Ally POV
When I woke up the next morning I felt, well, not better, but not as bad as the night before. That probably doesn't make any sense, but it's still true. I slipped out of the sleeping bag quietly; she always grumbled when I managed to wake her at the "ass-crack of dawn."
The mornings always managed to feel so empty, despite all the people. I crept quietly towards the deck above, receiving breakfast from a sleepy volunteer and waving at Dellix, who looked as alert as always, standing next to his salarian friend. Turians always looked alert, I'd noticed. I think it's the eyes. They look like they see everything.
A ship full of Japanese refugees fleeing from Kyoto arrived soon after I did, so I busied myself sorting them. It was almost relaxing to be so busy because it kept my mind off of other things. By the time I'd managed to get down all their information, give them a tour of the deck, and introduce them to Conrad it was nearing lunchtime. I wouldn't have even noticed except that Dellix sent me a message to meet him and Morlia over by his desk around 14:00. I didn't even know my omnipad received messages, much less how he knew how to contact it, but I headed over anyway.
I saw them sitting at a table nearby. They looked like my parents did when they told me my dog died. I told them so, and they looked at each other before Dellix gestured at the remaining seat, "Take a seat, kid. We have some things we need to talk to you about."
Dellix POV
Ally took the news that Morlia was leaving surprisingly well, especially when we explained what her new living arrangements would be (if she wanted them). She did protest a bit, first that she couldn't fill out the necessary processing papers, then that no army would take an asari who couldn't handle waking up early. I eased her first fear by explaining that the temporary guardianship papers wouldn't require any information about her parents besides the fact that they weren't with her. Morlia answered her second protest with a gentle smack upside the head.
We were on one of the upper floors of the docking bay, looking out at a series of long recruitment lines. The night cycle was almost here, but the lights on this particular level were still bright and there were more people then I could count signing up for various armies. Some recruiters were calling out the expected, "Save the homeworld!" pleas for enlistment, but I noticed that the baratarians were being a bit more... fatalistic.
"It may cost all of us our lives, but we will destroy every last Reaper in this two-eyed, jelly-boned galaxy! Sign up now!" a slightly crazed looking baratarian screamed at nearby crowds.
"Shut up! You're scaring off our recruits!" a human in an Alliance uniform yelled back at him.
The baratarian turned towards him, enraged, "We all die! I'm telling my men to die for glory! It's not my fault if you humans don't understand that!"
"Commander Shepard-"
"Shepard is a war criminal!"
I stepped forward when a fight began to look inevitable, but two on duty C-SEC agents took care of it. Behind me Morlia commented, "You think they'd save that for the Reapers."
"They're just scared. Taking it out on each other helps," I said, turning back towards the two girls, "You sure you want to do this?"
"Yeah," she turned suddenly, giving Ally a quick hug, "Be good. I'll send you some vidmail soon." She nodded at me, "Take care of her."
"Of course."
"Good," she made a shooing motion, "Now get out of here. It will ruin my image to have a couple of aliens sobbing at me not to go."
Ally spoke up for the first time since we'd set off for the recruitment stations, "Would it stop you if we would?"
We stared at her for a few seconds. Her eyes were open just a bit too wide and her chin trembled almost imperceptibly. The asari stepped forward, cupping the kid's face in her hand, "No. I'm sorry Ally."
The kid pulled her into another hug, not letting go for a long time. She pulled away slowly. This time she didn't look ready to cry. "I'll see you when this is all over then."
"Yeah you will. Now go. I've got paperwork to fill out."
Ally POV
Dellix placed a talon on my shoulder, gently guiding me away.
I'm not sure why, but I glanced over my shoulder towards where we had left Morlia. She smiled when she saw me look over, but her cheeks were wet. She turned and headed off towards the nearest recruiter for the Asari Army.
Notes from the author: This is my attempt at a longer chapter. I'm improving! Slowly!
Yes, I know that I said that this chapter would be Ally moving in with Dellix, but I needed a bit more closure before I went writing about their shenanigans. We'll be back to the more lighthearted bits again next chapter.