Casey couldn't sleep. It had been three nights since the mission in Hock's base, and yet she'd been wide awake ever since. The first night she'd thought it was just the excitement of the evening, and had busied herself playing a strategy game Samantha Traynor had leant her. The second night, Casey had reorganised her whole cabin. Now, after finishing the game three times over, and with nothing left to organise, Casey found herself roaming the ship. She'd wandered around Engineering, fiddled with things Mordin would never have let her touch in the Lab, hid the evidence of the things she'd broken, and was now walking laps around the Galaxy map.
It was three in the morning, and almost everyone else was in bed. There were a couple of crew members using the consoles surrounding the galaxy map, who gave Casey a sleepy nod, but that was it. The cockpit was empty: even Joker had to sleep sometimes. EDI was in charge most nights, something which Joker had finally accepted. After completing her third lap of the map, and realising she was getting some strange looks, Casey headed back to the elevator.
When she got out at the crew quarters level, she intended to head back to her room. But then, for no real reason, decided that maybe a shower would help her to relax. The one in her room was broken. It had been dripping, and Casey had made the mistake of asking Mordin (who happened to be passing) to take a quick look at it. Unfortunately, Mordin's undeniable genius apparently did not extend to plumbing. After walking out of the bathroom drenched, and holding the shower head and a large hammer, Casey's bathroom had been roped off until someone more qualified could repair the shower, and clear the mess.
The crew bathrooms were fine, though, and Casey decided then and there to have a hot shower before attempting sleep again. The door to the bathrooms opened with a click, and she sleepily walked inside. It was this tiredness that stopped her from not only realising these were not the women's bathrooms, but also that one of the showers was already in use. She didn't see the completely naked James Vega until she was practically face to face with him.
"Ohmygodsorry!" She stuttered, immediately turning her back on him. But it was too late, she'd already seen everything. She knew he was ripped, but she hadn't anticipated just how muscular he really was underneath his clothes. The water glistened on his tanned skin, sliding across every toned muscle. And between his legs was something larger than she would've given him credit for: long, thick, and smooth. No wonder he was so smug sometimes.
She heard him laugh. "Hey Case, what's up?" He didn't sound embarrassed at all, in fact he seemed positively relaxed. Casey tried to mimic his tone, but her voice sounded higher than usual.
"Nothing, just...came in for a shower. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd shower...to help me sleep...because I couldn't." Her eyes flicked to his face, he was grinning broadly.
"Uhuh. Well, there's plenty of room, you're welcome to join me."
"Oh...um...no. That's fine...thanks." She turned on her heel and scuttled out of the room before her face boiled any more out of pure shame.
But Casey had finally solved her insomnia. She didn't have feelings for Vega, but the sight of him like that gave her more than enough material for use with her electric toothbrush when she got back to her room. When she'd finally finished she fell into a deeper sleep than she'd had in a long time.
"We're going out tonight."
Casey looked up. Kasumi, with her usual respect for other people's privacy, had let herself into Casey's room, and was already picking up various objects from her desk. "Do come in," Casey said sarcastically, but with a smile. She was sitting on her bed, towel drying her hair: she'd waited till the morning to have a shower, didn't want to risk another encounter. What if she walked in on Shepard? Or Garrus?
That wouldn't be so bad...
"Casey?" Kasumi looked at her questioningly.
"Huh?"
"I said we're going out tonight. We dock at the Citadel again in a few hours, and we thought we'd try out Chora's den. It's had a remodel since Sovereign's attack, now it's got a huge dance floor. You in?"
"I'm not much of a dancer..."
"You haven't seen Shepard."
Casey smiled. She could use a night out, and good or not, she loved dancing. "Ok, I'm in!"
"I knew you would be," Kasumi said with a wink. "I thought we could get ready together, you, me and Traynor."
"Let's invite Tali," Casey added. Tali was the newest crew member, who had arrived only a couple of days ago out of the blue. She, Shepard, and Garrus went way back, and she was already making herself more useful down in Engineering than Casey could ever hope to be.
"Ok fine, but I'm not big on Quarians. I can't trust anyone whose face I can't see."
Casey rolled her eyes, "Yeah that would be really annoying."
Kasumi, who hadn't taken off her hood once since boarding the Normandy stuck out her tongue, before leaving Casey's room.
Casey finished towelling her hair. A night on the town could be fun, but she'd have to watch it. Casey was well known amongst her friends on Earth for being a lightweight, and alcohol tended to make her brutally honest. She couldn't risk getting completely drunk and asking a certain Turian to mount her.
Just a couple of drinks Casey, no more.
Apparently Kasumi had very different ideas about what 'getting ready together' meant. Casey had assumed they'd have a drink or two, get dressed, and generally have girl talk. Kasumi let herself into Casey's room (obviously), began pouring a blue liquid into shot glasses, threw copies of Fornax (an Alien porn magazine) onto the bed, and proceeded to tell a story about the last man she'd slept with and his strange fetish for women in fur underwear.
Casey hadn't even recognised Kasumi at first: wondering why a beautiful girl with long black hair and heavily made up eyes was now in her room. It was only because she recognised Kasumi's voice that she realised it was her. "No hood?" Casey asked.
"Not tonight," Kasumi replied. "But call me Cindy for the rest of the evening." She smiled. At that moment Tali and Traynor arrived, and the group began to drink. Tali's suit didn't seem to slow her down, and soon all of the girls were more than a little tipsy.
An hour in, and Kasumi sat at Casey's desk, adding more dark smudges to her eye make-up while singing along with a song she'd programmed in to Casey's sound system. Tali was pouring the drinks, and trying to work out the best way to drink a shot without taking her mask off. Traynor and Casey were laying on their stomachs on the bed, flipping through the Fornax magazines.
"Looking at naked men can't be that much fun with Traynor for company," Kasumi said with a smile.
"Just because it's not my thing, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the wonderful male form..." Traynor began to laugh. "I'm sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face. Penises are vile."
The others laughed. Traynor turned her page and gasped, before quickly turning to another. Casey heard her mutter "how can a Krogan bend like that?"
Casey turned the page on her copy, and was met with a picture of a Turian man and woman. The picture was formal, they were pretty much just standing up and staring at the camera. "This isn't like the others," she said, showing the picture to Traynor.
"Well...they're Turian. Their porn is always going to be regimented," Traynor shrugged matter-of-factly. "Like everything else, their smutty material is ordered and to the point...And speaking of points..." She gestured to the naked Turian and Casey gasped. She'd thought James was well-endowed, but this guy had that beat. She didn't want to look too closely, not with Traynor beside her, but his huge member seemed to be ridged too. Her mind wandered to Garrus, and she shook herself back to reality before she started to blush.
"I don't get Turian women," Traynor said. "No hair, no breasts...where's the fun in that?"
Kasumi laughed. "Traynor, you have a crush on EDI's voice, how can you talk?"
The girls laughed, then there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Kasumi yelled.
"Should I just move out?" Casey grinned.
Miranda appeared at the door. "Just thought I'd let you know, we're leaving now."
There was an awkward silence, and Casey suddenly felt extremely guilty that none of them had thought to invite Miranda to get ready with them. "Thanks," she said, and Miranda nodded, before leaving.
"We should have invited her," Casey said.
"No way," Kasumi replied. "What would we even talk about?"
"I don't trust her," Tali added.
"I think she's alright," said Traynor with a smile.
"That's only because she has hair and boobs," Kasumi laughed.
Casey got to her feet, stumbling slightly. Oh God...She hoped she wouldn't do anything she'd regret tonight.
The club was heaving by the time they arrived. A lot of the crew had decided to come: Shepard, Grunt, Garrus, Miranda, Kasumi, Tali, Traynor, James, and Jacob. Ordering the first round of drinks took twenty minutes on its own, but eventually everyone was laughing and talking at the bar. Casey found herself next to James, which made her blush again. "Hey," he said, giving her a smile that showed he was enjoying how embarrassed she felt.
"Hi."
James laughed, "Don't blush Case, we're good."
Casey smiled.
"To be honest, I'm still hurting that you didn't wanna shower with me," James grinned again and Casey slapped him gently on the arm.
"What were you doing up anyway?" She asked him. He shrugged.
"I dunno, I just can't sleep sometimes."
"I couldn't sleep either, hadn't in three days."
He was nodding. "That's understandable, first time you've shot anyone?"
Casey wasn't expecting that, a reminder of the Hock mission. "Yeah?" She replied, not sure where this was going. "But I didn't kill anyone...at least, I'm pretty sure I didn't."
"Doesn't matter," James replied. "You still did a huge thing: you caused someone serious injury. Now don't get me wrong: you were right to do it, they would've killed you if you didn't, but somewhere in your head, that shocked you. It does something to you. Something you can't avoid even if you're not thinking about it. And trust me, if you ever have to kill someone, like, blow their brains out right in front of you, you won't be sleeping for a long time."
Casey fell silent for a moment. "So what do you do?"
James grinned. "I drink...and sleep with gorgeous crew members." He winked at her, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll meet you halfway, let's drink."
"What are we drinking to?" Garrus was standing behind Casey when he spoke, which almost made her spill her drink in surprise. She spun around, but James already answered, "We're drinking to forget...and instead of sleeping with each other."
Casey wanted to die, but though Garrus looked a little confused, he smiled, and raised his bottle.
James turned to talk to Jacob, and so Casey and Garrus were left alone. "Having fun?" He asked.
Casey nodded.
"Ever been here before?"
She shook her head.
Ok Casey, maybe use some actual words next time?
"Do you dance?" She asked, relieved that she could actually speak.
"Afraid not. Turian's aren't exactly graceful. We don't dance."
Casey's eyes scanned the dancefloor. "What about him?" She pointed to a Turian male who was at that moment sliding his whole body against a pole meant for one of the Asari dancers, who looked incredibly pissed at him. He held his bottle of beer in the air like a trophy, before spilling it down himself, then attempting to form a two person conga line with the Asari.
Casey turned back to Garrus, who appeared to be wincing. "Let me rephrase that. Turian's aren't graceful, and those with even a modicum of self respect don't dance."
"Casey!" Kasumi staggered slightly as she approached, and grabbed Casey's hand. "Dance with me!" It wasn't a question, and Casey gave Garrus an apologetic look as she was dragged away.
The dance floor was packed, and Casey found herself lost in the music within moments. She loved dancing, and didn't even mind when Kasumi ran to the bathroom to throw up. She stayed there by herself, watching as the other crew members came and went.
Tali and Traynor danced with her for a while, but Tali, apparently just as much of a lightweight as Casey, soon joined the incredibly drunk Turian, who was now on one of the revolving platforms. Traynor seemed to be having a conversation with the Asari dancer who he'd kicked off, and the two of them headed back towards the bar. Jacob, Shepard, and Miranda were dancing together a bit further away, and Casey didn't mind the distance. Shepard really was a terrible dancer. Grunt and Garrus were at the bar, apparently engaged in some kind of drinking contest. Soon James was at her side.
"Hey, if you don't wanna sleep with me, do you think you could dance with me instead?"
Casey laughed, and allowed him to pull her a little closer. James was a good dancer, and it was nice to have someone to talk to while they danced. He was constantly making jokes about the people around them, and Casey soon realised how much she liked James. Not in that way, but then she doubted he felt that way about her either, he just liked to flirt.
Casey's mouth was dry. "I'm going to get a drink," she yelled in James' ear, and he nodded. She watched as he turned and pulled Tali off the stage, and began to dance with her.
When Casey arrived at the bar, she felt two strong hands grasp her, and was immediately pulled onto Grunt's lap. "There's the girl!" Grunt said with a laugh. "Casey the warrior! Took down twenty guards on her own the other night!"
Casey laughed, "I'm pretty sure that wasn't what happened, Grunt."
He clapped her across the shoulder, she wished he realised how much that hurt! "She's a great girl. Hands down, my favourite alien...Well...Shepard's alright too I guess."
Garrus gave a little cough. Grunt slid Casey off his lap, and clapped Garrus around the shoulder too. "And you! You're pretty good, for a Turian. But you're no Casey!"
Garrus laughed.
"Now!" Grunt roared, "More drinks! Let me show this Turian who the true master is!"
Casey had a shot with Garrus and Grunt, and then a pitcher of water to wash away the awful taste. When she arrived back on the dance floor James was gone, but Tali was back on the stage, so she carried on dancing. She realised within a few minutes that someone was watching her. A human man began to dance with her, and though he was attractive enough, she didn't like how close he was getting. "Hey beautiful," he breathed. She could smell the alcohol on him. He tried to pull her closer but she shook her hands free.
"Come here, I won't bite," he slurred.
"No, I'm fine," she replied. She was never good at giving men the brush off, mostly because pretty much the only men who came on to her were patrons of Afterlife, and Aria had always been very clear that you had to make the customers feel like you were into them.
"Come on," the guy tried to pull her in again, and she shook her head. "What, you have a boyfriend?"
"Yes, she does." Casey's heart pounded, Garrus was standing beside her, and firmly pushed the man's hand off Casey's arm. The guy held up his arms in apology, and moved away.
Garrus put his hands on Casey's waist and began to dance with her. "I'll stay a while if you want, so he doesn't come back?"
Casey took a few moments to make sure she didn't say anything stupid, and tried to sound casual. "Thanks, I thought you didn't dance?"
Garrus leaned in. "I'm very drunk."
They danced together without talking for a few moments. Casey tried not to look up into his eyes too often: she didn't want to look creepy, but whenever she did he seemed to be looking at her. She felt like she was trembling, and hoped he didn't notice. She was practically burning with desire at being held this closely. Garrus' hands were strong and held her tight, and she knew that if he wanted to, he could bend her over the stage right now and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
Suddenly a group of Alliance soldiers shoved past, causing Garrus' arms to reposition themselves. It took Casey a few seconds to realise his hands were now on her behind. He didn't move them. Did he not notice? Or did he want them to be there? She chanced a glace in his eyes.
He knew.