[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZDIUVzd.png[/img][/center][center][h2][color=green]Nero[/color] and [color=#b9dde9]Laurey[/color][/h2][/center][i][hr]Nero accepted my possibly foolish request. My flesh suit needs it; every measure must be taken to ensure I can ascend, even if it means suffering. And suffer I suspect I shall, for long have I neglected physical activity for the Dream Space. Yet all things serve the Great Machine.[/i][hr]The refectory was empty, so Laurey thought, as she grooved to the ceaseless pulsing beat playing inside her skull. “No food,” she muttered, looking into a fridge that was stocked with constituents, nothing ready to be consumed. The cupboards and lockers then? That’s a negative. Just ration packs and canned goods. Where were the fried doughy delights, the Zin Zabaar cloying with yoghurt and spices? Well, it’s a good job that [i]someone[/i] around here had the good sense to keep their snacks on hand. Actually, it seemed to be the habit of any and all of the Star Marines to keep their own stash in their own rooms. Years of military action and a footlocker will lead to that. Or maybe, they just didn’t want...well...anyone raiding their stuff, like in the fridge. Regardless of the fact, in walks Nero with one of his prior purchased munchies from before they even met, looking for a drink to wash it down. He was at least out of his mask and whistling, looking relaxed. She probably didn’t hear ‘im before he walked in, which means he went to stealth for...some reason. Laurey tried to remain nonchalant, even threw a lazy salute to him, but her eyes kept falling down to what he was eating. He seemed less like a predator when his mask was off. “Yo Nero, what ya got there?” [color=green]”Kurata Cakes.”[/color], he said, indicating the small strangely-squat muffin-like snacks that - if memory served - were like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with a hot streak of something in the middle. Nero headed to the fridge to find some milk - good for candy [i]and[/i] hot stuff - once Laurey was out of the way. [color=green]”Startin’ to run out, actually. Hitting the bazaar’s a good idea, since I don’t buy shit by the boatload like Iris.”[/color] He gave the augmented girl a look. [color=green]”Still getting the headaches, eh?”[/color] “Not a bad idea, not a bad idea,” Then she shook her head firmly, “Not much actually,” a white lie: not at all, “not since the rescue mission. Maybe the stress was making them worse, maybe I’ve accepted this lifestyle now,” she made a gesture with her hand that said, “beats me”. Except, she thought she knew quite well what had caused the pain to stop. Realist. Just a theory, for now, but… “It’s a strange life. You know, I was looking through the vent systems earlier. Apparently someone has been passing through them. Pretty dangerous; this ship has a circuit switcher to shunt stored toxins, helps reduce emissions for stealth or something. I hope whoever’s doing it knows, or they could wind up, you know, dead. I don’t want to have to drag a corpse out of there.” There was a blink as he pulled out the milk he was looking for, looking back at her with an ounce of surprise and a fair bit of confusion. [color=green]”Wait, that’s a thing? They never did that on the bigger vessels…”[/color] He looked irritated, suddenly, inwardly thinking [i][color=green]’Now, I have to keep track of that shit or haul my mask around every time? Fucking bullshit…’[/color][/i] as he poured himself a drink and pulled on it in a large gulp. Nero didn’t think about everything he was doing while angry. He didn’t stay that way right now, but he wasn’t happy about...you know...almost getting himself killed. Laurey smirked. “It’s every six hours, starting midnight, midday, or any interval in between. Whatever floats your boat. And, you know, it might not kill you, could just leave part of your body paralysed, or cause brain damage. I’m not a doctor, I just know that shit’s bad.” Laurey paused, as if deliberating whether to say the next bit, but she did, “You’re a good fighter, right, I mean, you dealt with that gnarly crow geezer. Well, do you think you could teach me,” she pointed a finger at her face, in case it wasn’t obvious who ‘me’ was, “just the basics. I don’t have magic or anything, but I’m going to be living this life, at least for the moment, in my duty as Vassal, Envoy, and Prophet. May as well be prepared, y’know?” He properly got her attention with this, aaand he wasn’t going to say that the computer expert wasn’t going to do that great, but..ah, why the hell not? She looked physical. It’s just that she spent alot of time sitting around in front of a screen, connected to computers. Anyway, Nero shrugged. [color=green]”I did better on the ship, where I got the flamethrower, but yeah. I went to war. I know what to do. Actually, fighting and killing is one of the few things I’m [i]good[/i] at.”[/color] It helped that he didn’t feel any remorse over that kind of thing. [color=green]”Probably better to start out in cargo, not here. Uhh...what do ya wanna know? What [i]do[/i] you know?”[/color] He didn’t have any problem with this. Just...people coming up to him to ask for his help on things is… Mostly, it doesn’t happen. It was unexpected. Her face scrunched up in a parody of thought, “I guess we could start with how to throw a punch?” This caused him to stare for a moment, genuinely shocked. [color=green]"Wait...nothing? You never had to really fight someone...ever? But you’re in with Moonstrike...”[/color] She shook her head, “There are other ways to contribute, but that being said, this little cohort does seem to rather put me in the firing line. I was… against violence for a long while.” At this, he crossed his arms, saying [color=green]"You know, a little violence [i]really does[/i] solve things. Hell, a little more of it, and I could’ve stayed out of the fucking army.”[/color]. He sighed, finishing his milk, then. [color=green]”But yeah, you need to punch shit. It takes care of things, especially if people are assholes. You walk into a place, someone’s bein’ a hardass, but you don’t have to worry ‘cause you know you can drop ‘im.”[/color] “Sometimes, sure, violence could have saved me too. But here we are,” though she smiled, her face had that far away look. The life flushed back in, “Let’s learn how to crack some skulls!” He got up, then, saying [color=green]“Yeah, let’s fucking do it!”[/color], before they’d head off. Anyone in earshot who heard this shouting wouldn’t have a clue about what was going on, but they at least were pumped.