To the eyes of a stranger, Malta was always beautiful in a very harsh sort of way, spin the dial of a clock and let the sand of an hour-glass fall into the dark however and ones impression changed entirely. It became the epitome of what it meant to be exotic and perhaps the Sirian capital of indulgence without restraint, tonight the sky was rather clear of clouds and a duo consisting of a sabre and vindicator rapidly descended for a series of landing pads at the foot of a large star-port on the Maltese dominated Planet.
With their ships carefully locked in place in their own respective hangars, Ryan gracefully vaulted out of the pilot's seat, closing the canopy before letting himself descend with a mild clap of his boots on the ground below, taking a deep breath inward as if he'd missed the very air of this world he'd begin to look for his guest.
She seemed to have set her ship down in the hangar just opposite from his, thus that was the logical place for him to calmly walk towards, he kept in mind the fact that he'd be due to submit a report not too long from now, but for the moment he was free for a small moment of leisure given his successes of the day.
After landing, Jade herself was rather timid to get out of the closed filtration system of her Vindicator. She watched him approach her craft, taking off her helmet. "Here we go.. I suppose.. I should bring my oxygen mask.." It was clear she was having an internal conflict. She knew the atmosphere of Malta was pure cardamine, and wrestled with whether or not she wanted to open the hatch before getting access to a clean supply of oxygen. She only had two canisters though, not enough for a stay more than a couple hours.
From the outside, it would be visible the girl was scuffling around inside the ship, trying to decide. Finally after some conflict, she had accidentally bumped open the hatch, accelerating her decision. As the cardamine-infused air flooded the ship, it was too late to even bother with an oxygen mask. She let out a somewhat defeated sigh, her inhaled taking her by surprise, slowly making her way out to him. "Hey.."
"Miss Linford, a pleasure to meet you in person." There seemed to be a ladder nearby that was often used to help pilots get out of taller ships, he didn't think it would be necessary given how flat the Vindicator was, choosing instead to lend her a hand in getting out of the ship.
They were both cut from the same cloth, perhaps that was why they didn't feel very foreign to one another. "Welcome to Malta, the epitome of exotic tastes and luxuries." She'd already taken the step towards embracing their way of life and every breath she took only further cemented that, there was no going back now, since it was her first time she'd most likely be overwhelmed by the intensity of the feeling of pure cardamine flowing freely through her lungs. He offered her a polite smile and then gestured for her to follow him, leading her along the path to exit the hangars and to begin the short journey to his quarters.
"Is there anything on your mind?" He took a brief glance towards her, making sure he was walking in the right direction.
"Just.. nervous is all.." She followed somewhat close to him, her senses being overwhelmed. "It's a strange place, Malta.." She kept moving along, following him. Her appearance wasn't much to note. Late 20s, visibly stressed, and her flight suit concealing an old Liberty Navy uniform that was faded and clearly not in pristine condition. She did take good note of how Malta looked at night. Twice now she was invited to a normally-hostile planet by a friendly stranger. She was curious why he had invited him here, after all she was just some random person he had just met hours ago.
"Eh..? Just.. erm.. why me? I mean.. normally Outcasts have attempted to shoot me by now or atleast not very welcoming. We only just first met hours ago."
Considering her questions carefully, he'd take a moment to address them all in sequence and to do so properly. "I've just had a good day, not only did I complete an assignment, I got to put down a filthy little Cretan doing it. I may as well top it all off with a night spent with pleasant company, nothing wrong in a little indulgence now and then, hrm?" He did rather directly flirt with her before-hand and she seemed interested enough to return those advances to a point, if not so openly by considering the idea of a massage once proposed.
"It doesn't have to be so complicated and I certainly don't intend for it to be. You're here as my guest for the night, you may leave at any time. But I'd prefer if you stayed long enough for me to get you out of that uniform." Given his own experience he was sure she was overwhelmed by her first indulgence with pure cardamine, the rush would soon enough intoxicate her, if it hadn't already, though it would hardly prove debilitating like your standard liquor or crude narcotics, no, this was something far more.
"How long has it been since you were with someone?" Given the way she was acted this might have been the first time she was a little flirtatious with someone in a long time and there was nothing wrong with that. He'd been in her very shoes not so long ago, a former service-man himself.
"Not too long.. well.. I suppose technically two years but.." She was conflicted yet again. This was the same kind of kindness she was offered before, not long ago. She'd think more on it, but the cardamine was having it's effect, clouding her thoughts and making her walk a bit closer to him. It was very clear the effects were beginning. "This feeling.. it's like.." She didn't say much afterwords, her mind both relaxing, clouded but trying to concentrate. Indeed her stress was being somewhat relieved, her body itself was still full of it. "How much further..?"
A short shuttle ride occupied the majority of their journey, but it wouldn't last longer than five minutes once they had boarded the small vessel. Upon landing, she'd be greeted with the sight of a beyond luxurious estate, and the guards at the gate although wary of her allowed her to pass provided she was closely supervised by Ryan and did not wander into the main premises, she could venture to his little guest-house but no further.
"That House just ahead is the one I stay in, a generous accommodation rendered to me free of charge by my boss. She can be eccentric and a little mean, but what's a person without a little spice?" He was well-mannered and seemed rather smart on top of this, he must have been in his early to mid-thirties, though it was hard to tell given the lack of direct lighting and the fact they were walking up to the door meant she could never stop to take a clear look at him, but once they did arrive at the door he swiftly opened it for her and allowed her the opportunity to walk through first, following behind, a gentle flick of the arm and the door was shut firmly, automatically locking itself for the time being.
"You can leave in the morning with a small parting gift of cardamine doses for you to use on the go, a shuttle will take you back to your ship and you can venture back Home, or wherever your assigned fall-back point is. For now however, you don't have to care about anything. Just let every breath sweep you away, like the tide of an ocean, don't fight it, just flow." Taking a few steps in her direction, he'd stop directly in front of her, allowing her the first opportunity since they'd first met to get a proper look at him and to be fully cognizant of who she was here with.
By herself, it was clear she didn't much have the time to take proper care of herself as a woman. She was more soldier than woman by now. Even now she was a little dirty, a sign she hadn't been back since her earlier mission to Omicron Xi. "It's been a while since I've relaxed fully.. even at home, I'm in a hostile environment.. always ready to go at it.." Her dark hair was less than tended to, her body, while toned, was not as feminine as one would normally find.
Soon enough she backed down, sitting, her senses washed over by the cardamine, indeed, taken by the tide of the ocean of cardamine.
He would very briefly focus on his PDA before turning his attention to her, he must have just reported the day's events to his superior as he'd mentioned he would have to do before they could land, he was very detective-like in his appearance and perhaps that had a certain degree of charm.
"I see, that's no way to live, everyone needs to relax at some point. Bering, if I'm not mistaken is what you're referring to." She was under the influence now and any attempt he made at being persuasive would be rather easy to pull off given the sense of bliss she must have been experiencing, by contrast everything about him was prim and proper, his hair neatly slicked. You wouldn't peg him for a pilot if you happened to bump into him outside of a ship.
"It must be nice experiencing all of this for the first time, what's it like for you back in Bering?" After reaching up to pull at his tie, both loosening and then removing it, he'd join her on the couch that she'd chose to take a seat upon, keenly focused on both her and what she would say.
"War.. alot of war.. Mostly Navy incursions but now the Unioners are a growing issue.. then ofcourse the infestation in the Navy.. Seems like everywhere is a battlefield, even my own fortress." She said, sitting back. Even in bliss, she was still tense, a sign of a very troubled soul. "Seems like no matter what there's always someone out to get me, always.. Not to mention sometimes we lack basic goods and equipment when Navy and Police patrols are heavy to smugglers can't make it through." No doubt she was more talkative about these things than normal, even she didn't know how much she was going on about it.