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[Cknarf]

"We did not exchange contact information." Kurik shook his head. 

 

Perhaps I should have...

 

He motioned for the datapad, and Arcadia handed back it to him.

 

"I should return this. I will be inside shortly."

[TheMajonese]

When the asari and the krogan spotted her Naomi realized that it was pointless to act as if she hadn't watched them. Instead she moved over to them. "I'm sorry to bother you", she said with a sheepish smile, "but I'm not feeling so good. I think I need a break." While pointing at the bandages around her arm she added: "I had an accident a few days ago but I didn't want to miss the concert so I came anyway." Naomi was terrible at acting but the loud music helped to hide any suspicious tone of her voice and at least her headaches were real.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya had been scanning the audience with her binoculars and spotted Naomi.

 

She called Cadi over her comm. "I've spotted Naomi. She's with the asari and a krogan. I'm on the balcony. If anyone is going to make a move, now is the time. Did anyone bother to wear an earpiece besides me?"

[Kel Riever]

"I read you, Darya," Arcadia answered, "But I am getting interference from the concert.  They may not have the gear in the version of a discreet earpiece and foregone helmets for the obvious reasons.  If you have to get to Naomi, go ahead.  Or if you prefer, maintaining a view of events from above is useful as well.  We're on our way in from the outside, the rest of us, thanks to Menos and Kurik.  We'll be there shortly."

[J.Ezra]

Juric looked down at the human with a slightly sceptical look. He found it odd that she would come to them but turning away fans wasn't good for the bands name. Turning his head he looked at Tomela who shrugged and came closer to the edge and knelt  down so she could speak clearly to the strange woman. "Come round the side and we'll try and find something to make you feel better." Tomela smiled as she said this, gesturing to the side door set into the far right hand side of the stage. Juric moved across towards the door, disappearing out of sight briefly before carefully opening the side door and signalling for Naomi to join him quickly. He ushered her through the gap before any of the other members of audience noticed.

 

"So, what's your name?" He asked, looking down at the women with questioning eyes.

[TheMajonese]

"Me...? Michelle..." For a second Naomi felt a sharp pain in her chest when she used her mother's name as cover but it was the first that had come to her mind. For now she thought it was better to not tell that krogan her real name. "I just need a second, thanks..."

 

She looked up to the krogan and pondered on her chance to get any information out of him. That asari alone would have been no problem for her but her plan hadn't been to end up alone with a krogan. "Hey...ehm...may I ask you something?", she tried innocently, "Who is that asari with the riding suit?"

 

 

 

It was uncommon to see Chris in a bad mood but after Darya's report he let out an angry snort. He had to admit that Naomi actually did better than he had thought but Chris knew that his sister would taunt him about it for the next few days if not weeks. Besides he had lost the bet which meant even more trouble for him.

[Cknarf]

"My information is stored on your device." Kurik looked down at the datapad, then back up at its owner, as he handed it over. "Should you wish to provide me with your--"

 

"I've spotted Naomi. She's with the asari and a krogan. I'm on the balcony. If anyone is going to make a move--"

 

Kurik quickly slapped at his omni-tool.

 

"Apologies."

 

He cleared his throat.

 

"Contact me if you wish to remain 'in touch'." He nodded. "I may have questions for you at a later date, but now, I must return to my... friends."

 

Without even waiting for a response, Kurik turned around and began heading for the entrance.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Menos stepped in through the door with the others, the security not needing much other then to see their tickets and a curious look to the three to let them pass. And when they stepped through, the muffled songs that could be heard outside in the background exploded into full volume, and they hadn't even gotten to the room they were playing in yet.

 

"If there's not a lot of people around, I could activate my cloak and sneak on up to our asari friend. She'd never see me coming." Menos said as they entered the hall, and saw the mass of people there were standing shoulder to shoulder in the hall, jumping and screaming with the music. Menos took one look around the area before he turned to Arcadia, ears already starting to ring, "That stuff I said earlier? Not gonna work...like at all!" Menos said loudly next to his two companions, which meant he could just barely be heard over the thunderous sound of banging drums and shredding guitar.

 

"We gotta find Naomi. Either back her up, or make sure whoever she's with doesn't slip away..." Menos said, more softly since the music seemed to reach a natural lull going into a more drawn out solo by the krogan on stage.

[J.Ezra]

"You mean Tolema? She's the art director, and no, I don't know what that means either" he let out a small chuckle, not seeming to care if Naomi found it funny or not.  "She's nice enough when you know her". Juric glanced at the bandages wrapped around Naomi's arm. "I'll try and find something to help. What happened anyway?"

[TheMajonese]

Tolema, art director of the Seirenes... It was hard for Naomi to hide the feeling of triumph that she got after hearing this. The only problem was to tell the others what she just found out while being here with the krogan.

 

"That one? Ehm...it was just a skycar accident, actually nothing big but I ended up being on fire...or at least my arm did..." Naomi raised the bandaged arm and gave a strained smile. I will probably visist a drama school after this... Lying was one thing but acting like she was somebody else just felt wrong and she looked forward to when this was over.

[J.Ezra]

A look of surprise crossed Juric's face at this. "On fire? That's not something most people just brush off in conversation." he smiled down at Michelle before asking "You a big fan then? Seen them perform before or this the first time?" 

[TheMajonese]

"It's actually my first time", Naomi said. "It was really hard to get tickets for the show so I didn't want to miss it...despite the accident..." Waving her left arm she added: "Maybe I should have stayed at home and get some rest." While she tried to appear naive Naomi slowly grew impatient. Talking wasn't her strength.

 

"To be honest I didn't know Tolema was with the band", she started an attempt to change the topic of this conversation. "She looks really cool in that riding suit. I assume she has a bike, doesn't she?"

[Kel Riever]

Tolema had watched Juric and the young woman with the dyed hair disappear behind the door heading to backstage.  She didn't follow right away, but her suspicions were growing.  Not that Juric couldn't handle her, that wasn't the issue.  It was more that she wanted to find out.  The first aid station was just beyond the door, so Tolema didn't think they'd gone far.  A quick check, then back to the stage to catch Aoide at the show's end.

With a push off the wall, Tolema headed to the nearby door and pushed through.  She saw Juric talking to the woman.  With a friendly smile, and a bit of sarcasm in her voice, she asked, "Hey, how is the bravest member of the audience doing?  This whole bandage think isn't a ploy to get back stage, is it?"

Tolema went past the two a bit, where an alcove opened up.  There was a lot of mess on the table, extra (actually faulty) ticket data pads, several instrument repair tools and materials (guitar strings a-plenty), Isis' spare white widow V-neck guitar, and of course the stadium marked first aid kit, which was fairly large.  Tolema popped open the lid and saw it was in full supply.  The kit even had a medigel applicator which Tolema pulled out.  "This is free as far as we're concerned, so might as well make the most of it."  She gave Juric the applicator.

With a short laugh, Tolema then said to the woman, "This whole little thing reminds me of the song they just played at the end of the last set.  Aiode loves shouting out the name, too.  Sometimes I wonder if it's just coincidence, you know what I mean?  What song I'm talking about?"

[J.Ezra]

Juric gave Tolema a friendly nod as she joined them backstage. He watched as she headed over to the first aid box and grabbed some medi-gel, handing it to him as she walked back. "Come here" he said addressing Michelle, indicating for her to give him her arm. "Some times I wonder if it's just coincidence, you know what I mean? What song I'm talking about?"  Juric looked at Tolema as she said this, it seemed an odd question as you would have to be deaf not the hear Aiode over the top(in his opinion) singing.

[TheMajonese]

When Tolema asked for the name of a song Naomi realized that a wrong answer would blow her cover and she had no idea how the song's name was that the asari was referring to. While looking out for Tolema Naomi had other things in mind than listening to the music. Ignoring Juric she slowly moved into a better position to use her biotics if necessary and focused Tolema. She didn't plan on starting a fight, it would be stupid, but Naomi had no idea how the asari was going to react if she couldn't answer Tolema's question and she wanted to be prepared for anything. Her brother would have been able to easily handle a situation like this but she couldn't. And where the hell is he now?

 

"Ehm..." For a second Naomi tried to recall the lyrics of any of the songs she had heard so far. The only thing she could do was guessing. "Do you mean Everything is so easy...?"

 

 

 

"Darya, where did you see my sister?", Chris contacted her while making his way through the crowd. He had no idea how he was supposed to find Naomi or an asari between all those people and hoped that Darya could tell him exactly where they were.

[Cknarf]

Balcony...

 

Kurik stopped near the edge of the crowd, and looked up to the balcony that Darya had mentioned, to get a rough idea of where he should be heading. Instead of skirting the sea of people, he decided to take a more direct route, carving a path straight through the middle.

[Kel Riever]

The last Seirenes song ended with a crescendo and blasting white lights.  The lead singer shouted, "Thank you," as the band threw up fists and bowed, eliciting a wild roar from the crowd.  For the moment, it was impossible to get anywhere or see much of anything between the lights and the jumping audience.  There was a quick exit from the stage by the band, with the assistance of their roadies.  Last to leave was the drummer who threw his sticks towards the fans.  Almost immediately, the crowd was chanting, "More! More! More!"

Back behind the door, it was clear that the band had wrapped their regular show.  Tolema's eyes seemed to recede from Naomi and she pulled away after handing Juric the medigel.  "No, magic princess¹," Tolema said, "That wasn't the song I was referring to."

Suddenly, the door slammed open with a bang.  Naomi recognized the lead singer from the stage.  She looked fierce and elated, and was followed by the band.  The lead singer growled huskily, "Where's my addiction?!"  Then she strode towards Tolema and embraced her.

Tolema answered by throwing her arms back around the shoulders of the singer, and the two kissed in unashamed lust.  "Aoide," Tolema said, when she had the chance to catch her breath.

"Juric, I swear I can't believe you are back here," Aoide pretended to chide, "There are animals out there ready to tear us apart!"

The guitarist with the black hair and pigtails pushed past everyone, grabbing the V-Neck guitar and fishing through piles on the table until she found a set of spare sticks to toss to the drummer.  "Who's this?" the guitarist asked of Naomi."

"Juric's new friend," Tolema said, "Says she wasn't feeling well but she's on her..."

"The void with that," Aoide said, taking interest in Naomi.  "What did you do to yourself, dance with a krogan?"

The krogan from the stage had stayed near the door.  "Doubt it.  She looks like she'd die if she did that."

"Never mind Kogo," Aoide said, "Nobody gets busted up at my show without having something to say about it.  Stick around, green eyes, until after the encore so I know you're all right.  Got it?"

Tolema seemed about to protest, "She'll be fine..."

Aoide interrupted her with another deep kiss, then said, "You get to say nothing about it since I hear we had to switch hotel suites tonight."

"I..."

"Tolema!"  Aoide laughed raucously.  "I'm playing with you!  Except for the part about green eyes.  She stays like I said, and whatever friends she came with."

"Come on," the guitarist barked, "These people will tear the place the f**k down if we don't get out there and give them their song."

Kogo was already out the door and the crowd blew up screaming as they saw him.  He roared, "Let's do it!"

Aoide patted Juric on the shoulder as she headed out.  "Good job tonight, big guy."

After the band left, Tolema looked regretful.  She asked Naomi, "You came alone, right?"

¹ Calling Naomi 'magic princess' is like calling Naomi, 'sister', or 'girl'.  Basically my author's liberty to make some slang stuff up an asari would use.

[TheMajonese]

For Naomi it felt as if the appearance of the band, especially of the lead singer Aoide, had saved her some trouble.

 

"Well..." She scratched the back of her head and turned to Tolema. "I actually met some of my colleagues outside the hall but as far as I know they didn't got any tickets." 

[J.Ezra]

"Well then. Looks like you'll be around for a little longer." Juric looked at Tomela as he said this. He had noticed her vain attempts to try and convince Aoide to get rid of Michelle but still wasn't sure why. The human seemed ok and he didn't think she was just back here for the band. "You say you got friends who didn't get in? We can go get them if you want."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya got on her communicator again. "Naomi disappeared backstage with the asari."

[Cknarf]

Kurik managed to shoulder his way through to what appeared to be a clearing in the crowd. Things had calmed down slightly since the band had finished their final bit.

 

"Spirits..." He sighed, covering his face as the krogan appeared on stage, causing the crowd to explode once more.

 

Someone noticed his less than excited reaction to the encore, and took it upon themselves to correct it.

 

"Yo!"

 

As Kurik looked up, something cold and wet hit his face. His arm launched forward, and seized the human by the collar, lifting him slightly off the ground. "What did you... what did you just..." He coughed, as he began to feel the burn in his eyes.

 

The human just grinned, as the disoriented turian finally set him down.  He leaned in close.

 

"Good luck, buddy."

 

He slapped him on the back, and disappeared into the crowd.

 

Activity in the clearing had picked up as the band resumed playing. Kurik, his vision starting to blur, staggered on, clumsily pushing back into the group of rowdy fans that were now throwing themselves around.

[TheMajonese]

The band got back on the stage for an encore and the crowd exploded once more making it hard to get through it. Pushing his way to get near the stage Chris realized that had lost Arcadia, Menos and Kurik but for now he was more interested in finding his sister. He was really curious to hear how and why got backstage and if she did find out anything.

 

 

 

After thinking a second Naomi nodded slowly. "Yes...", she said with a look over to Tolema. "That would be great." After finding out who the asari biker was Naomi was confident that the stormhammer team would easily track her down even if they weren't able to catch her here. And for now Naomi was in no position to start an attempt on her own so it was better to leave. Before moving to get outside the backstage area she checked the room for any other exit. "Thanks for the help, I'm really feeling better now", she said to Tolema before going back into the concert hall.

[J.Ezra]

Juric followed Michelle as she went to the door. "Drop by after the encore with your friends. Aoide's taken a liking to you. Just try and be subtle about it, everyone of the people out there would give a lot to meet the band in person."  With a friendly nod he turn on his heel and headed back to where Tolema waited.

 

"You don't appear thrilled at the idea of the human coming back then?" Asked Juric as he took a seat across from her. "Aoide seemed to like her." he continued innocently. "Perhaps some would say you might even be...jealous" he laughed at this, for even he could see how ridiculous the statement was. All sense of suspicion had left him when the woman had gone but it was doubtful the same could be said of Tolema.

[Kel Riever]

“Probably just another starstruck fan, true Juric?”  Tolema smiled at him and laughed a little, but it felt forced.  “I shouldn’t be worried about it so much.  We should keep an eye on her, shouldn’t we?  To make sure she’s all right.”

Like any, true, good encore, the band worked the crowd up to the final heights of the evening.  As the guitarist was syncing up her instrument with the wireless link, she spotted a turian in armor with red spray paint on it looking a bit dumbfounded in the crowd.  She laughed, pointed him out and winked.  A spotlight momentarily fell onto Kurik and the crowd surged a cheer, before it left him again in the dark.

There were several remarks of appreciation from the lead singer, then she belted out, “One last time!”  Seirenes launched into the final song of the evening, with full embellishment.  The light and the sound made it difficult to pick anything else out again, but those who were observant or who had an angle spotted Naomi again, outside the door to the backstage area.

 

[Cknarf]

It took Kurik a moment to recover from the blinding light that been blasted into his hyper-dilated pupils. Whatever that human had sprayed him with was really beginning to take effect...

 

As time passed, he became less and less aware of his surroundings. He pressed on anyways.