~Garrus~
As the two paid for their tickets, Garrus noticed Jane typing something into her Omni-Tool. It wasn't until the two were leaving the restaurant and entering the flow of Citadel citizens that he found himself being pushed excitedly by a bouncing, and cheerful Jane.
An almost 2 meter tall Turian being pushed from behind by a small human women who barely reached the top of his chest was probably a funny sight, he would've certainly laughed if he wasn't enjoying himself as much as she appeared to be. She certainly seemed to have made up her mind to accept his offer to go to Adventa's as he noticed familiar waypoints between the club and where they had just been.
That was how he now found himself sitting at the end of the long glass top fish tank that served as Adventa's bar. He nursed a Turian brandy, he had work tomorrow, as Jane swayed a bit on her stool to his right. She hadn't known that Asari liquor tends to take a bit of time before you feel the effects, and when you do they hit hard, so she had downed four despite his warnings.
"Stupid Turian bastard," she slurred. "You should've warned…"
"I did warn you," he intercepted, chuckling.
"Yeah, well, you did a half-ass job of it. So I blame you." She tries to form a glare and points her finger sternly in his direction, but when her eyes meet his and he smirks she falls into giggles. Who would have thought that the woman who can throw shameless flirts the moment she meets a stranger, and a stranger of a different species who was also a cop sent to check up on her, but when she has a bit too much to drink she can't stop giggling. Seeming to snap back to attention, she quickly tries to compose herself, but only succeeds in making herself giggle again, to which she shushes to no one in particular.
Chuckling and not caring that his mandibles are spread in a big grin, seems her delight is contagious and he can't seem to care, he grabs her current drink, number five that's currently half gone, and slides it a bit farther from her reach despite her weak protest of 'heeeeey.'
Giggling and shushing at a supposed end Jane turns to him, which is actually more like a swivel, a bit of a loss of balance he helps her get back by grabbing her elbow to steady her and a settling back onto the seat, before she squints. Her silent inspection lasts for a minute or two, he not wanting to ruin her train of thought, before the breaks the silence. "I gotta ask," she squints for a second again, then continues, "what's up with the headgear?" At that she waves towards the back of her head.
Ah, a fringe question, he thinks. He then turns to her, debating if he should just give her a simple answer or actually try to give her some actual answers. He decides to go simple. "It's a fringe."
At that her lips pull together and compress inward, making them look like they get smaller, and she squints again. "That's not what I meant smart ass, and you know it. I meant what's it for? What's it mean?"
So that's what humans do when they get mad. At that he laughs, "Mean? They don't mean anything, other than I'm a male, I guess. If a female is attracted to a guy's fringe then it's usually a good sign." He shrugs, not really knowing what else Jane really wants to know. "And yours? Although humans don't call it a fringe do you? You call it fur?"
"Hair, Garrus," she snorts. "Fur is what you'd say an animal has on it, though I'll grant it does seem unnecessary to have to words for such similar stuff. We should just call all of it hair." At that, she begins to play with her own and from his position he can see that is shifts like cloth but it isn't actually a single piece, it is made of small strains that flow together and separately. "Hair, I guess is kinda the same for humans, but opposite. If a girl has nice hair, a guy is more interested in approaching her for conversation. Though I'm sure Turians are just like humans in that it isn't one thing that turns the opposite sex on." He gives her a nod in the affirmative. "So, is the saying true for Turians?"
Confused, he turns to her to see her not facing him, but instead giving a sidelong glance and the corner of her mouth he can see rises as their eyes meet. "Saying?" He falters, apprehensive at what she's leading him into. Even under the influence of some strong Asari drinks and she's still able to make him stumble.
"You know," she gestures vaguely. "You know what they all say about a guy with a long fringe," and her impersonation of a Turian inflection, though lacking the flanging subharmonics and the fact that the words filter through a translator, is actually really impressive, but it still doesn't explain what the hell she's talking about. She probably doesn't even know what she's talking about, he figures.
"Ugh, damn it Garrus," she throws her arms up, which causes her balance to shift but he steadies her again. "You're hopeless! You seriously need to learn human terms or you aren't getting anywhere at C-Sec."
He shakes his head, just as well I probably don't know what 'they say about a guy with a long fringe' he concludes. "I don't think that I'd lose my chances for promotion because I can't understand the human need to not speak clearly and merely say what you mean."
At that she smiles that sly smirk, "that is where you are sorely mistaken my friend," but she doesn't get a chance to elaborate as the sound of her Omni-Tool alarm sounds. She quickly shuts it off cursing, "ah hell. Sorry Garrus, but I have to go. They never told me exactly when I'm expected to report in for my new posting so I have to wait around all day." Swaying a bit as takes her art bag that's been sitting on the bar the whole night, she stands she smiles up at him like she did in the restaurant where the corners of her eyes gain little creases.
Standing up as well, his hand going to her elbow as she stumbles a bit and heads out of the club. "Here, I'll walk you to the transport hub so you can get a cab to your hotel."
She snorts, "don't think I can walk, huh?" It is then that he notices he hadn't released her elbow which is strange because normally Turians tend to not touch others very much unless it's in a private and intimate setting. Letting her go he resolves to remain close to her side, to offer support should she need it but to give her space if she chooses. She remains at the same distance, oblivious to his inner dilemma, "How is it that I'm stumbling around like it's my twenty-first birthday and you are perfectly honky dory?"
Surprisingly, even though he has no clue what 'honky dory' is, he understands what she is asking. "Because I have work tomorrow morning and although I warned you to take the Asari Blastari easy you downed as many as you could get your hands on."
She breaks into giggles again, "God that drink name is horrible and I almost was drunk enough to forget that I had to stoop to the level to order it until you ruined it." At that she shrugs her elbow into his side but hitting his C-Sec armor. "Ow," she rubs at it, and the bag on her shoulder falls down to her elbow, which has her stumbling into him. "Why are you wearing your armor?" A pause, "Oh right."
He chuckles, "yeah 'oh right.' You demanded I take you somewhere to eat before I even had a chance to realize I was off duty."
"Poor widdle baby Gwarrus," and that has her giggling so hard that he has to hold her with both arms as they approach the transport.
"In all seriousness, Garrus, thanks." She looks to him and her eyes aren't hazy from the liquor flowing through her body and Garrus finds himself smiling down at her, to which she returns with her own eye creasing one. "I had a lot of fun today. Kinda sucks that it had to happen on the last day of shore leave" her smile falls a fraction and a shadow crosses her face, "but now I at least know two fun places to go when I visit the Citadel," she jokes as she shoves the bag back up to her shoulder but her smile doesn't rise back up.
Quickly Garrus pulls up his Omni-Tool interface and sync up with Jane's. "Here is my Omni-Tool and extranet addresses. Let me know when you get your next leave on the Citadel. Maybe then I can show you to some of the real stores the Citadel has to offer," looking pointedly at the bag hanging off her shoulder.
She chuckles in response but nods as she steps into the cab. As he is closing the door behind her she looks back and smiles again and with no traces of the shadow that grazed her face just moments ago to be seen, he finds himself smiling back with that soft thrum.