Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to BioWare.
Author's Note: This story does not necessarily follow any particular timeline and may not be considered chronologically accurate.
#
"To understand why I say that, you need to know the whole story," Vadix paused, breathing deeply as he began. This was a story he'd never shared with anyone, one he had never even considered revealing. It was difficult to find the words, but he knew Cassana had to know about his less than ideal circumstances in order to comprehend the magnitude of his mother's charity.
He continued, "My parents found me abandoned on their doorstep over 20 years ago, with nothing but a blanket and a note. 'Vadix' was the only thing written on it. And as far as I know, they never did figure out who left me there." Stopping to try and contain the disgust he could hear in his own voice, the human reached out a hand, placing it on his shoulder. Vadix glanced down at her and the compassion in her eyes made him cringe. Quickly he turned away.
"Hey," she implored, moving her palm to rest on his cheek, softly forcing him to look at her. "There's a difference between pity and sympathy, you know. Very few people want to be pitied, but it's easy to mistake the latter for the former."
Staring at her in dismay, the turian wondered, How does she know I struggle with that?
Before he could ask his unspoken question, Cassana lightly tapped his face with her hand. "Your story first, no exceptions," she demanded before settling back down into the crook of his knee.
"So bossy," he murmured, but Vadix couldn't seem to muster up any real animosity as he pressed on with the story. "Well, as it happened Trebaana was desperate for a child after years of expensive treatments and untested procedures that still hadn't given her what she wanted most. Of course, I can't remember any of this but, when they opened the door, she immediately wanted to adopt me. My father, while he did want her to be happy, knew that despite the unique situation they still had to go through the proper channels, to prevent any future issues that might void my adoption. They alerted C-Sec who conducted a full investigation, but ultimately no one came forward to claim me. It seemed I was well and truly an orphan."
Vadix stopped again, almost overwhelmed by the sense of abandonment which he knew he had no right to feel. His parents meant everything to him, and they had given him everything. He shouldn't want more.
But he did.
Clearing his throat, the turian started speaking again. "With no one to counter their application, the adoption went through quickly and they began to raise me as their own. When I turned eight, they told me how they found me. My peers were starting to get their colony tattoos and as difficult as it was, Trebaana knew I had to know the truth. Otherwise I might end up resenting her, and that's something she couldn't bear. Something she can't bear," he trailed off.
Cassana hummed, a question clearly on her mind. "I feel bad that I don't understand," she explained, sounding remorseful. "But I haven't spent much time with turians. Can you enlighten me as to the significance of the face tattoos?"
It wasn't a topic he liked to broach, but at least the human wasn't going to judge him for being barefaced—her entire species was barefaced. "No one really knows how they started anymore," Vadix clarified. "But at some point they must've been unique to different tribes. The different markings are used to denote a turian's colony of origin. And even though the meaning of the different patterns or colors isn't known, not having tattoos is looked down upon in our society. The term 'barefaced' usually refers to someone who isn't to be trusted."
"Oh," she murmured, looking downcast. "That's why you haven't had many friends."
Chuckling morbidly, Vadix corrected her. "No, that's why I haven't had any friends." He knew that self-deprecation wasn't great humor, but in this case, it was only the truth.
Cassana looked up into his face, her eyes boring into his. "But," she began softly. "How could they not see how trustworthy you are?"
His subvocals purred faintly but the turian shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, looking away from her intense gaze. "People don't usually look beneath the surface before drawing conclusions," he muttered.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw her sink down into herself, now staring at her hands in her lap. "Believe me, I know that all too well," she murmured.
Turning to face her again, Vadix said with interest, "You still haven't told me your story."
The human raised an eyebrow as she met his curious look. "You still haven't finished yours," she countered.
"Fine," he conceded, raising his hands in surrender. "I suppose I haven't explained why I never got my face tattooed."
She dipped her head, encouraging him to continue. Her smile was infectious, and Vadix nearly forgot how unpleasant it was to talk about this, and how strange it was to be having this conversation while seated on the floor of a C-Sec training room.
"It's difficult for me to explain. See, if I chose to take on either of my adoptive parents' markings, it would feel almost disrespectful to my biological parents. Even though I don't even know who they are, I still feel like I owe them something. They did bring me into this galaxy after all. But because I haven't gotten any tattoos, outwardly it's like I'm actively disrespecting my adoptive parents." He sighed, the inner dilemma that constantly plagued him rolling around in his mind. "I've spoken at length to my mother and father about it, and I know that they understand logically. But I can tell that it still hurts them emotionally, though they would never admit it to me."
As he finished speaking, Cassana was nodding. "I think that makes sense," she thought aloud. "While I don't actually know how you feel, I can understand where you're coming from. I think it's similar to how I feel about my parents. Part of me loves them because they're my mom and dad, but part of me hates them because of what they've put me through." She closed her eyes, grimacing.
Feeling unsure but wanting to express some semblance of condolences, Vadix reached out his talons to rest just above her knee. He dipped his head as he squeezed her leg gingerly, "We're kind of messed up, aren't we?"
A half smile twitched across her lips just before she looked up at him. "In my experience, we're all a little broken, one way or another. What really matters is what we do—whether it's because of our issues or in spite of them."
#
The turian in front of her wasn't responding and Cass worried she'd upset him somehow. She watched his mandibles shift in and out as he stared unseeing at her.
Slowly he began to nod. "I think I see what you mean," he said haltingly. "We better call it a day. It's past dinnertime."
"Oh, okay," she agreed, feeling like they'd just done a 180. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She scrambled up, brushing herself off.
Vadix also stood and walked toward the weapons bench, putting the firearms back in the locker. He seemed to move almost mechanically, and Cass sensed he was deep in thought. Not wanting to disturb him, she slowly gathered the boxing gloves and placed them carefully in their bins, even going so far as to organize each container. She knew she was stalling but didn't want to leave him just yet.
The human jumped, startled, when she heard him clear his throat from right behind her. As she turned around, the words rushed out of him. "Can I walk you home?"
Cass felt her mouth drop open. "Where is this chivalry coming from?" The incredulous thought was out in the open before she could stop it. Her tone was far more cutting than she'd intended.
And Vadix noticed. He took an involuntary step back before responding, "Well, I—er," he stuttered. "I should've offered yesterday but I, uh, well it slipped my mind," the turian ended lamely. "If you're sick of me though, I understand. But my mother raised me to be courteous and I had to offer." This time he ended on a more certain note, and Cass recognized his sincere desire to make his parents proud.
Smiling, she closed her gaping mouth and, deciding to go for it, asked, "Do you want to grab some dinner with me?"
He cocked his head before answering, an unconscious motion she was starting to associate with him feeling uncomfortably uncertain. "Uh, sure. I've never spent time with colleagues outside of work though so I'm not sure what exactly to do," he trailed off.
Cass snorted then replied with a wink, "Just eat some food, chat a little, and do some listening. Don't worry. Your first time out I won't take you anywhere crazy."
#
The pair quickly finished cleaning up and headed out of the training room. Vadix paused to ensure the door locked behind them when an icy tone froze him to the spot from a few feet away.
"We wondered how long you'd play hooky, Ramraka."
His human companion twisted around at the unfamiliar voice and he willed her not to get involved. It would only get messy.
Messier than it was already going to be.
Vadix turned to face his ex-partner. "Octaril," he said without emotion.
The red turian lifted his head in disgust, mandibles raised and parted slightly. "That's Officer Octaril to you, you barefaced bastard."
He felt the smooth hand on his arm and groaned inwardly just before Cassana spoke. "Excuse me, but who are you?" she asked the stranger, sounding more authoritative than he felt.
Opening his eyes, Vadix watched Octaril's gaze rove up and down the human's body as his offended expression morphed into one of fascination. "A civilian," he droned, feigning indifference. "You know that's against policy. Though how you managed to get laid by a pretty thing like her is beyond me."
Torn between outrage on behalf of his new friend and dread at the thought of unleashing his anger, Vadix felt rooted to the floor.
To his surprise, Cassana swiftly glided forward toward the man who had spoken about her in such crude terms. "Oh officer!" she exclaimed, the pitch of her voice sounding…odd. "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. What's your name?"
"Officer Siter Octaril, at your service." The two-faced jerk had the audacity to bow, offering his talon to her.
Then she reached him, and the human grabbed his outstretched hand and yanked him forward to meet his groin with her knee.
He whimpered in pain as he dropped to the floor, clutching at his hidden genitals. Vadix subconsciously winced in sympathy, knowing that although their carapaces were considerably more sturdy than human flesh, their lower plates were particularly susceptible to impact force.
Cassana knelt and whispered something to the red turian before whipping around and stalking back. When she approached her partner, the human grabbed him by the forearm and continued out the back entrance, pulling Vadix behind her with a viselike grip.
Finally they reached the first elevator and she released him. Rubbing his wrist, he asked in dismay, "What was that about?"
"No one insults my friends like that," she stated through gritted teeth.
Looking sideways at her, Vadix murmured, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
She chuckled at that, glancing up at him. "You'd do well to remember what I'm capable of. Or you'll never see it coming," Cassana winked. "Now, I don't know about you, but that exchange has worked up my appetite. I'm starving!"
Soon they were seated at a tiny table in a small restaurant called the Whispering Fete Pub. The turian couldn't stop swiveling his head. The low lighting made it difficult to see everything, but there didn't seem to be any sort of theme throughout the room. "What does 'fete' mean, anyway?" he wondered aloud.
"I thought the same thing. It's a bit of a strange place, but they've got great levo food and I've heard rumors the dextro options are pretty decent too," Cassana said absentmindedly as she perused the menu. "Every time I come I order something different," she explained.
"And how often is that?" It felt like every ten minutes he learned something new about her—it was hard to keep up.
"Oh, not that much," she murmured. "I only discovered the place a few months ago. A client brought me here and I've loved the vibe ever since."
Vadix tilted his head, his curiosity piqued. But he was also nervous about her answer. "And what kind of client would that be?"
She paused her perusal to glance up at him, rolling her eyes. "Have you decided what you want? No more Q&A until we've ordered," she commanded.
He rolled his head now, mimicking her behavior. "Fine," he said with an exaggerated pout.
After a human man took their order and their menus, Cassana folded her arms flat on the table and leaned forward. "Alright. You can have the first question."
"The first question? What do you mean?" Vadix was really struggling to keep up with her verbal pace. He blamed it on all the years of solitude.
One side of her lips tilted up and she made a strange clicking noise. "Sorry, that was two, but I suppose I'll let it slide since they were basically the same one. To answer, we both want to know things about each other so it's only fair if we take turns." She grinned wide, "And now it's my turn: have you ever left the Citadel?"
Blinking slowly, he processed what she was saying. "Uh, yes?" It came out as a question, and he watched her raise a single brow in response. But then everything clicked and he shook his head in fake mockery. "Nope. I answered your question. No extra answers," he declared. "What did you tell Octaril just now, after you brought him to his knees? Which, by the way, was priceless. Even if I have to pay for it later."
Her brow furrowed in response. "Why would you pay for it?"
"You're really bad at this you know," Vadix teased. "You have to answer my question first."
Cassana scowled at him but yielded. "I told him you're twice the man he is. Why would you pay for it?"
The turian's mandibles parted in confusion. Why would she ask that? he pondered. But he answered her question. "Well, Siter isn't the type to forget an insult. We were partners before I left C-Sec to join Shepard's crew and I didn't really give them any notice. So he's probably already peeved about me leaving him hanging like that, and then to be taken out by a human? Who was defending me, the 'barefaced bastard'? Yeah, not good for his image. And since I don't have any allies at work, I'm an easy target," he spat the last sentence.
Reaching across the table, Cassana laid a soft hand on his clenched talons. "That may have been true before," she began. "But now you do have an ally: you have me."