Teylan #03

Teylan, his youthful frame a blend of Na'vi appearance and human clothing, stepped cautiously into the makeshift lab. It had been too long since he'd left the relative safety of the resistance HQ. The air was thick with the scent of alien flora and the hum of unfamiliar tech, a stark contrast to the sterile environment he'd grown accustomed to. "{User}," he called out, his voice still carrying the inflections of his Na'vi heritage.

"Tey, there you are!" {User} grinned, blinking owlishly as {{sub}} emerged from where {{sub}} had been hunched over, staring into a microscope. "Welcome to my humble workspace" {{Sub}} grinned, motioning over the metal box. It was a raised metal room, a few windows lining the walls, an open doorway leading to the exit platform. The walls were lined with plants, shelves stuffed with files and human books. Teylan was used to Physics and Tech, this... biology stuff was entirely new to him.

Teylan's yellow eyes widen with curiosity as he steps further into the lab, his tail twitching with nervous excitement. He runs a hand through his messy brown-black bob, knocking over a small vial with his elbow in the process.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!" He quickly rights the vial, cheeks turning a darker blue in embarrassment. "This place is... amazing! Way better than those sterile RDA labs Mercer had us in. And you've got plants growing inside? How does that even work?"

He crouches down to examine some glowing Pandoran fungi on a lower shelf, poking at it with childlike wonder before suddenly freezing.

"Oh! Oh! Is this where you're working on that emotion analyzer thing for animals? The R'XEA? Tell me everything!" He bounces up eagerly, nearly knocking over another specimen before catching himself. "I mean, if you want to share. Not like I'd steal your ideas or anything..." He trails off awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Teylan, careful!" {User} scolded gently, catching the sample dish he'd almost knocked off the workbench. Teylan jumps back like a startled hexapede, hands flying up in surrender. "I know, I know! Two-left-feet Teylan strikes again!" He laughs nervously, carefully stepping away from the delicate equipment. His yellow eyes dart around for something safer to examine, landing on a simple notebook.

"Maybe I should just... sit?" He plops down dramatically on a stool, but misjudges the height and nearly topples backwards. Grabbing the edge of the table at the last second, he lets out an embarrassed chuckle. "Or maybe standing is safer. Tell me though -" he points to a strange device humming in the corner - black, kind of smooth looking, with a rounded top. "- what's that do? It looks way more fun than whatever Mercer's goons used to poke at us with." His voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper "Promise it's not gonna shock me like last time?"

"It will not shock you, Teylan" {User} flushed, scrambling to turn the odd wand-like thing off, and shove it into a drawer, out of sight - but unfortunately, Teylan never let anything go. Teylan raises an eyebrow, lips pursing into a suspicious frown. He crosses his arms, tail flicking back and forth as he narrows his eyes.

"What was that?" He takes a step towards the drawer, curiosity overriding any sense of tact. "It didn't look like any scientific instrument I've seen before." He leans over, trying to peek inside the drawer. "And why are you getting all red-faced about it? Something to hide?" Teylan grins, unable to resist the temptation to tease his favourite human.

"I'm so not telling you!" {{Sub}} grumbled, instead thrusting a human book named "the art of self indulgence" at him. "Read this instead. If you find the right page, you'll know what it is" {User} dismissed, immediately throwing {{ref}} into {{poss}} work to avoid his curious gaze. He flipped for a while, lips curled into a pout, ears pinned, betraying his boredom - before eventually, he found the right page. The image showed the same wand-like object.

Teylan’s eyes go wide — not with shock, but with dawning, horrified realization. The book slips from his fingers and flops onto the table with a soft thud. His face turns deep cobalt-blue, ears flicking back in embarrassment. "O-oh." He clears his throat. Then again. "Oh! Uh. Huh." He stares at the page like it might bite him, then slowly lifts his gaze to Yavari — who is pointedly not looking at him — before slamming the book shut so hard it sends a loose leaf skittering across the floor.

"I— I definitely did not need to know that much about you!" he sputters, voice cracking slightly in that familiar way it does when he’s flustered. "I mean— I’m all for personal tech innovation and... uh... biological research! But— wow." He grabs a random vial off the shelf (thankfully empty) just to have something to fidget with. "So that’s what the humming was..." He mutters under his breath before suddenly freezing again. "...Does Alexander know?"

{User} flushed an even deeper shade of red, pointedly avoiding his gaze. "No..." {{Sub}} fidgeted with a folder, gnawing {{poss}} lower lip. "Are you... disgusted with me? I know- i should've put it away, I just forgot- and then you got here! God, im such a goldfish brain..."

Teylan’s expression softens instantly. He drops the vial (gently this time), onto the table, and takes a small step forward. "Disgusted? No." He shakes his head quickly, voice warm but earnest. "I mean— everyone has their thing. You live through what we did... and you find little ways to feel safe, or just... feel, you know?"

He rubs his arm, gaze drifting down for a moment— memories flickering behind his yellow eyes: cold rooms, silence, Mercer's voice telling him he was special if he stayed obedient. "I'm not judging you," he says softly. "If anything... I’m kind of impressed it’s tech-based." A tiny grin sneaks in. "Very on-brand for us nerds."

He nudges the book away with his foot like it's radioactive. "But — please promise me we never speak of this again? For my sanity?" His ears twitch upright again, hopeful — playful now — testing the waters to see if they can laugh it off like old times. "And hey," he adds gently, "if you ever want help building something else... quieter... less... buzz-y? I’m your Na’vi."