[Citadel, Zakera] A much needed family outing (open)

Silently standing next to Richard Preeya watched the scenery around her for some seconds, her attention finally coming to rest on another quarian woman and a fascinating little animal.

However, as the human woman spoke to Richard, Preeya decided to speak for herself since she did not want to make him hard-pressed to explain about this...

"I am." She simply said, and took a polite hailing bow towards the woman, then pointed at Richard. "But he is with me."

Don't stare at me go somewhere else, idiot Kari thought to herself as she started to move, dragging Plika with her, the choriick chirping curiously as she started going the opposite way she was going

"Plika, not now. Please" she said, trying to get the choriick to cooperate.

"You were supposed to find me, not to chatter..." Hedin finally spoke, after both, Preeya and her new friend looked at him again and again pretending not to see him...

With a slightly disappointed sigh he slowly crawled out of his hiding place, back into the group of people.
"Shall I explain the rules to you?" He added looking at Preeya.
I fact he was not really disappointed - He rather assumed that she did not understand the basics of hide and seek.

For a moment he looked at Preeya's new companion - The human man - and politely waved at him, "...Hello Sir!" then also gave everyone else a curious look, trying his best not to show that he was a little scared of the Geth amongst them as well, and waving a second time towards the woman Preeya and her friend were talking to.

While rejoining Preeya he however spotted a small animal that apparently did not want to leave the group like it's quarian owner attempted to.
As it headed back to the group again, Hedin curiousely streaked towards the strange little creature.

"Oh wow!" He exclaimed fascinated and held one hand towards it. "Can I hold it?!"
As a well-behaved child he of course did not ask the pet's owner first, but his current guardian...

Sarah slowly rose to a stand and made her way over to Helena, baby boy grasping tightly to the shoulder of her Space Bees shirt.
"Helena, you look great. I'm sorry about all the run of trouble that the two of you have been through, with the attack and the cost of your husband's arm. As for the scar on your face- The one on your chin, I know of a very good plastic surgeon. Remember when I didn't look like this?" She gestured to her face.

"I had the scar on the side of my face and everything? Anyway.." She activated her omni-tool and flash-printed a small plackard with the contact details. She offered it over. "Here you go. I've got to ask you like, a thousand questions about motherhood but I know you're busy, and even worse, you're not going to be on the Citadel for much longer. I suppose I'll just write, then?"

Helena's brows raised at Preeya's presence, the second quarian she'd spoken to in a day, quite the anomaly, considering how few there were. Before she could say much more, the turian boy announced himself, putting Helena's concerns to rest.

"Alright then, clearly he's in your care. I'm sorry, I guess I was about to jump the gun a little. You can never be too cautious over the wellfare of children though."

She said, before glancing at her own child, who was currently jumping up and down excitedly in front of Siobhan. Muck returned her gaze to Preeya, and noted the turian boys age. Something about them tickled her memory, but she couldn't quite place it. It was at the tip of her tongue when Sarah addressed her.

"Uh, I appreciate the offer, but no thank you. It's just a scratch, and it'll fade completely after a while."

Helena answered, absently massaging the scars in question. She'd just taken a rough tumble on some asphalt. Helena gestured at her husband.

"Besides, if he can live with a mechanical limb, I can certainly deal with some superficial nicks on my chin. Besides, you ever want to ask me questions, do it whenever you'd like. I'd find it refreshing, since I'm usually the one who asks them"

"Well, for one, he's three months old and he still has trouble sleeping at night without screaming his head off. I've been sleeping on the floor in the nursery near his crib but - I've got to get back to work soon, like, around the summer of next year. I've got to get back into shape, I've got to settle a lot of issues before I get back into the office. I want to spend time with him and I worry that I'm not going to be there for him, but I- ..." She gave the baby a gentle pat on the back.

"I was thinking of hiring a nanny full-time for him. I can't be everywhere at once and he can't go with me to some places. What do you think?"

"Of course. I understand that." Preeya answered towards Helena, releasing an approving nod. "I prepared myself for this task quite well." She added, gave Richard a thoughtful look then focused on Hedin to answer his question.

"You actually may. As long as it's owner agrees."
Looking at the other quarian woman again, Preeya waited for an answer, while standing in the middle of the crowd for some seconds, almost like transfixed.

"...How would you rate my success so far?" She casually asked towards Richard's direction, while still looking at Hedin and the Quarian lady.

"Had the CDN brainstorming been a match for "average family experience"?
I still haven't found the chance to try out every single suggestion yet..."

Being announced as 'with me' made Richard blush a little. He knew her for mere minutes and just discovered that she was just as cute in real life as she had come across on the extranet. He blushed some more and then regained this composure.

He turned to the boy when he appeared. ""Hey there! Well, that means you have won the game I would say! I am Richard, Preeya invited me to play along... kind of. Maybe we can do another round later? I'll promise not to go easy on you!" turian kids had some irresistible charm. Maybe it was because they looked like cute little dinosaur kids to humans. Every human at one point in his life had loved dinosaurs. The grown ups looked more like T-Rex predators sometimes, Richard mused as he nodded towards the other turian chatting to the human with the artificial arm.

He turned to Preeya. "I think you’re doing good! Remember what I said about the unpredictable? Looks like you ended up right in the middle of it. But from what it looks like, the boy is fine.” He noticed Hedin’s interest for the quarian dog-spider thing. Alien pets…. He knew so little about the galaxy and noticed he was in for it just now.
“Saying that, I didn’t expect to meet you here either, so unexpected pleasant things for many of us.”

He again turned to Helena and Sarah. "Hello, I am Richard, nice to meet you.” Towards Helena he added: “In fact... I noticed your family and your husband over there. I wonder... could it be that you are that reporter who put some documentaries about earth on the extranet? There's this site I follow for some short time now and I kind of thought, maybe..." okay, this was going to end super awkward or be... just an awkward coincidence.

Kari tried to sound as pleasant as possible as spoke to the turian child, while mentally she was cursing both Plika for being disobediant for the first time in her life, and the child having the absolute worst timing he could ever have. "Dear, please put her down before you hurt her. Please. Me and her really need to go home right now."

"That is an increasingly impressive crowd."

Vohkaidin agreed after a moment, bemused at his wife's ability to be something of a social magnet. It was something he'd found immensely attractive when they'd first met, and that hadn't changed, but was nervous about that many people around his daughter. Still, that fear seemed unwarranted, given the friendly gestures and expressions.

"...Well, maybe we won't talk to Muck right away, but we can mingle. I'm curious..."

Vohk paused, and grinned with recognition as he reached over and tapped Zelanna on the shoulder. "Lady Zelanna, if I'm not mistaken. It's good to see you. How's your mother, and Emile? Still working with the Alliance?"

Helena stared at Sarah for a moment, before taking on a more solemn expression.

"I can see why that might be alarming for a new parent, especially when you're on your own. I had my husband, my sisters, and my father to help out, and it still stressed me out. Still does, though the challenges are always different. You have to keep in mind, above all else, that crying for very young children like that is their final option. Right now, Albert needs you more than he ever will, and it's good that you're quick to answer his needs. He's learning trust and communication from you, and both are extremely important, of course. You're doing a good job Sarah, I promise."

Helena considered the problem of Sarah's need to continue her work.

"...Well, for what I understand, that may likely be your option if you have no other choice than to hire a nanny. I understand that you don't have any immediate family, and Chris is currently out of the picture..."

Helena noted, before taking a considering look at Albert, and then her daughter.

"...Vohk and I have been talking about moving back to the Citadel one day. I suppose if we do, we could take the time to babysit. I might also recommend my sister, as she might be a terrible housekeeper, Nicola's very good with children, of all ages. Just never let her stay in your house without a child to supervise. I'm going to yank that mohawk off her when I get home."

Helena swore, before the quarian woman's gentleman companion addressed her. Ah. Someone who knew her work.

"Yes, that would be me. I'm pleased to see the film's getting some attention. I'm Helena Knox."

She offered her hand in greeting.

Sarah thought briefly. "Okay. I think Nicola would be a great candidate, once I start working." She glanced over the rest of the crowd swarming the journalist and gave Helena a warm smile. "Well, I'm not going to trouble you anymore. Call me! We should lunch or catch up sometime." The baby began to fuss and cry, curling tiny hands into partial fists and face souring like he'd eaten a lemon.
Sarah sighed and did her best to comfort him, kissing the baby on the side of the head. "What's the matter? Are you sleepy?"

Sarah turned to Vohk- And then her attention was back to the baby. "Okay- Okay.." She murmured, walking back to the carriage. She set him down and covered him with his favorite blanket- And began to feed him with a bottle. "You're fine. We'll be back home soon, I promise!"

"Awwww..." Hedin sighed a little disappointed, but took his hand away from the fuzzy little creature after it's owner told him to.
"I'm, sorry, ma'am. Didn't mean to hurt the little guy."
He gave the quarian woman an apologizing look, then slowly stepped back to Preeya and her companion.

Preeya politely patted Hedin's head, while her friend introduced himself to him

Hedin's eyes widened, beaming with joy again.
"We three playing together?!
...That would be awesome! The more players, the more fun! Even more so if you're challenging me!"
He held his hand towards Richard. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hedin Aetona! We can teach Preeya all the rules together and then I'll be the one to seek you two..."

Preeya invisibly smiled under her helmet.
She found Hedin's and Richard's self-evidently cheerful interaction to be joyful.
In a way she even envied both of them for a moment...

"You know. I am not exactly fond of unpredictable things. But regarding this, you were right.
A very interesting meeting so far..." She spoke to Richard, watching how Hedin now eagerly walked around him, checking his new playmate.

As Richard focused on Helena Preeya again became silent for a moment, and decided to continue watching the other people in the group.
To be more specific: Trying her best to check the other parents' behaviour towards their children, in hope to learn something new...

Suddenly the idea crossed her mind, that maybe the reason for her insecurity and awkwardness when it came to dealing with children might have been based on herself never having been really "childlike" when she was young...
This... And her father being an inadequate role model in practically all aspects of life...

Thoughtfully she stared at the people.

When the human man nodded at him, Titus nodded right back. As Vohkaidin moved towards the gathering, spying an old friend of his, the turian opted to stand off to the side, not wanting to interrupt a reunion between the two. After a moment of looking awkward, Titus attempeting to strike up a conversation with the quarian woman next to the turian boy.

"My apologies," he addressed Preeya, with the formality that a Heirarchy Officer was oh so acquainted with, "but you look a little lost amongst all these people. Major Titus Scapula, Cabalist." He offered a claw and a smile.

"Again, I offer my apologies, but is the boy yours? A little odd to see a turian child with a quarian mother and human father." Admittedly, that was a little rude, but hell; Titus was curious.

Richard took the offered hand. “Mrs. Knox! I go by the name of calamity21 on the extranet. Yeah, I couldn’t help but note your previews. Good to see serious journalism although I admit… the price seemed quite heavy!” He nodded towards Vohkaidin.“But you posting vid material of yourself made you recognizable! So this is your little girl?” He observed the young human running about. There also was the asari mum and her daughter on the bench. He should also introduce himself there.

“Hello Ma’am, Richard Hall, nice to meet you!” he said. It was getting complicated since there were so many people around! He looked from the asari to Helena and back. “I assume you all know each other, right? Did we run into some get-together here? In fact I even met Preeya’Lem by pure chance earlier and only then discovered that we knew each other from the extranet.” The young asari and the human kid seemed to get along well. He did not know much about the long living species’ kids so they may or may not have been of the same age but that seemed irrelevant for the two girls. Seeing happy kids was good. He remembered too many bad things from earth he wanted to forget and seeing happy kids was helping.

He smiled at Preeya’s remak on the unpredicted situations. The poor woman had trouble with her leg which made it even harder to play with the child but he would gladly help out. He offered Hedin a fist-bump. “No quarter given!” he said and winked.

Unexpectedly interrupted in her thoughts by being addressed, Preeya quickly turned around towards the voice and looked into the eyes of the turian man that previously talked to the human next to him.

Like she did towards everyone she talked to so far, she gave him a polite hailing nod before she answered.
"Nice to meet you, Major. My name is Preeya'Lem." She looked at him for a second. Even though she was mostly insecure about social interaction she was actually glad that he talked to her. "You do not have to worry. I am - by all means - not lost."

She walked a step towards him while looking at Hedin.
Of course Titus Scapula was curious. She must have been a rather unusual sight to practically everyone else...
"He actually is not mine. I... I look after him, since his father had to leave the citadel for some days."

As Hedin heard that Preeya was talking about him, he gave her and Titus a curious look, then cheerfully waved at Titus. "Hello, sir!"

"...Also is my companion.." She pointed at Richard. "...No parent of the boy.
Richard and I are extranet acquaintances, who met each other by pure chance."

She waited for some seconds until she finally curiously added.
"What about you? Are you here with family?"

Most people in fact appeared to be, so she assumed it to be quite likely.

"Its... its quite all right. Thank you for listening", Kari said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible as she continued to wrangle the still uncooperative choriick, which was now running circles around her chirping loudly now that the turian boy had put her down clearly excited by the crowd. Cursing she decided to pick her up instead. Not noticing that the animal's leash had wrapped around her leg in the process.

She tripped, and fell. The choriick, unharmed. Strolled up, sat in her lap, and looked up at her, tilting its head. Almost asking her: What's your problem?

A moment later, Kari felt a strong pair of arms capture her shoulders, and lift her upwards, Pilka sliding off her master's side.

"You alright?"

Vohkaidin Knox asked, after disengaging himself for a moment to pull the quarian up from the soil, dusting her off as he did so. "So you're the chorlick's owner? Sorry if my daughter was a little too excited earlier. She's at the sort of age wherever everything new is worth freaking out for."

He explained with a warm smile, clearly not bothered by the prospect.

"Yes, yes. Thank you", Kari said quickly moving away from Vohk, not liking the physical contact or the embarrassment of falling down in front of everyone. "Its no trouble at all you know how kids are", she picked the squirming choriick up and looked at Vohk again, trying to suppress a glare. "Now please. Move out of the way."

Helena nodded, before smiling warmly at her daughter's playful antics, ignoring the younger man's implication for a moment.

"Yep, she's absolutely mine. She'll be two in just a few months."

She explained, before her smile slowly shifted to a more thoughtful frown. She glanced over at her husband, before returning her gaze to Richard, and nodding. "We've all had to make sacrifices, though one of my husband's is certainly more physical. But, we're also here, today, alive and able to take our daughter out to a place beautiful as this. So, our sacrifices have been worth it, I think."

Helena considered him for a moment, before continuing on.

"Sorry, I tend to be overly talkative at lightest provocation. Good for news broadcasts and documentaries, bad for chit chat with strangers."

She apologized whilst shrugging sheepishly.