"Good morning, Luna! Are you ready to have a great day?"
Biting back more than a few less-than-savory answers, Luna blinked away the early-morning blurriness as she sat up. For some reason, it felt easier herself into consciousness this morning. She thought about it for a solid five seconds, puzzling through her jumbled brain to discover what, exactly, she was missing: her usual hangover headache. Struggling to remember why she hadn't been out drinking, she also tried to build an answer for Thomas in the back of her mind.
"I . . . don't know about great, but I'm ready to get up, I think. Which is a big deal," Luna finally replied, raising a hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
Her omni-tool lit up, shining a dim orange from its perch on the shelf across the room. "Yes, I definitely agree. Getting up is really difficult. Kind of. Um. It's nice that you're not grumpy this mor—" Thomas stopped, going silent for only a moment before shifting the subject. "Guess what? Tael didn't steal everything from the apartment! I think. I stayed up and listened for him all night, just to be sure. Not that I really need sleep."
Tael? Luna pulled herself out of bed, wincing at the unpleasant meeting of bare feet with cold floor. Why would Tael— Everything clicked into place as she remembered the night before. She didn't go out drinking because she'd dealt with the two of them and then fallen asleep.
It's probably better this way. I don't want to think about being drunk or having a hangover around those two. She repressed a slight shiver – whether from the temperature or her thoughts she couldn't quite tell – as she crept across the room and opened the door to the combined kitchen-dining-living room.
A quiet snore greeted her as she swept her gaze across the room. Just as Thomas has predicted, everything sat in it's proper place. The cheap holo-screen remained mounted to the wall, a few data-pads left over from her half-finished budgeting session lay scattered across a counter top, and the small frame on the counter still held the picture of her old squad. It didn't really surprise Luna, none of her stuff was worth stealing in the first place.
Her small couch, padded with one of the two blankets she owned and her spare pillow, held the source of the snoring. Tael lay sprawled out, eyes closed, his mask's speaker glowing with each noisy breath
Phase one is a success. Tael is off the streets. Luna allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction as she closed the door. But . . . what was phase two, exactly? She scrunched her eyebrows together struggling to remember.It's . . . it's . . .. It's way too early to figure that out.
Pushing worries about phases and plans to the side for the moment, Luna turned to face her omni-tool. "Hey, Thomas . . . would you mind watching and listening for a little while longer? I have to get ready for the day, and I'd rather not have Tael poking around in here." She grabbed what appeared to be a complete set of clothes and made her way over to the bathroom.
"Of course," Thomas answered in a rough voice, his red rectangle replaced by a trench-coat-clad investigator, complete with fedora and dark, shifty eyes. "Nothing gets past me, so don't worry 'bout it," he reassured her.
Luna shook her head, unable to hold back a small smile as she entered the bathroom. Huh. Smiling.She'd used that particular expression more times yesterday than she normally did in an entire month, to the point that her face felt a bit sore. She had Thomas to blame for that. Tael on the other hand . . . he mostly just gave her a headache. But we can work on that, I think. Once we start phase two . . . okay, Luna, time to figure out what you were thinking last night.
The frigid shower inspired the same string of curses it always did, but it also did wonders for finishing the waking-up process. Her newly-sharpened mind still couldn't recall exactly what she'd planned, but it didn't matter; an all-new course of action had taken form. Looks like Tael will get to build himself some work ethic. He said he wanted to work instead of stealing, after all. Besides, Leaving him around in an empty apartment during the day won't do him much good.
Satisfied with her plan, Luna walked through her bedroom toward the living room where Tael was still sleeping – the snores had only gotten louder in the time it had taken her to get ready – grabbing her omni-tool along the way.
"What's happening today?" Thomas asked, changed back to his usual red rectangle.
"Today," Luna announced, hooking the omni-tool to her wrist with a slight flourish as she entered the living room, "is take your criminal to work day." Her good mood surprised her, mornings didn't usually feel that way. I might be able to get used to this not-having-a-hangover thing.
Jerking awake, Tael sat up, faintly glowing eyes opened wide. "Wha . . . whateveritwas, ididn'tdoit," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep and confusion.
"Good to hear it. Now grab some breakfast before we head out," Luna ordered, walking to the counter in search of some bread – or at least something that looked somewhat bread-like – to drop in the toaster. Slow, unsteady steps thumped against the linoleum floor as she rummaged through the cabinets. "Sounds like someone's not a morning person," Luna mumbled, a bit of sympathy slipping into her voice as she pushed the toaster into action. Turning to face Tael, she grimaced at the tube of grainy-textured gray paste he slotted into his mask.
"That looks . . . interesting," Luna said, frowning at her flimsy attempt to be polite. It'd be better to say it how it is. "And by interesting, I mean gross. Why are you eating that?"
"I don't get much of a choice. Food has to be sterile, and dextro-protein based." Tael shrugged, staring down at the stained and blotchy black tabletop. "Trust me, I'd love to eat something else. Self-made nutrient paste is disgusting."
"We'll figure something out," Luna offered, making a mental note to go shopping for some quarian-friendly food. The harsh scratch of metal springs expanding called Luna back to the toaster, her breakfast prepared.
"So, where are we going, exactly?" Tael asked, all hints of sleepiness gone from his accented voice.
And no sarcasm, either. Luna nodded to herself, feeling a touch of relief as she bit into the blackened toast. It's too early in the morning to deal with that. "We're going back to the toy factory. You complained so much about not getting a job before, so here's your big break."
"Great! That's exactly how I like to spend my day, guarding a bunch of toys," Tael said, his tone dripping with sarcasm at least twice as thick as his breakfast.
There it is. Couldn't sleep in a little while longer, could it? Luna sighed, focusing on eating her toast even as she imagined throwing it at his stupid masked head.
"You know what?" Thomas whispered, transforming into a small toy train. "I think he likes your job as much as you like your job. He sounds just like you!"
Luna looked at the two of them and shrugged. "Fair enough, I guess. It's a job, so it's not really supposed to be oodles of fun." She couldn't keep a trickle of disappointment from sneaking into her voice, though. No one would want her job, she knew that, but a bit of gratitude would be nice. At least I know what I'm doing for him, even if he doesn't realize it.
Breakfast ended in near-silence, only broken by Tael slurping down the dregs of his paste and the quiet crunch of Luna's overcooked toast.
"Luna, he's trying to scan me again, make him stop!"
Luna turned to Tael, sighing at his attempt to close his omni-tool while looking up at the security monitors. "You can stop trying to look innocent. You're not fooling anyone." She waited until his orange omni-tool had faded away before continuing, her voice edged with frustration. "Stop bothering Thomas and watch the monitors, or – if you really can't control yourself – go walk a patrol. I don't care which, but respect his privacy, okay?"
"But why do I have to . . .," Tael began, trailing off as he looked toward Luna. "Um. Sorry. I'll stop bothering it. But . . . how am I supposed to focus on these screens for hours and hours?"
"Veeeeeery carefully," Luna answered, frowning despite the joking sarcasm in her voice. Had he just called Thomas an it? No Luna, fight your battles one at a time. First, get him to work. Then we can worry about anything and everything else.
"Oh, thank you so much for that helpful advice," Tael shot back, either ignorant or oblivious to her discomfort as he leaned back in his chair, staring up at the monitors.
Shaking her head, Luna let her mind wander as she began to fill out her hourly status report. She couldn't understand Tael. One moment he was grumpy and sarcastic, the next he'd be apologetic and shy. That kid is carrying a special kind of mess in his stomach, that's for sure . . . and I don't mean that slop he ate for breakfast. But then, he had an excellent reason to be just a bit emotionally unstable: from what little she knew of quarians, they almost never left their highly insular nomadic society until their pilgrimage, a kind of coming-of-age ordeal. Tael just had the bad luck or stupidity to end up on Illium, of all places. Mix all of that in with the ripe old age of 19, and . . .. Luna sent a silent thank-you to whoever might be listening, for not having to deal with with constant emotional breakdowns or those awful harbingers of a mushy internal mess: tears. Because Luna doesn't do cryi—
"Luna. He's doing it again," Thomas hissed, his rectangle flashing urgently on her omni-tool.
"Tael. Stop. Now," Luna ordered, rusty-red anger blossoming in her gut like some exotic flower, full of thorns and venom. "You have a job to do, in case you've forgotten." And you're messing with my friend. Which is not okay.
"This job is stupid," Tael protested, closing his omni-tool once more. "Who's going to show up to steal some toys? No one." He crossed his arms, blinking once before continuing. "Well, someone might show up. But no one dangerous, that's for sure. I could be out finding food, or programming something, or doing a hundred other things, but I'm stuck here, in this chair, watching those screens."
Luna turned to face Tael, narrowing her eyes. "Yeah, watching screens all day long is boring as hell, but it's what I do to earn money. How I survive, without stealing from someone else. I'm sorry you can't appreciate that." She tried to retain some scrap of sympathy for him, but it all melted away as she she glanced back down at Thomas' shivering rectangle.
Luna leaned forward as a tense, awkward silence settled between the two of them. She could almost see unspoken emotions and thoughts piling up, forming an impenetrable barrier that blocked any chance of sympathy or understanding. He wanted to be stubborn and rude? Well, two could play at that game.
After a few uncomfortable minutes and a few false starts, Tael spoke in a quiet and hesitant voice, "I'm . . . I'm an idiot."
Luna sat back, raising an eyebrow. The invisible wall shuddered.
"I'm sorry. I've been . . . well, there's no excuse I can give, is there?" Tael sighed, lowering his head into his hands. "Saying I'm stressed or that I'm not used to dealing with people, or that I don't think about what I do . . . it doesn't change how I've acted. I guess what I really meant to say is: I get that it's your job. I just wish that I could do something that makes me feel useful. Working like this, at least to me . . . it feels like I'm stealing someone else's money, just in the most boring way possible. By pretending to watch screens. I'll go now, I've just been stressing you out ever since you bailed me out of jail." He stood from his chair, giving a small nod. "See you next time I decide to try and take a train, I guess."
"No. You're not leaving. Sit back down in that chair," Luna ordered. The wall had crumbled somewhere in the middle of Tael's little spiel, and she wasn't about to let him back into a life – no, make that a death – on the streets. "You tend to give me a headache every time you start talking, true. That doesn't mean that either of us are going to give up." Give up on what? She couldn't decide. A second chance for him? A way to fix the mistakes of her past? Maybe a mix, but it didn't matter either way.
Tael hesitated for a moment before sitting back down in his chair. "Sooooooo . . . If I'm not going to leave, what will I do? Uh, besides staring at monitors. Don't want work to be all fun and no boredom, after all."
"Right," Luna agreed, not really hearing what he'd said. Her mind raced, searching through what he could do, something out-of-the-ordinary, but still somewhat useful. "Why don't you . . .." Cyber security could definitely use some improvement, or maybe he could look over how she'd arranged external surveillance. She didn't know exactly which parts needed to be fixed, but Tael's robbery proved that there were holes in security, just ones she couldn't see . . .. That was it. "Tell me about your break-in? If I know how you got in, then I'll know where to tighten up security."
"You want me to tell you how I almost stole a toy train?" Tael asked, the round sound of a smile sneaking into his voice. "Well, I was on top of these crates, and then a crazy woman pointed a shotgun at me, and then I . . . well, I guess you . . . that wasn't what you wanted, was it?"
"Why don't we go back to the beginning?" Luna suggested, looking back up toward the monitors. "So, where did you start? On the street?"
"Yes. Well, no. I was in an alley next to the factory at first. You see, a lot of older the older buildings have a physical extranet connection, with cables and that sort of thing. I think it was intended as a backup system or something, but it also happens to be an extremely convenient location to piggyback into the factory's security system, due to it's . . .."
Luna opened her omni-tool as Tael continued, noting details of his operation as best she could. Thomas filled in anything she missed, handling more and more of the workload as Tael gained momentum. Even with his steady acceleration, the story still took most of two hours to tell, exposing more than a dozen different weaknesses along the way.
". . . and then I sort of misjudged a jump, and next thing I knew I was in handcuffs," he finished, raising a hand to his throat. "And I think . . . I'm really thirsty. "
"Water's in the break room," Luna said, motioning to a door at the back of the small security office. Waiting until he'd left, she looked down at Thomas. "Thanks for your help. I didn't want to interrupt him, but I couldn't keep up on my own."
"No problem, Luna," Thomas answered, his voice quieter than usual. "Glad to help."
"Are you okay?" Luna poked at the little shape on her omni-tool display. "You're usually bouncing all over the place. Or changing what you look like every two seconds."
"I don't know," Thomas confessed, shrinking slightly. "I just don't feel like it, I guess." He paused, then in a whisper asked, "Why doesn't Tael like me?" he asked, words wavering with fear and uncertainty, two emotions Luna knew very well.
"He doesn't . . .. It's just . . .. I don't know, Thomas." Luna raised a hand, rubbing at her eyes. "Some people—"
The noisy creak of the break room door opening interrupted the rest of Luna's sentence.
"Hey, so, what now? Do we plan how to fix security things?" Tael asked, walking back to his chair. "I had this idea, what if I set up some subroutines, not necessarily to stop any hacking, but it'd send a report . . .."
Thomas waited for a few more minutes, but Luna remained busy with her work. He understood that her job mattered, but that didn't fix the ugly questions swirling around in his code. Did I do something wrong? I thought I was perfectly polite and friendly and kind, but all he did was poke at me and try to scan me. Thomas tried to shut down this line of thought, to turn his attention elsewhere, but more thoughts crowded in, demanding some sort of explanation.
I must've broken some sort of secret quarian rule. Thomas raised and lowered his logic processors, just like Luna did when she agreed with something. A nod, that's what it is. It means: I know that's right. And with that nod, he began to search through his mostly empty memory banks, looking for files labeled "Quarian".
Now all I have to do is see what I did wrong. Shouldn't be too difficult, I'd imagine.
A Note From Chopped Bread:
And so, yet another chapter has come to pass. As the ages flow onward, I get tired of writing like that.
Hm, important things to say . . .. The biggest thank-you in the world goes to MizDirected for beta things! You should definitely check out her stuff, really really really well-written stuff; you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't give them a read-through, especially if you're a fan of FemShep/Garrus pairings.
I'd also suggest that you go take a look at GypsyTimeLady5147's new story, Layers. It only has a couple of chapters up so far, but it is already got some really cool stuff going on in it!
So, advertising aside, thanks a bunch for reading the chapter! I hope you're enjoying exploring these characters as much as I am. If you are, you should definitely let me know, whether in a PM, or in a review! If you're not having a good time, you should also let me know, whether in a PM, or in a review! If you feel like making cheesecake and mailing it to me, you should . . . well, I'm sure you can guess the rest. :P
Next week will have a some off-screen shopping and some on-screen conflict. I know you're thinking, "Oh dang, who's in that conflict?" and to that I say, you shall see!
Well, thanks again for reading through my random ramblings, you wonderful reader, you. I honestly never imagined I would end up writing anything that people would actually read.