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.
#
Vadix sat mute on the edge of her bed, waiting for the time to pass, trying not to disturb anything. He had been unable to form a coherent response to any of Cassana's attempts to engage in conversation after their unexpected foray into her bathtub. His grunts and one-word answers had eventually deterred her efforts. Of course he wanted to talk to her, to smooth over his own bumbling actions with suave words and an easy explanation. But what he could think to say, which was very little, kept getting stuck in his throat.
The turian just wasn't cut out for this. He'd much rather face down armed suspects than apologize to a beautiful woman for being a buffoon. That was what his skillset was calibrated for.
Finally she had shooed him out of the bathroom so she could finish dressing and packing, giving him a side-long glance out the door.
Being away from her was both a reprieve and a regret, but at least it gave him time to quash all remaining hormones. The discomfort at his lower plates had quickly morphed from a dull throb into a sharp edge as she'd rolled around on his chest. The man knew it wasn't meant as a sexual advance, but his cock didn't seem to get the message.
He closed his eyes and tried to think of gruesome crime scenes, of colleagues' loud-mouthed insults, of his own utter ineptitude. As he contemplated how self-conscious he felt, the pain lessened and he could breathe more deeply.
Now all he had to do was not think about her.
Given that he now spent the large majority of his waking time with the human, Vadix knew this was going to be excessively difficult. But if he had already made it through two days, he could make it through today. He'd just take it one day at a time.
Having his anatomy back under control, the turian looked around the room again and actually noticed things: a neat kitchen with very few cupboards and even fewer appliances crowded against the wall, a clean but ragged dining table with a couple of mismatched chairs in the middle of the room, some sort of thick fabric rectangle to the side of the bed beneath his feet—it was much softer than the rest of the floor and Vadix could understand the appeal—and some clothes that had collected at the foot of the bed. The only distinguishable article of clothing was a mystery to him: two bright blue half-spheres connected by an inch or so of fabric. Almost looks like knee pads, Vadix wondered to himself.
In a single glance around the room, he had seen everything. It felt like something was missing.
And then it dawned on him. Cassana had no personal effects. Not a single picture or paper littered the apartment, on any surface. No mention or reference could be found of her family or friends—or even herself.
The realization saddened him.
She emerged from the tiny bathroom before he could dwell too long on the thought. "Let me just grab something to eat and then we can go," she called over her shoulder, striding into the kitchen.
"No worries," Vadix murmured. "It's not even eight yet."
"Great," she replied, stooping to look in her fridge. Almost immediately she popped back up, "Alright, let's go!"
Standing, the man asked, "Doesn't your body need more food than that?" He couldn't even tell what she was holding, it was so small.
Cassana glanced down at her hand, then shrugged. "Probably, but I figure 'mind over matter' and all that. I just convince myself I'm not hungry."
"That doesn't sound healthy, Cassana." His tone was much more reprimanding than he'd intended.
She raised an eyebrow at him in response. "Thanks for your concern, I guess."
Vadix shook his head, chagrined. "Sorry, sorry. Not my business," he muttered as he followed her to the front door.
"It's alright," she said, glancing at him. "I do appreciate your thoughtfulness. I've just never had to explain myself to anyone." The woman looked to be on the verge of saying more, but stopped, locking the door behind her.
They walked in silence for several minutes.
"Thanks, again," she offered, breaking the tension. "You don't have to walk me to work, but I'm glad you came."
"Of course, Cassana," he responded automatically. He still felt like moping: nothing he did was right with her.
A chuckle to his side caught his attention. "Why do you insist on calling me by my full name?" she asked him.
He took a moment to take stock of his reasoning, only to realize there wasn't any. "I hadn't thought there were other options," the turian realized aloud.
"Oh," Cassana laughed. "Well you can call me 'Cass', if you want. That's what basically everyone calls me."
Brow furrowed, Vadix queried, "Is that what your friends call you?"
"Yes."
"And," he paused. "We're friends, right?"
"Yes again," she replied, stifling another chuckle.
Is she being serious? he wondered intently.
A few more steps passed in relative quiet, only the sounds of the Citadel to be heard.
Finally Vadix conceded to his curiosity. "I can't tell if you're being serious or not."
The human stopped in her tracks, looking a bit startled. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, you keep laughing at me," he admitted, standing next to her. Looking down, he met her steely gaze. But somehow her eyes were soft, inviting even.
"Oh, Vadix, I'm so sorry. Sometimes I forget that you don't have much experience interacting with your peers outside of a work setting. I didn't mean for you to feel that way," she bit her lip, thinking, then sighed at her feet. "Actually if I'm being completely honest, I don't have many 'friends', in the true sense of the word. Sure, I know a lot of people, and I know a lot of things about them. But very few of them know much about me." Here she peeked up at him, biting her lip again with the corner of her canine—the sight was oddly sensual.
Vadix cleared his throat, determined to pay attention to her words and not just her mouth.
"Now that I think about it," Cassana continued. "You probably know more about me than almost anyone."
This surprised him. "What?" he exclaimed.
Nodding, she reassured him. "Yup. So, in reality, it seems my friends call me 'Cassana'."
He felt his mandibles fade out and in, slightly awestruck. "Oh," was all he could manage to say.
"Okay?" she asked him, a little worry staining her voice.
Clearing his throat again, the turian nodded. "Yes, yes, fine. Er, shall we continue?" he gestured down the hall, which was starting to feel more crowded as they left the apartment complex.
"Alright," Cassana murmured, chuckling. She turned around and began walking again.
Once more, Vadix was at a loss for words. Suddenly he felt… special. Funny that she could make him feel this way with nothing more than permission to use her full name. Nothing had changed, not really.
But here he was, mandibles stretched in a wide grin, feeling like a champion.
Having friends was spectacular.
Well, one friend, he reminded himself.
Still, it was an awesome sensation.
"Cass!" a clear voice called out.
The woman stopped in her tracks and looked around, unable to ascertain the source of the yell. Until a burly looking human approached from the flow of traffic crossing in front of them, smiling with his teeth. He clasped Cassana in a tight hug, lifting her off the ground a few inches, making Vadix grumble.
"How are you?" the stranger asked when he set her back on the ground, still gripping her arms. "I haven't seen you in far too long," he lamented.
"Great! And you? And Dimitri? How are things?" she responded, suddenly seeming very far away to her turian companion.
"So much better, but you taught me everything I know, you know. You should come by again sometime! I've got a brilliant surprise for you, if I do say so myself, but I lost your contact info in the move so I haven't been able to put my plan into action—so glad I ran into you now!" The man just wouldn't let go of her. Vadix was not pleased.
"Of course! I'll send you a message again so you have my info, and we'll have to schedule something. But really, you don't need to do anything extravagant. It was my pleasure," Cassana smiled humbly, then glanced at her coworker from her lowered lashes. "Oh, I'm being so rude: Vadix, this is Max. Max, this is my friend, Vadix." Her cheeks began to pink. Normally this would've lifted the turian's spirits—it was just so irresistible—but now he resisted her allure; he was too irritated.
The human man released one arm and extended it to Vadix, which he gladly gripped and shook—hard. "Nice to meet you," he replied gruffly.
"And you," Max winced, then turned his attention back to the woman. "Really, Cass. All those long nights we spent… It meant so much to me. Still does. But I gotta run, I'll call you!" Leaning in, he kissed her on the cheek and then rushed off, back into the crowd of people headed toward the Presidium.
Both Cassana and Vadix stood there for a moment, staring after him.
"Sorry about that," she apologized. "He's a former client, but we spent a lot of time together so he's one of the few who still seeks me out on occasion. Such a good guy," she ended fondly.
"It's fine," the turian stated, not wanting to dwell. "Let's get to work."
Whatever fuzzy feelings he'd had minutes ago had dissipated in the departure of the woman's ex-lover.
#
Upon arriving at C-Sec HQ, after a thankfully short walk, Cass threw herself into her training. The morning had started so strangely but they'd worked things out into a good place.
Until Max had made an appearance.
Maintaining contact with her previous clients had never been odd or uncomfortable before, but then she'd never had a friend quite like Vadix. Of course they were definitely still "just friends" at the moment, she reminded herself, but even just who he was as a person was so completely different from all the other people she associated with that she didn't know quite how to balance things. If she were completely open about her passions, the turian would probably think she was crazy and want nothing to do with her. Better to leave him in the dark and patch up as best she could whatever awkwardness happened to come up.
His discomfort had been readily apparent the whole way to work.
And what could she say to fix it? "He's just a guy I taught about the psychology of sex"?—yeah, that would go over well.
Instead, she resolved to dedicate herself to whatever he asked her to do: guns, punching, exercise, the whole nine yards.
The only issue was that Vadix was barely speaking to her. Already she'd had to prompt him for directions twice. He didn't even notice when she stopped swinging and stepped away from the punching bag. Turning to face him, the man simply continued to stare at the top of the hanging weight over her head. Cass worried her lip, curious and a little concerned about what had so encompassed his attention.
But how to get him to talk again?
She'd have to come at him from the side, not head on, so a straight up conversation was out of the question. Words didn't seem to come easily to him.
Briefly Cass considered firing the shotgun again. He'd certainly hear that. But she wasn't sure if she trusted herself to use a firearm on her own just yet. Better to avoid any chance of fatal injury.
Then it dawned on her: she needed to come at him from the side, literally.
Carefully she stepped away toward the center of the room where she'd left a water bottle. Picking it up, she watched her companion concentrating so intently. He'd taught her to pay attention, to take advantage of her opponent—even the cheap shots. Though right now that probably wasn't the best way to get back in his good graces.
A jumping attack from behind? No, he was too tall. The most she'd end up accomplishing was getting a piggy-back ride.
His arms were folded against his chest so those weren't good options… maybe a leg? She could pull one out from under him and then try to pin Vadix to the ground, use his weight and gravity against him.
That was probably her best bet.
Setting her water down again, she moved toward her target as stealthily as she could. A few feet away, she stopped in a crouched position to glance at his face again, which was still as impassive as ever. Cass took a deep breath, focused on his near ankle, and lunged.
Having ducked down for better leverage, she pressed with all her strength to push his leg back—Damn, he's heavier than I realized—and somehow managed it. As the turian fell forward with a cry of "Spirits!", his balance unexpectedly upset, the woman rolled onto his back, still clutching his foot.
"Cassana!" he yelled, voice muffled by his sudden proximity to the floor. "What the hell?"
She only grunted in response, keeping her attention on maintaining her grip. Already she was slipping as he tried to pull his leg out of her hands.
Huffing, the man muttered, "Two can play at that game." And suddenly Cass was sliding off the back of his armor as he lifted himself into a one-legged push-up position.
She lost her grip and fell to the ground, laughing and grinning like a buffoon.
When he had settled into a seated position, Vadix asked wearily, "What exactly did that accomplish?"
"You weren't speaking to me, so I had to get creative," she shrugged, beaming at him. "But I did try to practice the few principles you've taught me. How did I do?"
The turian rolled his head, but couldn't quite hide his matching grin. "You know what, I'd give that a B, maybe a B+ since I haven't taught you any real hand-to-hand combat moves."
"That's it?" Cass pouted, stifling a giggle.
Nodding sagely, he replied, "Yes. But since you're in the mood for some roughhousing, let the educating begin."
The woman hopped to her feet, excited at the prospect of learning to protect herself and others from physical harm. After all, she'd dedicated herself to protecting against emotional damage for so long, it made sense to branch out.
Minutes stretched into hours and her instructor made no hints of relenting. The sweat that had previously perplexed the turian was constantly streaming out of Cass's pores. With surprisingly patience, Vadix taught her several techniques, such as eye gouging, elbow strikes, different knee uses, and various methods of employing her feet. They drilled the skills relentlessly, slowly building the human's muscle memory and cementing the actions into automatic reactions.
The only break came when Commander Shepard sent each of them a message indicating someone named Dr. Chakwas would stop by the next day to do a routine examination of their mental and physical health. The idea of it seemed almost invasive to the human, but Vadix assured her that it was normal in the military world, where people were assets to be watched over and cared for from start to finish.
By the end of the day Cass was exhausted, sore, and hungry, but happy to return to a sense of normalcy with her friend. Fortunately the unease of the morning seemed to have been forgotten.
Now all she wanted to do was return to her bathtub for a nice long soak. She'd earned it this time.
"When are you meeting your friends?" Vadix asked after the woman caught her breath.
She groaned in response, "Oh no, I totally forgot about that. I really need to shower, at least wash my hair before I go out in public again."
Vadix gestured toward the back of the room. "Should be one back there, though I can't promise there are any towels," he offered, mandibles quirking with humor.
"I'll take my chances," the human laughed. "Only need to stick my head in." Cass trotted back to inspect the tiny stall tucked in the corner. Sure enough, there was a showerhead and not a towel in sight. Ah well, she thought. Worth it not to smell like a krogan in heat.
Carefully putting her head under the stream of water, she quickly rinsed her hair then wrung it out, pulling as much excess water off as she could. Stepping back into the main room, she continued to ruffle her fingers through the tangled locks.
The turian cocked his head at her, staring.
"Sorry," she mumbled, afraid she was making him uncomfortable again. But at least she was still fully clothed at the moment.
He shook his head. "No need to apologize. I was just thinking how strangely absorbent it is. Your hair, I mean."
Now Cass cocked her head. "Why is that strange?"
"Well, turian skin repels water," he explained, as if this should've been obvious.
Cass felt her mouth drop open slightly. "I've never heard that!" she exclaimed.
The turian shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.
"No wonder you held the towel so funny," the human mused. "You don't need to use one."
Vadix pointed one talon at her and nodded. "That's it."
Chuckling, Cass shook her head. "That explains so much," she trailed off. Her hair was still damp but at least it wasn't dripping. "Um, I'm just going to go back there and change," she murmured, feeling strangely self-conscious. It wasn't a normal feeling for her.
Her companion merely grunted and turned around, fiddling with a weapon on the table, apparently oblivious to her discomfort.
Well, the woman thought drily. Let's see how unaffected he is after I switch outfits.