NSFW

Sheafs of parchment flutter against Casnar's irritable play of them with his golden thumb, the audhilde filled with members of the Craig, all listening to the floor speaker.

"We have redoubled our efforts to claim back the cities that were taken by Morthwyl in the initial crusade against Drellkind," the floor speaker says as everyone listens, Casnar's own eyes showing new interest in Craig meetings pertaining to Rakka, "…but we are not hopeful."

Across the floor and over the speaker's crests, Casnar notices the petulant, icy glare of Yvona Caratoda, seated among her Kerhasi cohorts, Mehida to her left…The pair are not officially mated, but it is safe to assume they are in bed together…If only Mehida had a city to marry her in, Casnar thinks with some enjoyment.

Since his sacking of Mohouni and taking it into the assets of Nualavera's expanding portfolio of resource and property, the murder of Aspah Bentara and complete rout of his barra, freedom or employment of the deceased papir'aia's Serepta slaves, Yvona has made her efforts to sully the reputation and relations overseas for Casnar's house-clan more vociferous, more vehement, and she has been doing much behind the scenes…It is to be seen whether or not her attempts to put a spotlight onto Casnar's dealings outside of the Craig will come to fruition and scrutiny. Beside her, Mehida carries a relatively serene expression, his usual venomous looks not making way to Casnar, especially since he holds Casnar responsible for the takeover of his own house-clan's city by Morthwyl…though Casnar did not have control over that…Braith did.

Casnar rubs his jaw as they all continue to listen to the speaker requesting more aid from the Craig, quarter in the Crandal for numerous displaced house-clan families, sponsored and head sponsors together along with their barras…The Druce of the Crandal, made up of all the house-clans' particular burrells and burrellas sponsored by each family has swollen since the attacks on the cities in the borderlands of Rakka. He does his best to ignore Yvona's stare, which has become blatantly long and pointed at him. "There is confirmation of this leader who guides the morthwyls against Drell advances and circumvents much of the planned efforts…She has powers that are formidable…We request call of the High Th'anes, I'lorie-bred, to go into Rakka and handle her while our barras go against the morthwyls." The speaker is the papir'aia from Hulanthe, one of the first cities swept by the morthwyls and their leader, who goes by the name Okhaus the Third…Of the cities, he is a drell with enough influence to rise to this position of representing those who were forced out of their homes and stand below to ask on behalf of others in his situation for more support from the rest of the membership there today. He implores with a widening of arms, his palms up in supplication to the lights above the audhilde, let in above the heads of the scribes by the etched and gilded windows, "…Had you the strength and allies in the Craig," his deep voice onerously weighs on all of them, "…Would you not lend your will towards fighting back for what lands and homes have been taken?…Will you, our allies of the borders help my house-clan and others reclaim what is ours…what we have shared in…Not to mention the resources of a newborn Rakka."

Casnar, who has been dreading the count, sees and hears more than enough heads nod and voices join in a drumming murmur of agreement. With every discussion about Rakka, more and more Kerhasi and Craig unite…It makes Casnar worry for the first time since the Kerhasi broke off into their separate faction from the rest of the Craig…Now Rakka is making them stronger, he thinks, …Braith will be hunted by not only I'lorie Highs from Merce'des, but my brother will be among them. A heavy gavel bangs, "…Motion to approve the honorable Okhaus The Third's request!" Casnar gazes upwards to the monolith bureau of the sitting gov'annon, Bor Kratos, S'ienna, next to which sit his sons, Malcham Kratos and Bor The Young.

To Casnar's dismay, the majority of the audhilde announces a collective affirmation of unity, all hands up in close to unanimous support. I see nothing wrong with that, Casnar wills himself to think optimistically, …Nothing wrong at all…Unity is well and good…Tetonbaum's nowhere to be found anyway, so he won't be sent to Rakka to find her…Braith will send them packing when the Highs show.

"Moving this conrgegation along," Bor Kratos, S'ienna's umbrous voice echoes through the warm, filled chamber, the papir'aia Okhaus the Third bowing and signing to the membership in respect and gratitude as the scribes above the audhilde in the balconies make their reports ready to be run through the Crandal and countries beyond, "…Thank you, Okhaus The Third," Bor adds and tilts his thick black crests towards his son Malcham, "…Next on the agenda…" There is only heard the murmur of the membership, the seats shifting, drawers opening and closing as Malcham leans towards his father and whispers what is up on the schedule, "…Ah, yes," Bor straightens and leans forward over his great vestibule, "…Nefen Yvona Caratoda," his voice rumbles, "…You have the floor."

Casnar cringes as Yvona springs out of her seat by Mehida, the hiriwa beside her now casting a vicious smile in Casnar's direction.

Casnar glares back and then at the svelte Caratoda whose luxurious blue and yellow silks assemble to her form on the floor of the audhilde, all eyes on her and every teness listening as she opens her beginning statements.

He braces for what is to come.

Opening his new sight to the brightly-lit interior of the healing pod, Thane is at first startled to see his eyes without their dark chroma tints looking back at him from the shaded part of the healing pod's clamp over the glass, reflecting him in his linen in the smooth curvature of the cover. The brightness becomes too intense as his eyes absorb everything without the monochromatic dampening of colors and light sources…He winces his eyelids together and shields his eyes with his hand. I must be on the Ni S'pri, he thinks, …They must have found me…Thane starts to turn over and look for the opening mechanism inside the healing pod, his movements drumming about from the glass dome over him and making everything louder.

The alert on her omni-tool startles Miranda awake, seated nearby in a chair and having fallen to sleep with a tablet in her lap. She sees Thane looking at her from inside the glass pod on the table, stands and walks over to release him. Miranda has no smile waiting for him as he sits up, freed of the capsulation. His eyes blink rapidly and the sight of him without the coverings over his sclera and irises is…struggling for her to accept. "How are you feeling," she asks, expecting him to be confused. Thane does not answer at first, merely continues to blink and look everywhere, as if adjusting to the new "color" of the world. A babe again, Miranda thinks. She must force herself not to ask too many questions, though her interrogative mind is demanding at least a few hundreds' worth. Come on, Thane, she thinks, hoping he will hurry along and grasp where he is, tell her what happened…Help her to understand why Konis let him live, if what Tetonbaum believes is true…and oh so troubling.

Thane's eyes finally rest on her face…She is much more pale than he remembers with the hanari treatments over his eyes. Her lips and upper cheeks have a redder hue than before, a doll-face blush that seems frosted onto her skin. Her blue eyes are paler, too, but an arctic deepening sapphire on the edges, nearly as vivid as Tetonbaum's own full irises. Thane looks down at the gray uniform she wears, tapered to her belt of tools and her legs with pipe seams down the front…Even the material seems lighter…Everything is brighter than before…Rich, colorful, and tiring for him to look upon too long. "Miranda," he raises his hand, she moves to him and kisses his mouth…Thane parts from her and sees the flawless brow look heavy with no longer concealed anxiety, "…hello…We are on board the Ni S'pri?" he asks as she moves her hands together under her elbows, loosely holding herself as the insecurity reads fresh over her…Thane only gets to see it. One seemingly so perfect…Genetic tailoring does not cover the abuses that bruise her psychology over each trauma in her life…Perfect in looks, perfect in biotics and reflexes and skills…She can leave him feeling breathless and euphoric in bed, as if his Kepral's has returned to scare him again, but elseway she is not as strong in mind and stubbornness as she was when they first met, her a part of the Illusive Man's legion of agents. Thane considers her before him…Her hair is a glossy chocolate brown that falls over her shoulders.

Miranda stares quietly at him for a moment before she answers. "Thane, you're aboard the Ni S'pri," she says, "…Can you tell me what happened to you after you left the Souir?"

Thane sits back against the table. "I went to Chiata as was planned."

"And what happened when you made the destination." He tells her exactly what he witnessed from his memories. When Thane goes into detail about Tetonbaum's purported setting-off of the explosions, she relaxes some with the facts from Tetonbaum matching up. Then Thane tells her of the run with Tetonbaum and Kasumi, high and balancing between consciousness and sleep, the onset of Konis's pursuit, his turning back while Tetonbaum and Kasumi went on to hopefully the Souir and Thane's focus becoming only of the following encounter with Konis Traus and his Al'Kin that survived Tetonbaum's surprise. Miranda listens with growing concern as he tells her of the confrontation, and what happened—alone with Konis.

"And what occurred after he baited you," she murmurs, lowering her hand from her ear.

"He handed me his knife and a small piece of what appeared to be a broken glass bottle, but it was not what I assumed it to be," Thane hesitates, unwilling to go on, but dutifully he does so, "…I saw things…I saw things that terrified me, Miranda."

"What did you see?" she asks him, "…What did you mean, was it the piece of glass he handed you—"

"It was not glass, Miranda," Thane corrects her, his eyeridges lowering with annoyance, "…It was not glass, but some kind of gem or stonelike material…It did not shine like glass but absorbed light, rather flat and dull, ubiquitous, Miranda, it was…I touched it and it brought me somewhere in my mind…I don't think it was my mind, however," his lips come together as he gauges her reaction from her expression…

"You touched it," she repeats, "…and doing so, what, made you black out and imagine things, or—" Thane suddenly hits the table. Miranda blinks but does not jump. He is clearly angry and frustrated to try and explain it.

"It was real…I went somewhere, I saw things that…that frightened me…Things that promised to be, Miranda," he says in a low husk and raises his amber-green eyes towards hers, "…Do you remember when Braith told us about her visions from the prothean beacons…I cannot say I could ever imagine what she saw, but the way it made her fearful, unnerved, put off balance…She said she passed out after the first one and then the rest left her feeling disoriented and moved…" Thane turns slightly to give her his shoulder and Miranda waits for him to continue, "…I saw something that terrified me, Miranda, and I don't know if it will happen, if it has already happened, what or why it is or is to come."

"What did you see," she repeats, upset now more than before, "…Why did you come back to us—Your eyes—"

Konis gave me the knife, Thane remembers, "…Konis gave me the knife and the piece I held in my hand…He told me I could kill myself with one or use the other to open my eyes…If what I saw made any sense to me, he told me, I would cut out the stains blinding me from recognizing it…I removed the lenses myself…"

"Thane," Miranda says, her voice a whisper, "…You…you did what…What about…What about your bones—there were fractures—"

"I could not see…Something attacked me on the way back and I remember only the shaking…It grabbed me and released me, and I think it did not enjoy my taste," he actually grins somewhat, "…and freed me, but the pressure, the smell of what it used on me before it let me go…I didn't realize what it was, but maybe Tetonbaum may know what discarded me."

Miranda has no words for what he has told her…Which is not enough for her to conclude anything but possible delusion, what with how long he may have been in the desert and without water for…Perhaps he was hallucinating, but Tetonbaum did not say much about Thane's condition, whether he was in a poor state or not given the circumstances…and Tetonbaum had been in a rush, what with Kasumi, Konis and the Al'Kin following the destruction of the fortress. "Are you sure Konis did not do something to you that maybe caused some sort of hallucinations?" she asks, a feeling he will be testy to her suspicion about other possibilities for his state of mind and what he describes "happened". Miranda pushes back her hair as his lips form into a line, his frown if anything, patient and on the verge of not.

Thane sighs, "…I have only come to consciousness now, Miranda—"

"How did you even find us if what you say is true about you're removing your…" She cannot accept it, "…Thane, what you're telling me can't be possible…You would have never made it back to us without your sight."

"Konis said if I removed the stains from my eyes, I would see what I needed to, Miranda," he blinks his new eyes to her, old but revealed without anything to hide behind now, "…I saw the way back, I could see everything but not in the same way as before…" His visions of Irikah helped.

Miranda looks down at the floor, away from his eyes…They trouble her, they are strange and different…It will take some getting used to. Miranda reaches for the edge of the glass cover and pulls it down over the table, she looks at Thane in his medical linen, "…Do you think you can tell me in more detail, what you saw," she'll humor him for now, or until she has better sense to corner him and convince him something else must have happened…She needs to talk to Tetonbaum, "…after a shower and fresh clothes?"

Thane takes to his legs and moves towards the exit of the medical lab, "…I think a shower would be nice…" He stops and looks at her, a bit uncertainly.

Her face turns from her thoughtful pondering to his expression, "…What's the matter? I meant, aside from," she gestures to the table bed and him, "…There's something on your mind and I can't begin to understand unless I were there with you," she says finally.

"I won't hurt you, Miranda," Thane says, reading her thoughts—or foreseeing it as he says exactly what passes through her memory of her conversation with Tetonbaum…Miranda blinks rapidly at him.

"No, of course not…" She forces an uneasy smile, "…I would never think that, after what we've been through."

Thane steps back towards her, his tread a little more smooth and easy…He extends his hand to hers and she takes it. "Come with me," he says as he leads her out, "…Stay with me, please."

Thane and Miranda head to their room aboard the ship. He removes the article he wears and enters the shower, his injuries healed by the pod and its surgeon, while Miranda waits outside the wash area on a bench with a neat collection of books and manuals.

She picks up one of the manuals and flips through it, not really interested in reading it…She'd much rather talk to Tetonbaum than wait there for Thane to shower. She places the manual down as Thane comes out with a towel over his shoulder and one around his waist…He looks terribly different…Just the eyes and no more, but it is a significant change to him for her. She keeps her breathing regular as he watches her from the doorway's threshold. Thane is quiet as always. "You have always been patient with me since we met, alone that first time after our…get-together," he says. Thane steps closer to her then, and Miranda straightens on her bench seat. "Did it bother you so much when we shared together," he continues, Miranda making no exchange of expression with her thoughts as he reads away things she never said to him, "…to experience joy in someone unlike you…Unlike Humans."

"I guess you have me there, Thane," she replies gently, "…It bothered me…I hated myself for it…but I indulged in the hate, didn't I…"

Thane nods once, "…Most aggressively," he pulls the towel off his shoulder and folds it, "…I would like you to consider being my mate."

"What—Now you bring this up?" she asks, her eyes rounding some, "…Thane, something happened to you in the desert with Konis, I need to know what—" He drops his towel and steps from it towards her, "…Thane," she is uncomfortable with the eyes…

He takes her hand and holds it between them, "…I will tell you, but sleep with me first."

Thane starts to remove her top lapel that hides the collar zipper, so to remove her shirt, "…Thane, please, Tetonbaum thinks—" He kisses her cheek and nudges her mouth, moving his lips to hers…Miranda slowly warms to his affections after all that has occurred. "I need to know what happened to you," she whispers between petal touches of lip upon lip, "…It doesn't make sense…"

"It will, Siha," he murmurs, laying her top aside and unstrapping the supports for her breasts, placing these over the arm of the bench, "…Lay with me now," he lifts her arm and coaxes her to the cabin bed. Miranda stands from her seat, his hands moving to round her waist's front, unclipping the belt and dropping the utilities to the floor with a thud. Miranda unclasps her omni-tool as he turns her to face him, taking it from her to set on a shelf low down by the bedside…He pries down her piped pants and catches the panty hem with his thumbs, scooting it down over her hips, turning her again to clasp her there and crouch until he is on his knees…Miranda leans against the bed, arms straight in the covers and mattress, and her energy from the fear and worries releases with his licks and touches behind her.

She widens her eyes at the first pressure of something more than just a tongue, more than a finger, much more…Miranda lets him in, spreading her knees on the mattress coverlet as he strokes and moves inside her heat, moving her hair with his hands to between her shoulders. "My eyes…" He thrusts in once, harder, "…are opened, Miranda Lawson," he bends down to kiss her back between her shoulder blades.

Thane feels her move back against him as she arches and turns her head to look at him, and there is anger in her eyes. "Is that your idea of a joke?" She pushes him out of her and gets off the bed, begins picking up her belongings. "Your eyes you pried off the lenses, you claim…You know what we saw when we found you—"

"Miranda—"

"No," Miranda heads for the door, pulling on her clothes and belt, "…Dress yourself, Thane, I'll wait outside."

"Miranda," his voice stops her, "…It was a statement made in bad taste, my apology."

Miranda's hand waves over the release/lock mechanism and the door irises open to the outer walkway. She turns back and regards him cooly, "…The others expect a full accounting, as do I…Right now, what you have told me makes no sense and I won't accept it…You are under observation, Thane…by me but I can ask Garrus or Grunt to step in."

"Why did you never tell me you knew of Casnar, Miranda," Thane says out of the blue, "…Or of your work with Irikah."

A queer look comes over her eyes, "…It was the past…We had an agreement not to hold the past against—"

"Why would you say it that way, 'Hold it against'…each other," he gathers a pair of underclothes to himself and starts to dress, "…Why, or who rather, would hold it against you." He straightens, the band snapping lightly around the hard lines of his waist, "…What happened between you and Casnar, and Irikah," he goes on, "…Tell me that and I will tell you what I know."

Miranda waves her hand over the device again, the iris closes and she stands between him and the door, looking a little cornered, but determined…The others on board expect answers and Thane is her mission right then. "Casnar and I…we worked together…He didn't know it at the time, but I was working with Cerberus and there was a need to hinder a field of research that would have produced a viable medicine that would have cured a number of Hanar affected by a particular mold-vectored virus," she explains, "…Irikah Sousan-Soterios was driving it and my intention was to use Casnar to get close to her and her work," Miranda rolls her lips together, glances to the far corner walls in thought—and some regret, "…I gained Casnar's trust and he introduced me to her as a fieldwork aide come into his own work with helping the Illuminated Primacy obtain Shadow Market crooks selling adulterated venom among other things."

"Ah," Thane hums, "…I recall Irikah's laments about losing research that took her years to produce and notate…She blamed Casnar for the loss of it."

"Yes," Miranda says softly, her voice barely a whisper, "…I stole it, and left them to deal with the repercussions…Casnar was ejected from the offices of the Primacy and Irikah had to work in a warehouse trying to make back what she had lost…for the rest of her days, I presume…That's why Casnar was angry when he met me with you."

"I did not notice his anger until we were together in the Souir…But you seemed protective that time," Thane asks, pulling his shirt down over his navel and looking up at her from the straightening of his hem, "…After what you did just tell me, I find that curious…Were you protective of him?"

"I know what he faces," Miranda says, "…We connected over…our 'privileges', being what we are…There was no romantic involvement on my part—"

"But Casnar was enamored with you," Thane beats the punchline, "…You were the first one, Human, that is…for him to feel attracted to…No fault in that either," his eyes glance down and up.

Miranda takes a deep breath, "…Maybe…I don't know—"

"You do know," Thane says as he tightens a strap around his waist, "…And it is why you hesitate to bond with me…You still care for him." Thane bends and sits on the bed, pulling out a pair of boots he slides each foot into, the muscles in his bare forearms sliding visibly under his skin against and over each other, "…I think it would be wise for you to avoid any future with him, Miranda," Thane says mysteriously, "…Casnar has moved on from you…Anything that may come," he adds, baffling her as to where he gets this all from, "…would not go well for either of you." He stands, dressed and freshened, "…My turn to tell you what you want to know." Miranda watches him come up to her, his eyes only a little higher from her own, "…I have seen what may come, what may have already happened, what is to be…The Illusive Man would be most upset were he still alive and not outdone by Braith Shepard herself." Thane cups her chin with his fingers, directing her gaze only to his eyes and nowhere else, "…Casnar will die soon…if we do not bring him to Braith and convince her to leave the morthwyl that has taken her for his Mistress Supreme, and to do that, someone needs to kill her."

Casnar stands abruptly from his desk and frees the muscles of his clenched jaw, "…How dare you!—Asking for me to stand witness against myself for dealings that have no place in this audhilde, Nefen Caratoda!" Across from him, Mehida's smiles lingers, but Yvona's placid expression brooks no such amusement…She is deadly today with her accusations and demands of Casnar and his dealings with the Suighan. "How dare I be put on the block," he addresses the audhilde, "…My house has done nothing to endanger the alliance on these shores! What penalty have I inured against myself, what with my work for trade with the Archess that would amount to any ill-convenience unto you all!"

Bor Kratos, S'ienna clears his throat, silencing any further speech from the floor or the daises, "…The issue is not over, Casnar," Bor indicates with a finger for another papir'aia, one from among the Kerhasi, to take the moment to address the chamber, "…Otevyn of Bachama," the papir'aia stands, "…please add your voice to Yvona's motivation."

Casnar's head turns to the supporting alliance rep, there to drive the knife in deeper with Yvona. He is an elderly drell with the markings of rivers of blue along one side of his patak…Otevyn the Liar, Casnar hisses in his head. Fuming, he takes a seat and prepares for what else they will throw at him and his family. "Let it be proposed," Otevyn speaks rather onerously, "…that if what Casnar Soterios claims is truthful, then he will offer full disclosure of all business and non-business contracts with the Archess of Suighan." There is a swelling murmur among the membership as Bor raps his gavel for order and silence. Casnar listens as Otevyn goes on. The papir'aia is looking at him, no smile on his patak. "If the house of Sousan-Soterios desires to be one of us, the Craig," he says, holding his hands together symbolically, "…he will not be averse to sharing all revenue, product exported and imported from Suiaghana, trade agreements both written and orally-agreed to…Full disclosure, Sered Soterios," his voice directs to Casnar now, "…If not, the house will be barred from all future meetings and votes…until the demand is satisfied for transparency."

"Damn you," Casnar pounds his fist on the bureau as hisses emerge from his allies throughout the room. He stands, "…You and your Kerhasi prawlers ( cling-ons of the rectum ) shall have to wait until," he smiles and uses the human euphemism, "…'Hell freezes over,'" and with one look at Malcham Kratos, who observes and records all by the side of his father, Casnar turns and swipes his notes off his desk, leaving the audhilde…

And at the exit, he is barred by none other than Okhaus The Third…waiting to speak with him.