A Restaurant On The Presidium, the Citadel, Thursday

[not_a_whiner]

... Yep, that email had definitely been something Kaidan had sent. Maybe it'd been a bad idea. Maybe he should just keep it casual. Maybe...

... maybe he could really use the distraction of having Allie and Jack over today. He waited for them at a restaurant opposite the local Portalocity office, one of the few across the galaxy that still took traffic. Reapers were making it harder and harder, these days. He fiddled with his datapad the entire time, told the waiter he was fine twice, then finally ordered a cup of coffee.

Okay, so he was early. It was gonna be a day.

[[ for allie and jack! ]]

Comments

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

A good day, if the uncharacteristically exuberant vampire striding through the door had anything to say about it.

"Hey stranger," Allie grinned. "Long time no see."

[bitten_notshy]

If Jack was sightly less ebullient, it was only because Portalocity had lost his luggage.

"Honestly," Jack said, flopping into a seat. "You'd think the far future would be able to send my bag to the same place where it sent me. And is that tea?"

Even if Jack wasn't English by birth, he was still culturally British enough to firmly believe in the healing powers of a good cuppa.

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan waved at them both, only slightly self-conscious. "I've got coffee, actually," he said, "But they've got human teas here. Still. They must've had quite a store."

He waved at the waitress - an asari - who made her way over.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine. Nothing for me," Allie told the waitress. "But bring him tea. It's the answer to everything."

Yes, she'd seen the internet meme.

[bitten_notshy]

"Always and forever," Jack acknowledged, and quickly placed his order before turning back to Kaidan. "No, but the place really is in pretty good shape for what it's been through."

[not_a_whiner]

"They cleaned it up," Kaidan said wryly. "The salarians are especially efficient at uh, coming up with ways to do that. Especially on the Presidium. It's still smoking some places, though."

He glanced around. He could still remember where the scorch marks used to be.

"And then you hit the refugee quarters... it's all flooding in."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I guess people, no matter what species, are pretty efficient when it comes to making money. " Allie remembered similar efficiency back in the Fringe. "At least they're surviving.*

[bitten_notshy]

Jack nodded. "How are the refugees doing, though?" he asked. "Things can't be easy for them."

[not_a_whiner]

"Surviving," Kaidan said, with a wry look in Allie's direction. "Most of them live in emergency housing, shipping containers... and more and more of them are coming in with only half a family in tow, if that."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Any end in sight?" Allie asked. "Or is it still pretty uncertain?"

[bitten_notshy]

"It's early days, isn't it?" Jack said, though the tightness around his eyes showed he was far from upbeat.

[not_a_whiner]

"We're working on something," Kaidan said. He put his elbows down on the table. "I think it might work. But... when it's going to be done? That's at least partly up to us." Beat. "The Normandy crew, I mean."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. "The Normandy to the rescue. Sounds like it'll be in good hands then."