#mainverse || free from restrictions ( nihlus )

[anderwhohn]

@bloodiedbiotic asked: ❝ you don’t know how glad i am to see you made it. here, let me get you a drink. ❞ for nihlus bc that line feels perfect for post-eden prime ♥

Forest green eyes blink slowly, still clearly a bit dazed from the medication Chakwas has him on to reduce the pain, even if she has finally released him from the medbay under strict orders of his being on restricted light duty or else she'll have him dragged right back to the medbay and restrained if necessary. He's always known turian doctors to be rather ruthless in dealing with unruly patients, but even he has to admit he's not willing to risk this unassuming human doctor's wrath.

It's Shepard's words that has his mandibles fluttering with an emotion even he'd have trouble describing, nodding slowly at the offer as he follows her toward the galley. "Appreciated. Though I probably wouldn't have made it if you hadn't called the evac in time..."

It's an uncomfortable truth, even if Saren's shot hadn't been as fatal as the older turian had intended. And given the overall situation, he dreads to see how the Council is going to react to all of this - particularly Sparatus, given his cousin's tendency to dig his talons in and not accept that the galaxy is changing around him in ways he can't control.

"The Council isn't going to want to believe any of this. Saren is one of their best - they're not going to want to hear humanity's accusations against him. I'm not certain even my own testimony will carry much weight, particularly with Sparatus."

[anderwhohn]

Mandibles pulled in tight against his jaw, Nihlus nods thoughtfully at the unexpected sitrep, though he's still careful not to startle the soldier as he moves closer, settling himself in a chair nearby but without being oppressively in the other's space where the man's laid unconscious on his couch for hours since Nihlus found him.

"2177 was over five years ago," Nihlus notes cautiously, watching the other carefully for his reaction. "It's currently 2182, though only a couple months from the new year. We're currently on the Citadel - Aroch Ward, though I think some of your people call it Shalta Ward, not far from the Presidium Junction."

Leaning back in his chair, he sighs, running a hand wearily over his fringe. "Your being a survivor of Akuze certainly makes this more troubling than it already was, finding a half-dead human on my doorstep. For now, let's worry about making sure you don't go any further into that dead category, before we start worrying about getting in touch with your ambassador. It's bad enough when Laiel has me act as a messenger for him as it is when Udina has been giving the turian embassy more trouble than usual."

Pausing to check something on his omnitool, Nihlus sighs and stands up once more, moving to the kitchen to grab a sealed bottle of water, which he tosses onto the couch beside the human. "I'm afraid I'm not in the habit of keeping levo foods on hand - you're lucky I keep the medigel. There's a clinic not far from here, and certainly closer than Huerta Memorial. You should probably get checked out first, then maybe see about getting you some decent food and clothes before I take you to the embassy."

Or directly to the Council, considering, he can't help but think, mandibles twitching as he tries to decide what to do with his unexpected 'guest'. "And just so you don't start worrying about why some strange turian would even care... I'm Nihlus Kryik, Special Tactics and Recon. So, if you don't mind, I'd rather you not get it into your head that you need to slip away on your own. I really don't need the extra paperwork."

@anderwhohn said: send in " take it easy. you’re safe now, but you need to relax. " for the sender to greet a waking receiver after having found them badly wounded and on the brink of collapse at their doorstep. //from Nihlus (with no context - whichever of Cas’s verses makes most sense; didn’t have to even know it was Nih’s place if you wanna double up a first meeting into it too, since they’ve not interacted)

send in " take it easy. you’re safe now, but you need to relax. " for the sender to...    /    ACCEPTING ↷

Safe? Cas is never safe. Years, a captive of Cerberus, until... He never could’ve fought his own way out of those labs. He has no idea who’d attacked; mercs, probably, he’d seen a few krogan. So he had done something unlike himself and  ran away  rather than stay to fight (whoever was an enemy of Cerberus, he’d be on their side, mercenaries or no mercenaries), and that had probably saved him his life... Usually not one to flee, years of being a subject of experiments; it had started with the thresher maws on Akuze, yes, but long since evolved into attempted mind control. He has old scars and new scars circling around his head, mostly hidden beneath his hair, where Naomi had pierced his skull and dug into his brain over and over again. He has old acid burns along his shoulder blades from thresher maw acid, from Akuze. His body is littered with numerous others; repeated needle marks on his arms, old battle wounds from before it all... and fresh injuries, the skin of his chest partially shredded from where he’d been slashed with an omniblade, by the turians he’d been so kindly (he always knew it was a trap, but anything was better than Cerberus) transported into safer territory by... So much running...

This isn’t one of his assailants, though. Cas sits up (too fast, reeling), assessing his surroundings. This is someone’s home... there’s medigel and a bandage over his chest.

But he’s escaped from Cerberus; nowhere is safe, and no one around him is anything but collateral. They’ll come for him.

❝ What year is it? ❞    he demands, voice raspy. He can tell it’s been several years, but he’s not sure of the exact date.    ❝ I’m Lieutenant Castiel Krushnic; I was a part of the Alliance Marine unit sent on the colony on Akuze in 2177. I need to... need to contact... ❞    He gets most of his words out coherent enough, but the effort makes his head spin, so he’s forced to trail off.

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced asked: “Human history is written in a litany of blood shed over differing opinions of government and afterlife.” / wren for nihlus

"I think you'll find that similar can be said about nearly every species in Council Space," Nihlus notes with an amused flare of his mandibles. "Though you'd also find most of us make have made a point of hiding that fact after a few centuries whenever possible."

"Perhaps we should take a tour of the Archives, once the Council has appointed your Spectre status. It'll give you a good idea of just what has really been going on in the galaxy for the last couple of millennia…"

[anderwhohn]

"You're getting too comfortable with me on your six," Nihlus notes with a pointed look as he looks down at her, one mandible flaring out in a bit of a smirk at having caught her off guard. "Spectres often work alone, or in pairs. You're not always going to have a squad to rely on, which is the very reason it's just us here now."

With a small hum in his subvocals, more felt in the air between than heard, he reaches down to offer her a hand to help her back to her feet. "You need to get used to the fact that you're not really an Alliance soldier anymore, Shepard. In the future, you'll answer only to yourself and the Council. The Alliance may ask you for favours - the same is true of the Hierarchy, but only if Blackwatch can't handle the situation - but you don't answer to them anymore, and you're not obligated to do anything they want you to do."

"You're going to be on your own out here, one day. I need to know you're going to be able to handle that. You have potential, and your past suggests you can handle it, but I need to really see it for myself."

@anderwhohn​ said: [ sweep ] your muse knocking mine off their feet. //from Nihlus (something something training, something something possibly in the middle of a mission planetside just to make his point?)

a meme from my multi    /    PROBABLY ACCEPTING ↷

No, Shepard isn’t prepared for the person who’s supposed to be  her fucking mentor  to suddenly turn against her  ⸺  taken off guard, unprepared, she goes right off her feet, the breath getting knocked right off her lungs as her back hits the ground, even with her armour cushioning her.

❝ What the hell, Nihlus? ❞    she demands, winded, as she glares up at him. They’re not training! This is a fucking mission, she could have shot him! Fine,  technically every mission is training,  but that’s not the point!