Fanfic x 2 -- 'Heirlooms' and 'Legacies'
(AKA, meet Noah and Alex, zweihand puts new Shepards in my head every day, I swear to goodness)
Title: Heirlooms
Characters/Pairiings: Noah Shepard and Thane, M!Shep/Thane
Rating: PG-13 some swearing, nothing explicit
Summary: Spectre and assassin take a moment to reflect.
In the soft light of the bedside lamp, a glint of gold caught Thane's half-closed eyes. Curiosity roused him out of his near-slumber and he tilted his head from his lover's chest to better look at it. Around Shepard's neck was a necklace he could not recall seeing before, modest in design and a little tarnished from age. A small ornament hung in the center of the band, a simple design of a triangle placed over another, upside-down one. Odd. How had he not seen that before? He brushed a fingertip against it, feeling the way the heat of Noah's body had warmed it.
Fabric rustled as Shepard stirred; taking Mordin's hint, when they had begun to tire Noah had put on a loose gray shirt and pants while Thane had opted for his own clothing minus his jacket, minimizing the risk of the possible rash. Looking further up -- it wasn't that much further, given the slight difference in height between the two -- Thane looked up into Shepard's face.
"I didn't mean to disturb you," he stated quietly.
Noah shrugged and ruffled a hand through his sandy hair sleepily. "S'no problem." He looked down to where he had felt the necklace brush against him.
Answering the unspoken question, Thane asked, "I have never seen you with this before. Does the symbol mean something?"
Brushing his fingers over the slightly battered icon, Noah smiled nostalgically. "Yeah. It's a religious symbol; the Star of David. The necklace was a gift from my father. I don't wear into missions much. Too worried I might lose it."
"Ah, an important item, then."
"Definitely. I only just now got it back; my mother had it when I left it with her by accident, last time I saw her for Passover. If I'd had it on the original Normandy, it'd be space dust. I'm glad I managed to keep a hold of something he left."
Something he left? The wording of his siha's sentence made Thane wonder if there was more to it than what he had said. "You have never spoken much of your family," he noted aloud. "I often find myself admitting my own problems to you."
"I don't mind you talking with me," replied Shepard, leaning back into his pillows. Thane couldn't blame him. The call of sleep was a tempting one. Slumber had not come easily for the past few days, for so many reasons. Anticipation. Dread. And, yes, he could admit it now... fear.
His melancholy lessened when he saw a smile tugged at the other man's lips. "I guess that's fair. I never really thought about it. But... when I was a kid, I resented him. He missed birthdays, holidays, even my bar mitzvah." At Thane's slightly confused face, he added, "It's a ceremony. Most of my family is Jewish, not super orthodox, but we have our traditions. The bar mitzvah is a Jewish ceremony for boys when they turn thirteen. They read from a holy scroll, the Torah, and become men by Jewish law.
"That's when I got this necklace. It was sent by my Dad while he was on tour, and I got it the day after the ceremony. You should've seen me on the day of, though. I was so mad, Mom said I could've spit rocket fuel. But then I got this the next day and, I realized, even if he wasn't there with me in body, he wanted to be and would have if he could have. It reminded me that there were bigger things out there besides me. I wore it nearly everywhere, right until he died in service. I'm proud of him, and I hope he'd be proud of me."
"You speak of him as though he is gone."
Noah nodded, a vague expression on his face. "Died in combat when I was twenty."
Thane fell silent for a moment and Noah followed suit. But it probably didn't take a leap of faith that just because he wasn't saying anything that Thane wasn't thinking of something. What heirlooms had he left for his son? What inheritance would Kolyat have now, if he died after this, besides a childhood of anger and regret?
A small movement caught his eye again. Reaching down for the drell's hand, Noah wrapped their fingers together and gave them a small squeeze.
"I'm sure Kolyat will be proud too," he murmured.
The assassin closed his eyes, focusing on the warm touch to distract him from his own nefarious worries. He was so tired. "Perhaps."
Noah simply offered a smile and a shrug. "Perhaps." But Thane had already drifted off, hand still resting in Shepard's, and he decided to let the topic rest. He had wanted to comfort Thane from his worries... not really fair to just add to them. Not when their goal, and their possible end, was this close.
As if in reminder of the approaching relay, his alarm went off, soft but insistent. Noah glanced over at the clock and back to Thane. The drell was still asleep, the need for rest finally overtaking him. So Noah hit the snooze and settled back in, happy with the weight of Thane's head against his chest.
Just ten more minutes.
---------------
Title: Legacies
Characters: Alexus Shepard, mention of Kasumi and implications of F!Shep/Ashley Williams
Rating: PG-13 for some swearing, angst
Summary: A random gift brings up some memories for Shepard.
Alexus wasn't sure where Kasumi had gotten the idea that she'd like a book of poetry. Or, rather, books. She had ignored them at first as they mysteriously began to appear in her favorite haunts. A compilation of Robert Frost in the driver's side of the Hammerhead. A pamphlet of Maya Angelou underneath her toothbrush. The last one had been sneaky, somehow placed on her usual seat on the Kodiak, a hard-back compilation of Li Bo's one thousand poems.
Yeesh.
It wasn't that she didn't like poetry. No. Really, no. Just, why? Maybe it was just a game on the thief's part, to see how close she could get to Shepard without being seen and still leave evidence of being caught. Admittedly, it sounded more fun than just hanging out in that one room all day, bar or no bar. But, hey, there were other things to leave! Some extra medi-gel would have been appreciated. Or one of those bottles of Thessian brandy. Christ, yes, she could use that a lot since they'd left Horizon. Maybe she'd go ask the doctor for one. Two. Or three.
Either way she wasn't entirely unsurprised to walk into her quarters and see, right there on the floor near the door, a little blue book. It was a little scuffed, the cover stained and the pages yellowed. The thing looked ancient. Picking it up, she looked around for a title or hint to an author but didn't find one. Hm. Now the master thief was really getting tricky.
"Thanks, 'Sumi," she said with a slightly annoyed sigh and took a seat at her desk. She really just wanted to take a shower and nap, dammit, but she knew herself too well. Her inquisitiveness would only get more and more annoying until she finally read it. And, well, Kasumi may be offended. And she wasn't too bad, for someone who stole public property for shits and giggles.
Propping the book on her knee as she leaned back into her seat, she opened up to a random page.
You left me, sweet, two legacies,-
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content,
Had He the offer of;
You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea,
Between eternity and time,
Your consciousness and me.
Her chest felt hard and heavy at the printed words. They reminded her of other things, other times, and other people. Well. One other person. One person in particular, maybe. And as memory is often wont to do, it launched itself into her thoughts, bringing with it an often sharp voice with a love for prose and rhythm. She'd heard it in the past, content and smooth as silk when happy, with a laugh that could rattle her to the core. And she'd heard it a lot in her head lately, always angry and hurt and sad. But the one she remembered the most was one with smiles, and the way Ashley had said those old little words had always made her so...
So...
Alexus squeezed her eyes shut and shut the book.
Okay. Maybe she didn't like poetry quite that much anymore.
Title: Heirlooms
Characters/Pairiings: Noah Shepard and Thane, M!Shep/Thane
Rating: PG-13 some swearing, nothing explicit
Summary: Spectre and assassin take a moment to reflect.
In the soft light of the bedside lamp, a glint of gold caught Thane's half-closed eyes. Curiosity roused him out of his near-slumber and he tilted his head from his lover's chest to better look at it. Around Shepard's neck was a necklace he could not recall seeing before, modest in design and a little tarnished from age. A small ornament hung in the center of the band, a simple design of a triangle placed over another, upside-down one. Odd. How had he not seen that before? He brushed a fingertip against it, feeling the way the heat of Noah's body had warmed it.
Fabric rustled as Shepard stirred; taking Mordin's hint, when they had begun to tire Noah had put on a loose gray shirt and pants while Thane had opted for his own clothing minus his jacket, minimizing the risk of the possible rash. Looking further up -- it wasn't that much further, given the slight difference in height between the two -- Thane looked up into Shepard's face.
"I didn't mean to disturb you," he stated quietly.
Noah shrugged and ruffled a hand through his sandy hair sleepily. "S'no problem." He looked down to where he had felt the necklace brush against him.
Answering the unspoken question, Thane asked, "I have never seen you with this before. Does the symbol mean something?"
Brushing his fingers over the slightly battered icon, Noah smiled nostalgically. "Yeah. It's a religious symbol; the Star of David. The necklace was a gift from my father. I don't wear into missions much. Too worried I might lose it."
"Ah, an important item, then."
"Definitely. I only just now got it back; my mother had it when I left it with her by accident, last time I saw her for Passover. If I'd had it on the original Normandy, it'd be space dust. I'm glad I managed to keep a hold of something he left."
Something he left? The wording of his siha's sentence made Thane wonder if there was more to it than what he had said. "You have never spoken much of your family," he noted aloud. "I often find myself admitting my own problems to you."
"I don't mind you talking with me," replied Shepard, leaning back into his pillows. Thane couldn't blame him. The call of sleep was a tempting one. Slumber had not come easily for the past few days, for so many reasons. Anticipation. Dread. And, yes, he could admit it now... fear.
His melancholy lessened when he saw a smile tugged at the other man's lips. "I guess that's fair. I never really thought about it. But... when I was a kid, I resented him. He missed birthdays, holidays, even my bar mitzvah." At Thane's slightly confused face, he added, "It's a ceremony. Most of my family is Jewish, not super orthodox, but we have our traditions. The bar mitzvah is a Jewish ceremony for boys when they turn thirteen. They read from a holy scroll, the Torah, and become men by Jewish law.
"That's when I got this necklace. It was sent by my Dad while he was on tour, and I got it the day after the ceremony. You should've seen me on the day of, though. I was so mad, Mom said I could've spit rocket fuel. But then I got this the next day and, I realized, even if he wasn't there with me in body, he wanted to be and would have if he could have. It reminded me that there were bigger things out there besides me. I wore it nearly everywhere, right until he died in service. I'm proud of him, and I hope he'd be proud of me."
"You speak of him as though he is gone."
Noah nodded, a vague expression on his face. "Died in combat when I was twenty."
Thane fell silent for a moment and Noah followed suit. But it probably didn't take a leap of faith that just because he wasn't saying anything that Thane wasn't thinking of something. What heirlooms had he left for his son? What inheritance would Kolyat have now, if he died after this, besides a childhood of anger and regret?
A small movement caught his eye again. Reaching down for the drell's hand, Noah wrapped their fingers together and gave them a small squeeze.
"I'm sure Kolyat will be proud too," he murmured.
The assassin closed his eyes, focusing on the warm touch to distract him from his own nefarious worries. He was so tired. "Perhaps."
Noah simply offered a smile and a shrug. "Perhaps." But Thane had already drifted off, hand still resting in Shepard's, and he decided to let the topic rest. He had wanted to comfort Thane from his worries... not really fair to just add to them. Not when their goal, and their possible end, was this close.
As if in reminder of the approaching relay, his alarm went off, soft but insistent. Noah glanced over at the clock and back to Thane. The drell was still asleep, the need for rest finally overtaking him. So Noah hit the snooze and settled back in, happy with the weight of Thane's head against his chest.
Just ten more minutes.
---------------
Title: Legacies
Characters: Alexus Shepard, mention of Kasumi and implications of F!Shep/Ashley Williams
Rating: PG-13 for some swearing, angst
Summary: A random gift brings up some memories for Shepard.
Alexus wasn't sure where Kasumi had gotten the idea that she'd like a book of poetry. Or, rather, books. She had ignored them at first as they mysteriously began to appear in her favorite haunts. A compilation of Robert Frost in the driver's side of the Hammerhead. A pamphlet of Maya Angelou underneath her toothbrush. The last one had been sneaky, somehow placed on her usual seat on the Kodiak, a hard-back compilation of Li Bo's one thousand poems.
Yeesh.
It wasn't that she didn't like poetry. No. Really, no. Just, why? Maybe it was just a game on the thief's part, to see how close she could get to Shepard without being seen and still leave evidence of being caught. Admittedly, it sounded more fun than just hanging out in that one room all day, bar or no bar. But, hey, there were other things to leave! Some extra medi-gel would have been appreciated. Or one of those bottles of Thessian brandy. Christ, yes, she could use that a lot since they'd left Horizon. Maybe she'd go ask the doctor for one. Two. Or three.
Either way she wasn't entirely unsurprised to walk into her quarters and see, right there on the floor near the door, a little blue book. It was a little scuffed, the cover stained and the pages yellowed. The thing looked ancient. Picking it up, she looked around for a title or hint to an author but didn't find one. Hm. Now the master thief was really getting tricky.
"Thanks, 'Sumi," she said with a slightly annoyed sigh and took a seat at her desk. She really just wanted to take a shower and nap, dammit, but she knew herself too well. Her inquisitiveness would only get more and more annoying until she finally read it. And, well, Kasumi may be offended. And she wasn't too bad, for someone who stole public property for shits and giggles.
Propping the book on her knee as she leaned back into her seat, she opened up to a random page.
You left me, sweet, two legacies,-
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content,
Had He the offer of;
You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea,
Between eternity and time,
Your consciousness and me.
Her chest felt hard and heavy at the printed words. They reminded her of other things, other times, and other people. Well. One other person. One person in particular, maybe. And as memory is often wont to do, it launched itself into her thoughts, bringing with it an often sharp voice with a love for prose and rhythm. She'd heard it in the past, content and smooth as silk when happy, with a laugh that could rattle her to the core. And she'd heard it a lot in her head lately, always angry and hurt and sad. But the one she remembered the most was one with smiles, and the way Ashley had said those old little words had always made her so...
So...
Alexus squeezed her eyes shut and shut the book.
Okay. Maybe she didn't like poetry quite that much anymore.