We're Never Off Duty

The Leap and Relay was a neighborhood pub. That's all it was-it's regulars couldn't afford artisan imported ales, and they'd just stain any real wood furnishings the owners put in, so they didn't bother. Neither the fare nor the decor was particularly creative-the color scheme was green and brown, they had french fries and louza strips. They did, however, pay for good service and for good music, and on a weekend night they were crowded, the air thick with conversation and more than a little smoke.

Most nights were uneventful, and they had a good relationship with their neighbors.

Of course, tonight was not one of the uneventful nights, as a pained howl and loud crash at one end of the bar grab everyone's attention.

Two angry voices rise over the din, one male and human, one higher but with a pronounced rasp. "What you'd do that for you crazy bitch?"/ "Did you not fucking hear me?"

Odenna Tessoria sat at the bar with her hood up and sipped at her ale. She had been there for a while, drinking and trying not to think about her latest case. It wasn't entirely working. She hadn't been able to drink with her friend in a couple weeks. Jovina was busy and Odenna also didn't want to go down to the firing range. She was certain she made Vindi's people at least half as uncomfortable with her presence as she was to be there. Though at least there she could shoot something.

When the fight started, the smaller than average turian turned toward it. She welcomed the distraction from her moping, even if it was just to break up a bar fight before it happened. She walked over to the pair.

"What exactly is going on?"

The drell girl let go of the man's arm-well, let go was wrong, she shoved him away from her hard. It looked like she might have done some damage to his arm, or at least he was babying it like she had. "I wasn't doing anything, and this crazy bitch..."

The girl-much younger, in fact, probably skirting the legal age to even be in there, rolled her eyes up to the ceiling as she adjusted the spaghetti straps of her shirt. "I have your disgusting spit on my back, who the hell licks girls in..." Her eyes flicked over. "...Aaannd you are one of Vindi's? I'm Trex's friend, Kayana?"

Odenna narrowed her eyes at the human. "Licking a drell without permission is as bad as going up to an asari and grabbing her in a sensitive area without permission. It's assault, and she was well within her rights to respond as she did."

The short turian flexed her claws slightly. "I suggest you finish your drink and leave, sir."

She then turned to Kayana. "Nice to meet you Kayana... I'm Odenna, and while I've met Vindi, I'm not one of hers."

That last bit was said in an almost tired tone. It wasn't like she hadn't been mistaken for a Sundowner before.

The human began to protest that his hand was broken-but by then the bouncers had shown up.

"Itsa pleasure. I'm fine, not like it hasn't happened before." Kayana tipped some water onto a napkin, scrubbing at her shoulder. "You don't live at the range? I haven't seen you."

She looked the woman up and down-man, she'd cut the Sundowners more slack if they weren't literally stunted. This was one short turian.

"No, I don't live at the range. I have an apartment on Zakera Ward. I get a pretty good rate." Odenna returned toward her seat and gestured for Kayana to follow her. The turian could use the company at the least, and it would give her the chance to keep the drell girl out of trouble.

"I've been to the range a couple times... I think I make them a little uncomfortable though." Odenna said with a shrug.

"Eh? Why would you make them uncomfortable?" Kayana picked up her bag-a canvas number covered with badges and political stickers-and followed the older turian. "...A lot of different people have stayed there, yeah?"

"Well, there are a few reasons why. The largest is probably the fact that I'm in Citadel Security. And despite being from the same part of Solregit, I'm not a Sundowner." Odenna dropped the first bomb. "Their chieftain and I get along okay, and she's doing a good job down there, but I don't really belong with them."

"Oh!" Kayana grinned and laughed, flicking her eyelids-it was clear that this little revelation made her like the woman more. "I am so sorry!"

She did a quick reassessment. This added about...what, ten years of formal education and 50 000 credits per year onto her previous assumptions? "Nah, you probably don't. Vindi herself is cool, but...yeah, 'different' is a euphemism for 'train bombers and drug dealers'."

"C-Sec, that's so cool. Are you helping Vindi find Quatra? I'll buy you a drink. I used to think about becoming an officer."

Odenna shook her head. "I work in homicide, and my jurisdiction doesn't quite cover Tayseri. I work Zakera."

She flashed two fingers to the bartender, indicating a drink for herself and Kayana before continuing. "I met Vindi when I went to the range for some target practice a few months ago."

"I met her...in a gym, like, way before the war. But I mostly know her though this extranet thing."

Her face went a little pinched. "Vindi didn't call C-Sec about Quatra." It was actually a question. "Not my business anyway. Doesn't C-Sec have it's own range?"

"C-Sec normally does have its own range, but the system was down for maintenance the day I ended up going to Denakot." Odenna shrugged. There really wasn't anything she could have done about that. Of course, she could have picked a different range to go with, but she didn't. "So, you said you used to want to be an officer... when did that change?"

"C-Sec officers come out the Hierarchy, or the Alliance, or some major metro department in the Republics...the options for drell that won't sign compact are kind of dire and involve my being the only drell on some colony, for years."
Her eyes flicked towards a corner. "Plus, you know, I think I got a bit too used to killing things."

"It doesn't make it impossible for drell to join. It's a good aspiration to try for C-Sec." Odenna started nd then what Kayana also said registered. Well. That hit a little close to home. "Ah..."

Hanar bastards. Polite up front, but using little more than a child for assassinations or the like. "Getting used to the killing isn't always a bad thing when you're in that sort of environment. If you enjoyed the killing, that would be a much different story. But even then, environment dictates. You aren't the next coming of Abattoir, nor were you likely in danger of that, I doubt. Not unless you decided to take it beyond assignments or war."

The beers chose that moment to arrive.

"You may not believe it, but I was in a field like what I hear some Compact Drell are in. If I'd stayed in, I might have even been considered for being a Spectre. I chose to leave as it wasn't where I felt I should be. You'll find that place for yourself eventually."

Kayana looked...distinctly uncomfortable for a second there. Not really the time to talk about the feelings of achievement that came with killing. Or to say 'Don't worry! The galaxy is better off without them anyway.'

"Nobody could top Abattoir. But I'd rather not subject myself to those background checks."

Kayana took a sip of the beer-she seemed to pick up on bitterness in a way that humans didn't, but this was pretty good. "But my life is awesome. I am married. I have a job. The galaxy didn't end. What else could you want?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Odenna sipped at her own drink. "But if I had someone to be my companion, I know I wouldn't have been here drinking alone."

Odenna's mandibles flared out slightly in... well, it wasn't entirely clear why... but she cocked her head as she looked at Kayana. "Thanks for joining me, by the way."

"Oookay..." She took a sip of her drink. Had the woman been hitting on her? "He's been on Kahje for school."

She wasn't into women. Or turians. Turian women were right out. "You're welcome."

School was good. Sucked for her that she was missing her companion, but it did explain a few things. "Better reason than mine for drinking alone, I suppose."

Odenna drank her beer and looked down into the glass. She really didn't want to remember it. She had her own issues.

Kayana might have mentioned the openness of her marriage, but she didn't want to give the wrong idea-turians were all hard, pointed, and missing the sexual cues drell would look for.

"Like you need an excuse not to stay in your house all the time." She blinked, spinning her glass in her hands. "You okay?"

"Wha- I'm... well, I'm okay. Just been one hell of a month. You see a lot of sick things in my line of work, and this month has been pretty bad." Odenna downed the rest of her drink. She wouldn't unload fully on Kayana. "Sometimes it's really worth it... but other times it isn't. Stopping the bad guy isn't always enough..."