Author's Disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "Mass Effect Andromeda." Everyone belongs to BioWare. Except the random npc I made up.
Author's notes: Wanted to try a Vetra story. And give some turian love.
"Bed on the floor"
A Mass Effect Andromeda story
Vetra was glad for her own working office. In all her years of working she hadn't had as much personal space. It was a lot of hard work, many years, not counting the 600 years in cryo sleep, that had earned her a place on the Tempest. And on the Pathfinder team.
Speaking of….
"Vetra!" Sara Ryder called, hand raised in greeting. The smile she flashed the turian made her swallow and hard. There was just something about the Pathfinder that made her look and look again when Ryder didn't know she was being observed. She was just so…..
'Cut it out! You're just star-struck. She's the Pathfinder,' Vetra scolded herself. But Ryder was more than that. She spent time checking in with her crewmembers and even when battle raged against their forays on the new worlds, Vetra knew the biotic had her back. And she was just so…nice. Nice was something. It was certainly something new for her. 600 years past or now.
"Oh, Ryder." Vetra tried to keep interest out of the flange in her voice. She didn't think she was successful. Ryder grinned up at her, propping her hip against her desk and leaning, making casual look effortless.
"Hey, next time we hit the Nexus, I have something for your sister," Ryder said. A small blush tinged her pale cheeks. Vetra stared, fascinated at the play of color on her skin.
"A present for Sid? She'll like that. Careful, she'll never leave you alone," Vetra said. It was an old warning, but Ryder didn't know that. For years, she had kept people at bay. Most had tried to gain entrance to her affections through her kid sister. And Vetra had seen through them all, eventually. In the end, she had learned how people were like truly.
But Ryder….she was genuine. If she were angling to play Vetra, she honestly wouldn't know how.
Ryder laughed. "Oh, nothing much. Just found some dextro candy on Kadara. Unless you want a few pieces?"
Vetra laughed. "No thanks. Sid always had the sweet tooth."
'Yeah, and I could never afford it.' The usual guilt swept through her and Vetra sighed inwardly.
"Oh, well I hope to surprise you with something you want someday." Ryder was teasing her. She always was, but with her….Vetra liked it. Even tolerated it. She should try flirting back one day.
"Oh! Well…. There's not much I want."
"Okay, well I'll be back later," Ryder teased, ambling on her way. Out in the cargo hold she got into bantering with Liam. Their jokes rang back across the large room. Cora was shaking her head as the two got into an impromptu bicep match. Vetra watched Ryder out of the corner of her eye. She sighed and leaned against her desk.
'Idiot, you never knew how to do this.' Whatever 'this' was, it was beyond Vetra's control. And she had a strict control over what she touched these days.
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It wasn't Vetra's fault she had not much experience with people trying to get close. Since she was a kid herself, all of nine and scared, she had been alone with Sid. Their father had taken them from their mother and while Palaven wasn't where she wanted to live, it would have been easy. Their mother had been part of a good family. Good families usually had money.
Vetra had no idea how their father had wrangled for both of them to be taken away. Maybe he had done it without Mother's consent. Either way, her formulative years had been in seedy places, taking care of Sid and hoping Dad came back with enough money to survive on. Whatever it was he did, it had to be bad. Otherwise they'd be back at Mother's family's estate.
For a few years it was fine. Vetra had been put to work in random small restaurants to help Dad make ends meet. He had to have taken on mercenary work, for he once came back with a broken arm and a bandage across his skull. Sid had cried. Vetra hadn't.
And one day, he just never came back at all. Vetra didn't know whether he had been killed or just called it in concerning his progeny. All she knew was that a scared nine-year-old was clinging to her. Vetra had been twelve then. And she'd had to step up.
No one really wanted to hire children to work, even humans on a mainly human colony. There was a spattering of salarian, turian and asari, but the planet was colonized by the Earth Alliance. Meaning Vetra was an odd sight working in human establishments. That had been a rough patch.
When Dad hadn't come back, Vetra and Sid had been kicked out of the apartment. Vetra had really tried, but she didn't make enough at her job. It galled her that she'd had Sid on the streets a few short weeks until an asari landlord in a very sketchy part of town took pity on her. Their room was small, barely able to fit a narrow bed, a sink and small stovetop. The small fridge didn't even reach as tall as her knee. They had their own tiny washroom, and even a tub. Luckily turians didn't need to bathe that often, more like once a week to be respectable. The rest of the time grooming was kept with lotion rubbed in between their plating.
The bed was lumpy, and Sid complained it was hard. But she didn't complain when she saw Vetra make up a bed on the floor between her and the door. The chain on it was flimsy, and Vetra wasn't going to let anyone get to her sister if she could help it. It wasn't comfortable, but there wasn't room for them both in the bed. Only when Sid woke up crying did Vetra try to get in. Then they would huddle, shaking and thinking until morning.
Vetra had had to take on more dangerous work to make more money. She hired herself to mercenary groups and learned how to fire a gun. Her employer wouldn't give her a firearm, so she'd had to rent it during meetings in seedy back alley rooms, and stints guarding local ringleaders. She got her turn gaining experience with others then. Humans sneered at her, other turians tried to play with her and asari looked at her with pity. Only by being silent but deadly with her side arm did Vetra gain any respect with her boss.
One human man tried to pick her up. He'd been nice, giving her small trinkets and chatting it up during their long hours watching their charge. He'd found out about Sid somehow. But maybe he knew where she worked. Vetra was just lucky she could get a job, and it was safe and out of the way. A turian restaurant built by pioneers. No link to Palaven or Mother there. But at least they could eat the leftovers. And it was two streets away from Vetra's boss's office. She could walk over and check on her sister if she so chose.
But just as Vetra was falling for the man's attention, one of the salarian mercs, a grizzled man in his thirties, warned her that he'd had a bet on her. If he could tumble her, he'd get a lot of money from the other members of the group. Vetra had balked and stopped talking to him. The man hadn't seemed that upset so Vetra knew the salarian had told her the truth.
And just as things were getting set into place for her and her sister making it in a shitty apartment in a bad part of a colony town, she had joined the mercenary band. Their boss had needed a heavy hitter. So, another biotic was hired on. She was tall, human, and muscled appropriately. Her hair, that fascinating aspect of humans, was black and cropped short. And boy she'd had a thing for her.
Vetra didn't know why. She thought it was just a human fascination with her species. Certain members of races did play that way. When Sid had met the woman, whose name had been Kyler, she had seen the attraction right away.
"She likes you!"
"She does not! Probably just a turian groupie." It was passing strange though. Most humans had a pull toward asari. But then again it had been years since the Relay 314 Incident. Maybe their races were getting along better than she knew.
Sid had been like a varren with a meaty bone. Relentless and sharp-biting. "Come on, sis, turians can date humans too!"
Well, she did have a point. Were everyone else as idealistic.
When her old boss had asked everyone to report for an over night sting, Vetra had left Sid, warning her not to leave the stove on if she cooked herself something. Her kid sister had looked so tall in her jump suit and Vetra had a feeling she'd need to get her another soon. Sid had assured her she was fine and then Vetra went.
The job went well, and everyone had gotten a nice advance. Vetra was pleased with the amount. She could pay the rent for two months at least. She'd need to do a few more stints for the boss to pay for necessities, but it would be okay for awhile….. Maybe she could do something nice for Sid, get some dextro noodles so they could make home-made ramen. It wasn't as good as the stuff Sid had tried on the Citadel that one time their Dad had to meet someone there. Sid had needed an allergy shot, but she had loved the taste. She could just get a few ingredients to make it good. Something nice for a change….
Vetra had been thinking of this, not paying attention until Kyler had tried to kiss her. Tried? She'd had to stand on her tiptoes, even the tallest human was no match for a turian's height. And had managed to plant her lips against Vetra's smile. Whoa! It was over fast and Vetra had felt warm all over at the alien gesture. Turians usually nuzzled each other in intimacy. Or so the vids said.
"Kyler! I can't," Vetra had said. The mercenary had looked confused and tried to joke her way through her disappointment.
"Is it cause of your kid sister? Don't worry, I won't have you home so late," she had offered. This had made Vetra angry back then. To assume!...
She had told the human woman where to stuff it and had gone back to her sister. Sid had been waiting, bouncing for a look at the attractive mercenary. She regarded her sister with wide eyes.
"Where'd she go?" she had wondered. And Vetra had felt a weight in her heart she didn't recognize since Dad had never come back. They were always going to be alone. No one was going to understand.
Vetra had locked up the door, taken the two steps to the bed and put an arm around her sister.
"Kyler went back to work. Hey, listen, I'm thinking you don't need to go to work for a few days. We can work on your studies."
"Aww, that's no fun." But Sid showed her lessons on her cracked data pad.
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Vetra sighed. She was okay and more importantly, so was Sid. She had gotten a good job on the Nexus and was safe with everyone else away from the front lines of fighting the Kett and exploring the Helius worlds. She was growing into a smart woman and more importantly, she liked Ryder.
Just as Ryder liked her. And that meant everything to Vetra. Ryder understood. She had a sibling of her own. She knew how important family was.
The End
End notes: Was in a Vetra mood. That lady be something else. Like the story, feel free to drop a review. Stay strong, my lovelies.
Pen 3/22/2019