Self Imposed Exile

“In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.” Points: 191

[tevesazentri-blog]

brendonantill:

He tried not to be insensitive about aliens and androinds, to not stare or ask too many questions or think of them as being different, but sometimes it was hard not to wonder what was going on in their minds when they looked at him. He was aware that he sometimes attracted a lot of attention, maybe even the wrong kind of attention. He was a big guy, and he talked a lot, joked around a lot, basically made himself pretty damn visible, so it was curious when people like Teves looked at him as if he was a stranger they were trying to figure out.

Brendon always thought of himself as an open book.

“You’re making me wonder what I did to demand so much attention. Other than blocking the sun for you, anyways.”

He didn’t have to wait long. Teves made their intentions fairly clear after their few moments of thoughtful examination. “Overcharges like a battery that’s gonna overheat or something? That doesn’t sound too good.” He really didn’t mind being used as a human blockade. Blocking out the sun was way easier than blocking bullets. But it was their next comment that shook him.

“Um, huh?” It was difficult to make Brendon speechless, but having a fellow crewmate say it was a pity he could walk might just do it. But literally with the next word, it made sense.

“Y'all have a bet on when I die or just when I get injured badly enough to have to be carried out of someplace? Because one of them is much more easy to swallow than the other,” he snickered.

“Injured. Dead would be going against my role as a doctor.”

It wasn’t their fault Brendon was notorious aboard for his antics, his wild devil-may-care way of approaching problems. It was the roughshod quality to him that had made Marcus bring him on. Tevesa remembered the fistfuls of headlines, the swaggering confidence. It was a miracle the man had lasted a year. But Brendon’s kind had been aboard the ship before, and that kind of person never lasted long. Ship jumping, after all, was perfectly commonplace. 

“I’d ask if you wanted in, but that’s not fair...”

They trailed off, calculating their already low odds in their head. A moment of silence elapsed before they turned back towards Brendon, deadpan.

“How expensive would you breaking a talus be, I wonder. Hypothetically.”

[schebra-blog]

The Crescent Chamber || Cora, Maxine, & Tevesa

[tevesazentri-blog]

corajamora:

maxinenovak:

At Cora’s instruction, Maxine’s mind began to whir. “Electrocute? Right, electrocute. E-lec-tro-cuuuute…” she nervously sang to herself as her eyes darted from the monster to its surroundings. To anyone else, the notion would seem ridiculously impossible, but Maxine had a certain gift at electrocuting and/or setting things ablaze. That was usually by accident, however, so doing it on purpose was a bit of a challenge. It wasn’t until Tevesa stated her name that her attention was drawn from the myriad of ideas buzzing through her head and back to the present.

Ah, her grappling hook. That was much simpler than what she had in mind.

“Tevesa, you genius bastard,” she replied with a triumphant grin, lowering her now-smoking handcanon to give them a slap on the shoulder, “And I know just what to use for juice.” 

With that, she opened her gun barrel as if she were about to reload, but instead began to rip out wires around the fusion core, her gloved hands thankfully preventing her own electrocution. Then, after removing her grappling gun from its hook at her hip, she preformed a similar gutting to it, and after a moment of twisting wires the two guns were connected.

“In case this fries me instead of the fish,” she remarked to Tevesa, as if commenting on the weather, “Give these two beauties to Yiran.” Then, calling to her other teammate, “Get ready Cora! We’re about to fry this sucker!” 

A slow exhale and the trigger was squeezed. The kickback was tremendous, but that was by her design: otherwise, the hook wouldn’t rocket through the air like it did. The creature’s big nasty mouth, screeching and howling in a furious temper tantrum, was like shooting fish in a barrel, and the hook sunk nicely into the inside of its jaw. It cried out in pain and Maxine whooped in victory, sitting up to give Tevesa a smug grin.

“Now that’s how you fish for–” 

The metal cable went taut and the beast locked its eyes on her with blind fury, nostrils flaring and huffing out steam like a stallion caught in the wild. “Oh, right,” she muttered, suddenly remembering the second part of her plan, and fired her hand canon. Immediately, the bypassed current traveled down the cable and into the mouth of the beast.

“Now that’s how you fish for monsters!” she finished, shouting above the pained howls that now reverberated off the cavern walls.

@corajamora

Perfect. Though Cora had originally had her doubts about being stuck with the craziest member of the crew, it didn’t seem so bad at the moment. With the beast reeling in pain, Cora pulled herself up its back, digging her nails into its scales. It was terribly slippery and her physical fitness wasn’t what it used to be, but with some effort she pulled herself onto the creature, using her staff to stabilize her balance.

As the shock tore through the beast, Cora shut her eyes, thankful for the rubber in her gloves and boots that prevented her from frying to bits as well. Her staff sizzled with the electricity in the air. “Playing with fire, over here,” she muttered, scrambling towards the neck.

It thrashed and it howled, but Cora held tight to the monster who was more focused on her crewmates safe on the rock than on the one standing on its back. She spun her staff around and, activating it, plunged the tip between the scales, letting out a fierce cry. Maxine’s electric shock combined with hers created a loud buzz that made the mass of tentacles fly into the air. Cora gripped her staff as the creature’s body jolted one final time before falling to the ground.

Cora tore her staff from between the scales and sighed, kicking the dead monster. “Its heart is stopped,” she said. “Looks like that’s a wrap. Good work.”

@tevesazentri​

The electricity arced through the air, climbing the grappling hook like a marauding hoard. It lit the chamber, incandescent as a bloodthirsty holiday, and its afterimage drilled itself into Tevesa’s eyes as the monster roared its displeasure and pain. But all things must come to an end, including an impromptu light display. Cora scaled the beast, taking it down with one well placed thrust. 

The beast tumbled down, more rubble following as the body hit the eager ground. Tevesa steadied themselves, straining to listen for further action in the sudden, painful silence. The roar of action and violence remained pounding in their ears, the adrenaline a beat too late. 

“Well.” They brushed their coat, a quick adjustment to re-establish their grounded and apathetic sense of balance. “I think that’s enough excitement for one day.”

With less than graceful demeanor, they clambered their way back down the rock, more concerned with their continued survival than how they looked. It would be fitting to survive a battle and then immediately die from a tumble. 

Tevesa moved to the body. 

“Tsk,” they sighed. “Too charred for samples.”

As the others examined the creature, Tevesa’s eyes wandered, landing on a cluster of skeletons. Were they wearing...ceremonial robes? Tevesa approached. The color was long faded, but indeed, these robes were in a better condition than most of the destroyed ruins. A glint among the bones took their focus yet again. 

Tevesa lifted it from the remains with care. 

“A knife?”

How very odd. Covered in rust and textured with grains of sand, Tevesa doubted it would be of use to them any time soon. Not without good repairs. But perhaps...well. It wasn’t too much trouble to whip up more poison for a new weapon. This one even had a hand grip. Yes, it would do quite nicely.

@maxinenovak​

[amphibiologist-blog]

[past] never quite free. || tevesa & keda.

[tevesazentri-blog]

amphibiologist:

“No thank you.” The syllables rushed out together as if one word. They were not certain what the bloodless, fish-belly white thing even offered, but no. Only a fool would think them so easily deceived. (They had been. Once. Only once.)

Keda stared. They did not like the eyes on this thing. Dark and liquid, eyes they’d seen floating in deep sea muck. If the doctor shoved a flimsy little hand in the shower, Keda would slam their fingers in the door and bite them off. They decided that right away. No, the one who saved us would be angry if you harmed his kith, one part thought. Then another: So be it. Have you forgotten the eyes of your sisters? Suffer no predator to thrive.

Keda poked their head out of the shower stall, craning their neck to look past Tevesa into the too-bright washroom. No one with them, so far as Keda could see. Did the others wait in the hall, ready with their guns and blades? Perhaps. Keda did not feel afraid, not as much as they should have been. Their mind groped blindly at the absence of that fear. They snapped their head back to Tevesa.

“Why are you with me?“ The sky tongue still felt wrong in their mouth. Keda spoke slowly and precisely, as if they lifted every word with tongs. And then, dubious: “What is a lollipop?”

It wasn’t too late to call in the larger members of the crew. Hold the terrified alien down, tranquilize it, and get on with their day. It was such a simple check up, the wasted time spent trying to talk down a traumatized patient chafed. Bedside manner was taught, it wasn’t a skill you were simply born with. Tragically, bedside manner was low on the list of talents, right beneath puns and winking. 

A deep breath in, a deep breath out. The Captain would be angry, no doubt, if the proper care and caution weren’t taken. Regardless, Tevesa was relearning how to provide safety, not rip it away again. But callous distance was so impossibly difficult to unlearn. Clinical detachment was simply the easiest route. But then again, look where the easiest way had gotten them.

“I’m with you because you can’t live in the shower. The humans smell terrible, and their hair follicles are greasier than normal. It needs to stop.”

Humans and their modesty. 

“A lollipop is a sweet substance used to reward patients for their time. It is an integral part of the medical process.”

The humidity was making their head swim. If there was anything that made Tevesa uncomfortable, it was anything that had to do with some kind of submerging. Moisture pooled uncomfortably in the tips of their gloves. 

“I’m not going to operate, if that’s what you’re scared of.” They tilted their head appraisingly. 

“To say it’s because I’m a good person is a lie. We both know it is.”

Did the victim recognize the murderer? Or was it just a reaction? Either way, the only sweet thing Tevesa ever provide was on a stick. Truth went down hard, and those who had stared it in the face still had the scars to remind them what it really tasted like. 

Fool me once...

“Trust that the Captain has rules, and we all follow them. One of these rules is that no one touches you without you permission. Another is that no one is allowed aboard this ship for any length of time without a medical check up. You see where we’re at odds.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

corajamora:

Cora rested her hands on her hips, cocking her head at the stern alien below her. “You’re welcome,” she said, remaining where she was out of courtesy. After all, she had a greater respect for Tevesa after the episode in the cavern. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be wanting to stay in the sun. In fact, Cora had been hoping to sit in the shade, but this was her way of thanking Tevesa without actually having to admit gratitude.

The heat was already making Cora dizzy. After spending years surrounded by ice, her body still hadn’t acclimated to warmer environments. Maybe she never would. “This heat is unbearable. It must be easier for you. You have no hair.” Cora tossed aside her white locks in annoyance.

“Good work in the fight. You don’t seem too happy to see it over with.” Or maybe it was just the heat. The other crew members seemed all too happy to be out in the sunlight, but Cora just wanted to curl up in her bed and read a good anthropology book before falling into a peaceful sleep. With the aid of cool air vents, of course. “You miss your medical bay, then.”

“Yes.” They replied dryly, cocking a brow bone at the comment. “No hair. I recommend shaving completely. Hair just seems a nuisance.”

Although it would be better than being completely exposed to the sun, albeit itchy. Being a walking solar panel did have its downsides. Such as overheating, with the body going into shock. That was never fun. 

“I’m not a Scout, or a field agent.” They replied wit a simple shrug. “It only makes sense to stay where I’m needed. And this island doesn’t seem to need or want any of us.”

The fight had hardly been satisfying. Fights never were, simply an emotional or functional build up to a definite end. Like sex- deeply unsatisfying and simply not worthwhile in any way, shape, or form. 

“You seem satisfied. Is it the thrill of the hunt or the kill that does it?”

It was a casual question, despite the nearly sociopathic phrasing. Certain species had different moral codes, and it was up to the doctor to determine what was key to continued crew survival.

[tevesazentri-blog]

maxinenovak:

With both her guns now fixed, and any blood or grime relatively washed away by canteen, Maxine’s usually bounding energy had simmered down to a serene contentment. It was a rare mood for her, requiring mix of fatigue and delight, and she usually held only one of the two. She strolled through the courtyard with her hands in her pockets, wet curls still clinging to her face and forehead, whistling the same tune she held while looking for Yiran. It was then that she noticed one of her monster-hunting pals, Tevesa, lounging under a tree’s shade, and she immediately made a beeline towards them. 

“You got it, doc,” she easily replied, staying put so her shadow remained, “Like the feeling of it on my back anyways.” She paused for a yawn, followed by a stretch, and continued as if uninterrupted, “I wonder what the ozone layer is like here. What’s the radiation feel like to you? Too high?”

You could always count on Maxine to babble away the singing silence, like a child spending their allowance on sweets. With great zest and without much thought. Although, Tevesa did have to admit- Maxine was easy to follow. She simply said whatever she was thinking as it happened. Far, far easier to understand than some of the stoic, taciturn, sulky hulks of crewmen. In any case, Tevesa found it was often simpler and less of a burden to simply let Maxine helm any and all conversation. Unless, of course, there was a point to get to. 

“Strong. High. Intense.” 

A bad sunburn for some, a deadly overheating for them. They cast an appraising glance towards Maxine, the glint of approval buried deep. 

“You seem subdued. I’m assuming you didn’t suffer injuries from the electricity.”

[miakirshners]

[tevesazentri-blog]

I commend your intelligent advice during the fight against the monster, but do you have any actual combat skills?

“I’m a doctor, not a fighter. And I prefer it that way. I know enough to get by.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

brendonantill:

Brendon had a habit of summoning odd friendships and strange bedfellows. The little display they’d just had with Edison was proof of that. Brendon was a versatile kinda guy. The kind that could get along well with most people, but he had to admit, the doctor had always struck him as the kinda person to keep your distance from.

Sure, doctors did their job, and they were necessary in the Spectre’s line of work, but Brendon usually found himself going to Reid. Today though he’d found himself at Tevesa’s side purely by accident, and their words had prompted a deep snicker, the kind that made his chest expand and retract and his grin spread from ear to ear.

“Most people would be complaining about me blocking their sun. I guess my bulky broad-shouldered ass is good for something other than attracting play-mates, huh? You doing okay down there?”

Loud. Loud and surrounded by more noise- that was the impression Tevesa had gotten from their fellow crewman from the first. And like most who preferred sweet medical bay solitude, Tevesa avoided the source of as much as possible. Charismatic humans were...difficult to interact with. They always seemed to be looking for something that Tevesa was never able to quite give or name. It was for the best really. Too much hair anyway.

But sometimes danger had a habit of bringing people together. Literally side by side. And they had to hand it to him: he made an excellent substitute for a parasol. 

Was what they had said amusing? Apparently so, and fancy that, the patented Brendon grin. Shame they didn’t have their protractor, they really did suspect angle had everything to do with putting others at ease. Then again, Tevesa was too tired to try to analyze their own feelings on the matter. No. That wasn’t calm: just the dull beginnings of a headache.

“And here I thought it was just the elongated chin hairs that did that.”

They tilted their head back, vaguely noting the ache at the base to take care of later. Tall creatures had a nasty little habit of forcing the shorter to stare upwards. If the overblown fish had stayed in the water, maybe it could have been avoided. But what was done was done.

“I’m well. Long contact with the sun overcharges me.”

They gave the other an assessing once over, withheld and without any interest aside the most basic of medicinal anatomy. 

“You can still walk I see. Pity. The bet’s coming due any time now.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

There had never been a time where Tevesa missed the cool ship interior more. There was no escaping the blunt disaster of the island. Either it was vaguely dangerous and too sunny, or it was blissfully shaded and too dangerous. This was a true Catch 22 if Tevesa ever did read one. No winning. But if they had to choose, with great reluctance they would pick the outside. 

Even now, risking the overcharge that came with too much exposure to the sun, they sat beneath the shade of a nearby tree as the crew loaded up and mingled, their worn and slightly sat on straw adventuring hat perched on their head to offer that extra bit of protection. The patients had been seen to, all that remained was waiting for orders. The gem from the monster had gone with Maxine, and Tevesa had no samples to speak of. It was not turning out to be a fun Scouting day. 

Since when was it so hot? Cautiously, Tevesa removed their gloves, laying them on their lap, clasping their hands to minimize contact. Much better. Someone moved beside them, the shadow helping to minimize the sun’s contact.

“You’re blocking the sun. Don’t move.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

(From Edison) What do you care about?

“The wellbeing of the crew, the upkeep of the medical bay, privacy, how the Av’axi Harbingers are doing in this year’s season.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

Do you need any help with the injured?

“I’ve split the list into fourths, for each of us. You need to check over any broken limbs we find, I’ll take care of the open wounds. I want that hand far away from anything oozing, bleeding, or gaping. Speaking of which, give me that hand, we need to wrap it first before you wipe it on anyone.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

Do you keep a journal? Scrapbook? Memory box?

“I do keep notation of the day’s events, patients, just general organization. But those other things? Why would I need those? I’m not here to make happy, good memories.” Tevesa wondered if the little locked box hidden away in their room counted as a memory box. They sincerely doubted it. 

[amphibiologist-blog]

[past] never quite free. || tevesa & keda.

Twenty hours gone. 

Freedom should feel like something, they thought. They searched their hearts, their mind, to find only silence and a bone-deep ache for sleep. All these people, all this noise, all this change, all these fears –  Keda’s brain killed the power on everything, overcharged like a bad circuit. So Keda observed. Keda watched these strangers through tired eyes, lids heavy as iron doors, awake through sheer paranoia. 

Only the medical bay provoked a strong response. Keda had floated through The Spectre’s narrow corridors at Marcus’s back, wordless, senseless, until a wash of surgical lights bleached out their vision. Steel tables and sharp edges, white coats and massive lamps. Adrenaline tore through them like lightning. They remembered pleading, pushing, clawing; they’d have lunged for the tray of lancets if Marcus hadn’t pulled them out so quickly. 

The shower, Keda felt, was safer. 

The ship growled like a massive animal around them, its metal guts thumping and whirring. Water pounding from the shower head onto the smooth ceramic floor drowned out the noise some. Keda huddled at one end of the small shower stall, knees drawn to their chest, savoring the lack of stimulation. It was the only space on the vessel with enough running water to keep them hydrated, the only one quiet enough not to fry their nerves.

Twenty-one hours. The sedation from the stasis tank had faded, taken by the black pain of an encroaching headache. A sound from outside the stall. Soft-soled feet on tile. Keda jolted up straight. Cautiously, slowly, they creaked the sliding stall door open a fraction, just enough to poke their head out. 

The doctor. The doctor from earlier stood outside. Keda shrank back, eyes narrowing to dark slits. Their voice came out in a hoarse croak: “Don’t.” 

@tevesazentri

[tevesazentri-blog]

Don’t. Now wasn’t that a word they’d heard before. 

From the moment Keda had been brought on board, the entire situation reeked of old corpses that refused to stay buried. The eerie calm that broke into the begging, the wordless sounds that naturally tumbled out when faced with a great amount of stress. Tevesa had been left standing stunned in their own medical bay, watching the Captain do their job. 

Who knew a house call would come with so much baggage?

Tevesa had wanted to cajole, to kneel down and coax the subj- the victim out from the shower. Talk about the experience, if they wanted to. Sing a rousing verse of the friendship song ‘Altarna Bein’, an Av’axi Kumbaya. But old habits broke hard.

The cold veneer shuttered over them, numb and comforting. As many layers as possible between them and the situation, that was the way to do it. Easier, less complicated. 

They stopped. 

The shower ran with the ever steady tin like drum beat of water, another constant. How to move on from here? That was the question. It wouldn’t do to just let someone aboard unexamined, who even knew what kind of dangers that could pose to the crew? Empty ships floating through space, strange diseases laying dormant until the next crew dug them all out. Tevesa didn’t plan on having their body being a scientific discovery, hypocritical as that was. 

Doctors. What did doctors do? The kind caring ones, the ones in the vids with the smiles and the children. A gamble in the dark, but somehow they had to end this stand off. 

“Do you want a lollipop.”

The innocent, caring question was clearly at odds with the stiff, unnatural manner of the asker. Not that it was even a question- more of a suggestion. 

The shower continued, blocking out that little voice, silence setting back in.

make it right...make it right...

How annoying. 

[tevesazentri-blog]

Are you interested in collecting samples of the creatures you slew?

“The one we slew is more crisp than a preserved specimen ought to be…” Tevesa sighed, long and heavy, running a hand down their face. “I won’t dare to hope this is an offer. Why can’t anything ever just die already on a slide?”

[fireflygangwon]

Horizon Zero Dawn Main Theme vs Piano!

#horizon zero dawn #horizonzerodawn #hzd #piano #cover #ost

[tevesazentri-blog]

How are you doing after the attack?

“Fine. Surprised? I may not be a fighter, but I can be resourceful in a pinch. If you meant my attitude, I’m ecstatic. Really.”

[tevesazentri-blog]

What's the worst injury you've ever treated?

“Fatal injuries. I know, you think it’s going to be some bones jutting out where they aren’t supposed to, or ruptured organs. But the ones you can’t do anything for but help ease the passing are the worst. I’m sure you agree with me, Doctor Mehra.”