Huraii sidled up to the oculus. She balanced a tray per hand; eight cups in total, bobbing in imperfect unison. She offered them with a gratifying smile, slowly threading her way through the throng, until only she had two left. She glanced around for anymore patrons. [i]There.[/i] That woman from before, alone on the side, and this time without the irritating elder. She approached her with a small bow of her head, raising the proffered tea. The woman appeared uneasy, taking it with murmured thanks. Huraii smiled again. "We do hope you enjoy your visit," she said. The human's expression morphed into one of almost pleasant surprise. "Your English is incredibly good." Huraii latched on to the compliment. "Thank you. I had spent many cycles learning from translations. It does become tedious with the pronunciation." The woman chuckled softly. "We could learn so much from each other, were it not for the past." Huraii attempted optimism, carefully steering clear of that somber discussion. "We still can, of course. I find your cultures fascinating." She didn't really, but it didn't hurt to sound intrigued. She racked her brain for some trivial human knowledge. "Your cuisine is wonderfully exotic. Especially noodles." She laughed. "Your styles of cooking are delicious. And the tea," she sipped the drink. "Is amazing," "The husbands in the keep all prefer wines and spirits, and the youthful generations are losing their taste, only wanting things intoxicating, forgetting what calmness tea brings to the senses." "My husband too; he loved his liquor. He always assured me that only one glass would do, and when I turn around, half the casket is empty" she paused halfway in the reminiscence. She blinked, batting at her eyes, before turning away. "Excuse me," Huraii's next words died in her throat. A blade of guilt sheared into her heart. She moved closer to the human, averting her gaze. The woman blew her nose and coughed rapidly, dabbing at her tears. "Don't mind me, it was just..." Huraii smiled weakly. "I am sorry... for what has happened." She avoided the human's face, glancing down at the planet. A mix between neoteric forgiveness and a matured grudge warred for dominance inside the woman. The former lurched its way forward in a victorious heave, the stored anger submitted beneath cooled acceptance. She placed her hand on the sangheili's wrist, a move Huraii found startling. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I've come to terms with it." A confession bubbled out of Huraii's mouth. It was an obvious fact, but one that was denied and ignored in the public and confronted and cried over in private. "We have lost many loved ones as well. Many homes are empty in the keeps." The mistress would probably exile her for such an unstable topic breached with aliens. The human nodded in understanding. "Hey!" The familiar bark pounded the temporary intimacy into pulp. "Karen! Get away from it! What are you doing!?" The elder barged into them, banging his stick on the deck. "Stay the hell away from her! Who do you think you are! Piss off!" "No, Yuri, its fine, its okay, really, -" she tugged him back gently. "She wasn't doing anything, it's okay -" Huraii retreated a little. "No! What is it doing, speaking to you?" He glared accusingly at both of them, only with Huraii his visage contorted into murderousness. He pointed his stick at Huraii's belly. "I see you go near Karen again, go near any of us, you watch -" "Dad, I'm fine, don't -" She pulled on his arm urgently. He pushed her away. "You can't forgive these devils Karen! They're all two-faced evils! Are you forgetting Evan! Your parents! Your boy! If it wasn't for them, Connor would be alive!" "They have nothing to do with Connor!" "They have everything to do with your boy! The damned cancers they gave you -" "Yuri, dad, come on she was only apologising, -" "Apologise?" He whirled onto Huraii. "You apologise? You killed my son. Murdered my family, burned my planet," he choked. "And now you apologise?" He spat at her feet. "What have you left us with?" "Yuri, it's -" "Tell me. What have you left us with? Tell me!" He grimaced, holding his chest. "You have nothing to say! And that's what you left us with! Nothing! I have no one left, no one -" "Yuri!" He never finished. The man sagged onto his cane; and then the waxed pole gave out from underneath his load, and he crashed heavily onto the deck. -- James fiddled with his cufflinks. The silver squares wouldn't fit properly. He reminded himself not to buy backwater junk; cufflinks were out of fashion anyway. Damn trinkets. Things weren't going too well. Apart from Yuri's outburst, which only kindled his hope and snuffed it out a second later, there was nothing which gave him the opportunity to cause trouble. What were his bosses thinking, telling him to make a racket on a civilian and sangheili ship? Damn morons. And he thought sangheili were supposed to be over-the-top lunatics who took serious affront to even the most mere of offenses. Why were they so mild? Do something! Why didn't anything ever go according to his plans? Damn [i]aliens.[/i] Damn and damn and [i]damn.[/i] He plastered his forehead against the window, his breath misting on the transparent surface. He doodled in the condensation, and then erased it with a snort. The cufflink banged loudly against the glass. He adjusted the square again. There was someone arguing over on the other side of the oculus. He disregarded it, still tampering with the shabby jewelry. There was a cry. He looked up from his sleeve. What was happening? He peered past a dozen heads, spotting movement. There was definitely something heated going on around there. His hope sparked. He dug through the crowd, squinting. A scream more screams. James pushed past the jostle of bodies, his excitement building, his hands trembling, straying near his holster, before finally emerging into - [i]Trouble.[/i] -- Huraii moved forward, her hands darting to her pockets for medicine. The man rasped on the floor, foaming at the mouth. More humans crowded closer. "What's happening?" Huraii snapped. "I don't know, I don't know -" The woman sobbed, hand over her mouth, "I think it's a heart attack -" "The food was poisoned!" "Alien scum!" Huraii ignored the jibes. She checked the elder's airways, yielding nothing, and then felt his calves and forearms for a pulse, before remembering the pumping arteries were located around the neck for a human. There was no throb below his jaw, and his skin paled as his body failed in circulation. Sangheili didn't call it a heart attack, but this was barely any different to what befell countless people across the keeps. She drew out a sponge. Attacks like these were countered by a dosage of shocking fluid that when percolated into the victim's system would jolt the heart back into functionality. She pried at his coat and shirt, her fingers failing with the zips and buttons, and then abandoning dexterity, she tore open the elusive cotton. Mottled flesh greeted her. "Where is the heart located?" she demanded. The woman fumbled in confusion, pointing at the upper left portion of the chest. Huraii pressed the sponge onto the skin, thumbing it hard so the juices would permeate. Cures were developed hundreds of years ago. Needles had better results, but then she didn't know the human anatomy, and employed something easier. "Hoy, get away!" Huraii was getting sick of hearing that. She continued administering to the man, saturating the body with the precious solution. A cold steel barrel rammed against her temple. -- Alaiya saw the fracas. Witnessed the imprudent actions build up into a contemptible tower of idiocy; from the base layer to the crowning capstone. And now, the director of the construct knelt on the deck with a gun next to her head. A clash with the humans; it was all completely avoidable. It wasn't just Huraii's imbecilic thinking that was aggravating. It was the very idea that a guest, a human, dare bring a weapon into her domain. By right, she had their lives rolling as a ball in her palms, except for one thing. The ball was spiked; they were [i]human.[/i] Alaiya boiled. A pot of fury simmering in her mind, its temperature kept in check by careful maintenance on her part and the impression that this event would pass over quickly. Now, the deceptive presence of placation had melted, and her rage was spilt, scalding her control of thought. She stormed to the oculus, Karquier hurriedly walking in front, leaving her cup on the table. The man saw her. "Back off!" He kept his gun on Huraii, who knelt beside the fallen elder, unattended. "Back the hell off!" "Jesus, put the gun away!" Karquier gave Alaiya a worried glance, but did nothing. She knew better than to intercept. "Last warning! Stay where you are!" Huraii's eyes flickered between the gun's nozzle and the approaching trio. "I swear I'll shoot her! By god, I'll shoot!" Alaiya could care less about his devotion to religion. Let him shoot. She marveled at the consequences. The human pivoted to face her, the barrel aimed squarely at her chest. And then chaos reigned. --