You Called?

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

If there was one thing to be said about Sal Wagner lately, it was that a year spent back home had not softened her in the least.  Now that her newest daughter was out and about, she no longer had any reason to be exceptionally cautious about anything, so she had resumed her usual routine of housework and cooking, late-night runs from Port aux Basques to Grand Bay and back again, getting the Wolf des Meeres ready for the oncoming spring fishing season, and of course, managing the Phoenix Bluff now that Jeimu had moved to Florida for her new job.

No, while she was most definitely a home-bred Newfoundlander, the Mando ethos was still there.  Perhaps the two cultures, a universe apart, had more in common than she'd initially thought.  Of course, thoughts on her fourteen-year stint as a Mandalorian only came about because Kal Skirata had called, apparently in a tiff about something he wasn't planning on talking about until she reached the Cantina.  She was thankful that all her other kids were either grown men or of (pre) school age and didn't need to be carted around everywhere.

Everyone except Celeste, of course, who was resting securely, cradled to Sal's chest in a sturdy fabric sling and cooing to herself every so often, her wide, ice-blue (and so typically Dumbledore) eyes looking around at everything she could survey from her snug position.  From time to time Sal would have to console her as her tail would poke her in the eye, due to the fact that Celeste was still learning how to control it.  Kurt had mentioned that becoming proficient with one's tail certainly wasn't instinctual; it really was like an extra limb and was therefore just as ungainly as her tridactyl hands and feet.

The tail was the only part of Celeste visible as Sal walked through the doorway into the Cantina.  The cryptic nature of Kal's message had alarmed her somewhat, and so she had called in a favour to Vanya and Kurt to please keep things under control for a few hours and she would be right back, honest.
 
Sal scanned the place with her still-sharp soldier's eyes.

No Kal.

The guy had some nerve.

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[random_xtras]

"Someone took it into his head to taste something I told him not to." Kal orders a caf and a piece of cake for Falen, then sits across from her.

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

Sal moves one arm to support Celeste where she's hanging, now sound asleep, and she lifts her tea mug to her mouth. "Well, you should raise your kids better," she says with a slight smile. "So what's this call about?"

There was something about being here in the Valley that Sal didn't like. The appearance of wide-yet-confined spaces reminds her too much of the past.

So she'd rather be here, hear or do whatever she needed, and then leave.

[random_xtras]

"This was one of yours." He looks her in the eye, then takes a drink of coffee and scowls. "I'm worried about Niner."

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"Sure. Shift the blame," Sal says, looking Kal down with an expression of indifference.

Then he mentions Niner. "That'd be the leader of Omega Squad, eh? What's the matter with him?"

[random_xtras]

The old warrior sighs and looks toward the window. "He's not adapting. And it's starting to make him sick."

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Sal's face goes hard. "Well," she says carefully, "he held onto the army ideal the longest, despite everything. And then his entire world shifted and nobody really asked him how he felt... I'd be sick too, if it was me."

Her tone clearly says 'and what do you want me to do about it'? And yes, she was criticizing Kal's decision to move them without giving them the choice.

[random_xtras]

"I asked them." His voice is low. "I asked all of them if anyone wanted to do something else. Some of them stayed behind, and not just Nulls."

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"Coming from you, though, Kal, it's not really a choice. Those men will do anything for you, and you know it. Some of them would rather die than disappoint you... by staying behind to die."

[random_xtras]

"The Nulls and Four-Four are fine." He rubs his face and shakes his head. "I think I need to leave here."

[fire-in-flight.livejournal.com]

"And where would you go?" Sal sips more tea and tilts her head, her voice taking on a gentler tone. "Don't fault yourself simply because human beings are unpredictable."