Thirty-Six: Veneer
The ground was too far away from the asari café on Illium. Looking down was like looking into an abyss of light and skycars. The building was one of Illium's tallest, with the café only two floors below the top, and Joker was beyond nervous.
He almost cheered when Mara wasn't recognized at the door. For the sake of her pride, she'd argued for twelve and a half minutes before the hostess received a message from Liara T'Soni stating that Mara had a reservation.
"Here's to having friends, huh?" Joker had quipped before taking the first sip of his inordinately expensive wine.
It was taking an unusually long time to get their dinner, but Joker didn't mind. He would glance around, look at Mara, try to keep his elbows off the table, then look at Mara again.
He wanted to tell her how good she looked. Her skin had color; her eyes had life. It was like she'd been behind a wall since she returned, and finally, that wall was breaking apart.
Earlier in the day, she'd cut her own hair – somehow managing to get it looking halfway decent – in a sort of asymmetrical bob. The last time he'd seen her, it was past her chin. Now, one side only reached the bottom of her earlobe and the other hugged her jawline.
With another gulp of wine for courage – courage Joker wouldn't have thought he needed two years ago – he did tell her.
Her forehead creased and her eyes revealed disbelief. "What?"
"I said you look great, Mara."
She paused and frowned. "I'm only wearing eyeshadow and chapstick. I borrowed this dress from Kelly. I cut my hair by myself. How does any of this make me look great?"
"You look different, but it's a good different, y'know? You look like you're not as worried."
She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My feelings have been so inconsistent. One minute, I'm angry, the next, I'm almost crying. Later, I don't even care."
"We're all entitled to screwy moods. I have screwy moods. I had three spoons of sugar in my coffee this morning."
"I barely know how I'm feeling right now." Mara sighed. "I know I'm happy to be out like this, but—"
"You should be feeling like you won the lottery!" he interjected. "I don't take time out of my busy schedule for just anyone."
Mara responded, but said something entirely against what she'd planned. "I don't remember getting any tickets for the dating lottery."
Joker bit his lip. He noted her half-shocked, half-apologetic expression and leaned his elbows on the table despite glares from the waitresses. "If you told me I was going on a date, I might've even brushed my hair."
"Your unbrushed hair makes me feel comfortable."
"Tied my shoes?"
"You're not wearing any laces."
"Worn something other than a beat-up band shirt?"
"I'm sure the Darling Gargles have fans here."
Joker leaned back, satisfied with Mara's new smile. "Then I guess I'm just too likable."
A.N.: I know I'm late with an upload and I didn't even say anything. I'm so sorry, guys! Pretty much the only excuses I have are no inspiration and too much Inquisition. So I'm uploading early as a treat and I hope this can fill in for last week as well. I really like the chapter, so I'm hoping you guys do too. Please let me know what you thought of it!
This chapter was supposed to be something entirely different than it was. Originally, I described Mara's thought process as she cut her hair, because that was supposed to be pretty interesting, but I couldn't find a way to make it work with the rest of the chapter. Then, she was actually supposed to get into a fight with Joker, not... this. Blame them for it; I didn't make the decision. :)