Antediluvixen — Roleplayer Guild

Girl's Night out PART DEUX

Starring:
Dex
Firuzeh
Serena
Tanya
Also some random French motherfucker and a married Turian sleazebag

From outside the bar and dance club, the evening arrived with a cool breeze sending the likes of Dex shivering. She wore a white cropped top, stylized with dark thick lines dipping low over her belly. A cowl of fabric of similar design to match her top wrapped snuggly atop her fringe sitting comfortably along her carapace. A little green pin in the shape similar to that of a fern was pinned to the right side of her head. Her shoulders were exposed fully, scars and the full mechanical components of her arm were visible. On their trip out she had a difficult time finding bottoms to match her outfit defaulted to a pair of black pants, but finished with a white belt.

The three of them entered through the lounge, where it was admittedly quieter but the thrumming dance music was rather loud regardless. Low lights, tables with small tealights of various colours, most of the tables were occupied while the bar was fairly busy as well. Dex led the way through the crowd gently pushing aside the odd person to get past them. The crowd was mostly human but the odd council race dotted the crowd. 

The dance floor was through some curtains at the west side of the bar, again providing some distance from the noise of the dance floor. Most of the patrons were dressed in various forms of casual to formal. No real distinction was being made.

“Let’s order some drinks and grab a table.”

Serena followed Tanya and Dex into the club, unconsciously pulling at the lower  edge of her tube top. The skirt fell below her knees, shimmering in an eye catching way as she walked.  It wasn’t that she didn’t like it, she did (not that she would admit that without being asked) she just felt...uncertain. She had never done this before, and wasn’t certain she deserved too. Rather than voicing her concerns, as they seemed to only mildly irritate Dex and Tanya, she simply followed them into the club, her eyes growing a bit wide at the sight.

This wasn’t the first time she had been in a club, but it was the first time she hadn’t been using it as a cover for her operations with the Alliance. She was actually taking in the sights this time. 

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll even have one drink of alcohol. That I’ll need the two of you to help me pick since I have no idea what is and isn’t good.” She held up a finger. “One. It will be low alcohol content. Got it?” She glared at her two companions, making sure they understood her.

”What was that, Serena? You’ll have one of each on the menu? Atta girl.” Tanya said, smacking Serena on the rump while walking a bit behind the others. She wore a knee-length cobalt blue dress, smooth and form fitting, barebacked and high necked as it fastened behind the nape of her neck. Instead of wearing heels she simply wore high black leather boots, laced in a similar shade to the dress. It was also one of the few times she wore make up, keeping it mostly minimalistic with very pale blue eye shadow and some foundation. Her hair, however, remained about as wild as it usually was. 

”Don’t you da-” Serena’s threatening tone was suddenly replaced with a loud yelp as Tanya smacked her butt. She immediately flushed red and glared at Tanya in what she hoped came across as dignified silence, rather mortified embarrassment.

”Fuck me, the music here is garbage. What is this, Excel 10?” Tanya griped, gesturing at a crescent-shaped booth with thick padded seats around a circular table that was being vacated by an asari dragging her human partner to the dance floor, to which the man looked none too enthusiastic about the prospect. ”Target acquired. You two secure the objective, and I’ll go get us our first rounds. Dismissed.” She said, shooing her friends off as she made her way to the bar, which was circular, not unlike Chora’s Den on the Citadel, and a bartender with a dreadlocked-top knot and a lumberjack of a beard was finishing up with another customer. Tanya shimmied up, credit chit in hand. 

”Hey. So I got a new girl who’s in need of letting loose in as few ounces as possible. What do the locals get shit faced on, usually? The girly fruity cocktails, I mean.” Tanya asked, leaning up against the well-polished hardwood counter. 

The bartender looked Tanya in the eye, impressively not taking in her figure. Probably wasn’t that hard of a thing; she was hardly the best looking girl in the joint, nor the one flashing the most tit. “Locals usually go for something called ‘blood of the blitz’, which is strawberry schnapps, grenadine, a bit of vodka, and a local spirit called Frostflower, which… I’d say kind of tastes similar to if rhubarb and kiwi had a bastard lovechild? They also like one called ‘serendipity’, which is Frostflower mixed with mango vodka and tropical punch. How’s that strike your fancy?” The man asked, his accent vaguely African, from what Tanya could remember. It was particularly striking as the man had bright blue eyes and other than a tanned complexion, looked somewhat Nordic. It was hard to find anyone from Earth who wasn’t a melting pot of ethnicities.

”Perfect. Two of each, and I’ll take three shots of whiskey, whatever you recommend. Also, I need something comparable for my turian friend, since I’d rather metaphorically kill them rather than literally pull it off.” she requested, taking a seat on a stool.

”Aye, aye Cap’n.” Serena threw a mock salute as Tanya walked off. She and Dex quickly secured the booth, sliding across from one another.

Dex took a seat, adjusted the cowl a little then went about scanning the crowd. She spoke to Serena while her eyes roamed, mostly out of curiosity and habit. “Low alcohol content means you’re not going to taste it.”

She made eye contact with a couple human men then spotted a salarian, the eye contact lasted a few seconds then they moved on. “You’ll loosen up before you know it, then actually have fun. Weird, I know.”

“Oh no, I won’t taste alcohol, whatever shall I do with my life.” Serena deadpanned, a small smirk working it’s way quickly past her impassiveness. “And! I can have fun! It just so happens that my fun doesn’t include getting drunk and clubbing and sex.” She paused for a moment, considering. “Well, I don’t know about the clubbing part. Haven’t really done it before. Besides, you’re one to talk.” Serena gestured at Dex, noting how the Turian kept scanning the crowd. “You’re acting as if you’re playing a spy game against ten other spies, and the losers get killed.”

Dex glanced at her smirking herself, “That’s the fun part, why it’s called a game. Old habits die hard, my young virginal friend. I’m also simultaneously scooping out the crowd for our ticket to free drinks.”

Over the sound of the bass came a slightly accented, moderately angry, and very drunk voice from nearby. “I’m telling you, you snobbish fop, that crap you call ‘world class cuisine’,” Firuzeh half laughed, half yelled at a slightly balding man sitting across from her, putting on the best French accent she could as she did so, “is nothing but butter, garlic, and a bunch of overly thick sauces made of butter and garlic.” She pointed a finger in his general direction before pausing for a moment while she tried to recall a word. “Oh, and snails.” She took a long draft of a beetroot red cocktail before continuing, “You do have snail and frog legs.”

The bespectacled man sitting across from her raised an eyebrow, sipping at a small glass of wine. “And what, pray tell, makes you think that? I traveled all across earth to study culinary art, and everything I saw in Iran was a disappointment! None of your food has any flavor. Persian rice is fluffy rice, should I be impressed?”

Firuzeh narrowed her eyes at him, draining the remnants of her cocktail, “I think you mean we don’t cram flavor down your throat with all the tact and skill of a bayonet charge.” She raised an eyebrow of her own, “Something tells me you went to some overly fancy restaurant in Paris and called it good?” 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the recently arrived group and stood to get their attention, wobbling slightly with the excess of alcohol in her system. “Hey!” She called over to Dex and Serena, “Could one of you explain why French food isn’t the be all end all of cooking to my acquaintance here?”

Serena looked over at the person shouting, presumably at them. It was like she had been struck with a lightning bolt. Her mind stalled. Her jaw dropped slightly. She stuttered something unintelligible. 

Trying again she babbled out “Sorrycan’thelpyouI’veneverbeentoFrance.” Then, for what seemed like the five hundredth time that day, she blushed a bright red and looked away and down, desperately wishing she had an omni-tool or something to occupy her attention.

Dex opened her mouth to reply but Serena’s stuttered sentence came rushing in. The turian turned to eye her friend, in the ambient lighting Serena’s face was a different shade while she fidgeted on the spot, flustered instantly.

Dex looked back to the human that had asked about food. Noting she had a prosthetic arm as well, looking like how they hoped to have Serena in an hour or so. 

Oooohhhh…

Dex slung her own prosthetic arm over Serena then whispered, “Let’s go over there and talk to her. She seems very interesting. Even has a prosthetic too.” Standing up she beckoned for Serena to follow approaching the stranger.

”Lets not. We shouldn’t abandon Tanya. Lots of people have prosthetics. No. No. Stop it. What are you doing?” Serena hissed under her breath, helplessly glaring at and then following Dex as the Turian stood up.

Dex stuck out her left hand to shake, “I don’t know much of anything about human cuisine but my friend over here would love to hear all about it from you. Name’s Dex, the robotics and VI specialist in the silver dress is Serena.” Looking over her shoulder at Serena and winked at her.

Serena replied with a mute glare that was half pleading. 

Firuzeh quirked an eyebrow at the antics of the other two as they made their way over - reluctantly in the case of the woman just introduced to her as Serena. She stifled a small laugh, instead casually raising her middle finger towards the French man she had been arguing with and grabbing another glass of the same dark fuschia cocktail she had ordered right before finishing her first. 

Normally she wasn’t quite so overt, but alcohol had a strange way of turning introverts into extroverts for an evening, and so she sashayed her way over, bumping into her recently vacated chair as she did so. 

Extending her right arm, she offered to shake both of their hands, idly sipping at her drink as she did so. “Nice to meet you. Name’s Firuzeh, and if you’re wondering we were basically arguing over the merits of subtle flavor and texture compared to ramming a bunch of grease and spices down your throat and calling it world class cuisine.” 

She grinned, “So, waiting on some guys to get you drinks, I assume?” She gestured at their clothing, nodding at Serena, “Nice dress by the way. Celebrating something?” Without waiting for a response she shrugged, “Well we’re all alive so that’s something to celebrate anyway. To hell with it, want a drink?” She offered her mostly untouched glass to Serena, “I’ve probably had too much as it is…” with a nod towards Dex she offered an apology, “I’d offer you some too but I figure you’d prefer drinks you can actually y’know, drink.”

Dex shook her hand then plucked the drink from Firuzeh’s hand and placed it in front of Serena. “Thank you, she’s pretty thirsty.”

She replied to Firuzeh’s other comments, “Nothing special, just a girls night out to relax. My friend is already taking care of our first round but holding out hope for some free drinks.” Dex replied showing a winning turian smile then pointed at her arm. “That’s quite the model, looks brand new. I’m sure Serena has tons of questions, she’s something of a robotics expert.” She elbowed Serena gently to encourage her to speak up.

Serena shook Firu’s hand, avoiding eye contact. She smiled nervously and muttered I“Thank you.” For the compliment about her dress. She couldn’t think. She didn’t want to be here. Yes she did. But she shouldn’t be here, playing with fire like this. Should she? She wasn’t making any moves to leave, despite all her misgivings. 

It was with almost pathetic gratefulness that she saw the alcoholic drink being placed in front of her. A quick glance to ensure that both Dex’s and Firuzeh’s attentions were on each other, and she downed the cocktail in a heartbeat, quickly emptying the glass. She started feeling the effect almost before she set the glass down. 

A warmth spread through her, washing away her misgivings and bolstering her tattered confidence. ”It’s a custom model. Extremely new tech. Mostly prototype if I had to guess. Couldn’t properly tell you what it was without scans, but I both lack my omni-tool and have been informed that scanning someone’s prosthetics without permission is rude. Regardless,” She waved a dismissive hand, swaying slightly. “It’s a beautiful piece of machinery. Almost as beautiful as you, Firuzeh.” She smiled at the other woman, noting the various details of her face but mostly staring at her eyes.

Firuzeh gaped at Serena, even muddled through the haze of intoxication she currently found herself in, the previously shy and stammering woman’s sudden complete and utter 180 caught her completely off guard. “I… you… what? Yes it’s a prototype and it’s very nice but...” She stuttered, trailing off uncertainly. She was positive her drink wasn’t that strong - even if it was strong nonetheless. Or at the very least, she would’ve thought the effects wouldn’t be quite so pronounced. 

Firuzeh didn’t know how to proceed from here. Perhaps it was just the company she had had growing up, but most people she knew had rarely if ever commented on her appearance. Given her a look occasionally? Absolutely. Straight up called her beautiful, even if… - she looked up at Serena - heavily intoxicated. Despite it being so sudden, she couldn’t deny she liked it. “Thanks…? You’re uh, nice looking yourself.”

”Oh, for fuck’s sake, I leave for five minutes and we already have the prom queen wanking off to some tech gizmo. Should I leave you lovebirds alone for a few ticks?” Tanya proclaimed, arriving with a tray and setting it down on the table. She slid Dex some kind of purple cocktail she didn’t elaborate on the ingredients but was assured it wouldn’t murder turians, and one of the ‘serendipity’ cocktails to Serena, where it clanked against a glass that was already there. For her part, Tanya plopped down carelessly into the chair and immediately knocked back two of the rum shots before eyeing the third and the tanned-skinned woman whom Serena was eye-fucking her prosthetic before electing to slid the third and final shot to the mystery woman. ”Iosif, Dex… and now whoever you are. I’m starting to think by the end of the month, 80% of my acquaintances are going to be bloody cyborgs. I heard Serena call you Firushah?” Tanya asked, not entirely sure on the pronunciation. 

Serena smiled at Firuzeh. ”Why thank you.” She turned and rolled her eyes at Tanya. “Oh hush Tanya. Just because I appreciate beautiful machinery and the beautiful women who have them doesn’t mean I ‘wank off’ to it. Thank you for the drinks.’’ Serena replied, taking the drink. Rather than downing it all in one go, as she had previously, she merely sipped it. 

Dex squinted at the drink suspiciously. “If I get an allergic reaction and my throat starts swelling up blame the barkeep then send my arm back to my engineer.” She joked then took tentative sips. 

Firuzeh looked over at Dex and the new arrival, mildly concerned. “Is this uh, normal?” She looked between them apprehensively, “Or has she never had a sip of anything remotely alcoholic before now, ‘cause it seems that way.” 

“First time we’ve been drinking together. How- ehm, how strong was that drink?” The turian asked eyeing Serena’s flip in attitude. Liquid courage at its finest.

“Well. I think it was 90 proof vodka mixed with some fizzy thing that tastes like cherries…” She trailed off, realization dawning - at least she wasn’t hugging everybody yet. Two minutes before Firuzeh would have said she’d had plenty to drink for the night, but now she had few qualms about accepting the shot of rum suddenly slid across the table towards her, downing it without a second thought. “And uh, close. Last time I checked I wasn’t the king of Persia, but y’know, Firuzeh, Firushah, close enough I suppose.” She sat back, eyeing them. “So, bunch of tech people I gather?”

”Yeah, recent business associates, I guess you’d call us.” Tanya said, settling down into one of the fruity cocktails she’d picked up for her and Serena. ”Considering the piece of crap we fly, we need everyone who knows which side of a wrench works to make things run, at least somewhat smoothly. Kind of had a bloody awful job, so we figured fuck it, we’re in a secure sector of space, might as well enjoy ourselves until we get back at it. Decided to drag the kid along because she was being a mopey wanker and needs to loosen up. You one of the locals?” she asked Firuzeh. 

Firuzeh raised an eyebrow, “No, not at all actually. I’ve lived here… maybe half a year? Haven’t bothered keeping track. I was here as part of a research team…” she trailed off, sighing. “Then, Blitz. Team is dead, I’m out of work, and I don’t feel like going back home to be some random doctor.” She didn’t know why she was suddenly sharing this with someone she’d never even seen before now - probably the alcohol. She raised her mechanical arm, “This is all that gets me hired for temporary jobs here, with the humanitarian presence there’s a lot of highly qualified doctors around so nobody needs me for that either.” She shrugged, sipping at a cup of water that had largely gone untouched until now. “So here I sit, drinking lots of booze and waiting for jobs. Yourself?”

”As much as I like the climate here, it’s too damn cold for my blood. Grew up on Terra Nova, although I was born on Earth, just don’t remember a damn thing about it.  Among the first wave colonists and all that, so that’s home to me. What exactly were you researching? And… sorry about your team, I truly am. I lost a lot of good people in my life in rather sudden ways, myself.” Tanya replied, downing a bit of the drink.

Firuzeh raised her glass of water, nodding in inebriated agreement. “I was born in Iran, but frankly I’m okay with it being cold. Never took much to the heat. Came out here as part of a biomedical science initiative, field testing a new line of prosthetics - bleeding edge tech, cool features, the whole shebang. That’s why this arm looks so fancy - it’s not even technically done with testing, though I can attest to how strong it is at the very least.” She shrugged, taking another sip of water, “They wanted someone with surgical skill but who also understood the workings of the wetware side of cybernetic enhancement - I managed to fit that bill and I was looking for a little adventure.” As an afterthought she added, “Daresay I got more than a good helping of that.”

“Sorry about your team, Firuzeh.” Dex added sincerely. Dex glanced at Tanya and had a few thoughts about Firuzeh as it were, looking for work and having a resume filled with medical experience. The Jury Riggers needed someone with those skills, any medical skills. Considered briefly to vet her papertrail make sure her story matched up... but decided against it. At least for tonight. Instead she said, “You’re welcome to join us this evening if you want some company.”

Dex took another drink it tasted particularly sour, the concoction didn’t lend itself to anything she had tasted before. She peered into the glass, some fruity pulp floated to the top of it. Maybe if I drink it fast enough I won’t taste the filmy… whatever that is.

Firuzeh grinned, “Sure, why not? Not as if I have anything else to do anyway. Except try to find jobs that aren’t ‘cyborg girl pick up this heavy thing and put it over there’.” She raised an eyebrow, eyeing Dex’s own hardware. “Interesting model you have there by the way, looks custom. How are the connections? Looks like whoever did it knew his stuff but there are plenty of people who can make it look pretty on top while there’s serious neural atrophy underway. I swear it felt like half of my job here was emergency surgeries on people with permanent nerve damage from some incompetent fuckup.” She eyed Dex appraisingly, not caring for any discomfort it might cause for the moment, “Though you seem to have pretty good movement so I reckon they knew their shit for the exterior and interior.”

Dex grinned lifting her left arm up for a better view, “Built from scratch by arguably the best engineer on Palaven.” She said proudly, her mandibles flickering happily. “I am horrifically biased but it’s hard to hide great work. This current model is about…” She calculated CE years in her head, “Three CE years old. By far my favourite, my engineer was able to work a small blow torch into the talon. Best idea he ever had, saved my life more than once.” She demonstrated by flicking it open, the small area lighting up from the small flame.

“I’ve had my arm for about ten years now. Owe my life to prosthetic engineering and people like yourself, Firuzeh.”

Firuzeh smiled, inclining her head. “Why thank you - though I’m hardly comparable to some of the people out there.” She eyed the blowtorch, a small frown creasing her face, “Why a blowtorch, though?” She quirked an eyebrow, “Seems like it’d be pretty inefficient to me. You’ve gotta keep the fuel somewhere too.” 

”Not if you reroute some of the power from your omnitool’s microfabricator. Same juice that assembles drones and lets them use flamethrowers and rockets can be directly routed into a mechanical prosthetic with pretty minimal amount of tinkering.” Tanya said, noticing the table had a built in display with a menu and began to skim through it idly. ”Works the other way, too. I’ve rigged my combat drone to also be a music player based on non-microfabricated tech.”

Serena was content to merely follow along with the conversation, getting used to the alcohol pouring through her system and watching Firuzeh.  When the conversation turned to mechanics and the various little loopholes you could do, Serena chimed in with her two credits. “Yeah. With a little bit of know how, time, and the right tools you can just reroute, build, and jury rig just about anything. I managed to cram decent caliber mini guns into Del, one of my drones, so he can split apart. It’s never really difficult. Just tedious.” Serena paused and restrained herself before she could go into the technical details, lest it turn into an unending ramble. 

“So, Firuzeh, your surgical skills. Are they just human or do they extend into others species? Turians, Drell, Krogan, and the like.”

As Serena chimed back into the conversation, Firuzeh turned around to look at her, somewhat amused and somewhat confused to note she was still looking at her. “Um, yeah. To some extent. I can’t perform a heart bypass, on a human or anyone else, but if there’s a bullet somewhere it shouldn’t be I can get it out for you.” She paused, sipping at her drink and noting Serena was still watching her. “I’ve got cybernetic neurosurgery experience on humans, but any other species would probably be better off hiding in a cryogenic chamber until we got to someone actually trained for their biology.” She shrugged, “Sorry, not a whole lot of Turians or something on Earth. Plus I’d probably be well over a hundred if I trained for advanced surgery on multiple species. But if you’re bleeding out I can certainly help with that.” 

Dex laughed into her glass, “Jury rigging describes most of what we do.” Taking a longer sip of her drink, stomaching past the pulp. “Regardless, it sounds to me like you have a good solid skillset, Firuzeh.”

Tanya rolled her eyes at Dex’s coy name drop in the sentence. She spotted calamari on the menu for appetizers, but did Elysium even have cephalopods? Most items on the menu were probably made up of things that sounded familiar to Earthborn citizens, but were in fact gross approximations of said items geared towards people who either forgot what the original tasted like or just didn’t know any better. It was breaded, so it couldn’t be horrible, could it? She tapped the screen, highlighting it as she continued browsing through the menu. 

”Almost too solid to be slumming around looking for work. If you’re as talented as you say you are, you should have an easy time having a fellowship at just about any university in human controlled regions, or hell, anywhere in Council space. The salarians and asari would probably pay ridiculous amounts of money to anyone who could expand their knowledge of human biology and medical prognosis.” Tanya observed, not looking up. Ostrich breast? Not bloody likely. She thought, the rather exotic dish catching her eye as she skimmed past it.

Serena perked up suddenly as a familiar song began to play through the speakers. It was an older one, incorporating violins with the heavier bass.

“Ooh! I love this song!”

She suddenly grabbed Firuzeh’s hand. “Come on! Lets go dancing!” She began to pull the other woman to the dance floor, smiling winningly with pleading eyes. “Come on, it’ll be fun!” She coaxed as Firuzeh seemed hesitant. Soon they were on the floor, beginning to dance. Serena’s eyes were shining as she danced with Firuzeh, movements flowing and graceful, encouraging the other woman (who was clearly uncomfortable). “You’re doing fine! Loosen up a bit more, you’re hardly the worst dancer on the floor.” She giggled. “Hey, that rhymed.”

“Serena dancing? That’s a shuttle crash I want to see.” Dex said booting up her omnitool, opening the camera. “For posterity.” She said to Tanya chuckling as she focused on Serena now she watched ready for the clumsy drunk equivalent to dancing but was shocked to see her actually dance with Firuzeh. She was good, way better than Dex would admit to being able to dance. “I… uh- stand corrected.”

She sipped her drink again, finishing off the glass. She let out a sigh, letting the alcohol do it’s good work.

“I think I’m going to get myself another drink. Or…” Her eyes roamed the bar again looking for prospects to get free drinks. Her eyes landed on another turian, his eyes were roaming the bar too and they made brief eye contact. She winked. “See how generous the local patrons are.”

Firuzeh, for her part, was doing her best not to trip over her own feet. She’d been caught completely off guard by Serena’s grabbing her hand - and before she had a chance to react she was “dancing” in the middle of the floor. “I don’- no I can’t dance what are you doing?” she blurted, awkwardly trying to keep in time with the other woman and with the music. “I don’t even recognize this song!” She cast a look around in search of salvation from her predicament, making eye contact with Tanya, “Save me pleeease!” She called over, half jokingly, half seriously.

”Nonsense! Serena insisted, practically twirling around the other woman. “You’re doing fine!”

”No way in hell is anyone getting me up there. Two right feet and absolutely no sense of physical rhythm.” Tanya remarked, shaking her head at the pink-haired blur that went from being the frontwoman of an emo band to someone actually taking initiative to having fun. Her eyes followed Dex’s as they locked on one of the few male turians in the establishment. ”Pickings are slim, it would seem. Sure you want to run the risk of having that guy follow you home?”

Dex glanced at Tanya, “Slim yes, risky? Nah. If he tries anything he’s gambling against my mean left hook. He might know the dextro menu better than the bartender.” Dex smiled at the male turian in her sights, moving her empty glass in his line of sight. “Have some faith Tanya, if I can handle sleeping with the two self proclaimed ‘crazies’ on board then I think I can handle one possibly sleazy guy at a bar.”

”Thanks for making my argument for me, Dex. You are the paragon of wise life decisions.” Tanya pointed out deadpan, downing half of her glass. It was a bit sugary for her tastes, but fuck it. ”Besides, wasn’t the purpose of coming out to this dive to be bonding and not running off with strangers?” she gestured to Serena and Firuzeh. ”You bugger off and I’m stuck here on my lonesome. Always looks good to be the boring problem woman in a bar with entirely too many empty glasses and seats.”

“I’m trying to get free drinks, completely different. Relax I’m not going anywhere.” Dex said taking her comment in stride. “Oh! There he goes, ordering me a drink.”

She saw the turian she was making eyes with motion to the bartender and gesture toward them. Dex turned a winning smile on the turian and then winked at Tanya. The bartender passed off two drinks to a waitress, she sauntered over with her serving plate held above heads. Placing a refill on what Tanya had ordered and for Dex something light blue in a frosted shot glass. A little note taped to the bottom of it.

She plucked the note off the glass and read it, letting out a groan. “Never mind.” The note read distinctly, I AM MARRIED. She looked up and he gave her a cheeky nod then turned back to his own drink.

Tanya picked up the note from Dex’s clawed hand and glanced over it. ”I get the impression that he means that as a challenge. Most guys don’t send over drinks unless they’re interested.” She said, folding the note into a small paper airplane and throwing it towards Serena’s head, where it promptly nosedived moments after leaving her hand. 

“I am not going anywhere near someone married. That’s one sleazy line I am never going to cross…” She said then thought and added, “Unless I’m getting paid to expose their cheating ass to their spouse. Then and only then, do I approach them.”

A loud exclamation from off to the side interrupted their conversation. Firuzeh, by no means a skilled dancer even sober, had successfully managed to actually trip over her own feet, falling gracelessly with a flurry of muttered curses. In an attempt to break her fall, she reached out for something to grab - that something happening to be Serena, but only succeeded in dragging her down with her. 

Serena, her attention caught by Tanya’s failed air plane, didn’t notice Firuzeh falling. She was too busy sticking her tongue out at the other Rigger. She went down with a yelp, twisting as her dancing partner grabbed her.

It was a soft landing at least - despite managing to tangle herself with Serena in a mess of flailing limbs, she’d managed to avoid hitting anything hard such as tile floors or metal tables - instead she had faceplanted into something unexpectedly soft, a moment later realizing that, in the process of knocking down Serena as well, her head had landed squarely on her chest. 

”Now, forgive me if I’m wrong, but aren’t there other steps before this? You know, drinks, romantic walks, dates, serenading? Or is it the norm in Elysium to begin courtship by shoving your face into your partner’s boobs?” Serena asked the other woman atop her, smirking.

Blushing fiercely she rolled to her feet, offering a hand to help Serena up as she stammered apologies, “I’m so sorry for that I can’t dance and I’m drunk and stuff sorry!” She made to help straighten out her dress, but realized a second too late that it would probably only make the scene more awkward. Frozen in mid step, her face flushed an even deeper shade and she muttered under her breath, “this is why we drink at home...”

Serena took the offered hand, grinning as she was pulled up. “It’s fine! I enjoy having sexy women throw themselves atop me.” She winked at the blushing Firuzeh, whirling around on her heel to look at the other two. “Can’t leave them on their lonesome, can we?” She practically skipped over to Dex and Tanya. “You two said tonight was supposed to be fun and all the two of you have done is eye fuck failed prospects for one night stands and throw sad attempts at paper airplanes at me. Remind me to teach you how to make a proper one Tanya.” She suddenly clapped her hands, reaching for Dex’s talon and Tanya’s hand respectively. “Come on! Let’s go dancing!”

”If you still want fingers to function come morning, you will not drag me up for the show trial. I don’t dance. Your display thus far has only further entrenched that sentiment.”  Tanya replied, pulling her hand back away from Serena’s in a rude gesture. ”My embarrassment quota is being saved for a big cash out for a later date.”

“What’s the harm? Or would you rather be here on your lonesome guarding the drinks?” Dex said elbowing Tanya playfully. Getting up from her spot, she downed the free shot. It was leagues better than what the bartender picked out. Alcohol would not be enough to convince Dex to bat her eyes again for another shot. She caught the married turian’s eye, it looked like Tanya’s instincts were right on that. Mouthing at him across the room, Asshole

That earned her a glare.

She joined Serena and Firuzeh looking at Tanya expectantly.

What’s there to be embarrassed about?” Serena’s brow furrowed in confusion. She looked out at the crowd still on the dance floor, speculatively going over them. Most of the people out on that floor don’t know how to dance either.” Serena gestured towards a man and woman dancing close together a distance away. 

Except for that couple over there, they’ve most likely taken lessons for their upcoming marriage. Shiny new rings, exceptional closeness, constantly touching, etc etc.” Serena scanned the crowd again, gesturing to an Asari on the other side of the floor.  “And that asari. But goddamn I swear, asari and quarians are both naturally born able to dance.”

She watched the blue skinned alien dance appreciatively for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Tanya. ”Besides, no one cares here Tanya. And those that do, you don’t know and aren’t trying to impress them. So, to quote you ‘Stop worrying about impressing people who don’t fucking matter.’ And loosen up to have fun!”

”Ten out of ten speech, would follow onto suicide mission.” Tanya replied with a slow round of claps. ”I just don’t dance. You guys can go have fun, I’d rather just people watch.” Tanya replied, taking another drink. ”Besides, Dex put it best. Someone’s gotta guard the drinks from ne'er do wells. Rather avoid people like Dex’s married paramour over there stopping by.”

“If you insist.” The turian shrugged. “If the asshole makes a move over here let me know. I wouldn’t mind telling him to fuck off myself.” She winked at the human mechanic then patted the stubborn Serena on the shoulder. “My dancing skills are plenty embarrassing for the both of us. Come on, back to the dance floor with you.”

Serena tsked, eyes rolling,  then sat by Tanya. ”Very well. I’ll sit here with you and see if I can make the world stop spinning for a second. Besides, I’m not gonna abandon you to sit here by your lonesome while we all dance...again.” Serena waved an encouraging hand towards the other two. ”Go on, have fun! I’ll probably critque your form Dex, because someone with your grace should be able to dance better than you claim, but I’ll forget by tomorrow so it’ll only be tonight with no teasing!”

”Spins usually mean you’re getting close to emptying your stomach everywhere. Get some water.” Tanya gently instructed, watching Dex march off with their new friends. ”But seriously, I really don’t mind if you guys want to dance your little, or in Dex’s case, big, feet off and have a good time. I’m enjoying myself, so don’t feel you have to entertain me. I just wanted to enjoy a night with the three of us, get to know each other better… new lady kinda threw a wrench in that particular gear.” Tanya said, tapping the screen a couple of times to confirm her order. ”Thing is, I don’t want to ruin your guys’ fun. I just know what I enjoy doing and what I don’t enjoy doing, and I guarantee I’d suck the fun out of it if I went up there.”

Serena smirked as she quickly ordered a drink of water. “‘I don’t want to ruin your guys’ fun’. That’s my line. I’d quote yourself at you, but I can’t recall what you said in response to that. I like you, Tanya. Not in the same way I like Firuzeh, as I’m sure you’re relieved to know, but as a friend. So you want us to know more about each other. Fair enough, so let’s play twenty questions. You go first. I’m an open book and pleasantly drunk enough to not be super depressed if we touch upon depressing topics. Go.”

*There was 20 questions. For length’s and time’s sake, Dervs and I will show you in a mini collab*

Dex hid a laugh behind her mechanical talon at Serena. Noting Firuzeh’s expression redden.

The turian tapped on Firuzeh’s arm pointing back to the dance floor, commenting lightly, “Now that I have you to myself, I’ve got a proposition for you Firuzeh. You see we’re in a very real need of someone with actual medical skills and education. The job’s yours if you want. Come check out the ship tomorrow, it's a trash heap but we’ve been working on knocking it into something decent. The crew is a fairly mixed bag, there's a couple more turians, krogan, drell. We’ve been chasing after jobs in the wake of the Skyllian Blitz. Think on it, we're on Elysium for another day.”

Serena, setting down her now empty water glass, glanced over at Firuzeh and Dex dancing. This may be the alcohol talking, but I think we should hire Firuzeh. If she is half as good as she says she is, she’ll be able to keep us in near perfect condition from mission to mission. Besides, she’s better than Vellios as a main medical professional on the ship. His bedside manner is terrible and his skills only extend to stitching and popping things back into place.” Serena smirked. ”The fact that she’s absolutely gorgeous is just a bonus.”

Tanya shrugged. ”Seems you two already made up your minds. I suppose we do need to make up for lost numbers, and it’s better to have someone with a medical degree rather than trying to hop from system to system in an effort to save someone’s sorry ass. I can think of a few people on the crew who could use some relief.” She replied, electing to overlook Serena’s drooling eyes. ”So, yeah. We’ll give her a go and see how long it takes for her to realize she’s made a terrible mistake.”

Firuzeh, having just returned from the floor in search of her water, raised an eyebrow, deciding not to comment on Serena’s last sentence. “Well, it’s not as if I have any other work lined up anyway, and it’s not work that’s nothing but heavy lifting, so I’d be happy to take the job.” She grinned at the two of them, “And hey, so long as you don’t have any angry slavers with Kishocks to blow my other arm off, I don’t mind a diverse crew, meeting new and exciting people is most of the reason I left Earth in the first place, after all.” She raised her glass of water in a halfhearted attempt at a toast before pausing, “You don’t happen to have a cook do you? Because I can also cook in addition to stitching holes in people closed.” Sipping at her drink, she added after a moment, “Levo and dextro. Hell, that’s half the reason I was arguing with Frenchie over there.” With a nonchalant gesture she waved her arm in the general direction of her previous seat before sashaying back onto the floor to continue her spastic attempts at dancing. 

The ladies and their newly hired medic, Firuzeh continued to drink and dance well into the evening only stumbling back to The Jalopy at last call. In the morning they would wake to their own respective hangovers in time to give their new hire a guided tour of the ship and its crew.
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