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 Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:31 am
He blinked as the female simply took the sheet and wrapped herself in it, not quite sure if she understood his question, or was just taking the couch for some other reason. Regardless, she had made her choice, and he wasn't about to try waking her for clarification. He could figure it out later, if she stayed another night.
The day catching up with him, he yawned and turned to the door, waving his omnitool over the lock. The hologram turned red in response, but by that time he had activated something else, dimming the lights to more suitable levels for the 'night'. All that was left was to set an alarm for himself, which he did on his omnitool, and strip the gauntlets and greaves from his limbs.
Collapsing onto his bed, he slid off his visor, and placed it on the dresser. He wondered how the hell he was going to manage this, since she couldn't take contracts if she couldn't understand anyone here, and without that he would be supporting two people on credits that barely kept one afloat. Contracts that paid well were few and far between, so he couldn't expect to get lucky all the time.
He'd figure something out, he had gotten this far on his own...
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:49 am
Tayce flopped over to her other side, and after only a few moments flopped the other way again. She sighed and sat up, looking around. Her body insisted on waking her every couple of minutes or so, just in case. Which was getting pretty old.
She'd already tried removing the borrowed belt and shorts, and although more comfortable for sure, it didn't make her feel any more safe. Hissing in annoyance, she rolled off the couch and made her way to the bathroom, still swathed in her sheet. Her mostly clean underarmor still lay sprawled out on the floor, and she picked it up with an appraising eye in the dim light. It wasn't exactly dry, but it wasn't wet either. Though it certainly was cold. This wasn't going to be pleasant. Her ears tucked back as she dropped her warm sheet and started to redress in the familiar fabric, sucking in air at the clammy texture.
Shuddering and miserable, she pulled his shirt on over the skintight suit and donned her bedsheets again, shuffling out of the bathroom feeling physically uncomfortable and somehow mentally more at ease. Sitting on the couch again, more for warmth than the possibility of sleep, Tayce shivered and re-examined the room. At least, as best she could in the artificial night. It wasn't filthy, it was just.... owned by a guy. She tilted her head and examined her small pile by the couch. Glowy sleeve, over-sized socks and other borrowed clothes, food bar... hmmmmm.
She opened it as silently as she could and tried to eat quietly, only choking a little. That done, she stood with the wrapper and suddenly grinned. This meant she got to use the burny box! Scuttling over, she fed the machine her wrapper and pushed the button she'd seen him use before. Sure enough, the thing was turned to ash. She bounced a little in her amusement, then promptly looked around for other things to feed it.
Another wrapper, smelled like an old food kind. Probably forgotten in a rush from here or there. Tayce glided back over and turned it to ash, bouncing again. Anything else? She couldn't quite tell, and didn't want to destroy something that might be valuable. She ended up piling all the towels and clothes in a corner, assuming they were dirty. Tip-toeing around, Tayce organized as she went, things of like and kind were grouped together; all food things, flat things, stuff she didn't understand... but nothing else that looked for sure to be garbage. Sad.
At least it had given her time to warm up again, and now she felt much more comfortable in her familiar underarmor. Stifling a yawn to prevent another coughing fit, the Spartan made her way back to the couch. Maybe now she could sleep easy through the night.
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:38 pm
Caecilius slept like a log, not moving an inch from where he had settled on his bed hours ago, not really dreaming of anything though. Which was probably best for the time being. The gauntlet that held his omnitool started buzzing though, vibrating on the floor where he had discarded it. It wasn't the alarm he had set, that would have beeped, this was an incoming call.
It took a few moments for him to become aware of the noise, rolling onto his side and opening his eyes, rubbing away the sleep so he could see in the dim light. Sighing, he realized what he was doing, old habits that still wouldn't die... He felt around for where he thought he had set his visor, sliding it into place once he had located it, stretching as the device synced with his nerves and began feeding them data. He switched the filters off to help him see with the lights down, sliding out of the edge of the bed and shambling over to his omnitool, slipping it on and answering the call. Anahe's face popped up in a tiny window.
"Yeah?"
"Cae! Did I wake you? Know you're always looking for a job. Thought you would like to help me. Can offer you credits, or a weapon mod of your choice. How about it?"
"What do you need me to do?"
"Simple. Just need you to guard a shipment. Going through some bad parts of Omega. Or, just going through Omega. All parts bad. Don't expect trouble. Simply want someone besides myself going. Only one I could think of at this hour was you. Sound good?"
"Sure, send me the coordinates, I'll be right over..."
"Thanks Cae! Will make it worth your time!"
Somehow he doubted that, but he couldn't turn down a job, and wouldn't for a friend. Any weapon mod though? That sounded tempting... He sighed, gathering the other three parts of his armor, he needed the credits more. He'd probably just have to settle for a tune-up of his pistol, and start taking care of it better...
Slightly more awake, he shuffled into the main room, noticing at first that it was slightly re-arranged. Things were in piles now, clean and dirty towels shoved together against the wall, food packs and what little dishware he had similarly organized. It wasn't that hard to figure out who had done it, he doubted someone would spend the time hacking his door only to clean up. He wasn't upset, just...curious as to why she would do it. He didn't have time to think about it though, his wrist vibrated as Anahe sent him the location, pulling up the amber interface to check where it was. Smirking, he shook his head a little, he was going through a 'calmer' sector. No harm in having a quiet night though, easy money again, though he hadn't really agreed on a payment. Caecilius wasn't worried though, Anahe appreciated the help, he would get paid fairly for his time.
Still, no reason to be rushing in unprepared, and he crept beside the couch to slowly pull the rifle from the pile of looted weapons, trying not to wake the sleeping female. It was about this time that he noticed his shorts were laying on the floor next to the guns, she could have at least put them with the other clothes after taking them...off...
NO THINKING, PRIME OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE!
Not giving his brain a chance to process this, he holstered the gun, unlocked the door and was gone in a less-than-quiet fashion. Leaning back against his door with a thunk as he locked it, he wondered for a moment why she had taken off the shorts, and what that meant she was still wearing. Questions better left for after he came back, or probably best forgotten, if that was even possible...
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 6:12 pm
Something was wrong.There was... stirring, soft and muted noises coming from the bedroom. Tayce was awake in an instant. Lying still as she strained to hear, holding her breath as long as she dared to still herself, she thought there were voices. Maybe? And more shuffling. She had to breathe though, and the compressor hissed as she took a slow, steady drag on the tube. The door opened and she forced her tense muscles to relax. Feigning sleep seemed silly, but it would offer it's own form of surprise if she looked unassuming.
She could tell he had stopped moving for a moment, probably surveying the room. ...And her midnight doings. Once again she hoped he wouldn't be mad, but then the though evaporated as he came closer to the couch and she slipped back into that blank place; where everything was a reaction. Work mode. He was... grabbing one of the guns, she was pretty sure, and she fought the urge to spring up. Slow, shallow breaths... Slow...
Then he was rushing out and away, no longer creeping about. Lifting her head to tilt it at the already closing door, she looked around the apartment in confusion. Draping the sheet over her like a hooded cloak, she checked his bedroom quickly to see if anyone else was there. There wasn't, so what was the deal with the voices? Unless he'd gotten some sort of call.
One that required a gun.
Hurrying back into the living room, she noted that the rifle was missing, and several thoughts bounced about at once. Was everything ok? Should she help? She didn't think she could get back into the room though, and she had no idea how to find him or where he'd gone. Was it because of her? Was it one of people trying to kill her? No, they were trying to clear out their warehouse, probably. Made more sense. She didn't really have value, or a reason to be wanted dead, but still.
What kind of call would you get at night... at least, she assumed it was night; where you needed a gun, but didn't need to rush? Well, he had rushed at the end there.Huffing out all of her breath, she put her fists on her hips and shook her head at herself. There was just no way to know, and nothing she could do.
Which sucked, quite a lot. Sitting back on the couch, she wrapped the sheet around herself and leaned back to look in the general direction of the ceiling. There was no way she'd be getting back to sleep. It just didn't feel as safe without him here, and it would be hard to get comfortable, hard to not worry.
So, instead she grabbed the glowing sleeve and pulled it on, determined to try and unravel it's mysteries.
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:14 pm
A few hours later he finally made it back to the apartment, unlocking the door before shuffling back in, visibly tired as he leaned against the door once it closed behind him. He half-heartedly waved his right hand over the lock, then realized he had left his guest sleeping, turning to see if he had woken her. Well, she was awake, and now he certainly was too.
She had worked out how to turn on the omnitool, and was bathed in the soft orange glow of it, which lightly illuminated her choice of clothing. Or, lack thereof, as it turned out to bed. ...BE. Damnit he was tired, this wasn't helping at all. But neither was her attire, since assuming the shorts were still where she left them, all she was wearing was his shirt. And the sheet over her lap. And the omnitool. At this rate she was going to be the death of him if it kept up.
Trying his best to keep himself calm, he smiled and waved sleepily at her. Anahe's escort job had been boring as hell, and although he was glad to be of help, getting paid a little better would have been nice. Though that might have meant a firefight or two as well, so he couldn't complain too much... Right?
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:20 pm
She had looked up at the door as it started to move, though this time she didn't reach for a gun. It was probably safe, and there was a weapon only a short reach away if it wasn't. When the familiar male stepped through, her ears perked up and she grinned, waving back enthusiastically. Holding up her arm and pointing at it with her other hand, she made a chuffling sound, air rushing out in what would've been a triumphant laugh if her vocal chords would've permitted.
Getting to her feet and dragging the sheet with her, she hurried over to him to show off what she was able to do with his gift. Namely, she'd found where the pre-loaded games were, and this one was really, really simple. A little ball would bounce up and hit little tiles, making them disappear, and bounce back down. She could move a small paddle with her finger and bounce the ball again, if she got to it in time. Object was to clear the screen of all the bricks.
She couldn't understand her score or anything, but it was an improvement from several hours ago, to be sure; and it had given her something else to do, something else to focus on. She bounced up and down a little as she showed him, smiling with a bit of amused pride.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:39 am
He smiled a bit back at her, she had found the omnitool version of Break-Out it seemed. It wasn't his favorite, but he was a fan of the older classics, mostly because they were free. He tried his best to ignore the idea that the sheet was the only thing covering her legs, though his shirt was a little big on her anyway, down to her thighs... FOCUS ON THE GAME!
Or the omnitool itself he figured, and brought up his own and showed her one of his favorites, Missile Command. The gist was basically watching missile lines come towards your base at the bottom, and you had to fire bombs at them to stop them from damaging your cities.
He didn't have it in him to play though, too tired, too distracted by the half-naked female standing in front of him. His ears drooped as he yawned, blinking as he tried to stay awake, though hidden behind his mask. He faintly waved 'goodnight' to the female, then lightly pushed her chest backwards towards the couch, then turned to return to his room once more. Discarding his armor for the second time that night, he set his visor on the dresser and collapsed onto his bed, promptly falling asleep. Hopefully he would only get one call for a job tonight.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:36 am
She looked over at his own amber aeroscreen to see the game he queued up, watching as he went through the basic motions before shutting it down. Tilting her head as he yawned, she gripped her jaw tight and breathed deeply and slowly through the tube to fight down the urge to yawn as well. Damn contagious and spontaneous social gestures.
Mimicking his wave, she allowed herself to be shoved towards the couch, taking the hint. Shrugging, she shuffled back to her temporary bed and flopped down on it, turning off her sleeve and tugging it off after he'd already wandered back into his bedroom. Settling in again, she listened to him shuffling around a bit before there was silence, and then did her best not to think as she waited for sleep.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 1:07 pm
Day 2...
The alarm he set on his omnitool was annoying, purposefully so in order to make sure he woke up, but he still wanted to smash the thing into the wall. The only real reason he kept it on that annoying buzzer sound was because it had never failed to wake him so far. Damn thing.
Rolling out of bed, he felt around for his visor, putting it on and then yawning and stretching. Fishing his right gauntlet from the floor, he slides it on before making his way out into the main room, towards his energy source for the morning. The coffee maker.
Flipping the ancient contraption on, he brews himself a pot of instant, just about the only kind he can manage to find on Omega in his pay-range. Pouring a cup, he sat on the edge of the table and pulled up his omnitool, starting the process of looking up contracts while he tries to wake up. Completely ignoring the probably half-naked female on his couch, just in case she was sleeping, and just in case she had decided to shed the rest of the clothes for whatever reason. He had enough trouble focusing with his imagination taunting him, he didn't need to give it any more ideas.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 1:33 pm
Taking offense at the horrid sound coming from his bedroom, she tries to groan, which just comes out as a rush of air. Shifting in her cocoon, she buried her head at first, but couldn't ignore the insistent tug of 'morning'. Rubbing her face, she sits up and readjusts her bandana and the compressor, taking a heavy puff from the tube before working out the kink in her back.
It was about then that the male shuffled out of his bedroom, obviously still partially asleep. Tilting her head at him, her ears flicking up as she did so, she made a small wave... but he didn't look at her. Maybe he forgot she was there?
She continued to follow his movements, noting where he went in the kitchen and getting unreasonably excited in hopes of him heading to the burny box. But he didn't, instead he was busy with some other machine when a very familiar scent wafted through the air. Coffee. An everyday necessity. She'd never have fresh beans, instead there were little packets that came flash-frozen in their MRE's that you could add to water. Once in awhile she'd get a special treat of real grounds, all the way from Eridanus. This didn't smell like that though, but it didn't matter.
It was coffee.
Coffee, coffee, coffee!
Springing up from the couch, she quickly untangled herself from the sheet and scooted to him, hissing in her excitement.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 2:12 pm
Well, wasn't this a familiar feeling. Drinking coffee that had more in common with Turian food than what it was named after, browsing through the available contracts, trying to ignore something that was bothering him. Looming dread of bills that needed to be paid, rising prices of food that needed to be purchased, or in this case, a female who had discarded the blanket that had been solely covering her lower half. Don't think about it, just focus on finding a job, maybe she'll put on pants at her own accord.
Unfortunately, it was the same old reasons for not taking today's jobs. Too little pay, too dangerous, why would he ever want to work with Vorcha in a non-violent manner. He sighed as he flipped to the next page, sipping more of the coffee and finally risking a glance up at the female as she approached the kitchen, pausing to furrow his brow a little. Well, she definitely wasn't wearing his shorts, but there was something else... She had the...that under armor thing on, though he had no clue why she would wear it. Maybe just because it fit better than the clothes he gave her?
Letting his job search fade away for now, he turned to acknowledge her fully, raising his mug up to her in greeting. He wondered for a moment if she liked coffee as well. Probably not the s**t they sold on Omega, but it wasn't like he particularly liked it either, he just didn't have much choice. He reached behind him, pulling out another mug and offering it to her with a simple question.
"Coffee?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 4:54 pm
She had no reservations about approaching him; after all, even though the undersuit was skin tight, the borrowed shirt covered everything of importance. It hadn't even occurred to her how it might look, besides, what else was she going to wear?
Looking at him curiously with a tilt of her head as he thumbed through the holo, she wondered what he was reading. The news? That image seemed a bit older than him though, he looked.... Well, he looked too young to be living like this either, so who was she to judge?
Tayce dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement as he raised his mug; camaraderie. Taking another step towards him, she blinked as he moved and presented her with a cup. Looking at his, well, his visor to be specific, as he spoke; Tayce suddenly grinned.
Single word, sounded like a question. Could only be one thing, when he was offering it to her too. She nodded happily and accepted the mug, sipping what tasted more like motor oil than coffee. Ack.
Poor guy, and she thought she'd never had the good stuff. This was something she made a mental note to fix at some point, but for right now? Even warm motor oil was still something warm and she sipped at it eagerly.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 5:17 am
He looked her over as she took the coffee, her reaction pretty much saying what he already knew, that this was coffee by name only. Better than nothing as far as he was concerned, but he couldn't agree more.
Sighing lightly to himself, he went back to his job search and caffeine, unsure of what else to do with the female. Besides that.
There was one, guard duty for some 'meeting', of which there was no additional info. Which was typical for these kind of things really. Those that made deals on Omega were rarely doing them with good intentions. Adding the contract to a list of possible jobs for the day, he went back to his search, hoping to increase the size of the list past one.
Oh, and she was awake. He switched the omnitool to a different screen and turned the lights back up to their previous setting, looking about at the cleaning she had done. He still wasn't sure why she had done it, but he wasn't about to ask. Mostly since he didn't know how, and wouldn't understand the response anyway. He should probably try to fix that at some point...
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 8:20 am
She politely looked away while sipping her warmed-over death, not wanting to stare while he messed with the holo. Clearing off a space on the table, she clambered up and took a seat, turning on her own sleeve. Then the light came back on, and she blinked in both surprise and annoyance.
Last time he had waved his arm to make it work, and now she understood that it had to do with his sleeve. Curiously, she raised her own arm and waved it, though nothing happened. Crinkling her nose in distaste, she tried again. Nothing. Huffing in a sigh, she snapped her fingers to get his focus, then pointed at his holo and then up, trying to indicate the lights, with the tilt of her head.
Then to her own sleeve, before waving her arm again. What was she doing wrong? Or would it only work for him since it was his apartment?
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:43 am
He was aware that she was moving, but he was occupied with reading through a lengthy job description to dig out the relevant bits he needed to make a decision. It turned out to be a warehouse job, this one similar to the one he was on when he first met the female, though this contract was more for stocking and cataloging. Still, it was easy enough and paid...okay, and he added it to his list as she tried to get his attention.
Snapping out of his focus, he looked over at her, suddenly surprised that he was so distracted he hadn't noticed her get on the table next to him. He watched her gestures for a moment. His omnitool, ceiling? Her omnitool, shaking it? Shaking it...like it was broken? But why his and the ceiling? He looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what she was talking about. The only thing up there was the metal plating of the cheap apartment, storage nets with a few crates, and the lights. The lights! Was she asking how he changed the lights?
He switched his omnitool to a different pane, then sent the program to control the lights to hers, along with the needed codes for both the lights and the doors. The interface was fairly simple, mostly visual indicators and slide bars, but it also came with a default shortcut. He showed her this by lightly placing his hand over hers, pressing the right combination of her fingertips into the palm-interface, the lights dimming to their night setting again.
Looking up at her again, he removed his hand from hers, waiting to see if she understood what he had done so far.
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