Max had to look comical at the moment, the three foot mini-taur dragging an entire freight crate through the hangar with a chest harness over his usual combat vest. His needs were simple so his usual pay allotment went to gifts. Approaching the front ramp, he came upon their doctore.
"Teeth! I got you a couple things! Who else is here so I can pass it around?"
The Mu handed the faceless feral a pair of data bundles. One hand was full of alien anatomy and medical books, the other were collected works of music from different genres in the planets history. He looked at the bangle in one hand held in the claws and smiled.
"Neat. Who did you get that for?"

Teeth turned to the other crewmember, one hand still cradling the little bracelet. "Oh--thanks! I always need more volumes." The beads slipped down his paw, hanging around two fingers as he accepted the gift, weighing it his hand a moment before the other question jerked his gaze back up. He let out a little laugh, lifting the paw again. "Pretty, right? Just from the locals, figured I could use a nice souvenir." The way he looked at the little present was though it was a priceless treasure and not a cheap little thing probably made in the span of ten minutes, but that was just how Teeth was. He had a small collection of little trinkets gathered from shore leaves--a pressed flower, a rock with a pattern scorched onto the surface, a small pack of some card game he hadn't learned to play yet ... he preferred the natural, little things, always one to take a used pencil over a shot glass. Liked the life of it.

Still smiling, Taerys popped the top off of the bottle of venom and poured a little into a small, shallow bowl. She looked down into the bowl for a few moments, swirling it around as different questions and thoughts raced through her mind. It wasn't easy, but she forced those niggling thoughts away. She trusted Varus. If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't be here right now.

With a deep breath, the Varyx put away the rest of the venom safely. "In Varaxian culture we have a...ritual of sorts called Vahna. When we reach adulthood...that's when we do it for the very first time..." Taerys remarked idly. She dipped the tip of the dagger into the venom in the bowl, making sure it was covered with the green liquid. "It's a sort of mind-cleansing ritual. We do it because if we don't, we turn feral. We lose ourselves to primal instincts and urges...and we can't get back from it." She lifted the dagger out of the bowl, staring at the shimmering steel tip coated with green. "The longest I've seen someone go without it is 2 months. It's already been 1 and half months for me..." Taerys trailed off and looked up at Varus, melancholy prevalent in her voice.

Varus was looking more and more uneasy by the moment, this "ritual" of theirs is strange to be sure, but still no more red flags. So he kept his silence through the next few steps.

Once she spoke in such a way, he couldn't keep silent any longer. "Feral? What do you mean feral?" Feral was a universal term known by all cultures, and it wasn't good. Was his friend in a situation with a beast inside? Was this ritual the only thing keeping her sane or worse, alive? All these questions he had to stifle for a condensed version.

"One and a half? Are you OK? Do you need help?" He said as the second question, placing his hand on her shoulder gently to as not to disrupt the danger in her hands, but also to remind her that he is on her side.

Primal instincts and urges... the words were still floating in his head. That may be an explanation as to why she was so friendly to him now. He knew that she liked him and he liked her, but nothing ever climbed so far so fast. The event in the hall was a heavy turn, but it couldn't have been enough to have her so... kind to him.

"Lucky you! So, who else is on the ship?"
He repeated the question since he derailed the question the first time by commenting on the bracelet. He knew the roster was light after they lost a crew member and would be looking to fill the blank bunk. He looked back to the metric ton of stuff and hoped he got enough for everyone, he hated ever getting repeat gifts for people like knives for all the men and bolts of cloth for all the women. It was a hold over from his home planets traditions that gifts are exchanged by all, ones presence is presents enough, if there is a need for gifts, then everyone brings a gift and takes a gift in a round robin manner. As such whatever isn't gifts is actually the resupply requisitions for food, fuel and firepower. But it looks mighty impressive all the same and it was such a great thing to see the face of the gift-wrapper to get a crate of long-arm ammunition done like a present.

Teeth lowered the gift, eyes jumping back up. "Captain's on, so's Taerys, Jackdaw, Dresden, and a new recruit." Had he gotten the other man's name? His head tilted down slightly, trying to remember ... he was usually pretty good with names, but just every now and then his memory failed him. This was one of those times, so he tossed a shrug. "They're all around here somewhere."

Taerys felt a wave of, well...really happy feelings - she wasn't entirely sure what to call them - course through her body when Varus put his hand on her shoulder. At that moment she felt more secure than she ever had in years; she couldn't help but smile brightly at the Litharian. Maybe she'd been wrong about the whole thing. Maybe...maybe she didn't need to keep this secret from Varus for so long. He was taking it a lot better than she thought he would anyway. Perhaps he...No, no...she was being stupid.

"Well, I'll be okay once I get this over and done with." She sighed, looking back down at the gilded and decorated hilt of the dagger as she put the bowl safely out of the way of anything. The tip of the blade was engraved in such a way that the venom was simply held there with no dripping or anything of the sort. The Varyx made good daggers, that was for sure. "I panicked when I noticed that I ran out of this stuff. I tried to hide it but...I'm not sure how well that worked out." She remarked guiltily. She knew how much of a pain she'd been for that week. Thankfully it seemed like everyone had forgotten. Almost. "It's pretty expensive. Not many people are willing to go to Filera now. They say that the souls of the dead wander the surface with an unquenchable thirst for revenge, no matter the race." Taerys paused for a moment, locking eyes with Varus. "Someday I'd like to see if that's the truth. I think you'd feel right at home on Filera, too."

The Varyx very nearly forgot why she'd brought him up here in the first place. She just felt so relaxed here. It had been too long since she'd been able to just let herself go like this. "Oh, uh...I'm sorry captain. It's been a while since I've talked to someone with this much freedom. It's hard to find people you can trust out here. Anyway, when I make the cut on my wrist I'll get quite weak and dizzy. Don't worry about it. It's just the venom working its magic. That'll last for about 5 minutes. I'll still be conscious so..." She trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging for a few seconds. "...please talk to me. It can get lonely."

Varus felt even more taken aback, but he looked... different. Normally his lizard like face had a sense of harshness to it, but now he felt confused to how Tearys was acting, it was far kinder and... he couldn't put the word to it still. But he didn't care, he liked it. Yet he couldn't shake the thought that this was just the lack of the ritual and it would all be gone in a few moments time.

When her home world came up, all the stories of Filera came to his mind. Travesty and taboo had been committed on that planet and from it spawned a rivalry that has lasted years as well as the abandonment of an entire solar system. Rumors began to spread that the dead came back to kill and the void reached out to swallow ships whole. For lack of a better example it had become the Bermuda Triangle of the universe.

He couldn't stop thinking about stop thinking about the trust she was talking about. To speak on his own side, he trusted each and every person on this ship, save Rennac who still had to prove himself. But trust was a finicky thing. Putting his life in their hands was easy enough, but he would hardly share secrets with them. For her to put this much trust in him was incredulous and... did she just say cut her wrist.

His eyes went wide, much like they had gone with Rennac, that look of realization flooding his face as he wanted to so badly lash out and smack the knife from her grip, but he held his composure. "Cut your wrist? Are you sure? Is that good?"

Rennac made it to his work station, soon powering it on and looking through the system to see what he had to work with. He was pleasantly surprised to see the digital firewall was of good quality as well as the anti-malware. "Well, least the software is not half bad. This I can work with and tweak to improve though should do a good job of keeping people from getting in unannounced." Rennac quickly checked the user log to see if any files were tampered with or downloaded while the ship was docked. Thankfully everything seemed normal and only had Alliance certified technicians using the databank and no downloads nor anything changed in the system beyond the standard system update. He grabbed a nearby datapad and began to put in data on everything that had to be fixed or upgraded, seeing how the designers put security on the backburner more or less to try and get as much as they could with armor plating, shielding, and munitions. He worked his way through a few corridors and marked down the areas that had blind spots and other weak points, soon making his way full circle to the hanger where he made the last note on his datapad. "I'm surprised no one robbed us blind here. Digital security is good but that wont do squat if someone gets access to the physical drive. The captain is not gonna be happy with my assessment." He looked up from his work to see Dresden, Teeth, and a new arrival on the deck. He tucked the datapad away for now and smiled. "Ah, a new face that doesn't want to punch my face in. Name's Rennac. I'm the new team technician and security consultant." He held out a hand to shake, a smile on his lips as he had something other than the glaring holes in security to have his mind on.

With a shrug and a smirk, Taerys shuffled closer to Varus. "Better than losing my mind." She stated frankly, chuckling a little. She remained silent for a moment, thinking. "I've been doing this for years, but this'll be the first time since I left home where I'll have done it whilst being with someone who's concerned for me." The Varyx spoke softly, smiling. She hadn't realised but her free hand had found its way on top of Varus' hand, her fingers locking with his. When she did realise, she made no effort to move away, but instead squeezed tighter. She wanted to reassure him. She just wanted...Ah what the heck, why not.

In one brief moment Taerys was taken over by feeling she couldn't even begin to describe. She quickly darted up and kissed Varus on the lips, giddy with happiness. Even that one second was enough to leave herself nearly completely overwhelmed. "This...this means a lot to me, okay?" She looked away, embarrassed with herself. She'd just...kissed him? "I'm sorry..."

Varus couldn't believe what was happening, today had escalated so quickly he hardly knew what to do. His eyes went wide for a moment at the darting kiss, too shocked to do anything else, he just sat there mouth agape for a second or two. When he regained his composure he listened to to her and said nothing, instead he gripped her shoulder harder and pulled closer to give a longer kiss.

Even he felt happy now, and it made a few thoughts come to mind. But the one that prevailed was that this wasn't Tearys. This wasn't the normal girl he had met a few years ago as a part of the first crew. As soon as she finished her ritual this girl would be gone, he didn't have a guarantee, but happiness like this couldn't just come, his life had taught him that much.

"Don't be sorry." He said softly, pulling away to let her resume her ritual. As hard as if was to watch her continue, for hurting herself and for what would happen after it was done.

"I...Thank you, Varus." Butterflies in your stomach...she'd heard that phrase before but never knew what it felt like or when you'd even feel that way. Hell, originally she though that it was only humans who had that feeling. Now she knew. It was so odd, but it made her almost giddy with happiness. Maybe...maybe she just wasn't being herself. Maybe she just didn't know it and after she got this over a done with she'd act differently somehow. The Varyx didn't like that thought. In fact, she outright refused to believe it. This was Taerys, not some damn imitation. What she was feeling was true.

Her attention then turned back to the matter in hand. No point delaying it any longer, as much as she enjoyed sitting here talking to Varus. Afterwards she could show him that this was her true face. It had been a long while since the last Vahna, yes, but right now she swore that she was no different than if she had done it yesterday.

With a quick nod up at Varus, Taerys breathed in deeply, letting it slowly back out again to calm herself and almost forget completely about the physical world. She'd done this so many times that it was basically second nature to her. With a deftness that only someone with experience could bring, Taerys gracefully moved the tip of the dagger down so that it penetrated her skin and slid it diagonally across her wrist. It was not a deep cut by any means but it was enough that the venom could easily enter her bloodstream and take effect nearly immediately. Her mouth twitched slightly; she could still feel at least a little pain. A few seconds passed and her vision began to blur and she let the dagger clatter to the floor as she became weaker. Normal, but nonetheless it still scared her. She was never sure how long it would last each time.

Dres wandered away from the main group--socializing, never her thing. Just not one for people--nothing wrong with that, really. She wasn't an engineer to make friends, after all--liked her job and what not, but really could do without the people. Jackdaw was the only one out of the lot she really liked, if "liked" was even the right word for it. "Didn't actively dislike"? "Slightly over neutral"? Something along those lines.

But she just got back from a vacation of ignoring people, and so trailed along until she came across the gal she was looking for. Poking her head into the armory, she leaned on the door with one shoulder. "Everything aright with Taerys?" she queried lightly--thought they talked a bit not long ago, and though Dresden didn't particularly care, she felt like having some noise around, and was at least a bit curious about the welfare of her shipmates.

Jackdaw worked absently, but efficiently. Some of the weapons didn't even need anything done to them, and some were out of her area of expertise. She could handle fixing small arms, but that was about it. Frankly, she figured Varus wanted her away more than to actually ensure the working order of their equipment, and that was just as well with her.

She half expected the footsteps she heard to belong to the new meat, but then she was also sure she'd done a well enough job of warding him off. Instead, she was greeted by Dresden, which was less of a disappointment. When she asked about Taerys, Jackdaw scoffed, and went back to her work.

"Some sort of mental fit, I don't know. Varus is taking care of it, and he'd better. We don't need that sort of ridiculousness on the field," she said.

Dres let out a huff of air, stepping further in so that she was beside Jackdaw, looking down at the items in her hands. "Yeah, and what's he good for if he can't calm his own crew down," she agreed. She ... respected, Varus, if that was the word for it. Not like him, nah, too outgoing for her--good for being a leader, not good for getting along with a Demon. But her job required begrudging politeness, and she allowed it. Didn't mean she wasn't allowed to gripe and criticize among others who more-or-less agreed with her on the state of affairs.

"Captain's on, so's Taerys, Jackdaw, Dresden, and a new recruit. They're all around here somewhere."
Max nodded and looked back a his stack of presents, he found the captains gift as it had a bow the color of his skin, it even had a hex pattern overtone that gave it a scaled look to it. He found dresden's cause its wrapper was hammers and saws all over a blue background, Jackdaw.... there, the one covered in red bullseyes on a white field. Taerys had the oddest shaped gift so it was easy to pick out. He set those to the side in a stack thanks to Teeth and looked up to new the new recruit coming down the ramp with a hand out.
"Ah, a new face that doesn't want to punch my face in. Name's Rennac. I'm the new team technician and security consultant."

"I don't think I could reach." The voice that came from the tiny titan matched his size, seeming calm and meek as he stood only half as high as he technician. He held out his three fingered hand to take the wolfen., He took the tech at the forearm rather than the hand in his peoples greetings, as well as a check for daggers against the wrist. He took a second to look from the hand on his own forarm to Teeth's paw and back. "Any relation to each other?" He asked the two at the same time.

Rennac chuckled at the comment. "Heh, that wouldn't stop Jackdaw if she were in your position. Nice to meet you..Max, correct? If I recall my briefing you're the guardian on ship." Despite the short stature of the Mu, his musculature made him a pint sized titan. He was sure he could not only don his armor but also still be able to give quite a wallop with it on. As he felt the Mu grab not his hand but his forearm the Wolfen took it in stride, knowing some cultures preferred to shake like that as a more casual greeting. Seems this was the only person on the ground team that WOULDN'T try to shoot him, at least until h had to give his standard security lecture about keeping login information safe and whatnot. It was always a chore on a new ship crew but it was something that he had to do since that was a major threat should someone get on the ship. "Heh, no relation I know of. Wouldn't be half bad though."

Teeth hooked his thumb-claws in his belt, leaning back a bit in a relaxed posture. He also let out a little chuckle at the query of relation. "You'd be surprised the way things in this universe develop--granted a lot of differences yeah, but down to the very basics most everything has a similar structure, real trick of evolution." He stopped himself--he could go on for hours about that kind of thing--and then tacked on, "Quite a few little blips across space, critters of different species and even planets looking a lot alike."

Varus wrapped his arms around Tearys, laying her down on the bed. He would have to trust what she said about this all being normal, despite this being very abnormal. His next attention was her wrist, which didn't seem to be a glaring issue, the blood was flowing, but only a single trail about an inch long. None the less he took the medical kit from the wall and wrapped her wrist, not wanted to apply any salves that may interfere with the ritual.

She asked for him to talk to her, so why not? If it helps he would do it.

He recount story after story of events and missions the two did as part of an infiltration team. "... I didn't think I was going to make it. You know? to be so far back behind enemy lines and to have the enemy know you where there. I didn't know where you were since I had to keep quiet..." Some even had funny tales that were often told around the mess hall. "...We knew the structure was weak. I mean it was an old WOODEN building, but I didn't think the roof would have given out under my feet! ~Crack~ I fell right through on top of a pair of guards. I recovered first, thankfully..."

And before anyone could tell, several minutes had passed.

Max heard it dismissed by both and let it go, still looking back and forth a few more times. When he heard how Jackdaw wouldn't let her size matter, he nodded in agreement and for a moment thought of proving himself, but he let it go. "Yep, probably open fire on your kneecap to bring you down to her. Chaplain Maximillian Mu, I'm a priest before I'm a Corporal, I also hold a degree in geo-science. Come to me if you need a moral boost."