Author's Note: I must apologize for the sudden drop in frequency of updating my fics. Main reason being that real life has hit one of my betas hard and she has trouble getting time to beta my work, so things will be going up a bit slower.
Fortunately, this little short was proof read before this and only didn't post it before because this one takes place after 'Chains of the Past'. However since does not contain any no real spoilers now I felt it would be safe to post. Thanks to Kalshion and SilentStrike'Scy' for being my proofreaders.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Halo universe, which is the property of Bungie Studios. However, any non-Halo species (and characters made from them) belong to me.
"What are those?" Vl'asuna asked when she saw Sari fiddling with some small bottles. Each bottle was only a couple of inches high and half of that was a tall black or white cap. The bottles themselves were clear from what she could tell, each with a different colored liquid in them.
"Nail polish," Sari replied. "That Johnson person gave them to me. He said their women used them to color up their claws to make them more attractive. I asked if I could give them a try and these are the colors he gave me, said they would go best with my skin color."
Vl'asuna looked at the various bottles, noting they were mostly pastel type colors. She saw lilac, a couple of different shades of pale blue and pink, lighter shades of purple and one that was pale green. "Did you try them out?" She asked.
"I did."
The Lipor twitched an ear, not believing her as she did not see any nail polish on her claws. "I see no polish on your claws." She pointed out.
"Oh, well…I did not exactly use my own to try them out." Sari said sheepishly.
Vl'asuna was getting a bad feeling. "Don't tell me….you painted Azu's claws…."
Sari blushed, confirming the Lipor's suspicions. "Well…I wanted to be sure the paint looked the same when it dried as it did when it was wet. He was out cold asleep when I did it," She grinned like a little girl. "I did his hooves too, played around with the colors on them to see what kind of designs I could make. You think I over did it?"
Vl'asuna's jaw was dropped open and she felt her face drain of color: good thing she was a furred being! "Um….I take it he did not notice when he woke up…." She said.
"Not so far as I know…why?"
"Because he had a lunch meeting with the humans today…."
Sari's face paled, which was hard to do since she was already pale to begin with. "Oh no…."
The Arbiter strode into the restaurant, the smells of the place making him hungry. He had come in civvies, as requested by his human friends so not to intimidate the other customers. However, he felt he was intimidating as is without his armor, if the nervous looks from the other patrons were anything to go by.
He walked to the back of the restaurant, where the VIP room was located. Inside was Ambassador Avery Johnson, Lord Hood, Master Chief (whom still wore his armor despite the order) and a couple other humans he did not immediately recognize. On the Sangheili side was Rtas (who looked like he'd rather not be there) and a couple of the Elder Councilors. "I apologize for being late." He told them as he took a seat.
"No problem Arbiter, we haven't started yet anyway." Johnson replied.
"Arbiter…," One of the Councilors said, his eyes narrowing. "What is that on your claws?"
Around him everyone else was now staring at him, or rather at his hands. Johnson turned red as he tried hard not to laugh, but was failing miserably. Master Chief seemed to sigh and shake his head. The Councilors seemed disgusted and Lord Hood, Rtas, and the other humans just blinked in shock. Finally he dared to look at his hands himself and saw that his claws had been painted in various pastel colors.
"I see Sari has tried out that nail polish I gave her!" Johnson said between laughs. "Did she…," He looked under the table. "Yep…she got your hooves too…." The human was laughing boisterously now, the other humans joining in: even the Chief seemed to be chuckling. The other Sangheili didn't seem sure how to react and the Arbiter felt terribly small.
"Well…I think this meeting has gotten off to an…interesting start already…." Lord Hood said, wiping his eyes with a napkin.
"Indeed…." One of the Councilors agreed, grinning.
The Arbiter just wanted to hide right now, knowing he wasn't going to hear the end of this for some time. He wasn't sure who to kill for this either: a certain female he left back at the hotel or Johnson for giving her the nail polish in the first place.
Maybe he'll just kill them both….
