The rescue mission, stabbings and excess stims aside, had gone smooth as silk. We recovered the entirety of the crew and the passengers from the luxury cruiser, and we even managed to get the cruiser back. Intact, well, mostly. The pirates had gone through it like a rock star high on speed and booze after a three day bender at the producer's expense, and had made a mess inside. But the systems and all the important bits had been left untouched. To be honest, I was surprised when I saw how some of the crew took the state of the ship once they went in, it was almost as if they were more shocked than being kidnapped by a group of pirates. Nonetheless, we got everyone back home, Tela coordinated with the Hierarchy to come and pick the pirates, and Kasumi had a chat with the captain of the cruiser.
About the AI.
I didn't follow most of it, mostly because Kasumi wanted to keep it in the low down, but the look of shock on the poor asari's face was pure poetry. Still, the fact that the AI had managed to not only find help, but interfere with the operations of the scumbags who had kidnapped them, so that nobody was actually sold to slavers (they kept having "communication problems", fancy that), did help sell it. Wasn't sure what kind of deal they made, but the AI left with the cruiser. Then again, it had been aboard that ship for months and months with nobody noticing.
The rest of us headed off once the pirates were all in the hands of the Hierarchy. Well, Tela and I. Kasumi and Keiji stayed completely out of view, for some reason. What I didn't expect, however, was that as a result of our rescuing of the ship, the crew, and more than a few of the rather rich and well connected, we were rewarded handsomely by the company running the show. It was a very large asari conglomerate with ships and luxury resorts all over the galaxy, and we were offered a two week stay at one of their toppest of the top resorts, all expenses paid.
Talk about a fish out of water.
Kasumi squealed like a schoolgirl and started rattling a long list of things she was going to do during those two weeks, most of them involving indulgence to the highest degree. Tela topped it by making a quip about how she was looking forward to visiting that place again. Keiji didn't say much, other than agreeing with everything Kasumi was saying. Me? I didn't have a clue what to expect.
The resort was located in Nevos, which was, apparently, a famous tourist destination and a very hospitable garden planet. And I said apparently because, as usual, I had never heard of it. Kasumi laughed. Keiji couldn't believe I hadn't. Tela seemed almost insulted by it. Joyous. But on our arrival, a double-wide shuttle that would have put any Limo to shame back in my day took us to our destination. The resort was a sprawling construction across numerous islets close together, made with all the height, glass, and luxury only an asari could muster.
Funniest moment was when we made our way to the lobby. Of all four of us, I was probably the most underdressed, specially given the shield harness and gun on my side. The asari at reception gave us a look, lingering on me for a moment longer than the rest, but once we were introduced and she entered our details in the terminal, her face changed like night and day. Suddenly we were the most welcome guests the resort had ever seen.
Fake, sure, but it was nice.
And the rooms? Well, it wasn't exactly a room, we basically had our own ridiculous house taking one of the islets completely. And what a house it was. My room alone could have housed all of us and we'd have had trouble finding each other. We had a swimming pool inside, another one outside, about six hot tubs, there were two people taking care of the bar and the buffet at all times, it was... I can scarcely describe it. Merely calling it nice was an understatement. Calling that an understatement was an understatement. And as if by magic, an entire wardrobe of surprisingly well fitting clothes appeared in my room before I could blink twice.
It was ridiculous.
So, incredible food, breathtaking views, perfect beaches, and good company, two days later the four of us were at the spa, where we had taken about seven different baths in seven different things: fresh and salt water, mineral water, sulphurous volcanic water, mud from- you know what? It was ridiculous, let's just leave it at that. And after that, all four of us headed for a massage. And I was face down on a massage table, with nothing but a towel covering my ass, much like the rest of my group. Which had turned out to be more chill than I had expected. Tela and Kasumi had literally bonded over their love for the finer things in life, and just couldn't stop talking about all the wonderful, similar things they had partaken of in the past every time we had or did something nice.
Four asari came into the room, while we assumed the position.
And for some reason that made me chuckle and think of the movie Animal House.
"Hello, my name is Fean, I'll be your guide for the Eamale today," the asari introduced herself. She was wearing a tight fitting robe of some sort, but no sleeves, and was carrying a small basket with her with numerous bottles inside.
"Nice to meet you, but, the what?"
"It's his first time," Kasumi said, her voice a little muffled as she was face down on her massage bed already. "Be gentle."
"Oh?" the asari said. "I see, it is not a problem. The Eamale is the process of healing the body through melding and chirapsia, or as you humans more commonly would call it, a massage."
"Think of it as guided meditation, but for a massage," Keiji said. He, too, was already face down, and the asari in charge of him was pouring some oil over his back.
"I've never done that either, but okay," I replied.
There was a pause and Keiji spoke up again. "Friend, you need to get out more."
Given how the four of us laughed at that, I guessed the four of us were in agreement. I finally laid down properly with my face down the pillowed end of the massage table, and the asari started to pour some oil on my back. It was quite warm, and it smelled very flowery. Before long, the entire room was filled with that smell, which made me almost dizzy. She started rubbing it all over my skin, with long and smooth moves.
"Please relax, I will begin the meld now," Fean said.
And just like that, the meld started. It was weird. I had literally only done it once with Tela, and all she wanted out of that was to have a private conversation with me. I pushed that thought aside, and a moment later Fean's thoughts started to come through, clean and neat.
Oh, I thought your friend meant this was your first time with the Eamale. Is this your first time melding as well?
Err, well, I've done it once before, but all she wanted was to have a conversation in private, so... I guess?
Ah do not worry, I will guide you through it. This is a sensory meld, we can share thoughts with each other as if we were speaking, but we do not share any other thoughts or memories. You can be at easy. It is common for thoughts to wander during the Eamale, rest assured that these will remain private with you.
Right. Thanks.
As far as our senses go, the deep sensory meld allows us to share physical sensations. This way I am able to work with your body in the best possible way.
... 'kay. I don't really get it but I guess I'll learn by doing.
I felt her chuckle lightly, actually felt it through the meld, and she started running her hands over my back, then my arms, then my legs, slowly and carefully exploring every muscle. She pressed her hands on the muscles, and ran her fingers along. It felt almost like she was making a catalog of my body to find all the spots.
Mister Roy, could I ask you a question?
Just Roy please. I love the pampering and all, but it's really a bit weird when everyone is so formal, I'm just a meat and potatoes guy.
Once again, I felt her chuckling through the meld.
How is it that you have never melded before? It is fairly common through the galaxy, were there no asari where you lived?
Huh. That's one way of putting it I guess.
Yeah, actually. Never saw an asari till I came to... Till I moved, about a year and a half ago or so.
That would explain it. You see, it is not just common, but... To put it this way, we see melding as a gift. We grow with it, so we don't appreciate it as much as when we meld with someone who has never done it before. The sense of wonder and discovery, and sharing it, is quite satisfying for us. Introducing others to something wonderful. I was surprised that nobody had shared a meld with you before.
To be honest, I didn't think much of it. I mean, no offense, but it sounded like it was just like the asari way of getting their freak on.
At this she laughed out loud, and stopped massaging me for a moment to get the laughter under control.
No offense taken, that is sadly still a common misconception. There is much more to it. I hope I am showing you differently.
I guess so, heh. So you're enjoying this too?
I am. It is enjoyable to share a new experience with you.
She ran her hands over my back again, and started pressing harder on the muscles. I held back a grunt as she dug, then she stopped.
You need to relax, Roy. Exhale as I press. You can feel my movements as I make them, can you not?
I can, yeah.
Just relax and exhale.
I did as she said, and carefully let air out as the back of her hand dug into my spine. She did it a couple more times, along my back, then she stopped again.
Is this bothering you? We can try a different approach if you prefer.
No, I mean, why?
You are not relaxing. Let me try, if it is unpleasant we can do a different way. Relax completely.
I took a deep breath, and as I finished, she started pressing on my back again. I willed myself to relax as she did, and a low sound between a grunt and a moan escaped my throat. She kept pressing until pretty much all the air left my lungs, then she relaxed, rubbing my back as I inhaled again.
Was that better? Is something still bothering you?
Just... It's a bit embarrassing to be making noises like that.
She chuckled and I felt the meld pull back slightly, as I regained my senses completely.
"Listen," she whispered.
For a moment, nothing. Then a low moan came from my left, where Tela was having her massage. Similar noises soon followed from the right. Kasumi, and Keiji. And Kasumi was being the loudest of the three. Fean pressed with her fingers on my back twice, like a signal, and the meld started again.
That's perfectly normal. So, if that is your only objection, maybe relax and enjoy.
Yes ma'am.
She chuckled lightly and resumed her work, while I regularly let an ooh or an aah, a hmm and a urgh, escape me. As she worked, I could feel every move she made as she felt it, and she felt how I felt the results, so it was like knowing how to explore my body and know exactly how to work it as it needed. It was weird, but once I finally relaxed it was phenomenal. Until she started to dig in my ribs and I let out a genuine yelp of pain. She stopped instantly, but kept the meld.
I'm sorry, what was that? Are you injured?
Ow, damn, sorry. Yeah. I got stabbed on the side during the op. It cut through one of my ribs.
Oh. I didn't know, my apologies. Was it treated?
Yeah, bone weave and all, doctor said I was fine but would hurt for a while.
Could you share that memory? I would like to see exactly what the injury and treatment were.
Sure?
I thought about it, while at the same time I felt the meld between us deepen. I was suddenly aware of the threads of thoughts coming from Fean, close but indistinct and unfocused. I knew it was the same for me, so I tried to remember the chat with the turian doctor, and before I knew it I was literally reliving it with Fean. For a moment I got almost freaked out by how clear it was, and Fean pulled back immediately, sharing her thoughts so I could understand how memories were a lot clearer when shared through a meld. Wow. I would have never imagined. After the initial surprise we tried again, and we relived the memory together. Boneweave. Puncture of the thoracic cavity but no damage to the lung. Drained some fluid, patched up the cavity wall, boneweave for the rib, and a soluble restrain with the adjacent ribs so the patch would stay in place. The restraint would dissolve in two days. That was four days ago.
The meld receded, and soon we were back to the sensory meld only.
Wow.
As I said, it is like showing a whole new world to someone. But thank you. Given what I saw, your wound is probably healed, your pain is lingering phantom pain. I can help with that.
You can?
Of course. I am quite adept at the Eamale. It might hurt a little bit, we can stop at any time.
I thought about it for a moment, but decided it was worth the attempt. It was bothering me. At least I didn't have to do any vigorous exercise, but I'd get occasional jolts of pain if I twisted the wrong way.
All right, let's try. Thanks.
I felt her smile as if it was my own, and she turned me to the side, with my wounded side up. Then, she started working on the side itself. Deep breaths. Arm over my head, pulling slightly, moving it as my ribcage stretched. I felt exactly the moment she was about to do something that might hurt, but tried my best to keep relaxed. After a particularly ambitious pull that made a sharp pain shot up my side all the way to my shoulder, I realized something.
Wait, this is hurting you?!
We are sharing a deep sensory meld. The pain is attenuated for both of us. Do not worry.
What do you mean do not worry? Are you nuts?
She placed her warm hand directly on the spot where the wound had been, sharing the sensation between the two of us. After a moment, the pain subsided.
See? It is already better.
... I don't think I could do this job.
She chuckled again and continued, and after a while, the pain was almost completely gone. Amazing. She turned me around, laying on my back, and continued the massage until I was about ready to melt down and just become one with the massage table. She had said the mind sometimes wander when doing this, but after all the work she did on me, I was just in a complete and utter blank state of mind. All I could feel was... awesome.
"Roy? How are you doing down there?" Kasumi called.
I opened my eyes to see her looking down at me on the top of my field of vision. Fean was standing on my right, wiping her hands with a towel and smiling.
"I don't think I can move," I muttered.
Kasumi cackled in laughter, putting a hand over her mouth, while Keiji added to the commentary from somewhere behind me. "Nothing like the first time," he said, chuckling.
Honestly? This wasn't sex, but was freaking amazing.
"Well, we only have an hour, so you better think about moving your cute butt and getting ready," Kasumi said.
"An hour? An hour for what?"
"New Year?" Kasumi said. She looked at me and an expression of surprise and confusion ran over her face. "You do know it's New Year today, right?" She looked at Fean. "What did you do to him?"
Fean just laughed and shook her head, picking up her basket and, after waving at me, left the room with the others.
"Well, Standard Galactic New Year is in an hour, and I don't want to miss the party, so let's go," Kasumi said.
"Sigh, yes ma'am."
"Good boy."
I laughed and, after a supreme effort of will, decided to abandon my state of complete bliss and stand up. I actually had to take a moment or two to let my body remember it's supposed to be able to move on its own and, towel around my waist, headed for the changing room. I had a hell of a wardrobe to choose from, and no sense of fashion, so after asking Kasumi for some help, I ended up with a standard tuxedo, three piece with the vest in a deep V that showed only one button above the end of the jacket. It fit pretty well, although not as perfectly as the tailored suit I had gotten when I had that meeting with Tela back in the day. I'd have loved to wear that one, but funny that, I didn't think of bringing it with me to a combat op somewhere in wild space.
Really, what was I thinking.
So it was New Year celebrations. Asking questions, I gathered that most planets had two celebrations. One at the exact midnight standard time by the galactic standard, which could literally be any time during the day of the myriad of places across the entire galaxy. Another at whatever arbitrary date that particular colony chose to signify rotations around their systems' stars, mostly out of tradition. In most cases it was done during the shortest day of the year. Other times, a day was picked if the period was close to the galactic standard, so as to make one very long day of celebrating like crazy. It varied from place to place. The primary planets, such as Thessia, Earth, or Palaven, followed their ancient calendars.
In this case, the New Year was falling right after sunset. We moved to one of the larger areas where people had already gathered, and a very posh cocktail party had started. Lots of drinks, a buffet of the rarest and most expensive delicacies in the galaxy, asari music, which sounded weird to human ears due to the similar but slightly shifted way they understood musical notes, and a lot of laughter and loud conversation. Pretty cool.
Except I was still a fish out of water. Going through the food was fine enough, then a bit of chit chat, and ten minutes to go Keiji and Kasumi had already found a quiet corner and some incredibly attractive redhead woman to flirt with, Tela was in what seemed to be a rather interesting discussion with a turian gentleman in what I was told was a very rich and formal military tunic, and I was left a bit like a fish out of water.
"Hi!" a very chirp voice called from behind, and a hand rested lightly on my arm. I turned to see an asari I didn't know. Short, barely over five feet. Dark and almost violet skin with wavy facial paint following her headcrest and coming down to her eyes. Upper lip painted on a dark, almost black blue. And a dress that hugged her slim but curvaceous figure like it was her second skin.
"Hello," I replied, very smooth as usual.
"I'm Leeka," she said, smiling.
"Roy, nice to meet you,"
"Nice to meet you too! Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."
"New? I guess, got here a couple of days ago."
"Aha! So it is your first time on Nevos! I knew it, I come here almost every year. How are you liking it? Isn't it great?"
"It's quite something," I replied. "Honestly I'm so out of my depth I might need a buoy and an oxygen tank."
She laughed at that, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Yeah, it's really amazing. The only reason I come so often is that my friend works here, so I can get the friends and family rates. If I had to pay full price every time, I probably wouldn't come as often."
"Yeah, trust me, if I hadn't been invited I wouldn't have even thought of it. I didn't even know this place existed."
"Really? It's quite famous! Wait, if you don't know..." she looked around, made a sort of ah-hah! noise, and looked at me. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere."
As she walked away, I looked at her go while the machinery upstairs tried to work out what the hell was going on. The machinery downstairs didn't much care, but I was confused. Who gets a random cute as hell asari to jump at them, start making conversation, and look like she was enjoying it too?
"Roy, if you screw this up I'll never speak to you again," Kasumi's voice suddenly came from behind, making me jump in place.
"Fucking hell Ka- What the hell?" I said, quickly turning around and pretending she wasn't there. "You brought your stealth net?"
"Never leave without it," she said. "And you look like you're about to run away. You're not, are you?"
I looked behind, catching the slight distortion of the silhouette where Kasumi was, and made a shrug which I hoped conveyed the confusion I was feeling.
"If you can't tell I'll give you a clue. It's the New Year, she's probably here with no pair, and she doesn't want to spend the night alone. I'm sure that after tomorrow you'll never see her again. So go for it. Well, here she comes, don't disappoint me!"
She poked me on the back and scampered off, breaking stealth behind a large potted plant before waving at me and going back to Keiji and the redhead, who had found a quiet spot away from most of the noise. There were a lot of those nooks and crannies with tables, I noticed. I caught Tela in another one of those with the turian, and their conversation seemed much more relaxed. And close.
"Here you go!" Leeka said, catching my attention again and offering me a glass of something bubbly. "Try it, it's Allabea!" When I didn't even blink at that, she giggled and explained. "It's a kelpberry wine that you can only find here. There is an export ban to keep it exclusive, unless you can pay the bribes of course. It's a little salty for humans they tell me, but it's quite delicious!"
I took the offered drink and looked at it. It was slightly green but mostly clear, with fine bubbles racing up the liquid and making little crowns on the surface. Never take a drink from strangers, I thought, but then again, this didn't seem like the place where odd chemicals would end up in people's glasses and you'd wake up in a bathtub full of ice with a kidney missing. Or was it? Kasumi might have known what I was thinking, because she made eye contact with me and gave me a thumbs up. Or maybe she was watching me. Nosy gal.
"All right, let's see," I said. I gave it a sniff and a sip, and yeah, the salt immediately hit me. But there was more to it. Alcohol was barely noticeable. "Hm, wow, nice. Yeah it's a bit salty, but it comes through a bit sweet. Lemony even."
"Yeah, isn't that great?" she said, and sipped hers. "I love it, but I have to be careful or it goes to my head. So are you on your own here? Friends?"
"I'm here with a few friends, yeah, and you? Well, your friend works here, but..."
"Yeah, it's only her this year," she looked behind and made eye contact with someone, and I realized it was a group of asari that included Fean. I thought I recognized one of the others, too. They saw us, and all of them waved at us, or raised their glasses. Leeka raised her glass, so I did the same.
"If I'm honest, I saw you across the room, and I said you were cute and my friend noticed," Leeka said. "And then one of her friends said you didn't have someone with you, but didn't know if you were single but that I should totally make a move. So!" she visibly shook herself and looked up at me. "You're cute, and I don't want to spend New Year alone."
"That's... forward,"
"Well," she pointed at the giant projection, where the countdown was under a minute now, "don't have time to flirt, and I'm so bad at it. Like, really bad. Like I'm going to be sitting there wondering what to do next, and oh my god is he looking at someone else, and I'll ask you like about your mom or something, then make a joke that I thought was funny but totally insulted you, and ruin the mood."
As she spoke I just couldn't help the smile and subsequent laughter that came to me, which only seemed to encourage her more as she continued to explain all the stupid things she would do to completely ruin any possibility of flirting while failing completely to notice. I was about to tell her that she was doing fine, when all around us voices erupted loudly to count down towards the new year. Ten. Nine. I looked at Leeka and smiled. Eight. Seven. She put her arms around me. Six. Five. I did the same. Four. Three. I leaned closer. Two. One. She stood on her tip toes. And on zero, as everyone cheered, all around us people and aliens did as we were doing, and I welcomed 2185 kissing a cute, petite asari while being nearly two hundred years and who knows how many light years away from home.
And later? Well, let's just say that, if sensory melding while having a massage had felt like a million bucks, an even deeper sensory meld while having sex with a cute asari who was loving every second of melding with someone who had never done it with an asari that way was literally mind-blowing. And goodness, but gene mods for stamina really do give you stamina.
So here's to a happy 2185. Damn but I had a good start of it.
Entry 87:
As we turn the New Year, the deadline I had given myself to complete the project has finally arrived. The Illusive Man believes the Collectors have started moving against humanity, and we need Shepard to defeat them. Of course, it is not about the Collectors. Shepard is a symbol, one we can rally humanity behind. The reaper threat is too great not to use every tool at our disposal.
I hope we have done enough. We have to move towards activation. It will take weeks before she's ready, but I will make sure she succeeds. I have already begun selecting the crew for the SR2. It will only have a few former members of the SR1, as the majority of them are either civilians now, or unwilling to enlist on the same kind of mission now, but that might be for the better. If we want her to go along with us, we might have to keep her isolated. Or a few friendly faces might help. We shall see.
Miranda Lawson signing off.
Author's Notes: Happy New Year dear readers! Here's a very light intermission as shit is about to become real. Well, not quite yet, but we're close. And hey, I figured it's been hard for poor Roy, so why not give him a break? It sure as hell is well earned. After all, he's been helping the galaxy so much, it's about time the galaxy gave a little back. Although I'm not sure how it's going to go down, basically Roy's been floundering in love, so to speak, but suddenly a cute petite asari comes out of nowhere and claims the first successful raid? Boo! Well, it's a one-time thing, even if that one time was good!
And when I figured that Tela and Kasumi would both totally be into the same kind of stuff, well, why not let her bond over it? I could've gone into more detail and try to write the banter to give them a bit of chemistry, but some things are best left unsaid. After all, who here would recognize the most luxurious and rare items in the galaxy? Not Roy, that's for sure, it'd all sound Greek to him haha!
So, before the year ends, if you'd like to give me a bit of support, I'd appreciate it greatly!
tinyurl (period) com (slash) y2q9cop6
(Still think FFnet sucks at hyperlinks).
Reviews time! I didn't give you a lot of time for reviews with the last chapter, so let's check out what came through haha!
hjcallipygian: Yeah, characters tend to end up with the worst assumptions, but given how things are going, can you really blame them? :D
RIOSHO: Yup! They should end up as a competent team I think, if nothing else because they did get the Garrus Seal of Approval in-canon, so they can't be useless. They just need to get their heads in the game.
Uemei: Por que no los dos? ;) And yeah, I love adding references in my fics, some more subtle than others. I look forward to poor Shala tearing her metaphorical hair with the Citadel sewers in your fic haha!
BJ Hanssen: Funny note, I did not know that about the team names. I actually didn't check the dossiers too thoroughly! But yeah, personality and characterization was done fairly well in M2M.
RegiDelta, The Silent Insomniac, SpecterXCove, Tom712, AJAX087, thanks for the support!
Next time, on My Effect: Convergence! New Year, new conflict. Find out what Archangel is up to and why, and I have no idea what else because it's the New Year and I've banged this out fast. Until then, thanks for reading!