Tara and I kicked ass in Galaxy of Fantasy. With my life-draining tank and her super-critical sniper, we could run straight through an instance designed for five-man groups with just us.

After the fifth instance, I was taken out of the game by the alarm on my omni-tool ringing. Right, I have lunch with Mission, as long as nothing comes up in the next twenty minutes. "Hey, Tara." I speak up, nudging her with my elbow. "I've got to go, but I've had a lot of fun this morning. We should do it again."

She blinks in surprise, before standing from her seat and throwing her arms around my shoulders, giving me a light hug. "I had fun, too. We'll definitely do this again."

I give her a wave as I leave and call a sky-car, directing it to a restaurant on the Bachjret Ward. It's the kind of place people go to either make fun of old human diners or experience some nostalgia that probably don't remember. Within minutes, I'm approaching the place on foot. Entering the dining establishment, I find Mission within a few seconds. She's the Asari standing up, waving her arms at me and calling my name. Not all that hard to miss.

"Mish!" I call back, stepping towards her with my arms out. She obliges by taking a few steps forward and wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug, her head resting just under my chin. I return the favor and give her squeeze before letting go and taking a seat across from her. "I told you we wouldn't have to wait too long before we met again."

Mission smiles briefly before her faces drops into a fake pout. "But it's been weeks, Saul! That's way too long!" She smiles again, perking up. "But I am glad we get to meet again."

"Yeah, me too." I reply. I always find myself smiling around Mission. She's just so peppy. Like a chinchilla on a sugar-high, all excitable and cuddly and soft. In a world where almost everyone has some sort of traumatic back-story, it's relaxing to be around another person who doesn't reflect a lifetime's worth of angst in every expression.

Zaira's is one of them, so is Tali, (and thanks to my intervention) Garrus, Chloe, and I'm not too sure about Tara, and I think Liara is, too.

…I'm sexually attracted to most of those people. Huh.

"So," I start, coming out of my thoughts. "What do you want to get? I'm up for anything."

"Anything?" Mission asks teasingly.

I nod once. "Yup. Anything."

"Well, alright then." She waves over a waitress and whispers to her from behind the menu, who smiles at us and leaves after taking the menus.

Watching the waitress walk away, I turn back to the young Asari across from me. "Do I want to know what you ordered?" I questions with a suspicious look on my face, which is ruined by the small smile.

"Nope!" She replies easily. "It's a surprise."

"A surprise?" I shoot back, "I hate surprises."

Mission rolls her eyes dramatically. "Oh please, that's what everyone says."

"True enough," I nod in agreement, before smiling. "So, Mish, what've you been up to since I've been gone?"

She shrugs, tapping her hands against the table. "Not much, really. I've been trying to find a job, but, well…I've got a record of pick-pocketing and I'm a teenager. Most places aren't going to be hiring me." Mission shudders as a thought hits her. "Not even the strip clubs, and I did that as a joke. Once they found out how old I am, they very politely showed me the door. Except for this one guy…he actually looked excited…"

"Please tell me you shot him." I interject with a dry voice, more than willing to find this guy and beat some good-old fashioned decency into his ass.

She waves off my concern, looking sort of pleased for some reason. "Pssh, no. I skedaddled out of there right-quick and called up C-Sec, told them some creepy guy was telling me to get in his sky-car with tinted windows, offering me candy. They handled it."

Sighing in relief, I shoot the young Asari an unamused look with half-lidded eyes. "I know you can take care of yourself, Mish, but seriously, lines." Lines that should not be crossed, even for a laugh.

She rolls her eyes, patting the small of her back. "I'm armed and I know how to use the gun you got me, Saul, I'm not helpless. You sound like Big Z, and I already have a dad, thank you." She retorts with a sour expression.

I reach across the table and grip the back of her hand, making her look up at me. "I'm not trying to be Zaalbar, Mish, but I am your friend." I tell her, as honestly as I can. "And I can't help it, alright? I want you to be safe."

She nods, tapping her fingers against my wrist. "I know. Oh, there's the food." Mission points to the waitress, who's carrying a tray with two plates on it, both containing a big old fashioned burger and a pile o'fries, with big cups of soda waving the glass, making the ice clink together.

After she sets the food down, winks at us and saunters off, I turn to Mission with a quirked eyebrow. "Burgers? This is your idea of a surprise? A pleasant, I'll grant, but still."

The young Asari shrugs, sipping her drink playfully. "Yeah, I just wanted to see your reaction." She reaches out and snags one of my fries, quickly eating it.

"Dude." I deadpan, pointing at her plate, which is untouched. "You got a whole plate full of fries, and you steal one of mine. What. The fuck. Little girl?"

She, maturely, sticks her tongue out at me and takes another one, sticking it in-between her lips to taunt me. I respond by reaching out a taking it back, popping it in my mouth. "Ha."

Mission blinks, looking surprised and…I think she might blushing. Huh. I snag one of her fries and stick it on my tongue, before eating it. She blinks again, "Hey!"

And then we get into a snatch-war, were we steal each other's fries as fast as we can. After a particularly trying engagement (she stuck a fry in my drink! And then ate it!), we look over to see that a pair of humans sitting at the counter are giving us very strange and amused looks. In synch, we waved lightly at them and then actually got down to the business of eating our meal.

Once every last fry was consumed and the last piece of grilled ground beef, tomato, lettuce, onion, pickle, cheese, ketchup and mustard laden was chewed and the dregs of our drinks were sucked down, we sat back with satisfied expressions.

"Hey, darlin', you young couple want anything for dessert?" The waitress asks, a weird glint in her eyes.

I give Mish a questioning look, and she shrugs in response. A thought hits me. "Hey, Mish, you want to get a milkshake to share?" I ask, not being able to control the smile that curls my lips.

Mission flushes a dark blue, starting from her cheeks and ending at her neck. "O-okay." She says quietly, her words skipping slightly before gaining strength. "Yeah, let's do that. A strawberry milkshake to share, please."

The waitress flashes a knowing smile at us. "One milkshake coming up for the cute couple." She winks at us and struts off.

I give a slightly bemused look to the young Asari across from me, and she shrugs, though she appears to be thinking deeply. I can see she needs some time. "I've got to go to the bathroom," I announce, standing from the table. "I'll be right back."

Having announced my intentions, I slide out of the booth and make my way to the restrooms. As I'm cracking open the door to the very modern crapper, my omni-tool chimes. Leaning against the wall, I pop it open to see a slightly-frazzled Zaira. "Zaira, nice timing. You look harried. Are you being harried?" I ask, wondering if I have the time to slip out the window, go help Zaira and come back in the window of pee-break. Probably not.

"Just a little bit." She answers unconvincingly. "Hey, uh, if it's possible, and not too much trouble, can you send Jade over here? I might need her help with something."

"Jade, can you do that?" I whisper to myself, making sure no one else is in the room with me.

"Jump across networks? Yeah, I can. I did with the Ardat on Eden Prime." She replies with confidence.

I nod and turn back to a sweating Zaira. "Yup, she's coming on through right now. Are you sure you don't need my help?" I ask seriously.

The cobalt-haired Commander gulps and shakes her head. "Nope-nope, just need Jade. I'll call you later!" And then she hangs up unceremoniously.

Huh. Have I made her mad, going to help Tara, then meeting Mission for lunch and Liara fro dinner later, instead of spending all day with her? She didn't say anything earlier, and she's honest enough that she would say if it did.

Well, it's not something to think about while I'm having a friendly lunch with a friend. I take it, put in a compartment, and then close the compartment to be opened later.

After I do my business, I step out slide back into the booth as the waitress drops off the milkshake, looking all cold and swirly and pink and delicious. And it has two bendy straws sticking out of the sides. I didn't know they made those anymore. I am going to have to buy some later.

Mission looks between me and the shake with trepidation, and I shrug at her and lean in, taking a drink of cold strawberry dessert. Taking a breath, she does the same, and we eat the treat rather quickly. I, of course, couldn't resist waggling my eyebrows at her, and she replied by licking her straw in a seductive way I didn't know she was capable of. Huh.

We finish and I pay for the meal, and we take to the streets arm-in-arm. "So, what do you want to do now?" I ask, stepping around a Turian on his omni-tool.

Mission shrugs. "I don't know, but I do have an idea…"

She trails off, so I nudge her side. "Which is…?"

"When was the last time you watched a movie?" Mission asks, looking up at me with a curious gaze.

Thinking back…it was a long time ago. Six, seven months, maybe. I tell her as much. "Well, that's what we're going to do." She announces, pulling me by the arm to a nearby transport terminal, calling a sky-car to our location. "We're going back to my apartment and watching a movie. I already have popcorn."

Well, it's not like I have anything to do for…six hours, so why not. "Alright," I reply, "Let's watch us a movie."

The ride to the apartment isn't all that long, and we're seated on the couch with a couple bags of freshly-made popcorn in less then ten minutes. Since I haven't seen one in awhile, I get to pick, so I scroll through the 'Classic' movie list and find something I remember enjoying a lot.

I hit the start button and lean back into the cushions, with Mission leaning on my shoulder as the movie starts.

"When I was a kid, whenever I'd feel small or lonely, I'd look up at the stars. Wondered if there was life up there. Turns out…I was looking in the wrong direction. When alien life entered our world, it was from deep beneath the Pacific Ocean…"

…

He had fallen asleep, she noticed, well before the credits rolled, snoring lightly. He had done so before, and usually it irritated her that he could just conk out like that, even in the middle of intense action scenes. It would take some effort to rouse him, but right now, she didn't mind.

Saul had ended up splayed on the couch, with her lying on top of him, her head buried in his shoulder. She shuddered lightly and slowly pushed herself up, bringing her face closer to his.

Licking her dry lips, she wondered if what she was going to do was wrong. It was, in some ways, she decided. He wouldn't react well if he was awake, because he saw her as Mission the teenager. Mission, Zaalbar's kid. Mission…the girl he wouldn't look at appreciatively like he did those other women.

She had time, a thousand years, potentially, and she was willing to wait until he took the younger-girl goggles off and saw her as a woman. But here and now…she couldn't hold herself back, not all the way.

Mission gulped nervously and slowly, so slowly, leaned in until her nose was alongside his, their lips just barely brushing together. Gathering her courage, she closed the tiny distance and gently pressed her mouth to his.

It was warm and somewhat soft, she noted, slightly disappointed. She had expected her first kiss to be more…explosive.

Then Saul, unconsciously, gently grasped her neck and returned the kiss in his sleep, pressing into her, and stars began to explode in her mind. She kissed him deeper, wanting to bring in more of what she felt, but knowing that if she went as far as she wanted, he would definitely wake up.

Withdrawing, Mission panted lowly, gazing down at his sleeping with glimmering eyes. She carefully let herself melt back on top of him, sighing in satisfaction as the warmth began to permeate her body.

…

It's not strange for me to wake up with the warmth of another body; though it is strange to do so while fully clothed. Blinking away the sleep, I take a deep breath and glance around the apartment, finding that the movie is long since over, and that the reason I have awoken is because my omni-tool is chiming, telling me that I have maybe thirty minutes until my other friendly date with Liara.

I can feel Mission sleeping on top of me, her chest moving with every breath she takes. Her head is kind of tucked under my chin, and she really resembles a living blanket at this point.

And while I am loathe to wake her, what with her cute sleeping face and all, I really do have to get going. "Mish," I whisper, gently shaking her shoulder. "It's time to get up."

She mumbles something sleepily, rubbing her nose against my chest. It's terribly cute, but seriously, I need to get up. I have to pee.

"Mission, sweetheart, come on. Wakey-wakey." Mission grumbles, whining under her breath. "I'm about five seconds away from giving you a wet willie."

That makes her move. She sits up on my legs, yawning a little and pouting. "Alright, I'm up."

I shuffle out from under her and make my way to the bathroom, and then I do my business. "Sorry I slept through a movie again," I apologize sheepishly. I was warm! It wasn't my fault!

Mission just shrugs, though her face is little bluer. "It's alright," She says, before giving me a tight hug. "It was good to see you again."

I return her embrace and press my lips to her temple in a friendly way. "You too, Mish. Say hello to the Big Guy for me."

She nods and looks up at me, leaning and kissing my cheek. "Call me, okay?" She asks seriously.

"Of course. Bye Mish."

Giving my young Asari friend a wave, I set off for the elevator and take it down, then I call a sky-car and set off for the 9000 blocks…my old stomping grounds. Man I feel old.

I set down the car and am instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia. There it is. My old office. Squeezed in between an antique store and a Japanese-Asari Cuisine. The letters have been taken off, but the building looks empty. I'm tempted to go inside and bathe in my memories, but that's not what I'm about.

Instead, I step into the restaurant next door. The dinner rush hasn't hit yet, so there's maybe five people inside, including the hostess. After confirming my reservation and being led to my table, I step into the back of the eatery and head to the manager's office.

The door is wide open, and I peek around to find a woman's back facing me. She's still wearing purple dresses around, though she seems to have gotten a haircut.

"Mary?" I ask carefully.

True to what I remember, Mary shrieks in surprise and spins around, looking at me with wide hazel eyes, a hand pressed to her heart. "Who-Saul?" She asks in shock.

I wink at her. "Hey Mary. Looking good." I say simply.

And then I get a face-full of purple-clad woman and a squeal of happiness in my ears. "Saul! It is you!" Mary yells happily, her arms tight around my neck.

I wrap my arms around her and lift her up. "Yup. It's me." I set her back down, and I can't help but smile. "It's good to see you again."

"You too! I mean, we've kept in contact with messages and everything, but it's good to see you in person." She replies, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "What are you doing here, though?"

I shrug and put one of my arms around her shoulders. "Well, one of my friends wanted to grab dinner, so I recommended this place. I even got a reservation and everything." Sighing, I look around the restaurant, us having strolled back out into it, and reminisce. "I remember when this was just a little place, and it was just you and that other lady as the cooks and waitresses. I'm glad to see you've had plenty of success."

"Me too." Mary says with a small smile. "So, who's this friend of yours? Is it this Zaira you told me about?"

"No, it's someone else. Her name's Liara, she's an Asari." Actually, I can see the robin's-egg blue of her skin tone coming in the door. "That's her, right there."

I wave to Liara, who approaches us with a polite, but questioning look on her face. "Hello, Saul, I hope I'm not late." She greets, frowning a little at the thought of being tardy.

"Not all, we're both early." I reply easily. "Liara, this Mary, and old friend of mine. Mary, this is Liara, a new friend of mine."

They shake hands and greet each other politely. "Well, Mary, it's good to see you again. I'll stop in tomorrow and we can catch up, alright?" I say, giving the woman a light squeeze.

"I'd like that." She replies with a bright smile. "Enjoy dinner, you two."

After she walks off, Liara and I get to our table and crack open the menus. I'm definitely getting the grilled unagi…and maybe a sampler platter for us to share. I relay my thoughts to the Asari across from me, and she agrees, and our orders are placed.

"So, how do you know the proprietor?" She asks, sipping from a cup of tea.

I shrug and lean back in my chair. "She was our first ever client, and after we helped her out, Mary would come around to make sure we would eat. My partner and I could get a little too focused sometimes, and we would forget to eat or drink like idiots."

Liara giggles a little at the dry expression on my face. "I've done that before," She admits with a rueful smile. "I'd get so drawn into my studies that I'd fall asleep suddenly, and wake up with a datapad stuck to my face."

We share a chuckle at our bad habits and fall into a companionable silence. Liara clears her throat. "So, Saul, I remember you showing me that one technique you created. Tether, was it?"

I nod in reply. "Yeah, that's it. What about it?"

She shrugs, looking embarrassed. "Well, I can't seem to…make it work. I can create a thin ring, but I can't use it for anything." Liara admits with a frustrated expression.

"Ah, I see. You saw the blue ring and thought it wouldn't take a lot of energy, right?" I say knowingly. "I probably didn't explain it right. Show me what you can make."

She leans forward onto her elbows, holding her hands out in front of her, a look on concentration on her face. Between her hands, a thin blue ring begins to take shape; though instead being the solid blue I make, hers is thin, mist-like and not able to do anything.

"Okay, I see your problem." I announce, leaning forward. "What you're doing is-"

The waitress stops by at that moment, dropping off our food. After she leaves, I start up again. "So your problem is, that you're not putting enough power into it. Here, watch this."

I hold up my hands and focus my biotics. Slowly, a thin ring, similar to the one Liara made, forms in between my palms. Then it starts becoming solid-looking, gaining a deeper blue color. "See, what I'm doing is taking a good amount of biotic energy and concentrating it into ring form, but I'm not making it a Push or a Pull or a Warp. It's just energy."

I let it dissipate, then point my hand at Liara's water glass, creating a Tether around it. "See, instead of making a field around the object, I use a technique on the ring. Like Pull," I curl my fingers, causing her glass to slide across the table to me. "Or Push."

I open my fingers up, pushing the glass into my other hand. "It took me a lot of practice, but by using very small Pushes and Pulls, I can make the Tethered object move how I want it to, like a rough form of telekinesis.." To illustrate my point, I manipulate her glass into doing a few laps around the table, though slowly. I don't want to accidentally chuck the thing at someone's head.

"Wow." Liara mutters as I set the glass back in front of her. "I've never heard of anyone doing something like this."

I think she's said that before. "Yeah, well, I'm a strange guy." I say casually, snagging a piece of sushi and tossing it my mouth.

She shakes her head, a fond smile curling her lips. "You definitely think differently than other people." Liara says kindly.

"That's one way of saying it."

We fall into silence once again, picking at our food. "You want to hear some stories?" I ask, looking up at her.

"I would like that."

…

I'm not sure how long we spent talking and eating, though I'm sure it was close to two hours.

"-And then he looked down at the Krogan, with the little rubber legs sticking out of his mouth, and said, 'I doubt that's the prescribed use of a rubber chicken.'"

Liara vainly tries to stifle her giggles, though she fails pretty badly at it, the amused noise easily slipping through her fingers.

"I don't think there actually is a prescribed use for a rubber chicken." I say, sipping the dregs of my water. We had long since finished off our meal, and are just killing time, now. "So, do you want to walk back to the Normandy?"

Composing herself, the Asari scientist nods demurely. "Yes, let's do that."

After paying the check, I hold my arm out, and she takes it with a light blush. We stroll through the Presidium arm in arm, taking in the sights and sounds of the night, the holographic sky showing a night sky.

We stop near one of the fountains, leaning against the railing. "Well, I had fun having dinner with you, and it seems like you did as well." I start casually, smiling at Liara.

She smiles back. "I did. I will admit, I've never been on a date before, but this was very enjoyable."

"I'm glad." I reply simply, nudging her shoulder.

A companionable silence fills the space, interrupted by the constant trickling of water. "Saul?" Liara asks, and I look to her.

"Yeah?"

"Can you…can you close your eyes?" She timidly asks, her cheeks flushing.

I blink in confusion. Why? "Uh…why?"

Liara gives me a slightly exasperated look. "Just…do it, please."

Shrugging, I stand up and close my eyes. After waiting a minute, I'm really wondering what the hell is going on. "If you're going to be push me in the water or something-"

My comment is interrupted by a pair soft, tentative lips meeting mine.

My eyes snap open, and all I see is the blue of Liara's eyelids. Her dark blue orbs flicker open, locking onto mine, and she takes a minute step back, blinking shock, her face a deep blue.

"Liara-"

Then she steps forward again, her hands seizing my collar and pulling me in. Shocked, I respond unconsciously, my hands coming up to rest on her hips. She passionately kisses me, her tongue brushing through my lips and tangling with my own, her hands tangling in my short hair.

She tastes kind of like sushi and green tea.

Liara breaks away, breathing heavily and licking her lips. She's staring at me, her eyes glimmering, and wipes away a small bit of saliva (mine or hers, I can't tell) from the corner of her mouth.

"…What?" I manage to gasp out. Why did she kiss me? And Christ, when did she get so forceful?

Liara blinks, looking away. "I…wanted to know how it would feel." She replies quietly. "I've seen you and the Commander kiss before, and you both looked so…content afterwards. I wanted to see if I would feel the same way."

My thoughts are still barely trundling along. "Did you?" Simple sentences are all I can manage.

She blushes heavily, turning away and crossing her arms in front of her shyly. "…Yes."

"Zaira." I say and ask at the same time.

Liara turns to me and kisses me again, my thought processes getting interrupted once more. "I know you have a relationship with her, and that you're going on a date tomorrow. After…we should talk, that's all."

She turns away, walking towards the Normandy's docking bay. "Goodnight, Saul." Her voice floats back.

…What?

…

…

…

A/N: Bam. Relationships are getting complicated, son!

So yeah, dates and whatnot. Some expressions of feelings and attachments, and just a ton of nostalgia. Yup, slice of life crap right there. Good thing I have practice with my Everyday Monster Girls story. Which you can find on my profile. It's called The Life With Monster Girls, and you should read it if you like me. It stars Saul Dewitt, but not this Saul Dewitt, a different Saul Dewitt who is named Saul Dewitt and just like this Saul Dewitt, that Saul Dewitt is a fictionalized version of my self, named Saul Dewitt, but unlike this Saul Dewitt that Saul Dewitt is a lot closer to reality. The reality of Saul Dewitt.

Have I confused you? Bitchin'.

So yeah, that story has taken off, and it's the last new thing I'm going to start for awhile. Not only because a bunch of stories at one time can be super stressful, I also have Pysch classes, which will invariably cut into my free time, so there's that.

Apparently, people find Saul hard to relate with because he never seems scared. Apparently, I thought people would pick up on some things, but I guess subtlety isn't everyone's strongpoint.

One, Saul does get scared. It was in the second chapter that he saw Sovereign descending from the sky above Eden Prime, and then I showed his reaction to getting scared: Getting angry. Then using that anger as fuel. He's been doing that the entire time. Any time he seems to be angry, it's because he's scared, but using it to keep him going by turning it anger and thus fuel. If he has the choice between crying in a corner like a scared little kid or getting angry and actually doing something about, I figure you know which one he would choose.

Second, I have come to the conclusion that long chapter are not my thing. Besides this story, and possibly the sequels, the chapters will fall around 5-6 thousand words. That way, I can actually write. See JotWE and the fact that it's been around since 2011 and takes a long time to update as an example of why.

So, don't ask me for long chapters, not unless you want to wait an inordinately long amount of time between chapters. Scrub.

And that's all I got for you today.

Review and tell your friends, why not? You could make both them and me happy, and you want that, don't you?

Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: Spelling, grammar and punctuation are all very important when you're writing, fellow authors. If it won't be accepted in English class, than make it so before you post it. I have my errors every once in awhile, but I don't have beta or anything, and I type fast. Not excuses, reasons.

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus