Ficlets: "Flux" and "Breakfast on the Normandy"
Title: Flux
Fandom: Mass Effect
Characters/Pairing: Shepard/Alenko
Rating: G
Word Count: 493
Summary: Shepard discovers a little habit of Kaidan's.
Notes: Written for a fanfiction meme, as requested by september_chic. The prompts were "Mako" and "Flux."
Kaidan can’t stop a grin from splitting his face as he peers out the Mako’s front window, watching the landscape of Nodacrux roll by. Finally, after endless trips to planets that all seem to be variations on one recurring theme-dry, brown, and chokingly dusty-it’s a relief just to look out the windshield and see something green. Granted, they’ll still have to wear their helmets when they leave the vehicle-even with the abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere, the air isn’t breathable. I guess you can’t have everything, Kaidan thinks, but he isn’t complaining.
He takes a quick glance at Commander Shepard out of the corner of his eye, and his heart jolts in his chest when he sees she’s looking right at him. He clears his throat, hoping that maybe she didn’t notice he was just grinning like an idiot. “Commander? Something wrong?”
She looks out the front of the Mako, makes a quick course correction, then tilts her head back towards him, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “Lieutenant,” she begins, and Kaidan winces internally. Yep, that’s a definite undercurrent of amusement in her voice. “Were you just…humming something?”
Kaidan blinks, not expecting that. “Uh, no ma’am. At least…I don’t think so.”
“That’s funny,” she says, her tone almost sly, “because I could have sworn I heard you.”
“Could be, ma’am. I guess it’s, uh, sort of a habit I picked up at BAaT, something to help pass the downtime.” He pauses, letting a half rueful, half mischievous smile cross his face. “It drove Vyrnnus insane. I’ll cut it out, if it’s bothering you.”
She shakes her head and shoots him a grin. “That’s all right, Lieutenant. I’m not Vyrnnus.”
“Glad for that, Commander!” Kaidan returns, earning a laugh from Shepard. There’s silence for a beat before she speaks up again.
“So you liked it at Flux, then, I take it?”
Kaidan frowns, caught off guard again. His commanding officer seems to have a talent for doing that. “Sorry, ma’am?”
“That’s what you were humming,” she says, “the music from Flux, that one club on the Citadel.” She pauses, and when she catches Kaidan’s eye, he sees a definite gleam in her gaze. “Looks like I’ll have to figure out a way to get you on the dance floor next time we find ourselves in the Wards.”
Kaidan’s mouth goes dry, his blood pounding through his veins even as his brain screams at him concerning regulations and possible court-martials. But, as seems to be a habit of late when it comes to Shepard, his heart wins out over his mind.
“I’d like that, Commander. I’d like it a lot.”
“Good,” she says, and returns her attention to the Mako as she steers it over a jagged hill. For once, Kaidan doesn’t even notice the usual jarring bumpiness of the rugged terrain.
Suddenly, he can’t wait to exchange all the green of Nodacrux for the sterile white of the Citadel.
Title: Breakfast on the Normandy
Fandom: Mass Effect
Characters/Pairing: Shepard, Garrus
Rating: G
Word Count: 684
Summary: His first morning on the Normandy, Garrus finds his new commander is full of surprises.
Notes: Written for a fanfiction meme, as requested by altahe. The prompt was "doughnuts." This bit of silliness was inspired by that one turian ERCS guard on Noveria, who if you talk to him long enough, says he would like to eat a doughnut.
As he opened his eyes to the dark, impersonal interior of an Alliance sleeper pod, Garrus’s immediate reaction was confusion.
Where am I?
The answer came to him almost before the thought was finished, and his mandibles flared as a sudden burst of energy coursed through him. He triggered the opening mechanism on the sleeper pod, springing out as though he were emerging from the egg and taking his first breath in a new world. Because in a way, he was.
He hadn’t felt this excited since his first day at C-Sec.
As he made his way to the Normandy’s mess hall, he sent a quick prayer of thanks to the spirits that Pallin had assigned him to Saren’s investigation, and not some other C-Sec grunt. If he hadn’t been the one uncovering information on the rogue Spectre, he never would have come in contact with Commander Shepard. And at this very moment, he would still be mired in bureaucratic lunacy, tied down by red tape with no escape in sight.
But instead he was halfway across the galaxy, and better yet, he was in the company of one of civilization’s most elite, ferocious, ruthless soldiers-
He rounded the corner to the mess hall entrance and stopped dead in his tracks.
Said ferocious, ruthless soldier was sitting at the table-her posture so relaxed and casual that she was practically reclining-holding a large piece of powered sugar-smothered pastry.
“Morning, Garrus,” she said pleasantly as he took a hesitant step forward. “Would you like a doughnut?”
“I…” He trailed off, at a loss for words. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but he knew this wasn’t it. “Those aren’t standard Alliance military rations, are they?”
Shepard laughed, dusting fine white confectioner’s sugar off her fingers. Garrus stared. Surely it had just been yesterday that he’d seen those same hands expertly wielding a high-powered shotgun in Dr. Michel’s lab…hadn’t it? Or had he imagined her coolly picking off Fist’s thugs without a flinch?
“Unfortunately not,” she was saying. “I picked these up in the markets yesterday before we left. Thought they might be a nice treat for the crew.” She leaned back in her chair and watched him calmly, a keen intensity in her gaze, as though she were evaluating him.
Maybe she was. Garrus quickly straightened, putting his doubts out of his mind. Pastries or no pastries, she was his commanding officer now, and he knew the Council wouldn’t have appointed her a Spectre if she wasn’t fit for the job.
“I’ve actually never had a doughnut before,” he said, taking another step closer to the table and peering down at the sugary morsels. He knew at least a few other turian C-Sec officers who loved doughnuts, but until now he’d never been tempted to try one. Human food provided no nutritional value to turians, after all, and he’d never seen the use of eating something just for the sake of eating it.
Well. With the exception of a few choice turian snack foods, anyway.
“You’re kidding!” Shepard exclaimed, looking both surprised and amused at his admission. “You used to be a cop, and you’ve never eaten a doughnut?”
Garrus stared at her blankly, and she chuckled again, waving one hand in a dismissive gesture. “Never mind. It’s just a silly human stereotype.”
More confused than ever, Garrus tried to keep his mandibles from flaring. “I see,” he said slowly. Sugar-filled pastries seemed to him like an odd choice for a career as physically demanding as law enforcement, but perhaps it was different among humans.
Shepard grinned at him, looking even more amused, and stood up from the table. “Welcome to the Normandy, Garrus.”
She turned to head towards the bridge before looking back over her shoulder at him. “Oh, and if you want one of those doughnuts, I’d recommend you eat it sooner rather than later. I don’t think there’s going to be much left once Williams gets out here.”
And with that, she disappeared into the elevator, leaving Garrus to stare after her, blinking.
These humans were a strange species indeed.
Fandom: Mass Effect
Characters/Pairing: Shepard/Alenko
Rating: G
Word Count: 493
Summary: Shepard discovers a little habit of Kaidan's.
Notes: Written for a fanfiction meme, as requested by september_chic. The prompts were "Mako" and "Flux."
Kaidan can’t stop a grin from splitting his face as he peers out the Mako’s front window, watching the landscape of Nodacrux roll by. Finally, after endless trips to planets that all seem to be variations on one recurring theme-dry, brown, and chokingly dusty-it’s a relief just to look out the windshield and see something green. Granted, they’ll still have to wear their helmets when they leave the vehicle-even with the abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere, the air isn’t breathable. I guess you can’t have everything, Kaidan thinks, but he isn’t complaining.
He takes a quick glance at Commander Shepard out of the corner of his eye, and his heart jolts in his chest when he sees she’s looking right at him. He clears his throat, hoping that maybe she didn’t notice he was just grinning like an idiot. “Commander? Something wrong?”
She looks out the front of the Mako, makes a quick course correction, then tilts her head back towards him, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “Lieutenant,” she begins, and Kaidan winces internally. Yep, that’s a definite undercurrent of amusement in her voice. “Were you just…humming something?”
Kaidan blinks, not expecting that. “Uh, no ma’am. At least…I don’t think so.”
“That’s funny,” she says, her tone almost sly, “because I could have sworn I heard you.”
“Could be, ma’am. I guess it’s, uh, sort of a habit I picked up at BAaT, something to help pass the downtime.” He pauses, letting a half rueful, half mischievous smile cross his face. “It drove Vyrnnus insane. I’ll cut it out, if it’s bothering you.”
She shakes her head and shoots him a grin. “That’s all right, Lieutenant. I’m not Vyrnnus.”
“Glad for that, Commander!” Kaidan returns, earning a laugh from Shepard. There’s silence for a beat before she speaks up again.
“So you liked it at Flux, then, I take it?”
Kaidan frowns, caught off guard again. His commanding officer seems to have a talent for doing that. “Sorry, ma’am?”
“That’s what you were humming,” she says, “the music from Flux, that one club on the Citadel.” She pauses, and when she catches Kaidan’s eye, he sees a definite gleam in her gaze. “Looks like I’ll have to figure out a way to get you on the dance floor next time we find ourselves in the Wards.”
Kaidan’s mouth goes dry, his blood pounding through his veins even as his brain screams at him concerning regulations and possible court-martials. But, as seems to be a habit of late when it comes to Shepard, his heart wins out over his mind.
“I’d like that, Commander. I’d like it a lot.”
“Good,” she says, and returns her attention to the Mako as she steers it over a jagged hill. For once, Kaidan doesn’t even notice the usual jarring bumpiness of the rugged terrain.
Suddenly, he can’t wait to exchange all the green of Nodacrux for the sterile white of the Citadel.
Title: Breakfast on the Normandy
Fandom: Mass Effect
Characters/Pairing: Shepard, Garrus
Rating: G
Word Count: 684
Summary: His first morning on the Normandy, Garrus finds his new commander is full of surprises.
Notes: Written for a fanfiction meme, as requested by altahe. The prompt was "doughnuts." This bit of silliness was inspired by that one turian ERCS guard on Noveria, who if you talk to him long enough, says he would like to eat a doughnut.
As he opened his eyes to the dark, impersonal interior of an Alliance sleeper pod, Garrus’s immediate reaction was confusion.
Where am I?
The answer came to him almost before the thought was finished, and his mandibles flared as a sudden burst of energy coursed through him. He triggered the opening mechanism on the sleeper pod, springing out as though he were emerging from the egg and taking his first breath in a new world. Because in a way, he was.
He hadn’t felt this excited since his first day at C-Sec.
As he made his way to the Normandy’s mess hall, he sent a quick prayer of thanks to the spirits that Pallin had assigned him to Saren’s investigation, and not some other C-Sec grunt. If he hadn’t been the one uncovering information on the rogue Spectre, he never would have come in contact with Commander Shepard. And at this very moment, he would still be mired in bureaucratic lunacy, tied down by red tape with no escape in sight.
But instead he was halfway across the galaxy, and better yet, he was in the company of one of civilization’s most elite, ferocious, ruthless soldiers-
He rounded the corner to the mess hall entrance and stopped dead in his tracks.
Said ferocious, ruthless soldier was sitting at the table-her posture so relaxed and casual that she was practically reclining-holding a large piece of powered sugar-smothered pastry.
“Morning, Garrus,” she said pleasantly as he took a hesitant step forward. “Would you like a doughnut?”
“I…” He trailed off, at a loss for words. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but he knew this wasn’t it. “Those aren’t standard Alliance military rations, are they?”
Shepard laughed, dusting fine white confectioner’s sugar off her fingers. Garrus stared. Surely it had just been yesterday that he’d seen those same hands expertly wielding a high-powered shotgun in Dr. Michel’s lab…hadn’t it? Or had he imagined her coolly picking off Fist’s thugs without a flinch?
“Unfortunately not,” she was saying. “I picked these up in the markets yesterday before we left. Thought they might be a nice treat for the crew.” She leaned back in her chair and watched him calmly, a keen intensity in her gaze, as though she were evaluating him.
Maybe she was. Garrus quickly straightened, putting his doubts out of his mind. Pastries or no pastries, she was his commanding officer now, and he knew the Council wouldn’t have appointed her a Spectre if she wasn’t fit for the job.
“I’ve actually never had a doughnut before,” he said, taking another step closer to the table and peering down at the sugary morsels. He knew at least a few other turian C-Sec officers who loved doughnuts, but until now he’d never been tempted to try one. Human food provided no nutritional value to turians, after all, and he’d never seen the use of eating something just for the sake of eating it.
Well. With the exception of a few choice turian snack foods, anyway.
“You’re kidding!” Shepard exclaimed, looking both surprised and amused at his admission. “You used to be a cop, and you’ve never eaten a doughnut?”
Garrus stared at her blankly, and she chuckled again, waving one hand in a dismissive gesture. “Never mind. It’s just a silly human stereotype.”
More confused than ever, Garrus tried to keep his mandibles from flaring. “I see,” he said slowly. Sugar-filled pastries seemed to him like an odd choice for a career as physically demanding as law enforcement, but perhaps it was different among humans.
Shepard grinned at him, looking even more amused, and stood up from the table. “Welcome to the Normandy, Garrus.”
She turned to head towards the bridge before looking back over her shoulder at him. “Oh, and if you want one of those doughnuts, I’d recommend you eat it sooner rather than later. I don’t think there’s going to be much left once Williams gets out here.”
And with that, she disappeared into the elevator, leaving Garrus to stare after her, blinking.
These humans were a strange species indeed.