Shepard found Kryik with his talons tightly wrapped around a rail, looking out at the lake on the Presidium. He didn't appear to be too happy. She wasn't sure if she wanted to brave his wrath again, but she certainly wasn't going to expose her team to it. She instructed Williams and Alenko to buy some supplies via a list she transferred to their omni-tools. She would meet them on the ship. Shepard flexed her fingers nervously before she cautiously approached the turian. He had a reputation for being cool under pressure. This did not strike her as 'cool'. This was hot. Her eyes wandered over his alien form. He was defiantly hot.
"Sir, uhm... are you okay?" She asked hesitantly.
He didn't answer. He just glared at the water as if fish would appear if he looked for them hard enough. Shepard leaned against the rail on her elbows next to him. She watched the subtle waves of the water lap the stone shore and the light sparkle on the surface in a million tiny points of brightness. It reminded her of the stars as she looked up at them from her window on Earth. She listened casually to the conversations of passers by, letting her thoughts wander along the nudges of their words. She found herself enjoying standing there next to him like this. It was calming, peaceful. It was deceptively serene.
Finally she chanced a side long look at the turian. He didn't seem as angry as he had been... minutes, hours ago? She wasn't sure how much time had passed. One of the passers by had mentioned the asari consort. It was a long shot, but she decided to give it a try.
"Have you ever been to see the consort?" she asked, breaking the silence. To her surprise he answered her.
"No. Nor do I intend to," he said flatly.
"Why not?" she asked, curious.
"I do not spend my free time with harlots or those who do," he replied.
His answer was harsh, but simple. She could respect that.
"What do you do in your free time?" she pressed.
"Shepard, I appreciate what you're trying to do... but I'm not looking for conversation," he said, patiently.
"Well, if you're looking for fish in there," She pointed with her chin to the water below, "I'm pretty sure you're not going to find any."
Nihlus turned his face away from her to hide the grin he couldn't hold back. She was getting to him in ways he didn't expect. A small part of him was glad she was there, pestering him, forcing him to calm. He returned his attentions to the water. He herd her sigh with concerned frustration.
"I'm sorry about Saren," she said softly. "If there's anything I can do..." she turned to walk away.
"Thank you."
She almost didn't hear him. She paused a moment and nodded to him. She started to leave again when he called to her.
"Shepard...," he looked over his shoulder at her. She turned back to him once more. "Will you..." He trailed off and looked back at the water. "I"m not very good at this, Shepard."
Sonya walked over and rejoined him on the rails in silence. He wanted her company. She could give him that. She couldn't understand what he was going through. Not really. She had seen it before, on Earth, but she had never been through quite what he was going through. Never trusted anyone like that, except the Captain. He was the closest thing she'd ever had to a father. The difference was she knew Anderson would never betray her. She was sure of that. The thought occurred to her that Nihlus had trusted Saren just as much.
Nihlus... she didn't know what to think of him. He was devout in his duty. Hard on the surface physically as well as emotionally, but there was a tenderness in him. It showed in these moments of pain and resentment toward Saren, and when he'd asked her to stay by him. It made her want to know him.
More time passed. Her legs ached, her back was sore, but she stayed and watched the water with him. Eventually he stood up right. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck.
"Let's go," he said in a low, even tone and walked away from the water. Sonya followed a few paces behind him.
They didn't leave the Citadel right away. There were people Nihlus wanted to add to the team before leaving. Both of them he knew only by reputation. One was another turian; a C-sec officer that was assigned to assist in the investigation into Saren. The other was a krogan mercenary, hired to kill the owner of a strip club; Fist. Nihlus had no interest in assisting the krogan in his bounty, but didn't necessarily want to be around to have to stop him either. He went after Garrus first. Nihlus knew the banker worked for the Shadow Broker. He could 'convince' the volus banker to divulge the information of Garrus' recent movements. Or he could dive into the seedy underworld of the Citadel in Fist's strip club and 'persuade' a recently fired C-sec officer, Harkin, to help them locate the turian. Shepard didn't want to owe anything to anyone affiliated with the Shadow Broker. Kryik conceded her point. He hoped he would miss the Krogan.
The music was loud and distasteful. The smells even more so. Asari dancers with exposed buttocks wiggled on a raised stage in the center of the room over the wet bar. Shepard felt her stomach turn in disgust. Nihlus leaned in toward her ear and spoke in a low tone.
"I think that's him by the door way." He pointed with his chin.
She saw who he was indicating. The human, balding male was drinking something blue from a tall, narrow glass. They decided it would be best to approach him casually.
"Hey, sweetheart. Your bod's lookin' real nice in that soldier getup. Why don't you sit down here on Harkin's lap and see where things go?" Harkin smiled drunkenly up at her and patted his thigh.
"I'd rather chew glass for breakfast," she said coolly, narrowing her eyes at him.
Nihlus' mandibles twitched when he tried to suppress a smirk. He rather enjoyed her humor, and the face Harkin made in response was priceless.
"Hey, princess, no reason we can't be friendly." Harkin almost pouted.
"Listen, we're looking for Garrus Vakarian. Can you tell us where he is or not?" She got strait to the point.
"Vakarian, that pain in the ass? Why do you want to find him? You collecting turians, princess?" Harkin scoffed as he eyed Nihlus.
"Don't call me that," shepard said sternly.
"What... Princess?" Harkin teased.
Shepard unclipped her pistol and smacked Harkin across the face with it, making her point clear.
"AAAgh!" Harkin cried as he cradled his face. There was a red welt in the shape of a sight and barrel on his cheek. He spit a bloody tooth into his hand.
"You'll pay for that, bitch." Harkin spat at her.
Sonya raised her gun for another swing when Nihlus steadied her hand and shook his head. She reluctantly complied and clipped the pistol back in place. As soon as the gun clicked into it's hold, Nihlus let his hand fly back into Harkin's already bruising face, knocking him out of his chair. Shepard was taken back. She looked at Nihlus' stern face, his brow plates knitted in a scowl. Why did he defended me? she wondered. It made her stomach feel like she was in free fall.
Nihlus grabbed Harkin by the collar of his shirt and pick him up off the ground until his toes were tangling just off the floor. Harking grabbed at his throat and Nihlus' claws, gasping for air. A krogan bouncer approached them,
"Hey, you can't treat our customers that way. I'm going to ask you to leave once. Now."
"I'm a Spectre. This man is part of an on going investigation. Step aside," Kryik said authoritatively. He didn't bother to look at the krogan.
"Make it quick. You're disturbing the other customers... and the dancers," the krogan said, nodding to the stage, then left.
Nihlus narrowed his eyes at Harken. "The lady asked you a question. I suggest you answer it." Nihlus growled. His gaze bored into Harkin.
"Okay, okay..." Harkin choked.
Nihlus sat him roughly in his chair coughing. Harkin's elbow knocked against the table, spilling the drink.
"Aww man, why did you have to go and do that..." Harkin complained.
"Where is Vakarian," Kryik curtly cut him off.
"Don't ask me, ask his doctor friend. He's always snooping around there..." Harking grumbled as he tried to shake the last drop of blue liquid from the bottom of the glass.
Nihlus tossed a few credits onto the table.
"For your trouble." He mocked, and left the bar.
Shepard followed a few steps behind, stunned. The walkways outside the bar were empty. A transport zoomed under them. Shepard waited until they reached the corner turn to speak.
"Why did you do that?" She asked bluntly.
"He was being difficult." He answered flatly.
"No, why did you stop me only to smack him yourself? I could have handled it."
Her last words reminded him of himself. He stopped and turned to her. Her dark eyes threatening to swallow him. He wanted to let them.
"He had no right to be rude to you. I did not mean to insult you," he explained.
"It wasn't exactly insulting... I just..." She paused looking up into his eerily green eyes and white painted face. Suddenly he didn't seem so scary to her. "Thank you."
Nihlus flashed a grin. "You are welcome." He nodded to her. "Next time I will let you pistol whip him out of the chair." He grinned again.
Shepard laughed. He liked the sound. It made him feel something through the rage that clouded his mind, and his heart.
Kryik and Shepard took the stairs to the upper level. There were Terra Firma activists protesting in the main lobby. They shouted various insults toward the turian crossing the room, and questions to the human at his side as to her true allegiances and other such propaganda. Sonya and Nihlus exchanged uncomfortable glances. Neither agreed with Terra Firma's platform. In Fact, Shepard openly opposed them. How they say they wanted no alien influence and be on the Citadel was beyond her. That in itself was a contradiction.
The doors to the doctor's office slid open. A turian c-sec officer was crouched with his back to a half-wall divider, weapon drawn, inching his way to the corner. Beyond his position a red-headed doctor was being handled roughly by some shady characters, all human.
"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" the doctor cried, her fear was evident in her voice.
"That was smart, doc." A man with an eye patch said and took steps toward the doctor. "And if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll..."
The thug saw the new, and armed, arrivals walk through the door. He pulled his pistol and grabbed the doctor, using her as a human shield.
"Who are you?" He shouted.
"Let her go!" Shepard demanded, her own weapon trained on his head.
Garrus took the opportunity to round the corner of the half-wall and took a shot at the assailant's head. The round made a neat hole at the temple mark without exiting. Brain matter and blood was forced though the entry wound when the body fell hard to the floor. The doctor cried out in surprise at the sound of the gunshot. When the arm around her chest went slack she ducked and crawled to cover. The other two thugs took aim at the officer. Their alarm evident on there faces. They had no idea he had been there the whole time.
Shepard fired rounds into the shoulder of one of the thugs as he tried to duck into cover. She ran for her own cover behind the half-wall Garrus had used. Kryik was right beside her. He signaled her to stay in this position with a stern look and a quick gesture. He made is way to the other end of the wall, shooting around the bend. Shepard rose from cover and fired. Both criminals where behind a pillar or supply crates. It was difficult to hit one. She ducked back into cover when the man behind the wall leaned out to shoot at her. It left him vulnerable to a bullet to the head from Kryik's pistol, killing the thug almost instantly.
The last of the hired muscle held his position behind the crates. He was cornered less than a meter from Shepard, but the crates were up against the full wall that her cover extended from. She would have to jump the wall and round the crates without getting hit by the cross fire. She activated her emergency shields and jumped the wall. Her shields held against the friendly fire as she rounded the crates and shot the thug in the face. The man's expression before she disfigured it was priceless.
Kryik left his cover and crossed the room quickly. His own expression was not as happy as she'd hoped, but he nodded his approval. He stood over the doctor as Shepard helped the woman to her feet.
"Are you okay?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you so much for..."
"Perfect timing," Vakarian interrupted as he ran over to them. "Gave me a clear shot."
"Glad I could help." Shepard nodded.
"Dr. Michelle, are you hurt?" Vakarian asked the victim as she rubbed the bruise developing on her arm.
"No, I'm okay. Thanks to you, all of you." She replied with a light Russian accent.
"Tell me, who were those men, who do they work for?" Kryik asked the doctor.
Michelle fidgeted with her fingers nervously. She shook her head, refusing to answer the question.
"I'm a Spectre. We can protect you." Kryik said, trying to encourage her to speak. It seemed to be enough.
"They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up. Keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."
"What quarian?" Asked Shepard.
"I treated her for a bullet wound. I asked her how she got it and she became nervous. I assured her it was okay. She told me she had information about the Geth that she was going to trade for a transport off the station. But something went wrong."
"Fist was working for the Shadow Broker, but my investigation hinted that he's secretly working with Saren. She must be able to link Saren to the Geth if Fist was after her," Vakarian added. "There's no way the Council can ignore this."
"Looks like we're going to pay Fist a visit after all." Shepard commented, glancing up at the Spectre.
"Indeed." Kryik nodded. His gaze lingered on the doctor as he thought about his next move. He wasn't so much looking at her as using her for a point of concentration. Michelle shifted uneasily under his stare.
"This is your show, Spectre," Garrus said, drawing Kryik's attention. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you." Vakarian was adamant.
"Why do you want to bring him down so badly?" asked Kryik.
"Saren is a traitor to the Council and a disgrace to our people. He can't be allowed to ruin the reputation of all turians." Vakarian replied fervently.
"Welcome aboard." Kryik nodded to him, impressed by his resolve.
"Fist is going to be waiting for us. When we hit him, we better hit him hard," Vakarian advised.
"Maybe we'll run into our krogan on the way," Shepard mused.
"Perhaps," agreed Kryik, glancing down at her.
Nihlus' mandibles twitched. He was not happy with her, but he couldn't bring himself to reprimand her again. She was starting to remind him of himself. He felt frustrated and proud at the same time. He wondered if his old superiors had felt the same.
"A krogan? Do you mean that mercenary C-sec brought in?" Vakarian asked.
"We are aware that a krogan has been hired to kill Fist. He doesn't seem concerned about public knowledge of his actions." Kryik replied. "His name is Wrex."
"That's the one. We'd better hurry before C-sec has to release him" Vakarian nodded.
They got to C-sec in time to see a group of officers that were questioning the krogan. Wrex had openly admitted to his intent to kill Fist. Any other species would have been locked up, any other krogan... maybe, but krogans, especially this one, were more difficult to apprehend with out someone getting killed. Wrex was 'released' when he decided to walk over to the trio waiting patiently to one side. Two male turians and a human female. It was uncommon, but he was no one's judge, unless he was being paid to be.
"Do I know you?" Wrex asked, eyeing each of them as if they were prey.
"I'm Nihlus Kryik," the turian stepped forward as he spoke, establishing a silent battle of dominance with the krogan. "We're going after Fist. We thought you might want to come along."
"Ah.." Wrex growled. "Kryik. Spectre Kryik. I've heard a lot about you. We're both warriors, Kryik. Out of respect I'll give you a fair warning." Wrex leaned into the turian, glaring up at him. "I'm going to kill Fist."
"Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we all work together," Vakarian told him.
"My people have a saying," Wrex said, backing away a step, "Seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend."
"I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Wrex." Kryik said, offering his hand to seal the partnership. Wrex took it heartily.
Garrus was right, Fist was ready for them. The bar had been emptied of patrons and dancers. It now housed men and krogan with guns. The team quickly removed all threats within line of sight of the door way. Vakarian sniped a human off the raised stage with a satisfied grin. Using the bar as cover, Shepard made her way around the room. A krogan blind sided her from behind a column. She'd never been charged by a krogan before. It hurt. A lot. Even with her armor and shields at full the pain in her body was crippling. She rolled onto her back on the floor to open her lungs back up. The impact knocked the wind out of her. She had little time to recover when he turned back for another run. She managed to roll out of the way just in time to miss being trampled. Her lungs screamed at her for air, but she pushed through the pain. Shepard unloaded her gun into his face, turning it to a mess of blood and tissue. The krogan howled at her through the gore, still alive.
"Damn!" She muttered and recovered her feet, gasping in air as her lungs opened.
Shepard took off at a run to take cover on the other side of an over-turned table. A blue aura surrounded her as she prepared to throw a ball of warp energy at the monster. She let it fly. The krogan slammed to the floor, the rest of his face spewed into the air with the force of the fall. He didn't get back up.
"Finally," She breathed.
She was glad Wrex was on her side. He was bigger than the one she'd just taken out, and he had scars to prove what he could survive.
Nihlus watched Sonya handle the krogan with interest. Beside him Garrus was taking aim to assist her. He quickly grabbed the barrel of the officer's gun, shaking his head. He needed to see her operate on her own.
Garrus knitted his brow plates, but nodded to the Spectre and lowered his weapon. Wrex was having too much fun killing off the remaining mercs to care what anyone else was doing.
Nihlus kept his own rifle at the ready, just in case. He was surprised at how well Shepard handled the blow of a charging krogan. When she emerged from behind the table he ran over to her, joining her by the bar.
"Thanks for the help," Shepard said sarcastically. She glared up at him, still trying to catch her breath.
"I had faith in your abilities, Shepard. If you are ever alone in the field, there will be no help," he stated mater-of-factly.
Her gaze softened, but she was still irritated. His little lesson could have killed her, but he made his point. Wrex and Vakarian waited at the private office access door at the back of the bar. Garrus was hacking through the security systems locking them out when Kryik and Shepard joined them. A few seconds later the doors hissed open. The team was greeted by two un-armored humans with pistols, and not very good ones at that.
"Stop right there!" The men shouted, training their weapons on the intruders.
"Warehouse workers? All the real guards must be dead," Vakarian asserted.
"Stay back or we'll shoot!" One of the workers threatened.
"We just took out every guard in this place. This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work," Kryik suggested, at gun point.
"Yeah, right. That's a good idea," said one, eyeing the barrels trained on him.
"Yeah, I never liked Fist anyway," agreed the other. He was looking at the scarey krogan.
The men left in a hurry past the intruders and through the door. Wrex chuckled when he smelled the effects of fear on one of them.
"Amusing as that was, it would have been quicker just to kill them," grumbled Wrex.
"Shooting people isn't always the answer," Garrus replied.
"It's always worked for me," Wrex said with a shrug.
Nihlus shook his head and pushed passed them toward the door a few steps away. They didn't have time for discussions.
The doors to Fist's office opened. Defense turrets popped up out of two false tables and started firing. They could hear Fist mumbling something about doing everything himself. Shepard took cover behind a steel partition. Garrus was next to her. Nihlus concentrated his fire on one of the turrets, taking strafing steps across the room to a partition on the other side. Wrex charged toward Fist, who was cowering behind a club chair, ignoring the turret rounds that pelted his armor. Garrus moved around Shepard to cover behind a chair. He activated his omni-tool and sent out an energy pulse to overload the systems of the turrets. Shepard followed suit with a wave of warp energy. The combined effect caused the guns to explode. Wrex had a gun pointed at Fist's face and a foot on his torso.
"Wait! Don't kill me, I surrender!" Fist pleaded, looking up at the ferocious krogan, struggling to keep control of his bladder.
"Where's the quarian?" Kryik started the interrogation as he left the cover of the partition.
"She's not here, I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" Fist shouted.
"You're lying," Kryik called his bluff as he took the landing.
He nodded to Shepard and Vakarian. They promptly aimed another set of guns at his head. Wrex took the initiative to apply more pressure with his foot.
"Okay, okay!" Fist groaned under the weight on his chest. "I don't know where she is, but I know where you can find her!" He gasped, grabbing at the krogan's foot. "The quarian isn't here! She said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself! Aakk!"
"Impossible. The Shadow Broker only works through his agents," Vakarian told them.
Nihlus glanced at Wrex and pointed with his chin to the krogan's foot. The mercenary eased of, but only a little.
"Let him up," Kryik ordered Wrex, narrowing his eyes at the mercenary.
Wrex complied, reluctantly. Fist stood up slowly, holding his chest and narrowing his eyes at the krogan. Wrex blew hot air through his nostrils and huffed at the human.
"No one meets the Shadow Broker, ever! But she didn't know that," Fist grinned. "I told her I'd set a meeting up. It'll be Saren's men waiting for her."
At the mention of Saren's name, Nihlus released the safety on his gun and pointed into Fists face. His rage returned with a vengeance.
"Tell me where the meeting is before I blow your lying head off," Kryik growled.
"In the wards, the alley behind the markets! She's supposed to meet them right now! You can make it if you hurry!" Fist nearly screamed, putting his hands up defensively.
"Are we done here?" Wrex asked impatiently.
"We're done," Kryik answered and turned to leave. Shepard and Vakarian followed.
There was a gunshot behind them. Kryik acted as if he didn't hear anything. Wrex joined the group moments later.
"I took the job to kill Fist before I joined your team. I always finish a job." Wrex didn't even blink as he answered a question no one asked.
Kryik glowered at the krogan as they left the office. Shepard and Vakarian exchanged glances before following the Spectre out.
There were reinforcements on the way out of the club. Ill trained reinforcements. They just kept replacing their fallen in the hall entry to Fist's office making themselves easy prey. They reached the meeting set up in time to duck into cover. The quarian hadn't fallen for the trap and she fought back. A keeper near by working on a console ignored the fighting and gun fire. Nihlus recognized the turian that had pawed the quarian right before the fight broke out. His face paint marked him as being from a colony that had been a bitter rival to Nihlus' colony. Those days were long past, but the pride of one's home remained. Kryik took aim and fired. The threatening pointed teeth and skull motif shattered after the impact of two successive cryo rounds. The fight was over shortly after.
Nihlus surveyed the damage to the alley. He frowned to himself when he saw the keeper slumped over the console. It had been killed by a stray shot. A panel in the wall opened and two more keepers emerged. They drug the corpse through the opening and a third exited to close the panel and resume the previous keepers duties. Not many saw what they had just witnessed, if anyone ever had. Nihlus mentally cataloged the event and turned his attention to the quarian.
Tali Zora nar Ryya was unharmed and willing to share her information with them. They took her to the human embassy. The ambassador would need to hear the evidence as well. Tali had seen a group of Geth, curious as to why they had ventured beyond the Veil, she followed. Eventually she was able to single one out, then disabled it. The information she recovered from the audio banks of the Geth was a recorded conversation. One Nihlus would find very interesting.
"Eden Prime was a major victory." Saren's voice filled the room from Tali's omni-tool. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
Shepard glanced over to Kryik. His features were stern, his eyes glaring out of the white markings that decorated his face. She wondered how long he would brood like this.
"That's Saren's voice! This proves his involvement in the attack!" said Captain Anderson, his eyes wide.
"Saren's Spectre status has already been revoked and a warrant was issued for his arrest. This only supports those charges." Nihlus said as he shook his head.
"There's more. Saren wasn't working alone," Tali said and played the full audio.
"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."
"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." A deep female voice followed Saren's words.
"I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about Reapers," said the ambassador.
"What are the Reapers?" Shepard asked.
Tali explained her findings on the Reapers from the memory core of the Geth, and about their destruction of the Protheans. The Geth believed the Reapers to be as gods and that Saren knew how to bring them back.
Ambassador Udina was not convinced and even less excited about the news of Geth gods. The Council was also unconvinced of the Reaper threat, but they did accept the evidence of Saren's involvement at Eden Prime. The asari Councillor recognized the other voice as asari Matriarch Benezia. Spectre Kryik made a mental note. That was their next lead.
The Normandy left dock from the Citadel the next morning at 0700 hours. The ship glided through the space between the station and the relay a thing of beauty and grace. At least that's how Joker saw her. She was his girl, his one and only love. Sure they couldn't have kids together, but who wants kids anyway? Maken' 'em's the fun part and that would likely break his pelvis, so he was happy to fly.
Shepard stood in the arch way behind Joker for the first jump of the day, the way she always did. The helmsman pulled the ship along side the relay, reading off the stats the way he always did. The sound of the words in his voice had become a conditioning to her excitement. The blue arch of energy hit the ship and flung her into space. The vertigo came then went as they dropped out of FTL and Joker finished off the experience with the arrival stats to Artemis Tau.
It almost felt like a threesome for the pilot. It put a grin on his face to think of it that way. How else will I ever get two women at once and not end up in a body cast after? And it's practically guaranteed every day. How many guys can say that about their love life? Yeah, I'm a lucky man.
"Hey Commander," he called to her, "Are you gonna stand there all day, cause I gotta warn ya... things get kinda personal up here around eleven-hundred hours," he teased.
"I'll see ya around eleven-o-six hours then," she teased back.
"Commander! I think you over estimate my libido, but thanks for the compliment," his smile widened as he glanced back at her.
"Oh my god..." Shepard threw her hands up and walked away. "I'm outta here." She could still hear Joker laughing as she descended the stairs.
Kryik was waiting for Shepard in the debriefing room. Somewhere in the Artemis Tau cluster there was a young asari researcher of all things Protean. He felt she would be of value either through her knowledge, or through Saren's possible pursuit of her for the same reason. It was also a possibility that she was already involved. If she was unwilling to assist them, she would have to be eliminated.
The doors hissed open behind him. He could hear Shepard's soft foot steps as she walked down the ramp.
"So, what are we doing here?" She asked casually.
"There is an asari scientist that specializes in Prothean history and archaeology. I believe, if she is not already working with Saren, that he will be seeking her services... by force if necessary. It would be in our best interest, and hers, if we get to her first." Kryik explained. He continued to glare at the floor.
"From what you've said, I have to agree." She nodded. "What's the plan?"
"We will assess the situation when we go in," he replied flatly.
"I'll tell Garrus and Tali to suit up," she nodded, and turned to leave.
"No," Kryik said sternly.
He heard her foot steps stop and the shuffle of her feet as she looked back at him. He turned toward her to see the puzzled look on her face.
Nihlus crossed the room until he was close enough to smell the musk of her skin and the clean scent in her hair. They had been working side by side for little more than a month. It seemed much longer. There was a desire building in him to be near her. There was something about her that provoked an emotional response. He didn't understand it. He'd been around human women before and never reacted to one like this, or any alien for that matter. Well, except asari, but everyone liked asari. He was pretty sure the spices manipulated pheromones to attract mates. But Shepard was not asari and she was not like other Aliance officers or other human women. She stayed with him after facing Saren in the Council chambers. Comforted him in silence with her presence. Why did she do that for me? Then I defended her against Harkin's unwanted advancements and harsh words. Why did I do that? He was willing to find out.
"I think we should take a smaller team in. Just you and myself," he said.
"Okay." Shepard shifted her weight "You don't think we should bring along one other team member?"
"I think we should do this mission alone," he said firmly.
"Nihlus, is there something else you'd like to talk about?" Sonya asked when he didn't move away.
She could feel the warmth in her face. She wasn't going to lie to herself. She'd noticed the differences in him and other turians. His height and long fringe often earned him shy smiles and craving glances from the asari on the station. Garrus got them too, but not like Nihlus did. She spent a few minutes to look up what made a males attractive in turian culture on the extra-net. Nihlus would be considered quite alluring among his people if he were not an outsider. While she tried to not let that affect her own tastes, it didn't hurt to know.
Nihlus's mandibles fluttered and he flexed his fists a few times. He never expected to feel nervous around her.
"After the mission... I could see what we have on board to drink. Maybe we could talk, like we did in the lounge?"
He knew it was a risk. He hoped he wasn't being too forward. He realized he didn't care that she was human. He wondered if she cared that he was turian. She hadn't given him any clear signals that she was interested. He surprised himself with his own advances.
"I'd like that," she grinned up at him.
He didn't know how to respond. He was prepared to be brutally shut down like so many times before when he'd invited women out with him. It increased his nervousness when he couldn't think of something else to say.
Sonya saw his eyes dart away for a second. She thought he seemed a bit unsure, so she decided to be the one to walk away. "I'll see you in the air lock," she said professionally as she turned. She tired not to feel too self conscious as she walked up the ramp.