Max entered the ballroom with Nico on his arm, much to Mary Tarith's delight, when the Reaver met him just inside the door.
"Happy Birthday Lord Commander. It is an honor to be here for your eighteenth birthday. Such a momentous occasion for all Reavers, even ones who have distinguished themselves early in life."
"I suppose it is a bit different for me. I won't be receiving an official placement within the Company for one, and I won't be saying goodbye to a Mentor for another." Max agreed.
"That's why we have to try harder to make it noteworthy so that you don't forget about it in the future. This is supposed to be a memorable event, a coming of age rite, and not just another week in your past." Mary Tarith informed Max with a smile.
"I would say it was fairly memorable. I got to use a Titan Class Mecha against aliens on a resort world to pressure an entire region into joining the Trade Group." Max laughed.
"You have me there. I can't say that any Reaver I have ever heard of managed to get that for an eighteenth birthday present."
"Have you had a chance to check out the festivities? The crew has been trying to come up with alternatives to your secret cake recipe." Nico suggested, diverting her mother's attention away from Max.
"Not yet, but I will soon. You both look amazing tonight, and I will let you get to your guests."
So began another procession of greetings, but this time interspersed with dancing and flutes of some sort of hard liquor posing as champagne. Max wasn't sure what the base was, but after downing the first glass, it was clear that the alcohol content was closer to Rum than wine.
The staff was getting very good with the drinks already, deftly maneuvering around the species that couldn't process the beverages on their tray to head for those who might like one while simultaneously calling over a tray of drinks that the guests they passed could imbibe.
The process made it clear that out of all the species present, it was humans who had the iron stomach. There were very few things that they simply could not drink, though there were a few that the human guests were encouraged to avoid due to the contrast between flavor profiles.
One of the species liked things so incredibly sour that only humans could stomach their beverages, and another was sensitive to water, but not alcohol, so they measured the water content of their drinks, including the version of champagne that Max had grabbed.
Finding out about that sensitivity had been a shock to the crew. It wasn't mentioned on their species profile provided by the Alliance, and the teenage members of their party managed to escape their guardians and take a trip through the Gravity Slides to lounge in a hot tub. They had been so inebriated when they were found that they had to be taken to the medical bays.
Once he managed to sort through the jumble of thoughts in the room, the groupings began to make sense to him. The species were sorting themselves by where the best drinks and snacks were coming from, naturally grouping similar species together inside the room.
That made it easier for Max to find dance partners to keep the conversation flowing all night, though Nico managed to cut in every third song or so, each time picking a song with a different beat so that she could pull him into a different type of dance.
"It's almost over. One last toast by the Innu, and we can escape back to your suite." Nico assured Max just before he was about to make an escape on his own.
"Finally. I love a party as much as anyone, but it's nearly dawn by ship time, and we've been here all night." Max sighed.
Max made a quick round of goodbyes on his way out, with assurances that he didn't intend to stop the party, then let Nico guide him back to his suite for some much-needed rest.
"Don't think that I have forgotten that you were hiding one more birthday present from me." Max teased as Nico followed him into the suite and locked the door behind them.
"I have disabled all comms into this unit for the next four hours, and the door is overridden from the inside. Nothing short of an orbital battle could stop me now." Nico agreed, then let the dress slip from her shoulders and pushed Max backward onto his bed.
Nico didn't speak, but she was focusing on a set of data and modifications that she had made to herself. She had integrated the lightweight alloys and some aspects of the self-healing metal of the Hunters Suits and perfected the non-Newtonian shell of her body. Now, as long as the impact wasn't hard enough to cause damage, it would respond exactly as real flesh should, according to Nico's calculations.
But somehow, Max found that hard to focus on once she started to remove his suit so that she could move on to the "Practical Demonstration."
"Are you sure about this?" He asked as his pants were unceremoniously tossed across the room by the smiling raven-haired cyborg.
"I have never been more sure of anything. I might have sent you for a little training along the way, but you are, and have always been, mine."
Max smirked at her phrasing and grabbed Nico by the hips, pulling her up for a deep kiss and enjoying the feel of her body pressed against his.
She was a normal human temperature today, though he knew she could change it at will. It somehow made her feel more real, more natural, more alive.
Max pinned her hands over her head, enjoying her frustration when she found he was too strong for her to break free and touch him, but it was a short-lived victory. Nico wrapped her legs around him, and Max knew right then that he would never forget this night.
Sometime later, Max woke up to the feeling of Nico's hand running down his abdomen, drawing little circles on his skin while she waited for him to wake up.
"What do you think? Are the upgrades a success?" She asked with a smirk.
"I think you have been given access to parts of the internet that no Nico was ever meant to view. But yes, I must say, you are absolutely exquisite."
Nico gave an uncharacteristic girlish giggle and looked up into his eyes. "So, will you inform your mother-in-law, or is that still my duty?"
