7/13/99

[In the atrium.]

Niko hops off the final stair with a clatter that gets an eyeroll from the poor sap who's guarding the grass. Yes, Niko did rollerskate down all four flights of stairs, and seems decidedly pleased at having mastered this thing. "Shh," he calls to Tim, the poor sap in question. "It's fun. Don't tell, you'll get me in trouble."

[Niko goes to the park/hill.]

Clara walks here from the Java Quarter.

Clara has arrived.

Niko is, of course, not wearing the various knee- and elbow-pads. He has, however, somehow acquired a helmet, and is wearing that, so he's not a complete idiot, only mostly so. He's also got a darkening bruise or two here and there--nothing serious--to attest to the fact that this half-pipe thing is relatively new to him. He's obviously having quite a lot of fun on the thing, though, so he likely considers the bruises worthwhile.

Niko is, of course, not wearing the various knee- and elbow-pads. He has, however, somehow acquired a helmet, and is wearing that, so he's not a complete idiot, only mostly so. He's also got a darkening bruise or two here and there--nothing serious--to attest to the fact that this half-pipe thing is relatively new to him. He's obviously having quite a lot of fun on the thing, though, so he likely considers the bruises worthwhile.

Clara is running. Okay, so it's nothing particularly exciting, but she's still military and does what she can to work off the chocolate that calls to her so often. Concentrating on her steps, she starts to jog past said half pipe, then has to pause, blinking at precisely who is there. Rather than call out and risk distracting him, though, she merely folds her arms and leans back against a tether-ball pole to watch, smirking.

Niko attempts one of those turn-things as he reaches the top of the half-pipe. There are words for this, but his player doesn't know any of them. In any event, it's just a bit beyond him, and he ends up skidding down the inside of the pipe on his butt, looking vastly entertained with himself. "It's a sign," he decides, moving to exit the pipe. Then he pauses, with a grin. "Hey, Clara. Come to watch me make an idiot of myself?"

Clara tips the brim of her cap up a bit, snickering and shaking her head from her leaning position against the pole. "Actually, I was just out proving to myself that I can't run five miles in the same time I could when I was eighteen," she explains, still working at catching her breath. "Very nice, though. I'm highly impressed. Anything broken?"

Niko shakes his head. "Nothing broken," he reports cheerfully. "See? I'm getting better." He skates in a circle, as if to display the wellness of the various limbs. "If I'd broken myself, I would've stopped skating, at least. And, hey, you can't enjoy exercise if you hurry." And, yes, the statement is entirely innocent.

Clara takes it just as innocently to, or else she'd have turned far redder than the shade she is from just running. She steps back to observe the turn, offering a light clap, then lunges forward to attempt to poke you in the arm cheerfully. "Running isn't something to be enjoyed. It something to keep up with in case they ever get stupid and hand me a blaster again. I've got about another mile to go...skate along with me? Or are you headed home?"

Niko makes a rather undignified sound of startlement as he is poked, but does not, it may be noted, lose his balance. He's done enough practicing, hey, he can even skate down steps! "I can spare enough time to go a mile, sure, easy," he replies, with a grin. "Ela's stuck in some evil meeting, else I'd be home. I figured I'd put the time to good use." He does, it may be noted, take off his helmet, ruffling one hand through the squished curls. He's going to need a haircut very soon, yes, lest Anya go after him with the shears again.

Clara notices this too, but rather with decided approval, casting a grin up at said curls. "Too bad regs say y'all need short hair. You and Riley both have the -best- hair, I swear," she comments, stretching once towards the sky before taking off again at a slow run, just a hair above a loping jog, and staying to cement out of consideration for wheels. "How is Ela?"

"Maybe it's genetics," Niko suggests, helmet swinging from one hand as he falls into... er, not step. Into skate with you? In any event, he keeps pace. "And Ela's just grand. Going to have to come up with an anniversary thing sometime," he adds thoughtfully. "Something neat."

Clara is quiet for a moment as she concentrates on finding a rhythm, showing all the signs of someone trained to run for long distances and who despises the activity. She finally looks up with vague surprise. "Has it already been a year? Gosh, I guess it has. Any ideas on what you're going to do for your anniversary? Did you want the Peregrine again?"

Niko grins at the queries. "It's two months away, but I want it to be neat. See, I'm guessing she doesn't think I'll remember." His dark eyes twinkle. He hasn't said or done anything to encourage that. And he's not going to mention it closer to the day, either. "Not sure what we should do, though. Depends how much time we can wrangle." Gasp. Are those horsemen? Four of them? He's talking about taking time off work.

Clara does indeed gasp at that, although not so much as she's taking deep breaths without panting to accommodate the need for more oxygen. "Niko Casymed, taking time off work? The world is coming to an end! Hey, though, you deserve it, holding down the fort while Riley and I were banished. Ela does too. And you're evil and sneaky, by the way."

"I take time off work," Niko protests, with a laugh. "Just not a lot, often. And holding down the fort while you guys were gone wasn't that big a deal, now that I'm used to the job." It was leaving -right- when he was promoted that terrified the heck out of him. "And I'm evil and sneaky, yup." Only he sounds so gosh-darn cheerful about it, really cute. "And, hey, Aspasia'll be on the planet by then. Maybe we can torment her for a day."

"Your sister, right?" Run run run, breathe breathe breathe. She tugs her hat a bit lower over her eyes, grinning slightly. "Evil and sneaky is good. You're good at it." And yes, very very cute, which she's kind not to say to a married man. "Why's your sister coming here?"

She being Clara, of course.

Niko swivels around to skate backwards for a moment, clearly tickled, but no, he can't quite manage the appropriate pace backwards. "Didn't I tell you? Wait, no, couldn't have. Just found out today. She's coming here for school--that university on the islands. Full scholarship, the brilliant lady."

Niko turns back to skate frontwards again, of course.

Clara lifts a brow at the backwards skating, and laughs, doing a rather complicated turning step without breaking pace so that she runs backwards for a step or two, then turns again. It's more dancelike than exercise, but hey, showing off is fun! "Neener neener, I can do that too," she notes maturely. "Good for her! That's fantastic! To study piano?"

Niko shakes his head, with a snicker and a moment of semi-applause--one hand smacking the helmet. "Very nice, very nice. And Zoey's the pianist, and if she leaves Mathraki for more than a brief visit, I'll officially wear pink lace. Aspasia's studying political science, only she got smart and is learning how to -teach- it. She'll be a marvelous teacher, and she'll be -close-. Maybe if we wait long enough," he adds, with a boyish grin, "The whole family will migrate."

"Thank you, thank you..and for my next trick, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" Clara announces, snickering and managing a half bow even while running, then has to straighted to take a corner. "Whoops, I get your sisters mixed up sometimes. Sorry about that. And if you get your whole family to emigrate, -I'll- wear pink lace. Still, teaching's good. I have a class to teach out at the Academy in about six months, myself."

"Neat," Niko replies, offering over his helmet, perhaps as a home for wayward rabbits. "And I'd get my sisters mixed up, but they'd injure me seriously if I did. 'sides, they're really different. What're you going to teach?" he adds, curvetting around the corner. No, he's not showing off, he's having fun. "The care and feeding of ducks?"

Clara accepts the helmet and makes a definite flourish, slowing a bit to do this, and declaring, "Walla walla Washington!" before withdrawing her empty hand, holding it as if holding a rabbit by the ears. "Voila!" She snickers then and offers the helmet back after the curvetting, along with an impressed whistle. "Very nice. I'll be doing a seminar on severe thoracic trauma and various situations and treatments."

Niko takes back the helmet with a murmur of thanks, and a snicker for the 'trick'. "Ooh, boy," he adds, at the title. "Hold me back, wow." There's another snicker, then he adds, "The Professor's still after me to come back to Evinast. I told him he should come -here-. Disturbing thing is, he's thinking about it. Not just because of me," he adds quickly. "But the opportunities and all."

"Hey, I'm not arguing if he comes here, that's for sure," Clara decides firmly, coming up towards the playground and slowing to a stop. "I owe him a bundle for helping us out that one time," she adds, bending at the waist to rest her hands on her knees and gulp in air. "Five miles. That's 'nough torture for tonight."

Niko doesn't look winded, but he's been skating, which is easier, and only for a mile. "He's a good guy," he says amiably, skating back and forth in a small circle. "And, hey, torture can be fun. I like running. Skating's just more fun."

"I'm not arguing there, except it's been maybe ten years since I've been skating," Clara admits with a breathless laugh, shaking her head and straightening to walk in a slow circle herself to avoid tensing up. "Torture's more fun if it involves silly string and water guns. Running's evil is only surpassed by flexed arm hangs, though," she decides, naming the female version of a pull-up.

Niko is still skating in his little circles. He's on wheels, he's taller, he's having fun. "Ten years? Wow, you need to skate a -lot- to make up for that. You could even skate with silly string and water guns. Ooh!" Yes, that's dangerous. He's thinking of fun to do on wheels with silly string and water guns. "Yeah, that could be -lots- of fun. And pull-ups are bad, too." His player, being female, knows all about the evils of flexed arm hangs.

Clara settles her hands at the back of her waist and stretches backwards before shaking her hands from the wrists and continuing walking and having to look up a fair distance at you with a grin. "Yeah, but you fellas look -good- when doing them. I need to get Ela down for annual PT testing, you know?" she muses, then blinks before grinning wickedly. "Skates, water guns, silly string...Niko, that's -brilliant-!"

"If I'm brilliant," Niko inquires, half amused, half plaintive, "Then don't drag my wife down for annual PT testing? Please? Not if I'm there, at least. She can look at other guys all she wants, if she wants, but I don't want to -see- it."

Clara laughs easily at that, tugging off her cap and ruffling out sweat-dampened hair to dry in the breeze before trying to reach up and poke your arm again. "Awww, Niko, c'mon. I was going to invite her down to watch -you-," she explains. "I'll watch all the rest of the men for you," she adds, snickering.

Niko looks really quite entertained by that. "Watching me? Yagh, no pressure. I'd have to be -macho-, then. Might do better on them--ack, wait. That's not coming up, is it?" His distress is probably feigned, and likely comical. "Will you tell me when, so I can start hiding?"

Clara flutters her eyelashes well enough to do credit to a southern belle while walking a slow circle around the cement walkway around the playground, crossing one arm over her chest to stretch it, then the other. "Macho, macho duck..." she sings before grinning. "It's soon, actually. I'll send out a Complex wide memo to remind everyone to start getting ready for it. Why do you think -I'm- out here torturing myself?"

"Not fun," Niko murmurs. "Not fun at all. I'd forgotten about that." He grins, then. "Hey, maybe if we incorporated silly string and water guns, it'd be closer to fun."

Clara grins at that idea, dusting her hat off on her shorts before tugging it back over her hair. "I think I could go for that idea," she decides, then drops her voice into an approximation of a drill sergeant's bark without the volume. "Buck it up soldier! Give me three more pushups! You can pull it out! Three more or I silly string you!"

Niko all but winces at the barking, his skating pausing for a moment. "What a threat," he says cheerfully, once he's regained his equilibrium. "Water'd likely feel -good-, though. Green silly string," he adds thoughtfully. "It doesn't stain as badly. No need to annoy the folks in laundry."

"Been awhile since you've heard a DI voice?" Clara teases lightly, grinning up before pelting across the sand without warning and scrambling up a jungle gym to perch at the top. "Annoying the folks in laundry's bad. They're already touchy about doing civilian clothing. I guess the figure we can just live in uniform."

Niko just rolls his eyes at the teasing. "Not long enough," he says, with a grin. His brows lift at the pelting-without-warning. "I can't skate across sand," he says mildly, shifting around on the sidewalk to get to the nearest point to the jungle gym. "Though climbing that thing on skates could be fun." Yes, he's pondering skating on the jungle gym. Hit him now.

"Skating across sand would be bad, yup." Clara nods at this in full agreement before acking in horrified amusement. "Lieutenant Commander Casymed, if you skate on this thing, I'll...I'll...hells." She pauses and snickers snatching off her hat and tossing at you baseball style. "Not a blessed thing. I don't outrank you anymore."

Niko grins cheerfully as he reaches to snag the hat, tucking it into his helmet. He has a hostage, now. "Evil horrible promotions are good for some things, at least. I wouldn't really skate on that, though, just think about it. I'd end up tangled up in it or something, and that would be bad." Using the jaws of life to get him out of a jungle gym would be kind of humiliating, after all.

Clara drops down through the center of the jungle gym to hang from from the uppermost bar with her knees, then flips backwards through it in a manuever generally seen on elementary school playgrounds before jogging back to you. "Good for you. I'd hate to have to explain that one to Ela. Yes, Ela, Niko's broken again, and this time it's my fault. How's the promotion treating you, though? Settled into it?"

Niko nods amiably, offering you the hostage. He'd make a lousy... uh, hostage-keeper. "Yeah, settled in fine. I should be, by now, after all. It's been a while. Learned how to brush off diplomats, and -when- to brush off diplomats, and why I shouldn't kick 'em, that sort of thing. Lots of fun."

Clara accepts the hat and tugs it back on again, ah-ing quietly as she starts walking again. This is far more fun than running. "Kicking diplomats is a bad thing. I'd have liked to kick a few that we had to store in the brig the other night, though, that's for sure." She's quiet for a moment, then peers up sidelong. "Any news on that front?"

Niko pauses a beat, though he doesn't draw up short, as he ordinarily would. Skates are handy that way. See, he doesn't know how much you knows. He settles for saying, "We haven't apprehended the perpetrator." Ooh, he picked up the lingo real nice, didn't he?

Clara doesn't have pockets in her running shorts, seeing as they're the spandex-cotton mix kind to be worn with really huge t-shirts, so folds her arms over her midsection thoughtfully as she walks. "I see." And she doesn't sound happy about it. "He needs to be caught and wiped," she mutters, lowering her voice not to carry beyond you. "I can't believe he came back."

"So Riley told you," Niko says quietly, as serious as one can be while wearing wheeled shoes. "I should've known, but... well, -I- didn't want to be the one to tell you." He seems to echo your sentiment, though, expression rather bleak. "I just hope he -leaves- again, to be honest. Don't mind saying that it makes me decidedly edgy, having him around here."

"Sort of, yeah," Clara admits, shrugging slightly. Oh, yeah, and she keeps walking, but at a comfortable pace. "He got out the first letter, and between that and his expression, it was all I needed," she explains. "I'd settle for him leaving too...so long as he avoids Earth. I think he might have been there when Riley shipped in for his admirality review."

You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.

Niko shakes his head slowly, hands tucking behind his back, perhaps so that the clenched fists aren't asvisible? "Well, once we track him down, we'll... ask him." And his dark eyes are anything but pleasant. He at least tolerates most people, but when he gets a dislike... whoo-whee.

Clara isn't exactly thrilled with the person that's being discussed either. She'd not suggest brainwiping just anyone, but Guido's one she'd dearly love to see such done to. Let's just hope she doesn't mention this to Uncle Dizz when he and Aunt Liss visit. "I'd appreciate that, Niko. And...if you need medical help when you get him, call me? I'll do whatever's needed."

Niko's head rises and falls in a brief nod. "I thought as much," he says, with a faint smile. "And we'll track him down, Clara. Not sure how long it'll take, but we'll get him." And he does sound rather determined about that.

"Thank you..." Clara murmurs, focused on the ground for a moment while walking. "He seems to take this all personally. If you or Riley to be hurt again because of him...he might not be drunk next time. Nor so careless. I'd rather not lose either of you, y'know?"

Niko nods a firm agreement. "I know," he says, rather fervently. "I'd rather not lose either of us, either." There's a pause, and then he says, "Personally... yeah, he really does, far too personally. I don't actually know how much he knows about my current rank, but I honestly hope that he's far away when he finds out about it. Or found out about it, if he already knows. He was obnoxious enough when I made Lieutenant."

Clara rolls her eyes, shaking her head in bemusement. "You -deserve- your rank. Which reminds me that I need to put in promotion requests for some people, but you do! Granted, you're a little young to be booted up to Commander, just yet, but that's -Riley's- call, and he makes good decisions in that. You're a great XO."

Niko shakes his head as well, but not in bemusement. "I don't really have any illusions about that, Clara," he says equably. "Whether I deserve it now or not, I only got the rank I did because it was necessary for the job. Thanks for the compliment. And, really, I'm a little young to be Lieutenant Commander, according to some folks. Riley's judgement on promotions is good, though," he adds.

"Compliment, shmompliment. I wouldn't have said it if it weren't true," Clara counters, lifting a brow at you in a faint smile. "You are young, but then, I'm a wee bit young for being a Major, yet I'll be up for promotion in a year or two. Flee while ye all may," she adds, grinning by now.

"Ack, I'm going to have to age rapidly," Niko retorts, half-teasing, "So I can get old enough to be promoted too, to get the rank. Otherwise... it could be bad."

"Saints forbid I should outrank you and the dog?" Clara asks with a laugh, rolling her eyes and flittering fingers through the air. "Silly, silly man. You do that, and you'll end up a full admiral before forty like certain men who shall remain nameless."

Niko's tone is impish, and decidedly teasing. "By forty, hah! By thirty, that's my goal. Really." He shakes his head. Yeah, that's exactly what he wants. "Actually, as long as having you outrank me wouldn't cause any evil from you to me, I'm all for staying right where I am. If I were a Commander, I'd think even more people would try to get me to try for Riley's job." And, obviously, Riley's job is another thing he doesn't want.

"Egads! Save me from ambitious men!" Clara whimpers before laughing. "Thirty's way, way too close for me to worry about making general by then. I won't even make lieutenant colonel by then, actually. People are trying to get you to try for Riley's job?" She wrinkles her nose in distaste. "Do they think you're crazy?"

Niko's head bobs up and down in response to the query, curls bobbing along with the gesture. "Have been since I made XO, yep. And they -must- think I'm crazy, but I'm not. Don't want his job; mine's bad enough, goodness knows. Riley's is that much worse."

"Departmentally, I rank even with Riley, and -I- wouldn't want his job, even if I were qualified for it," Clara announces with a shudder. "Even without all the base commander stuff. You fellas do not have it easy, that's for sure." She walks on in silence for a moment, then glances around furtively before dropping her voice. "Can I ask you a question?"

Niko nods amiably, brows lifting. "Of course, Clara. What's up?"

"Lexington," Clara murmurs, purposefully keeping her voice just above inaudible. No use in letting this sort of information get about, but probably better to discuss it outside. "Have you heard anything? Like...regarding his vital status?"

Niko's eyebrows may as well be doing calisthenics, with the workout they're getting. "Not lately, no," he says slowly. "Riley's generally my source of information for that." At least, his player assumes he would've been told. "So you probably know anything I do. It's been a while since I've heard anything."

Clara exhales a soft sigh, nodding in a rather unthrilled manner. "I was afraid of that. Riley's been so tired lately, I've not wanted to bring it up. I only found out he was still alive maybe a month ago, though."

Niko doesn't comment on when he learned the news, as his player doesn't know when that would've happened, and it wasn't RPed. Instead, he murmurs something vague about Riley not wanting you to worry. "I don't know where he is," he says candidly, "Or even if he's still alive. Wish I could help you, Clara."

Clara sighs faintly and shakes her head, rubbing at her eyes. "I don't mind admitting that there's the one person around who scares the daylights out of me. The man nearly left me in space permanently, so I have to say thinking he was gone was a relief. But I appreciate you wanting to help, Niko. I know you would if you could."

"Yeah, well," Niko says, a faintly wry twist to his lips. "There's a lot of things I'd do if I -could-. It's just that I can't do 'em. Only a little frustrating, really." We're walking, so he swivels around to skate backwards.

Clara considers this action sidelong with a fair amount of mischievous thoughtfulness, then skips around to face you and attempt to push at your midsection, but not -too- hard. "Helping is -good-," she notes cheerfully.

Niko blinks, then goes with the movement. "Helping is good," he agrees, adding, with a lightening of mood, "Skating for lazy people. Ooh! I should take Pen out, next time I go skating. More skating for lazy people."

"That's called mushing," Clara explains skipping after to offer pushes occassionally as needed. "I read about it in school. They usually do it on snow, hitching people on skis to a couple of sled-dogs, then zooming away. But trying it with skates would be fun too.'

You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.

Funny, Niko's player thought mushing was something else. He does, however, go back to skating of his own volition, else it just isn't any fun. "And Pen would enjoy it, too," he says cheerfully. "Hey, there's somebody who needs a promotion. He can make Admiral before he's five, and -shatter- Riley's record."

Clara woohoos lightly, shifting to the side to stop making a cheerful pest of herself and nodding. "Hey, and that's only thirty-five in dog years. He'll have Riley beat hands down! We'll have to get him to do the paperwork," she begins, then half-grins wistfully. "In the morning, though. He's out cold, and I'd rather he stayed that way."

Niko nods an amiable agreement to that. "Out cold is good, sleeping is very good. Let's hear it for Riley for not being obnoxious about not sleeping. Yay." Maybe Niko's starting to get a bit punchy, himself? It's to be expected, though, likely. He gets up pretty early, after all.

Clara opens her mouth to say something about that, then shuts it and shakes her head while regarding you with a wry grin. "C'mon, you. Walk me back to the Complex? I'll be that wife of yours is at home and has something exquisite for dinner waiting for you, and she'll make you sleep on the couch if it gets cold."

"Have to skate back," Niko says amiably, "As I skated here, but I'll escort you back, sure. And there was a meal at the evil meeting, so it's entirely possible that there's nothing waiting. Food and sleep both sound pretty good, though. And she won't make me sleep on the couch," he adds, sounding supremely confident. "I'm a heater. It's a guy thing."

"Okay, I can't argue with that. I use Riley for precisely the same thing," Clara admits with a laugh, heading for the stairs down to the Java Quarter and giving you a cautionary look. "Just be -careful- going down these? Please? I don't want to have to put you together again tonight, no matter how much I like you."

Niko looks just a bit sheepish at that, and just a bit tempted. See, he could just plummet down the stairs and be fine, with the practice he's gotten. Despite that glint in his eyes, he says only, and meekly, "Yes, Clara. I won't break myself. Well, not tonight."

Clara's heart would probably skip a beat in terror if you tried it, though, and she starts down the stairs at a rather sedate speed. "Thank you? I won't ask you to not -ever- break yourself, don't worry," she adds with a quirked grin. "That's like asking for the moon."

Niko does get down the stairs rather easily, it may be noted, and he does skate, rather than the painstaking process of stepping down each step individually. "Hey, I've not broken anything in a while, though," he says cheerfully. "Everybody's losing the betting pool. It's great."

Clara mutters something to the effect of 'a matter of time' while giving you a supremely worried sidelong glance, and continues down the stairs, almost as if to get to the bottom first should she need to try to catch you. Which would be a vastly amusing sight.

Clara walks towards the Java Quarter.

Clara has left.

You walk towards the Java Quarter.

Java Quarter

Contents:

Clara

Obvious exits:

Shop Hill Zimmies Bar and Grill Pavilion

You walk here from the Hill Overlooking the Quarter.

Niko decides to make up for his earlier lack of evil, and jumps, once he's about three steps from the bottom. He could've been a lot worse. And his landing is spiffy; again, this is something he's obviously done before. "See? I'm fine. And, yes, a matter of time, yeah, yeah. Just not any time soon, huh? I don't -like- regenerators." Foreshadowing, son!

Clara inhaling a sharp gasp of dismay, Clara almost takes a step forward to try to catch, which would be really odd considering just how much smaller she is than Niko, even if she isn't precisely short. "Evil man! It's genetic, I swear, you're as evil as your brother! Hmpf!" she declares, and swirls off to start back to the Complex, but not before offering a grin back. "Just not tonight, that's all I ask."

With perfect timing, Kathlyn comes past just in time to hear the 'not tonight' request. "What, Doc?" she inquires. "You've got a headache? Good job, Junior! Keep trying! I won't tell anybody." And, naturally, she disappears before any protests can be registered.

Niko does, in fact, protest Kathlyn's words, a strangled snicker accompanying his protest, then decides just to ignore them. "Only -as- evil? Huh, I should've zoomed down the stairs after all, to be -more- evil."

Clara blinks at that, then, as predicted, turns a brilliant crimson and dissolves into laughter. "Oh, no. Ohnonono. Niko, let's get back -now- before anyone else jumps to conclusions, okay?" She doesn't seem terribly distressed, just embarrassed. "Ack! Not more evil! You have to mature into it, get more evil with gray hair, or something!"

Niko nods amiably, starting back towards the Complex. "Getting back now sounds good, definitely. And I have to be evil now," he adds innocently, "Because Riley is."

[Travelspam to the stairs deleted.]

"That's what the elevator is for!" Clara exclaims, by now just laughing. "Evil, evil Niko. Tell your wife I say you're evil. It's a professional diagnosis." She grins over and reaches out to try to squeeze your arm. "Thanks for keeping me company Niko. Give my best to Ela, okay?"

Niko sounds quite innocently confused. "The elevator is for evil? Well... yes. That's why I take the stairs. Tell Ela I'm evil, check. Give her your best, check." He does grin rather boyishly at the gesture. "You're welcome, Clara. It was fun, even if Kath was obnoxious and made assumptions."

"Kath will always make assumptions," Clara gripes without really being annoyed, then chuckles. "Let her think what she wants. It's not like Ela and Riley are precisely going to worry, y'know? Now scoot, go home, make yourself something to eat, and be a heater."

"Yes, ma'am," Niko replies amiably, with a crisp salute. He starts up that last flight of stairs, with the same climbing gait. It makes it look like he's about to fall with each step. Yes, he's nuts. "Sleep well, Clara," he adds, with a warm smile.


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