"Suvi's acting weird" Vetra declared.
Drack looked up from the bottle of Ryncol he was nursing on the counter at Elaaden to regard his friend - who stood expectantly, waiting for his reaction.
"Weirder than usual?" Drack countered, turning his attention back to the drink, taking a generous gulp of the strong liquid and exhaling a satiated sigh.
"Yup. Weirder than usual." Vetra clarified in a resigned huff.
"More rocks?" Drack questioned in a groan, "Lexi's gonna be pissed" he added, this time not bothering to turn his head.
"No, not this time" Vetra took a subtle look over both shoulders - an action she was well-practised in, and leant forward into the counter next to Drack, so they could hear each other more easily, "I think it's Ryder" she whispered conspiratorially.
Drack swallowed too quickly mid drink and had to cough heartily a couple of time whilst thumping himself on the chest, when he had calmed down, half the room was looking at him.
"What you looking at you worthless Pyjaks?!" He growled to the room at general. As if compelled; said room quickly looked anywhere else but the talking Turian and Krogan.
"Vetra the kid is the most inoffensive human I've ever met." Drack wheezed, recovering from his shock, "She practically trips over herself trying to be nice to everyone, especially that damn scientist"
"Precisely." Vetra chimed smugly, "Perhaps a bit too nice"
"Vetra." He chided, "Ryder doesn't have the guts to go anywhere with something like that" Drack waved his hand dismissively, "She's about as subtle as a Varren and Suvi is far too soft and squishy to tolerate that" he concluded.
"Opposites attract?" Vetra proffered.
"Look unless you have evidence I won't be part of your gossip stirring" Drack grumbled, pointing an accusatory finger at his friend, "I know what you're like" he hummed.
"Well then you know I make sure my information is good" Vetra wrapped an arm around Drack's bulky shoulder and drew him closer, "Now what do you make or this..."
"Vetra! Er...hi!"
The streetwise Turian turned at the sound of the unexpected and nervous Scottish brogue that had followed her into the armoury. What she saw was the resident Science Officer hovering around the door, practically vibrating with anxiety.
Vetra and Suvi weren't exactly close; they got on well and possibly could be classed as friends, but Suvi wasn't usually the type to tag her around the ship, especially just before a mission. Vetra was always mildly suspicious of everyone but this really had alarm bells setting off in her head. Still, she also knew that the best way to get information was to play along, at least for a bit - and nothing always more valuable than information.
"Yes" Vetra replied simplistically, turning to face the human, her hands still ridiculously cradling an (brand) assault rifle mid-modification. The Turian honestly couldn't conjure up an image less threatening than Suvi Anwar.
"Off out on a mission eh?" Suvi tried with an overdose of false optimism. If Vetra had eyebrows, she would have raised one, unconvinced. Instead she settled for an amused flare of her manibles.
"Yup. That's usually how it works Suvi" she sighed, placing her attention back to the rifle and turning back to the work bench to finish the job. Vetra knew from years of experience that the trick with gleaning information from the unsuspecting was to appear as though you didn't want it - but not to take it too far; you still needed them to talk, after all.
"Any reason you're asking?" The Turian added, sensing the Suvi's reluctance to continue and not wanting her to leave just yet.
"Oh!" Suvi exclaimed in surprise at being probed for more information; it was clear she had been ready to abandon the conversation, "I just...well...you know - heard about this Architect that's been sighted on Elaaden...where we are...now" Suvi gulped audibly, "Don't suppose that's what you're after - Ryder said -"
"Yeah, hoping to take the big girl down" Vetra boasted, trying to appear nonplussed at the idea, "That thing could do some real damage to New Tuchanka"
"To the whole colony?" Suvi croaked hoarsely.
"Oh yeah" Vetra turned her head nonchalantly and could see in the Science Officer's face her teasing was working up the panic she had hoped; strong emotions always overtook common sense, it wouldn't be long before Suvi made a slip, "Think she could be a bit of a homewrecker if you ask me" Vetra trilled in her Turian drawl, "Good job the three of us are a match for it" Vetra turned back to the gun to hide a smirk and began to aimlessly screw and unscrew nonessential parts to appear busy; Suvi wouldn't know the difference anyway.
"It's just" Suvi continued, her voice thick with worry, "It's big"
"Very big" echoed Vetra.
"And dangerous" Suvi concluded anxiously.
"Very dangerous" Vetra confirmed, eyeing up a Grenade Launcher unsubtlety. Suvi's eyes followed the Turians and dilated in fear.
"I'm just worried for Ryder" Suvi muttered carelessly before catching herself, "I mean Ryder and the rest of the ground team - of course!" she finished quickly, nervous laughter infecting her words, "Don't want you all filling up the med bay - or bringing back that thing to the Tempest" she babbled, seemingly unable to stop.
Ryder. That wasn't entirely unexpected but certainly intriguing.
"Right" Vetra decided the fun was over and decided to put Suvi out of her misery, "We'll all look out for each other, everything has a weak spot" Vetra stopped tinkering with the weapon and strode to face Suvi directly, "We'll be back before you know it"
"I see" Suvi relaxed slightly, "Break a leg?" She offered.
"Not sure that works when that's a real threat that might happen" Vetra mused.
"No - I guess not" Suvi cringed before sidling away hastily.
"Is that it?" Drack grumbled, clearly not as impressed with the story as Vetra had hoped.
"You always struggled to appreciate the finer details Drack" Vetra patted him on the back companionably and moved back to lean next to him, "Girl's got it bad" she elucidated.
"Nah" Drack downed the rest of his drink and tossed the bottle over his shoulder, "The kid's just awkward - you've always been a crappy matchmaker"
"Hadn't stopped me yet" Vetra smiled, "I think I'm due a break"
"We'll see" Drack conceded, "Speaking of this Architect - we ain't gonna take it down by chatting now, are we?"
"50 credits says there's a ginger human pacing around the med bay by the time we get back"
Vetra and Drack had been summarily ordered out of the med bay by an apoplectic Lexi. The asari Doctor had been practically beside herself with anger when the party had finally rolled back to the Tempest.
With Ryder sporting a broken leg.
The fight hadn't gone exactly to plan.
It had gone about 95% to plan; trouble was that 5% consisted of a split second when Ryder misjudged where the increasingly desperate Architect was going to land next and had got a bit too close.
More specifically she had stopped next to a loose boulder, which had dislodged with the impact of the landing Architect and followed the course of gravity down...onto Ryder's lower leg.
If it wasn't for the fact that the Architect was already seriously weakened, and that Drack had hurled himself out of cover to deliver several well-timed shotgun rounds straight into its exposed power node to finish it off, the damage could have been so much greater.
But a broken leg was manageable, and once the Turian and the Krogan had hauled the rock off their human friend and managed to drag her back to the med bay the good natured teasing naturally worked its way back into their conversation.
"Vetra will you give up already? Fine, I'll take the bet - but only because I like taking credits off you"
Ryder had passed out from pain the moment the ill-fated rock had landed on her.
She'd known, a half second too late, that she had made a mistake, and for a moment, time had seemed to slow down and allow her time to think. The Architect was closer than she thought; the impact would be greater. Like a Salarian, several possibilities had started to formulate in her head, one after the other; perhaps the great machine would crush her, perhaps she'd be thrown into a wall, the trajectory might mean she suffered serious head trauma...
But in the end it was a simple boulder that was her undoing, and she had been forced to leave her trust in her squadmates and hope she would wake again. Luckily, Vetra and Drack were just about as reliable as they come.
When she finally awoke she was consumed with agony from her left leg, until Lexi noticed her patient had regained consciousness and dosed her with a generous amount of painkillers before drifting back to attend to one of her various displays of data. Ryder noticed they were alone - a shame really, some extra company would have been appreciated.
"So." Lexi began, tight lipped, "Are you done trying to send me to an early grave?"
"Asari live too long anyway" Ryder smirked, hiding how uncomfortable she was.
"Ha ha" Lexi intoned dryly, walking across the room with a datapad, "Charm will get you nowhere with me Ryder, I've told you that before"
Ryder silenced suddenly, defeated by the memory of her early, ill-advised attempts at flirting with the Doctor.
Her leg was enough of a distraction; it felt heavy and useless and Ryder could not help but internally scold herself for being careless. She was determined not to let that show however, as she was certain Lexi had saved up plenty of motherly chastising for her to last a lifetime.
"What were you thinking, going after that thing like that?" Lexi grumbled, stopping and frowning at Ryder from across the room.
"Brought it down didn't we?" Ryder countered.
"Yes, and almost yourself with it" Lexi added pointedly.
Ryder fell suddenly solemn then; truthfully, up until this point she had felt an air of invincibility building up around herself - this was the closest she had come to something catastrophic. Still, no use in giving Lexi the satisfaction of being right all the time.
"Not today it seems" Ryder whispered hoarsely and more to herself than Lexi.
"Hmm" Lexi grumbled, "You know, I'm not the only one who is invested in your health Ryder"
"Well there's Tann of course - my death would be so inconvenient for his optimistic narrative" Ryder joked sarcastically.
"I meant closer to home" Lexi sighed hopelessly.
"Scott?"
"No, the Science Officer who had been pacing outside the door for the last half an hour" she deadpanned, sweeping her hand behind her.
Ryder sat up as far as her limited movement threshold would allow currently and looked at Lexi guiltily.
"Ah" she added sheepishly.
"I keep going out there and telling her to go to bed - but she won't listen" Lexi placed the datapad on an empty bed and strode over to stand next to Ryder's side.
Ryder squinted at the asari suspiciously.
"You know"
"I have my sources"
"What, Peebee?" Ryder laughter, "No wonder I keep tripping over her, I was starting to think I might have a hoard of female admirers" she grinned cheekily at the Doctor.
Lexi scowled back, clearly unhappy at being rumbled.
"Forgive me if I abstain from membership of that particular association"
The comment only kindled Ryder's mirth further. After she'd calmed down, Ryder paused to contemplate the situation.
"Does she know that you know" Ryder asked, more seriously this time. At this Lexi exhaled heavily and with exasperation.
"You know I can't discuss other patients, but let's just say I tried"
"Suvi isn't great at taking hints, trust me" Ryder shook her head.
"Even if I didn't know, I'd know now" Lexi admitted wryly, "Shall we put her out of her misery?"
"Damn you Vetra" Drack cursed, making a mental note to transfer her 50 credits later.
As she had predicted, outside the locked med bay paced the sleek, fretting figure of the resident Science Officer. Drack had come back looking for news on Ryder's condition, but it appeared that Lexi was still refusing to let anybody in.
Drack was about to turn back in an attempt to avoid any awkward conversations (given that Suvi had been a subject of speculation today) when the Scottish woman caught his eye during her pacing.
"Oh Drack!" Suvi froze, clearly searching for an explanation that would serve to excuse her inappropriate level of interest at Ryder's condition.
"It's ok kid" Drack waved her off, demanding no such remonstration and dismissing the conversation, 'We're all worried about her"
Damn Vetra always being right all the damn time.
Suvi smiled gratefully at the reprieve, the proceeded to fidget with her hands.
"To tell you the truth Drack" her voice wavered slightly before steadying, "I feel guilty"
"Why?" Drack countered bluntly, "Last I checked you'd struggle to break Ryder's toe, let alone her leg"
"Not literally...It's just" Suvi had a feeling the Krogan wasn't going to understand, "I think I jinxed her"
Drack's blank expression confirmed that this was going to be a difficult conversation.
"Sorry kid, you lost me"
"Oh my...it's umm..." Suvi stuttered uncertainty.
"Look umm..." Drack scratched the back of his head self-consciously, "...if this is some sort of human mating thing-"
"No!" Suvi exclaimed, hideously embarrassed, "No, no, no it's -"
"Cause you know I'm not that knowledgeable about-"
"Oh my goodness Drack, stop!" Suvi cried out desperately, "No, it's more of a...superstition, really" she clarified.
"I didn't take you for someone who believes in all that voodoo shit" Drack asked bluntly, looking very clearly relieved that he wasn't about to be asked for sex advice.
"No..." Suvi corrected, gently, "No it's not like that it's...it's more of a stupid human belief...really - I know it's silly but it's really bothered me"
Drack felt so sorry for the woman that he held back his urge to make a crass comment about all human beliefs being stupid, and simply gestured with one of his great hands for her to continue her explanation and hummed encouragement.
"I..." Suvi winced, "I told Vetra to break a leg, before you guys all went to tackle the architect" Suvi admitted.
"Why?" Drack asked.
"It's a human tradition, for people on the stage - a different way of saying good luck" she explained, "But then Sar- I mean Ryder, well..." Suvi looked longingly at the locked med bay door, "I can't help thinking I tempted fate..." she trailed off.
Drack couldn't believe that the intelligent woman would entertain such a notion. Still, everyone had their peculiarities he figured, and his significant soft side couldn't bear leaving her in such a state. Humans were hard to fathom at the best of times; how she could think that this was all her fault bordered on ridiculous.
"Suvi, a boulder and a pissed off Architect broke Ryder's leg - Not your weird pep talk with Vetra"
"You know about that" Suvi winced, cursing herself for not expecting Vetra to tell anyone.
"Yeah" Drack growled, "And neither of us are blaming you"
"Was it really a boulder?" Suvi asked, possibly not wanting to know the full details but preparing for them regardless.
"Fell straight on her" he confirmed, "Poor kid was out cold with pain"
Suvi felt her insides chill at the description; thinking of that happen to Ryder made her feel nauseous. How many inches one way or another would it have taken for it to land directly on her head? What would have happened if Vetra and Drack hadn't been there? Not for the first time, she began to regret having feelings for someone who was already married to the perilous system of Andromeda.
What had Suvi called it? "Guns and danger". She really wasn't cut out for this sort of stress, let alone the awkwardness of remembering that awful flirting attempt.
"Will she be alright?" Suvi asked quietly after a gap, afraid the answer might not be favourable.
Drack could have kicked himself; how could he ever have thought betting against Vetra was a good idea?! That he has missed the obvious adoration the young woman had for Ryder was just another testament to his old age. What a waste of credits.
"I'm sure Lexi would have told us if not" he shrugged noncommittally? "To give you the truth I feel crap about it too; I should have covered her better, given her more time to find safer cover"
"You saved her life Drack" Suvi replied, shocked.
"I shouldn't have had to" he replied, matter-of-factly.
"I hate hindsight" hissed Suvi.
"Me too kid" Drack shook his head, "Ain't that the truth"