2184 CE :: D27 Docks :: Normandy Interior - Crew Deck
It was never easy for Lauren to make new friends, especially after the incident on Akuze. As per protocol, Normandy's crew were allowed shore leave in between missions while the ship was retrofitted but had to return to the ship at night. Lauren was already getting bored with the Citadel, so she spent most of her time on board, looking through the collection of weapons and equipment, reorganizing them for easier retrieval. She was used to being alone, growing to love it more each day.
Now faced with an entirely new crew - again - she forced herself to share meals with them in the crowded mess hall. While she enjoyed being by her lonesome, she knew she needed to get to know the people that surrounded her since she was going to be putting her life in their hands. Lauren listened as the crew recounted their tales and got the general idea that despite her odd, or lacking, tactics in dealing with matters of sex, Commander Dennis was very well loved by every member of the vessel.
"She specially went out to get us these supplies, you know," Mess Sergeant Trick hollered from behind the stove. "So you spoilt brats better thank her later."
Lauren stifled a grin, knowing that most on board the Normandy had been complaining about the food supply before having docked at the Citadel. The food was a far cry from the restaurants on the Silver Strip, one of the most elegant districts of the space station, but it was better than most frigates she had been on. The crew was in better spirits apparently, after Bo had gone out of the way to order a better grade of supplies. Lauren was thankful nonetheless.
When asked how long they've known her, the blonde was surprised to hear that it had been less than a year. But she supposed that made sense since friendships were forged in fire. A few of the original crew still remained, but most of them were new faces, eager to pick up the slack their predecessors had left. Lauren felt some sort of strange kinship with them.
"What about you, Lieutenant Lewis?" one of them asked. "Any exciting tales?"
Lauren balked, then smiled shyly. What could they have wanted to hear from her? Looking into her metal tray, as if searching for answers, Lauren tried to pretend she had not heard anything or had nothing to say.
"I heard you were on Akuze," an engineer commented.
Several gasps left the mouths of the crew members, and several more of them went pale. Lauren was not surprised they knew, word had spread about how a lone soldier returned from the jaws of death only to bravely throw herself back into battle, flipping death the ultimate bird. With a lack of reply, most of them had begun to excitedly talk amongst themselves with wild inaccuracies.
"Well, she saved my life once," the voice was soft but it cut through the din, silencing everyone.
Lauren looked up, her jaw went slack. "Ciara?"
The blonde soldier grinned and quickly padded over to her friend, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Settling down, Ciara begun to regale the mission on Antibaar and several more tales of when they both served on board the SSV Trafalgar, earning appropriate cheers and gulps. Lauren was thankful for the distraction of not retelling the most painful time of her life. She listened to the fairy queen, adding in some perspective when needed, and was just thoroughly enjoying herself.
Soon the night cycle came upon them, the ship's lights dimmed and everyone scattered off to their bunks. This left the two old comrades enjoying some brandy in the Starboard Observatory. The spirit was sweet and smooth, unlike Ryncol's trademark bitter burn. The two settled into a comfortable silence, each staring out the large pane of clear plexiglass and swirling the dark gold liquid in their mugs.
"Thank you," Lauren suddenly said.
Ciara shot her a knowing grin, understanding exactly what she was being thanked for.
Besides Tamsin, Ciara was one of Lauren's closest friends. The bright-eyed soldier joined the ranks of N7 a month after Lauren had graduated. Choosing the English blonde as the Gunnery Chief replacement on the Trafalgar was one of the best choices Lauren ever made. She had gained not only a confidante but Ciara's insight on many topics as well.
"Where did you go after the Trafalgar? Last I heard you were on Eden Prime when the purists decided to hijack the base."
"Those idiots from the Fae Liberation Front? They caused some trouble but nothing we couldn't handle," the fairy chuckled. "Spent three years there with my brothers, watching them rear spacecows."
"Must've killed you to leave the Trafalgar," Lauren joined the laughter.
"You have no idea! It was torture," her voice softened. "But I needed to be around family."
Lauren nodded in understanding. The physical injuries Ciara endured in Antibaar could heal as time passed, but the emotional scarring was difficult to pull through, especially since it was the first mission. While Lauren had fully embraced and relished in the close brush with death many times, for others it was a lifetime of therapy and planet-side service.
"So why did you join the Normandy?"
"You know, the stars always hold their allure," the fairy gestured at the view. "I couldn't be stuck on the ground forever, what kind of fairy would I be?"
Chuckling, they both clinked the metal mugs together. Lauren understood the sentiment fully, she could not imagine staying groundside even if Tamsin was in the picture. Tamsin would have never wanted her to remain stuck to a planet either. Between them, they had several hundred years left to fight the good fight and they had planned every second of it traversing the stars. Lauren momentarily closed her eyes, remembering Tamsin, and did not see the sympathetic smile that crossed Ciara's face.
"I'm sorry," Ciara reached over and covered the other woman's hand. "About Tamsin. She was a good woman."
The impact of Ciara's words somehow made the situation more real. It was not as if she had never considered the possibility but Lauren believed there was some other explanation for whatever happened between her plunging that syringe into her girlfriend's convulsing body and the moment she woke up at Huerta Memorial Hospital.
Still trying to fight it, Lauren shook her head, unsure of what to say. "I'm just glad you weren't there. It was," she swallowed, "It was horrible."
Tears had already begun to slide down her cheeks before she could stop them. Ciara shifted her arm to wrap around Lauren, gently patting her back, urging her to let the emotions out.
"She's gone, Ci," Lauren choked out. "She's gone and I wasn't even there the moment she left."
So Lauren cried, and cried some more. Whether it was seeing her friend again, or everything else that had happened in the past few days, she realized she needed it. She was thankful that most of the crew had gone to their bunks, leaving her alone with her old friend, only her wretched sobs punctuating the hum of the circulation vents.
Her eyes trailed after the brunette as she exited the elevator and joined the line to grab Trick's latest concoction. This morning it was a vegetarian frittata, something she guessed Bo did not like but was too polite to complain.
Lauren had been avoiding Bo like the plague. It was awkward being around her and feeling things she had thought were long buried. While slowly she had somewhat gotten used to her guilt, her heart had not seemed to thaw out just yet. She did not want any emotional entanglements at this particular juncture in her life, despite the delectable form it was in.
A bit of the omelette was caught in her throat when their eyes met and Bo shot her a smile. Trying to steady her breathing, Lauren pretended not to notice the commander until she was right next to her seat.
"Lauren."
"Ma'am," Lauren greeted, out of habit.
Bo raised an eyebrow at her, "I need to pick a few things up before we start."
"If you don't mind me asking, Bo," the blonde corrected herself. "What are we starting on?"
"That briefing will be for when we leave."
Lauren nodded, "Okay, what do you need me to pick out?"
"Actually, I thought I'd go with you."
Half an hour later, they were shopping in the Commons. Lauren had not left the ship for days, and she felt like she had landed upon another bustling world full of fae and humans. Being a soldier longer than Bo, she advised her commander on the newest developments in weapons and technology. Slowly, the tension of being in the same breathing space as the beautiful brunette dissipated. She briefly wondered how Bo had managed to rise up the ranks so quickly, chastising herself for not using the past days to read up on her latest bed partner.
Suddenly, the speakers of hovering vid screen above the markets blared. The two soldiers looked up and scowled in disgust as they watched the screen flicker to life. An urgent report on the extranet was broadcasted across the Citadel: another attack on the colonies, another several hundred lives lost. Lauren winced as the footage of children screaming before the video went dark. The Council promised to punishment would be swift and severe to those that committed the atrocious crimes.
"Damn terrorists," the brunette shook her head.
Lauren nodded in agreement, "Thank the goddess it wasn't Eden Prime. Ciara's brothers are still there."
Bo stopped at a holovid store, "Oh yeah? How do you know her anyway?"
"We were on Antibaar together years ago. She's one of my best friends," Lauren scanned the racks of little discs. "Oh, take this one - it's good," Lauren reached across to grab at a copy of The Whys and Hows of Moonflies and Spacecows: A Documentary.
Taking her time to return to her position, she inhaled the light scent of sweat and vanilla. She swallowed thickly as she remembered their tryst, lust pulsated through her. Bo shot her a look of surprise and Lauren felt herself blush.
"Sorry, I, uh - I just get excited about these things. Moonflies are not native to the moon, contrary to their name and popular belief. And despite the ethical concerns of the splicing of genes and recombining them to create something new, the spacecow is one of the rare animals that can supply - " the blonde stopped abruptly, her hands hung stiffly in the air.
The succubus' eyes had glazed over, a light blue hue colouring the usually dark eyes. Lauren chastised herself inwardly for babbling out of control, in front of her commander-slash-one-night-stand no less. Talk about awkward.
"Sorry," she laughed sheepishly, putting back the small disc.
"No, no. Spacecows, fascinating," there was no sarcasm in her smooth voice, just something that sounded terrifyingly close to adoration. "But I prefer this." Bo held out a copy of Halloween 16: The Re-remake.
"I can't say that I've seen that one, or the 15 before it."
The brunette gasped in shock, "Well, you're missing out, Lieutenant Lewis."
"Aren't these things the same generic storyline where the first few seconds the hot girl dies and then the funny friend? Where's the value in that?"
Bo held a hand over her heart as though she had been wounded, "Blasphemy! I'll have you know that they are not all like that! They provide great insight to a killer's mind. Besides the second hottest girl usually lasts throughout the movie."
"Oh really?" Lauren asked slyly.
Bo turned to her, a mask of seriousness upon her face, "You sound like you don't believe me, Lieutenant."
Lauren only frowned, unsure how to reply and slightly mystified if she had offended the woman and her terrible taste in movies.
Bo kept a stern face as she spoke, "In that case, you're invited to my room for a viewing."
Lauren almost choked as she sputtered, "I'm sure I could just rea - "
"That's an order, Lieutenant."
A gulp. "Yes, ma'am."
"It's a date then!" Bo laughed gleefully.
Lauren relaxed immediately, realizing that the brunette was joking. The pair laughed as Bo walked out of the store. The blonde's eyes never strayed too far from the woman as she interacted with the store owners, her dimples enrapturing everyone around them. Even Lauren found herself staring after her, marvelling at the confident swagger Bo possessed. Her pistol followed the sway of her hip, jutting out a little and giving her a hint of danger. More than once, she found herself shuffling closer to the woman out of protective habit. At least that was what the blonde was telling herself.
Then Lauren's brain finally caught up with what she had said. Bo just declared their completely platonic movie viewing as a date. Sort of. The thought halted all her actions but the crowd behind her did not allow a moment for her to process. What was this woman doing to her? First the onslaught of guilt unleashed by a night of passion, then this level of charm…
The blonde gulped. Was this what the commander was like under all the layers of heroism? Lauren found her increasingly adorable, she was thankful that the woman was not trying to make things difficult between them. Mostly she just appreciated the friendship. Growing up not having friends and having the people she loved taken away from her time and time again, Lauren was not exactly the best at cultivating relationships. She preferred to rely on cold logic, syringes, and stun guns.
"I did some research on you," Bo jolted her out of her thoughts.
"Huh?" Lauren dumbly replied.
"Everything okay? I said I did some research on you," the brunette repeated, throwing Lauren a look over her shoulder.
"All good I hope," Lauren walked a little faster to compensate.
"I'm sure you've heard it before, but your records are impressive. Youngest medic to join the N7 program, part of Hackett's fab three, survivor of Akuze, just to name some."
The doctor wanted to flinch but heard the reverent tone and chose to nod shyly instead, "I could say the same about you, Saviour of the Citadel and the only unaligned fae in history."
Bo chuckled, waving the bestowed title away. "People always want to believe there's hope and having a hero keeps that hope alive."
She shook hands with a store owner before turning back to the blonde, saying, "But I'm no hero."
Lauren faced the brunette, meeting her eyes. "A hundred thousand people would disagree with that, Commander. We wouldn't be here right now if you didn't do what you did."
"But at what cost, Lauren?"
While the blonde had been prepared to answer to Bo's self-depreciation, she had no idea how to respond to guilt. So she said nothing, but she found her hand atop the brunette's shoulder and looking deep into the brown eyes. For a moment, she peeked beneath the legend and the vulnerability she had inside.
"I should go, I have a briefing to get to."