[Citadel, Relaxation Area 566] Auld Lang Syne

"I guess my home was like a frame of mind, you know, about the galaxy that we had before all this?" he said with a shrug. "I'm working out which pieces are left and where I fit into it now".

Wow. That sounded quite philosophical. He cleared his throat, nervous.[/quote]

Aren't we all. She was silent then for a few seconds as she pondered that statement. I've moved twice since the war and I doubt this next place I'm going to will hold me for long. She looked over at Joset, dead grey eyes examining him with a small bit of curiosity. Name's Lyra by the way. Lyra Palmer.

Jacob blinked, wondering where the hell the last couple minutes ran off to. He looked at the asari cubes he had dropped one of into his whiskey tumbler, which had been filled with a spirit brought by another patron. He was looking forward to the Blue Label, but it was highly impolite to bring a bottle and not allow the host to open it. That said, whatever the cubes were, they were cold and their flavor didn't seem indicate the intent for them to be eaten independently, so he had one with his whiskey as an experiment. It must have tasted outstanding, because he had already finished both and somehow become oblivious to the time passing. And he still hadn't even greeted the host. He was about to go rectify that when the distinctive sounds of a struggle drew him elsewhere.

"Begging your pardon ladies..." The short human male said as he leaned against a wall that afforded him an equal view of both struggling asari, one of which appeared to be in a heretofore unseen corridor behind the Relaxation Area the party was being held in. Lucidity was coming to him far more easily than he expected, probably due to the static present in the local atmosphere. "What seems to be the trouble? It is very rude to fight at parties, you know. Perhaps you two might want to come inside, and find a more reasonable approach to whatever problem you have with one another"

In this time, Sarah had vanished into the hustle and bustle into the bathriom, where she shed her baggy shirt and pants for the short white dress underneath. Bundling her clothing together she made her way to the central area.

FWOOM went a light from her hands, exploding into mock fireworks above her. "Who wants music?" She asked around, throwing her clothes by her things.

The so.an unclipped her case and brought out her cello.

He gestured to his chest with a three-fingered hand.

"Sur'kesh Tanalat Yuushor-Jat'atat Ji Phraag Joset. Joset Phraag. Or, "hey, you, the salarian". He tried another smile. Awkward. It had been so long since he'd talked with a stranger in person, rather than hiding behind an extranet connection, that he was certain he must be off-putting.

"I haven't done much moving myself, but seeing you there, watching... I guess I saw something I thought I might recognise". He sighed. "This year, it's not been a good one, you know? Not, er, not Reaper-bad, not five continents warzone bad, of course, but... bad. I think "what have I done this last year?" and I don't see anything good. Just, you know, embarrassing myself, speaking before I think, overreacting to things". He was gabbling again, and he tried to slow down. "There are times when you have to look in the mirror and see yourself, I guess, and you don't like what's looking back at you. You think "how did I get here? Why did I get here? Other questions about here and my being... here..."

He trailed off. "I'm messing this up, aren't I?", he mumbled.

What the actual fuck was Aricia doing now. A gun. Seriously, a gun?
The diplomat didn’t remember reading something about a mental defect in the dossier but granted, she had only browsed over it. Meet her, get the data and then good bye. What the fuck had set this tiny huntress so off?

Arina went cold. Had she been nervous about a fast conclusion, she now wanted to slap this idiotic maiden for slinging a gun.

Her eyes drilled right into those of Aricia while she didn’t as much as flinch. Dealing with krogan warlords over more serious matter had given her the ability to become like ice in a face off whenever the other tried to light her up. Physically impressive behavior did not work on her, if anything it helped her concentrate.

When Jacob spoke, her jaw might have fluttered a tiny bit, she only noted him from the corner of her eyes. It had to happen eventually. The noise this little brat was making had been totally unnecessary. Next step, she’d have to take her eyes off of Aricia’s unfortunately.

“This won’t be necessary, Sir. My security assistant is very thorough to secure the perimeter while I am around, but better safe than sorry.” She spoke in her calmest and most soothing voice, looking Jacob directly in the face.

She turned to Aricia, opening her omnitool again.
“We should eventually break the ice here so you can sign out for the night? Thank you for inspecting the block, I feel much safer now, I won’t be needing you until tomorrow.”
Again her eyes locked on to those of the huntress, on Arina’s lips was a relaxed smile.

Temria leaned casually against the nearby wall, a faint smile on her face and a half-empty glass of wine in her hand (some thoughtful person had gone and brought some, much to her delight.)

Wincing a bit as the stage lights came on she none the less turned to grace Sarah's imprompteau performance with the attention it deserved. Closing the distance a bit and doing her best to look comfortable just standing out there, something for which the wine was most certainly helpful.

Chuckling at the intro, the Co-op chief downed the shot of the Nartin homebrew. Sipping the chaser Alystae walked over to a nearby column watching the platinum blonde playing the cello with half hearted interest. The tall maiden prefered the fiddle herself, but she never got the opportunity to learn. "Still, not bad." Alystae musing as she drank the chaser, nodding to the other asari standing nearby.

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"Really???? Save the lies for when you run the embassy Ms. Caenis." Turning to the the sawed off piece of shit that just came into the alley, the Armali commando letting her biotic aura fade and holstering her gun, but the posture was still the same, coiled yet relaxed. "Look, whoever the fuck you are, this twit of a maiden is trying to cover for her bad judgement." The lie coming naturally to her, a cruel smile forming on her face as she let go of Arina.

"This 'maiden' decided to bet the over on the Keepers during their match against Nos Astra. Long story short, she's out 2700 credits and I'm sent here to collect. Now unless you want to pay her tab, get the fuck out." Aricia dipping back into her gangster persona as she adressed Jacob. "And as for you, I work the bar one level below, come down when you have the goods, don't make me look for you. I won't be so gentle the next time..." Hissing the last, Aricia jumped down the stairwell with a minute to spare. The handoff was a botch but if the maiden was smart, she'd meet up with Aricia at the dive bar later. "If I find who changed my handler, that bitch and I will have words", Aricia thinking as she reentered the dive bar...

Jacob rewarded both asari's responses with an awkward smile and a repressed urge to roll his eyes at the tragically obvious lies and the broadcasted use of what were obviously code words by the first one to address him, wishing he'd refilled his tumbler before deciding to follow the sounds of a scuffle. Granted, he knew full well it took some practice to just casually drop them into a conversation, but generally it was expected of the people who were required to use them to know how to. It was clear the situation was one neither of them wanted to be in, and judging by the direction it had taken with his presence, they were not quite on the lethal terms that the presence of a weapon implied. However, the last thing he wanted was for his part in whatever was going on to be any bigger than it currently was, so he feigned the ignorance they clearly wanted out of him.

"Look, it is very clearly none of my business what the matter between you is. I understand that now. However, I am grateful to you for seeking a means of settling it without disturbing this quiet party and upsetting the hostess. I know better than to believe either of you is ignorant of the fact that firing a shot in public on this station is all but guaranteed to summon Citadel Security to this location faster than actually calling them would. Now, if you will excuse me, I am overdue a proper greeting for the lady who is responsible for this lovely little social event."

With a flourished wave and a half-pirouette, Jacob turned away from the two previously squabbling asari, believing that while it was their own better judgment that put an end to the fight, his intervention prevented it from escalating out of control. That was one of the things he was for after all, whenever he was called to serve personally, it was inevitably required of him to stop his employer from escalating a situation to unmanageable violence. Turning his grim thoughts to happy ones such as those of the choice of music, he re-entered the Relaxation Area proper and approached Sarah.

"Hello there! The name is Jacob, and I am pleased to meet you!" he said, offering a somewhat feminine hand. "I would like to apologize, if I may, for the delay of my greeting. I am afraid that I was a little distracted."

“Yeah… we do bet occasionally… my assistant and I.“ Goddess, this was going so bad.

The guy seemed slightly drunk and maybe he would remember nothing tomorrow. At least he did not seem to recognize Aricia. Maybe Arina would find an opportunity later to polish up the guy’s opinion of her at the party.

The handover was toast for now, but well, she would have a few words with the responsible people at the embassies. This had to be sorted out better and Aricia obviously needed a better psychological evaluation. Losing her cool like that was unexpected and nobody had prepared Arina for that. Lazy briefings, too little personnel, everywhere.

With a sigh the diplomat straightened her dress and went back inside, closing the door again. there he was, chatting up Sarah. Alystae was also there, talking to some human unknown to Arina… and there was Temria. Goddess, someone friendly eventually.

The diplomat touched her gemfal continuously as if still trying to make sure it stayed in place (which of course it was perfectly). Browsing by the table, she picked one of Temria’s cubes.

The thing still in her hand, she approached the doctor.
“Hello again. Amazing dress, you look splendid.” She noted with a laugh, nodding at the brace.

“But still issues with that? My scar is as good as gone but I still have a weird feeling now and then, a numbness that’s only slowly fading. It feels like I am losing my gemfal – but I don’t – I hope.” With a laugh she put the cube in her mouth.

And the laughing died into very dry choke as Arina tried to keep it together to her best abilities.