Chapter Three: Media Terrarium Pizza / Strange Humours - John Mackey

A/N: Revised June 2020.

29TH JUNE, 2185 CE

18:12 Citstan time

As Indigo huffed and puffed her way up five flights of stairs, she indulged in one of the rare moments during which she considered fitting regular exercise into her haphazard schedule. A few of her friends from Auxua frequented the campus gym together, but few things bored Indigo as much as sitting in a room of sweaty people lifting heavy things. The only exercise she'd ever truly enjoyed was fencing. The ache in her shoulders and neck rang in a solid 11 out of 10 on the scale of how much she regretted lugging her trombone across half of Zakera Ward, and she wished she'd thought to drop her stuff off at her dorm before leaving Tayseri. Honestly, why hadn't she fallen in love with something small and light like the flute instead?

On the way up, she checked and double-checked her translator for any reappearing faults, but whatever tech wizardry Officer Krios had performed kept it working. Now that the urgency of the situation had passed, part of her found the idea of messing with someone's translator as a practical joke amusing. Points for originality, but if she ever saw that elcor again, she'd recommend a good old-fashioned hand buzzer or whoopee cushion. Classic, quick, and easy pranks, with much less fallout.

She found apartment #B-52 and pressed the entrance console, the interface chiming a pleasant little minor third. Indigo hummed the notes to herself, C and A, and glanced down in alarm when her stomach growled like she'd swallowed a pack of angry varren. The Tupari left her with a sour aftertaste like old lemons and a dry mouth to go with her blue tongue, and she longed for a glass of water.

The door slid open, revealing a short, round, smiling asari dressed in a blare of garish colours that set Indigo's retinas aflame. She didn't consider herself a fashion connoisseur, but pairing a hot-pink-and-orange crop top with neon-green-and-purple striped booty shorts seemed a bold choice even by her standards.

"Oh, hey! A human!" the asari enthused before Indigo could open her mouth, as if noticing a particularly interesting specimen at a zoo. She was gorgeous, even with her overwhelming fashion taste, with dusky purple skin and generous curves, full lips and an upturned nose; the kind of delicate profile Indigo sometimes envied. "You're not carrying a pizza."

Indigo blinked. "Uh, no, I'm here to carry a couch."

"Oh, yeah, Shay mentioned you. I'm Nyxerta. Come in!"

A little nonplussed, Indigo let the door slide shut behind her, stepping into a tiny vestibule. Just as she opened her mouth to introduce herself, Nyxerta grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward, yelling Shayila's name.

"What?" Shay yelled back.

"Your human friend is here!" Nyxerta shouted.

"Indi! I'll be right out!"

"She and Kaia are just watching the chests," Nyxerta told Indigo. Before she could ask what the hell that meant and who Kaia was, the asari grabbed a lock of her hair between finger and thumb, feeling the texture. Startled, Indigo let her. "Wow, I love your hair!" She didn't wear gloves, unlike Shay, and she certainly didn't have the same social cues to ask permission before touching with bared hands. Thessian cultural traditions, Shay had said. Maybe Nyxerta was a colony kid.

Indigo hid the slight twinge of irritation behind a smile as Nyxerta let her hair go. "Thanks. Your make-up is really pretty," she said, meaning it, and Nyxerta beamed at her. She'd painted her full lips a sparkling silver and done her eyeliner to match, with shimmery pink eyeshadow and bold orange face markings. An intense look just for furniture moving, but to each their own. She reminded Indigo of her ex, Elise, who wore a lot of make-up, though not quite so colourful.

"Toodle-oo!" came Shay's voice, and before Indigo could blink she'd been gathered into an expensively-perfumed hug, her neck bent up to avoid planting her face in her friend's armpit. Always an issue when hugging tall people. "Thank you so much for coming. You're late."

"Hi. Sorry. I'm always late. And I did tell you I was going to be late," Indigo reminded Shay as she released her. "And 'toodle-oo' means 'goodbye', you walnut."

"Call it a preemptive farewell, then. How are you, my dear?" asked Shay, looking her up and down. "You look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine, Grandma," Indigo assured her, smiling at the endearment. "I just had a bit of an adventure getting here; some elcor glitched up my translator."

"Your translator? That's weird. What happened?"

"I don't know, I was in the lift, there was an elcor, and he did a thing. It doesn't really matter."

"It's as if I was there. Oh, shoes off at the door, please! And you can put your stuff down. Is that your instrument? It looks heavy. You brought it all the way here?"

"Well, I came straight from rehearsal," Indigo reminded her, divesting herself of her instrument case and her bag before lifting her long skirt to knee-height so she could unzip her boots. "I was really, really excited to move a couch." A bit self-conscious that she hadn't bothered to match her socks today, she flexed her toes and heard them crack.

"Gross." Nyxerta wrinkled her pierced nose.

"Don't be rude, Nyxie," Shayila admonished her.

"Sorry," said Indigo. "I have noisy bones." When the datapad in her bag chimed in with a "Repair, rebuild, reach out!", she added: "And a noisy bag."

"And what was that?" asked Shayila.

"Tanis Oteni," Indigo told her. "She's running for Tayseri Council."

"And you stuffed her into your bag for what purpose?"

"Ransom money."

"Thought so. Come in, come in, make yourself at home."

Indigo followed Shay and Nyxerta into the apartment. Like most Citadel residences, Shay's home looked vaguely industrial, courtesy of the clinical engineering of Prothean architecture that had taken Indigo a while to get used to. All the metal and white alloyed tiling made the station seem like some kind of big, fancy bathroom. Despite that, Shay's place felt downright homey, with flowering indoor plants, plump cushions, and embroidered throw rugs giving the place an immediate sense of comfort and life. A huge aquarium hummed quietly away against the wall, with multiple species of fish darting lazily about while two odd-looking pink eel-like creatures with fluttery gills and gently waving tendrils lurked near the bottom.

"And these last two hours have really flown by!" a male voice announced. Indigo glanced over at the vidscreen mounted on the wall to see an elcor and a human sitting across from each other, a chessboard between them. "What a tense, captivating session, seeing two great strategic minds at work. With Thunloon having gained control of the centre, he's keeping Kovisk on his toes—and us on the edge of our seats!"

Amused at Shay's choice of entertainment, Indigo watched the screen with interest. "So, you've been watching...?"

"Chests," Nyxerta groaned. "So boring."

"Chess, Nyxie. Chess. And it's not boring."

"Nothing's happened for fifteen minutes! They're just sitting there staring at those prawn things!"

"I should have known you'd be a chess-head." Indigo nudged Shay's arm with her elbow. "You really are a nerd, aren't you?"

"Born and raised," said Shay, smiling. "So, I figured we'd eat first, get some energy in us, then get down to the gritty titty and embark on this furniture-moving adventure."

"Sounds good," said Indigo, fighting a laugh at the misnomer. "I'm so hungry. If that pizza doesn't come soon I might just eat the couch."

"That would save us a lot of trouble," remarked a pale-plated, blue-eyed turian as she emerged from the hallway into the living room. She gave Indigo a polite smile. "Hey, I'm Kaia."

"I'm pizza," said Indigo. Kaia cocked her head, Nyxerta looked confused, and Shay laughed. Indigo blushed. "I mean, Indigo. I'm Indigo."

"Weird name, weirder introduction. I like it." Kaia turned to Shay. "Why were you talking about dirty boobs?"

"Pardon?"

"I think she meant 'nitty gritty,'" Indigo supplied, smiling.

Shay nodded, comprehension dawning on her face. "Oh, right. Yes, that makes more sense. Actually, no, it doesn't." She looked at Indigo. "What's a nitty?"

Indigo shrugged and shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"All right, well, dirty boobs and mystery definitions aside, I think we need a little liquid courage for the task ahead. Drinks?" Shay headed into the open-plan kitchen and opened a cabinet above her fridge, revealing a lineup of various bottles. "I've got quite the variety here—perks of being a bartender. Horosk, Drossix Blue—oh, wait, Indi, you can't drink those, your stomach will rupture—"

Indigo snorted. "Yeah, I'll pass, thanks."

"You definitely would pass if you drank them."

"I'll have a Drossix," said Kaia, following Shay to the kitchen.

"Elasa for me!" Nyxerta piped. Before any of them could say anything, she threw herself backwards onto the problematic couch, which protested with a series of creaks.

"Nyxie, you dull stone!" Shayila yelled over Kaia's laughter.

"Sorry, sorry! I forgot!" Nyxerta struggled to get up, sinking into the cushions, and Indigo went over to grab her hands and help her to her feet. "Thanks."

"What happened to this thing, anyway?" Indigo asked, eyeing the couch. It sagged in the middle, and the fabric was riddled with twisted, branching tears like Lichtenberg scars. She poked at a particularly deep one, feeling the stuffing.

"Nyxie decided to hit it with a warp field," Shayila explained, opening the Drossix Blue, which wasn't blue, and pouring a tumbler for Kaia.

"Only because you and Uleni kept arguing about who was the strongest biotic!" Nyxerta plopped herself down onto the ottoman beside the couch.

"Jesus," Indigo murmured. She stared at the cushions, imagining what that would do to someone's body. She hadn't been around many biotics back on Earth, apart from that one kid in primary school who'd been sent to Gagarin Station. He'd never come back, and she sometimes wondered what had become of him.

"And your way of interjecting was to attack my upholstery." Shay came back into the living room, carrying three glasses of silvery-green liquid. She handed one to Nyxerta and offered another to Indigo. "Elasa. Try it! It's an asari liquor."

"Thanks." Indigo wondered if alcohol and furniture-moving was a sensible mix, but her tastebuds took over her worries when she had a sip. Peppermint-sharp and ice-cold, it left her with a bitter aftertaste like the tart skin of an unripened fruit, with a hint of sweetness on her tongue.

Much to Nyxie's disappointment, Shay and Kaia settled down to watch the last fifteen minutes of the chess match. Indigo watched as Kaia pulled out a ball of thick wool and continued knitting what appeared to be a scarf, then wandered over to look at the fish, wanting a moment to herself to decompress. Fish were so pretty, and the way they moved was so calming; she could watch them for hours. And she had, once… the memory felt as bitter as the elasa. An aquarium date with Elise interrupted by a call from her Mum—We've rushed Grandad to hospital again, he had another fall and broke his hip, it's not good but don't worry, stay where you are—her stiff upper lip collapsing into uncontrollable sobs as she hunched into herself while people stared and Elise tried to comfort her with meaningless platitudes and uncertain touches.

Even now, she still hated the inconvenience and embarrassment of crying in public. The weight of impending grief had loomed over her like rain-darkened clouds, dragging each thought back to the inevitable: someone she loved was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. Let it out, her Dad would say. There's no shame in your feelings. He'd been right, she knew that now, but in that cool blue light of the aquarium, with helpless anger hard and fiery inside her, she'd snapped at Elise to shut up mid-sentence, torn her hands from her girlfriend's gentle grasp, and stumbled outside alone to cry. A familiar stab of shame needled her chest at the memory.

God, she hadn't thought about that day for a while. Her grandfather—her mentor, her friend—died a few weeks later, his body weakened and decrepit in the hospital bed, surrounded by regen fields and monitors, slipping away from unconsciousness to silent oblivion. Indigo frowned at her wayward thoughts, the blur of recollections leaving her discombobulated and slightly nauseated, but that could have been the cocktail of elasa and Tupari in her otherwise empty stomach. One of Shay's striped dartfish swam to the top of the tank, perhaps hoping for food, then drifted back down to hide in a clump of seaweed.

"What are you doing, moping over there?" Shay came up beside her.

"Just saying hi to your fishies." Indigo went to take another mouthful of elasa and realised she'd already finished it. "Whoops."

"That was fast," said Shay, taking her glass. "Another?"

"Thanks. I drink too quickly," Indigo admitted. And without food, you alcoholic moron, she chided herself. "I'll try not to get plastered. How's the chess going?"

Shay glanced over her shoulder, then leaned closer to Indigo. "I'm going to let you in on a secret," she whispered, and Indigo raised her eyebrows. "I don't like it, either—I prefer playing. You have no idea how frustrating it is. Last year, it took five whole days for the elcor to make a move. But I watch it because, um, Kaia likes it." Her cheeks blushed a darker lavender.

Indigo grinned at her. "Like something out of Check and Mate," she teased. Shay poked her in the ribs. "Ouch! Don't worry, I'll take your adorable secret to the grave. I didn't know you had a girlfriend! How long have you been together?"

"Oh, we're aren't. I just... uh, like her." Shay pressed her lips together. Indigo had never seen her look or sound so uncertain, and she gave her a sympathetic smile, hoping her crush wasn't unrequited. "Anyway, enough standing alone looking all sad and pensive!" Shay announced, recovering quickly and waving Indigo away. "Go sit down and be sociable."

"Yes, ma'am." Grinning when Shay poked her tongue out, Indigo went over to sit on the floor near the couch. "How long has this game been going?" she asked Kaia. "Shay just told me it took five days for one move."

"Twelve years," said Kaia. She looked down at her knitting, mandibles twitching in annoyance at an uneven stitch. "Aw, crap."

Indigo laughed. "Wait, seriously?"

"Well, they're two of the best players in the galaxy." Frowning, Kaia tugged at the wool with her talons, elegant mandibles twitching once with concentration in that turian way Indigo found kind of endearing.

"You'd think they'd have figured out how to make it exciting by now," Nyxerta grumbled.

"So, how do you guys know Shay?" Indigo asked. "Do you all go to uni together?"

Kaia shook her head. "Nyxie doesn't, but I'm at Larathos as well. Medical student, minoring in philosophy."

"We met in class last year," said Shay from the kitchen, getting more drinks. "Biochem, wasn't it?"

Kaia nodded. "Mm-hm, with T'Spittle."

"Sorry, who?"

"That's what everyone called the professor," said Kaia. "Not to her face, of course. She's a very... enthusiastic speaker. No-one sits in the first three rows, lest they suffer a very mild downpour."

Nyxerta scrunched up her nose. "Gross. Shay and I go way back. We met on Illium about twenty years ago."

"Ah, I figured you might be from there," said Indigo. "It sounds like a nice planet."

Shay laughed. "'Nice' isn't the word I'd use, but it's certainly worth a visit."

The doorbell rang, a heavenly chime that heralded the arrival of a pizza-laden volus. Ksshk. "Delivery for Sur'Kesh Kuriel Talat Monset—"

"Yes, yes, thank you!" Shay rushed over and relieved him of the boxes. "You don't need to say the whole name."

A confusing mix of smells greeted Indigo as she joined Kaia and Nyxerta at the dining table. Shayila bustled around the table, laying out plates. "Okay, we've got extra-hot dextro pepperoni for Kaia, vegan supreme for Nyxerta, Media terrarium for Indi, and my seaweed-larvae special. What are you smirking at, Indi?"

"Nothing." Making a mental note to suggest Media Terrarium as a band name the next time she saw her friend Dan, Indigo took a seat across from Kaia. "Seaweed and larvae, huh?"

"You want to try some?" Shayila asked with a smile that looked too challenging for her offer to be entirely innocent. She made a show of picking up a slice and letting a large amount of cheese and soy sauce drip down, along with a few long, skinny worms. "Yum."

Indigo swallowed her gag reflex and retrieved two slices of her safe, boring pizza. "I think worms might be a bit too adventurous for me."

"Good," said Nyxerta, "because if I have to watch two of you slurp up bugs and seaweed, I'm going to throw up."

Halfway through her fourth glass of elasa, Indigo dozed off at the table. The sugar hit from the Tupari had worn off, replaced by the drowsiness of a long day, a full stomach, and a few drinks. Shay, Kaia, and Nyxerta's lively chatter—or, rather, Shay and Nyxerta's lively chatter and Kaia's occasional interjections—drifted into a low buzz as she sat back in her chair, heavy-eyed and slow.

"Wake up, human!" Nyxerta's voice roused her, accompanied by the feeling of someone patting her hair. "Oh, by the stars, it's so soft! You're so fluffy and adorable!"

"You make me sound like a poodle," Indigo grumbled, grimacing as Nyxerta's long nails scratched her scalp. She sat up, rubbing her neck where she'd bent it at an angle.

"Come on, my band of loyal minions, up you get!" Shay ordered, carrying the empty pizza boxes into the kitchen and dumping them into the bin. "We have to move the dining table."

"If I may, I much prefer the term 'underling,'" said Kaia, rising from her seat. "It doesn't imply quite the same level of mindlessness."

"At least 'minion' is better than 'stooge.'" Stifling a yawn, Indigo stood and stretched, extricating her brain from the post-nap fog.

For the next ten minutes, the four of them worked together to shift various smaller pieces of furniture out of the way, clearing a path to the front door.

"Okay!" Shay clapped her hands, marching back to the couch. "Nyxie and I will drop the weight as much as we can, but her biotics aren't very strong—"

"Hey! I'm strong! I did biotic gymnastics at school!"

"—and my endurance isn't what it once was. Kaia and Indi will carry it. Remember, bend from the knees, not from the back. That's the monarchy of thumbs when moving heavy objects."

"'Rule of thumb,'" Indigo said, bracing herself at one end of the couch. Shay shot her an annoyed look. "Sorry, sorry. I know I'm an irritating pedant. I mean, you do get the context right most of the time, so that's half the battle."

"You're too kind. Okay, Nyxie, you ready? Wingardium Leviosa!"

"What?" said Nyxerta and Kaia, while Indigo laughed.

"I do love Lord of the Rings," said Shay, winking at Indigo.

Indigo had very limited exposure to biotics, so the experience of holding a piece of furniture thrumming with dark energy was a new and fascinating one. A jittery feeling spread through her body, the taste of ozone on her tongue. "Wow, this is weird," she said, watching the shifting blue aura as she shuffled backwards towards the door—she'd ended up in the unfortunate position of carrying the front end of the couch. "Cool, though. Biotics are pretty."

"They always make me want to sneeze," said Kaia. "I get this weird tickling under my plates."

"Perhaps try not to sneeze when you're holding a heavy piece of furniture," Shay advised her. "That could be problematic."

After a laborious few minutes pivoting the couch so they could continue down the corridor and finally reaching the lift, they pushed the couch inside only to find it didn't fit.

"Damn." Shay folded her arms and cocked her hip, frowning at the couch as if the force of her stare could make it smaller. "I should have measured the inside beforehand. I thought we could make it fit if we just shoved it in, or angled it somehow..."

"Said the Consort to the Councillor," Indigo blurted. "Sorry, I became a fourteen-year-old boy for a second there."

Shay snorted, a quiet huffing sound. "Anyway, mistakes were made, so we have to figure this out."

"Great use of the passive voice," said Kaia, watching Shay with amusement. "We could chop it up somehow and carry it down that way. Do you have an axe?"

"Yes, let me go and fetch it from my special axe room."

"It was just a suggestion."

"Sorry, I'm a little…" Shay groaned. "Goddess, this is annoying. You're all going to hate me for this, but I think we'll have to carry it down the stairs."

"Oh, bloody hell." Indigo peeked over the railing, her stomach flip-flopping as she saw how far they had to go. Her hands hurt where she'd braced them under the couch, the edge cutting red lines into her palms.

Nyxerta groaned. "Are you kidding? That's, like, so many stairs. Can't we just wait for the movers to arrive?"

"No, I told them I'd handle it, and I can't just leave it here. We'll be fine; it's only five flights. Now, help me drop the weight again."

Nyxerta leaned against the wall, and sighed, a hand to her head. "Fine, just give me a minute."

"Okay, I could use a breather, too," Shay conceded.

"You know, there is also the crazy notion of carrying it using your arms like the rest of us," Kaia suggested. "I see those biceps, Shay."

Shay blushed for the second time, and Indigo turned away before she caught her smirking. "The biceps in my brain are of more use here, I think."

"So, what's it like being biotically strained?" Indigo asked, leaning against the railing. "Do you get brain cramps or something?"

"Pretty much," said Shay. "Non-asari have it worse, especially human L2s. Plus, you need to eat. Biotics burn through calories like nothing else." She nudged Nyxerta in the side. "Okay, come on, Nyxie, 'mind over matter!' That's what Wasea always used to say."

"Who?" asked Indigo.

"Old commando I ran with back on Illium, when I was a merc."

"Comman—" Indigo cut off, blinking. "Hang on, when you were a what?"

"You know. A merc. A mercenary."

What? Indigo looked at Kaia and Nyxerta, who looked unsurprised. Had Shay—bubbly, generous, bossy Shay, who sent her holos of her pet fish with cute captions and suffered through chess commentary purely because her crush liked it—actually killed people? "Right, yeah, thanks for clarifying. I thought you were saying you used to be a Mercedes."

"I take it I've surprised you." Shay leaned her hip against the couch and raised a brow marking.

"I mean, yeah. Were you seriously a merc?"

"Not for very long. Only about twenty years. Started out as a freelancer, then joined Eclipse back in '62. I thought about going into Huntressing, but decided to pursue my education instead." Shay met Indigo's eyes with a hint of reproach. "Oh, Indi, don't look at me like that!"

"I'm not judging, I swear! I'm just... wow." Indigo couldn't imagine it. She wasn't even sure how she felt about it.

"Lots of maidens do it," Shay explained, her tone just a little defensive. "I was a hot-headed youth, young and dumb. Well, younger and dumber."

"Were you a merc too?" Indigo asked Nyxerta.

"No way. Gross."

"Well, if we're done dissecting my sordid past, shall we brave the stairs? Nyxie, you ready to drop the weight again? Hang on..." Shay paused and looked at Indigo, an odd expression on her face.

"What?" Indigo glanced down at herself, then patted her hair, wondering if she'd somehow got pizza sauce somewhere.

"Wingardium levi-sofa," Shay said, a shit-eatingly triumphant grin stealing over her face. "Gotcha."

"Jesus fucking Christ."

"Ha! I made a pun! And I beat you to it!" Shay whacked the back of the couch. "Did you like those apples?"

"That was wonderful," Indigo told her, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "If we break our necks carrying your couch downstairs, I'll die a proud friend."

Indigo wasn't particularly superstitious, but when Nyxerta's biotic field faltered halfway down the stairs to the third floor, she figured she could afford to be a bit less careless with her words. Her heart leapt into her throat as the couch's sudden increase in weight caught her off-balance and nearly sent her careening down the stairs.

"Sorry, Indi!" Nyxerta shouted. Biotics flaring, apparently eager to make up for her mistake, she thrust out a glowing hand... and pushed the couch through the air, only for it to land on the stairs and slide the rest of the way down.

"What the fuck?"

"Spirits!"

"Nyxie, no!"

Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-THUNK.

Instinct had made Indigo dodge to the side as soon as Nyxerta's hand came up, but the stairway railing cracked hard into her ribs. Letting out a grunt of pain, she screwed up her face, waiting for the crash of furniture on floor to end.

A stunned silence followed. They all turned to look at Nyxerta, who wrung her hands and offered an embarrassed smile. "Um... oops?"

One of the apartment doors opened, revealing a ruddy-faced, suited man. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled. Indigo flinched at the volume of his voice, as well as the spit that flew from his mouth.

"We're just moving this," said Shay, gesturing to the couch in all its inconvenient glory. "It didn't fit in the elevator."

"I ought to have you arrested."

"For what?" Shay put a hand on her hip. "Interior design?"

"For causing a racket and disturbing the peace." The man marched across the corridor to the apartment across from his and slammed his fist on the door, ignoring the orange-lit holo-lock. "Hey! Open up! I know you're in there!"

Perhaps Indigo should have expected to see him again, but the sight of Krios standing in the threshold still threw her. He wore a paint-stained shirt and a frown. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what?'" the man spat. "Arrest them, damn it! You're with C-Sec, aren't you?"

"I'm off-duty, you idiot," Krios snapped. He caught sight of Indigo and they blinked rather dumbly at each other for a second—which was a pretty impressive sight in itself, considering between them they had three sets of eyelids.

"Hello again," she said without thinking. "How are you?"

He glanced from her to the other human. "Great," he deadpanned. "What's going on here?"

"We're moving this," Shay clarified, gesturing to the couch in all its inconvenient glory. "It didn't fit in the lift."

"I see." Krios looked at the man. "What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know—write them up! Arrest them!"

"On what grounds?"

"Drunk and disorderly! Public misuse of biotics!"

"This isn't misuse," Shay argued. "Citadel citizens are perfectly within their rights to use biotics in a non-violent manner to carry out tasks befitted for—"

"Yeah? Well, citizens are also within rights not to have a fucking singularity exploding right outside their front door."

"She's not using a singularity," Nyxerta piped. "She was just lifting it. Like this, see?"

Everything flashed blue-white for a split second, and when her vision readjusted Indigo only saw Krios' startled face she flailed in mid-air, dangling like a fish on a hook. She grasped for coherent thoughts, which slipped from her mental grasp like a bar of soap from wet hands, but managed to form enough cognition a second later to say, "Ah! Shit!" Not her most eloquent moment.

"Oh, Goddess, sorry! My aim's a little—" Nyxerta's words broke off into laughter, and Indigo suspected she'd aimed wrong on purpose. "Wow, I haven't lifted a person since I was at school! Look at your fluffy hair! It's all sticking out!"

Indigo's hair was the least of her worries as she flailed in mid-air, helpless, weightless, and … tingling just a little. Nyxerta laughed again, the loud laughter of the tipsy, and Indigo glared at her, fighting a bitter surge of fury and a tirade of expletives. She liked Nyxerta, so she didn't much fancy losing her temper, especially in front of Shay, Kaia, and Krios.

"Goddess, Nyxie! Put her down!"

"Fiiine."

Indigo's knees buckled as her feet hit the floor and she staggered forward with all the grace of an elcor on rollerskates. She let out a soft "Oof!" as Krios' chest broke her forward momentum, landing hard on his foot. A harsh drell curse growled out of him as caught at her shoulders to steady her, though he let go a second later.

"Nyxie, you nali shva'kit, you scared the lives out of her."

"I'm fine," said Indigo, righting herself and stepping out of Krios' personal space. She rubbed at her own upper arms where he'd grabbed her. Her skin prickling with the aftershock of biotics, she half-turned to glare daggers—no, swords—over her shoulder at Nyxerta, who tried to look contrite for a moment before bursting into tipsy, uncontrollable giggles. Muttering something under his breath, the human man stormed back into his apartment with a last glare over his shoulder. Nyxerta flipped him off.

"What's that you called her?" asked Kaia. "You've called me that before."

"Veknir poop," said Nyxie.

"Technically, the literal translation is 'small brown stone,'" said Shay, "so it basically means 'you little shit.'"

Kaia nodded, apparently unoffended. "Ah. That checks out."

Shay's omni-tool blipped. "Oh, good, the movers are here. I'll go talk to them. Nyxie, you come with me—"

"Aw, why?"

"So you don't assault another of my friends, dummy. Someone has to keep an eye on you. Kaia, Indi, can you stay here and watch the couch?"

"We shall be ever vigilant." Kaia flopped down onto the couch, ignoring the protesting creaking noise, stretching out her long legs. "Wake me when they get back, Indi. Also, get Nyxerta to drink some water."

"Way ahead of you," said Shay. She nudged Nyxerta, who was still giggling at Indigo. "Come on, Sisterhood Wannabe, let's get the muscle in to move this piece of junk."

Indigo turned back to face the drell, her only port of sanity in this storm. He made a strange wheezing noise, and at first she thought he was coughing or something, but then she realised… "What's so funny?" she asked, a smile breaking across her face in response.

"You, your face." He started laughing again, quiet and low. "Just—the look on your face—when the asari was floating you." He glanced at her again and made another wheezing noise. It was kind of cute, once you got past the dying-horse aspect of it. "You were trying to say something and then—you looked so—" He broke off and laughed again. "Indignant."

Just for the sake of it, Indigo folded her arms and pretended to look offended, but soon she was laughing as well. For someone so reserved, he had a strangely infectious laugh. "It was a startling experience!"

He eyed her, his own amusement dying down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smoothed the bodice of her dress. "I feel kind of fizzy, like a can of soda."

"What?"

"That made more sense in my head. It was actually kind of fun, in retrospect. Though I don't think I'll tell any of them that—they might see it as a free invitation."

His lips twitched into a mischievous smile. "I wouldn't complain."

Indigo raised both eyebrows. "Such an upstanding example of C-Sec integrity, you are."

"Well, you did land rather hard on my foot. That could qualify as assault."

"You've got another." Something caught her eye over his shoulder, and she surreptitiously peered past him into his apartment, the alcohol in her system spurring on her nosiness. The canvas he'd been carting around earlier sat mounted on an easel, half-painted with a whirl of colour, abstract shapes and shades. "Wow, that's beautiful," she said, but a split second later his shoulder blocked her view and he closed the door.

Indigo looked at him, embarrassed at being caught nosing, and balked as he stepped closer to herd her further out, his posture defensive and prickly, all sharp edges and tight posture. Gone was the little smile, the hint of humour in his eyes replaced by something hard and combative.

"Sorry," she mumbled, wilting under his accusatory stare. He took another step forward, and she stepped back. "I didn't mean to—"

"It doesn't matter," he snapped, scowling, and she recoiled. He sighed, brittle and cold. "Just—just leave it."

"Sorry," she said again, voice small. Part of her wanted to push back—she didn't mean anything bad by her curiosity—but she reigned in her affronted temper. "It's private, I get it."

He eyed her, guarded, and made a mmph noise that she interpreted as a grudging acceptance of her apology.

"Anyway, sorry. I'll let you get back to it," she said, ducking her head in farewell. She turned to leave his doorway, but his voice stopped her.

"I'm Kolyat," he said.

"Huh?"

"My name. Kolyat Krios." He blinked both sets of eyelids, a hint of embarrassment quieting his voice. "I don't know yours."

"Oh. Indigo Carter. Nice to meet you." With a tentative smile, she offered her hand for him to shake. He looked at it for a moment, and she was about to say, "You shake it," when he did just that. His bare scales were smooth and cool, but a shock of electricity ripped his hand from hers. "Ouch!" Indigo laughed and shook out her hand. "Must be a biotics thing."

"It is."

"You're a biotic?"

"I have family who are." Kolyat looked distant for a second, rubbing absently at the blue paint smeared on his forearm, bright against the splotchy wide streaks of dark scales patterning them, much like the ones following the line of his cheek frills and striping the back of his head. "I should go. Good luck with..." He gestured to the couch. "All that."

"Thanks. I think this venture was cursed from the moment it started, so luck is appreciated," Indigo said, smiling as he shut the door.

"That guy's weird," Kaia mumbled, sounding half-asleep. "Not saying it's a bad thing."

Indigo sighed and wandered back over to her. "Aren't we all?"