2.
If he wanted to be perfectly honest with himself, he didn't expect much to happen after that. He didn't expect their little midnight escapade would go anywhere further than this, or anywhere deeper for that matter. It wasn't just that he didn't have the slightest clue as to where her feelings were standing, he didn't know if any of them could possibly handle the scandal, if this ever got out. He wasn't exactly a stranger to gossip gone wild: "Flight Lieutenant unclogging Commander Shepard's tubes". It would be all over the vids in no time.
What was it they were having anyway? You couldn't call it a relationship. Damn, it wasn't even a fling. So in fact, he didn't expect anything at all. Half of him thought it was just a one-night thing to be considered forgotten the next day. Just something they both wanted, it happened and now it was through.
- Yea, Joker rational thinking is the best thinking, he kept reminding himself in the morning. Keep your legs on the ground, or you'll break them. You'll be fine.
But deep down inside he was grateful the whole thing actually happened.
As if by some strange twist of fate though, he was totally wrong in those assumptions. And as he had no way of knowing it, he was left to that when the night before he was too exhausted to even walk to his pod and slept in the pilot's chair.
The first clue came to him later the next day.
It was shortly after passing through the nearest Relay to Window System when Kaidan Alenko entered the navigation room; his unusually loud and heavy step making it clear that he was upset. He sat in the co-pilot's seat without so much as a short greeting and began working fervently upon the holographic panel that spread before him.
Joker's chest stiffened briefly as he watched him coming forward decisively. He really wasn't in the mood for such a confrontation. He never did fantasize himself as a gallant knight atop a white steed, fighting a deadly duel with his antagonist in love. He was the kind of guy that would usually fall back and let the other man have the girl. No matter what, he wasn't sure he would let go so easily this time, if it ever came to that. Lucky for him, Kaidan simply wanted to work his frustration out, without having to be in the mess hall. And that alone spoke volumes.
He couldn't help but give out a little smirk considering what might have happened.
It was true she had been chatting with him casually from time to time. Everybody knew that. But then again she chatted casually with practically everyone aboard the Normandy. They had exchanged life stories, they had exchanged pleasantries. But perhaps enough was enough and today the final line was drawn.
Poor Kaidan, if only you knew...but he shouldn't ever learn.
Or was it that something else had happened to Alenko, something irrelevant to the whole thing? He hated that everything was so vague and that he had nothing solid to go from.
The second clue came a lot later, after he had confirmed their arrival to the station, when she decided to monitor their approach to the Citadel from the navigation room. This wasn't at all uncommon whenever they reached dock, but Joker caught himself wondering for the first time why it was so, besides her less than obvious interest in docking bays. She walked in formally and stood beside him as usual.
- Commander? He addressed her, trying not to sound overjoyed.
Kaidan shot her the brief, stern look of a man rejected and focused harder on his monitor. She didn't return the look. Instead she gazed straight ahead, towards the Citadel opening up as if to welcome them inside its arms.
- How are we doing, Joker? She asked formally.
- Smoothly, ma'am. We are reaching port in a few seconds.
- Very good, Joker. Carry on.
He couldn't resist to take a side peek of her. It wasn't that he had the chance to look at her face so often.
And then she did the most amazing thing. She covered her upper lip with her tongue, as if to cover a mischievous grin or a shameful thought. But her eyes were smiling and she just looked back at him for the most brief of seconds, then she left.
- Focus. On. The Work. Now; he made a mental recite, trying to fight off the shivers down his spine.
The third clue wasn't even a clue. It was a fact.
A few hours had passed since they reached the Citadel and he leaned back at his chair, trying very hard (and failing at ) not to think about her, about the previous night when his torture officially began.
Alenko had darted out of the Normandy as soon as they touched down. He mumbled something about getting a drink or something.
And there it was. A pop-up on his screen alerting him of a message. It originated from one of the monitors in the mess hall and inside lay a single cryptic question:
Do you know of any quiet places to get a drink in this Station?
Joker thought this for a while. He'd heard things from various sources and various contacts, he'd tried only half of them. But there was this one place that seemed ideal for the job. He decided his reply should be equally telegraphic:
The Stellar Drifter. 10.00 pm. Side alley.
He even remembered the place's logo, a rather ragged spacer wearing a worn armor suit. A large utility pack was strapped on his back, bursting with all kinds of odds and ends. He was going down the long road of some forgotten planet, assault rifle in hand, facing ahead, never looking back. The Drifter was run by a krogan, who also happened to be the bartender, if only for the thrill of bar fights. Unfortunately, his equally eager bouncers, also of krogan origin, saw to it that this rarely happened.
He reminded himself to calm down his haste and overeagerness, unless he wanted to slip on his crutches.