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Characters: Londo Mollari + Tassadar
Location: Shibusen streets
Rating: G
Time: Feb 26th
Description: Tassadar's out stretching his legs and comes across another displaced alien on his way back from the store.

Tassadar hadn't bothered re-integrating himself back into the human society ever since that fateful day. He spent all of his time thinking over his position and involvement in the war in the times he wasn't out there fighting. The templar was no sooner coming up with an answer since he'd begun, and he doubted that he would either.

There were times like these where he found himself wishing to be back in his own time and in his own galaxy. That was where he truly belonged, and even if his life was over there, he needed to be with his people. His time here was over, and with nothing left to fight for, Tassadar had little to do. He had lost interest in the war, knowing that it would take far too long to win this war, when he had his own to fight. In fact, there was only one reason left that kept him bound to this city, and it was only because of that reason that he did.

His once-Weapon, Nataku, had also been spirited away throughout the night. While they had not spoken to each other since they had abandoned their partnership, Tassadar had always watched his once-Weapon from a distance. Now he didn't even have that. And so now he kept to himself while silently hoping that he too may be returned to where he truly belonged.

Tassadar's large form seamlessly stepped around the few humans on the street as he made his way back to the park. He had withdrawn from the rooftops as of late, and had taken refuge within the deepest part of the city park. It was no Aiur, but it was the closest thing he had to his beloved homeworld within this city, and so he hid himself away within thick foliage.

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There wasn't enough free alcohol varieties in the city, Londo had decided. It was also, for the most part, not anything that a self-respecting Centauri would drink. Perhaps it was good, then, that he no longer respected himself quite the way he once did. Carrying bags of carefully wrapped bottles, Londo made his way back toward his apartment building, praying to the Great Maker that he wouldn't run into G'kar. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with that headache.

To his surprise, though, instead he saw the tall alien he'd once seen on the streets before, the one who had warned him during the attack. Londo stopped walking and considered the choice before him. He could continue home and drink himself into a cheerful oblivion, only to wake up with a pounding headache and no aide to take it out on or beautiful woman to make it better. Or he could speak to one of the few other aliens here and perhaps have a drinking partner to share the hangover with.

Misery was always so much better when it was shared.

Londo walked over to... Tass something. He'd forgotten his name. No matter. "It is a good day, yes? And a good day for company, I feel. And you, you are without company, as am I, and so I believe I should recommend a drink. Or five. What do you say, my good Tass?" And if he'd gotten the name wrong, well, it would be corrected shortly.

Tassadar continued on down the street even as the familiar figure came into sight. The templar knew that the man in question was an alien to the humans as he was, but he hadn't had anything to do with the Centauri since the day of that attack.

He would have been happy to continue on, but he did pause when the other male came to a stop and addressed him. Protoss did drink, but not in the same manner as most other sentient creatures. Instead of consuming liquid through a mouth, the Protoss absorbed the liquid they needed through their skin. Given that it was obvious to any who met him, he stared down at the Centauri wondering if he had forgotten that fact about his race.

"I am Tassadar," he initially said before tilting his elongated head to one side. "My people do not absorb liquid in the same manner as most other species."

"Tassadar. Yes, yes. That is right. I will not forget again." Probably. Unless he felt like it. It all depended on how much fun he wound up having with the other alien.

Londo looked Tassadar over. "And so how do you absorb liquid, hm? Surely there is a way to drink? You cannot be all work, no. That, it would be boring. And you, you do not seem to be a boring person, hm? Not with the towering." He hoisted his bag of drinks. "There is a way, yes? For you to drink?"

Whether the man forgot or not, Tassadar couldn't say, but it would go a long way in the future to see which side of the scale this man would fall on. There wasn't much that he knew about the Centauri race at this point, but the templar found himself curious to learn more about them.

"What liquid we need we absorb through our skin," Tassadar offered. His people never had anything other than water. The few who did often did so with dire consequences to their physical and mental health. While he hadn't seen the results the terran drug, Sundrop, had on his people, he had heard of the affects.

His attention shifted over to the bag as it was hoisted up. From what he could smell from the bottles, it reminded him well of the alcoholic beverages James Raynor and his men consumed. "Protoss bodies are not designed to consume liquids other than water." He wasn't even certain to if he would even be able to absorb other liquids.

"Absorb through your skin." Well, there were all sorts of types. He just couldn't recall any aliens that did that where he was from. It could be worse, though. Tassadar could have been pak'ma'ra. Of all races, Londo despised them second-most. Third. Third-most. The Shadows and their followers deserved first and second place. "Do you sit in the bathtub when you are thirsty? Or avoid the rain if you do not need more water?"

Londo looked down at his alcohol. "Well. Then I will drink, and you will talk, hm? Space, I am missing it. Earth is not my home, and the desert is not something that I am fond of. To have conversation with another who is not human and who does not want to kill me. You do not know how it is, to have the only person from your world here want that... Or do you? I should not assume, no." Not that that would stop him from future assumptions, but he could at least say that much.

It took him a moment to understand the bathtub reference as he shifted through what he knew of human devices. Tilting his head to one side, the templar regarded Londo thoughtfully before he asked in return, "Do you do the same thing, Londo Mollari?"

That, in itself, was enough of an answer within his mind. His people couldn't have survived long on Aiur had they been unable to cease their absorption of water.

He remained quietly watching the other alien as he continued speaking. "My planet does not have any deserts spanning across the surface," Tassadar offered in return. He said nothing in regards to Londo's mention of those from their own sector of space. While neither of them had made an attempt at his life, and never would, that did not mean that there had been no hardships either, but they were his hardships to carry. "You spent much of your time amongst the stars?"

"No, because I drink with my mouth." Londo grinned, amused at his own cleverness, but the grin faded as he looked at Tassadar. The Protoss had no expression, really, and that just seemed like cheating. "Well. In the rain, I do not go around with my mouth open, yes? Do you close the absorbing? Stop it? Or does it not rain in your world?'

At the question Londo shrugged. "Some. Four years I spent on a station. It was... It was not just any station. I miss it sometimes, but other days I am very glad to not see it again. I fly here and there, where I have needed, I was once a fighter pilot. But my life, it has been mostly on my homeworld, Centauri Prime. And of you, Tassadar?" Hah, he got the name right. It wasn't that hard when they were actually talking about something that mattered. "Do you spend much of your time in the stars?"

The reply had him looking at Londo while he processed the playful attempt at mocking him. Most humour, and the logic surrounding it, went over the protoss' head, but he was slowly beginning to come to terms with his understanding of it. Watching as the grin faded, and the questions followed, he answered, "Just as you are able to control how much you consume, we also can do such things."

Tassadar new what a space station was. They had something similar within his race, but their versions were hardly stations at all, but now monuments and holy shrines where the motherships would awaken if they were ever needed again. Their ability to warp and crack through the fabric of time were far too dangerous, even during the invasion of Aiur.

"I was once Executor and commander of the Gantrithor," Tassadar offered once Londo had ceased speaking of his own stance in life. Considering that Londo's people had ventured out into space, it stood to reason that the other male had fought in such locations. Tilting his head to one side thoughtfully, he added, "I spent my youth on homeworld before taking my place out amongst the stars serving my people."

"Good, good. That is most good. I would not like to see someone I have just begun making friends with drown, no." With a chuckle, Londo leaned against the nearest building, taking care not to damage his shirt.

"Executor and commander. I have been neither, but once, I was Ambassador, and now, I am Emperor. My place was only among the stars for a short time, in the grand scheme of things, and now I serve at home, in an old palace, with many people hoping I bring back the old ways." His voice got a little thoughtful, a little sad. "The glory, it is past. They do not accept it. I wish I did not. My people, my world, we must rebuild, and past glories, they will do nothing."

Londo was silent for a moment before he shook his head. "Listen to me, babbling like an old woman. Myself, I am headed to my apartment to drink. Would you care to join me, Tassadar? Two aliens, one with water and one with the finest of cheap wines, drinking and sharing company?"

This male, he was discovering, had a rather strange manner of speech. The human language was difficult enough to understand at times, but the templar discovered that he needed to focus more on each word said in order to gather the content of each sentence. While it was difficult now, however, the templar knew well that such difficulties would change in all due time.

Yet as Londo spoke of his homeworld and rebuilding, he felt a pit of nostalgia and guilt within as he was reminded of Aiur and his people. He said nothing in return as those memories swirled around within his mind before he attempted to rid his thoughts of such things. Now was hardly the time to remember what had happened to his own beloved homeworld.

He had no intention of breaking the silence when it settled between them. Tilting his head at the offer, he considered the possibilities before pushing the memories of his past away. "While the offer is appreciated, my ability to navigate within most buildings is difficult at best." The humans didn't construct their halls or rooms with the thought of beings such as the protoss in mind. They were often far too short or narrow to properly allow once such as himself to pass with ease.

Tassadar didn't seem to speak much, but in the end that didn't bother Londo. He liked to hear himself speak. Certainly he wanted to find out more about the other alien. He could let that take time. By all accounts they weren't going to win the war for another few years. Longer if G'kar started fighting for them. A Narn on their side meant they'd be losing for sure.

When Tassadar finally spoke, Londo looked at the building as it sunk in that he was right. The doorways most certainly weren't tall enough. Londo frowned. "The park then, yes? That, it does not have doors to fit through, no, or corridors. And there is one that does not take stairs. There are too many stairs in this damnable city, and they are most annoying, yes?"

He had to admit some level of surprise when the park was offered as an alternative. Going by what this alien wore, and the luxuries he appeared to desire, the templar never would have assumed Londo would offer such a suggestion.

"Stairs are far more preferable than a number of worlds I have visited," Tassadar said with the barest hint of a chuckle in his voice. Stepping out to the side, he inclined his head before gesturing towards the park. "If you wish for company, then I would find honour in offering as such."

Londo wanted to talk. He didn't know many aliens, Sometimes he craved conversation with people who were not human, and G'kar was out of the question. Even if they didn't cover anything important, or discuss anything of value, it was good to be with someone else who had seen the stars.

"Oh? Tell me of one of these worlds?" He headed for the park, fully prepared to walk and talk. "Myself, I have been to a desert world before. I do not like perpetual heat, no. Some heat, it is good. Constant, not at all. I melt. ...Not literally. I know that some do, but that is not what Centauri do."

There was one world that came instantly to mind at the question. While he had been on hundreds of worlds, Tassadar had never experienced a world as forsaken as that one. He seemed to be momentarily lost in his thoughts as his memories drifted back to those times. Yet he knew that without them, they never would have been able to defeat the Overmind.

"The desert can be an unrelenting wasteland to travel if you do so unprepared," Tassadar mentioned before he said in return. "I have once travelled to a planet that is nothing but molten lava and mountains."

"Molten lava and mountains? Why go? Why even land?" Maybe there had been valuable minerals, but Londo didn't think travelling to, which meant landing on the planet to him, would be worth it with the lava. "Myself, I go to inhabited worlds, and am expected to speak, and be spoken to, and it is all very dull. But I prefer it to lava, yes? The planet, it does not melt around me and possibly take down shuttles, no. I do not wind up stranded."

"It had been necessary," the templar replied with as he continued on his way to the park.

Regarding the alien beside him, Tassadar quietly listened to the words spoken. The duties seemed similar to that of the Judicators, even if it was the templar that often were the ones who first descended on worlds. It was their duty, after all. Yet it was rare that they ever spoke to those beyond their race.

"Yes? Why?" He was having to do most of the talking, but Londo did talk a lot. Maybe it was better this way, being free to jabber and not (apparently) getting on the other alien's nerves.

"And they send you, too? What is it you do? Collect lava? Or were you there to talk to someone? Lavapeople?" He was mostly joking, but he didn't see the appeal of a planet that was rock and liquid rock.

"The planet was the homeworld of a dangerous race," Tassadar said in answer. He omitted the fact that he had been drawn there by Kerrigan's telepathic calls, or that she had any involvement. To him, that beast had been the Queen of Blades and not the human female trapped here in this world along with them.

Glancing down to regard Londo, he added, "I went to the planet in order to test out the strength and capabilities of our foes."

"A fighter, you are, then." Londo looked up at the Protoss with an amused look. "You most certainly are built for it, yes? The height, the whole of you." He waved, gesturing at Tassadar's body.

"And myself, I am built for things that are much less physically demanding." He fought some in his youth, but it's not something he kept up with. Londo had never cared much for sport like that. "It is good they did not send me to lava planets to visit dangerous races, hm?"

They were at the park now, and Londo led the way to a picnic table, glancing over at Tassadar. "Do you sit on things like this?" Do they hold you, was the implication.

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Sorry, my network went down last night.

no apologies needed! i have been slow anyway!

<3

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