He'd asked Rubellin and Tenax if any of the humans in their respective departments, accounting or legal, had similar musical tastes.
"I think that one's just weird for a human," Rubellin shrugged.
Tenax was scrolling through lyrics from some of the songs on his omnitool, getting more incredulous as he went.
"What did Daro call all of this? 'Baby-making music'? I certainly don't see how any of this got public radio play. Historical records to the contrary."
"Davidson!" Rubellin waved. "Human cultural questions time!"
"All right, what do you want?"
"This," Tenax showed Davidson the list of songs and artists. "Are these for public or private listening?"
Davidson glanced down, pursing his lips.
"...Uh, Tenax, I'm not sure I want to be your wingman."
"...What does this have to do with aerial warfare formations?"
Davidson blinked. Tenax blinked back.
"Neeeevermind. What do you actually want to know?"
"What is the typical setting for listening to this type of music?"
"When you want to get laid. With a human lady. Or man. Which ever. Is this you propositioning me, Tenax, because I'm heterosexual-"
"Stop that. Be serious."
"I am! Dude! Seriously, these are classic! Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Prince? I think actual generations of humans were conceived to some of these songs."
"They are... an ancient fertility ritual?" Rubellin ventured.
"Shit, it's like you guys are aliens or something. No! There weren't any fertility rituals!"
"But then why even write songs like this at all?" Tenax was still faintly disapproving. "It's not an appropriate subject matter for music."
"... So you guys will talk about sex, make and watch porn, but not sing about sex? … Dude."
"Essentially," Tenax replied.
"Well, now I know that turians can actually be prudes. My day has been made," Davidson grinned.
"So the context is private with a partner, right?" Myrtus finally asked.
"Well, sure. Have some drinks, put that music on, make out, go on from there... Mood music."
"We don't have mood music," Rubellin looked confused. "Why would you want noise to distract you anyway?"
"I don't even know anything about anything anymore, man," Davidson made a flailing motion with his hands. "You have reached the limit of my knowledge. Can I go now?"
"Do you listen to this? Would you listen to this at work?" Myrtus asked.
"What, here? Nope. That's embarrassing, man. There's work. And then there's, you know," Davidson made more emphatic gestures. "the rest of my life. That's not supposed to mix."
"Is that normal?"
"...Um, yeah? Last I checked, other species have contextual social behaviors also, dude."
"So a human who would listen to this kind of music at work...?"
"Doesn't get embarrassed easy, I guess. Why? Who does that?"
"I don't feel like telling you," Myrtus crossed his arms.
"Ooookay. This a good stopping point on human culture questions time? I say it is. Later."
"It's been educational," Tenax replied.
Davidson rolled his eyes before heading down the hallway.
"Well, now we know. She's weird for a human," Rubellin concluded.
"He said that she just doesn't feel as embarrassed as he would. That's not weird!" Myrtus protested.
"What's really weird is their music, that's the most important thing I've learned," Tenax was back to scrolling through lyrics.
"All of her tech writing coworkers in Noveria were salarian. So she wouldn't even get any reactions from anybody. She'd be used to it," Myrtus nodded to himself. "Has to be."
"Are you done playing C-Sec detective?" Rubellin asked. "You should go, Myrtus. Beloxia's going to come down here and start cracking her whip."
Myrtus nodded and headed for the elevator.
"It's not about answering alien cultural puzzles anymore, is it?" Rubellin murmured.
"Probably not." Tenax closed his omnitool tabs. "I couldn't fathom his tastes with women of our own species, let alone this human."
"Folly. Complete folly," Rubellin shook his head.
"Amusing to watch, though," Tenax shrugged.
Veronica still had her headphones on so Myrtus went to her side, putting a fresh cup of coffee down, tapping her on her shoulder.
"Oh, thanks!" she took off her headphones smiling at him.
"They had different kinds of sugar, so I got two of each," Myrtus laid out a little pile.
"Nice," she picked through them. "You're awesome, Myrtus."
Myrtus hadn't become quite used to the human tendency towards hyperbole even after all the time he'd spent talking with Davidson, so his neck flushed again. Veronica didn't see it, though, as she added sugar to her coffee. She took a test sip of her coffee, nodded to herself at the taste, giving Myrtus a thumbs up before putting her headphones on and turning away.
tbc