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[In the dining facility.]
Riley arrives from the Central Atrium.
Riley has arrived.
Niko is, yes, at the round table, though it seems kind of absurd, as he's the
only person at said table. He's got half an eye on a datapad, and the other
eye and a half on the plate of lasagna. The lasagna, of course, probably
could really, really use some cheese.
Riley meanders in, a sheaf of paperwork tucked under one arm. He heads, of
course, for the Vendotron. The Vendotron likes -him-, he doesn't insult it.
He manages to get a soda and of course a chocolate bar out of it before
heading back to the traditional round table as well. "Heyla' Nick," he calls
amiably as he slides into a nearby seat. "I don't think you've got enough
cheese on your lasagna."
Niko, it may be noted, is beverageless, though he at least has some garlic
bread. Ela's going to love that. He looks up from the food and the work with
a grin. "Yeah," he agrees, actually sounding serious. "I asked them to add
more, but I just got mocked. No respect, I swear." He gestures towards the
paperwork, then. "Anything interesting?"
"Aside from your lasagna with enough cheese that I think it must've taken a whole cow?" Riley questions with an amused grin. He settles the paperwork down, and the soda next to it so he can peel the wrapped from the candy. "Nothing terribly so, I'm afraid. Just some budget stuff, and a couple of folks filing formal protests against me. Very cheerful." He taps a page, "Did you know I'm a ravening barbarian?" He sounds so -cheerful- about this. "I've been practicing my ravening, I am -so- glad someone noticed."
Niko pauses for a moment, the fork poised over the lasagna. "Ravening
barbarian," he muses. "Wow. Congratulations. Wonder if it's genetic." He
grins, then, spearing the lasagna. "Was that one the Verthians? One of them
stopped by Security the other day. I swear, I've -seen- prissier females, but
not very often."
"No, see, the Verthian delegation says I'm a..." Riley ruffles through the
papers with one hand while he snags a bite of the candy bar. "Left-hand
using, disingenuous, wrong-fork-using, pork-tenderloin eating scumbag." He
shrugs in bemusement, "They don't like the new customs regulations much, I
guess." He considers a moment, "It might be genetic, maybe you should take
some ravening lessons."
Niko says, with a wrinkle of his nose, "I don't much like the new customs regulations either. I mean, I -liked- the RY-47. The RY-48 isn't -nearly- as much fun." He sighs mournfully, then grins. "That's right. The Verthians are the ones who hold pigs sacred, right?" There's a quiet snicker. "Ravening lessons, eh? Ela will be thrilled, really. Where could I find a teacher?"
Riley munches on the chocolate bar just a moment, all but inhaling a section of
it. But politely somehow. His table manners manage to be formal even when
he's inhaling. "I'm not big on us handling customs at all, to be honest. At
least not without more people. It's a massive job, and getting bigger every
day." He snickers, "They are. Eating ham sandwiches when they come to visit
is, for the record, a bad move." He hmms, "Maybe a 'Seven Easy Ravening
Lessons' vidtape or something?"
Niko all but chokes on a bite of lasagna, though he manages to avoid any need
for the Heimlich. "Oh, yeah, that could be taken as bad. Guess that's why
Kath was asking about recipes for pork chops and... well, the list of pig
parts goes on and on. The questions make a lot more sense, now, at least." He
seems really quite entertained by this, and then nods. "Too much to do.
Butch's temper is getting more and more uncertain anymore." There's another
nod, this for the mention of the vidtape. "I'll look." Hey, maybe Blockbuster
has it.
Riley is all innocence as he notes, "Hey, they came in during lunch. If they'd -scheduled- the meeting in advance..." He carefully cracks open the soda and takes a sip as he apparently finds the page he was working on. "Butch needs a vacation, but so do we all, neh? I've written another begging budhet letter for more folks. The more embassies they add, the more people we need."
"Buch needs a vacation," Niko agrees firmly. "In fact, Butch was going on at
length this afternoon about how long it's been since she had a vacation. To
hear her tell it," he adds ruefully, "I was four. But, hey, we're all allowed
our exaggerations." He rolls his eyes at the innocent manner, but nods
equably enough. "Maybe we should encourage eating ham sandwiches for lunch
every now and again," he murmurs. "Just in case."
"Hey, if Tony keeps bringing them. He makes very good ones." Riley shifts back
comfortably in the chair with a bone-popping stretch. "And hey, I'm starting
to think -I- was four last time I had one, though I know better. Maybe if we
get the new folks, some time off somewhere that -doesn't- involve potential
swimming."
Niko's brows quirk just a bit. "Okay," he says, only half in jest, "That nixes dragging you to Mathraki to meet Gigia--she's started asking about that again. But swimming there... well, I guess it could be avoided. Still, a vacation anywhere would be nice. New people would be good. Tim could train them," he adds, with a quick grin. "He'd be good at that."
Riley chuckles quietly, "Mathraki'd be another story, see, if we went there, you could protect me from Clara. She swims like a fish, and doesn't seem to -quite- understand that I don't. I can swim, they'd've never let me through OCS otherwise, but it's not something I do for fun, much." His chocolate colored brows quirk in amusement, "Yes, but would Tim agree?"
And now it's Niko's turn to be all innocence. It really doesn't work, but, hey,
at least he's trying. "Tim is a very helpful individual," is all he says.
There's a brief laugh, then. "See, though, Riley, I swim like a fish, too.
You fall off a fishing boat often enough--" Or jump, of course. "--and you
kind of have to learn. Well, that or drown, but I opted for learning. But,
hey, nobody in Mathraki would push you off a dock or anything. That's just
not good--well, not a guest, at least. Except maybe Losi. But she's not big
enough to push you, I think."
Riley's brows quirk at the comment in regards to Tim, but he doesn't touch it.
Instead he just shakes his head with a sigh, "And like as not you'd try to
dunk me too, neh? Maybe I should find a desert or something to vacation in,
where there's no water to hold me under. Or home for a bit, which is equally
lacking in bodies of water."
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Niko shakes his head. "I?" he inquires, with innocence that is quite a lot more
genuine. "Riley, my only brother who is actually related to me, I would never
do that." He grins, then. "At least, not without making sure that swimming's
fun first. Going home is good, though. I could placate Gigia a while longer.
Of course," he adds, with a reflective stab at his lasagna, "That would
assume an actual vacation."
"Yeah, right Nick, and if you look up gullible, it's not in the dictionary. If
you'll believe that I'll buy the other." Riley's tone is one of wry
amusement. He pauses a long beat and nods, "True enough, an assumption I'm
hardly free to make at the moment, considering the current situation. But
hey, one of these days, neh?"
Niko finishes off the lasagna and starts on the garlic bread, idly sopping up a
bit of the sauce with the bread. "We'll get more people," he says
optimistically. "Probably not as many as we -need-, mind, but some. Maybe
enough to help. And, hey, I can cover for you for a few weeks anyway."
There's a sudden, bright grin. "Hey, maybe I could even get called a ravening
barbarian, too."
Riley stifles a quiet chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "But you need a vacation as well. It's your turn. And I'm hardly about to go visiting your family without you, neh?" He seems to find the grin amusing and chuckles in a purely cheerful expression. "Hey, you're a natural talent, I bet you could."
Niko pauses for a moment. "It's my turn?" he echoes. He frowns for a moment, though it's an expression of concentration. His eyes cower under the shadow of those brows. "Is it?" There's a bit of a shrug, then. "And it's not you visiting my family, Riley. It's you visiting your family. Can't say as I blame you for not wanting to do it, though. Goodness knows I'd never go alone to Kashid, though that's for a lot of reasons." He really looks a little amused. Yes, he would be frightened of the big big cityplanet. "I'll have to work on my ravening, though," he muses. "I probably could've gotten called a ravening barbarian when I was a little kid. I ate lots of pork products then."
"I think it is. I'm not sure. It's been so long since either of us has left."'
Riley begins to shuffle the papers together thoughtfully with a bemused
smile. "It's a defense reaction if nothing else, Nick. I barely speak the
language. My family it might be, but if I can hardly -speak- to the poor
folks."
Niko nods an amiable agreement. "No pressure. It's just, the likelihood of
-both- of us managing to get away at the same time..." He pauses a beat,
expression thoughtful. "Of course, if we did, at least you'd be less likely
to get Evvy to provide the transportation. -You'd- have to deal with her,
then, too."
Riley's eyes widen in an expression of utter innocence, "But Niko, wouldn't that be the best? I mean, it's not often I get to visit with Evvy. And she keeps pointing out I should bring you by again, so she can harass you properly. She's such a -pleasant- woman, -really-..."
Niko's eyes widen as well, but definitely not in innocence. He looks, in fact,
somewhat less than pleased. "She isn't -really- asking to see me again, is
she? And if you think she's pleasant, Riley... well, I guess people have more
leeway for their siblings or something. I mean, I used to think Losi was
sweet and innocent."
Riley can't help but laugh at the eye widening, shaking his head in bemusement.
"She is, I'm afraid. And yes, I know, Evvy's an abrasive sort, but she's also
quite tormentable. And I've not seen her for more than a few moments in quite
some time, so perhaps my memory's a bit blurred."
"But," Niko protests, "But -why- does she want to see me again? As out of it as
I was on that trip, I can't have given a good impression." He scratches at
his beard for a moment, then shakes his head. "Tormentable for you, maybe.
Not for me, though."
"Probably so that she can meet you when you're -not- out of it," Riley suggests
thoughtfully, adding a vague shrug. "Who knows why Evvy does what she does."
He grins, "You can torment her if you want, she'd hardly object. She'll just
torment back is all."
Niko is quiet for a long moment, and then sighs, a pseudo-mournful sound. "I
guess Ela would be upset with me if I got shot again just to avoid such a
meeting." Yes, he's kidding. He wouldn't go to -that- great an extreme. "And
I don't know that I could torment her. Not quite sure what would be too far,
y'know? Oh," he adds, snapping his fingers. "Aspasia wants to come by and
meet you at some point, too. She's been going on about it being criminal that
she's been studying on Linnae so many months and still hasn't met you. And
she'll be nice, she's promised."
"As long as you don't set her on fire, it's probably not too far. Mind you, I'm probably the most low key of the whole family, and I'm a force for evil too." Riley gathers the papers together and moves to slide from the chair. "And hey, anytime. And she doesn't even have to be nice, as long as I'm not required to be either." This last is said with a wink.
Niko considers for a moment, then says, "You can be nasty to her, but you have
to be nice to -me-," he decides, looking altogether amused. "Can't be like
Clara and gang up on me with her. -That- just wasn't good. I'll check with
Anya or something to find a good time to bring her by, though. That'll be
good. 'spasia's not shy like Zoey or... well, obnoxious like Losi. And she
isn't married to Stavros, which is a plus."
Riley snaps his fingers as if dissapointed, "Aww, but Nick, torturing you is
such fun." He grins and offers a wave, "Have a nice night? I need to go clean
up the last of this."
Niko nods amiably as he gets to his feet as well, gathering up the lasagna-dishes and tucking the datapad into a pocket. Murmuring something about more cheese, he says cheerfully, "Torturing me is fine. Tag-team torturing is evil and wrong. Don't stay up too late, eh?"
"I won't, and you don't either for that matter," Riley offers another wave and
then makes for the door after discarding his trash.
Riley heads towards the Central Atrium.
Riley has left.
Niko, after disposing of his dishes, murmurs, "Yeah, but sometimes staying up
too late is a -good-, good thing."
You head towards the Central Atrium.