Shepard sat up in the mess with Kolyat, both sitting in silence with two matching untouched plates of food in front of them. Kolyat gave a noticeable flinch as a scream echoed up from the stairs to the cargo hold. "It's mostly scare tactics…" Shepard tried to justify. "You get more information from fear instead of pain."
Kolyat poked at his food. "Yeah… those screams aren't from pain." he said sarcastically.
Shepard sighed and got up from the table. She grabbed the plate of food and dropped it in the sink on her way down to the cargo bay. She went to the back wall with the holding cells and slid in the one Nihlus had Gavil in. She slipped beside Nihlus and grabbed his arm as he went to strike Gavil. Nihlus turned and glared at her. He had heard her come up, he didn't even jump. "He isn't going to respond like this." she said, her eyes looking down at Gavil's quivering form tied to a stiff chair. She looked at Nihlus and put her hand against his cheek. She felt his mandibles twitch under her hand and watch the glare melt off his face.
"Fine, you try to get him to talk, all I'm getting is muttering about how he will only talk to the council." he grumbled and moved back to the edge of the cell.
"Can he understand me?" she asked as she approached Gavil.
"Should be, I turned the program into a virus, will infect anyone's omni-tool who gets close to one that already has it." Nihlus said, leaning against the wall to the cell, his arms crossed.
She glanced back at him. "That is actually really smart."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I tend to have my moments." he said, not taking offense to her almost insult.
"Every dog will… never mind." she said, stopping herself from using another human saying. She went behind Gavil. He flinched and tried to turn, to watch her. "It's ok, we just want to know where my friend is." she said as she undid his binds. "The one you mentioned before, remember? The one in the fighting pit?" She moved back around to face Gavil as he rubbed his wrists and gave him a smile. "It is going to take a few days to get to the Citadel. If we knew where Kaidan was we could start preparing now, it might give him a better chance of being alive." She looked down and her voice wavered, if only slightly. "Please… I've lost… everyone. It was my fault, they were under my command and I let them all get taken—or worse."
Gavil looked away from her. "I…" he started to protest, but sighed, his big eyes closing. "The fighting ring is on Omega, one of the outlining districts." he caved, unable to deny Shepard's pleading green eyes.
'At least I'm not the only one…' Nihlus thought as Shepard turned to him, not knowing where that was. "Well that's just great… The last time I saw Aria we… didn't part on the best terms." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You pissed off Aria and lived?" Gavil asked, his jaw almost slacked.
Nihlus gave a nervous chuckle and looked at the ceiling to avoid Shepard's gaze. "I didn't know this asari was her daughter until… after… and well I am a man." he said, sliding a glance at Shepard to see her roll her eyes. "I'll get Joker to set us a course and call in some contacts to get a shipment of supplies ready so we can leave as quickly as possible." he said as they both left the cell and put the force field that kept Gavil locked in.
"Wait, you're going to leave me in here?" Gavil pleaded, scrambling to the force field.
Neither Nihlus nor Shepard turned around from their trek up to the main part of the ship. "We'll be at the Citadel in a few days. Besides in there I am less likely to want to strangle you." Nihlus said as he put an arm around Shepard's waist and pulled her close.
She turned and struggled to get away, eventually bring her foot down on the back of his leg, making him falter in his steps and nearly fall face first into the stairs. He let her go to catch himself and glared up at her. She stood a few feet from him, her arms around her stomach, eyes looking away and down casted.
"Does it embarrass you that much?" he asked as he stood up and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing across her red cheek.
The flush darkened a bit and she forced herself to glance up at him. "You're making fun of me." she muttered, looking back down at the ground between them.
Nihlus let out a low coo and moved his other hand to her other cheek, forcing her head up to look at him. "I would never make fun of you." he said, stopping himself from pressing their foreheads together. Now that she knew what it meant he didn't want to make the situation worse. "You are just adorable when you get all flustered like this. It's cute."
She shook her head and took his hands in hers, removing them. "Well stop, please." she said, looking down at his hands in hers. "I'm not adorable… or cute…" she said and let their hands drop. She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "I'm a soldier."
He went to protest, but she turned on her heel and went up the stairs before he could. "What the hell." he asked himself. She never reacted like that, and he teased her a lot. Come to think of it she had been acting differently since she had accidently "kissed" him.
"Lost your knack?" Gavil asked over from the cell. Nihlus sent him a glare before he stormed up the stairs. But she was acting different, and Nihlus didn't like it.
Shepard had retreated to the engine room in hopes that no one would think to look back there. She sighed from her spot up on top of the thick pipes that she was pretty sure were used to vent the drive core. She had handled that badly, running away like that, but what was she supposed to do? She was bad at handling personal situations. Give her a lobby full of people she had to debrief or inspire and she could move you to tears. Try and get her to talk to someone one on one—and about herself—and she always found some way to terminate the conversation. She shouldn't be bad at Nihlus for being himself, he was a flirt, it was the way he acted. Unfortunately for her he wasn't the typical "pick up artist" you saw played out on TV. No, Nihlus was charming, when he wanted to be, and strong. She tucked her legs up closer to her chest. If only he was a human and they weren't floating in space far, far away from home. But even then he was out of her league; she wasn't even in a league.
RK
"There is an empty holding cell now; I could throw you in it until I get back." Nihlus said as they suited up.
Shepard rolled her eyes. "Kaidan won't come willing if I'm not there. To him you are just another alien, and by the sounds of it aliens haven't been the kindest to him." she said as she checked her last gun and strapped it into place.
Nihlus shrugged, "I have my ways." he said, giving her a smile.
She turned away from him completely to pick up her helmet. "Your ways generally involve knocking people out and carrying them out like luggage. In this case that won't work to well considering I doubt the people who own this fighting pit are going to like us taking their crowd favorite." she said as she locked the helmet on, the last bit distorted as it came over the com.
"Yeah, but I don't like this plan." he said, his mandibles twitching as a giveaway to his discomfort.
"We both agreed this is the only way to get in, it's too heavily guarded." she said, turning to him. "I don't like it either, but I'm a big girl, I can handle it." She grabbed another pack that was by her gear and shouldered it.
Nihlus sighed and ran a hand down his faceplates. "Alright, but you say the word and we will just shoot our way through." he said, going to put a hand on her shoulder, but stopped and let his hand fall. Shepard was still being weird about the whole contact thing. She had even started sleeping on the floor in his room. He didn't like it. He wanted her to start acting normal, to start acting like the woman who had stolen his heart.
They traveled through Omega in silence, she didn't even comment on the new species she saw or the horrible acts on the street. Robbery, assault, she was pretty sure there was an asari and a turian having sex behind a parked car. Nihlus had told her that Omega was lawless, but she didn't expect it to be this bad. Anarchy's ugly underbelly.
Finally Nihlus stopped them and took them down a narrow alley. "The location is just a few blocks down, you'll need to change now, make sure no one sees you." he said, still clearly not liking this idea.
Shepard nodded and pulled her helmet off followed by the rest of her armor, leaving her in her tight black under armor. "Turn around." she said as she reached for the hem of her shirt.
He did as she asked and turned his back to her so he was blocking her from view but he couldn't see. "What happened to being comfortable changing in front of people?" he asked, trying to get a rise out of her like she normally did, but she didn't respond at all. He sighed and leaned against the alley wall until she told him she was done. He turned back around and looked down at her in her low riding pants and mid-drift shirt. His eyes drifted up to the collar around her neck attached to a thin black leash, and over to the healing bite mark on her left shoulder. They were lucky that he had bitten the left side, which signified intimacy, but not bonding.
"Well?" she asked, handing him the leash.
"I still don't like the plan." he said before he scooped her up and pinned her against the wall, her legs resting above his hips.
"What the fuck? This wasn't in the plan." she said, trying to get down.
"Your outfit will fool most of them, but not a turian." he said, quick to explain. He probably should have before he picked her up. "Turians mark with scent. If you are supposed to be my… pet then you need to smell like it."
"Ok… then why am I against a wall?" she asked, her hands on his chest.
He let out a trill at the slight return of his Shepard. He cut it off with a cough, despite that she couldn't hear it. "Well… it's a musk that is only released when we are…" he coughed again "aroused."
She looked at him for a long second, weighing her options.
"We can still just shoot up the place, just say the word." he offered, not wanting to force her to do anything.
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Hands stay above the clothes and all pants stay on and buttoned." she gave her terms.
He removed her hand from her face and tilted her head to look up at him. "Of course." he said before he leaned in. She surprised him, though, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to a kiss. It was sloppy, a clear sign of her inexperience, and she seemed to notice because she quickly relinquished control to him. 'I'll get a fight out of you yet.' he thought, his urges clouding his judgment. He pushed against her, pressing their bodies together and he couldn't hate his armor more right now. His hands were unarmored though, so he took that to his advantage, moving them to her hips.
She felt him take control, his tongue sliding into her mouth. This time it wasn't from nearly drowning. This time it wasn't when she was so tired she could easily ignore the details. Instead she was very away of the different texture of his long blue tongue against hers, of his three fingered hands gripping at her hips, his claws digging into her skin and somehow still careful not to hurt her. He broke off the kiss and moved his mouth to her neck, licking and biting at the tender flesh. She bit her lip and shifted against him. "Would a merc really be so careful with his pet?" she tried to joke, tried to distract herself.
"No," Nihlus purred, his voice thick and husky. "But I am." He moved at hand to her side and his mouth to her ear, giving the strange appendage a nip. She let out a little noise and he quickly pulled back, afraid he hurt her. Her eyes were squeezed shut, body completely tense, hands resting harmlessly against his chest. He used the hand still on her ass and lifted her up so her stomach was level with his face. He rubbed his scent glades behind the base of his mandibles against her flesh and ran his claws down her stomach just hard enough to make the skin pucker. A growl rumbled through his chest as his tongue darted out and licked along the marks, continuing down to the edge of her pants. She jerked his head back and rested her hands on his shoulders to help support herself. Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. He almost couldn't believe it, she wanted it. She actually had a sex drive buried somewhere in there. And he wanted to give it to her, to finally have her, even if it was in some cramped alley in the middle of dirty omega. He could have her.
"Nih…" she said, her voice shaking. And that is when he noticed her trembling, and the water collecting in her eyes. It broke the hormonal haze he was in, brought him back to his senses.
He set her down and cupped her face in his hands. "You just say the word, Shepard." he said.
She nodded and slid down the wall into a sitting position. She had held off as along as she could, but her body was hot, it felt like there was a lump in her throat, and there was a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I'm sorry…" she muttered, her head in her hands.
Nihlus moved to sit beside her and pulled her close, his head resting on top of hers. "Nothing to be sorry for." he said, rubbing a hand on her arm. "You'll smell like me now, which was the point." he assured her. And she did, she smelled like him, and with his head setting on hers it would get into her hair and like the soap she used it would stay there. It gave him a satisfaction that he felt guilty for. He pulled back and she looked up at him. He loved her big green eyes. He loved her, but he was too afraid of her reaction if he told her.
"What?" she asked, making him realize that his mouth was open like he was going to speak.
"I…" he started and swallowed hard, "I love you." he said, switching to a dialect that wouldn't translate. "I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone." he cupped her face in her hands and brought it to his. "I love you so much."
"That didn't translate." she said, confused.
He nodded, letting her go. "I know… That is the beauty of another language… being able to say something… without being judged…" he said, quoting her, before he stood up.
"Oh, I see how it is." she said, standing up next to him and handed him the leash. "Two can play it that way." she said and pulled him down to her level by the ridge on his armor. "Thaitin sé liom." she said with a grin before she released him.
Nihlus blinked down at her before he shook his head and laughed. "Why do I feel like I really want to know what you just said?" he asked as they left the alley and he was trying his best not to let his erection, painfully pressing against his armor, affect his stride.
They went to the fighting pit and Nihlus approached the bouncer standing outside the entrance. Shepard kept her head down and shuffled her feet like he told her to do. Without looking back he gave the leash a jerk, pulling her forward and nearly making her fall. She was a good actor, he noted. Shepard would never falter in her steps so easy, the girl always had sure footing.
The krogan looked at them and took particular interest in Shepard. "So you have one of those fleshy aliens too? They have been getting popular. Most died in the pit though, not a lot of fight." the krogan said and Shepard forced herself not to react to the news that most of her crew was dead.
Nihlus shrugged, "Saves time." he dismissed the information as if it was nothing.
"Especially in those pants." the krogan noted. "You renting?"
Shepard shuffled behind him slightly and he jerked her back out. "No, I am not fond of the idea, she could get damaged." he said. He nodded to the door. "Can we go in? Want to see what the stock is like and see if any are worth betting on."
The krogan chuckled, "Only with proof of credits." he said, never taking his eyes on Shepard. "Or maybe a quick loan, hell knows I can use it after being stuck at this post all day." He reached out to touch Shepard.
Nihlus grabbed the hand before Shepard could react and slammed the krogan against the door. "I already told you: she is not for rent." he growled. "Now if you don't want me bringing this insult to your superior's attention I suggest you let us in or I will take my money elsewhere."
"Ok, ok." the krogan said and once he was released he opened the door for them.
Nihlus continued to growl as they went in and only stopped once the door was shut. "You ok?" he asked in a hushed voice.
She nodded and stuck close to Nihlus as they walked down the narrow hallway. At the end of it was a large room with a bunch of scoreboards. He took them over to a teller behind thick metal wire mesh. "Name, who do you want to bet on, and how much." the turian said, taking note of Shepard and quickly looking away so he wouldn't offend.
Nihlus looked up at the board. "Who is this Unknown?" he asked, his arm wrapping around Shepard and hand slipping into the front of her pants as it was the most normal thing in the world. He felt her stomach twitch, but she didn't react otherwise, understanding that he was trying to show claim and get the other men's eyes of her. The turian taking the bets was polite, but not everyone was. Plus he made sure to keep his hand above her boy shorts panties. He made slight note that her inner thigh was wet, she was probably sweating under the hot leather pants.
"Well most of the time we post them up by species, but Unknown isn't a known species." the turian explained. "He actually is the same species of your female."
"He has a good score though," Nihlus noted. "Must have a lot of fight."
The turian nodded, "He is resourceful, and it catches a lot of his opponents off guard. Most are saying this will be his last match though, he is against a turians we picked up from another company, they got rid of him because he couldn't be beat, bad for bets." the turian warned.
"I don't know, I think this Unknown guy is going to walk out of this fight." Nihlus said, trying to put Shepard's mind at ease. She wasn't reacting, but he knew she was silently worrying. He handed over his credit chit and placed his bet.
"Pit is through the door to your left." the turians said as he handed the chit back. "Good luck."
Nihlus lead them through and down to stand by caged dome. He looked it over for any weak spots, but it was pretty well maintained. Of all the things on Omega to actually be taken care of it had to be the one thing he was trying to break. Getting Kaidan out of this might be harder than he hoped.
The bell sounded and the two combatants stepped out of their respected gate and into the area below. This time Shepard did react, stepping closer to the bars. "We have to get him out…" Shepard muttered just high enough so he could hear her. "It's Kaidan…"
"We will," he assured her. "We just need a way in, be patient."
She took a deep breath as the turian charged Kaidan, claws out and going for his face. Kaidan ran back and around a shelter. From this angle they could see Kaidan rip open a container, there were a few scattered about the area, things to make the fight more interesting. This one held a small vial of red sand. Nihlus looked at the human male weird as he opened it and swallowed the pinch of drug. He threw the vial away and glanced up at the crowd, looking back when he saw Shepard. Their eyes met for half a second before Shepard looked back to the turian coming back this time with a knife he had gotten out of another box.
Kaidan took the cue and got up, dodging around to the other side just as the turian brought the knife down where Kaidan's head had been a second before. He rolled to his feet and started to glow blue.
"What is going on?" she asked Nihlus, not taking her eyes off the fight.
"What was in that vile is a drug called red sand, it can enhance biotic abilities." he explained.
Kaidan built up a biotic blast and sent it at the turian, but he didn't use it to send him back, he lifted him up. He used the chance to look back at Shepard. So he wasn't seeing things. It was Shepard. Same red hair, same green eyes, but she was chained to one of those plated aliens. She was alive though… he had to get out, to help her get away. His focus faltered and the biotic blast vanished, dropping the plated alien. "Shit," he muttered and ran as the turian charged him, slashing and hacking behind him. He had to get another box, something to give him an edge against the bastard. He spotted one over on the far corner of the arena and ran for it. He glanced up from it to Shepard again and tripped on the uneven surface of the arena. He went down hard, using his arms to break his fall, and tried to scurry back to his feet, but the alien grabbed his leg and dragged him back down, raising the knife to finish it.
Shepard watched as Kaidan fell and couldn't stand by anymore. She jerked the leash away from Nihlus and slid herself through the bars. It was a tight fit, but she fit and dropped down to the area floor.
"Damn it, Shepard." he growled at her as she ran to Kaidan's aid and slammed herself into the turian as he raised his knife.
"Shepard," Kaidan said, getting to his feet as the turian ran at her. She dodged under his swipe before launching herself into a backwards flip against the arena wall. She used it to jump over the turian's head and rolled to her feet on the other side of him.
"Yes it's me. I'm alive, now save questions till we aren't in danger. We only have a few minutes before they send in guards at best." she panted and dodged as the turian attacked her again. She twirled herself out of the way and tackled him to the ground. "Stop attacking and you can leave with us." she tried, but he only savagely swung his knife at her. "I'm sorry then…" she said as she grabbed his knife hand. It seemed to anger him because he gathered his strength and flipped them so he on top of her.
"Shepard!" Kaidan said, going to her aid.
"No, go stop those guards, get Nihlus." she said as she craned her neck to the side to dodge a deadly stab down at her head.
"Who is Nihlus?" he asked.
"The turian that was with me." she said as she rolled around on the floor with the savage turian.
"What is a turian?" Kaidan asked as he blasted the guards trying to enter the area back.
"They are… oh fuck it…" she said as she managed to get on the turian's back and she wrapped her leash around his neck and held it tight to cut off his airway. "Just look for the big guy who is killing mercs and looks pissed." she shouted at him. The turian clawed at the leash, trying desperately to breath. He stabbed the knife back at her, managing to cut her cheek below her right eye. "Oh I am so done with you." she said. She switched the leash into one hand and grabbed his knife hand as he tried to stab her again. She twisted it out of his hand, flipped it into her hand, and stabbed him under the chin, sinking it into his brain and killing him. Blue blood splattered her as she let him go and went to help Kaidan with the guards.
Together they pushed past the few guards that were the first to respond and left through the entrance they made. "Where are we going?" she asked Kaidan.
"I don't know, they only let me through the one that leads to the pens." he replied as they blindly went through the maze of hallways. "So who is Nihlus?" he asked.
"Not the time," she snapped at him as they went around a corner and she ran into heavy armor.
The man in the armor picked her up by the front of her shirt. "Damn it, Shepard, you are going to give me a heart attack." he growled.
"Oh… hey Nihlus, we were just looking for you." she said sheepishly. She looked over at Kaidan to see him about to charge Nihlus. "No Kaidan, this is Nihlus, he is with us." she said, halting him.
Nihlus released her and pulled out the spare pistol he was carrying for her. "This discussion isn't over." he growled.
"Right, all questions and lectures will be saved until we escape from this place." she said as she checked the thermal clip.
Nihlus turned to lead them through the hallways and Kaidan looked between them. "Don't I get a gun?"
Nihlus looked back at him. "No." he said before continuing.
"We couldn't get that many in." Shepard explained, well more lied, but she wasn't about to say Nihlus was being grumpy so he wasn't going to give him a gun.
Nihlus lead them through the hallways and over dozens of dead mercs. "Had fun?" Shepard said seeing the number of them.
"When you scare the shit out of me I tend to get a little trigger happy." he said with a shrug.
They passed the holding cells and Kaidan stopped. "Hang on, I have to get my friend out." he said and left their side to go into the room.
"I hate him already." Nihlus said as they followed.
Kaidan took them to a cage holding a large krogan. "Wrex, we are getting out." Kaidan said and tried to pull the cage door off, but the red sand wasn't enough to keep him going this long and he couldn't make it budge.
Nihlus pushed Kaidan out of the way and shot the lock. It busted and opened, letting Wrex get out and stand up straight for the first time in months.
"Wrex?" Nihlus asked and the krogan nodded. "You good with a shotgun?"
"Is that a serious question?" Wrex said dryly.
Nihlus laughed and handed him the shotgun off his back.
"Why does he get a gun?" Kaidan asked Shepard.
She shook her head and guided Kaidan back to the hallway.
They continued down the narrow hallways, guns ready to shoot any mercs that got in their way, but after Nihlus' first time through there weren't that many left. Most riots were about lost bets and the winners of the bets normally kept the losers in line, there wasn't a need for a huge force. But it was Omega, and reinforcements were quick to respond. By the time they made it to the exit there were airships incoming to drop of more mercs to stop them. They all ran for it, following Nihlus as the two humans didn't know where they were going. The krogan bouncer saw them and charged, taking Shepard to the ground. Before Nihlus could react Wrex lifted the krogan up with his biotics and slammed the bastard into one of the descending airships.
"Thanks," she said to him as he helped her up. He grunted in response. Even if they couldn't understand each other it was pretty obvious what she had said.
The rest of the trip back to the ship was pretty uneventful. They managed to lose them among the backstreets and made it safely into the airlock of Nihlus' ship. "Fly us out of here, Joker." Nihlus ordered as they entered the cockpit.
"Joker?" Kaidan said, shocked to not only see the man, but to see him flying the ship.
"Hey Kaidan." Joker waved without looking over at him. "Just wait till they stick a computer in your arm." He said as he pulled the ship away from the station and flew them towards the mass relay.
"Computer in my arm?" he asked as Shepard grabbed his arm and pulled him down to bathroom.
"Get washed up, I'll make you something to eat." she said, opening the door to the bathroom. They stood there awkward for a moment before she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I'm glad you're alive." she said before she pulled away and continued down to the mess.
Nihlus watched the exchange and bumped shoulders with him as he passed. "We can take you to Nos Atros, Wrex. I doubt you want to stay cooped up on a ship." he said to the krogan that followed behind him.
"Not really." he grunted with a shrug. "I'll be down in the cargo bay, less people." he said and didn't even stop by the mess to request food.
Nihlus watched him go before joining Shepard in the kitchen. "You need a shower just as bad as him." he commented as he watched her wet a rag and rub the drying blue blood off her skin.
"I'll take one after, it will give him a chance to… soak all of this in." she said, not protesting when Nihlus took the rag and helped her wash the blood off.
He tossed the rag in the sink when it was all gone and brushed his thumb across her cut cheek. "Let's get this bandaged." he said and pulled out his med-kit from the cabinet. "Isn't bad enough to need med-gel thankfully." he said and chuckled as she hoped up on the counter to make it easier for him.
"Well then, Doctor Nihlus, patch me up." she said, giving him a grin.
He rolled his eyes as he grabbed the rubbing alcohol and poured it on a cotton ball. "Seriously though, please stop scaring me like that." he said, all humor out of his voice. "I worry." He touched the cotton ball to her cheek and moved it along the three inch cut. "You are lucky he missed your eye."
"I couldn't just stand by and watch Kaidan die…" she said and held still as he bandaged the cut.
"I know," Nihlus said and helped her off the counter. He pushed her back towards the hall. "Go get changed."
"I need to make Kaidan something to eat first." she said, reaching for the cabinet that held the instant levo meals.
He blocked her. "I can do it, you need to go get changed. It will do Kaidan some good to see you out of these clothes and looking… well not like a whore." he said, nudging her back towards the hall again.
She sighed, "Ok, you win." she said and left to their room.
Kaidan tried to be quick with the shower. Shepard was alive and ok. He remembered the worry he had felt when he watched the Normandy be attacked and boarded from his escape pod, the emotional pain he felt when she wasn't among the rest of the captured. No one had seen her and they assumed she died on the ship. But she wasn't dead, she was alive, and with one of the aliens. He shut off the shower, wrapped himself up in a soft towel, quickly finding that some were very rough and stiff while another stack was soft and plush. His hand hovered over the access panel on the door, taking a couple deep breaths before he opened it. Behind it was a strange frog like creature, hand up like he was going to open the door, and looked to be just as shocked to see him. Kaidan reacted without thinking, a reflex from spending too much time in the pit, and charged the alien, pulling him into a headlock, blocking off his windpipe. The red skin around the alien's neck inflated past his arm, allowing him to breath despite the chokehold.
Shepard exited a door a bit down the hall and saw the scene. "Kaidan stop, he is a friend." she said and moved to pry Kaidan off of Kolyat. She finally managed to pull them apart and stood between them. "Kaidan, this is Kolyat, he helped us rescue Joker. He is a friend." she said clearly.
"How many of you are there and are all of them so… murderous?" Kolyat panted. His biology stopped him from being choked to death, but it still had restricted his breathing.
"Billions." Shepard said, looking away from Kaidan once she was sure he wouldn't attack again. "On my ship there were thirty-six. And no, Kaidan had been in a fighting pit, he is still adjusting." she defended.
"Yeah… well thanks to him I no longer have to use the bathroom, but if you excuse me I'm going to go change my pants." he said and stormed past them to the bathroom.
Kaidan looked to her for an explanation as to what the frog alien said, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the mess instead. Nihlus was already sitting at the table reading a datapad while he absentmindedly ate a bowl of soup. Shepard set Kaidan down in front of a bowl of bland instant levo food and sat herself down beside Nihlus to eat her slightly more appetizing meal of noodles and some pork like meat.
Kaidan swallowed at the sight of the food and quickly dug his hands into it, the fork left forgotten. Shepard watched him and looked down at her own food sadly.
Nihlus looked at her from over his datapad. "He'll adjust." he assured her and set a hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. Nihlus let out a sub-harmonic growl. Who was this human, coming onto his ship and upsetting Shepard? He reached across the table and hit Kaidan in the head with the datapad, not hard enough to hurt—though he would prefer to make it hurt—but it was enough to grab the savage man's attention. "Fork." Nihlus said, pointing at it. Kaidan looked at him confused and the turian ran a hand down his faceplates. "That's right, no omni-tool, and no communication." He picked up the fork and held it up in front of Kaidan's face. "Fork." he repeated and then stabbed it down into the bowl of bland mush.
Kaidan jumped and looked down at the fork. It appeared that a light went off in his head because he rubbed his food covered hands on his shirt and picked up the fork, eating like a normal sentient being.
Shepard gave a slight laugh at how he wiped his food on his clothes. "Well…" she said looking up at Nihlus "It's a start." She leaned against him and he smiled down at her and wrapped his arm around her. "Thanks, big guy."
"Anytime Shepard." he said and rubbed her arm.
Kaidan watched the exchange carefully before he looked intently in his food. Just who was this Nihlus?
A/N: Sorry about the wait for this chapter. I spent forever nailing down where I wanted to put the fighting pit, weighing different options, ect… and then Destiny came out and I've been playing that for the past two days straight. But I am level 18, I'm a tanky ass titan, and I can literally charge in and ram into shit, it is amazing. Picture being a vanguard in Halo. Anyway here is the chapter, I hope you liked it and will review and if anyone has Destiny for the PS4 look me up: SkyebirdHawk.