For What It's Worth

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Ula wasn't the greatest medical expert in the world, but she would certainly do her best for Warren. You didn't take up a profession like hers without picking up those kinds of skills along the way. She would be lying if she ever said that she didn't get fatally injured on the job. A fair number of scars would tell you those stories. She managed to fix herself up more than a few times.

Privately she smirked at him calling their deed 'heroics.' She never looked at anything that way; all she saw was the reward money. Some of her work was on the heroic side, but many were quite the opposite. Knowing that War didn't agree with those kinds of tasks, she was slightly bummed that the idea of offering him more jobs in the future wouldn't be possible. Probably for the best... Ula doubted he would care to get to know someone like her. He was so kind, and strangely gentle despite his intimidating presence. And here was she, just an angsty disaster who got off on killing people and setting things on fire.

Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder, prompting the Drell to freeze while she drove. At first she was displeased to be touched; she was not the most touchy-feely creature. Yet, there was a shiver going down her spine that almost made her quake in her seat. She was feeling a strange desire to tilt her head down and nuzzle onto his hand. Physical contact of any sort was rare in her life. Didn't make it any easier when she had violent responses to the simplest forms of touch...

Leaving them in silence for the rest of the ride home so she could focus on the drive, they eventually found themselves at her cozy hideout. A small place built to house just one person, with a nearby shed that was heavily guarded by some of her tech. You would find yourself suddenly on fire if you tried cracking the code on her locks.

Parking her vehicle in its spot, she was quick to hop out and wait on the ground for Warren so she could help him inside. Somehow. Last time he did a lot more of the escaping than she did, so it felt awkward to be offering to be his crutch. "My place is small, but it'll be comfortable enough for you I'm sure. You're lucky, really-- I don't usually let anyone into my home." Although there was a lack of a smile, there was playfulness in her voice. She really was just that private of a person, plus she'd tell most people to deal with their own problems instead of helping them. Warren was a different case. He did well tonight, and suffice it was to say: she liked him. That was not an easy thing to accomplish with Whisper.
 
Realizing that he now had to get out, the man wondered if getting medical treatment was worth it. Groaning at the thought, Warren unhooked himself and attempted to crawl out. It seemed to be going well, at first. Careful as can be, the wounded partner slipped himself onto the frame and attempted to slide off. It was all fine, until he lost his footing quicker than he expected. His eyes widened as the momentum sent him face first into the ground. There was a short moment of silence, as it sunk in what had happened. Bullshit. That is what happened. "Ow."

Getting to his feet, it seemed the Drell was there to help him inside. Certainly needed it, at this point. Of course, finally being able to respond to her statement was nice too. "To be fair, I am not just anyone." He gave a little smile, before offering her a place to be able to help him walk. Warren really didn't have much left before just passing out. Not without a damn nap or something first.
 
Warren fell on his face. Fortunately for the both of them, Ula wasn't overly concerned like most might be in this situation. She remained casual in posture, patiently waiting for him to get collected so they could get a move on. He'd made it clear that there was no need to be worried, so she wasn't. The Drell was content to be her usual calm, boring self.

With the big lug properly adjusted to be helped inside, she carefully placed herself at his side. Since she was quite smaller by comparison, she chose to be a crutch that was tucked in close to his torso. He could drape his arm over her shoulders if he wanted and she would be using her weight to help keep him supported, one hand on his chest and one on his back. All while trying to be gentle as possible, not wishing to add to any pain he had.

His attempt at humoring her got a scoff of amusement while they moved along. Surprisingly, she wasn't as witty and charming when she was away from the social scene. She was significantly quieter, but definitely more relaxed. Solitude was nicer than crowds. Strangely, his presence didn't disrupt the peace. Usually she couldn't stand being around someone for more than a few hours.

They got into the small place she called home, where he was sat onto a couch that could seat up to three average sized people. Pillows were propped up around him while she said, "Just wait here. Try to stay awake, too. I need you to tell me what I'm dealing with and it's important I know what your head's gone through." Ula didn't want any emergencies involving head trauma, amnesia, who knows what... He had a good helmet, she noticed, but he was pretty banged up. She didn't want to miss anything.

Ula dashed out to collect what she had as far as medical supplies went. Necessary tools and products were gathered in her lengthy arms, to be arranged neatly on the floor so she could access things quickly without having to wonder what was where. Even though she was urgent, she appeared to be fairly composed throughout it all. Deep down though, she was somewhat freaking out.
 
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He would be lying if he said that her not laughing wasn't appreciated. It would be a bigger lie Warren said he didn't like her close to him, with hands almost all over. It kept him awake and aware of his environment, especially since Ula seems to now have no interest in an idle conversation. As she sat him down, he made sure he wasn't about to bleed on the couch or something. That would be bad. Probably.

As Warren adjusted himself to speak the he can, to answer her question, she left the room. Blinking, needless to say, the man was confused. "Uh, truth be told, I have no idea. I know I have some injuries to the body, so we will need to get some of this armor off. I did take a few cracks to the head, so best to suture and wrap. Probably ice too. Unless you got some medigel?" He leaned over, trying to see what she was doing. "I probably have some decent bruises all over that need ice. I better just get all of this off either way. Need some repairs anways." The last sentence or two were more or less spoken to himself, as he believe her to be out of his current voice range.

That being said, he took off what was left of his helmet and that his armor over the arms. Bruises indeed, as he didn't have sleeves under them this time. "Ow." He then started working on his torso armor, which was a bit more complicated considering the blood and stuff.
 
Patching up this temporary partner of hers was not how she expected to be spending the evening. Ula did her best to stay in earshot during her back and forth, all while trying to keep her thoughts organized. Certainly it didn't help that he was such a big guy. She herself was tall, but she was lanky and lightweight. Hardly capable of so much as supporting him to stay upright. Usually it was the other way around, when an enemy managed to catch up with her. She could barely take a punch.

Having heard him mention ice for bruises, she found a clean rag to pile some cubes into. From there she tied all the corners together, resulting into a makeshift ice pack. It had to be set down for the moment so she could lend him a hand. Ula could tell he could benefit from some help out of the armor.

The act of removing the gear wasn't what would feel awkward to her. It was being in close proximity with another body. Keeping her jaw clenched, she reached in to gingerly assist the man with his torso armor. He was already halfway there by the time she got her digits in place, then she helped to get it set down out of the way. Bringing her digits close to herself, they intertwined while she looked him over a moment, taking into account the damage that was revealed so far. What her big yellow were were focused on were his head injuries. He was damn lucky that she had nimble talented fingers or else, to put it bluntly, they'd be fucked. Sighing calmly through her nostrils, she went looking over the rest of him. Meanwhile, her digits were absently smoothing down his arms, unintentionally tracing the creases of muscle. Ones she wasn't terribly unhappy about holding her earlier when they were running away. Ones that probably would be very good at--

"Oh...kay...um--" Blinking, she realized she was on the verge of getting distracted, her hands coming off quickly. Not just to examine his injuries, either. She noticed that even under his armor he was quite the fellow, with sets of muscles to match. Ula didn't consider herself the most warm, fuzzy, affectionate sort, but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate a person's well put together physique. "Here, um--" Looking to the floor, she picked up a basin of water with a cloth so she could start by cleaning some of the smudges off, to better show where attention was most needed. Obviously she wasn't the most qualified nurse or doctor. Not in that she lacked the skills he needed her to perform tonight. No, she just lacked the ability to do something as simple as talk. She was masterful outside of home, using her visages to socialize and get her where she needed to be, but outside of work related things? 'Ugh this sucks. I suck.'

Ula cleaned up some of the blood and filth, doing well to expose what cuts and bruises were hiding underneath. Mainly it was his skull she was worried about, so she ducked down to get what she had on hand to sew him up. Thanks to her decent amount of height, he didn't need to do more than sit there while she stood up to concentrate on his head. "I'd offer you a drink, but I'm afraid I don't keep alcohol here," she said with a soft laugh, trying her damnedest to not seem so awkward as she went to get the needle in place. Focusing on healing him would prove to be a good help to her, though. Something to keep her brain busy. "There's a homemade icepack to the side if you'd like to hold it to some of your bruises while you work up here."
 
As the air hit his muscles, they tensed up. It caused them to looked unintentionally flexed, given the change in temperature from tight, sweaty armor to an average room. Setting it next to what was left of his helmet, he started to reach for his greaves and barely got the top latch open before it seems that the drell was making sure...his arm muscles were...arm muscles? A reddening came to his cheeks, but he didn't say anything. Her removing herself so quickly only added to his growing suspicion. Seeing her trying to get back on track was amusing and he let her dab and remove any dry blood as needed.

As she silently worked, he stayed silent as well. Perhaps she needed to concentrate, and speaking would throw her off. Better shut your claptrap Warren. When Ula finally did speak, his first response was to laugh. "I'm more likely to use it to numb any pain, at this point. I do like me some adult beverages." As she moved to begin amateur surgery, he grabbed the jury rigged ice pack and pressed it to his skin. He shivered as a bit of condensation ran down his body. "Definitely an ice pack." Warren said, smiling, watching the Drell get to work.
 
That's basically was she was thinking; a few swallows of alcohol was good for any amount of pain. That's what made it so easy to get addicted to. Although she did have an addict personality that she shouldn't feed into, her lack of booze was more because she'd be tempted to use it to make things go up in smoke. Fortunately, she wouldn't be explaining herself. Instead he was being his usual humorous self, just leaving the Drell to the delicate work at her fingertips.

She was completely silent throughout the whole process. Even when the cut was fixed up, she was wordlessly getting the rest of him patched up properly. The look of focus on her face looked intense even though she was quite calm at the moment. Her golden eyes were widened to their fullest except for the times she had to blink. Up close that may or may not be awkward for him because of the second membrane her eyelids had. One inner one was white and blinked left to right, the outer one was black and blinked top to bottom. She thought nothing of it, really.

By the end of it all, she sighed with relief and went to removing the soiled gloves so they could be properly disposed of. "I think I got everything," she let him know while getting the area tidied up. "Unless there's anything else you need, I believe I'll step out real quick to get my ride and equipment locked up where they belong. Never know who might want to come mess with my stuff," Ula scoffed arrogantly, amused by the very idea of someone daring to trespass here and mess with her property. Unloading her vehicle and person of her tools was important, but also it served as a valid excuse to be alone for a few moments. Ula would get cranky without periods of solitude in which she could reflect, analyze, or simply go brain dead if things felt too stressful. Once that was taken care of, she could figure out what to do next. Obviously this guy would be bunking with her for the night.
 
Admittedly, seeing her eyes like that was unexpected. But she seemed to need to operate on him, which he didn't mind. Whatever she needed to make sure he was okay, was okay by him. Eventually falling silent and just putting the ice pack over different parts of his exposed body. Waht seemed like only moments later, the drell got rid of the gloves and Warren smiled at the funny sounds they made when she took them off. It was a comical, stretchy sound. Reminded him of home, in a robust way.

"Haha, if they managed to find us, I would be surprised. But no, go ahead, I will probably just ice a bit longer." He said, pressing to make sure the bandages would stay.

Assuming she was just going to leave the room, he turned around and started to get off the rest of his armor. The heated air from his trapped body heat escaped and the coldness made him shiver. Standing up on his tippy toes, he stretched and flexed his body. Now only having a loose pair of men's undergarments on, he gathers his things together and starts iceing his legs.
 
The medical equipment got properly put away, except for whatever needed to be discarded. When her hands were washed, she took it upon herself to fashion more rags into ice packs for Warren. The Drell arrived silently with three of them held in both hands, keeping her head down so as to not seem invasive while he was shedding the rest of his armor. Ula left the makeshift ice packs for him to use however he wished before leaving to take the aforementioned breather.

She worked her way to the other side of her home where a door led to her 'backyard.' It wasn't much of a yard, just a little space of privacy where she stored a few tools and metal scraps. There was also a lonely chair where she'd often sit to ponder on life, or sometimes take a nap. For now, she was just standing on the cement platform with her arms crossed, big yellow eyes blinking at the starry sky. The vivid memory of taking down that building played in her mind, doing well to make the Drell shudder when recalling the artwork of fire she painted at the scene. Suffice it was to say, she needed work like this. Neglecting to feed into her manic urges came with unpleasant results.

Fortunately, she'd be set for a while. That went for finances as well. The thought of this reminded Ula she should check her current balance; it was probably a much bigger number now. Thanks to Warren. She couldn't have done it without him. Even though he got pretty banged up, hopefully he'd look back on their mission with fondness. Ula certainly would.

Remembering that she had said she was going to get her ride put away, she went around to the front where it was parked. That got locked up where it belonged, along with the weapons and tools she would see to later for clean-up. Ula wasn't worried about enemies finding her, she just didn't trust anybody.

Her hands clapped together at the end of her work, then she was slowly making her way back inside. She decided to go around the back way to re-enter the way she left. Ula knew she'd feel cold to the touch by the time she got back, but didn't care. Chilling to herself to the bone had a comforting way of keeping her inner flames under control. "How are you doing?" she asked upon peeking into the room.
 
"Thank you." He said, as she left the other icepacks. Having the extra packs was going to feel so nice. He moved around a bit, gathering up the ice packs and sat down. Carefully he put them onto his wounded body. Balancing them, and staying still, lounging until he felt entirely comfortable. The cold seeped into his skin, making the bruises slowly get smaller and smaller.

Tonight was certainly a night he would remember. Certainly not as vividly as the Drell would, but it would be stored somewhere in his brain. It's not like he took every job that was offered to him anyways. Not to mention he completely wrecked a LOT of mechs and bad guys. "Oh that reminds me." He took out his personal camera. Flipping to a selfie he took with the destroyed YMIR mech. He was laying next to it and had a big smile on his face. Pressing a few buttons, he conjured a hologram of it and placed the camera on the table. Ula would be real impressed with that. He was sure of it, but hopefully she received more jobs like this. The kind that help people and do good things. But unfortunately, he somehow doubted that and this time tomorrow, they might not see each other again. Makes him wonder.

When she peeked back into the room, he was just laying about in his underpants and ice packs covering him. "I'm well, all things considered. Just making sure these bruises go down. Nice work btw."
 
There was a big, mostly naked man on her couch right now. No big deal. Silently she nodded to his response, her sights falling to the pieces of armor on the floor. 'Ooooh.' They were so intriguing even though they were banged up from their mission. That of course didn't matter to her. These were interesting looking to the Drell who had a fascination with technology of all kinds. She could only imagine what his biotics were like too.

An awkward quirk suddenly showed itself through her making a crouch to the ground. Despite her wish to stay emotionless and composed in the presence of others, she was exposing elements of herself that were seldom shared with others. Perhaps it was the fact she was in her own home, perhaps it was because Warren was a creature she could feel comfortable around. Perhaps it was both. Whatever the case, she was prompted to make a cautious move forward by extending out a lanky arm, her hand coming down when her body was as stretched towards the armor as it could be. Without ruining the position she was in, her legs carried themselves forward in a few small hops, resulting into Ula crouching in front of the metal plates.

Essentially, she was taking an approach akin to the methods of a timid wild animal. Her big golden eyes went to Warren for a moment while her hands slowly made way for one of the shoulder guards. When nothing bad happened, she snatched it up to look it over curiously, then lowered it to compare with the rest of the parts. "What's that on the table?" she asked during her moment of curiosity. Ula got a glance of something shiny sitting over there but was too distracted by these other neat things.
 
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He watched as she cautiously went for his armor. It was like watching a pet slowly try and wiggle its way onto a dinner table. It was very adorable and Warren did nothing but smile. His hand slipped back behind his head, gently poking on his biotic implants and amps. They were all housed long the base of his skull to between his shoulder blades. He was surprised she didn't jump all over him for that. Then again, that is assuming she wasn't trying really hard to ignore his...current openness. Who knows how much information was even going through her head, since apparently his armor had become something of a treasure.

"Oh just a picture of a YMIR mech I charged and busted, while you were doing your thing. There were a LOT of mech in there tonight, but you were in good hands. Trust me. Just thought you would think that was cool." He said leaning back again. "You are welcome to ask any questions about the armor. Or about the rest of the tech in my body. It's all pretty rare. Especially the dual implants. It's heard of to have a set up like what I have. Of course, it is a lot more dangerous. With this job, however, I should be able to pay for replacements that actually dont run a risk of shutting down and possibly taking me with it."
 
"Hm?" After processing what he said about the item on the table, Ula's crouched form twisted to face it. Gingerly she set down the armor pieces she'd been looking at so she could get a closer look. Her big eyeballs were curiously blinking at the hologram, in awe of the intricate designs but also the thought of Warren overpowering this monster of a machine. Was that the kind of tech that this facility would be supplying to big buyers? That was disturbing if so, neat as this mech looked.

She had no doubts at all that she was in good hands. Seeing that she was ungracefully tall and skinny, there was no way this job could have been done without him. "It is...cool," she awkward a bit awkwardly. 'Cool' wasn't a word she used aloud very often, so feeling it roll off her tongue was weird, for lack of a better word.

The mention of implants and other nifty upgrades had the Drell making a happy hop forward. She let her top half fall onto the available section of the couch so she could be closer to him. Now that she was reminded of just how many shiny upgrades he had, she was interested in learning more about them. At first she was craning her neck so she could see the back of his head better, then she removed a pair of black gloves from her pocket. From what she'd heard, humans could get funny feelings when in contact with a Drell. Skin on skin wasn't as risky as oral contact, but she'd prefer to be safe instead of sorry. On the plus side, at least she wasn't deadly to him.

"It is dangerous," she agreed while making a hop onto his lap, almost like a frog. A knee pinned to each thigh, where she balanced fairly well on her own. Ula was so lightweight that he might barely feel her there. She could easily be picked up and broken in half, which was why she focused so much on being fast, and crafty. "You seem to handle it pretty well, though." Briefly she smirked, touching a hand to his arm while peeking around his neck with little regard for how close she was getting.

"How much of you, exactly, is tech? The rare ones--what makes them rare?" She was allowed to ask questions, he said so himself. Ula was curious to know how many of these things he had, and what kinds! "I, uh--I have one too," she then added, making a point to her head. Halfway through a nod, she paused and lowered her hand to set it on a bent knee.
 
"Cool?" He said, laughing. "The only person I ever heard of taken down those kinds of mechs on the regular is the Hero of the Citadel. And he probably had legions of followers with him."

He kept the smile and laid his head back, before being startled at a hoppy drell. A eyebrow was raised she put on the gloves again. Granted it was nice of her, but he doubt she had anything that would goof with his little upgrades. Warren was about to move to give her a better angle to his biotic setup, until she decided to hop onto his lap. Which almost cause his eyes to pop out of his head. Some of the ice packs fell to the floor, with a thud. Thankfully, they didn't bust. Redness covered his cheeks, as she touched him, about there his piano keys tattoo, and got close to his neck. Goosebumps probably be seen, but he turned his head, helping her see better. Most of what she would see would be the standard that any biotic would get. Biotice implant and the works. But he had two setups. And even a backup if either or both implant failed. The surgical implants were labeled One with L5x and L5n. "Thank you." He replied, before answering her questions. Surprising that she had not commented on that either, or the taurus tat on his pectoral. This girl was all about finding out about him, it seemed.

"To be honest, I am not sure. I am certainly still mostly organic. Just some synthetic things that strengthen my muscles. Keep my bones from breaking and things like that. It's rare because it's either military grade or I had to overturn every rock in the galaxy to find it, but when you have a score to settle it becomes pretty easy. Honestly, if I was just a regular man...I'd be dead." As she pointed to the back of her head, he leaned forward, pressing his firm chest to hers. He looked around to check her biotic things. "Hm. L2? I think. Sorry, I don't have my glasses on anymore. Don't those usually come with a lot of side effects?"
 
This human was interesting in different ways. She didn't get up close to others too often, so she supposed it shouldn't surprise her that she felt a need to satisfy certain curiosities. Needless to say, Ula didn't have much in the ways of personal relationships. They were always professional. She was unknowingly breaking her own rule that stated she wasn't allowed to take an interest in someone like she was with Warren.

The Drell expressed a soft, thoughtful hum as a digit poked at the taurus symbol on his pectoral, then her eyes blinked at the piano keys she'd previously seen. During her analyses of the tattoos, she was listening to his answers to her questions. She wondered what he meant by saying he would be dead if he was just a regular man, but that was a question that stayed in her head for now. "Impressive," Ula mumbled.

"Uhh--umm--!" There was a nervous shake to her voice while she went tense. Their chests were close as they could be and it was totally unexpected. About the time she heard him ask if hers was a L2 was when she let go of the breath in her throat, and relax. Fortunately for them both, the closeness worked to her advantage so he wouldn't have to see her wincing. "Yes. They do," she answered quietly, and a bit grimly. Fixing it would come with too many risks, so she just learned to live with the way she was. "All it seems to damage is my mental health, so--" He might feel her shrugging a bit, then her posture slumped. "I know that's still not necessarily...good...but... I-It works, you know? I-I mean-- I get by just fine. I manage." Ula was repeating words of encouraging optimism that cycled in her mind constantly to remind her she was lucky, in a way. Some people suffered far worse effects than she did, such as crippling pain. She, on her worst days, just had headaches.
 
He chuckled a bit, as the ink was poked like it was a dead body and Ula had a stick. "I'm glad you like it."

Warren heard the nerves in her voice, which lead him to smile. It was his intention. Alright. You want to play the get close game? I love that game.Lets see who wins. Though the conversation took a bit more of a dark turn as Ula began speaking of the side effects of her implant. His eyes looked her over as she attempted to verbally justify having just about the most unstable of the implants available. "Still, with all the money you just made...you could always opt for a less dangerous implant. I mean, I would hate to something happen to you, after I just got my ass handed to me." He laughed, and gave a light touch of the shoulder.

"Speaking of which...was the money supposed to get wired in? Or were you planning on pulling a credit chit out of your shirt and handing it to me?" He looked down at her clothing. "Doesn't look like you store anything." Warren smiled and leaned back onto the couch. This is probably where he was sleeping tonight.
 
The mention of surgery had her shrugging. "It's very risky," she commented, which was why she stopped trying to get it fixed. Ula was afraid, too, of what complications could result from such a procedure. Trauma left permanent marks, after all. Besides that, she could admit to some trust issues. As if having the flawed piece of tech in her brain wasn't bad enough, she and other L2s weren't treated fairly as far as insurance went.

She was grateful for the topic change, even though it involved...him looking at her chest. Or rather, her lack thereof. To that, she couldn't help but blink in confusion, and probably she'd be blushing if she were able to. It was mostly flat there because of her stalky figure, but she got the implication he was trying to be good humored. "My employer always lives up to his promises," she assured with a proper nod.

"You're probably tired," Ula then commented as he laid back to get more comfortable. That was cue enough for her to make a crawl across his lap, her lengthy body stretching to the other side of the couch. She faced Warren while kneeling next to him, "Did you need anything else? Do you have any pain?"
 
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