[Omega] Puppy Love

If there was one thing Silel had learned over the past year, it was that life was transitionary. Every aspect of her existence had been turned over, shaken, stirred, and spat out a hundred times over, which at least explained why the apartment was such a mess. Her lips quirked to the side as she surveyed the yet-unpacked boxes that littered the floor, the articles of clothing that had been tossed on every available surface. In an assembly of pots in the corner of the living room, a small hachix garden had started to grow.

At least something was consistent.

The human sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She was about to pick her way into the kitchen (which, fortunately, Cal had begun to organize) when the door's buzzer went off.

"Who the fuck--"

An explosion of sound erupted from the bedroom. The buzzer had woken the puppies, who had, for once, been quiet that morning.

"Right," Silel grumbled to herself, "the mutts." As she dodged boxes in order to reach the front door, she called out, "Just a sec! It's a zoo in here."

Literally, she thought. A curse escaped her as she stubbed her toe on the edge of the kitchen table. By the time she reached the entryway - the door sliding open before her with a quiet hiss - she was already done for the day.

"Hey."

And standing there was Lyra Palmer, dressed in black and accompanied by a pistol on the left hip as always, Hello, I'm here about the varren. She paused for a second to examine the place from where she stood and a whisper of a smile appeared, Noisy bunch aint they.

Huh. A professional on Omega.

Silel cocked a brow as she quickly looked over Palmer, making no attempt to disguise the act. After spotting the gun and how casually the woman was standing, she relaxed and stepped to the side to allow Palmer in.

"Yeah, you got no idea, honey,"she said. "Want a beer or something? They're in the bedroom - uh, just pick your way around the boxes. We're still sorting shit out after coming back from the Citadel."

It was nine in the morning, but Silel followed the old adage that it was five o'clock somewhere. She strolled through the living room and paused by the bedroom door, waiting for her company to proceed.

All the while, the yapping never slowed.

Palmer's head tilted a bit to the side as she entered the house, following with silent steps, That's quite the move from the Citadel to here and that depends on what drinks you have. She reached the bedroom door and listened once more, Have they ever tried to escape?

"If by 'escape' you mean 'follow me everywhere and try to kiss me,' then yes, they have tried to escape. Here, I'll let you in, then get you a uh... what do you drink?" Silel drew a breath, then attempted to slide the door open just enough for Palmer to slip inside.

Unfortunately for her, the pile of eight love-starved varren pups waiting at the door were a greater force than she reckoned. Like the world's most adorable avalanche, three puppies fell immediately in the crack of the door, and were subsequently used for escape by the other five, who crawled over them without hesitation.

"Aw, motherfucker!"

They were everywhere. A hoard of varren puppies swarmed the two women, their yaps interrupted solely by their maddened attempts to lick everything.

Fortunately the now Miss Palmer always wore boots and thick clothing as one such as herself never knows when crazy adventure is around the corner. She blinked as the varren forced their way through the door, uncertain if said clothes could handle the situation of varren puppies trying to lick a person to death, and then braced herself as part of the group attacked her boots. She watched for a second and then laughed as she shook her head, Alright then. I assume you want them all back in the bedroom?

"Oh my god, I don't even know anymore," whined Silel. "Offering those pups on the forum was the best idea ever. I mean, Short Order is a lot on his own, then there's these assholes..."

She sighed and bent down to pick up one of the darker pups, carrying it under her arm as ventured to the refrigerator and retrieved a couple cans of generic beer.

"Catch," was the only warning she offered before tossing one to Palmer. "So uh, you wanna play with them or something for a bit first? I can herd them back in, but I mean, while they're out here... You going to use them for companionship or hunting?"

Her hand snagged the can out of the air far faster then any human had right to use and then caught one of the puppies as it jumped up with her other hand. For the moment, it'll just be something to deal with in free time. They'll probably become hunters at some point as well, Omega being what it is and all that. She set down the varren and then opened the can, giving it an experimental sip, Nah, feel free to get them all back in. A longer drink and then she looked down at the swarm once more picking up the jumpy one once more, I think I've seen all I've need to seen.

... huh. Damn, kitty had claws.

Silel made a quick mental note of Palmer's agility; knowing who was who on Omega was half of the battle, after all. The rest was just being really good at avoiding getting shot in the head.

"It's Palmer, right? What do you do for a livin'?" she asked after cracking open the beer. "I mean, I'm not super attached to these guys or anything but I guess I gotta' do right by Kirok and make sure they get good homes."

As she listened to the other woman's reply, she started to dart around the living room in search of varren puppies. The chase was on.

Yeah, it's Palmer. There was a pause as she peered at the varren in hand as it peered at her, I own a shipyard amongst other things. Stuff with body armor. Some irregular work for the Alliance. But mainly the shipyard. The staring match between the two continued unabated, Kirok isn't here is he?

Something was wrong.

The cacophony of yapping was somewhat... quieter than usual. Silel frowned as she stormed around the apartment, secretly dreading that one of the varren pups had died spontaneously due to excitement. To her surprise, she saw instead that the one Palmer was holding was... behaving. Staring.

Lovestruck.

"Uh, I think he chose you," she said with a slight grin. "Guess you know my name, given it's my screenname and all." A pause as she deposited several more puppies into the bedroom and hurriedly shut the door. "Kirok should be here in a day or two, I think? I'm offering him a position as a bouncer, so if you want to see him for sure, you could swing by the club one of these nights. I'll ping you my contact data on the site to keep you in touch."

The blonde stopped and stared at a dark spot on the carpet.

"Aw, damnit, one of them peed!"

I'll drop by sometime then. She put down the varren and looked around for the other one she wanted, her eyes traveling right over the dark spot with a glance of one who has seen much worse. She spotted her target then and moved, the varren she had been carrying bounding after her as she caught its brother. A much messier staring match ensued and Lyra broke it off to glance over her shoulder, Need any help with that?

The last of the puppies was deposited in the bedroom with a colorful exposition of words. Already exhausted, Silel retrieved her beer from the countertop and chugged half of it down in record time.

"Too little, too late," she said with a rakish grin. "Anyways, what d'you think is fair for the little guys? I'm just looking to cover their shots, they're already vaccinated. I looked it up on the extranet and they should be scheduled for neutering in three weeks if you want to do that, though. Up to you."

Huh. Clearly the staring match had been more distracting then she thought. A blink later and then she replied, I figure four hundred credits each should do.

Four hundred credits.

Four hundred credits!

That was certainly enough to cover the medical fees and food, and considering Silel had smuggled the little pups in, there was even enough to set aside as profit, too.

"You," she began, grinning broadly, "have got yourself a deal, Ms. Palmer. Eight total? Works for me. Say, uh, what district did you say you own again? Caught that little interesting tidbit on the forums..."

Hey, if she had that kind of money, what was wrong with a little shmoozing?

Humm? Oh, I own Lathal arcology. A place renowned for its fine batarian cheese, shipyard, producing chemical weapons, and occasional vorcha problems. People mainly come for the cheese. Oh, and that last one was before the war so it aint a problem now. She looked down at the varren, Do ya prefer credit chits or payment to an account?

Cheese?

This woman had access to cheese?

As a native-born Frenchwoman, Silel's interest was immediately piqued. She bent down to pet one of the pups, though her eyes remained on Palmer. "No shit? Sounds like a good gig. Uh, chits is fine - you should give me an address nearby, I'm going to die if I don't get some dairy soon. Ugh, and some wine, and grouse... oh, man, I miss Earth."

She hesitated, then went out on a limb.

"Parlez-vous francais?"

A pocket opened and Palmer pulled out what was needed. I'll send you an address then. Her hand paused in its path for a second and then continued, Un peu. J'etais en France apres la guerre et... She shrugged, a hand held out now, That's 800. I prefer Portuguese though. First language learned and all that.

It was like hearing a ghost.

The French language - her native tongue - hadn't graced her ears in years, and hearing it now from a real person, without the assistance of her translator, was... strange, almost. Sure, the sentence had been simple as hell, but something about the familiarity was ever so refreshing to her.

"Parfait, pour moi," she replied. "C'été un long temps que quelqu'un a parlé du français contre moi." Even if Palmer didn't understand the prior statement, she continued in English, "That's fine, it'll go through the bank all the same. You got food for 'em at home? I could send you home with some of the towels they've been sleepin' on, might help them adjust. They're gonna cry a lot for a couple weeks, just a head's up. You can come by if you want them to see their dad any time."

Yeah, I'll take some of those blankets and yes, there is enough food for the pair. She nodded then, I'll bring them around sometime then. An idle thought struck and she wondered if animals could get traumatized like people could. Something to research she decided. Anything else I should know?