I COULDN'T REMEMBER what AJ was going to do, so I set her on security. Unspoken but implied: she is the head of security.
"--nother thing, make sure that Dielder doesn't try to--" Plourr unceremoniously hands a two-year-old to Ajedrez without stopping the steady stream of words into her comm, "--keep taking over the committee meeting; that huttslime would kick a whisperkit if it meant more good press for himself--"
Ajedrez and Princess Ianna stare at each other, the little girl's pudgy legs dangling. Ianna blows a dubious bubble, and Ajedrez sets her on her feet and gives her a gentle push toward the blanket laid out across the floor and covered with toys. "Go on, niña."
"No," Plourr is saying, turning away, "no no no, no, no--"
It's a quiet garden, tucked deep within a restricted area of the palace, but Ajedrez takes her responsibility seriously. Keeping Ianna in her peripheral vision (knowing that despite her seeming inattention, Plourr is watching the toddler like a hawkbat), Ajedrez trails behind Plourr at a comfortable distance, hands clasped lightly behind her back.
Switching the comm off with a final irritated instruction, Plourr whirls back -- and raises an eyebrow at Beatriz. "Unless you suspect Ianna of hiding a thermal detonator in her kiddie shoes, I don't think we're in a whole lot of danger here."
"I'm just doing my job," Ajedrez says lightly, walking back toward Ianna beside Plourr.
"Krayt dragon mierda," says Plourr, and by this point, Ajedrez doesn't think twice about the Spanish curse words sprinkled in with the name of a large lizard from Tatooine (Plourr has taken to Spanish cursing like a duck to water and loves to use the words interchangeably with Huttese, which Ajedrez has yet to get the hang of; the glottal stops are disgusting). "You just wanted to hear what I was going to do to Dielder."
"Not very much, from the sound of things," she remarks dryly as Plourr takes a seat on a low-lying stone wall overrun with vines.
"I was doing plenty of shooting on the inside," Plourr promises, prodding at Ianna with her foot; Ianna promptly grabs her mother's boot, holds on for dear life, and goes kaput right down on her side.
"Those giant cannons with the energy bursts?" Beatriz Ajedrez asks, and if her expression has gone a touch dreamy, well, she can hardly be blamed.
"I was thinking something of a smaller caliber, some good close work, but sure," Plourr says companionably, "ion cannons work for me."
no subject
"--nother thing, make sure that Dielder doesn't try to--" Plourr unceremoniously hands a two-year-old to Ajedrez without stopping the steady stream of words into her comm, "--keep taking over the committee meeting; that huttslime would kick a whisperkit if it meant more good press for himself--"
Ajedrez and Princess Ianna stare at each other, the little girl's pudgy legs dangling. Ianna blows a dubious bubble, and Ajedrez sets her on her feet and gives her a gentle push toward the blanket laid out across the floor and covered with toys. "Go on, niña."
"No," Plourr is saying, turning away, "no no no, no, no--"
It's a quiet garden, tucked deep within a restricted area of the palace, but Ajedrez takes her responsibility seriously. Keeping Ianna in her peripheral vision (knowing that despite her seeming inattention, Plourr is watching the toddler like a hawkbat), Ajedrez trails behind Plourr at a comfortable distance, hands clasped lightly behind her back.
Switching the comm off with a final irritated instruction, Plourr whirls back -- and raises an eyebrow at Beatriz. "Unless you suspect Ianna of hiding a thermal detonator in her kiddie shoes, I don't think we're in a whole lot of danger here."
"I'm just doing my job," Ajedrez says lightly, walking back toward Ianna beside Plourr.
"Krayt dragon mierda," says Plourr, and by this point, Ajedrez doesn't think twice about the Spanish curse words sprinkled in with the name of a large lizard from Tatooine (Plourr has taken to Spanish cursing like a duck to water and loves to use the words interchangeably with Huttese, which Ajedrez has yet to get the hang of; the glottal stops are disgusting). "You just wanted to hear what I was going to do to Dielder."
"Not very much, from the sound of things," she remarks dryly as Plourr takes a seat on a low-lying stone wall overrun with vines.
"I was doing plenty of shooting on the inside," Plourr promises, prodding at Ianna with her foot; Ianna promptly grabs her mother's boot, holds on for dear life, and goes kaput right down on her side.
"Those giant cannons with the energy bursts?" Beatriz Ajedrez asks, and if her expression has gone a touch dreamy, well, she can hardly be blamed.
"I was thinking something of a smaller caliber, some good close work, but sure," Plourr says companionably, "ion cannons work for me."