Author's Note:
If little kids are bored they get weird ideas.
"About time. No offense, just grudging with the lock here, and the dull place. Isn't Cerberus usually all about fancy stuff?"
"Depends on where you stand, obviously."
"Well." Arek pushed himself the wall, grinning once he walked into the next room. "That's more like it." A white carpet absorbed his steps. While the walls were the same like in the rest of the building, large painting gave them an air of splendour. He walked past a statue, an abstract figure of square shapes and spheres connected by wires. He stared at it, tilting his head to read the title.
"Waterfall. Funny, would have bet it's 'Hi, My Name is Art and I'm Expensive.'". That was a chuckle! I heard it! Short, and cut off by a cough, but he was sure that for the first time, he had managed to lure a laugh out of Mojo. He thought of saying something, but changed his mind. No need to push it.
He left scanning the office to Mojo, and headed straight to the desk. The piece reminded him of the one in Hackett's office. Straight lines, refined in its simplicity, made from dark, polished wood. He let his fingers glide over the surface. Nice, better than those cold metal constructions in the foyer. He forget about the desk the second he spotted the chair.
"Why do we never get an objective like 'Help yourself with a comfy chair'?" The dark leather creaked under his weight. Sighing, he leaned back and put his hands on the armrest, stroking the smooth material. His feet rested on the desk.
"Get moving and let me do my job." Mojo stood behind him, grabbed the chair by its back, and gave it an abrupt turn that hurled Arek out of his seat.
"You're a killjoy, do you know that?" Scowling, he shot a glance of regret at the chair that now had the turian sitting on it. Well, there was still the dark, red sofa standing at the wall, opposite to the window. He threw himself between the cushions. It wasn't leather, but comfortable enough. He pulled off his protective mask, and stared out of the window. The sun had disappeared behind a layer of heavy clouds. Those hoovering above the base were of a fluffy white, but the further he looked into the distance, the darker they became. At the horizon, the sky was almost black. A few innocent snowflakes were dancing in front of the window, and he heard the wind howling.
"Those are things you learn when you're friend's an engineer and computer scientist."
Arek looked up, for a moment confused where the voice was coming from, and what it was talking about.
"Oh. Yes." He recognized the late answer of his question from before, confused that Mojo chose to answer him. "You mean Rani?"
"Ibrahim."
"Of course, your old friend." What had he said on Omega again – it wasn't about talking with Arek, but talking about this Ibrahim. So that was why he was talking, and for a second Arek had been foolish enough to believe Mojo wanted to chat. Silly me.
"What's with Rani? You two were pretty friendly with each other, all of a sudden."
"Not friendly," the turian replied, without looking up from his work. After pulling off his helmet and placing it on the desk, he had switched on the computer, and connected it with his omni-tool, so far Arek could follow. "Her expertise in computer science is a key to solving this whole mess."
That whole mess, in other words, Murakos' alleged connection to Cerberus, and what had led to the murder of the Kabale family. His squad mates had been obsessed by this case since they had returned from Omega. Arek, too, would have been happy to find out what had led to the tragedy, and to put a stop to whatever was brewing up. Only – after retelling what he had witnessed there wasn't much left to do for him. He had to leave the research to Meyrani and Mojo, and Amalthea saw it as her responsibility to shield them from their superiors. Arek knew how to use his omni-tool, how to use a computer, but he wasn't hacker, and he was lacking access to further information and the direct line to the captain.
As it was, all he was doing what the others asked him to do, and waiting for the moment when his battle skills were required. If this moment ever came; there was no guarantee that they weren't just led on a wild goose chase.
"She's a genius, isn't she? I'm surprised she was willing to listen to you. No offense – again," he sighed, finding no amusement in the challenge to word his questions so that Mojo wouldn't take them as another provocation. "What I mean is, before Omega, she threatened to kill you. And then she just listens to you, willing to break enough regulations to risk her career? Because you asked her?"
"You wouldn't survive long on Omega if you are fooled so easily by youth and a pretty face." Mojo paused his typing and leaned back into the chair. "The kid's not half as innocent as you think. Haven't you wondered how she learned about the distress call?"
"Well, not really," Arek had to admit, frowning as he thought about it. There was a constant stream of news, updates, information and also distress calls that were sent to their omni-tools. About the war, where the SSV Hamburg was heading, updates about finished jobs, data about new assignment, and usually, brief summaries about the jobs of the other squads.
He jerked up, turning around and staring at Mojo.
"Omega's security doesn't belong to our ship!"
"Congratulation, you got it. Which means, she hacked into their channels. Curiosity, or hoping for something interesting we could meddle with, no idea. Fact is," he continued to explain while gazing at the ceiling, "She is an excellent hacker, she was excited about the distress call, devastated by the result. She'd hack into the Geth's hive mind if that got her revenge. Gotta leave it to her, the kid's dedicated.
Besides." Mojo chuckled, his face moving in a way Arek assumed was a grin. "It helped that she thinks I'm hot."
"Oh come on! That's ridiculous!" Arek sneered, falling back onto the sofa. "I happen to know that she thinks you're a jerk." Like every sensible person on board, but he kept that to himself.
"I said she thinks I'm hot, not that she wants to marry me."
"And she told you that."
"Believe it or not, but there's one person in this room right now who can read a turian's face, and it's not you."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, shame on me." These jokes weren't getting better because their core was the truth. "So, did you guys fuck?" He grinned from the inner satisfaction when Mojo choked, and began to cough.
"Spirits, Turner, not everyone solves their problems by... this way." His fingertips were tapping on the armrests.
"Well, sometimes it works." Arek shrugged, unfazed by the not too subtle implication.
'"No, we didn't, before you spread any rumours. She wouldn't cheat on her Mr Brain, and I'm not interested in... kids."
"Isn't she 19? It's legal as far as I'm informed." Forgive me, Rani, but this is too good! If he had one wish, he'd ask for turians to be able to blush. Judging from the way Mojo shifted in his seat, looking from the computer to the window and back, the mandibles twitching, Arek had hit a nerve. Or rather, found a topic that made Mojo lose his cool, without snapping and threatening to kill Arek.
"Shut up, I have to focus!" He shot a dark glare at Arek, then he bent over the keyboard and his omni-tool. "If you're bored, search for the heating and turn it up."
"Sure, hot stuff." Arek chuckled and stood up, grinning at the turian's growls. Aw, if you weren't such an asshole that would almost be cute. He wasn't feeling cold, while it wasn't hot in this office, the temperature was agreeable, especially after their mountain hike outside. But as he was bored anyway, he might as well have another look around this place, although he guessed that Mojo could temper with the heating through his omni-tool if he wanted.
Don't think that would distract me enough to forget about this. He glanced at the turian when he walked past him. Since they had first met, Arek had thought that Meyrani was pretty, in an unusual, fascinating way, so different from human females. He hadn't wasted much time to reflect on Mojo in that regard. The scars covering his face made him stand out, and Arek's knowledge about the importance of facial tattoos combined with his opinion on Mojo's character had offered a simple solution: Ugly as hell. He had to ask Rani about that, and he was dying to know what she had to say about Mojo's claim. Frankly, he expected to have a good laugh.
He finished his walk around the room, finding nothing that resembled a control panel for the heating. He returned to the sofa, and sat down. Mojo didn't look up from his task, nor did he say another word. The room was silent, all Arek heard was his own breath, the humming of the technology that kept the base warm and lit, and, once in a while, the turian typing on the computer's keyboard.
Arek checked his own omni-tool – no updates from Thea and Rani, so everything was going well for them. He was about to open the com channel, thinking he might as well ask them how much more time they needed, and if there was anything he could do, but then he stopped. He turned off the interface, stood up, and walked over to the desk.
"You're a pest. What do you want now?" Mojo growled when Arek sat down on the desk's surface. Arek didn't answer at first, only watched him in silence, and Mojo returned to ignoring him.
"We should fuck."
"WHAT?!" Mojo's head jerked up, staring at Arek's serious face with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"You said it yourself, some of us solve their problems in bed," Arek explained with a light, but earnest smile. "And as I said, sometimes it works. Mojo, we're making our lives and our work a living hell. It got better, but there's still this hostile tension between us. Why not turn it into sexual tension, and act on it? Better than strangling each other. It's only logical."
"It's not logical at all!"
"And you're into guys anyway, right?" Arek continued, ignoring the turian's protest. "That's why you aren't interested in Rani, although she's such a pretty, smart girl." That, and whatever was going on between you and that Ibrahim.
"Mostly, it's not like I never... that's not the point! I... I have work to do." He gave Arek a push, but before he could shove him from the desk, Arek grabbed his wrist.
"Think about it. I mean, I didn't say I want to marry you." Arek grinned all over his face. If he remembered one turian facial expression for the rest of his life, then it would be Mojo being flabbergasted.
"You are serious, aren't you?" Mojo pulled his hand free after a short pause. When Arek nodded, stood up, still struggling to keep his face calm. Towering over Arek, he put his hands on the desk, his face only inches away from Arek.
"How many?" he asked, lowering his mandibles to bare his teeth.
"Uh, I don't follow?" Arek scratched his head, refusing to move away.
"How many turians so far?"
"Well, none. But it works between humans and turians, I know that much. I've seen mixed couples, and isn't even Commander Shepard with a turian? Heard that on the news." No, I'm not nervous, and I have not bitten off more than I can chew.
"Watch real news for once instead of those gossip channels. So you don't even know what you'd get yourself into?" Something was lurking in Mojo's lowered, hoarse voice as he spoke, something that Arek couldn't identify. A nervous shudder ran down his spine, but he maintained his smirk.
"Hey, I'm not a virgin, I know how to take a dick, thought you were aware." He swallowed a chuckle when the turian twitched at his language and looked away, his composure already shuttered.
"The whole ship is. What if I... if turian males are differently.. built than humans?"
"Like what, twice the size and covered with spikes and ridges?" His laughter broke off when Mojo raised the plates above his eyes in mild surprise.
"Oh, so you did at least research something about turians. Glad you got your priorities straight."
"Wait, that's true? I mean, sure! Hey, who doesn't love a challenge?" If Mojo thought he would back off so easily he was wrong. Sure, he'd give him some time to think about it, and if Mojo stuck with his 'no', then fine. If he changed his mind, well.
Time to get kinky, I guess. Unless he was kidding. I mean, he could be joking, right?
"What do you say, I'm sure we can find a quiet corner once we're back on the Hamburg."
"Forget it." Mojo turned away, ending the discussion with a threatening growl. "Now excuse me, I have to crack another partition." Mojo sat down again, and checked the process on the computer screen. He gave a satisfied nod, and resumed his work. "Call the others, we'll be done here in a few minutes."
"Not necessary, incoming call from Thea. And don't think the last word is spoken yet!" He activated his tool and accepted the call. "Hey boss! How's it going?"
"Arek! We've been discovered! We got into hiding in time, but there are troopers on your way, and more reinforcements are coming! Get out of there NOW!"
"Fuck! We gotta go, Mojo!"
"Not now!" His eyes glued to the screen, Mojo's fingers moved feverishly over the keys. "I almost have it! I need two more minutes!" he hissed through clenched teeth. Arek watched his intense face, watched how the turian's shoulders and back were becoming so tensed that Arek feared Mojo's spine would snap.
No, not again. Not the same mistake.
"Thea, send us the coordinates of the rendezvous point, meet you there!" Arek broke off the call and jumped off the table. "I'll buy you five minutes! Just make sure it's not for nothing!" He ran towards the door, snatching his mask from the sofa and pulled it over his head.
"Finally, a job for me!"