The Perrygold
He had been casually leaning over the side of his bed all the while, simply watching the two - despite that there was no need to use his actual eyes, he had naturally retained enough of a sense of ‘self’ that such tendencies came naturally to him. There were times when he would lay back, closes his eyes, and exist only in the minds and eyes of others - but only if there was some good reason for it - and at present, it was a delightful sensation have no problems worth requiring good reasons to justify.
The ‘conversation’ - if one could that awkward, unpleasant exchange of words a ‘conversation’ - ended quickly, and when Nirix turned around after closing the door, Kete was hanging backwards, upside down off his bunk, feet up on the wall - somehow this position was comfortable for him. ”I think he likes you.” He said frankly, looking quite serious that he meant what he was saying. Then he smiled broadly, but instead of admitting that he was joking, he said - albeit with a truly reassuring tone - ”Y’know, you’re really not as socially awkward as you think you are.”
This was, of course, a lie. Nirix was very socially awkward - that was explosively obvious. But Kete was very good at lying - and as much as he despised lying in principle, there was an exception for lies that served only to make people feel better. Even better if the ‘lie’ could be twisted into a ‘false opinion’! Nothing wrong with that, right? And how could anyone resist that charming smile of his?
“Maybe later we should go hang out at the bar. They usually do group stuff on trips like these - like karaoke or trivia or stuff - and when the TVs and screens are down it always makes people more interesting. I-” But before he could continue, there was another knock on the door. While it was quite impossible to catch Ketin off-guard or sneak up on him, it was still possible to give him a start - his ears perked up and he looked back toward the door, blinking.
It was a matter of unconscious, instinctive habit to glance to the part of his brain which now mimicked the electronic movements of this new character’s mind - the pair of eyes that Kete could look through and see the outside of the door to room 76 from the perspective of someone fairly short of stature. Similarly, he was immediately aware of a sense - not of lonliness - but something approaching it. The desire to interact with others - and Ketin was immediately compelled to act. He did glance to Nirix again this time - but there was no expectant look toward the door. ”Well that’s a heck of a coincidence!” he said, bright-eyed and certainly audible as a muffled voice from outside the room - ”All we’ve got is free time~” If Nirix would have preferred to let this visitor go unanswered, Ketin was apparently oblivious to this.
He wriggled about some - then a panicked look came over him as he realized too late that he was about to fall onto the floor. A few wild flails did nothing to help, and he promptly half-flipped over backwards, falling with a THUD onto the carpeted floor, landing on his back. Then he lay there for a moment, staring grumpily up at the ceiling as he worked to catch his breath.
Was this clumsy idiot really the same person who had already showed incredibly practiced agility?
But he was uninjured, and as Kete stood he was saying quietly, placatingly ”No worries, I’m fine, I’m fine~”
And then the door opened - and despite that he was consistently living in both his own and this new fellow’s eyes, he still habitually looked upward - realizing with a start that he was actually staring right over the man’s head, and that the man was actually about his height - he looked down and, sure enough, eye level.
”Hi!” He said brightly, a greeting remarkably forward in its’ mere simplicity. Fantastically casual and yet remarkably enthusiastic. ”What’s up~?”
The H M S Skadi
All four of them smiled wide, pleased grins. The woman and the man apparently called ‘Swan’ both gave Rin playful, approving shoves. ”Good, very good!” Swan was saying, with the woman adding in “Good choice kid - I bet you’ll feel a whole lot better with one of these behind you.” She hefted the rifle on her back. Any hint that Ty had been anything but perfectly in-control was quite gone now.
”Excellent - I’m really glad you’re willing to give it a shot. I know we’ve just met, but I think we’ll work very well together. We should get our names straight first though - I’m Leng T’yzefir - but just ‘Ty’ works. The big guy there is Fellerton Sands. And over there is E’tzu Tsuan and Dallen Armston.”
“Dal’s fine.” Armston piped in, Ty continuing undisturbed as usual. ”We’re not very specialized - we’ve all got our weapon preferences, but we’re all sort of ‘general purpose’. That said, nobody here specializes in hand-to-hand combat - I’ve been learning some swordplay recently, but I wouldn’t consider myself adept enough yet to actually use it in battle. So, I think with the four of us focusing on ranged weaponry, your methods will prove invaluable. This room here is actually our usual training area - it’s got some kind of elemental technology which allows us to change the layout and imitate different terrain. So, if you’d like to do a sort of mock battle or sparring to show us what you can do, we could do that.”
Fellerton Sands gave a nod, adding in ”Yeah, the sooner we can all get into the flow of working as a team, the better. Admittedly, most of what we’ve been doing since getting a hold of the Skadi has been out-of-combat stuff - but when the @#$% does hit the fan, it’ll be good to know we’re all on the same page yeah?”
He had been casually leaning over the side of his bed all the while, simply watching the two - despite that there was no need to use his actual eyes, he had naturally retained enough of a sense of ‘self’ that such tendencies came naturally to him. There were times when he would lay back, closes his eyes, and exist only in the minds and eyes of others - but only if there was some good reason for it - and at present, it was a delightful sensation have no problems worth requiring good reasons to justify.
The ‘conversation’ - if one could that awkward, unpleasant exchange of words a ‘conversation’ - ended quickly, and when Nirix turned around after closing the door, Kete was hanging backwards, upside down off his bunk, feet up on the wall - somehow this position was comfortable for him. ”I think he likes you.” He said frankly, looking quite serious that he meant what he was saying. Then he smiled broadly, but instead of admitting that he was joking, he said - albeit with a truly reassuring tone - ”Y’know, you’re really not as socially awkward as you think you are.”
This was, of course, a lie. Nirix was very socially awkward - that was explosively obvious. But Kete was very good at lying - and as much as he despised lying in principle, there was an exception for lies that served only to make people feel better. Even better if the ‘lie’ could be twisted into a ‘false opinion’! Nothing wrong with that, right? And how could anyone resist that charming smile of his?
“Maybe later we should go hang out at the bar. They usually do group stuff on trips like these - like karaoke or trivia or stuff - and when the TVs and screens are down it always makes people more interesting. I-” But before he could continue, there was another knock on the door. While it was quite impossible to catch Ketin off-guard or sneak up on him, it was still possible to give him a start - his ears perked up and he looked back toward the door, blinking.
It was a matter of unconscious, instinctive habit to glance to the part of his brain which now mimicked the electronic movements of this new character’s mind - the pair of eyes that Kete could look through and see the outside of the door to room 76 from the perspective of someone fairly short of stature. Similarly, he was immediately aware of a sense - not of lonliness - but something approaching it. The desire to interact with others - and Ketin was immediately compelled to act. He did glance to Nirix again this time - but there was no expectant look toward the door. ”Well that’s a heck of a coincidence!” he said, bright-eyed and certainly audible as a muffled voice from outside the room - ”All we’ve got is free time~” If Nirix would have preferred to let this visitor go unanswered, Ketin was apparently oblivious to this.
He wriggled about some - then a panicked look came over him as he realized too late that he was about to fall onto the floor. A few wild flails did nothing to help, and he promptly half-flipped over backwards, falling with a THUD onto the carpeted floor, landing on his back. Then he lay there for a moment, staring grumpily up at the ceiling as he worked to catch his breath.
Was this clumsy idiot really the same person who had already showed incredibly practiced agility?
But he was uninjured, and as Kete stood he was saying quietly, placatingly ”No worries, I’m fine, I’m fine~”
And then the door opened - and despite that he was consistently living in both his own and this new fellow’s eyes, he still habitually looked upward - realizing with a start that he was actually staring right over the man’s head, and that the man was actually about his height - he looked down and, sure enough, eye level.
”Hi!” He said brightly, a greeting remarkably forward in its’ mere simplicity. Fantastically casual and yet remarkably enthusiastic. ”What’s up~?”
The H M S Skadi
All four of them smiled wide, pleased grins. The woman and the man apparently called ‘Swan’ both gave Rin playful, approving shoves. ”Good, very good!” Swan was saying, with the woman adding in “Good choice kid - I bet you’ll feel a whole lot better with one of these behind you.” She hefted the rifle on her back. Any hint that Ty had been anything but perfectly in-control was quite gone now.
”Excellent - I’m really glad you’re willing to give it a shot. I know we’ve just met, but I think we’ll work very well together. We should get our names straight first though - I’m Leng T’yzefir - but just ‘Ty’ works. The big guy there is Fellerton Sands. And over there is E’tzu Tsuan and Dallen Armston.”
“Dal’s fine.” Armston piped in, Ty continuing undisturbed as usual. ”We’re not very specialized - we’ve all got our weapon preferences, but we’re all sort of ‘general purpose’. That said, nobody here specializes in hand-to-hand combat - I’ve been learning some swordplay recently, but I wouldn’t consider myself adept enough yet to actually use it in battle. So, I think with the four of us focusing on ranged weaponry, your methods will prove invaluable. This room here is actually our usual training area - it’s got some kind of elemental technology which allows us to change the layout and imitate different terrain. So, if you’d like to do a sort of mock battle or sparring to show us what you can do, we could do that.”
Fellerton Sands gave a nod, adding in ”Yeah, the sooner we can all get into the flow of working as a team, the better. Admittedly, most of what we’ve been doing since getting a hold of the Skadi has been out-of-combat stuff - but when the @#$% does hit the fan, it’ll be good to know we’re all on the same page yeah?”
Rin looked at the woman and the excitable man, smile turning bashful as they gave him playful shoves. He was acutely reminded of his own teammate. Vaxur would do it when he was excited, and wanted to have others experience the same tilt-in-world feeling he had at the moment.
At least, that was how he explained it, because the first time he did it to Rin, he instinctively flipped Vaxur over his shoulder and unto the ground. (... He thought it was an attack.)
He could feel his cheeks burn (though not as bad as the first time he saw him, thank the gods) when the attractive man gave his name- Leng T'yzefir, he pronounced carefully in his head. Ty- and smiled a little wider as he gave the names of the others- Sands, Tsuan, and Ar- Dal, yes.
His expression changed into a surprised one as T'yze- Yzef- he'll work on it later- Ty mentioned the room's training capabilities.
A mock battle...
Sparring...
The very words made his blood begin to race with anticipation. He hadn't had a proper spar- heck, a proper battle- for what, around... A week? No, it had only been three or four days. But too long for a Nyran.
He could feel it thrumming beneath his skin, the desire to work off his fighting instincts. It was dangerous for him to have not sparred in so long- he just didn't want to accidently kill anyone while doing so. But... He ended up killing someone anyway.
Sorry, Montagne.
But in a training ground that could actually change (like at home- ah, base, he meant at the base) with people who could actually defend themselves like the soldiers he could see they were?
Yeah. He could do this.
His smile turned sharp. "I'd love to," he almost purred, then tilted his head questionably. "Should I go get the rest of my armor for this, do you think?"
At least, that was how he explained it, because the first time he did it to Rin, he instinctively flipped Vaxur over his shoulder and unto the ground. (... He thought it was an attack.)
He could feel his cheeks burn (though not as bad as the first time he saw him, thank the gods) when the attractive man gave his name- Leng T'yzefir, he pronounced carefully in his head. Ty- and smiled a little wider as he gave the names of the others- Sands, Tsuan, and Ar- Dal, yes.
His expression changed into a surprised one as T'yze- Yzef- he'll work on it later- Ty mentioned the room's training capabilities.
A mock battle...
Sparring...
The very words made his blood begin to race with anticipation. He hadn't had a proper spar- heck, a proper battle- for what, around... A week? No, it had only been three or four days. But too long for a Nyran.
He could feel it thrumming beneath his skin, the desire to work off his fighting instincts. It was dangerous for him to have not sparred in so long- he just didn't want to accidently kill anyone while doing so. But... He ended up killing someone anyway.
Sorry, Montagne.
But in a training ground that could actually change (like at home- ah, base, he meant at the base) with people who could actually defend themselves like the soldiers he could see they were?
Yeah. He could do this.
His smile turned sharp. "I'd love to," he almost purred, then tilted his head questionably. "Should I go get the rest of my armor for this, do you think?"
As Kilwen sat in the pilot seat and looks at the controls for a moment. He hadn't piloting anything like it for a very long time as shown on his facial expression. Luckily for him and unknown to him, Q was basically suffering in her own paranoia. He soon figured it and launched out of the base without a hitch and warped to a random system. Once they arrive to a new independent system, Kilwen sat back in his chair and huffed thinking on what to do next. He understood he has all the time in the universe to do the little job for Kampfer or not even do at all for him. He closes his eyes, noticing that Q was in her sleep mode and decided it maybe a good chance for some ZZZ's. As he naps he heard the music, causing him to stir and listen to it.
He enjoyed the melody and the singing, it did sound quiet sad, yet it hit him to the point of causing a tear to be shed. Then he heard Q begin to sing after the song was finished. He turns to look at her with a small smile on his face as he listens to her sing. As a pause would come into the song, he would come in. Of course, knowing a long dead skill that no else knows that uses the throat, does give him the ability just as elegant as the song
"La mia bambina cara, perche' non passi lontana....."
He enjoyed the melody and the singing, it did sound quiet sad, yet it hit him to the point of causing a tear to be shed. Then he heard Q begin to sing after the song was finished. He turns to look at her with a small smile on his face as he listens to her sing. As a pause would come into the song, he would come in. Of course, knowing a long dead skill that no else knows that uses the throat, does give him the ability just as elegant as the song
"La mia bambina cara, perche' non passi lontana....."
"My interest to play Quintan with you" responded Arnaldo as he began to let himself in. He promptly sat on the ground and pulled out a small square, about 3 cm by 3 cm, with a black sphere in the center. He then pressed the sphere and it whirled to life and a gridded, holographic, playing field emerged. "The game is simple, you must get your ship to your opponents side before they do, you may place four of each trap and you must place these traps three spaces away from the opponents ship. The first trap is the mine which can be placed on one square and explodes when the opponent lands on it. The second is the missile, which can be moved every turn one square, and when it lands on the opponents ship ,it acts like a mine. The final trap is the gunner, which can hit ships from two squares away. Before Arnaldo finished that last sentence, he took notice of the strange woman in the room who had an air of awkwardness to her. "There can be an inifinite amount of players, here come join us" Arnaldo said to the woman as he gave a hearty chuckle. It was strange how Arnaldo could change so quickly from anger to laughter.
Nirix had been fine.
The mercenary human had left her alone and free of the pain of having to physical talk and put input into a conversation. She was left with Ketin, whom Nirix was oddly more relaxed with when speaking to him. Ketin was just...easier to express her emotions to. She wasn't sure if it was because he could read her mind and therefore could always somehow relate to her or just because she had grown so attached to him. Whatever the reason she was grateful for it.
Nirix had smiled for once when Ketin lied. Of course she knew he had lied, it was in that charming smile of his and the Eoclu was pleased to have found some detail in his mannerisms that could possibly help her decipher if and when he was lying. She was woefully aware of how awkward she was in the throes of conversation but accepted his lie all the same.
It made her feel better.
The notion that Wick "liked" her, almost made Nirix laugh and she immediately went to respond to Kete's suggestion for an activity when there was another knock on the door.
The door was opened and another human, this one was shorter and rounder than Wick, casually strolled in. Gripping the hilt of her sword, she paused as realized that he only wished to play a game and briefly sighed. He seemed harmless enough.
That was until he actually noticed her.
"I wish not to play this game, if it is all the same to you," Nirix muttered quickly, almost desperate to leave. Looking at Kete, she shot him an apologetic look, before moving around the room to leave their small room.
"I'm going to find a place to train, to think" Was all she said before she disappeared down the hall. Nirix hoped Ketin wouldn't get into too much trouble whilst she was gone.
She didn't want to have to deal with murdering someone alongside her nearly crippling social problems on this trip.
The mercenary human had left her alone and free of the pain of having to physical talk and put input into a conversation. She was left with Ketin, whom Nirix was oddly more relaxed with when speaking to him. Ketin was just...easier to express her emotions to. She wasn't sure if it was because he could read her mind and therefore could always somehow relate to her or just because she had grown so attached to him. Whatever the reason she was grateful for it.
Nirix had smiled for once when Ketin lied. Of course she knew he had lied, it was in that charming smile of his and the Eoclu was pleased to have found some detail in his mannerisms that could possibly help her decipher if and when he was lying. She was woefully aware of how awkward she was in the throes of conversation but accepted his lie all the same.
It made her feel better.
The notion that Wick "liked" her, almost made Nirix laugh and she immediately went to respond to Kete's suggestion for an activity when there was another knock on the door.
The door was opened and another human, this one was shorter and rounder than Wick, casually strolled in. Gripping the hilt of her sword, she paused as realized that he only wished to play a game and briefly sighed. He seemed harmless enough.
That was until he actually noticed her.
"I wish not to play this game, if it is all the same to you," Nirix muttered quickly, almost desperate to leave. Looking at Kete, she shot him an apologetic look, before moving around the room to leave their small room.
"I'm going to find a place to train, to think" Was all she said before she disappeared down the hall. Nirix hoped Ketin wouldn't get into too much trouble whilst she was gone.
She didn't want to have to deal with murdering someone alongside her nearly crippling social problems on this trip.
His attempts at finding sleep having failed, and not up for just sitting around, Wick was quick to leave room 77. He had since changed from his normal vest and button up shirt, now wearing an old set of blue jeans and plain mossy green T-shirt. It was the ideal outfit for working out, which was Wick's intention.
It had taken him about ten minutes to find the gym, and even then he had had to ask for directions from a crewmember who hadn't been all too happy to be bothered. The gym itself was your everyday run-of-the-mill gym aboard a cruise ship. There was a row of treadmills and another of elliptical machines directly across from it which some people used to occupy their time. At least ten men sat around on benches or laid down on them lifting weights in a different area. It included some things Wick had never seen before. Some passengers appeared to be dancing, too quickly for it to be enjoyable in Wick's mind. Others (a smaller group of about five) performed unique stretched and poses.
These things were all fine and good, yes, but there was one particular thing which caught his attention. It was a ten foot by ten foot mat on the gym floor, the only other thing in the area being a medical kit and a red video communicator mounted on the wall.
"A sparring ring, or at least the closest I'll get to one." He mumbled to himself. "Now I just,need someone to spar." Wick began to look around, trying to find somebody to spar.
It had taken him about ten minutes to find the gym, and even then he had had to ask for directions from a crewmember who hadn't been all too happy to be bothered. The gym itself was your everyday run-of-the-mill gym aboard a cruise ship. There was a row of treadmills and another of elliptical machines directly across from it which some people used to occupy their time. At least ten men sat around on benches or laid down on them lifting weights in a different area. It included some things Wick had never seen before. Some passengers appeared to be dancing, too quickly for it to be enjoyable in Wick's mind. Others (a smaller group of about five) performed unique stretched and poses.
These things were all fine and good, yes, but there was one particular thing which caught his attention. It was a ten foot by ten foot mat on the gym floor, the only other thing in the area being a medical kit and a red video communicator mounted on the wall.
"A sparring ring, or at least the closest I'll get to one." He mumbled to himself. "Now I just,need someone to spar." Wick began to look around, trying to find somebody to spar.
She moved without truly thinking.
The moves were so fimilar to her, she had done this so many times that it came as natural to her as breathing, as simple as existing. Nirix flowed through her movements like water down a cool stream. Left foot planted firmly on the soft mat, she inhaled and only listened to the pounding of her heart in her ears before exhaling.
Her movements were fluent, her breathing controlled and even. Silently, the Eoclu moved through her elegant Kata and ignored all in the room.
If one were to describe her movements, the only right word to use would be exotic. Nirix practiced an acient and old martial arts of her people and yet within her movements, were elements of other well known martial arts. In a flurry of kicks, she used taijustu and in a steady but heavy punch, she used karate. The Assassin danced a captivating yet controlled and very deadly dance and when she finished, Nirix pretended not to notice the many eyes that stared at her in mix of amused wonder and dangerous excitement.
At the guards who had threatened her about keeping her sword sheath as she had inquired about the gym, seemed impressed and less likely to mess with her now. These were good things.
Looking up from her isolated training session, she went to pick up her sword when she took notice of the newest arrival. The mercenary human. Trying to avoid another terrible conversation with him, Nirix tried to make herself unnoticeable from his view but realized all to quickly had futile it would be. He had no doubt noticed that majority of the attention had been averted to her. Silently she prayed to her Gods that he wouldn't speak to her or ignore her all together.
It was worth a shot.
The moves were so fimilar to her, she had done this so many times that it came as natural to her as breathing, as simple as existing. Nirix flowed through her movements like water down a cool stream. Left foot planted firmly on the soft mat, she inhaled and only listened to the pounding of her heart in her ears before exhaling.
Her movements were fluent, her breathing controlled and even. Silently, the Eoclu moved through her elegant Kata and ignored all in the room.
If one were to describe her movements, the only right word to use would be exotic. Nirix practiced an acient and old martial arts of her people and yet within her movements, were elements of other well known martial arts. In a flurry of kicks, she used taijustu and in a steady but heavy punch, she used karate. The Assassin danced a captivating yet controlled and very deadly dance and when she finished, Nirix pretended not to notice the many eyes that stared at her in mix of amused wonder and dangerous excitement.
At the guards who had threatened her about keeping her sword sheath as she had inquired about the gym, seemed impressed and less likely to mess with her now. These were good things.
Looking up from her isolated training session, she went to pick up her sword when she took notice of the newest arrival. The mercenary human. Trying to avoid another terrible conversation with him, Nirix tried to make herself unnoticeable from his view but realized all to quickly had futile it would be. He had no doubt noticed that majority of the attention had been averted to her. Silently she prayed to her Gods that he wouldn't speak to her or ignore her all together.
It was worth a shot.
Wick's job often kept him on his toes, whether it be something huge such as a vehicle barreling towards him or something more difficult to detect like small how many people came and went from a crowded room. As such, it didn't take him long to notice the crowd of onlookers observing his Eoclu neighbour. He stood on the outskirts of the crowd at first, simply watching what he quickly recognized to be a range of martial arts. He couldn't name them (martial arts having never really been his kind of thing) but he knew each from being on the receiving end more than once. Once she had finished and gathered up her sword, Wick began to remember his urge to spar.
Perhaps I've found the perfect partner for it. If she's up for it, of course, He thought. She hasn't necessarily been excited to speak with him or hold a conversation previously, but maybe the two had just caught one another at a bad time. And even if she didn't want to talk, the two could at least get in some training they both seemed to need.
"Hey, Neighbour!" Wick called as he approached, waving at the Eoclu in attempts to gain her attention.
"Nice moves you've got there." He stood beside her now, hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to spar with me. If you've got some time, that is. After all, I'd hate to bother you if you're busy."
Perhaps I've found the perfect partner for it. If she's up for it, of course, He thought. She hasn't necessarily been excited to speak with him or hold a conversation previously, but maybe the two had just caught one another at a bad time. And even if she didn't want to talk, the two could at least get in some training they both seemed to need.
"Hey, Neighbour!" Wick called as he approached, waving at the Eoclu in attempts to gain her attention.
"Nice moves you've got there." He stood beside her now, hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to spar with me. If you've got some time, that is. After all, I'd hate to bother you if you're busy."
Christofer was terrified of shouting, screaming, panicking. He just did not like it when there was trouble or when someone else was hurting. When anyone was hurting. And especially if they were noisy. It ripped his ears, echoed around the halls, hurting him in more ways than one.
So when Kallenger had been panicking and had started shaking him around and shouting shaky sentences at him, the canid could not help but to try and calm her down, get her to take it easy and not stress over the matters that clouded her mind. It was only natural that he sought to help and aid her out of this state of mind, no matter his own. He may have been pained and the stress of another hit and hurt him too. But he was living. Surviving. Staying there, like the good warm and bleeding shoulder that he was.
He did not mind the blood nor sweat. He was already bleeding and certainly not the cleanest being himself at the moment. He wouldn't mind it. It was already there, so why fight it. If this was how she felt like then so be it. It was her, and as long as it truly was her, all was good.
But the canid had to wonder, all the while he leaned his own head against the shoulder of the other, eyes closing for just a moment.
How was it like this, that he always ended up on meeting the people that needed help. Could it help him too? Could they help him? In return? Did he need to ask for anything in return, wasn't he fine with just this..? Right... He needed nothing in return, as long as there was still someone with him... And she was. And she was so much like Him.
Oh, so much... So... Much...
Christofer, for all the similarities they had and shared with Kalleger - dead men, scattered thoughts, losses - was a very emotionally driven person. His whole family was. They seemed to really live off those emotions, it was easy for people to tell that he cared and that he would help, to the best of his abilities and in any way he could.
And he had gotten bashed for it, so so many times.
But it was a trait he'd not be loosing anytime soon. A lot of blood, yes, ability to produce emotions and care for others, never.
Did it come in hand here, was it just another excuse he made up in his mind to survive? That was up to debating.
At Kallenger's comment he just couldn't help but to chuckle a little himself, very faintly, some backing dryness to it. Maybe he was... Maybe he did sound like some old flick from one of those old TV series that they played in the TV. His parents watched them, while he himself just had the thing open to keep some noise on the background while he did something else. His dog would always bark at the sight of this one character. And whenever they used stock sounds for the animals. What might they even have said? He would probably never know.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, some blood must have found their way to a little bit too deep of a part of his throat, or something. It was still pretty dry afterall.
Faint uncertainty about the exhortation of leaning against the wall arose. He had his doubts, had he even heard right? But with his now slowly working head, he did eventually manage to read her emotions and body language. If that's what she wanted, the canid leaned against the wall carefully, he had some faith in her.
And as that fabric ripped, his ears fell back, folded slightly, the sound of it tearing making him feel very weird. Hadn't he patched her up like that too, earlier? When she had gotten her own shoulder hurt and bleeding? It had been a while when that had happened.
That must have been it. A familiar sound. Certainly that was what made him feel so strange about it.
Though they had fixed his clothes, so there wasn't all too much to tell of it anymore, the old wrapping most definitely lost in space now, thrown in the trash, and now drifted freely, the spaceship having blown up. He'd wanted to have explored a little further, he was only just starting to understand the little bits here and there, but everything had happened so fast.
Pain awoke him. Taking his thoughts away from the not so distant past. Cringing was a visible emotion on his face. He had lost his physical feelings a moment ago, the pain and pressure somehow piercing through the numbness. It took some effort, but it was for the best that he didn't scream, still there were quite the set of dry noises that he made in order to vent the feeling somewhere.
However, he wouldn't bite her. Nope. Such thoughts wouldn't cross his mind. He wouldn't so it, even upon request. He might have been pained, feet pressing themselves against the floor harsher than gravity itself was pilling them. What was she suggesting? Biting her shoulder? Biting her? He couldn't. No. Not anymore. Just, no... He couldn't...
No biting came her way, but instead, to ease up with the venting, there was a tight grip of his hands on her back and sides, as long as he himself did not grip a spot that was pained in return.
It felt like a lot longer moment than it was. Unnecessarily long. But then they were on the move again. His legs could still carry him, even if the pain of his upper-half was very distracting and screamed constantly to make itself known even if it was obvious that if they stayed still, things wouldn't be getting much better for either of them.
So they moved. Eyes were kept on the woman before him, however, occasionally trailing off to look at the bits and bodies scattered around the hall. The plasma was strange, he really thought for a moment that he was seeing things, not that it'd surprise him at this point.
And then Royanna stopped, and they had come across someone. Who was it? Was it someone from their group? Cox? No? No, judging from her tone, that couldn't be it. She was not happy. This was someone new, for him.
And most things passed his mind right on. They just felt and sounded so alien to him. The 'name' of this new stranger had his ears flicking, but it was likely that he did not know them at all. His head wouldn't register with such coded language, nor with the fact that Kallenger was talking to a person that had supposedly tried to shoot him. Someone had tried to kill him? Oh, right... His head was so blurry, he couldn't tell as much...
Ears perked as the stranger chose to talk in return. He did not know this voice, he did not know. Most of their conversation was just two different voices exchanging words that made little sense to him, with a tone that kept on becoming more and more pressuring as more was spat out. He was missing out, but at the same time, would he have been able to aid Royanna in this situation? He wouldn't have known that it would have been him defending himself and the woman, both of them, but his head just could not grasp it.
As the situation intensified, he could feel the grip tightening, and he wanted to let out a grunt just to filter the pain somewhere, but the situation made it feel like he had to try and act like no such thing bothered him. So all he gave was a wrinkled face for a moment as he woke up slowly.
For the most part, he just stood there, not understanding most things, until he snapped back to reality as Kallenger started coughing. She had been tiring herself by talking aloud, a lot. The grip loosening from his hand was not enough to make him topple, but it did take him down to his knees with the woman. Royanna's low stance was out of a necessity, his was more just a follow up. It felt natural that he go down as well, but where hers looked hasty, his was done more for the sympathy and caring points. On his knees as me might have been, one palm against the floor for support and the other rubbing circles around Roy's back.
He could have stopped her, tried at least. Certainly she would have reacted to him tugging at her now ripped coat.
But he didn't stop her, knew better than to get on the way of this. She was expressing herself, for once, being quite honest and all that. That's the feeling that he got in the aftermath as he was slowly trying to catch up. So... He had just let it happen... Talking shouldn't be all that harmful. It was ok if she stayed back for now.
Head turned temporarily to face the direction where the other voice was coming from. At the same time though, he was looking, quite possibly, at the person who just a moment ago had tried to kill him. And with some possibility, could still attempt to harm either of them. But as there was no reply or comeback, he turned back, focusing on carefully patting the back of the woman. And with that, Christofer had started to have an idea that this meeting would stay brief and no further physical harm would be dealt at the time being. They were safe, already having gone through more than enough.
With Roy now down, he didn't have the chance to look weak or act like he felt any pain. That glory and spotlight was taken by the coughing Kallenger, instantly making him forget his own troubles in favor of stressing over her's. The stranger probably had noticed the silence by now, and if they were to come and get a better look, he'd at least try to look decent so that they wouldn't come near and touch either. Judging by that tone earlier, Roy wanted nothing to do with these people, and Christofer would just have to respect that for now. Maybe they could talk a little later, when things were better. If they ever met.
Kneeling down next to the woman, he'd avoid getting more blood onto his face, but getting it on his clothes was fine. Palm might have been soaked at this point as well. Tail curled, placed itself around the two of them and made a very minimal barrier between the two downed ones and the stranger Roy seemed to recognize. He was feeling plenty protective even in his weakened state.
Silence persisted. He gave Kallenger some time to catch her breath, but eventually they'd have to get back moving again, or else they'd not be getting anywhere.
When lifting her up, he'd be also eyeing the direction to which the woman had been looking in, tying to focus on paying as much attention as he could. She probably didn't want to feel weak or seem like it, so it was likely in his mind that she'd have preferred for him to not talk. But he just had to. So he whispered instead, making sure that only she heard. He compromised.
"Roy... Come... We need to continue..." His voice was plenty dry like hers, tired, quiet, still somehow managing to have a touch of softness to itself. "... Maybe you two will meet again some day... Maybe you could talk to them later then..? Suggesting that this was not going to be left unfinished, if that's what she feared. He'd try hoisting her up again, slowly, with his own shaky feet and numb arms. "Come on... Let's get going..."
One final look to the direction of the stranger to see if the had heard and planned on opposing. No such actions seemed to be taking place for now. But who knew if they were secretly loading a gun and aiming at their backs right as they turned? Not Christofer. He was so very tired, his instincts were starting to act up. But he promised himself to stay as close to Kallenger as possible, leaning right against her as they kept making their way forward.
And as they went from there, leaving a trail of blood behind themselves, the canid slowly returned to his dizzy mostly oblivious state. His reaction to The Diplomat was nothing more than a confused raising and tilting of his head. He had only just managed to take in the fact that they had been united with the rest of the group, and then there was... This? Had he not been missing this much blood, canid certainly would have tilted his head further and questioned more, but for now, his reactions were unnaturally slow and minimal.
He had no idea on how lucky they were, no context on how special this specific ship was, but he could feel it from Kallenger, her expressions so amazingly easy to read, she was excited. And that had the corners of his lips lifting and curling slightly. Eyes half closed, he couldn't see it too well, but this gave him the feel that they were going to be fine. Finally. Something nice. Other than Royanna swearing truth to her own feelings, this rivaled that moment, but was not quite as meaningful to him.
She meant more to him than that now and her joy was his joy. Though if they somehow got out of here that would be amazing.
At this point, it wouldn't be too clear who was leaning on whom and who was the one leading. However, Kallenger was slowly taking on that role, as Christofer grew more tired again, only taking a step forward when his support did as well. A blessing in disguise, he wouldn't retaliate on being dragged on over the white carpet, and so he got a little softer spot to lay on due to the sofa. No complaining.
Hopefully not even when Roy sat him down and the canid chose to instead lay down rather than sit up. Too tired for that. He was hurting all over.
Head was lifted slowly so that e could look at Kallenger, holding up the finger to tell for him to wait. And he would wait. Give her a light nod before returning to lay his head over his arms, and wait.
There was no good reason for him to leave. He wouldn't run, for he knew that she would come back. They had established that now.
And she was almost just like him.
He had returned upon a similar scene, and so would Kallenger too return eventually.
He knew it.
And even if she and him weren't exactly the same.
He could trust her, trust her to come back.
What would he even do there? With some very strange, cumbrous equipment. He knew nothing of those. The others knew better.
Although when Kallenger was gone, he'd silently be muttering things to himself.
".... Why did she have to hold up three fingers though..?" Maybe it was to sign out that she had to do three things? Go see if the thing still worked, start it up and then return. Made sense. And while she was gone, he'd wait. And somehow manage to make the red couch look even redder than it already was. Good job.
Boy took his time as minutes stretched, turning the Galactic Empire pin in his hands, he observed it, the letters embedded in it, though he only had one main letter on his. It didn't seem to make any sense in-particular that'd resonate with him. Not now.
Gaze lifted slowly, eyes upon Iri-L now, seeing what the robot was doing.
".... Mmmm..... You ok..? What did they say your name was? Iril or something..?" He couldn't muster enough strength to sit up, move at all on his own. To a robot - they likely had such different ways with energy - he must have just come off as a very lazy being, he could imagine.
"Mmm... Do they clean you..? Like... With soap and sponges, and water.... Do they...?" Trying to strike up a conversation of any sorts, even if he was tired and wouldn't have minded some silence. Probably it was just to keep the awkwardness at bay. Who knows. Iri-L was a robot, perhaps she wasn't as tired. Maybe they saw him as a weirdo, tail moving lightly and with his weak attempt on smiling to the strange entity. And as the naturally red started moving around, he couldn't help it by following, instead just staying down on the fabric surface, waiting further.
Time passed again, minutes felt like hours, time had stopped flowing. But as tired as he was, Christofer refused to pass out before he saw Royanna again. And it was a relief when she did finally show up again.
Christofer offered her a faint but trusting smile as she approached, his attempt of getting up being too weak and only resulting in one of his arms slipping further down, dizzy feeling in his head telling up the majority. Tail gave a tired wag, though it was more like... He was a little too tried for his tail to really give what was classified as a proper wag, so it kinda just swayed there, bloodied and a little matted.
It'd take a good try and another to finally get the boy back up on his feet, wobbly legs as they were, the last of his spare energy spent, his grip on Kallenger's clothes was as tight as it could be, but even then, by some standards, it was a weak one, and it was good if he did not slip or lean any much further than he already was when they made their way to the medical bay.
So when Kallenger had been panicking and had started shaking him around and shouting shaky sentences at him, the canid could not help but to try and calm her down, get her to take it easy and not stress over the matters that clouded her mind. It was only natural that he sought to help and aid her out of this state of mind, no matter his own. He may have been pained and the stress of another hit and hurt him too. But he was living. Surviving. Staying there, like the good warm and bleeding shoulder that he was.
He did not mind the blood nor sweat. He was already bleeding and certainly not the cleanest being himself at the moment. He wouldn't mind it. It was already there, so why fight it. If this was how she felt like then so be it. It was her, and as long as it truly was her, all was good.
But the canid had to wonder, all the while he leaned his own head against the shoulder of the other, eyes closing for just a moment.
How was it like this, that he always ended up on meeting the people that needed help. Could it help him too? Could they help him? In return? Did he need to ask for anything in return, wasn't he fine with just this..? Right... He needed nothing in return, as long as there was still someone with him... And she was. And she was so much like Him.
Oh, so much... So... Much...
Christofer, for all the similarities they had and shared with Kalleger - dead men, scattered thoughts, losses - was a very emotionally driven person. His whole family was. They seemed to really live off those emotions, it was easy for people to tell that he cared and that he would help, to the best of his abilities and in any way he could.
And he had gotten bashed for it, so so many times.
But it was a trait he'd not be loosing anytime soon. A lot of blood, yes, ability to produce emotions and care for others, never.
Did it come in hand here, was it just another excuse he made up in his mind to survive? That was up to debating.
At Kallenger's comment he just couldn't help but to chuckle a little himself, very faintly, some backing dryness to it. Maybe he was... Maybe he did sound like some old flick from one of those old TV series that they played in the TV. His parents watched them, while he himself just had the thing open to keep some noise on the background while he did something else. His dog would always bark at the sight of this one character. And whenever they used stock sounds for the animals. What might they even have said? He would probably never know.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, some blood must have found their way to a little bit too deep of a part of his throat, or something. It was still pretty dry afterall.
Faint uncertainty about the exhortation of leaning against the wall arose. He had his doubts, had he even heard right? But with his now slowly working head, he did eventually manage to read her emotions and body language. If that's what she wanted, the canid leaned against the wall carefully, he had some faith in her.
And as that fabric ripped, his ears fell back, folded slightly, the sound of it tearing making him feel very weird. Hadn't he patched her up like that too, earlier? When she had gotten her own shoulder hurt and bleeding? It had been a while when that had happened.
That must have been it. A familiar sound. Certainly that was what made him feel so strange about it.
Though they had fixed his clothes, so there wasn't all too much to tell of it anymore, the old wrapping most definitely lost in space now, thrown in the trash, and now drifted freely, the spaceship having blown up. He'd wanted to have explored a little further, he was only just starting to understand the little bits here and there, but everything had happened so fast.
Pain awoke him. Taking his thoughts away from the not so distant past. Cringing was a visible emotion on his face. He had lost his physical feelings a moment ago, the pain and pressure somehow piercing through the numbness. It took some effort, but it was for the best that he didn't scream, still there were quite the set of dry noises that he made in order to vent the feeling somewhere.
However, he wouldn't bite her. Nope. Such thoughts wouldn't cross his mind. He wouldn't so it, even upon request. He might have been pained, feet pressing themselves against the floor harsher than gravity itself was pilling them. What was she suggesting? Biting her shoulder? Biting her? He couldn't. No. Not anymore. Just, no... He couldn't...
No biting came her way, but instead, to ease up with the venting, there was a tight grip of his hands on her back and sides, as long as he himself did not grip a spot that was pained in return.
It felt like a lot longer moment than it was. Unnecessarily long. But then they were on the move again. His legs could still carry him, even if the pain of his upper-half was very distracting and screamed constantly to make itself known even if it was obvious that if they stayed still, things wouldn't be getting much better for either of them.
So they moved. Eyes were kept on the woman before him, however, occasionally trailing off to look at the bits and bodies scattered around the hall. The plasma was strange, he really thought for a moment that he was seeing things, not that it'd surprise him at this point.
And then Royanna stopped, and they had come across someone. Who was it? Was it someone from their group? Cox? No? No, judging from her tone, that couldn't be it. She was not happy. This was someone new, for him.
And most things passed his mind right on. They just felt and sounded so alien to him. The 'name' of this new stranger had his ears flicking, but it was likely that he did not know them at all. His head wouldn't register with such coded language, nor with the fact that Kallenger was talking to a person that had supposedly tried to shoot him. Someone had tried to kill him? Oh, right... His head was so blurry, he couldn't tell as much...
Ears perked as the stranger chose to talk in return. He did not know this voice, he did not know. Most of their conversation was just two different voices exchanging words that made little sense to him, with a tone that kept on becoming more and more pressuring as more was spat out. He was missing out, but at the same time, would he have been able to aid Royanna in this situation? He wouldn't have known that it would have been him defending himself and the woman, both of them, but his head just could not grasp it.
As the situation intensified, he could feel the grip tightening, and he wanted to let out a grunt just to filter the pain somewhere, but the situation made it feel like he had to try and act like no such thing bothered him. So all he gave was a wrinkled face for a moment as he woke up slowly.
For the most part, he just stood there, not understanding most things, until he snapped back to reality as Kallenger started coughing. She had been tiring herself by talking aloud, a lot. The grip loosening from his hand was not enough to make him topple, but it did take him down to his knees with the woman. Royanna's low stance was out of a necessity, his was more just a follow up. It felt natural that he go down as well, but where hers looked hasty, his was done more for the sympathy and caring points. On his knees as me might have been, one palm against the floor for support and the other rubbing circles around Roy's back.
He could have stopped her, tried at least. Certainly she would have reacted to him tugging at her now ripped coat.
But he didn't stop her, knew better than to get on the way of this. She was expressing herself, for once, being quite honest and all that. That's the feeling that he got in the aftermath as he was slowly trying to catch up. So... He had just let it happen... Talking shouldn't be all that harmful. It was ok if she stayed back for now.
Head turned temporarily to face the direction where the other voice was coming from. At the same time though, he was looking, quite possibly, at the person who just a moment ago had tried to kill him. And with some possibility, could still attempt to harm either of them. But as there was no reply or comeback, he turned back, focusing on carefully patting the back of the woman. And with that, Christofer had started to have an idea that this meeting would stay brief and no further physical harm would be dealt at the time being. They were safe, already having gone through more than enough.
With Roy now down, he didn't have the chance to look weak or act like he felt any pain. That glory and spotlight was taken by the coughing Kallenger, instantly making him forget his own troubles in favor of stressing over her's. The stranger probably had noticed the silence by now, and if they were to come and get a better look, he'd at least try to look decent so that they wouldn't come near and touch either. Judging by that tone earlier, Roy wanted nothing to do with these people, and Christofer would just have to respect that for now. Maybe they could talk a little later, when things were better. If they ever met.
Kneeling down next to the woman, he'd avoid getting more blood onto his face, but getting it on his clothes was fine. Palm might have been soaked at this point as well. Tail curled, placed itself around the two of them and made a very minimal barrier between the two downed ones and the stranger Roy seemed to recognize. He was feeling plenty protective even in his weakened state.
Silence persisted. He gave Kallenger some time to catch her breath, but eventually they'd have to get back moving again, or else they'd not be getting anywhere.
When lifting her up, he'd be also eyeing the direction to which the woman had been looking in, tying to focus on paying as much attention as he could. She probably didn't want to feel weak or seem like it, so it was likely in his mind that she'd have preferred for him to not talk. But he just had to. So he whispered instead, making sure that only she heard. He compromised.
"Roy... Come... We need to continue..." His voice was plenty dry like hers, tired, quiet, still somehow managing to have a touch of softness to itself. "... Maybe you two will meet again some day... Maybe you could talk to them later then..? Suggesting that this was not going to be left unfinished, if that's what she feared. He'd try hoisting her up again, slowly, with his own shaky feet and numb arms. "Come on... Let's get going..."
One final look to the direction of the stranger to see if the had heard and planned on opposing. No such actions seemed to be taking place for now. But who knew if they were secretly loading a gun and aiming at their backs right as they turned? Not Christofer. He was so very tired, his instincts were starting to act up. But he promised himself to stay as close to Kallenger as possible, leaning right against her as they kept making their way forward.
And as they went from there, leaving a trail of blood behind themselves, the canid slowly returned to his dizzy mostly oblivious state. His reaction to The Diplomat was nothing more than a confused raising and tilting of his head. He had only just managed to take in the fact that they had been united with the rest of the group, and then there was... This? Had he not been missing this much blood, canid certainly would have tilted his head further and questioned more, but for now, his reactions were unnaturally slow and minimal.
He had no idea on how lucky they were, no context on how special this specific ship was, but he could feel it from Kallenger, her expressions so amazingly easy to read, she was excited. And that had the corners of his lips lifting and curling slightly. Eyes half closed, he couldn't see it too well, but this gave him the feel that they were going to be fine. Finally. Something nice. Other than Royanna swearing truth to her own feelings, this rivaled that moment, but was not quite as meaningful to him.
She meant more to him than that now and her joy was his joy. Though if they somehow got out of here that would be amazing.
At this point, it wouldn't be too clear who was leaning on whom and who was the one leading. However, Kallenger was slowly taking on that role, as Christofer grew more tired again, only taking a step forward when his support did as well. A blessing in disguise, he wouldn't retaliate on being dragged on over the white carpet, and so he got a little softer spot to lay on due to the sofa. No complaining.
Hopefully not even when Roy sat him down and the canid chose to instead lay down rather than sit up. Too tired for that. He was hurting all over.
Head was lifted slowly so that e could look at Kallenger, holding up the finger to tell for him to wait. And he would wait. Give her a light nod before returning to lay his head over his arms, and wait.
There was no good reason for him to leave. He wouldn't run, for he knew that she would come back. They had established that now.
And she was almost just like him.
He had returned upon a similar scene, and so would Kallenger too return eventually.
He knew it.
And even if she and him weren't exactly the same.
He could trust her, trust her to come back.
What would he even do there? With some very strange, cumbrous equipment. He knew nothing of those. The others knew better.
Although when Kallenger was gone, he'd silently be muttering things to himself.
".... Why did she have to hold up three fingers though..?" Maybe it was to sign out that she had to do three things? Go see if the thing still worked, start it up and then return. Made sense. And while she was gone, he'd wait. And somehow manage to make the red couch look even redder than it already was. Good job.
Boy took his time as minutes stretched, turning the Galactic Empire pin in his hands, he observed it, the letters embedded in it, though he only had one main letter on his. It didn't seem to make any sense in-particular that'd resonate with him. Not now.
Gaze lifted slowly, eyes upon Iri-L now, seeing what the robot was doing.
".... Mmmm..... You ok..? What did they say your name was? Iril or something..?" He couldn't muster enough strength to sit up, move at all on his own. To a robot - they likely had such different ways with energy - he must have just come off as a very lazy being, he could imagine.
"Mmm... Do they clean you..? Like... With soap and sponges, and water.... Do they...?" Trying to strike up a conversation of any sorts, even if he was tired and wouldn't have minded some silence. Probably it was just to keep the awkwardness at bay. Who knows. Iri-L was a robot, perhaps she wasn't as tired. Maybe they saw him as a weirdo, tail moving lightly and with his weak attempt on smiling to the strange entity. And as the naturally red started moving around, he couldn't help it by following, instead just staying down on the fabric surface, waiting further.
Time passed again, minutes felt like hours, time had stopped flowing. But as tired as he was, Christofer refused to pass out before he saw Royanna again. And it was a relief when she did finally show up again.
The agent was greeted with quite the sight
Christofer offered her a faint but trusting smile as she approached, his attempt of getting up being too weak and only resulting in one of his arms slipping further down, dizzy feeling in his head telling up the majority. Tail gave a tired wag, though it was more like... He was a little too tried for his tail to really give what was classified as a proper wag, so it kinda just swayed there, bloodied and a little matted.
It'd take a good try and another to finally get the boy back up on his feet, wobbly legs as they were, the last of his spare energy spent, his grip on Kallenger's clothes was as tight as it could be, but even then, by some standards, it was a weak one, and it was good if he did not slip or lean any much further than he already was when they made their way to the medical bay.
Lavender eyes flickered up at the man before her and without thinking, the grip she used to hold on to the sheath of her sword, tightened almost painfully. Nirix didn't understand this human, his name had been Wick if she remembered correctly. He was loud and yet she noticed when he moved, his steps were careful and with purpose. Breifly her mind conjured the image of when she had met Ketin before she focused back on Wick.
He said he had been a mercenary or that he was, but most mercenaries she had met were brooding and always eerily silent. But then again, Nirix killed most mercenaries that she had the chance to meet. Most of her targets loved to hire extra bodies when they learned of her bringing them their imminent demise. It really mattered not, they normally served barely as a challenge to the Eoclu and they were usually all cut down or at least left with seriously broken bodies that would render them unable to lift a finger to her again.
But that wasn't the point of this. Nirix was not asked to stand and analyze the mannerisms of some mercenary, though she supposed it would be helpful in the long run.
"In my culture, sparring is not just some simple request," She finally said, eyes searching his face for what she needed to truly accept his request.
Sparring was always something special to Nirix. It was a show of skill and yet it also involved a level of trust. Wick had to trust Nirix wouldn't kill him in the process of sparring and Nirix had to trust the same with onto him. Sparring also showed how much respect you had for another. A weak sparring partner was disappointing, yes but it also showed that they would not put enough effort into fighting, that they did not think you worthy of their strength and skill. Nirix hadn't been too sure when she had sparred with Ketin if he had been holding back but yet their trust and bond was as strong as ever and that was all that matter to her. However, looking at Wick now, Nirix felt that he would suitable enough.
His eyes held a challenge beneath all the other careful emotions he displayed.
"Regardless, I accept your challenge Wick," Nirix bowed lowly before standing up straight once again.
"Mala suledin nadas, may you endure,"
He said he had been a mercenary or that he was, but most mercenaries she had met were brooding and always eerily silent. But then again, Nirix killed most mercenaries that she had the chance to meet. Most of her targets loved to hire extra bodies when they learned of her bringing them their imminent demise. It really mattered not, they normally served barely as a challenge to the Eoclu and they were usually all cut down or at least left with seriously broken bodies that would render them unable to lift a finger to her again.
But that wasn't the point of this. Nirix was not asked to stand and analyze the mannerisms of some mercenary, though she supposed it would be helpful in the long run.
"In my culture, sparring is not just some simple request," She finally said, eyes searching his face for what she needed to truly accept his request.
Sparring was always something special to Nirix. It was a show of skill and yet it also involved a level of trust. Wick had to trust Nirix wouldn't kill him in the process of sparring and Nirix had to trust the same with onto him. Sparring also showed how much respect you had for another. A weak sparring partner was disappointing, yes but it also showed that they would not put enough effort into fighting, that they did not think you worthy of their strength and skill. Nirix hadn't been too sure when she had sparred with Ketin if he had been holding back but yet their trust and bond was as strong as ever and that was all that matter to her. However, looking at Wick now, Nirix felt that he would suitable enough.
His eyes held a challenge beneath all the other careful emotions he displayed.
"Regardless, I accept your challenge Wick," Nirix bowed lowly before standing up straight once again.
"Mala suledin nadas, may you endure,"
Wick made a mental note if what Nirix had said of sparring: Not just a simple request. He knew some cultures held combat in a high regard, so for all he knew it was quite possibly the same for Eoclu. They were relatively new to him, though one had approached about a months ago. He had declined the offer, though had never come up with a good explanation as to why.
Clumsily, Wick returned Nirix's low bow. "I hope you don't plan on stabbing me." He remarked, grinning slightly. He wasn't one for using weapons in sparring matches, and the Eoclu woman had left her sword on her belt. He wasn't worried that she'd try to stab him in front of so many people - no one was THAT crazy - but weapons did put him in the mind of fighting for his life. Still, if she wished to wear it anyway he wouldn't object.
"I'm ready fo begin whenever you are."
Clumsily, Wick returned Nirix's low bow. "I hope you don't plan on stabbing me." He remarked, grinning slightly. He wasn't one for using weapons in sparring matches, and the Eoclu woman had left her sword on her belt. He wasn't worried that she'd try to stab him in front of so many people - no one was THAT crazy - but weapons did put him in the mind of fighting for his life. Still, if she wished to wear it anyway he wouldn't object.
"I'm ready fo begin whenever you are."
N O T S P A C E - The Stella Viventium
"But that's what we Lords are... Idealists. As we ignore human philosophies in pursuit of our own goals, outlandish as they may be..."
Even as Gaelan Yascra seethed with loathing at everyone around him, the words had resonated since they were spoken by the Lord prior to entering this 'Transit Authority' antechamber. He had abruptly come to the conclusion that there was much more to all this 'Lords' business than he - or, indeed, almost anyone else aboard the great Stella - had given credit for. These were not merely some godling-entities existing to antagonize and police a Universe which they had dubbed their own - they were a people - and while that made them no less dangerous, it did introduce a new and disturbing element of humanity into the mix.
He resolved himself to read The Art of War again some time soon.
But presently the majority of his attention was focused on keeping himself from strangling Drakis Volo who, despite a queer niggling that seemed to hang about him, was being as boisterous and irritating as ever. Granted, this reaction was more a matter of appearances than reality - Yascra had tolerated the oaf for years now and his proximity to the pudgy Chief was not truly a matter of public safety, despite the glowering scowl on his face.
But really, it was this 'Rya' girl who was affecting him the most. The dame was downright creepy - was this the kind of person old Drakis was sticking to these days? She was most certainly not well and he had seen madness before - the girl looked serene and content, but he knew very well that it was precisely that sort of madness which could snap in a heartbeat to murderous rage. She did not even appear to acknowledge their presence at all - as though it were only her and Volo, off...somewhere that was clearly not the Stella.
And now, on top of all this - they were going to see Him. The whole thing was shaping up to be, if nothing else, very, very interesting.
Fine, let sparks fly, he decided - what's the worst that could happen? Adding a little more madness into this coagulating insanity couldn't possibly do more harm than Volo had already done!
Drakis Volo, meanwhile, had responded with vague affirmations to Rya's easy, waiflike ramblings. "Birds, huh? Sure, I've seen plenty - we've even got a whole aviary on the Stella. Actually a bunch of them escaped one time and now there's a pretty solid population in the main city section..." and "Can they fly? That's news t' me..." and even now, frowning thoughtfully, he was responding placatingly "Yeah, I'm sure Cap'n likes mockery bobcats too. Though I don't think he's one for pets..."
The gruff man was actually somewhat startled out of his own thoughts over Rya when he suddenly realized that the effeminate 'young man' who apparently identified as a Dimensional Lord was leaning in toward him, and looking directly into his goggles. Outwardly he appeared utterly unfazed - and in reality, the closeness did not bother him at all. Usually he might have cracked some inappropriate joke, since usually it was he who had 'personal-space issues'. But as of now he was too distracted by his new friend's clearly worsening condition to be totally himself.
Regardless, he still cracked a wide, catlike grin. The goggles were apparently some kind of double-paned glass which made it quite impossible to see his eyes beneath them - only more glass.
"Well good ta' meet ya' Mister Caru - and congrats on the new friend - but I'll bet you anything that you'll never get the grumpy old bag'o'buullets to admit he's got a pal."
To this, Yascra gave an affirmative "Hmh." - there was something vaguely resembling camaraderie in it, as if he appreciated the acknowledgement that he had no friends.
"Gotta' say though," Drakis Volo continued, grin fading to a more casual expression, though not without his ever-present air of joviality - "I'm surprised you didn't just get shot on sight after all the trouble we've had with The Lord of Tech Support. Good'a know you're not as much of a jackass though! An' frankly, I think this old boat is in pretty dire need of a little extra love, friendship and compassion, don't ya' think Yascra~?"
Yascra merely scowled a little extra and looked toward the door. There was something vague, unplaceable ominousness about it - though that could very well have been solely in the mind, since there was nothing about the structure that stood out, and surely the Public Transit offices couldn't be that bad.
"We'd better get on with this. Doc Harkahn's probably dyin' in that railcar. How long's he been stuck, anyway?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Volo replied with a hefty shrug. "The message was all garbled, barely made any sense. Didn't sound like he was in any serious danger or nothin', but it was like the message got all...mixed up. Which don't make no sense."
"...Yeah, I got the same thing. And don't quote me on it but it almost feels like we weren't 'supposed' to get the message. Like it sort of just...'slipped through'."
"Don't make no sense...But you're right, let's get on in there."
Drakis started for the door, but Yascra hesitated, caught his eye, and glanced to the girl uncertainly. "Is she, uh, gonna' be okay, in there?" he asked, speaking of Rya as though she weren't there at all.
The 'voice' was gone, for now - or, if nothing else, silent for the moment. Yet its' presence was there - making itself known in its' very silence. An integral part of her and yet, yet, yet - an entity, always there, never there, never-where - but quiet for now, for now, for now...
And there was no reply from the Captain...
Perhaps he was busy.
Drakis too looked over at her, frowning that thoughtful frown for a moment, then giving still another shrug. "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine."
With that, Drakis (Always matching his pace to assure that Rya was close at all times) and Yascra (Always moving as though Caru were too close) headed toward the door, which slid silently open at their approach.
The place within was a drastic change from the well-lit - if under-used - hallways they had just come from. Instead of the usual dominant color scheme of coppery bronze and steely iron with LED-esque lighting and a generally neutral feel, this place was positively dismal.
Half of the lights had gone out, darkening the whole place to an ominous, shadowy iron cave. Crates and boxes were stacked against the walls, giving the essence of a long-lost storage area that had been forgotten by time. There was a vague scent of must, of ozone, of machine oil and time.
Volo and Yascra proceeded through the dismal 'caves of steel' as though nothing had changed at all - even as the four of them passed by shadow-obscured corridors from which at any moment might some terrible hobgoblin have leaped to maul them with bone-sharp claws. There were things stacked and scattered among the boxes, and as they went deeper into this lair it began to show the signs of a cluttered workshop - though what strange and mysterious devices had been scattered here and there, stored away for later or half-finished and forgotten was an enigma. Here and there, bits and scatters of a chemist's tools could be seen, the glint of glass in dreadful off-light, or a jar long-sealed with contents of vibrant hue. Things with wires, things with gears, things with dusty screens and long-untouched panels. Knobs and buttons, some things that hung from the ceiling, others that stood up from the floor. Lamps. Alien appliances. Scientific machines of obscure functionality, gizmos and doodads of dubious purpose which bordered on logical uselessness. Things and stuff piled and stacked and placed and scattered. Branching corridors which might have been all but blocked off by things and stuff. Mechanical detritus, electronic miscellania - all manner of things and things and things - and ever-present that air of darkness and shadow that draped every corner with dismal apprehension. Occasionally, a physical plaque might have been glimpsed upon the wall reading those most dreaded of letters; D M V...
"Boy, Pops has kinda' let the place go." Drakis said, his voice sounding unnaturally loud and resonant in the still and silence of these unholy catacombs through which now the heroes did tread...
The HMS Skadi
Clearly Ty had been thinking on the issue for some time already, for there was little delay in his response.
"Okay, I'm thinking we treat this sort of like a game - since I can't imagine it would be much of a 'sparring match' if the four of us just lined up and aimed down at you." His smile broadened, eye-contact unflinching. "That is, unless you've got buullet-dodging tricks up your sleeve. But what I'm thinking is; you go get your armor-"
"If y'run into the Boss on the way, tell 'er you made some new friends and you've got a date with Ty." Tsuan piped in, with a nudge of one elbow to Rin's side. As usual, Ty was unperturbed. "And while you're gone, we'll set the room up to some varied terrain. We'll start off by seeing how you work against us - we'll split up, fortify or try some guerilla tactics - and we'll see how many shots we can get on you before you take us all down. After that, we'll set up some bots - that is, these sort of 'ice-automatons' that the room can conjure up for target practice - and we'll focus on actually working as a team. Sound good?"
Though before Rin would be able to answer, Tsuan was speaking again, and casually drawing the pistool from his belt. It was a covert gesture thanks to the poncho, but he was not going out of his way to conceal the movement. "One of the neat things about these super-cool 'ice-guuns' is the different projectile settings." He was saying, holding the wepon sidelong in his palm and toying with a dial on the side. It looked like a classic rvolver, but in silver and matte-black color with glowing cyan and blue bits, centered mostly as lines about the chamber and a small, unobtrusive telltale display just below the hammer.
"All sorts of super deadly stuff, but they can also do this."
And with that - so smoothly and fluidly that she had no time to prepare herself, Tsuan raised the guun, aimed it point-blank at the side of Dallen's head, and pulled the trigger. The sidearrm itself sounded as though it was equipped with a silencer, but the resulting cry from Dallen was much louder. She hunched over some, gripping at her head, then gave Tsuan a hard shove which sent him stumbling to regain his balance.
"AAH!! You sonofabitch that hurt!" She was barking angrily - though it did not take long for her to regain her composure, and merely rub sorely at the little red welt on the side of her head. Ultimately harmless, but it had given Tsuan a good, hearty laugh - which only settled into a bubbling giggle when Dallen shot him a terrible glare. Sands only rolled his eyes - and Ty kept his eyes locked on Rin all the while - though there was now a distinct hint of deadpan on his face at the antics of his most trusted comerads.
"So, what Swan's saying," Ty said after a while, his words patient and unhurried, "Is that the armor won't be necessary to keep you alive, but I imagine you'll be most comfortable using it anyway and it's best for us to be familiar with your equipment at a cursory level if nothing else."
"But that's what we Lords are... Idealists. As we ignore human philosophies in pursuit of our own goals, outlandish as they may be..."
Even as Gaelan Yascra seethed with loathing at everyone around him, the words had resonated since they were spoken by the Lord prior to entering this 'Transit Authority' antechamber. He had abruptly come to the conclusion that there was much more to all this 'Lords' business than he - or, indeed, almost anyone else aboard the great Stella - had given credit for. These were not merely some godling-entities existing to antagonize and police a Universe which they had dubbed their own - they were a people - and while that made them no less dangerous, it did introduce a new and disturbing element of humanity into the mix.
He resolved himself to read The Art of War again some time soon.
But presently the majority of his attention was focused on keeping himself from strangling Drakis Volo who, despite a queer niggling that seemed to hang about him, was being as boisterous and irritating as ever. Granted, this reaction was more a matter of appearances than reality - Yascra had tolerated the oaf for years now and his proximity to the pudgy Chief was not truly a matter of public safety, despite the glowering scowl on his face.
But really, it was this 'Rya' girl who was affecting him the most. The dame was downright creepy - was this the kind of person old Drakis was sticking to these days? She was most certainly not well and he had seen madness before - the girl looked serene and content, but he knew very well that it was precisely that sort of madness which could snap in a heartbeat to murderous rage. She did not even appear to acknowledge their presence at all - as though it were only her and Volo, off...somewhere that was clearly not the Stella.
And now, on top of all this - they were going to see Him. The whole thing was shaping up to be, if nothing else, very, very interesting.
Fine, let sparks fly, he decided - what's the worst that could happen? Adding a little more madness into this coagulating insanity couldn't possibly do more harm than Volo had already done!
Drakis Volo, meanwhile, had responded with vague affirmations to Rya's easy, waiflike ramblings. "Birds, huh? Sure, I've seen plenty - we've even got a whole aviary on the Stella. Actually a bunch of them escaped one time and now there's a pretty solid population in the main city section..." and "Can they fly? That's news t' me..." and even now, frowning thoughtfully, he was responding placatingly "Yeah, I'm sure Cap'n likes mockery bobcats too. Though I don't think he's one for pets..."
The gruff man was actually somewhat startled out of his own thoughts over Rya when he suddenly realized that the effeminate 'young man' who apparently identified as a Dimensional Lord was leaning in toward him, and looking directly into his goggles. Outwardly he appeared utterly unfazed - and in reality, the closeness did not bother him at all. Usually he might have cracked some inappropriate joke, since usually it was he who had 'personal-space issues'. But as of now he was too distracted by his new friend's clearly worsening condition to be totally himself.
Regardless, he still cracked a wide, catlike grin. The goggles were apparently some kind of double-paned glass which made it quite impossible to see his eyes beneath them - only more glass.
"Well good ta' meet ya' Mister Caru - and congrats on the new friend - but I'll bet you anything that you'll never get the grumpy old bag'o'buullets to admit he's got a pal."
To this, Yascra gave an affirmative "Hmh." - there was something vaguely resembling camaraderie in it, as if he appreciated the acknowledgement that he had no friends.
"Gotta' say though," Drakis Volo continued, grin fading to a more casual expression, though not without his ever-present air of joviality - "I'm surprised you didn't just get shot on sight after all the trouble we've had with The Lord of Tech Support. Good'a know you're not as much of a jackass though! An' frankly, I think this old boat is in pretty dire need of a little extra love, friendship and compassion, don't ya' think Yascra~?"
Yascra merely scowled a little extra and looked toward the door. There was something vague, unplaceable ominousness about it - though that could very well have been solely in the mind, since there was nothing about the structure that stood out, and surely the Public Transit offices couldn't be that bad.
"We'd better get on with this. Doc Harkahn's probably dyin' in that railcar. How long's he been stuck, anyway?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Volo replied with a hefty shrug. "The message was all garbled, barely made any sense. Didn't sound like he was in any serious danger or nothin', but it was like the message got all...mixed up. Which don't make no sense."
"...Yeah, I got the same thing. And don't quote me on it but it almost feels like we weren't 'supposed' to get the message. Like it sort of just...'slipped through'."
"Don't make no sense...But you're right, let's get on in there."
Drakis started for the door, but Yascra hesitated, caught his eye, and glanced to the girl uncertainly. "Is she, uh, gonna' be okay, in there?" he asked, speaking of Rya as though she weren't there at all.
The 'voice' was gone, for now - or, if nothing else, silent for the moment. Yet its' presence was there - making itself known in its' very silence. An integral part of her and yet, yet, yet - an entity, always there, never there, never-where - but quiet for now, for now, for now...
And there was no reply from the Captain...
Perhaps he was busy.
Drakis too looked over at her, frowning that thoughtful frown for a moment, then giving still another shrug. "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine."
With that, Drakis (Always matching his pace to assure that Rya was close at all times) and Yascra (Always moving as though Caru were too close) headed toward the door, which slid silently open at their approach.
The place within was a drastic change from the well-lit - if under-used - hallways they had just come from. Instead of the usual dominant color scheme of coppery bronze and steely iron with LED-esque lighting and a generally neutral feel, this place was positively dismal.
Half of the lights had gone out, darkening the whole place to an ominous, shadowy iron cave. Crates and boxes were stacked against the walls, giving the essence of a long-lost storage area that had been forgotten by time. There was a vague scent of must, of ozone, of machine oil and time.
Volo and Yascra proceeded through the dismal 'caves of steel' as though nothing had changed at all - even as the four of them passed by shadow-obscured corridors from which at any moment might some terrible hobgoblin have leaped to maul them with bone-sharp claws. There were things stacked and scattered among the boxes, and as they went deeper into this lair it began to show the signs of a cluttered workshop - though what strange and mysterious devices had been scattered here and there, stored away for later or half-finished and forgotten was an enigma. Here and there, bits and scatters of a chemist's tools could be seen, the glint of glass in dreadful off-light, or a jar long-sealed with contents of vibrant hue. Things with wires, things with gears, things with dusty screens and long-untouched panels. Knobs and buttons, some things that hung from the ceiling, others that stood up from the floor. Lamps. Alien appliances. Scientific machines of obscure functionality, gizmos and doodads of dubious purpose which bordered on logical uselessness. Things and stuff piled and stacked and placed and scattered. Branching corridors which might have been all but blocked off by things and stuff. Mechanical detritus, electronic miscellania - all manner of things and things and things - and ever-present that air of darkness and shadow that draped every corner with dismal apprehension. Occasionally, a physical plaque might have been glimpsed upon the wall reading those most dreaded of letters; D M V...
"Boy, Pops has kinda' let the place go." Drakis said, his voice sounding unnaturally loud and resonant in the still and silence of these unholy catacombs through which now the heroes did tread...
The HMS Skadi
Clearly Ty had been thinking on the issue for some time already, for there was little delay in his response.
"Okay, I'm thinking we treat this sort of like a game - since I can't imagine it would be much of a 'sparring match' if the four of us just lined up and aimed down at you." His smile broadened, eye-contact unflinching. "That is, unless you've got buullet-dodging tricks up your sleeve. But what I'm thinking is; you go get your armor-"
"If y'run into the Boss on the way, tell 'er you made some new friends and you've got a date with Ty." Tsuan piped in, with a nudge of one elbow to Rin's side. As usual, Ty was unperturbed. "And while you're gone, we'll set the room up to some varied terrain. We'll start off by seeing how you work against us - we'll split up, fortify or try some guerilla tactics - and we'll see how many shots we can get on you before you take us all down. After that, we'll set up some bots - that is, these sort of 'ice-automatons' that the room can conjure up for target practice - and we'll focus on actually working as a team. Sound good?"
Though before Rin would be able to answer, Tsuan was speaking again, and casually drawing the pistool from his belt. It was a covert gesture thanks to the poncho, but he was not going out of his way to conceal the movement. "One of the neat things about these super-cool 'ice-guuns' is the different projectile settings." He was saying, holding the wepon sidelong in his palm and toying with a dial on the side. It looked like a classic rvolver, but in silver and matte-black color with glowing cyan and blue bits, centered mostly as lines about the chamber and a small, unobtrusive telltale display just below the hammer.
"All sorts of super deadly stuff, but they can also do this."
And with that - so smoothly and fluidly that she had no time to prepare herself, Tsuan raised the guun, aimed it point-blank at the side of Dallen's head, and pulled the trigger. The sidearrm itself sounded as though it was equipped with a silencer, but the resulting cry from Dallen was much louder. She hunched over some, gripping at her head, then gave Tsuan a hard shove which sent him stumbling to regain his balance.
"AAH!! You sonofabitch that hurt!" She was barking angrily - though it did not take long for her to regain her composure, and merely rub sorely at the little red welt on the side of her head. Ultimately harmless, but it had given Tsuan a good, hearty laugh - which only settled into a bubbling giggle when Dallen shot him a terrible glare. Sands only rolled his eyes - and Ty kept his eyes locked on Rin all the while - though there was now a distinct hint of deadpan on his face at the antics of his most trusted comerads.
"So, what Swan's saying," Ty said after a while, his words patient and unhurried, "Is that the armor won't be necessary to keep you alive, but I imagine you'll be most comfortable using it anyway and it's best for us to be familiar with your equipment at a cursory level if nothing else."
Rin shot a frustrated embarrassed look at the exci- Tsuan, flushing deeply again. It wasn't his fault he was so awkward (okay it was but it wasn't intentional) and apparently really, really obvious-
Nevermind. He had to pay attention.
He opened his mouth to express his agreement when Tsuan drew his sidearm and explained how it could switch to different projectile settings. Interesting... He leaned a bit forward to take a closer look. Vaxur could only lower the energy level to a stun mode. I wonder if we could make his rifle have multiple-
He jolted a bit in shock as Tsuan casually shot his comrade, then relaxed his shoulders as the wo- Dal started to curse and rage at the shooter, rubbing a welt.
Tsuan was laughing. So much like Vaxur, he thought wistfully, staring at the pair in exasperation and quiet amusement. My best friend.
He directed his gaze back to Ty- and couldn't quite hide his tiny smile at the familiar deadpan expression. Commander Wyr always looked like that whenever Vaxur and I got into our arguements. The memory was a fond one.
"Then I will be on my way. Um... thank you. F-for the offer. I'll be back soon. Er, obviously. ... Bye." With a shy wave, he backed out of the room and hurriedly power-walked through the halls, blushing furiously. Oh gods, that was so awkward, why did he say that, why did he do that, he was so OBVI-
He stopped abruptly, then turned. He paused, looked over shoulder, then whirled around again.
... He was lost, wasn't he.
... Great.
Nevermind. He had to pay attention.
He opened his mouth to express his agreement when Tsuan drew his sidearm and explained how it could switch to different projectile settings. Interesting... He leaned a bit forward to take a closer look. Vaxur could only lower the energy level to a stun mode. I wonder if we could make his rifle have multiple-
He jolted a bit in shock as Tsuan casually shot his comrade, then relaxed his shoulders as the wo- Dal started to curse and rage at the shooter, rubbing a welt.
Tsuan was laughing. So much like Vaxur, he thought wistfully, staring at the pair in exasperation and quiet amusement. My best friend.
He directed his gaze back to Ty- and couldn't quite hide his tiny smile at the familiar deadpan expression. Commander Wyr always looked like that whenever Vaxur and I got into our arguements. The memory was a fond one.
"Then I will be on my way. Um... thank you. F-for the offer. I'll be back soon. Er, obviously. ... Bye." With a shy wave, he backed out of the room and hurriedly power-walked through the halls, blushing furiously. Oh gods, that was so awkward, why did he say that, why did he do that, he was so OBVI-
He stopped abruptly, then turned. He paused, looked over shoulder, then whirled around again.
... He was lost, wasn't he.
... Great.
As Rin was with his "B team" Laurent was just exploring the ship he occupies now. He was impressed by everything and everyone on board, for him unlike Lord Ova it seems that Cathorine was able to achieve the balance of medieval and high tech into her military power. It was definitely impressive but for the cat man, the observations where nice, but he was a bit bored...stuck on one of the longest ships in the Galaxy at a whooping 100,000 foot long capital ship. These types of ships weren't very tall but are super long that two monorails are standard on these vessels.
For the cat he didn't need to relay on that since he was following Rin's scent. Once he found Rin looking lost he approaches him smelling his scent he chuckles and says "So hanging out with..." sniffs the air " a couple solider boy's" he sniffs again as he gets closer "and butch female soldier" as he then begins to purr on his leg and says "So spill the beans...who do you like?" As he looks at him cutely with his kitty cat eyes.
For the cat he didn't need to relay on that since he was following Rin's scent. Once he found Rin looking lost he approaches him smelling his scent he chuckles and says "So hanging out with..." sniffs the air " a couple solider boy's" he sniffs again as he gets closer "and butch female soldier" as he then begins to purr on his leg and says "So spill the beans...who do you like?" As he looks at him cutely with his kitty cat eyes.
Rin just barely resisted the urge to scowl through sheer willpower and the absolute fact that Montagne would definitely hold it as blackmail.
No way in hell was he spilling.
He carefully looked down at the annoying cat with a deadpan expression. "Where's the room?" he asked, a tinge of resignation in his voice. He knew Montagne would probably try to push the subject in exchange for the way to his room, but honestly? He had just as good a chance of just "accidentally" going to the worst place in the worst time and getting himself slaughtered because of the man.
But he didn't give in to the conman's question anyway. Maybe he'd let it go.
A guy could dream.
No way in hell was he spilling.
He carefully looked down at the annoying cat with a deadpan expression. "Where's the room?" he asked, a tinge of resignation in his voice. He knew Montagne would probably try to push the subject in exchange for the way to his room, but honestly? He had just as good a chance of just "accidentally" going to the worst place in the worst time and getting himself slaughtered because of the man.
But he didn't give in to the conman's question anyway. Maybe he'd let it go.
A guy could dream.
Laurent groaned and says "Ah come on, you are always a buzz kill Come on! I need material for the new book, its really popular with the troops in Lord Ova's army, and hell no doubt some of the conscripts have a few copies they found on the ship" he as he then climbs on top of him and rests on top of Rin's head and points with his paw, "That way, peasant!"
As they walked towards the room, Laurent spoke and says "People read these eroticism not because of for there kicks but because of the story that's within, the feeling of love! It makes everyone teary and want more, the sexy parts are just for the iceying on the cake. You know there was this thing called the internet in where the peoples ideas spread around in an instant and there was this place were young people would go and express there art either by drawing or by stories of there fantasy characters and that place was known as uhhhh...uh ah Tumblr! Yes!" as he looks down at Rin as he continues "People even made these such love fantasy stories and even played as the characters, such sites of dialogue lost till time such ancient sites like Furicadia and Roleplay Repository were places where great minds meet and create these similar things that I made and I am making a ton of cash, cash in which I am sharing with you, Rin!" he rambles on trying to convince the validity of having those kind of books created even though at the expense of Rin's possible dignity.
As they walked towards the room, Laurent spoke and says "People read these eroticism not because of for there kicks but because of the story that's within, the feeling of love! It makes everyone teary and want more, the sexy parts are just for the iceying on the cake. You know there was this thing called the internet in where the peoples ideas spread around in an instant and there was this place were young people would go and express there art either by drawing or by stories of there fantasy characters and that place was known as uhhhh...uh ah Tumblr! Yes!" as he looks down at Rin as he continues "People even made these such love fantasy stories and even played as the characters, such sites of dialogue lost till time such ancient sites like Furicadia and Roleplay Repository were places where great minds meet and create these similar things that I made and I am making a ton of cash, cash in which I am sharing with you, Rin!" he rambles on trying to convince the validity of having those kind of books created even though at the expense of Rin's possible dignity.
Rin fought to keep his voice as steady as possible. Note to self: ask the Queen to destroy as many copies of that $#&% as possible.
... £&€¥ that, make that ALL of it.
"I am a soldier. I am a cadet under a prestigous commander. I am the pilot of X-001 Nemesis. I am trained to fight. I am born to fight." He glared up at the blabbering cat, walking faster in his climbing anger and annoyance. "I am not some erotic figure to be used. That was supposed to be for..." he let out a humourless laugh. "Someone special. It was supposed to be-"
Private. Intimate. Special. He lowered his eyes as he sighed, defeated.
Not like anyone would want a broken person like me.
He looked around, praying that they were near the room already. He wanted to go back and fight off the unpleasantness that itched in his head, now that Montagne was here to bolster the negativity.
Why the hell did he even have an inkling of trust for this guy again?
Oh yeah. He was lonely.
Stupid.
... £&€¥ that, make that ALL of it.
"I am a soldier. I am a cadet under a prestigous commander. I am the pilot of X-001 Nemesis. I am trained to fight. I am born to fight." He glared up at the blabbering cat, walking faster in his climbing anger and annoyance. "I am not some erotic figure to be used. That was supposed to be for..." he let out a humourless laugh. "Someone special. It was supposed to be-"
Private. Intimate. Special. He lowered his eyes as he sighed, defeated.
Not like anyone would want a broken person like me.
He looked around, praying that they were near the room already. He wanted to go back and fight off the unpleasantness that itched in his head, now that Montagne was here to bolster the negativity.
Why the hell did he even have an inkling of trust for this guy again?
Oh yeah. He was lonely.
Stupid.
His tail dangles in front of Rin's face and says "Someone special...I'm sorry Rin, but your too much of a hard ass that you have someone special waiting for you back home...the only one I can think of is whoever raised you or your family" as he points to the door and says " We are here"
"Light up Rin, yeah its erotic in nature but you'll have people cheering you on. Who doesn't like when people call out your name imagine a crowd that has heard of your exploits yelling your name Rin,RinRin! All in to see you continue on your adventures and succeed" he says to him seeing he was down in the dumps from his body language.
"Hell do you want me to be your special person?" he asks him, actually being genuine to him wanting to help him feel better.
"Light up Rin, yeah its erotic in nature but you'll have people cheering you on. Who doesn't like when people call out your name imagine a crowd that has heard of your exploits yelling your name Rin,RinRin! All in to see you continue on your adventures and succeed" he says to him seeing he was down in the dumps from his body language.
"Hell do you want me to be your special person?" he asks him, actually being genuine to him wanting to help him feel better.
THE DIPLOMAT
...
...
How long was I out?
Iril's eye opened, frantically searching in front of her.
Nothing but the window she had been looking out earlier. There were no more voices in her head. Nothing daunting... nothing... scary...
The sound of something behind her triggered an almost automatic defense response. Spinning around, eye open wide in panic, her one arm up in the air, ready to strike.
Alas, it was only Toffi. Who, by means Iril had no comprehension of, did not even jump or startle at her sudden reaction. Rather, Toffi slowly slugged down the banister to merely gaze upon her.
He looked beat. But could Iril blame him? He had just been through a ton. They had all been through a lot.
The escape from the clearing, the jungle escape, and then on top of that, Lord Ova and AK-47... She wondered if Kallenger was in a similar state, sluggish and slow.
Toffi tried to start up a bout of conversation. Cleaning? Such an odd question. Who was he referring to as "they"?
"I assume if necessary-"
"Yes. 'They' would have."
Iril had no idea what she was talking about, really. She had never really had a "they" to take care of her. When she had awoken, she was already left for the wild to claim. What was it like before then?
"That really gets me-"
Stupid voice box.
"-Thinking about things that-"
Maybe before, she was able to say more than four words at a time.
"-I can't seem tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo7rfyTD%^Edy-"
...
"Nevermind."
There was subtle irony in the whole thing. She had so much to say and only four words every so often to express it.
Yet Toffi did his best to smile and pay attention... or at least, Iril thought he did. Eventually, Toffi resigned and went back up the stairs to accompany Kallenger.
It was silent down on her floor again. Iril was left to herself. Back to her own devices.
She forbade herself from sending messages outward into the darkness again. Not repeating the previous incident. No way, no how.
Rather, she looked inward. Toffi's question had lingered with her. Deep within her circuitry, deep within her databanks.
"Do... they clean you?"
Who were "they" even?
Who was... she?
Iril had been so busy putting others before herself the whole time, offering herself as a shield to the team, losing an arm, busting through walls and holding down doors... She really hadn't had much time to think about herself in any other way than just... dying.
Now she had all the time in the galaxy.
Quietly, as the hours passed, Iril sat in solace, contemplating. Pondering. Searching herself. Questioning everything she knew. Everything she could figure out about who "they" were. Who she was.
Eventually, as she was just about to resign herself from fruitless efforts, she happened upon a name. A name that was not her own.
For as long as she had known herself, she had been Iril. That was just who she was. It was her name, right? She had seen it on her face in watery reflections before the rust began to gnaw even that away.
Now, she posed her systems a new question.
"Whois Anne?"
Q
Kilwen chimed in on her little sing of a song, bringing a tiny smile to her own face.
Just now, after all this time, she was beginning to warm up to him. Maybe this wouldn't be such a horrible idea after all.
"Alright, alright. It was a nice song. We don't need to butcher it. Well, at least I don't need to." She chuckled. Even at her own expense, she found that joking a little really helped the atmosphere.
"But enough of that. Do you mind if I plug myself into this ships computer system? If i'm to satisfy my completely rampant need to know everything that is going on around us this second, I'm going to need more than just my own eye here. We're in a new system. Frankly, that startles me."
It didn't matter if Kilwen agreed or not, Q would just end up plugging her finger into the computers anyways. Now able to access the data ships gather from variables and space around them, she'd be able to run some calculations through her system, perhaps see if she couldn't find anything interesting. The last thing she would want to do is get on the bad side of somebody like KAMPFER of all people.
The goal was to find something interesting, right? Like ruins?
Why was Kampfer at all interested in ruins? Wasn't he like, a galactic emperor? Last thing he would want is for somebody to learn from the past. Otherwise, everyone would just discover how much emperors sucked. Perhaps he was looking for rare items to pawn off, or maybe weird and strange weapons for his collection. Maybe he would just take credit for the discovery to boost his ego.
Fascinating. Though Q had never been off of that jungle planet until recently, it seemed she was able to pick out various calculations and equations out of space with ease. The star of this system is a yellow dwarf... which places the circumstellar habitable zone at about .5 AU to 1 AU meaning...
"There. Let's start with that light-green one. It's in a nice spot, could have life there. In my book, that's worth a shot."
She had her doubts, but then again, she always had doubts. It would take a lot of work to get her to where she needed to be confidence wise.
Why not start here?
...
...
How long was I out?
Iril's eye opened, frantically searching in front of her.
Nothing but the window she had been looking out earlier. There were no more voices in her head. Nothing daunting... nothing... scary...
The sound of something behind her triggered an almost automatic defense response. Spinning around, eye open wide in panic, her one arm up in the air, ready to strike.
Alas, it was only Toffi. Who, by means Iril had no comprehension of, did not even jump or startle at her sudden reaction. Rather, Toffi slowly slugged down the banister to merely gaze upon her.
He looked beat. But could Iril blame him? He had just been through a ton. They had all been through a lot.
The escape from the clearing, the jungle escape, and then on top of that, Lord Ova and AK-47... She wondered if Kallenger was in a similar state, sluggish and slow.
Toffi tried to start up a bout of conversation. Cleaning? Such an odd question. Who was he referring to as "they"?
"I assume if necessary-"
"Yes. 'They' would have."
Iril had no idea what she was talking about, really. She had never really had a "they" to take care of her. When she had awoken, she was already left for the wild to claim. What was it like before then?
"That really gets me-"
Stupid voice box.
"-Thinking about things that-"
Maybe before, she was able to say more than four words at a time.
"-I can't seem tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo7rfyTD%^Edy-"
...
"Nevermind."
There was subtle irony in the whole thing. She had so much to say and only four words every so often to express it.
Yet Toffi did his best to smile and pay attention... or at least, Iril thought he did. Eventually, Toffi resigned and went back up the stairs to accompany Kallenger.
It was silent down on her floor again. Iril was left to herself. Back to her own devices.
She forbade herself from sending messages outward into the darkness again. Not repeating the previous incident. No way, no how.
Rather, she looked inward. Toffi's question had lingered with her. Deep within her circuitry, deep within her databanks.
"Do... they clean you?"
Who were "they" even?
Who was... she?
Iril had been so busy putting others before herself the whole time, offering herself as a shield to the team, losing an arm, busting through walls and holding down doors... She really hadn't had much time to think about herself in any other way than just... dying.
Now she had all the time in the galaxy.
Quietly, as the hours passed, Iril sat in solace, contemplating. Pondering. Searching herself. Questioning everything she knew. Everything she could figure out about who "they" were. Who she was.
Eventually, as she was just about to resign herself from fruitless efforts, she happened upon a name. A name that was not her own.
For as long as she had known herself, she had been Iril. That was just who she was. It was her name, right? She had seen it on her face in watery reflections before the rust began to gnaw even that away.
Now, she posed her systems a new question.
"Whois Anne?"
Q
Kilwen chimed in on her little sing of a song, bringing a tiny smile to her own face.
Just now, after all this time, she was beginning to warm up to him. Maybe this wouldn't be such a horrible idea after all.
"Alright, alright. It was a nice song. We don't need to butcher it. Well, at least I don't need to." She chuckled. Even at her own expense, she found that joking a little really helped the atmosphere.
"But enough of that. Do you mind if I plug myself into this ships computer system? If i'm to satisfy my completely rampant need to know everything that is going on around us this second, I'm going to need more than just my own eye here. We're in a new system. Frankly, that startles me."
It didn't matter if Kilwen agreed or not, Q would just end up plugging her finger into the computers anyways. Now able to access the data ships gather from variables and space around them, she'd be able to run some calculations through her system, perhaps see if she couldn't find anything interesting. The last thing she would want to do is get on the bad side of somebody like KAMPFER of all people.
The goal was to find something interesting, right? Like ruins?
Why was Kampfer at all interested in ruins? Wasn't he like, a galactic emperor? Last thing he would want is for somebody to learn from the past. Otherwise, everyone would just discover how much emperors sucked. Perhaps he was looking for rare items to pawn off, or maybe weird and strange weapons for his collection. Maybe he would just take credit for the discovery to boost his ego.
Fascinating. Though Q had never been off of that jungle planet until recently, it seemed she was able to pick out various calculations and equations out of space with ease. The star of this system is a yellow dwarf... which places the circumstellar habitable zone at about .5 AU to 1 AU meaning...
"There. Let's start with that light-green one. It's in a nice spot, could have life there. In my book, that's worth a shot."
She had her doubts, but then again, she always had doubts. It would take a lot of work to get her to where she needed to be confidence wise.
Why not start here?
Rin snorted. "I don't. Have someone." Not that it matters, he added sardonically in his head. I'm broken and can't be fixed.
The thought made his chest tight. Every beat of his heart seemed to hurt- a dull ache that he had been able to ignore until now.
He pushed open the door and- gently, even while his movements were rough- set Montagne down on the bed. He looked up, eyes landing on the mannequinn with his-
Oh.
Armor's clean, he remarked absently, making silent subdued steps until he stopped in front of it. For a moment he stared up, lost in his thoughts-
That is, until Montagne broke the silence.
He immediately rolled his eyes, smoothly putting on his body armor. His lips slanted into a grimace. "I would rather not have that kind of attention," he flatly stated, grabbing his helmet, but not putting it on yet. He glanced down, tracing the symbol in the middle of the helmet. Vaxur found it in a book, he remembered, tracing the purple image again.
He went to trace it one more time when he froze, eyes wide in disbelief. It became hard to breathe.
"Hell do you want me to be your special person?"
Was Montagne messing with him again? His mind was clearer here than it had ever been since he came to this galaxy; he had done his mami's routine, and he was settled with the promise of a good fight- which was now more of a silent anticipation instead of a thrumming sensory need.
He sounded genuine. He might be lying- Wants you to say yes so he could USE you- but he felt- his hands shook. He gripped the helmet in his hands tighter, the tips of his fingers turning white.
"I killed you." His voice was quiet, low, and... neutral. It was neutral. But try as he might... he couldn't hide the melancholy tone.
Surely, Montagne was just being himself- he didn't really care, right? Only about himself.
He repeated the thought to himself and over. Was it working?
He didn't even know.
The thought made his chest tight. Every beat of his heart seemed to hurt- a dull ache that he had been able to ignore until now.
He pushed open the door and- gently, even while his movements were rough- set Montagne down on the bed. He looked up, eyes landing on the mannequinn with his-
Oh.
Armor's clean, he remarked absently, making silent subdued steps until he stopped in front of it. For a moment he stared up, lost in his thoughts-
That is, until Montagne broke the silence.
He immediately rolled his eyes, smoothly putting on his body armor. His lips slanted into a grimace. "I would rather not have that kind of attention," he flatly stated, grabbing his helmet, but not putting it on yet. He glanced down, tracing the symbol in the middle of the helmet. Vaxur found it in a book, he remembered, tracing the purple image again.
He went to trace it one more time when he froze, eyes wide in disbelief. It became hard to breathe.
"Hell do you want me to be your special person?"
Was Montagne messing with him again? His mind was clearer here than it had ever been since he came to this galaxy; he had done his mami's routine, and he was settled with the promise of a good fight- which was now more of a silent anticipation instead of a thrumming sensory need.
He sounded genuine. He might be lying- Wants you to say yes so he could USE you- but he felt- his hands shook. He gripped the helmet in his hands tighter, the tips of his fingers turning white.
"I killed you." His voice was quiet, low, and... neutral. It was neutral. But try as he might... he couldn't hide the melancholy tone.
Surely, Montagne was just being himself- he didn't really care, right? Only about himself.
He repeated the thought to himself and over. Was it working?
He didn't even know.
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