[Nos Astra, Illium] Let's All Go To The Lobby

Ana's skill at navigating environments - even unfamiliar ones - via her suit's sensors had taken remarkable strides since those first tentative attempts over a year ago, but the randomly undulating sea of stimulus from the crowd in the theatre's lobby still presented quite a challenge. Luckily it was also exactly the sort of occasion when one would stroll along sedately arm-in-arm with one's bondmate - Ana didn't put pride before prudence in any case, but it was a pleasant bonus when the gesture could go unnoticed by those around them.

"I think they got their full house after all," Daia noted in a murmur, as they wove their way across the wide balcony that served as the pre-show and intermission social area for the middle of the Matriarch Strata Classical Theater's three audience tiers. Over the balcony's railing Daia could see the edge of an even larger crowd beneath them, waiting to fill the central seats, while above them all the city's elite - those interested in theatre, at any rate - looked down, being sure to be seen in their dazzling gowns and tailored suits, while silent, efficient waiters drifted among them dispensing only the finest wines.

On that thought, Daia snagged a glass with a smile and a word of thanks to the passing tray-bearer; not the rarefied vintage their self-appointed social 'betters' would be enjoying, a sip unsurprisingly revealed, but a light, pleasant taste nonetheless. The Strata did, unusually, cater to quarians in its refreshment menu, but the prices for something as simple as water were ridiculous even by the standards of lobby snacks, and the couple hadn't hesitated to bring some slimline canisters from home instead.

"I think I saw a flash of blonde over there," Daia said, trying to spot a familiar face through the bustle. "If Skylar's here already she's probably found Taleeze as well..." A thought occurred to her. "I just realised, we went off on a tangent at home talking about elemental theatre versus new spirit - have you been to a production of Varisa before?"

"Are you sure I look alright?"

It had been some time since Iryana had been to a theater. Between the promotion, working under a different person after Linya becoming a Professor, and with the whole 'The galaxy was almost destroyed by giant synthetic whatevers' contributed to one simple truth.

Iryana hadn't been to any theater that some would spell 'theatre' or anything similarly fancy since Kahje.

So Iryana was wearing a simple dress, asari-made and calf-length. The deep blue stood out well against her orange scales, and she seemed somewhat nervous as she walked along, one arm cautiously linked with Linya's.

Taleeze was checking her makeup and the gemfal for the xth time in her omnimirror as the skycab touched down in front of The Strata. An evening to indulge in ancient asari lyrics and (hopefully) artsy stage wardrobes. How long had it been since she had the free time to go to a theater? Not since before the war really, everything in between had been small scale productions but this was something else. The Grand House was an architectural gem and it's acoustic was among the best in the galaxy, as she had heard and read. Daia was such a dear to have arranged this evening. She would even get to meet two friends of Daia she had never met before, so she was especially excited.

With a hiss the windscreen opened and Taleeze exited the cab. The area on the top level, where her entrance was, was already brimming with arriving visitors in elegant gowns and dresses. She thought about sending a short message to Daia but decided it would be fun to try and find them on her own. But maybe... she exhaled and straightened a few folds on her dress, that totally didn't need it. Maybe she would meet Skylar first. Her mood brightened immediately as she imagined the blond human in this environment.

As she strolled past the gates - the admission was checked casually via omnitool so she didn't have to do a thing - she looked around, admiring the glass and chrome architecture of the multi-story lobby. The gemfal on her outer le’ku was gently brushing against the side of her head and neck.

For a moment she had thought she had seen the well known blond hair, but she must have been mistaken, as thee were so many humans around. Most of the audience seemed to be asari though as the piece that was to be played was an asari legend of old times, although a well known favorite among those interested and one that would guarantee the theater a full house and the audience a delightful evening. Taleeze had not read much about this specific interpretation of Varisa to not spoil her fun. She was just sure that this house was putting on an exceptional performance.

She couldn’t find anyone in this crowd though, so she took a moment in a corner with a couple of lounge chairs to screen the area for any known face.

Ana'Therion was mildly terrified.

She had navigated her fair share of crowds before, but this was both huge and very tightly packed - the sensory input from her suit was overwhelming to the point that she'd had to turn it down twice. It was impossible to get around on her own, and so she clung tightly to Daia's arm as they moved through the lobby. In the interest of keeping up appearances and embarrassing her bondmate as little as possible, of course, she matched Daia's stride and walked without visible hesitation. Hopefully they wouldn't have to stop suddenly.

"Not Varisa specifically," she answered - a bit late, because most of her focus was going into getting around the lobby without tripping or colliding with anyone - "but I looked at a summary so I should be able to keep up with the plot. Assuming I don't get us thrown out before it starts."

To say she was self-conscious would be tastefully understating it. A quarian in the Strata was probably neither common nor desired, and although she'd worn a classy and very tasteful envirosuit in her usual teal, Ana didn't need sight to tell it was woefully inadequate next to the ritzily-attired crowds.

There hadn't been much of a choice there, of course; her really fancy suits were 1) in storage and 2) a tripping hazard waiting to happen.

"People are probably staring, aren't they?" She had to resist the urge to wring her hands - it'd leave her without a guide, after all. "Well, you're radiant enough for the both of us, love. It'll have to do."

"Stop worrying, you look great!"
To those unfamiliar with her, the name "Professor Linya M'Tanis of the University of Nos Astra" conjures up an image in the mind of a graceful, wise matriarch - or a businesslike, self-assured matron. Pretty much anything but the enthusiastic, giggling maiden swinging off her girlfriend's arm like some lunatic pyjak on coffee.
Yet there she was, wittering away, steadfastly ignoring the strange looks from the odd specimen of Illian élite.
Linya hadn't been to the theatre in forever - about sixty years before Iryana had been born, in fact - and the stage adaptation of Two Salarians and a Hat wasn't exactly in the same league as what they were about to see. Still, something out of the ordinary promised to be interesting, at the very least.

Violet gown swaying with her, she swung round to give Iryana a peck on the lips (with a little hop so she could reach, of course), taking the chance to check for familiar faces behind them.
"See anyone?"

"I see a lot of people... As for Daia or Ana, not yet." Iryana's scales hid any blush that a human or asari might express at Linya's spontaneous display of affection. Though her throat did swell a little, straining her voice a touch.

Linya's dark eyes scanned the crowd, trying to pick out individual faces. So far, nobody really stood out save-

Wait.

Her hand tightened gently on Linya's arm, a little signal the maiden no doubt recognized as being a sign Iryana was slipping into memory. "The studio door opens, there are two sitting there on couches... One, an attractive asari, larger than Linya... The other a quarian, haven't seen many of those... They introduce themselves, Daia and Ana..."

Iryana shook her head to clear out the memories, gently nodding across the lobby. "I think I saw a quarian over there, and it looked like it could be Ana. Daia's probably not far from her."

"My my," a familiar voice purred from Taleeze's right side, "what have we here?"

Skylar had emerged from the crowd - in a black dress, and obviously not shy about the parts the dress didn't conceal, she cut a striking figure. Today's corset - a bodice, rather, in this case - was decorated with an elaborate layer of Armali lace silk, glittering glossy black in the lobby's lights, and her ankle-length skirt matched, slit high up one side to reveal a flash of bare hip and thigh, and an old-fashioned garter strap attached to the smoky stocking covering the visible leg from there down. Her hair was intricately styled, its gold a stark contrast to the black lace decorations woven into it, and she even had a matching black lace fan, over the top of which she was peering down at Taleeze.

"I thought that was you I spotted," she said, snapping the fan closed to reveal her smile. She offered Taleeze her hand, but bent low to kiss the asari's - the bodice must have been very cleverly designed, since even standing upright her generous bust seemed to be merely resting in it, and Goddess only knew how she could bend over without falling out - before lifting her to her feet.

"You look exquisite," she murmured, lifting a hand to lightly touch Taleeze's gemfal, smiling as the jewelled strands swayed, and letting her fingertips brush against her bare shoulder before they withdrew. "Have you seen anyone else? I caught a glimpse of a female drell with an excitable asari on her arm a moment ago." She indicated the rough direction with a tilt of her head.

Taleeze was startled on Skylars arrival but instantly stunned by the magnificent dress which was worn with astonishing grace by the human. Taleeze wondered for a moment how it had taken Skylar to get her hair done. She would have to ask her sometime about the specifics of human haircare. Either way, Taleeze chuckled on the introduction and dropped a curtsy in return of the hand kiss, which was a human custom not completely unknown to Taleeze

In return Taleeze was leaning and placed a gentle kiss on Skylars ear.
“Hello Skylar! We have here an asari who is looking for her company. So far I don’t complain.” She grinned mischievously.

She shuddered a bit on the touch of Skylars fingertips.
“Oh thank you, but you look magnificent yourself!" She took a step back to admire Skylar, but took on a bit of a pose herself. It amused Taleeze slightly that both of them had obviously decided to be a leg show this evening.

She offered her right arm to Skylar.
“Hm, I was keeping a lookout but so far have not seen Daia or Ana.” In fact, she couldn’t make out any quarian. “You mean, Linya and Iryana? I haven’t met them personally yet but I thought, a drell would stand out as much as a quarian here, so let’s see…” She was scanning the crowd in the direction Skylarw as giving. Oh, and indeed, there was an orange drell head. As she looked, all of a sudden a tiny asari seemed to jump upwards and kiss that drell, before disappearing in the mass of heads again.

“I think I saw them! Let’s go over then.” Taleeze smiled at the woman at her side. Most of people stepped aside courteously as the pair moved through the crowd towards the petite asari and the drell, approaching them from the side.

“Good evening, ladies. Aren’t you Iryana and Linya? I am Taleeze, and I think you know Skylar?” She was offering both hands in classic asari fashion.

"You'll be fine then," Daia smiled, giving Ana's hand on her arm a fond pat with her free hand. "I had a peek at a couple of reviews from the Epira leg of the company's tour, it didn't sound like they were doing anything tradition-breaking with the presentation, and you know how classical Thessian theatre is." She pondered a moment. "I want to find another word for 'formulaic' that has positive connotations instead..."

They moved through the crowd without any particular difficulty - a mixed world, or somewhere like the Citadel, would have been a whole order of magnitude more challenging, but asari - even Illium asari - had a way of mingling without getting in each other's way. Even those who didn't bother concealing their haughty sense of superiority when they spotted a quarian in their midst were not so gauche as to break with the ingrained courtesy that gave everyone room to move.

"A few," Daia agreed with Ana's guess. She didn't like it to say the least, but denying the reality - especially to someone like Ana - would be ridiculous; after living together this long, she didn't dignify her adopted homeworld's passive-aggressive discrimination with displays of temper. Instead she smiled at Ana's compliment, and leant to touch her lips briefly to the side-plate of Ana's helmet, just beneath the opaque faceplate. For what it was worth, the glances were more curious than hostile. Had they been up on the top floor, that would have been another matter.

"That's her, I'm sure," she said. "Excuse us? Thank you..." She steered Ana by as an elcor politely (if, by necessity, slowly) backed out of their way, and caught up without incident to Skylar, discovering that she and Taleeze had done the remaining work of uniting their party.

"All four of them," she quietly noted to Ana, as they took the last few steps towards the group, where introductions were underway.

"Hello girls," she announced herself brightly at an opportune moment. "Skylar, Taleeze... Linya, Iryana. Good to see you all." She held out one hand only, so as not to dislodge Ana - in this crowd her turning as she spoke, so Ana could sense which figure she was facing as she said each name, was probably futile, but it was a habit too ingrained to stop now.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'prevailing'. Or maybe 'conventional', if you wanted to be a little more tone-neutral."

Well, at least she was able to banter. Ana held on carefully as the two navigated a sea of sensations - constant, steady pressure on all sides. It was a little claustrophobic, and her skin had started to feel overstimulated a few times (hence the cranking down of the sensitivity). Her lips pursed as Daia confirmed the "people are staring at me" suspicion, but she held her tongue all the way to the rest of the group. Hell if she cared, she had the hottest CEO in Nos Astra on her arm.

...Or well, she was on that CEO's arm, if you wanted to be technical.

A quick glance around their triple-date later, Ana had a pretty decent idea of who was where. Once they'd moved, of course, that'd dissipate, but for now, Daia's motion had given her a general bead on their positions.

"Hello," she offered politely.

Oh wow, people.
Linya's first impulse was to hug, of course, but the oft-neglected "etiquette" part of her brain had decided to rouse itself; speaking in her mother's voice, as it often did, it warned of people's reaction to unexpected embraces and the fact she didn't really know either of the two new arrivals despite briefly meeting Skylar a couple of times.
Unsurprisingly, First Impulse won that particular argument.
The miniature maiden skittered toward the pair, throwing her arms around their midsections with a grin.
She'd have gone for the shoulders, but as usual they'd conspired to be too tall.
"Hiii! I'm Linya!"

And there were Daia and Ana, as well! With an odd little twirl, Linya disentangled herself and threw herself in their general direction - and missed. As a result, the petite scientist was sent squawking into the crowd, momentarily disappearing between a pair of turians before re-emerging, blushing darker than her dress.

Dignity? What's that?

As a start contrast to Linya's enthusiastic greeting, Iryana simply nodded politely as she was suddenly surrounded. "Ah, hello everybody." She knew Daia and Ana, you tended to remember anybody who had a frank discussion on a podcast. Skylar was in the range of 'recognizing her face', though Iryana couldn't say that she KNEW the human as well as Linya, or even Daia. And Taleeze was more or less a stranger, so the daringly dressed asari got Iryana's attention at first.

"You must be Taleeze. I'm Iryana Lerish, I'm here with Linya." When Linya returned, Iryana allowed herself to laugh as she stepped forward, letting her arm wrap around the petite Maiden's shoulders.

"I must confess, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I've never been to this theater. Or any, not since the Dazzling Encompassing Light theater back on Kahje."

So, that's what Daia meant when she said 'Linya is very enthusiastic' - hard to imagine her being a full fledged professor, Taleeze had to smile at the exuberance and was enjoying the greeting, exchanging amused glances with Skylar who obviously was almost as new to this kind of affection as Taleeze.

Taleeze saw Daia and Ana approach and waved at her friend, but she shifted her attention immediately back to the beautiful orange drell. She didn't have too much experience with them as their species was even more rare than quarians.

"It is an absolute please to meet you two! The fun thing is, we are both around on CDN and I have to admit, now that I meet you in person I recognize both of your faces but it seems we have never really engaged online before."
Should she say, she was here 'with Skylar'? She decided against spoken words but instead also slung her arm around the narrow waistline of the woman next to her. "You two look great together." Indeed the petite asari clinging to the drell in her beautiful dress gave a really colored picture. What an interesting groups this was.

In the meantime Ana and Daia had arrived. After Linya's 'introduction move', Taleeze had to brake with Sky for a short hug and kiss to the cheek with Daia. She alse grabbed Ana's free forearm up near the elbow, giving the quarian a gentle squeeze.
"Hello you two, you look gorgeous." She could imagine that Ana may feel a little quirky in this unknown public mass of people.

It seemed that everyone was a bit out of practice when it came to this form of entertainment.
"Me neither, Iryana, but when I mentioned to Daia how sad it was, that we could have such a great form of cultural entertainment but just never go there, she instantly went to work and organized it."
She chuckled and smiled at her friend.
"I am really happy that this lead to meeting some new people as well!"
With a quick and elegant movement she managed to grab two glasses of wine from a tablet that just floated by on the hand of an asari waitress. "Thank you, miss" and handed one to Skylar, accompanied by a smile and a nod.

"I understood, you two work at the university?" she said directed at Linya and Iryana, a bit unsure what exactly Daia had said about that Professor and intern thing.

Skylar exchanged greetings with the couple, taking the inevitable hug from Linya with aplomb - evidently one didn't need to be that well-acquainted to know what to expect. Not to say she would have objected to entirely random asari throwing themselves at her, but she knew Linya was otherwise involved, and for her own part, she was thoroughly content with the asari she had by her side already.

Aren't I, just, she mused. She had entertained more than her fair share of 'random asari', with many fond memories and acquaintances and relatively few regrets along the way, but Taleeze was... what? More. Satisfying to more of her appetites than companionship and casual attraction, and the cause - and cure - for a longing she hadn't entirely felt before.

"Hullo you two," she said as Daia and Ana appeared. "Lovely dress, Daia." The asari had opted for sleek - and unusually conservative - formalwear, with a narrow skirt and long-sleeve jacket over a patterned top; if not for her smile being so free and unguarded, she might have been able to fit in with the corporate crowd in the VIP areas. It wasn't her usual style, but it did prove that she didn't have to show some skin to attract the eye.

"Ana," she went on, warmly, "glad you could make it. When Daia suggested the outing, it occurred to me that Varisa would be a work you'd enjoy, so far as I'm any judge."

With the array of hand-clasps and Linya-leaping-hugs complete she accepted Taleeze's half-embrace readily, very much enjoying the feel of the bare skin under her hand on the asari's back. Maybe there was something to be said for giving the corsetry a miss now and then - although Taleeze didn't mind her outfit, if her earlier praise was anything to go by, so perhaps each to her own and enjoying the other was the way to go.

"Heya, Sky."

In the time that had passed since the war, Ana had come to regard Skylar as a close friend. She wasn't totally sure why they got along so well; they were total opposites in terms of personality and outlook, and the only thing they really had in common was a voracious appetite for asari and amused memories of extremely stressful higher learning institutions. Despite that, they just clicked. It was that serendipitous beauty that came with friendships.

At the moment, Ana'Therion's mindset had been slightly tainted by recent discussions, and if she still had her eyes, she might have narrowed them suspiciously at the human (and Taleeze). There would not be an incident, of course, partly because she still had a sense of propriety and partly because being the Monogamy Police was a thankless (and, on Illium, futile) job.

Nevertheless, things went on. "I appreciate the vote of confidence," she continued. "Wish I could actually see it, I'm sure the visuals are impressive, but from what Daia said there should be plenty to keep me interested. Thanks for considering me when you picked it out. You're a dear."

Greetings and hugs all done, Daia settled back into her favourite position, nestled up to Ana (although their respective heights made it more a case of Ana nestled up to her; still, it was the thought that counted). She wasn't an adversarial soul by nature, but she had deliberately chosen a dress that said 'CEO' rather than 'escort' in no uncertain terms, and if any of the onlookers elsewhere in the crowd were perturbed to see an asari so obviously enamoured of a quarian, without a revealing dress giving them reason to smugly think perhaps the latter had gotten into some credits somehow and paid for a companion to be seen with, so much the better.

That was as far as her thoughts in that direction really went, though - Ana was close, good friends were around, and that was what the evening was about.

"Dazzling Encompassing Light in... drat, I can't remember the city... southern hemisphere, by the Ghost Wall peninsula?" she asked Iryana, a memory stirring. "I'm not sure, but I think Eafina's mentioned the name. I can't for the life of me remember whether it was her most recent trip, or something from further back." It would be an odd coincidence, but asari tended to attract those - even with most of her life spent elsewhere, half a millennium's worth of visits to her birthworld had given Eafina plenty of opportunity to get all over Kahje.

"It's a lovely place," she went on, looking around the theatre following Iryana's comment. "I saw a couple of productions over the decades at the old Strata - they've done a magnificent job of rebuilding her."

...buh?
Even in the midst of a conversation, Linya had managed to completely zone out for a few seconds, staring at the undulating displays nearby. Then again, it wasn't as if she'd anything to contribute beyond "it's all very pretty".
...wait, rewind. What was it Taleeze said?

"I work at NAU, yes - but that's a recent thing, Iryana's still where we were when we found something at the end of the war... and she's not an intern anymore. Proper full-fledged science lady now!"

Taleeze sipped at her glass and raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t this professor a bit ‘zoned out’? Maybe it was some scientific problem that was keeping her mind spinning. Sometimes scientists tended to be a bit special. When Linya explained their respective positions, Taleeze remembered the story correctly. A cute little romance in the world of science.

“Oh, I see. Congratulations on advancing to both of you then!”
Taleeze was thinking: and in more than professional aspects! But only a smirk accompanied the toast with the wine glass.

Taleeze was trying to guess Linya’s age. Given her very special behavior that was no easy task. But judging from the scalp, she couldn’t be much older than 300. Another one her own age that had something accomplished, a professorship, a beautiful girlfriend in a stable relationship… It was sinking in with Taleeze, looking at Ana and Daia and the other couple that she was kind of holding a promise in her arm.

In her arm. The hand on her bare back reminded her of the moment before the Cup show event. They had never been so close before or after, she just realized how good that hand felt on her skin, the arm slightly brushing against her, as they moved, laughed, talked. Please don’t remove your hand, just leave it there! She was aware that Skylar felt some attraction towards Taleeze but how far did it go? Was it the same tearing feeling that Taleeze got when she had these intense moments of thinking about the human? Or was it an occasional adventure in the making for Skylar, one that would be over as soon as Taleeze had to leave Illium for Freh’ya. A slight shudder went through her body.

But was she sensing a tension in Ana tonight? For a moment it seemed… Instinctively, her arm around Skylar’s waist tightened a bit, just as if asking for support, while leaning into Sky’s touch herself.

In regard to Daia’s comments, she replied:
“Indeed, they did a fantastic job here with the construction. You can hear a lot of voices that oppose wasting resources on arts or cultural centers like museums, theaters, parks. But I think, especially in dire times a preservation of culture is essential to not forget what the principles of your civilization are.” She well remembered the words of Ana on their day out: ‘how can a people lose their culture completely over three hundred years’. Also her little exchange with Kari on CDN had shown her a glimpse of desperation on how much had been lost there. But still, Taleeze was certain that enough had survived in the quarian people to ignite a cultural rebirth. It just would take a bit longer.

“I think, the dialogue between the Maiden and the Matriarch in the second act can be seen as an allegory to these times. ‘The Maiden is the bearer of the future, obligated to carry the fire of the millennia of old to shed light into the darkness that is the future, making it a bright place’.“ She hoped, her memory hadn’t misled her again, it had been a while since she had read Varisa. She wondered how accustomed Skylar was when it came to ancient asari literature.

"Ah, yes, indeed... I've never worked at the NAU, though I've visited Linya on occasion. I actually work at a chemical lab working for a pharmaceutical company. Linya here trained me well when we worked together." Iryana shifted a bit closer to Linya, looking slightly more at ease.

Then she looked over towards Daia as she spoke up, both sets of eyelids blinking in surprise. "I suppose that someone as well-traveled as you would have visited Kahje a few times. I assume that was long before I was born."

A gentle laugh escaped the drell. "As for Linya's promotion, well, I knew she could do it. After all, she's one of the brightest people I've ever met in the galaxy."

Skylar felt Taleeze's arm tighten around her, and reciprocated by pressing her hand a little firmer against her back, drawing the asari close to her side.

"You're most welcome," she replied with a smile to Ana's thanks. "The lead arebeq in the orchestra is from the Serrice Symphony, so I'm sure all our ears - or aurals, as the case may be," she added with a wink to Taleeze, and a glance across the other asari in the party, "- are in for a treat."

She nodded in recognition as Taleeze recited the Matriarch's line.

"To all times, I'd say," she offered thoughtfully. "But certainly it's more immediately apparent now." She chuckled softly at a thought.

"Do you know, I once seriously considered the High Thessian script of that line for a tattoo I was contemplating. A passing fancy of my rebellious teenage years." Her grin became a little more mischievous, and she went on in a murmur audible only to Taleeze: "The placement would've given it quite another meaning."