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Th __is is Ga_ lac_tic News with the report that a batarian group has apparently decided to sue the Citadel Council. They claim the crackdown on the galactic slave trade is a violation of their culture and that slaves are an integral part of the batarian caste society.

Archer rolled his eyes as he eavesdropped on the newscast his batarian co-workers were listening to while he worked. Disgusted at their approval of the news as if it was only right that the Council should be getting sued over the matter.

They weren't even supposed to be sitting around doing nothing and listening to their omni-tools, but they had a strange habit of becoming extremely lazy whenever Archer had a shift on that space dock in Omega.

He had brought it up to his supervisor when he started working there two years prior when he left the Citadel with his partner Vask. But all that accomplished was an attempted beating by said group of batarians. Attempted, since Archer fought them off with one getting shot in the leg, and the other getting his back broken by the force of the biotic throw. He wasn't paralysed but wasn't able to continue working at the dock anymore. The rest ran off, spooked at biting off more than they could chew.

The group then threatened to get back at Archer for crippling their comrade but just so happened to run afoul of the Blood Pack when Archer had told Vask about the attempted beating after he got home to their shared apartment in the Gozu district. The group had since left him alone but would, more often than not, fall back into their laziness when they thought the human wasn't watching.

Archer attempted to pick up a large crate from a large freighter docked full of luxury goods by himself, trying to find the best way of picking the cumbersome box before giving up and lifting it with his biotics. He brought the crate down to the waiting area so it could be delivered to its final destination.

He quickly looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched. When he was sure he was in the clear he cracked open the crate to see what was inside. Inside were bottles of fine Thessian wine. He let out a soft whistle, Vask didn't like Asari food and drink and Archer wasn't much of a drinker (a biotic getting drunk tended to cause property damage) but an occasional glass of it with dinner seemed like a nice way to spend a night.

He reached in to take a bottle for himself but then noticed on the side of the crate the wine's final destination; Afterlife. His stomach dropped and he immediately sealed the crate back up and returned to work. He may have been able to get back to his old habit of skimming things from shipments that came through spacedocks he worked at since he left the Citadel, but he got a crash course on Omega's one rule soon after he and Vask arrived on the station when a group of salarians were strung up, still alive, for just trying to scam some credits out of the Asari gang leader. He didn't want to risk outright stealing from her.

He returned to the freight and the rest of the crates to see the group of batarians still looking at their omni-tools. He gave out a loud whistle to get their attention, “Get off your arses! I'm not doing your work for you."

The batarians glowered at him but most returned to work, with a couple lingering, one even slowly reached behind him but stopped and joined his comrades when Archer enveloped a hand in a mass effect field and put another on the M-3 Predator on his hip.

He had bought the heavy pistol at Vask's insistence after they settled in Omega to replace the Striker I he had broken during the Battle of the Citadel. Vask tried to get him to buy the more expensive M-5 Phalanx but relented when Archer pointed out the cheaper price and longer lasting thermal clips of the Predator.

Archer relaxed after the group all returned to work and started offloading more crates, noting with annoyance that they were all destined for Afterlife. He shrugged, thinking it was for the best. His stash was starting to get a bit large and decided it was time to bring it back home.

He finished his work with no more snags from his lazy co-workers and clocked out, and took a small detour into a small, cramped alley. He made sure he wasn't being watched and looked for a part of a wall with a series of patterned scratches gouged into the panelling. After finding it, he encased it in a mass effect field and slowly pried it from the wall to reveal a small alcove full of goods he pinched from work over the past month.

He quickly stashed the goods in a bag, a jar of honey from an Ardat-Yakshi monastery, a bottle of high proof liquor that he guessed Vask would like, a case of thermal clips that he knew Vask would like given the amount of work he'd been doing since the pair moved to Omega, and assorted tech that Archer would be able to sell for a good amount of additional credits. He quickly set the panel back in its place, slung the bag on his shoulder and left the alleyway.

Exiting the alleyway he made his way into the main walkway, walking near a railing and watching the cars fly by and down into the abyss below.

Archer was walking along, thinking of where best to sell the tech to. There was a small scrap yard in the marketplace near his apartment's district run by a nice quarian that would probably buy it off of him.

He was too distracted thinking about the scrap that he didn't notice an orange skinned batarian walk up to him and ask, “What's in the bag, human?"

Archer kept walking but gripped the bag on his shoulder, “None of your business."

“There's been a lot of muggings in the area lately," said the batarian. “You wouldn't want that to happen to you."

Archer stopped and turned to face the four-eyed alien, “And what, walnut? You're offering to 'bodyguard' me?"

The batarian shrugged, a hand by the pistol on his hip, “For a cut of whatever's in your bag."

That was all Archer needed to hear. He quickly flicked his hand up, floating the alien into the air and launched him over the railing, screaming.

Archer looked over the railing to see the batarian crash onto the floor of a walkway on the other side of the abyss. He let out a breath of relief when the alien slowly shifted on the ground. He didn't like batarians but that didn't mean he wanted to kill them.

He walked away from the railing; the small crowd that stopped to see him throw the batarian had already dispersed. Such a display of casual violence being commonplace in the lawless station. Eventually he came within sight of his destination: Afterlife. The club that he met up with Vask at every so often after work.

He walked past the line waiting out the door, and past the elcor bouncer who was holding up a human who was trying, and failing, to convince the bouncer that he was being expected by Aria. He entered the club, cringing at the loud techno music, and bee-lined straight for the bar where a familiar krogan sat.

Archer sat next to Vask, who was wearing the familiar red armour with white skull and fist logo of the Blood Pack. He asked, “How was work?"

“Fine," Vask said.

Archer sat in his stool looking at the krogan and waited for more before he realised that he wasn't going to get told any more. He let out a frustrated sigh. Ever since they moved to Omega and Vask joined the Blood Pack two years prior, Vask never showed him any sort of affection in public. His patience was starting to run out.

He unslung the bag from his shoulder and set it on the bar, pulling out the case of thermal clips and bottle of liquor. “I got these from work."

Vask grabbed them without a word and slid them over to himself. He downed the last of his drink and opened the liquor, pouring himself a glass.

“Hey!" Yelled the bartender, “You can't bring your own dri-“

Vask silenced the bartender by setting his shotgun next to the bottle. A gift from his clanmate in the Blood Pack as a welcome gift and to replace his old Avalanche after the galaxy switched to thermal clips. Archer still didn't understand guns, being barely able to properly maintain his own pistol and only knowing the names of the more common guns, but he remembered the shotgun being called an Eviserator. It made Archer uncomfortable, since the gun was apparently banned everywhere but the Terminus systems.

“A thanks would be appreciated," Archer said, annoyed in which Vask replied with only a grunt of acknowledgement.

“I'll see you back home," Archer said and angrily grabbed his bag, slinging it back over his shoulder and storming out of the club

***

Archer dumped the bag on the kitchen counter of his and Vask's shared apartment in the Gozu district. He didn't know why they settled in a mainly Blue Suns controlled district when Vask worked for the Blood Pack. He would've guessed that the Blue Suns wouldn't take kindly to a Blood Pack member living in their district but there hadn't been any specific, significant trouble about their choice of living. Just the occasional border struggle but he was told that it happened on every border and that districts changed hands all the time.

If Archer were to be honest, he preferred having the Blue Suns in control, even if it was just because the Blood Pack would be worse. The worst the Blue Suns did was having protection rackets, but the Blood Pack were brutal, and even sadistic. Especially whenever vorcha were involved.

Archer shuddered at the thought of some of the work that Vask may have done for the Blood Pack. The krogan acted so differently at home than he did with the Blood Pack, almost seeming uninterested in the mercenary group. But would balk at the suggestion of leaving for another group or doing freelance like he did back on the Citadel.

Archer rummaged through his bag until he found the jar of expensive honey he had pilfered and set it on the counter next his bowl of decorative fruit, the only belongings of his that weren't clothing that he was able to scavenge from his apartment back on the Citadel. Anything else of value was looted or destroyed.

The front door slid open and Archer heard the tell-tale gait of Vask strolling into the apartment.

“Thanks for the liquor and clips," Vask said as he sat down on their couch.

“Little late for that," Archer said, angrily zipping up the bag and stowing it away out of sight of any possible burglars.

“You said you wanted a 'thanks'," Vask said.

“When I gave them to you in the bar," snapped Archer, turning away from the kitchen and glaring at the seated krogan.

“I was busy."

Archer threw his hands up, “Doing what? All you were doing was drinking."

Vask slapped his armoured chest, “When I wear this armour, everything I do represents the Blood Pack. So, I'm busy every time I wear it."

“You can't take a couple seconds to say 'thanks'?" Archer asked, walking towards the krogan, “Hell, or even give a hug or kiss on the cheek to your boyfriend?"

Vask flinched.

Archer froze, his stomach sinking, “Why'd you flinch when I said that?"

“I didn't-“ Vask started to say before Archer cut him off.

“No, you flinched when I said 'boyfriend'."

Vask flinched again.

“You don't see me as your boyfriend." Archer said, backing away.

Vask quickly stood up and ran up to Archer, gently grabbing and holding the human's arms. “No, no. I do."

He tried to hug Archer but the human squirmed out of his grip and backed off again, bumping into the kitchen counter, “Then why don't you act like it?"

“I do," Vask said softly, reaching out to Archer who slapped his hands away.

“You do here," Archer said gesturing to the apartment, “Here, at home."

“Then why are you upset?" Vask asked.

“Because it's only here!" Archer yelled. “You never act like this with me anywhere else. Not at Afterlife. Not at work. Hell, you acted more like one back on the Citadel."

“I got the batarians at your work off your back after they tried to assault you." Growled Vask, getting annoyed at the human's insistence on arguing.

“They just think I hired the Blood Pack to scare them off." Archer said, “They don't know they tried to beat up a member's boyfriend."

Vask flinched again.

Archer let out a yell and tried to storm away but Vask grabbed his wrist.

Archer wrenched his arm from the krogan's grip, and yelled at him, “Why is it so hard for you to call me your boyfriend?"

“Because…" Vask said before trailing off shuffling.

Archer was having none of it and angrily asked, “Because what? Because what?!"

“I'm not gay!" Vask yelled back.

Archer took a step back, taken aback, opening and closing his mouth, trying to say something before settling for a simple, and extremely confused, “What?"

“I'm not gay," insisted Vask.

Archer stared at the krogan for several moments, baffled. He eventually shook his head, “Two years together and you're still in denial?"

“I'm not in denial," growled Vask.

“That's bullshit," Archer snapped, “In all the time I've known you, you've never shown any interest in females. Hell, you don't even show any interest in Asari."

“That's cause I've been with you," replied Vask.

“So, I am your boyfriend," stated Archer.

Vask flinched again, and Archer clenched his fists at the krogan's reaction, mass effect fields flickering around them.

“What is your problem with that word?" Archer angrily asked. “Aren't gay people accepted in krogan culture?"

“No, they don't care."

“Then what's your fucking problem?" Archer yelled, throwing his arms. Mass effect fields pulsing along his arms. “Because even if you were bi, that doesn't explain why you hate the word 'boyfriend'. Bi people are more than capable of having them too."

“Cause I'm not any of them," Vask yelled back.

Archer screamed in frustration and pointed at the door. “Get out! Fuck off until you can come up with a different bloody excuse."

Vask stormed out, slamming the sliding door behind him. Archer stomped over to the couch and slammed down onto it, letting out a wail of anger and frustration, and sending cushions flying with a biotic blast as he screamed out.