About beer and other narcotic beverages

As I opened the door to our lodge two dark blue eyes fixed on me immediately. Serena jumped up from the bed and crossed the distance in an instant to embrace me in a bear's hug. "I'm so relieved you're alive, are you alright? Since you left I was on the edge, didn't know I can be that impatient!"

Her hug attack made me smile. I gently loosened her grip on me, placing my hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, I'm alright, ok? And no, I won't tell you something before I had a shower."

"Now that I know you're alright, I can wait, but better hurry, my patience won't last for long." She was smiling now, her eyes gleaming.

"Then we have a deal, on the other hand if this is the way you show your impatience I may get used to it." I had already removed the upper parts of my armour in the meantime.

She slapped me on the arm. "Don't say that, it'll drive me nuts if I have to endure that all day long!"

I grabbed some fresh clothes and went for the bathroom. As the warm water washed away the days remnants I couldn't help but smile about her welcome. "But what does that open demonstration of concern mean? Does she care for me as a friend or…is it somethin' more? Do I misinterpret this completely and – more important – if not, what am I gonna do then? I can not just skip all those memories and press the restart button, running away doesn't work, that much I know for sure. A simple hug yesterday evening made me cry a river. I have to deny her if it comes to that, she deserves somethin' better than a psycho on the edge…"

I dried myself, donned some fresh clothes and left the bathroom where Serena awaited me impatiently. "You must have ants in the pants by the looks, you're inviting me to tease you a little longer…" I asked her accompanied by an impish smile.

A flying pillow from the bed was the unmistakeable answer. Holding up my hands in defence I couldn't help but laugh. "Ok, ok, I give up, had enough fighting for that day."

"Good decision, you should stick to that." She answered with a stern expression which was betrayed by the smile that she wasn't able to conceal completely.

I recounted the events of the mission while leaving out most of the nauseous details, no need to disconcert her more than necessary. "Now that we have one of the plotters in our grasp it is only a matter of time before we can lift the shadows around this conspiracy."

"And that's what's scaring me, 'cause this is not over yet." She said in a solemn voice.

"In that you're right, but at least I didn't expect it to be over beforehand."

"I may not have expected it, but I still hoped somehow that we can leave this cursed station – the sooner the better. Part of me knew that it's a vain hope, but nevertheless…" Her sad voice trailed off.

I touched her arm to reassure her. "Don't be sad, today was a big success all in all, and who knows, maybe they can handle everything without additional assistance from my side?"

"You don't believe that yourself, so don't try to replace one futile hope with another. But thanks for trying to comfort me." She made a short pause before continuing. "But you are right, I should be rejoicing that all of you came back alive, at least for today."

"You're right, I don't believe that myself, anyway we'll meet in ten minutes for a debriefing and afterwards Sagrin announced food and drink on his bill this evening, I guess you'd like to join us?"

She didn't answer immediately "You think that's ok for the others? I mean I didn't help a bit to make this happen, so…"

I cut her off. "You're wrong, you found the loophole to get in, so count yourself in."

"You would have recognized that by yourself, and by the way you didn't have permission to show me the data, or am I wrong?" She returned in kind.

"How, by sleeping on the desk? And even if I had seen it, maybe it would have been to late to arrange everything. Come on, you'd like to come, don't deny it. I cannot imagine you prefer another possibility to kill the time in this apartment."

"Ok, you've won this one. Another day alone in this room and I'm going to rearrange the furniture to train my biotics."

"Ok, then that's settled." With a smirk I teased her further. "Maybe you should consider some other clothes on the occasion, these Shirts of mine may cover certainpartsof you but I'm sure you have something that suits you better."

I had already retreated from the bed to prepare for the counterattack, anyway the second pillow hit me in a split-second. "You're getting better, next time you'll hit somethin' vital. I'm lucky you're out of ammo now." Still chuckling I retreated further to the door and opened it. "I'll pick you up after the meeting."

"Be off with you, or I'll find somethin' else to throw." She shouted after me, her tone betraying the rude words.

I met Jason on my way to the elevator and Sha', Racen and Gatok in front of it. As we arrived at the appointed room, Sagrin and the Asari Liselle were already there. "I hope you all had time to cool down a little and get rid of the days remnants." Sagrin opened the conversation.

Sha'lea sniffed at Gatok who was standing right beside her. "Well, I can't judge his temperature but I'm sure those remnants are still on him."

She earned laughter from all sides including the Krogan, seemingly in a good mood. "You fleshy things still don't get it, a Krogan Warlord bathes in the blood of his enemies, not in water."

"In that case I am sure we will find some odour to prevent your comrades from getting poisoned." Sagrin chuckled. "Anyway, I want to keep this short, I'd like to thank you all for the great job you did today. We were not only able to achieve the goal of the mission, you captured this batarian. We're already preparing the interrogation and I'm pretty sure the information we get is valuable." He made a short pause, looking at everyone. "Did you gather any additional information, anything we should know?

"Primarily we killed everyone except that wretch, no time to gather information though." Gatok rumbled in his deep humming voice.

"Right, was to be expected, does anyone of you need medical treatment?"

I took a look around. "Gatok, what about your arm, this shotgun of yours has a hell of a recoil, to fire it one handed would bunk my arm out, you're sure everything's alright?" I had seen him trying to avoid the use of his right arm."

"Krogan heal faster than you fleshy little things, should take only a couple of days." His defensive reply came as expected.

"I don't doubt that. But we may very well need to act earlier again, to make sure you are fully recovered a medical treatment can fasten the process." My diplomatic answer caused Sha'lea to smirk.

He gave in sooner than I had expected. "Well then, tell me where to go if you insist on that. By the way my armour could use some polishing, you've got a workshop here that is fit for Krogan equipment?"

Liselle answered this time. "I will take care for that, please prepare your armour and if necessary weapons, I arrange that they are picked up in your rooms and repaired, no need to do it yourself."

"Then that's settled, anything else or can we proceed to the fun part?" Racen threw in.

Sagrin showed a hint of amusement this time. "Right, the fun part, Liselle already prepared something in about an hour, you'll be picked up in front of the elevator in the basement. We decided not to use the cafeteria as location, too much traffic there."

"Has someone objections if I bring Serena? I don't wanna leave her upstairs, she's getting nuts from waiting." I asked, not that sure any more if Sagrin would agree.

Liselle answered instead oh him, a mischievous smile playing around her mouth. "We are aware that she is too close to you to keep her completely outside, so we assumed she knows what's going on and observed your room permanently to be on the safe side. So I presume she already knows what we'll possibly talking about."

I needed a few seconds to swallow that. "Not the answer I expected but so be it, we'll see each other in about an hour."

We parted and headed back to our rooms, Sha'lea held me back as we reached her lodging. "Don't tell her, she doesn't need to know, it will only agitate her, and we both know we should prevent that, ok?"

I nodded. "You're right, no need to tell her, doesn't make a difference in the end. They will continue to observe the room anyway."

"Tomorrow I'd like to continue the biotic training, is it ok for you if you hang around with the other two again?"

"O'course, I begged you to train her, and it's obvious the two of you need some privacy to do so."

"I just wondered if you can bear another day Gatok's company."

"He's not that bad after all, and it's quite amusing to tease him together with Racen."

Sha' chuckled. "Don't tell me, most of the time this' the only thing that keeps me from ripping him apart."

"I can imagine that, anyway I'll tell her about your plans for tomorrow. See you soon!"

"Take care" She turned around to access her lodging and I continued my way to ours.

As I opened the door Serena already awaited me. She seemingly had taken my teasing serious as she wore a tight crimson dress, in combination with her blue skin the sight was breathtaking. "Wow, someone took me serious it seems."

Her roguish smile told me that she had anticipated my reaction. "Do you think this covers enough parts of me?" She asked playfully.

I couldn't prevent the skew smile that crept on my face. "Well, it certainly covers enough parts, but it also ignites the imagination."

Her smile grew wider. "I'll take that as a compliment. Don't you think this is a little too sexy for such an event."

My gaze swept down and up again. "Well, I must admit it might be a little too much for the occasion, do you have something less eye-catching? Don't get me wrong, this really suits you, but it's not a formal reception."

"Don't worry, I expected to change clothes again, just wanted to tease you a little." She smirked at me now.

"I can assure you it worked, and you don't have to hurry, we get picked up in the basement in about 30 minutes." I had to force myself to look somewhere else. "And I'm pretty sure she recognized my gaze very well."

She left for the bathroom to change clothes, leaving me pondering what just happened. "Is she really trying to catch my interest or is this just typical Asari? They are known for an open relation to their body and tend to wear curve hugging clothes… anyway, for her kin she is very young, maybe she's just playing around, like human teenagers do, who knows. And why do I bother? In a few days this' going to be over and after all this mayhem she'll be glad to leave it behind her."

She came back in a less irritant dress which nevertheless suited her. "You seem to have a lot of fancy stuff in that little bag of yours."

"Actually only those two are worth the depiction fancy, but thanks for the flowers." Came the reply as she put the first dress back into her bag. "That spares me the question if you like it."

"Now that you mention it, I'll try to find something halfway presentable but I fear that's in vain. Nearly all my clothes are practically oriented, no need to be fancy usually." I started digging through my clothes finally coming up with a standard black T-Shirt and trousers with less than 8 pockets.

Serena glanced at me, her gaze sweeping up and down. "That's good enough if you ask me, I presume this' not gonna be a fashion parade."

"Me too, and if not: I can very well live with the worst-clothes-of-the-evening award. All I need is a beer and a good night's sleep. You're ready?"

She nodded. "Yes, although I don't know what a beer exactly is, but I'm sure I'll get the chance to find out." She added accompanied by a smirk.

We left for the elevator, picking up the other three on the way. Sha'lea embraced Serena when we met, Racen came close to me and whispered inquisitively. "Those two seemingly made friends very quickly, that reminds me of you waiting downstairs yesterday drinking this hot black beverage - I forgot the name – all the time."

I smirked at him and replied in a low voice. "The name is coffee by the way, and your perception is remarkable. There's more to it, Serena has never trained her biotics and Sha' agreed to train her after a little accident yesterday that luckily happened when she was present. Don't know much about Asari, but I guess if they meld – or whatever they do then – they share a lot of their own self."

"That explains one thing or another, I assumed something…different…" His voice trailed off as he got aware that two pairs of eyes were gazing at him, both framed by beautiful and ageless faces.

"Is there anything you'd like to talk about?" Sha' quipped, her left eyebrow raised in question.

"We just noticed how beautiful our company looks today." I chipped in to save Racen.

Sha's gaze swept her gaze over to me, her mouth forming a wry and playful smile. "You're a liar, but at least you're charming."

We continued our way to the elevator and as promised we were picked up by Liselle when we reached the ground floor. She led us to a medium sized room which was prepped with seating's and platters of food awaited us. Two small wooden barrels caught my eye. "Seems they got some barrels of ale somehow, impressive…and welcome!"

Sagrin and some others – I guessed the pilots of the different shuttles - had waited for us and opened the buffet immediately. "Fell free to eat and drink, enjoy!"

Gatok grabbed a plate and piled it with different pieces of meat right away.

Racen chuckled. "Someone seems to be very hungry, enjoy it my friend, but leave somethin' for us."

Gatok already chewed a big piece of meat so his answer was muffled. "You'll have to hurry, could eat a Varren with bones right now."

We all helped ourselves with some food and sat down in various groups, Serena took the place next to me. "Gray, may I ask you to get one of those beers as I don't know what exactly to look for."

"Finally a task I like, wait a sec." I stood up again heading for the barrels, the left one was digestible for Turians and their likes the other one for humans, Asari, etc.

I tapped a couple of beers from both barrels and handed them out finally getting back to Serena with two glasses. "Now I'm eager to see if you like it, although I assume this won't be the case."

She took the glass and sipped, followed by an immediate grimace which made her opinion obvious. "Well, I certainly like the coffee more."

I chuckled and took the glass back from her. "Don't worry, I can handle two glasses of ale. Maybe you should ask Sha', her drinks are famous for their taste...and their side effects."

"Is that so? Well, I certainly have to try myself."

After the first appetite was sated I found myself beside Racen and the young pilot Jason, both holding glasses of ale in their hands, leaning back and pondering the days events.

Racen took a sip and leaned forward to lower his voice. "We've got a lot of recognizable blue beauties around us, don't you think?" His question was accompanied by a mischievous smile.

"You name it my friend, hard to concentrate if you ask me, especially after I had 4 beers already." Jason replied, his gaze sweeping over the suspects. "Truly I cannot decide which one's my favourite, maybe except Liselle, she's giving me the creeps, too cold and determined for my likings."

A knowing smile played around my mouth before I answered as both of them now were gazing at me. "I cannot deny you're right, but you won't get an answer to your true question my friend, nice try anyway." I now looked at Racen. "I like her, that's for sure, but I have to rest the past before I can think about any future."

Racen chuckled. "Should' have expected you'd be too smart for this." His features were serious now. "To the latter part, you should get started, or you'll get locked in it, and I believe the future could be promising." He gave Serena another side glance while saying this.

"Sorry guys, the newbies' a little lost now, if you'd like to discuss this in private I'm out, won't blame you, don't worry." Jason now stepped in.

Racen turned to him now. "Sorry for that, but some things must be said, and I'm finished with lecturing this guy here for today, I'll poor us another round, you're in?"

We both nodded and I glanced at Serena who was deep in talks with Sha', seemingly her new best friend. Serena's excitement was almost visible, her eyes were gleaming with joy and her smile would have lit the room if not for the lights. "Sometimes she reminds me of human teenagers with this youthful and innocent enthusiasm. And then she astonishes me with a comprehension and wisdom most humans fail to achieve in a lifetime…"

My thoughts were interrupted by Jason who's gaze had the same target. "You must admit she's quite an eye catcher, and she obviously likes you."

"True enough – in both cases – but to like someone doesn't necessarily lead to more than friendship." I replied thoughtfully.

Racen came back with a new round of ale. "Cheers guys, hope you're ready for another round."

"Cheers and thanks for the beer, but back to topic you hardly see an Asari which is not beautiful, moreover they seem ageless and graceful, no wonder most species are fond of them."

Racen chuckled. "It's not the looks only, I can assure you."

This very sentence seemingly caught the young guns' attention and he started to fire lots of questions at Racen. The evening went on with more ale, a lot of talking and more drinks from Sha'lea. Later on a seemingly jolly Serena came over to sit down beside me. "Hi, my guardian angel, are you alright, you don't seem to enjoy the evening?" Her voice was a little slurry already.

"I do, but I'm not the kind of guy who gets totally hilarious after some beers. And you'd better keep away from Sha'leas cocktails now, you'll gonna have a very bad day tomorrow."

"Come on, don't be the killjoy now, I'm having a lot of fun for the first time in a long time, so stop lecturing me." Her voice had an aggressive undertone now.

"No need to get aggressive my dear, do whatever you like."

"I'm sorry, I intended to cheer you up a little, guess I've failed on that, anyway I wanted to say that I really like you." With the last words she embraced me accompanied by a kiss on my cheek and a whisper close to my ear. "Don't back away, I want to help you to get rid of your past."

She caught me by surprise and my initial reaction was to back off from her. I needed all my strength to withstand and let go the tension. "This is harder than any fight I've been into." I felt the urge to pull back again as her embrace, her scent and the touch of her skin on mine flooded my mind in a flashback.

Blurring images of her face, her smile, her teeth, her laughter… –

It was too much, the urge to pull back overwhelmed me and just as I started to fight myself out of her embrace as Serena's soothing voice cut through my clouded mind. "Shhh, let go, let go of your tension, let me help you to find peace, I beg you." The words - this time they were spoken with a serious undertone - seemed to reach through the maelstrom and the images ceased, leaving me trembling.

She released her embrace, her eyes were locked on mine as I opened them. "Sorry for that, but there are certain people here who think you could use a little help to overcome your past. I must admit I underestimated your reaction, and this' for sure the wrong place, I'm sorry."

I tried to focus still a little dizzy from the flashback. "It is ok, I blame it on the drinks, alcohol tends to lower the inhibition threshold, ya' know."

"I felt so…so invulnerable, I thought I'll give you a kiss and push the reset button, and you'll be fine. Now I'm embarrassed for behaving like a child." She lowered her head while saying this.

I put a finger under her chin to raise her head again. "Hey, come on, it's alright now, some lessons are to be learned the hard way, alcohol usually resides in this section. Besides, I can imagine worse things than to get kissed by you." I added with a smirk.

A hint of a smile appeared on her face finally. "The next one is not for free, you'll have to ask nicely."

I couldn't help but return her smile. "Than be prepared that this might happen, given the right time and place that is."

Sha'lea approached us. "Good for you that few have watched this little incident. Are you alright, Gray, you're still trembling slightly?"

"Had better times, but I'm alright. Maybe I should get some sleep, more alcohol won't do any good." I replied calmly.

"What happened, was it just my touch that raised old memories? I could feel your turmoil like an explosion soon after…after I kissed you." Serena's voice still sounded conscience-stricken.

"I had a flashback or somethin' like that, hit me like a hammer…" My voice trailed off. "And before you ask, let's leave it at that."

Serena just nodded and started to turn away. "Sorry again, don't be mad at me."

Sha'lea held her back. "Stay with me, please. Don't blame yourself too much for it, wrong time wrong place but for the right reasons." She turned around to me. "Go to bed, Gray, she'll be fine with me, ok?"

I nodded and left the little party as quiet as possible. On the way to our room the images from the flashback haunted me, vivid like today's fight. As I finally reached the door, tears were flowing freely, my whole body was shivering. "So much for things getting' any better these days, feels like the dam is about to breach…"