Subject: The Guardsman arched an eyebrow.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-04-01 03:05:00 UTC
"Of course we do. We have diaphragms too, you know," said the Time Lord. "And what about you, human? I've heard from some people that you have this thing called 'love'. What is it and where do you find it?" he asked in the most deadpan way he could. "I've seen the movies. It's apparently the one thing that humans have that aliens don't."
Valon took a deep breath and started talking, surprisingly coherent. "You beat her. Even when she threw everything she had at you, you still beat her. She died, and, well... I suppose that makes YOU the girl who lived. And if it's any comfort, I know how scary powerful Sues can be. I got lucky on my second mission. You have your partner and his quick thinking to thank, not the gods and overpowers rolling the dice.
And then she began to laugh. "I guess I am," she said. She sniffled and wiped her eyes on her jacket. "Aw Zeb, bless his heart. He really deserves another basket of Poffins."
Rina looked at her companions and gave them a watery smile. "Sorry about the meltdown," she said, wiping her eyes again with a now very damp sleeve. "Shoulda known better coming here just the day after Rose."
"No, don't be sorry. You gave us a scoop on the Notary's life, you learnt of a way to become human again," he pointed at the pocket which held his notebook, "and you've got a friend in us. Always keep moving forward, Dives. No regrets."
"I... I think I can do that." She brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Might as well start getting used to things being like this for a while. No telling how long it'll be before I can become human again, so do you mind if I come by later? I know it's a bit sudden, but there's no telling when some obscure Time Lord thing might come in handy in the field and we've already been sent on one mission already."
"You know, I've been wanting to ask this. Do Time Lords get hiccups?" Valon seemed sincerely curious.
"Of course we do. We have diaphragms too, you know," said the Time Lord. "And what about you, human? I've heard from some people that you have this thing called 'love'. What is it and where do you find it?" he asked in the most deadpan way he could. "I've seen the movies. It's apparently the one thing that humans have that aliens don't."
"We— uh, I mean, humans tend to be portrayed as the most adaptable of species." Rina bit back a laugh at the Guardsman's remark. "Or the most tenacious. Or both; it varies occasionally, but not often."
He gripped Rina's shoulder and leaned in to look at her face. "You humans-- yes, you too: you said this was only a temporary thing-- you have this joie de vivre that we aliens do not. We are old, inflexible, bound by arcane and outdated laws that we follow with laserlike precision, and masters of a decrepit and decaying empire. You are young, vivacious, occasionally hedonistic, and the best soldiers. Teach us, Ô great human. Teach us the meaning of life as you trek across the stars. Or something."
The Guardsman managed to keep his face remarkably free of a smile though his little speech.
At least up until the end, when she just giggled. "I don't know about all that. I mean, humans are just as capable of being inflexible and bound by outdated laws. Besides, if people believe they're supposed to act a certain way because of species, couldn't it become a self-fulfilling prophecy?"
A waiter came by with her soup at that moment and she turned eagerly to her food, only to spit it back out. "Eugh, that's nasty!" She pushed the bowl away, sighing. "Tomatoes used to be my favorite... this is gonna take getting used to."
Valon offered a slice to Rina. Exactly where the rest of it had disappeared to couldn't easily be explained. "It's got everything! Bacon, ham, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, pineapple, I think there's some olive in there... I kinda regret asking for everything now, I hate olives." Obviously, this much was true: all that remained of Valon's pizza, aside from the slice he was offering Rina, was a big mound of olives on his plate.
and eyed the giant plate of olives. "Those look really good," she said. "May I?"
To the Guardsman, she said, "Never used to eat bacon before I came to the PPC. Vegetarian, but I found out pretty quickly you can't afford to be picky, especially when it comes to Generic Food. That was one of the only nice things about Rose Potter. She plagiarized the hell outta the books, so the food was excellent."
Valon pushed the plate of olives in Rina's direction.
Rina examined the picture for another moment before catching on to what the Guardsman said. "Other partner? Desdendelle mentioned a quarian or some such. Is that him? Or her? Or it, I suppose I should add."
"But hey, at least it means I can't spoil you on accident! I mean, last time I talked to my parents, I accidentally spoiled the ending to Farscape for them. I totally forgot time flows differently there."
