many of his friends and family to torture and death."

"Everything does," Kang shrugged. "I suppose I'm just used to it."

Oh. Oops. He snorted softly, "It took me a while, but I managed to explain the Ohm to him. He makes up for it with enthusiasm. Did you manage to convince him you were free?"

She shrugs and takes a drink. "For now. It's difficult. My face is still Edriss' face and that's going to be the first thought that pops into his head every time he sees me. It'll lessen over time. It usually does."

She stares into her drink, looking genuinely miserable for a moment, before raising her head with a slightly too wide smile. "The book club's going well, at least."

Kang bit back a sigh and took a drink from the mug he had stashed behind the bar for himself. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that, still."

He noted the smile, but didn't comment on it, "Goliath mentioned it. He said if anyone picks any books relating to history or warfare, that he'd tell me. I don't want to bore you all with that crap if you don't want to read it."

"Jara's really only the first person it's happened to. It was much worse back home. Believe me, I invested in the dark glasses. Planet Meatball's actually been pretty nice in that regard. Everyone meets me as Eva first." She rambles a bit talking half to her drink and half to Kang, doing a fair job convincing herself that Stacy's an upgrade. It's true, the anonymity here has done wonders for her.

And she has friends here, even if things are tense with some of them now, which is a luxury she didn't have back home, isolated by her infamy and victim status. Her smile to Kang is a bit more genuine now, thinking that, even if she's still angry.

"Putting us on a watchlist, hmm?" she teases. "Some people like war books. The Iliad is a war book, and it's one of the most regarded classics back in my world. Gioconda Belli's poems are about war, and ¡Adios, Cordera! has war creeping around the corners. And that's my favorite story, actually."

"There are some perks to this ship, I have to admit," Kang smiled wryly. Most people didn't automatically hate or fear him, or worse, patronize him, just because of what he was. It was a nice feeling being treated like a person by the other races.

"I know of the Iliad. I prefer the books that are more... historically accurate than fantastical, though. Personal preference."

"In my timeline, before Stacy picked me up...it's very likely Marco was dead," she says quietly. It's something that eats at her - easy enough to forget when Marco's right there, infinitely more difficult as soon as he's out of sight and she's left wondering if she wants to restore her old world, and what she did wrong when she failed to stop her baby from going adventuring in space. Again. "So some of the perks are bigger than others."

"Well, there's always the painfully literal ones too, but I have to say I like creativity. I would, of course, me and my magic realism. What sort of books were there back in your world? What were your classics, if you had them?"

Kang blinked, frowning. She hadn't told him about that before. "What happened?"

He shook his head, "...most people knew how to read, but there was nothing like printing presses, so all the books and scrolls were written by hand. They weren't all that accessible in most areas. And, there was very little in the way of fiction books; stories were usually told by bards."

"He..." She frowns, takes a moment, and takes another drink. "He went off into space with his friends. Left very sparse details for us. We didn't hear back but they found the ship wrecked about a year later. I didn't think - Peter assumed the worst. Anyway. Don't have to worry about it now. Would like to keep it that way."

She takes a deep, shaky breath. "I'd prefer it if none of that leaves this conversation."

"Fine, then. What were the best stories?"

"You know it'll stay between us," Kang assured Eva.

He paused, thinking. "The most popular ones were about the Chaos War, the Heroes of the Lance, or Huma Dragonbane. Or... Raistlin Majere. I think there were more legends about him than some of the gods."

"I wouldn't want anyone thinking I'd do less than everything necessary to fight the Ohm, even if their defeat means that timeline is restored," she says flatly. The bigger question is, would she? Does she have an answer for that?

"Raistlin Majere? A trickster, a hero, a monster, an everyperson? Tell me more."

Kang nodded, understanding.

"I don't even know where to begin with him," Kang shook his head. "He was one of the most powerful mages in the history of Krynn, and one of the Heroes of the Lance. In fact, he might have been the most powerful."

"I'm getting the feeling there's a whole lot of context that I'm missing. Who are the Heroes of the Lance?" She is genuinely interested. Even when she and Kang aren't on the best terms, she wants to understand where he came from.

Kang paused, and then laughed, "I forgot, I haven't told you about them yet. That war I fought in, that we were created for, is known as the War of the Lance, and the Heroes are the ones that became well-known for their efforts in winning it."

She laughs too, but it's a bit reserved. "So are you one of those Heroes?"

"Me? A Hero?" Kang laughed again. He wasn't going to sugarcoat any of it for Eva, or for anybody else on the ship, really. "No, draconians are always the villains in the stories. We're the ones the Heroes have to defeat."

"Even to the draconians? I know what your people did, Kang. You've told me. But I find it hard to believe that a people who produces such intelligent individuals as yourself believes wholeheartedly in that mythos, especially since the horrible things that have been done are not a prescription to your race. Who do draconians speak of?"

"Honestly, the way we're depicted in the stories of the war, minus us being dumb beasts, is 95% truth, and I can't refute it. Don't want to. It happened, and while I wouldn't ever do it again, I don't feel any regret. No one else I know does," Kang shrugged.

"And, we don't have very many stories ourselves. Most of them are a bit dark, and I'm not sure you'd want to hear them."

"I'll have you know that humans are the bastions of civility and peacefulness. I'll have you know that I'm the patron saint of serenity and pacifism. But alright, if you have to spare my delicate human woman's brain." She winks. "Aside from this new guy from your homeworld and Jara, meet anyone interesting at the podpop?"

Kang snorted, "If you want to hear them, I'll tell you. I'm just giving you the option."

He paused, and frowned slightly. "There was a woman, an elf of some sort, I believe, that demanded she be given a seat on the Council. I told her no as politely as I could." With a somewhat amused look, he added, "I don't think she likes me."

"She just...demanded it? I guess that's just how things work back on her homeworld. Stacy must not have passed on the memo that we're all special snowflakes when it comes to getting enlisted against the Ohm, but not if we actually want to have anything go our way," she says, bemused.

"She did. And, she tried to argue it with me, on the basis of being the only one of her kind awake on Stacy," Kang shook his head. "She picked the wrong person to try that argument on."

Eva gives a short little chuckle. "So she should be on the Council to be an ambassador to people who aren't here yett?"

It's five o'clock somewhere!

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