SSV Warsaw, March 15th 2186 CE
He wasn't kidding. Alarees thought angrily as Max imitated the sounds of one of those human race cars in his slumber. She looked at her Omnitool bracelet and saw it was 0150 Toronto time. She had refused to go by local time until she got settled on Digeris and could get her circadian rhythm in sync.
She remembered a little tidbit from her orders brief and threw her arms up in defeat, moaning angrily.
Digeris has 37 hour days! They get to work you longer for the same amount of pay. Spirits are you fucked!
Fuck. What a useful human word. So many meanings and applications. What the fuck am I doing up. Why wont he fucking stop with the racket. He didn't snore like this in his fucking apartment. Maybe I should hit the fucker again.
She made a mental connection and leaned over the side of the bunk and stared down at him. He was on his side.
She crept down the side of the bunk and hesitated. Looking around she did see other bunks that were empty but they were next to others from the shuttle. Of those two of which were currently sleeping in the infirmary. Her whole body convulsed with a chill as the cold steel under her feet and the frigid air of the ship yanked away whatever wisps of warmth she had had under the thin issued sheets.
Max was the only one she could count on to do something if she was ambushed again.
My how your ivory towers have collapsed, leaving you to dwell amongst the rabble Ms. Jorst She thought to herself. She looked down on the sleeping figure wondering how to get him on his back without waking him. He was smiling slightly as he dreamt unknowable vistas and impossible realities. His flattened slightly slavic nostrils flared as each ragged breath was drawn.
Putting a knee on the edge of the bed Alarees leaned over and gently pressed on his shoulder. It started working at first and he started to shift onto his back but he stopped and curled up bringing his knees up as his hand slipped under the pillow. The unmistakable whine of a pistol coming coming out of sleep mode made Alarees heart stop. She looked up from his legs to see two bright green circles regarding her coldly from the shadows of the bed.
"Jorst, you really do like to flirt with disaster don't you?"
"Y-you were snoring, you didn't when you slept on your back, so.. I'm sorry."
His hand came out from under the pillow, weapon free, and he rubbed his forehead.
"I'm sorry as well."
Her whole body convulsed again with another chill as her teeth began to chatter.
"You know you can pull the sheets from other bunks if you are that cold." Max said sitting up as best he could in the bunk.
"Comedy option: you could rack up with me and I can snore directly into your ear for the full effect. I hear the concussive blasts can actually put you to sleep faster from brain damage." he said self effacingly.
"And who would be able to offer testimonials as to the veracity of those claims, Barrett?" Ree replied sardonically. Max looked down then growing quiet.
Ok, enough is enough.
Alarees climbed into bed with him and sat next to him leaning against the headboard.
"Hey" she prodded.
He slowly turned his head over to her.
"I never got a chance to, thank you." She said softly, her lower vocals feathering her voice almost musically. "I mean I had things under control, but the backup was nice."
Max smiled thinly "What about the other one coming to shove the stick god knows where?"
"Oh he was gonna catch a stasis field." She said looking up at him, eyes glittering in the darkness.
"I'm sorry about how far I took it" Max said glumly.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Can we? Is that even appropriate? I don't mean to sound like a dick but we don't exactly have a good track record."
"No, that would be you." She said in an attempt at humor.
"Jeez, I thought I was gonna die that day" he smiled wanly. "But still…"
"Well then lets start over. Hi, my name is Alarees Jorst, Senior Cabalite. And you would be?"
He looked down at her tiny three fingered hand and looked up into those glittering blue eyes. Her chin lifted and she tilted her head to him exposing her slender neck.
Vulnerable. It's a sign of concession
He swallowed her tiny hand in his and gave it a gentle shake. "Maximillian Barrett, Gunnery Chief, pleasure to meet you."
"And what brings you to the lovely SSV Warsaw Gunnery Chief?" Ree asked her voice becoming a low raspy purr as someone else in the squad bay shifted noisily in their bunk.
Max took her features in appreciatively for the first time. She looked back up at him confidently, almost defiantly. Her Imperial Blue colony markings were minimal by Turian standards. She had a bar under each eye that extended past her temples and ended in a broken dash. Her mandibles had markings of the same style and on her chin was a small blue dash as well. The markings barely stood out from her ebony plating which looked almost wet to the touch in certain lighting. Her angular facial features were not that expressive given the thickened nature of her skin but her eyes more than made up for it. And, as Max was slowly realizing, body language was a huge component of expressing emotion seconded only by the subvocalizations and tones they could produce with dual vocal chords.
"A new start." He said quietly as they took each other in. "Also I hate sitting at a desk as the main function of my job." He said conversationally.
"Oh I think Digeris will keep you busy." Ree said while sliding under the sheets.
"Oh, go ahead and make yourself at home." Max said while she adjusted herself. She had stopped and looked back up at him eyes uncertain.
"You don't approve?"
"It's not that, I'm just not savvy on Turian culture or social norms." He paused and scratched at his scar. "Like, is it normal to encroach upon each others personal space? I guess the better question would be if Turians have such a concept."
"So you don't approve?" She said, one mandible twitching slightly.
"Thats not it Jorst, it-" He began.
"-That is it though. We do as we please unless one objects or it is of detriment to unit or mission. Close proximity to one another is a curious aspect of human behavior to me though. Does it make you feel threatened?" She said suddenly very intense.
"No, not threatened, it's just such 'close proximity' as you put it is typically only shared by close friends or lovers."
"Interesting." She said as she gave him some space. "I have a question for you as well."
"Fire away" Max said silently regretfull her body warmth had withdrawn.
"Earlier you made to hide your genitalia. Was that out of concern for me or you?" She said looking down at his crotch.
Max snorted in laughter and turned scarlet, thankful that the darkness was hiding just how awkward and embarrassed this whole conversation had become. He actually felt anxiety building in his chest.
"Oh my god. I cannot with you." He said burying his face in his hands.
"Cannot what?" She said sounding worried.
"Just.. Nevermind. Ok, so that kind of goes hand in hand with the personal space thing." Max said from his hands
"Close friends show each other their reproductive organs?" She said sounding genuinely curious.
"No, no. I mean if you had to I suppose… For some, medical, reason." He finally looked at Ree who had questions burning in her eyes.
"Look, could we please change the topic?" He said pleadingly.
"So conversations of sex are also only had between close friends and lovers as well?" She said innocently.
"I'm done. I cannot." Max muttered into his hands, defeated. He felt the bunk shaking and looked over to see Ree failing to suppress a giggle. It had an ethereal quality that wasn't displeasing to the ear Max noted. She made eye contact with him and air blasted out from behind both mandibles as her clawed hands failed to stop her giggle fit from turning into full blown laughter. Max watched in fascination as her face broke into a toothy smile and her throat spasmed in a most alien way as she laughed openly.
"Hey, would you shut the fuck up back there, people are trying to sleep!" Came a gruff voice near the front of the squad bay. Her taloned hands shot up and she muzzled herself, her amusements coming in snorts through the thin flat protuberance Turians called a nose.
"So were ANY of those questions serious or am I just a big joke to you?" Max said dourly. When she managed to get control of herself she placed her hand on his and looked up at him. Her eyes widened just as she was about to speak and she quickly withdrew her hand.
"Oh, sorry, space thing. No I was curious. It's just you couldn't be more awkward if you were an Elcor reading a porn script."
"Thanks. I guess." Max fidgeted with his hands for a second before working up the courage to ask her a question. Ree watched in amazement at how dextrous the human could be with so many fingers. She fondly recalled how Geoff had massaged behind her fringe so intensely while they kissed. It was as if he had two more hands doing it. She had been mildly disappointed she couldn't explore more human anatomy that night but Rexa had been the main focus. For the most part.
"What was that?" Max said quietly
"What?" Ree said feeling a familiar burning desire being stoked by her thoughts.
First you will death and destruction to their entire race and now you're fantasizing about sex with them. Knock it off weirdo.
"That vibration, like you were humming or something." Max said, a thick eyebrow raised slightly.
"Oh, uh. Just remembering something." She said sheepishly
"So like how the Drell can relive memories Turians can to?"
"Something like that."
There was another long pause broken only by another convulsion from Ree as she shivered. Max sighed and flopped the sheets over her legs. Which she gratefully pulled up to her midriff.
Make me feel like an asshole to. Max thought to himself.
"So about earlier today..." She started tentatively.
"Uhh, yea. Like I said I'm sorry about how far I took that." He said staring down at his hands.
"She must have meant a lot to you." She said quietly looking up at him.
"Yes. Maybe to much. I've spent so much time drowning myself in work that I realized I never truly dealt with her death. I feel this overwhelming pressure now when I think of her. When I saw you at the gym like that it brought all my feelings of being totally impotent when I lost her to bear." He said anxiously looking down at his hands again.
Unlike you, you fucking coward, you just like to let others take the fall for you. Ree thought darkly. She looked up at him again unsure of what to say.
"What did you mean by 'I was trying to do something different for once' at the gym?" Came the dreaded question. Ree dipped her head, inhaling deeply.
Well here we go, time to get this overwith so I can go back to being an outcast and yet another person can look down on me.
"I'm not sure anymore." She glanced up at him to see somber pools of emerald regarding her empathetically.
Are you? She thought.
"I lost someone as well… But I…" His hand reached out and engulfed hers. The warmth he emanated was incredible. She imagined being cloaked in that warmth, lost in the folds of safety and strength. Terrifying strength.
"I had to choose between one or the other. I chose my closest friend over my lover." She lied. Her chin sagged to the point that her mandibles rested on her collar bone. A powerful arm slid around her waist and pulled her close as if she weighed nothing.
"At the end of the day you managed to save a life. Which is more than what I can say." He soothed. She looked up at him finally and saw her pain in his eyes, she sobbed once in frustration.
You are a fucking monster. She recalled her conversation with Ceta in that small apartment not to long ago and her fringe burned with new found shame.
"You may question your actions based on an established moral code of honor, be it from military service or family upbringing. But I think until you willfully ignore suffering and pain for personal gain you still have some moral high ground."
But who is suffering here? He's right here, holding you. Ignorance is bliss right?
She reached over and massaged his chest. He squirmed somewhat at the increase of intimacy but relented and just held her tighter around the shoulders. "Barrett, you are the only person I've told about this. The one I, saved, is going to be where we are going. I'd appreciate if you didn't bring this up with her." She said meekly.
"You have my word Alarees." He said reassuringly.
"Ree is fine, unless were around brass" She purred as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Ok Ree. You can call me Max." He chuckled and looked down at her. "So I take it you are a fan of Old Space body soap as well eh?"
Her hand froze on his chest and her claws lightly dug into him as her whole body tensed.
"Ow, hey I dunno if this is foreplay or something but I'm not a big fan of pain games" He winced. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, it's just it has an unmistakable smell."
"Uh, yea. I've kind of grown a liking for it." She said sheepishly. "I suppose the embarrassment was warranted given my earlier questions." She murmured.
"Well as long as thats the final salvo of awkward rounds being fired tonight I think we're on an even keel." Max smiled.
"Do you mind if I stay down here with you tonight?" Ree asked humbly. "Turians don't do cold." She added awkwardly.
"-Or we could ramp it up to 11" Max continued, shaking his head. He looked down at her as she aimlessly toyed with the fabric of his shirt.
What's your play here Jorst? -Oh quit second guessing everyone's intentions. You can't even say definitively that this even means anything to a Turian aside from providing a basic comfort.
"If you are uncomfortable with the idea I understand" She said looking up at him, her mandibles quivering slightly.
"It's ok. I don't mind" Max said timidly.
He slid down from the headboard and pulled the sheets up to his shoulders while rolling on to his stomach, turning his head away from her. She moved to mimic his position but huddled against him. She was cool to the touch especially where she was plated but Max could feel her warming up. He felt her snout nuzzle his shoulder and soon she was hissing quietly. It had been three years and one month since Max had shared a bed with anyone. The presence of another being laying with him rekindled memories longing he had felt when away from home so many years ago.
But he fell asleep before the deluge of fuzzy memories could return. He smiled faintly as a three fingered hand wrapped itself around his waist, reassured that someone was there. Even if only for the night.
"Can you believe this shit?!"
*click*
"No wonder he fucked those two up so bad, he's shackin up with it"
"Oh shit he's waking up"
The sounds of scrabbling feet greeted Max as he woke up slowly. He was mildly alarmed at the tiny figure he was cradling in his arms, unsure of where he was or its origins as the last dregs of sleep receded from his mind. Then it moved, pressing into him while a clawed hand pulled the sheets back over its fringed head.
Oh shit! Your Spooning an Alien!
Cold dread made Max ever so slowly pull away from Ree as a third member of the group was in the precarious position of letting itself be known. She purred deeply in some type of Turian yawn or groan of annoyance as she fought to stay asleep and backed into him urgently as his warmth receded from her.
Welp cats out of the bag.
She hit him and froze, her head lifted from the pillow and she groggily looked over her shoulder at him while sleepily mumbling.
"Here? With so many people around?"
Flying-spaghetti-Monster Thou art in pasta strainer strike me down now. Like right now. I want to die right now.
"Shhh, no. I'm so sorry. It's not what you think. I'm so sorry. I need to get up, I think I heard people gawking at us. Oh my god I'm so sorry." He began, panicked.
"Oh quit apologizing already." She said dismissively. "Wanna get breakfast?"
"After I castrate myself and stick my head out of an airlock for a breath of fresh air" Max said exasperated at his incontinence. She purred angrily, the vibrations actually making his lungs tickle as she stretched luxuriously. Max took in her natural odor which reminded him of basil for some reason. "Mmmkay" She yawned and lay her head back down.
Like this isn't the least bit awkward for you? Alien dude pokes you with his DNA rifle and you think breakfast? -Wait was she being serious?!
"So I'm gonna shower and change. Then I guess we can meet up at the mess hall?" Max said eager to put some distance between himself and Ree while he could still walk.
She rolled over and faced him, her predatory eyes almost looking beady from the folds of the drab green sheets of the bunk.
"Thank you."
"You'll have to forgive me I fear I am unsure as to what I am being thanked for." Max said as he sat up and tossed his legs over the side of the bunk briskly, hiding his embarrassment. She looked at his scarred back, the puckered flesh easily visible on his broad shoulders around the openings of his olive drab Alliance tank top. Curiosity got the better of her and she reached out to touch his back but he had stood and rounded the bunk to retrieve hygiene gear from his bag. She rolled back over to face him again and talked with half her face buried in the pillow.
"For talking to me. For giving me warmth. For entertaining the whims of an old bat." She said meekly. And for getting me worked up only to be left with frustrations beyond your imagining. By the Spirits its like laying next to a nuclear reactor.
"Old bat eh?" Max said as he tossed a towel over his shoulder. "For humans it is extremely unwise to ask a female her age, does this hold true in Turian culture as well?"
"No, physiological changes pretty accurately pin down age. I'm 33 standard years old." She sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed as well. Max's shirt hung loosely off an ebony plated shoulder while her bare legs and clawed feet swung absently above the steel decking.
She had no pants on last night! Max thought alarmingly.
"And from what I recall you are 26?" She said casually. Max stood and looked down at her slight frame as that feeling of nakedness came over him again.
"I find it odd you would memorize such things, and a little disconcerting."
Ree looked down at her feet, head tilted in embarrassment.
"I'm paranoid, I feel the need to know everything there is about potential adversaries." She stood and regarded him hesitantly. "Its how I was raised. To not trust anyone not of my own kind." Max nodded at this in acceptance. "Well I didn't eat you last night so theres one fear you can dispel."
She flashed him a toothy grin and set about grabbing a small knapsack and pulling a neatly rolled uniform from it.
As Max left the squad bay he could feel lasers being stared into his back by the other Alliance soldiers.
We didn't even do anything! He thought defensively. He entered the unisex head and walked to a glass divider that separated the showers from the toilet stalls. The polished durasteel walls giving the place a clinical feel as the tang of antiseptics stung his nostrils.
As Max stood under the lukewarm beam of water he grew more and more uncomfortable about what had transpired last night and this morning. He felt as though he was betraying a sacred trust. But the more he tried to berate himself the harder it was to justify why. He closed his eyes and all he saw was Ree with her face buried in his shoulder, holding him for support. It hadn't felt wrong at the time, infact it felt comforting to have someone to commiserate with. He had not had that since he finished initial grief counseling and therapy.
Why not give it a shot? Someone to talk to. What's the worst that can happen she says no? I mean it's not like she's uncomfortable around you. Except when you're an out of control maniac.
...Yea About that.
He wondered what he was missing about Ree as he shaved in the shower, guiding an old style straight razor across his face by touch alone.
She went from hating me, to fearing me, to suddenly wanting to share a bed with me. What the hell were you thinking saying yes to that by the way! -I think someone took a picture to! Fuck! But you didn't do anything illegal. Fraternization rules only apply to persons of lesser grade or in their chain of command. Nothing about an Alien of roughly equal rank from a totally different military. I need to do some reading though. By all, human, accounts everything thats happened could be considered a mutual desire to become more, intimate?
"Ow, damnit" Max looked down and saw a faint stream of crimson cascading down his chest, he felt the cut under his jaw and determined it was only a small knick. He rinsed off and left the shower deeply troubled. He had not had any particular desire to become close or even intimate with anyone ever since Aubry's death. He wasn't sure he was ready to open himself up like that to anyone just yet, if ever.
But it didn't feel wrong. It didn't feel like anything, just two mutually consenting adults seeking someone to confide in. Maybe even companionship. I mean were both going to be working together. Do you know ANYONE else when you get there? I thought not. -What if, when she's among her own kind, she moves on? You don't know the first thing about her.
Max put on his trousers and boots and walked out of the shower stall and into the head where the mirrors were. A young Alliance Marine was at one of the sinks shaving as Max strolled up and inspected the cut on his jaw.
"So I guess they do bite." The Marine said contemptuously.
"Excuse me?" Max said in surprise looking over at the baby faced Alliance member.
"Nothing." He replied hastily.
"No fuckstick, thats not how this works. If you are going to make snide remarks then have the fucking balls to back it up. If not, shut it." Max spat angrily. He felt something tickle his chest and looked down to see a rivulet of blood forging a path to his navel.
"Aye Aye Gunnery Chief." He replied without batting an eye.
"Whats your name Marine?" Max demanded, growing more irritated at the insouciant show of insubordination.
"Corporal Dominguez, Gunnery Chief" He said coolly while patting his face down with a towel. "And those were two of my Marines you put in the infirmary." He said while he turned and stared Max down. "I hope it is worth it."
"Corporal. I highly advise you go to the nearest terminal and look at the latest announcements from the Command Deck. Afterwhich I insist you contemplate how your leadership or lack thereof reflects poorly upon you and the Alliance as a whole." Max spit between clenched teeth. Dominguez had turned red with anger at the insinuation and stood at Parade Rest almost mockingly.
"Aye Aye Gunnery Chief." He said with barely suppressed anger.
Max turned back to the mirror and dabbed at the cut and blood trail before putting on his undershirt and powering out of the head, making his way towards the mess hall after dropping off his cleaning gear. Upon arriving Max noted Ree was already seated in a back corner, keeping everyone coming and going in sight. Max heaped what was labelled as eggs but he was pretty sure were rubber matts dyed yellow onto a tray as well as some toast and coffee and strode towards Ree who looked up and relaxed visibly when she saw him. It wasn't until he sat down that he noticed the din of background conversation pick up. He looked over his shoulder and noted the majority of Alliance members wearing Marine Green we're staring daggers at them.
He turned back to Ree who was dabbing at her blouse with a napkin despondently.
"What happened?" He probed.
"It's nothing, just an accident with some coffee." She said in a tiny voice. He couldn't help but notice that she was making every effort to avoid eye contact.
"Hey, can we talk?" He ventured. She stopped and refused to look up at him. The sound of a tray clattering next to Max made both her and him jump.
"Oof, sorry 'er mates" Yeoman Parks said by way of apology while sitting down. Ree looked up at him, eyes narrowed. Max turned to the ruddy faced Yeoman and regarded him inquisitively.
"Would 'ye a least give me a moment 'fore skewering me with yer sunny dispositions?" He said mildly alarmed.
"I'm sorry Yeoman, it's been a trying couple of days." Max said dully.
"Aye, I jus wanna let ye know it's the groundsiders that are the ones spreading all 'e hate an discontent." He said apologetically. "Uncultured mooks, the lot of'em. Present company excluded o' course." He said bowing to Max and Ree.
Funny coming from the guy who only a day ago was preaching the folly of Aliens aboard Alliance ships. Max thought mildly.
"Any way, jus wanted to tell 'ye that the shuttle from the Citadel will be arriving 'ahead o' schedule. Skipper pushed fo an earlier rendezvous." Parks leaned in conspiratorially eyeing his surroundings furtively. "Skipper would like to see the both of 'ye before you embark in 4 hours time."
"Why?" Ree said, a faint twinge of dread in her voice. Max Glanced at her and saw her mandibles lowered slightly in what he understood as agitation.
"Wouldn't say lass, wouldn't say." Parks replied, genuinely troubled.
They ate the rest of their meals in silence before bidding laconic farewells and splitting up. When they got back to the squad bay Ree plopped down on Max's bunk and stared up at the bunk overhead. An ugly brown coffee stain marring her otherwise impeccably creased and fitted slate gray uniform. Max busied himself with packing his stuff and washing his clothes as she lay in silence, lost in her own thoughts. She finally spoke out after a while in annoyance.
"So are you just going to ignore me?"
Max froze, flabbergasted at what to say or do.
"What do you mean?" He ventured.
"I'm not good at these types of things, and I know little of human customs and rituals so I need you to be honest with me. What do you feel about me?"
Max put his bag down and sat at the edge of the bunk.
"I don't know." He said after a deep breath. "Like this is all new to me, we've done things that have some serious implications by human standards. By and large I don't care so long as it's consensual. But thats the thing, I don't know if I'm ready." He said while staring at her shiny leather boots
"Ready for what though?" She said propping herself up on her elbows. He turned and faced her as she regarded him openly.
"To move on. I like that I have someone to talk to, I really don't want to ruin that. How about we take it day by day? Someone once told me that." He replied.
She smiled and extended her arms. Max stared at her in confusion before he sheepishly reached out and hugged her back.
"I can live with that" She said into his shoulder. "Now lets go find out what the good Captain has to tell us" Ree said before flinching at something. Max looked down and saw a drop of blood running down her fringe.
"Oh shit, sorry. I cut myself shaving." He grabbed the undershirt he had loaned her and wiped it off. She seemed to enjoy the feeling of her fringe being rubbed and purred as she settled back against his chest.
Fringe rubs, the Turian equivalent of kitty chin scratches. Max thought amusedly. He dabbed at his jaw again and they disentangled from one another and made their way to the CIC. The uncertainty of what lay ahead making them stay close to one another.