see, the sea wants to take me

[morethanhuman]

mid-February | the Nexus, Room 26

"So," he said as he turned back, forcing a lighthearted tone. "Am I pathetic enough for full intoxication, or shall I only be allowed a giddy buzz?"

The vulnerability in Erik's voice, his expression, was a keen reminder of the tender places within her that she had been trying for so long to forget. Somehow, despite her most concerted efforts, they never quite seemed to harden like she hoped.

"You aren't pathetic, darling," she replied at length, lifting her eyes to Erik and then pushing restlessly from her seat. "I very much doubt if you've been pathetic for an entire minute together in your life."

After his disastrous altercation with Charles, Erik calls on Jordan to do her duty as his best and only friend, and join him in drowning his sorrows.

COMPLETE

Look upward and share the wonders I've seen

[nebaritralk]

Chiana walked through the gardens, black eyes wide as she took in the strange array of alien flora. She had never seen flowers of such colour as this one, or one that smelled as sickly sweet as that one, and what of these strange vines? Inside the hotel, she felt on edge, surrounded by too many people, most of them those humans that looked exactly like Sebaceans. Peacekeepers everywhere, how could she not be on edge.

But out here, it turned out, she could relax. There was nobody that might harm her, and nobody she might need to take advantage of. Just plants, and her. She followed a strange yellow and black striped flying bug as it flitted from one flower to the next, her lips stretched in a smile full of wonder. If only Nerri were here to see this with her…

She stopped where she was when she caught sight of a field, and in it... What kind of animals were these? There were a few of them, four-legged and big, even taller than her when they raised their heads, grazing in that pasture. They came in different colours as well and, before she'd really decided to, her feet had taken her to the edge of the pasture. They seemed so peaceful, but she didn't dare vault over the barrier, wary of creatures she did not know. Some would turn on you in an instant.

She shifted her balance when one of the animals headed her way; she was ready to flee. A curious tilt of her head, but the animal just stopped in front of her, on the other side of the barrier, and watched her placidly. She shifted her balance again and leaned closer, extending a gloved hand to pat its brown coat. The animal sighed out through its nostrils, but let her. She smiled again and stepped closer, laughing her shrill little laugh when the animal nudged his nose at her hand. "You're a bossy one, what do you want," she asked it, delighted, and resumed petting it. "Shame the microbes don't work on your language, huh?"