Adia Costas (
chiron_survivor) wrote in
nexus_crossings2017-03-06 09:04 pm
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Now you're just somebody that I used to know.
Adia is sitting at a computer terminal in the Plaza with a pint of cookie dough ice cream and a carton of boxed wine, watching cute animal videos online and occasionally wiping at her red-rimmed eyes with the back of her hand.
It's every bad break-up cliché, but Adia does not care. After recently experiencing the (second) worst day of life, she needs a break. And unfortunately, the only place she can get that is the Nexus.
She clicks on a thumbnail of a hamster eating a tiny burrito and takes a swig of wine while it loads. "How do you get over someone," she asks the Nexus unhappily, "When they've clearly gotten over you?"
It's every bad break-up cliché, but Adia does not care. After recently experiencing the (second) worst day of life, she needs a break. And unfortunately, the only place she can get that is the Nexus.
She clicks on a thumbnail of a hamster eating a tiny burrito and takes a swig of wine while it loads. "How do you get over someone," she asks the Nexus unhappily, "When they've clearly gotten over you?"
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She's glad, at least, that he's willing to talk to her after the Valentine's Day disaster, so she sighs and nods, wiping her eyes (tears, NOT snot, gross) with her sleeve. "I won't mess up your suit. Promise."
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"...I know I'm a great catch." There, nothing like confidence to get the ball rolling. "And I know that you know that last time was a fucked-up fluke involving a tree slank with poison candy. But I get that that doesn't make the rejection that any less real or painful, okay. I get it. So if you wanna, like..." He rolls his hands around one another, a gesture of forward motion. "Hash this out and keep being pals after it's done, I'm cool. I'm so down for that."
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The ice cream never makes it to her mouth. She lets the spoonful fall back into the pint and stares at Shark in disbelief. He thought... he thought she was crying over him?
She's too drunk to be outraged. Or not drunk enough. She can only sit back and marvel at the size and scope of this little green man's ego. Wow.
"...I found Caspar," she says finally, her voice falling flat. She retrieves that spoonful of ice cream and eats it slowly, giving Shark a minute to get over himself.
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"Huh. Who the hell is-...OH. RIGHT. Riiiight."
He's kind of relieved when she says this is something else entirely because asking him to be careful with others' emotions isn't...really. His talent. At all. He can talk and litigate like no one's business, but actually being genuine and talking about feelings? Okay, abort mission, it's all good in this hood. Shark cough into a fist instead before picking back up.
"Okay! So you found your old clone boyfriend? Awesome! But heeeeee obviously blew you off! Cool! Great! You want Neirin to go punch his ticket for you? Also, I'm not available for rebound regardless. Sorry." Ego unchecked.
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Maybe it's because he's a clone and wearing a suit and a JERK sometimes and that reminds her too much of Caspar. But by the time she's swallowed the ice cream, her irritation has faded. Shark is trying, in his own awful way, to make her feel better. That's a heck of a lot better than being pushed away and told to get lost.
"No... thanks, but no." The mental image of Neirin cleaning Caspar's clock is tempting, but the logistics of that even happening are too far-fetched to entertain. She sniffs and reaches for her boxed wine. "But, you know what, Shark? You were right about him, what you said when you were under the effect of the candy, before you started crying like a baby. He's a chump, a... a tree skank or whatever. If he doesn't even care about me anymore, then he can go frak himself right in his stupid handsome face."
TREE SKANK got me to hoot
"Okay, we're gonna skirt past the whole baby-crying part because that didn't happen, but yes. How'd you even find him again? Just stumble across him in the colony you live in? Was it even him or just the same model?"
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"I was at the detention center being questioned about a bombing. My neighbor was a suspect so they thought maybe I'd know something." She picks at her ice cream before setting it aside and grabbing the boxed wine. "A Three... the scary brunette lady Cylon... she wouldn't stop asking me questions, even though I didn't know anything."
Her hands shake a little while she drinks some wine straight from the carton. Whatever happened with Caspar was a real heartbreak, but being interrogated by a belligerent Cylon? Adia hopes that she never has to experience that again.
"A-anyway. Caspar came in around the time she started threatening me and asked to see her outside. Then he told me I was free to go. I couldn't tell you how I knew it was him. But it was."
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"And did he say anything else? Or did you approach him? Or did he just breeze off after all that."
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"He walked me to the exit, but he didn't look at me or say anything." She stares at the carton of wine in her hands. "I... I knew that it was now or never, if I didn't say anything, he was going to walk back out of my life and I'd never be able to find him again. So I asked him if he knew Caspar Millen. If he had resurrected."
It seems so stupid now. Like, what? He was going to turn around and sweep her into his arms and tell her that he had been waiting for her all along? "He told me to stop asking questions and then he shoved me away. Hard." She takes another quick swig of wine. "And then he breezed off. All while wearing the ugliest suit I've ever seen."
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"But uh, hey. Onto bigger and better, right? Was the guy even a good lay? Now you can consider this a closed chapter and get crazy. Spring break style. The world's your oyster and so are all the hot guys out there. Girls too, if you're into it." A pause and then a furtive adding of, "Or in-betweens, cuz I guess that's a thing now too."
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"No, we never--" she starts to say before blushing profusely. "I-I mean, we only dated a week." She grips the wine carton in frustration. "He was a good kisser, though." Stupid Caspar and his stupid gentlemanly ways. Never mind that she probably would be even more heartbroken if they had slept together. But now she'll never know. Dammit!
The rest of Shark's advice seeps into her awareness. It's... not bad advice, not really, but it's not her style. She's surprised Shark is bothering to suggest it to her. "I have a boyfriend, remember? You called him a... a lightbulb or a dimwit or something like that." Her blush returns, this time out of guilt. "I haven't seen him since the bombing, he's probably laying low somewhere." She wipes at her eyes. "Probably for the best he doesn't see me like this, crying over a Cylon..."
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"You and me, kiddo, we gotta go out one of these nights. Get crazy. Find you someone hot to shack up with. I got connections, I got call girls. You into Draken? Once you go Draken, man..."
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She still feels like a bad girlfriend, but at least she gets brownie points for not ratting him out while she was interrogated.
Okay, she did not expect Shark to essentially offer to be her wingman. It brings a smile to her face, despite the absurdity of it. It means that Shark is trying to cheer her up in his own sleazy way. "That's... no. But thanks." And then, because she can't help herself, "What's a Draken?"
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As far as the second question, Shark holds up a finger while he pulls out his datachron and fiddles with a few folders and files. There's a moment where his eyes flit up towards Adia, then back down to the image he's pulled up. And then he uses thumb and forefinger to crop it differently. THEN he hands it over. The picture is a purple-skinned woman with red hair and a pair of long curved horns on her head. Her shoulders appear to have scales and and she ALSO appears to be not wearing much. The picture is zoomed in on just shoulders up, though. Something Shark had to do manually. Adia can surely assume what the full image must look like. Or she can just use her fingers on it like a tablet and see for herself, if the drunken whim takes her.
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Yep, her jerky ex-boyfriend Cylon who pushed her away also just happened to step in right when Three was turning up the threats. But she doesn't stop to dwell on that, just looks at Shark tiredly. "New Caprica isn't a place where you can keep your head down. Either you grovel to the Cylons and get hated by everyone else, or you get dragged out of your bed in the middle of the night without explanation. I don't agree with the Resistance's methods, but at least they're aren't taking it lying down. I can't fault Will for that."
But before Adia can make the conversation even more depressing, Shark has presented her with his datachron and a photo of an attractive-looking alien. "She's pretty," Adia murmurs absently, looking her over before instinctively using her finger to scroll down the image.
Immediate regret. "Gods dammit, Shark," she whines, handing him back the tablet, before realizing that's why he had probably cropped the photo to begin with. "Sorry," she blushes. "Do the males look like that, too, just more masculine?"
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Talking about hot aliens and having sex with hot aliens is WAY better than talking about rebellions and oppressive work environments.
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She's going to try her hardest not to dwell on that mental image, not sure if she'd like it or not, and not wanting to find out. Straying outside her species has already caused her enough problems.
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Oh no, he's already tapping Neirin's contact on his datachron. Oh no.
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"Oh my gods, are you really calling him? Shark!" She waves her arms at him, completely scandalized. "Don't bother him about this, come on!"
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"Hey, Boss."
"Hey, I was just telling Adia about how you're the BJ King. You wanna elaborate?"
"Dude, fuck yooooou." Neirin takes a bite of pizza and then speaks around the mouthful. "I am though." The cat reaches a paw at that slice in the mordesh's hand, which gets nudged away. Shark, meanwhile, cackles.
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"I didn't ask him to call you," she announces, red-faced. "Why do you even know that, Shark? That's private."
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Shark scratches one side of his nose as he huffs in response. "Well, he's not super good at making it private in the first place. But I can promise you on a stack of corporate handbooks that Neirin sure as hell isn't sucking my dick any time soon or ever." Neirin snorts loudly in amusement at this statement, but shortly tries to sober up and frown while holding up a single finger.
"Aw man, Boss, that's not fair. I don't tell you or anyone about the ones who wanna stay secret. I just don't mind being honest about boning. It's healthy. And fun."
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Shark puts a hand on his chest, loudly protesting, "I'm just trying to get her mind off of her shitty ex! I'm not creeping, I'm being a pal! Pals can talk about sex!"
The cat has descended upon the unguarded pizza. He's already chomping on it. Victory tastes sweet.
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"It's okay, Neirin," she pipes up, leaning forward to better peer at his image -- oh, that cat is eating the pizza, that's cute. "He was just trying to help." Her expression brightens ever so slightly at being considered a "pal" before she side-eyes Shark. "But all the same, it's not my business."
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