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Who: Tekhetsio and YOU!
Broadcast: Fleet-wide!
Action: Way-station!
When: Nebulously sometime after they're all back on their ships

→ network etc.

[aside from antics within the calibrations, Tek hasn't been seen much. on the Marsiva, he'd mostly holed himself up in his room, hiding from the rest of the Fleet as much as he could. and upon returning to his ship, he had slept for several days. but, apparently all of his hermiting has not been enough of an escape. so, after waking up and doing a little bit of spontaneous redecorating, he boards one of the shuttles (which he normally avoids touching) and wordlessly sets off into the darkness of space.

he flies far, and he flies without explanation. he gets as absolutely as far away as he can from his own ship and from the Marsiva. and while he does so, he logs onto the network and sends out a broadcast, calmly reciting something that has been haunting him for several weeks--]

--To see an almost certain horrible death... you know how crowds all sit at the edge of their seats, praying subconsciously for a spectacular accident--and then to be whisked away from it so suddenly--brought to the edge of tragedy, and then to have their better natures win out, showing them how much nicer they always knew they were... that was the supreme thrill.

→ and then on some way-station

[when he finally lands, it's on some nameless way-station. out here, he can at least pretend to be somewhere else. and to complete the illusion, he is wearing a completely different face and form when he exits the shuttle.

today, as Tekhetsio spends hours wandering the way-station and pretending to be interested in the automated shops, it is done as a woman. just as unnaturally flawless as Tek's male form is, the woman perusing the way-station's wares and lounging with a book in the plastic park is built to be gorgeous-- with long dark waves of hair and curves in all of the conventionally desirable places.

and she seems friendly, at least. she offers polite smiles to anyone who happens to glance her way, and slightly more inviting expressions to anyone who seems to be appreciating the view. because this girl likes being looked at, and isn't shy about making that fact very clear.]

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[When he lunges for her, Beverly does not flinch, does not back down. It's not that she isn't scared - she would be stupid not to be - but she's angry too. More than that, his reaction has proven to her how right she is. Her voice loses that unnatural quiet she's been maintaining until now as she shouts back at him.]

I didn't ask to be there! And you clearly don't know me very well either if you actually think I "dug around" for anything! Lash out at me all you want, but I'm not the enemy here.

[Her nostrils flare as she continues to glare at him.]

I am. I'm the monster, right?

[she's just the foolish mortal who happened to stumble upon the knowledge. and it has already been established between them what he apparently thinks of mortal lives.

he won't defend himself. in his rage, he'll just pick up that mantle--donning it as armor and brandishing it as a weapon. just like she'd seen in the vision, his aura reflexively coalesces in his rage, until it becomes a visible thing. that feeling of death gathers, until wisps of dim light begin to flick and crawl over the surface of his arms]

[This time, she does take a step back, her eyes going wide with fear. It was bad enough to experience it in a memory, but to actually feel his aura of death and to see his power coalescing right in front of her is something else entirely.

Still, she is Beverly Crusher, and she is nothing if not defiant in the face of death.]

Your words, not mine.

[and things had been going so well, too.

the last time he felt that aura flare up, he couldn't get to it in time--which resulted in the death and near total-destruction of the single most important person in his universe. so of course he hurried right over, this time, already docked at the station from an earlier visit.

he shows up out almost out of nowhere, a sudden body approaching the danger and sticking his arm right in the middle of it.]

Hey, hey. [as he puts himself between the two of them, bodily facing Tek even though he's trying to glance back at Beverly too.] Break it up.

[he lashes out before it really even registers who is getting in his way or why. he's just primed and ready to snap, warring in his head over several conflicting, violent thoughts, and then something is just there in front of him.

with a snarl, he grabs the interrupting arm and throws it out of his way, and luckily continues in Robin's direction instead of going after Beverly--lunging and hitting the center of his chest with both hands to shove him back.

and it may only be the way that his augment tends to have certain dampening effects on his powers that keeps him from loosing all that pent-up energy at him as well.]

[When Robin jumped in, Beverly was willing to step back, but when Tek lunges for him, she stops, yelling out in shock.]

Robin!

[Instinctively, she reaches for him as he's shoved back, the doctor in her shutting out her own fears to make sure he's alright.]

[and Robin stumbles back several steps, looking a little surprised--but otherwise unharmed. he was expecting something much worse. that's why his breath out is almost a laugh and he's looking almost normal a second later, turning to Beverly again.]

You need to get back to your ship. Come on...

[if no one decides to hit him with death magic, he'll put a hand on her shoulder and try to guide her in a direction that is not Tek.]

[all things considered, it should be going much worse-- and the fact that Tek is limited here is doing nothing to calm his rage.

he's still riled up and ready to vent his anger, but Robin's presence is just enough of a stopgap measure to keep it temporarily at bay. he would have to go well out of his way to get around him or go through him if he really wanted to escalate the violence here... and at least some part of his mind realizes that it's not worth it.

so, not much about his aggressive body language changes... but it doesn't get any worse. he just follows them both with his eyes and a low, animal growl, while he works on pulling his composure back together.]

[She isn't exactly resisting, as she lets him push her away from Tek, but she keeps glancing over Robin's shoulder at the enraged dragon. There isn't much she can do against Tek, she is well aware of that, yet she can't just stand here and let him hurt someone else either. Her eyes flick back to Robin.]

But you - do you need me to get help?

No, no. I'm fine, don't worry.

[he cannot believe his luck, not being struck down where he stands. Beverly's fine, Tek is simmering, and they're still moving.]

Just let him be, all right? Where'd you park your ship?

[She abruptly stops walking. Don't worry, her ass.]

How are you so calm about this!

[his walking grounds to an unfortunate stop. he debates, for two carefully-smothered seconds, just picking her up and carrying her away from the scene.]

Because I know him very well, and I'm trying not to elevate things.

[he can't help but sound a little pressed at that last part, trying to give her a suggestive little push in the right direction. come on, lady...]

[Angry huff. Fine.]

Docking bay three.

Fantastic.

[then he'll continue to move them along. his hope is that he can get her both into her ship and simmered down--and that Tek isn't going to do anything crazy in the meantime.]

[She'll follow him back through the way station, quiet and angry, because if she allows herself to stop being angry she'll be terrified instead.

After a minute of working her jaw in silent rage, she finally says:]

He was going to kill me, wasn't he? If you hadn't stepped in.

[angry is fine, so long as they're moving. now that they are out of earshot, and he finally feels safe enough to take his hand away from her shoulder. he can also afford to stop looking so neutral, too, finally showing concern at the question--]

No, no. Tek doesn't kill humans, not unless they've tried to kill him first.

[he says this easily. it rolls right off his tongue. he doesn't actually know if it's true or not, but it's leading him to a question of his own.]

But what did you say to him? I haven't seen him that mad in a long time.

[She cuts him a sharp look, clearly not believing that.]

I was in his calibration room.

[If he knows Tek as well as he claims well... she hopes that's enough explanation.]

Yeah, so was I.

[he looks confused, for a moment. he has to run this through a filter: if he was horribly misinformed by about Tek and held the usual terrors of a human... his confusion turns to surprise, almost like he can't believe it.]

Wait, are you talking about the war?

[All she does is nod, not trusting herself to talk about it again, not this soon. Nor, for that matter, does she trust Robin either, even if she is grateful for him stepping in.]

But that was...

[she really shouldn't trust him. he's not exactly a trustworthy guy. even if he could get over that particular hurdle, he's got a monster of an ethical debate on his hands... he doesn't know where she's coming from, or what else she knows...

he ends up shaking his head, pressing into his temple with the tips of his fingers.]

Listen, Beverly, this is... I'm sure this is more complicated than anyone's able to see right now. I just want everyone to split up and cool off until we can talk about it calmly. He shouldn't have gone all... Scary-death-dragon at you, and I'm going to go make sure he doesn't do anything else in the meantime. ...Okay?

Fine. [Said in that tone indicating that things are not actually fine but she'll cooperate anyway. At this point, it really is the most sensible thing for her to get away from Tek. To that end, she continues to stride purposefully towards the docking bays, gaze straight ahead.

After another long moment:]

I would have listened you know, if he had bothered even to try talking to me.

[Probably won't forgive what she saw, definitely will never condone it, but she wants to understand.]

I believe you.

[which is maybe a pointless thing to say. he'll keep walking back with her all the way to her ship, even though now he's doing so with his hands in his pockets.]

But Tek doesn't talk to anyone directly about anything. Give him time, he might come around.

Give him time? [She snorts.] I don't think that'll be much of a problem. I won't be going around him any time soon.

Well, I can't blame you for that.

[thank the gods, though. it's terrible, but it'll make his job easier.]

[Muttering under her breath:] I'm sure he will.

[But now they've reached the docking bay and Beverly stops just outside the entrance.]

Anything else I should know?

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