[closed] sorry bout it

[squadgoals]

Who: Commander Shepard squadgoals and Zam backsassin
When: April 30th
Where: The bar!
What: Shepard apologizes for being a bitch, Zam tells her not to, they both drink.
Warnings: Alcohol in copious quantities, if we play our cards right.



[True to her word, Shepard shows up the following evening, and slides into a seat near the end of the bar. If they're going to sit and chat, it's better to be at the lower traffic end of things. She shoots a quick text to Zam to confirm her arrival, and waves down the on-duty staff for a drink.

When Zam does arrive, Shep gives a quick wave, a whisky on the rocks already half-empty on a coaster in front of her. She pats the seat next to her congenially.]

Hey. Hope you weren't waiting too long. [She reaches out her hand to shake Zam's] Let's try this again. Nice to meet you, Zam.

Comments

[squadgoals]

Never thought I'd say it, but I'd take too many politicians over the Reapers any day.

[In her mind's eye, Shep pictures the scene, political backstabbing, doublecrossing, and idiot decisions finally setting alight a tense powderkeg of galactic strife. And a clone army? It was bad enough just having one. On the other hand, as long as none of Zam's threats were attempting to extinguish every sentient race that could do long division, it was still a preferable situation.

At the pause, she looks up, examining Zam's face, frowning, and shaking her head.]

She's not my sister. She's... me.

[Was it ever going to stop being weird? She guessed not.]

Alternate universe me.

[backsassin]

Can’t believe it either, but I would too. [War was just apart of life when Zam was growing up. Not that she wasn’t glad to get away from it, but if it were galaxy-wide, she could cope. A race of ancient machines bent on wiping out organic life? That wouldn’t be so easy to endure.

Shep’s answer about her “sister” gets a surprised blink.] Ah. Well. That explains it. [Strange. There had seemed something more to it than that. But Zam supposes that explanation serves as well.]

I have to say, she doesn’t really act like you. At all.

[squadgoals]

[Picking up her drink, she turns it in her hand for a moment, before taking a drink. Strong. It wasn't a chugger, but it was guaranteed to go far.]

Well, we had pretty different upbringings, apparently. I'm just some military brat, and she... [Was there a way to put it more delicately?] her family was part of a human colonizing effort on a planet that another species, the Batarians, took umbrage to.

[She takes another drink, a little longer this time.]

The whole place was wiped out by Batarian slavers. She was rescued by an Alliance military response team.

[backsassin]

That… also explains a lot. [Zam grimaces and takes a drink. Sounds like nasty business.]

She didn’t seem to have too much trust in the non-humans on the crew. Took issue with my habit of taking different faces. [She flashes Shepard a small smile.] Which you seem to be politely avoiding mentioning at all.

[Not that it bothers Zam. She’s seen some of the worst responses imaginable to her abilities and neither Shepards’ even come close.]

[squadgoals]

[Shep's eyebrows jump up at the call-out, before settling down into a amused expression. Caught.]

Hey, I was just waiting for the right time to segue it into the conversation. Didn't want to be one of those humans — you know, the "hey, look at that weird alien!" type.

[backsassin]

[Zam chuckles.] Don’t worry, whatever you would have ended up saying, I’ve almost definitely have heard worse. [Not counting Shepard’s alternate universe twin, the crew at large has been surprisingly tolerant of Zam’s abilities. She hasn’t heard one whisper of “two-faced” since she got here.]

I’m a changeling. Definition’s probably obvious by now, right?

[squadgoals]

Ha, definitely. Sort of self-explanatory at this point. Also, sort of really cool.

[beat;]

Would it be weird if I asked you questions about it, or is that too much for now?

[backsassin]

Why thank you, [Zam says, with a slight giggle into her drink. Yes, the reactions she gets to her abilities here are definitely very different to the one’s she’s used to at home.]

Depends on the questions. [Despite what people may assume, Zam’s pretty difficult to offend. They just don’t like to completely show their hand if they can help it.] How about this: I don’t mind you asking questions if you don’t mind me maybe not answering some of them. [A crooked smile.] Or not answering them truthfully. Sound fair?

[squadgoals]

I think that's the deal most people give me when I ask questions. Deal.

[She takes a sip of her drink, and hums softly.] Okay, this is what I'm really curious about: humanoid-only, or any form you choose?

[backsassin]

Probably. I’m just being especially nice by actually stating the terms out loud. [And now that the daranu is starting to kick in, Shepard might get especially honest or especially dishonest answers depending on Zam’s already capricious whims.]

Any form I choose. [Partially dishonest answer number one, motivated mostly by Zam’s desire to brag.] Humanoids are the easiest though. Usually don’t even have to push any organs or bones around to get it right.

No animals though. [She wrinkles her nose.] Not if you paid me a million credits.

MID-HIATUS TAG, FEEL FREE TO DROP!

[squadgoals]

[There's a nod as she listens, and an arched eyebrow at the animals, alongside a small smile.]

Why not? Smell, behavior, risk?

[backsassin]

Simple reason: I’m not an animal. [And she won’t pretend otherwise, for any price.]

[squadgoals]

Fair enough. [There's a finality in Zam's tone, but (and maybe it's just the drink) she can't help but ask a follow-up.]

What about animal-esque biped sentient species?

[backsassin]

[Zam wrinkles her nose. That sure is a lot of big words from one mildly intoxicated person to another.]

Mm. If they’re sentient, what’s so animal-esque about them?

[squadgoals]

Uh... [Good point.] They share several key features with non-sentient animal species, like ears and muzzle, but they... live with other humanoids?

[She takes a lengthy drink.]

I guess it'd be case by case, right?