A/N: The following has almost nothing to do with the previous three chapters. I don't even know how or when I got the idea for this one-shot, but I wrote it all morning today and since this here is the 'one-shot'-'story-line' I'll just add it here. :P

But technically it's not part of 'Common Memories' so let me just add another quick disclaimer:

Parts of featured content belong to Bioware/EA and Dontnod/Square Enix

Citadel Shenanigans

Max leaned against the balustrade while the beat of the music in the bar continued to thud in her ears. This place was actually pretty neat although the location wasn't quite her cup of tea. Too crowded. But since her date, who had proposed this bar, was -of course- too late, she made the best of it and at least enjoyed the view of the dancing people -alien and human alike- next to- and below her on the main floor.
She quickly adjusted her evening dress when she took a side glance and then spotted her: Chloe marched towards her, quickly pacing to the balcony. Walking through the crowd, in her typical 'A-don'-giva-shiat' attitude that made Max smile, and right past that one dancing and gorgeous blonde girl with the blue feather ear-ring. As soon as the asari recognized her waiting girlfriend had spotted her she couldn't hold back her own huge smirk that plastered her whole face once more.

Max had a hard time not to reciprocate the facial exrpession of her grinning Chloe in her dazzling evening attire, but she succeeded to remain stoic. At least on the outside. I didn't even know Chloe had such apparel. She's so adorably beautiful.
"So. An asari on shore leave." Max began trying to sound nonchalant before her date was even close enough to start cheeking her again. "You come here often?" While Chloe sat down on the bar stool next to her, Max took a mischievous peek at the blonde, who meanwhile even had forgotten to continue her dance observing the couple, but she then quickly turned around and pretended to look the other way.

The asari's grin faded a second at Max's greeting and playfulness, but she quickly pulled herself together. "Is this the first-date-thing we talked about?" she still looked a little lost in the situation.

Max only gave her the slightest hint of a nod, and hoped she wouldn't blush at her own implicit proposal.

But Chloe quickly continued "Got it. Yes. Yeah. Oh, I come here often. Mmh. Good place to blow off steam." She scanned the surroundings and the dancing people around her. "Scenery is not bad either." But as soon as her sight fell on the blonde, who had started to dance again in the background, she quickly turned back to her date before herself, eyed Max up and down and beamed. "Though the view in front of me is even better."

"That supposed to melt a girl's heart?" Max was slightly annoyed at Chloe's digression, but at least Chloe had tried and saved it.

"No." Chloe admitted slowly scooting over to her girlfriend. "But this voice is..." She set up her alluringly husky tone she knew Max loved, before she continued to buzz much closer to her companion than previously. "I'm Chloe Price. Your Partner-in-Crime. All-around asari bad-girl and dispenser of badassness in a totally un-badass galaxy."

Max couldn't answer. She was busy trying not to light up brightly red at Chloe's performance. The asari, well aware of the effect she had on her girlfriend, capped it all off, always maintaining her playfully flirtatious voice: "Also, I kill villains on the side. And you are?"

"Cuh- Commander Caulfield, Alliance Navy." Max responded stupidly. She didn't know what to say, since she still was collecting her thoughts once again, about to lose the game she herself had started. But the asari didn't even leave her any time to form a proper response.

"Caulfield, huh?" She inconspicuously scooted over even more towards Max all the while. "I might have heard a few things about you."

"Oh? Flatter me." Max still didn't know what to say. Damnit! I should have prepared for this beforehand. But her girlfriend did such a great job she would most probably have won that point anyways. The asari was now close enough to Max so that the commader could take in her scent. She had to bite her lip.

Chloe could even whisper in her ear now, trying not to lose focus at the human's own perfume. "Word is you're smart. Sexy. A wicked shot. Also, you kill villains on the side, too."

"Uh-huh." Max dead-panned and backed off from Chloe now. She bet she could tease a higher caliber than this out of her girlfriend. She wasn't that easy. "And do most girls fall for that?"

Chloe blinked once as she lost her composure at Max's reaction. "Well, sure... This voice, and uh... Aaand umm..." she failed to regain her erotic tone before she finally huffed with even some distress in her voice. "I'm running out of banter here, Maxie."

Wowsers. She's usually never this tongue-tied. Quick! Help her Super-Max. "Make it up." She whispered as if she had to hide it from some audience.
"Remember, we just met."

"Right! Yeah. I mean..." Chloe finally regained her voice from before. "Yeah, all the girls fall for it..." She grabbed Max by the arm and started to pull the Commander away from the balcony and towards the crowd. "Let me show you!"

"Wh-... What're y'doing?!" Max was startled and completely unsure of what her girlfriend was up to this time. Especially due to the unspeakably naughty things she already had on her own mind.

"It'll be fun!" The asari exclaimed with her dreaded impish grin and glistening blue eyes that only weakened the Commander's resolve to resist them.

"Oh, no. No-no-no-no... No!" But yes, in fact Max was already stumbling after her girlfriend, trying to keep up at least outer composure of resistance.

The asari pulled her all the way to the dance-floor in the middle of the crowd, where she suddenly stopped, causing Max to awkwardly flop against her due to her own momentum. She then grasped the Commander by her hip with her free hand and even before her partner could achieve proper poise she started to dance with her.
"Been taking lessons on the side." She announced proudly grinning.

Max was totally overextended by the situation and tried not to trip over her girlfriends or -even worse- her own feet.
"You're going to pay for this later." she moaned annoyedly. But then she realized how suggestive that just had sounded blushing even harder than she already did anyways. So she hoped Chloe might not have heard her, when the asari made an even increased swing, pulling Max back and forth on the dance floor and making her stumble even more in her unfamiliar high-heels. The other people around them had to move sideways as the couple -under Chloe's lead- claimed by far the most space on the floor.

"Promises, promises..." Chloe whispered in her sensual voice from before. She was on a roll now, swirling her clumsy girlfriend left and right and leaving her no pause.

She did hear it. Fuck! Max thought at the fact and even more so when she nearly stumbled again. But then she had an idea. She waited for the right moment and scooted her left foot forward causing Chloe in her flow to get caught on Max's leg and almost tripping over it herself. The look of the shock on the asari's face was priceless, but was quickly replaced by the previous smirk again once Max couldn't hold back her own hushed and impish giggle.

They continued to dance to the music and the human slowly got adjusted to the rhythm of Chloe's movement and even got caught by the dance's flow herself. When the song made a pause for a moment she even wrapped her leg around her girlfriend's thigh, bringing both their bodies painfully close together for the time being. The gesture brought them attention from several other people around them, but Max couldn't care less in this moment. She only bit her lower lip, distracted by those deep and beautiful blue eyes that stared down in hers. Lovingly and longingly and... lustfully.

The music continued, forcing the two apart again and continue their dance before they could savage each other right then and there. And although Max didn't know what to do at all, she simply devoted herself to her beaux and kept moving. Being gracefully or clumsily - what did it matter? It was instinctively and intuitively as she got one with the music and the flow and the blue beauty in front of her. As long as she was together with Chloe it all was irrelevant. It was just the two of them.
Only when she let out a short laugh at their combined movement did she realize she was smiling like a dork all the while. But she couldn't help it and even took the lead in their swirling for a short time.

"Now you're getting it." Chloe hummed in appreciation. She prepared herself for a larger swing when the music set the right timing for it and twirled her Max more energetically than ever before. She lost grip of her partner and almost feared she had overdone it and Max fell, but instead the brunette elegantly did a couple pirouettes before coming to a halt in front of Warren who seemed to have watched the scenery from the side-lines all the time. The poor nerd was completely taken aback at the sudden closeness of his commander, who looked directly at him grinning, but he brought out no word and only managed to gulp fiercely.
But Chloe stepped in from behind Max and snatched her skillfully back onto the dance floor. Smirking again, but still slightly annoyed by the giggling human's horseplay.
Continuing their dance the brunette nuzzled apologetically into her one-and-only companion and even stole a quick kiss, which appeased the asari somewhat again. She had deserved that prank wiht Warren after all their bantering from before and dragging the shy human into the middle of a crowd. And said crowd now only had eyes for the loving couple. Chloe didn't care if they all watched them dancing and alternatingly fooling around with their moves. They could all witness and eat their heart out at this asari swinging around the prettiest, most adorable and most wonderfully dazzling person in the whole place. The whole galaxy even.

The only other person dancing on the entire floor was that blonde from before, who had retreated to a spot offside. But no-one even paid attention to her anymore. Everyone was captivated by the duo in the middle of the circle. And the duo itself only had eyes for one another as their movements intuitively became one. They didn't even pay attention to the music any longer when it slowly came to an end.

When they finished their dance Chloe still had one move more in stock. She lowered Max's whole upper body slowly backwards and towards the ground, causing her brown locks to swing with her. She held her up in a hovering position only a couple feet above the floor with one hand at her back, while the brunette gave in to her and trustingly leaned into the asari's arms. Both breathing heavily they remained in this position for several seconds, ignoring the audience's cheers and the applause.

"So tell me:" Chloe brought out while panting and smirking again. "Think a girl would fall for that?"

"Oh, hella yes." Max sighed willingly, but happily exhausted by her girlfriend's actions and vigor. "But just as long as it's the one standing in front of you." she added standing upright again and looking into her lover's eyes.

"You know it." Chloe whispered trying to control her breathing while beholding said one girl in front of her and swallowing before she continued with a suggestive smirk. "And it gets even better when you try it in bed..."

A huge space-cookie for everyone who recognized this scene. (Yes, everything sounds better, when you put 'space-' in front of it; just try it yourself :P)
And for everybody who doesn't: It's actually not invented by me and I guess it was already part of hundreds of other fan-fics, but anyways. I'll say just these tree words: Garrus Tango Shepard (and maybe I should add 'hilariously adorable' as well)

In fact this adjusted scene isn't even part of the 'MEiS-lore', or at least it takes place in an undefined future -if the two survive the events on Arcadia, that is. ^^

Also, I already thought about writing an actual scenario, which would need me to tag this fic M-rated, just as 'proposed' in this one-shot. This could be interesting since it would be my first smut-fic as well as because of Chloe's special physiology as an asari.
But that also would lie in an undefined future, I guess, and until then I think it's just fine as it is. :)