Cousin Cantina

With how slow things had been lately, Vocado had a lot of time to think.

Too much, in fact. Far more than he’d ever had. Self reflection wasn’t uncommon for the man, but to this level? It was nearly unbearable. Without a war to fight, he felt lost. Fighting was all he knew, but with this wound he’d sustained he couldn’t even properly exercise without the potential of hurting himself.

Patrols weren’t exactly the only thing he wanted to do with his life, and Taori’s slow, methodical approach to decision-making was giving him an anxious edge. Sometimes it was best to just cool off.

Drinking never hurt anybody, right?

With a sigh he pushed the doors of the cantina in. It was quiet tonight. Out on jobs or offworld, the usual crowd was absent, and the tourist types didn’t usually venture out this far.

Sitting at the bar was a moderately strong woman. Stronger than most grunts, that much was certain, but beyond that?…

Whatever. Sitting a few seats away, Vocado tapped the bar and ordered the usual. A grey-brown concoction slid its way toward him, and he watched the swill with a sneer. Pitt used to order this all the time.

”Busy night, huh?”

---

Zhalla was actually quite surprised when Kabe did turn up at the agreed upon place-- Half expecting him to suspect it to be a trap and given their history she couldn't really blame him if he hadn't of showed, even she had had her doubts about coming after all. Not only had Kabe shown up though, another Saiyan that was familiar in a way she couldn't quite put a pin on, had also entered the cantina and taken up a seat a few down from her own.

Whoever this other saiyan was Kabe clearly seemed to know him which caused her to become a little more attentive and cautious, had he brought an ally as back up? Had he come to finish their fight elsewhere instead of talk? After she'd just helped him out of that messy situation Callion had just put them through too-- She frowned from behind the mask trying to read whatever look Kabe was trying to convey to her, he clearly didn't seem able to say whatever it was he was meaning out-loud, perhaps he didn't want the other saiyan to hear? She felt almost like they were back at Callion's place again trying to say so much with no words at all.

She was a fool for not having asked Nero to train her in that mind talking thing he did first before ki sense... This would've solved all their problems in both circumstances!

She'd make the bottom half of her mask fold back so that she could actually have a swig of her drink, giving a hesitant nod to both Kabe's look and the comments on it being a busy night-- She knew it wasn't actually they were some of the only people there it would seem but best to play along for now. Truth be told this silent signalling made her curious as to who this other saiyan was considering the last time they'd done this quiet exchanging of looks was back with Callion.

Curiosity getting the better of her she'd spin in her stool to face Kabe, letting out the sort of gasp one would upon recognizing someone they were friendly and familiar with while out and about for the first time in a while-- Even though she had noticed him come in and the two weren't exactly friends. "Kaaabe? Is that you buddy?--" She'd try to say as friendly as she could manage through the mask despite her want to grit her teeth at call him 'buddy'. "Haven't seen you in a hot minute, how've things been?" She'd then nod to Vocado in the next seat down, "Who's ya friend here if I may ask? Don't think I've seen him before" She'd rest an elbow on the bar counter and then that arms fist against the side of her helmet leaving the next moves to Kabe.

Zhalla squinted from behind her mask seeing Kabe slowly come to the realization that this person next to them wasn't who he initially thought he was, so she hadn't needed to pretend to be old buddies with the Pirate at all given there was no issue with this stranger to the two of them! She scowled lightly feeling a little tricked by Kabe's initial mistake, giving the other Saiyan a good thump on the arm for good measure. "Good one, Kabe" It was said in such a way that the stranger themselves probably thought she was just scolding Kabe for the mix up but Kabe himself would know it wasn't because of that alone.

She sighed herself though knowing it was simply a mistake and nothing more, in fact by the sound of it he had only been looking out for her in a sense as well given the mention of that if it had of been who he thought they were beforehand, things could have gotten messy. "It's... Fine. But who'd you think it was before? Not really like you to freeze the way you did" She'd give the person from behind the bar a motion to ask for a second drink before finishing off her first, setting it firmly back down atop the bar.

"Aww, talk about me to your friends do you? Sorry I don't really do the same about you" She'd say, lying through her teeth. "--I'm assuming one of em isn't very fond of me or somethin'? " She'd give a light snerk, clearly not as concerned as Kabe was about it all and as stubborn in her own strengths as ever. "Don't stress, I can handle anything a friend of yours might throw my way. I can handle it if he were to show"

She'd get a second drink given to her and started swirling the drink around again, giving a bit of a brief pause in discussion between them. During the pause the tapestry at Callion's place was all she could really think about, as half of her figured Kabe deserved to know while the other half wanted nothing more then to forget she ever saw it in the first place. She'd sigh lightly and put a hand to the back of her neck. "I don't want you to get things twisted after the stuff that happened at yanno, his place. Letting you off there doesn't mean we're friends now or that I'm not going to go after your bounty anymore, just to make things clear-" She'd point a gloved finger at the other saiyan before continuing. "- But that being said, there was something there that I saw prior to you showin' up that I think you should maybe know about" She'd grumble lightly and trail off towards the end whilst looking away still trying to decide if this was the right thing to do or not or if she'd come to greatly regret having told him later on down the line.

The thought of Kabe bring her up as a topic at parties did make her chuckle lightly from behind the skull mask but she was quick to try and stifle it, kami forbid Kabe think she found him even the slightest bit funny after all.
The pirate soon explained that who he initially thought the stranger was, was actually an uncle of his and one who didn't exactly think high of her after Kabe had spoken to him about the events that went down at Callion's place. "Hah! Well, I suppose I can't blame him on that exactly given you're family and he doesn't know the full of it. It's not like I was there willingly-- Not exactly at least"

She figured it was best to probably elaborate there as she and Kabe didn't get to do a whole lot of explaining during their fight, what with it being too risky with Callion himself being right there as they fought. "I dunno if it was clear during our fight there, but he actually kind of tricked me into being there too" Despite their rivalry she seemed to be avoiding mentioning Kabe's father by name as well, was it for his sake though? Or because she didn't want any potential listeners to pick up on the name? Who knew, maybe a bit of both. "I'd gotten there only minutes or so before you had, and he proposed the deal to me there on the spot. I didn't have much time to think and I... Couldn't exactly tell him no either. I think you know that though. Once he'd mentioned the idea to me I couldn't just leave there without a big target on my back if I had of said no." She knew Kabe knew her actual name and all but how much of that side of her life he knew about she wasn't exactly sure, either way she was sure he knew having a target on your back from his father of all people wasn't desirable. Regardless on if he knew the shelter she cared for being the reason she couldn't of risked it.

"But even I have morals I couldn't just kill you by order of your own father, it felt wrong. No matter how much I don't like you" She'd take a sip of her second drink before thinking on how to continue as the conversation turned to what she had to let him know about. The tapestry. Kabe was of course clearly interested to hear what she was wanting to tell him-- Well not wanting to but felt like she should, it was the right thing to do even if he was no doubt going to be annoying about it.

She'd groan lightly and press the palm of one hand to the forehead of her mask, she was going to regret telling him she knew it, why did she feel like she had to do the right thing here? Ugh. The tapestry had caused so much chaos and confusion for her head ever since having seen it, at least telling him would mean the confusion could be shared. "Augh. Nah-- None that I know of at least. It's much worse then that really." She'd set the drink back down on the counter top before explaining. "Before you'd arrived and I was still talking to him in a different room, I noticed this... Tapestry thing, of his family tree's. But it didn't just have, yanno. Him, you, your mum and such, it branched much bigger then that and uh" She paused to finish off the rest of her second drink half hoping it'd be enough to make her forget the tapestry at all. It wasn't.

"It had me on it too, by birth name an' shit. Along with my birth parents and a sibling I didn't know about." She'd lean her head into her palm further and rub the back of her neck with the other hand. "If the tapestry is all true and not some trick by your father, it would mean we're like... Cousins or somethin'" You could almost hear her wince at saying the word in regards to Kabe but at least she managed to say it at all, right?

Kabe at first was rather quiet after receiving the information which surprised her greatly and she'd even cast a look to him to make sure he'd actually heard what she'd said to him-- He had and he seemed to still be processing it all which was fair enough as it'd taken her a long time to process too, she was still processing it really as it was a lot to think on. He wasn't the only one thinking about how if it were all true then they'd both been endangering their own family without even knowing it. Kabe being family in any sense of the word was going to take a lot of time to get used to, egh.

Eventually the Pirate did speak up though and his howl almost made her jump out of surprise! She'd give a light scowl from behind her skull mask back at Kabe as he nudged her excitedly about the news. Of course he took the information so well, she was sure it'd no doubt be a topic point that'd be coming up frequently now in the future whenever they ran into each other again. She supposed it was somewhat amusing though to think that all the people who'd hired her to bring in Kabe had essentially pit the two cousins against each other though. "I'll allow you to call me that just this once-- But don't get too comfy on it!" She'd grumble giving him an elbow to the side back for all the nudges.

She'd swirl her now empty drink glass around a bit to give herself more time to recall the tapestry before nodding. "Yes. It was me, had my birth name and all-- It's been a while but I still recognized my birth parents on there too." She didn't sound very happy about having seen them though even if it was just by imagery on a family tree tapestry.

When Kabe questioned on if she'd recognized Callion himself she'd pause again before sighing lightly and giving a hand signal to the bartender to fill her glass again. "Unfortunately, I did. I think he might've even recognized me too, even with the mask on." Speaking of, she'd check around them and seeing as the bar was pretty much empty aside from them, the bartender and the stranger from before she'd allow herself to take it off just this once. Kabe already knew what she looked like underneath it she was sure and the other two she could handle should they want to tattle.

It was a long time ago now and I hadn't seen anyone from my birth family's side of things in years-- Err, aside from you now I suppose? But I do vaguely remember an Uncle we saw rarely who looked just like him. I don't think that coupled with that tapestry is just a coincidence." She'd pinch the bridge of her actual nose now that she could with the mask off before continuing. "That and I saw I had a siblings listed on it too... I didn't believe them at the time but uh. Nero and another friend of mine had tried pointing out to me a day or two ago, sometime after our fight actually. That I do in fact have a little brother and that I've met him too. It's too many things piling up for it to all be nothing more then a coincidence. At least that's my current thoughts on it all. I know your father isn't exactly a trustworthy source of information though either so who knows what the tapestry is about or how legitimate it really is"

Speaking of how untrustworthy Callion was in regards to information, something he'd said back when he was offering her a deal came back to her mind. "Forgive me if this is a bit of a touchy subject for you, but I have to ask because I don't want just his version of events on the matter. He'd said you were responsible for the death of your own mother, is this true?" She'd quirk a brow curiously when asking but also did her best to ask as gently as possible as she had no idea how Kabe felt about his own mother or on if this was a sore subject for him. Her caring enough to treat a subject such as this with the gentleness she was was no doubt something new for Kabe who'd she'd insulted countless times before during their many battles prior.

Understandably Kabe found the question to be quite the heavy one and it wasn't one she'd usually ask given how heavy it was, but she needed to know the truth. She knew if she didn't ask it'd eat away at her and allow Callion's version of events to fester away in her mind, making her view of Kabe worse over something he hadn't even been responsible for in the first place no doubt.

Now was her turn to give him the patience to listen without interruption despite their past interactions being notorious for doing just that to each other with insulting quips and jabs. This time was much different though and no potential quips ever came to mind given the subject of the discussion. In fact it was quite the opposite. The ginger saiyan felt herself grow increasingly angry for Kabe's sake the more she heard his side of the story. His side held much more merit as-- Despite their rivalry, Kabe wasn't exactly one to lie about important things like this, unlike his father. The pirate prince also had much more detail to his story as opposed to Callion who'd only even mentioned it in passing to further convince Zhalla to side with him long enough to try and kill Kabe.

Hearing that the actual story meant Callion was blaming his son from things that happened when he was merely three years old, none of which were even Kabe's fault... All of it really put the other saiyan in a new light to her-- And only increased how pissed off she already was at Callion. This asshole really tried to hire her to kill his own son for something he himself was responsible for? For something that Kabe was only a small child during? If she'd of known all this beforehand there would've been no way she hadn't of attacked the old git right then and there! If there was one thing she hated most it certainly was when evil people got children involved, of which this fit.

She let Kabe have his outburst as it seemed like stuff he needed to get off his chest and she had asked a heavy loaded question to cause it. She'd wave a hand though when he apologized after the fact. "Don't be sorry. S'not something you need to apologize for, it's alright" She'd give him a smile for once, a genuine one at that. "That prick is the one who'll be sorry, I tell you what." She'd growl. "Thank you, for the real answer Kabe. It would seem he lied to me to try and get me to comply with his plan more."

With her drink filled again she'd stare down at her third glass for a few moments to process everything Kabe had explained. It would seem he also had a sister who Callion had done similar to as well. What an evil, evil man who never deserved the family he had. She hoped he had that family tree tapestry as a reminder to just how much better they all were in comparison to him. "I'm really sorry about your loss, Kabe" She'd place a gentle hand on his shoulder for a moment hoping it came across as genuine as it was meant. She knew what it was like to lose a motherly figure though in her case it was in-fact her own fault. "It wasn't your fault. It was his"

She'd start sliding all the bits of broken glass that'd shattered from Kabe's grasp into one pile atop the counter to make cleaning it up easier on the bartender before continuing. "Do you... Do you know of what happened to your sister after that?" She was hesitant to ask, not wanting to escalate the other saiyan's already upset feelings, but maybe like her own little brother she too had made it and was someone Kabe could be in contact with now! "If she's anything like her brother, then I know damn well she didn't just lay down and die"

"Nah it's understandable for you to be pissed off, hell even I am at hearing that. He lied to me to get me to try and finish a job he started from when you were just a child. I reckon we should make him sorry for it" She never thought she'd be siding with Kabe on something but here they were, she wasn't about to say the two of them were now friends or anything but she was willing to call a truce so that they could take out his worm of a father. "He said to me he wanted to trim the family tree of you, what're your thoughts on if we trimmed it of him instead?" How unlike her to suggest such a thing but she hadn't any need for any bounty or reward for this one. Callion going down would be reward enough on it's own.

Kabe seemed quite enthusiastic about her proposition about ridding Callion from his family tree. She was rather taken aback watching him reach under the counter and take a big swig from a canister of rocket fuel of all things. She opened her mouth to question if it was something he should even be drinking but quickly remembered he tended to pull his own sword out in combat from his own mouth-- Some things were probably best left unanswered in that regard so she'd drop the thought for now.

The way he drank it though and his eagerness about the subject had her have half the mind to clink glasses with him, but well, he had a canister now not a glass. "He seems the kind of person to come back and do something worse if you only beat the stuffing out of him and nothing more. Little cockroach." She'd hiss.

Hearing Kabe had already been thinking of potentially taking out his father earnt another surprised look from her as well, and an audience with the king? She wasn't sure how she felt about that part... She wasn't exactly fond of Plant and the Saiyans who called here home still but she hadn't exactly met or knew much on the new king either. "That sounds like it'd of been a little risky, especially for you Kabe" He was a wanted Pirate Lord afterall she of all people knew that best. If the uncle hadn't thought fondly of her after talks with Kabe she could only imagine what his thoughts on Callion were. "Oh yeah? What'd he think?"

"Yanno if I ever mentioned this to Nero I'm sure he'd also think pretty poorly of your father--" She'd pause in going for a sip of her drink, going a little pink and glancing off to the side before adding on quickly in an almost mumbled sort of manner. "Not that what he thinks is like, super important here or anything--" Last thing she wanted after he'd just found out they were potentially cousins was for Kabe also knowing any potential feelings she might've had for Nero too.

Hearing his sister was in fact better then fine made her smile, "Good, good" She'd take another sip from her now third glass and thought on Carro and how things had turned out for him in that regard. She was grateful the world had sent Dion his way despite how much she wished she could've been there for him too growing up. "What's her name?-- If you wanna mention it of course"

Despite still being rivals, this was probably the most openly casual she'd ever been with Kabe and at this point it almost came naturally. It was weird to her how one of the people who probably knew her best was the guy she'd been hunting down for practically years now over a bounty on his head. Finding out that they were basically cousins had helped her see a much different side of Kabe she otherwise wouldn't of given him the time to show otherwise.

"Well, let's hear what you've got worked out so far, huh? I'm all ears" Maybe his play on words was a little terrible but perhaps she was so used to Kabe she didn't think to say anything on it in the moment. The ginger saiyan would give the pirate a soft elbow to the side before--somewhat begrudgingly-- pointing out. "You can call me Zhalla here, it's alright. I don't mind-- I mean you've already called me cousin once today so"

She'd put a gloved hand to her chin in thought though when Kabe proposed a sort of deal to her in regards to playing her part in helping tear apart Callion once and for all. "Hmmm lemme think on that. So I get to help tear down that cowardly little cockroach and I get paid for it? Hell yeah, count me in!" She'd grin and hold a hand out to the Pirate for him to shake to let him know she was absolutely on board with helping in any way she could. If you had of told Zhalla from a month ago that one day she'd be willingly offering to shake Kabe's hand under any context she would've laughed at you, yet here she was.