Local Organic Blue Milk (D1 EA, Farmer's Market)

[Yara Suhr]

"And the other two-thirds are deep-fried?" She sorts through bunches of some kind of frilly blue-green leaves. "You can eat things besides what you sell to your patrons, as mad as that may sound."

She plucks up one bunch that looks more or less the same as all the others and shakes it at him. "If it helps, think of it like the good bottles you keep under the bar. You know... the stuff you don't sell to everyone, personal use only."

[Cal Arcton]

"You got it." Cal said, smiling. "And there's also the deep fried nerf, too. With that many of each, there was bound to be some overlap."

The smile turned wry as he reached out, accepting the bundle of produce. "I do have a few bottles like that, stashed all around the premises. Never know when you're gonna need a really good drink, after all." He narrowed his eyes, looking at her. "Come by and try one sometime. Old friends rate the good bottles."

[Yara Suhr]

"I may take you up on that." She smiles and turns back to grab another bunch of greens for her own shopping bag. "On top of anything else, veterans ought to stick together, eh?"

As they stroll away after exchanging a few chits for the vegetables, she admits, "I talk a good game, but I've been pretty wretched about cooking meals that don't come out of a box myself, lately. It's peculiar how you miss fresh... everything, when you're stuck on a starship, yet somehow once you're planetside it can all seem like too much trouble."

[Cal Arcton]

Cal flashed her a smile. "Exactly my line of thinking, Doc." His eyes narrowed. "Can't say I know of many more around here that officially joined up. A few unofficial. That tough woman you've got working at the clinic's a vet too, isn't she?"

Cal had a long stride but a leisurely pace. "Well, let me cook somethin' up for you, then. I mean, usually I have a chef take care of that, but everyone learns how to do a bit of something." He smirked. "I do a mean deep fried nerf, let me tell you."

[Yara Suhr]

"Not a whole nerf, I hope," she chuckles.

"Yes, Raine is an old hand. She and her father were involved nearly since the beginning." Yara keeps pace with shorter, brisker steps. "Nothing wrong with unofficial, though. In lots of places that's all there was, at least to begin with. Here, too, as I understand it?"

[Cal Arcton]

"'Course not." Cal said, smirking. "Just the best parts, of course." That was a statement he wasn't about to clarify.

He let out a slow whistle at this revelation about Raine. "Yeah. Unofficial is how I started off, too. I mean, the Empire was here, but it didn't have quite the presence it had some other places." He shrugged. "For me, it started off with lookin' the other way. Then lending my eyes, my local knowledge. Arranging drops, hand-offs. And finally, I joined up."

He looked up, towards the horizon. "If there was a corner of the galaxy that war didn't touch, I doubt I'll ever see it."

[Yara Suhr]

"Mmm. That sounds right." Yara nods. "I was in the middle of it long enough that my perspective is surely skewed--but still." After a few moments of quiet, during which she takes on a somewhat inward expression, she asks, "How was it on Noventa? I've seen the starship factory, but the rest of the planet seems rather... ungoverned, at least since I've been here."

[Cal Arcton]

Cal smiled wryly. "You should have seen it before. It's a lot more governed than when I was a kid. Most of the lawlessness is at least out of sight, now."

He sighed. "I should be getting back. Bar's not gonna tend itself, after all." Turning to Yara, he gave her a smile. "Until next time, Doc. Stop by the bar sometime, huh?"

[Yara Suhr]

"I'll do that," Yara says with a warm smile. "As much as I'd like to stay out while there's sun in the forecast, I had better go back while I still have time myself."