Last Flight Of The Sparrow: Three

...

Tiak feels like he's about to freak out. Hard.

Why freak out? Relax, enjoy it.
Okay okay wait, calm down. There is a rational, sensible, and perfectly reasonable explanation for this.
Chill out, bub. She's not fat or anything.
No need to freak out, man. Just go over things in your head, slowly, while you take in your surroundings. If you need to freak out after all we'll be sure to let you know.
Stay calm, remember where you are. Determine if your surroundings have changed. Don't let the alien's... whatever it is she's doing... get to you. If there's anything threatening nearby, go for your weapons. Most importantly, don't panic.
Tiak: Flip the fuck out
So you spent the night in the case of your species former mortal enemy. You didn't die in your sleep, so it's all ok.

Tiak tries his best to not to flip out, but he's quite alarmed. His memories from the past hours are confusing like a dream, but there's no point in denying it.

He has... slept with a Ziranée, the ancestral enemy of his people. And a queen, no less! Not many Maurians are going to see this with good eyes if they find out.

Looks like Nayria is still asleep. She has Tiak's lower half of the body entangled in a hold. But it's not too tight, and Tiak might be able to slip out of it without waking her up.

...That would be rude, Tiak.
Don't be rude! D:
Hey, no one needs to find out about this.
I'd say you'd be better off trying to wake her up, though. I mean, if you're still doing this "keys" thing for her, then you're just going to have to explain why you disappeared later anyway.
Stay put, damnit. If nothing else, think of the diplomatic implications if you unnecessarily antagonist her, just in case this isn't entirely manipulative trickery.
from her face i think you did pretty good.
Mincing words does us no good. Did you have sex with her, or merely slept together?
If it was sex, then was it enjoyable?
Don't worry about what people will say. Check your wounds, as they appear to have miraculously healed overnight. Then gently nudge her awake and see how she responds.
Wait, so you-
How does that-
You don't even-
...
OKAY MOVING ON THEN
Don't move, just relax. Don't wake her quite yet. When she wakes up, then you can slip out.
Never speak of this again.
As awkward a question as this is... I'm kind of curious. ._.
Not so much as far as details go, mind you.
Er, well, um, it's kind of... natural to sleep when someone gives you a huge dose of painkilling knockout drugs. Is it a problem that you passed out in the presence of a Ziranée, or are you just worried she'll kill you in your sleep? Because she didn't.
The problem comes from the fact that he did it with a queen of the species his people have been warring with forever.
Tiak: You must insure that word of this gets out. Everyone will totally give you high fives and not shoot you for treason!
The fact that she was willing to do this is significant.
First, she must want that last key -bad-
Second, she may actually be working towards an end to the war, which both your kind have been at so long that the idea of ending it is alien.
Third, the events in motion could mean that nobody will find out this happens.
And a final note: she has more muscle wrapped around your lower body than you have in your entire body. If you try and wiggle free, she may reflexively squeeze.

(Tiak burns didn't get magically healed, I fucked up the layers, sorry)

Mincing words does us no good. Did you have sex with her, or merely slept together?

If it was sex, then was it enjoyable?

As awkward a question as this is... I'm kind of curious. ._.

Not so much as far as details go, mind you.

Tiak isn't really sure, he doesn't even know if their species are compatible, and hell, he doesn't even know much about Ziranée anatomy and how they... work. And all his memories after he took off his clothes are fuzzy at best. But whatever happened, Tiak recalls it being pretty pleasant.

Tiak clears his throat and hesitantly nudges the queen. In an instant, she awakes, with a long yawn. Her tail squeezes its grip tighter over Tiak's lower half and raises him slightly, in an impressive display of strenght.

Hmm... My little detective is awake already, haha?

I... you... fghdl... I don't...

My, I'm glad to have discovered that you can give better uses to your tongue than speaking. You should calm yourself a bit.

Hmfff... Why did you do this?

Hmmm? Because I thought it would be fun. Because I can. Because nobody could stop me from doing it. You wouldn't understand it, it comes with a position like mine. How is your arm?

Tiak almost forgot about his arm injury. It feels sore, and still hurts when he touches it, but the piercing pain has gone away, and he can move it without problems.

Better, thank you... Could you please stop squeezing me... there?

She giggles, releasing Tiak from her grip.

You had a different opinion about the matter a few hours ago. Anyways, that should sooth the pain of your arm until you can get surgical care once we get to Tinosa II. I guess that you should get dressed and go back to your thrilling adventures of getting shot and burned. And don't forget to look for the last key.

"Fair enough. But first, what can you tell me about Zira? Where do her loyalties lie? What faction does she represent? What's her role here? What's her goal?
This affects how I go about getting the last key, so it's far from irrelevant."
what a nice lady
Look. This isn't how it works.
Tell her you appreciate the gesture but would have wished to have been conscious during your time together. Cheeky wink optional.
I bet someone on the ship has a well exceptional sense of smell. You would definitely not want to be walking around smelling like dickings. Ask the queen to use her shower. It's only fair.
You could do investigation talk during your shower, if she wishes to. Notably, tell her people would likely be coming after her and her keys, once people understand she has the highest amount. You have to know who to watch out for, for her sake.
Also, she'd probably not talk about any of the others or give you any further clues, but it never hurts to ask. Specifically the captain, the navigator, Zira and Mikos.
Sounds like you managed to improvise while being date-raped. :3
Ok. Hit showers, check PDA TODO list, see if someone's stolen the heavy plasma cutter from your bed. Possibly ask about Zira but I don't suspect barrage-of-questions style will work well.

Can I use your shower?

Sure, just try not to wet your injured arm, you'll wash off all the ointment and it will start hurting again.

Tiak steps into the empty bathroom, into the shower. The cold running water feels refreshing after the stiffing room temperature in the queen's cabin.

Mind if I ask you some questions?

At all. Now, If I'm going to answer them or not, that's a different matter.

Now that you have two of the three keys, you're more likely to be the target of an attack to take them. If you could tell me who's so interested in the keys, I'd be on guard against them.

Officer, my life has been at risk since the day I was born. It's one of the perks of being part of the royalty of one of the houses. And it's no different here. I wouldn't trust anybody if I were you, officer.

Not even you?

Specially not me! Everybody knows that politicians and nobility are less trustworthy than the common back alley Sinarri mugger.

Hmm... What can you tell me about Mikos.

I doubt anybody is going to morn his death. He was scum, and his only desire was to end the truce and be back to the endless war again. It's ironic that it seems that with his dead, he's probably going to achieve it.

Not if I can do something about it. Another question. Do you know ambassador Zira Niadar? Do you know who is she working for?

Zira? Zira... Zira... Oh! Now I remember. She was one of those pacifist activist that was always sending me letters of support, going to meetings, sending angry letters to newspapers... Never met her in person, but she seemed to be a nice Maurian, but completely harmless. Is she in the ship?

Yeah.

What a surprise. Never imagined her as the traveler kind. I can't imagine her "working" for any shady organization, either.

Tiak gets out of the shower, gathering his clothes and belongings, getting dressed.

Well, I better get going. Thank you for... everything. And please, I value my consciousness and I would like to keep it the next time I stop by.

She giggles, managing to show even more teeth with that grin, if that's possible.

Oh, by the way. I imagine that you would like to keep our little nursing session a secret. Well, my advise is that you better don't let Zeno find out about it. See, he's not just my bodyguard.

No?

No. He's also my mate.

...

And he's... sort of the jealous kind of mate. And he tends to react violently when he's jealous. It's just a friendly warning. Have fun!

The Last Flight of the Sparrow: Chapter Three