"These tamales are awesome. I need to ask Beloxia who catered," Davidson blissfully mumbled around a mouthful.

Myrtus sighed and made a vague comment about how his own food tasted after taking a few bites. (The caterers hadn't disappointed on the dextro side, either). Veronica came back, pulling out a chair next to Myrtus.

"Hello!" she greeted Davidson. "I didn't know PR was invited too!"

"Nah. But PR always brings the party."

Veronica smiled and Myrtus stuck another bite of food in his mouth to muffle an annoyed rumble.

And it went from there; Davidson and Veronica took off in conversation as they ate, swerving from her questions about what the PR department's endeavors were for the Citadel branch of their company to the different modes of entertaining depending on the species of guests expected, and touching on related side topics including cultural differences in regards to cuisine, table manners, the merits of different kinds of alcohol, and finally settling on the subject of music.

As put out as Myrtus was that Davidson effortlessly monopolized Veronica's attention, he found himself relaxing and enjoying the conversation because he was discovering the breadth and depth of Veronica's curiosity and interests. She was even asking him about turian cultural practices and it charmed him to have her asking him about the particulars of his home colony as a comparison to Palaveni traditions.

"Daro told me there will be dancing. You are going to dance, right? I've heard that you are a good dancer," Veronica looked at Davidson.

"Yeah, I am," Davidson nodded. "I just don't really like the modern stuff. Club stuff."

"Really, Davidson, I thought you'd be out there twitching to Expel 10 with the rest," Myrtus grinned.

"Dude. Twitching's about right. I like dances that are more involved. That you need to actually learn."

"So what kind of dancing do you do?" Veronica asked.

"Old fashioned stuff. I told you how I was in musicals in school. Mom also signed me up for dancesport."

That had no meaning for Myrtus. But Veronica perked up.

"Dancesport? Latin or International style?"

"Lindy Hop for life," Davidson put a hand to his heart.

Myrtus was completely unprepared for Veronica to nearly launch herself into the air.

"No! Really!? Nobody knows the Lindy!"

"I do."

"Competitively?"

"Through college."

"I know it too!" Veronica was so excited she was slapping the table with the palms of her hands. "We are going to dance! Be right back!"

"Well, there she goes," Davidson moved to stand, seeing Veronica going up to the DJ and activating her omnitool.

"Davidson?"

"Yeah?"

"...What does it look like, this dance?"

"Fast. It's pretty cool, actually," Davidson airily replied.

Fast? Fast sounded good, Myrtus thought. It's the slower partnered dances that humans did that were cause for concern. Talking was fine and as chatty as Davidson usually was, there weren't any overt efforts to flirt that Myrtus could discern. His eyes narrowed as he considered Davidson. There might be need for some words with him if Davidson didn't have the sense to redirect his attentions elsewhere, however.

Davidson crossed the dance floor to Veronica and they conferred for a few minutes as the DJ brought Veronica's music on queue. Veronica made a few giddy hops in place. Everyone stopped talking, interested, as the music started. Snare drums to start off and Davidson took Veronica's hands and stepped out.

Fast wasn't half of it. They were whirling and leaping across the floor, Veronica's skirt billowing, the both of them kicking their feet perilously high while Davidson was nearly flinging Veronica around, the both of them grinning as they kept their grips, joyfully fighting centrifugal forces. The humans in the crowd cheered and laughed, standing up and clapping in time with the beat of the song, whooping as Davidson spun Veronica.

The sheer energy she hinted at back at the emergency exit stairs was in full display as she kept the momentum up with Davidson, fairly taking Myrtus' breath as he watched.

When the song ended, Davidson capped it off by doing the splits and that brought the crowd down. As they walked off the floor they were surrounded by compliments and questions. Davidson shook Veronica's hand and they parted, Davidson to the DJ to request some more old fashioned songs and Veronica returning to the table. She sat down, breathing hard, elated.

"That was amazing," Myrtus said. "You were amazing."

Veronica giggled, dabbing at her forehead with a napkin.

"That was so much fun!"

Davidson convinced the DJ to start up again, this time with motown classics and he was showing the two asari software programmers the two-step, while the rest of the humans who were inspired by the earlier dance filled the floor.

"Definitely more involved than the modern stuff, as Davidson said," Myrtus nodded.

Veronica took a drink and motioned towards the floor.

"Want to dance?"

He hesitated.

"Can't do the two-step?" she tilted her head.

"I can figure it out. I'm an engineer," Myrtus said as he stood up. "I figure all sorts of things out."

Veronica stood up also and without a thought, took Myrtus' hand. His mandibles fluttered, pleased. So they danced. It truly was no more than two separate steps, forward, backward, rotating in place on the floor, getting to hold her hands in public.

"You do learn quickly," Veronica nodded her head with the beat, letting go to do an impromptu twirl before taking his hands again.

The song changed and the humans whooped again as Davidson started to make choreographed moves. Veronica clapped, laughing.

"I think I know this song," Myrtus tilted his head.

"I think everybody does by now!"

"Billie Jean!" Myrtus crowed. "I know this one!"

Veronica's eyes widened as he went for the middle of the floor where Davidson was, taking a spot alongside him and stepping into the choreography.

"Oh, gosh! Oh, gosh he's doing it!" squealed Zoe, one of the software programmers.

"Go, Myrtus!" Veronica yelled. "Whoo!"

The sight of him successfully pulling off a moonwalk had the human women emitting a noise high enough in pitch to make more than a few bystanders wince.

When they finished, Davidson offered both of his hands up for a high five and Myrtus returned it, grinning.

"You're totally, totally awesome!" Veronica exclaimed when he went back to her. "How did you even know how to do that!?"

"Class project during one of my xenocultural studies classes when I was in university. Had to memorize one example of performance art. Just about everybody else was memorizing poems," Myrtus shrugged. "I didn't want to stand up and recite."

"Did you get a good grade?"

"Now what do you think?" Myrtus grinned. "I got top marks, of course! It's technically difficult!"

Veronica was about to say something when a resounding crash made her jump.

"Oh!"

Nearly all of the turians' heads perked and they began to form a circle away from the dance floor around where one of the turian software programmers had flipped a table and was now charging at a laughing Rubellin. Tenax deftly snatched his drink up just as the table went, stepping back to the perimeter, to watch.

"What's going on?" Veronica winced at the hard smack of plates making impact.

Rubellin was still laughing as he blocked the opening kick and began returning kicks and punches of his own.

"The brawling portion of tonight's entertainment," Myrtus looked unsure on how he should respond.

"Will they be okay?"

A harsh shriek and there was the splintering sound of a chair coming apart. Over somebody's head.

"Oh, yes," Myrtus nodded.

"You INCOMPETANTS!" roared Beloxia. "Now I can't get the deposit back on this room! I told everybody not to destroy the furniture!"

"Well, now, somebody might not be okay," Myrtus amended.

Veronica's eyebrows raised as Beloxia herself entered the fray, fists swinging, to the cheers of the bystander turians. She surveyed the rest of the room. The other Noveria transfers stopped dancing, unsure of what to make of the turn of events. The Citadel regulars were still dancing or talking, ignoring the fracas as a normal occurrence.

"Myrtus? Do you mind if... we leave now? Or do you want to stay and join in?" Veronica finally asked him.

"... You want me to leave with you?"

Veronica took a step closer and nodded, reaching out to smooth her hand over his forearm. Any inclination on Myrtus' part to make a joke of wanting one round of fisticuffs or else it wasn't a real party experience died in his mouth.

"Okay," Myrtus managed to say. "Okay."

tbc