once I wanted to be the greatest

[sassguard]

WHO: Shepard & Nicolas
WHERE: The park in Heropa Nic hangs out in.
WHEN: Post-Soviet occupation.
WHAT: How to Make Sure You're Not Brainwashed Anymore, Maybe: A Novel by Commander Shepard
WARNINGS: Potential punching, references to brainwashing fun and injuries acquired in the process thereof.

Shepard heals fast, but even he wasn't in shape to get up and at them with broken ribs and a mild concussion. It's the first week he's really felt up to taking Mako out for a walk farther than the block around their apartment without having to stop and catch his breath. If he's pushing himself a little harder than he needs to, it's not like anyone but his dog will know.

As he lets Mako wander her way and sniff around, though, he has more ulterior motives than just trying to prove to himself that he's back in shape. He's also following up on the rumors of a large dog -- a wolf, even -- staying in the park. While he's skeptical of the authenticity of the claim, Shepard figures there's no harm checking on it, though now that he thinks about others wouldn't know a wolf from a shaggy dog if it bit him.

The downside of not having a lot of contact with animals except in vids, he supposes. He indulges his dog, letting her wander where she will, the shortness of her legs and small frame at odds with the alert, poised attitude of the working dog she clearly feels herself to be.

"There's nothing there, you know," Shepard murmurs, but all the same, he doesn't feel the need to dissuade her from her explorations.

Comments

[unwiseheart]

"I wouldn't be so sure," Nicolas -- and definitely not a wolf -- says from the just dark enough spot beside a tree that makes it hard to tell if there's anyone there or not. Of course, there's that tell-tale spark of light from a cigarette being lit, if you want to be strictly cinematic about it all. That's where the noir bullshit will end, however, and he'll step out from the behind the tree, take a few steps closer, but he's definitely stopping short of how far (he guesses) Mako's leash will allow her to go.

He's about as shaggy and unkempt as before, if not more so, even after the Soviets have all gone and the ordeal has ended. It's... probably just how he always looks, actually. Not that how he looks matters all that much. He's more interested in how Shepard looks, how he is, if he's still, you know, him. He may not wear the wariness on his sleeve, but he sure doesn't seem inclined to get much closer.

"Commander Shepard. Feeling better, I take it?"

[sassguard]

When Nicolas speaks up, Mako becomes more alert, ears perked and assuming a more aggressive stance -- for all the good it does when she barely comes up to Shepard's knee, if that. Shepard would normally be dissuading her from being so unfriendly, but in truth he's not paying much attention to her reaction, more surprised than anything else to see a semi-familiar face here of all places.

He is, if it was possible, looking even more like he needs a bath. In turn, Shepard himself seems less martial than he did at the seminar, the shadows under his eyes explainable perhaps by the poor light, or just a lack of sleep. His posture is wary, not sure how much Nicolas knows of what happened -- once the US troops started moving in, everything became a bit ... disorganized.

"Depends on how you define better," he offers back, after a moment. "If you mean if I'd like to break every brainwashing machine they had at the seminar, then yeah, I do."

[unwiseheart]

"That could be arranged," Nicolas replies, some vague thread of amusement creeping into his voice. "I'm sure they did not move most of them far from the base out there."

And he could find them again, if anyone ever really wanted him to. He would sooner never look at them again, personally, but that's just him. He pauses, taking a drag off the cigarette, gaze flickering between Shepard and Mako, then back again. Yeah, tiny dog, he's keeping his distance. They are so... tiny. Loud. Bitey.

"But that's better than it could be, so yeah, I think I'd count that."

[sassguard]

"If you could make it happen, you'd be my new best friend," Shepard chuckles softly, though there isn't much humor to it, finally crouching down -- if somewhat stiffly -- to gently ruffle Mako's ears. The corgi seems only slightly mollified by the attention, refusing to look away from Nicolas, even if he doesn't seem terribly interested in competing for dominance.

"I hear they're holding a ceremony for the imPorts who resisted," he says after a moment, not looking up. "Are you planning to go?"

[unwiseheart]

"I'll look into it," Nicolas says in about the same tone as everything else, one that isn't really telling as to if he's being serious or sarcastic. With Shepard crouching down, he ends up looking down as well, only he gets stuck staring back at Mako instead of watching the Commander.

Except for a brief glance over at his other question, that is.

"With the President? No. I thought I might sit that one out."

[sassguard]

"Not a fan of ceremonies?" Shepard asks, brows raised slightly. Of course, he has his own reasons for not wanting to go, and he can see where Nicolas, at least, might not be the type to enjoy that kind of thing. Any ceremony the U.S. holds is likely to be self-congratulatory and a display directed towards Russia as much as it is to boost their own population's morale, and Shepard lost his taste for that kind of thing a long time ago.

He'll gladly leave the politics to somebody else, if he can help it at all.

When he pushes himself to his feet again, Mako goes back to squinting at Nicolas suspiciously, sniffing the air like she's caught the scent of something she isn't sure what to make of.

[unwiseheart]

"Only if I'm allowed to stand at the back and watch. Being paraded around is an entirely different story," Nicolas won't make up an excuse. It is what it is, wanting to avoid the spotlight. He would only spend the whole time feeling sick and twitchy, which might be taken the wrong way by the more paranoid Americans.

And he's still keeping an eye on that dog.

Of course he would have a dog...

"Tiny, aren't you?"

Yes, also talking to the dog. By no means can he speak to animals, but, well, even a werewolf can have the odd habit of chatting at them.

[sassguard]

Mako seems to take affront to being addressed that way, and actually scoots forward to yap at him angrily -- not that Shepard does much to try and hold her back. If anything, he seems amused, glancing between his dog and Nicolas with a half-smirk on his face.

"I think she understood that," he murmurs, before he pauses, considering that idea. "Can you understand her? You could--" he taps his temple, lacking a better way to describe the mind-connection Nicolas used at the seminar. It's a more interesting topic than talking about public events neither of them are planning on, anyway.

"It's a handy trick. How'd you pick it up?"

[unwiseheart]

Nicolas is not so impressed by the yapping. Sorry, Mako.

"Can I-- what?" That does bring his attention back up from the little dog, a flicker of confusion crossing his face until he realizes. "The dog? She's a dog. What could she possibly have to say? They don't have words like we do."

Scents and images and trained reactions, sounds they understand, sure, but speech? He shakes his head and taps a finger against his cigarette some, shaking ash away from the end.

"It is handy, though, yeah? Picked it up from an owl."

Which is an odd thing to say, considering that, too, is an animal.

[sassguard]

Shepard has a lot more questions about that -- really, the first words that spring to mind are defending his dog's intelligence, no matter how ridiculous that might sound coming out of his mouth -- but what follows derails him entirely, and he's actually stunned into silence. Bemused, he tips his head to the side and crosses his arms.

"Okay, you're going to have to explain to me the difference between dogs and owls. How one can teach you how to talk with your brain, when according to you the other one can't think in words?"

[unwiseheart]

"The difference is where you find them. You're thinking of the wrong kind of owl," Nicolas says with half a grin edging up one side of his lips. Like he has some big secret that he's only going to taunt Shepard with. Which, actually, seems to be exactly what he's going to do.

No further explanation is forthcoming, just him taking another drag off his cigarette before asking, "So you are doing better? Really? I was worried for a bit, that maybe it had been too much."

[sassguard]

"You realize that didn't actually explain anything," Shepard offers, dryly, but he doesn't push the point for now, scratching a hand at the back of his head before he answers the question.

It's not often Shepard's actually embarrassed, but from the way he shifts foot to foot, it's fairly obvious.

"I've been through worse," which isn't exactly an answer, either. He isn't really comfortable talking about this topic any more than he enjoys revisiting being dead. "Less like I want to protect any Russians, a lot more like I want to punch them. No offense," he added, belatedly and probably unnecessarily.

Nicolas didn't strike him as the type who got offended easily.

[unwiseheart]

"No, I know, but it isn't something I'm entirely free to explain," Nicolas will, at least, be that honest about it. This may not be home, but it's hard to break the very code he grew up with, even here. To what else Shepard says, he can't help but grimace some.

"No offense taken, but," he kind of goes a vague gesture with his hand, trailing cigarette smoke through the air as he does, "You want to punch the Soviets, not Russians, please. Not every Russian is a Soviet. Not all Soviets are Russian. They control many more countries than that, whether the majority living in them like it or not."

[sassguard]

In answer to that, Shepard's brows quirk, but he nods in understanding. There are probably things about the Alliance he wouldn't reveal as well, even if there isn't technically anyone to hold him accountable for it.

The rest, though, makes his brows quirk, looking more thoughtful. "You know, I don't think anyone's ever enlightened me about the distinction. The American media certainly doesn't seem to care all that much." That's an understatement if there ever was one. He pauses, though looking at Nicolas consideringly.

"Were you in Russia, before you came here? In your own world, I mean."

[unwiseheart]

"It's a war. The American media doesn't want people thinking about who's being caught in the crossfire."

Wartime media, a problem that spanned more than just America, but he didn't think he had to say as much. It felt like one of those givens. The sky is blue, water is wet, war propaganda is biased. So, he just shrugs, then gives a nod to Shepard's next question. That one, at least, he can answer in full.

"I was. I'd just gotten back to Astrakhan. That's in the south, so less like what you probably imagine Russia looks like."