stuff and things

[keelahselai]

She wasn't quite sure she believed it yet. One trip to Medical and...an entire lifetime of being on tenterhooks, fearing for her life every time she so much as sneezed - gone. Just like that. The CDC could reverse indoctrination, manipulate time and universes, but somehow it still hadn't quite sunk in that they could do this one thing.

Tali left Medical caught somewhere between nervous and excited, fidgeting and unable to keep still even for a second. The visor in front of her face had only rarely been this claustrophobic before, and she was acutely aware that there was a world of vivid colour and fresh air on the other side of it. And it could be hers if she could just get over the nerves.

...She maybe lasted ten minutes before contacting Shepard. Voice call, not text, words tripping over each other - Tali needed to meet her, talk to her about something, it was really important, nothing wrong just really important, she was outside on the edge of the lake, see her in five.

The five minutes or so between the call and the familiar sight of Shepard's figure appearing in the distance was spent alternatively pacing back and forth and rocking on her heels, fiddling with the pockets of that N7 hoodie she had on and forcing herself to take deep, even breaths.

She was fine. Totally fine. ...Just nervous as hell for so many reasons.

Comments

[2leftfeet]

It doesn't really matter that Tali had spent half the conversation reassuring her that everything was fine - everything was totally normal - this wasn't an emergency-- she's still buzzing with nervous energy, sharp itch of paranoia dug deep between her shoulder blades as she makes her way down from the facility. A year of double talk and playing stupid (and, let's be honest, smart) will do that to a person; she's been on the receiving end of enough suspicious comm calls that ended in bad news that she can't help but be wary of this one. So Shepard's got the gun with her, gauss rifle slung by its strap across her shoulder as she cuts through the scraggly trees to get to the waterline. Can't help but be hyper aware of the space - not after what had happened with Attano - as she points Tali's ID on the personnel tracker. Jangle of gunmetal against her side, all standard issue CDC uniform and that now familiar Ajna jacket, battered and stained and disturbingly well worn.

She spots Tali at a distance through the spotty foliage - drops down to the stone and shale bordering the water where there aren't any trees blocking her path and moves in at a clip. The lines of her expression are drawn taught, mouth thinned, a severe set to her jaw and brow. And while she knows the CDC has plenty of ways to listen in - that the wrist cuff is really the problem - she still waits until she's very close to say anything.

"What's going on?"