Meanwhile...

[Tussa]

[Idea stolen from the original thread on the AO forums.

This thread is for everyone to share what's going on in his or her character's life at the moment. Big or small, it doesn’t matter. The intention is not to write an interactive story but just take a snapshot of Rubi-Kan life.

You can write your bit anyway you like, in the first person, like a diary entry ("Today I started my yalmaha lessons"), in third person mode as if it were a story ( "Jen went to Tir for her first yalmaha flying lesson" or whatever works best for you.

Likewise you may include things that are actually happening in-game like a tower battles or Council of Truth session, or stuff which is just imagined, like a trip to Omni-Prime or coaching a children's softball team.

The only rule is keep it short, easy to write, easy to read and in character.

Finally, please remember that just because you may have read something here it does not necessarily mean your character knows about it. It’s just common sense, really.

So, on with "Meanwhile…"]

[Tussa]

Jen looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. Every time she looked, she got a little angrier or a little more depressed. Why was life so cruel? Why was it so hard to make decisions she knew she had to make? Was there no justice in the world?

She studied her body in the shiny surface of the wall and wrinkled her nose, disgusted at what she saw.

'This won't do. I have to change,' she mumbled to no one in particular as she reached up and tugged a braid. Leaning in close, she studied her face; each of the freckles, her lashes and the color of her eyebrows.

Then, slowly and deliberately, she stepped back again, sighed heavily and muttered again.

'I will die of shame...'

She breaks away from the image of herself in the mirror, then turns to the oversized closet on the next wall.

'...if I ever wear pink with this red hair. Atrocious!'

Peeling off her pink with white dots top, fishing out another top in deep moss green and pulling it over her head, she turns back to the mirror, this time smiling at what she sees.

'Much better!' she exclaims before packing up her backpack and heading towards the door. Ready to face another day, and looking good while doing it.

[Badpacket]

Cain pulled a readout from a column-like machine in a dramatically lit workshop. His eyes skipped most lines and concentrated on some number in the middle of the page. He squinted, read the line again, carefully, looked up to the ceiling that was 25 meter above him, closed his eyes and laughed with delight. Amazing how a simple, 5-digit number could fill a man with such joy. It actually more of was satisfaction, having finished  some important calculation.

"If there is a God out there, he's surely going to hate me."

He walked up to a desk and put the paper on it.

"But at least he'll know my name."

"As for Assembly.."

He turned away from the light of the desk and stared into darkness

"..in this war, you have outlived your usefulness."

He took a step forward and vanished.

[Xeenah]

No.  Don't throw your comlink, for once you have a reliable one...

Her shoulders dropped as she decided not to swing her hand on the table to send the comlink into the wall.  She turned her eyes to the large windows.  She could do nothing she loved to do, or at least that's how it felt.  I didn't think it would be like this...  Holy crap, it's like the rest of the world keeps spinning while I'm stalled.  It wouldn't feel as bad if all the people I know were not active fighters... Ugh!

She turned to the tall mirror hung to the wall.  Staring at herself, studying her reflexion attentively.  She could feel the presence inside, but she couldn't really see any change on the outside, which didn't help.  She felt like she could fight but this was out of the question.  It was tough to get in the mindset of being a life carrier.  She was a warrior at heart, has always been, and would probably always be...  Though this last thought suddenly felt less certain than before.

She turned aside a bit, checking her silhouette.  She pushed her belly out, twisted her mouth and tilted her head aside a bit as she straightened up.  It's only been a month...  Not like I'm gonna see a difference before a good while.  She frowned.  Silly Opi...  You wanted this and now you complain?  Get real!  Stop it.

She nodded slowly to her reflexion.  She knew she would change and a lot more than just physically.  It had already started.   Fifth week.  ...Oh hell, already?  She looked at her reflexion again, realizing suddenly that time just took a new meaning.  It would be both very slow and very fast from now on.

She didn't feel like being the lady of the warcamp bidding farewell to the fighters.  She decided to leave her comlink off and walked to the bathroom, a smile floating on her lips as she laid her eyes on the huge bath.

[Ragunn]

It was raining. Why, oh God why did it always have to rain when he was stuck waiting for something to happen.

Cord was sure that to an outside observer it might have seemed impressive or even somehow iconic (something about adventurer-specific stereotypes) -- it being this particular scruffy adventurer sitting on top of the hill overlooking the landing pad just northeast of Andromeda. He was stuck there, staring into the distance while the rain fell around him and the tree he was leaning his back against, sitting. He had his arms around his knees under his cloak as he did what adventurers were simply good at.

Watching.

It was an easy job, of course, especially with nanobots that helped him see as far as he would have with binoculars. But if it just hadn't been for the damned rain... He preferred to enjoy weather extremes when he wanted to, not when he had to. Still, looking at him it would have been hard to tell the often taciturn and sour adventurer was nothing more than his frosty self. After all, it was a job. A mission, even. He had been passed an order from mission central to watch for one specific person and follow them wherever they went.

And by God, he wouldn't budge from this spot until then.

He really, really wanted to, though.

What was so damned impressive about this sort of thing in the first place?

[Varyo]

Varyo leaned against wall and panted. He could feel pain in his whole body. Wall felt cold against his back and weapon shook in soldier’s hand. He bit his lip and tried to stand up, but stopped after pain hit him again.

“I hate this mission already,” Varyo said to himself, “If this will continue like this I won’t get this done.”

He pushed himself off wall and stood looking angrily the gun he held in his hands.

“I should have got better one long time ago, this is just too low powered weapon for these missions I get nowadays,” Varyo stopped suddenly and lowered his gun.
“I shouldn’t blame my weapons, I’m the only one to blame. I’m too weak and I haven’t trained enough, I haven’t taken the time to get new gun, I can’t hit anything when recoil hits in. It’s all my fault.”

Varyo reloaded his gun and raised it up.

“Only thing I can do now is to do my best and train to become better. I can’t ask anything for anyone if I’m too weak to give them anything back. I should train and make myself useful.”

Varyo set his gun ready to empty it’s clip to nearest target and continued his mission.

[Absyn]

At a mostly evaporated oasis out in the far reaches of Wailing Wastes two chirops fought a tug-o-war.  They danced madly in front of their carefully constructed nests on the north side of a sand dune.  The tiny worm stretched between their beaks looked impossibly thin, like a rubber band just before breaking point.  Puffs of dust and sand flew up in the moonlight as the battle between the avians for the measly scrap of meat intensified.  The cawwing of each bird was a screaching beseechment to the other to surrender the rope, to give up, fly away and find his own damn worm!

They fought and flapped in circles, hopping from claw to claw like barefooted men trying to navigate burning coals in a fire ritual.  Finally the poor excuse for a grub snapped and half-dried wormy innards slapped back into the gaping maws of each of the triumphant chirops.  Before they could settle again to their roost for the night a ball of nanomage and robes hurtled down at them at terminal velocity and landed with an almighty crash into the younger of the two birds' nests.

Luci got up with a grunt and winced at the sight of her broken leg being stitched up by a red cloud of medibots.

"One minutes and twelve seconds from Shadowlands.  To Rubi-Ka.  Is.  I think that's my personal best."  The mage made a small note against some figures on her lit comlink and began her code execution that would dematerialise her and send the still healing pieces into the planet's grid system.  The younger Chirop slid his glance from his ruined home to the robed nanomage, and back at his pile of broken twigs.  His beak dropped open in astonishment.

[Varija]

The constant steady buzzing of the needle echoed off the stone walls of the room. Arlyne sat silently breathing slowly and regularly.  It had become a ritual she wrapped her honor, mythology, and trust in. It was also a penance of pain and pride, endured as remembrance of times past. It might fade and become less vigorous as the notum was consumed but it could never be taken away by anyone. This was her third recharge of notum added to the tattoos on her arms.

The notum dust was liquefied at high temperature and then laced under the skin with the needle before it dried in the vial. The temperature of which was altogether painful for the subject. It was a recoloring of sorts, only this dye, nanobot, and notum soup swirled and glowed in the confinement of the tattoo's borders just under the skin. Far from ordinary these tattoos were thought of as alive and they lent amazing benefits to their host. Illegal, unsanctioned, and ill tested it was a masterfull process and craft performed by only the most skilled and trusted artists. Perfection or bust, there was no room for error.

The buzzing stopped and the Atrox artisan changed the notum vial out in the needle for a fresh one right off the cooker. The buzzing began again. With her free arm Arlyne picked up a full vial off the cooker. She examined the vial as she had done the previous two times.  ~Amazing stuff...Vial is never hot...but the shit boils as it goes in.~ a thought that made Arlyne shiver. The artist lifted the needle away from her arm, gave a intentional cough, stern look at Arlyne, and waited. The buzzing continued but there was no more pain..

~No more pain...~ Arlyne thought as she tilted the vial from side to side hypnotized by the slow roll of the thick glowing liquid from end to end. She heard another cough... "Oh shit sorry Jaffers, I spaced out..." with that Arlyne placed the vial back on the cooker went back to her motionless meditation and thought. Jaffers replied with his customary toothless grin, "It's ur arm doc not mine!"

The buzzing continued and the pain started backup.

[Sanjei]

He glared at the fit half-naked person standing in front of him in the mirror. By now, he had managed almost three months without any sign of the device was resurfacing. However he couldn't be too sure. Either it was fucking with him, or it was in fact, dead. Whatever it was, the soldier couldn't afford that risk. He had been victim for this once before, and there was no chance that he would ever allow himself to become that again. The complete fear he had felt during those days had been enough for him.

Fear. Hunter licked his lips as if he was tasting the word. One of the basic instincts that made it possible for mankind to survive in such a strange universe as this. He had felt more than fear when the device was in control. All that power that it held. The fact that only through a combination of some milligrams of different chemicals inserted in his brain, Hunter's body became more enduring, his perception skill heightened and his reflexes enchanced. The device had turned Hunter's body into an mechanicaly, or chemically enchanced human. Without those chemicals, the device hadn't been able to control his body and Hunter would have instantly won over it.

However, such power the soldier had felt when the device was activated... was there any way to achive such benefits without having the device take him over once more? The man shook his head. It would be foolish and stupid, but still...

He shrugged and exited the bathroom. With his right hand Hunter held the towel around his more vital areas of the body, with his left he digged around in his bed until he found a pair of clean underwear. As he regained his height, he came in the exact level of his two mirrors hanging in his bedroom, making it possible for the soldier to spot the hideous scar stretching accross his neck. It looked better than before, but it was still something that many people wrinkled their nose towards. Without further consideration, the soldier dropped the towel and pulled on his underwear. It would take another painful while to get into that CAS armor, but the pain was worth it. It directed his thoughts to something else but the strange device still resting in his neck.

[Ishabel]

Her glance had stared at the soldier standing in front of her.
"What?  Do I have a spot on my face?" he uttered.
"No sir, you do not.  However, I would draw your attention on the fact that I am a Solitus and as such, not able yet to give you a 131 wrangle, sir.  I suggest you try to find a Nanomage trader if you really need that high a wrangle." she had said in her usual calm, professional tone.  He had looked at her with comtempt, to which she had answered with a shrug before turning around and leaving.

What was it with people insisting that she would handle the finest wrangles of the profession so soon?  The soldier was now on her blacklist and his signal on ignore.

The kettle was whistling, the cup was set on the counter, a spoon carefully aligned perpendicular to the counter edge, two cubes of sweetener aligned next to the spoon at mid-length, a slice of lime placed crescent out next to the sweetener cubes.  The rectangular tea box was behind the cup, waiting for its owner to dig in, which Isha did, dropping a precise measure of tea in the strainer.  She held the strainer above the cup, inclined the kettle at a 35 degree angle, carefully pouring the boiling water over the strainer, the water dripping in the cup.  The strainer was left in the cup for 55 seconds for a delicate taste.  So many people made tea too strong, the delicate aroma drowned by the excessive concentration.

She pressed the lime over the steaming cup, watching the drops fall with an exquisite liquid plopping sound, then dropped the sweetener cubes delicately, one at a time.  From right to left, lime, sweetener cubes, then the spoon.  She dipped it in the cup, then stirred 3 times, tapped the spoon delicately 3 times on the rim of the cup.  "Three times stir, three times tap, makes tea worth a nap" she rhymed to herself.  She landed the spoon slowly on the counter, aligning it.  She could now take a sip, which she did with much delight.

[Kotts]

Cher had fallen asleep on the sofa. He has noticed that she was starting to show. It wasn't terribly obvious yet, but he still noticed. A smile came across his lips watching her breathe peacefully. The suns were on their way down tothe horizon, their light bearly peaking through the rain clouds off in the distance. He pulled at his sleeveless shirt, and lifted a small data pad. He stared at the list of names, saying each of them to himself.

Sai, had a pleasent ring to it. Sai Clay. His mouth twisted. Not in it's fullest though. He was partial, even though it was the most popular, but it was unique, and beautiful.  His eyes caught on another more familiar name, Zoe. No doubt it was pretty, but... It belonged to someone he knew, once. His mind wandered. It's be more then a year sinceshe had passed... Though her husband was still very much in contact with him. How would he feel if they named their daughter after his late wife... Kotts twisted his mouth again.

"We should talk to him..."
He nodded to himself agreeing.

[Stonyman]

He stood and looked around the training area, the cold morning air running across his bare sweat coated chest. He saw his target and started his run-up, a few feet from the wall he jumped, his right foot just catching the lip of the wall. He tried to adjust his balance, aiming to stand on the top but it wasn't to be as he over balanced and fall over the wall, crashing to the ground shoulder first.

Mack Bolan stood in anger and looked at the sky as his fist crashed into the stonework. He gritted his teeth as he felt the angonising pain shot though his hand, his newly broken hand. In the distance he could hear a leet laughing and blink-zoomed his vision as far as he dared while picking up a rock with his healthly hand and threw it was hard as he could. He was rewarded with the sound of the leet's skull being shattered.

"At least i can still do somethings i guess" He said aloud as he walked towards the apartment he shared with Leah.

"Damn, gonna have ta explain this one away as well... screw it just tell her what happened, she may even know a Doctor that free."

The apartment door slid open and he grabbed an icepack from the small fridge he kept by the door, placing it on his hand  as he picked up one of the cigars he kept in a box on the living room shelf. Mack left a message with Sandra as he lit the cigar, Leah walking from the bedroom.

"What have you done now?" She asked as Mack took a drag, attempting to smile through the pain in his hand.

"Ah ya know me, picked a fight with a wall."

[Galadan]

The young man straightened his jacket, let out a faint, nervous sigh and opened the door. He squinted and covered his eyes as the door slid silently inside the wall. The room was brightly lit. Too much, in fact, or at least for someone used to wearing heavy duty battle gear in the orbital stations.

"Heh... no helmets in here..." he thought, chuckling dryly.

He moved further inside, his hand still over his eyes until the light would stop hurting. Quickly looking around, he finally noticed what looked like the room interior commands, and reached for it, adjusting the lights to a darker, softer tone.

"That's better." he said out loud, smiling to himself.

He turned around and went to the desk. His desk. He smirked at that thought. He was now going to be what he liked to laugh at the most back then... A paperpusher. He dropped his pack next to him, sat at the chair, opened the datapad and starting browsing through the clan's military inventory.

"How boring..."

After a few minutes his attention drifted to his backpack lying on the floor next to his chair. He stared dreamily at his trusty OFAB Shark's handle, slightly coming out of the pack. Then, with a resigned sigh, Dorian turned back to his datapad.

"Let's get this over with."

[Xeenah]

Wwwhhhoooosh!  She looked back and saw nothing.  Shrugging, she looked back down at the holopad sitting on the table.

Wwwhhhoooosh!  She turned around, frowning.  "What the..."  Sighing, she bent down on her holopad again.

Wwwhhhoooosh!  "Oh for f***'s sake!" she let out.  She then heard a giggle coming from the bedroom.

Wwwhhhoooosh!  She saw Kotts rush out the bedroom door and pass next her, sliding down the ramp of the living room all the way to the terrasse...

...on his hoverboard.  She stood up and put her fists on her hips.  "Kotras Clay!  Hoverboarding in the house?  You'd better enjoy it while the kids aren't there yet, because trust me, once they are, I'll kick your head off if you hoverboard inside!"

He slid back inside and up to the table, setting his foot down, bent down to her with his damnable grin and kissed her.  She sighed.  "Oh you little..."  He grinned wider.  He would eternally be the kid with the new toy.  She couldn't help chuckling at his proud grin.

"Yes mommy?" he said with a smirk.  "Argh..."  She slapped his butt.  "Just don't trip over furniture, vases or plants or anything, okay?..."  He quickly jumped back on his Phantom and took off, taking the sharp turn toward the exit door with a loud "Yeee haaaw!"  Cher giggled and returned to her holopad, a smile floating on her lips.

[Escoryon]

"Been waitin' for ya my whole life?  What the f***?!?  That line was bad ten years ago!"

Third time this month.  Ever since he went and had kids, Malan kept trying to hold out on me.  Claimed the profit margin on crash was too razor-thin to keep paying 15%.  Which was, in my opinion, a load of shit, but it was hard to lean on a man with two new mouths to feed.  Unfortunately for Malan, he'd finally caught me in a bad mood. 

"Goddamn she's infuriating!"

"Cipur, you gotta believe me, I wish I could pay you more, I really..."

"Which is, to be fair, incredibly sexy."

Or, well, a confused mood, which was just as bad for him.  I crossed the room and caught him by his shirt, "Malan, shut up, just shut the f*** up!  Ya're th' worst goddamn liar on the planet.  Now stop feedin' me ya shitty sob story and start greasin th' wheels a'this operation.  Better people than ya an' I need this f***in money!"

"God in Heaven, what the f*** was I thinking?"

Malan whined, "Cipur, take it easy, take it easy on your old pal Malan.  I got your money, yeah, I got it right here."

"She sure as hell seemed interested in me, though.  That's gotta be a good sign, right?"

I let Malan down so he could work his accounts.  He was a rat, but no worse than a lot of other rats I'd known.  Maybe better.  At least he was sticking by his kids.  That had to be worth something...you're getting philosophical, Cipur, snap out of it.  They'll eat you alive if you get soft.

"You know what?  She didn't come out and say no...think I'll ask around...see if anybody knows a nice restaurant.  Yeah.  Somewhere nice."

Malan came back over and handed me a hacked datapad.  Old technology, but easier to keep illicit transactions under the table.  I started to walk out, and paused.  Now would be the time to drop a hint about his kids not being insurable yet, put the fear of God in him.  He looked at me, pale as a ghost, waiting for the hammer to fall.

"Maybe some flowers or something...I bet I could get a hell of a wine, too..."

I shrugged, "15 percent, Malan...don't yank mah chain aroun', next time," and walked out the door.

"And chocolates?  What the f*** was I thinking?!?"