Kaiden eyed the alternating platforms of exotic dancers. Purgatory was well known for its skimpy dancers dress… holes cut in all the right places to expose flesh but to leave the important bits to the imagination. He watched one Asari female bend and scoop her backside back up and had to adjust his fatigues. His thoughts wandered to Liara T'Soni, an asari doctor who specialised in Prothean artefacts. She was gorgeous, a pale blue with the cutest damn smattering of freckles he had ever seen. She was plenty polite to him, seemingly over friendly but she had made it clear that she was interested in someone else… a Commander Shepard. He personally hadn't heard of the guy but he envied the bastard.
He swivelled to face the bartender and raised his hand, indicating another double whiskey. Ever since Aria had taken over the bar (she had been kicked out of her own place on Omega) he had made a special arrangement for her to import the finest Canadian Whiskey. Aria had driven a hard bargain and he had driven an even harder…
"Urgh…" he choked on the drink he had mistakenly taken for his own.
While he coughed up a lung, a human female lay hunched over the bar, paralytic with laughter.
"Why on God's green earth, would you drink that Krogan swill?" he sputtered at her.
Her amused gold eyes lifted to meet his and he stopped breathing. She grinned broadly, licking her top lip before she replied, "Well… I have just returned from a rather harrowing mission in which I had to kill a lot of naughty people. I had to wash away my sins with something. What better than the cheapest ethanol on the Citadel? Cheap and guaranteed to get my pissed!"
He eyed her warily as she took a long sip of the clear liquid. He picked up his own drink and tried to cleanse his palate.
"So… a mission hey? You Alliance?" he asked
"Indeed, I am. But let's not talk about me right now…. I would like to get to know a bit more about you…" she slipped her hand onto his knee and waggled her eyebrows suggestively at him.
He coughed awkwardly. She was very attractive but also very drunk. "I'm impressed that you aren't slurring your words… I'm sorry, I haven't asked your name? I am Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko of the Alliance Navy. Your servant ma'am."
She stared at his outstretched hand with a bemused expression on her face. When she finally gripped it, she squeezed it so tight that he thought he could feel the bones rubbing together, "Commander Reevka Shepard. Alliance Navy. Tell me Lieutenant, do you like your shoes?"
Before he could answer, she leaned over and vomited all over them.
"Alright Commander, I think you have had enough for tonight. Let me take you home." He said as he tried to lift her prone body. After a minute of struggling, he sighed and pulled her over his shoulder hoping she didn't vomit down his back. With this hand gripped firmly around her thighs, he took one last swig of his whiskey, threw some credits down and walked out of Purgatory with Liara's erstwhile love interest.
Shepard's head felt as if it had been used in a game of ClawBall. She listened to the pulsing of what she could only imagine was her brain as she took stock of the rest of her body. She was naked but covered by a sheet. The bed was too soft to be her own. She didn't sense anyone in the room let alone the bed. She let out a relieved sigh, maybe her walk of shame wouldn't be too shameful. She didn't feel as if she had broken any bones but her stomach was growling something awful.
She sat up slowly and took in the room. Bare minimum; bed, closet and armchair. A lone book lay on the table. Gathering the sheet around herself, she looked about for her clothes. None to be found so far. Fine, she would just raid the closet. Dressed in fatigues that were made for a giant, she stepped out of the bedroom to an equally bare living room. A man stood in the open plan kitchen.
"Oh my soul, please tell me that is real bacon you are frying!" she was practically salivating as she walked up to the counter. The man grinned up at her and nodded over to a place setting at the kitchen island. Awkwardness aside, she sat down readily and shook the napkin out an placed it over her lap.
"So… Uh… we didn't… you know… did we?" she asked while she watched the man dish the food of gods onto her plate. He chuckled and winked at her. This was not good. She asnt a prude or anything but she certainly didn't hook up with strange men and not remember their names. What had happened last night?
The man sat down next to her and tucked into his own food. Shrugging at his lack of an answer, she started shoving bacon into her mouth.
"Oooohhhh, this is the best damn thing that I have ever tasted in my life!" she crooned as her eyes rolled back in her head.
"That's not what you said last night commander…"
Her eyes popped open in shock and she stared at him with her mouth agape. Recovering quickly, she quipped, "He talks!"
The man chuckled, "What exactly do you remember from last night?"
"Uh… well, I arrived on the Citadel and told Joker not to break any bones while I was on shore leave and then I bought myself a hamster and then…. I think I went to Purgatory but I cant be sure…"
"Do you even remember my name Commander Shepard?" he asked with a sly grin.
"Of course I do. It's… Ma… Bren… Shel… Jo… you could step in anytime here." She laughed
"Lieutenant Alenko." He finally helped.
"Well, Lieutenant Alenko, what exactly made me end up here?"
"Commander, it is funny you should ask because I asked myself that a million time last night while trying to clean up your vomit and trying to get you to keep your clothes on…"
She groaned into her hands at what she could only imagine was a pretty disastrous evening for Alenko. "Did we have sex?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
When no reply was forthcoming, she glanced over at him. His face was mottled red from the effort it was clearly taking him not to laugh.
"No, Commander, we did not have sex but not for your lack of trying. I do believe there was a point where you grabbed me by the balls and told me you could teach me to fish. I don't even want to know what you mean by that!"
She giggled at the silliness of the situation that she found herself in. "So if we didn't have sex, I guess I took my own clothes off and got into your bed?"
He nodded sagely as he forked more bacon into this mouth. "In fact, you were quite well behaved after I put you in the shower. How exactly did you get that scar down your back?"
She nudged him playfully, "I don't have a scar on my back but I do have some in other places if you would like to see."
Alenko's hooded lids told her that she was playing with fire.
"Thank you for breakfast Alenko. I should get going. Once I return to the Normandy, I shall have you things dry cleaned and sent straight back to you. Thanks you for not taking advantage of me last night. Enjoy your day." He saluted her as she practically ran to the door.
