chiron_survivor | A fine day for horseback riding. ((For i

"Ah," is the only reply for the moment. It had been an innocent question but ever so often the innocent questions are the hardest to answer: the most revealing. For a time, Paladin walks in silence, digging the bits of grass out from under her nails with her other hand.

"I do not mean to pry," comes the second part of the response finally. "Or hurt your pride when it came to my ask. Since it was my invitation I would of course cover any cost, and be glad to. The pleasure of your company would certainly cover any cost." A turn of the head and Paladin flashes a smile. "Please trust me on this."

Adia watches Paladin out of the corner of her eye as she leads Shadow back to the city center, feeling bad for creating an awkward moment in an otherwise fine day out. She bites her lip to keep from filling the silence with apologies and tries not to twist the reins.

"You didn't pry," she says softly. "And you didn't hurt my pride." She returns Paladin's smile weakly. "I don't have much of it left when it comes to food, honestly. The food back home is... not good." Shifting her weight, she tries to shake off any residual embarrassment. "But the last thing I want to do is make someone feel obligated. I didn't want to assume, even though you've been very generous already."

The pat on the knee was going to be meant as reassuring, a friendly gesture, but Paladin suddenly remembers where they are and what she is: a Tiefling. So, the pat ends up on Shadow's side, next to Adia's knee. "That is not something you make me feel. You have made me feel welcome here, have taken much of your time explaining things and showing me around. I consider you a friend and what I have, my friends have as well."

The dark hand drops away and returns to a pocket. "You would be doing me a great kindness, having a meal with me. Plus, a meal with you means less money for wickedness later," and that gets a laugh from her.

"But I will not push, my intent is not to make you or anyone else uncomfortable." So if Adia says no, that will be that. As jovial and blasé Paladin is she is very much aware of how her presence effects some people, in the Nexus it hasn't been such a big deal, and Paladin is sure that it's because they do not fully understand her race, but that is for the best - she is not like others like her.

Being called a friend brings a warm smile to Adia's face. That more than anything seems to settle her nerves. "If you're sure you don't mind, I'd like that. To share a meal with you, I mean. And if there's anything else you need explaining, just ask."

If she seems confused by the reassuring horse pat, she doesn't show it. Adia doesn't see Paladin as anything other than an extraordinary humanoid; there's the added benefit of her mythology not having demons -- at least, not the kind with horns and a tail. The closest fantasy character Paladin resembles is a satyr, and then only barely. Knowing the full history of Paladin's people probably won't change her mind. What's a little demon blood to someone who feels empathy for genocidal sentient robots?

"I am very sure," there is something about eating alone that Paladin greatly dislikes especially in public. It's a call back to a youth that is best left in the past. "Oh, I most assuredly will. Undoubtedly you will receive many of those little messages over time."

Most of them about cars. Have you found a car? I think I have found a car I will show it to you when I see you next. It is no longer there and I cannot track it. And when things really advance: every single emoji ever.

"Is there any place in the Nexus you've always wished to try?" Paladin would be deeply touched to find that Adia felt that way: it would mean the world to her.

The innkeeper is going to have his work cut out for him, then. With that in mind, Adia says thoughtfully, "If you can get ahold of a PINpoint or something similar, I'll show you how to send messages on it. I can help you with the Nexus terminals, too. They have a few ways to send messages, too."

Questions about cars, Adia can handle. Emojis? She's still trying to decipher the shrug emoticon. But she'll do her best.

"Oh... honestly, I've never looked at any of the restaurants here. Is there one attached to where you are staying? We could eat there since you like the food."

"Interesting," for some reason she assumed that the Innkeeper was the only one with the power to send messages of that nature, like he possessed some sort of magic that she did not have access to. "I will endeavor to find one," maybe ask the Innkeeper in order to take a load off of Adia's shoulders in regards to having to explain everything to her.

"You are very kind," Paladin remarks rather suddenly to someone who isn't in her head at the moment. "I appreciate the time you take out of your day to help me, it really does matter to me." And so when Adia gets worried about Paladin buying lunch, or being too generous, Adia is being generous too with her time and knowledge.

The restaurant attached to the inn? "Indeed there is! I believe they also have a buffet for lunch, at least that's what I read on the sign. I cannot promise crispy bacon but the food there is very good."

The innkeeper will likely direct her to a vending machine in the Nexus that distributes PINpoints for a small fee. Adia personally is not sure this vending machine still exists, having obtained her PINpoint a long time ago, possibly in a different Nexus altogether. (It's a long story.)

Her gratitude earns her another warm smile from Adia. "It's the least I can do," she says modestly. She knows what it's like to feel lost and clueless in unfamiliar territory, and not just because of her first time in the Nexus. It feels good to pay it forward. And for someone as friendly and compassionate as Paladin, it is no burden.

"It sounds wonderful." She leads Shadow towards the inn -- not far now, even at their leisurely pace. "Can you believe I used to avoid buffets? It's too easy to overeat." She laughs ruefully. "It's not really a problem for me anymore."

That would be most excellent, her traveling companion Bogbad will be intensely jealous of her technology: he enjoys tinkering with things. Long ago in a Nexus far, far away...

"Ah, I know that feeling, when I was a very small Tiefling I often went without, so when I was with I often made myself sick." It's a casual tone but it does not seem wholly natural. "This is because the Cylons have taken over? They do not feed you?" More pressing, more important topics are at hand: this is Adia's present.

Adia smiles a bit at the mental image of Paladin as a child. At least, until the facts about her past sink in. "I'm sorry to hear that," she says sincerely. "I promise that I won't overdo it, though. But if they have any fresh fruit, I might take a little back for my friends. Maggie, especially. She hasn't been feeling well lately."

"The Cylons don't concern themselves with our needs," she says with a small frown. "I don't think they need to eat as much as we do, anyway. We live on rations. Reconstituted stuff, mostly. It's enough, but barely. Mostly I just miss real food."

Narrow shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. "My story is very common," everywhere, not just in her own world. Still, it hardly matters, the here and now is what is most important. "You should certainly bring something back for your friend, Maggie! I am very sorry to hear she is sick. Is there anything else here that might help her?" Because if there is they should totally get it.

"I believe I feel the way about these Cylons as you do about Lhuitantl. That is to say: not very much." The words come out with a little growl at the end of them, shoulders hunched with emphasis.

That is certainly true. Adia was always sympathetic to those who went hungry, but in an abstract, donate once a year to a charity sort of way. The Occupation is giving her a real, visceral experience with having to do without, but it only strengthens her empathy. And as bad as things are for her, there are always others who are doing worse. "I'm not sure... she's tired and nauseous, but she doesn't have any other symptoms, so it isn't too serious." At least, she hopes not. "Maybe if there's some ginger somewhere. Or mint. Those are good for nausea."

The comparison is more apt than Paladin might realize. By taking human form and infiltrating the fleet, the Cylons were tricksters themselves. Adia dwells on this quietly before finally replying. "Humans built Cylons for dangerous, hard labor. When they became sentient and asked for better treatment, their pleas were ignored." She grimaces and adds, "Not that what they're doing is right. But their hate for us isn't coming from out of the blue."

"Those should not be hard to come by, they are even found in my world." Or at least there are plants in her world that are called by those names. There is an assumption, wrong or right, that they would be the same plant regardless of how far away the two worlds are.

"Interesting you should tell me that," the Inn is approaching and Paladin is pleased to find that she is quite hungry. "Most occupied people do not admit to their sins, while I am not in the middle of this conflict it seems safe to say that neither side is blameless." A pretty obvious statement but there it is. The slaves become the master, the roles reversed: it's a grim thought.

"Oh, that's good. Maybe they'll have peppermints at the restaurant. I don't think Maggie has thrown up yet. She just feels like she wants to." She smiles fondly. "She has amazing willpower, though." It's not a bad assumption, considering how Adia and Paladin have the same names for other things, as well.

"Well..." Her smile falters. "Most people on New Caprica don't see it as I do. They don't try to understand the Cylons, other than from a tactical standpoint." She sighs, expression conflicted. "Maybe I wouldn't either, if circumstances were different, but I... I knew one of them. Before the war started. We were very close. They aren't the monsters we paint them to be."

"Who is Maggie to you? Just a friend that you have in your settlement?" A mentor perhaps? Regardless, Paladin enjoys Adia's concern and thought for others, it's an important and valuable quality to have in a person.

"Well that's certainly an unexpected twist in this narrative. Was this a Cylon who looked human, were you aware that they were a Cylon when you met them?" There is a little hint of amusement in her tone but it fades. "I feel that you fall into a very dangerous trap when you paint a people with a broad brush," not like the Tiefling would know anything about that. "Very rarely is the whole band, usually it is the few that stand out, that we see as the face of the whole. Their actions are cast upon all the rest."

"My best friend," Adia replies. "She and I were on the Chiron together. Our quarters were across from one another." Her fond turns nostalgic, thinking of her time on the research vessel. "She's from Leonis, too, and made it a point to befriend me. We've been through... gosh, everything together. She and her boyfriend Seth are my family now."

"He was one of the human models, and no, I was not." There is a flatness in her tone, although it is not directed at Paladin. Perhaps it is meant for those who have questioned her loyalties in the past. "He didn't, either, not until he--"

She sighs and starts over. Trying to tell this sort of story from the middle would only cause confusion. "There are seven different human-looking Cylon models. There are lots of copies of each one. Caspar was on the Chiron with me. He had been given false memories. For all he knew, he was human. But his model was the first to be discovered as a Cylon." She swallows hard. "And there's nowhere to run, on a ship."

"Family you make through experience and friendship is the best family." A bold statement but Paladin knows no other. What family she had did not want her: what friends she has made are true and would go through hell with her - literally.

Hands in pockets and gaze up at Adia as they stroll down the main drag of Nexus, Paladin listens intently, brows furrowing as they go farther and more of the story is revealed. Unable to help it, a shudder runs down her back, being trapped and hunted: that is truly terrifying. Once again, there is an urge for a sympathetic touch but the only part available is leg and, well, that can send mixed messages. "It must have been hard for you, Adia."

It is a truth that is unfortunately either learned through loss or rejection. Neither of which is in short supply for Adia, but she probably doesn't give herself enough credit, either. Maggie and Seth consider her family, too.

Adia looks straight ahead, blinking a few times to keep her eyes clear. She wonders absently if it will ever get easier to talk about. "It was. Losing him... losing him like that. I felt like I couldn't even grieve for him. Not only because he was a Cylon, but we hadn't..." She shakes her head and scoffs quietly. "We were close friends, but we only were dating for a week. I had... I had all these feelings for him, but for such a short time. Everyone else had lost husbands, wives... partners of many years. I felt like I hadn't earned the right to mourn."

As they reach the inn, Adia pulls on Shadow's reins to bring him to a stop. But she doesn't move to get down quite yet. Some things are easier to talk about on top of a horse. "I found out much later that Cylons are able to download their memories into a new body when they die, so Caspar is still alive. Somewhere. But he hasn't bothered to contact me in all this time. So maybe a couple of months isn't enough to change a Cylon's opinion of humans."

Paladin purses her lips together and stays silent for a stride or two before finally speaking. "Your emotions are valid and I feel that you should relax on yourself a little. You are morning the loss of many things with his departure, including a future, those are things important to grieve for." People can feel deep, intense things shortly after meeting someone, when that, and the possibility for a longer, more intense relationship is gone? It is reasonable to grieve.

"Possibly," the Tiefling stops and stares out as she speaks before pausing and looking up at Adia. "Or he might be unable to contact you yet," there is always hope, Paladin firmly believes that.

Paladin makes an excellent point. Adia was not one to jump ahead in a relationship, to hear wedding bells or pick out children's names. But she was looking forward to so much with Caspar. All the little moments of affection, and bigger moments, too. "I was going to invite him to take shore leave with me," she confesses. "He had never been to Leonis."

The problem with hope is that as long as Adia has it, she can never get closure. But she appreciates it, anyway. "I've thought of that. I haven't exactly tried contacting him, either, but the stakes are a little higher for me." She starts to swing out of the saddle, then winces, a little sore from having not ridden in so long. "Paladin, do you mind helping me down?"

The Tiefling gives her a rather tender smile. "It is alright to be sad that you didn't have the chance to do that, Adia." In this situation Paladin can offer very little outside of reassuring the rider that her feelings are alright, are good. In a situation where we are helpless that's sometimes the only thing we can do.

"Of course, of course," Paladin will step forward, hands automatically reaching for the dismounting rider, hands going for her waist in order to help her down. "Ah, that ache after the first ride in a long time."

"I know," Adia says softly, more for herself than Paladin. She's often hardest on herself when it comes to these sorts of things.

With Paladin's assistance, she dismounts easily enough. She rubs at the small of her back while arching backwards slightly, then forwards, trying to work out the soreness, but even that brings back fond memories. "It was always like this at the start of the summer," she smiles, shaking out the stiffness in her legs. "I'll be fine in a few." She pats horse's neck with a gentle hand. "Thanks for the ride, Shadow. You're a good boy."

Paladin will never not enjoy helping a lady down off their horse, which in some situations might make her a bit of a cad. Usually there is a bit of a linger afterward but not this time, they were just speaking about a person Adia lost who was very close to her, comfort is appropriate but not perhaps not overly close contact.

"A nice walk should help with that, or time, either or." Stepping away, Paladin reaches for the dangling reins to take Shadow in hand despite the fact that she is well aware that he will not bolt. "Would you like to meet me inside or come along for his care? Whichever you prefer is fine with me."

A lingering touch would probably only confuse her. Adia reacts to subtle flirting with obliviousness, and not-so-subtle flirting with awkward blushing. It's probably why it took nearly three months for her and Caspar to get together in the first place. (Although Adia did kiss him first. For the record. She can be brave when she needs to be.)

"I'll come with you. The walk will help me stretch out my legs."

At times Paladin would rather face a room full of trolls then actively try and flirt with an unknown factor. At least sober. Generally though, flirting is a dungeon filled with traps that no amount of tip-toeing can avoid, it gets a bit safer if the other person seems keen to play along but even that can lead to awkward silences. Which is why Paladin tends to lean toward sure things, men and women who require no flirting.

After that building of rapport generally works best, with the bonus of gaining friendships and looking less like a fool.

"Excellent!" Paladin heads off to take Shadow behind the building and toward an enclosed pavilion. It's not a stable, Paladin is still looking for one of those, but it will do in a pinch for the time being. "I think Shadow is an excellent name for this steed, you have picked a fine name." Paladin shares with Adia after some contemplation.

"If ever you should like another ride please feel free to do so! Shadow would appreciate that I think."

A fine day for horseback riding. ((For i_paladin))

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I'm back from Thanksgiving! Sorry for the delay!

no worries! hope you had a good holiday!

I did, thanks!

excellent

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