[IC] Argent Dawn (Space Based RP)

[FrozenPhoenix]

Varus watched Taerys leave and when she turned, he returned the soft smile in earnest. The Varyx may hate humans and he could tell much about any of the three races as a collective, but he could atleast speak for himself. Humans were another race and a noble one, while they may lack in physical strength or primal prowess, their minds had something the other races seemed to miss. As for the Varyx, he always liked their race, mostly due to the shockingly similar culture they had even though they developed separately for millions of years.

Varus gave Jack a glare, a mock one of course, "In my memory huh? And how exactly would this memory be honored? I'd hope you would at least bury me before taking my room and keys." He finished with a light-hearted chuckle and rough pat on Jack's shoulder.

He turned back to stare out at the city. Not all the crew had returned yet, a few still lingered out there, but they were making good time back so he wasn't worried in the slightest. Still his mind raced on where they would go next. As it stood, they had no direction on where they would be needed.

[Gloves]

Dres lifted one eye, cocking a brow. "Talk to the Tech team, I just fix it." Not exactly rude--well, the words at least. The same could not be said for the tone. With one hand, she dropped the sunglasses back over her eyes and moved towards the larger forming group, propping one elbow up on Jackdaw's shoulder. Beneath the glasses, her gaze turned to Varus, and she flashed a grin. "Plannin' the next course, Cap'n?"

Teeth let out a small laugh at Varus. "Well see, I do this really risky move--not for newcomers, definitely. I call it 'making friends with the locals'. Looky." With the excitement of a pup, he tucked two claws in--thumb and first finger--and tugged out a small string, with brown and white beads strung around it, a crude bracelet. "I thiiinkk it's official term is 'beady-thingy', but the local pups kindly referred to it as an 'I will trade you this for a piece of candy' for me." He held it up to his face, eyes bright with joy as though his own child had made it. "Gonna hang it in my office."

[Rennac Faintheart]

Rennac sighed to himself, grumbling a bit. Well, so much for common ground with Dresden. Seems the only one who would talk to him is the captain and Teeth. He apparently was not liked by Dresden who apparently was apathetic toward all newcomers and Jackdaw who saw him as just some joking slacker. He didn't even try to get close to Taerys, the Varyx looking like she wasn't friendly to anyone anyway save the captain. Truth be told he just did those antics partly because he wanted to see how his crew reacted to surprises. The captain rolled with it pretty well and the others didn't bat an eyelash. He knew he was working with a good team but now he doubted just how much they'd be working with him. Rolling his eyes a bit he turned back to Teeth with a smirk. "Is it just me or does everyone here seem to have a bad disposition towards new blood?"

[FrozenPhoenix]

Varus faced Dres when she wandered over, still playing the part of the rebellious daughter in this messed up family. He gave a light grin again and said, "Yeah, not sure where we could go. I guess where ever we are needed."

Problem was, he didn't know where they would be needed. In this big wide galaxy it was hard to say where their time would be best spent.

When Teeth came up, his grin widened and he looked on with earnest at the bracelet. Teeth had one thing going for him, he was sure friendly. Depending on the sector of the city he was in, it was strange that a child would pay attention to a stranger, much less trade a piece of apparel for candy. But Teeth had a way with people to be sure. "Looks beautiful Bud, I think that would make a great desk placer."

When Ren tried to strike up a conversation with a lad next to him, he couldn't help but offer a friendly hand, metaphorical of course. "When you spend months on a ship without other people coming and going on a regular basis, you start to grow to only know your immediate friends. Newcomers are outsiders. It's nothing personal, you just have to prove yourself first."

His mind returned to thoughts of where to go next and what would need to get done.

[Thegunner18]

As soon as she was out of everybody's sight, Taerys stopped and turned on her heels to see if anyone had followed her back. Seeing nobody, the Varyx slumped against a nearby wall in a relieved manner and closed her eyes, clutching her head in one hand. She was still able to hear everybody talking with each other, but she was glad for the moment of peace she had right now. She wasn't really feeling like her own self but she knew exactly why. Of all things to forgot this morning...this was the worst time to forget Vahna. It had been over a month since the last time; she didn't want to risk leaving it any longer.

Vahna was a kind of personal ritual that every single Varyx needed to carry out roughly every 4 weeks after they reached adulthood. The first Vahna of every Varyx - the thing that truly symbolised adulthood - was a celebrated occasion. The tip of a dagger would be dipped into the venom of a Kalarn, a notoriously treacherous animal native to the Varaxian homeworld, and then the Varyx in question would make a cut with the tip of the dagger on their wrist. Initially, the venom would make them relatively weak as it entered the bloodstream but the Varyx had developed something of a resistance to it and instead it served as something of a...mind-cleanser of sorts. If you used small amounts anyway.

In truth though, it was all a rather macabre thing. Taerys had seen first-hand what had happened to those who did not perform Vahna until it was too late. They lost all sense of who they were and became mindless animals. Dangerous ones at that. Instincts ruled them. In fact, Taerys had almost been killed by one of them. One of her...A tear rolled down her cheek but when she realised Taerys grew angry about it, forcefully wiping the tear away and clenching her gloved hands into fists. Her eyes were still clamped shut in a strange mixture of rage and anguish. She had no idea whether anyone had seen her.

[Esayo]

Jackdaw gave one last look out to the hangar in hopes that she could see whoever else would be joining them approaching. She was getting antsy, and combining that with the new guy's whining had her feeling ready to snap. She gave a departing wave to Varus and Teeth, then made her way back into the ship. The punching bag in her room was wearing thin, but it could survive a bit more abuse before it would have to be replaced. She could probably blow twenty or so minutes batting at that, but otherwise she'd be condemned to just pacing the ship until they left. Oh the agony.

Entering into the hall, she missed Taerys at first. Her height on top of being slumped down didn't make for the easiest catch of the eye. That aside, the more alarming -or at least interesting- thing was the apparent distress the girl was in.

Jackdaw was caught between confusion and pity -for some unfathomable reason. Perhaps a few minutes ago when she was boiling, she might have scoffed and walked off, But at the moment, she wasn't a monster, and even if there was friction between them, just passing Taerys by wouldn't help anything. Besides, she figured the other girl wouldn't want the help anyway, least of all from her.

Rather than go over, she just stood her place, looking at the Varaxian and tilting her head. A question. An inquiry. Jackdaw was pretty sure it got her message across. Did she want help?

[Thegunner18]

Despite her somewhat mentally fragile state, Taerys wasn't deaf. She'd heard the clunk of boots on steel getting closer to her. She'd hoped that whoever it was wouldn't notice her and would just pass her by. The young Varyx didn't want to be seen like this. It was...it was just stupid. She was being stupid and she knew it. Why couldn't she control herself? 

Taerys brought her knees up to her chest. There were no sounds of boots clanging along the floor now, but she could sense that she wasn't alone. Slowly but surely, the Varyx lifted her head. When she was met with the sight of Jackdaw she honestly didn't know what to do. "What do you want, Jackdaw?" She asked in a rather accusatory tone, looking away from the human again. Her hands were shaking. It was the worst-case scenario. Nearly. 

[Esayo]

The Varaxian acknowledged her slowly, whether that was just a muddled mind or a play to get her to leave, she didn't know. In all honesty, Jackdaw felt a bit disappointed that Taerys actually responded. This was far from her area of expertise -it wasn't that she hated people, she just didn't know how to handle them anymore. It wasn't part of her. Still, now she was in, and she had to commit.

Turning to face her, she put her hands in her pockets, letting her own eyes wander for a bit. Maybe the answers would be on the walls, or literally anywhere else. When at last they settled on Taerys, she sighed.

"You're distressed," she said, jumping bast the faux-greeting. Though, the bitter edge to her own words was apparent to her, and she cleared her throat. "I mean. You're distressed, and that is...bad."

Yeah, that was perfect. A natural she was. "I mean, you're distressed, that's bad, what is bothering you?"

[Rennac Faintheart]

Rennac sighed and rubbed the back of his head, figuring any socializing would be nonexistant till he got in a mission or two. "Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully we get an assignment soon. Almost getting rusty with that vacation. Anyway, gonna go ahead and check out the security system here and make note of any necessary upgrades." The Wolfen turned and figured he could kill some time by getting his hands on a computer terminal and absorb himself in some work, hopefully finding some improvements to make if not overhaul the entire security grid. As he walked through the halls he was mentally noting potential blind spots and vulnerabilities, soon hearing Taerys and Jackdaw, the two people thus far most likely to rip him a new one but was surprised by two things. First, the Vaeryx was actually starting to get a bit emotional, something he had experienced with a member of a crew he worked with in his early years as a hacker. The second was that Jackdaw actually showed concern. Granted if she knew he was hearing them she would threaten to rip his head off if he ever mentioned this side of her to anyone, but still a fun fact to know. He opened one of the panels and patched his wrist gear into the system, doing a security diagnostic while he paid attention.

[Thegunner18]

"It's...nothing. Nothing that should concern you anyway." She replied. 'Well it'd concern everyone in the crew if I turned feral.' Taerys thought, not adding that particular detail to the response. It was probably better for everyone not to know that just yet. Her voice was also rather shaky. It was unnatural for her, yet she didn't notice that shakiness. 

The Varyx rubbed a thumb across her wrist, feeling a number of the more recent scars still there from earlier Vahna rituals. She couldn't turn into what her friend had. It hadn't been long enough yet. Hadn't it? At this point Taerys didn't care. She was stuck here with a member of the race the Varyx hated most and she couldn't even control her own emotions. "You wouldn't understand..." She trailed off, being rather dismissive of Jackdaw.

[Esayo]

Jackdaw either didn't notice Rennac, or didn't care. Either way, her focus stayed on Taerys, listening as the Varaxian spoke. Or mumbled, whatever it was she was actually doing. Her eyes flicked to the girl's wrist, following her thumb. Scars. Interesting. Had to have been self-harm, they looked consistent -then again, she wasn't exactly a medical expert. If they were from someone else, Jackdaw was confident at least that the aggressor was no longer breathing. She would find it hard to believe someone could get away with that with Taerys.

Still, her eyes narrowed as she was dismissed, and instead she made a few casual paces forward. "I wouldn't, no. My knowledge of your race is next to none aside from the evident basics. And you're right, it doesn't concern me directly, but I've never seen you like this, and it's off-putting."

She was slipping again. God she had to work on this more, or not at all. This whole limbo stage with emotional-handling was not doing at all. "Okay, look. Let's pretend for this instance that I do care. Why don't we get you something to drink? It'll do you better than huddling up here like a lost kid, hm?"

[FrozenPhoenix]

With everybody disappearing, he turned to the only two people left, Dresden and Teeth. Both of which seemed to be enlightened with their own vices.

So he looked back out at the city thinking more and more, still kinda groggy before something clicked in his head. His eyes went wide and in a flash he was up and running towards Ren at an alarming rate, but it was pretty average for a Litharian. When the gap was closed he gripped Ren's shoulder kinda forcefully. "Hold on. I don't want to shifting around my ship without my say so. You may be our new tech, but this isn't a pass to do anything you want when you want." He moved to let go of Ren and continued, "Now if you don't mind, stop what your doing till your security clearances are processed."

By now he heard something going on nearby and saw the scene of Taerys and Jack, his state of moderate annoyance changing instantly to one of concern. "Ren go and get set up at your bunk as well as your work station, you'll need to know what you have to work with. Do me a favor and let me know if you need anything."

With that said he slowly moved over to Taerys and Jack, Not trying to be silent, but to carefully approach this unknown circumstance. He heard the last thing Jack said and cleared his throat to let the two know he was there. "Jack, if you don't mind." He gestured for the door. Jack might be a good person at heart, but this was a situation that would be rough for any Varyx to have to go through. Humans were the enemy and to be like this. No matter how kind her words, the hatred was still there. "I need you to check on the armory, we will be taking off soon and I need to know if our gear is in proper order."

[Rennac Faintheart]

Rennac looked up at the commanding officer with a cocked eyebrow. "Never said I was changing anything right this moment. Just a simple analysis and then I'd write a proposal for new security measures to give to you to look over. If there is anything glaring I'd bring it up to you-" The wolfen was soon cut off by Varus as he turned his attention to the other two down the hallway, Rennac nodding. "Likewise. Don't be afraid to call in if you need a hand." The wolfen managed to get out before Varus left to check on the Jack and Taurys. Rennac unwired himself from the panel and closed it back up, moving toward his workstation to get settled. Maybe he'd go to the gym once he finished seeing how much work needed to be done for his station.

[Thegunner18]

"Lost kid? I-" Taerys' voice was rising again but she stopped herself, the anger dissipating as quickly as it had arrived. She looked down at herself, knees pulled up against her chest, curled up in the corner...Jackdaw was right. As much as she hated the thought of admitting it, she was right. The Varyx knew that she was kidding herself if she thought otherwise. Taerys remained silent for a few moments. What she had seen was a fate worse than death. Sitting here sulking wasn't going to help matters. She was being weak.

With a sigh the Varyx relaxed herself a little. "Why are you trying to help me?" Taerys asked, genuinely quite bemused as to why this was happening. "Where's the real Jackdaw?" She smiled a bit at that, not really knowing what to say. She hadn't actually looked up again since the last time and she hadn't heard Varus join the two of them so it was a bit of a shock to hear his voice so suddenly. Immediately, Taerys jerked her head up to see the captain and Jackdaw staring down at her. "V-Varus!" She exclaimed and scrambled to her feet using the wall to support her. She was still smaller than both by quite a margin. "I...Jackdaw's been trying to help, it's fine." Taerys couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her own mouth...

[Esayo]

She recoiled a bit at the last remark. The real Jackdaw? What did she mean by that? She wasn't sure if she should feel complimented, or insulted, and even then to what degree? At least she didn't have to think on it long; Varus's approach brought her the relief of a stable face. She'd expected him to assist her, help to work out what exactly was wrong with their team mate, but instead he dismissed her.

For some reason, that only confused her more. She wasn't sure she wanted to outright cut herself out of the problem, what if Taerys legitimately needed her? What if she actually could figure out the problem?

"Yes sir," the response was automatic, she didn't even think about it until after she'd already began to turn. What was she doing? She couldn't help Taerys. It was wrong, really, it just felt wrong. They were allies, allies helped each other in combat. Friends helped each other with their issues, and they were not friends.

In an instant, everything was gone. The pity, the intrigue, the compassion. None of that was relevant anymore. She had what she wanted, some work to distract her, at least she could spend some time around the weapons. She paused a moment, looking to Varus, but not bothering to lower her voice.

"Figure out what's wrong with her. I don't want this affecting the field."

With that, she left, making her way off down the hall. She dropped her boots off in her room -she didn't often wear shoes, since the transformation sequence tended to shred most of her excess attire- and then continued on to the armory. She couldn't believe she'd let herself get taken in by Taerys' harmless question. The real Jackdaw? Bah, here it was, the real Jackdaw. The real Jackdaw had a job to do.,

[FrozenPhoenix]

Varus opened his mouth to stop Jack from leaving, but he noticed the change in her posture, that caring Jack was gone and now it wouldn't matter if he stopped her or not. So he closed his mouth with a heavy sigh, he would have to fix this later. Jackdaw was a good friend as well and he just made a mistake, whether it was meant in goodwill or not.

He turned to face Tearys seeing the state she was in. "Tearys... something is wrong.
Please talk to me." His voice almost seemed like it was going to crack it was so tender. His reptilian eyes contorting to try and show concern.

Tearys was his friend, partner, and beyond that he liked her. To see her like that hurt on a deep level. Even further beyond that he felt a small flash of a memory. Right now she reminded him of himself when his parents died. It hurt even more, so even if he had to do something drastic, he had to try to help.

[Thegunner18]

Taerys swallowed what felt like a boulder stuck in her throat as she watched Jackdaw take her leave. Hatred and anger wanted to flow out of every inch of her body but for one reason or another she couldn't do it. She almost couldn't even bear to look up into Varus' eyes. He'd never seen her like this; she knew that because she'd never seen herself like this. It took everything and more to force herself to bring her pale blue eyes up to meet his but she couldn't keep them there long. She didn't want him to see what could become of her if she wasn't careful. For one, it was a sign of terrible weakness as far as she was concerned. Perhaps she was just a liability...And two, she didn't want Varus to think differently of her. He was the one person she truly trusted on this ship. She didn't want to lose him. She couldn't help but smile at Varus' concerned tone. Taerys didn't think a day would come where someone would use that tone of voice on her...

"I-I'm sorry, Varus, it's just that I...I..." The Varyx trailed off. She'd kept this a secret her entire life. Nobody knew about this outside of her own race. At least...nobody she'd met knew about it other than her own people. But if it was going to be anybody that she told, it'd be Varus, there was no doubting that. "There's...there's something I need to tell you about. About me, my race in general...We should, uh...get to my room first though. I've been keeping this a secret ever since we first met." Taerys stated, looking back up at Varus.

[FrozenPhoenix]

Varus was at a loss for words, Tearys was always the strong and independent huntress, but now, she seemed almost... normal. He thought how cruel that was to say, but Tearys was military through and through, this was... different.

He nodded and walked close behind her, unable to avert his eyes for fear of her state, but he changed his look to one of the usual variety, best not to get more attention while on the way to her room.

Most people were minding their own business to prepare for the impending departure, but that doesn't mean her room was right there. Several corridors and an elevator later they stepped into her room, behind them Varus closed the door and his face instantly reverted.

"OK, talk to me. Your scaring me." He said moving closer to Tearys ever so slightly.

[Thegunner18]

As the two of them walked, Taerys made sure not to make eye contact with anyone she walked past, instead keeping her gaze fixed firmly in front of her. The young Varyx also did her best to compose herself on the way up, battling away thoughts that ought never to have existed in her mind in the first place. The elevator ride gave her some time to consider where exactly she'd start all this explaining. In all honesty though, she couldn't get past the fear of the thought of Varus having a negative reaction to what she was about to show him and tell him.

By the time they got into her room, Taerys had loosened up a little more than before, thankful for the privacy that they had. Now she felt at least a bit more comfortable anyway. Noticing Varus' step forward, Taerys gently placed a small hand onto his chest and looked into his eyes. "I know you're not used to this. I'm not either." She remarked matter-of-factly, sadness still dominating her voice. "But I don't want you to get worried or distressed about what you're going to see." Her voice was calming and soothing. She surprised even herself with that. 

With a soft smile, Taerys took the hand from Varus' chest and picked up the relatively large and somewhat ornate dagger from the tabletop. She gestured for Varus to sit down on the bed with her. "Feel free to ask questions along the way." She told him as she took a sizeable vial of green liquid from just underneath her bed. "This is the venom of a deadly animal native to my homeworld. Don't worry, it's for me, not you. I like you too much." Taerys giggled. Varus' presence actually kinda relaxed her, she noted.

[FrozenPhoenix]

Varus looked confused and shocked almost beyond belief when Tearys touched his chest like that. At her words though he nodded warmly. As strange as all this was it had to have a good reason behind it. When she grabbed the dagger he couldn't help but think something was going to go strange.

As she gestured to the bed, he took heed and sat down next to her. Once the poison came out he was surprised as she was a veterened toxicologist, but when she said it was for herself, the first red flag rose up, but he didn't do anything just yet. Things didn't cross the worrisome threshold just yet.

When she said that she liked him and giggled, he would have been bright red if his race could blush. Yet he kept his silence ready for her to continue with whatever she had planned.