By the homeworld I wish to see.

Repay him? Neil couldn’t help but snort softly at that promise. Somehow she didn’t seem to be in the best position to ‘pay him back’. He stood up, dusting off the legs of his pants. “Yeah, see you,” he muttered incredulously. Despite his offer, he wasn’t sure if this wasn’t the last he’d see of her. The Citadel was huge— giant. If she wanted to disappear, she could without even trying. He took a few steps toward the market, ready to turn his back on this alley for good. “Just remember what I said, okay?”

She rubbed at her cramping leg, eager to soothe her aching muscles from the unexpected sprint. Hearing the clank of footsteps, she straightened, staring at the human's leaving form. Before he was out of earshot, she called out what she hoped was his name. "Uh, Neil!" Mira stammered, remembering the name on his tag, lowering her head in gratitude, "I'll remember it. I... Thank you." Quietly limping away in the other direction, she dared to take one last look at his retreating form before fleeing the scene herself.

"That… really sucks," he offered lamely. "It sounds like some people you’ve stolen from had it coming, but we didn’t do shit to you." And he wasn’t going to, he decided. Neil rolled off her abruptly, figuring she’d run away any second now, he thought he’d get a last word in. "If you’re looking for food, you should stop by the bakery about eight. Just… for future reference."

Mira decided to believe him. Cursed be her naivete should he be tricking her, but something told her he was telling the truth. At least, he wasn't trying to deceive her, right?

"Yeah, beaches are pretty dirty. The oceans are cleaner now than they were like a hundred years ago, but I would be careful." He chuckled to himself, a thought occurring to him. He brushed it aside, choosing to concentrate on the photo in front of him. "Halloween’s when you dress up and get candy if you’re a kid. Once you’re grown up it’s a bit, uh… risque, I guess?" Krogan? "Well, uh, no. I’m supposed to be a dinosaur."

"How did they manage to clean all of those grains of sand? Not to mention avoid all the sand leaving the beaches attached to clothes?" she giggled, inwardly shuddering at the thought of parading in skimpy clothing on filthy public beaches. "Hallo...ween?" she enunciated, crossing her arms. "That's a weird name. But I like the sound of any holiday that gets me food." She paused, tilting her head. "Wait... risque? Like... No clothes? That sounds like the opposite of dressing up." Again she paused at the sound of the unfamiliar concept of ancient animals. "Dinosaurs? I've heard of them, but... I've never really seen one."

"Get me… 25 Cerberus Troopers. And my Blade… The thought of it should be more than just enough for you to see, Quarian."

Hope you like it! ^^

He flopped onto the ground, content to let her try her hand for a little while.  ”Yeah, you’re good.  I wouldn’t of offered if you weren’t good to stay a bit.”  He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and blinking curiously at her efforts.

Frustrated at how the turian made it look so easy, she threw it one more time, overshooting the group by several inches. "Ugh," Mira sighed, resigning herself to grab the rock before gingerly sitting herself beside Tavi, handing him the rock. "Show me how," she grumbled.

Neil bumped her with his shoulder, jostling her on the seat. “I won’t forget,” he said. Sitting up straight, he rolled his neck before settling back into the couch with a satisfied sigh. “It’s not sticky. It’s dry, it just… gets everywhere. But um, I think you’d be okay in your suit. The beach is pretty dirty.” Neil licked his thumb, turning over the next photo, grimacing at it. There he was again, a little older and able to stand without help. It was Halloween, and apparently he had been going through his dinosaur phase because that’s what he was dressed as, standing as Jane the Pirate and Kim the Nurse. “Er, have you heard of Halloween?” he asked, hoping to distract her.

"Ah!" she startled, rubbing her shoulder before bumping him back. "So long as you keep yours around, hm? Don't be getting rid of them." She leaned back into the couch as he did, keeping her gaze trained on the photos. "So... sticky. It's small particles, right? I think they wouldn't get through, but I don't think it's a good idea for me to go to the beach anytime soon. It sounds germy, anyway." Her eyes grew wide at the turn of the next photo, delighted at the little costumes. "Is that... what is that, some sort of krogan costume? I haven't heard of Halloween, but if it involves costumes, it sounds fun!"

"You’ll get better, I just ain’t had nothing better to do.  Got like an hour before I’m bettin’ the cops are gone though.  You wanna hang out that whole time with me and the rock?"

She took aim again, taking care to remember just how hard she threw it last time. Tossing it forward, she sighed as the rock fell short of even reaching the bottles that time. "Yeah, that's fine. I have nothing better to do, either. I was just going back to the refugee camp to sit around and do nothing, anyway. ...That is, if I'm welcome to stay." She trotted down the hall to retrieve the rock again, eager to redeem her failed throws.

He snorted softly. Maybe he had this coming. Karma had come in the form of a little green quarian. “You’re sorry, but you’re desperate. You’ll just steal again if I let you go.”

She kicked the ground in frustration for crimes against her race, for crimes against her... for the mess she'd gotten herself into. "All because of those damned geth that went and rebelled out of nowhere."

His challenge was light, teasing.  He hadn’t been planning on someone showing up but now that they did, he didn’t intend to not at least have some fun.

Hesitating only a moment longer, Mira threw the rock with a grunt, stumbling forward a step. Having closed her eyes, she heard the clank of metal scattering. Had she hit her target? She opened one eye, and then the other. "Well... two isn't too bad," she shrugged. "But you've had practice. I'll get it soon."

Neil grinned, his tongue poking out cheekily. “Whatever. You bring me your baby pictures then we’ll talk.” He paused, wondering what a quarian kid even looked like. Once Daniel hit fourteen he kept growth-spurting, it seemed like every other week his mom had to take him out clothes shopping. A tight fitting enviro-suit seemed… uncomfortable. “Yeah, good luck with that. Sand gets everywhere. You could probably still find some in my shoes.”

"Deal," she nodded, amused. She didn't have too many, and she didn't think any of them were embarrassing... Life in the bubble wasn't anything super exciting, but she still managed to have fun, and had plenty of memories to look back upon when she wished. Back on the Flotilla, anyway. "Sand's that sticky? ...Maybe I'd better not go to the beach. I might get infected if that sand has bacteria."

He offered the rock back to her.  “You as bored as me?  Cause you can take a few shots at the bottles if you want.  Better than goin’ too much farther that way.  Think C-Sec’s still hanging around.”

She stared down at the rock, looking up at the bottles. "Yeah, I'd rather show you my bad marksmanship than deal with C-Sec right now." Taking the rock from Tavi's hand, she tossed it into the air slightly, catching it again as she took aim at the bottles with her eyes.

"Nahhh, let’s look at this one. That kid was a loser," he chuckled, staring at a photo that was blissfully Neil-free. An empty beach, with black storm clouds gathered overhead. "Dad used to take photos of the beach before the rain, when all the tourists ran off. I think he got some pretty good shots, don’t you?"

"Loser? Maybe, but it looked cute. Aww," she pouted as the photo of what she assumed was him in the terrible-twos was quickly hidden. "That looks like a really great shot. Very artistic." Mira marvelled at the juxtaposition of the cloudy, gloomy skies with the empty, desolate beach, devoid of life but for a few sets of footprints. "I should go one day... hopefully sand doesn't get stuck everywhere in my suit."

Keen to get away from the dreaded baby photos, he placed the photo at the back of the pile, only for another to make its way to the front. This time it was just little him and a face smeared with ice cream. “Oookay, we don’t have to look at that one,” he chuckled, trying to put it away before Mira got a look at it.

"No, no, hold on, I want to see!" she giggled teasingly, having caught a glimpse of a messy kid in the hidden picture. "Who's that?"

"That’s the U.S.S. North Carolina, it’s this ship from World War II they kept in the bay for tourists. It’s ugly as hell, but, um… they had these firsthand accounts from the soldiers who served on it? Oh, and these are my sisters. Kim annnd Jane." He pointed to each in turn, Kim already twelve and looking unenthused that she had to pose with her two-year-old brother. Then Jane, who was probably just excited because Dad had promised her ice cream.

Quickly, the image of the two year old infant boy caught her attention. "Aww, so that must be you, then. That's adorable," she commented, cooing over the human children. "It must've been exciting having siblings. What were they like?"