"Are you sure it's not going to explode in my face?" Beta looked at Nureka simply when she asked this, she was turning the cylindrical item in her hand sceptically. Nureka couldn't help but sound sceptical, the thing in her hands, though it looked solid enough; she swore it rattled in her hands when she shifted it from one hand to the other...

The hunt that she went on with Varl and Kotallo was somewhat successful, they got pieces which could be used in whichever venture, be it for the generators or the unit to house Gaia; ultimately, Beta and Gaia herself would probably be able to go through the parts they returned home with and say which was viable, and what wasn't.

Nureka looked at Beta confused, the silence and the small frown pulling on her face just had the Banuk looking equally confused back. "It isn't that I don't trust you, Beta. Just...you whipped this up really quickly." Which was very true. Also, by the time the three had returned from their hunt, Beta had seemingly ventured back downstairs to her room. The pieces which were scattered all over the floor were tidied away, Nureka felt bad for that; she made the mess, after all, they should've left it for her to pack away, but they didn't.

"Well, I wasn't suggesting testing it out in here." Beta responded slowly and measuredly as Nureka lowered the item in her hands and looked at Beta with a smile. "Gaia did give me advice and help, and she reassured that everything was wired right. It might not look the best, but it should do the job."

Nureka scratched her neck in thought before looking back towards the door. "Shall we?" It was only fair that Beta came too, she had done most of the hard work, after all, so it would surely be nice for her to see the efforts in working order. Beta seemed a little nervous, yet Nureka was already jumping up and walking towards the door, clearly thinking the redhead was following her.

Reluctantly, Beta did eventually follow. It wasn't that she didn't want to venture outside, it wasn't that she was scared to see what lay beyond the door to the base; it was just, this hesitance that was niggling at her, perhaps it was minor fear, the fear that as soon as she was outside, would she get whisked away. It took everything she had to escape to begin with, as much as she was sure Nureka was a capable fighter, she doubted she'd be able to handle herself for long in a fight against a Zenith.

Beta had to remind herself though, they didn't know this base was here, they were all off the radar. Plus, they wouldn't even be out for very long, right? Beta was trailing a little behind Nureka, and she came out of her thoughts when she realised that all the while, Nureka had been talking. Beta looked at her sadly, she hadn't been listening to her at all, and the look Nureka sent over her shoulder came with a heavy sigh, and a shake of her head. Clearly, she realised Beta hadn't been listening, but didn't wholly mind. It was like that's what she expected.

"If this is all good, then it surely won't take long to make the others, right?" Nureka swiped at the door, the chilled air breezed in slightly and had her letting out a quick shudder before padding out onto the rocky outcrop.

"It shouldn't. Then it's onto the unit to hold Gaia." Beta said while keeping back near the door, she was fine where she was, she could see the demonstration from here.

Nureka turned and looked at her with a puzzled look. "That I think might take a little while, considering what it is, and who is going to be in it..."

"The parts you bought back should be sufficient enough to do the job though." Beta nodded slowly and turned her hand in the opposite direction to how Nureka was. She understood and easily twisted and activated the pulse generator in her hand before nodding slowly. Beta kept her hands by her sides before her eyes widened and Nureka threw the item away from herself while shaking her hand.

"No, no," Nureka leaned down and placed her hand palm down in some snow. She side-eyed the item she just threw, by now smoke was trailing up from it and Nureka was half expecting it to suddenly have flames coming from it. She could feel it heating, slowly at first before it actually started to hurt. "I think something isn't wired right in there, Beta. Unless we just tell everyone to turn them on, put them on the floor and step back, hoping for the best..."

"Considering what is likely going to be happening, that's a sure way to get them broken." Beta said while edging slowly forwards and looking down to Nureka, she was still crouching and nursing her palm. "Are...are you hurt?"

Nureka smiled and shook her head, "Trust me when I say I have had worse. I've got stuff in my room for this, don't worry about me! Shall we take that in and see where we went wrong?" Nureka nodded at the slowly smoking generator, Beta looked at it sceptically before nodding slowly. Nureka shot up and walked over to it, she picked it up as tentatively as she could and the pair walked back into the base with a resolute expression between them to figure out what came loose to warrant it heating up so much.

—

Should it be a surprise that when it came to retiring to his own room, that glancing towards Nureka's space, to see that her door was still open, and the low lights still on; no was the answer, evidently, she was still working away on whatever herself and Beta had been working on previously in the day. The pair had been spotted exiting the base with a slender item in Nureka's hands, only to return not that long after with what seemingly remained of the item, but also both looking equally sheepish and thoughtful.

With a measured sigh, Kotallo made his way around to the open doors, those that usually spent most of their time in this main room had all retired, and he wasn't sure when, so consumed in what he was doing that anything outside of his own bubble was overlooked and ignored. It wasn't like he was singular in this, case and point being that right as he came to the threshold of Nureka's room, she could clearly be seen using her desk as a substitute pillow; she was working when sleep took her, and she clearly just went...

Well that definitely wasn't going to be comfortable for her. Kotallo walked in, the door panel was slowly swiped at by him, and the door quietly closed behind him by the time he was basically by her side. Actually, maybe he was wrong, it looked more like she had slept, and then got up again; he was purely basing this on the fact that she was seemingly wrapped in a blanket, and her usual sleeveless leather jerkin and fleece lined trousers were folded up to the side of her bed-nook. Surely whatever was plaguing her enough to not sleep wasn't so important to get her out of bed? Whatever the issue was, surely it could wait until tomorrow.

Placing his hand against her shoulder, he gently shook her only to get her burying her head more against her blanket covered arms, a grumble did come from her to which he was not surprised about. After all, who actually liked being woken up from sleep? No one. Eventually though, her eyes, or at least the one he could see through her hair was peering up at him, somewhat blearily. He did send her an apologetic look; he was waking her for her own good. In the long run, Kotallo hoped she realised this.

"Are you staying?" Nureka's voice came out muffled, she buried her face more against her arms before sitting slowly upright. She stretched her arms out in front of herself, only to reach down and pull the blanket that had slipped back up and over herself. The simple vest she had been sleeping in didn't exactly provide much warmth, all the warmth came from the layers of blankets and furs that made up her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she watched as Kotallo gave a nod, Nureka smiled and slipped out of her chair. "You're not sleeping against a wall in your armour again," Nureka could not imagine that was comfortable for him. She missed the look which flashed onto his face as she brushed a hand through her hair.

Of course, she had a point, through all her sort of attempts at flirting, or whatever those moments could be classed as, she seemed to be genuinely ignorant to the slight implications of her words. Yet he sat down and commenced untying the laces on his boots, by the time he had heeled them off and sat back up, he was greeted by Nureka's hands reaching towards him. Kotallo just sat and watched as she simply removed the machine part that rested against his forehead. He wasn't expecting that to cause a smile, yet there she went smiling down at him and tilting her head to the side as she popped the piece on the desk beside them.

"What?" He asked, he felt like he was missing something here.

Nureka shook her head and cupped his face in her hands. "It's strange how different you look without it," one of her hands moved and a finger was poked gently against his forehead. Kotallo found himself looking at her a bit deadpanned, yet she still let out a chuckle. It wasn't like the machine part obscured much of his face, but even still, without it being present he did look different.

It also meant without it present, she could trace her finger over the blue paint that was on his forehead, even if that still ended with her finger poking in between his eyebrows when he frowned lightly up at her. Kotallo couldn't help but feel his eyebrows pulling together, it was more of a confused frown than anything else.

"Do you need help?" Nureka asked, he had left his arm back in his room. Untying ties and clasps on armour was going to be difficult with one hand. She wouldn't be entirely surprised if before his arm came to be, if he did just literally sleep in his armour. Nureka scrunched her nose up, that could not be comfortable, especially some of the spikier parts of his armour.

Kotallo raised an eyebrow, whatever was the cause of that sudden expression change he did not know. He would most likely regret it, but... "What is it?"

"Do you sleep in your armour?" Nureka just came out with it, Kotallo was right, he regretted asking. Yet he just found himself slowly nodding, being without armour and suddenly being needed meant getting off on a bad foot if there was an issue. He lived in his armour, day in and day out, much to Nureka's suddenly confused expression. "That's dedication."

"It isn't about dedication. It's about needing it and it being on me, instead of being caught without it, and harmed or killed." Kotallo explained, catching her fingers with his when she seemed inclined to distract herself from him blatantly being right by tracing the triangular pattern on his jaw.

"I do suppose that makes perfect sense. But here? Here is safe."

"Old habits," Kotallo watched as the slight pout that was on her face disappeared and she nodded, that she could believe. Kotallo found it hard that she perhaps didn't find herself still doing things as if she were still back in her homeland. Being in the base was a slow and gradual thing to get used to, so yes, old habits still stuck in places.

"Help?" Nureka decided to ask again while gesturing to the shoulder guard and watching as he glanced at it before relenting with a nod. She simply nodded back and wiggled her hands out of the blanket the best she could and took to removing it. She managed to detach it from the armour still clad on his torso, she weighed it in her hands and looked it over before letting out a curious noise and putting it on the table.

Kotallo dissuaded her helping then, unclasping the chest piece wasn't too hard to do with one hand, and hoisting it up and over his head was easy enough. As he had said to her, he had lived in this armour, he knew its weight and how much pressure and damage it could take before it was too stressed to the point of breaking. Likewise, he knew what movements he could and couldn't do with it, and he knew for sure pulling it up and over his head was easy enough because he had done it before.

Having her hands held out to him had Kotallo sidelong looking her way as he left the piece of armour on the table too. It wasn't like Nureka was strong enough to pull him out of the chair, yet he went along with the gesture anyway and soon had his arm turned over to remove the gauntlet he wore. She tilted her head and turned his arm and then turned it again, "This is looking a little worse for wear. Do you want me to dye it again, or you can have one I already own." Nureka turned slightly and looked to the dyed pieces of cloth that she had made in her boredom. The wrapping around his forearm was frayed, faded and she did honestly think it had seen better days. She hadn't even fully removed it from his arm as she asked this, it wasn't like she hadn't already given him some of her dyed cloth already.

Kotallo did glance over her shoulder to where she was hinting. He was going to reply only to have her let out a surprised noise. As if he was completely unaware, not sure how that worked as it was his skin, he had his hand waved his way; it was an interesting thing to witness, more for Nureka struggling to get him to bend his arm and to allow her to manipulate the limb to make whatever point she was trying to make.

"And here I thought you were completely covered," she commented with a smirk, sure, she could see even with his gauntlet on, his fingers were tattoo free, but so was the back of his hand and some of his forearm. Considering it was hidden away under armour, she guessed what was the point of going through the pain of a tattoo just to hide it? But then again...the majority of his chest was under armour, and that was covered in varied tattoos. As if that just absolutely dawned on her, she jumped away from him and did a full circle around him, not just once, but twice before scratching her neck with a shy smile. "You are a walking work of art, Kotallo!" She laughed awkwardly, which was true, sure whatever pieces of skin that weren't covered in ink, were blended in perfectly with said ink and colour, there was a definitive cut off point around his neck and collarbone though.

He looked down at her quizzically, "Perhaps you are the only one to think that way." Nureka sent him a roll eyed look as she crossed her arms around herself, and over the blanket. He pointed at her arm, "It is like me saying you are a walking nightlight. Both of our things have different meanings."

"I'm a walking nightlight and proud, thank you." Nureka scoffed with a smirk. "I know what you mean though." Of course, she did, she was more than certain that the people in his tribe and clan did not look at his tattoos that same way she did. How could she not marvel at them? They were striking, curious as to what each meant made them almost mysterious; which face it, the mysterious thing he would likely play off anyway so Nureka stayed shushed. "Can I do something?"

"Will I regret saying yes?" Kotallo felt something niggling at him, but he asked anyway and got a shaken head for it. "Then yes," he watched as she smiled and just stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around his middle; regardless of the slightly armoured belt that was around his waist keeping the skirt like piece of material trailing down behind himself.

"It is nice to hold you and not be impaled on your armour." Nureka chuckled quietly while squeezing her eyes shut and letting out a content sigh, also without armour present she could leech off his warmth, and he was warm, cosily warm and Nureka felt herself quite happy here. It seemed like there was some truth to her words because not long after saying them, did she feel Kotallo's arm slowly wrap around her and keep her close. "Can I ask you something?"

There was something in her tone which had Kotallo hesitantly leaning his head atop of hers with an uneasy expression. "Yes," he felt like what she had to say was perhaps of a serious matter considering how her voice sounded. He could feel her eyes open against him, if only because of her eyelashes against chest signalled she was blinking thoughtfully like she does sometimes before speaking her piece.

"I feel like our journey is definitely coming to an end soon. And I really can't help but think, and I have to ask, what did you first think of all of this?"

"Madness," Kotallo's simple response had her laughing and pulling away from him slightly. He looked at her honestly, even nodding too. "You have to keep in mind, you all appeared while my people were on the cusp of a war."

"They...sort of still are..."

"I don't need reminding; it is something that troubles me each day."

"I am sorry, I wish there was something I could do to help you." Nureka was being honest, it was more than clear the toll it took on him knowing that one person was wedging his people apart from within. Being powerless was a horrible feeling, not knowing what to say or do to try and alleviate an issue just made the inner conflict even worse. "You know, when you first appeared, I thought it was actually a goat coming to say hello."

"Excuse me?" Kotallo actually double took at her when he heard her say this. Her chuckling and nodding didn't really help him get rid of the confusion.

"They come down from the mountain! Or sometimes up, and yeah, more than once I had come out and there's one bleating about...I thought you were a goat." Nureka said while unwrapping her arms from around his middle and resting her hands against his chest. Instinctively her fingers traced over the patterns under her tips and palm.

Kotallo actually found himself speechless for a moment, looking at her thoughtfully for a few moments just had her pressing her lips into a thin line, evidently to stop herself laughing because she found his confusion funny. "I thought you were going to throw your paint at me." He decided on an answer in the end and got a sudden laugh for it.

"What a waste of paint!" Nureka exclaimed lightly, still laughing and swatted a hand his way when he gave her a decisive prod in the ribs, it only achieved in her letting out another laugh and wiggling away from him with a pout. Kotallo found himself raising an eyebrow, it seemed like someone maybe ticklish. "Come on," Nureka nodded to the side with a small smile gracing her face, "You woke me up so I would actually go to bed, right? As much as I love standing here talking to you, and I really do; I'd much rather be comfy and talking..." Nureka trailed off and sighed heavily with a shake of the head, Kotallo looked at her strangely when he turned away from leaving the last of his armoured clothing on the table with the rest. Nureka just waved a hand at him with a discouraged expression, "You are not fair, and you're seriously dangerous to my health, I can feel parts of my brain short-circuiting."

Kotallo for one didn't think he could feel more confused, "That sounds painful." He commented and got a look sent his way as she just went and sat cross legged on the bed. Kotallo moved over and sat on his haunches in front of her, Nureka had wrapped the blanket up and over her head and ended up hiding her face in the folds. Kotallo was just going to presume she was having an internal conflict, she seemed fine moments ago.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Nureka's eyes peered out at him, slowly narrowing.

"I can leave." Kotallo stated while going to stand, there was a bit of a blunder on her end as she went to stop him; seeing as he was attempting to go and stand and his balance wasn't grounded, her suddenly vaulting forwards to stop him just ended in a tremendous blunder of her basically falling into him, him holding instinctively to her as his balance went and he landed on the floor with her on top of him.

Nureka shook her hair from her face and looked down at him. "This is awkward, I am sorry to say that I, you...well...it's one of those things in theory you think is all good, then that theory becomes reality and well...here we are."

"I don't understand and I'm not following." Kotallo said heavily, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her as she opened her mouth to explain before inhaling slowly and leaning down, her lips pressed to his firmly, one of her hands staying against his chest as the other crept up and rested against the side of his neck. The floor wasn't the most comfortable place to get lost in the feeling of her lips, her warmth, the weight of her against himself and the feel of her under his arm and hand, but Kotallo couldn't help but find himself entwining his hand into her hair and encouraging the kiss to deepen, at the price of a quiet sigh coming from her. "I think I understand and follow what you were meaning." Kotallo's voice was lower than usual after pulling away from the kiss moments ago.

Nureka tilted her head, "What can I say? You just being in your shorts is a look for me."

"The moment is ruined," Kotallo's head hit back against the floor with a quiet thud as he shut his eyes. Nureka did laugh quietly over his little moment of drama, but it wasn't at all that hard to follow her meaning; she felt attracted to Kotallo, regardless of anything, in armour he was this imposing pillar of silent strength, there was comfort in that silence and in the strength he possessed; but to shed what bought him safety, his armour being off, clearly in his eyes, made him vulnerable without it, but it also showed a huge level of trust, of care; believing that she would not do him harm when he was without the items that bought him safety and strength.

Nureka would never, ever think of harming Kotallo, emotionally, physically or mentally; the lone thought she had in mind with him, was that of honestly wanting him to be content, to find that middle ground where he didn't need to be a warrior all the time, or at least half of the time; that the skills he had through war and fighting could be used when and if needed, and that he could venture on into the future and find something more.

Patting him gently on the chest, Nureka watched his eyes slowly open and look her way. "Unless you're comfortable on the floor, ignore me when I suggest moving to the bed." She pushed herself up and off of him and somewhat crawled and jumped back to where she sat previously.

Kotallo sat up slowly and looked her way with his head slightly tilted, Nureka looked at him confused as she straightened out the furs and blankets. Her arms, and likewise her hands were usually always visible, as such so was the blue wiring that threaded down her limbs and her hands and fingers. Perhaps it was something akin to her and his tattoos, but he had never realised how much of her body was adorned with the blue glowing wires; her collarbones seemed to be framed by some, and even through the vest she wore, he could spy a blue glow running down the centre of her chest, streaks of faint blue could be seen where her ribs were; he really didn't know she had so many wires in her. Her legs, with thanks to her usual furry trousers being off of her person, and seemingly being comfortable just in her vest and underwear, he could evidently see that even her legs hadn't escaped being threaded and covered with blue wire.

"Why are you looking at me like that for?" Nureka asked with a confused smile appearing on her face, Kotallo was just sitting there looking her way, not much of an expression on his face but his eyes darting around her person. She didn't feel uncomfortable she just felt a bit baffled.

He pushed himself away from his spot on the floor, arguably yes, the bed was a lot comfier, she was definitely right there as he sat in front of her. She fidgeted and crossed her legs once she pulled a fur over herself. Her fingers plucked and twiddled at the brown fur, a good distraction from Kotallo's look, which was rather had for her to look away from. "Because I think you're beautiful." His voice was low, maybe a little strained considering he was speaking something that he himself perhaps felt a little awkward in admitting. Feelings and Tenakth, it wasn't a perfect match, they clearly made everything clear; thoughts and feelings, in fighting, not using words.

But he wasn't lying, bed ruffled hair which was maybe a bit more ruffled thanks to his hand earlier, and the blue illumination that came from her skin just made her look ethereal, utterly over worldly, were all Shamans like that, or was it just her? But she was a beautiful person, heart and soul, of course her physical strength, her wise cracks and intelligence was also a captivating part of what made her, her. Kotallo wasn't an aesthetic person, but yes, he was attracted to her visually too; they clearly had those feelings for each other well and truly in common.

Nureka's eyes widened considerably as she looked at him, shaking her head slowly had Kotallo thinking he had said something wrong, but that soon went when she reached out and pulled him to herself, her lips back against his and her kissing him with more favour clearly showed she couldn't comprehend an audible response, but physically she could. Kotallo gave very little resistance as she pulled him downwards to the bed with her, the only resistance he did give was to lean against his elbow and forearm and Nureka taking opportunity there to use it as a substitute pillow.

Even with him trying to keep most of his weight off of her, it still didn't stop her giving him a tug and that was that, Kotallo did send a frown down at her, and she sent a smile back up at him before leaning away from his arm to try and kiss him again, she did pout though when he leaned just out of reach, that had the smallest of smiles appearing on his face which had her resting back against his forearm with an even firmer pout.

She ran her hands up his body slowly, her fingers trailing through the small smattering of hair which graced his stomach and chest as her hands rested over his shoulders. "Can I be honest?"

"When aren't you?" Kotallo was there in a second with a response. He had never known her not to be honest, she always usually seemed to try to be honest, lying or beating around the bush was something that seemed like something that was just so unlike her.

Nureka nodded slowly, she was taking that as a yes to her question. "I hope you know how much you mean to me, and that although I confused you for a goat at first, that I am so glad that you are here and in my life; even amidst the chaos that is our lives, you are a grounding force that I think I would be lost without you." She said softly, as if speaking any louder would just ruin the little bubble they found themselves in. It was his turn then, much like she did earlier on, words failed but actions didn't; Kotallo closed whatever space was left between them but Nureka met him halfway, her fingertips gracing his jawline and cheeks as he easily deepened the kiss just as he felt her arch a little and press against him. 

----

(A/N: I will be the first to admit, that this chapter is naff. I am sorry for the delay, in the naff-ness. But over the period since Christmas and New Year, I have spent a lot of time in pain and needing rest and painkillers...I'm hoping the next chapter I'll just cut straight to Gemini. I feel this is dragging on a bit too much now, but I could just feel like that because my ability to pay attention to anything without being too focused on being in pain is...so minimal. Hope everyone is good! And hopefully I can update this again soon!)