[Kallile]

Shukur made a small hissing sound as if he'd just been stung. On his face, however, rested a giant grin. "Common thug? Such insults from such a little girl." He said with a light rumble in his voice. He wasn't shaken by her actions; he merely slowed his own pace to match her own (despite the fact that it made for a horribly annoying snail's pace) and looked down at her with his shocking pink eyes.

"I think," he began teasingly, "that it'd be much more fun to go into the base together and see what kinda of stories started cropping up. That stale place needs a little life. Besides...maybe those stories would come true. If you wanted."

[8]

((Whoa, talk about a fail-post. >< *smacks Shukur* Talk to me, dangit!))

[MillietheWarrior]

Balia closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, one hand resting over the top of her soda, while the other gripped it tightly. Shukur was treading on thin ice right now, and he was making it thinner each time he opened his mouth. She decided she might as well let that first comment slide; it wasn’t worth getting too upset over, though it certainly irked her. She opened her mouth to once more tell him to get lost, and picked up her pace a little, knowing he’d probably just match it again with his longer legs. Her retort, however, was cut short by his own.

She whipped her head around to stare at him with furious magenta eyes. That was it. If he wasn’t going to take a hint, she was going to force him to take it. “With you?” she snarled. “I hardly think so, you jerk.” And she lifted the lid off her soda and tossed the contents at him, watching with grim satisfaction as it splashed over his face and his armor. She turned briskly and walked off, a smirk across her face as she hurried ahead of him on the trail to escape whatever repercussions that might have had.

[9]

[Kallile]

Blinking was about the only response that he could call forth as Shukur felt the cold, sticky liquid seep underneath his armor and coat the skin on his face. He could feel it dripping from the short scruff on his jaw and he swore that he could hear it gluing itself onto the exterior of his armor and begin eating away.

First his jaw set, then his legs began carrying him forward quickly after her. His dark pink eyes nearly shown red; never in his life had any woman had the gull to retort to him like that. And while it infuriated him...he had to admit that it made her all the more desirable.

Gaining ground on her surprisingly quickly for someone coated in fifty-plus pounds of armor, Shukur reached out, intent on scooping her right off her feet. "Not so fast, lab-geek. We need a few lessons on manners."

[9]

[MillietheWarrior]

To say she’d expected him to follow might have been a lit; she knew he had to go the same way as he anyway…To say she expected to feel her feet leave the ground as she was scooped up by an eighty plus kilo man was definitely an understatement. She found herself hefted into the air, staring up at eyes so dark, they were nearly red. Ah, maybe dumping her soda on him wasn’t a very good idea. Her fist landed a solid blow on his armor, and she instantly regretted it as a shooting pain traveled up her hand and into her arm.

She winced, cradling her hand close, and glared up at him with as much venom and anger as she could muster. She writhed in his arms, trying to pry his hands off of her. “You, let go of me now,” she hissed angrily. “When I get back to the base I’m going to make sure Solus pummels you into the ground.” She reached up and tugged as hard as she could on a few dark strands of pink hair, growling angrily. "Put me down!"

[10]

[Kallile]

Shukur made quick work of getting her firmly into his arms to carry her bridal-style. Not a hold he found the most flattering for the situation, but it was the only ne that would make him not appear to be a common, kidnapping thug. After all--what woman couldn't eventually wriggle her way out of a hold as simple as under-the-knees and behind-the-back?

"Relax, princess." He rumbled out, grinning darkly down at her. "We're going to the same place, just enjoy the ride and share the sticky love you so graciously dumped on my face. I'm sure Ash will love the new 'spotted lab-coat' look."

He kept his pace swift, trying to ensure that he was going just a little too fast for her to just willingly fling herself onto the ground to risk serious injury on. "In the meantime...might as well give me your name. That'd be a great way to start making up for this mess you've created."

[10]

[MillietheWarrior]

Balia scrunched up her nose, eyes narrowing into angry slits as she realized he was right; her lab coat was no longer a pristine white, but now soaking up the excess soda that had dribbled down onto her. “Don’t call me ‘princess,’” she growled, shuddering at the name. She’d always thought it was silly and demeaning for people to call women things like ‘princess, or sweet thing.’ And she didn’t appreciate being called that. She braced one hand against his armor and held herself away from him as far as possible. “You are a jerk. And an idiot. You better hope no one see this and that I don’t tell anyone about it.”

She almost decided she wouldn’t; how embarrassing for her. But she knew that if someone like Solus, who was nice enough to be affronted on her behalf, saw something like this, he might actually beat Shukur into a bloody pulp. Not that she was adverse to it…Her gaze snapped back up to his face, and she growled softly. “While I don’t think you deserve to know my name, I don’t want to be called ‘lab-geek,’ or ‘princess’ again…So…It’s Balia.” She folded her arms over her chest, turning her head away so she didn’t have to look at him; this was completely embarrassing. "Can you at least shut your stupid mouth until we get back to the base? This is humiliating enough without you yapping away in my ear."

[11]

[Kallile]

The grin on his face said a thousand things without Shukur opening his mouth. he was, as a matter of fact, fairly proud of himself at the given moment as he continued his brisk pace towards the base. Out of the corners of his eye he could see a small gaggle of elderly ladies all fall to a hush to watch, then begin giggling like little girls. His grin broadened. "Congratulations, you just made their day. They live for rumors, you know. Speculation is all the rage, I hear, once you're that ancient."

He snorted and smiled. "Like anyone at the base matters that much to me. They're students and if they don't like me I'm fully capable of leaving. However...Balia."

The lok that remained on his face after she finally gave up her name was one of pure triumph. "I think talking is better suited to my personal style. Otherwise there will be some real talk if I happen to stride right in with a silent demeanor and a little lost labbie in my arms. Might look rather bad for you, don't you think>? So...let's keep this conversational. What exactly brought you to the base, besides the prospect of a dashing, handsome Mando being there?"

[11]

[MillietheWarrior]

Balia felt her cheeks light up in embarrassment at the gaggle of ladies who had stopped to stare at them,. She shielded her face from view, wishing her hair wasn’t so memorable, and Shukur wasn’t a Mando; who forgot a sight like this? No doubt she’d hear about it again if she ever came into town for lunch. She shot Shukur a scathing look, lips pursed angrily. She folded her arms across her chest, but true to her nature, she couldn’t just ignore him; he was continually frustrating and infuriating her. He didn’t seem to be good at doing anything else. He seemed to know how to push all the right buttons with the young geneticist, and he was using it to his full advantage.

Even now, her cheeks had lit up with barely suppressed anger, knowing that showing up like this at the base would be more embarrassing than being seen by those old ladies. “As if your anything but a common thug. You must be delusional if you think anyone would find you ‘dashing,’ or ‘handsome'; more like barbaric and annoying.” She snorted crossly, eyes glaring up at him with annoyance. She sighed in defeat, though it was clear from the way she wriggled angrily in his arms that she still wasn’t happy. “I’m here to help these men. We’re working on a cure for their advanced aging…and I’m here to study genes and genetics and how they affect the carrier and the offspring of those that carry them.”

[12]