You've Got A Friend In Ni

[Jaden_Starchaser]

Jaden roamed the halls of the Falcon feeling a wicked headache coming on. This whole situation the group found themselves in just got more and more SNAFU with each passing moment. 'So Owl is Tarking and we have until some time this afternoon to retrieve him before Graff arrives in system. Add that's Biggs is being a huge asshat and taking this whole thing as one huge competition, Graff's cats are gunning for us, AND Kira's dumbass is an indoctrinated follower of the church. I need some air,' Jaden thought and with that he headed out to the ramp to go outside. Once there he noticed Ni sitting and seemingly staring off into the distance. He approached her and called out to her once in earshot.

[Gar]

Ni looked over her shoulder. When she saw that it was Jaden she immediately perked up and smiled brightly. "Oh hey, Martyr Boy!" She greeted cheerfully, "Feeling a little better after your tumble with the kitty cat?"

The Zeltron had been able to heal most of the wounds that Jaden sustained from the earlier fight.

[Jaden_Starchaser]

Jaden shook his head at the nickname that he had a feeling was going to stick with a smile on his face. "Back to 100% thanks to you Nurse Ni," he said jovially. He sat down next to the Zeltron and looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Ni, are you okay," he asked her. Before she could speak he held up his hand. "Please don't try to bullshit me okay? I saw the expressionless face you had when we all gathered earlier. Whatever is wrong....you can trust me enough to tell me."

[Gar]

Ni did seem as though she was ready to laugh his question away. However, his straight forward rebuke of her cheerful facade caught her by surprise and wiped the carefree expression from her face. It took a moment for the Zeltron to recover a strange, bittersweet smirk.

"Wow, Martyr Boy, look at you," Ni joked feebly, nudging his arm softly with her elbow, "So forceful, so blunt. Not gonna lie, it's a major turn on," she giggled teasingly, "Is that what did it for your girlfriend, too?"

It was plain to see that Ni didn't like it when things got too serious, and she was very good at deflecting from unpleasant topics. However, she seemed comfortable around Jaden, and the frown that followed her half-hearted attempt at deflection was like the first crack on a frozen lake in spring.

Ni sighed and looked down at her dangling feet. "It's not that I don't trust you, Jaden," she assured him quietly, her hands fidgeting in her lap, "it's just not a lot of fun to talk about."

[Jaden_Starchaser]

Jaden managed to keep the blush off his face when Ni told him that his being blunt was a turn on. Instead he focused on her body language and the tone of her voice. He saw how her hands were fidgeting in her lap. He gently put his hand on top of hers in a calming way and said, "I understand. If it helps I will tell you something that isn't all that fun for me to talk about."

[Gar]

At the feel of Jaden's touch, there was an immediate change in Ni. She turned and looked up at the Starchaser in her usual playful way. "You should know better than to touch a Zeltron," she warned him with a wry grin, "Its hard enough trying to keep my hands off of you." Ni winked and pulled her hands away. "What did you want to talk about?"

[Jaden_Starchaser]

It took every ounce of his will not to show any physical reaction to what Ni said. Instead he focused back onto the main topic of discussion. "I was asking about how you were this morning. Like I said it was completely out of the norm for you," he said to her.

[Gar]

Ni frowned. "You mean when I got back from my date? Oh..." She shrugged, "I guess it just... It was a long night and it sort of...ended badly..." It was obvious that she was choosing her words carefully, her tone solemn, "And something happened to me...I remembered something that I've somehow managed to wipe from my mind completely until now...I honestly had no awareness of this memory until..." her words drifted.

[Jaden_Starchaser]

Jaden listened to Ni's words and thought back to the report she gave earlier. 'She was witness to Kaleb Saar hanging someone,' he thought to himself. He still was very uncomfortable with having not one, but two Saars on world. He put that to the side as he took stock of what Ni had said and how she trailed off. He wasn't a mental health expert, but he knew he was opening Pandora's box when he asked, "Until?"

[Gar]

The Zeltron hesitated, hugging her arms around herself as if she suddenly felt cold. "It was like...I was suddenly transported back to another time..." Ni tried to explain, her brows furrowing with the effort, "one moment I...was watching these people drag a man to a tree...then I saw my Master..." She closed her eyes and shivered, unable to describe it, "and then, when I came back...I realized I had been standing there the whole time, looking up at the dead man..." Ni inhaled deeply and opened her eyes. There was a long pause, then she shrugged and forced a smile, looking up at Jaden apologetically. "See? Not a lot of fun to talk about."