Friction - Chapter Two
It took a full-body shove for Blair to make it past her door and into her cramped living room. Capsule crates and other luggage from her recent move still lined the walls and made it hard to navigate. Where floor space was available, she had a small droid to worry about. Her assisted living mech had been designated with the charmingly simple name of Una, and more than once Blair had sent the poor thing flying with a misplaced boot. While the accidental collisions rarely resulted in any real harm, Blair always ran damage diagnostics just in case. She'd always loved mechanical things, and her bionic implant had only strengthened her kinship with them.
She maneuvered around the boxes to a kitchen nook in the corner. The bar that divided it from her foyer was cluttered with odd bits of machinery and the empty jewelcases of numerous OSD manuals. Empty food cartons overflowed the trash bin, and a fluorescent tube sputtered overhead. Blair ignored all this and threw her tool belt onto the crowded countertop next to a collection of thin metal discs that might have once been soda cans. Between the frustration of failed engineering experiments and the amps of her bionic hand, things had a way of losing their shape around her.
She unclipped her Noveria Development Corporation id tag and stuck it on her fridge before opening up the aging appliance to search for dinner. Through the fog of cold air she could see she'd have to visit the store soon. Barely a week's worth of meals were left and she'd depleted her caffeine supply down to almost zero. She bit her lip and contemplated saving the remaining soda for an energy boost in the morning, but she was tired now. After eight hours on her feet in the garage and yet another doctor visit she deserved a little reward. When the can opened with a refreshing hiss, Blair realized she hadn't heard the white-noise whir of Una's electrical system. She left her food search for later in favor of finding the only thing on Noveria she considered a friend.
"Una…" she called as she traveled down a narrow hall to her room, "Una?"
The droid was in sleep-mode in a docking cubby next to Blair's bed. As the human approached, the shutter to Una's ocular lens opened.
"Hey, Una," she crooned. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to wake you up."
Una retracted her charger from the outlet on the wall and folded it into her metal frame. A lighting grid went up across her body and thrummed with a bright green glow that signified she was at full energy capacity. A series of bleeps filled the air as she rolled forward to greet the woman who was at once her keeper and her charge.
"You're glad I'm home? Me too. In fact, I've got a little job for you if you want it."
The droids lights pulsed.
"The flash-light in the pinky shaft of my arm went out today. Think you can handle that?"
A tool-tipped limb appeared out of a compartment at Una's side. Blair laughed.
"Good woman. I need to take a shower anyway so I'm just gonna take it off and leave it for you to work on while I'm washing, alright? Come with me."
Human and droid returned to the living room where Blair cleared off some space on a coffee table. She turned on the TV and began the slow process of disconnecting her prosthesis from the control interface on her upper arm while Una hummed happily at her feet. When it finally came free from its socket, she placed it on the table's glass surface and finished off the soda she'd been drinking.
"There you go, ma'am," she said to the droid. "All yours."
Una propelled into the air and landed next to her target with a soft clink. Sounds of industry quickly followed. Blair rose from the couch and walked to her bathroom, forgetting about the TV. The soda can she'd deal with later.
She opened her medicine cabinet and withdrew the seal for her arm socket from its resting place next to her anxiety pills. That bionic parts weren't waterproof was one of a handful of "rules" her physical therapists had drilled into her after her operation, and it was the one she hated the most. It made something as simple as hand-washing an awkward chore - and bathing a complete pain.
Blair sighed and turned on the water before removing her clothes. After the first year or two of living with her condition, she'd discovered it was a wise investment to buy them a size larger than she'd normally wear. It made getting them off a lot easier, and easy was a word that had almost lost its meaning to her.
After shimmying out of her undergarments and testing the water, she got into the shower stall. The heat felt good on her sore muscles, and she stood, letting it run over the back of her head for several minutes as she recalled how hard it had been to get her life back after the accident. She was tired of doctors and pills and nerve-tests, but she was even more tired of peoples' stares and questions and hesitant handshakes. The drell doctor she'd seen that afternoon had been right. She was chaffing in her own skin; suffocating under memories she couldn't seem to shed.
Tears gathered at the edges of her eyes and disappeared into the rivulets of water cascading down her face. She fantasized the soap bubbles disappearing down the drain were all her ill-feelings, and that her seven years of bad luck was being carried off by some unseen current. The thoughts made her smile, and she felt strong again by the time she reached to shut off the water.
She flipped her hair over her right shoulder and coiled it with her good hand, wringing out the last bits of moisture before stepping out onto her fluffy green bathmat. As she lifted a foot over the edge of the tub, the stinging sensation of soap flooded into one of her eyes. Her hand snapped to her face to rub it away, while her foot failed to find traction. Panic screamed through her veins, and her good arm flailed wildly as she slipped backwards into the tub. The last thing she saw was blinding white as her head struck something hard on the way down. As light faded, the sound of shattering glass and Una's frantic bleeps were the last noises she heard.
.oO-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Oo.
Silent stillness was all that greeted Naveed as he entered his apartment. He threw his keycard on a nearby table and gave his eyes time to adjust to the dim interior. It was a spacious and well-appointed loft, but no matter what he did the place always felt lifeless, like a vessel without a host. Even the diffuse light that filtered through his frosted windows felt hollow, and he shivered at the way it painted the edges of his furniture with cold, blue halos. The occasional blink of a power button was the only sign of habitation, and even that felt more akin to the flares of a dying star than a pulse of life.
Guided by faint light from outside, he traded the hostile entryway for his bedroom. The air was more inviting there: warm and dry and scented with rich incense. The sweet odor of it enveloped him in a comforting embrace and relaxed his tense mental state. Ancient drell tapestries lined the chamber's walls, and heavy curtains shielded it from the icy landscape outside. A pile of pillows in shades of sunset crowded his bed, and wrought-metal lanterns stood in the corners. Despite all of this, it was the altar opposite his bed that dominated the room's décor.
It was a solid slab of onyx-colored stone that had been worn smooth by the hands of many skilled artisans. Veins of deep red ran through it, and Naveed always imagined its polished surface to be warm to the touch. He moved near it and ran his hand across the top of it reverently. The ashes of countless offerings collected on his fingertips.
Rivulets of smoke rising to the ceiling. A stinging in his eyes. Many voices. One stands out among them. Shrill; devoted. Ethereal shadows dance along the walls. Gold flames crackling. A rough rug under bare feet, unwoven in one ragged corner. Arashu…Arashu…Arashu!
His body froze as he felt a pair of hands wrap themselves around his waist. Warm breath tickled the nape of his neck and a familiar body pressed against his.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Naveed complained. He took a deep breath to relax his racing heart.
"And I wish you'd get rid that," a feminine voice replied as one of the manicured hands left his hips to gesture at the unlit altar. "It's creepy…"
The drell removed the hands from his body and turned to face an asari with glittering blue eyes. A sheer dress in royal purple hung about her shoulders and a mischievous smile played on her face.
"The mother of my people is 'creepy'?" he asked her with a frown.
"That's a rock; not your goddess, Naveed."
"It is a vessel for the goddess, and as such it deserves to be treated with respect. If you don't like it then don't look at it."
The asari pouted and moved in to brush his firm sculpted lips with her soft round ones. "You seem upset tonight. Bad day at the office?"
Naveed ignored her question for one of this own. "What are you doing here, Kilandra?"
"My shuttle from Port Elais got back early. I thought I'd come by and surprise you. I missed you."
"Why didn't you call?"
"Because then it wouldn't have been a surprise, silly." She took his hands in hers and pulled him towards the kitchen. "Come on, I have just the thing to cheer you up."
Naveed let his unexpected houseguest drag him to the kitchen where she produced several boxes from inside his microwave. The scent of spices he knew by heart began to permeate the air, and he cringed inwardly at an inevitable confrontation.
"See?" the asari bubbled. "I brought all of your favorites."
"That's very generous of you, Kilandra," he said softly, "but I'm afraid I've already eaten."
He watched with discomfort as the woman's lips pursed tightly. It was the same miffed moue she always used when she didn't get her way, and it was quickly followed by an appeal to his other appetites. She placed her hands on his chest and slipped them under the opening of his shirt. Despite himself, a shiver rippled across his finely scaled skin.
"That's alright," Kilandra decided in a husky voice as her thumbs stroked the sides of his neck. "We'll just skip straight to dessert." She moved to kiss him, but he turned away sharply.
"I'm really not in the mood."
The woman shoved him away and scoffed. "In the mood for what, Naveed? Focusing on something other than your job?" She pulled a knife from the stand on his counter and held it across a pale blue wrist. "If I cut myself like one of your patients would it make you pay attention to me?"
Naveed's eyes narrowed angrily, his pulse skipping with concern. His voice was as firm as his expression when he spoke. "I don't like you using my work against me, Kilandra. My patients are sick; they need my help."
"Well, I'm sick, too! Sick of you ignoring me whenever it's convenient. Sick of how you run away when I'm around!" Hot tears formed in her blazing eyes, and she choked out her next words. "Mother called me while I was in Port Elais. She said they found Lyla's body on the Citadel. My sister is dead…"
The drell's anger dissipated at once. Uncomfortable feelings of shame and sadness washed over him. With slow, deliberate movements, he took the hand that held Kilandra's knife and moved it away from her body. He then took her chin with his free hand and kissed her forehead gently. The asari's grip loosened on her makeshift weapon, and she fell into his embrace in defeat. Naveed threw the knife into the sink and wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered over her wracking sobs. "I can't help if you won't talk to me. Please, talk to me…"
"I was going to tell you," she explained through upset hiccups, "but then you came home and I saw your mood and I-"
"Shh. It's true - I haven't been around much lately, and you have every reason to be upset. I've been very selfish, but I would never want you to hide your feelings from me for my sake. Especially not about something like this."
"You aren't angry with me?"
He brushed the last trace of tears from her cheek and eyed her with a deep gaze. "Of course not. I love you, Kilandra. I am…appalled with myself that you would need to take such a drastic action to remind me of it." The asari nestled her face in the crook of his arm and sighed. Naveed stroked her cheek warmly. "Do you forgive me?"
Her lips brushed his chest just above his heart. "You know I do."
A strap from her dress slid off her shoulder, and Naveed bent to kiss the newly exposed flesh. He felt Kilandra's heartbeat quicken in response and heard a low moan escape her throat. Her arms curled across his shoulders and the back of his head, begging for more. When he stopped to catch his breath, Naveed hooked his hands around her thighs and lifted her into his arms. The asari wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed him to carry her to the bedroom. As the door shut behind them, the comm device in the kitchen picked up an inbound call. It went to voicemail and a shaky female could barely be heard on the other end.
"Dr. Eldrani? Are you there? It's Blair…"