Welcome to Gaia! ::

Solas loved the tent fort.

The woman was currently lying on her stomach beside Nadia, a mug of steaming hot buttered rum between her hands. She had asked the woman to make it when she came over. She couldn't remember having it, but she had written about it in her journals, and starred the item multiple times as a must. She wasn't disappointed.

She couldn't help but marvel at this feeling of being around Nadia. She had lost most of her memories---most of the time she had spent with the woman---but even now, being around her and with her felt natural. Easy---to a degree. Some things were still hard, and some things still needed adjusting. She owed the woman a lot, and wanted to make it up to her for everything she had put her through.

A smaller part of her still couldn't help but think of Machine at times, too, even though she knew this wasn't about replacing them. It still stung, sometimes. Nadia and Machine...they were night and day, and yet, at some level, they also shared many similarities as well.

Solas looked up from her mug to the other woman, and a corner of her lips pulled up. "That's the Stockholm Syndrome finally taking effect." Her eyes briefly creased in amusement over her mug. "What's his rendition of being snagged, hm? He has such a way with words, I'm curious to hear it."

Solas shifted against the woman as she snuggled up to her, settling in a way that felt natural against her in return.

At Nadia's impersonation of her brother, Solas let out a genuine laugh. The way she said it---it was perfect. She took a sip of the buttered rum, and her eyes creased in amusement at Nadia over the rim of her mug. "Elating." She replied, because answering some questions with questions wasn't the only thing she picked up from Sergei. "I thought he'd keep me waiting longer. He can pull out a good surprise here and there."

Of course there was more she could say. There was a lot more she felt, but that was for herself and the man in question as well. How she felt, having him...it was more than words could describe.

Solas was silent for a moment, taking another sip, before she spoke up again.

"There's a lot of catching up to do." She said. "It's pretty one sided---you're the one who has to catch me up to speed on your life." Again. "If you're alright sharing it all with me again---I'm ready to be involved." She smiled a bit. "If there's anything you ever want to know from me about my time in the Negaverse---anything at all---please don't hesitate to ask. I'm not hesitant to talk about it. It's my past, my history, and there's no hiding it."

She just smiled a bit, but it faded as she listened to the woman. Solas continued to quietly sip her mug. Lorne. He was a knight of Saturn and Nadia's boyfriend and...from what she had been told so far they had been dating when she was Olga, but when Nadia went to Russia they had fallen out of touch and were working on rekindling their relationship. It was perplexing to hear that Nadia felt she was regressing somehow, after everything she had done for Solas, and how strong of a support she continued to be.

Solas was silent for a moment longer before she spoke up. "I think you're being hard on yourself, Nadia." She said. "You left to pursue an amazing opportunity in your career and, a lot of things that happened afterwards, that were beyond your control. So the landscape is different than what you're use to, but you'll navigate it. I also wouldn't compared any changes you'd like to make with what Lorne is doing...the tracks you're both on right now...they're different. Very different, and not in a bad way."

A brow rose.

"I've had friends in both Order and Chaos. Are you asking about the friends I had as Olga? The answer is no, I don't remember them. If you're asking about the friends I had as Still, then yes, I do."

Solas leaned, and her lips brushed Nadia's temple. "Maybe it's because you deserve to be spoiled." She kissed the woman's temple, and then settled back down again. "I'm here for you, now." She said. "Like how you've been there for me."

At the question, the people that immediately came to mind were Dallas and Jules. Friends, connections, bonds she had made during her time in the Negaverse that had been of her own volition. She couldn't remember Jules first hand. Just second hand memories of thinking about the wonderful woman as Still, and of course her detailed accounts she'd written in her journals. Dallas she could remember more easily. She had spent time with him as Still. Not as much as when she'd been Knot, but just enough to remember him more clearly.

Solas didn't need to say Machine and Bus to Nadia right now, either. She knew the woman knew just how much of an impact they both had on her. How they always would.

So she did talk a bit about Dallas and Jules to Nadia. Short summaries on how she met them both, how she spent time with them. Even though she couldn't remember this memory first hand, she did tell Nadia that she had made gingerbread cookies with Jules, and Jules had made a Dallas one, and she had made a Sergei and Beringia cookie. At the time she thought she had a side man (she didn't). "I miss them." She said, as she set her mug down. "I want to see them again, even if I can't spend time with them the way I used to---even if I would be a different person to them."

"Maybe because it's true." She lifted her brows at the other woman, and offered a small smile, which quickly disappeared as Solas rolled her eyes. "His contradicting streak is as wide and as long as the country he comes from."

Solas nodded a bit. "I know. I was prepared for that. I said we were related so it'd help to explain some of the similarities but---" She trailed off for a moment, and couldn't help but give a more genuine smile to Nadia as she spoke about Dallas.

"No...he'll figure it out." She said softly. "He's sharper than a whip." The way Solas spoke about the man held a tone of admiration. "He just likes to play it off as a boisterous man who drinks and gambles---but I don't doubt he'll know when he sees me." Fingers lightly circled around the rim of her empty mug.

"But I know he'll keep my secret."

Solas gave the woman a half smile.

"A gut feeling." That being said, she reached out and poked Nadia's stomach. "My self preservation instinct is at an all time high now, sharpened through a year or so of refinement." Solas teased lightly and rolled onto her side after a moment, still facing her friend. She propped her head in a hand.

"How's the gift shop employment?" She asked.

Solas lifted her brows as she looked at the woman, and she stared at her as she recalled their conversation by the fountain. Their first initial meeting after a long time without the tensions of both of them being powered. Nadia and Stillwaterite. She could recall the talk about the woman feeling at a loss. About her love for dance, but not having a direction now. About knowing she loved to dance, but not knowing that direction to take next.

She was silent for a moment.

"I don't know what I want to do yet. A career that I'm passionate about. Something I want to dedicate my life to." She said, and then grinned lightly. "Can you believe Sergei has us beat in that department?" Solas teased. "I have to figure it out...and I will, in time, but until that time, I'm content being a secretery and going to school. It's a normalcy and a structure I needed---and it allows for me to plan trips, which I want." She lifted her brows again.

"Maybe it's time to blow that pop stand and hop around until you find something interesting."