A night filled with restless sleep and scattered dreams came to an abrupt end, as the familiar jingle of Nilian's alarm alerted him to the time. He groggily reached over and deactivated it. The early morning sun began peeking through his apartment and destroyed any attempt at sleeping in, not that the doctor was considering it. Unlike the previous day, he would be stationed in in-house care, meaning more idle chatter with patients and even less interesting work.
A few moments of quiet in his thoughts were soon overwhelmed by ideas on how to find that scaled figure, what he would try to say if he somehow did, and those eyes. Although he was unsure if she had even noticed him, he could not get the image of her dark green eyes and signature slitted pupils out of his head. But why? Why was this alien creature, that he had fought against in the war, so god damn alluring?
He knew why. A 24-year-old, who was alone in a gigantic, unfamiliar city and had not formed any meaningful bonds with humans or aliens. Of course, he'd see someone who would pique his interest eventually, he just didn't expect this particular outcome. But what now? His thoughts had time to organize themselves a little more over the night. After work, he'd return to the Old Harbor Inn and simply hang out for a little, perhaps she was a regular, was she there with anyone? What if she was in a relationship? Oh god, this was weird.
Nilian grabbed his head and sighed deeply, worrying wasn't going to change anything. Though he could guess that he would not be able to keep himself from exploring every opportunity to worry. He had to get up, staying in bed was only going to further his rabbit hole. He freshened himself up, ate more of the cereal, and made his way down the elevator once more, not forgetting to bring his umbrella. He trusted the weather report, but could also smell the rain in the air.
"Morning Mr. Arlar, I hope you'll have a wonderful day!" Jaar, the building's receptionist greeted as usual. Nilian nodded and waved a little in response, then exited the complex.
The cold morning air hadn't warmed up by the early morning sun, as it had only been around for maybe half an hour and fought against yesterday's rainfall, which colored the city in a glistening reflectivity. Though not much more busy, thanks to the time of the human's departure, people seemed to take the pause in rainfall as an opportunity to get early morning groceries or try and get home without adequate rain protection. Nilian contacted the taxi agency and arranged the usual meeting place, although he ordered it 5 minutes later, as he wanted to enjoy a morning stroll.
He put his music on once more and basked in the orange light, that crept over the city's walls, a daily reminder of how humanity had been herded into cities by ADVENT, very much to contain them, instead of the promised protection. Now the walls were indeed for protection, for there were many who'd love to see city 31 fail. Though not all threats came from the outside, though that wasn't his job. The reclamation agency and 31 PD had been installed almost right away, the former consisting of ex-Xcom, but also aliens. A strange concept to be sure, but it was undeniable that a Muton breaching a room full of arms dealers was slightly more startling than a human.
Nilian crossed the shoreline of the river that separated the Renova Heights from Riverside, glancing over the water's surface and to the bottom of the other side, where a few humans and 2 Vipers sat along the shoreline and fished, perhaps for fun, or in hopes of catching an early meal. His heart skipped a beat but quickly turned to embarrassment, this wasn't the Viper he was looking for and he felt foolish for reacting the way he did.
'I don't know anything about her, for all I know she might hate humans.' Nilian entertained the idea of running into her at random, only to be met with a face full of poisonous spit. But he quickly brushed that aside, with the fact that she had clearly been at a bar filled with humans.
Nilian eventually arrived at the clothes shop, where his ride arrived a few moments after. A Muton rolled down his window and greeted him with that awkward, yet somewhat charming smile. The car was far bigger than any other, but the Muton still had to sit slouched in the driver's seat. Nilian got in the spacious back and informed the driver of his destination.
"No problem there, sir. If it is not intruding too much, do you work there or what is your reason for going there?" The Muton inquired. Nilian was impressed by the alien's speech, he knew some of earth's new species had trouble pronouncing the more advanced words of the English language, which had become even more of a universal way of communication.
"Not at all, I work as the lead doctor currently," Nilian explained shortly, the Muton looked satisfied with the answer and returned his gaze to the road, which still weren't very busy.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the entrance and Nilian thanked his driver. Sometimes he missed living close to the hospital, but his run-down apartment in the Stack could not compare to the view or luxury of the Renova Heights.
He entered the hospital, Kelly was once again manning the front desk and greeted him.
"Ah, morning doctor. Sleep well?" She asked inquisitively, a small smirk tugging at the edge of her lips.
"Yeah, sure. It was fun yesterday, but I now remember why I don't like staying up late. I do appreciate the invitation though." Nilian offered a jocking response and went towards the elevator. He swiped his PC and traveled to the 5th floor once more.
The first couple hours of his day were spent answering emails and the sort, then checked his schedule. He was on care duty today, mostly for patients in intense post-surgery care. The hospital, thanks to its reputation and placement within the city held many Police officers or Reclamation agents, that had been injured during their work.
He made his way up to the higher floors and began walking through the endless white halls until he reached the destined room number. He opened it to find a room with a single bed, a TV mounted on the ceiling, and multiple medical appliances, hocked up to the slightly pink body of a Hybrid. The beeping of the heart monitor and the slow breathing revealed that the modified human was sleeping. Nilian closed the door carefully and entered.
As he took his first steps, however, the man's eyelids shot open and he immediately focused on Nilian. The Hybrid, by the name of Charis, pulled himself up to sit straight and mustered Nilian, as the doctor took the necessary vitals and checked the amount of medication left in the IV bags, before turning to his patient with a warm smile.
"Good morning, My name is Doctor Arlar and you are still within the Karn memorial hospital. I am here for a quick check-up, to gauge when you may be released. Now, if you'd kindly state your name and occupation and I'll be gone before you know it." Nilian stated quickly and activated the electronic tablet, that they used for note-taking.
"What... happened to me, doctor?" The hybrid ignored his question and began rubbing the back of his hairless head, where a bandage had been wrapped around.
Nilian sighed, hoping the situation could be explained without a hassle," If our information is correct, you work with the reclamation agency, is that correct?" The doctor rephrased his question, hoping to get the formalities out of the way before he could go into conversation. Charis looked at him for a second, then nodded, Nilian noted it down as non-verbal confirmation, good enough.
"Your agency gave us the information that blunt force trauma, caused by a conflict with terrorists on Wednesday, was the reason for a 2-day trauma. Today is Friday and, as far as your vitals are concerned, you should be good for release today. So I'm just going to ask you, besides the confusion, as that will soon settle, do you have any pains or other ailments?" Nilian explained, recalling the Hybrid's file he had read before.
"Huh," The man paused and turned to look at the room around him, "No, I guess not. So I was out for 2 days cause I got hit in the head by that Muton?" He concluded.
"I am not aware of the exact circumstances, but it is good that you can remember a cause. I will lower the dosage of pain killers a little, that should help your mind focus a bit more. A nurse will come to check on you and give you the paperwork and prescription. I wish you a speedy recovery, agent." Nilian nodded and even got a `Thanks, doc´in response as he exited.
He sent the collected information from his tablet to the nurse's station and made his next room visit. A man about his age, belonging to 31 PD. Although this patient wasn't awake, not that he needed to be. Nilian simply took his vitals and moved on, the quiet time giving him more time to lull on his after-work idea.
Room after room, patient after patient. He knew his day would be repetitive, but that quickly changed, when he entered a room with the specialized stretched, that held one of their Viper patients. The signature yellow-orange coloration and cheeker board-like pattern of her scales betrayed her as an older Viper, probably older than Nilian and most definitely someone who was around during occupation. Her breathing sounded like a deflated hiss and Nilian approached her bedside. She had suffered a shrapnel explosion on her upper body and multiple holes were present in the thin hood that lined the ever-frowning face of the alien. He leaned over her and inspected the cartelized wounds. Vipers healed very quickly and hardly needed rest, meaning that for her to still be unconscious meant that the impact and subsequent pain must've been immense.
Though as the doctor lightly grazed the edges of the bone supported structure, her red reptilian eyes came to life, and her clawed hand shot from her side in an instant, locking her 4 fingers around the man's wrist. Nilian wasn't easily startled, nor did he want to try and compare his reflexes to a biological killing machine, though the sudden, cold grasp did draw a sharp inhale from him.
Her pink tongue left her mouth and took in the scents around her, never letting go of his wrist. Finally, she spoke up: "Where am I?" She demanded. Her speech, probably due to her age, still carried the dragged sss and rolled rrrr's, that later hatches had left out.
Nilian did his best to remain calm, freaking out would only increase the serpent's confusion, so he relaxed his hand, although he felt that a few more minutes in her iron grasp would be bad for his blood circulation.
"You are in a hospital, you were hit by a make-shift bomb and we've been taking care of you. I apologize to have disturbed you. Could you let go of my hand, please?" Nilian requested and the snake obliged, leaving red marks where she had squeezed him.
"You're a doctor? I would've thought they'd have, y'know, another alien taking care of me. I almost bit you there." She rattled, which Nilian had come to learn was the snake's way of laughter or rather a chuckle.
"Well I'm glad you didn't, we don't have that much antivenom on hand."Nilian's response elicited another amused huff.
"You aren't scared?" She inquired, raising the equivalent of an eyebrow.
"If I were, I wouldn't have entered the room in the first place. I simply came to check on you. Since Vipers are a... Special case when it comes to medical aid, we never really know when you wake up. How are you feeling?" He breathed a little more calmly, not being under immediate threat of being envenomed. He had seen Vipers twist a grown man into a bloody mess of dislocated bones and torn muscle while filling their veins with a truly excessive amount of their deadly toxin. Not pleasant to witness and definitely a way he wanted to go.
"I've got a hell of a headache and I can't move my hood, but other than that..."She shrugged.
"I can do something about the first, but your hood seems to have taken damage on its bone cartilage, meaning it'll take a while before you regain full control again. I will send a nurse to check on you, if anything pops up before that, just use the call button above you." Nilian motioned to the yellow button, her red eyes followed his gaze.
Nilian was said his goodbyes and left the room, this floor was done. as soon as he was out of the room, he put his hands in his hair and closed his eyes, finally allowing his mind to process what had just happened. She didn't notice him staring, did she? As much as he tried to be professional, the scaled woman of yesterday had overtaken his mind the entire time he was in there. This was getting out of hand and he had to do something about it.
Luckily, the rest of his shift went without the scaly intruder in his mind, at least not in such a prevalent way, leaving the doctor to lose himself in his job like so many months before. A few financial transactions, that needed his signature, as well as countless prescription and sick leaves, later, he found himself ready to leave almost on time, right around 8:30 PM. Just as the weather report had predicted, it began pouring once more, though slightly less than the previous day. Now came the part he had been waiting for, but also dreading. He ordered another ride to Riverside and the Harbor Inn.
'This is a stupid fucking idea, this is so dumb, why am I doing this?' Nilian questioned himself all the way to the entrance.
At around 9 PM, he entered and looked inside. Much like the previous evening, people and aliens alike, although they weren't mixed beyond a Hybrid or two sitting with a human, were drinking, eating, and generally having a good time. He glanced over to where he and his colleagues had sat the last time, trying to backtrack where the scaled enigma had come from. He was still taken aback by the fact that he hadn't spotted her upon his first entry like she was hidden in plain sight, though that was what they had been designed for. He spotted a rounded booth in one of the corners, the direction she had come from indicated that she had probably sat or rather coiled up on one of the seats. But she wasn't here now, that would've been too lucky.
So instead, he opted for his second plan. He walked to the vintage-looking bar and sat down on one of the stools. A female bartender, most likely the same age, if not a little older than the doctor, approached while cleaning one of the mugs and leaned on the other side of the bar. She wore the bar's signature see-faring outfit, with her brown hair tied behind her head.
"What can I help ya with today?" She asked, giving him a professional smile.
"Now, I know this is going to be really strange, but I was here yesterday with a few of my friends and..." 'there's no good way to say this is there?' Nilian paused, the bartender never losing eye contact.
"Go on, I've heard it all, you ain't gonna surprise me" She proclaimed, clearly noticing his stutter.
Nilian looked down on the bar, then just blurted it out: "There was this woman... A Viper with black and grey scales and a red scarf...Do you know her? Is she a regular or something...I just..." Nilian trailed off, his cheeks were surely red, judging by the half-amused look the woman across him gave him.
But that was only half, the other showed some level of concern, as she replied with a question: "Why? She in trouble or what. I don't give out info on people at random like that."
"No, no no no. It's...Uhm, Personal." Nilian tried dodging the question. The lady gave him a look that seemed to search for ill intent or otherwise. She then reclined a little and took a deep breath, then cocked her head to one side.
"I might know her. She isn't here right now. But if this isn't urgent, I could relay a message when she drops by." She offered and Nilian jumped at the opportunity, not caring if it was a trap to see his intentions.
"Th-that would be very kind of you. Uhm," 'Fuck what do I say that won't make me come across some weirdo? Not that I haven't done a stellar job of that so far.' "If you could tell her that I would like to...ask her out for a drink(?)" The way his voice went up made it sound like a question, but that did not deter the woman from raising her eyebrow and grinning widely, much to the doctor's dismay and further embarrassment.
She blinked a few times, probably trying to figure out if this was some elaborate prank, but Nilian's red face convinced her otherwise. She did a terrible job of hiding a snicker, then placed one of her hands on her chin.
"So it's like that, huh. Could've said that you wanted to take`er out from the start. Fuck that's cute." She leaned onto her side of the bar and brought her face close to Nilian, before whispering: "Wanna know a secret? I lied. She works here in the evening. She's in the kitchen right now. So I'll gladly relay your message to her right away." She grinned and turned away, presumedly to head to the kitchen.
Nilian froze, his eyes wide, staring like a deer in the headlights, as the woman left. Suddenly, the little voice in the back of his head grew to an all-encompassing yelling, his mind wanted to run, get out as quickly as possible, who cares what he came here to do or what the other patrons might think. But his body didn't obey. So he remained still, his gaze still trying to stare a hole into the wall, his mouth hanging slightly open.
Wasn't this what he wanted? In fact, it might have been even better than what he had hoped for. But he wasn't ready. There was no way he could do this. But what choice did he have at this point? Flee and never return, never leave his apartment again and do all of his work from home. Yes, cause that's a reasonable reaction to getting basically exactly what he asked for. No, he was in this and he knew that it would plague him for the rest of his life if he messed up right at the start.
Time seemed to drag and race all at the same time, Nilian didn't dare try and call for the smug bartender, so he simply waited, boiling in his thoughts like a stew. Finally, the brown-haired woman took her place once more, Nilian noticed the unmistakable smile of someone who was very satisfied with what they had just done. She quickly served another guest with a mug, before sliding over to the doctor.
"So, she says that she is very flattered and would absolutely love to meet you. As far as I know, she'll get off work in about 30 minutes, so I suggest you just stay and wait here." Her freckled face radiated glee, but Nilian didn't buy it.
"Really? That sounds... unrealistic. You sure she's the one?" Nilian questioned, giving into the staring contest the woman was offering.
"Ah, caught me. I'm pulling yer leg a little. She said she's `too busy for chatter´," She raised her fingers to put it into quotation," but c'mon, you aren't gonna let the snake be grumpy, are ya?" She teased, giving the man a provoking grin.
"I'd rather not annoy her. I didn't know that she worked here. I'm sorry for wasting your time." Nilian announced and got ready to leave.
"She's nice, you know. Has got enough reasons to stay on her own, but I can tell that she's lonely." She interjected before the doctor got far, making him pause.
"And why do you think that that is relevant information?" Nilian turned to her, as he put on his jacket.
"Don't do me like that. I could tell what you wanted from this the moment your cheeks turned redder than an artificial tomato. Stick around. I'm sure ya'll hit it off right away." Her eyes spoke of truth, but Nilian was still skeptical.
He buried his face in his hand and sat back down. "Half an hour you said?"
The woman smiled and huffed her response: "Yeah, my name's Penny by the way. What would you like to drink?"
"Nilian, and thanks. Give me whatever tastes good and no liquor, I'm not a drinker." Nilian sighed in resignation, as Penny spun around to pick a purple bootle, which Nilian recognized as the drink he'd had the previous day.
"Then good luck. And try not to get bit, this place won't survive another lawsuit." She quietly added, before turning to the other awaiting partons.
Nilian idly checked his PC, no messages, no appointments for the weekend, nothing. Just like always. He sipped his drink slowly, checking the news. The reclamation agency made headlines once more, this time busting a network of extremists, who were seemingly attempting to reactivate the psyonic network, via capturing a multitude of Sectoids. Nilian let out a "Huh" at the report. He couldn't understand why anyone, loyalist, Xcom, or resistance would want to try and continue this pointless war. Surely, knowing the conditions the ADVENT troops had been under could not have been interpreted as anything but brainwashing and an act of pure cruelty.
He had heard it from enough aliens that came to his hospital, lacking the feeling of control, yet still being conscious, like a passenger in their own body. Many were haunted by the acts they had done without their consent. In his time as more of a soldier, he had witnessed the enemy troops throwing themselves in impossible situations, even if it would logically result in their death, just for a chance to take humans with them. Any sentient being would not do that, orders should be refusable. But the moment the elders' frail bodies fell, that all changed. Millions surrendered, even more, tried to flee. In an instant, all of the subjugated aliens were released from their hold. However sympathetic their struggle was, humanity could not risk simply letting all of ADVENT's processes run dry on their own. So they established detention camps, where any alien could freely enter to have their broken psyonic chips removed and even get a chance at learning what the world of humans may entail. Then be released into either temporary camps away from humanity's denser population, or be transported into city 31. They were shown manners, rules of social interaction, given tips on sales and finance, and provided lodging, and jobs. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best they could do, considering humanity had to rebuild itself as well.
Nilian truly believed that they had a chance of making a world that would become home to everyone and city 31 had to be the shining beacon that it could work. Many would consider this attitude unrealistic, utopian even. But he didn't care for most people. He came to this city because he believed that he could do right by who suffered by ADVENT.
The sounds of a cheerful song, the overzealous laughter of other partons, the clanking of mugs, and the backdrop of the rainfall, as it dispersed on the roof and against the windows let Nilian take a moment to relax. Whatever happened tonight, he would know that he came further than he thought he would and he was content with that.
The calmness of mind was, however, abruptly shattered, when Penny threw him an important glare, then nodded towards the corner of the room, where a door, presumedly leading to the kitchen, swung open.
Out slithered who Nilian had hoped and simultaneously feared seeing. The black scales from her hood faded into a silver-grey towards the snout, then continued along her entire front side, fading out more and more until it was white along her stomach. Patterns, that resembled differently shaped squares, surrounded by a white outline ran all across her back and tail, all the way up to the hood, which she had pulled in a bit, giving the snake a more slender face, not quite uncanny, but scary similar to a human's facial structure. She once again wore the red scarf from yesterday, this time a little more loosely wrapped around the long neck, that peeked out from the loose collar of her velvet jacket. She didn't wear the special `Viper sock´, probably due to the temperature.
In one continuous motion, the almost 4-meter long body was nothing short of mesmerizing, as she made her way towards the door with intent. Her green eyes scanned the bar, while her tongue searched the air for something. The slitted pupils eventually fell upon Nilian, whose body was turned in a rather obvious fashion. Oh god, he was staring again. But, much to his surprise, she didn't linger on him for more than a few moments, instead stopping her slither to focus on something behind the man. He couldn't help but follow her gaze. She was staring at Penny, who opened her eyes in a clear attempt to make the serpent follow her direction. Penny was using her eyebrows and chin to nudge towards Nilian, in the most unsubtle-subtle fashion a human could.
The doctor faced the reptile once more, noticing that she had a distinctly annoyed look on the already frowning face, giving the bartender a death glare. Vipers were hard to read, mostly thanks to their resting expression of discontent, but it didn't take a smart man to figure out that this was more than that. Caught between the silent conversation, Nilian glanced to Penny, who had placed her hands on her hips, as if trying to scold the reptile.
Nilian caught the impossibly deep eyes of the Viper, who definitely noticed him now. He swore that he could hear a deflated hissing sigh from the alien, as her eyes closed for a second and her shoulders slumped a little, something resembling a human resigning in an argument. And with that, she changed direction, unlike a human, not having to make the extra movement of turning, simply spinning on the spot. And she was headed directly towards Nilian.
The human immediately turned to look at his drink.'Yeah, that's a good tragedy, idiot!' Nilian threw a panicked expression at Penny, who only smirked and gave him a `thumbs up´. He drank from the juice, as if it was alcohol that would protect him, then gathered all of his remaining mental fortitude and turned to the Viper. She had already taken a seat or rather coiled her snake-half below her, directly next to him. Her eyes lingered on the human, as her tongue slowly exited the slit in her snout, before retreating. She waited for him to say something, though her expression didn't give the man a single hint as to what was demanded.
"Hi, uhm..." 'Perfect introduction' "My name's Nilian. Nice to meet you." Nilian could tell his voice was shaky.
The Viper didn't respond, simply resting her elbows on the counter and piercing him with those endlessly intriguing eyes. All of the sudden, he felt like a prey animal, that accidentally wandered into a massive predator's burrow. The primal fear of snakes could not compare to something that had the capability to swallow a human whole.
She averted her gaze slightly, perhaps looking at Penny, who gave her some sort of signal, that Nilian didn't dare to observe, his body not allowing him to look away from the humanoid snake. Her eyes flicked to him once more, again with that look of resignation in the weirdly expressive snake face.
"Hello, Nilian. My name is Amira. What do you want?" Her voice was scarily similar to a human's, if not for the appearance in front of him, he might have confused her for someone with a slight lisp. He wasn't entirely sure if the `r´ in her name was pronounced in a rolling manner, or if she would take offense to him mimicking it.
"I...wanted to buy you a drink(?)" Nilian finally stammered out. 'Real fucking smooth.'
Amira raised the edges of her lips in a smirk, then did the signature crackling chuckle of the Vipers.
She looked up to the bar, then returned to the intense eye contact and challenged: "Sure, but only if you drink it, too."
She was planning something, the sly smile betrayed her, as much as she was trying to play it off. Nilian paused before he agreed, he wasn't planning on getting drunk, but none of what was happening was planned, so why not see where this rabbit hole would lead.
Amira seemed satisfied with his answer and called out to Penny, who quickly made her way over.
"What can I get you two?" She asked, clearly leaning more towards the serpent.
Amira leaned overtop the counter, the stretchy neck allowing her to do so without moving the rest of her body, and whispered something into the woman's ear. The snake ended with a snicker, while the bartender displayed a very surprised, then a questioning, or perhaps concerned, look at the doctor. Nevertheless, she grabbed one of the bottles from the shelves and poured them 2 generously sized shots of a clear liquid.
Amira handed a glass to the human and took up her own, turning to observe him once more. Even without getting close to it, Nilian could smell the heavy liquor, whatever this was, it was strong. The serpent immediately saw his hesitation.
"Scared?" She asked teasingly.
'Too fucking late now' Nilian looked up from his glass and into the slitted pupils of Amira, then threw his head back and downed the drink. It didn't taste of anything at first, but, as it went down his throat, he noticed that that wasn't the case. Whatever he had just drunk was numbing anything it touched. Then the numbness faded and gave way to the hottest sensation the human had ever felt. His body automatically closed his throat and, despite his best attempts, he began coughing. Much to the amusement of the scaled woman, whose smile grew far enough that he could make out the pink flesh of her mouth.
Her hood noticeably flared up, "Well color me impressed. You didn't throw up." She complimented the human, before leaning backward and unlocking her lower jaw and emptying her own shot down her throat, giving Nilian a, perhaps intentional, look at the knife-like fangs in the roof of her mouth. She brought her head back to eye level and placed her glass on the counter.
Nilian was busy trying to subtlety wipe away a few tears, though blurred he still couldn't tear himself away from the Viper. Her eyes shifted from his face, going up and down his body a few times, 'is she checking me out?' whatever she was doing, it seemed to be enough to entertain another line of questioning.
"Sssoo, Nilian." Something about her saying his name, maybe the lack of teeth that influenced `n´ sounds, or just the way she penetrated his thoughts with those piercing eyes, made him shudder. "You come in here, to my evening job. Get this annoyingly adorable human to reveal my work times and even dare to drink some random liquor I chose out. What's your end goal here?" She inquired, flicking her tongue out a little faster.
"See if you talk to me and hope for the best." Nilian did not have a plan, that much had been apparent the entire evening. But saying it out loud now felt rather freeing. Amira's `eyebrows´ raised in seeming surprise at the human's openness.
She brought her scaly claws together and began tapping the black nails against one another, her eyes never seized to remain half-closed, an expression that gave her an inquisitive and knowing look.
"You've done well so far. Now you're gonna have to wing it. But I'll help you out a little since you're kinda cute." Nilian felt heat rise to his face, maybe it was just the liquor, but he almost choked on his spit.
"Boring question first, which hospital do you work at? You're clearly not poor, plus you smell of sterile air and medicine." She deduced. Nilian knew Vipers had an incredible sense of smell, not that the logo on his satchel didn't scream government worker.
"Yeah, I...work at the Karn Memorial, I didn't think I smelled of it though." He replied jocking, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
"Your scent is all over the bar. You're a nervous guy. Is that normally so, or just for me, I've been told I agitate men, before." Amira's eyes flared up again, she definitely enjoyed the effects of her teasing.
Nilan's collar felt rather tight right about now and the unmistakable feeling of being flustered ran down his spine.
Nilian had to recover, this Viper was playing him like a damn fiddle. "And what is it you do, I sadly can't taste what you do."
The Viper paused, then, again without moving her lower half, leaned over the human, letting her tongue linger a few inches from his face, and whispered: "So you'd like a taste of me?" The reptile pulled back, and slowly ran her tongue across her scaly lips, having elicited the desired reaction of the doctor, a bead of sweat ran down his forehead.
She reclined on her coils and finally answered his question: "I work for Reclamation during the day."
"But all that aside, how would you like this fine night to end?" Of course, she asked that question. She knew exactly that Nilian was not nearly provocative enough to match her energy, so no matter what he'd say next, she could turn it around on him in an instant.
So the human shot for the stars: "You give me your number and I'll take you out for dinner tomorrow, a fair trade, is it not?" The human mustered all the fake courage he had, trying not to cringe at himself for what he had just said. Though the snake seemed flattered by his attempt, her body reverberated in a chuckle.
"Bold...I like it." She breathed quietly, then leaned in and simply grabbed the human's wrist, which held his PC, and pulled it on top of the counter. She didn't press too hard, not that the human had any intentions of resisting, as her cold scales felt rather nice against his skin. She tapped on the holographic display, entering her number into his notepad. She released him, though he hesitated to pull his hand back.
"You're fun. I accept your invitation, Nilian." She seemed genuinely adamant about his offer, before stretching out her arms and slowly uncoiling her tail. "I have to go now, but I'm sure that I will see you around." She announced confidently.
Nilian was quick to pick up on the fact that she'd be departing, so he simply spun on his chair, in order to completely face her. 'Tell her she's beautiful!' His mind scrambled to find some parting words, but all that left his mouth was a small gasp, when something grazed his ankle, making him sit even more straight than before. Amira looked over her shoulder, her eyes speaking more than any words either could've said at that moment. Her body flowed away from the man, although the tapering tip of her black and grey tail was the last thing to leave, almost sensually slithering off of the doctor's foot.
And, as quickly as she had entered, she left the inn, leaving Nilian alone in the barstool, his mind thinking a million thoughts yet only one, at the same time.
'Did that just fucking happen?'