forgivetheinsubordination | IC Contact

[Garrus' mandibles draw close to his face as she finishes talking in his version of a grimace.]

They can listen in on anything. And do. That's... something to remember. I'm not gonna tell anyone, but a friend of mine failed an early Red mission for disclosure, for telling me, and when we talked there was no one else around.

[Which means she might already be in trouble.]

Figure it's a little safer when you're not talking off the network, but...

[He shakes his head.]

You're thinking Green, then?

Hm... Well, it was worth a shot. Maybe I deserve the reprimands. Maybe they won't be so bad.

[She shifts and leans back against the wall by his bed, to better support herself. She's not sure how hard this drink is going to knock her down.]

I'll keep that in mind in the future. [She gives him a sideglance.] Not sure yet. Before I go even considering things that'll get Dagger to start hating me even more, I want to hear your end of things. You're a good guy, Garrus. How have you been holding up in Green?

[Won't be so bad. There's no proof that the agony Thane went through had been connected to his failure, but Garrus can't think of another reason that would have happened. And yet Garrus doesn't want to try to convince Samus otherwise, because there's precious little optimism to be had here anymore.

Garrus takes another drink instead of raining on her parade, and realizes he can already feel that something's a little off, that he's definitely starting to get impaired. He just has to hope they're not about to be attacked again.]

Good guy.

[Before Macha, he would have easily agreed with that. But even he's got civilian blood on his hands now. None of the neraki had wanted their prisoners free.]

I agree with what we're about. What Armada says we're about. Protecting. I want to keep the people here safe, my world safe, that sort of thing. With that focus, it's not so hard.

[There's a beat as he swirls his drink around in his glass, looking into its sparkly depths. Garrus' voice gets heavier, his subharmonics dropping to be sad faint rumbles.]

But I know some of the neraki I shot, some of the ones I zapped, some of the ones I stabbed, were civilians. Wrong place wrong time. Wrong planet. Not their fault, but they're all gonna die. I don't like it. But there isn't a choice.

[He does far more than not liking it. Sure, he couldn't tell one neraki from another if his life depended on it, but he's got some mental images of the civilian ones he'd downed, the way their leaves had looked, their height. He has an approximate number, too, and it's a number he knows he'll be adding to.]

Is that what you're all about? [Samus snorts as she takes another swig. She's starting to lose her sense of taste, and the drink is getting dangerously easier to swallow.] I really am on the wrong team, if that's the case. Red's problem solvers, I'm typically a problem solver, but the problems we're solving...

[She frowns, as she listens to Garrus talk about the neraki. She's at least glad to find someone else who feels the same. She felt alone in her sentiments on her own team.]

I was attacked... by a parent, protecting its child. I killed them, both of them, without a moment of hesitation, without even thinking. I couldn't feel anything, for a terrifying minute. For just a minute - a depraved, awful, fucked up minute - I'd become a Space Pirate.

[Problem solvers. That's the first time Garrus has heard what he's assuming is their official motto, but he's a little wary of what the 'problems' might be. After all, the assignment he'd gotten told about hadn't been friendly.]

That's what we're about. Had a team cookout and then a talk about it.

[The other... isn't as simple. At least the younger neraki who had come into camp had been soldiers. They theoretically had training and were there by choice. Garrus isn't entirely settled about killing them either, but at least they hadn't been children. And a parent protecting its young... Spirits, no wonder why she needs a drink.]

But you're feeling again. You're not one. And that's the important thing. That you don't lose yourself. Or it's what I figure is the most important thing. You can't not engage. But you can remember who you are and what you stand for and believe in.

[Samus views them as problem solvers, but she isn't going to elaborate. She isn't allowed to elaborate. She remembers as much even in her ever slowly growing inebriated state.]

Sounds like being on Green is just a blast.

[She can't even tell if she's being sarcastic or not as she begins slurring a bit.]

As far as I can tell, I've gotta let that part of me go if I want to remain a member of Red. The CDC - they're Space Pirates. If something's in the way of what they want, they view it as an enemy in need of extraction - either under some sense of greed, or some sense of duty, or some misguided morals. Honor, justice, protection... All qualities of weakness. Especially to Red.

[She moans a bit and closes her eyes, pressing her fingertips lightly to her forehead.]

I'm sorry, what did you say was in this drink again?

[He's not sure if she's serious or not either. What he is sure about is that he's feeling the drink now and there's no way on Palaven he's filling his glass again.]

Green's goal suits me. Orange would suit me too, I think, but not as much. I like tech. But I like being out there doing... things.

[It's definitely messing up his attempts at talking. He can still think, can still function, but words aren't going to be his strong side, clearly. Not like that's anything new.]

A halluc-- drugs.

[Fuck it, he wasn't even going to try the big words.]

I don't know what ones, Jean bought it and didn't say. But it's definitely working. And honor and justice and protection should never be weaknesses. Viewed as. They should never be viewed as weaknesses. They're important.

Yeah. Important. Not to the CDC.

[She shakes her head, making a face at her cup as she sets it down on the floor. No way she's drinking any more of that, she's already starting to feel her vision augment and wobble. Well, if her systems ever needed to be put up to the test, they sure were now.]

I'll think on it. About Green. Dagger seems to hate them, which suits me just fine. Maybe I'll get more out of it.

[Samus takes a deep breath, the fog in her head growing heavier by the second.]

I should leave. While I can still move.

Dagger does seem to hate us.

[There's a beat as he slowly gets to his feet to see her out.]

We kept more people alive than we were supposed to. More survived Ajna than he wanted. So that's one reason he dislikes Green. But there are probably others.

[The world is kinda whirling now, actually, and Garrus frowns as his glass. This did not pull any punches.]

If you're sure you can walk. If you're not, you could rest a while here. Screechers aren't due to go on, or off, for hours yet.

[Samus furrows a brow at Garrus. More survived than he wanted?? What? This was the first she'd ever heard of that attitude of Dagger's towards the recruits... Did his viewpoint reflect that of the CDC? Conflict?]

Failing to see how that's not a good thing.

[She can't even think very clearly on it.

Samus attempts to force herself up to her feet, head swimming as she plants them firmly on the ground. She pushes herself up, but stumbles, and has to cling to the wall to keep from falling down. Her eyes close shut.]

Don't want to stick around... don't want other people seeing me...

Failed to too.

[Maybe it does mean that they kept some people around that natural selection would have removed. Or unnatural, in the case of the CDC. Garrus doesn't care. They deserve a chance to survive too.]

And you're having trouble standing up, Samus. I'll pull the curtain around? Sit on a stool, or maybe Yamanaka's bed, until we're both more steady?

[Well, either she could stumble through camp and make a fool of herself in that way, or she could stick around and risk looking like a fool here...

She sighs, rubbing her forehead as bright colors swim in her mind, the drugs working their magic in her brain.]

Don't have much of a choice.... I didn't think this through.

Rest. Soon enough you'll have your balance back.

[Garrus clumsily gets to his feet, giving up the bed as much as he'd like to lay down. She's human enough that it'd probably bother her to share.]

And it's downtime. Means it's fine to do this. To unwind. There's nothing wrong with enjoying yourself when there's no threat going on.

So I've been told...

[She's tried to loosen up in the past. Even this was an attempt, to wind down from a highly stressful mission. It never feels quite right, though.

Samus watches him get to his feet. She doesn't want to inconvenience him, but she can't be on her feet right now, because she can feel her body lurching towards the floor. In fact, with two staggering steps, her body completely collapses, unable to keep her head up any longer as she momentarily faints. She ends up face down on the bed.

Her breathing is more deep and rapid, voice slightly muffled as she mumbles into the mattress.]

Don't let me unwind again.

No guarantees, Aran. Too much of a believer in relieving stress before it gets to be too much.

[He contemplates the bench before giving up and instead sitting down on the bed opposite his, stretching out. There's no way he's going to be sitting up.]

But next time we'll pass on the drugs. Just stick to the booze. Not really liking how this is making me feel.

Booze didn't help.

[She gets the feeling the booze probably helped create the stronger reaction, actually. No wonder he warned her against this stuff.

Oh well, it at least helped take her mind off of her other problems, even if it did so by giving her a new one.

She continues to mumble into the mattress.]

If this is unwinding I don't want to do it anymore. Find another drinking partner.

It's one way. I'll show you other ways later.

[His words are a bit mumbled as well.]

Better ways. This was just the fastest. Easiest. Not the best.

Let's play cards next time...

[Why didn't she think of cards before. Ironically thinking far more clearly drugged than sober.]

Mm. Cards. I even have some.

[He doesn't know if cards would have been enough, with the stress she'd clearly been under, but it's a good idea for the future.]

Next time. Rest now. Cards next time.

Right. Next time.

[Because there's totally going to be a next time.

Samus flails her arm out a bit before she manages to yank the curtain most of the way around the bed.

She mumbles as loud as her incredibly sluggish voice will allow her to.]

Wake me up if you wake up first.

Mm. Yeah, since the other way's impossible.

[There will be a next time, if Garrus has any say in it. He likes Samus and doesn't want her to feel isolated. Especially considering the team she's on. But that thought drifts away as he falls asleep and with a distant hope that Isha doesn't wind up coming to the rover early.]

IC Contact - Consignment

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