|
|
Tara arrives from the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.
Tara has arrived.
Niko is rather busily plugging away at some paperworks--very likely those RY-47's. And something about customs forms must inspire it, as he's singing lightly, "... in the hunt for the dangerous two-timing backstabbing, nasty, wrong-fork-using, vicious, disingenuous.... nasty pork ten-der-loin."
Tara's eyebrows rise in amusement as she drapes herself on the reception desk. "Gee," she calls. "I never realized pig products were so dangerous."
Niko blinks a moment, nonplussed. "Huh. Didn't realize I was doing that quite so loudly, sorry. Got to be careful of tenderloins, though. Very, very evil meat products, all of them, and the pork's the worst of the lot."
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Tara chuckles. "I'll take your word for it." She pauses, then inquires
tremulously, "Well? Did he like it?"
Niko blinks a moment, looking puzzled. Not being specific makes things difficult when one's not altogether focusing. "He... it. Oh, Riley? Yeah, he did." He stifles a snicker. "That was a neat trick, with the book jacket."
Tara beams. "Oh, I'm glad he did. Greer worked so hard on that ship, even if I
found her choice a little... ironic." She grins at that last. "Thank you. I
was half-afraid he'd get a little weird about that, especially if Clara had
to explain the joke."
Niko's brows lift just a bit. "Clara explain it?" he inquires, sounding like he doesn't quite follow that bit. "As opposed to Riley just knowing it?"
Tara chuckles. "Did he? The crux of it happened so long ago I didn't know if he'd remember, and I don't know if Clara told him that she told me."
That doesn't help at all, obviously. Niko just looks confused. "Uh. Okay. Well,
he didn't think it was weird, whatever it was."
Tara grins, looking pleased. "Good." Catching the confused look, she relents. "Clara told me the Chief cooked her Italian food to get her to marry him."
Niko rubs at his eyes for a moment. "Oh," he replies. "Okay, that's cute. I
just liked how he was surprised."
Tara chuckles. "That's half the fun." She peers at you for a moment. "Didn't
get much sleep last night?"
Niko considers for a moment. "Yup, I did. Just the RY-47s, they numb the mind."
Kaycen reaches into the fridge and tosses over a blue can, which Niko catches
with an appreciative grin.
Tara snickers. "Now, I told you how to take care of that. But noooooo, you
gotta be knightly and go by the regs."
Niko shakes his head at that. "Nah, following the rules isn't that bad, it's
just tedious." He pops open the soda and downs a bit of it. "'sides, it's
just about quitting time as it is."
Tara grins, deciding not to comment on the first statement. "Yeah, go home and
let that wife of yours... refresh you." She cocks her head, considering you
thoughtfully. "Though I must admit, if skill in bed is genetic, I can't blame
her one bit for keeping you to herself."
Niko's brows go -way- up as he probably leaps to several very wrong
conclusions. He doesn't comment, though, instead saying, "Going home's a good
idea, yeah. Well, maybe." He pauses to reach under his desk, pulling out a
rather skateboard-esque thing, only with hoverpads instead of wheels. "Could
try out this first, though."
Tara's grin widens at the brow ascenscion, then her own brows rise at the
hoverpaddy thing. "Ooooooh. That looks like fun. Do me a favor? Don't let
Greer see it," she requests with a rueful smile.
"I'll do my best," Niko promises. "Won't specifically show it to her, but I
can't really control what she sees."
Tara chuckles. "I'm teasing. Sort of. I just don't want to find out if -she's-
breakable too."
Niko gets lightly to his feet. "All kids are breakable," he replies, with a grin. "Just in varying degrees." Taking the hoverboard, he starts for the exit, singing under his breath, "Oh, I think I'll need a bandaid, or maybe three or four, or five or six or more..." He pauses and tosses over his shoulder, "If you want to see how the thing works, feel free to come along."
Tara blinks, and laughs, trotting along behind. "I'll admit, you've aroused my
curiosity."
Niko grins as he heads for the exit. "It'll be an adventure. And if I -do- end up damaging myself, hey, you can call for Clara, so it'll be handy."
[Travelspam to the park deleted.]
Tara had been thinking pretty much the same thing, so she ends up snickering a lot. "Or do CPR. I'd be more than happy to do that for you, Niko," she grins.
Niko lifts his eyes skywards just a bit as he puts down the hoverboard and
steps onto the footpads, bending down to strap his feet into place. "Gee, I
do appreciate the sentiment," he says, "But I hope that won't be necessary.
Ela'd be kind of displeased."
Tara nods amiably, folding her arms as she watches. "Indeed. Having to wait on a broken you hand and foot would probably cut into her work schedule."
Niko, after a bit of rummaging, turns on the hoverpads, and, yes, rises about a foot off the air. He grins broadly, quite the kid. "Okay," he murmurs, "This is fun. And, yeah, it's bad for work. She's managed in the past, though."
Tara's mouth quirks. "She's got experience at it then." She eyes you dubiously.
"That things not got altitude controls, I hope? Easier if it's programmed for
just the one level, I've heard."
"If there are instructions," Niko replies, offhand, "I didn't look at 'em. It's
more fun this way." He shifts his feet, and starts a
slow-but-increasingly-less-slow circuit of the grassy not-knoll area of the
park.
Tara rolls her eyes, amused as she turns to follow you with her gaze. "Typical
man!"
Niko seems to take that as a compliment, as he just grins. He tries a turn, though, and overcorrects a bit, ending up in a neat roll on the grass. "Huh, that was fun, too," he observes, picking up himself.
Tara's mouth quirks. "Lucky thing you know how to fall the right way, I
suppose."
Niko ends up about a fot off the air once more. "Sometimes I do," he replies, with a crooked grin. "Landing on grass helps. Grass is a good thing." Hey, maybe Niko's smoking something, maybe that's why he's going for this. He tries that turn again, this time getting it right. "Hah. Okay, this is great, much less likely to make me break myself than the skates."
Tara claps thrice in amused applause. "Oh? At least with the skates you've got firm ground beneath you. Braking'd have to be easier, I'd imagine."
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Niko shakes his head. "If I went down stairs on this thing, though," he says, gliding over above a particularly steep flight of stairs, "Like these, then I'd be a lot less likely to fall, as I'd be above them and all. Falling down stairs is evil," he adds, gliding back to be above the grass once more.
Tara ahhhs. "Okay, granted." She laughs a little. "That sounds like the voice
of experience talking."
Niko's head bobs in a brief nod. "That's because it is. That was the last major injury, though," he adds, with a wry grin. "I don't know, I guess it worked."
Tara's eyebrows rise. "The last... how many 'major' injuries have you had? No,
wait, I know about you getting shot, and that blasted pudding incident I'll
rue for the rest of my life. Any others?" She laughs softly. "One heck of a
lesson, I'm sure."
Niko nods rather ruefully as he glides to a halt near you, edging slowly to the
ground and then flipping off the hoverpads. Maybe he wants to be on the
ground while discussing major injuries? "Quite a few. The worst was the
mountain. That was just bad."
Tara's eyebrows rise. "Mountain?" Apparently she hasn't heard about that one.
Niko bobs his head in a nod as he unfastens the straps holding him to the hoverboard. "Maybe... six years ago. Hang-gliding, cross-currents, mountains--these three things don't mix, trust me. It was bad."
Tara winces. "Ouch! And yet you still enjoy hang-gliding, don't you?"
Niko tips a hand back and forth. "Haven't done it since then," he admits. "But
I think I'd like to try it again, if I get the chance. I just didn't get much
of a chance."
Tara nods in quiet thought. "Yep, you need a vacation, that's for sure. That's
one reason I got ya the year membership in that resort rather than the three-
or six-month. More opportunity."
Niko grins as he gets to his feet, tucking the hoverboard under one arm and
brushing the worst of the grass from his uniform. Laundry's going to be so
annoyed, as there are some grass stains as well. "More opportunity's good.
Though, hey, maybe Ela and I can take a little time and get out there
sometime soon. That'd be nice."
Tara nods approvingly. "Maybe when you get those forms caught up with," she winks, teasing. "And the Chief wouldn't be bogged down by your absense." Her fingers snap. "Which reminds me, I've -got- to introduce Greer to him one of these days. She wants to meet the guy with the fudge," she adds, bemused.
"Yeah, fudge is good," Niko replies vaguely. "Butterscotch fudge, maybe. She's a really cute kid, though," he adds, with a brief smile. "How's she doing?"
Tara shudders. "Ever since we pissed off the pudding, I've never been able to look at anything butterscotch without feeling a little sick." She smiles however. "Oh, just fine. I suspect she'll always do just fine. Of course, she's acquired a liking for -pink-, but I suppose I can live with that."
Niko grins at that, rather amused. "Hey, pink's not that bad a color--well, for
girls." (Do you have a gender bias?) He pauses a moment, then asks slowly,
"Can I ask you something about her? It's... well, you can say no, or not
answer it."
Tara snickers quietly. "You should see her room... I've never spent so much money on paint before." Eyebrows rise in curiosity, and she nods. "Ask away."
Niko purses his lips for a moment, then inquires delicately, "Was she... did
you decide to have her?" He's obviously trying to phrase the question in a
manner that won't cause offense, and just as obviously uncertain of whether
he's managing that.
Tara chuckles, letting out a slight sigh of relief. "She was a surprise, and a
very pleasant one, if that's what you mean?"
Niko nods once, with a hint of a rueful grin. "Yeah, that's what I meant. Okay,
thanks."
Niko nods once, with a hint of a rueful grin. "Yeah, that's what I meant. Okay,
thanks."
Tara smiles, tilting her head curiously. "May I ask why you ask? You don't have
to answer, of course."
Niko pads a few steps to a nearby bench and settles onto it. He rests the hoverboard across his legs, and braces his arms on the hoverboard. "A kid's a big deal," he replies. "Ela and I were talking about having one the other day. I'm just trying to figure out a few things, that's all."
Tara blinks. Thrice. "Wow," she breathes. "To hear you talk, I'd've thought
it'd be years before you even -considered- it."
Niko shakes his head at that, taking a moment to rake a hand through his hair,
and sending it into disarray as he does so. Aww. "I've always wanted kids,"
he says calmly. "Ever since... well, since I was pretty young. It's just a
question of timing."
Tara smiles. "The true family man. That's... well, nice. An adjective that gets
applied to you far more often than is your fair share." She winks. "What
about Ela?"
Niko fidgets with the hoverboard, flipping the hoverpads on and off in a rather
morse-like succession. "She'd like one, too. But... well, timing for her,
too. We both work a lot."
Tara nods with rueful sympathy. "That, and your kid would be fishbowled so
fast."
Niko's brows lift at that. "Fishbowled?" he inquires, his accent a bit
stronger. No, Standard isn't his native language.
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Tara gestures slightly, plucking at the air as if the words she wants are there. "You've got a pretty conspicuous position at the Complex. Any spawn of yours is going to be scrutinized by everybody, including and especially those who'd like to use anything they can against you or the Chief."
"Or," Tara adds in afterthought, "Against Ela."
Niko's brows shoot up at that, even as he seems just a bit amused by the use of the word 'spawn.' "I, uh, hadn't thought of that." Obviously.
Tara mhmmms, her expression turning more sympathetic. "Of course, it's
impossible to know if it'd be true to a major or minor degree until it
actually happens."
"Yeah," Niko says slowly, "But if it was..." He shakes his head. "That'd be
bad."
Tara smiles slightly, trying to do so in a comforting matter. "True, but
there's ways to get around it as well."
Niko nods rather glumly. "Oh, sure. I'll bet there are." He gets lightly to his
feet, tucking the hoverboard under his arm once more. "I'd just rather I
didn't need to do that. Will you excuse me, Tara? It's past time for me to
get home."
Tara's mouth quirks. "The primary way I had in mind was simply to raise a good kid. In other words," she grins, "Don't raise one like me. And I suspect that you and Ela have the best chance to raise a wonderful child. Well, either y'all, or Clara and the Chief. Toss-up, I'm afraid." She nods, bowing slightly. "Of course. Give my greetings to your lucky wife."
"Maybe it's genetic," Niko comments, with, yes, irony. "And I'll tell her, sure. Have a nice day, Tara." With that, he starts down the stairs, taking them two at a time. No, that's not evil. Sane people do that.
You walk towards the Java Quarter.