trans_9 | Here she comes, she's the one; right back at you baby

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Here she comes, she's the one; right back at you baby

Who: Crematia and Howard Bessem
Where: Entrance at the Hydropodics
Summary: Crematia asks for a cow, and gets both a cow and a job.
Warnings: That poor cow. :( Trigger warning for sadism on Crematia's part, but how much will that apply is undetermined.

So a deal was made. Well, she thought there was one - this place was so barbaric that there's no monetary system. If there was no money, no gold, and infighting inside the ship-beast was strictly forbidden so decorating any lair with the skulls of her enemies here was out of the question.

But first thing first: food. Not that awful slop, but actual meat, with the tender heart and delicious brain, with blood as intoxicating as liquor might be. Of course, there's the issue of a steady supply of cows for her appetite. If there were very little of cows, she might need to come up with another revenue for payment for this lowly protection offer.

But that can be figured out soon enough.

Walking in her human form - a tall, curvy woman with long red hair and bright eyes - she approached the entrance of the Hydopordics and waited.

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Howard's a little nervous about coming to meet someone who threatened to kill people over the comms, much less someone who apparently is all fine and dandy with torture - he lived with a sadist for a few months, and he's never understood the glee that came from doing that to someone. But whatever. Payment is payment and someone's been breaking into his Warehouse.

He emerges from the Hydroponics forest with one of the Chancellor's 'freak cows' in tow, a six-legged beast that looks just like an earth cow with extra legs. He has it on a rope and, as if it knows that it's going nowhere good it's fighting against him and trying to wander away. Thankfully he's handled the cows long enough to know how to get this one from point A to point B.

He's a little surprised when he sees Crematia - even for someone who's really not into girls he recognizes that her form would be amazingly attractive to someone else. And she's taller that him, significantly. Go figure.

"This what you were thinking?" He ties the cow to a tree.

What a short man - but then, humans are all short and small in Crematia's eyes.

She stopped short when she noticed the cow. At first it looked like any other cow, except it had an additional set of legs. "What's wrong with it?" she asked, pointing at the third set of legs. Barely ten seconds have passed and already the man decided that he will give her the whelps and the runts. "Or are the cows here always liked this?"

"They're all like this. Just think of it as extra flank." Hey, is anyone else here supplying cows? He didn't think so. And he's certainly not showing her where the rest of the herd is just to prove it. "So do you eat 'em raw?"

"Of course," she said, giving him a bewildered look. She's a natural predator at heart and she's far too busy (or rather lacked the patience) to carve up and cook the meet. Besides, it taste better fresh.

"Now, what is it you want me to guard?"

"Hey, I never know if you people use that fire breath to make a roast." He steps away from the cow. "I've got a Warehouse in the city that someone's been breaking into. It's the place with all the stuff."

He pauses. "All the stuff. You'll know it when you see it. So uh...you need anything else from Hamburger here?"

"I will continue to guard your place until you are either dead or no longer in need of defending it. But I want payment to continue my guarding. I cannot sustain on one cow alone."

Like more cows. Or something that can jump start her hoard. Of course she needs a lair.

"Are you talking about just one cow, or do you need a breeder cow? I'm not selling off the whole herd, but I got other things. I'm the king of stuff."

"If you cannot provide me a cow, then I'm sure there are other things to bargain with. Other pounds of flesh, or valuables, such as gold or steel or magical objects. Those are the things I found valuable back home. What of here? What is considered to be of value around here."

She finds adapting to this place to be very hard, but at least she has a head start.

"Power is valuable here. We're too dumb to figure out money." Which makes Howard in some ways, very poor. And Crematia, very rich. "I have some very rare metals, though."

"Shame." About the money part. "What kind of power? Political or the intricate power of the very being, such as magic?"
Because if it's the latter Crematia just might have another upper hand. There are nothing more powerful than red dragons.

"Both. Mostly political power, but on a battlefield you can totally rack up brownie points for saving people's lives. If you're into the looks altruistic, secretly selfish thing."

Crematia tossed her head back vainly and smiled at nothing at all. It is not a pleasant smile, though it is formed by plump lips and pale skin. It was a smile that is relishing the possibilities up ahead. Here, she need to be discrete and willing to play nice to others, something that she had never done in over six thousand years. While conquering the world in her Mother's name was always the first priority, obtaining her own power and sway over land and people came in second - sometimes she thought the two goals as one of the same.

"I once created an army through fire and words alone," she said, looking at the strange sky above her. "Fire to display might, words to tell it."

Of course, this will mean that she should stop making such dire threats to the crewmates. Ah well. She won't make nice to them, but she will make them respect her, if not for her temper, then for her terrible might.

"Uh...huh." Howard seems nonplussed by Crematia's dramatic declaration of power. He shuffles his feet awkwardly and fondles a thread of his shirt between his fingers. "So we got a deal?"

"One more thing," she said. "Normally if I caught someone in my lair, I would have them tortured and killed. Since I can't do that here, what would you want me to do if I catch the thief in the act?"

Seriously. She needs to know.

"Who said you can't torture them?"

Why yes, Howard is a terrible person.

Oh, that made her laugh. Crematia chortled, bending over in humor. But then she remembered herself and straightened, the smile sliding off her lips. "By Stacy's said so. Unless you are implying otherwise."

"Stacy did say so. But the Warehouse is a blind zone. Stacy can't see what goes on there." And if someone's stealing from him, he wants her to rain hellfire on them. Possibly literally.

Well, that received her full attention. The cow mooed plaintively, but she ignored her dinner.

"What other blind spots are there?"

"Plenty. Probably some we haven't discovered yet. Most of them are in the city, but there's probably some in the medical bay too." Howard tilts his head. "My friend Allenby has a list."

When Crematia smiled, it was almost an murderous leer. A shadow of the dragon she is flickers over her face, yet she made no change in her form. "I like to meet this Allenby."

She give the cow's neck a stroke, like one would to a pet. Her hunger was gaining up on her, and Crematia was already imagining tender brain between her fangs, tongue slurping up the taste greedily.

Howard shuffles away from Crematia, giving her major side-eye. "Should I leave you and Hamburger alone now or are there going to be scraps?"

Crematia grins at Howard, stretching her red lips.

Blood-red wings expand, a long tail whips back and forth and hungry jaws snapped the air. And with just as much quickness, she bit into the hapless creature's neck, snapping the spine. It was a merciless death, but Crematia was far too hungry to even consider of really playing with it.

"My next payment for guarding your lair will be the name and location of your friend," she said, blood dripping from her jaws. "I am very much interested in hearing these blind spots."

Bye bye, Hamburger.

"What, do you want that payment now? Because I just gave you a cow." Howard plans on stringing Crematia along with as few tidbits of information as he can get away with.

Cermatia yanked a leg off the carcass and flipped the severed limp with a toss of her head, snatching it up in mid-air. The resulting leaking blood arched through the air, red droplets scattering everywhere. Watch out, Howard.

"I suppose the cow is payment for enough for now. But I still like to know the blind spots, in case of an emergency."

Howard steps back and manages to only get the blood on his pants. His upper lip curls in revulsion, not so much at the blood but at the total waste of eating something so messily.

"Watch my place for one week and then I'll tell you a blind spot each week. How's that work for you?" Crematia could push him to divulge faster, but he's hoping she won't haggle.

Suck it up, human, this is how proper dragons eat.

Fortunately for Howard, a week means nothing to a dragon that have lived over six thousand years. She might have protested if he made it a decade or a century per blind spot. So a week is more than favorable to her. "That is suitable enough."

And she return to her dinner, reaching for the tasty heart and brain.

Wasteful! Shameful and wasteful!

"Good, I'll leave you and Hamburger alone then," Howard says with the discomfort he'd afford to two people making out at a restaurant table. He turns quickly on his heels and leaves.

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Here she comes, she's the one; right back at you baby

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