Joker had been the first back to the Normandy the next morning. He'd found staying at his mothers home comfortable for the night - they'd talked, and she'd explained a few things to him, helped him get a grip on the situation he'd suddenly found himself in and so on. They'd also caught up on all that missed information about each others lives, and made their peace. Eventually, exhausted, she'd allowed him to stay in the spare room over night. He'd awoken the next morning to find she'd gone to all the trouble of cooking a full breakfast - he was grateful, since the Normandy's food wouldn't win any prizes, and they talked again while eating, basically saying their goodbyes and promising to stay in touch. Not long later she'd had to go to work, but said he could stay as long as he wished.
Joker had known the Normandy wasn't due to leave until the afternoon, but he'd felt uncomfortable alone in her apartment, and so he'd soon wandered back to the ship. He'd figured he was first back as soon as he saw the empty ship, and so he'd made himself comfortable in the Mess, sitting at the large table with a soda can in front of him and a comic book sprawled on the table, waiting for others to return.
He had no idea how long he'd been alone, thinking about the Commander, reading the comic for a few cheap laughs, or even how long his soda had been sitting there getting warm, when he suddenly heard one of the doors to the second floor slide open, followed by soft footsteps decending the stairs. He wasn't worried. He knew it was probably just some engineer come back early, heading down to the garage, or even Doctor Chakwas - she was always early - or even just one of the other members of the crew coming back to get settled before the rush hour.
Never had he imagined that it would be the Commander. She was basically in her uniform, but her shirt wasn't done up properally and revealed quite a bit of her coller bone and such. She was absently scooping her hair into a ponytail, and hadn't yet noticed Joker.
He took a somehow silent, and yet sharp breath and tried desperately to look back at his comic, or the table, or anywhere except her, but failed. God, she was beautiful, even though she looked tired. He felt a pang of jealousy as he realized she looked tired. Of course. What did I expect? She was probably up all night partying or--... He cut that thought off and shook his head.
"Hey Commander." Joker said, giving a shrug in her direction and smirking slightly, trying to hide his dissapointment. "Your back early. What happened? The Citadel pull out some warrant about crew parties? Bet you trashed the entire Wards." He joked, gave a soft chuckle, and looked back to his comic.
Zalora looked up in surprise. "Joker?" She hadn't expected anyone to be back so early. She'd been hoping to catch up on some z's while no one was around, but it looked like it was time she could spend with the Normandy's pilot instead. She slipped into the chair across the table from him, smiling a bit. "Oh, no, sorry to dissapoint, but the Wards are still intact." She snickered a little, glancing at the comic he read.
"Oh man, and here I was hoping I could get some time off while you were on trial." Joker smirked playfully, smirking but not lifting his gaze.
Zalora chuckled, watching him, wanting to ask if something was wrong but not daring too. She soon got up and turned to get a drink for herself off the nearby counter. "So how was your night?" She asked over her shoulder, not looking his way as she found herself a soda.
"Oh, you know." Joker glanced up quickly, shrugging. "Pretty good, I guess. Hung out with my mom for a while. Catching up on all that old person stuff." He smirked. "The rate I'm going a premium retirement home is looking good." He snickered, obviously joking.
Zalora chuckled and was about to comment when Ash stumbled down the stairs, groaning and holding her head. "Ah, and here we are. The living dead." The Commander laughed lightly, shaking her head at Ash. "I told you that strong stuff would do your head in."
Joker looked at Williams and quirked an eyebrow. "Doesn't leave mean you're allowed to stay away from the fights." He smirked and watched the soldier.
"For your information--" Ash stumbled over to the Commander and poured herself a strong mug of coffee, forgetting to put sugar in as she took her cup and sat down in the chair Zalora had left vacant. "--this was not an act of war. Just alcohol." She groaned and held her head as though it was about to fall off.
Zalora chuckled and took her soda and a small bowl of sugar over to the table, taking a new seat beside Joker. "Raw caffine will make it worse. Like some sugar?" She picked up the spoon as an offering.
Ash nodded slowly. "Thanks." She pushed her cup towards Zalora and the sugar while watching Joker. "So what are you doing back here, fly boy? Aren't you supposed to be off partying like the rest of the crew?" She winced at the word 'partying', but couldn't figure out how that effected her head pain.
Joker replied slowly, smirking, but watching Zalora out of the corner of his eyes - she was scopping up sugar and putting it in Ash's cup, spoon after spoon, smirking to herself. He could tell she was doing it to give Ash a not-so-nice surprise, and he had no doubt that the coffee would be incredibly sweet once Ash finally realized what the Commander was doing. "Yeah, the Alliance keep a close watch on me. Don't want to lose the best pilot they've ever known, right Commander?" He smirked in Zalora's direction.
Zalora looked surprised that he'd noticed her, and slowly took the sugar spoon away and pushed it aside, smirking all too innocently. "Whatever you say, Lieutenant."
Ash nodded, obviously so hungover that she hadn't clued into the Commander calling Joker Lieutenant. She took her coffee back and brought it to her lips to drink, took a sip and choked on the sweet bitter sugary taste. "Ugfgh! Zalora!" She spat and stuttered, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth.
Zalora laughed. "Sorry. Couldn't help it." She merely smirked and took a sip of her drink.
Ash growled, eyes narrowed, at the Commander. "I'll get you for that. But right now I have to go chop my head off." She stumbled to her feet, deserted the coffee on the table and stalked away, wobbling ever so slightly with each step she took. Soon enough they heard the elevator doors slide open, and then closed, and the descending noise of Ash going down to the garage.
Zalora chuckled. "Ah well. She'll get me back sooner or later." She said aloud, more to herself than anything, and took another sip of her soda.
Joker nodded, eyes focused on her, and soon said. "So what did you get up to last night, Commander?" He was desperate to know, but tried to sound under-eager.
The Commander chuckled. "You know, Joker, no one else is around, and technically I'm not your superior right now, so I think you can get away with calling me by name." She smirked at him, then gave a shrug. "Went out to Flux with Williams. Had a few drinks, danced a bit, then headed home and basically had a slumber party." She laughed a little and shook her head. "As you can see, I didn't drink as much as she did." She smirked in triumph.
Joker's heart rate increased slightly. "Okay, Co-- I mean, Zalora." He found himself smirking in joy at being able to call her by name. "Sounds like a fun filled evening. So, just you and Williams, right?" He was just checking, wanting to be sure that he didn't have any competition really.
"For the most part. Flux was crowded - you can expect to see a lot of hungover soldiers today." Zalora chuckled and crossed her legs as she leant back in her chair. "Any messages while we were on leave?" She shrugged, just wondering if he'd checked.
Joker blinked his dark eyes. "Jeeze, I'm the best pilot in the Alliance, but I still forget to check answering machines." He joked, flashing his bright teeth in a smirk.
The Commander laughed and gave his shoulder a slight push as if to say 'don't get cocky, boy!' "I was actually being serious." She smirked and rolled her eyes at his playfulness.
"So was I." Joker simply smirked back. "I didn't think anyone would be back for a while, Co-- sorry, old habits die hard. I didn't think anyone would be back for a while, Zalora, so I didn't check. Figured I'd leave all that destined for bad news crap for later, after the drunks return." He chuckled and closed his comic book. "I can do it now, if you think its important." He reached for the crutches he'd leant against the table, almost standing.
Zalora reached and grabbed hold of his sleeve. "Hey, desperate to get away or something?" She chuckled and shook her head. "No, it can wait. Suppose most of them will be from your admiring public, anyway." She smirked sarcastically, watching as he sat back down.
Joker grinned. "You know it. Then again, you know how it is, I suppose. Your a War Hero, after all." He chuckled, his laugh husky and thick. "You'll never compete with the best pilot in the Alliance, though."
"Oh yeah, boy?" Zalora smirked, giving him another playful shove. "I may not know how to fly a ship like you do, but I bet even if I did, I wouldn't crash half as much as you." She teased.
Joker shook his head. "I've never crashed, Commander. Hell, I've saved your pretty little ass more than once, ma'me." He hadn't taken it as a joke at all. He found it hard to joke about the one thing in life he had pride in.
"Hey, Joker, come on, I was teasing." Zalora said calmly, frowning slightly. "Lighten up. I didn't mean any offense." She quirked an eyebrow. "And cut out that ma'me and Commander stuff, will you? I told you, I'm not your superior right now."
Joker sighed. "Yeah, sorry. It's a touchy subject. When someone makes fun of the only thing your good at, most people tend to get riled. But then again, you wouldn't know, would you. You're good at everything you do." He looked away from her, almost in annoyance.
"No, I'm not." Zalora shook her head and leant on the table a bit. "Where'd that idea come from?"
"You survive every fight you get pulled into, Zalora. You defuse bombs, unlock weapon caches, can shoot any gun you pick up, you've repaired the Mako a million and one times, helped Pressley with the navigation shit, saved more soldiers than I can count, and... well... just everything you do you do naturally. You never complain." Joker looked back at her. "See. Again, the pilot is right."
"The pilot is not right." Zalora gave a slight smirk and twisted his hat around playfully, so it would face backwards, in an attempt to get his good mood back. "I'm just a good soldier, that's all. Put me in real life scenarios, and I suck."
Joker didn't bother fixing his hat. He shrugged at her. "I've heard all about the stuff you've done on the Citadel, Zalora, all the people you've helped with every day problems, from Asari to Krogans - don't tell me you ain't good at real life. You are."
Zalora sighed and shook her head. "Okay. You got me. I'm good at solving problems, blasting people who won't let me solve problems, and working for credits, but what about the normal everyday stuff? I know none of that. You had a normal life, Joker. I envy that." She blinked her baby blues and watched him seriously.
Joker stared at her. "And you've got legs that work. I envy that." He said stubbornly, leant on the table and used his crutches to stand. He soon went off, and she heard him making his way up to the pilots pit.
Zalora simply sighed. She'd known he had something on his mind, she should have just come out and asked him about it. Now there was a strain between them, and she didn't like it, but she couldn't think of a way to solve it. She got to her feet, thinking about how well they worked compared to Joker's, put the sugar away, poured Ash's leftover coffee down the nearest drain, and with her half-empty soda in hand, went into her quarters to think.
It was about three hours later when, laying on her back on her bed staring at the ceiling, there was a buzz at her door. Zalora lifted her gaze and said "Come in" aloud for whoever to hear. The door slid open, and the Turian she called brother stepped in.
Garrus walked over to her silently, since he'd long since gotten used to treating her as a sister. He didn't say a word as he sunk down on the bed beside her, laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling that she found so fascinating. "Want to hear all the latest news?" He muttered, not looking her way.
Zalora sighed in content, looking at her Turian brother sideways. "All depends if it's good or bad news, Garr."
"A little of both, and I can't honestly tell in some of the bits." He still didn't glance at her. He continued, not waiting for a comment on her part. "First of all, my father's pissed off. Badly. Thinks I did the wrong thing in leaving C-Sec. No big surprises there. Second, my mother decided to try and set me up with her neighbors daughter while I was there, and it ended on a very bad note--"
"Whoa, whoa, neighbors daughter?" Zalora proped herself up on one elbow. "This story I have to hear." She smirked a little.
Garrus looked her way and sighed. "It's not as amusing as it sounds, dalninil, but okay, to satisfy your curiosity..." He reached a hand up and rubbed one of his head spikes as though he was fast getting a migrain. "A Turian girl, about three years my senior, quite large built - could probably punch Wrex out, that should give you some idea of how large I'm talking..."
"Ouch." Zalora cringed as if feeling Garrus' pain.
Garrus nodded and continued. "Very, very... er... unattractive, I suppose you'd say." He blinked his blue eyes.
"Your longing to say ugly. I can see it." Zalora chuckled.
Garrus nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well, to put it simply, she was simply not my type. At all. And I may have been a little blunt in saying that to my mother... in front of this girl... and her mother too... It was like a world war had started in my parents living room." He put a hand over his eyes.
"So what'd you do?" Zalora asked, giving his shoulder a squeeze to help him relax.
"I let it go on for a while, you know, them yelling and such, and then legged it to the door. Stayed in my old C-Sec quarters over night, and snuck back here as soon as it was light enough to find my way. When do we leave the Citadel?"
"Four this afternoon. You have til then to set things right." Zalora chuckled.
"Or until then to hide." Garrus sighed and shook his head, uncovering his eyes as he did so. "So anyway, I got back here, checked in with Joker - who is in a really foul mood for some reason - and found out some strangely odd news."
"Such as?" Zalora sat up, crossed her legs and stretched her arms, remembering that she was the cause for Joker's foul mood.
"C-Sec has assigned another officer to the Normandy." Garrus blinked, watching her. "A Turian."
Zalora froze. "Huh? They can't do that, I haven't agreed to it." She frowned and watched him, waiting to see if he was joking.
He shrugged from where he lay. "They weren't kidding, dalninil. They cleared it with the Council and left a comm-message for you - Joker had it, so go talk to him and he'll replay it for you to hear." Garrus blinked his blue eyes and sat up, leaning on his arms. "Another Turian... The crew dislikes me enough. And I don't exactly get along with other C-Sec agents." He rubbed his forearm a bit.
"Do you know who this Turian is?" Zalora frowned, climbing over him to get up and pull her boots on so she could go and check with Joker about this message. Foul mood or no, he'd still have to replay it for her.
"No. Nothing was said in the message. Hope it isn't anyone I dissapointed when I was working for C-Sec. That limits it down by a severe number." Garrus sighed and shook his head.
"I'm going to go check with Joker about this Turian buisiness, and if he doesn't have the answers, I'll go to C-Sec for it." Zalora said, pulling her first boot on.
Garrus blinked and gave a nod. "I'd offer to go to C-Sec with you, but I think I'll stay in the cover of night for a while. You know, until my mothers decided to put her rolling pin away." He was joking about that part of course.
Zalora chuckled, hopped a little as she pulled her second boot on, and then left her room to go and find out what was going on. She headed up the stairs, past the galaxy map and the few soldiers who'd returned, marched up the corridor and soon paused by Joker.
"Hey Joker, what's this message we recieved?" She didn't leave a pause between the greeting and the question, fearing his reaction. She tried to seem normal, but was tense inside thinking he was mad at her.
Joker said nothing, he just pushed a random button and didn't comment as the message played overhead.
Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. C-Sec Officer Denarvi Koshuth here. Just cleared it with the Council. We're deploying another Officer to your ship to help you out. We know you've got Vakarian already, but more than one pair of Turian hands never hurt. They'll be at the Docking Bay at exactly twelve, lunch time, today, for you to meet. Any problems can be reported to me here at the C-Sec Offices. Over and out.
Zalora listened, frowning. "Why the hell are they suddenly so eager to help us out?" She muttered to herself, and soon shook her head. Raising her voice to make sure Joker heard, she added. "What time is it?" She looked at him.
"Just gone eleven thirty." Joker said back without much emotion, paying close attention to everything he was doing on the console.
"Half an hour. Okay, I'll be at the C-Sec offices if you need me, trying to sort all this out." She turned to go.
"Wait." Joker said suddenly, and she turned to see him getting up with the aide of his crutches. "I'll come with you. Change of scenery will do me good."
"Are you sure?" Zalora asked, reaching a hand to try and support him as he stepped to stand beside her.
Joker nodded, and glanced at her carefully. "Sure. After all, flying can't be the only thing I'm good at." And from beneath the shade of his hat, he smirked.