A/N: Well first and foremost I'd like to thank the reviews I've received they turned my frown upside down today I'd tell you guys that but my messages don't wanna go through so this'll do.
After a long while of Sam pulling Ivea along they finally arrived at the front stairs to the booming nightclub of Flux. At the top of the stairs and before the doors to the club were two more females who wore the same clothing that Sam did. The woman standing to the left had brown hair and eyes that appeared sharp and observant. The woman beside her had bright blonde hair that looked as though she had made it that way herself. She was looking around as though she were bored.
When the blonde haired woman spotted Sam she waved and yelled louder than necessary, "Sam! Hurry up we've been waiting forever!"
Sam smiled and waved back finally releasing Ivea's arm and motioned for him to follow her up the steps. Ivea gulped as he began to climb the stairs and could feel their eyes upon him.
"Sam what…is that?" The blonde haired woman asked genuinely confused as to what species Ivea was. When the reached the top Sam shot the woman a look of sheer wonder at the woman's stupidity.
"A Quarian, probably out on Pilgrimage." The one to the left of the blonde woman finally said. Her voice was deeper than the other two and her stance was one of power as Sam's was but one that was less than Sam's.
"I…yes I'm on Pilgrimage." Ivea finally replied in a voice that if not for his helmet naturally increasing his voice's volume would've been a whisper.
"Well before Lucy here decides to be a dumbass again let's go inside and grab a table." Sam said and waved the other two to lead. When they did Ivea and Sam walked in side by side.
"Don't let the girls intimidate you; they're just like any other person." Sam whispered. Ivea chuckled nervously.
"I don't exactly have much experience with Humans aside from Doctor Michel and you." She chuckled herself and nodded.
"That's true. With the music here they probably won't hear you anyway."
Sure enough the moment the doors opened it was like Ivea was hit with a wave of sound. The music was deafening and the building packed so tightly people could hardly walk. His helmet automatically turned down the volume of the sound it takes in but Ivea had turned it back up. He wanted to hear the full effect as the Humans did.
He looked around in awe of how welcome a change this was as opposed to the other part of the Citadel. This club reminded Ivea of being in the Fleet again. Crammed quarters filled to capacity and zero privacy.
The group pushed through the crowd to one of the out lying tables and sat down. Sam beside Ivea and the other two sitting across them with Lucy across from Ivea.
"So why do you wear that suit?" Lucy yelled over the music. Ivea had to stop himself from shaking his head at how little this woman knew. Not everyone knows of Quarians.
"Well a long time ago we lived on the home planet of Rannoch where we lived outside of our suits. That had changed however when we built the Geth to be our slave labor and they turned on us. They destroyed all but 1% of our people but even then…life inside of a suit is a terrible existence. We cannot smell anything but filtered air and-" Before he could continue Lucy yawned and announced,
"That's really boring!" Ivea blinked then looked down at his hands, which were placed on the table, as his face felt as though it were on fire. He now stayed silent still staring at his hands.
"Lucy!" Sam yelled as she glared at the woman.
"What? It was!" Lucy sighed seeing that Sam would have none of it and got up then went toward the dance floor.
"Forget about her Ivea, she's just not used to dealing with non-Alliance." Ivea looked up at Sam with a smile but realized she couldn't see it and sighed quietly.
"You pronounced my name right that time, good job." He said with a laugh. Now she smiled but he felt the other woman watching him.
"Don't base your views of Humans after her Ivea." She finally said causing him to look over at her. "I'm Kaitlyn." She said with a firm nod. Ivea now saw she had a firm jaw line and facial structure all together. The stance she earlier had of less strength may have been her feigning it. To get an edge over someone? She's definitely an intelligent Human.
Ivea nodded back and replied, "I'm Ivea'Liak nar Lavenya." She reached out her hand which he now knew was for him to shake. After they did so the two women received drinks and before Ivea was a silver cylinder with a pink glow coming from within. The glow was to hide the actual sludge inside which was a dark grey/white mix. It tasted as bad as it looked.
Once Sam downed her drink she looked over with a puzzled look on her face. Immediately seeing it he explained it to her.
"It's a nutrient paste, sterilized for Quarians and meant for Dextro-protein species." Thankfully she knew what Dextro-protein meant; Ivea honestly didn't feel like explaining the fluids Quarians were made of. He actually wished he was able to have alcohol but his body wouldn't be able to handle processing it. Instead he disconnected a hose from the underside of his helmet and stabbed it into the top of the tube. He slurped down the sludge and forced it down his throat. He envied Humans more than he could express.
Seeing him looking down at the table Sam patted him on the shoulder then smiled when he looked over.
"Cheer up we've only got tonight and tomorrow left of shore leave." She yelled over the music and downed another bright glowing pink drink with a satisfied 'ahhh'. He gave a nod but disconnected the nutrient paste with a frown. When their server finally came around he tapped the young Asari on the shoulder.
"I'd like your strongest Turian Ale purified please." The Asari looked at him a moment then nodded with a smile as she went off. Tonight Ivea was determined to have fun…even if it killed him.
As Ivea finished his second tube his head felt as though the world were spinning and his speech was noticeably slurred. This being the first time he'd ever had alcohol he had no idea just what was going on but wasn't frightened by it however.
"All I'm shaying is that your QHuman fingers are so shmall an you have so many!" He whispered in wonder comparing Sam's fingers to his slim yet much stronger three.
"Noooo you Quariansh have weird ones. You only hash three!" She shot back just as tipsy as he was. Ivea sighed and shook his head.
"No no, Krogans, Turians, Salarians, Quarians. All of them have three but you guys and your fancy Asaris have FIVE!" He explained as Sam roared with laughter. Kaitlyn had long since gone to drag Lucy to where they were staying. Due to Quarians and their naturally bigger and more muscular build than Humans the effects of the alcohol wore off from Ivea causing him to realize his hand was still on Sam's He quickly removed it and coughed nervously.
"S…Sorry I wasn't thinking clearly and…" He looked back over and saw she was out like a light. He sighed with relief but realized that he'd have to carry her to the hotel room they told him about. His face was aflame once more as he gulped and slowly got out of his chair. Humans are fine with contact it's perfectly fine. You're just helping her to her room. It's the least you can do after her saving you from getting…killed.
Pushing the grim thought aside he hoisted her over his shoulder and walked out of the booming club. His ears rang in the seemingly empty halls which were much much quieter than Flux.
As he walked through the streets he got very strange looks from the many people passing by. Well a Quarian with a Human woman over his shoulder is bound to get some looks. He chuckled quietly just now realizing the situation he found himself in. Rana would pop a suit seal if she saw this. Then he suddenly felt very homesick. He missed Rana and working on the Lavenya. He shook his head and pushed the thought aside as he found himself before the hotel. It was located in the wards so it wasn't the nicest around but it was a place to stay. Better than what many Quarians on Pilgrimage got from what he'd heard.
As he went inside he found himself standing before a short counter with a Volus behind it. He looked up at Ivea and if he was shocked at all, he didn't show it.
"Do you have a room?" He asked with the most uninterested voice possible given the situation.
"Ah yes room 10b." Ivea said recounting the conversation Sam and Kaitlyn had at the table. Well it was more Sam talking and Kaitlyn listening. Kaitlyn wasn't much of a talker but more of an observer. She wouldn't fit in with the Fleet.
The Volus handed Ivea the card to the room and went back to his terminal.
Ivea quickly found the room and swiped the card. When the door slid open he was met by the barrel of a pistol in his visor. He froze over as he felt the same fear for the third time today. Or was it yesterday? The pistol fell down to the owner's side then was holstered as Ivea saw Kaitlyn.
"Sorry, wasn't expecting company. Lucy's on the bed put Sam on the other." Ivea nodded with a gulp and attempted to slow his breathing as he walked into the room.
It was like any other room you'd see. Had two beds and a bathroom to the left. The screen on the wall was only about 60 inches. Seeing Lucy on the nearest bed Ivea went over to the far one and gingerly laid her down. She seemed to sleep peacefully as she laid there. Ivea looked at her legs and couldn't help but glance down at his. You Humans are just different in every way. He went into the corner and sat down on the floor.
"You can sleep on the pullout couch if you want." He heard Kaitlyn across the room but shook his head.
"No I don't want to take up any space. Besides I'm fine here really." She looked at him a moment then slowly nodded and laid down beside Lucy.
Ivea closed his eyes but was unable to sleep. Whether it was just today he arrived on the Citadel or yesterday so much had happened to him. He felt as though his life was already so much more different. I think I might be starting to understand why we go on this Pilgrimage.
Eventually before he knew it he was off to sleep and dreaming about being back on the Lavenya.
Within an almost pitch black room lit only by a dying sun out of the viewport a man wearing one of the most exquisite suits that credits could buy sat in a three legged chair. The chair had two armrests with an ashtray on the left and a cup holder on the right. The man sitting in this chair however used neither. He always held his glass filled with expensive liquor and his cigarette or leaving it in his mouth.
It was a habit he had picked up for when he was deep in thinking, or nervous. It was almost always the former however. As he stared out at the dying star he waited. He often waited but now he waited nervously. He didn't like to be nervous or to wait, so today was a bad day for him.
Finally a holographic keypad popped up to his right and beeped indicating a call. He pressed the receive button and waited a moment as he took a long drag of his cigarette.
"Another colony down sir. We've received new reports of a Turian colony established within Han cluster of the Gemini Sigma system. Orders?" The man on the other end waited patiently. The one receiving the call had forced this into his soldiers but often times didn't even need to, many people knew by reputation he was not one to be rushed or questioned.
As he slowly exhaled the smoke he built up he flicked the ashes into the ash tray.
"Keep an eye on that colony but do not pursue as of yet. Monitor if they have garrisoned any troops there, every supply drop they get, every off world water shipment, anything. When we do take this colony down I want zero witnesses." He tapped on the holo-pad and terminated the link.
He took another drag from his cigarette and stared into the sun once more. As always, his mind was buzzing thinking of every possible outcome and every factor to every situation. Fortunately, he was damn good at it.