Hey," Aethyta raised her hand to get the bartender's attention. When on the Citadel, it seemed she conducted all her business from an open air bar in the wards. A matron had asked her once why she refused to meet in the Presidium, the matriarch had simply laughed in response leaving the matron bemused. The Presidium was sickeningly uptight, and if the matron hadn't figured that out it wouldn't do Aethyta any good to clarify. Besides, all those artificial UV rays were just fucking depressing. If people longed for the warmth of a star, then they should get their asses off this surreal clusterfuck of a space station and go experience it! "Hey, gimme Armali gin on ice."
"Comin' right up," the turian responded, the sub-harmonics of his voice sent a slow spreading warmth in her abdomen. A thousand years old, and she still always fell to the charms of young turian boys. "Mm, mm, mm, damn."
She turned her head to look over her shoulder out into the ward at large; people stood around talking, others briskly walking clearly with business to attend to, others still primped and headed to dinner, to clubs; the wards bustled with life. They were under shadow of perpetual night that lent a feeling of seediness even in an environment as sanitized as the Citadel. Aethyta couldn't say that she loved the wards, but they were infinitely better than the Presidium. Hell, she could almost feel normal there.
She took a sip of her gin, and peering over her glass noticed a very uncomfortable looking human approaching the bar. The human, a woman, was wearing a short cut dress with strap heels. Her bright green eyes peered from beneath slats of short black hair that swept across her forehead and behind her ear.
"Shepard?" Aethyta called to the young human. The woman immediately relaxed upon seeing Aethyta.
"You must be Matriarch Aethyta." She intoned pleasantly enough, stretching her right hand out for a shake. Inwardly Aethyta groaned… humans, always assuming people from other species knew all their greetings, idioms, and gestures. Bah. She shook Shepard's hand, despite her distaste.
"May I?" Shepard motioned to the seat next to the asari.
"Of course!" Aethyta moved her drink to offer more space for the human at the bar. "Can I get you a drink?"
"No, thank you very much for the offer." Well, the matriarch thought to herself, she may be anthropocentric, but she's polite. That'll go well with Benezia. Nezzie always did have way more patience with people than I ever could, and could appreciate people's intentions more so than their actions.
Aethyta leaned into the bar towards the human, drink in hand, "So tell me about yourself, kid."
"Hmm" the human had a thoughtful look on her face, she was young and still easy to read, "I grew up on earth, have only been off-world for a few months really, and I've never been to Thessia."
"Yeah? How did you end up in this job?" the asari took a sip of her drink.
"Well," Shepard brushed her hair behind her ear, "I want to join the Alliance but I'm not 21 yet, got another year to wait. I met Eudial while backpacking across the colonies, and she gave me a job."
"Damn, that's young even for your people. Aren't your parents worried about you traveling the galaxy by yourself?" Aethyta assessed the human with every question she asked. It was sometimes a difficult task with other races, for high priority jobs she'd have to research other cultures extensively to learn all about their tells. Humans, however, were easy. They were typically animated and wore all their emotions openly, even while trying to hide them. She could tell this kid had a couple secrets, for sure, but she wasn't bad.
"My parents have passed." Shepard seemed uncomfortable answering the question, but not in any sort of pain. Aethyta was sure there was a story there, but for the purpose of her meeting, she didn't need to know it.
"Ah, sorry, kid." She responded with a genuine sense of sympathy.
"No, don't worry. They died when I was a baby." Shepard smiled at the matriarch, in an apparent attempt to lighten the mood. Aethyta decided to change the subject. "What were you doing before this gig?"
Shepard coughed, covering her mouth with her fist. The question was simple enough, surely one the human should have expected the asari to ask, yet it seemed to take her by surprise, "Uh, you know, this and that."
Aethyta smirked at the tense human, she clearly had brushed upon the edges of whatever this kid's secrets were and decided to have a little fun at the human's expense, drawing out her discomfort, "This and that, huh? Care to elaborate?"
Shepard's eyes widened and mouth hung open artlessly as she said dumbly, "Well, uuhhh..."
The Matriarch's laugh was loud in Shepard's ears, she slapped the human's shoulder before speaking in a voice booming with mirth, "Hahaha, don't strain yourself there, kid. Guess we are all allowed our secrets."
"Mmm" the human responded weakly, looking as if she had narrowly dodged a biotic flare.
Aethyta kicked back her gin, finishing the drink in three large gulps, then leaned in towards Shepard as she spoke, finally getting to business, "All right, that's enough chit-chat. You seem fine enough for the job. Lemme tell ya what I need from ya."
Shepard and the matriarch huddled close together as Aethyta explained the details of the situation her ex and kid faced, she gave her the run down and laid out her expectations succinctly, if a bit gruff. The young escort nodded her head at her patron, absorbing the information laid out for her, and helping to create a plan of action. By the time the two were finished speaking, they both felt confident in the scheme hatched, Aethyta promised to send the human as much information on Benezia and Liara as she had available to her. They had both agreed the background would be crucial for the human's competence in this mission.
Shepard and the Matriarch had quickly said their goodbyes, and as the human began to walk away, Aethyta called out, "Oh, and kid?" she fixed the escort with an uncharacteristically serious look, "Get rid of the dress, it looks about as natural on ya as tits on a hanar."
Shepard stared back with a blank expression, not quite processing what the blunt Matriarch had said to her, "I've never met a hanar before." The tone she spoke in was one of a mild wonder, clearly she was attempting to imagine what a hanar would look like in person. The Matriarch counted down to herself as she waited for the human's expression to change, 1, 2, 3, right there… she's imagining what tits on a hanar looks like… right now.
Aethyta shook her head, "Well, trust me, kid, been there done that 'n' tits on a hanar look real fucking weird."
Shepard's gaze cleared up as she was brought back to the moment by the matriarch's words. Not quite sure if she should feel offended, she stared down at her dress, then back up to Aethyta and shrugged, "I guess I'll take your word for it."