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 Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:11 pm
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:40 pm
Nihlus lowered his mandibles, quickly raised them, and then lowered them again. A thoughtful expression placed itself on his face for a moment as he mulled her words over. There was nothing wrong with having a simple life; at times, the Spectre wondered what such peace was like. He enjoyed his job, to be sure; gallivanting about the galaxy, doing whatever was necessary to meet the Council's orders without reprimand. Saving ambassadors, stopping conspiracies, occasionally assassinating those that needed to die in order to ensure galactic peace... It was exciting, and suited his needs. This didn't keep him from wondering, though, contented as he might have been.
Back to the matter at hand, however... The turian, still occasionally peering over to see if his water and the female's drink were close to arriving, felt obligated to pay his debt in full. Maybe he would have to find something other than material goods to repay her with; a favor in the future, perhaps? In any case, he didn't want to upset her by stressing the matter. He merely gave his own form of a smile, which shone in his strange, alien eyes as clearly as it would in any normal fox's.
"What sort of drink are you getting for yourself?" he asked, moving past the subject of his newfound debt.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:31 pm
Golden eyes drifted onto his face, looking at the features - his strange mouth, no, mandibles were curved into what looked like a smile (only strange because of his mandibles...and that's not normal down here, of course) and the glimmer his eyes contained that helped support her conclusion that his mandibles were set into a smile. It was an... Interesting sight. Without thought, her own lips curled into a smile.
She had always lived the life of a simpleton; how could she live a different one? She never had extravagance, nor did she envy it. Bianca spent her life on the road constantly with her mother and Auntie, and even though her mother was long gone and she left her Auntie a couple years ago, their ideals were etched into her mind. She truly was nomadic, and she would always be, as far as she was concerned. She had no true set home and didn't see the luxury in it if you could live on the comforting ground. Besides, it was boring to stay in one place. What was the fun of that...?
But what would a different like be like? She attempted to imagine a more military-foundationed lifestyle. Would Bianca even be a soldier? No, no, unlikely. She was no soldier. Guns felt alien in her hands and the idea of taking another's life to complete a mission troubled her. No, more likely intelligence, if she could be considered smart enough, or even someone that helped with the talks and relations, whether they were peaceful ones, or feeble attempts to keep the public to believe the war was an ideal one to believe in and support....She could do that. Her thoughts snapped instantly, realizing he had asked her something...concerning the drink? "Ooo, what? The drink? Just..some green tea. Something simple..What I usually get," she replied, glancing over as she noticed someone enter her peripheral vision.
Ahh,m the bartender. He set down the two drinks with utter silence and moved away wordlessly, leaving the two to continue their conversation. The femme curled her paws around her drink, allowing its warmth to bring her cold paws to a comfortable temperature.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:29 pm
Nihlus glanced down to his companion's tea; her toes wrapped around it in a gentle embrace. To tell the truth, he was slightly envious; so far away from standard galactic society, it would be hard to find something that he could drink that held such flavor and bittersweet aroma. Warm water, unfortunately, just wouldn't have been the same. And these concerns ignored the utmost importance of his basic needs of survival. This planet, though typical for a garden world, simply wasn't built with the same forms of life that kept the turian species alive. Not that this was particularly unusual; the turians' home planet was one of the only ones with lifeforms dependent on dextro-proteins. Yes, the descendants of the Palaven natives were certainly in the minority in the greater scheme of things... For now, this water was all he was going to get. After all, he wasn't about to pop open his emergency rations on the first day here.
"It smells delicious," he commented at last, lifting his gaze from her glass and up to her muzzle. Turning to his water soon after, he took a long, but light sip, finishing off with a refreshed sigh. The compliment to her beverage wasn't meant to make her feel guilty or sympathetic, and so he went an extra mile to seem contented with the bland, tasteless drink.
Nihlus, with his Spectre training under a certain mentor, found himself dwelling on Bianca's unusual -even supernatural- skill once more... It could truly be useful, should someone have the mind to employ her for it. Analytically, he could see the immense strategic advantage already. Hell, she might even be Spectre material with the right training... She could be the first of her kind... Or could she? With the events that had transpired on Eden Prime, Nihlus had no real way of knowing whether or not Shepard was even alive, let alone a new recruit to his ranks. They were supposed to do so much together to prove that Earth deserved its own Spectre... Who was evaluating Shepard now, assuming that the mission hadn't failed miserably? .... Saren?
His mind swam briefly on that serene colony, turned by then into a burning death field. The bodies, the smell, the Geth... And his mentor. Everything flashed by him -every word, every single step, and each charred blade of grass- up to a moment of weakness, and an ear-splitting bang.
... And then he was back in the tea shop, sitting calmly on his stool, still staring into his boring glass of water. What was he doing reliving things like that...? It must have been some form of shell-shock. He wasn't a damn drell, after all. Almost wearily, he lifted his glass again, dribbling a bit of water down his chin as he tipped it up and finished his drink. Dark, emerald eyes darted quickly to the femme. Hopefully, she hadn't caught that. It felt like he had turned his back again; he let his guard down. If he couldn't even do that around those he thought trustworthy, then what about her...? She was a stranger. That reminded him...
"I just realized... I don't know your name," he said quietly as he shoved his glass an inch away from his claws. Unable to recall if he'd shared his name with her, he decided to wait and see if she came to a similar realization.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:46 pm
The femme sipped the tea cautiously, eventually downing the drink once it reached the right temperature of not burning hot, but extremely warm. It soothed her throat, which was beginning to feel dry after talking so much. She usually carried a insane quiet demeanor-no one ever tried to bother her unless they were desperate-often keeping to herself. It was her being, but of course, since this male seemed to sincerely believe in her 'gift', it helped bring out her more talkative side.
How terrible it must be to be a turian - or any alien species with a diet like his, with no signals of a native food that fitted the particular tastes. But, it could of happened to her if Earth's technology's arms extended that far enough. In her opinion though, it was nice to be stuck on Earth. Going into space and different planets caused problems easily: no more would it be battle of power among nations, it would be among the intellectual species and traveling... How did that work? If they moved at their current speed, it would take decades to reach a destination. Unless they achieved the speed of light, but then wouldn't they so to speak, travel in time? The voyagers would remain young while relatives and everyone in the past would be dead or extremely old.
She closed her eyes and let a relaxed sigh slip her lips; this was the calmest she felt in months and honestly, though she was beginning to ramble ideas and was getting a headache from attempting to grasp new concepts that didn't ever occur to her before... It felt great! Her heart and mind wasn't sick and clogged and the ideas and remembrances of the strings, blinding her eyesight with the common tinges of red and black and white.
"It was delicious," she said, smiling meekly. "It's a shame you couldn't have it. Is there maybe some sort of solvent you could add to it that would give it those..Umm.. Dexter ammo acids? Err, whatever they were called," Bianca mumbled, her voice fading into nothingness as her cheeks flushed, clearly embarrassed at her inability to remember the word. The concept was interesting, but how would they capture a protein or acid or whatever it was classified as and compress it into powder? ...Maybe it was possible, but, she wasn't a scientist, so she was left clueless, contemplating the possibilities of the -more than likely- impossible.
Damn you, Science!
If maybe Mom didn't die, then maybe I could of gone to school and been normal and didn't have to have a minimal education. But... This was her life, and she would have to deal with it. Stop whining, Bianca, just enjoy yourself. She felt a shiver creep down her spine as her mind drifted towards the ideas about her fears and paranoras from her gift - she uncomfortably adjusted her scarf as if attempting to justify her body's chills by the tickling of the fuzz or the cool atmosphere.
Besides, why are you even complaining? Sure, being able to see the connections between people was a bit of a nightmare half the time, but weren't there people dying for a gift like her? She made a nervous laugh, withdrawing her paws from her scarf, only to place them on the glass and move it back and forth with deep anxiety. There were good things about her life, right? She could figure out who was the 'right' crowd, so to speak, right? And... Her thoughts traveled aimlessly, continuing their little ramblings as they categorized the bits of Bianca's life as "Useful" or "Worthless".
Hearing the last question, she did feel slightly flabbergasted. No, she never did introduce herself, did she? Well, wasn't that rude of me! she thought silently, refraining a grin of amusement. "Oh, we never did, did we? Well, I'm Bianca... I don't believe you introduced yourself either.." Her golden eyes, innocent and wide, looked up into his beady ones, with a look of eagerness.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:20 pm
"I've never heard of such a thing," the Turian said in regards to his friend's 'miracle solvent.' Such an idea sounded truly amazing. But, if the Salarian scientists hadn't found it yet, it was probably impossible. Either that, or unreachable by the current level of technology that the galaxy currently possessed. It really was a pity; that tea had really smelled heavenly...
"I'm not exactly a scientist, myself. I just know these things about dextro proteins because they're relevant to my survival." He spoke with a soft, matter-of-fact tone, remaining just as quiet and calm as before. "Really, you don't have to worry about them. I'll find a way." Nihlus smiled once more, this time to try and reassure her; he had noticed those flushed cheeks, despite their attempts to hide under dazzling gems.
"My apologies, Bianca," he replied with a polite nod of the head. "My name is Nihlus Kryik." The turian twitched his ears, unable to resist a brief chuckle at that innocent look in her eyes. Come to think of it, she looked different from the majority of foxes that he had seen around here; she had that blue hair hanging around her face, lacked the usual tufts on her ears -which were shorter than usual in themselves- and those sparkling stones under her eyes. The last, of course, was an artificial feature, as far as he could tell. It didn't detract from her beauty, however. That much was obvious.
Moving past her face, the obvious addition was clothes. He found himself wondering briefly why the majority of these earth foxes neglected to cover themselves. It didn't matter, really; everyone had their own tastes, of course. He liked to wear his armor, and assumed that Bianca was the same way with her flowing purple garment. Nihlus' coverings suited the danger of his usual missions, but that was beside the point. Fortunately, they weren't like the Volus or the Quarians, who required exosuits to survive outside their home worlds. Atmospheric pressure and impaired immune systems aside, Nihlus finally noticed her footwear. It was unusual, but again, far from tacky.
Lastly, he found himself intrigued by Bianca's short, fluffy tail. It reminded him of an exotic pet that they occasionally sold in a Citadel gift shop. What was that thing called again...? A bunny? Rabbit? Any way you put it, the thing came from earth, and sold like hotcakes to Asari. For some reason, they just loved the little things. He, personally, always preferred the "space hamsters" that they sold, but would never buy one. To a Spectre that was always on the move, pets weren't really that convenient, no matter how intriguing they looked.
Yes, a Spectre on the move... That was bound to recycle on itself, wasn't it? There wasn't much around here that didn't remind him that he was stranded on an alien world. Ignoring the survival situation, it didn't seem all that bad. At least it was civilized, he figured. In fact, if he wouldn't mind sticking around for a while to investigate the locals... Scouting for potential was what he would call it to the Council, if he ever spoke to them again. That was beginning to seem less and less likely, though.
The three Councilors, serious and fairly open-minded, each found their way to Nihlus' mind, their faces and voices floating by like a distant call. Were they still searching for him? Or was this really some uninformed mission that they were testing him with? Or... Had they really given up? It was impossible to say.
He would just have to look to the stars. Who knew? A frigate could be orbiting the planet at that very instant. The Normandy could be there, with Anderson aboard, deciding who to send on the search. Patiently, the brown Turian would wait until news either came or didn't. With this technology, there wasn't much else that he could do.
Nihlus, having begun to toy with his empty glass in his paws, looked back to Bianca. Thus far, as she had commented before, she had life vaguely similar way to his own, in some aspects. One parent dying, the other pushing them away... That was more severe in her case, seeing as she never knew him. But the analogy was, nonetheless, there. And then there was life after leaving their parents... She and he both despised the limitations that their newfound lives without their mothers shackled them with. His, with the strict military procedure, seemed simple. No one with a spirit like his own would want to follow every bark of a commanding officer, especially when doing what was right required a bend in the rules. However, what was so detestable about this Auntie that Bianca mentioned that she had to run away? After another second, he placed his glass on the bar once more, deciding to ask his question.
"You mentioned before that your Auntie raised you after your mother's passing. Why, exactly, did you turn from her, if you don't mind my asking?" Peeking out from the brown scales and white paint, Nihlus' eyes were filled with curiosity. The rest of his face reset to a solemn expression, contrasting the eager, childlike innocence of Bianca's inquisitive eyes. This expression, far from having hateful intent, was meant to give Bianca room to be serious if she so desired. It was hard, he knew, to discuss a serious topic about one's life to a carefree grin.
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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:26 pm
With the conversation taking a more serious tone, Bianca's own facial expression fixed itself to a more solemn expression. Fixing her golden, innocent eyes on the turian's more contradictory, toughened beady eyes, she felt an ocean wave of insecurity and inexperience sweep over her, which, in a sanse was true: she never had to go through the vigorous military trainings, harsh times that involved breaking and repairing an individual to fit them to the military life. Sure, she had lost a parent and never knew the other, but that was minimal compared to him, considering, he too, lost a parent... And he also recovered from a possible near-death experience....Right? Her eyes traveled over his neck, eyeing the reptile-isk spikes prodding out of him, her eyes outlining the smooth up and down motions it held.
Her gold eyes became to loom into a world of its own, her dreamy, thoughtful expression spacing out. "That's true," she replied, her voice soft. She made a small nod. "And it's to be expected...I know about my 'diet' though not in any particular detail. I've dwelled on Earth my whole life, and so has all - or at least most - of the residents on this planet. We really don't have to worry of dying from malnutrition as long as we say on this cozy planet." Her eyes left its state, fixing themselves back on the male's more serious look.
Her ears twitched with a sort of anxiousness at learning his name. "Nihlus..." she murmured, repeating the name, absorbing it's pronunciation. It was definitely different, though that said little, since majority of the foxes that loomed around had exotic names. How would he spell that? ...Do they use a similar alphabet as humans, with letter or symbols possessing a particular sound? Or were they like the majority of the ancient civilizations, the Chinese or the Egyptians, that used a symbol to represent a whole word...? Or did they just adopt our alphabet, with A's and B's and the etcetera... Or maybe the Russians? ...The possibilities were endless, she decided. Bianca made a note in her head silently to ask the alien another time, or maybe later in the conversation, when it was more casual instead of formal. "Nihlus...It's umm.." What did they normally say? "It's a...Nice name. Very..nice." She made a stiff laugh, obviously awkward at socializing.
Her body reflexively became stiff at the questioning of why she left her auntie. Her memory replayed flashbacks, still held in her brain so vivid, it was as if they happened only yesterday. Bianca's eyes flicked down. "Y-you do know about human ethnicity and culture, right? Well you see..." she paused, attempting to gather her words and force her the words out our tightened throat. "Like... You see, my mother was half Roma, and my auntie was full Rom. Oh, Roma are known better as gypsies, by the way. And we... I mean, they have a pretty bad reputation. Swindlers, theives, uneducated, dirty.... Well, those are the common stereotypes. But you know, to be honest, most of it is true." Her voice seemed to be filled with contempt and hate at the last statement. "I just didn't like. No, I hated it, living with her. M-Mom wasn't like all the gypsies, no, sure, we traveled with others and we were close and like a big family, but Mom was definitely not like them. But...Auntie. When Mom died, she took care of me, pulled me out of school away from my friends, and kept me more nomadic and attempted to exploit my power for some money and..." her voice faded away as it got thick and emotional. "Do you...Sort of understand that? Probably not, it's just another hard thing to explain. My whole life, it's all so hard to explain. I'm sorry, I'm just bothering you Nihlus--!"
She cringed as if she was struck, shriveling into her seat. "I--Let's just not talk about it." Her mouth corner twitched in an attempt to smile at him. "It's really stupd and makes no sense...I'm just being over emotional. Just...being a girl." She made a fake laugh, attempting to have her mind escape from the uncomfortable topic.
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Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:44 pm
Nihlus sighed quietly, his ever-open jaws revealed a smidge more with the lowering of his mandibles. Upsetting her with that question had been a mistake. Tempted as he was to pat her on the shoulder, he decided that it would be more appropriate to comfort her with words. As quietly as it could without it being an inaudible whisper, his flanging voice fluttered to her ears. "You're not bothering me at all, and you're far from stupid. Most people would've broken under that sort of strain. But if you want to move on, we can." Having leaned toward her slightly to speak, he straightened himself once more, a concerned stare politely casting itself at her.
He knew a bit about human cultures, to be sure. After all, they were an interesting and incredibly diverse species. What little free time he had was usually spent either relaxing or researching whatever topic he happened t be interested in at that particular moment. Fortunately, prior to meeting Shepard, one of these subjects happened to be international human cultures. He had run across a bit about gypsies, and their negative stereotypes, never thinking much of them. But for one that was among them, Bianca had an abundance of negativity in her voice. It was unfortunate that she'd lived among a people she so disagreed with, especially with her Auntie's manipulative ways. It sounded horrible.
Backtracking to their earlier topic seemed like a convenient escape plan at that moment in time, and so he did. "This planet is what one would call cozy, isn't it?" He offered a soft laugh, hopefully believable past its forced nature. "Humans make an effort at having these tranquil sorts of surroundings, don't they? I like it. There's no avoiding urban landscapes on most planets, but one needs a break once in a while." After a brief pause, he tapped a claw against the bar and continued. "I've heard talk about my people's home world of Palaven. It's a beautiful place, from what other turians have told me: sunny, warm... Tropical, basically. But I've only gotten as close as orbit."
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 9:47 am
The corners of her mouth flicked into a progressive smile at his strong attempt at comforting her. The turian was truly kind and good-hearted, contrary to many of the uncaring, snarky noodles that seemed to resided in this place. "Any who..." she mumbled softly. Her head drifted upward to look at Nihlus. Curious, golden eyes took in his appearance once more, and intrigued by his extremely interesting features, she tilted her head to the side, curls of tealish, blue hair covering her eyes before shyly looking back down at her paws, one paw twisting one of the many large golden rings lodged on her paws' small toes.
Culture: it was such a strange thing. It could be so diverse and strange at times! How a neighbor's culture could be completely different from yours despite the culture's being so near to each other or the whatnot. Bianca always found it intriguing.. It was something she always wanted to learn more about; maybe she would start to study it in her abundant free time. She had been meaning to go to the library recently afterall. She placed the idea in the back of her mind, hoping she would remember later on.
But, the thoughts on culture brought her to another question ....Did turians have culture too? It was essential to humans: it helped them define who they were and how they would spend their life. It seemed strange to not have culture included in someone's life, but he was an alien from a completely different society. Maybe aliens had become sucessful at agreeing with each other and reaching a peaceful treaty. That seemed too unlikely though... But she was basing her logic on how humans reacted, so was it truly? She grunted on the inside; all of this thought was going in circles! It was starting to give her a headache.
A change of the subject to something more convenient and easier to talk about. "Cozy..Yes. It's nice... Especially if you drift into the more rural areas. The woods or mountains, for example. They're nice. If you stay here for awhile - I'll have to show you them." She gave a short, brisk nod. "You've never been to your own planet?" she asked in disbelief. "Where did you live and...Where were you born? On that Citadel place you've mentioned?"
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Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 9:17 pm
"No, I haven't," he said calmly, relieved that her interests had shifted easily to the more comfortable subject. "It's fairly common, though, since the colonization of the galaxy. After all, not everyone even leaves their home planet. And if that planet happens to be a colony somewhere far from where your species came from..." He made a circular gesture with one of his clawed hands, indicating the logical conclusion that some people never see their true planet of origin in their lifetime. It didn't seem all that strange to Nihlus, but Bianca sounded like she was fascinated. Not, of course, that it wasn't an interesting topic of conversation! "Why, I'm sure," he added, "that there are even humans that have never visited Earth."
"I was born and raised in a mercenary outpost," he said, the upbeat, informative tone of voice dissolving into something slightly less pleasant. His origins had always been something of a tender spot, especially among other turians. "I wasn't even born in Hierarchy Space, and so I thought that I was going to get out of some of the more traditional turian aspects of life." He chuckled, closing the beady green eyes for a moment as he shook his head. "After I left home, I never really 'lived' anywhere for long. I was placed at several different military posts up until I became a Spectre. And then, most of my time seemed to be spent traveling. The Citadel did act as a sort of 'base,' though..."
He turned his head to stare out of a nearby window. His camp... If things kept up the way they were going, that was going to be his first real "home" in years. At least, until time ran out. "I think I probably will be staying here a while," he said, taking care to keep the uncertainty out of his voice. "I would love to see these places you're talking about."
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