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Literature Text
The hushed whispers of wind spun through the twilight sky. Free and void of responsibility, they danced between the sparkling specs of white. The crystallized frozen flakes of snow collected and bunched themselves tight; they covered the world in a blanket of dazzling ivory. It was the darkest hour of the night, the peace and serenity had settled over the city of Vancouver. The glistening utopia slumbered soundlessly. Untouched and undisturbed the people retained their blissful ignorance as they awaited their joy on the morrow. They did not know of the struggles they would face in the coming months. They were unaware of the danger that lurked just beyond the farthest star.
They lived on borrowed time, an invaluable resource that was being whittled down as the seconds ticked by. Each flake of snow resembled a moment lost, fluttering pointlessly through the sands of time. It was these quiet instances, these most tender semblances of normalcy that felt the bleakest. For one tired soul that had seen the future and the past, each moment wasted was a life lost. For her, sleep did not come easy if at all. She spent this most treasured night as any other night, pacing restlessly. Her fingers trembled along a datapad as she mumbled her practiced speech to herself. Countless edits and marks had been made as she waited for a trial that she was certain would never come. They were wasting time that could be spent preparing. Her warnings had fallen on deaf ears, her pleas twisted beneath the scrutiny of a microscope. Time was of the essence, time had been the reason she was locked away. She had simply run out of it, and the memory of the Bahak system clawed deeply amidst her thoughts.
Her feet paused and her breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes trailed to the frosted glass, her single window to the outside world. She rested her quaking hands along the frigid glass and clenched her jaw. Her nose scrunched and her brows drew together into a scowl. There had to have been something more she could have done for those colonists, she shouldn't have destroyed the Alpha Relay. Her guilt draped itself along her shoulders as she watched the spectacular twinkling of red and green along of monstrous pine tree just outside the Alliance Headquarters. Her breath spilled along the glass, it streaked lines of white along the jagged diamonds of ice that had collected along the edges. She hung her head, her shoulders shook with exhaustion. She should have done more, she could have done more…Anything would have been better than destroying that relay. The mistakes snaked beneath her skin, intermixing with the vivid warnings from the Protheans that would be engrained in her DNA for as long as she lived. The vivid barrage of images shattered relentlessly through her thoughts as she winced. The cycled images of pain and suffering, of technology being forced and twisted into organic beings, the helpless struggles of those last moments pressed down against her resolve. Maybe she couldn't win…Maybe she was just delaying the inevitable…
No, she had to believe she did the right thing. She had to keep fighting. She wasn't going to let her guilt overpower her. It was too late to change what she had done, too late to regret a decision she made. She'd made the call, and damn if she wasn't paying for the consequences. Let them damn her then, she had seen that clock, two days, she had gotten out of that system just minutes before the Reapers were about to invade. She had saved all of those people in Vancouver that were sleeping calmly with nothing to worry about. If she had delayed the inevitable then so be it, but she was not going to let them take a galaxy she had sworn to protect without a fight. She would be called into question then, she would live with the guilt and the blood of thousands on her hands damn it. She had after all, willingly surrendered to the Alliance. She'd liked to have at least hoped it bought the Alliance more time to prepare. But then they were wasting their time and resources on something as petty as this farce of a trial…
You're preaching to the choir Commander, if it was up to me I'd give you a damn medal…
Admiral Hackett's words buzzed through her mind as she shoved herself off the windowsill. She rubbed her index fingers against her temples in a deep soothing fashion trying to calm her frayed nerves. She sighed and tossed the datapad along the coffee table they had accommodated her with. It clattered along the larger mess of datapads and unclassified documents that were blotted meticulously out with ink. She would never give up fighting. It didn't matter if a single soul didn't believe her. She would continue to fight the Reapers because she knew they existed, they were not just a fragment of her mind. Admiral Anderson and Hackett both knew she was right, they wouldn't let her down. But yet, they kept her locked away like an animal in a cage. She was wasting away between these four walls. For all of her luxuries and amenities, she was still a prisoner of the Alliance. She was disgraced, stripped of her title; she no longer had a ship or a crew. Her talents were being wasted and she felt helpless. She had never felt so useless and pointless before in her entire life. Her fingers trailed along her shoulders and she slunk through the dark of her cell to her bunk. She snatched her blanket from her cot and wrapped it around her body, a shiver jolted up her spine. She felt so damn alone. For all of her fight being kicked out of her and all of the insanity accusations being thrown at her, there was one in particular that still ran rampant through her mind.
You turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed me.
Her thoughts drifted to him, and all of the words he spat at her. Her teeth clattered as a chill swept through her skin. Her blood felt frozen in her veins. The dark look he had in his eyes tormented her most. How could she continue to fight when the one person she was fighting for wanted nothing more to do with her? Her chest ached, it felt empty and fractured. Her feet drifted toward her unused desk and her hands hesitated over her box of personal effects. It sat next to the pile of gifts that remained unopened. She didn't feel deserving nor worthy of them. She didn't have time to take a moment for herself and enjoy the pleasantries her friends had sent her when there was still so much to do. But she was desperate now, desperate to rid herself of the burden of such agonizing memories. Her hand reached into her box of personal effects and immediately she found what she was looking for. The holographic image of his portrait, with his stern expression and steady gaze it stared back at her. She ran her thumb lovingly over the image and a frown creased her features. If she closed her eyes she could still feel the warmth of his breath along her neck. She could recall the taste of his lips on hers. His callused fingers and how gentle and warm they had been as they caressed her shoulders. His meticulous and careful strokes down her cheek. His amber eyes and how they gleamed with affection and nervousness. She truly never had felt more alone in her life before now. Locked away, helpless to do anything, she was left to her own devices. Her breath expelled in an unsteady quiver as she rested his picture face down along her desk. It was his scrutiny that hurt the most. He didn't trust her, didn't believe her. It was as though everything they had been through had meant nothing to him. Her heart flopped along her ribcage and she felt the need to weep. Alone in the quiet she didn't have to put on her best soldier face anymore. She was away from the judgmental curious eyes of onlookers. She was free to be just a little weak. Just a little human…
You make me feel…Human…
Her nose bunched and her lips peeled back in a resentful scowl. Damn him, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Her weary frame sank against the leather bound chair that faced the window as she wrapped herself tighter in her blanket. Her shoulders eased back against the cushion and her chin collapsed into the palm of her hand. Her eyes stared longingly outside at the haze of white. Her posture slouched along the welcoming luxury. Her spine curved forward and she could feel the exhaustion pinch at her nerves. A sigh escaped her as she was determined to drown her thoughts of him away. Her alarm clock by her cot turned on with the signal of her omnitool and the slow somber music polluted the atmosphere with white noise. Her eyes watered hearing the low methodical piano keys and the deep baritone of the singer as his voice sluggishly seeped into her pores.
I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me, where the love light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams…
Her thoughts became a blank afterthought. She lost herself in the tender symphonies of the chorus and the blaring instruments when a single noise snapped her attention right back to reality. It came in the form of the swooshing of her usually locked door. Heavy footfalls of Alliance boots thundered through her somber room and a voice called to her. "Shepard…" Her eyes shot wide and her muscles stiffened. No it…It couldn't be. She turned to see a pair of whiskey brown eyes and a gentle apologetic smile there to greet her.
They lived on borrowed time, an invaluable resource that was being whittled down as the seconds ticked by. Each flake of snow resembled a moment lost, fluttering pointlessly through the sands of time. It was these quiet instances, these most tender semblances of normalcy that felt the bleakest. For one tired soul that had seen the future and the past, each moment wasted was a life lost. For her, sleep did not come easy if at all. She spent this most treasured night as any other night, pacing restlessly. Her fingers trembled along a datapad as she mumbled her practiced speech to herself. Countless edits and marks had been made as she waited for a trial that she was certain would never come. They were wasting time that could be spent preparing. Her warnings had fallen on deaf ears, her pleas twisted beneath the scrutiny of a microscope. Time was of the essence, time had been the reason she was locked away. She had simply run out of it, and the memory of the Bahak system clawed deeply amidst her thoughts.
Her feet paused and her breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes trailed to the frosted glass, her single window to the outside world. She rested her quaking hands along the frigid glass and clenched her jaw. Her nose scrunched and her brows drew together into a scowl. There had to have been something more she could have done for those colonists, she shouldn't have destroyed the Alpha Relay. Her guilt draped itself along her shoulders as she watched the spectacular twinkling of red and green along of monstrous pine tree just outside the Alliance Headquarters. Her breath spilled along the glass, it streaked lines of white along the jagged diamonds of ice that had collected along the edges. She hung her head, her shoulders shook with exhaustion. She should have done more, she could have done more…Anything would have been better than destroying that relay. The mistakes snaked beneath her skin, intermixing with the vivid warnings from the Protheans that would be engrained in her DNA for as long as she lived. The vivid barrage of images shattered relentlessly through her thoughts as she winced. The cycled images of pain and suffering, of technology being forced and twisted into organic beings, the helpless struggles of those last moments pressed down against her resolve. Maybe she couldn't win…Maybe she was just delaying the inevitable…
No, she had to believe she did the right thing. She had to keep fighting. She wasn't going to let her guilt overpower her. It was too late to change what she had done, too late to regret a decision she made. She'd made the call, and damn if she wasn't paying for the consequences. Let them damn her then, she had seen that clock, two days, she had gotten out of that system just minutes before the Reapers were about to invade. She had saved all of those people in Vancouver that were sleeping calmly with nothing to worry about. If she had delayed the inevitable then so be it, but she was not going to let them take a galaxy she had sworn to protect without a fight. She would be called into question then, she would live with the guilt and the blood of thousands on her hands damn it. She had after all, willingly surrendered to the Alliance. She'd liked to have at least hoped it bought the Alliance more time to prepare. But then they were wasting their time and resources on something as petty as this farce of a trial…
You're preaching to the choir Commander, if it was up to me I'd give you a damn medal…
Admiral Hackett's words buzzed through her mind as she shoved herself off the windowsill. She rubbed her index fingers against her temples in a deep soothing fashion trying to calm her frayed nerves. She sighed and tossed the datapad along the coffee table they had accommodated her with. It clattered along the larger mess of datapads and unclassified documents that were blotted meticulously out with ink. She would never give up fighting. It didn't matter if a single soul didn't believe her. She would continue to fight the Reapers because she knew they existed, they were not just a fragment of her mind. Admiral Anderson and Hackett both knew she was right, they wouldn't let her down. But yet, they kept her locked away like an animal in a cage. She was wasting away between these four walls. For all of her luxuries and amenities, she was still a prisoner of the Alliance. She was disgraced, stripped of her title; she no longer had a ship or a crew. Her talents were being wasted and she felt helpless. She had never felt so useless and pointless before in her entire life. Her fingers trailed along her shoulders and she slunk through the dark of her cell to her bunk. She snatched her blanket from her cot and wrapped it around her body, a shiver jolted up her spine. She felt so damn alone. For all of her fight being kicked out of her and all of the insanity accusations being thrown at her, there was one in particular that still ran rampant through her mind.
You turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed me.
Her thoughts drifted to him, and all of the words he spat at her. Her teeth clattered as a chill swept through her skin. Her blood felt frozen in her veins. The dark look he had in his eyes tormented her most. How could she continue to fight when the one person she was fighting for wanted nothing more to do with her? Her chest ached, it felt empty and fractured. Her feet drifted toward her unused desk and her hands hesitated over her box of personal effects. It sat next to the pile of gifts that remained unopened. She didn't feel deserving nor worthy of them. She didn't have time to take a moment for herself and enjoy the pleasantries her friends had sent her when there was still so much to do. But she was desperate now, desperate to rid herself of the burden of such agonizing memories. Her hand reached into her box of personal effects and immediately she found what she was looking for. The holographic image of his portrait, with his stern expression and steady gaze it stared back at her. She ran her thumb lovingly over the image and a frown creased her features. If she closed her eyes she could still feel the warmth of his breath along her neck. She could recall the taste of his lips on hers. His callused fingers and how gentle and warm they had been as they caressed her shoulders. His meticulous and careful strokes down her cheek. His amber eyes and how they gleamed with affection and nervousness. She truly never had felt more alone in her life before now. Locked away, helpless to do anything, she was left to her own devices. Her breath expelled in an unsteady quiver as she rested his picture face down along her desk. It was his scrutiny that hurt the most. He didn't trust her, didn't believe her. It was as though everything they had been through had meant nothing to him. Her heart flopped along her ribcage and she felt the need to weep. Alone in the quiet she didn't have to put on her best soldier face anymore. She was away from the judgmental curious eyes of onlookers. She was free to be just a little weak. Just a little human…
You make me feel…Human…
Her nose bunched and her lips peeled back in a resentful scowl. Damn him, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Her weary frame sank against the leather bound chair that faced the window as she wrapped herself tighter in her blanket. Her shoulders eased back against the cushion and her chin collapsed into the palm of her hand. Her eyes stared longingly outside at the haze of white. Her posture slouched along the welcoming luxury. Her spine curved forward and she could feel the exhaustion pinch at her nerves. A sigh escaped her as she was determined to drown her thoughts of him away. Her alarm clock by her cot turned on with the signal of her omnitool and the slow somber music polluted the atmosphere with white noise. Her eyes watered hearing the low methodical piano keys and the deep baritone of the singer as his voice sluggishly seeped into her pores.
I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me, where the love light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams…
Her thoughts became a blank afterthought. She lost herself in the tender symphonies of the chorus and the blaring instruments when a single noise snapped her attention right back to reality. It came in the form of the swooshing of her usually locked door. Heavy footfalls of Alliance boots thundered through her somber room and a voice called to her. "Shepard…" Her eyes shot wide and her muscles stiffened. No it…It couldn't be. She turned to see a pair of whiskey brown eyes and a gentle apologetic smile there to greet her.
Literature
Hope and a Fighting Chance, Chap. 2
Chapter 2
Kaidan had arrived at the little café about 45 minutes before the time of their meeting... And now, he was starting to regret it. For the last half hour, he had been rehearsing in his head what he was going to say, how Shepard was likely to react, different scenarios with different outcomes... Some rather good, others nothing short of catastrophic... The anticipation was simply driving him mad!
It didn't help that this was the very first time that he'd been thinking about getting involved in a serious relationship with another man either... Not that gender mattered much, as far as he was concerned. Though many men or wo
Literature
Dinner
Commander Shepard looked out the window of the apartment at the Armax Arsenal Combat Arena just across the strip, although not really seeing it. While his eyes scoped the holographic lettering of the building, his mind was combing the bulge of the right pocket of his favorite jacket: an N7-themed black cotton hooded jacket that harkened back to 20th and 21st century fashion. Reaching his callused hand into the pocket, he pulled out what it so contained: a black velvet case that contained one of the most special purchases he hoped he would ever make.
As his fingers unconsciously stroked the soft velvet, Shepard thought about the man the conta
Suggested Collections
BioWare/EA own Commander Shepard, Kaidan Alenko and Mass Effect. I'm just playing with the toys.
For
's Monthly Prompt Contest.
The timeline was after ME2 but before ME3.
The theme we had to use was "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
So I used [link] Frank Sinatra's gorgeous rendition of the song. As well as a crap ton of other songs that remind me of Shenko feels. I really had to dig deep for this one because I'm severely lacking in the Shenko feels department. It was also a 2,500 word limit so I had to cut it pathetically short. But I rather like the way I ended it.
It was quite a fun challenge. I rather enjoyed myself.
Yea...No cursing/gore/other things that might offend senses I hope. So enjoy!
For
's Monthly Prompt Contest.The timeline was after ME2 but before ME3.
The theme we had to use was "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
So I used [link] Frank Sinatra's gorgeous rendition of the song. As well as a crap ton of other songs that remind me of Shenko feels. I really had to dig deep for this one because I'm severely lacking in the Shenko feels department. It was also a 2,500 word limit so I had to cut it pathetically short. But I rather like the way I ended it.
It was quite a fun challenge. I rather enjoyed myself.
Yea...No cursing/gore/other things that might offend senses I hope. So enjoy!
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Comments14
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You kept me enraptured in your work, and I could feel exactly what she felt. Awesome, just so awesome!