Traynor glared at Polgara, hating the asari more than she ever had before. The acid seethed in her belly as she regarded the smirking blue features, the casual nonchalance about everyone around her.
More than that, she felt the sting of the comment as if it had been a personal attack. Nothing to be afraid of. She'd heard Shepard jump—and belatedly realized she ought to have warned Shepard, discreetly or as a by-the-way thing, about the neural feedback. After all, Shepard had never seen a Kapek-Yakshi tournament, as far as Traynor knew, and therefore knew very little about what was involved.
Shepard dealt with pops and fizzles when equipment malfunctioned or when she needed to pull a rabbit out in the field. None of those things would make hearing sudden, unexplained pops and fizzles something of little import.
Polgara had no right to sneer at the Captain's combat reflexes, Traynor fumed, reflexes centered on saving the galaxy so assholes like Polgara could sneer and jeer at the personal cost. She found her hands shaking, and wondered if the sudden desire to punch Polgara right square in the face was the 'urge to punch' she'd heard about in the mess deck from many of the other crewmen.
Traynor bit the inside of her lip, trying to push back the sudden anger. If she couldn't beat Polgara for herself, she'd wipe the asari's smug expression off and throw it back at her simply because of that last comment.
"Either that or someone's afraid of a little pain," Shepard answered in that calm, cutting way she had. The one that said she didn't really care what the other person thought—thank goodness they could think in the first place!
And didn't Polgara catch the insult? Traynor watched the asari's lip start to curl before she mastered her expression and smoothed it back into condescending neutrality. If there was such a thing.
Pieces began to dwindle, and Traynor began to hope, increasingly, that Polgara didn't realize what she was doing. The asari wanted her frigates? Have them. Seeing the expected blinded a person to things outside of it. Or so the theory went. And it seemed that Polgara was happy to see Traynor's pieces dwindling as 'per usual.'
"You're quite out of practice. But I suppose you must not have that much time to practice, living on that warship like you do," Polgara remarked sweetly. "My people have more respect for the great thinkers. I'm able to live quite comfortably teaching asari maidens tactics through this game."
"The galaxy's burning and you're pleased to be kicked back somewhere safe playing board games?" Shepard asked archly, from above and behind Traynor's shoulder.
Traynor resisted a smirk: sometimes the truth was wonderfully provoking and Polgara's expression soured faster than anything Traynor could think of. Serve her right, too, that someone could get under her skin. It wasn't something Traynor herself had ever managed, but Shepard seemed to be doing a first class job. At the very least, Traynor found it easier to think, to concentrate, when Polgara's oily tones weren't directed solely at her.
"Mentoring students in strategic and tactical simulations, yes," T'Suzsa grit out as though to someone slow. Unfortunately, her anger showed through the derision.
"No one talks about brave men and women and their proud simulators," Shepard answered promptly, tone cutting. "Some contribution to the state of the galaxy though. I'll bet your people are so proud."
This received chuckles from around the room, chuckles that rubbed—and obviously rubbed—Polgara the wrong way. Traynor glanced around: most of the laughter had come from the non-asari. The asari who were there looked upset, as if they felt Shepard's unusually sharp jab about the fact that the asari were not officially in this war. It brought back a conversation from the mess hall.
But why aren't the asari committing resources? Everyone else is kicking in.
Because they've weathered galactic conflict before, and they don't appreciate that this one really is different. They want to stay on top of the dog pile, so why waste resources that will ensure their position once the storm passes? Everyone else can fight and exhaust themselves, then they sail in with relief efforts during cleanup, which keeps people from being too pissed off that they stayed on the sidelines.
Yes, a lot of people were beginning to be annoyed with the Asari Republic's token gestures…and the asari who weren't making decisions were starting to get annoyed with the ones who were.
"Apart from that, Traynor's partly responsible for you not being in a Cerberus holding facility. Or a body bag. Just so you know," Shepard added in a matter of fact, by the by sort of tone.
Polgara's eyes flashed. "And I'm sure she's a wonderful serviceman. But she just lost her last frigate," the asari answered with poison sweetness.
Traynor chuckled at this. "Traded, actually. Traded her last frigate," Traynor punched at the haptic display, wishing they were actual keys so they would click with finality, "…for your homeworld," Traynor answered, mimicking Polgara's sweet tones with devastating accuracy.
Let her sneer at someone who was peeling herself down like a potato in the hands of a child fascinated by a potato peeler: layer by layer, strip by strip, until there was nothing left but a core too small to shave down any further, consigned to the trash bin when it held no more interest. The thought of what Shepard gave—and gave and gave and gave—hurt.
The neural feedback made Polgara yelp. Prolonged neutral feedback marked the end of the game.
"Nice one, Traynor," Shepard's grin was almost audible as she patted Traynor's shoulder.
If Traynor had been alone, she might have taken a few moments to really savor the stunned look on Polgara's face.
"Possibly the most fulfilling win of my career," Traynor answered casually, climbing out of her chair. "Now, I tried to stand you up, so let me invite you out for lunch."
-J-
Author's Note: I blatantly ripped the line about 'brave men and women and their proud simulators' from the movie Down Periscope. It was the first thing that came to mind the first time I heard Polgara's remark, and it never went away. ^_^
