We're going to need a bigger boot.

There was one thing you could always rely on, on the Citadel: life went on, even when invaders had stomped through it just hours ago, whether they be geth or Cerberus. They were still brushing up glass shards and blocking out bullet holes by moving planters around, here at the High Light, but the bar was open.

It wasn't as full as it would've been any other night, but there were still people coming in. Kaidan had to admire the guts of the Citadel's population, if nothing else.

The air was different, though. Until today, the locals had more or less assumed the Reaper War was something to be fought elsewhere, on different planets, well away from their safe haven. They had worried about family and friends back on their home planets, but they had thought themselves safe here.

That had changed. Kaidan could tell as much.

"This place isn't going to be the same," he said to Allie as he sank into a booth.

He wasn't sure whether he was going to be the same. He'd put a bullet in Udina's chest. That was gonna hang over him for a while.

[[ for allie. ]]

Kaidan shook his head, echoing wry smile still on his face. "Allie? Watch those big doors down there. Dean? You think you can convince the guys on the other side of the com-- walkie talkie that we're some of theirs, the evil Alliance types are dead and we want across?"

( Playing with walkie-talkies... )

[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, continued from here; violence to a PC under the cut. taken from the mass effect 3 mission 'Priority: Mars'. ]]

The weather wasn't too bad in Vancouver this time of year. A lot of rain, sure, but also decent temperatures. Kaidan had been staying places too classified to mention for too long; the breeze alone had put him in a good mood. Though... that might've also been the part where resurfacing like this meant he had a one-shot chance to talk to some old friends.

... No, not that friend. The friend - if Kaidan could call him that - currently incarcerated nearby... yeah, he wasn't sure he knew how to handle that. Especially not after that stunt with that Batarian colony recently-- damn, that one.

But he wasn't here for that, anyway. He was here to brief the Admiralty about the Reapers - which he'd just done. They'd been getting strange readings not too far from Earth itself. Well out in the outer rim, but enough to make everyone a little nervous. Even Kaidan, if he was going to be entirely honest. Just... not nervous enough that he didn't want the slight indulgence of seeing his friends.

He pushed through the door leading out of the Admiralty offices, his eyes immediately searching for three distinct faces among the crowd.

( Will something go wrong? Of course. )

[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay! preplayed with the magnificent 6buckstohisname, bitten_notshy and allie_vamp; taken and adapted from mass effect 3. helloooo, canon train. or rather, canon trauma conga line. ]]

The sun was coming down.

Kaidan shut the door to the basement quickly. He didn't want to attract any attention to their current position. He'd slept for a few hours in the early morning, but that was all he'd allowed himself. His nerves were tight with sleep deprivation now, but that was okay. He was used to worse.

He turned around and glanced over his shoulder, checking the corners. Allie on the left, Jackal on the right. Both of them seemed fine. At least, he thought they did. Vampires slept like the dead, who'd have known? He ran his fingers through his hair, yanking his hand away as soon as the static electricity nipped at his fingertips. "Okay," he muttered. It was dusk now. He could probably wake them up without running into any trouble.

He still didn't get too close; he didn't know what kind of reflexes they'd gotten ingrained in their heads. A couple of paces away, that seemed about right. "Allie? It's, uh, mor-- I mean, night. Wake up."

( Rise and Shine...Or Maybe Not )

( Looking for cannabilistic mole men. What could go wrong? )

Okay, it wasn't that Kaidan didn't like seeing Anderson again. Because he did. The man had been a huge part of their story, and yet they hadn't spoken since Anderson helped them mutiny and break the Normandy out of dry dock - yeah, way too long. He just hadn't expected it'd wind up being a four hour meeting where the minutiae of an extremely boring mission were driven into the ground over and over again.

Which wasn't Anderson's fault; it was the salarian Councillor's. But, well.

It meant Kaidan was late.

He rushed through the lower streets of Portalocity's strip, dodging asari and turians and even a keeper or two, because of course because of the hush-hush nature of the portal system, there wasn't a skycar pad nearby. Sigh. Sigh.

He just hoped Allie and Jack hadn't gotten bored. Or wandered off. ...Well, okay, they probably weren't going to be going out picking fights with krogan, but... bored. Bored would be bad already. He didn't have enough friends to afford boring these... ones. It made sense in his head, okay?

( In which nobody is bored, exactly... )

[[ because when canon gives me 'undocumented Kaidan adventure involving whiskey, credits, and vorcha', I lose my mind and do something with it. Much love for allie_vamp and bitten_notshy for putting up with me making stuff up on every level possible. nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, and tbc! ]]