thisavrou_log | june intro log overflow

What a coincidence — so were you to me for the longest time!

[Distracted by her mirth as she pulls him up, she misses the tell-tale sign of "cowl dump" until it's too late. She gasps at the sudden drench, hair going flat against the sides of her head, bangs covering her eyes — then laughs, one loud, amused sound.

And shoves him back into the ocean.]

[He's laughing and then still laughing when Shepard shoves him back into the water- and then still laughing between coughing up more salt water after he sits up again for the second damn time of day.]

That is awful!

[The joke? The water?

Both, probably.]

I aim to please.

[She flicks her wet hair out of her eyes, hands on her hips.] I still haven't seen any swimming out of you, though. Just the flailing and drowning parts. I had certain expectations, Nihlus.

[Giving Shepard a properly baleful look, he considers his options for a moment.

Then he rises from the water like something out of a shampoo commercial, body angled just right so that the sun catches the lustrous shine of his carapace as water cascades down his chest and waist and hips in heavy rivulets. He arches his back, running his hand over his fringe and even his put-upon sigh has a breathy little note to it.

He tilts his heads and catches Shepard with a smouldering look.]

Do I really have to?

[He's getting shoved into the water again, isn't he?]

[There's a few seconds, more lag than one might expect, as Shepard stands staring, expression completely neutral, mouth nothing more than a pursed line.

Before she rears up with one strong leg, connects squarely with his chest carapace, and Sparta-kicks him back into the water.]

[The pause drags on juuuust long enough for Nihlus to start being concerned.

And then he gets a foot in the chest for his troubles. The explosion of water this time was pretty fantastic, the droplets shimmering in the bright sunlight and the salty foam obscuring the waters.

Eventually, he reemerges again, but this time he's further off, in the deeper waters, lazily paddling as if he hadn't just spent the better part of the week dodging Shepard's attempts at talking him into going to the beach. He spits out more salt water before speaking.]

You have no respect for your mentor.

[He'd better be getting some EXTRA fancy drinks out of this.]

[She scoffs, advancing into the warm water after him.] You're a complete menace, Nihlus, and shameless to boot.

Two more laps, and I'll consider your debt paid. Hell, I'll even swim them with you. Then, I show you where I found those pineapple drinks I was telling you about.

Didn't hear you complaining on Del-Pascia.

[ That's an awful smug angle his mandibles are taking on there.

Fortunately, the mention of 'pineapple drinks' makes his expression slide into one of dubiousness instead. ]

I'm assuming there's a Turian-friendly version of that because I don't fancy swimming and then getting poisoned.

[She makes a face, mock-outrage writ large, and splashes him judiciously.]Can't a girl admire a fine fringe or a waist without getting mocked?

You Turians are so racist. Keep that up, and I'll make sure your pineapples are Levo.

Not when you're getting that fine fringe and waist drenched in salt water, you're not.

[ The splashing isn't doing him any favors there either. Nihlus makes an indignant little chirrup, ducking his head against the droplets. He'd try to splash back, but that'd mean ruining the delicate balance of buoyancy and paddling and he's not in the mood to get more gross water in his mouth than he needs to right now. ]

And I'll be racist against pineapples if I want to be!

[ What even are pineapples anyways. ]

[The noises are, as always, hilarious. Turians. Dino-birds. I mean, it's one thing to joke, it's another to hear a vestigial cheep. She screws up her face, managing a contained smile, and sits in the shallower water, the waves cresting around her shoulders.]

Tell me how the pineapples hurt you, Nih.

[The stupid shortened nickname slips out unbidden, but she lets it ride. Hell, why not? They were friends, right?]

[ Allison's taken to calling him 'Nih' as well, so the nickname doesn't surprise him. One day though, Jane, Nihlus will realize that he's been calling you by your surname this whole time and it's going to be one freaking weird day. ]

They did things. And stuff. Probably started a war somewhere.

[ Bullshitting. Varrenshitting? One or the other, he's doing a lot of it.

He shakes the water droplets off his face and gives the woman the most melodramatic huff he could muster before deciding to get things over with and starting to, well, swim.

It's pretty much just straight up doggy-paddling with a bit more leg action. As far as Turians went, Nihlus is actually a pretty strong swimmer, but it's still far from graceful. ]

The war of the pineapples. So many good lives lost to such a senseless, delicious cause.

Well, well — look at you go. [It's only half-sarcastic — she's pretty pleased to have gotten him this far.] I'd offer to race you, but we both know what the results'd be.

Oh, no no no, go ahead, race me. I'm sure you'll feel very accomplished about winning a lot. It'll great.

[ Have another playfully rude set of mandible gesticulation here, Shep.

Eventually he ends up near a cluster of rocks that jutted out of the water a short ways away and he stops there, looking expectantly back at his colleague. ]

Is this enough swimming for you? Can I get out of this watery hell now?

[This time, however, she just grins, and makes a suitably rude human gesture.]

Fine, you've done your time. Need me to come out and get you, or do you think you can paddle back here?

[ That gets her a slowly raised browplate and then Nihlus starts doing the most sarcastic rendition of a dramatized Turian drowning that's ever been played out. ]

Aaahhhh, help, I'm drowningggg, save me Shepard, saaaaave meeee.

[ Half hearted splashinnnggg, oh nooo. ]

[For a moment, she watches it silently, mouth dropped down into a line.

Then she flips her sunglasses back on, and flops on her back into the surf.]

I'll give a touching eulogy at your funeral.

[ Nihlus stops the theatrics just to stare at her, making a series of untranslatable noises that were totally offense. He's just so offended. ]

Wow. Wowwww. Most useless student ever. I can't even believe what I am- wow.

[ He flaps his mandibles and then narrows his eyes before disappearing under the waves.

Cowls were pretty useless for swimming efficiently- but they were excellent for pushing around a lot of water. Shepard doesn't really get much of a warning before Kryik emerges from under her with a Godzilla-esque Wave of Doom. ]

[There's a sound like an angry cat being splashed with a lot of water from somewhere underneath the Godzilla fallout. Very that.

When the terror and water finally subsides, her hair is draped like a waterfall over her face, seaweed peaking out of one side, aviators lost to the ages. She makes a sound, a phbbbt, and spits out a shell.]

Okay.

I deserved that.

[ Nihlus drags himself onto the shore next to the woman, expression caught between hilarity and disgust at the vile taste of salt water lingering in his mouth. ]

A little bit.

[ Huffing a laugh, he turns a bit and gives Shepard a casually affectionate headbump and a pat to the cheek. ]

Now, get up, Spectre. [ He pulls the aviators out from where it'd ended up caught at the back of his cowl and slides it neatly back onto Shep's hair covered face. ] We've got alcohol to get drinking.

[ Without waiting for an answer, Nihlus pushes himself onto his feet and takes off to fetch some towels. ]

[She opens her mouth, but whatever she was about to say — retort, apologize, spit more sand — dissolves in the face of Nihlus' small affections. The headbutt (unmistakable, even with the unseeing curtain of hair) and face touch — the familiarity was enough to color her cheeks.

She starts for second when Nihlus slides the glasses onto her face, barely hearing her mentor's words. By the time she shakes herself out of it, Nihlus is off, towards the promised towels. Shepard stands, frowning at herself as she pushes the hair out of her eyes with the glasses.

What am I getting so worked up about?

The answer is obvious before she's finished asking it, and it starts with a 'G' and rhymes with 'Harris'. The actions are reminiscent, in a way that causes her heart to squeeze tight in her chest — but that was where the similarities ended. Nihlus and Garrus were as different as two Turians could be, and she wasn't one to get caught up in comparisons — she strongly suspected that, had they ever met properly, there would've been a fight. Each had their own unique traits, skills, and personalities.

So what is this?

She frowns again, then shrugs, bodily, at herself, before following after Nihlus. By the time she catches up, her expression is back to one of sunnier disposition.]

On a scale of one to my birthday party, how much alcohol are we looking to drink?

[ Oblivious to the internal conflict his casual affection had induced, Nihlus makes a face at the question, tossing a towel at her. ]

... Leeeet's try not to get that hammered again.

[ Yeah, the last time that happened, Rinzler ended up ensnared in a reprogramming plot.

This time... well. He still has a responsibility to Rinzler since he'd been entrusted to keep the guy's disk safe. Either way, not the best circumstances to be getting shitfaced in. ]

So... pineapples. What the hell are they?

[This time, she laughs outright. This, this she can at least deal with. Nudging Nihlus with her elbow, she gestures towards a thatched-hut-looking place a while down the beach.] Come on. I'll teach you how to pineapple with the best of us humans.

june intro log overflow

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