[Tayseri Ward] A New Beginning (open)

The new uniform itched and its particular shade of blue wasn't particularly flattering and made her scales look rather pale but Maiha Denalius honestly didn't care one bit. This uniform was her ticket into the future. No more sleeping on her friends' couches and waking up with her crest hating her and her neck aching.

And the sidearm at her side was comforting. After the War, being without a weapon had left her feeling decidedly uncomfortable (oh yeah, because that little gun was so much help. You're better off with those lucky socks, Denalius). But oh, how it felt to be in uniform again.

It was, she mused, exceedingly lucky that 'they're all dead' was a good enough reason not to have a lot of references and that, with the way she'd left Serrice, they hadn't rung her last boss

One of these days, she was going to learn to keep her damn mouth shut.

The new C-Sec officer leaned against a railing overlooking one of the Citadel's shopping plazas not too far from her new apartment, the bustle of mid-morning shopping at her back and a lovely pastry from Nevos in hand. Her first paycheck had come in and the days of odd jobs and cheap meals were over.

For the first time since the day the skies of Thessia had darkened, Maiha felt a surge of optimism. Things were looking up. Maybe it was time to lay down roots, get involved in the society she was now charged with protecting.

She took another bite of her pastry with a smile.

An uncharacteristically plump human wearing old timey glasses arrived behind her holding a whole bag of baked sweets.

"Morning officer! Enjoying that nice view too?" she asked, sitting down on a bench behind Maiha and taking a pain aux raisins out of the bag.

This was the place. A view overlooking the rest of the ward- A fine place to stop from the evening's jog. Sarah looked different- She was wearing a form-fitting athletic top that revealed her midriff, knee-length shorts and jogging shoes. Her hair was a far more natural golden than the usual platinum. Stopping from a full sprint- Sarah immediately took a drink from a sports bottle fastened to her belt and tried to catch her breath.

The woman wiped her forehead with her arm and stretched her back afterwards, emitting a groan. "I - Out of shape.." She exhaled, getting more of a drink. She mumbled- And there was Michelle. Sarah pushed up her readout glasses into sweat-wet golden hair and gave the woman a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, girl! It figures I'd run into another CDN user on this jog, it seems we're the only people on this station."

She took another drink and focused blue eyes on the officer. "Oh- Who's your friend?"

Denalius wasn't the only asari using that particular railing. Compared to the newly minted C-Sec officer, she was a startling contrast, her clothing a black assortment of leathers that emphasized her physical attributes, her skin's pigmentation altered to a startling red, along with a myriad of tattoos that decorated her body.

The crimson asari took out a cigarette, lit the tip with a match, and proceeded to puff away, swiftly filling the air with smoke, utterly apathetic to other people's comfort, nor any regulations that might have frowned upon her actions.

She parted a glance at the pudgy human and the asari officer, sniffed the air with disdain, before continuing to puff away.

Michael Sullivan (Known as C-SecSullivan on the extranet) sighed as he began his patrol. First day back on his normal job. They informed him that he would continue to be the liaison to the Extranet, however he would be expected to resume his patrols. His job just kept on getting harder and harder. One would think that after two-years of service he would not have double duties. Currently he was checking his CDN account, and patrolling the Tatseryi Ward at the same time. An easy task once one got used to the whole 'watching for crime while checking the extranet' bit. Also, best of all, they didn't assign a new partner to him. He liked having a a partner, but something about limited personnel and large spaces to cover. He understood, but still, having a partner was a pleasant way to pass the time.

So far no trouble had popped up on his patrol, something he was grateful for. Not that he hated fighting crime. It was more the fact he liked that crime wasn't happening. Sure, it might make his job irrelevant if crime was zero percent, but the galaxy would be a better place for it. Strolling along, he noticed a few people standing around a rail, in the middle of which was a C-Sec uniform. Not recognizing the new face, Michael decided he should at least do the polite thing and introduce himself, especially if they were to work together.

He first scouted out all of the people there. First was the new C-Sec officer, Asari. Then there were two humans. One was overweight, the other was out of breathe. Seemingly having just gone on some form of exercise. The way she held herself was familiar though. Almost as though she was military (or had a military background). He would know, serving in the Alliance for ten years.

The last person (a Crimson Asari) he noticed was smoking. While there was no regulation preventing her from smoking, it was still an annoyance. He sent her a sharp look, only because he couldn't do anything about it. A weak response to someone who so clearly thought herself above them all, if the way her posture spoke, or the way she dismissively sniffed the air meant anything. He made a mental note to search for all Crimson Asari on the Citadel. His gut was telling him something about her was off. But his gut might be rusty from sitting out most of the past month.

He approached slowly, but with great confidence. He approached the Asari C-Sec Officer before clearing his throat. "New to Citadel Security Services?" He asked. Her whole posture screamed rookie. She was smiling. No true C-sec officer smiled that hopeful smile. At least, none that he knew of.

The crimson asari noted Sullivan's annoyance, before simply taking a long drag, and expelling the smoke from her nostrils, grinning like a dragon all the while. The leather clad asari leaned suggestively against the railing, sneering at C-Sec and civilian alike.

Maiha swallowed down her mouthful of pastry and nodded to the newly arrived human, "The station is quite beautiful. I'm not quite used to it yet." She deadpanned, "The lack of rubble helps too. I only arrived a couple of months ago from Thessia."

A second human. She half-turned, nodded in greeting, "Hello. I'm Officer Denalius, we were just admiring the view. How're you doing this morning?"

She eyed the crimson asari briefly but she said nothing. One, it wasn't against the law. Two, one thing she'd learnt over the years was that you had to pick your battles and she honestly didn't care enough to argue with the woman.

At the arrival of the other C-Sec officer (and third human), she nodded, smile turning wry, "That obvious? Officer Maiha Denalius, previously of the Serrice PD. Nice to meet you."

If she was a little bemused by the sudden influx of people, her face didn't show it. Still, it was a good idea to introduce herself, particularly to other C-Sec officers. The learning curve was steep here-learning the new laws as well as the customs of other species. The Serrice Police Department had been almost entirely asari due to the restrictions on aliens on Thessia, but they were a minority in C-Sec. A learning experience.

Oh right.

She belatedly stuck out a hand to shake.

"Better by the moment, Officer, welcome to the station. I'm Sarah, glasses here is Michelle, I'm not sure about the ice queen over there.." She jerked a thumb at the red Asari- Giving the woman a second take before re-focusing on the police officer. Sarah lifted her leg up and braced her foot on the bench, going to re-tie her shoe. "I'm just on an early jog."

She looked over her shoulder at the officer. It was that Sullivan guy- The new guy from CDN. "Are you fucking kidding.." She muttered to herself, checking her omnitool. "CDN freaks me out." She stated over to Michelle, with the plainest tone she could imagine. The woman plopped to a sit and ran her fingers through golden hair- Sticking it up slightly.

Michael grinned as he shook Denalius' (admittedly belated) hand. "Obviously not used to greeting humans, eh officer Denalius. By the way my name is Michael Sullivan. Technically I'm Officer Michael Sullivan, but such formalities are generally disregarded with members of the same rank. Since, you know, we are supposed to be working together. And it is quite obvious. No C-Sec officer with experience that I've ever met has that smile while in the uniform." He heard one of the women (Sarah if he heard correctly) mention CDN. He, however kept his mouth shut about the topic, instead turning to the two women with a smile on his face.

"And how are you two ladies enjoying your day? Any dangerous criminals that us two brave C-Sec officers need to know about before call the Spectres?" His face set into a teasing smirk. He had watched the Blasto movies on his down time, and found it interesting how poorly C-Sec was portrayed. Always incompetent (except Blastos partner, whoever it was) and/or corrupt (except Blasto's partner again.) Honestly is that what the galaxy thought of C-Sec? Guess that's why C-Sec needed a PR guy on their payroll.

"But in all seriousness, anything you two ladies have to report? Or just enjoying the fresh air?" His smirk had once again turned back into a laid-back smile. This is what made his day. Seeing the people who benefited from his work. It might not put a load of money in his proverbial wallet, but it did fill him with a nice warm feeling. Made his job feel..... Worthwhile.

Michelle smiled and waved at all the new people around.

"Good to see you Sarah! Hu, this is starting to become an impromptu CDN meeting. Well, I have enough pastries in my bag if you guys want some. I bought them " mostly "for the kids I work with, but I'll just get some on the way back."
"How about one, miss trying-just-a-bit-too-hard?", she asked with a playful smile to the red asari. "I have a bear claw here, it shouldn't cramp your style too much."

Michael bit his lip. Eating that pastry sounded like a really good idea. It also looked like a really good idea. But..... he wasn't technically supposed to eat something given to him by a relative stranger while on Patrol. Bad decisions were, as the boss man kept on telling Michael, left to offduty hours. While on duty Michael was to assess any situation and and go with the good decision. Though the Boss man hadn't specifically stated what constituted as a good or bad decision, Michael had assumed that the Boss meant risk=bad. Not risk=good. This was, in Michaels humble opinion, a risk. He didn't actually know the lady, despite the fact that they both used CDN. Michael used a thousand forums a day (or so it felt like). Was he supposed to believe that all the nice people on the extranet were actually nice people in real life?

Then again....... those pastries looked really delicious. He weighed the options in his mind. The chance of being poisoned by a stranger (either intentionally or accidentally) or satisfying the hunger that arose from seeing such a delicious pastry.

"I'll take one, if you don't mind." Michael said to Michelle. He then turned to Denalius.

"Rookie, this is a life lesson. The boss man says to make good rational decisions. My stomach is in agreement with him now. The rational decision here is to eat the pastry. After all, they might satisfy my hunger. Or on the other hand, if they are poisoned, then we are protecting the Citadel from falling prey to evil delicious looking pastries." His gaze then turned back to Michelle.

"No offense Ma'am. I'm sure that these pastries are perfectly normal, and not poisoned at all. I am merely demonstrating to a Rookie Officer what the standard procedure is in such situations." Michael neglected to point out that this was actually not standard procedure, but he really didn't care enough about standard procedure to turn down a delicious pastry. Added to the fact that Michelle seemed like a nice person, he didn't feel at much risk with such a decision.

"I'll be sure to work on the proper stoicism, Michael," Maiha said dryly, "Don't worry, I'm sure my natural cynicism will come out eventually." She half-turned her body to fully face the group, elbow resting against the railing. There were children playing below and their laughter drifted up to her.

She'd been a cop long enough to know her optimism probably wouldn't last once she spent enough time submerged in the darker undercurrents of the Citadel, but she'd decided to relish it, "You work with children?" She asked the human with the pastries, "Are you a teacher?"

She smirked at Sullivan's words, "Protecting the Citadel from pastries is a very solemn duty indeed." She held up her half-eaten pastry, "I'll have to pass. Looks delicious though."

"No, thank you. I've got to watch my figure." She planted her hands on her sides. "Anyway- Uh. Welcome to the Citadel, ma'am! I've got to finish this run." She gave a playful salute, then ran off into another jog down the road. Eventually, Sarah vanished into the crowd, pacing herself against a clock running inside of her head. She'd find the long and flat routes- And eventually, find her way back to her apartment complex.

"YOU'RE A FREAKING BIOTIC SARAH! YOU COULDN'T GAIN A GRAM BY EATING AN ELCOR", shouted Michelle at Sarah's back.
"Sorry", she said turning back to the others, "I love her but she keeps doing it, act like she's super concerned about her figure even though she's slim as hell. She just doesn't know what it's like to have to actually work to maintain her figure", she concluded before taking a huge bite on what is essentially a block of sugar.

"I can tell you that Sarah and I had the displeasure of several encounters with the local criminal element, and I'm afraid it never involved pastries.
And no I'm not a teacher. I'm the president of Leaving the Ducts, a local charity helping the duct rats get better lives. Maybe you've heard of us? Our mission statement kind of made us a target to some gangers who consider the kids as vital strategic resources. We mostly had troubles with the Lower Tayseri Elite, a bunch of punks who think they're special because they wear cheap suits, but really sell drugs and shake down business..."

Michael nodded as he gave Sarah a (somewhat embarrassingly long) glance as she ran off. Well, she seemed serious about keeping her figure in perfect shape. He didn't know why, but if he had to hazard a guess it was almost certainly she was either a) an exercise-aholic, b) trying to regain her shape after some sort of rapid weight gain, or c) she hated sweets, but was too polite to actually say so. Though her answer was a bit ruder. So probably not c. But he wasn't sure what she was worried about, she looked in perfectly good health to him, and there was nothing wrong with her figure...... No matter how bad that sounded in his head, he did not retract the statement. He was, after all a breathing human who could appreciate the beauty of a women's body, as long he didn't go overboard. He could name ten reasons why any relationship attempt would fail, with anyone. That and he was perfectly content with his life. Maybe in five years he'll be ready to settle down, but for now he was doing quite well thank you very much.

His attention was then caught by what Michelle said. At the mention of Tayseri Elite, his jaw visibly clenched as his eyes set in on Michelle. "I've heard of them. If I remember correctly the Tayseri Elite have been one step ahead for a while now. We've caught a few, but nothing near the amount the amount we want. Of course, anything else about our current cases is confidential, but rest assured we are doing all we can." Michael could remember the first time he heard that name. After all, they were his first case. He never did close that one. While his clearance rate was hovering at just above fifty-five percent, (meaning there were quite a few cases he didn't close out, though those tended to be petty theft with no witnesses) the first one always hurt the most.

Michael pushed the thoughts out of his head. He shouldn't dwell on such things. "Leaving the Ducts you say? I've heard of you guys. You definitely do some good work with the Duct Children. I'm glad someone is looking out for them. I mean I try, but right now I'm too busy as it is chasing down smugglers and investigating murders. Also I doubt guys with guns is the last thing these children need." Michael said, a hint of regret in his voice. But he left no explanation for anything he had just said.