MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA HOLLOW WORLDS:

CHAPTER 19

"Ryder, there are no new emails." SAM called to her head awakening her from her stupor as she stood in front of her personal terminal in her quarters.

Dumbfounded that there were no messages yet from Kaetus nor Reyes, Torvi frowned at the obvious. "Thanks, SAM," She grumbled in displeasure as she slowly walked away. The endorphins from her session with Kaetus were still elevated and she couldn't believe what she just happened. She wanted to run into Cora's room and blab about every dirty detail. Her first encounter with an alien! Then, she shied away from the sheer idea of doing so. She never was the one to kiss and tell and she always tried to keep her private business private. Inwardly, she wanted Reyes to be jealous of her ditching him at the party just like he ditched her. Then again, if he didn't, then what transpired between her and Kaetus would not exist. She wanted to taunt Vidal and tell him he missed out. However, a part of her was drenched in guilt. Even after her hot shower, she felt dirty inside. Images of her and Kaetus in their coupling flashed her mind. She became aroused just thinking about it. Even if they were not really in a relationship, what she experienced with him was not like she ever had before. She desired him. God, she wanted him over and over. Sloane was an obstacle. Not just for the outpost, but for her and Kaetus. She could see the feelings he had for the woman in his eyes. Ryder wondered if they could set up secret meetings like what happened. Dangerous. They would have to push them out to the wilderness away from prying eyes. With her hitting key exiles holdups, a few abandoned properties could still be available. Her focus on the true objective was becoming blurry. Shaking her head, she growled out loudly. "Get over it, Torvi." Frustrated, she stormed away from the terminal, determined not to give it a second thought as she moved over to her wardrobe. She lost her jacket with him so she had to figure out what to wear next. She needed to change it up before people onboard got too suspicious. She miraculously was able to avoid most when she came on board. Word would get around eventually. Though, most would think she was out with Reyes thanks to Vetra and Drack. She had the upper hand. No one knew about Kaetus.. Unless Peebee kept tabs on who went to the holding cells before Torvi ran into her outside the meeting spot.

Slipping on her standard issued short-sleeve Innitative matching uniform, Torvi examined herself in a mirror before heading back out to speak with Vetra on the important message she received. Her sister, Sid, was in on something and Vetra seemed alarmed. She reached out to Ryder to ask for aid. The details were unknown. All that the Pathfinder knew was that it had something to do with H-047C. She managed to get a few steps in towards the cargo hold where Vetra was at, when Peebee called down to her from the upper level. "There you are!" Her sudden voice made Torvi nearly jump out of her skin. The asari laughed as she dangled from the ladder rod near her. "You read my email I see. Thought you were coming up and I wanted to meet you."

Torvi knew that she opened the email, but briefly skimmed over the context. The subject was eluding her. "Another time, Peebee?"

Pelessaria frowned with her bottom lip pouting out. "Oh…I see." She shrugged. "I get it. Really."

"I need to talk to Vetra. Hit you up afterwards?" Ryder suggested as she turned to go towards her intended direction.

B'Sayle jumped with a slight flip and landed with both feet at Ryder's side. "I'll come with." She smiled playfully. "You didn't tell me how the party went."

Torvi couldn't hide the blush that broke through her cheeks from the sheer mention of the prior meeting. "Oh…it was fun." She struggled to get the words out. A satisfied smile creased her lips.

The asari grinned as she caught on. "I see. No wonder you shut everyone out as soon as you got back." This time, she was on Ryder's heels to stay caught up. "I want details."

"About what? Nothing happened," Ryder laughed, tossing the assumption to the side.

Peebee was relentless and grinned devilishly as she looked through Ryder's façade. "Come on. I know that look. You got laid."

Torvi's entire face became hot and her eyes widened about how blunt her friend was being. "No way!" She nearly choked and moved on in embarrassment.

Peebee pursued her with haste, her feet lapping at her heels. "I want all the details!"

Ryder held her ears with both hands as she nearly sprinted towards the cargo hold where the Nomad was securely locked for inspection. She quickly turned and shut the door practically on Peebee's face. "Damn," Ryder groaned. "Can I not have privacy around here?" She then grimaced at her own thought when she realized that SAM was plugged into her head all the time. Wincing, she said, "SAM, how well do you record events?"

"Everything alright, Ryder?" Cora asked from her station where she was studying data from the Nomad's read-out. She picked up on how frantic Torvi went about shutting the door quickly behind her.

Spinning around to face the blonde, Torvi flashed a sloppy grin. "Yeah, perfect."

"Hey!" Peebee banged her fist on the locked door. "Come on! This is not funny!"

Cora lifted her eyebrow for an explanation. "She wants to know about the party, huh?"

"Yes," Ryder moped as she moved away to where Vetra was, awaiting her arrival.

"You changed your outfit I see," Cora picked up on the new digs. "I thought you wanted me to be less conspicuous while we were at the port."

"Not going back for a while," Torvi flatly answered. "I need to focus on some new developments."

Harper backed off and nodded her head with solid agreement. "I agree. You and Reyes not working out?" She asked the question of the hour.

"No," Torvi's blue eyes couldn't mask the pain that burned inside them. Was it pain for what he did or what she did. "I…I found someone else new…I think." Her words lingered in the air and then she stopped herself. She didn't want to be too open with potential other members of her crew lurking about at various places. She seemed to confide herself more with Cora. It was if with her father's backing, she could trust her.

The second-in-command spotted the hesitation. "Easy. Jaal is talking with Liam. Gil is in engineering and Drack won't come out of the kitchen."

"Still pissed, huh?" Torvi thought back to the contusion that was slowly fading from her neck.

"He's just stubborn." Cora set down her tools. "Most krogan are…almost like men." She patted the bench near her. "I have a spot if you want."

"I'll stand…I just have a minute," Torvi glanced over at Vetra's room, feeling guilty to go into more personal affairs. She didn't want the Tempest to sound like some old Earth soap-opera material. "I met up with Kaetus…" The confession was open-ended. Withdrawing the complete details was best for now.

Cora's brown eyes widened with disbelief then switched over to worry. "That's…unexpected." She lowered her voice to more of a whisper. "I-I didn't know that you knew him before."

"I didn't," Torvi admitted. "It just…happened after the party. I..."

Harper could see her leader struggling for some clarity. She reached out and gingerly touch the top of her hand with her fingertips. "You don't have to tell me everything. But, are you sure hanging around him is wise? Didn't you say that he was like Sloane's bodyguard?" She furrowed her brow as she thought back to Ryder's report when she first went to Kadara Port to speak with Sloane about Vehn Terev's release. Sloane declined Ryder's demand for his release and when she sent Kaetus to deal with Ryder, the Pathfinder quickly disarmed him in front of her and her bodyguards. Cora was playfully disappointed that she missed out, but she said the move was risky. The exiles felt no love for the Initiative and walking in alone and pissing their leader off was not the wisest choice that Torvi made so far. "I know you wanted to get an outpost, but…" She tossed a grin.

Torvi shrugged with a smirk. "Hey, whatever works." Her words cocky. Her heart seemed to flutter as she talked about her involvement with him carelessly. What did it all mean? She never really been in love unless she counted the silly crushes that all pre-teens and early teenagers have in the beginning of their sexuality. She remembered swooning over the late Kaidan Alenko. Shepard's teammate and one of the saviors of the Citadel during the geth attack on the station. He was left behind like many others in the Milky Way galaxy over six hundred years ago. Was this truly love? Or was it a fling? Her first turian encounter…and hopefully not the last. Focusing on the species, she remembered Vetra. "Shit. I need to go talk to Vetra about Sid's message. Shelve this?"

"Oh, you know I am," Cora smiled. "Drinks when you get back?"

"Deal."