Recreational Facility
As massively scaled as the rest of the complex is, it should come as no surprise that the recreation hall is also huge. One end is taken up by a large swimming pool and diving tower. Small cabanas are erected nearby for ease in changing clothes. Another section of the bright and airy room is dedicated to various weight machines for use by various races. Some of them in fact are dizzyingly incomprehensible. Presumably -someone- knows how to use them. A sloping ramp leads up to a jogging track above the hall. The track is lined with large open windows that look out onto the atrium and its gardens. This room is usually occupied at all hours by someone or another looking for a bit of exercise.
(OOC Note: To set your room doing, try 'I'm blank'.)
Contents:
Tara, standing by the door.
Obvious Exits:
Atrium
Niko walks here from the Central Atrium.
Niko has arrived.
Tara is firing steadily at a target on the far end of the range, her weapon set to a mere harmless laser setting. She pretty much ignores everything around her, though she occasionally starts at movement nearby.
Niko cuts quite the figure in his workout gear. Really. He's ready for the cover of GQ. No sarcasm at all intended there. He ambles over to one of the weight machines that overlooks the firing range. One can exercise and be entertained at the same time. How ingenious!
That's close enough, sure, and Tara glances over her shoulder briefly, only to double take and slowly turn around. "Handsome?" The inquiry is cautious- it's been over a year, after all.
Niko pauses a beat. Only one person who calls him that, after all, even though he is. Then, though, he continues the stuff-that-will-be-left-vague on the weight machine. (His player doesn't know enough about that kind of thing to speculate.) "Afternoon, Valentine." His reply is amiable enough. "I heard you were back. Welcome. Hope you're settling in all right."
Tara nods slowly, taking a few steps forward warily. "I am..." After a few seconds of watching- now how's she supposed to resist watching Niko work out? -a bit of confusion shows in her expression. "Yeah, I'm doing fine."
"Glad to hear it." Niko seems oblivious to the fact that he's being watched. Maybe he's counting? The pauses in his words might suggest that. With a brief gesture towards the firing range, he inquires, "Getting in a little practice?"
Tara mhmmms, her mouth quirking in wry amusement. "I haven't exactly had a chance to do so for quite a while. Not quite sure why I'm bothering, but it's... familiar."
Niko intones, "Familiarity breeds..." He pauses. "Something. Don't remember what. But it's a good thing, I guess. Hey, long as you keep it in the firing range, more power to you." He's recommending bigger guns?
Tara smiles grimly. "It breeds contempt, so the saying goes. Or so they told us at the Academy. But I think that only applies between people." She nods amiably. "Not much choice in that matter, sir."
Niko's expressive brows seem to take on a rather ironic quirk at that last. The statement, or the sir? "Glad to hear that, too. And I guess that the familiarity thing wasn't quite the statement I wanted to make after all, eh?" He shakes his head. "Got to brush up on my quotations or something."
Tara chuckles slightly, not looking any less puzzled. "Yessss... How'd you happen to hear I was... Oh. Lieutenant Mayes?"
Niko pauses a moment in his exercising to shrug. "Might've been Kath. I know she mentioned it. I might've read it in a report, too. Keeping track of where I learn things isn't my strong point," he adds, with a rather boyish grin. Isn't he cuuute? Just don't squeeze his cheeks.
Tara nods, amusement flaring briefly in her eyes. "I guess the source doesn't matter." She pauses a long moment before noting, "I was not expecting the types of reactions I've seen to my return."
Oh, look, there's another of those grins. "What, you mean that we're behaving like civilzed folks, not jumping down your throat or anything? Well.. other than Kath. But she's not civilized." He rather belatedly glances about the rec hall to make sure Kathlyn isn't present to smack him.
Tara blushes slightly, inclining her head. "Something like that, yeah. Y'all are a lot friendlier than I remembered. Now the Lieutenant... well, the situation between her and me is a special case."
Niko says rather drolly, "A lot about Kath is special." There's a pause, where he turns sideways to adjust the settings on the weight machine. "She's probably not going to let up on the way that she's being, though. And, to be honest, in her situation I probably wouldn't either."
Tara lifts one shoulder from its slump to shrug. "I wouldn't expect her to change." An eyebrow is raised in curiousity at that last. "Why?"
"Kath seems to think she has good reason for not liking you," Niko replies, starting up on the weightlifting with a quiet oof of effort. "I'm kind of the same with that. Tend to hold a grudge. This isn't to say that she's got a good reason," he adds, looking over briefly. "Just that she thinks she does. I don't know the situation, and I'm not going to get involved unless it's necessary. Hope it won't be."
Tara cocks her head, thinking back, her eyes following the weights, and looks amused after a moment. "I'm not even sure where the... hostilities, for lack of a better word... started. Oh... that's right. Sarducci's arrest." Turning serious, she shakes her head. "It won't be," she avers simply. "I'm certainly not about to cross her. I'm hoping I don't even have chance to bump into her in the hallways."
Niko keeps up the various weightlifting stuffs, slow and steady, not pushing himself too much. Now that he's started, he's fine. "That's probably the way to go, yup. Kath may be small, but getting her annoyed isn't really very good. Not as bad as annoying Anya, mind, but still not good."
Tara mhmmms, settling back against a wall to enjoy the show. "Same goes for SecOffs in general."
Niko nods amiably enough. "Yup," he agrees. "Definitely. Even Kaycen can be pushed too far." He finally does stop with the weightlifting stuff, flipping the settings back to the original ones, and snags his towel to toss it around his neck. "Good thing for you to remember, Valentine, and I'm glad to hear you say it."
Tara's eyebrows rise. "Kaycen? Seriously?" Him, she definitely remembers- he brought the food after the temple rescue. "I'd never have thought that of him." She ducks her head for a few seconds before looking back up with a bland expression. "I'll keep that in mind, sir."
Niko wipes his forehead for a moment or two. "Everybody can be pushed too far," he says, with a faint smile. "Just have to know the proper buttons, or just keep pushing." His brows quirk at the bland expressoin, and he gives you a rather searching look, though he doesn't say anything.
Telling the good doctor is one thing- telling a SecOff the necessity for bland expressions is quite another, and Tara pretends not to notice the searching look. "Funny, that used to be a talent of mine." Her tone is slightly sheepish. "One I honed to perfection."
"Pushing buttons?" Niko inquires, getting to his feet with a stretch. "Yeah, I think I heard that. Maybe. Don't remember where." He doesn't grin, but it's a near thing. "Not doing it any more, though? If you were, seems like you'd be calling me Handsome a lot more than you are. Just the once."
Tara shakes her head. "No, I'm..." She blanches, saying quickly, "I apologize, sir. I was startled at seeing you, and my mouth slipped its leash."
Niko lifts his head briefly skywards. "It was a -joke-, Valentine. You can still call me that if you -really- want to. Ela might object--though she might think it's funny, too. Just don't call me Junior, eh? Anything else'll work, pretty much."
Tara blushes slightly, ducking her head. "Aye, sir. It was never a button, though. Junior?" When she looks up, humor twinkles in her eyes. "I'm not that much older than you."
Niko all but winces at the 'sir'. "Okay, could you toss 'sir' up there with Junior? Please? And there are folks younger than you are who call me Junior, so I guess age doesn't matter."
Tara nods automatically. "Whatever you say, si... Er, sure. Why do they call you Junior?"
Niko lifts his shoulders in a brief shrug, still toweling off a bit. "Because I was the kid in Security when I got here? They weren't allowed to call me 'kid', though. The name--Junior--stuck, at least for some."
Tara ohs, nodding slightly. "That reminds me- you mentioning Mrs. Casymed, I mean, not the Junior thing- congratulations, however belated, on your marriage."
Niko does grin, looking decidedly pleased at the mention of his wife and the wedding and all that good stuff. "Thank you. And I'm sure Ela'd thank you, too, if she was here." After all, Ela's a diplomat.
"You're welcome, of course." A snicker escapes the pilot. "Half the local female population must have mourned that day."
Niko rolls his eyes. "Oh, sure," he scoffs. "None of them ever bothered to mention interest -before- Ela and I got together, though. Well, not many. Not really. And Kath wolf-whistling while I'm swimming doesn't count."
Tara's lips curl in a crooked smile. "Or perhaps you were simply blind to subtle overtures."
"I'll be the first one to admit that I've got selective vision," Niko says amiably. "And some pretty huge blind spots. It took Ela a brick or two, I think. That's about the level of subtlety that works for me."
"I'll remember that next time," Tara mumbles wryly. "Ah well, all's well that ends well, neh?"
Niko pauses a beat. "Next time." Oh, that's a startled look from Niko. But it's nothing compared to what his grandmother would have said if he'd brought you home to Hellas. Yeek. "Uh, yeah," he adds. "Ending well is a good thing, yeah, definitely."
>>OOC: Tara rolls!
>>OOC: Niko snickers. Hey, she would've had -ducks-.
Tara can't suppress a laugh for the startled look. "You really were oblivious, weren't you. That would've been difficult though, in hindsight, what with the Chief worried about my foul claws in you."
Niko nods very slowly. "Ye-es, that could have been kind of problematic." There's a brief pause, and then he asks, just for that last push that sends the brick tumbling off the stack and onto his head, "You were really interested?"
Tara nods, looking amused. "Sure. You're a hunk, and you showed you had a decent sense of humor first time I met you. For a SecOff, you're remarkably easy-going. You're loyal, and kindhearted, and you seemed faintly concerned about a young lad living on the streets with no parents in the picture."
Niko looks maybe a bit uncomfortable at the praise. Maybe the brick grazed his ear or something. "Yeah," he says. "Well. The kid seems to be doing pretty well, from what I've heard. Kids should have folks. They're important." Whether he means the kids or the parents isn't quite clear.
Tara's smile fades slightly. "Well, sometimes we can only fill in as much as we can, neh? And yes, I'm very proud of G'ben for all that he's accomplished, with and without my input." She does nod firmly though. "Parents are a good thing to have, and a bitter loss when the time comes."
Niko observes, with a faint grin, "Parents aren't necessarily the people involved in your genetics, Valentine. I've learned that, goodness knows. Same for other family members. Sometimes you lose some, sometimes you pick up more. Depends."
Tara nods, chuckling softly. "Great. Maybe I can get the Chief to adopt me too. Picking up... family, friends, whatever... always a pleasant surprise."
Niko does manage not to snicker at that particular prospect, instead nodding amiably. "Family's a good thing. Now, if you'll excuse me? I've got to go find my wife. I know she's somewhere in the building, and I need to go interrupt a meeting or something and rescue her."
Tara offers a vague grin. "Of course, Commander. It's been... very nice seeing you again."
Niko takes a moment to check the charge of his tangler, tucked into an ankle holster--hey, he didn't usually just randomly wander around armed, did he? And doesn't it accessorize well with the shorts?--then grins cheerfully. "Same to you, Valentine." He starts around the weight machine, the better to exit.
Niko walks towards the Central Atrium.
Niko has left.
Tara does indeed raise an eyebrow at the presence of the weapon, suspicion flaring in her eyes as she jumps to what's probably the wrong conclusion. Somewhat subdued, she nods after the officer, and turns slowly back to her target practice.
