This time, Val does reject the calming effect. They stand up too quickly, banging their knee on the table as they do so. That's not true. That can't be true. Panic bubbles up in their chest, and the room feels too small. The walls close in on them. Without a word, they dash out the door.

Yeah, fair enough.

She gives it a second and, when Val stops under the tree and resolves to her Force senses, decides to leave the calming effect up; while she's waiting for them to relax again, she sets Daisy to getting out the camping gear and busies herself putting together a plate of finger foods.

Val spends a good while pacing, wings extended. They flap anxiously as they speed-walk back and forth, and the breeze stirred up by their massive wings creates eddies in the sand. Their instinct to flee is pressing on them hard, but this isn't the kind of thing they can escape by running.

Not that that's stopped them in the past. But a sprawling expanse of desert and no water as far as the eye can see is a pretty powerful motivator to stay put. They're panicked, but they're not stupid.

Finally, they manage to put a lid on their panic to the point where they think they'll be able to string together a coherent sentence, or at least a few words, and walk over to the building again. They don't go in, but they linger in the doorway.

The door opens promptly; Pradnakt leans on the frame rather than inviting Val back in.

Still flapping their wings, not making eye contact, and speaking too fast, Val asks "You have space travel. Universe travel?"

"I've heard rumors."

Val nods. "Okay. Okay."

Somewhat reassured, they move on to their next line of inquiry. "Are you alive?"

Heh. "Yeah. I'm a Sith - you won't know what that is - and we're kind of... more, or both, or beyond."

Val nods again. "Okay. So, sort of like a ghost. But with a body. And superpowers?" In their universe, people lose their powers when they become ghosts.

Nod. "And tech to interface with them, and social license to do what we like. If you see a Sith with their lightsaber out again you really shouldn't approach them." She indicates the short copper rod now resting in her holster.

"I'm, uh, hard to touch." They turn invisible-intangible again to illustrate what they mean, and then blink back into existence. "But I won't."

"Yeah, you shouldn't count on that stopping us. Anyway. Daisy's getting my camping stuff, we can set you up out here in the open - you don't need to worry about animals, there's nothing dangerous close to the house - and let you settle in, and we can talk about where to go from there. Don't run off, I'm not going to be in a good mood about it if I have to chase you down."

"Thanks." Val says, a little surprised and very grateful that Lord Sunset recognized their fear of enclosed spaces without them having to say it out loud. They like this woman, despite themself. Usually it takes them weeks to months to get used to new people, but the whole superghost thing endears her to them significantly. Also, their general demeanor is reassuring-- not too friendly, that would make Val skittish, but certainly kind. "I can't pay you. I don't have anything you'd want."

"Don't worry about it, we're not tight for money. I should know if there's anything you're going to want, actually - I'll send Daisy into town for clothes and things for you tomorrow, and she'll do another run next week, but that's usually monthly."

Val narrows their eyes, suspicious now. "Why are you helping me? I can't do anything for you."

"Well, my options are keep you here, kill you, or let you wander off and attract some other Sith. That last one's dangerous, and I'm trying to stay out of the habit of killing people I don't need to. If you want to leave, we'll figure out how to escort you far enough offplanet that it won't be a problem, but that's going to be a pain, so you're here for now."

Val fluffs their feathers, unsure if they feel reassured or threatened by this. Both? "Okay. Uh, thanks for not killing me, I guess. You don't have to buy much for me. I'm not picky."

"Mmhmm. Well, we'll see."

They rock back and forth on their heels, uncomfortable. "So, uhhh. What now?"

"The tent's going to be a bit. You should probably eat." She goes back in to get the plate she's prepared.

"Oh, I have some food!" They shrug off their backpack and dig through it before triumphantly pulling out an entire dead opossum, somewhat flattened from being hit by a car.

Uh-huh.

They open their mouth wider than should be physically possible and hork down the opossum whole. Their throat and chest swell disturbingly as it slides down their esophagus, and then the opossum-sized lump disappears. They yawn and stretch. "I should be good for a while now."

Uh-huh.

"Do you need whole corpses, or will a high-protein diet do?"

"Oh, I don't even need high-protein. I can eat basically whatever. I just need to eat a lot of it." They gesture to their wings. "Flying takes lots of energy. Fast metabolism. I eat a lot of trash but I guess there's not a lot of trash cans out here."