Chapter 4: Sunshine in a White Dress
When the turian and the hybrid entered the club, they were first met with a hallway with only a few people inside who talked by the left video fire display that stretched through the hallway on both walls. It was just a group of Omega citizens with a couple lone mercs; there were a couple asari, a krogan, some salarians and even a volus. Ascher was surprised to see that the volus was a merc, but felt the exact opposite to see the other merc was the krogan. He could tell the two were solo since one, Ascher had never seen a volus in a merc group. Ever. Secondly, most krogan were either mercs or pedestrians. Usually the first one though.
Lyanis noticed they got a couple looks from the group as they passed by, returning a poker faced look, the staring volus and salarian looking away once they stepped into the actual club. When they stepped into the main area, they were met with booming heavy electro, as well as the sight of asari dancers working the poles above the bar while wearing skin-tight, dark purple suits. There were people of all races sitting in the circular booths both on the ground floor and the upper floor. The turian saw a salarian talking with some asari and a human, a quarian dancing with a salarian and a krogan. Who knew the krogan danced?
Ascher observed the club with a level face, eyes scanning around the area as he saw crowds of either mixed races or crowds of lone races socializing with each other. He did notice a group of turians lining twin staircases leading up to a three way couch. On that couch sat an asari, though Ascher could only see the back of her head from where the two of them stood.
"I'm guessing that's Aria?!" Ascher asked Lyanis as he pointed at the asari on the couch, having to shout over the music.
"Yes!" Came the short response, Lyanis yelling back.
"We should find a place to sit!"
"Yeah!"
So the two of them walked around the circular center of the club, finding a couple seats at the bar, opposite to where they were standing moments earlier. Lyanis and Ascher sat down in near unison, their seat cushions sighing as the sat down on the cheap leather bar stools. The hybrid sat on the turian's right, calling over the bar tender to get him a whiskey sour, preferably made with Jameson Irish Whiskey.
"And what will you have sir?" The batarian bartender asked him, glancing at Ascher a few times before focusing his attention on the turian in front of him.
"Turian Poitin," Lyanis replied. He liked his alcohol strong, and heard that this turian version of a human brand of alcohol was one of the strongest products in the galaxy.
"Of course sir," the batarian bartender said with a nod, walking down the left side of the circular space to the dextro-amino alcohol section.
Meanwhile, after having a couple sips of his whiskey, Ascher noticed a strong burning sensation bloomed inside his chest, making a face of discomfort. He slapped his fist a couple times against the armored part of his chest, hoping to alleviate what felt like the galaxy's worst case of heartburn. Unfortunately, after he did, the burning immediately got worse as it shot into his throat. Ascher's eyes went wide before he coughed hard onto the counter at first, then into the crook of his elbow. His coughs grew louder and more phlegm filled as he slammed his other hand against the counter, drawing the attention of some of the dancers as well as other club-goers sitting in the circular booths. But what drew the attention of many more people was when Ascher accidentally knocked his drink on the ground as he stood up, the glass cup shattering loud enough for people in the upper level to hear.
Lyanis had asked his friend for about the tenth time now if he was okay, only getting more hacking in response. He looked at the counter and saw dark crimson blood spattered on the the glass surface from where Ascher had first coughed. He then focused his attention on the batarian bartender who calmly finished making Lyanis' drink and placed it in front of him.
"Here you are sir. Enjoy," the batarian bartender smiled at him before moving to clean the blood off of the counter.
An asari woman who was previously talking with a friend of hers helped Ascher up and walked him over to the booth she was sitting in, helping him to sit down as she handed him the water she was neglecting. Ascher croaked out a thank you before downing the crystal clear liquid as he held the smaller glass in a vice grip. He did cough a few more times, but they were weaker and had more time in between them. Eventually he stopped coughing, his grip on the glass softening as he set it down on the table.
"Are you going to be okay?" The asari woman asked him, placing a blue hand on his to help calm him down.
"Yeah. Thanks for the water," Ascher wheezed out as he continued to catch his breath, heaving deep breaths as the the water eased the burning in his throat and chest greatly. Eventually, there was a dull pain that faded from his chest at the speed of a snail crawl, and Ascher was fine with that.
"That's good. I was worried for a minute that you wouldn't get better," the asari smiled, her hand lingering on Ascher's before she removed it, placing it in her lap as she moved to get up.
"Hey wait," Ascher said, catching the attention of the grey eyed woman, pausing her departure from the table. "I didn't catch your name."
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Wynona," the asari said as her smile came back.
"Ascher. Once again, thank you for the help," Ascher smiled back, getting a familiar vibe from this woman for some reason. He didn't know why, but he just felt like he knew her somehow, even though he'd never met an asari in his life.
"Nice to meet you Ascher. Be careful around those batarians. They're a nasty bunch," Wynona advised him, her voice making a slight dip into an English accent for a millisecond, the tone change almost unrecognizable.
"I will," the hybrid said as the asari walked away. He then pushed himself up from the circular wooden table and headed towards the bar, where Lyanis was busy yelling at the batarian bartender.
"Answer me dammit!" Lyanis nearly screamed at the bartender as he slammed his fist on the glass counter, cracking it. Meanwhile the batarian bartender wasn't listening, as he was shocked to see Ascher walking up to the bar, alive and well. "What did you put in that drink?!"
Once Ascher got up to the, he arched a brow at the batarian bartender as he crossed his arms, staring at the four-eyed man expectantly. "So, you wanna tell me what was in that drink?"
"Y-You should be dead!" The batarian bartender exclaimed in shock, reaching under the counter for a steel knife, which he chucked at the hybrid. The knife was thrown by an amateur, so instead of flying straight, it flipped clumsily through the air. Ascher easily caught the steel cooking tool by the handle, his enhanced reflexes making it seem as though the air was made of molasses, the knife slowly flipping towards him. Taking the knife thrown at him, he used his still active reflexes to grab the batarian's hand with his free one and slammed it palm-first on the counter. He then stabbed the knife through the four-eyed alien's hand and into the counter, lodging it there. The batarian screamed in pain.
"If you tell me what you put in that drink, I might just take this knife out of the counter," Ascher whispered to the batarian who was busy trying to remove the knife on his own, but to no avail.
"Go to hell," the batarian bartender ground out.
Ascher pretended to mull over the thought in his head, until he saw the horrified look on his turian friend's dark colored face. Just like that, the bad-cop interrogator facade vanished, replaced with an equal amount of guilt. Keeping a poker face, he turned to the batarian and yanked the bloodied knife from the counter, tossing it over his shoulder. The batarian in turn collapsed, grasping his freshly impaled hand while covering it with the supply of drink napkins located under the counter.
"I'm not hungry anymore," Ascher muttered in the dark brown turian's direction as he walked out of the club in a hurry, a few onlookers staring at him on his way out.
Ascher hurried down the front steps of the club and towards the elevator. He stepped inside, the doors quietly shutting behind him. He hit the button for one of the docking bays, falling against the wall of the elevator as he held his face in his hands. The metal of his suit clanged dully against the metallic wall of the elevator as he fell against it, old, unwanted memories drowning out the positive ones.
Ascher groaned. Just when he thought he'd forgotten about all the people he'd killed all those years ago. No, he didn't know any of them, that much was true. The Luxionans told him that would make it easier. That fact made those jobs that much harder instead. All he knew was that he was killing Vangels on the Luxionans hit-list. Sure, he did have a grudge against them for what happened at the lab he was created in. But he only had a grudge against those scientists that mistreated, as well as their superiors.
When he'd escaped the lab where he was created, he was immediately taken into custody by the Luxionan government. Instead of helping him like they promised, they used him to do their jobs for them, just like the Vangyre government planned to do. They used him to take out high ranking Vangel officials that were contributing to the Vangel war efforts. Ascher didn't know them. But he was told that all these men were the people who ordered his creation, the ones who wanted to use him as a super soldier that would win the war for the Vangels.
That couldn't be even more false. The men that the Luxionans sent Ascher to kill, were simply the CEO's of major weapon or armor corporations that were supplying the Vangel army with their armor and guns.
Ascher shook his head. He had to stop thinking about that. That was over a hundred years ago, in Luxionan and Vangel time at least. Over in the Milky Way, it was more like ten years, give or take a few years.
He stood up straight once the elevator doors opened and walked down the hallway in one of the docking bays. He walked straight up to a window where he looked out into the black wash of space, sprinkled with tiny white stars all around. Ascher sighed. He propped his arm up on his left hand, resting his chin on the palm of his right hand, and stared into the vast emptiness of the space surrounding Omega. It wasn't too empty. He could see some of the smaller asteroids floating out in the emptiness. He wished his head could be empty of these torturous memories. But, he'd just have to literally stare off into space and clear his head for right now.
Lyanis stared horrified at his friend's actions. He'd never seen Ascher act like this before. Had never seen the hybrid exhibit the calm fury he was utilizing right now. He could only watch as his friend tortured the batarian, exhibiting no emotion as the batarian tried desperately to pull the knife out of his hand, his hand slipping on his own yellow-green blood. The tears of pain that flowed from his eyes, the agony fueled moans and whimpers of terrible pain, the alien on his knees with his face contorted as the hybrid tortured him.
Then his friend looked over and saw the turian's face, the fear radiating from his eyes like two bright suns. Lyanis saw his friend's face falter for a split-second, the cold fury changing to worry and upset, but quickly changing back to the cold fury as he whispered something inaudible to the turian as he removed the knife and tossed it over his shoulder. His head fell forward in shame as the batarian collapsed and tried to tend to his wound, muttering something Lyanis couldn't quite make out as he quickly exited the club. The turian, in turn, followed him.
But dang, was that man fast. As Lyanis was running down the steps, he caught sight of the hybrid entering the elevator. The elevator doors closed out Lyanis' sight of his friend as he ran along the metallic ground, the orange streetlights gleaming in bright splotches off of his armor as he jogged towards the elevator. Once he got to the closed doors, he looked up at the location monitor up above the elevator doors. The dark turquoise screen had a set of numbers, as well as docking bay numbers. Number DB6 was currently lit up orange, signaling the elevator's destination.
Lyanis thumbed the 'Open' button for the elevator and waited. He folded his arms as he shifted on his feet worriedly. Yes, Ascher's actions did scare him, but it wasn't like that would kill their friendship. In fact, Lyanis still had a crush on the hybrid, and was worried about him. Obviously Ascher still had some issues that he hadn't talked about yet, and that worried the the dark brown turian greatly. He just hoped Ascher was doing semi-okay at the moment, at the very least. It wouldn't do to find him while he was in the middle of a nervous breakdown. That wouldn't do at all.
A couple minutes later, the elevator doors opened and the turian thumbed the 'DB6' button on the floor options screen. Just as the elevator doors were closing, a human blonde haired woman came sprinting in, nearly hitting the back wall as she skidded to a stop. This earned her a look of confusion from the taller turian.
"Whew, nearly missed it," the woman sighed in relief as she turned to the taller turian who continued to stare at her confusedly.
"Ummm..." was all that came out of Lyanis' mouth, his sub vocals displaying his confusion like a main attraction at a museum. His mandibles even fluttered in confusion at the woman's sudden entrance.
"Oh, sorry darling. Could you hit the 'DB6' button for me? I'm afraid I'm completely blind," the English woman stated, still sounding incredibly cheerful despite her depressing statement.
"Ummm, I already did," Lyanis stated, still failing a little bit to speak correctly.
"Oh perfect!" The bubbly woman clapped her hands together, adjusting her bright white dress that started just below her shoulders, covered her arms and wrapped around both palms in a thin white strip, and cut off at her calves in a diagonal line. She wore matching white formal slippers, as well as a silver eighth note pendant. "The name's Wynona by the way. Tambri Wynona Vibrato. You can call me Tambri or Wynona, but not both."
The woman smiled at him and held her hand out, her pearly whites gleaming in the elevator light. The turian grasped it to find this woman had a rather firm grip, her smile growing wider as their hands separated.
"Oooh! You didn't tell me you were a turian!" Wynona exclaimed in a delighted tone, hopping up and down in place excitedly, the heels of her slippers clicking against the metal floor of the elevator.
"I am. My name's Lyanis. Lyanis Starque, and it's… interesting to make your acquaintance Wynona," Lyanis replied after a few moments of silence. Did this woman drink coffee all day or something? She seemed to be too happy for her own good, especially since she was on Omega right now.
"It is very nice to meet you Mr. Starque! Would you rather me call you Lyanis, Li, or Mr. Starque?" Wynona asked him, her cheeky grin still plastered to her face.
This woman was psychotic. It was the only explanation.
"Lyanis is fine," the turian replied, hiding his feelings of discomfort. This woman was so happy it bothered him, but of course he wouldn't tell her that. Mainly out of fear of what might happen if he did.
Much to his relief, the doors opened, and Ascher was standing at the end of the hall, staring out a window into the black expanse that surrounded Omega. Lyanis sighed in relief that he wasn't having any sort of nervous breakdown. The turian walked down the closed brown bridge towards the hybrid, who didn't notice him as he was lost in his own thoughts. Once the green marked alien was behind his friend, he lifted his hand and slowly lowered it onto the hybrid's armored shoulder. Again, Ascher was too lost in his swirling storm of positive and negative thoughts that had formed after his incident in Afterlife.
"Ascher," Lyanis said softly, his voice taking on a rich tone as his sub vocals thrummed their mixture of concern and relief. The turian's friend jumped in his place as he jerked his head around, his frightened face falling sad at the sight of his turian friend. His head fell in shame, a sigh escaping his nose as his smoky eyes stared at the ground.
"Hey," was all that came out of his mouth, the greeting coming out in a mixture of fear, shame, and sadness.
Lyanis couldn't stand this anymore, pulling his friend against his armored chest as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man in a hug. While the action shocked Ascher, he embraced the turian back, his cheek resting against the amber colored breastplate. They stood like that for a little while before Wynona cleared her throat.
"Sorry to interrupt this emotional moment boys, but I'm standing right here," the blind woman said awkwardly as she shifted from one foot to the other. She had been leaning against the wall close to Ascher. She could slightly deduce what was happening from her heightened hearing. The small clink of the turian's armored hand grasping Ascher's armored soldier, the dull clang of their breastplates colliding as the turian hugged the hybrid. Also the slight scraping sounds of armor sliding on armor. Then there was the sound of Ascher gasping as he recognized the voice of his old friend.
"Bri!" Ascher exclaimed as he embraced the woman in the white silk dress.
Tambri returned the embrace with a white smile, closing her eyes as she held her dear friend close. It had been so many years since she'd seen Ascher; at least thirty. In Vangel years at least.
"Jeez, the last time I saw you was when you pulled me out of Luciferia right?" the hybrid exclaimed in shocked happiness, momentarily forgetting about the incident in Afterlife.
"I do believe so, yes," Wynona confirmed with a nod.
The two of them started up a conversation that lasted a little while, leaving Lyanis feeling awkward now as he stood off to the side. He had been so worried about his friend after he fled the club, but now he seemed perfectly fine. And it was all because this woman that he'd run into in the elevator just so happened to be a dear old friend of Ascher's. He was sure that he'd get to talk to Ascher later about what happened in the bar, so he tried to just let it go for now.
"So where did you two meet?" The turian asked them, trying to forget his worry by joining in this conversation.
"I was one of the scientists at the lab where Ashy here was created," Tambri stated, immediately changing from bright and bubbly to dark and serious. "Now before you pull your gun on me, I was only one of two scientists who worked there that had an actual heart. The rest, well… Let's just say that I'm glad they're all dead."
A deadly smirk danced across her velvet shaded lips, those pearly whites peeking out as her mouth curled up. "But I digress."
"No. No you don't Bri. You were one of two main reasons those scientists are dead," Ascher said, tearing down her lie instantly.
"Oh Ashy, you're no fun," the woman said as the smile returned to her face. "So, what have you been up to?"
"He got arrested," Lyanis piped up with a smirk, delighting in the nickname Wynona gave Ascher. Now he was never going to let his friend hear the end of it.
The woman's jaw dropped as she let out a purposefully dramatic gasp. Her hands flew to her cheeks, she leaned forward, and Ascher just stood unamused. At Lyanis and Tambri. Mainly Tambri. Perhaps he was used to this woman and her antics, Lyanis thought.
"Here it comes," Ascher murmured to the turian before Tambri exploded.
"ASCHER GREY! I GET SEPARATED FROM YOU FOR ONLY A FEW YEARS AND YOU GO AND GET YOURSELF ARRESTED! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! HMPH!" Tambri roared, her voice booming basically through the entirety of Omega as she spun around on her heel with her arms folded, stomping her foot on the ground. It sounded as though she just screamed into a loudspeaker. Lyanis' ears were ringing, and Ascher was pretty sure he'd lost all hearing for a few minutes.
"Are you done?" Ascher asked the drama queen, clearly unamused.
"Yes," Wynona said after a few breaths. "So I assume this turian friend of yours is your new love interest?"
The woman popped that question with such a casual tone that it was almost disturbing. Then again most everything about this woman was disturbing. Regardless, the question lit Ascher's cheeks like a Christmas tree, temporarily leaving him looking like an armored garden gnome.
"BRI! What the heck!" Ascher nearly screamed, leaving the woman opposite him slightly confused.
"What? I saw the way you hugged Mr. Starque back. You clearly have feelings for him. Don't deny it, I'm always right you know," Tambri winked at him as she turned her attention to Lyanis. He'd gone quiet, his mandibles fluttering like they did when he was embarrassed. His cheek plates had even lit up as he blushed.
"Oh darling, it's nothing to be ashamed of! Plenty of the men in my race are homosexual or bisexual, as I've learned in the past…" she trailed off, looking down and to the side as her smile faded for a millisecond. "And besides, Ascher here is quite the flirt."
"BRI!" Ascher exclaimed again, his cheeks turning as red as fresh tomatoes. He hated it when Tambri acted like this around all of his guy friends. He'd always thought of Lyanis as a friend. A really good friend at that. Screw it. In the short months he'd known this turian, Lyanis had become one of his best friends ever, considering he didn't have too many friends these days. He'd never thought of the turian in that way.
Lyanis was dying on the inside. This woman was bringing his confidence nerves, what little of them he had, crashing down with the way she talked about him and Ascher. Once things had settled down a little bit this evening, he was going to make sure that Ascher was okay. As he was doing that, he was slowly going to ease into asking him to dinner. After dinner, he'd confess his feelings for the hybrid and this plan was really starting to sound cliche and cheesy but he had a crush on the man darn it!
After ironing out the fact that they were just friends with Tambri, who still didn't believe it but decided to temporarily drop it, the three of them headed back into the elevator. Lyanis thumbed the number 3, which was the floor where Afterlife was located. Apparently Wynona knew about some really good varren sliders that one of the bartenders served at the club, which made Ascher's stomach growl.
"I guess you're hungry now, Ashy," Lyanis smirked down at the hybrid, who was blushing again. This time it was because he wasn't used to hearing the deep, rich voiced turian refer to him like that. Even without the flanging effect of the turian's sub vocals, Ascher loved hearing his deep voice. He just loved people with deep voices in general, mainly men though. If a woman had a deep voice, it was kind of creepy in most cases. But Lyanis' was great. It was almost as deep as the bass singer of Dole Lawson and Quicksilver, a bluegrass band from the 2000's. That's right. Ascher was old fashioned, and he wasn't afraid to show it.
But back to the dark brown turian's voice. His normal voice were great, but his sub vocals made it so much better. It was like another tone of voice. A natural, lower tone of voice that was perfectly layered under his normal voice. And the slight delay from the flanging effect made it so much better.
And then Lyanis talked to him. He didn't know how much he enjoyed his friend's voice until he thought about it. It always made him a little bit happier every time the turian spoke to him, as well as a little bit envious. The hybrid kind of wished he had a voice like the turian's. That'd be cool.
"I guess. You're never going to stop calling me that now, am I right?" Ascher asked the turian, who smiled. Then those dark chocolate colored mandibles would flare into a smile like they did just now.
"Nope. Never," the turian laughed to himself, low and playful. And then that laugh.
"Gee, thanks Bri," Ascher spoke sarcastically to the woman standing to the far left of the elevator. That sentence had more than one motive behind it. Now, because of this woman, Ascher couldn't stop thinking about the turian next to him. Neither could he stop thinking about all the things he loved about Lyanis either. He sighed. This was going to be a long night.
"Yes, thank you Bri. I needed a nice nickname that annoys the hell out of Ascher," Lyanis grinned devilishly at the hybrid, making him blush even more. He'd never blushed so much in his life, and he hated the turian so much for it right now.
"Oh of course, darling. Always happy to help," Wynona laughed as she leaned against the cool steel wall of the elevator.
For a little while, the trio simply listened to the low hum of the moving elevator as all three were lost in their own thoughts. Lyanis was having a lot of fun, and was glad to meet this old friend of Ascher's. She was helping him out immensely to gain his confidence back whether she knew it or not. Plus Tambri/Bri/Wynona/whatever they felt like calling her, she didn't really seem to care at all, was so much fun to be around. Lyanis started to think of her as a bright little ball of loud and dramatic sunshine. Psychotic sunshine yes, but sunshine all the same. And the way she immediately assumed that he and Ascher were already a thing. How the turian wished for that to be true. To heck with that, he was going to make it true.
Wynona was enjoying the time she was spending on Omega. In all and complete honesty, she had been on Omega for a good year now. And had she done so much. She'd made her own merc group, the Static Force. And did that group blow up. In a good way. Wynona had partnered up with Aria T'Loak, the queen of Omega herself, to have her merc group keep all the other merc groups in check. And did she enjoy that. It gave her a sense of power, a sense of leadership on Omega. She felt like she was actually doing good in a place that was basically the Detroit of the Milky Way.
Of course, she wasn't doing it alone. Her partner in crime, Sarina Voia, the other scientist who had a heart in that lab back on Vangyre was there to keep her in line. And train the many mercenaries-turned-vigilantes that were fighting for a better Omega. They existed to keep the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack from running amok on the space station. There were actual citizens that lived on Omega that feared these groups, and Static Force existed to keep them safe. To give them a group of people to rely on for protection instead of having to rely on someone they had to pay for protection.
But there was one elusive band of mercs that kept slipping from her grasp every time she and Sarina thought they had caught them. A band of mercenaries led by a vigilante who operated under the code name Archangel. She knew that he was a turian, but that was about it. That really narrowed things down for their searches for the vigilante and his group. Wynona and Sarina didn't necessarily hate him. He was helping out the citizens of Omega just like Static Force was, but she found his methods questionable. She and Sarina wanted to at least meet with him and discuss some things. Like to see if he and his vigilante friends wanted to join Static Force, and she and Sarina agreed that they could offer him a spot of leadership. But every time they approached him, he would flee. So they felt kind of stuck in that regard.
Meanwhile, Ascher started thinking of ways he could approach the turian next to him. Maybe buy him a drink at Afterlife, then they could just sit and talk like they used to back in Purgatory. Perhaps that was where Ascher fell in love with the turian's voice. For the longest time, all the way up until they escaped, Ascher had never seen the turian's face. He only knew the turian by his voice, and he was more that fine with that. Lyanis' voice was probably Ascher's most favorite thing about his turian friend, his second favorite thing being his colony markings. They kind of made Lyanis look like a turian badass, and Ascher found that kind of sexy.
Finally, the elevator stopped humming as the doors slid open, launching the three friends out of their respective thoughts. Tambri was the first to step out of the elevator, followed by Lyanis then Ascher. She led them back into the club, down through the hallway with the screened walls of fire, the footfalls of Bri's heels echoing through the dim, amber chamber. She held the door open for them as Lyanis stepped through with an appreciative smile, Ascher thanking her as he followed the turian. Wynona smiled as she let the door fall shut with a quiet click as it came completely shut.
"This way you two," the blind woman smiled, leading them up a set of stairs located just right of the main bar. Ascher pointed out that the bartender had already been replaced by a salarian, sounding impressed. Lyanis pointed out the high probability of Aria most likely having no shortage of employees for many occupations scattered across Omega. Tambri confirmed that.
"Right here," Tambri said as she turned around to face the darker colored turian and the light skinned hybrid, spreading her arms out as if she were presenting to them something extravagant. "The best mini bar on all of Omega."
"Ya got that part right," came a gravelly voice from behind Wynona. She stepped aside to introduce the krogan bartender behind her, a paler krogan with a white head plate and amber eyes that seemed to glow in the dim light of the club. "Ascher, Lyanis, meet Bruntus of Clan Urdnot. This man is the best bartender on Omega, in my personal opinion."
"A personal opinion I agree with," the pale krogan said with a half smile. "What'll ya have?"
"Water," Ascher said immediately, causing Tambri to give him a strange look.
"Oh come on Ascher, one drink isn't going to kill you. Not this time anyway," Wynona smiled. "Bruntus, give him a krogan pale ale. He needs something heavy right about now."
"Bri! I think I made it pretty clear that I don't want anymore alcohol! Besides, how did you know about that?" Ascher complained.
"Who do you think that random asari was that helped you out?" Wynona reminded him, giving Bruntus a thumbs up on the pale ale.
Ascher let out a massive sigh and gave up.
"What about you turian, what'll you be getting?"
"I'll have a salarian sangria," Lyanis stated a little tiredly. "I need something to mellow me out."
"You got it," the bartender said as he set to work, preparing their drinks as they sat down on the metal bar stools. Ascher rested his forehead between his index finger and thumb, sighing as Wynona patted him on the back.
"It's been a long day Wynona. Why can't you just let me order my own drink and let Lyanis and I go back home?" Ascher breathed out, cracking his eyes open a little bit as he turned them towards the woman to his right.
"Because the last drink you ordered almost got you killed. A decision that has revoked you of your privileges of ordering your own drink," Tambri grinned, facing him as she rested her cheek on her fist.
This evoked a look from the hybrid. "Just because you're one of the two nice scientists that raised me at that lab doesn't make you my mom. And it certainly doesn't let you dictate my decisions. I am an adult, both by the standards of this galaxy, and the standards of our galaxy."
"You tell 'er Ashy. Like it'll make a difference," Lyanis chuckled, taking a sip of his drink as the krogan handed them out. "Damn this stuff works fast."
Ascher glared at him as he took another sip from the small glass, watching the light green liquid pass his dark lips and drain into his mouth. The turian set his drink down, already about halfway through with it. He caught the glare from the hybrid out of the corner of those bright grassy fields, his trademark smirk forming on his face as he winked back at his crush.
Ascher's cheeks reddened as he looked back at Tambri, knowing she couldn't actually see his face. He heard the turian chuckle again at his crush's reaction, that smirk of his probably growing into a smirk. He then looked down at the foggy, peach colored drink sitting in the small glass in front of him. He picked it up in his dark gloved hand, looking at it to see if he could see through it. The drink wouldn't let him, only letting him catch a glimpse of an ice cube that floated at the bottom of the glass, so he lowered it out of range of his eyes. He knew that Bri and maybe even Lyanis wouldn't let him leave the club until he finished at least one of these. He brought the cool, smooth glass up to his lips as he tipped it, taking a small sip of the strong liquid.
The equally cool liquid passed his lips and fell onto his tongue, lighting it up like a dubstep concert. An immediate and strong tingling sensation immersed his taste buds as he swallowed what little amount of the tart liquid he sipped in. From there, a numbing warmth bloomed from his chest and reached to the farthest corners of his body, showering him in the same warmth as he closed his eyes. Once the warmth reached his head, his brain started to buzz and it felt as though his skull started to vibrate, his breath catching at the sensation. The tingling sensation fused with the warmth that showered his body and formed a feeling of pure ecstasy, causing Ascher to exhale and set his drink down. He hadn't realized that he'd been gripping it as hard as he was. His eyes opened as slow as the alcohol-induced high left his body, seeing a small crack in the drink. It was only a surface crack though, so none of the alcohol was leaking out.
"So?" Tambri asked him as his breathing regulated itself.
"Good Lord, Bri. How did you even find this stuff?" Ascher exhaled one last time, bringing up his palm to wipe down his face.
"It's strong right?" Wynona said, her grin growing even wider.
"Dude… Strong doesn't even begin to describe the potency of this drink," Ascher replied, the edge he was carrying with him completely gone.
"By the way, krogan or not, I've never seen anyone exit this place awake after finishing one of these," Bruntus laughed.
"Well no crap. But dude. That was one sip, and it was a small one," Ascher said as he grabbed the turian's arm with a look of complete shock.
In turn, Lyanis looked at him and couldn't help but chuckle. He'd never seen Ascher wasted before, and it was hilarious. He just looked so tired, like he was about ready to pass out. He started slouching, more than he already did. He had this look of blissful happiness, grinning in his drunken haze. He wasn't the kind of drunk to slur his words or get really hyped up on one emotion. The kind of drunk that Ascher looked like he was incredibly shocked by the littlest of things.
"Remind me to order him a shot glass of this stuff the next time he feels like ordering it," Lyanis laughed as Ascher tried a bigger sip, cursing himself after doing so. After he removed the glass cup from his lips, the hybrid immediately set it down as she braced himself on the counter, his eyes the size of saucers. He was gripping the back corner of the metal barstool as the feeling he experienced earlier was just amplified times ten. He could hear the corner creak as it bent under his vice grip as a torrent of ecstasy and motion sickness reverberated throughout his being.
"Sounds like a good plan," Ascher groaned as he clutched his stomach for a brief second, heaving in a massive breath as his hand slowly released its grasp on his stomach.
"Yeah, you'll want to drink that like you started out. Drink krogan pale ale like you would drink wine: one small sip at a time. Otherwise it'll feel like you ate some spoiled varren that was covered in mold," Bruntus advised the hybrid, partially taking his statement from personal experience. That stuff had made him nearly puke on multiple occasions.
"But it's safe to take in a shot glass?" Ascher wheezed out.
"I have extra small shot glasses for this stuff," the krogan explained.
Lyanis and Wynona had already finished their drinks, the turian feeling like a high hanar right now. But that was only because he'd had two salarian sangrias and was this close to slurring his words. Wynona had decided to be the designated driver when it came to getting these two back to the Static Force complex, playing it safe and just ordering a Beringer Moscato, her favorite wine. She stood up first, pushing her stool in as she pulled up her omni-tool and dialed up Sarina.
"Hey Moonlight, I'm bringing them back to the complex. Just a heads up," Tambri spoke into the glowing orange gauntlet.
"'Kay," came Sarina slightly staticky voice, ending the call afterwards.
"Chatty as ever," Tambri sighed before turning back to the turian who was helping Ascher out of his stool. Ascher stumbled as Lyanis held him up by holding one of the hybrid's arms around his shoulders, causing the woman to run in and help. "Come on. We'll take my car."
"You have a car?" Lyanis asked drowsily, a yawn escaping his lips as he asked that question.
"How else do you think I got here? Walking? That'd take at least a day to accomplish. That is if I didn't run into any thugs along the way. And didn't require food," Tambri deadpanned at the dark chocolate colored turian.
"I was just surprised. Neither do Ascher or I have a car on this heap of junk called a space station. The bars at afterlife aren't junk though. They're very good. Especially the one that Bruntus runs," Lyanis mused as he and Wynona hauled Ascher into the elevator, the turian thumbing the button for the car lot. The two more sober beings of the trio then leaned Ascher against the wall where just sank to the floor, fighting to stay awake.
Lyanis took this time to shake out his arms after carrying the heavy drunk that was now half asleep on the elevator floor, keeping them loose for when he'd have to help Wynona once they arrived at the car lot. He also took this time to stare down at his crushed who was too busy fighting sleep. He could remember clearly that muscular body that set to work painting their armor. Then he was only wearing some underwear, leaving the turian's eyes able to wander that perfect body. Those perfectly toned legs, his chest, those clearly defined biceps, triceps, and quadriceps, as well as his abs. The man was just perfect eye candy.
Wynona noticed a silence in the elevator, and wanted to break it. "Y'know how earlier I asked if you two were a couple?"
"What about it?" Lyanis asked her with a lofty voice, feasting his mind to the romantic fantasies he came up with just by staring down at his crush. He hadn't even realized, but there was a smirk forming on his face. A smirk that would become a full blown smile.
"You don't seem as bothered by it as Ascher was," the Vangel mused.
"Mhm," Lyanis murmured, not even paying attention to the woman in front of him.
Wynona sighed and snapped her fingers in the turian's face, muttering something about boys to herself as she did. Lyanis quickly snapped out of his reverie as he turned back to Wynona, a smirk forming on her face as she realized just who he was paying attention to.
"You like him, don't you?" Wynona asked Lyanis, the playfulness coming back to her voice.
Lyanis blushed, looking back down at Ascher to make sure he was still asleep, which he was. He sighed in relief as he closed his eyes to gather himself for a quick second, letting out a big exhale as he slowly opened his eyes and looked back at the woman dressed in white. "What gave it away?"
"Well for starters, you weren't paying attention to me, you were paying attention to Ascher even though he was asleep. While you were, you were staring at him with your eyes half closed and your mandibles were flared into a smile. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were having a fantasy or fantasies of fooling around with him," Tambri stated matter-of-factly with a smirk, staring right back at the turian despite her vision impairment.
"They weren't bed fantasies! They were romantic fantasies! Y'know, kissing him, running my hands over that glorious body of his as he reciprocates in every fashion I just described," Lyanis said in a flustered tone as he tried to defend himself, only blushing harder in the process. "Okay, some of them were bed fantasies, but only two of them! The rest were completely safe!"
"My my, so defensive! But don't worry love, I won't tell him. I'll let you handle that," Tambri winked at him as she laughed.
"You're so annoying sometimes," Lyanis sighed as the blush faded from his face, the humming of the moving elevator filling the silence as they headed towards the car lot.