Shepard Stories II - Chapter 25: The Pet Store
Main Characters: Annabelle, Mike and Shepard
Armali, Thessia.
It was midmorning on the Armali community strip and Mike was stocking the shelf at the local pet store when a beauty caught his eye. He watched her glide by the window then enter the store. He blinked several times when he saw who she was with.Holy shit, it's Commander Shepard! His eyes flashed… I thought she looked familiar on the news. She's The Spitfire from the Armax Arena! He looked at the two baby pups. Oh, those two varren are new.He looked her over quickly. She was wearing hip-hugging designer jeans with designs down the sides of the legs, a v-neck shirt that showed her taut midsection and a pair of athletic shoes.Wow, she's gorgeous.
He walked over to them. "Hi, good morning, can I help you with something?"
"Good morning, yes, point me in the direction of the vet." Said Shepard
"I'll do even better; I'll walk you back there." He pointed at the new baby varren "Those two varren are new." said Mike
"Great. Thanks… Huh? Yes, they're new…" Shepard said with a furrowed brow.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I sold your wife the little black one, but I know we didn't have these two here." He glanced at Riley and said, "Riley." She smiled at the fact that he remembered then nodded. He looked at Anna then said, "Anna…"
She furrowed her forehead and just looked at him for a moment then said, "I'm sorry… should I know you?"
He smiled quickly and pointed to himself, "Mike…" he smiled broadly then it faded when she just looked at him.
Anna looked at him then over at her sister in confusion then back to him, "I'm sorry, I still don't know who you are."
"Ooooh, Ummm…." He began to say something then Riley giggled softly and interrupted him "Anna, this is Mike he tried to pick up mom a few weeks ago."
Shepard arched his brow at him, then said, "Oh, really?"
Riley laughed when Mike turned a shade of red "I'm sorry Mike I didn't mean to embarrass you, but it was comical. Mom let him down nice and easy."
Anna smirked "Ok… I'm not trying to sound rude here but why are you talking to me like I should know you? Am I missing something… should I?"
He took a breath and scratched the back of his neck then said, "It's Mike…. Mike Higgins…"
Anna just looked at him with a blank stare. "I'm so sorry. I still don't know who you are." She shook her head. "It's not like I go to a public school, and I attend an all asari school. You're not on my Skyball team, Pildalvi or Armax team because again all asari crew. Have we played against each other?"
Shepard grimaced "Ok… ummm… well, I'm going to head back to wherever the vet is. Which is somewhere in this building…" he said then just looked at Mike for a response.
Riley smiled "Come on, Dad, I know where it is. I'll show you." Shepard looked back at his other daughter as she said, "I'll be there in a minute."
Mike pointed to himself again "Yea yea… I'm "The Hammer" from the Armax Arena… you kicked my teams' ass a few months ago repeatedly. I'm number five on the board."
"Oooooh… no shit?" she said as she laughed. "Sorry. Yes, we've talked before. Well, we've talked shit on the field, but you always have your helmet on during that time. I've never seen your face up close until now." She looked him over. He was six-foot, short light brown hair, hazel eyes, light skin complexion, muscular build but not bulky and very easy on the eyes. "Now that I really look at you. Yea, I might have seen you here and there at the arena."
He smiled then thumbed his thumb over at her sister. "Your sister is nice, but the other one I met was a bit standoffish."
She looked back toward her sister Riley that was now walking away and said, "Ry? Yea she is." Then she laughed, "You must be referring to Gwyn when you say standoffish. She's a bit of a recluse. Gwyn has a very small circle of friends, and she's very comfortable with that, but once you get to know her, she's talkative."
"How's your other sister doing?" he asked
She pinched her lips to the side, then said, "Bene?" then let out a breath. "She's…." She cleared her throat, "… doing alright, I guess. My mom's been helping her cope with the trauma. With school coming up soon, I don't even know if she'll be participating in the Armax Arena League this year. I don't know what I'll do without my sister, she's my right-hand partner. Well… actually, I take that back there is someone else I can play with, but she's not registered on Thessia or Armali."
"I'm sorry that your family went through that trauma. I hope she gets back to her normal self. I can see that you're upset about what's going on with her." He said
"Well… she's my younger sister and one of my best friends. I worry about her like any sister would."
"Yea… So, who's this other person you're referring to?" he asked
She laughed "Hey, I don't even know you… not really. Here I am spilling my guts all over. I'm not going to tell you any more insight."
He rose both hands in defense as she laughed at him "Hey, one T'Soni-Shepard out of play gives us non-badasses a shot at making it in the top ten. I mean, your sister IS "Boomslang", right? She's number two on the board."
Anna nodded as she smiled "Yes, she is Boomslang." She arched a brow as she smirked "Well Mike, we may be one T'Soni out of play, but not a Shepard and I can guarantee you that she's a badass because she's a T'—" She paused and rubbed the side of her neck "Ummm nevermind."
Mike pinched his brows, "She's another relative huh?"
Anna nodded then said "Did you really ask my mom out on a date?"
He turned a light shade of red "Gawd… Yes, I did. I honestly didn't know who she was, and she was very nice in letting me down. I'm sure she gets idiots like me asking her out all the time."
"If she's without my dad then yes she does. My mother can turn heads."
He ran his hands over his face "I felt so stupid afterward. It's hard enough to ask out a female; it's even worse in front of several other women." He took a breath, "How's your dad? He and your sister got beat up pretty bad huh?" He touched the side of his head like the wounds were his own. "That was a huge gaping claw mark when I saw it on tv." He said
She turned her head to the last section she saw her dad at then looked back at Mike "Yea it was but he's solid. My mom was overly worried about him when she saw him, but you would have to know how she is with him to truly understand. I mean, so were we but my auntie Miri reassured us that his wounds were nothing that he hadn't endured before. His wounds healed up fairly quickly, and so did my sisters now that I think about it. You can see his scars a little bit now that his hair is short, but once his hair grows out, they won't be noticeable."
He nodded, "I'm curious… what happened on the mountain when your mom blazed in an aura? If you don't mind me asking."
Anna rubbed the side of her neck, then squinted slightly as she said, "What have you heard?"
"Well, we all know that asari set off their aura's when they're fighting. So, she was angry about something because it wasn't a light to full aura, it was instant. I know she was one of the main people in the Reaper War, and I know she can fight, and she's not just some nerdy asari. The rumor is she either tried to kill someone or did, and several people tried to stop her. A lot of disbelief about it though because of her stature on Armali. Some of us humans think she's really a mob boss."
Anna rumbled in laughter, "Wow! A mob boss, huh?" she laughed harder then gave a quick side nod "Hmmm…. I could totally see it..."She stopped laughing then really thought about it for a moment, "hmmm…yea…"
Mike looked at her and waited for an actual answer, "You gave me nothing…"
"Huh? Oh. Well, Mike, I can tell you… but… then I'd have to kill you." She said then smiled at him.
His mouth dropped open, then he laughed, "Oh, I see what you did there." Mike looked over at the asari watching him from a distance then back at Anna. "Who's that other asari you came in here with? I know it's not your mom."
Anna looked over at Kirre then back at him "Kirre? That's my dad's assigned commando protector. She goes pretty much everywhere with him, and my mom has one as well. When we go on vacation, we all get one pretty much."
Mike smiled broadly, "See what I mean… mob boss. Your mom just snaps her fingers and shit just happens."
Anna laughed, then turned her head when she heard her name being called. She looked over at her sister waving her over. "It was nice talking to you, Mike, but I have to go."
"Yea yea. I'm sorry for keeping you."
"No worries." She said as she turned to leave.
"Hey Anna?" he said
She turned and said, "Yea?"
"You're pretty cool. Would you mind if we talked more?" he asked
She slightly jerked her head back as she furrowed her forehead "Are you asking for my contact info?"
He tapped the side of his jeans with his finger "Well… yea if you want to give it to me."
She tapped on her omni tool, then extended her arm, "Sure."
He smiled at her as he tapped on his omni tool then touched it to hers. "Thanks." He watched her walk away to meet up with her sister.
Message from Mike H: Anna?
Message to Mike H: Yes, Mike?
Message from Mike H: Just checking to make sure you didn't give me bogus contact info.
He looked up when he heard her laughing then smiled.
-/
Anna walked swiftly over to her sister "Hey, what's up?"
"Were you talking to him the whole time?" said Riley
"Yes, I was. He's actually a player at the Armax Arena. Our teams have battled numerous times, and I've talked to him several times, but he's always had his helmet on. I never knew who he actually was until today. He's nice."
Riley smiled. "Mmhmm"
"What?" said Anna
"Mom said absolutely not when auntie Miri said something about him and you."
She laughed "Of course she did. Let me guess. I'm too young. Even though Madilyn is two years younger than me and she's already dating."
"Yep, but Madi is a human, it's different. Besides, dad was mumbling the whole time in the vet's office. He was like can we hurry this up? Then said Riley where's your sister it's been waaaay beyond a minute. Finally, he told me to come get you and well… here I am."
"Mumbling about what?" asked Anna
"You talking to that guy." Replied Riley
Anna laughed. "Oh, really?"
Anna saw her dad walking out of the vet with an unconscious white pup and a scared grey one. "Anna! Riley! get over here."
"Yes, sir." They said as they both ran over to him.
(Jon…)
(Liara, I just want to talk to him. That's all!)
(No, you don't. I heard you.)
He looked at his eldest daughter and said: "Anna, I'm going to ask you one simple question."
"What's that?" said Anna
"Did you give him your contact info?"
"Umm yea. Why?"
"K…" He handed them both a varren and walked away, "Stay here."
(Jon…)
(Liara, will you just be quiet for a moment!)
(Sorry…)
He walked down the middle of the store and scanned every aisle until he found him talking to another employee then stalked over to him "Excuse me?"
"Yes, sir. How can—" He turned and came face to face with a highly irritated father.
Shepard looked at his name tag, "I'm going to ask you a simple question, Mike, and I want you to answer truthfully."
"Yes, sir."
"What are your intentions with my daughter?" he said sternly then raised a brow
"Ummm, Sir? Ummm…"
"Spit it out, damn it!" he snapped as he glared at him. Then he saw him swallow hard and watched the other young man back away.
"Ummm we're just talking. Sir."
Shepard pointed his finger at him and anger spewed from his lips, "You better keep it that way. You even think about fucking my daughter, and I'll break your dick off and shove it up your ass! When I'm done cramming your own dick in your ass, then I'll fucking kill you. You hear me?" Shepard smiled internally when he watched the young man's color fade from his body.
(JON!)
(Liara, I know what's it's like to be his age. Sex is all we think about, and we jerk it off every moment we get. Hell, we'll fuck a hole in a bed if we have to. I can guarantee you he will attempt to get in her pants.)
(He better not!)
(Exactly. When is the asari normal age for this?)
(Around the time higher learning begins thirtyish, and she's twenty-two. I wonder if Mili has already ventured down that road. They cover some of it during basic education, but higher learning mainly covers all the info for sexual education.)
Mike cringed at the thought, then said: "Ye... yes sir. So, are you saying I can't date her?"
He grit his teeth at his response then said "You think I'm kidding? Try me, buddy. I'm a Spectre. I don't need a reason. You want to be friends with her, fine. The moment you start thinking with your dick is the moment I cut it the fuck off. Got it?"
"DAD! Seriously? How embarrassing!" Shrieked Anna
Mike blinked several times then said, "Ya, I hear you."
"Mike, I'm sorry. He just messing with you." She said as she pulled on her dad to leave.
"No, I'm not!" Shepard said, then pointed two fingers at his eyes then at Mike then back at himself as he walked backwards toward the door.
Mike stood there for a moment as his friend bumped his side and urged him to just ask her out. He took a deep breath then said "Anna, go out on a date with me."
Shepard's eyes widened as he said "WHAT!"
Anna smiled at his braveness as she nodded then pushed her dad toward the door "Will you just please go!"