Oliver went to get lunch after talking to Isaac for a bit, feeling content with himself. Like most times it seemed, he was almost alone in the large cafeteria save for a few wandering souls.
He finished his meal in good time as he didn't want to stay in the cafeteria by himself for long. He put his empty tray in it's appropriate place, and headed out the double doors.
There was still plenty of daylight left, so he decided it would be a good idea to see Shi'ae again and tell her what Isaac thinks. First of all however, he would tell Isaac he was going this time.
He went to his room to do just that. He slipped through the slightly adjacent door, but Isaac managed to detect him anyway.
"Hey, came here just to say I'm going to talk to Shi'ae. Do you want to come?", Oliver told him honestly.
"I'm fine, maybe some other time."
"Alright, see ya later!"
"Bye"
With that, Oliver left the room and the building for that matter, to go meet Shi'ae. There was no one out at the entrance again, which Oliver found much more concerning than if someone was.
It might have not been the smartest thing to forget about it without any thought put into the issue, but that's what he did.
He knew the area fairly well at this point, or at least the path he took to get to the clearing, and because of this he had no problems making it there.
A sudden thought dawned upon. He hadn't specifically said for Shi'ae to stay there as he wasn't sure he would be able to go back. He almost got very angry with himself for forgetting to tell her but was calmed when he saw a familiar sangheili, sitting cross legged on the grass, looking at a small colourful flower, twirling it in her fingers.
She looked up when she heard a disturbance rustling the ferns, and was somewhat embarrassed to be caught with a flower in her hands while staring at it intently by Oliver.
Oliver did laugh a small at the sight. There was something he would always find funny watching a large alien that could easily kill him twirling a flower in her hands.
She quickly put the flower back down on the ground and prentended she was doing anything.
"No, it's fine, sometimes it's nice to turn off your brain and appreciate the little details in life.", Oliver assured her.
Shi'ae opened her mouth to say something in response, but soon closed it and simply smiled and picked the flower back up.
After a minute or so she directed her attention away from the flower and back towards Oliver. Wondering if he had spoken to his friend yet, she asked, "Did you talk to your friend?"
"Yeah, I did."
Judging from his happy expression, she assumed it had went well but asked how it went anyway.
"How did it go?"
"He doesn't think it will be possible anytime soon, but he said if the opportunity for peace ever came around he would support it, and he thinks peace is the best possible outcome to the war.", he answered, summarising Isaac's words.
"That's wonderful! I know for certain peace is achievable, small victories and common goals is what will get us to that point."
"Yeah, I think... it is actually possible. I certainly hope it happens someday, it would be nice for my little brother and sister to grow up in a world not plagued by wars. It would also be nice to be able to talk to you care free aswell."
Shi'ae gave a small yet warm smile at his words. Now, they were both fighting for a cause that strongly believed in. This fight however, would not be fought with guns and swords, but words. An odd concept, especially to her species, however she would stand by her beliefs, and now that she had Oliver on her side she had to more than ever.
"Your words mean a lot to me, and I am very happy that you will help me achieve this goal."
"No problem, I believe in these goals and I will work towards them even if progress seems slow.", Oliver told her.
"Thank you", Shi'ae said in appreciation. She wished to know more about Oliver, aswell as she wanted to talk more lightheartedly, so asked him, "If we do achieve peace, what do you plan on doing with your life?"
The question was unexpected, but he was more than willing to answer it. It was one that certainly made him think. He didn't really have a plan for the future.
"I haven't thought about it much, but I guess try and continue on with my
life from where I left off. Do the standard things, get a job, maybe settle down somewhere nice.", he replied to her question honestly. "Why do you ask?"
"I was just a bit curious. I don't know either what I would be doing, I have no where to really go but hopefully an opportunity comes my way."
Oliver found this interesting and took note of it but didn't say anything much about it.
"I'm sure you'll be able to find something if you try hard enough."
"We've got a long way to go to get to that point, so I probably shouldn't be worrying about it too much, but I couldn't help thinking about it."
"It's alright, we'll probably have to address it at some point, so it's always good to have a plan."
"I guess so... Anyways, do you think you could tell me more about human culture? If that's alright with you of course."
Oliver wasn't really sure what to talk about, as he had already discussed a lot of topics so she would probably want to hear something different. One topic struck him as a good one to talk about that he had not talked about already... pets!
He doubted Shi'ae had any pets so if she had not heard of the concept, she would be certainly confused and most likely entertained by the idea of humans owning little creatures.
He gave a small mental laugh when he remembered the arguments him and Isaac would get into over whether dogs or cats were better. He was on team dogs as he had a dog back home, and Isaac was on team cat, owning a total of three fuzzy felines. He really didn't mind cats that much, but he loved debating it with Isaac.
"Shi'ae, do you know what pets are?
She though a second before responding, "I've heard the word before but I'm not too familiar with it. I think it has something to do with domesticated animals?"
"Close, it is about animals but pets are animals that you own and care for, and usually they live with you also."
Shi'ae was certainly confused by this. Why would you care for an animal that belongs in the wilderness, and give it residence? What does the human get in return? She voiced her confusion by asking, "Why would you let an animal stay with you? I could imagine it would be quite dangerous."
"Haha, thought you would find it confusing. Well they aren't really that dangerous most of the time, in fact they are actually really good at defending against intruders. We do give a lot to them, but they do try and give as much as they back. They tend to be loyal, and very affectionate and great at cheering you up on a bad day. They are just lovely creatures that bring joy and happy memories."
"That is indeed very interesting. Humans have a tendency to do the oddest things, but I actually find these pets fascinating."
"I have one at home, and if we ever get the chance, I think you should meet him. Come to think of it, you might actually like a pet."
Shi'ae got a laugh out of that, and in a surprised voice asked, "What would make me good for caring for animals?"
"No no, I am being serious. You're really gentle and caring. A pet would be lucky to have you as it's owner."
"You really think so?", Shi'ae asked.
"Yeah, you'd do great."
"Thank you, Oliver. I might actually consider getting one of these pets if I ever get the opportunity.",Shi'ae said while smiling at the complement.
"No problem", was Oliver's response, also happy because he was able to convince Shi'ae that she could own a pet.
"Hey, what's the place you're staying at like?"
"Umm... In all honesty the best word I can use to describe it is 'shack'. It isn't great, and certainly uncomfortable, but I do have plenty of food. I spend most of my time in this area now, so it is not a big worry."
"I could probably sneak out a pillow of you wanted, I'm sure there are plenty of spares, and maybe even a blanket if I can find one."
"Surely you would get caught doing that, no? Believe me when I say, I can live with it."
"Yeah, you can live with it, but I could make it better for you, so why wouldn't I?"
She had no answer to his question, so admitted defeat.
"Okay, if you wish you can bring me some comfort items, but please Oliver, be careful."
"Don't worry, there usually isn't anyone on guard duty for some reason, so I shouldn't have a problem.", he said excitedly, happy he will be able to make a difference.
"Thank you once again Oliver."
"No problem, I'll go get them now so I'll be back in a bit!", he exclaimed as he ran off into the woods, back the way he had came.
Yet again there was no one at the entrance. Oliver felt a breath of relieving cooler air as he stepped out of the high midday sun. He wiped a flick of sweat off of his brow and took a drink of water. He then proceeded down the long corridors looking for the place he had seen the stack of pillows alongside some other bits where he might be able to find a blanket.
Luck was leaning in his side as not five minutes later he stumbled across the small, cold room. The room is actually a storage for spare bedings. The room also contained sheets and pillow cases that needed to be washed over to one side.
He took off his bag and set it down on the concrete floor, zipping it open while doing so. He had to be quick, as he would have a hard time explaining why he was stuffing a pillow into his bag.
He grabbed one and stuffed it into his bag, trying to make it as compact as possible. Fortunately, there was a thin blanket there that he would be able to fit into his bag. After forcefully squishing the blanket down enough to be able to close the bag, he hurriedly left the room without a trace.
He decided he would say 'hi' to Isaac later. He went down the corridor that lead to the exit he so often used, and took a step outside the door into the hot sun. It took his eyes a second to adjust, but he was certainly not thrilled by the sight of a guard standing by the entrance of the chain link fence.
He was facing out towards the woods and did not notice Oliver immediately.
'I'll just hurry by him looking like I'm going somewhere, that usually works.'
He walked with pace by the guard but his plan didn't work. The young man guarding the entrance, piped up, saying, "Hey, where are you going?"
Oliver kept his cool and said the most rational reason as to why he would be heading out to the woods.
"Oh, yeah, I'm just going out to get some exercise."
The man nodded, believing what Oliver had said. His curiosity had not been quenched however, as a second later he asked, "What do you have in your bag? Seems a lot for someone to be carting around while doing running or something."
"Oh, well I always have my medical equipment with my, and some food and plenty of water, aswell as a change of clothes."
The guard had no reason to not believe him, they were fairly normal things to bring, it just seemed like a lot more than most soldiers would have with them, but it wasn't a big deal.
The guard waved Oliver on and he spent no time waiting around and got out of there in a hurry.
A few minutes of trekking through the forest later, he had made it back to Shi'ae, who was sitting alone leaned back against a tree, resting peacefully.
She was only lightly sleeping however and heard Oliver as soon as he took a step into the clearing. She looked up and murmured a 'hello' while stretching her arms and yawning.
"I manged to get a pillow and a blanket for you!", Oliver told her, happy with his success.
"That's great! Thank you very much Oliver. I assume you had no trouble then?"
He decided it would be best if he left out the near close call with the guard so he just nodded his head.
"Do you mind showing me where you're staying so I can help you set up a bed?"