termasmartagant started following you
“What in the hell.”
“Yeah you’ve already asked, and no, I won’t be staying on the litany tonight, I may go stir crazy if I do but I’ll return there soon enough.” She smiled at Hastus and took the cloak back off him.
When they reached the inn she ordered two rooms next to each other and handed over a couple of thrones.
“Will you alright? You did well trying to keep up with me.” Sila was was at the warm and fuzzy stage still, I guess drinking the marines had paid off a little.
“Aye, I’ll… aye.” He nodded decisively as the pair made their way to their accommodation. “No one’s gonna believe me, y’know. About the whole ‘a Sister got me drunk and bought me a lapdance’ thing. Good night, though. Good night… thanks again, Sis- Sila.” Hastus offered her a half-smile as he nudged her arm with a fist again, turning to half push open, half kick open the door to his room. “Sleep well, yeah?”
“I don’t know how they work, thy just do.” Sila paused a moment. “Yes, Sister Echo, she was picked up from a feral world by the marines, the details are fuzzy but I met her later in the eye of terror when the Imperium decided to make a mass attack. We fought side by side briefly and afterward I heard she had been badly injured so I decided to find her. My cannoness was at a point where she didn’t have a mission for me and my squad, so allowed me to go solo to find her.” Sila was rambling now. “She later found Zethina, and so our strange little group came together. They’re heading to Echo’s home convent to begin Zethy’s pilgrimage….Woah there.” She caught Hastus and steadied him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Looks like it’s time to find somewhere to crash.” She planted the almost empty bottle of amasec in the hands of a nearby vagrant and guided Hastus towards a nearby inn that looked respectable.
Hastus lifted a hand to his forehead and rubbed, leaning slightly into the Sister’s steadying hand. He smiled his thanks and looked about, blinking. “That… that is a good idea, Sister.” The Trooper passed back Sila’s cloak. The alcohol had finally warmed him some, and the edge felt as though it had been taken off the cold’s bite. “Did I already ask you if you were going back to the barge?” Chuckling at his own forgetfulness, Hastus rubbed his eyes a little.
Sila chuckled. “I may as well explain the whole story for you.” She rolled her neck and took a swig of the amasec. “I’m currently sharing a ship with Sister Echo and her charge Zethina. I was sparring with Captain brother Malleus, Zethy insisted on hurrying everyone along so she could go to the beach and wanted us to stop sparring so Echo threw water on us.” Sila smiled some and looked at the two moons hovering in the inky sky.
“As for the battle brothers of the angry marines, never expect to see a conventional weapon in their hands, ever. I mean they have a sack of power doorknobs. They are an interesting bunch but worthy on the battle field, though meal times are always an even to be avoided if possible. I feel sorry for Tim sometimes.” Sila mused and offered the bottle to Hastus.
“Oh… ‘kay…” Hastus was still gleaning little sense from it, but that didn’t really seem relevant. “Sack of power doorknobs? That sounds… unconventional. Wait, so you’re travelling with another Sister? On a ship that doesn’t actually belong to the Sororitas?” Hastus wasn’t sure why he was so confused, but from what he knew on the subject (very little, as it happened), that wasn’t the done thing. As the bottle floated before him, he held up a hand and shook his head, which nearly threw him off-balance.
“Yeah I’m on shore leave. Just no robes to wear, a fellow sister thought it would be a good idea to dump a bucket of water on me while I was sparing, and I had no other clean robes to wear.” Sila shrugged. “Come on lets walk and get you warmed up. I know what it feels like.” She smiled some and started off in a random direction, she didn’t particularly feel like heading back to the ship to sleep, perhaps she would find an inn for the night, a change of scenery never hurt.
Hastus raised an eyebrow. Was that what Sisters did during practise fights? “I… see…” He followed Sila and cast his eyes skyward, just able to make out the engines of Thunder Hawks from the port. “Nice night. Still odd that there’s two moons you can see.” The Trooper chuckled and levelled his eyes back on Sila. “So tell me about these Marines you’re with. I’ve heard some weird stories.”
She holstered her bolter and fastened her sword to her belt while holding the bottle of amasec between her legs. “Sorry about that, it has soured it a little.” She held the bottle out to Hastus. “Best vintage I’ve seen all night. And well, just because that shit happened doesn’t mean we can’t keep chatting somewhere.” Sila noticed Hastus trying to warm himself up and shrugged off her cloak and placed it around his shoulders and smiled sheepishly. “Armour regulates my body temp so I don’t feel chills.”
Hastus smiled his thanks as he drew the cloak a bit closer. “Well, if this isn’t ever emasculating… s’up to you, Sister, I don’t think I’m in much of a position to say ‘no’ at the moment. Why are you even in your armour anyway? Are you not on shore leave or whatever the Sisters’ equivalent is?” Hastus thought he was babbling again, so he quietened himself as he looked about, waiting for Sila to finish reattaching her armoury.
Sila picked up a bar stool and used the padded seat end to stop a bouncer from advancing on her, by just pushing it up against his chest, every time he moved she shifted it so he couldn’t come closer. “One of these insolent men thought I was a dancer. I don’t know how.” Sila growled and glared at the bouncer till he back off some and she put down the stool slowly. “I may step outside for a bit, stay if you wish, but if another man is that drunk that he cannot determine a sororitas from a half naked woman I may break more than a barstool.” Sila walked past Hastus clapping him on the shoulder with a half smile, confiscated a half empty bottle of Amasec from a nearby table and walked towards the door to collect her weapons.
Hastus followed. That probably wasn’t going to look good, the Storm Trooper chasing after the Sister, but whatever, he usually went to the classier strip joints anyway. He waited until the two of them were outside before he made a remark. “Probably wishful thinking, y’know. On his part, I mean.” He chuckled as he rubbed his arm. He didn’t remember it being this chilly when they got here. “So, I’m guessing you’ll want to be heading off, then. Emperor knows that probably soured the evening…”
“So that’s what it is called hmm?” Sila raised an eyebrow and drained her drink, set the glass on the table then stood up. Tossed the Throne at Hastus and looked the dancer up and down. “Up to you, I’m just buying is all, now enjoy yourself. I’ll be at the bar, I don’t think I want to be around for this.” She smiled and left Hastus as the dancer moved towards him.
A little later there was a crash and sounds of breaking. Then a man flew across the room and Sila stood, shoulders hunched glaring at the man. “I WILL CERTAINLY NOT DO THAT, DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WHO WORKS HERE?”
((Sila is in full armour))
It’d taken Sila an awfully long time to come back from the bar. His glance in that direction was well-timed, as it turned out, as he was just able to spot one of his fellow patrons ragdolling his way away from Sila. Eyes widened by what almost looked like a fight, Hastus picked himself up from the sofa and careened toward Sila. “Is everything alright? What the bloody hell’s going on?”
“I think I’ll stick to getting hammered with you, gathering by your expression I would rather not experience what the other thing is.” Sila shot Hastus a sidelong look, then leant forward to have a look around the room to see what he meant. She saw a couple woman pretty much grinding on other mens lap and then looked back at Hastus with a raised eyebrow. She leant back again, drained half her glass and the wickedest grin spread across her face, while SHE couldn’t partake in what services the ladies offered, Sila saw no reason why Hastus couldn’t. She whistled a lady over, held up a golden throne between two fingers and then looked at Hastus.
“Yes you can hate me, but thank me later. Cause I know I’m enjoying seeing you like this.”
Did Sila just buy Hastus a lapdance? “Did you just buy me a lapdance?!” He tried to be angry, but angry probably wasn’t what he should have been right at that moment. At least, not when he had a half-decent-looking dancer pretending she was into him for a little while. He managed a half-scowl, first at the throne, then at the Sister, before relinquishing himself. Hastus liked this Sister, he’d finally decided, even if she was plying and tormenting him with smutty dancers and terrible alcohol.
Sila held out his drink then returned to her original seat, cradling her own drink in her lap. She’d already seen several men slip something into other women’s drinks.
Leaning close to Hastus. “Perhaps, but maybe it’s also a mixture of me being slightly inebriated and also finding amusement in your stunned mullet face.” She laughed.
“So what else do you in this place?”
Hastus’ face flamed. “Uh, well, um, it’s fairly limited in terms of… activities. It’s either get hammered and watch the pretty lasses gyrate or fork out and get… uh… something else.” The Trooper was suddenly very inclined towards putting away rather a lot of his drink, and found himself doing so. He found the idea of a drunk Sister rather amusing, though, he had to admit.
