The world hadn’t shattered. There was something burning inside her, though through the haze, Kasumi could barely recognize it. Perhaps it was the light. Whatever it was, it seemed to be all encompassing, tearing through her eyes enough to make them tear. Or something else? The last few minutes seemed so fuzzy to her, blurring into the recesses of her mind. Where had she been? There had been some sort of panic, and even now, she could hear panic footsteps of high heels clacking frantically against tile floor. The smell of something… metallic? Burned briefly in her nostrils. Antiseptic too, and something rotting. Yet the world wasn’t falling apart.
“You cannot leave her like this.”
The voice promised murder, veiled by a hidden eloquence that she had always marveled even when she was still green. If she could have just a little bit of that, just a little bit, maybe the galaxy would be a little less hurtful. Maybe her mother could look her in the eye when she returned home. If she returned home. Suddenly she became too aware of her own breathing, how forced and shallow it seemed. Was it supposed to come out like that? She couldn’t remember. At least whatever she was resting on seemed comfortable, soft. Keiji’s mattress wasn’t so different in the evenings she’d watch him sleep, gentle puffs tickling her skin. He’d been there earlier, fervently calling her name. Even then, the brief sharp memory was warm.
“The… The damage is bad. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it. … Where… where would I even start.” She didn’t recognize that voice. Salarian probably. She almost giggled at his nerves, but a fresh jolt of pain stopped it. There had been a fire. No. An explosion. Hot, twisted metal. Something went wrong.
“Do not test me doctor,” Kiera growled, “She needs to be fixed, and if you don’t do it, I will find someone who will, and I will not let the failure go unnoticed. Goddess help you, your death will not be swift.” She didn’t feel the energy so much as heard the crackle of biotics that sent the salarian fleeing out of the room to probably plan. The room quieted then, enough that Kasumi became occupied with her strange breathing for a little while. Then the clacks of heels were coming to her, and she felt a trembling hand smooth back her black hair, running through the strands in a tenderness that she hadn’t felt from the other woman in a long time.
“Kiera…?”
She paused and Kasumi could almost hear a slight hitch in her breath. “… Rest, my shadow,” and she could barely recognize the softness in the art collector’s voice, “This will only be a nightmare soon enough.” And the nails dug just slightly into the roots, brushing out the tangles and she could almost imagine the smile.
But she couldn’t sleep yet, not even with the slight trembling she felt from her body. She remembered him being there, but where…? “Is Keiji alright?”
The motions stopped, and the only feeling she distinctly felt was Kiera pulling away from her, somewhere in the distance, and the oppressive silence that remained with her until her consciousness faded.
By the time her eyesight returned, she would have plenty of moments of Keiji by her side, guiding her with easy smiles and awkward jokes to remove terse moods— dashed away with the coming months when the pain of grief washed out everything else for a much longer and more permanent scar, but sometimes she’d give pause at the mirror, noting that the amber tint in her eyes hadn’t always been there.
Oh Tyll. <3 I don't even know where to start. I just love everything about you. You're about the sweetest and kindest person I know. You have a big heart and are always looking out for others. I love you so much, please don't ever change.
'What Could Have Been' - (RP - Lotheria/Tyllanthus)
WRITING PROMPT: Lotheria/Tyllanthus Subj. What could have been. Not Cannon.
"Tyll... Sweetheart?" She loomed over his shoulder when she whispered by his ear to gather his attention. He wrote and scribbled away on fine parchments. The scribe of a man setting ink to paper with far to practiced and fair hands. The woman's black hair dangled down to tickled at his shoulder and cheek. With how she loomed over his shoulder--by his head and nearly over his work--it made it easy to see the three silvery hair line scars running out from her hairline on the right side of her face. "... It's been several months now , hasn't it? I still feel upset with how I reacted to you that one night, the one I blew up so horribly at you. Remember? And then I came running back looking for you the next day. I cared far too much to let you go back then..."
Tyllanthus reached over to press her cheek to his, "And you did come back. You came back, kissing my tears away." He let go long enough so that he could turn in his chair and face her. His hands went to her waist, his thumbs running shallow strokes over her stomach which now had started swelling over the past few recent months. "Have I ever told you, that you look lovely in your dresses?"
Her voice was soft in response, "Plenty of times."
"Did you know I meant it?" His voice teased gently at her, "Especially like this. With your face glowing... your body full in my hands with such a wondrous thing..." The hands travelled up and cupped at the bottom-side of her swollen mid-drift. He dipped his head down to kiss the bulge of her stomach. "We have to think of a name soon..."
Her hands ran though his soft bright red hair, "We have plenty of time to think that over. After all I can't be on duty like this... see?" She tilted herself to the side. It was evident that her frame was not suited for combat and nor would armor fit in the first place. "Plenty of time." She gave him a wink and a matching soft smile. Her fingers kept running through those light red locks. "I hope the two of us didn't distract you too much. Just the thoughts of back then crossed my mind and I felt a small walk for us to talk to you would be grand. Don't you think?"
"You know I always want and love your company. Now, my lovely Lolo... Get some rest but before you do, may I have a kiss?"
His sweetness melted her heart. It always had and right now was no exception. Without even properly answering she carefully bent down enough to gently kiss his lips. "Fine, if you insist, then I will. Don't work too late into the night. I don't care for an empty half of a bed and a cold pillow beside me." Standing back up straight as she could she would then leave him in his study and making her way to the bedroom to rest for a new day to come.
"...I wouldn't have you wait too long for anything in the world..."
30. Oh boy. Heh. Umm. I haven't really thought of it? Varaelian would likely trim a little? Vae would likely shave it off.
38. Van isn't allowed to have pets. He is so awful with animals. (Except Arenthiel who happens to somehow like him..) So instead he has a tiny Sentry named Rody who follows him around, makes tea and punches people in the knee. (See Tevruden)
Vaelios has a Crimson Cloud Serpent named Rubinity (Ruby for short) who isn't really his pet, but more like a companion. She changes size from being little to being large, but since she hatched, never left his side.
40. Craziest thing: Oh boy. Varaelian jumped off of Dalaran in the insane hopes that Arenthiel would dive fast enough to catch him and escape together. It worked... barely.
Vaelios has killed two people and doesn't feel remorse. Craziest thing being when he killed Ju'Lien. It's kinda brutal and graphic.
Pairing: Kasumi+Khalisah
Given by: Turnip
Warnings: Character death
Notes: Leviathan AU
---
Ms. Goto
5/12/2186 17:38:12
Hey. You out of work yet? Come meet me at the usual spot. Got a surprise for you~.
Surprise was an interesting word coming from someone like Ms. Goto. It hadn't always been a bad thing, but one thing it guaranteed was that it would be something she truly couldn't have guessed on until she got there. It ranged to just about anything: from the dirtiest secret a council member could be hiding to some wine she found in the wards that she simply felt like sharing. It was all part of the mystery, Khalisah guessed. The game wouldn't be nearly as fun if she could figure it out before arriving.
The spot wasn't anything special. A few blocks past her building was a small secluded spot overlooking the presidium lake. The bench that rested there was perfectly covered by an assortment of bushes and trees, just out of sight from the people that passed by. It was just out of earshot from the main path as well. For meetings off the record, it was perfect. For someone like Ms. Goto, it was even more perfect.
There wasn't anyone there when she arrived. They met there often enough where this wasn't a big deal. Sitting down on the bench, Khalisah waited. Patient enough, but only just enough. Right when she thought about going, there were silent footsteps and Ms. Goto appeared, catsuit and all with two cups of coffee in her hands. “Didn't keep you waiting, did I?” she asked, which was a dumb question.
“Ten minutes is a long time for coffee, Ms. Goto.”
Her friend chuckled, then slid in the seat next to her before offering one of the cups. “Just a small touch.” She was dodging around the topic. Not really unheard of, but it didn't come with secondary gifts. “You remember what you told me? About the whole deal with the crucible?”
That was a fun conversation, and had been a very easy way for Khalisah to lose her faith in what was happening. Though, really, it made sense that the Alliance would keep quiet about such a flimsy idea. A viable solution could be easily celebrated, boost hope, and with the right strategy, a needed boost to Alliance reputation. On the bright side, knowing such a plan was a good way to accept one's mortality. “Found a better reason to disagree with me?”
“I never said I disagreed with you.”
“You still defended it.”
“I got it, I got it,” Ms. Goto sighed dramatically, and with a pout, she handed one of the cups over. “Made just how you like it.”
“We did talk about the creepy stalking thing, didn't we? I thought I included a clause about not following my assistant around too.” She still took the cup, and was pleasantly surprised by the bitter taste. Black. Still wasn't her usual choice, but it was better than other cups she had accepted. Coffee was coffee. “As pleasant as your company is, I'd prefer if we didn't waste both of our times.”
There was a look Ms. Goto gave her, not unfamiliar. Her plain smile would spread just a little wider, enough to show canine teeth and her brown eyes, almost amber in the right light, glinted beneath the shadow of her hood. “Alliance was holding out on us, Sishah,” and then she was handing her a datapad. It only took a moment to scroll through, but it didn't make the most sense.
They were paying someone to look into urban legends, either to help with the crucible or to come up with a back-up plan. Dr. Bryson was in charge, and had found something while studying the leviathan of dis. Something that could change everything. “How did you find out about this?”
“I did think about our conversation, and well. I'm not stupid enough to think a military will be so cozy toward me forever. Tapping into an admiral's communications seemed like the best way to know when to jump ship.”
“Self-serving to the very end.”
“You like me that way.”
Khalisah shouldn't have smiled, but she did anyway. “So you plan to break in?”
“Thought you'd might like to join me this time too.” Khalisah shot her a dubious look and Ms. Goto laughed, always real big on the humor. Some day she thought someone would wipe the grin off her face. Half-worried for when it happened. “It was worth a shot.”
“If you're that desperate for a rival I'm sure you could find someone.”
“There's already motive with you though.” She gave a playful frown, and Khalisah could easily imagine her eyebrows furrowing in worry. “Westerlund News doesn't know how to use you properly anyway. Since I'm doing all the work, by the way, you wanna meet at my apartment?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
Ms. Goto nodded, finally took a sip of her coffee that more than likely had gotten cold by then, and began to walk away. They already knew what needed to be done. She paused mid-step though and spun on her heel, giving another one of her gracious smiles. “You know how I know its going to work?”
Khalisah raised a careful eyebrow.
“The Leviathan of Dis was a reaper corpse. I think he knows where that thing went afterward. And I think once we find it before he does, you'll put enough pressure on Alliance where we'll have a better solution.”
“You don't really hide the stress, do you?”
“Only because I know you can handle it.” Then the laughter was gone from her, and Ms. Goto gave her a cold stare. Whatever thoughts passed, she wasn't inclined to share as she left once more, disappearing in the passing crowds. Khalisah wasn't sure how long she would be content with her own thoughts, but she waited patiently.
Knowing Ms. Goto, she wouldn't need to wait long.
–
Khalisah liked to consider herself a decent friend when she bothered. She didn't have a whole lot of people that she dedicated her time to beyond a professional interest. There were just some things that she never wanted touched. The thing about her fiancé. Don't waste her time while she was working, and never, ever call at home-- especially when she was asleep.
In the short time she had known Ms. Goto, she made a personal habit out of breaking those rules on a regular basis. It was a really stupid talent, but she had a way of pleasantly pissing people off. A lot of people seemed a little charmed by her flippant behavior, maybe considering it more benign than it really was sometimes. Not that she wasn't doing it harmlessly often, but, once you knew Ms. Goto long enough, you could tell when she was being serious with her thoughts. Her voice would briefly waver from its usual steady melody into something harsh. The accent would drop in the first two syllables, and every now and then, when things were really bad, she would flinch.
It was because of that, even though she got the call at fucking three in the morning, Khalisah couldn't ignore the call. “You need to see this.”
The journey to her apartment had always been a short walk, but the phone call made everything hurried, rushed. She barely gave herself enough time to seem presentable before leaving. Almost right away, it was easy to realize why they were meeting so late in the night. While the wards was always, always on the move all hours of the day, the upper social class could afford to go to bed at a decent time-- so long as there wasn't anything exciting. The commons was completely deserted, and sort of an eerie feeling without the people around. No voices, so instead, she had to be content with the silence. She wasn't in there long enough for it to be oppressive, and she tried to ignore how loud her steps sounded.
Up the steps and the third left down the hallway was Ms. Goto's door. Khalisah hovered by the door for a few moments. She very rarely answered a knock-- not without knowing who was on the other side. More often than not, she was wasting 10 minutes for the thief to double-check, usually by whatever hidden security vid she had nearby. It was good that she rarely changed her password. 5-8-7-6-7-2-8-2, and the door slid open, as if welcoming an old friend. Maybe she should've been concerned at how easily she could remember it.
Ms. Goto's apartment wasn't nice. For someone she was convinced had some secret credit stash somewhere, the furniture was shabby, and almost every time she was there, it was messy. Not so messy that she couldn't get anywhere, but there were papers and pieces of electronic parts on any flat surface that wasn't the floor. The kitchen was really just barely one-- enough room to cook and maybe get coffee in the morning with a small living room, and a hallway in the back with three, decent sized bedrooms. One of them she knew was a workroom, and the closet next to it-- you didn't touch that closet. It wasn't absolutely awful, but Khalisah was thankful for the days when Mr. Ket was here as well. He made a point to keep things tidy.
When she stepped inside, the coffee table was cleared, replaced by a tube that matched the length of the table, and Ms. Goto sat in front of it, hunched over a terminal. The taps on the keyboard were just as quiet as anything else she did on a regular basis. Khalisah traced the back of the couch with her fingers before slipping into the seat beside the thief. She didn't look at her. With a huff, Khalisah glanced toward the tube and realized there was something inside.
“What the hell is that?”
Ms. Goto shrugged. “It had a crazy amount of safe walls on it, so figured it'd be important.”
“I feel like that wasn't for security purposes. Should that thing be glowing?” If it was a reaper device, it wasn't one she'd ever seen. For one thing, the orb was pure white, and reminded her of a glass marble in the way it shone under the apartment light.
“I don't know.” Great start. “The notes keep referencing a real leviathan though. They follow this thing's trail, and more of these orbs keep cropping up.” She quieted for a moment, clacking on the keys. “...They have other bases. I think that's where I'll hit next.”
Khalisah eyed her. “That isn't your terminal, is it?”
Ms. Goto laughed. “We do need to catch up. And hey, the personal life is fun. Wouldn't you know the workaholic has daughter issues?”
“This would be more interesting if you hadn't gotten me up so early.”
“Oh yeah, I guess normal people usually sleep around this time. My bad.” The way she said it wasn't convincing, her voice falling flat. It wouldn't surprise her if this was par the course for Ms. Goto. While she was talented in technology, she wasn't an engineer. Retrieval was her best talent. Retrieval and lying. “You did want me to contact you as soon as possible.”
“I never said that.”
“Yeah, but I know how you think.” A few clacks on the keyboard, and she looked over once again, sort of a puzzled scowl on her face. “Well. Checking on Dr. Bryson might not be too bad. Surveillance. I doubt the break in will be publicized or anything.”
“Isn't stalking your thing?”
“Yeah, but I'd hate for you to just twiddle your thumbs for a few days while I get this stuff sorted out.”
“Or I could go to work. Like normal people.” Kasumi laughed at her then. If she didn't know any better, it'd almost be mocking. It was rarely how she meant it though-- not to each other anyway. It was a lot funner to mock everyone else, but they did tease each other. Khalisah cared enough to call her out, and her friend did something similar. “You can get Tianna or someone anyway. Kinda the point of employees.”
“Need Tianna with me. Urch will be keeping you company though, so don't feel too bad.”
That wasn't what she wanted to hear, but Khalisah could accept it long enough to at least get some sleep before work in the morning. From there, maybe a quick search into Dr. Bryson's history wouldn't kill them, and perhaps a visit or two, assuming she could tolerate Vurk long enough for that one. Now that she thought about it, any of the other students wouldn't have been much better. “I hope for your sake Tianna will get half of your competence by the time she finally succeeds you.”
There was still something reassuring in her relaxed smile, eyes trained on the monitor. “Guess you'll have to wait a little longer for me to die then, won't you?”
And there was something about the way she said it, almost quiet and despondent, that created a distance Khalisah wasn't entirely sure how to cross. Maybe there wasn't any need to for them. After all, some boundaries didn't need to be touched.
–
She didn't like Urch, and it was completely his fault. One of the more frustrating qualities that Ms. Goto had was her near constant ability to be confident in herself. When it came to work and her own thoughts, Ms. Goto couldn't be so easily dissuaded, but at the very least, she had the skills to back up most of it. There were still days in which the knowledge her friend possessed surprised her, and over time, the pride would die down, or best case scenario, she would learn and grow more to back that last bit up.
Urch didn't have that, but the way he went through life made Khalisah think he hadn't cared. He was a novice, and perhaps to compensate for that fact, he projected himself in such a way that he seemed to try to own everything he touched. The theatrical flair did enough for his personality as it did with Kitt's lackluster Shakespeare productions (which is to say, not at all for anyone who didn't already have a strange fascination for the performing arts). Because of that compensation, the way he talked to her came off more condescending than the benign detachment Kasumi had set between herself and people.
People were remarkably simple once you spent enough time trying to play them. If she had to judge Urch based on quality it would be fear. Everything he did was based on someone getting underneath there that he didn't want. Showing any sort of weakness would be the worst, and while she could understand something like that, the way he did it was so incredibly stupid that it became obvious for anyone that talked to him for more than five minutes.
Truthfully though, she never liked going to Ms. Goto's apartment without her anyway. The trashiness played a factor, but it as sort of weird to see something so undeniably the thief's and not have her be at home. The temptation would always be there to dig around now that there was a lack of supervision, and just find out who the thief really was. Khalisah wasn't so naïve to think that there weren't any secrets between them, lies that Kasumi casually told to keep her occupied. It was the risk of knowing a reporter, wasn't it?
Perhaps it was a good thing that Urch was there, even though her arrival to the apartment was just as awkward one might expect. Like before, Khalisah hadn't bothered to knock, and though Urch looked a bit startled, he hadn't said anything. To her relief, the apartment was a bit cleaner than it had been a few days before, and she was tempted to see if Mr. Ket was in. At least a jumpy quarian held better company. However, she wasn't sure how much he knew about what was happening, whether Kasumi was keeping it between them or not.
The orb was out of the tube, sitting freely on the table though with two books on either side of it to keep it from moving. “Are you sure that isn't a really stupid idea?” she asked Urch as he ran his omni-tool along the orb.
Urch's mandibles twitched for a moment. “None of the scans picked up anything dangerous.”
“The fact that you thought scans would pick up something from an unknown object isn't really comforting.”
“Hey, Boss signed off on it.”
The way her face contorted nearly made Urch laugh. She could see him suddenly sucking breath in an abrupt his, stiffening. He had known better than to laugh at her. Khalisah wasn't a fighter by any stretch of the imagination, but she could strip anyone of their emotional barriers in seconds. It wouldn't be the first she'd do it to him. If he didn't watch his tongue, it won't be his last. “Was she drunk?” Khalisah sneered. She should know better than that.
“You're an ass, you know that?”
“I don't fucking care. Put that thing in the tube.” It didn't surprise Khalisah when Urch ignored her, pulling the omni-tool close to him to examine the results from the scan. As the silence began to lengthen, Khalisah became increasingly aware of how cold the apartment had gotten, chilling enough where she could see her breath form small puffs of smoke as she stood there watching. Cold enough where it crept up her spine, where she clutched her arms to try to compensate for the sudden drop in temperature. Kasumi was not a cold person by nature. It had something to do with her hometown, which now that she thought about it, had been about three different places. Maybe four. Either way, it could barely be called cold and certainly not at arctic levels. “Mr. Ket isn't trying to sterile the environment by freezing us to death, is he?”
“You like meddling don't you?”
Khalisah paused, glancing toward Urch with a strange look. Turians weren't the most perceptive aliens. Usually it took some time and training to fully understand just what was being shown on the face. There wasn't any subtlety in his expression. The beady black in Urch's eyes had spread over completely inside them into something soulless, staring at her with such intensity and malevolence that for a brief, panic-stricken moment she could believe in demons and monsters hiding in shadows. The mandibles drooped low and he leered at her with growling sharp teeth. “... Uh. Urch?”
“If you value your life, you will not interfere.”
And then the warm air rushed in, and before Khalisah could realize what was happening, the turian was back at his omni-tool as if the brief lapse in sanity hadn't happened between them. She hid the shaking in her hands before retreating to the restroom, trying to figure out what the fuck just happened and looking for excuses to head home and how to word an email properly to Kasumi without sounding like she had lost her mind. Maybe she had. Just for an alarming second.
The cold water from the sink was a welcome reprieve, focusing on how the water dribbled down her chin. Her racing thoughts soothed, back to calmness, back to control. When she looked at the mirror, nothing showed. Then there were soft footsteps and a gentle rap on the restroom door.
“Ms. Khalisah?” With a huff, she pressed her button on the door and had a nervous quarian greet her at the doorway. Mr. Ket flinched at suddenly facing each other before straightening up in a very tense posture. He never seemed sure of himself, every time they talked. At times she had to remind herself that this was still better than when they first met, after months and months of coaching falling on deaf ears. “Are... Are you alright?”
“Has Urch been acting strange lately?”
Mr. Ket paused. Thought about it. “No,” he mumbled, “But I don't talk to him as much as you and Kasumi do. But that--”
“Keep an eye on him.” For now though, the atmosphere at the apartment was too oppressive, too strong without Ms. Goto being there. She brushed past him without so much as a goodbye, and ignored how the cold began to creep in again as she slipped out of the door.
–
That would've been the end of it if there weren't the dreams. Khalisah never considered herself a vivid dreamer. When you didn't have any superstitions, the most that a dream could provide was something to mull over and laugh about in the morning at best. For the most part, she rarely remembered them, and they rarely affected her for more than a horrible five minutes. Never had they wrecked her like this, became so pervasive that she woke up each morning shaking-- bad enough where she caught her fianceé clutching her as if to keep her anchored to the bed.
She couldn't even say what they were about, because most of the time, they still didn't make much sense. Cold emptiness, the vague sense of being suffocated, lungs burning, burning for air. All she could think about were the feelings left behind from them. The days began to blur with each other, pieces that she couldn't bother to remember long enough to care, and the silence on Ms. Goto's end seemed to make everything worse. It wasn't like she left her to deal with Urch alone. That very night Khalisah had left her a particularly scathing voice mail about how her protege had just threatened to kill her for doing her job. Nothing. Not even acknowledgement that Ms. Goto was even alive or made it back safely from the other bases.
It shouldn't have been a problem. Khalisah had been doing her homework, and though the research effort was well-organized, the security at Dr. Bryson's office-- even after the break-in-- was minimal at best. They were panicked, constantly rushing in and out, and there was something unnerving about the fear in everyone's eyes. What had they stolen exactly?
There was a week of this awful limbo before she finally saw an email from Ms. Goto without any sort of title. The message was strange. And alarming. Very alarming.
Ms. Goto
28/12/2186 20:01:43
Cold. They light up like Christmas trees when the voices start talking to me.
ImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorry
And suddenly she wished Ms. Goto had just kept with the silence. It was all too easy to remember the black eyes and the shiftless ghastly look Urch had given her. The very first thing she did was forward the email to Shepard with a request for assistance, something that she would've despised to do at any other time. As much as they talked, she knew there were some things about Ms. Goto's life that only Shepard could reach, and if anyone could see a less fatal solution to this problem, it would be the thief's best friend.
She wasn't ready to think about the other possibilities. No matter what was happening, she wasn't about to get blood on her hands, even if it was from a friend that seemed to be losing touch with reality. And despite everything telling her it was a bad idea, her feet still carried her to the apartment building, and as she punched in the same code, she tried to guess how quickly the message would reach the Normandy in case something did happen, in case she couldn't pull her out of whatever spiral that seemed to be centered around the apartment.
Mr. Ket. Maybe Mr. Ket was still there. He wouldn't be much use in a fight, but if there was any need for medical assistance, he could take care of it. Taking the small comfort that it was, Khalisah slipped through the door and greeted the biting cold and silence with a scowl. “Ms. Goto?” she called out. Nothing. With careful steps, she crossed the threshold into the living room, then felt something heavy slam into the back of her skull. She caught the sight of black shoes once she collapsed to the floor, something wet and sticky slipping through her black hair. Oh god, she was bleeding wasn't she? It stung too, sharp and dizzying.
Her eyes flickered around the floor she could see, and noticed that the strange orbs seemed to have multiplied into a rather interesting pile since she last saw her, and there was something hunched over next to it. Purple. “... You,” she looked upward, caught the shadow of Kasumi's face and amber eyes glaring back at her. She ignored the sharp pain as she tried to climb to her feet, the cold metal of a handgun on her forehead stopping her halfway. “What the hell did you do?!”
To Ms. Goto's credit, she at least tried to seem surprised. “I did?” she repeated. “This was your doing. You've been coming into my apartment and planting those things. And I came and Tunri... I can't believe you did that, but...”
What. What. For a moment Khalisah couldn't even find the words through her confusion and nausea until she saw the safety come off the handgun. All too quickly the situation became very real for her. “Wait, Ms... Kasumi,” she tried to sooth, but this wasn't her strength. She was used to digging, not like this. Never like this. “I don't even know how to shoot a gun. How do you expect me to kill someone with military training?”
The look on Ms. Goto's eyes was of pity, as if she was about to put down a dog. No. No No this wasn't what she wanted. She wasn't going to die and she was certainly not going to be pitied before doing so. “You're not seeing it. Something about those orbs. You're not who you think you are.” As Khalisah saw the finger on the trigger, something pushed her forward and she latched onto the gun arm as tightly as she could, shoving it away from both of them and sending them tumbling to the ground.
“You've gone nuts! None of this is making any sense.” Ms. Goto had to listen to reason, somewhere in that brain of hers, but between the struggling that Khalisah was rapidly losing and trying to keep in mind where that gun mouth was pointing, there was too much going on to be effective with it. It only took a second for Kasumi to throw Khalisah off, sending her back onto the floor as she scrambled to get to her feet.
Khalisah barely had time to react before the pistol was fired. The heat that enveloped in her chest lasted for only a moment before the numb and cold seeped inside her. Blurry images. The air she sucked in wasn't doing anything good. “You... You idiot,” she hissed once she finally recognized Kasumi hovering above her.
The arm was shaking now, but it was still aimed at her, and she could see Kasumi's expression tighten. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” And with that, she pulled the trigger one last time.
–
When the message had come in, Temari hadn't been entirely sure what to do with it. While Al-Jilani seemed urgent in the email about her stopping by, nothing in the forwarded text seemed to suggest problems. In fact, it was blank. There wasn't anything there. Was she this freaked out over a mis-sent message? While Shepard had respected the odd sort of friendship the two struck up, she wasn't about to play mediator for them.
“Traynor,” Shepard called quietly. “Have you been able to reach Tunri at all?”
“No messages seem to be going through.”
It wasn't like him to ignore any requests coming from the ship either. She had respected his wishes in wanting to stop by the apartment to see how Kasumi was doing. If anything, she had wanted to join him at the time, but work obligations were calling her much too quickly. She couldn't even spare five minutes to speak to her close friend. It was an unfortunate fact of war, something that she hadn't thought about too hard when she had to decline the invitation to join the quarian. With Al-Jilani's email though, perhaps she should've pushed for the free time.
Temari stepped away from CIC, just as she heard the call of a visitor on deck. Maybe the reporter had decided to meet her here instead of at the apartment itself. But then she heard yelling coming from the front of the ship, and as Shepard picked up her pace, she was shocked to see Kasumi round the corner. Right away, she could see something was wrong. The thief's shoulders were hunched up and there was blood all over her. Her steps came faster and heavier once she spotted the commander, and Temari almost missed the omni-blade that was coming out of her left wrist.
She was close enough to touch, and Shepard wasted no time at the realization of what was happening. With an iron grip on her wrist, Temari threw her forward and grabbed onto the back of the thief's hood before roughly slamming her into the railing of the galaxy map. She felt something crack underneath her fingers, but tried to ignore it. Tried to think. The guards were quickly swarming over to help contain the situation. “Detain her in the infirmary. Chakwas will want to look her over,” she ordered one of them and allowed her fingers to be pried off Kasumi's suddenly limp body.
There wouldn't be any answers for a while. Not for the corpses, or the datapads she found scattered around the apartment of rantings that had no direction or ending. Just of a Dr. Bryson, and the much more permanent memory of her best friend sobbing on the infirmary bed, eyes trained unseeingly on a spot between them-- the galaxy crashing around her.
Where does Jinling fall along the spectrum of cynicism vs hopefulness?
Jinling hopes for the best, but after almost two years in Azeroth constantly at war, she’s accepted that the world is a sack of shit most of the time. When she’s in her cups she has a habit of sighing dreamily about the future when the war is over. Then she’ll say “wouldn’t that be nice” and order a few dozen more drinks. She had a great conversation once with Tyll about killing people as a soldier, if I can find the Tumblr post I’ll reblog it later. She’s not really one for philosophy but she doesn’t tolerate anyone being wilfully idealistic (refusing to accept the harsh realities of the world) in her presence.
Did Jinling ever have a mentor? Has she ever been a mentor to another person?
A lot of people have tried to step into the mentor role for Jinling over her life. Her father tried to teach her the family business and didn’t really know what to do with an overly energetic girl-child that wouldn’t sit still long enough to learn her figures.
At the monk academy, Master Renshu the Huojin Windwalker trainer was the only one she even KIND of got along with, and only because he let her take out her frustrations in her favorite way - violently. Still, he used to take her aside a lot and tell her that she made poor choices. It was true, but what thirteen-year-old ever wants to hear that?
Mika the Knife was the one who taught her blade work, one of the bandit crowd she fell in with when she was ditching her instructors and her duties. Mika was the first woman that took on this role for her, since her mother had always been a passive-aggressive force in her life. When Mika and the other bandits eventually betrayed her, it contributed a great deal to the internalized anger she’s got.
When she first came to the horde, she looked up to the senior members of the Highguard - especially Tanillivan, who was the first person to tell her that he believed she could do something. A large part of why she takes orders so well now was Tanillivan’s mentorship when she was a bitty recruit. Livyani was the first of her peers to listen to her and consider her seriously as a skilled member of the battalion, and will pretty much have Jinling’s undying loyalty for that.
She actually felt a lot like a mentor to Tyllanthus, whether or not he felt the same way. She tried to watch out for him, keep him out of trouble, and help him become a better soldier. Alkkal she viewed much more as an equal, but she considered Tyll her personal responsibility a lot of the time.
