Ah screw it, here's the first bit of the Nexus Network posting I was talking about. Enjoy! [hider=First Meeting] [I]Elysium, some years ago…[/I] [hr] The opening act hit their last notes, a farewell electronic ring from some salarian-made keyboard like instrument accompanied by some sound mixing software, and with it, the stage lights came on and the black-clad crew swept in like birds flocking to seed, removing the stage equipment to make way for the next band, one that Tanya Carson didn’t know the name of. As it stood, she didn’t know any of the bands, nor did she care for what she heard so far; music was music, however, and it was one of the few avenues of escape she had. It wasn’t physical danger that haunted her, but rather ghosts and a mind that held onto haunting memories like a deranged gatekeeper. There were nights where the loneliness of being by herself became oppressive, no family or crew to speak of to keep her company, and so the ghosts came in and lingered like monuments to her failure. Usually drink would help steady her mind and nerves, but even that had its limits, and so she got out of the old prefabricated housing unit she was renting and headed out to find some form of escape. Tonight was music, the one companion she could count on. She took a drink of the overpriced beer that was clutched in her hand in a cheap plastic cup. It was more of a comfort through ritual thing rather than any sort of enjoyment, but Tanya never deluded herself that she didn’t have a problem. She spent most of her adult life as a high-functioning alcoholic, turning to neigh relying on it to dull her normally razor-sharp mind and predisposition to recall traumatic history. There was some closure here and there, and memories did fade over the years, allowing her a few more restful sleeps and a generally more healthy state of mind. She’d periodically attended addiction seminars and consultations to help curb a toxic habit that had become a regular fixture of her life, but things didn’t always go as hoped. Her standing here, half paying attention to a band she’d probably forget a week from now with an overpriced beer was a symptom of that; it was hard to kick an ingrained coping mechanism. [color=cyan][I]At least it’s not hard.[/I][/color] she thought, justifying the habit even though she knew it was a rubbish excuse. She stared down at the cup, the cool liquid causing condensation to form on the plastic around her fingers. The cup was wide and unwieldy, unlike a pistol grip. She remembered the confrontation, the shouting and pleading, the grim realization that there was no salvaging her past; the gun came up, feeling impossibly heavy as the sight post found center mass and… A body shoved into her from behind, causing the cup to slip through her fingers and splatter on the floor across somebody’s pant legs; the recipient not even noticing, or caring, that his calves were splashed with some yeasty-scented brew. She turned her head around, feeling indignant but appreciating the irony of having had her decision made for her. [color=cyan]“Thanks, asshole.”[/color] A turian face stuck out, a two-fingered hand rubbing the back of his skull with seemingly genuine embarrassment. [color=cadetblue]“Sorry, I’m sorry. I know you have to have a second job to afford the drinks here, I just bumped into you trying to get by.”[/color] [color=cyan]“So you’re saying I have the credits to spare, or that you’re clumsy?”[/color] Tanya pressed, not aggressively or aggravated so much as mildly annoyed. She couldn’t really be mad that the turian; he seemed genuinely surprised that he bothered her, and she knew all too well how crowds could be. Still, she was engaged. It was a distraction she could use. [color=cadetblue]“Truth be told, it’s your hair. It caught my eye, that guy heeled me in the jaw jumping around, and I got a bit closer than intended. I’m still not entirely used to humans, sometimes you guys surprise me.”[/color] The turian said, boldly sidling up to her behind the railing, one elbow resting against the steel roll. Tanya blinked. It wasn’t exactly the answer she was expecting. [color=cyan]“My… hair?”[/color] [color=cadetblue]“Yeah. It’s short, spikey, longer on the top. Kind of reminds me of a turian fringe, dare I say it suits you.”[/color] He grinned, looking down at the sad cup, now stomped flat from the concert going crowd the next level down. [color=cadetblue]“Hey, name’s Sabinus.”[/color] Reaching into a sleeve pocket, he pulled out a credit chit. [color=cadetblue]“Here’s 20 credits. Consider it my apology and a way to replace your crap drink with something that’s actually enjoyable.”[/color] Tanya took it with an appreciative nod, shoving the credit chit into a breast pocket on her jacket. [color=cyan]“What a gentleman. Thanks, Sabinus, shit happens but I appreciate you taking the time and money to over-apologize for something that comes with the territory of going to a concert.”[/color] She nodded towards the band. [color=cyan]“A fan?”[/color] The turian shook his head, his eyes still on her. [color=cadetblue]“Friend of mine told me I should see what human culture has to offer if I’m going to be a permanent resident on a human colony world. I could take this or leave it at this point, but it hasn’t exactly been a prime social situation, present company excluded.”[/color] [color=cyan]“I guess that makes two of us. Tell you what; I’m going to get out of here. You can join me if you’d like and go get something that doesn’t taste like it was brewed in a bathtub. If not, thank you for being a proper gentleman and for bumping into me when I probably needed it most.”[/color] She said, stepping away from the railing and making her way through the crowd towards the illuminated exit sign at the back. With a series of self-affirming nods, Sabinus followed suit, catching up with Tanya in a few quick strides. [hr] [color=cyan]“So, what brings a turian like yourself to one of the crown jewels of the Systems Alliance?”[/color] The pair had found their way out of the concert venue and down the street to a surprisingly charming rustic-style café that was one of the first establishments built on Elysium from local materials rather than the prefabricated pieces that made up most of the earliest structures. Using lumber, stone, and modern construction materials that were shipped in from the regular trading vessels that came and went from the port, the café was a surprisingly appealing mixture of rustic charm and technological innovation. Wooden beams supported a roof of transition-lens glass ceiling with a carbon fiber lattice for structural integrity, poly-resin decorative struts and railings, and wooden furniture to go along with the large stone fire pit that the entire establishment was built around. The doors, however, were the typical tech-heavy alloy doors that were pretty standard across human settlements, as were the LED lighting and modern appliances and vid screens that furnished the establishment. Snow was falling lazily out the window, dancing in memorizing fashion by the streetlamps, giving the café a rather peaceful and cozy sense of place in the city. Sabinus sat board straight in his seat, both hands wrapped around a hot ceramic mug that featured an oil-painting like depiction of some of the local wildlife. He was assured that the coffee that was currently steaming in his fingers was dextro-friendly, and that turian specialists were brought in to create a menu that catered to the turian palate. He’d heard that one before and felt his innards try to forcefully escape his body. Since then, he’d never been fully convinced humanity wasn’t trying to murder him via cuisine until he knew for a fact another turian ate there first. As such, tonight was a gamble, one he would either come away from smiling or screaming bloody murder in the bathroom stall. As such, he had not dared take a sip yet. [color=cadetblue][I]Am I really trying that hard to impress this woman?[/I][/color] he thought to himself, glancing up from the steaming brown drink that had a common sweet cane sticking out of it that was probably imported from one of the turian colonies that was often used as a sweetener. Tanya was leaning on the table, her cheek resting on a fist. She was still wearing her black pea coat, a blue-grey scarf wrapped lazily about her neck. He allowed himself a self-amused twitch of the mandibles before he replied. [color=cadetblue]“Short story? Work. Long story? Heh. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will say if even a few years ago you told me I’d be living on a human planet with human friends on a date with a human, I probably would have said some nasty things I wouldn’t be able to take back.”[/color] A smirk crossed Tanya’s lips. [color=cyan]“Oh, a date, is that what this is?”[/color] [color=cadetblue]“And hopefully a good one.”[/color] Sabinus replied with a grin, finally taking a sip of the coffee. It tasted strange, but not unpleasant. Now the clock was ticking to see how his biology liked it. [color=cyan]“Sounds like you had a bit of a chip on your shoulder. Weren’t a fan of the new invasive species on the galaxy?”[/color] She replied, her expression retaining the same bemused look upon it. That caused Sabinus to blink; he was not expecting her to be so blunt about it. His mandibles twitched as a reflex, Tanya’s smirk grew into a grin. “Oh, I know that look. Get stuck on a shitty ship with a few turians and you start to figure out quick how expressive your face-flaps are. So, go on.” [color=cadetblue]“Truth be told after the Relay 314 Incident, I was just about to enter my civil service and I honestly believed humans to be the next krogan or rachni. The Hierarchy’s sworn role in galactic civilization is as peacekeepers and the military strength for enforcing that peace, so you can imagine how alarming it was when a bunch of unknown aliens start using an unauthorized relay and begin pouring into the galaxy and then subsequently defeat a turian fleet.”[/color] Sabinus glanced out the window at a couple walking with their young child down the street. [color=cadetblue]“I was afraid of you.”[/color] He admitted. Tanya listened, drinking from her tea while listening politely. [color=cyan]“I was a part of the Systems Alliance when I was old enough to enlist. My dad was at Shanxi as a part of the fleet sent to fight in the First Contact War, he didn’t make it.”[/color] She said, twirling the teabag around slowly, a concentrated frown on her face. [color=cyan]“He was a good man, kind, full of life. We knew that there were other aliens out there when we discovered the Prothean ruins on Mars and the Charon relay, and he was so excited to meet them. I think he would have been so excited to see how things turned out, he died exploring the stars and that curiosity was what got him killed in the end.”[/color] [color=cadetblue]“I’m… I’m sorry.”[/color] Sabinus managed, realizing how he must have sounded. She shook her head. [color=cyan]“No reason to. I never blamed the turians; it’s what you sign up for when you serve. I know you turians have a culture built around that. I just wish he got to come home and one day see the Citadel, and meet everyone the galaxy had to offer.”[/color] Tanya looked up, smiling. [color=cyan]“I wasn’t the brightest, I signed up because I felt I had to carry on the family legacy and we Carsons had always stood by our nation in times of war. I knew the galaxy was a dangerous, stupid place, but the beautiful parts of it were worth fighting for. What changed your mind about humans?”[/color] She asked. Sabinus crossed his fingers, his posture unwaveringly straight. [color=cadetblue]“Turian society is very rigid, inflexible. We don’t tolerate discontent well, and we rely on tactics that I’ve discovered human dictatorships were fond of using. Insurgencies come and go, and our response is always to put it down with swift, efficient, and ruthless force. My mother by all accounts was good at that, I thought there had to be a better way. When I was a soldier, I was criticized and kept from climbing the meritocracy because I felt that my men were more valuable than quickly taking an objective with,”[/color] he made quotation fingers. [color=cadetblue]“‘Acceptable losses’. I ended up getting into a counter-terrorist outfit, which was somewhere I felt content with. I took a few hits extracting a couple human hostages that left me with a collapsed lung and desk-bound for years.”[/color] The turian shrugged. [color=cadetblue]“Those same hostages invited me to Elysium at a time where I was really unhappy with my lot in life, and knowing I had to make a change, I accepted their invitation and here I am, discovering that the galaxy’s a bigger place and that I was wrong about your people.”[/color] The waiter came by with a couple of plates, setting down in front of them. One was trimmed by a blue ring, the staff’s way of telling if a plate was dextro-friendly. It was set down in front of the turian, who looked quizzically at the meal. [color=cadetblue]“This is a meat pie?”[/color] he asked. Tanya crooked a head at him. [color=cyan]“Have you never seen a pastry shell before?”[/color] [color=cadetblue]“Not up close.”[/color] Sabinus admitted, prodding at it with a fork like it might still be alive. [color=cyan]“Well, if it kills you, I’ll pay the funeral expenses.”[/color] The human grinned, breaking it open with a knife. [color=cyan]“Pretty late-life revelation that we’re not completely awful.”[/color] [color=cadetblue]“Not completely.”[/color] He agreed, taking a tepid bite. He blinked, surprised, going back for another. [color=cadetblue]“One might say I kind of like your people now. The Lamonds really went out of their way to show their kindness and gratitude to me just doing my job; it was such a strange thing to me. Now when I run security, I have people tip me because nothing happened. The crime rates in this town are ridiculously low; I’m practically stealing credits.”[/color] Wiping his lips with a napkin, he set down his fork for a moment, leaning in for the first time towards her. [color=cadetblue]“Your turn. What’s a pretty woman doing alone, looking forlorn and not at all paying attention to music at a concert? Why invite me to join you?”[/color] Tanya ran her hand through her hair, the short bristly raven-coloured brush at the top of her head, the strands springing back to place thanks to the product. She was quiet for a few moments, turning her gaze out the window much like Sabinus had done earlier. [color=cyan]“You ever have a place that’s too painful to think about, return to?”[/color] He shook his head when he caught her glance. [color=cyan]“That’s home. I’m from Terra Nova and nothing’s left there except for bad memories and…” [/color] Her eyes shut, trying to will the moment away. Her eyes had watered up somewhat, something she tried to disguise with a run of her sleeve. [color=cyan]“Well, another time perhaps. I thought I found another home, another family of sorts, a bunch of dysfunctional but loveable arseholes, but that didn’t pan out and after the… incident at Terra Nova, I eventually left them, too.”[/color] She turned back, her arms crossed along her stomach. She didn’t meet his gaze for a moment. [color=cyan]“I ended up here, one of the few places I can think of that I could just disappear and try to find some peace with myself, where nothing in my past could follow me home. I’d… I’d hoped that maybe the new surroundings, new people… the fucking snow would help me forget. It works, most of the time. You just happened to bump into me on one of the nights where it didn’t. "You were so awkward and apologetic for what’s literally the smallest inconvenience you can expect in a place like that, I don’t know. I think you brought a bit of light back to a pretty shitty day.”[/color] Her head sunk back into the seat, a chuckle rumbling through her core. [color=cyan]“Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m sure you weren’t expecting me to just dump that heavy shit on you. I noticed you didn’t bugger off part way through. You must really be a gentleman. Just, thanks. It’s been too long since I just talked to somebody like this. I never realized I needed it.”[/color] Sabinus listened with rapt interest, studying Tanya, realizing that she didn’t really try to hide the pain and anguish she’d been carrying with her. It was probably how she coped, but there was definitely a strength to her. [color=cadetblue]“I’d say it’s been a good date so far.”[/color] He smiled, leaning an elbow on the table, mirroring what Tanya had done earlier. [color=cadetblue]“We turians are all about serving the greater good, maybe I just found myself where I was needed most. You’re a good woman, Tanya. You act rough around the edges, but I’d seen through that immediately. If you aren’t opposed, I’d like to continue being that somebody like this, someone to help you forget, or just be a friend when you need one.”[/color] The smirk came back. [color=cyan]“Still think this is a date, huh? First you spill my drink, than you decide that a casual chat is a date. You are mighty presumptuous.”[/color] Sabinus shrugged. [color=cadetblue]“What can I say? Maybe it’s the season, maybe I’m just as alone in paradise as you are.”[/color] [color=cyan]“Maybe. Just maybe.”[/color] Tanya repeated, meeting Sabinus’ eyes. [color=cyan]“But yeah, I can do friends without benefits. And, here.”[/color] She pulled out the credit chit from earlier, along with a laminated card that had contact numbers, a street address, and the words [I]Carson’s Customs[/I] written across the top, setting it down in front of him. [color=cyan]“Shop’s open until 1800. I’ll show you around.”[/color] Finishing off her tea in a single gulp, and setting the plate to the side, she rose from her seat, and Sabinus did the same. [color=cyan]“For someone who professed that he once feared humans a few minutes ago, you sure do like to stare.”[/color] [color=cadetblue]“I must have found my courage.”[/color] He said, sheepishly, learning something about himself he never quite put into clarity until then. [color=cyan]“Must be it. Thank you, Sabinus. I’ll be seeing you around.”[/color] She said, touching his arm before placing her hand into her coat pocket and heading for the door, which zipped open as she approached. He watched her go, a smile on his face. [color=cadetblue]“Must be it.”[/color] He agreed. His stomach rumbled. [/hider]