Conversation (Rhivann Aihkh [Later On], NVC)

[loyalty_ever]

Eventually they were moved inside, into a proper building. It was clean and spare and warm, a room that insulted the senses by pretending it wasn't a cell. There was even furniture--all of it fused to floors and walls. Wouldn't do for them to throw things. Not that there were any windows to throw things against. He'd checked, there was nothing hard

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[first_noel]

The trial had been long and grueling, and Nero's reaction to the sentence, while not unexpected, had not been promising.

The outcome hadn't surprised Helen. The Federation had no death penalty, but Nero and Ayel had received the severest sentence possible. Given the magnitude of their crime, and public opinion being what it was, there really hadn't been another option.

Not that she expected Nero to accept that.

She didn't arrive alone; two Vulcan guards, different than the ones who had guarded the cell but with the same watchful expressions, accompanied her into the room and positioned themselves on either side of the door.

The door locked, and Helen braced herself, turning to face her patient.

[mirror_brightly]

She was shorter than he recalled, or perhaps the floor was ill leveled. Ayel was standing at his side, arms crossed, folded behind his back in even measure. Their new accomodations were different, kinder, more suspicious.

The Vulcans at the door were stoic, silent, and shorter than he. It was not unusual. He regarded her from afar and stepped forward without notice. She was small, very small, and he had to shift his head to keep his vision on line with her.

"Hm, strange."

[first_noel]

She looked up to meet his eyes, letting him see that there was no fear in them. She'd been prepared for anger, hot accusations of failure and betrayal. Or if not that, then brooding, Nero withdrawn from the world, refusing to speak. This calm composure was unexpected, and disconcerting.

"Hello, Nero," she said calmly. "What's strange?" She wasn't afraid, but she wasn't letting her guard down, either. She couldn't quite read him.

She felt the guards at her back stiffen when he stepped nearer, alert but unmoving.

[mirror_brightly]

He stepped around her, between her back and the guards, followed the stiffness of her posture in a circle. She was nervous, but unmoving. He was silent as he came back around.

"You," he answered after a pause. Perhaps it was in his head, perhaps she was tall. The floor had stopped shifting, but his stomach, his bones still felt hollow and churned. He could feel her on his neck, at his side, but like an echo. It was a strange half life, steeped in pills, one that he did not enjoy that she had offered.

"Why are you here?"