Sara shifted her attention from the data pad she had been reading as she made her way towards the tech suite to the steaming mug she held in her other hand. She lifted it to her lips and blew across the surface of her coffee in an attempt to cool it. Steam swirled into her face, hot and damp against her skin and blissfully fragrant with the scent of instant coffee. She tipped the mug and slurped a sip, wincing and quickly swallowing as it burned her tongue. "Ah, hot!"
"Aw, thanks, Ryder." Peebee's comment drew her eyes to the asari, who shot her a pantomime wink from her position at one of the consoles in the centre of the research room.
Sara rolled her eyes and raised her mug for Peebee to see. "Not you, the coffee," she needlessly explained.
Peebee snorted and returned her gaze to the information displayed on the console in front of her. "Hey, a girl can dream, right?"
"Dream on, Peebee," Sara taunted her, crossing the deck to the tech lab in the corner, where their newest addition to the crew had decided to take up residence. Jaal ama Darav, angaran resistance fighter, voluntary member of the Tempest crew, all around curiosity.
"Break my heart," Peebee called playfully after her.
Sara shook her head in mock despair as she entered Jaal's 'quarters', smiling brightly at the angaran as he lifted his head to see who had opened the door. His almost-feline features were bathed in orange light from the display on his workbench. His modified kett rifle lay in several pieces across the surface, as he tinkered with it again. He looked concerned, having heard the tail end of her conversation with the mischievous asari.
"Have you upset Peebee?" He asked, sapphire eyes darting over Sara's shoulder to look at Peebee, flicking back to the Pathfinder as the door slid shut.
"Huh?" Sara looked at him blankly, confused until she realised he hadn't picked up on the laughter in Peebee's voice. "Oh, no, she's just playing."
"I see," Jaal said, though he clearly didn't.
"You modding your rifle again?" Sara nodded her head at his cluttered workbench and Jaal returned his gaze to the assorted parts; circuits and bolts and metallic pieces interspersed with various tools.
"Yes," he answered simply.
Sara waited for him to elaborate. He didn't. Jaal tended to be quite literal, offering only the information that had been requested. Sara was just about getting used to it. "You shouldn't keep tinkering. What if it falls apart mid battle?" She said, not entirely sure if she was joking. It had been pulled apart and tweaked several times in the short time they had known each other, probably weakening various fixtures. She suspected it was a comfort thing, a way of busying himself with the deconstruction and building of the familiar and reliable weapon.
"It won't," he replied vaguely, lifting the scope and staring through it. "Did you need something, Ryder?"
Sara tipped her head side to side in a so-so motion. "Sort of," she admitted. "You've been with us a few weeks now, I just wanted to see how you're doing?"
And what a couple of weeks it had been, traipsing around Voeld and Havarl, gaining Efvra's trust, and eventually rescuing Moshae Sjefer and a horde of angara from being exalted in a kett facility. The rescue mission had been hard on Jaal as they discovered the gruesome truth behind the kett: that they were angara mutated and transformed into monsters. Lexi had been watching him closely and her reports were good. Jaal appeared happy enough while keeping to himself, though also seemed to have attached himself to Suvi and Kallo, the quieter members of the Tempest crew. And he intended to stay with the Tempest, adding to their odd little family. Sara was pleased; he was a fierce warrior and would be helpful to have around while negotiating with the angara.
"I am fine," Jaal looked up at her and gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you for asking."
Sara returned the smile. "Good. Listen, we'll be docking with the Nexus soon. It's a resupply so we won't be there long but... Come find me once we've docked and I'll show you around?" She looked at him hopefully.
"The Nexus is your home?" Jaal asked slowly, eyes curious.
Sara paused, unsure how to answer that. "Ah…Sort of?" She supposed it was the temporary focal point for the Milky Way species. "I guess. Until we get our outposts up and running properly, anyway."
"Hmm," Jaal replied thoughtfully, a rumbling noise in his chest that, combined with his feline appearance, always made Sara think of a cat purring. She quickly raised her mug and took a mouthful of hot coffee to hide her amused grin. "I would like that. Thank you, Ryder."
Sara swallowed and nodded, backing out of the lab. "Brilliant. I'll be in my quarters until then," she said, turning as she heard the door open behind her and striding back out into the research room. Peebee still occupied the console in the middle of the deck but seemed so engrossed in whatever it was she was up to that she didn't notice Sara's reappearance. Probably something remnant related. Sara chose not to disturb her and instead made her way straight to her quarters on the below deck.
Sara felt the deck give the faintest of tremors as the Tempest dropped out of FTL. They would soon be docking with the Nexus to resupply. She would show Jaal around some of the places before taking care of her own business. All in all, she expected to be there for the rest of the 'day', such as it was, before leaving once again and heading for Kadara, following the trail hinted at by the map in Aya's vault. She leaned back in her desk chair, crossing her arms behind her head and arching her spine, feeling it pop as she stretched out her muscles. She had been going through her emails since speaking with Jaal, messages from Eos, Ark Hyperion, the Nexus, her crew. Drack kept sending her pictures of guns, while Cora sent her endless lists of asari texts that Sara really had no interest in but she saved them anyway so she could pretend she intended to look at them at a later date. She had invitations to revisit Prodromos, requests to assist with things that really didn't require a Pathfinder response but she would help them anyway, an interview with a reporter that she wasn't entirely sure she should agree to, countless emails pouring in every day.
"Ugh, I need a secretary," she muttered, dropping her arms either side of her chair and scowling at her terminal for a moment before leaning forwards and switching it off. "SAM, ask Jaal to meet me at the landing ramp in thirty?"
"Yes, Pathfinder," SAM replied at once on their private channel.
Jaal had viewed the Nexus with wonder as they stepped off the Tempest landing ramp, looking around himself curiously even as colonists stared at Jaal. Angara were yet to be viewed in the flesh by the vast majority. Sara shifted protectively closer to him, her gaze flicking from person to person. None were brave enough to approach him, and none seemed to be reacting negatively. The people, of course, had been told of the angara already, most likely by a station-wide news bulletin from Tann attempting to claim most of the credit for their 'discovery'.
Jaal had yet to notice the gawpers, more interested in his surroundings. Gleaming white panels clad floors and walls, glass barriers and display windows all but sparkled beneath bright lights, and small trees and thick green foliage stood in planters in the centre of the wide open Nexus commons. And people, so many people, stood chatting in groups and bustled to and fro engrossed in data pads or information on their orange glowing omni-tools. A few asari and Turians, a couple of krogan, but mostly humans.
"Everyone is staring at me," Jaal remarked suddenly.
Sara looked sideways at him and grinned. "Now you know how I felt being escorted through Aya," she teased him.
"Hmmm," Jaal murmured in agreement. "It is... Unpleasant." He met the gaze of a curious asari, who turned away once she realized she had been seen.
"We can go back?" Sara offered, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the way they had walked from the Tempest.
"No, continue," Jaal said. "I am curious."
"I'd take you to meet Director Tann," Sara told him jokingly, "but... I don't want you to get the wrong impression of us." She shot him a mischievous look, one that Jaal returned. He knew her feelings on Tann.
"Yes, I've heard enough about him to know I wouldn't enjoy the meeting."
Sara laughed and dragged him off towards the shuttles that would take them further into the Nexus. "Come on, this way, I know you'll love this..."
Sara took Jaal on a tour of the Hyperion and the Nexus, showing him the combined achievements of the Milky Way people, even taking him to the SAM node which he clearly found fascinating. She dragged him away before he could start dismantling things to see how they worked... But her ultimate goal was the small marketplace that had sprung up on the Nexus, where some enterprising people had taken over empty storage rooms and turned a lifeless space into one of vibrant activity. It always seemed to have grown larger, busier, brighter, whenever Sara visited. Hell, she had seen it before anyone had claimed any of the space, when it had been cold and dark and quiet. Now though, a handful of shops had sprung up where people bartered for goods that had absolutely been illegally smuggled aboard when leaving the milky way. Small, harmless things that had been deemed useless and banned purely due to weight and space constraints. Things to comfort people who woke in a strange place, billions of light years away from home.
Amongst the makeshift stores was a coffee shop. Inside it was tiny, barely big enough for the counter and three tables and chairs that occupied its space. All three mismatched tables were taken but mercifully there were more outside, clustered haphazardly around the entrance. Sara ushered Jaal over towards a group of free tables.
"Go sit, I'll order us something and bring it over," she said excitedly.
"Ryder, we have tea houses too, I know how this works," Jaal informed her as he made his way over to one table and sat down on a rickety wooden stool.
"This isn't a tea house," Sara replied, "it's a coffee shop and you're severely lacking in that department. I checked."
Jaal hummed his agreement, distracted by the napkin dispenser on the table he had chosen. It looked like it had been crudely welded together from a sheet of thin metal, and she had no idea where the napkins had surfaced from but each table seemed to have its own little dispenser and a bowl of sugar cubes. It had been real sugar at the start, when the shop first opened, but now it tasted artificial. She suspected it wouldn't be long before they burned through their supplies and closed, unless they found a way to grow coffee in Andromeda, and fast. She dreaded the day coffee became a thing of the past.
For now, though, her blessed nectar was readily available, and from an honest to God real grinder and proper commercial coffee machine. She had no idea how they had pulled this off- probably a mix of smuggling parts, omni-tool minifacturing, and pilfering of bits and bobs- but they absolutely needed a medal for it. Sara strode up to the counter with a broad grin on her face.
Jaal looked up as he noticed movement in his peripheral and saw Sara making her way over, holding two of the tiniest tea cups he had ever seen, which she proudly set down on the table before dropping into the chair opposite him.
"What is it?" he asked, looking down at the cup, at the strange deep brown liquid inside. It had a strong bitter scent unlike anything he could identify. He looked back up at Sara, head tilted curiously.
"Well," she said, glancing at her own cup and lifting it with a little grin, cradling it in one hand. "This is called espresso."
Jaal watched her for a moment, then looked back down at his own cup, touching one finger to minifactured china, feeling the heat of the drink it held. "Ess…spress…oh..." he spoke slowly, trying the word out.
"Yes!" Sara said eagerly. "It's made from coffee which is an amazing drink made from beans!"
"Ah, yes," Jaal nodded with recognition, finally lifting his cup and holding it in imitation of Sara. "Doctor Anwar told me about it."
Sara paused, having not expected that. "She did?" She was fairly certain, though, that Jaal had yet to try the glorious drink.
"Yes. She called it your magic potion," Jaal replied, sniffing curiously at the coffee.
Sara arched one eyebrow. "She did?"
Jaal missed the change in tone, now far more interested in inspecting his drink from every angle, and answered simply, "yes."
"Huh." She and Suvi chatted occasionally, sure. The most meaningful conversation they'd had, though, was whether or not Suvi took sugar with her tea, however, apparently the gentle scot already had the measure of her. Sara wasn't a morning person. She definitely needed a coffee or two before she could pass as even remotely human. She dwelt on that a moment before grinning and reaching across the table to bump her knuckles against Jaal's shoulder. "Well, try it!" She gestured enthusiastically to the cup he tentatively held. "I double checked with SAM and Lexi and it's okay for you to drink." She raised her cup in a toast, then drank, closing her eyes in bliss and savouring the coffee hit. Jaal watched her, then copied the motion, sipping his coffee and rolling it around his mouth before swallowing while Sara watched like a hawk. "Well?" She asked almost nervously when he remained silent.
Jaal carefully placed his cup on the table and nodded his head. "Hmm. It's bitter."
"Would you like sugar to sweeten it?" Sara asked, already reaching for the glass dish on their table that contained cubes of white and brown fraudsugar.
"No, no, I like it," Jaal looked up at her and smiled.
Sara grinned in response, excited to share a small part of the Milky Way with her friend. "I drink it as an Americano on Tempest. Tall." She motioned with one hand, hovering it above the table to show the size of a taller cup.
"Angara have a sweet tea," Jaal said. "Perhaps I can show you when we visit Aya next?"
"I'd like that," Sara said, picking up her cup again and motioning for Jaal to do the same. When he had his cup in hand, she tapped them both together and said, "cheers."
Jaal realized she was waiting for him to repeat the word. "Cheers?" He replied slowly.
Sara laughed. "Okay, now drink!" She said.
Jaal copied her, finishing his espresso and putting the cup back down on the table. "Very good," he told her.
Coffee experience over, Sara walked with Jaal towards the shuttles. "Do you think you can find your way back alone?" She asked him. "I have to go see someone before we head back." She gestured towards the shuttle that would take her to the Ark Hyperion.
"Yes," Jaal said simply pressing the button to open the shuttle doors for the Nexus communal area and the Tempest and stepping inside. He crossed to the panel on the wall opposite, scrutinized it a moment, and then successfully selected his destination.
"Okay…well…Bye…" Sara said lamely to herself as the doors closed on Jaal.
She turned towards the other shuttle and hit the door controls, feeling jittery with a mix of nerves and caffeine as the door slid sideways and she stepped inside alone. The door closed behind her, sealing her in, and she tapped the icon she needed on the map displayed of the Ark and Nexus. The shuttle began to move steadily towards the Hyperion cryo wing.
Sara stood before the door head down, hands stuffed into the front pocket of her hoody. She knew it was stupid to feel so anxious. Scott would be okay, the medical staff were just working on the complications of his condition, but it was terrifying to witness her twin brother in a medically induced coma. He just didn't look right. Scott was lively and boisterous, his sharp mind and sharper tongue always ready with some playful taunt. Seeing him locked in his cryo pod like a coffin had been awful, but now he was out of the pod it was almost worse. He looked so weak and sickly and lifeless. Like a waxwork mockery of himself. Sara felt as though she had been cleaved in two. He was her twin, he was supposed to be by her side fighting for a home together.
The shuttle began to slow. Sara stared out the window, barely hearing the robotic announcer call out the stop from hidden speakers. The vehicle came to a halt and the door panel whooshed open. The corridor outside was empty and silent, bright white light glaringly reflected from white floors and walls and ceilings. The only thing breaking up all of the white was a couple of potted shrubs adding a splash of green in the corners. She could see the sign on the wall for the cryo recovery wing, where Scott currently resided.
Sara took a deep breath and forced herself through the door.