The fallout of the ritual to mend the broken souls of the Star-Born had been less than smooth and was, in all honesty, somewhat ugly all around. Chapter Master Chyron had been seven seconds away from shooting them all before they could convince him to back down and think this through rationally. The Celestial Choir was out of commission for the foreseeable future as all members had to deal with some manner of a medical emergency, from ruptured organs to fracturing every bone in the body, with Bnuy getting the paltriest damage by only rupturing some veins. The priesthood was divided and deeply so, though that split in opinion was not in regards to the ritual itself but in the status of the Star-Born and Teel, Prophet of the Star Child, as none could deny they were now Divinely Touched twice, and what they should be treated as now, if differently at all, was debated with little pause whenever time allowed the priests to do so. For the ordinary people on the station, the revelation of the Star-Born rescued by the Star Child's power from not merely death by having their souls vanish but also by shielding them from being devoured by a Daemon had many treat the five with great reverence, shrines and trinkets featuring them popping up everywhere. And for the five? They had to have the concept of clothing taught to them at length after several embarrassing events, though other things like not eating as if they needed to rip their meals apart were also featured in the lesson plans.
Which for Bnuy and Teeln, Prophet of the Star Child, meant that though both should have enough time to recover and simply relax, they each were incredibly busy with managing and directing their organizations and aiding whom they could in settling things. Which meant that both were either too exhausted or busy to entwine their songs and bodies more than once a day, if they even managed to do that! Often, not even the simple pleasure and comfort of holding one another in their sleep was afforded to the two, duty calling loud and persistent. A dry period in their love life that did nothing to quell the frustrations bubbling within the two but rather added to them as neither found their need of holding the other met, especially in the case of Bnuy.
And on a station in the middle of three stars that had just punted a Great Daemon back into the Warp, Bnuy sighed, trying to work through all the paperwork left for her to deal with on time, and fantasized about both terrible revenge and all the catching up she would be able to do in a few months.
Idly, she doodled a poem to her love on the margins of a form as another stack of velum as tall as her head was stacked onto one of the paperwork towers in her office.
"Right over there, Alim!" Farisa called out as she slowly put down her water pot. Alim followed closely behind with a far larger pot filled to the brim with that most life-giving liquid taken from one of the wells of their small town. "Thank you for that," Farisa called out, hands behind her back as she beamed at him. Alim could not help himself and smiled back even as he felt the sweat on his brow in the sweltering heat of the midday sun.
"It was no big deal," he said earnestly, wiping the sweat away as he looked at her, noticing that she had a new necklace, a green stone that must've been cut by some expert hands if the way it twinkled in the sun was any indication. "That is a gorgeous stone; it compliments your eyes," he said, causing Farisa to puff out her chest in a not-so-subtle gesture when she realized where he was finally staring. "But if you'd excuse me, I promised Ally to help her prepare for the Celebration of the Gulden Lord," he said, turning without noticing that his friend's entire composure collapsed like a house of cards before rebounding just as quickly.
"Wa-wait!" She quickly called, grabbing the muscular arm of the bigger man with both of hers, pressing herself against it as she beamed at him with a brilliant smile. "I haven't even had time to invite you to some tea! It is only proper that I reward you for helping me with all this heavy lifting," she said, trying to drag him back and into her home. Tried being the word, as Alim didn't budge even one step, thinking hard on whether he should be rude enough to deny her hospitality to help Ally as promised or accept and run late.
"I don't know," he ventured, unsure as Farisa struggled against the ground to move him as he turned and nearly caused her to fall to the ground if he hadn't quickly caught her. "Oh, apologies! I didn't mean to knock you over," he said with earnest concern as Farisa stared at him from his arms wrapped around her, her face suddenly red. It must be the heat; she should get inside and drink something! Thankfully she accepted his apologies with a nod and a mumble that he missed. "And I think I'd like a cup of tea," he added, hoping to get her inside and away from the heat. He could always work harder when he got to Ally to make up for lost time.
"Yes," Farisa said with a happy smile, bright rays of sunshine erupting from her face as she nearly danced into her home, "just follow me, and I ca-Ona? W-what are you doing here?" She continued, and he followed inside to see the elderly matron of Farisa's family sit at the table in the middle of the room, a can of hot tea already on the table with two empty cups accompanying her filled one.
"Drinking tea. Alim, dear, please get those pots inside before the water is completely gone." She sweetly requested with warmth, nodding at Alim's swift departure after bowing slightly to her age and position as was proper. The very second he had left, her gaze went from warm and motherly to cold and sharp, directed directly at her granddaughter. "What are you trying to do, seducing that innocent boy like a hussie?!" She hissed, receiving a glare in return.
"I am not a hussie; I am trying to seduce him into marrying me!" Farisa hotly defended herself, earning a scowl of utter disapproval from her Ona.
"Don't think I haven't seen your lecherous gazes whenever he walks by or how you touch him when he does something you ordered him to do!" She returned just as hotly, only to pause and take a sip as Alim walked back inside and swiftly put the first of two pots into the storage room near the kitchen before walking out, followed by the beaming smile of a young woman and the gentle gaze of an old matriarch. "You are shamelessly using that sweet boy as you enjoy; have you no shame?!"
"Oh," Farisa darkly chuckled with her hands on her hips and a glare on her face. "I'll use that boy as I want at the festival, and you won't stop me!"
Elsewhere in the small town, far away from where a secret war erupted between granddaughter and grandmother over the proper ways to court a man, a man connivingly grinned behind his merchant's mask as the two offworlders inspected an ingot of his copper, almost sure that he would be able to close this sale if nothing went wrong.
*And, what do you think Nanni?* The one on the left said to the one holding the ingot as they placed it back onto the table, a thoughtful expression on their face.
*Poor quality, but we can make up for that with the quantities he boasts about being able to deliver.* The one on the right said, looking thoughtful.
*If he speaks the truth,* the left one continued with a flat expression. *But I'll defer to your decision here.*
"Right:"
[] Deal. We'll buy all the copper you have.
(You gain copper. And will write a complaint about its quality.)
[] No deal.
(You gain copper.)
AN: One Himbo, as ordered.