Joker
Illyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 25.07.2184.
Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau sat perched on a bench just outside of Elysium's capitol building in Illyria. While the park area that he was in was full of attractive young women, playful four-legged creatures, and exuberant children; the Lieutenant's eyes were focused on the very center of the elliptical green space. A two-story monument to the successful defense of Elysium during the siege of Illyria stood there, drawing Joker's indivisible attention. The statue itself was unremarkable: a trapezoidal base with three figures atop it. One of the figures, a man dressed in the shorts and t-shirt that were so common on this paradise of a colony, was pulling a woman backwards. Looks of tremendous fear were etched onto both of their faces. Standing in front of them was a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in an Alliance-standard battle dress uniform, pointing an assault rifle downrange at the invisible invading force. Unlike the two civilians, the soldier's face was set in a grim expression of defiance. It was plain that the other people in the park felt a surge of pride whenever they looked towards the monument, as their backs inevitably straightened immediately after viewing the "Hero of the Skyllian Blitz."
Such a sentiment was not shared by the - for once - silent pilot. Shepard hated this thing. I remember the rant he went on in Flux when Anderson mentioned they were thinking about putting up a statute on Arcturus to commemorate the defeat of Saren. I think the commander set some kind of record with how many swear words he managed to work into each sentence, without losing his cohesive theme of "I hate statues." And from what he said, he was in jeans, not BDUs. Plus, they even got his gun wrong! He said he never touched an assault rifle the whole time he was fighting, yet that's the gun they picked to show him fighting with. It's a good thing those idiots with "artistic license" never had to meet Shepard, or I would have laid money on the artist's face meeting the Commander's fist.
A heavy sigh racked the frail man's body. Damn it, Shepard, why did you have to die? I can't believe it's only been six months since you died; but the Alliance has already managed to bury or ignore everything you said about the Reapers. And worse, they keep saying that a geth ship took us down! A geth ship! Like I couldn't outrun a single geth ship, regardless of how big it was. The idea that the geth could kill you after a Reaper couldn't is just laughable. No, we know the truth, Shepard. The geth aren't the bogey men the Council and the Alliance want us to think they are; we need to worry about the Reapers. I think they upped the stakes when they destroyed the Normandy and killed you. And now the Alliance has grounded me, because I was trying to stick up for you. I know it's couched in terms like "rehabilitation" and "rest while away from psychological stressors;" but they took the sky from me to punish me for not agreeing to go along with their lies. Assholes.
"Wo- would it be alright if I sat here?" An electronically-modulated voice asked from Jeff's left.
Joker still couldn't tear his eyes away from the monument as he started to respond. "Sure thing, Ta-" Then his brain caught up with his body. That isn't Tali. For one thing, Tali's thousands of miles away from here. And for another, that doesn't actually sound like Tali. Aside from the fact that they both have the slightly artificial tonal quality that all quarians share, they really don't sound anything like each other. Apparently I don't just miss Shepard, but the whole crew. Joker turned to look at the person he was inviting to sit with him. And they are both definitely female.
A cursory examination noted some salient points of the quarian female that still stood next to him, as though afraid that he would rescind his acceptance. She was 1.65 meters tall, only 5 cm taller than Joker himself and only 5 cm shorter than his former quarian crewmate. She was also of a slighter build than Tali, just barely on the curvaceous side of the border between mild feminine curves and waifishness. Her envirosuit was gray and black with a sky blue face mask, and her realk's pattern was all straight lines and sharp angles. Joker couldn't help but be intrigued by her, until he realized that she was still standing there nervously. I guess I picked up more quarian non-verbal indicators than I thought. "Please, have a seat. Sorry about trailing off when I was answering you earlier. You just caught me unawares is all."
"Are you sure it's alright?" She asked, the uncertainty clear in her voice.
"Absolutely positive." Joker responded, giving her a large smile.
"Thank you." She said gratefully as she sat down next to him. "I normally wouldn't have bothered you, but my feet are soo sore."
"Long day?" Joker asked, checking his watch to see that it was nearly 1500 hours, local time. I managed to spend two hours staring at a statue. The boredom of being grounded is slowly driving me insane!
"Yes. I've spent the last week trying to find a job that would allow me to save enough for a ticket to the Citadel, eventually. No one seems to be hiring, though."
I have a feeling that it's going to be a while before you find a job, too. Despite the fact that Shepard said publicly that he couldn't have defeated Saren without Tali's help, the galactic opinion of quarians hasn't changed much. "That's too bad. What kind of work were you trying to find?"
"I'm a quarian, so nearly anything in the engineering or technology fields. I really want a position with one of the shuttle companies, but no one there will even talk to me." Her shoulders slumped as she said this, and a hint of despair crept into her voice.
"Oh really? That wouldn't have been my first guess at all. Why would you want to work there?" Shuttle pilots, pshaw. Lazy, talentless, overpaid button-pushers. They have such hard days: "Driver, take me from my beach house to my main residence, I have a party tonight." "Yeth, mathter. Autopilot button: on. To: Housie 1. Go. We'll be there in 5 minutth, mathter." Bums, the lot of 'em.
"I know it's not very glamorous, but I hope that if I can get a position as a mechanic with a company like that, and I do a good job, that maybe one day they'll let me fly."
Aaaaand now I feel like a heel. Fighting back a grimace, Joker asked "You like to fly?"
The quarian sat up straight and clapped her hands together. "I love to fly! From the first time I saw the bridge of the Ulnay, I knew I wanted to be a pilot. Only the best pilots ever get a chance to fly in the Flotilla, so I need to get some experience before I return home."
Oh great. Fine, I take back all of the nasty things I was saying about shuttle pilots, but only for her. All the rest of them are artless hacks that shouldn't be allowed within fifty feet of a cockpit. "Do you have any time in the chair?" At her confused head tilt, he rephrased the question. "Have you ever actually flown anything before?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes. Any student who shows an interest in flying gets an opportunity to co-pilot one of the smaller, older shuttles in the Flotilla. If we display an aptitude for it, we receive a little additional time and instruction. However, we are rarely given the in-depth training of the other species' professional pilots."
"I can see that, I guess. You know, it probably isn't as glamorous as working for a shuttle company, but you might have better luck with one of the taxicab organizations. Probably have to start as a mechanic or something still, but they might be more likely to eventually let you behind the wheel. And it isn't quite interstellar travel, but it'll probably be a lot more demanding than your typical shuttle run. The only other major hang-up I could see would be your lack of license."
"Oh, I have one of those."
"Really? How'd you manage that?"
"Before reaching Elysium, I spent several months on Terra Nova. I was able to find a job at one of the platinum mining operations there, mostly performing maintenance on machinery. One day, a saboteur from a rival company started a partial thermal runaway in one of the refining tanks. I was able to bring it back under control with a loss of less than one and a half percent of the platinum within the tank. When the company offered me a promotion, I asked for a universal driving license instead. They seemed quite pleased with my decision, but so was I!"
"Nice one!" Joker said enthusiastically. "I guess that solves that problem then."
"It does. And your idea sounds brilliant! Thank you!"
"You're welcome." I should probably start making my way back to my hotel room soon, but I'm having a surprisingly good time right now. Maybe . . . nah, she probably wouldn't want to . . . but this was a nice respite from soul-crushing boredom . . . "Maybe, would you, I mean, if you want, uh, if it's alright, maybe we could meet her again tomorrow? And you can tell me if you had any luck with the job search?"
"That would be wonderful! Thank you." Joker could hear her smile as she replied.
"Excellent. Then I'll see you tomorrow. Same bat-time, same bat-channel?"
"Huh?" Her total confusion was plain to see, making Joker chuckle.
"It's just an expression. I was asking if you wanted to meet here, on this bench, tomorrow at 1500 hours, or 3 o'clock, local time?"
"Oh. Yes, I would like that very much. It was very nice to meet you." She said as she got up.
"You too." Joker replied with genuine warmth. When she still didn't leave, he realized that she was likely waiting for him to stand up as well. "You go ahead. I'm just going to go back to looking at the statue for a minute more." Let's leave the initial outpouring of cripple-pity for another day, shall we?
"Alright. I look forward to it!" She turned and started to walk away, then turned back, waved, turned back around, and continued walking.
Joker chuckled. And in a nice change of pace, so am I.
lllyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 26.07.2184.
Having nothing better to do with his day, Joker resumed his silent vigil at the Skyllian Blitz monument a full two hours early. Unlike the day before, when his thoughts had been completely dominated by the bronze memorial, his thoughts today wandered back and forth between his new acquaintance and remembering his fallen commander. The former category was much more appealing to the pilot, and became ever more prevalent as the clock crawled towards 1500 hours. I wonder if she'll actually show up again today. She seemed pretty enthusiastic yesterday, but a lot of that was probably just excitement at not being treated like a social leper. I don't understand the majority of people sometimes; I mean, all the quarians I've ever met have been really nice people, with all the character traits you could want in a friend. Friendly, moderately out-going, confident without being cocky, well-educated, intelligent, good listeners, unique in their own ways, and interesting. Not to mention they're better looking than some of the other races in the galaxy. Well, not the asari. Me-ow! I still can't believe I forgot to get her name yesterday though, or give her mine. I must have been more out of it than I thought when she interrupted my brood-fest, and I never fully recovered.
But what do I do if she doesn't show up? Should I leave immediately before mercilessly mocking myself for getting my hopes up? Or wait here until I get hungry enough to go back to the hotel? And then, if I do leave, do I come back tomorrow at 1500 and sit here again? Would it be better to just cut my losses? It's not like there's really anything else that is keeping me in Illyria, with the exception of indulging my inner emo and lurking around this statue. If I want to mope, I can do that just as well back on the Arc, and be both economical and more comfortable in my own bed. Choices and decisions piled on top of choices and decisions, I tell you. Hopefully I'll get lucky and my nameless new quarian friend will show up. Ha. I think I used up the last of my good luck during the Battle of the Citadel, and I haven't "gotten lucky" in even longer. And I don't see that changing anytime soon, either.
"Would it be alright if I sit here?" An easily-recognized voice asked cheerily from Joker's left, pulling a small smile from the human.
"Of course." He replied, waving a hand at the empty space next to him as he turned and took in the sight of a quarian that seemed almost as pleased as he was that the previous day's encounter hadn't been a one-time thing. "By the way, I -"
"Before we begin, I -" The quarian started speaking at exactly the same time. After their eyes met briefly, both people laughed. "Please, continue. I'm sorry for cutting you off."
"No no, it wasn't your fault. Looks like we were both just excited to start our conversation. Ladies first." Joker said magnanimously.
Inside her helmet, the quarian blushed. "Thank you. I wanted to say that I apologize for not giving you my name yesterday. In all the excitement of finally finding someone who would listen to me talk about wanting to be a pilot, it slipped my mind. I'm sorry."
Ha ha ha. Great minds really do think alike. "It's totally not your fault. I was actually just gonna say the same thing to you." He stuck his hand out, hoping that he wasn't going to end the day early with a trip to the hospital to get some bones splinted. "I'm Jeff, but my friends call me Joker."
She gently shook his hand, much to his relief. "My name is Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. It's very nice to meet you Jeff."
"Trust me, the pleasure is all mine." When she ducked her head in apparent shyness, he grinned. Oh yeah, no woman is safe from the Moreau charm. At least, no woman who is young, naive, and out on her own for the first time, anyway. Jeez, that makes me sound like such a creep. "If your hands are as light on the controls as they were with that handshake, I think you'll make a great pilot, Lia. And please, call me Joker."
"Thank you! I could say the same to you, though, Joker. You have an very light touch."
Joker laughed heartily for a long few seconds, before the glare he was getting from his newly named companion sobered him quickly. Yeesh. Even behind those facemasks, what is it with quarians being able to glare the paint off of walls? "I'm sorry, Lia. I'm not laughing at you, really; or even at what you said. It's just that, well, I have a pretty strong opinion of my own skills in the cockpit. Some people have even accused me of being overly confident to the point of conceit and/or smugness. But the fact remains that I can cash the checks my mouth writes." At her confused head-tilt, he explained. "It's an expression that means I can support my statements with facts. So when I say I am the best helmsman in the fleet, I can back that up by flying rings around fighters, dreadnoughts, frigates, cruisers, you name it."
"You mean you're a pilot already, and you sat here yesterday and let me go on and on about how much I wanted to be one? Keelah, I'm so embarrassed."
Joker chuckled when she put her head in her hands. "It's fine. It was actually really nice to listen to someone else who is as enthusiastic about flying as I am. That's part of why I tried to come up with some way to get you in the driver's seat somewhere."
"Only part of the reason? Why else would you try to help me?" She asked, peeking out from between her fingers.
That's a pretty cute look for her. I feel like saying so right now would be a little creepy though. Maybe after we've gotten to know each other a little better. Joker reached up and removed his cap with his right hand, ran his left hand through his hair, and then replaced the hat. "Well, another reason is that I kinda know what it feels like to be the odd man out, so I can sympathize with you a little. But the other big reason is that one of my good friends once helped out another with some issues while she was on her Pilgrimage, and she was just so happy that I have to try to help you. I guess what I'm saying is that I know how important your Pilgrimage is to you, so if there's a way that I can help you succeed with yours, then I want to do it."
She looked at him strangely for a minute, before she spoke. "You're a good person, Joker. Not many people would feel the way you do."
"Meh. I know my friends would do the same thing if they were here, so I don't really have a choice. I'd never hear the end of it, ya know, if I turned my back on a damsel in distress?"
She giggled lightly and shook her head. "No Joker, I don't know. But I can guess, and I think that's more than enough for now. How could you be sure that I was on Pilgrimage though? I'm very careful not to speak about it to non-quarians."
"Like I said, I was good friends with a quarian on her Pilgrimage not that long ago. She said that quarians will only introduce themselves using their birth ship if they haven't finished their Pilgrimage yet. 'Nar' means birth ship, 'vas' is the other one, and you said 'nar.' Pretty straightforward."
"I suppose that when you lay it out like that in such a linear fashion, it makes sense that you would realize I was on my Pilgrimage. I'm unused to dealing with anyone who isn't a quarian having so much knowledge about my people. Is your amount of knowledge typical of where you come from?"
"Not in the slightest." Joker said with a smile. "But she was my friend, and we all traded stories and backgrounds in our free time anyway."
"I see." She paused, and then asked shyly, "If it isn't too personal, would you mind telling me the name of the quarian you knew? I wonder if it's anyone I know."
There aren't many things that I wouldn't trade in order to see the look on your face when I tell you. "It's no problem. When she first joined the crew, she was going by Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. The last message I got from her was signed as Tali'Zorah vas Neema." Her physical reaction was pretty good too, I guess.
Lia, upon hearing the name of the most famous quarian in the galaxy, had frozen completely still. This was particularly entertaining to Joker as she had been in the midst of checking that her realk was still correctly placed. As a result, her left forefinger and thumb were pinching a bit of the cloth realk near her temple, and her other two fingers were pointing straight up, almost as though she had been stopped halfway through the process of giving herself antlers. After a few seconds without motion, Joker began counting seconds in his head. A long nine-count later, Lia's head snapped around to look at him with a speed that had Joker's neck bones cringing in sympathetic pain.
"You served with Tali'Zorah? THE Tali'Zorah?" She waited for him to nod bemusedly before continuing. "And you didn't think to mention that fact before?" This time, she didn't give him a chance to respond. "Then that means that you're THE Jeff Moreau? The pilot of the Normandy? Who led the final attack against the geth dreadnought? And served under Commander Shepard? And escaped when -" She stopped abruptly when she saw Joker slump in on itself and his gaze become miserable as he looked at the monument in the center of the park. She immediately realized the significance of where she'd found her new friend, and felt a wave of shame overtake her as the impact that her careless statements had had on the human next to her. "Joker, I'm sorry. Oh, ancestors, I'm such a fool. I promise that I didn't mean to make you feel sad, it's just -"
His raised hand halted her rambling attempts to apologize. After they sat together in silence for an agonizingly long minute, he lowered his hand and spoke in a voice that was so quiet she could barely hear it. "It's my fault."
It took her a moment to comprehend his statement, before she immediately started disagreeing. "No it's not, Joker. You couldn't have -"
He shook his head violently before wincing, which had the effect of stopping her yet again. "But it is. I was such an idiot. I loved that damn ship so much. Between that, and my own hubris, I killed humanity's greatest weapon against what's coming." He looked down at his lap, but put his hand back up to keep her silent. "It wasn't the geth, you know. We'd been fighting the geth for almost a year; I knew their ship's profiles, signatures, and tactics better than anybody alive. Whatever it was, though, saw right through our stealth systems. The freaking things may as well have been off for all the good it did. Then I made my first mistake. Instead of listening to my instincts and getting us the hell out of there, I believed Pressly for the five or so seconds it took that ship to get into weapons range. And that was all it took. Their first shot clipped our port wing, taking out the propulsion systems and venting atmo. For all my supposed skill, I couldn't recover fast enough to avoid the next shot. Or the next, or the next, or the one after that. The energy beams they were using went right through our shields like a hot knife through butter. Our armor did better, but not by much. It seemed like forever at the time, but it was probably only ten seconds before the Normandy was clearly doomed. Any fool could see that. Only the interior starboard thruster was still lit, and there was barely more of the ship still clinging together than there was floating around in space or vaporized. I'd already sent my co-pilot to an escape pod, but I stayed in my chair. I was so sure that I could save her, that I could somehow, miraculously, get my baby away from whatever terrible monster was attacking us. It was stupid, plain and simple: we didn't have enough power to outrun a hovercab, and nowhere near the structural integrity to survive a jump through a relay."
Joker shook his head at his own stupidity. "That was when Shepard showed up. He charged into the cockpit, after running through the entire CIC with his mag-boots activated. The top half of the ship was gone, ripped away like a cheap can of spam. We had no gravity, full vacuum exposure, but Shepard made it through anyway. There were days when I swore that man could survive anything." An intense look of pain crossed his face, and he had to fight not to start crying. "He yelled at me, told me to abandon ship. Like an idiot I argued with him. I was still deluding myself into believing that I could keep the Normandy together and escape with her. That's the second time he's ever been so angry at me that I was actually scared of him. He grabbed the back of my chair, yanked it so hard the anti-swivel bars shattered, and got right in my face. I'll never forget what he yelled at me; 'Joker! The Normandy's gone! Now get your scrawny fucking ass to the fucking escape pod right the fuck now!' Although in fairness, I may have missed a few f-bombs. And to my everlasting shame, I paused. I doubted that he knew better than I did, that he could know more about my baby than I did. But looking at the control panel and seeing all the warnings and failure lights, I knew that I couldn't keep trying, that whoever had attacked us had won this round. But we still had Shepard, so I knew he'd help me avenge my girl."
He stopped and took a deep breath to prepare himself for the last, hardest part of the story. "Shepard started helping me up, just as the threat detection system announced that they were charging their weapons, again. Even I knew now that we were done for if we didn't get to the pod. Shepard picked me up and tossed me across his shoulders in a fireman's carry. He shoved aside the floating debris and made it to the bridge's escape pod in record time. He was just setting me down when the other ship fired again, drilling a hole straight across the CIC and right into the connector between the fuselage and the port wing. Something, probably one of the hydrogen reaction chambers, erupted. The wing went flying away from the rest of the ship, and Shepard was thrown back, out of the pod. He managed to catch the bulkhead with the pod override panel, which was somehow still intact. He looked at me, and I instantly knew what he was going to do. I yelled for him to stop, but he ignored me and punched the eject button. Just as he was doing that, another shot from the enemy's energy weapon struck the ship, sending him careening away. The doors closed, and that was the last time I ever saw Shepard."
In spite of his best efforts, tears made their way down Joker's face. Behind her mask, Lia's eyes and cheeks were soaked with tears as well. In a stuttering voice, the pilot finished his tale. "Whoever the bad guys were, they opened up with a continuous beam and just strafed it along the Normandy's shell until they hit the mass effect core. It exploded, scattering our escape pods everywhere. It took a full day for the Alliance cruiser SSV Shanghai to find us all and load us aboard after it arrived on scene. I kept expecting to see them pull in Shepard; after all, he'd been in a hardsuit that was rated for full-vacuum. But they never did. A shuttle sent to scout the Normandy's crash site said they found his body, and that it looked like a piece of the ship's frame had stabbed him in the shoulder, breaking the suit's seal. They never recovered his body for some reason, but the Alliance docs said that, based on the pictures of the crash site, he probably slowly asphyxiated over the course of seven to ten minutes. The most amazing person I've ever met died the most agonizing, painful death I can think of over ten damn minutes because I was a stupid, conceited, fool!" This was too much for him, and he buried his face in his hands, ignoring the looks he got from some of the nearby park-goers who were enjoying the beautiful weather of Elysium.
Lia found herself conflicted. On the one hand, quarians as a rule did not generally approve of excessive touching. But on the other hand, her new friend needed comfort, and she craved it. So she tentatively reached over and looped her arms around him, giving him a light squeeze as she hugged him. Much to her relief, he didn't reject her outright, but eventually returned the gentle embrace.
They sat there like that, a quarian and a human, both exceedingly fragile and in desperate need of someone who could understand them. And despite the odd looks they continued to get from passers-by, they held each other until their emotional upheaval had calmed. Eventually, they separated; but continued to sit in silence, close enough that the outsides of their arms and legs remained in contact.
Joker was the first to break the silence. "Wow. I haven't really laid that all out there like that before. I feel a little better, somehow. I really appreciate that you took the time to listen to me. And thanks for the hug, and for not judging me. It means a lot."
"Of course. I should probably be thanking you, though, for trusting me with your story. It means a great deal to me that you see me as someone worthy of your trust, and not a 'worthless street rat.' And I promise, I won't ever judge you, Joker."
Joker looked over at her and gave her an honest, if watery, smile. She really is a great person. If all quarians are like this, it's no wonder Shepard started dating Tali. I think I just started the process of making a very good friend. "I don't know about you Lia, but all that talking made me pretty hungry. Would you like to go get something to eat, my treat? And maybe you can tell me about your day, since it's my turn to listen to you."
"I'd like that a lot, Joker. Thank you." She said, her eyes shining with happiness.
"Excellent." Joker struggled to stand up. "Shall we?"
"I believe that this time, the pleasure is mine." She said with a grin as she stood up, causing him to blush slightly.
"Well . . ." He said as he tried to regain his composure. "I think I know a place with a bunch of different stuff, let's try there first?"
"Lead on." She answered with a smile.
lllyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 30.07.2184.
Jeff was once again sitting on what he'd come to think of as "their" bench in the memorial park in Illyria. They had known each other for less than a week, but talking to Lia'Vael whenever he had a few moments of free time (which, since he was grounded, was practically all of his time) had become almost as natural as breathing. If somebody would have asked me if I would feel this comfortable, this fast, with some random person, I would have laughed in their face. But somehow, it just feels right to spend time with her. I blame Shepard's statue. It made me all introspective and broody, so when she came along I wasn't prepared to fend off a cute, enthusiastic pilot-in-training who actually likes my sense of humor. Oh goody, now I sound like I'm in some terrible romantic comedy vid, where the guy pines away for the girl while she pines away for him until a chance circumstance forces them to reveal their innermost feelings to each other. Blech. I don't think heartfelt confessions of unyielding love are on the menu today, anyway. Luckily for me. Lia's message this morning asking to meet up was unusually short and terse. I hope she's alright. And look, there she is now. He watched her approach, noticing that her movements were less graceful than normal. This only served to increase his worry.
"Thank you for meeting me here, Joker." She said with tension in her voice.
"No problem, Lia. I'll admit, 0900 is a bit early for a man who is 'on vacation,' but I can always nap later."
She looked down briefly, before seeming to gather herself and looked him square in the eyes. "I'm sorry to have woken you up so early, but I need help and I don't know who else to ask."
"It's okay, Lia. Really. And I'm always available to try to help a friend. I may not always be very good at it, but I promise to try. What do you need?"
Her shoulders relaxed a little at his words, and her voice was a little less tight. "Since I arrived on Elysium, I've been staying at a cheap, pay-by-the-week hotel. Yesterday they told me that tomorrow is the last day I'm allowed to stay there. They said that they've been getting complaints from the other tenants about sharing a building with a quarian. After they told me that, I spent all day yesterday trying to find someplace else to go. I don't have very many credits, and none of the shelters around here say they can 'handle' taking care of a quarian. I've only been working my new job for two days and don't have enough money to get to the Citadel yet, or enough to support myself if I try to find a place to stay and a new job in another city. I feel so alone, and scared." She was clearly either crying, or about to start. "Can you help me, Joker? Please? I don't know what to do."
It took him a few seconds to process what she'd just told him, a few seconds that got progressively more uncomfortable as he began to hear the distinctive notes of not-quite-suppressed sobbing. Buying time to think of a plan, he gingerly wrapped her in a hug, and was heartened when she immediately latched onto him. This is a really sucky situation. This is one of those times when I really wish I were more like Shepard, or Garrus, or even Tali. They'd just go over to the hotel she's staying at and intimidate the owner into backing off, and scare the pants off of anyone who felt like complaining about Lia's presence there. I, on the other hand, am more likely to break something while trying to look imposing. I can't just leave Lia in the lurch, though, she's already become too good of a friend for that to even be a reasonable suggestion. I don't have much in the discretionary funds department, so I can't really loan her enough money to stay afloat. And I definitely can't afford a ticket to the Citadel. I'm sure she's already tried all the low-cost options that Illyria has to offer. That's one of the downsides to being in the capitol; they spend too much keeping it nice to have much lower-income or transient housing. She can't stay on the street, either, because the cops will pick her up in a heartbeat and run her in for vagrancy. While that would solve her lodging problems, she wouldn't be able to work. Damn. I can't think of anything.
Joker continued to hold Lia, running his brain along at FTL speeds in the search for a solution while gently patting or rubbing the quarian's back. Eventually she calmed down and pulled away, meeting his eyes again. "Thank you. I'm sure this isn't the fun day you were hoping for when I messaged you this morning, but thank you for being here anyway."
"It really isn't a problem." Joker said with a smile. "I can think of a lot worse ways to spend my time than hugging a pretty girl."
She looked down demurely, blushing beneath her helmet. "Being in your arms is not a hardship for me, either."
Joker brightened at his successful attempt to lighten the mood, before blushing at her riposte. "Ah. Well. I guess that's a good thing, right?"
She giggled at his loss of composure. "Yes, Joker, it is. Thank you for always cheering me up. It's one of my favorite reasons for spending time with you: it's practically impossible to be sad when you're around."
"I feel the same way, Lia. About you, I mean. Not me. Because I'm always around me. Ah, you know what I mean." Actually, that gives me an idea. A crazy, ridiculous idea, but an idea nonetheless. It would solve her problem, and it would be nice to have some company to keep me from watching daytime tv in my boxers for four or five hours a day. And the Alliance probably won't care, as long as I don't go over my per diem. The only problem is making sure the hotel doesn't find out she's a quarian. And selling it to Lia, of course. Oh god, now it really is a plot from a rom-com. Some thoughts just shouldn't be had.
She giggled at his words, not having any idea about the potential plans that were running through his mind. "I believe that you have managed to lift my spirits enough so that we can talk about my impending homelessness without me falling apart again."
"It was definitely a 'we' thing, Lia. It takes two to tango."
"Are you so sure we should be dancing, with your condition?"
Joker missed the smirk in her tone. "I didn't mean literally, Lia."
That caused her to laugh out loud. "I know, Joker."
"Then what . . . Oh, I get it. Yes, very funny. Maybe I should reconsider telling you my brilliant plan to solve your problem then."
"What? You have an idea? I'm sorry, I was only joking. Please tell me, Joker?"
Her earnestly apologetic demeanor made Joker want to cringe. "Take it easy Lia, I was just kidding. Please hear me out, even if it sounds crazy. Okay?" She nodded. He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and then launched into his explanation. "So I was thinking that we're pretty good friends, right? Even though we've only known each other for not that long. And I know it isn't uncommon for friends to rent apartments together, splitting up utility bills and rent and groceries so that they can afford to live above their individual means. While I'm not an expert on quarian culture, I'm pretty sure sharing scarce resources in order to maximize efficiency wouldn't exactly be frowned upon in the Flotilla. So, since the Alliance is paying for me to have a suite in a pretty decent hotel for as long as I need to 'recover,'" his face twisted into a brief grimace at the word, "I could probably downgrade to something with a pair of double beds for about the same, or even less. That way, you could have one bed, I could have the other, and we could take turns buying food or whatever. Everybody wins: you have a place to stay, I have some company, and the Alliance saves some money." He finally stopped, and took a few deep breaths. "So, what do you think?"
Lia was quiet for a few minutes, clearly thinking about his proposal. Joker tried not to fidget, but was finding it harder and harder as the seconds ticked by. He hadn't gotten any better at sitting still and quiet in the 20-some-odd years since elementary school. Finally, just before the last thread controlling his restlessness was about to snap, she spoke.
"That could work, Joker. All quarians are well-acquainted with the notion of sharing space. Even the room I'm currently living would probably house two or three quarians aboard the Flotilla. There are two things that trouble me, though."
"Only two or three? That's pretty good." Joker cracked a grin, glad that she hadn't rejected the idea outright.
"That's true." She grinned back. "The first issue is that I feel like we would be stealing from the Alliance, which carries a strong negative connotation in the Flotilla."
"While I can see how you might feel that way, and can definitely get why your people have an anathema against theft, I don't think this situation fits. As it stands now, the Alliance is providing me with a per diem that I can use for food, housing, and other necessities. I'm almost positive that I can find a two-bed suite that is less than the cost of my current room. That would actually save the Alliance money. And we could always just agree to buy our own food, that way there isn't any mixing of funds."
She pondered that for a moment. "Okay. I can understand your point of view. Paying for our own food would resolve the last of my doubts on that topic. The second issue, though, is sharing a space with you." Lia looked off into the distance, missing the crestfallen expression that appeared on her friend's face, but was gone by the time she looked back at him. "I am intimately familiar with the day-to-day life of a quarian, obviously. But I don't know very much about human customs or behavior, outside of what I've observed while traveling. I get the impression that your people like their privacy, to a much greater extent than quarians. I do not want to take the chance that by living in close proximity to one another, something happens to break apart our friendship. I like and respect you too much to risk that."
Relief washed over Joker's features. Whew. Thank goodness she didn't go where I thought she might. I was getting ready for something a lot more negative. Instead, she shows that she places a high value on our friendship like I do. This whole living together thing could really work out. "I totally agree with you, Lia; it would suck to lose you as a friend. I still think it's worth the shot though. Even if we only gave it a trial run, it's not like we're locked into this forever or anything. If, after a week, you realize that I have terrible taste in music (not that I do, of course, my taste is impeccable), you at least have a roof over your head while you search for different lodgings."
"And what if you decide that you don't like something about me, and want to kick me out?" She shot back.
"While I don't think that will happen, I promise to give you at least a week to create an alternative arrangement. But honestly, I've got a good feeling about this." He gave her a reassuring smile when he finished speaking.
She stared at him for a long second, as though she could see truth or lies deep in his eyes. Finally, she brightened. "I think you're right, Joker."
"Glad to hear it. Let me call my hotel and see what I can do." He activated his omni-tool, located the contact information for his hotel's customer service desk, and then initiated the call.
After four electronic rings, a male voice answered the phone. "Rhadaman's Rest, this is Gregory, how can I help you?"
"Hi Gregory, this is Jeff Moreau. I'm currently staying in room 612, but I was wondering if it might be possible to change rooms?"
"Is there a problem with your current accommodations, Mr. Moreau?" The hotel representative's voice remained frustratingly even.
"Of course not. I was just wondering if you had something with two beds that would be in the same ballpark, price-wise, as what I'm in now."
"Let me check." Classical, non-copyrighted elevator music came over the line as Joker was put on hold. He fought to suppress a wince, but still garnered a curious look from Lia. He waved her off just before Gregory came back on the line. "Unfortunately, Mr. Moreau, all of our two-bedroom suites are currently occupied."
"Darn. Do you anything similar available?"
"Perhaps if you told me the reason for your request, I could endeavor to locate a suitable solution."
"Fair enough. I've got an out-of-town friend coming to stay with me for a bit, but we're not really in a 'share a bed' type of relationship if you get my drift. Due to my circumstances, your hotel offers the best location for me to enjoy Illyria without risking a long term hospital visit."
"Ah yes, I see the notation in your file. And the reason why your friend cannot stay in his or her own room?"
"That's an excellent question. Unfortunately, she once had a bad experience with a hotel that didn't take security as seriously as your establishment. As a result, she doesn't like staying in public places alone. I'm sure you can understand." He saw Lia looking at him with a particular head-tilt, so he briefly muted his mic. "What? Everybody's had at least one bad experience at a crummy hotel." He turned his mic back on, and went back to listening to the hotel's employee.
"Ah. We do have a queen suite with a pull-out bed available on the first floor. If you were able to commit to that room for a month, it would be the same price as your current room."
"Right. Ok, I can do that. When can I make the switch?"
"Your current payment expires on Saturday, however, for a 25 credit cancellation fee, you can be in your new room before sunset."
Joker barely managed to choke back a groan. "So if I don't want to pay you guys 25 credits, I'm stuck with the old room until Sunday?"
"That is correct, sir."
Joker may have been imagining things, but he was pretty sure the voice on the other end of the comm line sounded unspeakably smug. Then he looked over at Lia, and remembered how upset and out of sorts she'd been earlier that morning, and came to a decision. "Alright. Can I pay the 25 credits when I get back to the hotel tonight?"
"Of course, Mr. Moreau. Shall I arrange the room transfer?" There was a definite air of smugness about the voice now.
Joker sighed. "Yeah, go ahead. Thanks for all your help."
"You are very welcome, sir." The concierge hung up first, leaving Jeff shaking his head in disgust.
"I hate customer service reps."
"Thank you." Lia's quiet voice put a stop to Joker's fantasies of dressing Gregory and his ilk in fruity bikinis and then tossing them all into a pit full of hungry pyjaks and listening to them scream like little girls. "I appreciate your help more than I can say, Joker."
Feeling slightly bold, Joker put his arm around Lia in a one-armed hug. "Anytime, Lia. Anytime." They sat like that for the next ten minutes, each lost in their own thoughts but circling back to the comfort they felt in the presence of one another. Eventually, Joker's restlessness got the better of him, again. "Well, shall we go check out our new digs?"
"Digs?" She cocked her head to the side. "Why have you been digging holes in Elysium?"
Joker laughed. "It's a slang expression for living quarters."
"Oh. Then yes, let's go!" She helped him up, and together they headed back towards their new, shared, living space; with similar expressions of excitement, apprehension, and enthusiasm stretched across their faces.
lllyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 12.10.2184.
I have a hard time believing that I met Lia on this very same bench less than three months ago. Somehow she's wormed her way into my life to such a degree that it would feel totally wrong if I didn't see her every morning, and share dinner with her every night. Well, we don't exactly share dinner, but we sit at the same table and talk about our days. My side of those conversations aren't really all that exciting, are they? "I read about new ship technology." "I read about some Elysian politician who got into trouble by dipping something somewhere it shouldn't have been." "I watched people read in the park." Still, I never would have thought that conversations where I wasn't the dominant talker could be so fulfilling. When Lia starts talking about one of the stories she heard at work that day, she gets so enthusiastic! I think I get tired just watching her describe some of the things she gets into. This is probably the best, and undeniably the most adult, relationship I've ever had. I wonder if it's even possible for a couple in a relationship to feel as good as Lia and I do? Or does making it official take some of the joy out of it somehow? Too bad none of my friends are monogamous, or I could ask them. Actually, I can't think of any friends that I would ask for relationship advice anyway. I need to get out more.
"Good afternoon Mr. Moreau." A tall, wiry black man sporting a large smile, close-cropped hair, a gray polo shirt, and black dress slacks sat on the bench next to the deep-in-thought pilot without so much as a "by-your-leave."
"Uhhh . . ." Joker trailed off, unsure of how to respond to this sudden and unexpected interloper. An interloper who knew his name, which was slightly worrying.
"Of course. Where are my manners? My name is Terrence Dunn, Assistant Public Relations Manager at R.H.B. Labs based right here on Elysium."
"Right. That, uh, wasn't what I was going to ask you though." Joker stammered, still trying to gain traction in the conversation.
"I suppose that's fair. You were probably more worried about how I knew your name, am I right?" Mr. Dunn flashed Joker a smile that was designed to win hearts and minds.
"Yeah. Definitely."
"Well Mr. Moreau, R.H.B. is doing some fascinating work in the areas of muscular and skeletal enhancements. We're about to begin full-scale human testing on a revolutionary new bone treatment, and when we heard that one of the Saviors of the Citadel was currently living on Elysium, we had to come out and talk to you. It wouldn't be right of us not to offer one of the greatest human pilots a medical procedure that could make your life so much better."
Joker was now more than a little suspicious of the man sitting next to him. "Oh really? Just what is this 'revolutionary' new treatment? And why do you want me to be involved so much."
"You cut me to the quick, Mr. Moreau. You don't believe that we would offer you this chance out of the goodness of our hearts?" Joker's headshake brought a light laugh to Mr. Dunn's lips. "Alas, your instincts are truly as sharp as I've been led to believe. Unfortunately, several major investors see this line of research as a bit of a boondoggle for our company; fascinating and innovative, but not capable of a very large return on their investment. I, and more importantly my boss, are of the opinion that they're not looking at the bigger picture here. So we were hoping that you might be interested in helping us help you, and thousands of others like you."
The man was clearly passionate, and Joker felt himself being swayed. "But you still haven't told me what this new treatment is. And I'm going to need a lot more information about risks and potential side effects before I'm even willing to consider whatever you plan on offering to me."
"Fair enough, Mr. Moreau. I'm afraid that I can't give you too much information at this time, since we are talking about a proprietary new process and you're not under any sort of NDA. In broad strokes, though, R.H.B. has discovered a way of injecting a hybrid fiber into a patient's bone marrow that is eventually integrated throughout the entire skeleton. Clinical trials using animals show a 60% increase in bone density, 35% fewer new fractures, and a 15% improvement in healing speed."
Holy flying elcor! That's twice the bone density and half the fracture rate compared to my treatment options now. But . . . "I have to admit that those are impressive statistics, but what about risk factors and side effects?"
"As you know, no course of action is risk free. Observed side effects included decreased bone density, increased risk of fracturing, cessation of collagen production, and rejection-like symptoms. I feel obligated to stress, though, that severe side effects were observed in fewer than 5% of the clinical trials."
Those are some pretty terrible side effects. But what an upside if it works! "Would it be possible for me to get more information? You know, breakdowns of how often the side effect was rejection versus increased chance of breaking something, that sort of thing?"
"Without the protection of an NDA, that information is never released to the public." He pulled off his glasses and abently polished them while he thought. "But, I might be able to get our legal department to work up a less-restrictive NDA that would give you some access to that sort of thing. If I ask them to put something like that together though, I'd need you to promise that you were going to seriously consider joining our study, and helping us with positive press. I'm not willing to waste R.H.B.'s resources if you just plan on jerking us around for a while."
"No, I can say that I am definitely interested in this, but it's not a decision I'm willing to make without having all the facts in front of me. Flying is my life, so any chance of regressing to the point where I wouldn't pass my physical is gonna get serious analysis."
"I can respect that, Mr. Moreau. Will you give me a few days to see what I can do?"
"Sure, Mr. Dunn."
"Excellent." Terrence held out his hand, which Joker shook tentatively. "I'll send you a message when I'm able to meet up with you again?"
"Sounds good."
"Have a great day then, Mr. Moreau." The larger man stood up, put his hands in his pocket, and walked away while whistling a jaunty tune.
Joker couldn't help the smile that crossed his face at the events of the last few minutes. I really want to tell Lia about this, but I don't want to get my hopes up. If I talk to her about it, and then it turns out to be absurdly dangerous, I think I'd feel terrible. And she would feel bad for me, because she's just that nice of a person. If I keep it to myself, and it falls through, then it's like it was a dream, and never really happened. I really want this to work though!
lllyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 14.10.2184.
The door to the apartment that the two pilots, one human and one quarian, shared opened up to admit a slouching female. "Hi Lia! How was work today?" Joker called out from where he was seated on the apartment's lone couch.
"It was good, Joker. They let me work on the X3M-J today." She tiredly made her way over to the couch and plopped down next to her friend, taking care not to accidentally sit on him. "It shows that they're trusting me around the nicer cars, at least; but those -J's are big pains in the butt! The extra emitters that they use to increase the mass effect field means there's no room inside the rear compartment. None! I had to pull the entire mass effect core and propulsion drive out of the car in order to work on it." She slumped bonelessly into the couch cushions.
"That's great news! I mean, it's terrible that you have more, harder work to do. But it's quite the step up, right?" In contrast, Joker was sitting bolt upright, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
"Ok, what's going on? You're acting . . . odd." She sat up a little and eyed him curiously. "Well, odder than normal."
Joker laughed. "It's not anything bad, I promise. I just got some good news today, and couldn't wait to share it with you."
This caused her to sit fully upright and lean towards him. "What is it? Is the Alliance finally letting you fly again?"
He slumped a little bit at her reminder that he was still grounded. "No. That would be great news. Amazing news, even! But today's news is just good."
"Stop keeping me in suspense then Joker, and tell me." She playfully swatted at his arm, barely making contact in order to avoid the chance of hurting him.
"I will. Sheesh. Abusive housemates, I tell ya . . . But anyway, I met with a guy from R.H.B. Labs a few days ago. They've apparently got a new treatment for osteogenesis imperfecta and other similar diseases. It's almost twice as effective as anything else on the market today. They've offered me the chance to be in their final human study, and I'm leaning towards accepting." He watched her body language change as she thought through the many implications of his statement.
"This is a new therapy, right? Are you sure it's safe? I - I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Although she covered it well, there was a trace of deep emotion in her voice when she asked the last question.
Joker gingerly put his arm around her and pulled her close. "It's brand new, Lia. And I got them to give me copies of all the hard numbers from their earlier testing. It's a little riskier than traditional surgeries, but not by much. And their results are staggering!" Then he lowered his voice and hugged her a little tighter. "I don't want anything to happen to me either, Lia. I like being here, with you, like we are now. But just think about how much more we could do together if you didn't always have to wait for me to haul my crippled rear end all over the place?"
"Oh Joker. It really doesn't matter what we're doing: I like spending my time with you." She snuggled closer into his body.
It must have been a combination of the prospects of a new treatment for his disease, the positive feelings he was luxuriating in with Lia pressed against his side, and their comments about being together, but Joker suddenly seized on a course of action that had occurred to him some time ago. "Hey Lia?"
She looked up at him, and puzzled at the strange look in his eyes. "What is it, Joker?"
"Would you like to go out with me?"
"Go out where?" She asked curiously.
He performed a major mental face-palm. "Uh, I mean, would you like to go out on a date with me? It's uh, dating. Dumb name. But it's a thing humans do when we want to get to know someone a bit more seriously than just 'as friends.' I know it probably sounds crazy, because you're a quarian and I'm a human, but it's just dating, right? And I think we get along really well, and you get me, and I think I get you, and -"
"Joker." She rested one of her hands on his chest, drawing his eyes and stopping his rambling. When she started to speak again, he looked up at her face plate, and her brightly-glowing eyes. "That sounds very nice. I already told you, I like being with you. Taking the next step with pemla'tiyl, or 'dating,' seems like the right thing to do. Just promise me that whatever happens, we'll still be friends?"
She sounded very vulnerable when she finished, and Joker instinctively hugged her closer, ignoring the slight pain this caused him. "Always, Lia."
When the tender moment finished, they pulled away from each other and looked around the room in slight embarrassment, unsure of what to do next but unwilling to make eye contact. Finally, Joker laughed. "Well, now we're acting like a couple of teenagers. As far as I see it, this just means we can hold hands and hug and stuff more often. I think we're basically only formalizing our situation."
"Right." She said, trying to sound as certain as he did. "We already spend most of our time together anyway. Now we just get to snuggle more."
He laughed. "Definitely." They made themselves more comfortable, and then Joker spoke again. "So Lia, would you mind telling me more about this 'pez-man-tell' thing you mentioned?"
She laughed "It's 'pemla'tiyl,' Joker. And of course not."
lllyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 25.04.2185.
Joker and Lia had just finished dinner and were sitting on the couch together with an independent serial vid showing on the holoscreen in front of them. Joker's head was laying in Lia's lap, as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"Joker?"
"Yeah, sweetie?" He responded slowly, taking the time to remember how to talk after she'd lulled him into such a peaceful and relaxing state of mind.
"You've been unusually quiet tonight. Is everything alright?" Her voice demonstrated a mild level of concern.
He sighed. "I guess so. Maybe not. I don't know."
"Well, why don't you tell me about it. I'm sure that between the two of us we can figure something out." She said caringly.
"That's just the thing, though, Lia. It could have a serious impact on whether there's even a 'two of us' anymore." He felt her stiffen, and her hands went instantly still. "Oh, no, it's nothing like that. I have no plans to break up with you.."
She relaxed a little, and let out a breath that she had unknowingly been holding. "I'm relieved to hear that, Joker. I'd still like a little more explanation, though. If you don't mind."
He caught the "tell me now, or you'll regret it, mister" tone to her voice. "Sure thing. So Terrence found me today while I was resting in the post-injection suite, hooked up to a million cred's worth of machinery and trying to tell myself I didn't really have to pee." She giggled, causing him to roll over onto his back and smile up at her. "Anyway, he started talking to me about how the treatment seems to be going, and if I'm noticing anything that might be useful for him to know; either to brag about something good in his next press release or to spin in a positive light if it's something bad. I told him no, and we just chatted for a few minutes about the old Normandy, and how great a ship it was. My bladder was on the verge of taking control of my legs and sprinting to the head when he said something that made me forget about everything else."
"Well, what was it? Don't keep me in suspense, puppy!" She pleaded.
He shuddered. "I still can't believe you like calling me 'puppy' as a term of endearment. Are you sure you don't want to use something more masculine?"
"No!" She laughed. "You're my little puppy, Joker. Cute, and cuddly, and furry, and so tiny!"
"I'm only five centimeters shorter than you!" He stated forcefully.
"Mmhm." She patted him patronizingly on the head. "Now be a good little puppy, and tell me what Mr. Dunn said to you that got you so worked up."
He sighed. There are just some fights I'm not going to win. There are worse people to lose an argument to, at least. "Ok, sweetie. He told me that R.H.B. is a part of a larger corporation, and that one of the other children companies is apparently looking at trying to design the next iteration of the stealth frigate. That other company, 'Aegis Systems,' saw that R.H.B. knew me, and wanted Terrence to ask if I'd be interested in taking a job as a consultant for the duration of the project."
"Wow, Joker! I'm so happy for you!" Then she thought about his behavior that night, and his strange reluctance to talk about this with her. "Oh. It means something bad for us, doesn't it?"
He rolled back onto his left side, facing the holoscreen on the wall again. "Maybe. If I took the job, I'd have to move to an 'undisclosed location' due to' security concerns.' And you wouldn't be able to come with me." He felt her tense again, and tried to reassure his girlfriend. "I asked, but they said that only essential project staff are permitted entry to wherever it is they're working on this project."
"Thank you for asking, at least. You're always so considerate, Joker. It's one of the things I like best about you." Now it was her turn to do the reassuring, as it was evident by his posture that he was struggling mightily with this information. "Do you think you would enjoy doing something like that?"
"God, yes. I've felt so useless ever since the Alliance grounded me. When I was serving aboard the Normandy, I could see the good that we were doing in the galaxy. But now? I feel like I've lost my purpose. And it's not the same as actually flying her, but maybe helping to design the next Normandy will be good enough? Plus, they'll need somebody to fly any prototypes or models they build, right? May as well be me."
"That's my Joker. Always looking for the silver lining." She smiled down at him, gently encouraging him with her hands to roll over and look at her. Once he'd done so, she met his eyes and gave him her advice. "I think you should do it, puppy. I can see and hear how excited you are, and I don't want to be the only reason you don't take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity. And there's no reason that we have to put an end to our relationship. If we can't make long-range dating work, we can go back to being just friends."
Joker hid the pain that thinking about going back to being 'just friends' caused him. "Hmmm. I'm lucky to have you around to act as my voice of reason, aren't I?" She nodded, drawing a chuckle from the recumbent pilot. "Alright. I'll let Terrence know when I go in on Wednesday that I'll take the job." He smiled brightly at her. "Thanks, Lia."
"Anytime, Joker." She smiled beatifically back, before pointing up at the screen. "Now, do you have any idea what's going on?"
He rolled over to look at what she was pointing out. "Not a clue, sweetie." Simultaneously shrugging their shoulders, they cuddled closer together and watched the turian and the human chase each other around shouting "pew pew."
lllyria, Elysium, Vetus, Petra Nebula; 02.05.2185.
The human-quarian couple stood locked in an embrace at one of Elysium's smaller spaceports. A few dozen meters away, a fancy suit-wearing Terrence Dunn stood talking to a similarly attired slighter, shorter, and older man with caramel-colored skin. Near the two men was a shuttle stamped with the name MSV Wild Bill, its parent ship that would be carrying Joker away from Elysium. Next to Lia and Joker was the shuttle that would take her up to the MSV Privilege, which would eventually make its way to the Citadel after stopping at Eden Prime to pick up other passengers.
"Make sure to send me a message as soon as you get safely to the Citadel, and another one once you find a place to stay." Joker said, failing to mask the intense feelings that were nearly overwhelming his usual calm demeanor.
"I will, as long as you promise to do the same thing!" Lia said back, fighting back tears.
"I promise. And I'll try to find some time to get away and visit you. They seem to be in a pretty big rush, though, so I can't promise that."
"I understand. The faster they finish with the design, the faster you can come back to me. I'm going to miss you so much, puppy."
He snorted, making her giggle. "I'll miss you more sweetie." He then plucked up his courage and whispered softly into her audio pick-up. "I love you, Lia'Vael."
She pulled back in shock, and stared hard at him. Then she pulled him forward again and gave him a hug that tested his still-suboptimal bone strength. "I love you too, Joker."
They luxuriated in their feelings for a long moment, before they started to pull apart. Before they had completely separated, Lia tipped her head forward and placed the part of her faceplate that was over her forehead against her boyfriend's forehead. "A kiss for good luck." She said between sniffles, and then turned and ran for the shuttle, her bag of personal items bouncing against her back as she did so.
Joker stood in silence as he watched the shuttle door close, and then stepped back as it fired its engine and lifted up and away from the dock. In a matter of minutes, it was no more than a tiny black speck in the distance, before it disappeared from sight completely.
Mr. Gunn came walking over to Joker and rested a hand gently on the smaller man's shoulder. "She'll be alright, Jeff."
"I know. I'm just gonna miss her, that's all." Joker replied, pulling his cap off his head with his right hand and then using the back of that hand to wipe away the tears that hadn't quite escaped his eyes.
"I understand. I really do. But I'm sure my friends over at Aegis will be able to give you some things to think about to help distract you." He had an encouraging smile on his face that Joker couldn't help but respond to.
"Well, I'll have to see about that. I'm ready to go whenever they are."
"Excellent. Your things have already been loaded into the shuttle. Let's head over there, and get you on your way to the next chapter of your life.
"Sounds like a plan."