[Citadel] The Forest at Night (closed)

Temria looked back at the three of them behind the counter, the elder giving a very familiar 'what the hell was that' speech which the doctor had been present for more than once... "I don't know..." she admitted finally, the thought giving her pause, "I assumed not, but now that you mention it they certainly act like it, don't they?"

Shrugging, she turned to her dish, watching Arina go after the mushrooms with such laser focus drew a small chuckle out of her, while she herself went after the meat first and foremost. The first bite eel was sweet, almost overpowered by the red sauces it had been cooked in but it was all the better for it to Temria, and even as she chewed it she skewered one of the mushrooms with a practiced precision and sampled it as well.

"Careful with that joke, I may stop by there to try to liberate some myself." she replied with a wink, quite contented to see the other asari attack her food with such obvious appreciation.

Chuckling she added: “It’s no joke, I really did that once.” Maybe she could take Temria to one of the affairs where a +1 was optional, It could be funny.

Arina was slowly taking care of her fish and the tender noodles.
“That is excellent cooking, one could really think being somewhere in the Republics, Thessia even. This was an excellent idea.”

Then she was taking the pitcher and with a nod parted the remaining wine into their cups with a attentive gesture of putting one hand to the bottom of the pot.

“I think we may need fresh supplies – I would like to have some more at least.” She looked down, trying to get the attention of one of the servers. The scolding had turned into a lecture it seemed and it took a while to make eye contact and receive a nod. In times of all electronic menus and ordering by touch of fingertips, this seemed out of date but still, the aspect of as aroid interaction of guest and host, the age old ritual, could never be replaced by mechs and in Arina’s mind never should.

“How did you end up in your current position actually?” Arina asked when turning her attention back to the table.

Temria's eyes followed Arina's down to the central section, a bemused smile on her face. To say watching the youngsters get chewed out was entertaining was just a tad too cruel for the truth, but the matron had an amusing way of working herself up with her 'you could have been's, 'thousands of years of tradition's and her 'I don't know why I bother's...

"She'll tire herself out sooner, rather than later." Temria said with a small chuckle, holding her cup up to acknowledge Arina's assistance before taking a long sip.

Turning to cut her food, she smiled thoughtfully, "Well, after the war... ended, we took berth on the citadel. I volunteered in the relief effort... and decided I very much wanted to never see what had become of Thessia." she hesitated, picking up the cup again and giving it another sip.

"I left the fleet amicably and stayed here. Established contacts and joined the partnership. That's about it."

“Heh,” Arina chuckled, talking about the lecturing chef, “that or she actually gets somewhere. She seems very thorough at least.”

When Temria explained her motivation, Arina had to choke and a small cough could not be avoided.

“Sorry…” She thought about her own return from Niacal, it had been devastating. No, that was an understatement. Especially coming from a smaller colony seeing the planet wide destruction first hand was nerve wrecking. But then, two years had already passed.

Still a shadow of its former beauty, a lot of centers had been reconstructed. There were living areas where no trace of the destruction was visible but there were also still deserted areas of ruins, waiting to be cared for later. Or the plains and fields where once cities have been. Now grasslands and recultivated after being leveled and cleared of rubble. The shrunk population did not need so much space anymore...

Hope and despair were close neighbors on Thesssia. While Arina was soaking up all information about Thessia she could get hold of, she could understand that some preferred to look the other way. She decided to let the subject rest.

After clearing her throat and taking a sip, she replied “I understood you are a general practitioner. But what exactly is the ‘partnership’?” If Temria ever had mentioned it, Arina could not recall.

Letting out a long sigh, Temria managed a weak smile. Arina had come to be comforted and here she went bringing up Thessia... Well that settles it.

Not content to let them dwell on that dark thought a moment longer, Temria leaned her head out and pierced the din of the restaurant with a shrill whistle. The proprietress looked back, annoyed to be interrupted mid-rant, but gave an understanding nod as her customer raised the empty vessel with a mocking urgency. That settled, she turned back to face Arina, taking a few bites of her own meal again and to smile at her question.

"Oh it's nothing overly impressive, it's just... how do I put this? The internal organization of the KCDHI is made up of several different groups of different doctors in related fields pooling our own resources to fund the practice. It's actually a standardized model the volus follow, the term partnership is just sort of... I don't know, persistent?"

As the owner returned with a new ceramic vessel, Temria's small smile turned to a challenging grin. "Ah, but don't let me prattle on about all that..." she says softly as she shifted position in her seat, kneeling as she poured them each a fresh steaming cup of the stuff. "I can think of at least twenty more things worth toasting tonight, and I'm eager to see if you can keep up..."

Settling back into her cushions again, Temria raised her cup "To new accuaintances." and emptied it in one smooth motion.