Diplomatic: having or showing an ability to deal with people in a sensitive and tactful way.

Saren had thought that time would possibly ease Jane's volatile mood. She'd been incredibly... displeased, before she'd left for her shift. Though she continually assured him that he hadn't been too rough on her, he clearly had. He'd had to carry her everywhere as she could no longer move of her own volition.

He hadn't bothered to comment on that, the satisfaction would have been too difficult to hide.

But upon entering Nilia's and seeing the infamous blue formal turian attire at the bar he knew she would likely be even more displeased.

Sparatus.

Whilst Pallin generally showed a professional detachment towards humans and he himself had grown increasingly apathetic to their continued presence in Council space, Sparatus actively went out of his way to antagonize them.

He was... spiteful for a turian. Which was ironic in his mind. He'd always thought spite had always been a predominantly human virtue.

Judging by the blank look that Jane sent him as he made eye contact with her, he had been somewhat successful.

And there he'd been hoping that she'd be in a better mood when they left together.

He took a seat next to Sparatus who was sending some messages on his omnitool between sips of his kava. There was no indication of noticing him from Sparatus though Jane began to make him a cup of kava.

"Saren."

"Sparatus."

Sparatus spoke once more once Jane had passed him his kava without a word and left to the other side of the bar to speak with Nilia.

He'd have frowned if he was alone. She usually lingered to spend time with him and it took considerable willpower not to express his annoyance at Sparatus. As far as the galaxy was concerned he still hated humans, though he could slightly tone that down so that when his relationship with Jane was exposed, and it would be eventually, the backlash wouldn't be so harsh for her.

"I wouldn't imagine that a turian of your stature would accept kava from a human, let alone allow one to sleep in your arms."

If he was human, he'd likely have rolled his eyes in response.

Maybe he'd portray a more sympathetic picture of Jane that Sparatus had experienced to indicate a slight shift in his own opinions of humans.

"Her kava is quite good, even for a human and your sub-vocals are more than telling of your opinion of it." Sparatus's frown in response sent an almost tiny shot of glee through his veins. Was this what Nihlus had felt, but on a much larger scale, all those months ago?

"Her manager had offered me five years worth of free kava from the human barista in exchange for looking after her whilst she slept. As distasteful as it had been, it was more than a worthwhile exchange."

It wasn't particularly hard to lie. Though describing the time as distasteful left him with an almost bitter taste in his mouth. He'd enjoyed it even then.

Sparatus gave an impatient hand wave as if her kava was inconsequential.

Deluded.

"Regardless of her skill in making kava, she was incredibly disrespectful to me."

He could definitely see that as being true. She had been disrespectful to him as well, though he had provoked her admittedly.

"She is as respectful to you as you are to her." Sparatus didn't miss the subtle jab but he didn't frown again. It was likely true. It was good to see that the turian sense of accountability for one's actions was still present in Sparatus, even when dealing with humans.

He wasn't completely lost to his hatred of them, like he used to be.

"In my initial interactions with her she gave me a certain amount of patience that I did not return. She even thanked me after looking after her. It was a surprise. Over time I have grown to.. accept her presence. She is generally pleasant, for a human."

"Spirits... not you too. Pallin has been panicking ever since he heard she was a medical engineering doctorate student. He's had his assistant watch her file, for Spirit's sake since he'd found out, in case she tries to find another job. He fears that she plans on leaving the Citadel as salarians dominate any form of medical research positions here. At times I fear that her kava has hallucinatory properties with the way he rambles and raves about it in our vid calls."

Saren was tempted to laugh. He had thought that his addiction to it was bad, well it was bad, likely worse... he'd ended up in a relationship with her partly because of it.

Sparatus was looking down at his cup like it was a bomb, mandibles tightly held against his face and eyes unnaturally focussed on it. Was it ticking in his mind? Showing unnatural readings of electrical activity on his omnitool?

It didn't stop him from taking another sip. Blissful oblivion.

"After drinking it I attempted to make conversation with her, and if she hadn't been resistant and so.. human, it likely would have been pleasant. A human who could make kava like this... I found myself thinking that she could possibly be an... exception."

She was definitely an exception in his opinion of humans. His only exception even. Though her brother was... surprisingly formidable. Whilst he didn't particularly like John Shepard, he certainly had his respect.

"She is an exception in my mind. Though that is not a unique opinion, most of her turian customers have a... soft spot for her in their own way. Look at Nilia for example, it is clear that Nilia is incredibly fond of her."

There she was, stood besides Nilia talking intently to her wearing those tops she'd favoured lately that covered his marks completely. Nilia had been serving a turian male, but had completely stopped to listen to her which was incredibly rude but neither her or the male cared. The male was even chiming in on the conversation.

He hated the clothes she wore since he marked her, though he understood their necessity. Neither of them were ready for outside opinion, not with the Normandy ceremony so close at hand.

Sparatus's sigh was one of defeat. Exasperation even.

"Even you are lost to her... charms? Or her kava? Likely both. I thought you hated humans, Saren. I still recall what happened to that human captain, Anderson was it, you were training maybe two decades ago."

The memory of that angered him. His blood boiled at the humiliation he'd suffered as a consequence. Both at the recollection of being chosen to train a human for Spectre candidacy and being sloppy enough to be caught sabotaging one of his training missions. The Council had been incredibly cold to him for at least a decade afterwards. It had been incredibly hard to gain back their trust.

He was still generally given missions far from human territory.

"What did my defiance gain me, Sparatus? The Council's censure and widespread distrust from both asari and salarian Spectres. Even some of the turians were angered by my actions as they reflected so badly on the Council. It took a lot of bartering with Alliance personnel to keep it under wraps. I was barred from all missions in the Skyllian Verge and other human territories until the humans gain a Spectre. The only reason they didn't immediately have my position terminated was due to my skill... no. Humans are here to stay whether we like it or not, Sparatus. Quentius and Tevos have ensured that."

It had been easy to maintain his resentment for humanity after all of that. He'd stopped blaming humans for his brother's death a long time ago, his own hubris had condemned him to death. Being the one to have to give the order for the orbital bombardment of the Palavenian Temple had left scars.

They had been close.

"I see..." And it seemed he did by the sombre tones in his subvocals, almost apologetic even. He didn't want apologies. Just acceptance and for him to leave Jane alone.

"We are artefacts of a forgotten time, Sparatus. Opinions of humans continue to improve with time and ours prove increasingly unwelcome. Your rhetoric will likely polarize more than it will influence. I have grown to show restraint. As long as you remain in Citadel space you should do the same."

When Sparatus sighed he couldn't help but join him. If his 19 year old self, newly made Spectre, could see him now he'd likely be disgusted.

He couldn't exactly find the inclination to give a damn. He was just uninformed about kava and a certain human female.