Neross: Well you guys let's just jump right back on in shall we?
Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!
…..
Jaksus was going to shoot her. He could feel it pressed against his back in it's concealed holster underneath his shirt and he itched to pull it out. He'd told her no. He'd told her no for a week. He'd told her no until he was hoarse. He should've known. He'd gotten complacent again. Maybe it was because A'Garr had been quiet lately and Maria had seemed content. But he'd been wrong to trust her. You couldn't trust humans, he'd forgotten that, he wouldn't forget it again.
Especially now that he found her in the one place he'd forbidden her to go. The docks, surrounded by a crowd of Quarians and one laughing Krogan. Jaksus felt the growl rising up in him with every step he took closer to that bold, little, laughing, pain in his ass. And she was laughing, that tiny little laugh of hers that sounded like the tittering of a bird. A bird that mocked him with every little sound it made.
She'd saddled up to the crew of one ship in particular it seemed. An old Asari frigate that looked older than Jaksus' father, maybe even his grandfather. The damn thing was in good shape though, you had to give the Quarians that. They knew how to keep their ships in shape. And oddly enough he found that that was what Maria was discussing with the gaggle of Quairans around her once he got within hearing range.
"I've heard from the Captain that it was in dreadful shape when it was originally purchased. But it runs smooth now. Best little frigate I've ever served on." A Quarian engineer was bragging, his orange suit with it's bold blocky pattern standing out against the others.
A younger one, his suit dressed in soft greens and subtle but engaging swirls just laughed. "Don't give us that again Ilya. You've only ever served on the Haedra. You won't fool anyone with your tales, not even our fine human friend here."
Maria giggled and shook her head, and made a gesture toward the ship. "It certainly looks like it's in fine shape. But the name! That's the most interesting bit I'll be honest. Does it mean anything? Or is it simply the name of a system or planet?"
The young Engineer in green laughed again and shook his head, "I couldn't tell you I'm afraid. We've never bothered to change the name and it's been that way as long as anyone living can remember."
A female Quarian in a soft blue giggled, wiggling her fingers suggestively. "I heard it's an old slang term for a spot on an Asari's body."
A'Garr chuckled but threw back his head in disbelief. "You've got that all wrong there. The term you're thinking of is Azure. Totally different, although-"
"Alright I think everyone can just stop the conversation there." Jaksus growled as he finally strolled close enough to be seen as well as heard.
A'Garr shot him an annoyed glare and crossed his arms across his chest while Maria flinched and slowly turned toward Jaksus with a guilty looking smile. "Er…hello Jaksus." she said after a moment. The Turian glared at her and grabbed her by her upper arm to pull her close and whisper furiously in her ear.
"We'll talk about this back at the apartment. Say farewell to the Quarians we're leaving."
Maria quickly wrenched her arm out of his grasp and stood her ground, her hands fists at her side. "I'm not going. This is my only chance to learn about Quarian culture and I'm not giving up on that just because you say so."
Jaksus growled and sat his hands on his hips. "This is not up for discussion Maria. The docks are a dangerous place and with them crowded like this I can't do my job properly."
Maria frowned, though her expression softened around the eyes. "I was fine. I had A'Garr with me and nothing happened."
Jaksus twitched his mandibles in frustration, "Just because something didn't happen doesn't mean it won't happen at all."
There was a subtle clearing of a throat behind them both and human and Turian turned to see the Quarian engineer dressed in green standing behind him, the rest of the small Quarian group looking on over his shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt. But we couldn't help overhearing. Is there some sort of problem?"
Jaksus sighed out his irritation and stood up a bit straighter, "I'm sorry. But it's just not safe for this particular human to be down here. I'm her bodyguard and she ditched me back at a cafe' in order to disobey my direct order not to come here."
A'Garr let out an annoyed sounding huff and shook his head at the C-SEC officer, "I would have too if you were keeping me from doing my job."
Jaksus turned a sharp glare at the Krogan and took a step forward as he stood on edge, ready to restart the fight they'd had when they'd first met. "Just what the hell do you mean by that?"
"It's Maria's job to study alien cultures, the Council expects her to give a thorough and extensive report that analyzes our similarities and differences. Yet when she gets her biggest, if only, chance to study Quarian culture you tell her no. How do you think the Council will react when they get around to reading her study and find she hasn't included these suit-rats in it? I bet that'll go over real well considering how they're all well aware that the Flotilla actually came to the Citadel and practically offered Quarian culture up on a silver platter." A'Garr ground out at him, glaring righteously at him.
Jaksus deflated and mentally slapped his hand to his forehead. He hadn't considered any of that. He'd figured that the Council would only want to see a study done about the Council races but Maria had been furiously studying every race she came across. What's more there were plenty of studies down on the Council races in the past, but nothing like what Maria was undertaking. Jaksus turned to the petite woman and rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I'm uh…I'm sorry Maria. For uh…for forbidding you to come here."
The Turian shook his head after this and then allowed his furious glare to return as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at the smiling human who looked just a little bit too pleased with herself. "But I swear if you ditch me one more time I'm going to tie you down in your room and leave you there."
Maria's expression fell and her eyes went wide as her face lit up red in embarrassment. There was an amused collection of laughter from the Quarians as the green dressed Engineer took a step forward and placed a hand on Maria's shoulder in a friendly way. "I didn't know humans could change color, or that they were so interested in learning about the Flotilla. How about we make a comprise hm? I'm having dinner tonight with the Captain and his family, you can join us. I'm sure the Captain would be delighted to meet all three of you."
The red in Maria's face vanished as her eyes lit up in glee. She turned an expectant look toward Jaksus, her expression pleading him to agree. The Turian simply shook his head and let out a short breath of amusement, she was like a child who'd been offered a trip to the candy store. "That should be fine. Is there anyway we can contact you about the arrangements?"
The Engineer nodded and lifted his arm so he could begin to type in a few things on his omnitool. "Of course. Here, I'll give you my email address. You can contact me at it whenever you like. May name is Nava'Sh'Var vas Haedra. I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your names."
Jaksus shifted his weight, contemplated how much to say before finally just giving up. "I'm Officer Jaksus Vikil, with C-SEC. The human is under my charge. She's Maria St. George. And the Krogan here is our uh…friend…Urdnott A'Garr."
A'Garr chuckled and readjusted his stance, grinning. "Think of me as a back-up babysitter. The kid tends to grow on you after awhile." And then the Krogan turned a wicked glance toward Jaksus and sent him a smug, knowing, smile. "The human's not so bad either."
…
Maria spent two hours trying on different outfits, and trying to fix her hair into something resembling a respectable or even a manageable appearance. Unfortunately she'd not only had no luck, she'd become so frustrated that she was at the point of tears. Her hair stuck out at every angle and she stood in a mismatch shirt and pants. Her lip quivered and she looked down at her sticky hands covered in the anti-frizz gel she'd been using to try and tame her wild hair.
She started to cry, big droplets that refused to stop. She hiccuped and sniffed and wiped her nose on her slightly too-large sleeve. She was so wrapped up in her misery that she never heard the knock on her door or the subsequent yelling that went on afterwards. It was not until she actually felt Jaksus grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her that she managed to notice that she wasn't alone.
"What in the world is wrong with you? I was knocking and calling for you for nearly ten minutes!" He scolded her, but the scolding sounded more worried than mad. He took her face in his hands and turned her, forced her to look at him. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you crying?"
She sniffled again and fought against her quivering lip. She grabbed at her hair and chocked back a sob. "I …I was trying to fix my hair. And I-…it just kept getting worse." She threw up her hands in frustration and then pounded them against her thighs, big droplets cascading from her eyes. "This stupid hair! I just…I just want to be normal….I just want to be pretty for once. I'm never pretty. I'm just cute. No one ever thinks I'm pretty."
His expression fell. She worried she'd said something wrong. Done something wrong. The tears began to flow freer now in bigger faster numbers.
Jaksus sighed and took her into his lap and rocked her for a moment, he made soothing sounds in her ear and rubbed her arm in a comforting way. "We'll go wash out your hair…and although I know absolutely nothing about it I'll help you fix it." Her sobs quieted and he shook his head at her. "You'll turn heads Maria…"
…..
He tried to be gentle as he helped to scrub out all the product weighing down Maria's hair. He had her head bent over the low bathtub in his half of the apartment since her bathroom had only a shower. He had her in a towel from the waist up in order to keep her clothes from getting wet and worked with the nozzle from the shower to try and get her hair rinsed clean.
When the suds and gunk finally faded away he took out the things she used to wash her hair. He didn't understand humans. He didn't understand why they needed all these things to keep clean. He didn't understand Maria…but he liked her. He didn't really know why he liked her…she was just such a helpless little thing. But she had such a strange amount of potential. And at times she showed strength he'd never seen in any other woman. But then there was this.
He sighed as he rubbed the first bottle into her hair and he smiled as she shivered under him and then giggled. "What? What is it?" he asked her with a grumble.
She pulled in something of a snicker and pulled her towel a little tighter around her. " Nothing it's just…it tickled."
He couldn't help the smirk that bloomed upon his face. Nor the chuckle that blossomed afterward. "How can you feel anything up there? I was sure there'd be nothing but pulsating brain matter. What with how big your brain is."
She giggled again. "I've got a skull…and hair can't grow out of brain matter."
He chuckled and pulled down the nozzle to rinse out her hair again. "Of course you do." He moved the nozzle out of the way and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And apparently it's ticklish."
He expected her to laugh, expected her to push him away or tell him not to dare. But instead she went still and everything from her neck up turned so red he thought she might be trying to blend in with her hair. "Maria?" he asked, slightly concerned.
She made a muffled strangled sound and tugged on her towel, clinging to it. "I'm okay. Can we um…can we finish up? I…I don't want to be late."
He frowned in confusion but went back to his task. "Sure." he told her, "We're almost done here anyway."
…..
Neross: I'm so sorry it took so long to get this up. I got distracted by uh…things. Namely tumblr. I blame tumblr. In any case my dear readers I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Don't forget to leave me a review to get me through my distractions faster and to let me know how I'm doing.
Until next time, keep on rocking out!