[Citadel, Tayseri] A Much Needed Drink (Open)

Giving Tobias a wave of farewell, Leeta grumbled softly to herself as she climbed back into the cab. "An eventful start to the afternoon? You have no idea." She smirked, speaking with a dry and bitter tone. She finally sighed, sinking back against the seat of the cab. "I have no idea what I would have done if you had not shown up," she admitted to Arina, staring grimly at the floor. "I was having a difficult day to begin with," she quieted her voice. "I did not expect everything...else..." She gestured vaguely in the the manner that only someone exhausted and fed up with the day could. Leeta tried not to dwell on the man who had fallen over the edge of the war and come so close to death. She focused on where they should go - she hadn't exactly been to many bars or clubs in the Tayseri ward. She had been to Purgatory once, but that was a ways away from where they were...what was that place her work colleagues were always talking about? A place that wasn't too much of a 'dive' as one of the interns always said...

"Mm...what is around here...Tequila Se'lai," she finally remembered. It wasn't totally unbecoming for a ward nicknamed 'Little Rannoch' to have a bar with a quarian themed name. "I think that is the name...for their signature drin--" “Attention please, excessive staining has been detected. Please be aware that unusual abuse of the interior is not covered by our standard fee. We inform you that an additional cleaning fee of 50 credits will be charged. We apologize for any inconvenience, thank you for using Tayseri Skycabs.” Leeta froze as the message cut her off, and when it ended she sank into her seat with a groan. Wonderful. She pressed her fingers against her helmet visor, squinting at nothing. Her headache was growing. She nodded as Arina expressed the urgency of their visit to a bar. "Tequila Se'lai it is. It is definitely close enough."

After the decision was made, it took only minutes to reach their destination; a cheap but relatively sleek and clean establishment. The bar had a similar atmosphere to the old dance club Flux, with a large emphasis on music and atmospheric lighting. There were several bar counters for people to choose from, each equipped with one or two bartenders each. It wasn't a particularly quiet place with the dance music blasting on the dance floor on the upper level. The music was light and very digital in sound, comprising of a fast-paced but delicate rhythm that encouraged carefree dancing. At least the first floor was relatively quiet. Being midday Citadel time, there were few people actually dancing. The current patrons were mostly comprised of visitors or people on leave who had no motive for adjusting to Citadel time. Of course that didn't mean there wasn't the occasional Citadel 'native' taking a break...just like the break Leeta and Arina needed so very much.

Arina burst into laughing. "I guess fair is fair. I have no idea seriously, how many more bars are going to be named 'Azure'. So let's see what kind of joint that is... show me your hangout and I tell you what kind of gal you are." Arina punched the destination into the console and off they went.

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Wasn't it ever interesting to see who was hanging out at what time of day? The club was different than what Arina had expected. Maybe the destinctive quarian sounding name made her imagine a row of nutripaste dispensers and lots docking ports for filtered alcohol - silly image of course. She smiled and nodded to the rhythm of the beats as she looked around. A dance club with real nice look to it - great choice.

"That looks very promising, Leeta!" The two approached the bar on the first level. It was one of those arrangements where you had a good view towards the dancefloor while drinking while the sound managment system kept the noise level at bay around the bar.
Arina sat down next to the pink quarian - whose species was not overy prominent, only one female example was doing a spectacular hipshake at the far end of the dancefloor.

The bartender worked his way over to them, wiping the counter. "What can I get you two ladies?"

"Hum, it's a bit early for shots but today is an exception... so Tequila for me." She observed her hands and stood. "Excuse me for a second. I need to clean this...."

When she returned a couple of minutes later, a shot waited already for her.

A couple of minutes later, a haggard, unshaven, mess of a 26 year old Mombasan walked into the bar. He looked as if he had been snootily turning his nose up the entire Cab ride over.
As soon as he entered, he knew he wished he had went somewhere else.

Godammit. The things this site has made me do. I mean, little Ragnorak? What the heck am I doing here.
Oh come on! You've made friends with Aliens, you can't be a xenophobic arsehole and their friends. One overrides the other.
Alex would have to think about that later, as he sat into the bar seat.
"Hey. Can I get a rum and Coke please?" He asked before turning to Arina and Leeta. Hardly the manliest drink, but a nice one.
"How are... You two looked like you just ran from a action movie. Well, Arina does. Can't tell with... I'll shut up." Said Alex as he trailed off, actually feeling quite bad for saying that.
"Anyway... What dragged you two off to a bar in the middle of the... Is it that Afternoon? I can never bloody tell." Asked Alex

Leeta exhaled a breath of relief when Arina seemed to approve. She didn't know where they would have gone if she had wanted to go elsewhere. With the afternoon they had shared, and Leeta's rough morning, the closest thing possible seemed more than appropriate. It helped that Leeta wanted to go somewhere she knew was trustworthy. Arina wasn't completely wrong about the bar having the ability to serve reliably filtered drinks, but the current patrons seemed to be from a wide variety of species, not just quarians. There was even a volus doing an odd little shuffle on the dance floor. Leeta fought back the urge to snort derisively at the sight. Just another reminder she needed to calm down after the intense events.

"Well it is called Tequila Se'lai so...your house specialty please." She smiled, leaning against the bar and nodding as Arina went off to freshen up. She scanned the bar for any familiar faces, not spotting any of her coworkers. That was nice at least. The last thing she needed was her colleagues to start asking her to go out with them after work, or teasing her for drinking at the current hour. She rested her elbows on the counter as the bar tender set out drinks for the two women. Leeta smiled when Arina returned, holding up her own drink, having saved it to drink together. "I must warn you, I do not do this often so my tolerance is..." She smiled, sounding embarrassed.

Leeta didn't even notice Alex until he had sat down and ordered a drink. She twisted to look at him and smiled, tilting her head in surprise. "My whole morning has been an action movie. If you could see you would definitely be able to tell." She paused, watching the bartender mix Alex's drink. "I did not expect to run into you here! Especially because yes, it is the afternoon."

"Well, When you down to your last two hundred credits, drinking it away in the middle of the afternoon doesn't sound like a awful idea..." Said Alex.
"In all honesty I sort of asked Arina if either of you wanted to grab a drink, and thanks to the magic of the CDN Probability vortex, here you are." Alex gave the place a look around.
"Not somewhere I would've chosen, but a bar none the less. Said Alex.
The bartender finished mixing his drink and passed it to him. He immediately gulped down half of it.
"So, what happened with you two? Your story sounds far more entertaining then mine." Said Alex.

When Arina returned, she was feeling clean again. Look at an establishment’s lavatory and rate the place. The result had been pleasing.

“Oh, don’t assume I am a regular drinker myself” she laughed at Leeta’s comment and raised her glass.
“I know a few tricks though to make it through an evening of shots without too much damage – necessary on the job sometimes. Anywayyyys……. Here’s to us.”

She downed the Tequila – which was a nice feeling. She wanted to switch to something more sustainable though, so she had just told the bartender to prepare her a Thessian Sunrise, when Alex took a seat next to them.

“Hey, that was fast! If you cops would be always this fast on a scene….” she said jokingly.

When he asked about their morning, she exchanged a ‘knowing’ look with Leeta. Indeed that had been a gross action movie.

“Huh, my morning was just boring talks with a volus, but after that it went berserk! I was just about to hail a cab when all kinds of stuff happened at once. There even was a person on fire and someone dropping about two floors over a balcony... And in the end we delivered a guy with a broken prosthetic and another guy who had vomited on himself at a clinic.” It had actually been as confusing as it just sounded, she mused. “Hm.”

“But Leeta, you mentioned, you already had it rough earlier? I said, I’d listen, so here we are, what’s been bothering you?” She liked Leeta and was curious what could make her feel so down.

On the other end of the bar, Lear sat there staring at the trio. He'd come to what he'd assumed would be a CDN-free establishment (not that he didn't mind their company, but things tended to go wrong when CDN members were together in one place at the same time), and the next thing he knew, not one, not two, but three members from CDN were now seated at the end of the bar opposite of him. Nursing his (rather light) drink, Lear looked at the trio, raising his glass to them when the asari finished her story.

"Never a dull moment, hm? You are... Stardust, right? And of course, hello again, Leeta. Always nice to see a friendly face with a similar mind-set. And of course, how could I forget you, Mr... uhhm... Sunglasses." Okay, so he hadn't met the third guy, and he'd only spoken a total of maybe five words with the asari, but one out of three was still good, right?

Leeta chuckled, raising her glass to Arina and downing it as fast as she could - which really turned out to be a slow sip. She scrunched her nose as she tried to slurp up the drink, grateful for the fact that the visor hid her expressions. When Arina began to explain their afternoon, Leeta could only shrug. She cocked her head to the side, leaning her elbow against the bar. Her drink was only half empty but she felt a little better already. Recognizing Lear, Leeta offered him a more friendly wave than she might have without half a drink in her. She was beginning to wonder if this CDN vortex thing had some merit to it.

"Well you see," she explained, addressing Alex. "A careless human had left his wares unattended and a complete -- uh, well...idiot--" She had almost said amateur. Luckily she had caught herself. Calling someone else an amateur indicated experience on her own part, but she still hadn't answered Arina's question. "He ran up and grabbed an entire box of goods in broad daylight surrounded by a crowd and made a run for it. I tried to trip him...he ah..." She cringed, shrugging up her shoulders in shame. "...he went over the edge. Of the ward. Tripped, bounced off an elcor and...he survived just fine. But the box landed on someone. Then the man who was robbed caught fire. I'm not sure how, I was watching the man I tripped. Luckily Arina showed up, and we helped a disabled human that was somehow involved...oh--and the burn victim vomited, ah..." she gestured vaguely to indicate 'all over the goddamn place' and smiled dryly.

"As for my morning," she began hesitantly, flicking her gaze to her asari friend. "Let us just say I was trying to solve a work mystery. And was getting nowhere." It was an unusually cryptic answer for Leeta, but she didn't know how to explain that she spent her morning chasing smuggled goods and threatening shopkeeps. "So it has already been a long day, as you can see."

"Hello, you are Lear'Kaus, right?" Damned if these quarians were easy to identify - Leeta was an exception - but the man's voice gave him away. "We met at the film fest."

In fact it seemed, wherever she went these days, the people of CDN were never far. She turned back to Leeta.

"Workplace mystery, huh? Those are the worst, I feel your pain though. Somehow, everyone who talks to an embassy employee suddenly gets all cryptic and complicated. Like we all would work for a secret organization, though the exact opposite is true. Well and so you have to meet volus behind some docks on Tayseri, whereas the same conversation could be held in some plaza on the presidium."
She rolled her eyes and took her new drink from the bartender.

Tobias paid the fee and stepped out the cab, looking up at the sign: "Tequila Se'lai"

Clever.

Striding forward, he reveled in the new prosthetic they'd given him. No more need for that damn cane! He could finally walk like a normal human being. Well, at least for the most part. He still seemed to have a trace of the limp.

As he opened the door, he was surprised by the disticnt lack of quarians in the place. And that one over there, in a pink suit, was immediately familiar, as well as the asari she was sitting next to. Making his way toward them, he noticed another quarian and a human were conversing with the two.

Tobias sat down next to the group and smiled warmly at the two females.

"You know, that suit is awfully hard to miss. I wanted to thank you both for the help. And for the invite, Arina. I owe you both a drink, if I may."

He turned toward the bartender.

"A couple shots of vodka, if you have it. And I'll catch the tab today."

Raising his drink to his lips, he tried to think of how to introduce himself to the strangers.

“Aw, hi Tobias!” As the human again failed to introduce himself, Arina was helping.
“This is Mr. Tobias Odinovolk, one of the men we took care of earlier – not the one on fire, the other one. You already know Leeta, this is Alexander and Lear’Kaus.”

“That’s totally unnecessary, Tobias,” she replied when he offered to pay. “… but who am I to decline?” She winked in his direction.
She was familiar with all sorts of beverages – comes with the job – so she knew what he had ordered.

While the barman prepared the shots, she was crossing her legs, rocking a booted foot playfully to the beat. She leaned in next to Leeta, focusing back on Alex. “So now that you even know one of our … victims” she exchanged a playful glance with the quarian, “… you could as well tell us finally what made your day so miserable so far.”

"Oh usual work hours. Meetings... Meetings. Omni-calls. And..." Alex hesitated. He shouldn't have came. He didn't want to burden these people. They weren't family. He only knew two of them.
But there's no one else who will listen.
"My little brother died this morning." Alex said, deciding not to sugar coat it.
"My little Brother. Daniel Joshua Adolrikson. Aged 24. Killed in a hit and run." He took a swig from his glass and immediately ordered another.
"Married to Aida Akello Michieka. Soon to be mother of a son." Alex continued.
"I always thought I'd be the first to go. I mean, I'm a firearm cop in Mombasa. It was tied between me and my sister in the Alliance. But no. First, my parents, got by Reapers. My sister, MIA. My old dog, Malnutrition. And now my younger brother. All dead. There's just me and my not yet born nephew to carry on the name now... Adolrikson. What a fucking shit name. It just sounds like someone coughed halfway through naming my oldest ancestor." Alex said.
Alex removed his sunglasses, revealing his green, bloodshot eyes, and placed them in his breast pocket.

Leeta smiled at Tobias, perking up at the fact that he was without a cane and seemed to be walking easier. His comment about her suit made her chuckle. It was helpful to wear bright colors. It distinguished her from who she used to be - drab, grey, and blending in with every other typical quarian, but it was also just plain fun. It made her feel as light and as bright as the colors she wore. "Well, that is the idea," she said with a smile. "Otherwise I have to reintroduce myself every time I see people just to make sure they know which quarian they are talking to." It wasn't an uncommon trait for quarians to reintroduce themselves often, but that was something Leeta always preferred avoiding. She raised her eyebrows when Tobias offered to buy them a couple shots of vodka. At least she didn't have to worry about the filtering. The bartender would know to find her a turian equivalent of proper filteration. She was slowly realizing the benefit of going to bars located in Little Rannoch.

It was Alex's sobering confession about his day that stopped Leeta from explaining her morning to the group. She was grateful for the interruption, but the look in his bloodshot eyes made her feel sick with sorrow. She couldn't imagine what he was going through. It wasn't as though she had any siblings. Neither did anyone she knew growing up in the flotilla. Instead she imagined how she would feel if her childhood friend had died. They weren't of the same blood and they weren't in contact anymore, but the thought of losing someone she had felt a kinship with made her sad. "Keelah," she murmured sadly. She looked down at her glass for a moment. "Do you want to talk about him? Or forget about it for just a few hours?" She knew people grieved differently. Some wanted to cry and remember and share stories of the life of those they had lost; others just wanted to pretend everything was okay. She would accommodate however Alex wanted to deal with it right now, but she put a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

Tobias' smile dropped as Alex talked. The man had surely suffered, and there was no easy way to deal with losing someone like that.

"You should be proud of your name. It makes you, you. It carries legacy and pride."

He downed his second shot and motioned for more. He knew too well what Alex was going through.

"But I feel your pain. And I can only ask that the gods grant you and your family, both living and gone, peace. And right now, we are here, if you need us."

Tobias looked around their little group, then back at Alex. He hoped the man understood that he was not alone in this, and that things would get better.

"... Goddess..." Arina was trying not to lose her drink through the nose and coughed when Alex so sadly dropped his story. when he took off and put away his glasses, Arina's eyes widened a bit as what she got presented was something terrible. He must have cried over this horrible loss. She envied Leeta for her visor now. Arina was trained to keep a poker face during whatever negotiations but Alex had met her with all her guards down. When Leeta put a hand on his shoulder, Arina was still fighting with the last remnant of that gulp that wanted to go up her nose. But then she had recovered and slid from her stool, to stand upright.

"It's good you called me, Alex... Mr. Adolrikson!" She put her hands on both his shoulders, letting them rest for a moment. The barkeep had lined up the shots, with the two glasses for the quarians clearly marked. Arina took two, one for herself and one she pushed into Alex's hand.

"We'll stay around as long as you want," well, she thought she could speak for at least her and Leeta here, "I know, that's stupid... but it's the best I can come up with right now, this one is for your brother." She raised her glass then a thought occured to her.

"Ne meless'ara ko ame Daniel Joshua Adolrikson tashi.
Os meri te pora'tan, te lasi, te la adi'a re, te mur.
Anadar teavi nar yakshi, nar kalis.
Adi'a sol rasshi, mes.

Athame Me'elas, nassanie,
Athame Rala, kenta ri,
Athame Tylani, mavi ae.
Sia res, siari. Daniel Joshua Adolrikson adi'a re.

May his journey be save for all eternity."

She downed her shot and resisted the urge to hammer the glass to the wall.

"You know what... I think I'll hold off on the whole mournful thing till later. No offence intended, but People in Mombasa knew him better. For now... Let's see if I can't just have drinks with friends... And you two." He said nodding to Tobiko and Lear.
"To Daniel. Rest in Peace you jammy bastard!" Alex shouted, followed by downing his glass.
He signalled for another drink, before whispering to Arina.
"Nice Speech. Sorry for dragging this down quickly... It's just... I had to tell someone. You know? Misery loves company?" Alex whispered.

Leeta smiled ruefully behind her visor at Alex. When things were still fresh like this it was understandable to use the numbness to escape the mourning. There would be plenty of time to mourn later. Right now all they had to do was drink and forget about real life. When she woke up this morning, Leeta had never expected things would take such an intense turn. Leeta squinted uncertainly when Alex raised his glass, raising her own. Jammy bastard? Was her translator malfunctioning?...she wanted to say the correct human phrase to respect Alex's brother but the word Jammy was throwing her off. Instead she awkwardly mumbled, "Rest in...peace?" It was an odd little phrase, but there was a nice sentiment. She raised her glass to her induction port and finished off the rest of her shot. Her head buzzed and a lazy smile formed on her lips. This wasn't going to take long, for better or for worse. "That was beautiful Arina," she replied before trying to shift the mood with a sing-song tone of voice. "And did you hear that? Alex called us friends."

“I heard that all right,” Arina replied. She felt some sympathy for the clumsy cop. Nobody deserved the things that happened to him, and yet they were facts of this universe. After the Reaper wars it had been easy to loose perspective for lost lives and the value of each single one of them.

“Now what about we get your mind towards other things, friend?” she addressed Alex. “I’d suggest stripping on the bar but that may be a tad inappropriate towards the other guests!” Not that she had such an intention for real. “But what about some dancing? That beat just calls and you look like an able man…” Arina winked at Leeta and then grabbed Alex by the hand and dragged him over to the nearest dance area. Flashing hololights on the walls were changing through the colors of the spectrum basking the dancefloor into a pulsing aura. Arina began moving on the spot, swaying her hips and weaving elegant patterns into the air with her arms. She laughed at Alex “Come on, get into it!”

Tobias finished another shot and watched bemusedly as Arina dragged the man over to the dancefloor. Sighing, he looked down at his leg. If only...

Glancing at the two quarians he'd been left with, he realized he had absolutely no idea what to say. What did quarians like to talk about? He'd never met one before Leeta. Maybe he should start with some basics.

"So, um...what do you do? Profession wise, I mean."

Giving an awkward smile, he reached for another shot, wondering at his own social ineptness.

Leeta's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and not for the first time that day she was grateful for the visor that masked her expressions from the general public. Envy filled her gaze as she watched Arina stride out onto the nearby dance floor without reservation. She held her breath for a moment, wondering what it would be like to stand there, dancing without caring about who was around her or who might be watching. That was just the sort of behavior her parents had always discouraged. She sighed bitterly -- an almost inaudible sound to her remaining companions. It took her a moment to realize that Tobias was talking to her, but when she did she snapped her attention to him.

"I am an agrarian specialist -- a farmer, in simple terms. I helped adapt the flotilla hydroponic systems to be compatible with the existing Citadel systems. I -- erm..." She paused awkwardly, dropping her gaze. "It is nothing exciting." That was her usual response when it came to people asking about her job, but it was true. She was in an uninspiring job doing boring work, following in the footsteps of her parents. Her work was only exciting when she was allowed the opportunity to experiment. She looked at Lear out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he would jump in. "What do you do...?" She asked as she returned her attention to Tobias.