Shore Leave | By : LuciferDragon Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 8934 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Mass Effect universe and I make no money from this story. |
I had been so used to laying with him for the past few weeks as we drifted off. He didn’t even need to touch me. Just being there was enough to put me at ease. One thing we had learned quickly: I was a blanket hog, and proud of it. Another was that we both had trouble getting out of bed on time when we had thought we could sneak in a bit of fooling around.
Which was why when I hesitantly took my jacket off in my room, I stared at the tousled, empty sheets. I felt the pinpricks again. Each breath burned my heart. To make it worse, I could have sworn I heard… I heard a giggle.
I shook my head. No. I was overtired. My subconscious mind was acting up. I was better than this. I wasn’t allowed to be afraid. I wasn’t allowed to feel pain. The fate of the entire galaxy rested on my choices. After meeting the others, I had started acting a little less ruthless to everyone. I tried to do more nice things.
These people didn’t deserve to die. And it all rested with what I chose to do. With how many troops I could gather to aid our cause…
My mind raced. I took the bottle and, with slightly shaking hands, let one tablet drop to my palm. I knocked it back and took a drink from the bathroom sink. I stared at my reflection. I glared. She glared right back. The cybernetics only showed what I knew all along. I wore them proud. A badge of honor, showing I was a woman, a human, who took shit from no one.
So why the hell was I taking shit from myself? Why the hell was I letting the dead haunt me when there was nothing I could have… I ground my teeth in frustration, clenching my hand into a fist.
I felt like someone smacked me in the back of the head, and brought with it heavy eyelids. I took it as a sign the pill worked. I turned off the electronics and lights, using the glow of the fish tank like usual. The sheets felt more inviting than normal as I slid under them. My whole head started to feel foggy. “I need to lay down… Wait. I’m in… Fuck it.” I didn’t care how stupid the drug made me. It worked. It was all that mattered. The moment I hit the pillow, my door opened and closed almost just as fast. My eyes were too heavy to open, but I knew who it was anyway. I heard fabric being shifted, boots being unstrapped, a belt coming unbuckled. His usual patterns of undress. To my surprise, though it really shouldn’t have been given his… anatomy, turians didn’t believe in much when it came to wearing anything to bed. I didn’t mind it. It was easier to have quick morning sex without all his buckles and straps.
His weight dipped the mattress to him as he slipped in behind me. “Shepard?” he whispered. Though with his voice, it was more like a gentle hum.
“Mm?”
“I take it the pill worked?”
“Almost asleep.” I rolled over and let him entwine our legs around his spurs. He was starting to feel like a dream. “Thought you wouldn’t make it.”
He chuckled. “Unlike some people, I keep my promises.”
“Cheap shot, Vakarian,” I said mainly into my pillow. He seemed to have heard it by his laugh.
“I know, you’ve kept a few of your own.” I felt him take my hands into his, but I still couldn’t open my eyes to look at him. He gratefully kept silent after that. All he did was lightly stroke my fingers with his. Each light pass made me slip farther and farther. I heard one last giggle.
And then, nothing.
“Commander, we have arrived at the Citadel.”
I jerked awake at EDI’s call through a speaker near my clock. My head felt foggy as I opened my eyes to tired slits, staring at the clock. It slowly came into view. 6:00 AM. I hated AIs sometimes. “Thanks EDI,” I croaked. I slowly became aware that I was alone in my room once again.
“Should I map a route for you to drop off your assignments in a timely manner so you may enjoy the day with the rest of your squad?”
I rolled to my back and rubbed my eyes, inhaling deep to get my muscles moving. “That’d be great, EDI, thank you.”
“Commander, if it is not too much trouble, would you be willing to meet in the commons? I would like to speak with you again.”
And, knowing her, if I didn’t, Joker would end up with his whole body broken while EDI only meant to be sexy for him. How that relationship worked, I didn’t know nor cared. Actually, I didn’t see Joker hooking up with anything BUT a machine. Though EDI had become more than just the AI. It wasn’t the body she had taken over to make herself physical, but it was all the little things she did for us, even as a voice. I gave a quiet laugh, remembering Traynor’s reaction to EDI once she had realized she was AI and not VI. Priceless. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ll ping you when the last assignment is dropped off.”
“Very well, Commander. I look forward to our meeting. Officer Vakarian is also arriving in the elevator.”
“Thank you EDI, I can take it from here.” I reluctantly got out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. He came in just as I came back out. I stopped my pace dead as I saw two bowls in his hands. “What’s this?”
“Well it was going to be breakfast in bed, but it seems I wasn’t fast enough to wake you myself.” He handed me one and kept another for himself.
I sat at my terminal and switched it back on. I pulled my legs up and cradled the bowl of oatmeal. “EDI beat you to it by a good five minutes.”
“And here I thought being gone for twenty minutes wouldn’t make a difference.”
I gestured to the terminal with the spoon as he sat on the corner of my desk. “Have you seen these messages? Handing in missions and favors is going to be cake compared to this.”
“Blow a few off.”
“I haven’t even had a chance to look through them all to decide if I want to do that.”
Lola,
“I heard we’re getting a day of leave. Want to join us for some cards? Ken in engineering said you actually had a great poker face. Probably shouldn’t have doubted that. You know where I’ll be if you want to join in. Scars can play a few hands too. Pass that on to him. I know he’s there with you.”
-James
I snorted. “James says hello,” I interpreted. “He’s inviting us to play cards on the cargo deck.”
“Does he ever do anything else?”
“Besides be a shameless flirt? No, I don’t think he does.” I shrugged. “Though it would be interesting to win a bit of cash from him.”
He arched a brow. “Wasn’t it enough you beat him in hand-to-hand and bloodied his nose?”
I pressed my lips together. I had gone a bit far on him. His attitude just made me want to punch him in the face and he had presented the opportune moment to knock some sense back into him. “Don’t judge me, monkey.”
“What?”
I shook my head. “It’s from a very old Earth vid I’ll have to dig up about stoners and vid games.”
“Stoners. Those were the days where humans were only getting in trouble for having that at the Citadel, and even that became harmless.”
I gestured to him with the spoon, swallowing my current bite. “Exactly. I had to quit when I joined the military because it was ‘frowned upon’.” I pressed my mouth closed, realizing I probably said too much. “Aaaand you think I’m a drug addict now, don’t you?”
He grinned around his food. “Shepard, when I said I was a turian bad boy, I didn’t mean just my kill count and reputation. I’ve dabbled in the lighter drugs as well. I haven’t met a soul who hasn’t.”
I relaxed again and gave a longing groan. “I’ve only had a few sneaks here and there for years. I was usually never on leave long enough to enjoy a good night.”
We went quiet for a moment and I looked at the next message.
Shepard,
I’d like to discuss something I’ve found… I would just like to discuss a personal matter with you alone. I’ll be in my usual place. Find me when you have completed your assignments.
-Liara
I frowned. What would Liara want to discuss personally with me?
“You know…”
I almost jumped at the flanging mutter. “I know what?”
“I do still have contacts on the Citadel… I mean, certain things do work better to help you relax than synthesized medication.” He finally caught my eye and he shrugged. “What you said last night was right. We could be dead tomorrow. Why not have a bit of fun while we can?”
Was wondering if you wanted to go another round in chess tonight. I mean, you probably have much better things, or just a single thing, to do. Just throwing it out there!
-Sam
Delete. I eyed the man next to me, still waiting for my response. I did in fact have much better plans for tonight. “This is all true. And our next destination will take at least two days travel through the cluster to avoid Reaper detection. So, if you’re willing, then yeah.”
“Seems I have a bit of a date to plan.” He reached for my empty bowl to stack on top of his. “Try to be dressed nicely by eight tonight. Tell everyone who hasn’t seen you by then to go screw off.”
I arched a brow. “And if they protest?”
“Tell them Archangel is a good shot from any distance. And I can make it look like an accident.”
“Mm, you’ll have to show me how good of a shot you are.”
“Oh, haven’t I shown you?”
“You’ll need to refresh my memory.” I stood and took the bowls from his hands, putting them on the desk. I nudged him back into the chair and he took the hint to sit while I slipped onto his lap, glad he was still void of armor.
“I just might have to.”
“Commander, it is now 6:30 AM. The route for your assignments has been uploaded to your omni-tool.”
I growled. “Thank you, EDI. Go start your leave with Joker, please.”
“As you wish, Commander.”
I let out a huff of frustration while he chuckled and pressed his flat nose to mine. “We’ll have no interruptions tonight,” he said, making me grin. “No one to hear us but the neighbors.” He pressed on the small of my back, forcing me against his softer underbelly. A short gasp of surprise left me and he met my grin. “And I’ll make sure they’ll be able to hear.”
“Don’t be horrible. They’re probably old and would have a heart attack if they heard interspecies sex going on.”
“We almost gave Kaidan a heart attack and he’s not old.”
“He caught us, quite literally, with our pants down. Of course he’s going to almost have one.” I took his hands from my back and got up. “I have a few more messages to go through before I head out.”
He nodded and got up to let me have my seat back. “I’ll ping you where to meet me. Don’t eat too much today.”
“What sort of mood am I going for here? Hungry, starving, famished? I need to know how much I’m allowed to shove in my face today.”
He shook his head with a smile. “Just bring an appetite. I think I’ve got an idea for tonight, just us.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I kissed him as he leaned over for me. “Now get out of here so I can get naked again.”
“Ooh, can I watch?”
I kicked him out.
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