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FROM: anders@cdc.org
couldnt hurt to clarify
FROM: anders@cdc.org
ill be in the medical rover for the rest of the afternoon. you can come by whenever youre ready
couldnt hurt to clarify
FROM: anders@cdc.org
ill be in the medical rover for the rest of the afternoon. you can come by whenever youre ready
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Give me 20 minutes.
[It takes her nearly twice that. For someone as painstakingly exact as Shepard, the lack of punctuality is pointed - speaks to something uneasy riding high in her chest as she climbs up through the hatch of medical rover. She hasn't been back since coming out of stasis - hasn't needed to and certainly hasn't felt any real inclination to being reminded of laying out flat for over a month standard time.
She pointedly ignores ninety percent of the crap happening in the rover for a whole list of reasons - moves instead to meet Anders once she picks him out.]
Sorry I'm late.
Give me 20 minutes.
[It takes her nearly twice that. For someone as painstakingly exact as Shepard, the lack of punctuality is pointed - speaks to something uneasy riding high in her chest as she climbs up through the hatch of medical rover. She hasn't been back since coming out of stasis - hasn't needed to and certainly hasn't felt any real inclination to being reminded of laying out flat for over a month standard time.
She pointedly ignores ninety percent of the crap happening in the rover for a whole list of reasons - moves instead to meet Anders once she picks him out.]
Sorry I'm late.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
I'm still getting used to the idea of magic and aliens. I've met my surprise quota for a while.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
In theory.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
How often do team leads change? And what are the requirements for promotion? Does it vary between units?
[She can, but even Sheva's wary about keeping her own, personal notes on anything but pen and paper. Even then, that would be risky.]
I'm still getting used to the idea of magic and aliens. I've met my surprise quota for a while.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
In theory.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
How often do team leads change? And what are the requirements for promotion? Does it vary between units?
[She can, but even Sheva's wary about keeping her own, personal notes on anything but pen and paper. Even then, that would be risky.]
It's fine.
[It's not as if he's going anywhere, and for all that they aren't going to talk about it, he understands why someone might be leery of what he's planning to do. Dreams are no small thing, where he's from, and even if she isn't a mage it's been ingrained in him his entire life to be wary of anything that might jeopardize his connection to the Fade. He can't begrudge her some anxiety.
He gestures to one of the free cots they have for patients.]
Sit. It'll only take a few minutes.
[It's not as if he's going anywhere, and for all that they aren't going to talk about it, he understands why someone might be leery of what he's planning to do. Dreams are no small thing, where he's from, and even if she isn't a mage it's been ingrained in him his entire life to be wary of anything that might jeopardize his connection to the Fade. He can't begrudge her some anxiety.
He gestures to one of the free cots they have for patients.]
Sit. It'll only take a few minutes.
Edited (i know how to html i swear) 2015-04-05 16:28 (UTC)
[She follows the turn of his hand without any argument - thirteen years in the service and running through medical and decontamination is habitual enough to slide past any characteristic muleheadedness about being poked and prodded -, perching on the side of the cot . If there's an urge to drum her fingers across her thigh, she shoves it down.]
Did Arbuckal's comm net you any more supplies? Sounds like medical's been busy.
[Is that small talk? Shut up, she'd never admit it.]
Did Arbuckal's comm net you any more supplies? Sounds like medical's been busy.
[Is that small talk? Shut up, she'd never admit it.]
Edited (REALLY MOBILE?) 2015-04-05 20:37 (UTC)
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Moved your stuff, by the way. Patched tent and all. Got it in Rover 2 for you when you're up to claiming it.
Moved your stuff, by the way. Patched tent and all. Got it in Rover 2 for you when you're up to claiming it.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Did you need to be carried? Cling to the carapace and be hauled over here?
Did you need to be carried? Cling to the carapace and be hauled over here?
[He'd never say anything about it; patients react in different ways, and whatever differences they've had in the past, he wouldn't be much of a healer if he didn't know how to accept them gracefully.]
We have been, and yes, actually. [The spell probably does not actually take this much time to prepare. If he's slow in putting away prepped boxes of poultices, well, he's as likely to mention that as she is her small talk.] I think we may be able to say we're "cautiously optimistic" soon.
[It's a tug on a thread, that's all, and magic spindles out between his hands, a cloud that's bright and white-blue.]
Are you ready?
We have been, and yes, actually. [The spell probably does not actually take this much time to prepare. If he's slow in putting away prepped boxes of poultices, well, he's as likely to mention that as she is her small talk.] I think we may be able to say we're "cautiously optimistic" soon.
[It's a tug on a thread, that's all, and magic spindles out between his hands, a cloud that's bright and white-blue.]
Are you ready?
Edited (i almost left that typo there bc it was hilarious but nah) 2015-04-06 23:48 (UTC)
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
As far as I know, the recent line up is only the second change to the leads. There was an old program called L1 before I got here, but that was scrapped around the same time I dropped in.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Can't tell you anything about promotion requirements and I doubt anyone but an instructor could. It seems mostly random.
[Thinking about you, cell point Shinji Ikari.]
As far as I know, the recent line up is only the second change to the leads. There was an old program called L1 before I got here, but that was scrapped around the same time I dropped in.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Can't tell you anything about promotion requirements and I doubt anyone but an instructor could. It seems mostly random.
[Thinking about you, cell point Shinji Ikari.]
[There's something like a taste on the air as the energy hums out between his hands. And it looks just enough like the crackle of a biotic field that it doesn't quite get all the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. If there's a line of tension in the set of her shoulders, she ignores it in favor of flattening her palms across her knees - tips the line of her chin up expectantly.]
Hit me.
Hit me.
[It's been a long time since she'd read Jasper's file, but she wouldn't be worth her salt if she couldn't remember at least a few details - and it wasn't as if his father hadn't featured prominently in it. There's little that shifts in her expression, fixed and intent, though she leans back by a fraction of a degree.]
Long white hair, blue eyes. [Committing it to memory, though somehow she can't imagine running across anyone related to Jasper and not instantly recognizing them for it.] I'll let you know if I see him.
[No questions asked.]
Long white hair, blue eyes. [Committing it to memory, though somehow she can't imagine running across anyone related to Jasper and not instantly recognizing them for it.] I'll let you know if I see him.
[No questions asked.]
[ No questions asked. Good. He's not ready to go into any more detail than what he'd just given her. ]
Thanks.
[ His posture straightens out, arms finally dropping to his sides after being so guarded before. The anger he'd been trying to contain passes and subsides, like a boiling pot being taken off the fire, but his expression stays hard and firm. Almost like a solider.
Almost like hers. ]
I'll leave some khesau meat by your tent anyway.
Thanks.
[ His posture straightens out, arms finally dropping to his sides after being so guarded before. The anger he'd been trying to contain passes and subsides, like a boiling pot being taken off the fire, but his expression stays hard and firm. Almost like a solider.
Almost like hers. ]
I'll leave some khesau meat by your tent anyway.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Anytime, Shepard.
[And then, after a beat as he decides whether or not to share the news:]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Got back with Noh while you were sleeping.
Anytime, Shepard.
[And then, after a beat as he decides whether or not to share the news:]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Got back with Noh while you were sleeping.
[If her mouth flattens again, there's at least something like surrender there even if she's just humoring him. She draws her elbows back. She straightens the line of her back. It shouldn't be, but there's something more habitual and comfortable about that than the picture of Shepard leaning forward across her knees.]
I appreciate it. [Which, for better or worse, is sincere enough. Though then she's tipping her chin up by a degree, resolved on something.] But do me a favor.
[Uh oh.]
Half whatever you're planning to give me and take the other half to Crichton.
I appreciate it. [Which, for better or worse, is sincere enough. Though then she's tipping her chin up by a degree, resolved on something.] But do me a favor.
[Uh oh.]
Half whatever you're planning to give me and take the other half to Crichton.
[ The solider-like posture remains, but that's defnitely an eye-roll he's giving her. A slight one, but still an eye-roll. ]
'Course I'll leave him some, but it's not comin' outta your portion.
[ You can't tell him how to do everything, Shepard. Especially not how to share food; he takes it too traditionally and seriously. Those experiencing a loss are more likely to skip meals. Crichton's portion would need to be dried, to keep it from going bad should he forget to eat.
Not that he won't try to remind him. ]
'Course I'll leave him some, but it's not comin' outta your portion.
[ You can't tell him how to do everything, Shepard. Especially not how to share food; he takes it too traditionally and seriously. Those experiencing a loss are more likely to skip meals. Crichton's portion would need to be dried, to keep it from going bad should he forget to eat.
Not that he won't try to remind him. ]
[There's no more preamble than that; he lifts his right hand to her temple but does not, as promised, actually make any sort of physical contact. It's more involved than most of his healing spells tend to be, the way magic entwines with the mind always more complicated than the dig of a knife, and the line of his mouth thins slightly in concentration. It might be warm, vaguely tingly in the same way knowing you've forgotten something is, and then—
And then it's over. The light dissipates, his hand falls back to his side, and he takes a step back to give her space.]
Finished. How do you feel?
[He doesn't expect anything especially groundbreaking, not in the first few minutes at least. But it's a standard question to ask, just in case.]
And then it's over. The light dissipates, his hand falls back to his side, and he takes a step back to give her space.]
Finished. How do you feel?
[He doesn't expect anything especially groundbreaking, not in the first few minutes at least. But it's a standard question to ask, just in case.]
[Which brings her hands up, all faux surrender.]
Alright, alright.
[Look, she's only here to tell him how to do ninety percent of things - how to run, how to handle a weapon, how to pretend nothing touches you until no one's looking. The other ten percent like who he should and shouldn't be making cake for and, apparently, how to share his hard won rations? Alright. That much he can handle on his own.]
Alright, alright.
[Look, she's only here to tell him how to do ninety percent of things - how to run, how to handle a weapon, how to pretend nothing touches you until no one's looking. The other ten percent like who he should and shouldn't be making cake for and, apparently, how to share his hard won rations? Alright. That much he can handle on his own.]
[It feels like-- standing close to the Normandy's mass effect drive, something pulling in the air and through the metal of the deck under her feet. She breathes in low, swallows it and stares for a moment long and hard at the place where two of the rover's interior panels meet. The jointing, if she studies it hard enough, reminds her of the Normandy's shuttle.
And then his hand is falling away and Shepard's attention flicks back, the line of her back straightening the fraction of a degree that it's settled.]
Pretty much the same. ["Magic."] How do you know if it worked?
And then his hand is falling away and Shepard's attention flicks back, the line of her back straightening the fraction of a degree that it's settled.]
Pretty much the same. ["Magic."] How do you know if it worked?
[ False surrender or not, it's taken seriously. He gives her a short nod of approval. ]
Alright good.
[ He stands there quiet for a moment, thinking. So much happened, and he knows Shepard is catching up on the network as much as she can, what with her Blackglass being in hand as it was before he came to meet her. She likely saw it, but it's worth mentioning, worth breaking the rigid line of his back for a more casual slant. ]
Oh yeah, one more thing that happened... Dagger gave out some... animals to Red team, and some others. There's three of them in fourteen. They're cute and kind of annoyin' and I can't cook them.
[ Then, even more casually. ]
Oh, and Anders was able to cure the nightmares Corvo's magic's been givin' me.
Alright good.
[ He stands there quiet for a moment, thinking. So much happened, and he knows Shepard is catching up on the network as much as she can, what with her Blackglass being in hand as it was before he came to meet her. She likely saw it, but it's worth mentioning, worth breaking the rigid line of his back for a more casual slant. ]
Oh yeah, one more thing that happened... Dagger gave out some... animals to Red team, and some others. There's three of them in fourteen. They're cute and kind of annoyin' and I can't cook them.
[ Then, even more casually. ]
Oh, and Anders was able to cure the nightmares Corvo's magic's been givin' me.
[There's a very lame joke on her tongue about the proclivities of armed forces to collect pets - nothing like being on a backwater colony and spending every hour of downtime not dedicated to watching crappy action vids trying to tame the wildlife -and it dies before it gets past her teeth. All the color washes out of her face and for a second, for a brief strangling moment, Shepard looks--
(her throat tight and no breath in her lungs and the burning, burning feeling of choking on it. acidic taste of bile and the weight of something dark and consuming humming over her shoulder like the throb of some ancient, black engine)
--she swallows down the animal fear. It's liking biting down on something to fend off the stab of something painful. She sits very straight, draws a slow shallow breath through her nose.]
Has Attano done-- magic on you?
(her throat tight and no breath in her lungs and the burning, burning feeling of choking on it. acidic taste of bile and the weight of something dark and consuming humming over her shoulder like the throb of some ancient, black engine)
--she swallows down the animal fear. It's liking biting down on something to fend off the stab of something painful. She sits very straight, draws a slow shallow breath through her nose.]
Has Attano done-- magic on you?
[ The shock on her face and the gravity of her question takes Jasper by almost just as much surprise. He goes rigid again, but not in the way he was before. This time his tight stance is more out of nervousness. A similar animal fear he thought he was done with. ]
Yes... you were there, remember?
[ He thought he was safe telling Shepard, thought she knew Corvo had taken him and vanished in a cloud of swirling black mist. She had been the only other one around to see it happen. ]
It was durin' the shuttle crash, on Ajna.
[ Thinking on it again, she really couldn't be blamed for not noticing. The wind was powerful and ringing in their ears, they were all nearly frozen to death, and Shepard had suffered a nasty concussion. He also hadn't mentioned anything happening as a result until now, when it was already over and fixed. He thought maybe she already knew, maybe already guessed after how he had burned his hands. Thought now that he was better it was safe to be more open about it.
Maybe he thought wrong. ]
Yes... you were there, remember?
[ He thought he was safe telling Shepard, thought she knew Corvo had taken him and vanished in a cloud of swirling black mist. She had been the only other one around to see it happen. ]
It was durin' the shuttle crash, on Ajna.
[ Thinking on it again, she really couldn't be blamed for not noticing. The wind was powerful and ringing in their ears, they were all nearly frozen to death, and Shepard had suffered a nasty concussion. He also hadn't mentioned anything happening as a result until now, when it was already over and fixed. He thought maybe she already knew, maybe already guessed after how he had burned his hands. Thought now that he was better it was safe to be more open about it.
Maybe he thought wrong. ]
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