title: A Drink Between Friends
codes: Beka & Harper, season 5
summary: It had been a shitty day.
notes: a pinch hitter fic forArethusa as part of Starry Night: the Andromeda Secret Santa project.
It had been a shitty day. Not that most days in the Seefra system could really be called anything other than crappy, but this one had been particularly hellish for Beka Valentine.
Some particularly ambitious pirates had targeted the Maru and blown a hole in the port hold during their failed capture attempt. Half the aula fruit shipment she'd been carrying to Seefra-4 had been sucked out into space, taking half her paycheck with it. She'd made it to the drop point four hours late and just in time to get caught in a sandstorm. She'd been grounded on that hellhole of a planet for hours as the weather further tore into her ship. Night had long since fallen by the time she'd finally got back to good ol' Seefra-1.
Now that she was back to the planet that had somehow become her home base, if not her home, all she wanted to do was take a warm shower before sinking into her bunk with a good holonovel. But the drought and Rhade's thieving ways made that impossible. So she found herself wandering the mostly deserted streets, looking for a way to blow off some steam before bed.
A flickering sign caught her eye. Shrugging her shoulders, Beka pushed through the unlocked doors. She could use a drink right about now.
The tavern was empty except for a sleeping drunk who seemed to have claimed a dark corner as his own. An off-key humming was coming from behind the bar. Beka walked toward the familiar sound.
She stayed silent and leaned against the bar. The worn wood shifted under her weight.
"We're closed." a smirk curved Beka's lips as the humming stopped just long enough for clipped words to ring out. She watched as Harper busied himself with something under the counter, not even bothering to look up and see who was standing before him.
"Won't you stay open for an old friend?" what she hoped was a teasing note wrapped through Beka's voice, drawing Harper's attention to her.
He shot Beka a quick smile before bending back down to his work. "Nope."
Beka forced herself to stomp down on a growl at Harper's flippant tone. She reached into a pocket of her leather coat. "How about for 20 credits?"
The sound of leather cushioned metal thumping against wood drew Harper's attention again. Throwing a dirty towel against his shoulder, he reached out and shook the contents of the small pouch out onto the bar.
A slow grin spread across his face as he looked up from the pile of coins to Beka. "For 20 credits I'll bring out the good stuff."
"Sounds good." Beka returned his smile. 20 credits was a little much to be spending on booze, so it had better be the good stuff.
Reaching back under the bar, Harper brought up a thin, blue bottle and a clear shot glass. He set the glass in front of Beka and filled it with a stream of foggy liquid.
Beka raised the glass into a patch of dim light and peered at it skeptically. She looked at Harper with a frown. "This is the good stuff?"
"Yep."
"What's so special about it? It looks exactly like the other stuff." she was still holding it to the light, which barely shined through the murky liquor.
"That's cause it is." he hurried on as Beka's brow continued to arch upward. "Only it's better. I modified it to taste like vodka."
"You modified it?" that knowledge was not making her any more eager to taste it. In fact, it was having the opposite effect.
"Yeah, with nanobots." she could almost see Harper's chest puffing up with pride.
"With nanobots? You mean the ones Doyle said turned the stuff into exploding goo?" Beka quickly put the glass back on the counter, making sure to place it as far away from herself as she could.
"I fixed that problem. It's totally safe now."
Beka hadn't thought it was possible for a person to look both sheepish and proud at the same time. Harper sure seemed to be doing a good job of it though. Not that that mattered any – there was no way she'd touch the stuff now that she knew he'd been messing with its molecular structure. She left the glass where it was.
Harper shook his head and grabbed the glass, slamming the liquor back in one shot. He let out a low hiss through his teeth, before licking his lips and smiling at Beka. "See: I'm still here. Nothing went boom."
"That's a shame."
"Hahaha," Harper responded to Beka's smirk. "You want some or not?"
"Sure." shrugging, she watched as he refilled the glass. If it hadn't killed Harper it couldn't be too bad. Following his example, she let the booze slide down her throat in one long swallow. It traced a fiery path down her throat as she set the glass back on the counter and nodded. "That's not bad. Not exactly Vedran ale, but good."
Harper only smirked and toped off her glass again.
"What about that one drink rule you're so fond of enforcing?"
"I'll overlook it." he shrugged and smiled softly, before grabbing another glass and pouring a shot for himself. "For old times' sake."
Raising her glass in a toast, Beka smiled back at him. "For old times' sake."
fin