AN: Yes, I know Valentine's Day was yesterday, but I was away, so you're getting this now.
This is set before the events of Let's Try This Again, so reading it isn't nessecary.
Hope you enjoy! ^^
Turian Valentine - A Let's Try This Again Short
"Huh. Should have figured that you'd be in a human bar."
Tom turned, with surprise, to see Ty approaching him. She rarely spoke to him, which was probably for the best. He doubted that he would be able to keep up intelligent conversation, given how the red painted turian woman seemed to make his heart jump to his throat.
"Where's your sister?" She asked when he didn't respond, pulling him from his surprise.
"She has a date…" Tom really didn't want to think about his best friend screwing his twin sister, but he had no illusions about what they were up to. It was their first proper shore leave together since they had started dating. Usually the three of them went home, but Kira and Caius had decided to just stay put on the Citadel. He didn't want to be the third wheel, but he also didn't want to be the only one to return home. So, here he was, at a human bar because he had been around turians for too long.
"Good," Ty replied, smiling at him. "She's kind of a bitch."
"No, she's not…" He didn't have the energy to defend her more than that, as he usually did.
"Whatever." Ty frowned at the little pieces of pink and red paper littering the bar, picking one up to look at it questioningly. "What's with the décor?"
Tom shrugged. "It's Valentine's Day."
She just gave him a blank look. "I have no idea what that is."
"Some guy got killed and humans celebrate by giving their significant others gifts and spending the day together."
"They are a really fucking weird species…" She mused.
"Apparently the asari buy into as well."
"Why am I not surprised?" She joked before returning her attention to the bits of paper. "So what are these?"
"They're supposed to be hearts."
"Well, that explains why they're red, although I don't know what fucked up biology text book they're using, but I'm pretty sure human hearts do not look like this. Also, why hearts?"
Tom gave a soft chuckle before shrugging once more. "I have no idea."
"You have a really nice laugh," She admitted. If he had been making such a comment, he knew that it would have been mumbled through a heavy blush, but she was so confident about it. He had to admit that it was that confidence that drew him to her. "So, that explains why that group of women seem particularly disgruntled. I take it they don't have dates?"
"Probably."
"So, why are you sulking over here?" She asked, confusing him a little.
"What do you mean?"
"Tom, they've been talking about you for the past ten minutes. When I came in, they were commenting on how attractively tall you were."
"Bullshit," He countered.
"I swear to the Spirits. They think you're all mysterious and broody. Seriously, I've been getting death glares from them since I walked in."
"That's…" He trailed off, unsure of what to say.
She shot him a mischievous look at that. "Don't tell me you don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"Tom, you're kidding right? You must know that every girl on the ship drools over you."
"That's not-" She cut him off before he could protest.
"They don't say anything because they're scared of your sister. But, you could have any woman you wanted. Possibly most guys, too. Seriously, pick anyone in this bar and you can walk out of here with them. You just need to stop being so damn shy."
He had no idea how to respond to that.
"Fine. Want me to prove it? Pick one."
He sighed, determined to prove her wrong. His eyes fell on the most attractive human woman of the group. He figured that she probably wouldn't even be interested in a turian, never mind him. "Okay, her."
Ty just grinned at him. "I bet you think you've given me a challenge and everything." She waltzed over to the group of women, impressing Tom once more with her confidence. Not long after she had begun to speak, the attractive human woman began to blush, before hastily sending scribbling down something on one of the heart-shaped napkins.
Ty's grin widened as she placed the napkin in front of him. "This is her 'tool ID. She was very insistent that I make it clear to you that you can call her anytime."
Tom couldn't help the blush forming across his neck. "I…"
"Tom, I suggest you take full advantage. Seriously, when was the last time you got laid?"
Never.
But there was no way he was telling her that.
"I'm not sure I would know what to do with a human," He eventually settled on.
"Seriously? With your parents? Oh, that's another thing. I got you her 'tool ID without telling her who you were. That would make it even easier."
"I'll… think about it." He did have every intention of thinking about it, but he knew exactly whose ID he wished this was.
Come on, Thomas. For once in your life, just be confident.
He downed the end of his drink for courage before locking eyes with the woman in front of him. "So, you're trying to tell me that I could have any woman I wanted?"
She nodded. "Pretty much."
"Any woman?" He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at the slight trill of embarrassment that she let slip as she caught his meaning, before she returned his meaningful look with full force.
"Any woman you want."
"Well, it's been fun, but I've got to run," Ty told him as she collected up her clothes from the floor of Tom's hotel room.
"Really?" He asked, a little disappointed that she had to leave so soon.
"Yeah. I don't want to miss my flight."
"You're leaving the Citadel?" He asked, a little surprised. She hadn't mentioned anything about leaving.
"Well, yeah. I'm being transferred to a different ship."
"So, wait, you're leaving for good?"
She nodded. "Yep. I thought you knew that."
"No," He admitted. "I didn't." He paused for a moment before managing to articulate what he was thinking. "So, this…" He trailed off.
She shrugged. "Was just some fun," She told him before noticing the emotions he was struggling to hide. "Tom, you don't have to be so serious about stuff. You can just fool around with someone without it meaning anything. And that's what this was. You're a good fuck, Tom, but I wouldn't want to date you."
He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just remained silent as she headed out the door.
"See you."
He didn't reply.
The next night Tom found himself at the same bar again, trying to not think about the night before.
"Hey, you're the guy from last night."
Tom turned to see the attractive human, who he had still been debating calling.
"Yeah, I'm Tom," He replied.
"Tom? Isn't that a human name?"
He nodded. "My mom's human."
"Really?" She commented, drawing closer to him. "You know, I was a little worried that you weren't going to call me."
He didn't miss the way she placed her hand on his arm. Maybe this was exactly the distraction he needed, he thought.
"I was actually just about to…"