Who: Sam and Aria What: Sam gets a bit of a shock waking up next to a blue alien that definitely wasn't there the night before. When: First day of the tether plot Where: Sam's place Warnings: Language, but pretty mild otherwise
Sam had never been a heavy sleeper so when he woke up in the morning and realized there was someone laying in bed beside him he’d started trying to figure out how they might have gotten there without him waking up. He’d also laid there trying to keep still as possible so as not to disturb the sleep of whoever it was. It had to have something to do with where they lived, or something from his dreams that he just hadn’t gotten to yet. Or hadn’t paid attention to being mentioned in the ones he’d had. There hadn’t been a lot of them but there had been a lot of information in the ones he’d have so it would have to be pretty easy to miss a thing here and there.
He sat up, trying to move the mattress as little as possible as he stood up and walked towards the door. He got a little ways around before he felt something snapping him back and he bumped into the bed. “What the fuck?” He said, forgetting in the moment that he’d been trying not to wake the person in his bed up.
***
For her part, Aria tended to be a lighter sleeper. Side effect of her dreams where she had to expect someone attempting to kill her when she was the least prepared for it. Omega was not the safest place, and before that she’d done everything from being an Asari Commando to working as a mercenary. Danger followed her wherever she went. Most of the time, Aria went looking for it.
However, she had most definitely gone to sleep in her own bed the night before, and she hadn’t brought anyone home with her. She didn’t wake up initially, the man’s efforts not to disturb her having worked. At least until he bumped into the bed and spoke aloud. At which point Aria shot up right in bed, wide awake, and ready to hit someone with a biotic blast.
“What the fuck is going on?” She demanded, restraining her instinct to blast the guy into oblivion. Which was for the best because a second later she realized she wasn’t in her room anymore. “Where the fuck am I?” She again demanded as she got out of bed. Luckily for both of them, she was wearing clothes, a tanktop and boxer shorts, but she was definitely not human. Her skin was a deep blue, so deep it seemed to have some purple hue to it. She had no hair and no ears, at least not ears like a human had. In place of hair on her head, she had what looked like short tentacles that swept over her head, though they were rigid and didn’t move when she moved her head. She also had dark purple markings on her face, framing it. But aside from those differences, she was humanoid in appearance.
***
Sam had to be glad that the collision with the bed hadn’t caused his pants to slip down as he stood back up. “My apartment. And judging by the way I got yanked back in here when I tried to go out in the hall we can’t get too far away from each other.” He ran his hand back through his hair, automatically slipping into his old familiar habit of going strictly to the logical part of his brain when confronted with something he didn’t understand. Including a blue alien looking woman in his apartment that he thought seemed almost familiar even though he knew he’d never seen an alien before.
***
While Aria was sometimes prone to reacting with violence when in a situation she hadn’t anticipated, like her current one, she managed to not threaten the man. As she tried to shift herself to thinking logically and more clearly, what he said certainly had a ring of truth to it.
“Orange County at it again?” She commented more than asked. She shook her head. That was when some recognition dawned on her. “Aren’t you the new manager of Eric’s bar?” It was then that it also dawned on Aria that he wouldn’t recognize her given she didn’t look human currently. She touched her wrist, but her omni-tool wasn’t there. Well, that would make this...difficult.
***
“I’m guessing yes although this is the first time I’ve had anything like this happen. Not sure if this is better or worse than zombies yet though.” Sam said, trying to figure out if he knew this woman since she seemed to know him. Or at least where he worked. “The night shift manager at least. Sam Merlotte. I don’t recognize you though.”
***
“I’ve experienced quite a bit since moving here. Though this specific thing is new to me.” Waking up in someone else’s bed without having gone to sleep there the night before wasn’t exactly something she’d forget about. “Aria T’Loak, owner of Afterlife. I have a human disguise I wear since I’m clearly not human anymore. Which I find myself currently without the device that lets me look human.” Which was suddenly a problem if they couldn’t get further than a few feet or so from each other.
***
“I’m guessing that device is at your place?” Sam asked moving towards his closet door to find a t-shirt to put on. “It’s nice to see what you look like without it. But having it probably makes it easier to do business.” He looked at her over his shoulder. “How do you want to do this?” The things he’d been through since moving out here had taught him that there generally wasn’t anyway to break out of them. You just had to go along with it or go nuts trying to deny it. Or fight it.
***
“Correct,” she affirmed. Aria hadn’t quite had this experience yet of being suddenly parted from the device that helped make her look human so she could go about life without being kidnapped by the military for experiments. Or worse. She shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, glancing down at herself for a moment before looking up at him. “Do you have a car or a motorcycle?” First thing’s first, determine what method of transportation he had. Then she could decide if she’d steal a blanket from him or need to borrow a couple items of his clothes just to get to her place.
***
“I’ve got a truck. And I might have a sweatshirt with hood that could fit you to give you some coverage if you want. Some of my neighbors - not going to handle a blue woman leaving my apartment all that well. I’ll just be honest about it.” Sam said as he turned back around to face her.
***
“That would be appreciated. I would rather not have people attempt to lynch me or something upon seeing the color of my skin.” Not to mention the fact her skull was definitely not like a human’s skull either. “If we are unable to be overly far apart from each other, we may have to figure out how to handle our clubs.” Aria had experience handling everything by phone, considering she also had a club in L.A. Luckily she’d just been to that one in person the previous week to make certain things were still in order.
***
Sam gave her a quick smile before turning back to the closet and looking for the sweatshirt. He needed to get caught up on laundry his next day off. Luckily the sweatshirt was clean and he turned to toss it to her. “I can talk to the day manager if it comes down to it, see if they’ll cover some of my nights.” He said, leaning against the wall.
***
While Aria wasn’t exactly liking this current situation, she didn’t need to rant or rave about it. Besides, it could’ve been worse. She could’ve been paired with an annoying teenager. Or just an annoying person in general. Catching the sweatshirt, she pulled it on. “I’ll make some arrangements as well. For however long this lasts, we could perhaps alternate days?” Aria made the offer, thinking it was fair they both divided time between their clubs. At least she didn’t have to make a trip to L.A. to oversee something at her club there. And even if there was an emergency, she could deal with it over the phone instead of having to go there personally.
***
“Only fair and adult way to handle this isn’t it?” Sam said turning around to look at her again. “So ready to go to your place to get whatever you need?”
***
“I believe it is.” Aria did like making things fair with people she liked. And she did like Sam. However, that could potentially be put to the test depending on how long this lasted. But she could deal with it. “I am.” And after she got what she needed, they could make plans on how to handle their clubs and go from there.