|26|


Braith opened her eyes and felt immensely better. She moved over onto her side to lift up her head and saw not one but two pairs of eyes looking back at her, "….Whoa!"

"It's safe, Braith," Casnar came over, cupping her face as she scrabbled across the ground and looked with a start at his eyes, "…Stop, breathe with me," he made a show of taking a deep breath and his tebris filled with a flutter of folds before he let out his air through his nose, "….I've been here this whole time we've been waiting….They won't hurt us….It's just the city core….They called themselves the pio….It's okay." She started slapping him, hard, on his chest and his arms but it was a pitiful effort—she was too weakened from the medicines and the treatments up above that had gone on for weeks, and she grit her teeth and hit his neck and cheek while he tried to control her and carefully so as not to hurt her, "….I know….I know I deserve that—please, stop, calm down, Braith—"

"You left me! You left me and you didn't say anything—you didn't—you asshole—Did you see, look at me—Casnar!"

Catherine and Miranda peeped around the corner to see the two, and Sieis and Kasumi were short to join their stares, but Casnar ignored them, holding onto Braith and preventing her from getting a good few licks in with her fists, and crushing her as hard as he dared to his frame, he lowered down to the softly light-rippling floor and held onto her as something with four eyes watched and backed away, its hands tucked under its chest.

"They told me you weren't human—I know, what does it matter," he said into her hair, nodes from the wires still to be removed in what short clippings were left, and he palmed the back of her head over these, "….I said I would protect you and I failed—I hope you can forgive me—" She strained as hard as she could against his arms and then slipped downward, crawling her hips backward in the air with only her underwear on and johns still from the hospital, Casnar letting her go as she worked backwards and stared at him with an angry pout of her lips, "….Braith—"

"You did it—I didn't want to believe it," she hoarsed out, "…You said you claimed me and then you walked away when I needed you the most, now I'm here, my head's shaved, I'm dying on a bed and thinking you gave me up—" she was weak and she was shaken, hitting him lamely on his knee as she pushed up off the floor and tottered backwards from him, "…You turned your back on me because you were some stupid drell who couldn't handle what the truth was…..Fuck you, Casnar….Go put your head back into whatever hole you shoved it inside—maybe I'll go away," sucking wind, she bent and turned, lumbering off from him as though her thin, weak form was three hundred pounds, and she fell on her knees and retched from being so upset and angry. She struggled to stand, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as Casnar bent to help her up.

"I won't do it again—"

"Course you won't," she sputtered, "…Get off me," and with one more jerk of her elbow, one in which her whole body involved itself, she stumbled, staggered, and stood up, regaining her stature and seeing Kasumi, Miranda and, "….Wrex?"

The old krogan—Wrex would of course claim to still be in his prime—went over to her from knocking between Kasumi and Miranda, "…Kalross would be a better sight," he chuckled in a deep, rough way, "…Shepard…Do you ever say to the devil, …'Maybe'?"

"This is all surreal….We're in Lothiraxl….What are you doing away from Tuchanka?"

"It's a tough story, but I'll tell you about it…Preferably with some Ryncol if this place can make it," he gazed over at Casnar, back to Braith who was trying to adjust the looseness of her top across her neck and shoulders, "…This has been a weird experience, I have to say….But how are you still alive? Don't you ever just die?"

Rolling her eyes, she managed a small smile, "…I don't think I'm allowed to—" her gaze snapped to Miranda, "….And I'm not surprised to see you at all….Probably only fits." Her gaze jumped to Kasumi, and a little more energy could be seen coming into the former commander, "…Please explain why you're involved?"

Kasumi wrapped an arm around Braith's waist and gave her a delicate hug, whispering into her ear as she did, "…That guy with the long, sad face over there….He's been in need of some help finding you, toots," and she turned her chin carefully to point Braith's face at Casnar's direction, "….He was awful insistent we find you."

Casnar was looking miserable—even in some intriguing threads he'd kept in storage until the journey began from Cherry Lake, and had he not been in Braith's low opinion at the moment, she would have asked about the official old clothes of his culture, but Braith looked away from him without another word and removed Kasumi's hand from her chin.