The krogan stepped off the ship. The few people that happened to be in the small hall of the ward turned their heads to give him short, cautious glances. He took off his helmet, holding it by his side as he stepped into the closest elevator. On a vid a reporter was saying. "Yesterday a Krogan settlement was destroyed by, as reports seem to suggest, a group of turians. It is not known if anyone survived the attack. The turian military..." The krogan snarled at the screen and walked out. Then he spotted a human woman looking at him. Of course she wasn't the first to do so. There had been a few humans upstairs but she wasn't just giving him a careful glance. Her steady gaze seemed that of surprise but interest.
She had a good reason to stare, though. Krogan weren't all that common in the Citadel but, then again, humans weren't either. Not yet, anyway.
The krogan stopped to give her a stern look. "What are you looking at?" he said. She noticed an insignia on his armour and recognized it to be from the Rebellion.
"I'm sorry." She said giving him an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to stare." Then she adds, trying to sound friendly; "You look like you're in a hurry."
He doesn't trust that smile. It looks false. He hadn't trusted anyone, except his uncle, in a long time so why should he start now?
"Hurry?" he said. "No, just looking around."
She looked at him confused. "Looking around?"
He didn't really seem up for clearing that further but the large window behind her, showing the vastness of the wards, caught his eye and he walked over to it. The human was a bit confused but joined him by the window.
After a short while he muttered. "So this is the citadel eh? Hm. People have always told me how...Good it looks. It seems they were correct." Then something seemed to come to his mind and he turned to the human. "Are there turians here?" he asked, his brow furrowing.
"Well, yes." She said, a little uneasy about the way he asked. "They were the third species to join the Citadel races. The asari were the first and the salarians the second. The other Citadel races are the drell, hanar, volus, elcor and recently us humans."
Anger and rage filled the krogan's amber eyes. "Turians?!" he looked around. "Where are they held out?"
"Whoa there, big guy." She said a little worried. "Well most of them don't really come to this part of the wards as far as I can tell but slow down there. No need to panic."
He looked back at her and lent in again. "Those scum will attack at any moment. You humans should look behind you often."
But he finally seems to relax slightly and looks around. Even a krogan can appreciate the beautiful sights the structure of the Citadel provides.
She took his relaxed actions as a good sign and lets her smile come back although this time it was a bit bittersweet.
"Well, we humans know they can be quite unfriendly at first sight, just take a look at our 'First Contact War'. Then again, most species look out for their own. I can understand you don't like them given the current fighting but, like I said before, slow down."
He looks at her slightly annoyed. "Slow down?" then he pauses. "Never mind. I apologize, kind human. Do you know anywhere I can take a night's rest?" he asks then.
Her smile returns. "Well, I don't really know. There are most likely some places around. I have been here for a while but I've always had an Alliance ship to return to. I used to be a recon officer but I work for C-Sec now. Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. You could find a hotel or rent a room down here in the wards. It's not cheap but it's something." She takes a moment to think, wondering just how bad of an idea it would be to invite him to stay the night at her place since she already has a rented apartment.
„Wards? They cost credits?" he knew his credit chit was empty. „Is there no free place around here?"
"Well, the lowest wards are used as the night place of many who can't afford renting a room but there are quite a few gangs down there and it gets dangerous even for skilled soldiers." She adds the last part in a slightly worried tone.
"If I may ask, what brought you here if you don't even know what this place is?"
He snarled and said „Did you hear about the rogue turians destroying a krogan settlement?"
"Well, yeah. It's been all over...the...vids..." then she realizes the connection and a quiet "Oh" finds its way onto her lips.
The krogan gave her a cold dead stare.
"I guess you figured it out. I kind of just landed here 'cause I had no more fuel for my ship."
"Wow that must have been awful." She says with a mix of concern and interest. "Those turians really are asking for another war the size of the Rebellion. I do hope the Council does something about this whole deal. Or the turian military."
"Yes it was awful. My only family left dead." He then pauses and adds. "You know you're good for a human."
"Goodness...well, thank you. I just wish more of us tried but then again, we're as stubborn as any other species." She says shaking her head.
"Hmph, your right. Too many aliens look at us like were some monsters. Hmm, well human, should we part ways? I guess I'll have to go to the lower wards and ignore any thugs."
She hums slightly and motions him to wait.
"You know what, screw the lower wards. I have a small apartment here in Teizera. You can come stay with me, at least for tonight, if you wish."
He stops dead in his tracks. „Thank you, human." He says putting his helmet back on. Then he pauses. „Uhm, I'm sorry, I haven't caught your name."
„Oh, goodness, sorry about that. My name is Karen Graham." She answers beginning to walk giving a small motion to tell him to follow her. „What's your name?"
He walks behind her and says „Jadek."
„Alright, Jadek. Just promise not to try something stupid, ok?" she says in a slightly playful tone.
He scoffs and says „If you think ill attack you, you're wrong. Uhm, Karen do you mind if i eat some food I haven't eaten for weeks so I'm a little hungry..."
She nods „Of course. I'm not sure I have anything at my place that would work for a krogan but there's a shop on the way I can buy something at." She says as they enter an elevator.
After a short stop at the shop they continue to the upper wards.
„My place is just around the corner." She says eventually.
When they got inside Jadak sat down in the sofa with a groan. „My feet hurt." He complained.
„Come on." She said giving him a playful look. „A big guy like you?"
She eyes the armour then. „That looks old."
„Everyone can feel pain, Karen." He says sighing. „and yeah, it was my uncles."
„I'm sorry, I didn't mean that in a bad way." She says sitting down opposite of him. „Your uncle, he...was your relative back on the colony?"
He nodded and said „The last thing he did was throw me his armour and rifle, push me out and tell me to run." His tone sounded pained. „I guess he really wanted the best for me."
She gave a small nod and a frown. „Sounds like it. I'm really sorry for your loss."
He took off his helmet again, setting it down on the table before his chest plate went the same way. It was more comfortable even if it felt...unsafe.
Knowing what she did about the krogan race, Karen noticed this. She knew very well that krogan weren't quick to trust. If anything they were as 'hard headed' as they looked so she couldn't help a smile.
"If you don't mind me asking; I wasn't aware that krogan kept close family bonds. Is that common?"
His laughter was deep and he said. "Well we didn't beat each other up to see who's tougher, if that is what you mean. My uncle viewed me as a blessing. I was the only one born in the settlement for 6 years. Alive that is."
His tone darkened. "But trust? No. Krogan trust no one."
She nodded and placed a few things on the table, mostly what she'd bought at the store, along with food more suitable for humans.
"That's a shame." She said almost mournfully. "It's nice to have someone to trust."
The krogan took a look at the weird looking add on one of the cans she'd just put on the table. "They had everything in that store." He mumbled. It wasn't exactly a question but the human sitting across from him smiled. "There aren't many krogan here but they seem to make sure to have a full stock for every race in that shop. One part is even made especially for quarians now."
As she talked she moved to the next room and came back with a computer under her arm.
"Hmph, sounds like this place cares about each race. But I at least know the dark side of this place. My uncle told me that those damn turians were rewarded for almost wiping out us krogans." The krogan said taking a bite of meat. "Treat us like filth we treat you the same." He looked out the window staring at some humans pass by. "I may not know much about you humans, but I don't feel like head bashing you. To us krogans that should be a good thing."
She gave a light laugh. "Then I'll take it as such." She said as she started up the computer. She then proceeded to open up a few news articles on the krogan colony that got destroyed.
He gave the headlines a crude look and said. "Dead krogans must sound like the best headlines to those damned reporters." He moved closer to try to read the stories on his former home.
"There are a few different reporters although I'm afraid your right. Luckily there is always one that looks at it from all sides." She sighed before humming slightly and moving the reports to the side of the screen so he could still read them while she looked up more information on the planet itself.
He crouched down next to her and kept on reading, still chewing. There was a gleam in his amber eyes. "Uhmm...I think I'm going for a walk." He said getting up and walking to the door. As he opened it he spotted a group of turians just down the hall.
"I'm not going to stop you but I'd recommend staying away from Citadel security. They might get the idea to start looking for the last survivor of a colony." she said "I'm surprised they haven't called me in yet for that."
He scoffed "Last survivor? Us krogans are strong. We won't be killed by a couple of idiotic turians." He said it loudly enough for the turians to hear and they looked over at him. He just chuckled. "You damn..." he started but stopped when the door shut right in front of him. "Lucky sons of..." he muttered to himself.
"Trust me, I know the krogan are strong as a whole and even one and one but enough firepower and anyone can be brought down." She said while she read through a few headlines. "I just meant that you're probably the only one that survived this attack since I doubt anyone on your colony was expecting it." Just then there was a low beep from her computer. "...and that would be the email I was expecting." She said with a sigh.
Jadek heard the beep and walked over to sit down again, his interest in a walk suddenly gone. He seemed curious although Karen was too deep in her research to really notice his fidgeting.
"Uhm...human?" he started a little hesitant. "What is it you people do to show that you...Care? When I liked my uncle like he was a father we would bump skulls and call it a day..." he looked down at his arm feeling a dried up cut the turian raid gave him before looking back up at her for a response.
"Well humans, and seemingly quite a few of the other species, most often hug if I understand the krogan head bump well enough." She answered opening the email that flashed orange up on the screen. "We also have kisses but those are more common when it comes to deeper love or closer relations like parents."
He heard her say 'kiss' and laughed.
"Kiss?! That thing with the lips?! Hah! Those are meant for sissies who think the female krogan is the love of their life!" He stopped laughing and tried to make a kissy face but gave up. "How do they manage to do it anyway...?" he then said and stopped acting goofy to mutter. "My uncle would kill me if he saw me kissing the air."
She laughed slightly looking up from the computer.
"Well, krogan, turians and salarians don't have the lips the humans and asari have so I'm not surprised it isn't common knowledge. I've seen a few inter-species-couples solve it by simply using the turian 'forehead to forehead' which works quite well or a kiss on the cheek or forehead. As to 'why' we do it is a question for a scientist although theory has it, at least for humans, that it is because we are mammals and how we feed our young in their first stages."
He smiled and said "Only did it once. This krogan female asked me to kiss her. I tried and failed." He laughed and said "That wasn't for me!" he got up to look out the window again, watching people of all races pass by.
"It's crazy. You people aren't locked in combat every hour of the day, like us krogans. All races are different, all of us have other motives, looks, and feelings." He looked down and said "I think I might go somewhere tonight...Do you have any bars, like back home?"
"I can't say I know what krogan bars are like. We have Chora's den but that's mostly asari dancers and irritated turians. Of course it's not the only one but it is the best known. You'd have to tell me what I am looking for though." She said smiling hopefully and taping away at my computer trying to find a list of bars in the Citadel.
He smiled and said "Well...Anywhere I can get some good alcohol and beautiful women. But you are going to have to join me! I can't get wasted without a buddy to help me get home, haha!"
"Sounds like a plan." She said and read the email over one more time. He smiled and put his armour back on before walking to the bathroom mirror and trying on a few 'tough' poses. "You looking at me?" he said to no one and punched the air.
"Can't stay there too long, though, or get too drunk. Can't afford too much of a hangover. I need to be on duty tomorrow. C-Sec's expecting trouble with the new gang down in the lower wards and apparently they need their only human sniper for that."
He paused at that and said "Human sniper..? That means you are trained in combat?" he grinned and said "if only i had you with me in combat!" he patted her shoulder before stalking to the door and opening it "Let's go!" he said, walking out. She closed her computer before getting up and heading after him.
"Well then." Karen said leading Jadek into a small bar she'd picked out. It's name written in LED lights above the entrance. "This place is a little better then Chora's at least and you can get all kinds of drinks. I hear they even have a few batarian cocktails." The human woman said as they entered. There were quite a few people around of every Citadel race among other races. It was becoming more common to see the non-Citadel races walking around although C-Sec always had their eyes fixed on those. Asari dancers were just about as many here as in Chora's but it felt a little less overwhelming. "Find the bar in this place and start this party up?" Karen said in a playful tone.
He looked over at the dancers and his eyes seemed to light up. That was until a turian drunkenly stumbled into him. The turian gave a weird grin, trying to stay on his feet and grabbing at Jadek's shoulder to do so, and said "Hey man aren't you gonna get wasted?!"
"Uhm...Yes...?" Jadek said slightly confused and pushing the turian's hand off his shoulder. The turian gave a funny salute before stumbling back into the crowd. The human and krogan exchanged funny looks before smiling and heading for the bar.
Sitting down and waving over the bartender Jadek said "Give me something to really get my blood flowing!" The bartender grinned and after a few moments he placed a brown drink with a green tinge in front of him. Jadek picked it up, studied it slightly and then drank it slowly, scanning the crowd as he did. At that point he noticed the asari sitting next to him and gave her a grin, hoping it made his features more handsome.
His human companion had sat down on his other side but after spotting the asari, made sure she didn't look like she was with him. Who knew? Maybe that asari was into krogan.
The bartended turned to her when he'd finished mixing Jadek's drink. "Can I get you something?"
"Got anything sharp that doesn't leave me a mess in the morning?" she asked, moving a brown lock of hair from her face. He nodded and handed her a blue tinged drink in a fancy looking wine class. She gave him a smile and took a sip before eyeing the two next to her.
Jadek didn't hide that he was flirting with the asari and she didn't seem to be taking it too badly at all. Suddenly another krogan came stalking out of the crowd, heading straight Karen's amber eyed and obviously older companion. "Back off, my woman!" the krogan growled, pushing Jadek.
Jadek laughed turning back to the asari. "Is he serious...?" he said but movement from the younger, who was getting ready to charge, got his attention before she answered.
"Whoa! Whoa! Hold on there, boys!" Karen yelled getting up to stop the two. "This place might not be strict but they will kick you out if you start fighting. Let's figure this out like the civilized people we are, eh?" she said before eyeing the asari.
Jadek scoffed and said "Tell that to the hard headed dumbass in front of you!"
The younger krogan gave a growl and spit on the Jadek's armour.
Karen could see her companion was trying very hard at staying calm by the way his fists were clenched and his jaw tightened. Then he said "Hey, Karen. Will I get in trouble for ripping his skull out?"
"Yeah" she answered slowly "but I am authorised to kick the sucker out." she give him a sly smirk "and you're with me."
Jadek gave a funny smile and walked up to the other krogan, picking him up by the back of his armour. It wasn't hard for anyone to figure Jadek was much stronger than his kin brother.
"I doubt you can push this piece of shit out of here." Amber eyes trailed back to Karen. "Need help throwing the garbage out?"
"Let's just take it easy." She said waving in a guard.
"What's going on here?" the young turian guard asked.
"Would you kindly escort this krogan out? He's been quite rude. My friend here can help you."
"What gives you the authority to..."
"I'm with C-Sec." Karen said letting the turian do a quick scan of her omni tool. "Trust me. We are doing you a favour by getting this guy out. He's obviously itching to start a fight and you'd have to deal with it."
Jadek looked over at the guard before setting the krogan back down and settling with dragging him along by the arm. The younger, of course, wasn't pleased with this and managed a few punches in Jadek's stomach. That only made the older krogan want to crack him puny little neck but he resisted the urge, seeing Karen's sharp eyes on him, and told the guard "Grab an arm."
They dragged him out to the door where Jadek gave the guard a cold look and said. "I'll take care of him." Before walking out the door with the krogan in tow and leaving the young turian slightly out of place. He was a rookie, that much was obvious. Anyone with more experience wouldn't have let them walk off.
Pushing the younger against the wall Jadek growled.
"You're a disgrace to us krogans young one." He said.
The krogan laughed and said "Another crabby old man looking for shelter. What happened your family die?"
Jadek pushed his arm harder against the young bastard's neck meeting his eyes as the younger began struggling for breath.
"You're lucky i don't smash your head in right now." Jadek snarled, pushing him further up the wall.
Back at the bar Karen had sat back down with the asari. "Is he really your man though?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, but he always picks fights..." she said, giving a sigh. Then she looked over to the door and Karen's eyes shot there when the asari gasped. Karen got up and ran to the door.
"Jedek! We don't need a dead krogan on the list of things we do tonight." She said sharply, taking a hold of his arm and guiding it back down so the krogan could catch his breath. "He might be a nusense but there are too few of your kind already."
Jadek's cold eyes found her's and he said "He is not one of us. He is a disgrace and a coward." He said and his grip tightened again but seeing that people were starting to gather around he gave a grunt before letting go. The young krogan dropped to the ground wheezing and Jadek knelt down. "Leave." He snarled. For a second it didn't seem like the krogan was going to take the hint but then he got up and stalked away.
Karen got Jadek's attention again and the krogan said "Sorry, I have a very short temper." He said, hoping to defuse the situation.
She sighed before smirking slightly and raising an eyebrow at him. "I've noticed" she said, turning slightly to give the guard a thankful look for not pulling the trigger on the gun he had drawn. After a moment of hesitation the guards were waving people away. "Nothing to see here, people" and it didn't take long until the bar was back in order and people turned back to their conversations and drinks.
Jadek gestured towards the door and said "Ladies first." to Karen. It was odd seeing a krogan do that. Even given what she knew about the krogan most of them just seemed to care little about females except the ones that could give them children but Jadek seemed to have a different view. It intrigued her that a krogan was actually showing a human woman respect.
As they walked in the asari from earlier came up to Jadek and said. "Hey. That was some show you put on back there. It's obvious you're way stronger them that idiot I call my man. You wanna be my boyfriend instead?"
Jadek laughed at that. "Please, I don't even know your name and your boyfriend assaulted me. I don't think so." He said and walked away. "Do you think we should go back to your place or keep drinking?" he asked Karen.
"Your call." She said shrugging. „We haven't been here very long but I'm up for it either way." She continued, looking up at him. He mimicked her shrug and ordered another drink. An asari dancer came over to offer her expertise but he waved her off.
"Is this really all there is to it here? Seems awful boring." He took a sip of his drink and rested his arm on the counter.
"Well this is why most people spend their time in the bars; drinks and sexy girls." Karen said sitting down on a bar stool. "Never really enticed me. Only reason I know this bar is because a few guys at work threw a party here ones when our old Commander quit. I didn't really enjoy it even if I knew most of them well. It's much more fun to have a private party at home with a few good friends even if this can also be nice ones in a while."
Jadek didn't seem impressed. "Sexy girls? Hah. In my opinion I think female humans are more attractive." He then paused and thought about what he'd just said. Then he laughed apologetically and said "But trust me I'm not hitting on you. Those words sort of, slipped out." He took another sip of his drink.
Karen laughed at that. "Well, I'll take that as a complement. Someone finding my species more attractive then the asari that everyone seems to be attracted to isn't common."
Jadek smiled over his drink. "Asari are attractive, but there nothing compared to humans. And krogan women, well...They're alright i guess." He seemed to get a little nervous. "Oh Karen I'm talking to you as if you were a man. I apologize."
She laughed. "I've been in the military, Jadek. I don't care how you view me as long as there is respect involved."
He turned his drink in his glass thoughtful. After a long pause between them he said "Have you ever wanted to just buy a ship and just...Leave? Like, just explore the vast universe?"
"Haha, yeah I have actually." She said smiling before adding. "but I had the next best thing for a while."
His eyes lit up. "We should make a team and explore worlds together! It would be so much fun!"
"Goodness, I've known you for hardly even a day and we're talking about running off to see the stars? But you know what; I think I'm just drunk enough to think it could actually be fun. Don't know where we could find people who might be interested or a ship that doesn't cost a fortune. I'm a bit broke but who know, maybe if we find more people we can buy one."
He gave a funny laugh and said "Your right. We should look tomorrow and head out to see the stars! Maybe I'll find myself a woman on the journey!" He then took another drink but he was starting to feel the effects of it and not in a good way. "Karen...I had to much drink..."
She chuckled and grabbed a hold of his arm to make sure he didn't fall over. "Come on then, big guy. It's late anyway."
In his drunken state he looked over at her while she helped him up and said "Thanks Karen. You're the best and cutest friend I have ever had." He burped and stumbled slightly but for a human Karen was fairly strong and managed to keep him upright.
"Oh, don't get too cute and cuddly on me, Jadek. I have a lot of experience with drunk guys though so don't think you're special just yet." She said in a playful manner.
"No, no, no Karen trust me you're super cute. I could like hug you!" again, he almost tripped while trying to blow her a kiss. She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful whack on the nose. "Now, now, save it for when you're sober, eh?"
"Whatever! I'm just saying that your pretty that's all!"
They finally stumbled to her door.
"I'll take that complement if you still think so when you don't look like a salarian on ryncol, and yes, I know what that looks like." She said unlocking the door and moving inside.
He stumbled straight to the kitchen sink to throw cold water at his face.
"Sorry Karen, just a little bit too much to drink." He then sat down on the floor and said "Let's discuss this whole ship thing. What do you think would be our best course of action? I'm thinking we need a lot of ammo guns and a ship! Oh, and one that I can have a huge room to myself. And we need a fancy elevator! Oh man it's gonna be great!" He leant back against the wall and she wondered if krogan tolerance to alcohol was different to other species. Then she sighed.
"Well, it would be a lot of work and I'm still wondering where we'd get the money for it. It could be fantastic or it could go horribly wrong." She said thoughtfully. "I'm still sceptic about this and I will be on duty tomorrow so we will have time to think about this more and get sober so we can realize whether this is in fact a horrible idea or a great one."
The managed to stand up. "You're right. It would be very difficult...Wait a second..." he moved over to her and just about yelled at her "MY UNCLES CRUISER!...It just needs fuel and a replacement battery!" he laughed before picking her up in a sudden hug. When he finally set her back down he said "It's perfect! May not be quite big but it does have four rooms!"
How he's managed to forget about that he blamed on the drinks.
Karen was a bit disoriented by the sudden hug but smiled. "That's how you got here?"
He nodded. "We could get fuel and battery money easy! Oh, man this will be fun!" he then paused before saying "I apologize, Karen, would you like to come with me and travel the universe?"
There was silence between then for a moment before she eventually answered.
"I'm going to be perfectly sober for this decision, Jadek. I'll go to work tomorrow and you can work on finding the battery and fuel while I'm there. Then I'll see." she said it in a serious tone but a small smile found its way to her lips again.
He seemed to accept that or maybe it was just the fact that he was drunk but after another short silence he said "Goodnight, Karen." Walked over to a corner, sat down and was asleep in a few moments.
She chuckled and made her way over to the bedroom but didn't lay down until she was sure the living room's temperature wasn't too cold for the krogan. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep when she lay down.