Ashley couldn't stop laughing. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the apartment she and Zalora had claimed for the night, a warm heater blazing into the room, bowls and packets of lollies and biscuits and marshmellows strone about while they drank some sort of wine they'd brought on their way back from Flux, lights dim as they told stories from their past.
Both had changed into their pajama's, and for once, neither seemed too high on the military - they didn't care that it was almost 12pm and they'd be over-tired tomorrow, nor that they would have terrible hangovers, or that they would probably be off fighting for their lives, no. That was all in the future, and they didn't care - they'd made a deal to live for the now.
At first it had been somber and sad, with Zalora telling the story of how she lost her family, then how she struggled to survive, and the fact she'd lost many friends. She talked of her battles, and it all ended with the loss of Kaidan and the grief she felt over it. Ashley did the same, speaking of her battles, her dead family and friends, and terrible things that had happened, and in the end they'd both tried to cheer each other up.
With the aide of the wine, they ended up telling more humerous stories, breaking into catchy songs they'd heard over the years, and sharing their deepest secrets. More than once they spoke of things they'd heard about Kaidan, and claimed it was a way to honor his memory.
"You know," Ashley suddenly said, pouring herself another glass of wine. Well, she poured the wine into one of the funny cups they'd chosen to use, anyway, since neither were dainty enough to use real wine glasses. "it's kind of sad."
"What is?" Zalora asked, sprawled out on her stomach, munching on a marshmellow.
"We dedicate ourselves to the military. We fight for humanity, defend the people who can't defend themselves, we fly through space to travel to worlds most of us don't even know exist!" Ashley shook her head, her dark hair falling about her shoulders as she did so. She pulled it back into a ponytail as she continued. "And then we die, and all we get for it is a little message sent to our families saying we died tragically but for the right reasons." She sighed and swirled her drink about her cup, leaning back on one hand. "Most of the time there isn't even enough pieces left of the dead for the families to see." She suddenly took a long swig of her drink.
Zalora was pulling little bits off her marshmellow and eating it slowly, listening. "Your right... They deserve better than that." She sighed.
"And so do we!" Ash said, nodding suddenly. "So I promise, if you die in the course of this mission, Zal, I'll make sure people remember you. I'll make sure everyone knows you died for the right, no, the best reasons!" She smiled slightly, determination in her eyes. Zalora could tell it was important to her friend.
Zalora smiled back and put down her marshmellow. "And I promise the same for you." She held out her hand. "Pinky promise."
The two twisted their pinkies together and swore the oath, laughing strangely as they took their hands away. For a while they just laughed, told some pathetic jokes, and ate some more candy. Finally, after taking a sip of her drink and beginning to suck on a lollypop, Zalora commented. "I wonder where everyone else is tonight."
Ash chuckled. "Bet Captain Anderson turned in early. You know, the way old men do?" She snickered, trying to hide it behind a hand.
Zalora laughed at the thought. "What? In a nightcap and one of those all in one old-man dressing gowns?" She didn't bother hiding her laughter.
Ash cracked up at the mental image, and had to put her drink down for fear of spilling it everywhere. "Oh! What about Liara? Probably curled up somewhere with a book about Prothean technology, and ended up falling asleep sucking her thumb." She laughed and shook her head. It was no secret she didn't like the Asari.
Zalora laughed. "I don't know about that. I do know Garrus went to visit his father - should have been a fun filled visit since he wouldn't be too thrilled with Garrus leaving C-Sec." She chuckled and shook her head, taking her lollypop out of her maw for fear of choking on it in laughter.
Ash smirked, her dark eyes suddenly seemed so bright. "We should have invited Tali along tonight. Would have been weird as to see her in jeans and a tank top, with that helmet to complete the ensemble!" She laughed and shook her head, trying to calm down as best she could and picked up a chocolate of some kind. "Ah, all my hard training and work out is going to be blown in this one night of pigging out." She chuckled, but didn't seem to mind.
Zalora chuckled and gave her lollypop a lick. "Do you remember what it was like to be a real person? Able to eat what you wanted, not having to stick to a diet so you'd always be in shape?"
"Able to sleep in a real bed?" Ash added, nodding.
"Allowed to sleep in!" Zalora laughed, smiling at the thought.
"And with who you want. No orders, or regulations." Ash snickered.
Zalora smirked, quirking an eyebrow. "Oh? You fancy someone, do you?" She chuckled questioningly, watching her friend.
"Ooo, truth or dare is it?" Ash laughed, swinging her legs sideways so she was practically sitting on them. "Well... yeah. But it's just a little crush. I mean, I know the rules, Commander. Fraternization is out." She chuckled and gave a somewhat oh well sigh.
Zalora went quiet and smiled slightly, sadly, at the thought. "Yeah. I wonder... You know, I wonder if it is possible to fall in love with someone so deeply that you'd actually consider leaving the military?" She was just thinking out loud, pulling at the label on the bottle of wine they had as she did so.
"I dunno, Zal. All I know is the military is my life, and I won't leave it for any man, woman or child. No matter how much I love them." Ash smiled, watching her friend. "And that's the kind of men I like, anyway. The type for who the military will always come first, well, and maybe me a little too." She chuckled.
Zalora smirked and looked at Ash. "Name?"
"Salem. Salem Foster." Ashley chuckled, smirking slightly as she did so, cheeks just a little pinker than usual. "He was only with our crew for a few days before he was transfered to Sector 8, but man... even his five o'clock shadow was hot!" She cracked down laughing.
Zalora laughed and shook her head. "Salem was my brothers name." She sighed, took a sip of her drink, and then added jokingly. "Your pathetic when it comes to men." She couldn't help but smile though. "All they have to do is shoot, smirk, and have a rough streak, and you consider them." She smirked knowingly at her friend.
Ash shrugged, giving a crooked smile. "Hey, I need something to dream about at night. So come on, you know my type, now what's yours?" She chuckled, picking up a marshmellow for herself as she did so.
My type? Zalora thought, and suddenly had to think. "You know... I don't really know. I never really had any boyfriends growing up, and forgot all about it after my family were... you know. I've been with the military since, and never really given it much thought."
"Hey, wait up--" Ash butted in. "--Are you like... you know? Umm... new at this game?" She quirked an eyebrow, a half eaten marshmellow in hand.
Zalora gave a coy smirk. "You mean am I a virgin?"
"That's the one." Ash chuckled, glad to see her friend wasn't freaking out. She liked to think they trusted each other that much.
"No." Zalora chuckled. "Unfortuantly I got a little too drunk once and a guy I didn't know very well made sure I'd never be considered a virgin again." She smiled a bit as she remembered and soon shook her head.
"Oh my God, you mean a guy took advantage of you?" Ash was frowning. "I'd have kicked his ass from here to Uranus." She was only partially joking.
"Hey, no, nothing like that. I was just too drunk, and didn't know what I was doing. He'd had a few too. Anyway, I didn't hold it against him. Woke up the next morning, in his bed, naked and feeling like shit - hungover and more. Got up, dressed in a hurry, and ran for my life. I don't even remember what he looked like." Zalora chuckled and twisted the end of her lollypop straw so it would be straighter.
Ash chuckled and shook her head a little. "And other than that?"
"No, that was enough." Zalora chuckled. "I didn't remember it at all, but I decided then that if I was ever going to be with someone like that again... I'd want it to be someone I really loved." She smiled happily, not looking directly at Ash.
Ashley was smiling, happy to see her friend looking so content. "Yeah..." She couldn't help it though. "Pity Joker can't really--"
"Hey!" Zalora yelped as though she'd been stung by a very large bee. "How'd he get into this?" She laughed.
"Oh come on, Zal. I told you who I like, you owe me the same. You do like him, don't you?" Ash questioned before chomping the remainder of her marshmellow and stretching out on her side.
"Well..." Zalora began to blush, twisting her lollypop between her fingers. "I do like the way he makes me feel. He makes me laugh, and cheers me up, but that could just be because he's always there, you know?"
"Oh God, do I know!" Ash nodded. "I feel so sorry for him sitting alone in the mainframe all the time that even I'm tempted to go and talk to him." She laughed. "And that, is sad."
Zalora smiled at her friend. "Well... I don't feel sorry for him. He makes his own fun. He watches whats going on around the Normandy, listens in to most conversations... You know he's like a video camera all on his own." She chuckled and shook her head.
Ash sat up a little. "Wait, wait, watches what goes on around the Normandy? There aren't any cameras in the showers, are there?" She was frowning, obviously a step away from having her fingers crossed.
"Nope. No cameras there." Zalora chuckled, and watched as Ash sighed in relief. "There are in the changing room though." She added, smirking. Ash looked white as a ghost.
"Why did no one tell me?" Ash shook her head, but it wasn't a question she expected an answer too. They went quiet for a while, and finally Ash said. "So what are you going to do?"
"About what?" Zalora asked, trying to get a red jelly bean out of the thousands upon thousands of other coloured ones.
"Joker." Ash shrugged, giving a single blink.
"What about him?" Zalora looked at Ash, triumphantly holding a red jelly bean as she did so.
"Oh come on, I thought we'd settled on this. You like him! So what are you going to do about it?" Ash chuckled, getting a little annoyed with going around in circles.
"First of all, I never said I liked him as anything more than a friend. Second, even if I did, he'd probably be repulsed by the idea. And third, the Regulations mean we could never be more than friends anyway, even if I wanted that, which I so don't." Zalora said stubbornly.
Ash could see it was no good trying to get around it. She could see something was forming between the pilot and her friend, but even if she had kept digging for closure, Zalora was right - the Regulations forbid it, and there were very good reasons for it too, so Ash wasn't going to muck around with it. She sighed, and reached out to snatch Zalora's red jelly bean, which she popped in her mouth with a smirk.
Zalora looked heartbroken, but her lips twitched into a smirk and she laughed. "Oh, eat my jelly bean and face the consequences, fend. You are so going to suffer now!" Laughing, she threw her pillow at Ash, and the resulting pillow fight could have lasted all night.