Randall Jacobs 3: Fly Too High
Written and submitted by Rockycombo
RJ runs his free hand through his thick, unaltered hair as he walks, the other being occupied with its fingers intertwined with Ress'. The quarian was moving basically hip to hip with him, allowing him to watch over her and return any glares thrown in her direction with intense vigor. RJ definitely wasn't the biggest guy around, but the threat gleaming in his eyes was enough to ward off any aggressors from the gray suited woman more often than not.
"You doing alright?" Ress asks as he fixes a fiery glare on a passing batarian whose eyes had squinted when he saw the couple. "You seem more upset than usual at the men checking me out."
Much to the quarian's satisfaction, RJ's lips curl into a smirk. The feeling doesn't last long, though. The smile quickly dissipates while straightens out his dark green hoodie. "We set aside a whole week to give the money we get from music purchases to the Alliance. To fight the fucking Reapers. And what happens?"
Ress sighs when she hears him start this again. He had been talking about this all week, and she had hoped that when the timeframe ended, he would drop it. There was no such luck. "There are less downloads than usual," she predicts quietly.
"There are less downloads than usual!" RJ exclaims, much more strongly than her. It's Ress' turn to smirk as the two of them round the corner and catch sight of the back door to Afterlife VIP. "So I'm pretty much pissed at anybody who's not us."
"What about Jollin?" she poked, bumping her hips against his playfully.
"Please don't remind me," RJ groans as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "That argument wasn't exactly pleasant. I still can't believe he doesn't think we make enough already."
"Well, I know we make enough to get drunk," she countered. Despite RJ's best efforts, he couldn't help but be cheered up at least a little bit by Ress. He tries his best to hide it as she continues. "Look, Afterlife's right over there. Let's go blow off some steam."
RJ sighs as if he's legitimately debating it. "Yea, sure," he agrees with mock exasperation that was easier to fake than he thought it would be, casting a wink over at her.
She grins beneath her mask in triumph as she pulls on his hand and leads him in the direction. Despite all of RJ's opposition, real and not, their arms were slack. He followed willingly; she didn't have to drag him.
The doorman didn't seem to be too happy to see her, and RJ was just about ready to punch him in his pretty little nose. "Sorry, lady, but you can't-"
"Jaruut," she practically sings at him, finally causing RJ to crack his lips in a real smile. The doorman grumbles at the password as he steps out of the way, and RJ has to work to keep his tongue in his mouth as they pass.
"You're so cute when you do that," RJ compliments softly as Ress continues her cheerful march with him in tow.
"Am not," she argues, and RJ is positive she's biting her lip under her mask.
"You can't deny it," he pokes back; his mood improved enough to let the look they got from one of the turian bouncers slide. Besides, outside of a few of the employees, nobody minded Ress once she was actually inside the VIP area. It wasn't exactly like one could sneak in, and the consequences for doing so usually deterred anyone who could manage it.
"I'll admit it as soon as you tell me what your issue is with all of this less downloads business," she returns as she glides through the crowd, her instincts from the fleet kicking in. RJ compared it to his friends who had grown up in a city back on earth; they could navigate through groups of people efficiently and smoothly. All he had to do was hold onto her hand and follow in her wake as she made her way straight towards the bar.
"I don't know, I just want to feel like I'm doing something to help," he answers with a mild sigh. "Nothing we try seems to be worth all that much."
Ress stops in the middle of the club, spinning in place and coming face to face with RJ. "At least you're doing something at all. You of all people should see that we're doing more than most," she says almost as if she's scolding him as she makes unfaltering eye contact.
"Not as much as Commander Shepard," RJ grumbles, casting his gaze down to the floor.
Shepard had basically become RJ's role model after he attended her funeral a little more than two years ago. The band did more events and charity performances than he ever thought they would. The only person who wasn't exactly happy about that was Jollin, but he still made do. It was tons better than earth.
"Well, we can't all be her," Ress persists as she puts a finger under his chin and lifts. "I'm fairly certain only Commander Shepard can live up to Commander Shepard's status," she adds with a warm smile after meeting his eyes again.
RJ returns the expression before leaning forward and lovingly pressing his forehead against where hers would be through the glass faceplate. A few asari give them a strange look, but the couple doesn't care. "Thanks," he mumbles, raising a hand to ghost over her neck.
"Of course," she returns, her own head tilting forward slightly from her blush. "Now come on, first round's on me," she continues as she turns back around and starts back towards the bar.
"First round?" RJ asks sarcastically as he follows right after her, squeezing her hand. "This whole thing was your idea. I thought you were paying for it all."
"Oh hush. Our credits are practically a joint fund at this point," she pokes back. And it was true, too. Their relationship had jumped straight into the fast lane after RJ broke up with Kacie, and within two months Ress had moved in with him. And with the decent flow of income from their music downloads and concerts played, money wasn't an issue for either of them. They were practically inseparable, hell, they even took self-defense lessons together. It was fairly necessary on Omega. Most of the time you couldn't even trust the bodyguards.
"Fair enough," RJ returns with a smirk. His lips rapidly straighten though, and his eyes skew into a look of confusion when he sees the bar. "Is that a new bartender? She's pretty good."
"What do you mean by new, exactly?" Ress asks with a huff. "We haven't been here and been able to drink in months."
"If only Wrok shared his secrets," RJ counters with a laugh. "I still don't know how he can drink and play at the same time."
Ress starts to giggle, covering the vocalizer on her mask with her hand. That was a habit she had picked up from their newest bandmate, Aleerah. Ress did make the act much more feminine though; Ally was the butchest asari any of them had ever met. She reminded RJ of a girl from his class when he was seventeen who was the biggest tomboy. Ever. She had made Kacie look girly. Wrok loved Ally, he was actually the one who suggested her for the band; but Jollin didn't know what to think of her after basically only knowing Lee. RJ had grown to like her, and Ress practically fawned over her. There weren't many people she didn't act like that towards, though. Although picking up a mannerism was a first, even if it wasn't for the same purpose as Ally of hiding the fact she was giggling.
Ally also happened to be the reason Ress was currently laughing. "Too bad Ally didn't believe us about his exclusivity."
"Too bad?" RJ laughs with mock surprise. "That was probably the third best night of my life."
"Third best?" Ress questions curiously, gesturing for a couple of drinks. The 'new' bartender was occupied with her flair routine, so they got one of the standard guys.
"Well, yea. The best was when we first came and played on Omega. And the second was when we...'linked suit environments,'" he explains casually, raising his newfound glass to his mouth.
RJ instantly feels his girlfriend's grip on his hand tighten to a near painful level. She didn't turn to face him, but he knew from experience that she was definitely blushing now. The fact that she was entirely focused on filtering her drink was pretty large tip off. "It hasn't even resulted in any significant occurrences yet," she whispers back as professionally as she can manage.. As much of a whisper one could pull off in a club, anyway.
It was true, all she had done was expose herself to some of his clothes and other possessions in a clean room by herself. "It's the prospect that entices me," RJ returns coyly with big words of his own. "I'd imagine my penultimate ultimate day will change when our efforts come to fruition."
"I love it when you talk dirty," Ress teases with a snarky grin, finally finishing sanitizing her drink and taking a sip. She made a point to slurp as loud as she could, causing RJ to smirk wickedly and lick at his lips.
"Tell your immune system to hurry up with its adjusting," he jokes with half seriousness before he downs the rest of his drink and takes a slow step even closer to her.
"Oh, get a room," a gruff asari voice comes from behind them before the owner leans up on the bar next to RJ.
"We've got a few, which one should we use?" Ress counters without so much as blink, turning towards the deep azure asari that she clearly recognized who was in a low cut, black tank top and tight-fitting pants. A collection of dark bracelets adorned the asari's wrists, and a belt hung loosely from her waist.
"You don't have much room to talk, Ally," RJ adds equally as casually, glancing over at their friend to gauge her reaction. "I saw how you were talking to Jollin the other day."
"Aww, fuck off," Ally grumbles, running a hand over her fringe before she motions at the bartender for a drink. "I don't even like salarian cock. Too slimy."
RJ has to force himself to keep a straight face at that one. "And that was too much information," Ress groans, shivering slightly against him.
"So I'm guessing you don't even want to know about vorcha," Ally deadpans in a flawless monotone, taking her newly arrived beverage and gulping down a quarter of the bright blue liquid.
"No," both RJ and Ress respond grimly at the same time in a deathly flat voice. They earn a dark laugh from Ally in return.
"Seriously, is there anything you haven't been with?" RJ questions, instantly cursing his curiosity in his mind. He didn't need to know what he had asked, but he couldn't help himself.
Ally's gaze finds the ceiling as she takes a few moments to think. "Volus and drell, but that's only because I can't find any."
"You must not be looking very hard if you can't find a volus," Ress pokes. RJ snickers, but at the same time draws Ress a bit closer to him in protection. Ally wasn't exactly known for keeping a level head; which was actually probably why she got along with Wrok so well.
Fortunately, she held it together without an issue. "Bitch, please. I could get any volus I want. I just don't want."
"Nobody's blaming you," RJ laughs, looking around to see if any of the plump little guys were around. That would have made it even better, but there was no such luck. "So what are you doing here?"
One of Ally's eyebrows rose quizzically. "You kidding, RJ? I'm here all the time. I should be asking you two that question."
"Eh, fair enough," RJ concedes, waving the bartender back over for another round of drinks. "So are you going to drink with us or what?"
"Nah, I just thought I'd come see you guys real quick. I've got a couple people who are waiting for me over there," she answers, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. RJ and Ress look where she pointed to find Jollin and Wrok sitting around a small table, talking and laughing.
"Very funny," Ress replies sarcastically as she turns back to face Ally.
"I thought so," she returns happily, finally cracking a grin. "So yea, we're over there when you finish your over the clothes action," she throws in with a chuckle, pushing off the bar and strolling back towards the rest of the band.
"Well, you heard the lady. Where were we?" RJ says as he turns back to Ress, making sure to be loud enough for Ally to hear. He can practically hear the asari's eye roll.
"I think we should listen to Ally and wait until we can get to our room," Ress tells him, squeezing his hand before starting to follow after Ally. "Come on."
"But Jollin's over there," RJ whines playfully, holding his position and tugging gently on her arm.
"Getting drunk will make it easier to talk it out," she persists, pulling on his arm harder. He relinquishes his opposition with a dramatic moan, letting his head hang low as he follows after her.
"I better be getting some amazing sex for this."
"I can help you with that if she doesn't cooperate," a new voice sang happily, sliding up with her back against the bar and stopping them before they got too far away. The owner of said voice was wearing a sleeveless top, heavily decorated with flowing designs of silver and black, as well as a pair of narrow gray slacks.
He grins wickedly over at her, turning around and brushing off Ress' subtle pout. "Hey, V. Been a while," he greets cheerily, bumping his shoulder against the newly arrived Vanessa Valentine. Despite the woman's reputation, she and RJ had actually managed to meet on terms that weren't about 'business.' Seeing as how RJ had had a girlfriend the entire time he'd lived on Omega, he hadn't exactly needed her services. He had grown to be good friends with Vanessa, almost entirely through seeing her at Afterlife. Ress wasn't exactly happy about, even with RJ's assurances that her friendliness was purely platonic. But then again, Ress didn't really like it when he talked to any girl who was anything more than professional with him. She could put up with it most of the time if RJ made sure to stay in her sight, but Vanessa pushed her limits for reasons he had no idea about.
"Hello, Miss Valentine," Ress also greets, but not quite as happily as RJ. It sounded pleasant enough, but compared to Ress' general enthusiastic introductions, it was a bit lacking.
"What did I tell you about calling me that?" Vanessa asks, displaying a dazzling smile for the quarian as she orders her usual apple juice.
"The same thing I told you about offering things to RJ," she replies. Again, it wasn't exactly said in malice, it might have even been able to be taken as a joke. But just the fact that it wasn't chipper or bright put RJ off. He looked over at her and began arguing silently. He shifted his eyes toward the table with their friends. She raised an eyebrow at him; luckily something only he and a few others could read consistently. He protruded his lower lip in a pitiful frown. She raised her nose. He squeezed her hand, making it more drawn out and softer than usual.
That all happened in the course of a few moments, before Vanessa could respond. "I think I'll head over there," she relented with a point, pretending as if she were talking to RJ. "It was nice to see you."
"You...too?" Vanessa responds somewhat confusedly, waiting until Ress is out of earshot before continuing. "What was that all about?"
"Got me," RJ answers with a shrug, leaning against the bar casually. Vanessa was about the only person beside Ress that he could talk to easily regardless of topic. RJ had decided it was because of their closeness in age along with the fact that she wasn't in the group of people he immediately surrounded himself with. "She doesn't seem to like you for some reason."
Vanessa's features twist into an expression of skepticism. "What? I haven't even done anything," she insists as she innocently sips from her juice held in both hands.
"I know!" RJ exclaims as he throws a hand up, relieved that at least somebody is on his side in the argument. "I try to tell her that, but she won't listen."
"Maybe she's jealous of me," Vanessa suggests cheekily as she subtly flips her hair.
"Oh, shut up," he orders with absolutely no force, smirking over at her. Of course she would go there. She sticks her tongue out at him, which he pointedly ignores. "By the way, is that a new bartender?" he questions, referring to the flair bartender still twirling glasses and containers in every direction.
"Sort of, she's been here for a little while," she answers with a mild shrug. "She's really good, you should go say hi."
"I'm not nearly drunk enough for that...yet," he replies, taking a gulp from his drink.
"I don't mean like that!" she exclaims in exasperation, throwing her head back.
"Aren't you the pimp? What other way can you mean?"
"I hate you," she grumbles into her own beverage. RJ only laughs happily in response; pushing her buttons was always rewarding. She hums into her drink suddenly, remembering her excuse for coming over. "When are you guys performing here again? I want to set up some more advertising; you don't get all that much outside of your own site."
RJ counts off days on his fingers, mumbling to himself. "We've got another gig here in four or five days, I think. I'll have to check the site," he adds in sarcastically, failing miserably at hiding another smirk from her.
"I'll check it too, and remind you in a few days," she snarks back without missing a beat. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your guys. Good to see you!" she says as she steps away from the bar.
"Whoa, where are you off to?" he calls after her. He was fairly certain she had something about bringing his friends last time they talked, and he straightens his posture in case he needed to run after her.
It turned out he didn't need to though, she spins back around in place before getting too far. "Back to my table?" she responds as if asking for permission. "Why?"
"Oh, ok. I just thought it might be lonely over there, and, y'know, my table's pretty full," he says in mock timidness, jerking his head towards the table full of his band. He didn't even need to look to know a certain quarian was probably casting glances over at him. "But if you want to go sit all by yourself..."
"Not really," she admits, stepping back over to the bar. No reaction, so copying her wasn't a good way to get her riled up. He stored that away as she continued. "But..."
RJ finishes her sentence for her after she trails off. "Ress is over there?" She answers with a solid nod, fiddling with the rim of her glass. "Well, then you can sit on the other side of the table," he adds casually, doing his best to assure her that it would be no big deal through his tone.
"Am I allowed to use biotics if things get out of hand?" she asks, almost as if she meant it seriously.
He smirks over at her, and discreetly pokes her in the ribs, receiving a light glare for his effort. "Only if you want an angry krogan sicced on you too," he reminds as he raises his glass to his lips.
"Ah, good point. I prefer to keep krogan under me."
RJ suddenly chokes on his drink, sputtering into the rich brown liquid with force. He tries to hide his laughter, he really does, but there was just no hope. She stares at him in mild concern for a moment before her eyes bug out in realization. "For the love of- not like that!"
"I didn't say anything," he gasps out through ragged breaths, remnants from his laugh still fighting their way through. "So what are your preferences with asari?"
"I'm going to go sit at my own table," she threatens in frustration, her voice practically a growl as her shoulders hunch up for seclusion.
"Oh come on, I was kidding," RJ finally relents, tilting his head to the side as an attempt to gain pity. "Shouldn't you be used to it anyway, being the pimp and all?"
"Not when it's about my own life," she explains, obviously cooling down. Her tone was softer and her posture went more relaxed.
"I suppose that's fair," he admits, glad to see her body relax even more at his letting up. "I'll make sure not to bring it up with the guys," he adds with a warm smile, gesturing for her to head over to the band's table. It would be easier on Ress if they arrived at different times. He ordered another round of drinks for their group before following Vanessa, grabbing a pair for Ress and himself separately.
Vanessa's voice was the first he could make out "...no, Wrok. I'm not here to talk business."
RJ grins subtly as he takes the seat to his girlfriend's left, putting the dextro drink down in front of her before lovingly placing his hand on her knee. Wrok was to RJ's right, and Vanessa was directly across from the guitarist. She was sitting between Jollin and Ally, who were both hiding amused expressions of their own.
"I need to tell you," the krogan persists. He would never readily take no for an answer. Ress rolled her eyes after making sure Wrok couldn't see before she shifted her seat closer to RJ and made their legs touch beneath the table. "The last woman you set up for me, she was-"
"Look, I'm not talking about it now," Vanessa insists. Wrok's expression twists into a mixture of anger and confusion. For a short, squishy, human woman, Vanessa had quite the quad.
"I'd listen to her, big guy," Jollin suggests as he leans back in his chair, already accepting the spectacle as over.. "She might cut you off entirely."
"She wouldn't dare," Wrok hisses, glaring at Vanessa as if she was the one who had said it.
"You really think so?" she returns as she leans forward in her seat. Wrok matches her move for move, down to the narrowing eyes, but she was unfazed. The staring contest went on for all of five seconds before RJ snickered. Loudly.
Wrok rotates to face him, his face barely softening at all. "What?"
Jollin has to contain a laugh at Wrok's fierceness. It was pretty common knowledge among them that Wrok wouldn't even consider hurting any member of the Dissenters without extreme provocation. Much more extreme than a single threat relating to women. He was probably putting up an act to look tough in front of Vanessa, which was oddly endearing. "Nothing," RJ answers calmly. "Just remembering something V said."
Vanessa's eyelids fly open and panic emanates from her posture. "And that is?" Ally asks, clearly intrigued by this new development.
"I can't tell you, I'm sworn to secrecy," he returns cheekily, grinning at the asari gleefully. She grumbles a few curses under her breath as Vanessa flops back in relief. But all eyes move to Ress as she clears her throat conspicuously, looking over at RJ with suspicion. And in the next instant, everybody's pupils shifted to RJ to see how he'd respond. "Well, I can tell you," he says sweetly as a reply to her unvoiced question in a way that he was sure would make everyone else inwardly groan.. "Later," he adds, massaging her leg reassuringly. She relaxes at his rapidness and openness in responding. Vanessa has the opposite reaction though, and RJ casts an apologetic shrug and grin combo at her after her quiet sigh.
"Let's just move on," Vanessa throws out, somehow sounding forceful and like she's pleading at the same time. Jollin glances over at RJ with a look that says Really? You can't tell me? But a glance was all it was, and it was gone as soon as it came. It was there long enough for RJ to see though, and to remind him that he needed to talk to Jollin. And not about their sex lives.
"So you're the pimp here?" Ally questions, glad to take the reins on the conversation. "Wrok's been holding out on telling me."
The krogan lets out a guttural growl. He had told RJ: there was a reason he hadn't told Ally about someone who could get her people to sleep with. But there wasn't much he could do in the situation now. RJ punches Wrok in the arm as Vanessa answers cheerily, and the krogan instantly goes into a silent tantrum. "Sure am."
"I'm imagining you stay busy on a place like this," Ally returns. Ress turns to RJ and raises her eyebrows at him, almost as if accusing him of being involved in that service. He puts his free hand over his heart and staggers back as much as he can while sitting down. She swats at his leg, but he tenderly catches it with the hand that's already on hers. RJ grins at her devilishly when she doesn't struggle, and she has to quickly turn her head to make sure he doesn't see her own smile.
"You don't know the half of it," Vanessa laughs, tucking some of her hair behind her ears. "What about you? I know RJ and Ress, and of course Wrok, but I haven't really had a chance to meet you." The couple return back to reality at their names, suddenly paying rapt attention to the conversation again.
"There's not much to tell, at least not when meeting new people," Ally answers with a shrug.
She wasn't being evasive, just most of her life was too dark and personal to talk about casually. It had taken Ress herself a few months to coax the asari's life story out.
"Well, how did you join the band?" Vanessa continues, taking a different branch in the conversation. RJ was glad he didn't have to break out the 'abort' gesture. Or the 'abandon ship' one. He was still trying to work out a gesture for 'nice knowing you,' but luckily the situation didn't call for that either.
"Me and Wrok met a couple years ago, after he and these guys played some dump a few hours from here. He mistook me for somebody else he had...ordered, I guess. I hadn't been laid for a few days, so I figured 'fuck it.'"
"Literally," Jollin whispers to Vanessa, causing her to cover her mouth to hide a else heard, but RJ whispered the same word to Ress at nearly the same time. The quarian's reaction was just better hid beneath her helmet.
"Har har. Anyways, when I told him to call me, I think he finally figured I wasn't who he thought I was. Funny enough, he actually did call me. We stayed in touch and got to know each other. So he knew about my music, and when that Kacie chick left and they needed someone to replace her, RJ called me from Wrok's suggestion."
"See what my job can do!" Vanessa announces proudly to nobody in particular. "I bring people together!"
RJ and Jollin cast a glance at each other. "...literally," they say at the same time before laughing quietly. Ress and Vanessa only roll their eyes. Maybe working things out with Jollin wouldn't be so bad.
RJ didn't know how he ended up at the bar. He could remember Ally's request (if it could be called that) for drinks and the group's general agreement, and then next thing he knew he was standing across the counter from a wiry little girl in a red jacket who had called herself Lotus. RJ knew he had introduced himself as well, but he couldn't remember that part either. He had been mesmerized by her flair performance, and in his drunken haze, containers seemed to straight up appear and disappear before his own very glazed over eyes. But he was here now, and he had managed to recall why he came. "Can we get some more drinks?" he slurs, putting in his best effort to sound at least somewhat coherent.
Lotus raises an eyebrow at him suspiciously. "You don't think you've had enough?" she asks.
"Not blacked out yet," he answers, nodding his head sagely. He tries to wink, but ends up awkwardly blinking a few times instead. "Plus, Wrok's over there."
"And Wrok is?" she questions with mild curiosity. The fact that she wouldn't know Wrok completely flew over RJ's head.
"Uh, he's our bassist," he returns like it's common knowledge, rolling his eyes at her apparent ignorance.
"I don't see how that-"
"Krogan."
"Oh, maybe you should have sent him over instead," she snarks back. Maybe she wanted to play too, maybe she just thought RJ was being a jerk.
It falls a bit flat on him regardless. He's not really in a state to picking up more subtle meanings. Or read them correctly even if he could pick them up. "That's what I was telling them! But Jollin said he wasn't allowed."
"I'm not even going to ask who Jollin is," she tells him, probably hoping that'll he'll just stop and go back to his table.
There was no such luck. "Good. He's been a total ass lately. I mean, he's like my oldest friend, but he's changed. It used to be about the music, but now it's all for the money. He was the only one to...not...like...the week we did to donate to the Alliance so they could fight the Reapers better, and-"
Lotus, who had obviously (to everybody but RJ) not been paying attention to him at all, finally glanced up from her drink mixing. "Wait, what was that?" she interrupts.
RJ's train of thought goes completely off the rails. He stares at her with wide eyes for a few moments, confused as to where to go next. "Jollin's an ass?" he restates lamely, earning a groan from the exasperated bartender.
"Not about your friend, about the Reapers!"
"Oh!" RJ exclaims, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the bar. "See, we did this thingy for a whole week where we gave our proceeds to the Alliance. The point was to help fight the Reapers, y'know, since Commander Shepard told everybody about them. She was with the Alliance, so we figured that would be the best place to give help to," he rants, hand gestures going wild as he tells the story.
He goes still when she ominously places a hand on his arm, though. Still and silent. "Sorry to tell you," she cuts in, and she does genuinely sound sorry too. "But the Alliance isn't doing shit to fight the Reapers."
RJ narrows his eyes and stares back, evaluating her honesty. He's not exactly at his full capability for that task, but he could tell this Lotus lady was telling him the truth. "What do you mean?" RJ asks timidly as he defensively crosses his arms on the counter's surface. Even if it was truth, he wasn't going to accept this turn of events lying down.
Lotus sighs, whether from sympathy or annoyance RJ couldn't tell. "Ever since Shepard died, the Council's been keeping all that she unsurfaced under wraps. Dismissing all of her claims as delusions from stress or some other BS. And that extends to the Alliance, too. They're literally doing just about nothing to fight the Reapers, and even most of their efforts against the Collectors are half assed."
RJ stares blankly for a few seconds, his processing cycle taking a bit longer than usual. "So...all that money..."
"Probably went to line some general's pocket," Lotus finishes for him, releasing her gentle grip on his arm to return to making drinks.
They stand like that for a quite some time; what felt like half an hour in RJ's purple haze. It couldn't be true. He was already upset with how little they had done, that it had done even less than he thought crushed him. "How do you know all this?" he questions, clinging desperately to any hope that Lotus is lying. Or making a joke. Any slight chance that all of his work to make money and the resulting stress on relationships was for something worthwhile.
"I know people who know the Alliance," she explains vaguely. "One of them's at your table, actually. I'm surprised she hasn't mentioned it."
"Don't usually talk about this," he mumbles at a volume barely loud enough for Lotus to hear. RJ had quickly shifted down to depressed drunk, and a subtle pout had settled in on his lips. He lowered his head to rest his chin on the backs of his hands. He didn't feel like doing much of anything after this news. "Drinks help. Can we get some more of those?"
Lotus offers him a small, apologetic smile. "Sure. It's on the house," she responds as she motions for one of the other bartenders to come over and assist her.
"Thanks," he grumbles under his breath. It was more out of habit than genuinely meaning it; and even that was forced. He watched the platter come, but still didn't move from his spot at the bar. What was the point? What would come from passing out in some club? Despite hating the thoughts that were running through his head, he couldn't justify changing them. Lotus became distracted with something else for a little while, but quickly came back and found him sitting in place sullenly.
"You alright there?" she asks him as she continues about her general tasks.
"Not really," RJ says with a shake of his head. No point starting to lie now. "You believe Shepard about the Reapers, right?"
"I don't go announcing it from the rooftops, but yes."
"So what do you do about it?" he asks. And he's not really sure why he asks. Maybe sharing his own questions and thoughts could help him work through them. Maybe he was getting back at her for sharing the information that all but shattered him. Maybe misery just loved company.
Lotus seems caught off guard by the question. The containers in her hands freeze, and she stares off into space as she thinks. RJ waits patiently, it's not like he has anything better to do anyway at that point. "In all honesty, I don't know if I'm going to make it to see their arrival," she says in a quiet tone. "But I was there when the Citadel was attacked. I know what I saw. And all I can do right now is hope that the rest of the galaxy gets their heads out of their asses to save themselves."
A silent nod is the only response RJ gives before pushing off the bar and shambling back over to his table. His body was there interacting with his friends, but his mind had gone to a different place entirely. Thoughts swam around in the pool of alcohol that was his brain. Thoughts about the Reapers, about his band, about his life. Hell, his thoughts even dared to venture into the deep end, where he thought about Kacie and his parents. He was looking for something. He didn't know what exactly, but his mind wouldn't stop until it found whatever it was. The night dragged on, and the gears in his head kept on whirring well after he returned home and drifted off to sleep with Ress wrapped up in his arms.
Really the only reason he had managed to fall asleep was because, after seeing Commander Shepard walking around the bar, he figured it would be better to wait until he was sober to think through everything. He knew it couldn't really be Shepard herself. The woman was dead and gone. It was probably a delusion; nobody wore armor to clubs anyway.