- Invite -

She looked herself in the mirror one last time, trying to correct the outfit best she could. Kelly had offered something more fitting for a finer event and Kasumi had hesitantly ageed. She was never one to sport dresses well in her own opinion but even she knew they wouldn't even let her in wearing her regular outfits. And she did intend to walk through the front door this time. She had ended up picking a cute turquoise summer dress with a faint floral pattern. It ended just below her knees. It made her look silly, she thought to herself, but with her other options being something that looked like you could hide half the party under it and a way too revealing fake leather dress, this one was definitely the only way to go.

She sighed and gave it one last go, patting down the dress along her hips.

"It'll have to do!" she said and threw her arms to the sides.

"And the hair?"

Tali sat with her feet up in the sofa and purred like a content cat, watching Kasumis display of wardrobe agony.

"It's fine as it is" Kasumi barked out while flipping her hair a couple of times.

Tali laughed. "It most certainly is not! How often do you dress up? Just for once, lets do it somewhat proper, shall we?"

She walked up to Kasumi and started pulling her hair this and that way. Kasumi sighed and tried to act like it didn't hurt. Tali tied Kasumis hair back into a loose bun and stuck some hair pins into it to keep it in place.

"There. It's perfect!"

A few strands of Kasumis dark hair fell into place, framing her perfect jaw. She watched herself for a while in the mirror and felt a bit surprised. She actually looked kinda cute.

"Hey, lucky you guys aren't going on a date or something cos I mean.. looking like that, you'd totally risk coming home with the same clothes tomorrow, if you know what I mean!"

Tali bumped her elbow into Kasumis side and pinched her arm. As she turned around, Kasumi tried her best to calm down her burning cheeks as they turned bright red, wishing she'd been wearing her hoody after all. Tali went back to the sofa and looked down on a glas on the table.

"So the content of my glass somehow magically dissapeared.." she said and picked up the glass. "But I also think that might be my cue to go. Kelly and Miranda are waiting anyway and we are going to go somewhere were Kellys slutty dress will actually be rather appropriate.."

Tali smiled, turned around and gave Kasumi a quick hug.

"Be home before midnight!" she said and walked out of the room.

Kasumi let out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind Tali. She looked back up in the mirror. Her face turned red again as her stomach started to tickle. It had been weird enough to ask Thane to "tag along", as she so gracefully ended up phrasing the invite. Now she stood there all dolled up for something Sarah was meant to do with Thane to begin with. Thane hadn't made much of an expression to read at the time. He stood silent for a while, looking past Kasumi. A few seconds later, he shook his head quickly as if to snap out of a daydream and gave her a heartfelt smile, accepting the invite. They had agreed to meet outside the entrance of the museum where the exhibition was held. She threw on a thin jacket and left.

Thane left Sarahs quarters with a heavy heart. Why would she not listen to him? He did have a good explanation as to why he was wearing his old wedding ring. In fact, he had put little to no meaning into wearing it other than out of old habbit, if anything, he convinced himself. Thane and Sarah had talked a lot about his past yet she still seemed so unwilling to understand. Or simply unable to. Thane was not one to give into heated emotions easily but this fact had him walking the edge. On his way down the elevator, he took a deep breath and slammed his fist into the elevator wall as he exhaled hard. He knew very well Sarah also had a difficult past and despite her being very level headed, she had a very hard time letting people close to her. Those she did, were often more or less forced to proove themselves loyal without a doubt at one point or another. He felt like he kept failing over and over. She inspired him. And she destroyed him.

He gathered himself and looked at the dent he had left in the wall. It was barely visible. He traced the dent carefully with his fingertips, emotions slowly settling. As the doors opened, Thane snapped out of his daydream and quickly made his way back towards life support. Noone was around. Not that it had mattered, he wasn't feeling social. He needed to calm down. Meditate. He stopped infront of the door and looked towards Kasumis room. The door was closed. He wasn't sure if he was hoping that she'd still be in his room or that she'd be back in her own. He opened the door to life support and slowly walked inside, carefully looking around.

No Kasumi in sight. To his surprise, he felt sort of disappointed. Her cup was still on the table. Mindlessly he picked it up. It was still warm, she had barely touched it. Placing it back on the table, he looked over at the bed. Had Kasumi not tried on that ring that very evening, maybe he and Sarah wouldn't have found themselves in this moment of miscommunication. But at the same time, he would probably have reacted the same way no matter in what way the rings would have found him. He let his fingers find it on his finger, slowly turning it as he sat down on the bed and pulled out the other ring from under his sleeve. The chain gracing his wrist matched the ring in color, both picking up on the light in the room, reflecting it beautifully. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Lavender.."

He looked at the pillow where Kasumi had slept earlier. He could still feel her smell on his bed. It tickled him unwillingly and he wasn't sure why. Unable to control himself, he carefully caressed the pillow, picked it up and mindlessly hid his face in it. He took another deep breath and hugged it closer. The emotions of frustration from earlier slowly melted into a calm he was rarely able to find anymore, the same kind of calm he usually only achieved through his meditation. He smiled to himself and placed the pillow back on the bed. He felt no need to meditate anymore.

He could hear footsteps outside his door. They were light. He knew it was Sarah. They did not stop outside his door but kept walking down the hall towards Kasumis room. Sarah visited her often, most of the times for a drink and a relaxing moment of gossip. How Thane hated the idea of her talking about him, especially with Kasumi.

He decided to try and take his mind off of things and pulled out the box from under his bed. He was instantly greeted with the sensation of something being out of place. The box wasn't exactly in the place he had left it, the lid wasn't closed all the way.
He got down on his knees and started examining the content. It was all there, only slightly out of place, just enough for his perfect memory to notice. It must have been Kasumi, who else, he thought to himself. It surprised him how little it bothered him. He didn't keep much in the sense of valuables in there but it still sent a chill down his spine as he picked up the datapad where he stored a lot of his precious personal messages.

He booted it up and was greeted with the last sent message from Sarah. He never really meant to save that one, it just so happened to transfer with the latest messages from Kolyat. He read the message again.

In a sudden sense of disoriented panic, he stood up and tried to view it from Kasumis point of view. Why would he care what she thought anyway? But this could most definitely be seen a sign of them having an intimate relationship. They only met up every now and then, it was nothing. Was it? That's not how Kasumi would translate this message, though. But so what?

He started pacing up and down the room and tried to gather himself. Why did he suddenly feel so flustered? He started looking through the other messages. Almost all of them were from Kolyat, just a handful from Sarah or any other member of the ship. And not a single one from Kasumi.

He stopped at the realisation. He had promised himself to be there for her, to mend what he once broke. And for such a small thing, to keep a personal message.. Not a single one. His memory left him perfectly fine without keeping anything of such, but to humans it meant a lot. Pictures, messages, small trinkets. It was almost as a way to decorate your everyday life. And his life showed nothing from her.
He wondered if she kept him close in any sense. The memory of seeing her with Keiji suddenly surfaced. He sat down on the bed, hand on his forehead. He recided it in his mind.

"I looked for her. I looked for such a long time. I find her, a woman. Keiji leans in and kisses her forhead. She whispers in his ear.."

He snaps out of his memory and looks down at the datapad, greeted by small drops ontop of it. The sudden greeting had him touch his cheeks in surprise. He was crying. He wiped the tears away with the back of his hand. Why was he crying?

Sarah walked passed his door again. She did not stop this time either. He sighed and put the pad back into the box. He felt frustrated and restless.

He decided to go splash some water on his face and made his way to the bathroom. The ship was quiet and he took his time enjoying the water running over his hands, cooling his face. On the way back he stopped at the kitchen to make himself some tea. As the water started boiling, Garrus came in. They greeted each other with a quick nod.

Garrus started looking uncomfortable, not quite sure how to stand. He was usually quite sure of himself but this time, he looked very out of place. Thane could feel the smell of whiskey on him the moment he stepped into the room.

"Something bothering you, Garrus?" Thane asked, willing to end the discomfort of Garruses attempt to find the proper way to lean.

Garrus still stood there for a while, almost like he was trying to find the right words.

"So Sarah comes by and shares this burning liquid she likes but.. she's always out that stuff and I figured she must have taken it from Kasumi.. But I'm not complaining! I gave her some of my own alcohol and to be honest, I had already sort of had a few myself. For the sake of calibrating my.. ehm, eyesight. But see, Sarah, she was kinda.."

Thane did not enjoy trying to keep up with the rambling of drunk people. It always left him somewhat frustrated. He let him talk, gesturing for him to continue.

"Yea so. She tells me some things I don't understand.. and I guess I shouldn't understand them.. but I kinda felt that maybe I should try to talk to you and solve things - does that make sense?"

Thane tried to keep calm. He smiled and shook his head. What had Sarah told him exactly? He knew she trusted Garrus a lot. They had a long history, after all.

"The thing is that.. I get you like her. Hell, I like her! A lot. And I thought she liked me too but these days, she only talks about you, it would seem.."

Thane tried to keep a straight face. He never imagined Garrus would have housed any kind or romantic feelings for Sarah, but somehow it made a lot of sense. Garrus tried to find a more comfortable way to stand, finding his balance anew.

"Not that I'm trying to say 'you're not allowed' or something. I just care for her and it hurts when she's angry or upset. You get it? Yea, you get it. So yes, I think that's solved. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to recalibrate. In the bathroom. Over there" he said and pointed. "G'night"

He slowly walked away. Thane stared at his back as he did and couldn't help but to smile. The way he would sum up this evening, would probably end up sounding like something a very drunk person would blurt out when really angry.
He turned back to his tea, determined to find some calm in the leaves.

As he stood there, he suddently got aware of someone elses presence. At first it had all of his senses on high alert, even though he knew there was no need for it. It was just a force of habbit. He stirred his tea slowly, letting his senses pick up on anything and everything. When the faint smell of lavender flushed over him, he could feel his muscles relax. He gave out a small sigh, blinking slowly.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked and took out another cup, not quite expecting an answer. "You did not finish your last cup, after all"

Kasumi uncloaked and carefully walked up to Thane, squeezing her own hands.

"Thanks, I'd love some" she said.

Thane stood quietly as he prepared the tea for Kasumi.

"Sarah she, eh.. she took my whiskey, so! I think.. tea will be a perfect substitute"

Thane smiled at Kasumis attempt to break the silence with humor and couldn't help but to comment.

"I am painfully aware. It would seem she shared it with Garrus. For his ever pleasant company, I would not consider him the best of such when drunk"

Kasumi looked at Thane with big eyes and bursted out laughing.

"You poor thing! And no way, drunk Garrus is the best. He's so wise and full of.. calibration plans" she said as Thane handed her the cup.

Thane smiled and took a sip of his tea. The warmth ran through his entire beeing and filled him with calm. Kasumi carefully took a sip as well.

"So we're gonna dock at the Citadel soon. I heared there's this book fair going on there.."

Thane suddenly felt cold. Had Sarah talked with Kasumi about him? Why else would she mention the book fair?

Kasumi must have felt the air growing thicker, Thane realised, as she paused and started focusing on her tea instead. He snapped out of it and tried to push the thought away.

"Yes, I've heared. It does look interesting" he finally said.

Kasumi looked back up on him and picked up the tickets, placing them on the counter between them.

"Well, this is the payment Sarah left for that very expensive bottle of whiskey. If you'd like, you could tag along!"

Kasumi smiled at Thane. He slowly lifted his gaze from the cup and aimed it towards the bathrooms. He was reminded of Garrus drunken speech.

".. Hell, I like her! A lot.."

Maybe it was his place only to admire Shepard from afar. She could not accept or understand his past. Garrus and Sarahs past were joined. They had an understanding for each other that seemed unreachable for Thane and her.

He quickly snapped out of this train of thoughts and looked at Kasumi. At that moment he could have lost himself in her eyes, staring at him. He traced her face along har jawline and stopped at her lips. He wished to ask about that tattoo of hers but it felt inappropriate.
He couldn't help but to smile. He almost felt like Kasumis curious nature had him curious as well.

"I would gladly go with you"