Buried Beneath ch9: Drinking Games
Normandy, 2185, September 6th 6:13 AM
I wake up to the sound of footsteps above me, meaning Riley's at her desk. I should be used to this whole early morning thing by now. I miss waking up at noon.
Riley descends the stairs, noticing me, "Oh, you're awake."
"Sadly," I reply, sitting up and stretching. I wish I was still asleep.
"You should be used to it by now." She turns towards her closet. "And I've been informed that you still haven't submitted your mission report."
"Yeah, yeah." I wave a hand dismissively. "I don't know why we even have to write one."
She sighs and closes the closet, facing me. "Cerberus likes keeping records, we just have to play along."
I throw off my blanket and stand up. "I'll give Miranda my report. Not that it's any good anyway."
"You'll improve with practice." She starts heading for the stairs. "I'm going, I have some things to do before my debriefing at eight."
"You mean the mission you ever so rudely left me out of?" I feel a little offended that she chose Zaeed over me. But I get it, he knows more about the Blue Suns than I do.
Riley turns and rolls her eyes playfully. "Goodbye, Vex."
With that, she leaves the room, leaving me alone. Well, I guess I should hand this thing in. When I agreed to join, I didn't think we'd be stuck doing homework after missions.
Normandy, 2185, September 6th 6:31 AM
I pass by the mess hall, taking notice of the many crewmates having breakfast. I might even consider joining them. I recognise a few faces, like Kenneth and Gabby, who work in the engine room. Or maybe not since Chambers is also there.
I knock on Miranda's door, fully expecting her to be at her desk. And as predicted, she is. Does she ever take a break? The woman never stops.
She glances up. "Are you here to hand in your report?"
Ignoring her question, I remark, "How are you already working? It's like six-thirty."
She gives me a quizzical look. "I've been working for a while. Now, do you have it?"
"Yeah." I toss the datapad onto her desk. She's been on my ass about this fucking report for days now.
She stares at it for a moment before looking back up at me. "You need to complete the mission report and submit it-"
"Within one to two days. I know," I interrupt with a shrug. "Just be glad you got it at all."
Annoyance flickers across her face before she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's too early for this. I don't have the patience to deal with you right now." She reaches for the datapad. "Submit reports within a more reasonable time frame. You can go."
I feel a pang of guilt. She's been more tolerant of me lately, and I just blow up at her like that. It's not her fault, even if she annoyed me with constant reminders about that stupid report.
After what happened to Nulan, it's hard to be friends with someone, and yet that's what I feel Riley's becoming. Miranda can't be my friend. I could never trust her, especially when she's making us write reports that I don't doubt are going to her boss.
But even so, I want to get along with her. If Purgatory taught me anything, it's that we need to work together out there. Injury, death- it's all too real on these missions.
Taking a breath, I sink into a chair and stare at my hands. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be such a dick." Glancing up, I find her eyes fixed on me.
"Omitting the colourful language," she replies, a hint of amusement in her tone. "Your apology is accepted. Please try and not let it happen again."
I nod. "I'll try."
"Now." Her hands return to her keyboard. "If that was all, I'd like to get back to work."
"Right." I raise from my seat and retreat a few steps toward the door. "See you around, Miranda."
Normandy, 2185, September 6th 9:23 AM
"You're not touching anything, are you?" Joker attempts to crane his neck towards the co-pilot controls.
Turning in my seat, I face him. "I just sat down."
"I know," he admits. "But I can never be too careful with you."
I feign offence, placing a hand over my heart. "Why, I'm hurt, Joker." A smile plays on my lips, "Besides, you already have a co-pilot."
"Urgh." He groans and slumps back in his chair. "Don't remind me."
"I'm sorry if my presence upsets you, Mr Moreau." EDI chimes in from across the room. "I'm only here to assist."
"See what I mean?" Joker gestures vaguely towards EDI.
It seems he dislikes EDI more than me. Can't blame him, since he has to spend every day with her. She's only tattled on me a few times.
Before I can reply, I hear footsteps approaching from behind. Turning my chair, I see Riley on the bridge, a smirk on her face as she glances at me. Something tells me I won't like this.
"Hey Riles, whatcha up to?" I greet her, trying to hide my uncertainty.
"I thought I'd just check up on Joker before going through this." She holds up a datapad. "But then I noticed you were also here."
"I do tend to go places," I reply coyly.
Ignoring my comment, she adds, "And did you hand in your report?"
I roll my eyes. "Yes, mum."
She gives me a stern look. "Go help in the kitchen today."
What? What did I do to deserve this? "Why? What did I do? Was it the report?"
She holds up a hand to stop me. "I'm giving you something to do. You don't do much."
I scoff at that. "I do a lot of things."
"Okay." She raises an eyebrow. "Like what?"
Well, fuck.
I give her an apologetic grin and quickly stand up. "The kitchen, was it?"
Joker snickers beside me, I shoot him a glare before offering Riley a mock salute and heading down the bridge. Both of them start laughing behind me.
Normandy, 2185, September 7th 4:34 AM
I groan as I sit up, rubbing my eyes before glancing at my omni-tool. Nope, I'm going back to sleep. I lay back down, pulling the covers up more.
"Did I wake you?" Riley's voice floats from somewhere in the room.
I roll onto my side, sinking into my pillow. "I'm starting to see a pattern here, Riles."
"You're getting up in a few hours anyway," she points out, her footsteps echoing up the stairs.
"That doesn't sound like me." I snuggle into the pillow. I don't want a repeat of yesterday. Cleaning dishes sucked.
Riley's voice appears from the office above me. "You know what? You can have the day off."
Wait, what? "Are you serious?"
"You may as well enjoy a day off before you start your new position tomorrow." What?
"New position?" I get out of bed and head for the stairs. I feel like this is something we should have discussed.
She swivels in her desk chair to face me. "I've been talking with Jacob, and he requested extra help in the armoury. We both think you'd be a great fit."
"Me?" Why would they want that? "You want me to work with Jacob?"
"More like for Jacob," she clarifies with a shrug.
I'm not sure if I have a choice. I don't think Jacob is a bad guy, but he's Cerberus. At least how things are now, I only answer to Riley with the occasional Miranda appeasing. In the armoury, however, he would be my boss.
Even so. "I'll do it."
Riley offers a smile. "You didn't have a choice." She stands and pats my shoulder. "You'll be fine. But speaking of the armoury, I should be there. I'm about to leave on a mission."
I roll my eyes. "Have fun getting us a krogan."
"Will do." She grins before heading towards the door. "And remember, stay away from Mordin and Miranda today. They're busy with important work."
Didn't even cross my mind. "Got it."
She leaves the room and I immediately descend the stairs. I'm going to sleep in, just like old times.
Normandy, 2185, September 7th 12:03 PM
I've been up for the last half-hour, having slept in way longer than I should have. After a quick bite to eat, I find myself heading down the stairs to where Jack has made herself at home. She's lying down on her bed. A pile of datapads shoved into the corner. She's been reading a lot these last few days.
"Hey, Jack," I announce, watching her sit up quickly. "You want to do something fun?"
She regards me for a moment. "Like what?" she asks, sounding unsure.
"There's a stocked bar in the port observation deck." I nod my head towards the stairs. "We can go get drunk or something."
She shrugs and hops off the bed. "Sure, why not?"
Is she actually agreeing to come? I wasn't expecting that. I thought she would turn me down and I'd just go drink alone.
"Great." I smile ay her. "Let's get going."
Jack follows me up the stairs and into the elevator. After reaching the crew deck, we quickly make our way to the port observation deck. I've always liked it here, you can see the stars gliding past through the window. Plus, the bar is usually pretty stocked up.
We approach the bar as Jack takes in her surroundings, nodding in approval. "It'll do."
With a grin, I head behind the bar. "Okay, what do you want?"
Normandy, 2185, September 7th 1:18 PM
We eventually find ourselves on the couch, each of us holding a bottle. I have no idea where Kasumi is since she usually hangs around here. There's even some of her stuff in the corner.
Jack gestures at my clothes. "You grew up in a rich family and dress like that to rebel?"
I raise an eyebrow. I know we're just playing a game, but what's wrong with my clothes? "Nope," I reply, slightly offended. "Family was poor as fuck. Drink."
She takes a sip, still eyeing me. "I could have sworn you grew up with a silver spoon."
I wish. "You've had sex with women."
Jack smirks, taking another sip. "That's an easy one. You're an assassin, so you've probably killed over one hundred people."
"Hitman," I correct. I swear no one will ever get that right. "And more like two hundred, but you're still right." I take a big gulp, feeling the burn as it goes down.
Jack leans back. "Of course I'm right."
I lower the bottle, rolling my eyes. "The shaven head. Is it a fashion thing or were you in a cult or something?"
"Fuck." She brings the drink to her lips.
"Really?" That's surprising. "Which part?"
"I almost forgot about that shitty cult." She meets my gaze. "I think you're only here for the credits." Damn, she's really bad at this.
"I see why you'd think that." I gesture to her bottle. "But drink."
"Shit, you're being serious?" At my nod, she downs another sip.
"I don't care about the credits, I don't need them." I haven't even thought about it since Miranda told me about it. "You like me."
"No," she replies flatly, her honesty stinging a bit. "Your turn to drink."
"Ouch." I feign being hurt before taking another sip.
Normandy, 2185, September 7th 2:49 PM
I'm not sure how long we've been drinking, but I'm feeling pretty drunk. We've been sitting here, making up drinking games and asking stupid questions. Now though, it feels a little more serious.
"What kind of aliens have you fucked?" Jack asks, a smirk on her face.
Well, I wasn't expecting that. "A turian, some asari, and even a quarian once," I reply after thinking it through. Those are all I can remember, at least.
"Really? A quarian?" Jack seems surprised.
"Yeah, she was pretty nice." Too bad she got sick. "Easy one, ever murdered anyone?"
Jack scoffs. "Uh, no shit."
I smile and take a sip. "I said it was easy."
Jack seems to think for a second. "You said 'she', does that mean you're gay?"
"Yep." I pop the P. "What's your reason for hating Cerberus?"
"Besides the fact they're a bunch of assholes and the bitchy cheerleader?" Jack's expression turns sour before she shakes her head, dismissing the topic. "I'm going to pass."
"I get it." I shrug. "I don't like them either."
Her eyes narrow suspiciously. "Okay, if you aren't here for the credits. Why are you here?"
"I used to live on Omega, and it was getting pretty boring. So here I am." I mean, that's not the whole story. Sure, that was part of the reason, but there's more to it. I think I want to help Riley. Or maybe I'm seeking something more meaningful than the life I left behind.
"You and Shepard know each other, right?" Jack's question pulls me from my thoughts.
"What do you mean?" Where is she going with this?
"She treats you differently." Jack shrugs as if it's obvious.
She's right. I know Riley cuts me some slack when she wouldn't with someone else. She lets me sleep on her couch when she really shouldn't. I don't know exactly why though.
"I see your point." I set my drink down and lean back, feeling the alcohol's effects.
"Anyway." Jack stands up abruptly, changing the subject. "We should do this again sometime."
"Yeah," I agree with a smile. "I'd like that."
Jack nods and heads for the door. "Good luck cleaning up."
As she leaves, I look around the room. Empty bottles litter the table, bar, and floor around the couch. It's going to take a while to clean this up.
Fuck.
Normandy, 2185, September 7th 8:19 PM
I wake up to the sound of the door opening. My head, I'm going to die. Note to self: never drinking again. Groaning, I roll onto my back, feeling like death warmed over.
"You're already in bed?" Riley's voice comes from the top of the stairs.
"I was sleeping," I mumble, squinting to see her coming down the stairs. "I have a massive headache."
"How much did you drink?" She pauses in front of the couch.
"I lost count." I massage my temples. "I spent time with Jack and then had to clean by myself." I will have my revenge on that one. "How did the mission go anyway?" It's getting hard to focus.
She shrugs nonchalantly. "We have a krogan in a tank."
"A krogan in a tank?" I repeat, confusion furrowing my brow. "Wasn't it supposed to be some guy named Okeer?"
"He's dead," Riley replies all matter-of-fact. "Now we have a krogan in a tank."
"Well." I wince at the pain. "That's something I have to see. What are we doing with it?"
"EDI is looking over it." Riley heads to her closet. "I'll see what she says and go from there."
"Okay, cool." I close my eyes. That feels much better.
Riley chuckles softly. "Get some sleep. Goodnight, Vex."
Thank you for reading.