Space Monkeys

Nero, not one to often be quite deathly serious in his mannerisms, had made a snap decision having sensed a certain little munchkin ascending into the atmosphere in some sort of spacecraft. It wasn’t as though Nero was surprised, in many ways he kind of expected something like this would happen, though that didn’t make things any less annoying for him at the moment.

Ultimately he was happy that Zhalla chose not to question him, it seemed she had some unspoken understanding of how important this was for Nero— he quite liked this about her in fact, it earned his respect.

“Well, first things first, thank you for helping out on short notice.” Nero’s gaze was focused on the ship up ahead as he spoke to Zhalla. “I’d have used my family’s spacecraft but it would be ill suited for this scenario.”

After another moment of silence, Nero finally looked to Zhalla properly, his expression relaxed, if only by a fraction. “My little brother is piloting that ship. The one that was cursed, specifically. That is all I want to say on it.” This was a topic that Nero had little patience for, so he spoke quite bluntly about it now.

“I would expect nothing less from your ship. I’m no big scale engineer or mechanics genius or anything, mind you, I just have practical experience.” Nero shrugged slightly with a somewhat strained smile. “Plus, I can hear your ship’s internal systems if I focus.” So at least some stress had left him, that was good, right?

Nero took a deep breath to calm himself somewhat. He heard the concern in her voice. Truth be told Nero did acknowledge and appreciate it, so it deserved some more clarity. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Its... Just that damn near everyone else I know just wants to talk about it almost all of the time. I know they mean well but at some point enough is enough. I have a job to do that will be done, and responsibilities to account for that will be met.” Out of all the peculiar sayings Nero might often go for, this was possibly one of the most blunt and direct— the most stubborn. “Because that’s what an older brother does.”

Seeing Zhalla surprised that Nero could potentially hear the inner workings of her ship was enough to bring a bit more of a smile to his face. “I’m not sure why you’re caught off guard by that at this point. Also, yes, both of my brothers are capable of greater hearing, as is our mother.”

As for what it was like to have siblings, there wasn’t exactly a simple answer to Zhalla’s inquiry. “It’s an experience, not something that can often accurately be summed up in a few words. I can tell you this though; wouldn’t trade something like it for anything at all.” If it wasn’t already clear enough how much this meant to him, it certainly should be now.

“Thank you, Zhalla.” Nero nodded politely, glad that there were more people understanding of his position in this situation in some way. Perhaps the two were more similar than either of them had expected when it came to who or what they cared about.

“Yes, I would have.” Nero snorted, what did Zhalla expect? She was told straight to her face by the man himself that he had extraordinary hearing when they first met. “My ears are naturally strong and I can filter what I hear— I don’t remember... Learning how to do that. If I could hazard a guess from what I remember being told by my biological mother, its entirely instinctual.” Nero tapped his chin, he didn’t often think about this since it was so natural to him, his ears were honestly just built different.

Nero quirked a brow when Zhalla spun her chair around. Why did she do that? She was just smiling— yes brighter than Nero expected her to but that wasn’t a crime. Her spinning that chair just made him silently question what she was doing. “Damn right they do. I’m glad that you understand.”

Those rumors that Zhalla mentioned were somewhat interesting, for some reason it actually made some weird sense. Zhalla thought it was a total load of rubbish, and just some poor attempt at baiting her into a trap. “Anyone dumb enough to try that kinda trick is asking for a palm strike to the nose, its disgusting to use something like that as bait.” Nero rolled his shoulders, making it clear that if he caught wind of such a ploy he would make short work of whoever was trying it.

That said... “It’s strange though, I feel like looking into it would be worth it. Since you were safely sent off of Plant much like myself, neither of us have any way of knowing for sure.” Nero took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “This is the kind of situation where the truth needs to be made certain.”

“Well, he is younger, to be fair; he still has things to grow into. That said— while similar— Avali and Garouan hearing are ultimately quite different from each other.” Nero explained, though the same could be said for many things. “It also depends on how any given individual uses or refines something about themselves. For instance, anyone who uses axes with Ki chains will approach problems or fights differently from you.”

Nero chuckled, he wasn’t at all surprised by Zhalla backing his threat up with another one of her own. “Oh, of course, not like I would stop you.” If they found anyone trying something like that, well, those people would definitely be in for a world of hurt.

“Hm. There are a few ways, though on such short notice I can only really think of one way; the ability to sense energy. Those that are proficient in the skill make connections between people through similarities in their Ki— though it’s not fully accurate, it’s more like an assisted educated guess.” Nero stroked his chin in thought. “I could try and give it a shot? The alternative is teaching you how to do it but...” In the end Nero just shrugged. “It’s not your style, and you’d be a novice at it anyway, so yeah, it’s better if I try it. On the other hand, you’re good at gathering information, so you’ve got the classic method sorted out.”

Something was brewing in Nero’s head now actually, he could make a challenge out of this! “Hey. I have an idea. Let’s see which method figures out if that rumour of a supposed sibling is true, make a bit of a contest out of it.” Nero’s expression curled into a bit more of a mischievous smile before pointing to himself. “My intuition and instincts—” He then pointed to Zhalla. “Versus your trained methods. Whaddya say?”

“Yeah, we’ve actually both studied this kind of thing together. The similarities are pretty simple, both exhibit enhanced hearing in a proportionate radius, the ability to focus hearing in a certain way, that sort of thing.” Nero began, listing off a few key elements that were essentially identical. “The first differences are in how they focus on sounds. Avali have four strong ears that have a wide range of motion, think of it like four pieces of a venn diagram that can overlap. Garouans on the other hand, can rapidly reprocess sound in layers to pinpoint what they want.” He concluded the basics, happy to go into further depth but Zhalla spoke up, confident in her skills. “Precisely, that’s exactly the point." He nodded. "Wouldn’t be fun if everyone’s skills were identical.”

Nero was quite amused, almost impressed with the way Zhalla quickly became more proud and fired up. She could say whatever she liked, Nero was sure she liked being challenged! He made no effort to stop her from grabbing him by the collar, in fact, he simply floated mid air still in his seated position. “Yeah, I dare. I may as well when nobody else has the guts to.” Nero smirked, letting out a bit of a mischievous snicker once he was released.

“Good, good. Consider the challenge officially begun.” As for what was at stake? “If you win, I owe you a favor of equal importance to me getting my brother home. If I win, you tell me why you’re a softy mumma bear about children.”

Teaching Zhalla energy sensing however...

On one hand, it would depend entirely on her willingness to learn it given that she didn’t seem the type to bother. On the other hand, Nero seemed to have actually motivated her to try, if only to prove a point. “Relaaaax firecracker, I mean novice in a literal sense, as being new to something, not incompetent. The same would apply to me if I was to study engineering or axe combat.”

Nero rolled in the air before firmly standing on the floor. “So, let’s go through the basics. I have several questions; is there something that gets you to clear your mind and focus, and, what do you know about the reaction speed of spiders?”

“Mhm, exactly. That is essentially what the multiple ears allow them to do since they’re fine tuned that way. It also seems to be possible they can rapidly reprocess sounds when they’ve grown older, the same in reverse is true for a Garouan where they can track multiple sources— I should know, as it seems to be the case for me.” Nero explained his findings further, knowing that there was still more to be learned, and his eagerness to do so showed in how confidently he spoke— with an underlying tone of passion on the subject. “I dunno about difficult. We’ve lived on Namek our whole lives, Namekians also have notable auditory capabilities, it’s something we’re used to.”

Nero saw no reason to reduce Zhalla to something like her reputation as a bounty hunter, he felt as though that would be disrespectful. “Pfft, because they’re not me, obviously.” He responded in jest. When she let him go he idly tilted in mid air, very slowly making one clockwise spin. “There’s more to you than that notoriety, just saying.”

While Nero’s challenge was accepted, Zhalla jokingly questioned his terms. She knew well enough that he would help her in a scenario of equal importance, and he knew that she knew. “Ohhh noooo, whaaaaaat? No waaaay~” Nero dramatically, and poorly, feigned no knowledge though. “If you’ve got something better, feel free to suggest it, it would be fair if you set the stakes for your win.”

Speaking of stakes, Zhalla’s reaction to what Nero proposed as the result of him possibly winning was nothing short of amusing, he heard the changes in her tone of voice, so he readily assumed there was something to this. “Sounds like you know exactly what I’m talking about.” As Zhalla said, ultimately, she was no coward, so she accepted his terms.

“It is as I said, it would apply to anyone learning how to do something.” To Nero, it was a simple fact. It would be disingenuous to say otherwise to him, but it would be just as rude to deny exceptional potential or growth “Doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t learn quickly though. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

Nero nodded. “Yeah, right now. Trust me this is a perfect opportunity for you to understand the basics. You’ll understand why afterwards.” Zhalla soon answered Nero’s questions, as strange and outlandish as they may have been. “Okay, yeah that’s good, we can work with that.” It was a perfectly fine answer, Nero saw no need to dismiss it. “Spiders have heightened senses and react quicker by comparison using a collection of external senses to react to what’s around them— so it’s similar.” Nero paused for a moment, bringing his hands together. “That said, the best way to start isn’t externally, it’s internally. We’re gonna need you to understand your own energy first, basically you’ll be trying to sense yourself. The point of this is to find your center so that we can build from there.”

Nero brought his hands together, taking into consideration what Zhalla had concluded. “Maybe it sounds like that, but maybe it doesn’t sound like that. Who’s to say, you won’t know unless you hear like how we do.” He then adopted a more wisened tone of voice and facial expression. “Hearing is one thing, and listening is another. Though both are unlike each other, they are at their best together.” With a calm exhale, Nero smiled once more, totally unlike how he just was. “That’s just a little something those raised on Namek are taught to understand— it has both literal and figurative value. Just think about it.” He added with a small smile.

“Pfft, I’m standing right here, I’m not so far beyond you as you thiiiiink!” Nero snickered, poking his tongue out at Zhalla. Even with how cryptic that statement was, it was simultaneously blunt. Unlike the other people, Nero had guts, self assurance and he was here exactly where he was. Exactly who he was. Nobody else could say the same as he did. “What, you mean aside from you having a big heart surrounded by badassery lava as opposed to walls of ice?” At first, Nero chuckled, fully meaning what he had said despite being a little silly about it. However, his tone became fiercely honest, perhaps even deeply emotional in its undertones. “I know warmth like that when I see it. Trust me.”

“Ah, well if you don’t manage to think of something by then I’ll just hound you about it later, no biggie. All the more reason to seek you out or visit you.” Idly examining his nails, Nero glanced over to Zhalla. “Sounds good though.”

As for teaching Zhalla about sensing energy, Nero was undeterred by her questions, in fact he welcomed them. These questions confirmed her interest, more or less. “It’ll help you out in a sec, if you’re already certain of what exactly does that for you, you’re at a good starting point.” Nero did his best to reassure Zhalla on this, clearly he took teaching seriously for one reason or another. “Consider this; a person will often question themselves. Questioning, but not often answering. Looking, but not often seeing, and so on.” Nero waved his hand in a sort of rolling motion. “Without first clearing your mind, releasing yourself of the former, it is harder to find the latter.”

Floating into a seated position with legs crossed, Nero set his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes. “Of course, a good teacher leads by example. I did this practice when I was very little. To clear my head, I first listened to nothing— I figured filtering everything out was a good idea. Then, to find my center, I listened to only myself.” Slowly, Nero stood once again, opening his eyes. “Ultimately, when the only thing I was perceiving was me, I had an answer to the question. I saw what I was looking for, without seeing it at all. I understood my own Ki for the first time.”