"I'm not, Vetra," clarified Sara. She turned and clapped a hand to Jon's arm.

"He's coming with."


Jon set the script down and sighed tiredly. The Director had been working them hard recently, and he'd only gotten three hours of sleep last night, but thankfully he was done for the day. Couldn't say the same for the others, though - Sara was out there somewhere, probably filming scenes of boring meetings with Jarun and Foster and Evfra. He wondered how she could deal with all the talking - though the scenes with Evfra were probably easier, acting opposite her real-life boyfriend...

"Credit for your thoughts?"

Jon, his vision darkening around the edges, tilting into the abyss that was sleep, leapt to his feet and whirled around, the blade flashing in his fist.

"WOAH, chill out, man!" The quarian leapt back, the silver arc barely missing him, holding his hands up. "Jon, it's me!"

Jon breathed heavily, glaring at the quarian for a moment before dropping back into the couch, sheathing his knife. "Ni yao shen me?" he muttered curtly, narrowly avoiding spitting the words.

"Wo? Mei shen me, just dropping by to see how you are doing," quipped the quarian, perching himself on the back of the couch and looking down at Jon. "Still jumpy, I see. You really need to relax, man. Lavi's getting worried about you."

"And what do you know about my personal affairs, you prying weasel?"

Raes had always gotten on his nerves, the shifty quarian once making off with Lavi's mask for a lark. While Lavi didn't need the mask to breathe - the onscreen weakness that all quarians have did not extend into real life - Lavi suffered from an anxiety attack soon after, halting filming for an hour while everyone hunted for the mask. And there was that matter of Raes getting caught red-handed, poking about in Scott's trailer...

Suffice to say, the quarian wasn't exactly on the friendliest of terms with just about everyone on set. Especially Jon, who was something of a big brother to the timid Lavi'Nara...

"Why, Jon, I'm hurt!" Raes held a hand up to his chest, leaning back for dramatic effect, his lilac eyes wide. "I did say I was merely checking up on you. After Max and Lace got laid off..."

"Yeah," mumbled Jon, remembering how his friends were notified that the production of Inquisition had been frozen. He still saw them from time to time, though, working on spinoffs by other Directors. "Alright, fine. I'm doing okay, just tired. Now please leave me alone so I can rest."

"Aw." Raes nimbly vaulted over Jon onto another couch. "So cold of you, Jon. I'm of the impression that you're friendly and easily approachable!"

Jon snorted. "That mask wasn't a joke, Raes. Since you're so good at prying, you should have known Lavi suffers from anxiety attacks. And you pissed Drack off, too, I should let you know. Ruzad's not a toy. He took three hours to dislodge that thermal clip..."

"Woah, woah, damn!" Raes sprang up, staring at Jon. "You told on me?"

Jon smiled, his forearm across his eyes. "Nope... not yet, anyway."

The quarian huffed and stomped away, throwing over his shoulder, "Fine, you prick. I hope you choke in your sleep."

Jon threw an obscene hand gesture at the quarian's retreating back before settling back into the cushions, intending to nap for a while. He patted his hip, to thank his blade for unsettling the -

His knife sheath was empty.


Sara concentrated hard. Moving her frigate here would open up her left flank to attack, unless... She narrowed her eyes and smiled deviously at Akksul, who narrowed his own eyes, chewing on his lip.

She made her move and threw herself back in her chair, shouting in triumph, "Check! I'll take that destroyer, Akkie."

Akksul gripped his control panel as he watched Ryder's frigate move in for the kill, tiny holographic shipboard missiles detonating against his destroyer, which fizzed and winked out of existence. "Skkut! How did I not see that..." He slammed a fist into his knee, looking forlornly at his diminished fleet.

Damn it, he thought he'd figured out Ryder's tells by now...

"Good game?"

Sara looked up and smiled, reaching up with a hand to cup her boyfriend's cheek, a quick kiss. "Hey. Yeah, Akkie here's getting the hang of it."

Evfra clapped a hand on Akksul's shoulder. "Paavoa, olaon. How far in?"

"Third stage. We've won one each," Akksul gestured at the tiered holoboard. "I find it far more challenging than anything we have, yalaon. You should try it sometime."

"I have, in preparation for some scenes," admitted Evfra, his eyes shimmering in the sunlight. Sara stared dreamily into them as the angara continued to speak, oblivious to his girlfriend's gaze. "You'll do well to master it, Akksul. It requires a lot of thinking."

"I concur, yalaon. She's tricked me three times already!" chuckled the onscreen Roekaar leader ruefully.

"RAES! YOU LITTLE F-"

The three of them tilted their heads up to where the recreation room was, Evfra blinking in surprise at the intensity of the shout. "That sounded like..."

"Jon," said Sara, settling back into her chair. "I've told Raes not to poke him, Jon's been working so hard these last few days, but of course does that idiot listen? Course not," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "What Jon does to him, I'm not giving a damn. I've warned him."

"I'm sorry, but who is this 'Re-yes you speak of?" enquired Akksul, confusion on his features.

Evfra patted Sara on her shoulder. "He's a quarian, Akksul. He's apparently -" Evfra's mouth twitched, in annoyance or mirth, Akksul couldn't tell, "- the lead actor for The Quarian Initiative spinoff. We're all getting roles soon, you, me, Sara here..."

"Hrmph. No wonder I've never heard of him. I thought he was that smuggler character on the Kadara set," Akksul snorted.

"It is interesting," conceded Sara, tapping her chin. "Him having a similar-sounding name to Vidal. Raes. Reyes. Ah, well. Who are we to question the Director, huh?" She shrugged. "Your move, Akkie."

A few minutes - and several destroyed starfighters - later, Sara's brow furrowed as something occurred to her. "Hey, Ev?" she looked up at Evfra, curling her fingers around his forearm. "What's the name of the Director for The Quarian Initiative?"

Evfra held a finger up, ignoring Akksul's pained grimace at the decimation of his fleet. "I believe it's a she. She goes by the name of -"


~AUTHOR'S NOTE~

Hello everyone! Once again, another non-canonical chapter, and yes, it's a BIRTHDAY GIFT to another of my friends, Gwyvian!

Again, any inaccuracies in ME lore are ignored for this chapter, for the sake of entertainment. Raes is indeed the protagonist of Gwyvian's new Andromeda fic, The Quarian Initiative. Do hop on over to her Fanfiction page or, even better, to her Tumblr page where not only you'll find The Quarian Initiative (for all you quarian fans out there), but also the following fics:

- Resistances and Dalliances (F!Ryder/Evfra), and its sequel;

- Less Resistance, More Dalliance (again, F!Ryder/Evfra)

- Heart of the Forge (F!Ryder/Akksul)

Fans of niche pairings, I do hope you find your itch scratched by Gwyvian's works.

Gwyvian, I hope you enjoyed this little gift! HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY, milady! *bows*