Re: FShep/Harbinger Mini-Romance Challenge: "I Know You Feel This"
anonymous
March 15 2016, 17:56:24 UTC
"I know you feel this."
Shepard started out of her daydream at the sound of the voice behind her. She thought she had been watching the sunrise alone. She unwrapped her arms from her knees and stood. The dew squished between her bare toes.
He thrust a ragged bouquet in her direction. Flowers and leaves culled from the park's planters, faded and streaked with soot but not without beauty. He was slim, vaguely handsome in a smooth but unmemorable way. He was as naked as she was.
As she accepted the small bundle, his eyes flashed with golden fire in the first rays of the sun. He came to stand by her, turning his attention to the view.
Reaper corpses lay strewn across the ruins of London. And yet the city was still recognizable. Swathes of the suburbs looked completely untouched while others still burned. This immaculate park on top of a hill had somehow avoided the destruction, and it was surely not alone.
"Do I know you?" she asked. She studied his profile in the light of the new day. He didn't look at all familiar. A tear trickled down his cheek.
"Pain is an illusion," he replied. He took her free hand, and held it to his breast. He was warm, but his chest throbbed alarmingly, as if his heart was about to explode.
"Are you OK?" asked Shepard. "Sit down. Go on. I'll sit with you."
He sank gratefully to his knees. His body quivered. “This shell is only a vehicle," he said feverishly.
Shepard knelt and put her arm around him. "It'll be all right," she told him. "Shh. Breathe through your nose."
He slumped against her gratefully. He wasn't heavy. His panting grew more desperate. "Leave the dead where they fall," he implored her, gasping. "The dead are useless."
Shepard didn't know what to make of his rapidly worsening condition. She held him close. "It's OK," she said. "It's OK. I've been there. There's nothing to be afraid of."
“There... is... no... pain,” he choked out with his final breaths.
Shepard held him as she watched the sun rising over London. The jagged teeth of broken buildings cast long shadows that shortened as she watched. Harbinger's corpse looked like it had collapsed in on itself. Probably just a trick of the light.
"I will find you again."
Shepard heard the whisper on the breeze as she hugged the dead man. She observed the world she had saved a while longer.
Shepard started out of her daydream at the sound of the voice behind her. She thought she had been watching the sunrise alone. She unwrapped her arms from her knees and stood. The dew squished between her bare toes.
He thrust a ragged bouquet in her direction. Flowers and leaves culled from the park's planters, faded and streaked with soot but not without beauty. He was slim, vaguely handsome in a smooth but unmemorable way. He was as naked as she was.
As she accepted the small bundle, his eyes flashed with golden fire in the first rays of the sun. He came to stand by her, turning his attention to the view.
Reaper corpses lay strewn across the ruins of London. And yet the city was still recognizable. Swathes of the suburbs looked completely untouched while others still burned. This immaculate park on top of a hill had somehow avoided the destruction, and it was surely not alone.
"Do I know you?" she asked. She studied his profile in the light of the new day. He didn't look at all familiar. A tear trickled down his cheek.
"Pain is an illusion," he replied. He took her free hand, and held it to his breast. He was warm, but his chest throbbed alarmingly, as if his heart was about to explode.
"Are you OK?" asked Shepard. "Sit down. Go on. I'll sit with you."
He sank gratefully to his knees. His body quivered. “This shell is only a vehicle," he said feverishly.
Shepard knelt and put her arm around him. "It'll be all right," she told him. "Shh. Breathe through your nose."
He slumped against her gratefully. He wasn't heavy. His panting grew more desperate. "Leave the dead where they fall," he implored her, gasping. "The dead are useless."
Shepard didn't know what to make of his rapidly worsening condition. She held him close. "It's OK," she said. "It's OK. I've been there. There's nothing to be afraid of."
“There... is... no... pain,” he choked out with his final breaths.
Shepard held him as she watched the sun rising over London. The jagged teeth of broken buildings cast long shadows that shortened as she watched. Harbinger's corpse looked like it had collapsed in on itself. Probably just a trick of the light.
"I will find you again."
Shepard heard the whisper on the breeze as she hugged the dead man. She observed the world she had saved a while longer.
Presently, she woke up, and took a breath.
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