Nice To Meet You
Back again with this whole writing thing.
[Warnings: None really.]
With this in mind, please proceed at your own discretion.
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Phobos isn't fond of politics, but as the last, and de facto leader, of his kind, he doesn't really have a choice in the matter, so when the United Universal Peace Organization calls for a meeting, he's legally and morally obligated to attend.
He doesn't hold much sway or power, not that he ever did in the past, but if his seat is left empty one too many times, others may see fit to replace him, and he's not ready to hand over the reins to just anyone. Not yet.
Perhaps not ever.
The most troublesome part of it all, is that meetings like this can last anything from a couple hours, making the trip completely pointless, or could drag on as long as a week's time. The ideal, Phobos had decided a long time ago, was three days.
Long enough to make the trip worth the time and resources to get there, but short enough that he doesn't feel thoroughly drained by the experience.
Unfortunately, as he looks at his phone, useless in the middle of space away from any cell towers, save for acting as an expensive clock, Phobos sighs, accepting that he's in for the long haul, as a group of creatures from some far off corner of stars knows where argue about something trivial.
He's been here for four days now, and each time he thinks the matter is settled, their bickering starts anew.
Phobos could scream.
But ultimately he just leans back in his chair and fiddles with the sleeve of his robes, needlessly fancy and uncomfortable things made of lace and some kind of stiff underlayment that keeps him from moving around all that much.
He misses his tracksuit.
"Lord Phobos?" A voice rumbles, drawing him from his thoughts. He looks up, only to be met with the towering figure of a lioness in some kind of military formal wear, hat tucked under her arm as she salutes him.
Phobos raises an eyebrow before standing, fixing his clothes a little bit, "That would be me, yes... I apologise, but who are...?"
"Captain Marta M. Meouch." She greets, offering him her hand, he takes it, a bit amused by how small his own looks within her grasp, "I believe you know my brother, Jazzlan?"
Phobos pauses, bringing his free hand up to cover his mouth as he stifles a laugh, "A-Ah, yes... Jazzlan... I just call him Meouch for the most part."
Captain Marta's face lights up, and she smiles, her eyes closing for a moment as she does so, "Sounds like Jazz. He's always preferred going by our last name... By any chance, um, gosh this is going to sound weird but... You see, I've been watching you for a time now."
Phobos' eyes widen.
"N-Not in a creepy way! Or maybe it's still creepy, but anyway..." She mumbles, "I overheard you talking about my brother and the rest of your friends during the last few meetings... Just here and there, but, I wanted to know if you could do me a favor? I-If you can spare the time that is?"
Phobos looks around the room, taking in the chaos, before turning to Captain Marta and nodding quickly.
"I have time, in fact, please get me out of here." He whispers, gently motioning for her to lead the way, "Anything to get out of listening to this for another hour."
Captain Marta nods and helps escort Phobos out of the room, and the two make their way to one of the empty rotundas away from the meeting hall.
Phobos takes a moment to stretch and kick off his shoes. He knows it's not exactly polite to wander around in a space like this barefoot, but his shoes, unpadded flats, haven't exactly been doing him any favors comfort wise.
The only thing stopping him from disrobing entirely is that he doesn't think he could recover politically, or socially, if anyone saw him.
So the annoying robes stay on. For now anyway.
Turning back to Captain Marta, he finds the woman standing by one of the large viewing windows that overlooks Council City, a rather diverse and interesting community thanks to the United Universal Peace Organization's efforts... not that Phobos himself has seen much of it during his visits. He rarely even leaves his rooms, and despite many offers for him to stay with other officials, Phobos hardly trusts, or even likes, any of them enough to take them up on the offer.
As he comes to stand beside the woman, once again marvelling at just how tall she is compared to her brother, Phobos catches a look of sadness in her eyes, one he's all too familiar with.
"My brother has been away from home since I was a little girl." She begins, "I grew up without him for the most part, but I always heard stories from Ma about him... I won't pretend like I know anything about him personally, but Ma, she..."
Captain Marta trails off, rolling her shoulders a bit to ease the tension there.
"Ma would never say she loves one of us more than the rest, but Jazz... Jazz is always on her mind." She says, "She says she understands why he left, that she accepts it, but I know she would love to see him again... and I think Jazz owes her at least that much."
Phobos hums.
"Unless, has... has my brother said anything about, ya know, not wanting to see us... Her?" Captain Marta's expression turns a bit troubled at the thought, "Because, if he has, I can't exactly force him, ya know, he left for some reason, and I can't just... I can't assume to know what's going on with him... I just."
"He hasn't." Phobos says, looking up at the captain with a smile, "He doesn't talk about his home much, but most of the time it's positive."
"Most of the time?" She questions.
"It's not my place to discuss everything he's confided in me or our friends about." Phobos says, his tone ever so slightly defensive, but Captain Marta merely nods.
"I understand." She says with a sigh, deflating a smidge before straightening her posture, "Right. I should get to the point."
Phobos looks up at her, gesturing for her to go on.
"When you return, can you tell him what I told you? That Ma wants to see him? That she thinks about him often?"
Phobos nods, "I can do that."
"One more thing." She says, holding up one of her clawed fingers, "If possible... Do you have any recent photos of Jazzlan? Something I can give to Ma?"
"Oh, I have photos alright." Phobos grins, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
---
The week goes by quicker with the Captain's company, having managed to pull a few strings, Phobos was able to arrange for her to sit beside him during the concluding speeches, and promised to keep in touch, if only to update her on her brother.
He almost gives her his phone number before realizing that 1.) She doesn't have a phone, and 2.) She wouldn't be able to call him anyway, so they exchange direct links instead. He probably shouldn't use something official like that for socializing, but he can probably wiggle around the rules a bit, not like he has advisors who would get upset about it.
"It was great getting to meet you, Marta, you made all of this so much more interesting." Phobos says as he's boarding the shuttle to leave, "Next time I visit Council City, I'll be sure to invite you out for dinner or something."
"I'll hold you to it." She replies with a grin, before going wide eyed and digging into her pockets for something, "Here."
"What is this?" Phobos asks, looking at the small pouch she withdraws, taking it carefully.
"I had Ma send these through last night, open them when you're on the way home." Marta explains, tapping the pouch, "I think you'll like what's inside."
"If this is what I think it is, I think I will." He laughs, offering his hand to Marta, "I'll be off."
Marta takes his hand, "Take care."
---
"How did you get these?!" Meouch hisses in embarrassment as he chases Phobos around the kitchen table, making desperate reaches at the stack of photos clutched in his hand, "Who gave these to you???"
"Your ma!"
"You-!"
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