#and Shep is just. very confused.

[luna-the-cretar]

One of my favorite ways to explore a character is how they like their coffee or tea. As in; which one do they prefer, or do they like both? How much sugar and/or cream do they add, if any? Hot or cold? It’s something so niche and minuscule that you probably wouldn’t ever think about otherwise, and yet imo it can tell you a lot about a character.

(Examples below)

1) Mollymauk prefers coffee. He tends to add a lot of sugar and creamer—to the point where it’s more cream than coffee—and prefers it iced rather than hot (my explanation for this in my fic was bc tieflings run hot, they need iced drinks to level it out). Essentially, the way I see it, he likes his coffee the way I do lol.

2) Caleb prefers tea. He adds a bit of sugar to cut the innate bitterness, but no cream, and almost exclusively drinks it hot. This being said, he is known to switch to apple cider on occasion, if he wants to switch it up.

3) Shepherd prefers hot black coffee. Ik this makes no sense considering my logic for Molly drinking iced coffee, but…idk, I can’t see Shep drinking iced coffee. He does drink iced tea if he can get it tho (yes I am implementing my southern roots onto him, what of it)

4) Sarnax almost exclusively drinks hot tea (don’t remember the name of the specific type he carries). No sweeteners or cream or anything, just the pure tea.

5) Skrimm likes apple cider. I mean, he prefers booze, but if there’s no booze available, then he’ll subconsciously go for the cider if given the option

6) Gricko likes apple juice. I can’t really explain why, but my brain has latched onto this idea and won’t let go. So yeah. Gricko likes cold apple juice.

7) Torbek also likes apple juice but like. Room temperature apple juice.

[lassieposting]

Fic Concept:

Tali'Zorah is, if she does say so herself, something of an expert in galactic romance. Her omnitool hosts a 6 terabyte collection of romance and romcom vids from across the spectrum of known species, and after that much media exposure, she's fairly sure she's familiar with all the ins and outs of each culture's dating milestones.

She knows, for example, that family members have certain duties in a clan member's new relationship, in human cultures. As one of Shepard's closest friends, she also knows that the poor thing has no family to fulfil those duties for her.

Determined to see Shepard and Garrus's relationship turn into Shepard and Garrus's marriage, she starts handing out responsibilities to appropriate members of the Normandy crew. Shenanigans ensue.

(AKA the one in which Tali is convinced common romcom tropes are actually essential milestones in any human romantic relationship, and takes steps to make sure Shep and Garrus get to experience them.)

Ideas that made me horf:

- Wrex, as Shepard's oldest and closest (deeply violent) male associate, is enlisted to give Garrus the if you break her heart, I'll end you speech usually performed by the father, on a visit to Tuchanka. Maybe he absolutely knows Tali has misread this, and lowkey gives the speech over shots of ryncol, wheezing about how Shep would kill Garrus just fine herself. Maybe he has no idea this isn't an actual important human ritual, and performs his part with ceremonial gusto. Anyway, he does it, and somehow manages to be vaguely heartwarming about it anyway or gives Garrus some sign of approval.

- Mordin, as the oldest male friend on the Normandy, is tasked with interrogating Garrus at "Family Dinner". He does so, but very few of the questions he asks are actually relevant to the typical Meet The Parents dinner, and Shepard actually learns a few new things about Garrus herself.

- Joker volunteers to be "mom" and bring out the baby pictures to show Garrus. He doesn't have any pictures of Shepard as an actual baby, but he does have some funny or embarrassing ones from their time serving together under Captain Anderson he's been itching to share, and that's almost the same thing. She's more baby there than she is now, anyway.

- Tali strongly encourages Garrus to spend time "bonding" with Grunt. It's very important to make sure your future wife's child knows he is included in your new family unit, Garrus! An eventful trip to the zoo/museum/etc ensues.

- Bonus wedding chapter where Wrex is bullied into formal wear to walk Shep down the aisle; Jack paints Cipritine face markings on Grunt thinking they're Vakarian family markings and then sets him loose on Garrus's extended family, who are all very confused as to how this young krogan is apparently from Cipritine; Zaeed gives a hilariously inappropriate speech as Best Man and accidentally outs Garrus as Archangel in front of Aria T'Loak; Kasumi attempts to hook up with Jacob in a time-honoured tradition of inadvisable bridesmaid/groomsman couplings, and Mordin makes use of his STG training to break into the honeymoon suite to leave a tasteful gift basket of sex aids on the bed, because Tali has banned him from giving them in front of the guests.

Just. Interfering Interspecies Crew Way Off Base But Have Loving Intentions. And in the end Shepard is deeply exasperated, but also very touched by the effort put in by the people that love them, and honestly lowkey glad that they got to experience those cliche moments after all.

Bonus points: crewmembers who really do see Shepard/Garrus as family also trying to share their traditions with her/him. Like, if a krogan warrior convinces a fertile female to join his clan, that's a big deal and maybe the clan throws a huge feast and party to celebrate, so Wrex does that for them. Or maybe asari pass hereditary jewelry from mother to daughter to be worn at the first bonding ceremony to a beloved life partner, so Samara lends Shep hers to wear for the wedding. Shit like that.

[eriexplosion]

Okay so. I cannot take it seriously when people say that we weren't led to think CX-2 was Tech. Because no we were not just having foreshadowing of the creation of an Evil Bad Batch. The clues led directly to Tech.

We have to start with the fact that they didn't kill him off definitively. Start with his survival being debated (and there's no way they didn't know it would be debated because I choose to believe they are not stupid) then introduce a character that lasts suspiciously long and has weirdly intense beef with Crosshair and you already are inclining people towards believing this is Tech.

CX-2 goes through a speedrun of Tech scenarios with 1. the leg crushed by a heavy falling object, similar to Ruins of War 2. knocked over by an explosion leaving him dangling above the abyss from a line like Plan 99 3. going over a waterfall and crawling out in a shot that completely matches the scene from The Crossing.

One or two of these is a coincidence, all three together less so.

Plan 99 notes mixed into The Battle of the Snipers. Which the Kiners only explained as the notes 'sounding good in brass' and nothing else.

He gets distinctly Tech like dialogue and no I don't just mean 'domicile' though we do have to acknowledge that no one else in Star Wars uses this word on the regular. We also have the exact match of 'Who are you' to Decomissioned, and the matching of 'I have simply cut off her means of escape' to Tech regularly saying 'I am simply-' when explaining himself, which again is something no one else in the show shares. Tech has a distinct way of speaking that matches CX-2, especially as of Point of No Return. (And CX-2 doesn't really sound like Crosshair, because Crosshair is just straight up not as chatty as CX-2 and never has been.)

He gets a long, unnecessary scene with Phee where he suddenly forgets how to be a murder assassin and starts playing soft.

He doesn't shoot Hunter when he has a chance and chooses to instead shoot his own man, he doesn't blow up the Marauder while Wrecker is inside, and when Omega surrenders he opts to just wait for her to hand him her communicator. He doesn't even shoot Shep when Shep starts talking back to him, all of which indicated that maybe for whatever reason he didn't want to, bolstering the Tech theories.

Getting into an opinion rather than analysis here but: Evil Bad Batch is a stupid fucking idea, it serves no purpose whatsoever other than a cool boss fight that adds nothing to the story. Having a CX be someone, anyone they actually cared about would have been interesting and actually played into the themes of family and forgiveness that were set up earlier in the season. Instead it's just more people to kill off to zero interesting payoff. It's stupid.

Every person I spoke to offline thought that this was Tech. All of them. People that have never looked on social media, watched a theory video, anything. All thought CX-2 was Tech and were confused when he was speared. This was not terminally online theorizing gone wild, this was a very widespread thought and assumption.

So, if they didn't mean to do any of that and at no point intended to imply this was Tech and were solely trying to foreshadow their 5 minutes of Evil Batch fight? They did it poorly. When the majority of your audience actively believes you are leading to one direction only for it to be some other direction that you meant to lead them to, the problem is not The Audience Didn't Read It Right, the problem is you wrote it badly.

[theladyjojogrant]

Can’t stop thinking about Cal, Merrin, and Kata ending up on Pabu at some point and meeting the Batch. Just imagine…

Omega doing her “instant imprinting on questionable adult figures” thing on Merrin. Yes, the boys are very concerned that their sister is following a witch around. And yes, Merrin has way too much fun making them concerned on purpose

Merrin and Crosshair getting along very well. Too well. So well the sarcastic back-and-forth banter literally never stops

Shep giving Cal a new poncho

Omega and Wrecker starting to wear ponchos because Cal continually insists on how amazing they are

Omega going into instant Older Sister Mode™️ after meeting Kata and finding out about her dad. The Batch essentially become Kata’s second set of parents

Everyone assuming Kata is Cal and Merrin’s child and it happens so much they sorta just accept it

Omega and Cal (and Crosshair?) meditating on the beach

Omega begging Cal to teach her “Force stuff” and off-handedly mentioning yeah, she totally has a high M-count (Cal is extremely confused and even more confused when Omega casually mentions Ventress tested her)

BD-1 sitting on Omega’s shoulders 🥹

BD loving Crosshair and Crosshair always trying to shoo him away

Wrecker and Merrin challenging each other to arm wrestling competitions, eating competitions, any kind of competition

Hunter being the last one to accept Merrin isn’t just a creepy witch lady; meanwhile, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Omega are already her bffs

BD reminding the Batch of Tech and how much he would’ve loved the little droid

Kata getting to play and interact with kids her age

Hunter and Cal getting over their initial wariness of each other by bonding over the Clone Wars and the mutual people they knew

The Batch helping Cal perfect his blaster stance

Omega: “Can I try your lightsaber??” The Batch: “NO!!!”

[turboloverjudas69]

Now I'm wondering about your Kaidan headcanons 👀👀

There is so many and mostly they are silly like:

- Kay would keep loosing Shep in crowds on the citadel cause Shep would just go to the shops and places cause something caught their eye so at some point Kay got one of them bag pack leashes and gave it to Shep who thought it was just a bag pack for all his trinkets he collects on their leave. Joker and EDI are with them when they all see Shep is about to wonder off again so Kay clips the lil leash on and Shep gets pulled and very confused. He looks betrayed. Joker laughs. Kay is calm that no one is in danger. EDI points out at Shepards protests that according to her stats they do cause unnecessary stress to all their companions by disappearing suddenly and that they do tend to get distracted when something shiny or animal related is in a shop display.

TLDR Kay got Shepard a bag pack leashes for shore leave and supply runs.

[girafficparka]

Untitled WIP I’ve been working on off and on to help with writers block for a different fic. I kinda really liked it so here ya go!

Inspiration: mass effect 3 owes me a decent shep/garrus/kaiden love triangle, and I plan to collect.

~~~

“I don’t know what you’re in the mood for tonight, Shepard. But Vega insists that we watch something called…Hard Death?” Garrus was saying as he entered her cabin. He was reviewing the title of the vid on his omni-tool. “Scratch that. Die Hard. He said it was a traditional human holiday vid, so I thought…Shepard?”

He stopped short when he looked up and caught Shepard staring at him, silently, from her couch. Humans weren’t exactly the easiest species to read - they were expressive, but often he could never figure out what each of their hundred of expressions meant - but he’d like to think he knew Shepard pretty well. She looked…stricken.

“Shepard?” he repeated, fully entering her cabin and approaching her. He went to sit next to her but she held up a hand to stop him. He paused at an awkward angle, halfway between standing leaning down to sit next to her. She stood up, standing in front of him with her hands fidgeting before her. He had never seen her look so…nervous.

“Shepard,” he repeated, for the third time, his voice soft. Confused. “Talk to me.”

“I…I have something to tell you and I don’t…want to.”

Well this was new. Shepard wasn’t afraid of anything, least of that being talking.

Thoroughly confused, he asked, “Ok?”

Shepard stared up at him and pulled her lower lip into her mouth, biting it. He’d seen her do that before, in a very different circumstance. Here it was just further proof that she was worrying. Panicking. “You are starting to freak me out a little bit here, Shepard.”

Shepard released her lip with a POP and raised a hand, running it through her fringe - er, hair. Judging by how it was sticking up she had been doing that for awhile.

“Are you hur-” he started, reaching out a hand to touch her face.

“Kaiden came by. A little bit ago.” Garrus’ hand froze. He didn’t know why, but the way she had said it…made him feel cold. He waited for her to continue, dropping his hand. Shepard’s green gaze followed it’s movement before she dropped her own hand from her hair. Her eye flicked between his for a moment before she let out a harsh breath, turning away from him to pace.

“He…said he wants to try again. After that bullshit he pulled I almost threw him out. But…he seemed…sincere. He kept bringing up Ilium and the SR1 and…uggh.”

Garrus remained silent, and frozen, where he had paused near the couch.

“I didn’t tell him yes. But I did…agree to a date. One date. We never got closure after…I died. Not really. And I wasn’t sure if we - you and I I mean - were still, I mean you’ve been back no the Normandy for a month and we haven’t even talked about…oh my god, I’m rambling. I never ramble.” Shepard stopped her pacing, turning to look at Garrus. “If you tell me not to go I won’t go.”

That pulled him out of stasis. “What? Why is that my decision?”

And it was an easy decision.

No.

Don’t go on a date with Kaiden spirits fucking forsaken Alenko. He had his shot, and he blew it. It was Garrus’ turn now. But what had he been doing with ‘his turn’? (and how pissed would Shepard be if she could read his thoughts right now). Movie nights, quips across the battle field, platonic if lingering touches as they hung out in the battery. She was right, he’d been back on board the Normandy for a month and he had nothing to show for it. He’d had a chance - a hundred chances - to bring up how he felt about her but he hadn’t. She’d always seemed so stressed, so harried. He hadn’t wanted to burden her, to pressure her. He’d let her take the lead on their reconnection. She’d been friendly, so he’d been friendly. And every two minutes there was some damn crisis - a dalatrass to bribe, a galaxy-changing medical marvel to facilitate. He’d wanted to be the calm at the center of her numerous storms. And now it sounded like she’d been waiting for him to-

“We were, you know, together recently. So I thought-”

“Seven months ago.” Garrus clarified, unsure why he was bringing up the time frame.

“Huh?”

“We were together seven months ago. And we thought we were going to die.” What was he talking about? Why was he saying this?

Why did he sound so cold?

His tone tripped Shepard up. She suddenly looked less frantic. She stopped wringing her hands, and was looking at him with an expression he could not even begin to interpret. “You’re right. We didn’t make any promises to each other. You aren’t…responsible for me, nor I you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you about this. I guess I just…wanted to make sure you and I are…good. If I do this - the date with Kaiden, I mean.”

Garrus needed to swing by the medbay - there was a pain in his gut that had to be from something physical - a bullet wound his medi-gel had somehow missed?

Tell her to not go out with him. Fucking idiot, tell her!

“We are good Shep. You go on that date - or not! Whatever…whatever you want. We are good.” Shep? Where the hell had that come from. “If that’s all, I got to go - guns to calibrate, you know-” Garrus began making his way back through the door. He paused at the doorway just as Shepard called.

“What were you…saying about a movie?”

“Uh, oh that? Nothing. I’ll tell you later. See you in the morning, Shepard.” And before he could say something embarrassing, or pitiful, he left.

As he made his way to the elevator he stumbled. He felt off-balance - like the artificial gravity had abruptly been turned off. What had just happened? What the hell had just happened? He felt a sick, heavy feeling rolling along his veins, originating from somewhere deep in his gut. As the doors slid open on the crew deck, Garrus had had the chance to examine the sensation coursing through his body, finally setting in his chest like a heavy weight.

Jealousy.

~~~fin, for now~~~

[dark-twist-fairytales]

(Maybe because Clayton was very insistent on getting into that hunters cabinet, but hey! This time it pays off because his daughter now has a weapon to defend herself. (Idk why but I hc that Claras family are all very good hunters, them having amassed their wealth like that. Emmys grandpa, Claras dad, probably taught her how to shoot when they visited))

The second Clayton notices shes injured he's fretting immediately, this might actually be the first time the others that arent Shep and Vic see his truer personality, not a stoic man but a concerned father.

Also, yeah, Emmy immitating her dads routines even if she gets nothing out of it is adorable.

Emmy would be tired from death house, being a child and all, so she falls asleep on the beds almost the second Clayton finishes dressing her knee ("No, Sarnax, your fire won't be...necessary).

He's conflicted about leaving her alone in the bedroom, since they did say they would speak with Ismark, but he doesnt want to move her in case she wakes up. He tells the others to go on without him as he takes several minutes to cast alarm and make sure that all the windows are locked.

After that he carefully closes the door, locking it so no one can reach his child. They go down and speak with Ismark, he examines the pastry and they do still indulge (later when the truth is revealed he's so grateful that Emmy fell asleep before they ate them)

They find out about Ireena and still do agree to help Ismark. Clayton only takes a sip of the alcohol but stops there "I don't believe its wise to indulge when I have a child I must care for."

The group goes to bed (Shep even more drunk since he drank the professors pints as well), he'd gently move some hair out of Emmys face before taking some spare pillows and making himself comfortable on the floor next to the bed. Now they have a goal, help Ismark and Ireena.

(That man can sleep sitting, standing or whichever way his body decides)

If I'm remembering from that episode, he casted alarm on the room with Victoria and Kana in the room while Shepherd and Sarnax went downstairs, having even more of a reason to do so now, before they joined them downstairs. And yeah, Emmy being asleep while him and Kana eat the dream pastries is a blessing in disguise.

It would be funny if Emmy woke up before them and dug around in the case for a better suited outfit than a bustling dress (she can make do, but she has the resources, she would rather not), and suddenly the cross bow has a place on her back, the bolts on her hip, and better protection than thin fabric.

It doesn't look fancy, like someone would expect from Breeg, but instead it looks rough, used, a small bit baggy. She knows how to hunt, she remembers what her grandfather has taught her. And if they wake up to her dad's case open and her cleaning the crossbow, making sure that it was up to par, they say nothing. And if Clayton only asks how her knee's feeling while tying her hair back to keep it from being tangled, it's just another morning in the Azran expedition.

(Mechanically, I think she would either dual-class as a ranger/wizard, or go full ranger (different than Shepherd) with some a magic feature of some kind.)

Shepherd is still a wildly better ranger than her (having been alive longer than her), but she can casts a good amount of damaging spells, if she ever runs out of bolts/needs to in a pinch.

Oh, I just realized, Sarnax would still be so confused about Clayton's father-like tendencies. Asking something like "Is it normal for.. Humans to fret over their young this much?" And Shepherd responding back with "Yeah, most humanoids in general fret over their children like that, 'specially after nearly dyin'. Clayton ain't no different. Hells, if anythin' were to happen to that child, I'll murder in cold blood."

[hunnythebee]

Jealousy

Recent events between Phee and Tech have you feeling... well to put it bluntly, have you feeling jealous.

2.4k words - first person - gender neutral

Tags: Reader x Tech, GN Reader (let me know if I used anything gender specific and I will edit it out), Jealous!Reader, Best Friend!Hunter, mild spoilers for Season 2 Episode 13, pining, angst, fluff, love confessions, kissing

I would like to preface this by stating for the record, I am in no way against the direction they are going with Tech and Phee. I love that they are leading toward a canon romance (or at the very least hinting at it). However, posts made by people voicing their own opinions have inspired me to write this because I've never written a jealous!reader before and it sounded fun. Now that that’s out of the way, enjoy!

I had been cordial, friendly even with Phee. She was decent… for a pirate. Not that we had been much better in recent times, so who was I to judge? But what had me sucking at my teeth while I glared from my seat behind Tech was the way she was touching him. So familiar. And this nickname she had for him always made my stomach twist. ‘Brown eyes.’ How creative of her. I shouldn’t be so mad at her. She was going to help us afterall. Stars I just… I can’t figure out why she rubs the wrong way so hard.

I was silent as the dead the whole trip to wherever she was taking us. I hadn’t realized I was clenching my jaw until it unclenched. My whole mouth fell slack at the sight of this small island civilization. Beautiful blue waters surrounded a mountain dotted with small white huts. It looked so peaceful, so serene. Tech landed the Maurauder at the peak of the mountain, where there stood a tall tree and an even taller temple-like structure. As I stepped out of the ship the warm sun hit my skin and I sighed in relief. My seething anger melted away from me almost instantly.

A man, whom Phee referred to as Shep appeared on the platform, along with a young girl. She hugged the man, which made my anger melt even more. Maybe this was her husband and child? Maybe she’s just really friendly by nature. Then I overheard Wrecker make a joking comment towards Tech.

“Looks like you’ve got some competition.” He nudged Tech with his elbow to emphasize the remark. I bit my cheek and rolled my eyes, a gesture Hunter couldn’t help but notice. I relaxed a little when I took notice of Tech’s utter confusion towards Wrecker’s remark as he lowered his datapad. Phee then introduced Shep to us as the mayor of this island, Pabu, and his daughter Lyanna. Phee proceeded to list us off by name, Omega, myself, Hunter, Wrecker, and then Tech. My anger flared back up just a little when she saved Tech’s name for last, but I quickly attempted to stomp out the internal flame. Hunter was giving me a side eye, which meant I wasn’t quick enough about it.

After the introductions were made, Shep invited us all to eat with them at his home. As we were leaving the platform, Phee stated that she would catch up. Tech lingered behind the group, she said something to him and left. He turned around smiling and proceeded to catch up. I noticed his grin and his body language when they were talking, and I felt twinge. It wasn’t anger or hatred. This was something else entirely. I was so lost in thought I hadn’t realized that I was becoming a straggler, lingering so far behind the group that I couldn’t hear what any of them were saying. It didn’t matter. My heart pounded in my ears and I could feel a lump forming in my throat. I didn’t want to feel like this, not when everyone else was so happy. Yet here I was, turning green with jealousy. Worse yet, I couldn’t understand why. I turned my head to look out at the water as I walked, hoping the view would calm me as it had before. I was so focused that I didn’t notice Hunter blocking my path until it was too late.

I would have walked square into his chest if he hadn’t grabbed me by the shoulder with a gentle, yet firm hand. The contact startled me and I let out a small yell and clutched my chest.

“Hunter! You nerf-herder nearly gave me a heart attack,” I exclaimed. 

He was silent for a moment and then responded with a simple, “Your heart’s fine. Your head is what I’m concerned about.”

I tried to feign confusion. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I was hoping if I acted dumb he wouldn’t pry. As usual, it didn’t work. He shouted up to the rest of the group that we would catch up in a minute, then turned his attention back to me.

“Talk to me. What’s going on? You’ve been off all day.” He was looking at me with that sincere concerned look he gets, and I knew I couldn’t hide what was bothering me. I sighed and fell against the wall to my right.

“It’s… Phee.” I started, struggling to get the words out.

“I figured out that much,” he stood in front of me, folding his arms over his chest. “The question is why does she make you so angry?”

I froze. My heart dropped into my stomach. I knew why. I had figured it out moments before the collision with Hunter. I wasn’t ready to say yet. Not fully.

“Because…” I hesitated, looking everywhere but Hunter’s eyes.

“Because?” He echoed.

I sighed heavily. I couldn’t say it. I physically couldn’t make the words take form, despite them being right on the tip of my tongue. I was struggling and he could tell. He stepped closer to me and I felt a caloused hand touch my cheek carefully. I finally let myself look at him. He had this knowing look on his face.

“Do you need me to say it for you?” He asked. I bit my lip and shook my head in agreement. There was no way of knowing if he actually knew what was running through my mind, but it did always kind of feel like he could read minds sometimes.

“You’re in love with Tech.”

He stated it so easily. Like it wasn’t the most planet shattering phrase in the galaxy. Tears welled in my eyes and I whispered a barely audible, “Yes.”

Hunter pulled me into a tight hug as the tears began to fall, and then the verbal floodgates released.

“I can’t stand it, Hunter. Seeing the two of them together. She’s always flirting with him. Touching him or calling ‘Brown Eyes.” What kind of kriffing nickname is that anyways? ‘Brown Eyes’? You all have brown eyes! At least be more original than that! But that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is the way he looks at her. He would never look at me like that…”

“That you’ve seen…” Hunter mutters under his breath. I pull away and stare at him with a furrowed brow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I questioned.

“Nothing. I think you should talk to Tech. Tell him how you feel. If he feels the same then you can stop feeling so jealous. If he doesn’t… then at least you have closure.” He grabs my shoulder one last time and gives it a squeeze. “Think about it over dinner, okay?”

“Okay…” I responded.

I gathered myself and we headed toward the home of the Mayor. Dinner felt… long. Scratch that. It felt like an eternity. Phee was her usual self, and Tech seemed to actually be enjoying it. I felt sick. I couldn’t eat anymore. I stood up from the table abruptly and excused myself. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I needed to get away from there. I decided to go back to the ship. I raced up the steps as fast as my legs would carry me. I don’t even think I was halfway there before I got winded and had to stop for breath. I felt far enough away that I could at least take my time now. I decided to take a break to watch the sunset, hoping that it would make me feel better. It was sort of working to calm my nerves, until I heard my name being called by a familiar voice. I turned my head to catch a glimpse of Tech, running up the steps towards me. His long legs carried him up two or three steps at a time. My heart raced and I panicked. I couldn’t face him like this. I turned quickly from him and began sprinting back up the steps, with him in tow and gaining. I was already exhausted from booking it up the steps before and my endurance was nothing compared to a clone’s, so it was a given that he was going to eventually catch up to me. I at least managed to get to the landing second to the top before he got to me. He caught my hand in his and my heart leapt inside my chest.

He was breathing hard from the exertion, “What…is…going…on?” He spoke, panting between his words.

“Just…leave…me…alone.” I panted back. I pulled my hand from his, despite wanting to keep it there forever. I tried to move to continue my climb, but I was too slow. His hands pressed into my shoulders and shoved me against the wall. My eyes widened at the show of brute force he was exhibiting. It wasn’t like him to use his strength like this. I had almost forgotten that, despite his differing physique, he was meant to be as strong as any other clone. There was escaping now, but I could still refuse to look in his eyes. If I did, I was sure I would break.

“Why are you running from me?” He still sounded exhausted, but his voice was like music to me. I sighed deeply and looked up at the sky, anything but his eyes. He lowered his head and continued to speak.

“Hunter…said I should be the one to come after you,” he admitted.

“That mud-scuffer…” I muttered.

Tech laughed, it was dry and tired, but it gave me chills. I was breaking already and I wasn’t even looking at him.

“Why didn’t he want me to catch you? Why are you running? And why… why won’t you look at me?” I could hear pain in his voice. I didn’t want to cause him pain. That was the last thing I wanted. I bit into my lower lip and finally met his stare. His eyes were filled with worry. He was looking straight into mine and I felt it. I was breaking. There was nothing stopping it.

“Please…” I pleaded with him in one last feeble attempt. “Please Tech… don’t.”

“I know something is wrong…” He ignored my pleas. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”

He was right. I am usually so open with him, so why should this be any different. Just tell him how I feel, be rejected and move on. Like Hunter said.

“I…” I start, but lose my train of thought when I look into his eyes. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall. Just say it already.

“I love you.”

My heart was pounding so loudly I wasn’t sure if he had responded and I couldn’t hear him, or if he was being unusually silent. I couldn’t bear to look at him. I didn’t want to see his eyes, the look of betrayal over my confession. Or the confusion. I couldn’t take it. I just wanted him to tell me doesn’t feel the same way so this could all be over. Finally I felt movement, his hands left my shoulders. I still didn’t dare look at him, keeping my eyes shut tight and my head against the wall. Still nothing from him. Maybe he left. I finally decided to open my eyes, to see if he truly had just walked away. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

He was standing in front of me, looking magnificent with the sunset behind him. His hands were limp at his sides. I took my time working my way to his eyes. Wanting to avoid the moment for just a little longer. His mouth hung open slightly in shock. Finally I made it to his eyes, but they didn’t have the look I had been expecting. There was shock, which was to be expected, but something else. Something… contemplative.

“Tech, I–” I began, but the moment I spoke he moved in towards me. His hands found my neck and jaw, much softer than Hunter’s were, and fitting there perfectly as if they were made to hold me. Tech’s body was pressed completely against mine, with one of his legs tucked between mine. His face wasn’t even an inch from mine, as he nuzzled my nose with his own. My breath hitched in my throat as he spoke. His voice was still familiar, but the tone was foreign. He spoke low and with a heat I had never heard come from him before.

“Say it again,” he requested.

“I– I love you, Tech,” I confessed once more, as I leaned into his hand. And then his lips were on mine. Soft and gentle, patiently waiting for me to confirm that this action was okay. I kissed him back, pressing into him and reveling in this moment. He hummed happily and deepened the kiss. We continued like this till the sun had set completely. Finally we broke apart for air and he pressed his forehead to mine.

I needed to hear him say the words. So I leaned back, wanting to see him say it. Then I breathlessly asked, “Do you love me?”

“Emotions are a complex concept, and I don’t fully believe that words can be utilized to sum up one's feelings at any given point. But… if I had to put a word to what I am feeling, then… yes. Love is about as close to explaining how I feel about you.” He responded, making even that absurdly roundabout ‘yes’ sound sexy.

I laughed, “I wouldn’t have expected you to say you love me in any other way.”

“Am I truly that predictable?” He looked a little offended.

“Hmm… occasionally.” I responded. “For example, I didn’t know what to expect from you when I confessed. But I do know what you’re going to say next.”

“Do you now?” He cocked his head in amusement.

“Mmhm. You’re going to say we should head back before the others begin to worry,” I replied.

His eyes widened slightly, “How did yo–” 

“I know you,” I shrugged, grabbing him by the arm. “So, let’s head back. There’s plenty of time for… this, later.”

He blushed a little at the thought, and agreed to head back down to the Mayor’s home. I finally felt at ease. I hope the rest of the night is more relaxing.

Masterlist

[wolveria]

On Frozen Wings - Ch 4

Pairing: Crosshair x Hunter

Rating: 18+ only, Explicit

The squad settle on Pabu in a more permanent way, and Crosshair sends some very confusing signals (until he doesn't).

AO3

Hunter’s struggle to wakefulness was slow, a pleasant heaviness on his limbs, his surroundings soft.

That… was unusual.

He opened his eyes, taking in the dim room, gently lit with the morning glow behind drawn curtains. That was the second thing he noticed. The first, he was in bed alone.

Crosshair’s scent was at least two hours’ old, and Hunter sighed into the pillow. His body ached pleasantly, his sluggishness suggesting he’d slept a full night. Couldn’t remember the last time he did that.

The rest of him might be half-asleep, but his cock was at full attention, remembering what had happened before collapsing into the soft bed.

Frustrated, he got up and forced himself to dress finding whatever he could in the drawers, which ended up being an eggshell-colored top to match the trousers, along with a pair of dark undershorts. His old clothes and armor were gone, even his boots missing, and he could only surmise Crosshair was the reason.

After taking a leak and washing his face, giving up on trying to make his hair manageable, he stepped outside. Hunter breathed in the morning air, savoring it. He never got tired of the salty breeze, alive and warm in a way the Kaminoan sea had never been. Still, something about it was… comfortingly familiar. A better version of home.

He leaned against the railing, admiring the waking bustle below, but he wasn’t alone for long.

“Hello!”

He’d heard her coming, but he still blinked slowly at the girl smiling up at him, a bowl of fruit in hand.

“Morning,” Hunter greeted, unsure. “Sorry, Crosshair isn’t here.”

“Oh, I know.” Lyana smiled at him sweetly, as if she found his slowness amusing. “This is for you.”

“Me?”

“Mmhm.”

She offered up the bowl, and he had no choice but to take it. Hunter stared from her to the innocuous-looking fruit.

“You… knew I was here?”

“Of course!”

She offered no further explanation, and Hunter was afraid to ask.

“Thanks.” His response was warmer this time. “Say hi to your dad for me. Oh, and I might come by later, see if he needs anything while we’ve got some downtime.”

“Will do! Bye, Mister Hunter!”

With a cheery wave, she disappeared around the corner. Hunter shook his head with a faint smile of sympathy for Shep. Omega was growing out of her energetic hurricane stage, but Hunter was more than a little apprehensive about soon having a teenager on his hands.

At least, he wouldn’t have to raise her alone.

Hunter didn’t know when Crosshair would be back, so he slipped on a pair of sandals that fit surprisingly well, and headed off to the Marauder, bowl in hand. He didn’t plan on eating but ended up sneaking a few pieces for himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been actively hungry.

Omega and Wrecker were gathered at the lower gangplank when he found them, preparing to go down to the docks.

The hound was also there, and she hopped up and bounded toward him, forcing Hunter to dodge to the side in her effort to get at the fruit.

“All right.” He laughed and patted her head crest. “Settle, girl.”

“She’s just excited to see you,” Omega said, and then gave him a curious once-over at his different clothing. “You were gone all night.”

“Ah… yeah…”

Hunter had no idea what to say, how to even start explaining whatever this thing was with Crosshair, and he looked at Wrecker in a wordless cry for help.

“Uh,” Wrecker said, as equally elegant. “Wherever it was, you look good! Er, well-rested! Yeah!”

Omega frowned at them both, and it was a little unsettling how the expression looked so much like a certain sniper.

Wrecker rallied as best he could, rubbing Batcher’s side where she’d flopped down next to him.

“Oh, yeah, thought I should tell ya. Crosshair left your stuff here before he took off.” He made a face. “We spent all morning at the cleaner tryin’ to get our gear scrubbed. I swear, I can still taste that place.”

Hunter winced, both at the remembered odor, and at the thought that Crosshair had let him sleep in when he should have been helping.

In fact, it was starting to feel like Crosshair was avoiding him again.

“Took off? Where?”

Wrecker shrugged, and then got to his feet since Omega was done packing their supplies for the day. Wherever she went with Wrecker, whether to help out or explore, she always took snacks enough for him and Batcher.

“Probably where he always goes,” Wrecker added with a thoughtful look.

Ah. That would mean a hidden cove and a harried AZI.

“Right, thanks. For that, and for taking care of our gear.”

“You got it, Sarge.”

Wrecker sent a little lopsided salute, and for some reason that set Batcher off, huffing excitedly and running around his legs, and she was joined by a smiling Omega waving goodbye to him.

Hunter returned it with a lift of his own hand, and once they were gone, he frowned up at the Marauder. Sure enough, his gear was inside, the clothes folded next to the armor pieces, cuirass, and helmet. By the way they were neatly creased, he could guess who had folded them.

He should put them on. They needed to be ready to don their armor at a moment’s notice, prepared for any situation.

He just… didn’t feel like wearing it today. Tomorrow he would, and the day after that. But not today.

Hunter left the armor behind and went off in search of the cove that Crosshair had taken to as his firing range.

But… Crosshair wasn’t there. And there wasn’t any sign he’d been there that day, either.

Hunter briefly considered searching him out—there were only so many places he could go on a small island—but he dismissed it. He needed to break this habit of trailing after him, and if Crosshair really wanted to find him, he would.

Besides, he’d already offered his time to Shep, and whatever the man needed done would be a good distraction.

It was, it turned out. Shep greeted him with his usual warm cheeriness, and his compliment at Hunter’s casual wear was enthusiastic enough to make his cheeks warm.

Huh. Between Wrecker and Shep, Hunter might actually believe he didn’t look half-bad.

Hunter didn’t need to worry that he would go the entire day without his sniper. He spotted Crosshair down at the eastern docks while on his way to pick up a couple of shipments of green Gabaki leaf.

Crosshair didn’t notice him, too focused on his own task where he sat on the pier. Hunter couldn’t tell what he was doing at first, but when he got closer, he spotted the basket of loose fiber twine, and the way Crosshair meticulously threaded and tied the strands together until they formed a taut rope.

Hunter had no idea where he’d learned to do that. Maybe he just had. The movements were fluid, graceful, and Hunter paused to watch, mesmerized.

At one point, Crosshair faulted as his right hand inevitably trembled, but instead of clenching his fist and frowning in an inward turn of frustration, he loosened his fingers and took a breath. Hunter watched, amazed, as Crosshair waited for the trembling to subside before he continued his task.

Seemed whatever Omega did while they were gone had helped, and Hunter’s lips tugged upward at the thought.

As if he could sense anyone having a nice thought in his direction, Crosshair narrowed his eyes and looked up.

Hunter quickly turned away, and with a large food trolley rolling down the boardwalk to block his view, he wasn’t sure if Crosshair had spotted him. By the faint, tingling pressure at the back of his neck, Hunter guessed he hadn’t succeeded.

He didn’t want to distract Crosshair from his work—that’s all. He didn’t feel… unsteady about last night. It had been nice. Felt nice, too. And falling asleep next to Crosshair had been the most natural thing in the galaxy.

He just wasn’t sure how Crosshair felt about it, and that was new. There was a time he thought he knew how Crosshair felt about everything.

Forcing his thoughts back to the task at hand, Hunter handed the woman at the dock the bag Shep had given him. From their feel, they were jewelry or shells and beads, and it wasn’t unusual for such trades on the island. The economic system on Pabu relied on goodwill and gifts, rather than any kind of currency.

Hunter balanced the two crates of green Gabaki on his shoulder, his next stop the infirmary to drop off the medicinal herb. He didn’t mind the walk, the chance to learn more of the island and enjoy the fresh breeze, but he wasn’t sure about some of the looks he was getting. Most people ignored him or gave him a polite nod, but more than one person stared at him for longer than usual.

He frowned. Had he worn something he shouldn’t? Something against etiquette, or wrong for the season or time of day. There didn’t seem anything particularly special about his clothes, just that they were thinner and looser from what he usually wore.

The answer wasn’t forthcoming, and Hunter tried to put it out of his mind as he continued his tasks. He didn’t run into Crosshair the rest of the day, though once in a while something tugged at the back of his neck, a familiar feeling of being watched.

For lunch he stopped by the house, only to find it still empty. Hunter tried not to let that fact bother him, and he spent the rest of the day between running errands and checking in on folks who might need help—people who lived alone, were older, or had medical issues.

Hunter also stopped by the house the former clone cadets shared. Stak, Mox, and Deke were all settling in well, better than he would have thought, but they were still young. They hadn’t had a lifetime of being told their only use was to be a good, obedient soldier. And Hunter was grateful for that.

They certainly seemed more excited to see him than Omega and Wrecker were. Not that they minded Hunter there, they were just doing fine without him, combing the island for whatever treasures they could find (seashells seemed to be the choice of the day). Hunter felt a little like the odd man out.

With a small smile, he realized that was exactly it. His family was settling in, genuinely this time, and they didn’t need him hovering over them like an overprotective gundark mother with a den of cubs.

It was a nice change, but still unfamiliar. He should… be fine with it. Not being needed.

Well, perhaps there was one thing left he could do.

That night, after having an extensive conversation over dinner with Shep, Hunter approached the Marauder, trying to fight down the grin and keep his face neutral. Wrecker, Omega, and the hound were there, having just finished their own meal. He felt a little guilty he hadn’t eaten with them, but it was for good reason.

Still no Crosshair in sight, but he couldn’t hide forever. After all, Hunter knew where he lived.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Omega turned to him, halfway up the gangplank and fighting a yawn, and she fixed him with a confused frown. Yeah, he could definitely see the resemblance.

“To… bed?” she tried. Even Wrecker was giving Hunter a look like he’d missed something crucial.

Hunter’s lips twitched, but he kept his sergeant-serious expression.

“Grab your stuff,” Hunter said, arms crossed as he looked between them. “Both of you.”

Now they both looked a little concerned, and he shouldn’t find this as amusing as he did. But he had to get his kicks somewhere, and they’d forgive him when they saw what he had planned.

Wrecker must have seen something in his eyes, because suddenly he grinned—he’d seen that pretend-sternness before, usually right before Hunter presented them with some new weapon or detonator, courtesy of the Republic experimental weapons division.

It’d a long time since Hunter had a reason to gift them with a surprise, and with any luck, this one wouldn’t explode.

Wrecker’s enthusiasm immediately infected Omega, and she went bounding into the ship ahead of him, both of them a whirlwind as they grabbed their meager belongings. They had to travel light while living on a ship.

Hopefully… that would soon change.

After they both left the ship, Hunter pressed a button on his comm to retract the gangplank and close the hatch. Omega watched with a questioning look, but Wrecker was far too eager to pay much attention, and the hound caught on to the joyful air, huffing and dancing circles around them.

Hunter winced a little. He’d forgotten to mention Batcher in his conversation with Shep, but he figured the man knew she was inseparable from Omega. It would be fine. Probably.

He led them down the wide stairs that wrapped around the upper portion of the island, and then along one of the upper ledges where several smatterings of huts were dotted around in clusters.

One stood off alone and higher than the others, and Hunter noted the light was on inside. His stomach fluttered, but he didn’t lead them toward that house, instead guiding them to a larger one that was nestled against the wall. It was close to the path winding to the other hut but gave enough distance for privacy.

It was perfect. He could only hope the others thought so as well as he opened the front door and stepped aside.

“Go on,” he finally said when neither of them moved.

The two shared a glance, as if two children unsure if they were allowed to open a present set before them, and Omega finally asked, “Whose house is this?”

“Well…” The corners of his mouth twitched. “Ours. At least, it can be, if we want—”

He didn’t finish before the three of them, hound included, rushed inside.

Hunter followed at a slower pace, his smile no longer hidden. He leaned against one of the inner walls, just watching as they scoured the place. He’d stopped by that evening to make sure it would even fit them all, and it would. It had been their good fortune to be empty at the time, the previous family having moved to a hut closer to the docks.

Hunter sensed it before he heard anything—a familiar presence behind him, electrifying enough to cause the back of his neck to tingle.

“They seem happy,” Crosshair drawled, his tone almost bored as he leaned inside the open doorway.

Hunter gave a small grunt, his eyes purposefully forward.

“You gave me the idea, actually.”

“Is that so?”

His tone might be flat, but Hunter could hear the curiosity poking out from underneath.

“Yeah. Figured if we’re going to stay here… then we should stay here.”

“No more foot halfway out the door?”

Hunter glanced over his shoulder. Crosshair had him in his sights with his full attention, and Hunter swallowed.

Crosshair was asking about much more than just the housing situation.

Before Hunter could answer—and perhaps point out that he wasn’t the one who kept vanishing—Batcher loped into the room, skidding to a stop just before Crosshair. She sat on her haunches and wagged her tail with sudden good behavior.

Crosshair’s face softened, and he patted the hound on her head. She gave a happy, canine grin and stood up just to plop against his legs, silently begging for more head pats. Hunter hadn’t realized he could be envious of an animal.

“Crosshair!” Omega crowed with equal delight. “You’re here!”

“Of course I am,” he answered, as if there was no other option. “I could hear you halfway down the mountain.”

Hunter winced. Fair enough, they had to work on their volume now that they had neighbors, Crosshair being one of them.

Omega frowned.

“Wait, there’s only three rooms. What about Crosshair?”

When Crosshair didn’t immediately answer, Hunter glanced at him and was met with a raised brow, one that asked, You didn’t tell her?

Hunter winced again, and—all right, he didn’t mean to withhold information, it was an old habit. He should have mentioned Crosshair’s place. He just… hadn’t.

“He has his own house, up the path.” Before any other questions could be asked, Hunter added, “And the third room isn’t for me. It’s for Echo. He can have a room of his own when he visits.”

Omega frowned further, mirrored by Wrecker, and she asked the next question that froze Hunter in place.

“So… where will you be sleeping?”

He found himself without an answer, his brain unhelpfully refusing to supply words. Instead, he looked at Crosshair as if for help. That was his first mistake.

Crosshair’s eyes sparkled.

“With me.”

Well, he hadn’t saved Hunter, so much as he’d slackened the line he’d tossed and let Hunter dangle further down the cliff.

“He means, I’ll be staying at his place,” Hunter supplied weakly.

“Oh.” Omega looked between them. “So, you have lots of rooms too?”

“No. Just the one.”

Crosshair wasn’t even bothering to hide the mirth in his voice, and Hunter’s face had started to heat, grown worse when Wrecker’s brows rose in a way that meant he understood a little too much.

“All right,” Hunter interceded when the silence grew too long, “go on, unpack what you need for bed. You can stay up—not too late.”

He knew that instruction would be flouted by the poorly disguised innocent expressions, but that was all right. They deserved an all-nighter if it meant they got to enjoy their new living arrangements.

“And… Batcher can stay inside too?” Omega asked, hopeful, as if worried this was all a trick that would be taken away at a moment’s notice. Hearing her name, the hound joined in, and both of them stared up at him with big, sad eyes as Omega hugged her around the neck.

Hunter sighed. Just because he knew he was being manipulated didn’t make it any less effective.

“Yeah. Course she can.”

Omega’s face brightened in triumph, but she quickly tamped it down with a contrite look that didn’t fool anyone.

“And… Lyana can come visit? Maybe even stay the night?”

“If it’s fine with Shep then it’s fine with me.”

“Deke, Stak, and Mox?”

Hunter hesitated this time. He had first-hand experience with the mischief young clones could get up to, whether or not they were still technically cadets.

“…Yes to visiting, no to sleeping over.”

“And Phee?”

Hunter again hesitated. There was a time where he’d rather have thrown himself into the ocean than listen to one more of her tall tales. But… after everything that had happened, and the home they’d made here, Hunter considered her one of them now.

“Yeah,” he said softly, “and Phee.”

Omega launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He blinked down at her before resting a hand on her head. She’d grown so much while they’d been separated—she came up to his chest now, and he didn’t know what to think about that. So much time lost with her, and Crosshair, and…

“Thank you,” she said, and the words tugged at a soft spot in his heart. He returned her smile and gave a nod of acknowledgement. When she detached herself from him, Hunter’s vision was suddenly filled with Wrecker, and he barely had time to prepare when the bigger clone picked him up in a crushing hug.

“Yeah, thanks, Sarge!”

Hunter made a small noise, all he could do with his air cut off, and Wrecker set him down with a large grin. Well, at least he’d gotten out that annoying crick in his back.

As the two excitedly unpacked their few belongings, he watched with a sense of lightness he hadn’t felt in a long time.

And then he got that feeling again, the tugging on the back of his neck. When he turned to look, Crosshair didn’t bother to hide the fact he was staring.

Staring was a mild word for how Crosshair burned a hole through him, and the laser focus distracted him from the hand that encircled his wrist. Hunter was pulled out the door before he knew what was happening, but he followed along in the dark, willingly.

Hunter was barely inside the house before Crosshair slammed his palm over the locking mechanism. The door slid shut behind him, and Hunter was crowded against the door, back hitting the surface.

And then Crosshair was on him, greedy lips his neck as his hands roamed with a fervor that jolted Hunter’s hips.

Crosshair’s smug smirk was imprinted against his throat as he pressed him further against the surface, his armor a cruel barrier against Hunter’s loose clothing and suddenly sensitive skin.

He made some kind of noise, temporarily losing the ability to speak, and Crosshair took it as a sign to continue. Hunter didn’t realize what he was about to do, even when Crosshair dropped to his knees, his brain finally catching up when he pulled his pants and undershorts around his thighs.

“Cr-Crosshair,” he choked. “You don’t have to.”

Crosshair hummed thoughtfully, and then while meeting Hunter’s eye, he dragged his tongue along the underside of his painfully hard cock.

The sound punched out of Hunter was so unlike him, a desperate, weak whimper, and Crosshair grinned like the nexu he was.

“Oh, I know.” Crosshair continued to run his tongue over his cock, little kitten-licks that would make Hunter confess to anything if this suddenly became an interrogation session. “But the way you strutted around in that outfit all day—”

Hunter whimpered again as Crosshair dragged his tongue over the dripping head of his cock.

“Strutted?!” His indignation was lost as he groaned.

“Mmhmm.” Crosshair gently sucked on the head, and Hunter swore he could have seen stars. “Showing off that ass like you’re begging to be bent over the nearest surface. Which… if that’s what you want, you could just ask.”

Hunter made another pathetic noise as Crosshair took more of him into his mouth, and it was an uphill battle trying to follow along with his words while he was being sucked into that wet heat. Stars, he wasn’t going to last long like this.

When Hunter didn’t give any sort of intelligible response, Crosshair pulled off his cock. The sniper frowned up at him as Hunter blinked, and his head cleared a little.

“…What?”

Maybe not that clear.

Crosshair frowned further, but there was an uncharacteristic softness in his eyes.

“How do you want it?” Crosshair asked, and the unusual softness was in his tone too. “Me inside you? Or do you want to fuck me?”

It was like laying a table full of sweet cakes and fruit pies in front of Wrecker and asking where he wanted to start first. He was frozen in indecision—everything sounded damned good, and it was almost impossible to make what felt like an important choice with Crosshair’s mouth so close to his weeping cock.

“I… donno,” Hunter finally admitted. “I just want you.”

“Mmm.” Crosshair’s hum wasn’t helpful, his hand slowly massaging the base of Hunter’s cock even less so. “Ever received a blowjob before?”

Hunter blinked.

“You mean… other than right now?”

Crosshair’s low laugh sent a bolt through his already tense groin.

“Oh, this? This is nothing.” And as if to prove his point, he dragged his tongue around the head, threatening to buckle Hunter’s knees.

“Th-then, no. Never had one.”

The look in Crosshair’s eyes was downright dangerous, predatory and sharp.

“Good.”

It was all the warning he got before Crosshair descended on him. He took his cock into his mouth and hollowed out his cheeks, at the same moment his hands stroked and pulled Hunter’s length, every part of him at Crosshair’s mercy.

Crosshair focused on his mission like he would any other, with an inhuman amount of focused patience and lethal determination. It was all Hunter could do to brace against the door and not lose his footing completely, though at one point, one of his hands found its way to Crosshair’s head.

Hunter hadn’t realized how much he needed touch until recently, and he cradled the crown of his head, running his bare fingers over the short stubble. He suddenly missed the silver strands and the opportunity to run his hand though it like this. Crosshair never would have let him do this back then. He was pretty sure of that.

Though with the laser-focused determination on his cock, Hunter wasn’t sure of much. Whatever this was with Crosshair, it didn’t feel like a new, fleeting idea he was entertaining on a whim. It felt like a starving man finally given food after years of neglect.

Hunter’s whine was punctuated by a shout as Crosshair cupped his balls and gently kneaded them, and with a further nudging of Hunter’s thighs, the sniper found what he was looking for.

He couldn’t get very far going in dry, but the pressure of Crosshair’s finger against the pucker of muscle was enough to arch Hunter’s back, and with a warning that was little more than a strangled whimper, Hunter came.

Crosshair didn’t pull away or relent, instead swallowing everything Hunter gave and milked him for more. Tears prickled in his eyes at the overstimulation, but Crosshair wasn’t satisfied until his balls were empty and nothing else would come out of his sore, twitching cock.

Hunter tried to catch his breath, one hand still on Crosshair’s head. He expected the sniper to slink away, make some snide comment before rebuilding whatever defenses he’d had to let down for this.

But Crosshair stayed where he was. Hunter experimentally cupped his face, and Crosshair leaned into his palm like a lonely animal starved for attention.

Hunter continued to hold him like that, enthralled by the soft absence of tension on Crosshair’s face, his eyes closing as Hunter stroked a thumb along his cheek. It was… sweet. Really sweet.

He didn’t quite know how he wanted to go about this yet, but he was beginning to. He wanted to make Crosshair feel good. Not out a sense of guilt or obligation, but it did have to do with the complicated history between them. An apology and a promise. Making amends in a very unconventional way.

Hunter could have stayed like that forever, especially when Crosshair rested his cheek against his thigh, skin warm against bare skin. But then the sniper decided there was too much peace going on for his liking, and he leaned forward and dragged a lick across his soft cock.

Hunter twitched, and when Crosshair did it again, he knew it would take only a few more strokes of that wicked tongue to make him hard again.

“Crosshair.”

“Mmm?” He sounded completely unbothered by Hunter’s tone of warning.

“You gonna let me return the favor?”

Crosshair gave another lazy lick, this time along the junction between his length and his balls—and yeah, Hunter was about to have the most sensitive hard-on in his life if he didn’t stop this.

He managed to drag the lanky sniper to his feet, and instead of receiving an expected snarl, Crosshair just gave him a faint, smug smirk. There was also an interesting haze of pleasure to his eyes, as if he’d been the one coming down someone’s throat, not Hunter.

But when Hunter reached for his codpiece, the pleasurable haze disappeared and was replaced by stubbornness, and he batted Hunter’s hand away.

“It’s not about favors, Hunter.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said with his own frustrated huff. Why was it Crosshair’s damn lot in life to make everything so difficult? “But I… but you need…”

Crosshair raised his brows, and Hunter blundered his way through his increasing difficulty in talking.

“That’s twice now for me, and you haven’t come at all.”

The eyeroll was more dramatic than it needed to be, in Hunter’s opinion.

“I’m not accruing orgasm debt, Hunter. It’s fine.”

Hunter scowled at any definition of fine where it ended up with him getting mind-numbing attention and Crosshair got nothing at all.

And then Hunter looked at him closer. Crosshair genuinely seemed fine, but that edge of need was still there in his scent. He clearly could use some relief, but he was pushing back and maintaining he didn’t. How long could he keep that up? Why was being stubborn about it? Why didn’t he just ask—

Ah. That’s why.

Hunter’s eyes narrowed, and Crosshair’s own smug look faded away, replaced by suspicion.

“Fine,” Hunter eventually said, though he wasn’t going to leave it at that. Not by a long shot. But since Crosshair’s wary look was becoming more and more intense, he added, “At least take your damn armor off so we can go to bed.”

The wary look remained for a moment, and then his expression shifted, a small tug on his lips as his eyes glinted.

“You like me in my armor,” he purred. “Don’t pretend you didn’t eye me up when I first put it on again. Like you were starving, and I was a tasty piece of meat.”

Hunter’s face fused with heat. So, yeah, seeing Crosshair in his old armor had been both a punch to the gut and a confusing rush to his groin. In fact, he’s fairly sure that’s what had set him off, to seek out Crosshair and demand answers as to why he had returned. Though in hindsight, that hadn’t been the true question—it had always been about why Crosshair had left them. Never about why he’d come back.

Hunter had hoped the once-over he’d given the sniper under his own helmet had gone unnoticed. Apparently not.

And yes, Crosshair on his knees before Hunter, fully kitted out, was a memory vivid enough to make his head spin, but that was beside the point.

“Yeah, well, I don’t need that pauldron blade stabbing me in the eye,” Hunter grumbled, but it was all harmless fluff. An excuse to give Crosshair a stern side eye so they could both pretend this wasn’t another new, strange step.

He was going to get to sleep next to Crosshair. Every night. In an actual bed.

The last few months of his life had been the worst, no contest. There had been moments when he hadn’t seen it getting any better.

And then it had. And here they were, in a place that Hunter could easily see himself calling home.

He must have taken too long to strip off the rest of his clothes, because a presence suddenly leaned against his back, Crosshair resting his chin on his shoulder in a way that was somehow both devious and adorable.

“You really have no idea,” he said, as if they were continuing from another conversation. “The amount of people staring at your ass today.”

As if there was any question of the subject matter, he grabbed a handful of Hunter’s backside, and he nearly squeaked. Thankfully he hadn’t, but the high-pitched moan that came out wasn’t much better.

“And how would you know?” Hunter asked in an attempt to recover his dignity.

Crosshair seemed uninterested in shame or decency as his teeth clasped on the shell of Hunter’s ear, lightly nibbling.

“Because I was also watching your ass, as you damn well know. Unless your senses have dulled over the years.”

He scowled, though the effect was lost with Crosshair at his back.

“They haven’t.”

And then Crosshair moved away, and Hunter’s shirt was pulled over his head before he knew it, and the sniper was herding him toward the bed. Crosshair was stripped down to his lower body glove, and when had he done that? Hunter must have been inside his own head longer than he’d thought to miss Crosshair removing all of his armor and half his suit.

Hunter also wasn’t used to being pulled from those moments of blankly gazing at walls, not with Echo off with Rex, and Wrecker too anxious to snap him out of it. But Crosshair had never had a problem with politeness or decency when it came to Hunter.

He proved that now by practically bullying him into bed, and before Hunter could think to complain, the inviting softness of the blankets shut him up. The faint scent of Crosshair lingered on the sheets, and Hunted wanted to bury himself in them for that reason alone.

“So,” he mumbled as he settled in, “you like the clothes?”

Crosshair clicked his tongue against his teeth, but when he joined him on the bed, Hunter pulled him close like Wrecker used to with Lula. He made a noise of complaint that might have been a hiss, but Hunter ignored it and tugged him closer, resting his chin on top of Crosshair’s head.

The sniper eventually gave up, the defeated sigh leaving him in dramatic fashion, but he still looped an arm around Hunter’s waist, his breath warm and comforting against his neck.

“Yes,” Crosshair finally relented. “They look… nice.”

High praise from the sniper.

“Good to know.”

Something was still missing, and Hunter scooted his legs forward until he could intertwine them with Crosshair’s.

“Happy?” he drawled. “Any closer and I’ll be inside you.”

Hunter let out a laugh that was so low it was nearly a rumble.

Yeah. He was happy. And he would be even happier once he figured out a way to convince Crosshair that Hunter wanted to make him feel good. He’d only been successful the once, and he’d caught Crosshair in a vulnerable moment.

He couldn’t rely on that happening again, nor did he want to. But something else tugged at his mind about that moment. Crosshair would never ask Hunter for help. Not directly. He could find a way around that. He had years’ experience navigating Crosshair’s particular way of doing things, after all.

And they had nothing but time.

Next Chapter

[cc-cobalt-1043]

A bad batch summer chapter 1

Waterfight:

It was a warm summer day on Pabu and several of it's youngest inhabitants Omega, Boba, Cynthia, James, Joey, Daniel, Zander, Kordi, Rowan, Dante, Deke, Stak, Mox, Lyana, Jax, Sami and Eva all stood together down by the small fishing docks on the beach.

The group all held several fully filled water guns between them and were discussing what to do.

"So, is everything prepared?" Omega asked.

The kids all nodded.

"So what exactly is it we have do?" Deke asked.

"Well, we're going to split into two teams, and basically all we have to do is run around shooting each other with our water guns." Lyana said.

"What's the point of that?" Daniel asked confused.

"To have fun silly." Lyana giggled.

"Alright, who's leading the teams?" Joey asked.

"How about Omega and Lyana." James suggested.

The others nodded in agreement.

They split into two teams.

Team one consisting of Omega, Stak, Deke, Daniel, Joey, Jax, Zander and Rowan headed to upper Pabu while team two consisting of Lyana, Sami, Eva, Cynthia, Boba, Dante, James, Kordi, and Mox stayed at the docks.

Omega's team began scouring the town trying to find their newest victims.

Daniel, Jax and Deke were patrolling when they saw Wrecker sunbathing, the loud snoring coming from him told them he'd fallen asleep.

"This is just too good." Daniel grinned.

The three kids tiptoed over to Wrecker stifling giggles as they aimed their water blasters at Wrecker.

They aimed their blasters at Wrecker and fired.

There was a loud shriek of surprise as Wrecker awoke to a jet of water soaking him.

This was quickly replaced by a loud shriek of laughter as Wrecker grabbed the three kids and dangled them in the air.

"Okay you lot, what's going on, I was having a great nap, and suddenly it's like I fell in the ocean." Wrecker said.

"Well Wrecker, we're having a water battle, and we just thought." Jax said.

"That you'd give me a soak." Wrecker said finishing Jax's sentence, to which the mirilian nodded.

Wrecker chuckled and set the three down.

"Alright you guys very funny, now go play somewhere else." He said.

"You want to join Wrecker?" Deke asked.

"No thanks Deke, I'm going fishing with Shep, but make sure you get Crosshair for me." Wrecker said winking.

The kids giggled and ran off.

Two hours of fierce waterfighting later, including highlights such as Omega, and Lyana soaking Crosshair to the skin and Sami, Eva and Mox ambushing Tech and Phee from atop the weeping Mys tree resulting in a laughing Phee and a confused Tech the kids met up at the docks once more.

They were all soaking wet and out of breath from running all over the island.

"That was so fun." Eva said as she fought to get her breathing under control.

"Did you see Crosshair's face when we got him." Omega giggled.

"He looked so mad." Lyana said laughing.

"Found them." A voice yelled.

The kids looked and saw the adults behind them, holding water blasters of their own as well as very determined grins.

"What's going on?" Omega asked confused.

"Payback." Crosshair smirked and fired at Omega soaking her with a jet of water.

In peals of laughter the kids ran off followed by the adults determined to show the kids what a real water war looked like.

[nuevo-city]

can i have. oc infodump please im genuinely so curious

HI HI OKAY HI.

some background info on this world; ~700-1000 years in the future. cyberpunk dystopia. almost all of the world is a desert, with only one city of mutated humans remaining. nuevo. these humans main survival adaptation is their ability to survive the slight remaining radiation from the nuclear apocalypse that happened, as well as their ability to drink saltwater, but they have powers too. the city has been divided into three “levels”, all built vertically on top of each other.

the lower levels are a cyberpunk undercity type place, with crime both violent and harmless running wild due to the lack of the hero society’s influence here (i’ll talk about them in a seperate post, but unfortunately to convey it simply, imagine the heroes from mha if they were basically the fbi and the cia at the same time and also even more corrupt and like. paying off the villains to kill people)

. the middle levels are basically solarpunk aesthetic with none of the e benefits of solarpunk, vaguely-futuristic nyc. think spider-verse earth 1610 for what daily life is like, just a lot more future-y.

upper levels are where the hero society mainly influences, the city in the sky. the RICH people live here. generally if you’re up here you’ve got ties to the hero society or the government, or you just work here and live in the middle levels.

NOW. this is my precious son leo grayson arnaud. vigilante name red noise. bisexual transmasc disaster/professional enabler older brother/part time wannabe wine aunt. he is sad and pathetic and here for a bad time, not a long time. (*cough cough* leo-grayson-arnaud.carrd.co check it out if it still works)

he’s a vigilante!!! he’s awesome!!!! he’s a boyfailure!!!!!! he’s cool as fuck!!!!!!

some info: he’s deaf! his powers let him control sound waves, so he uses them to be really fucking loud so he can utilize noise to electricity to electrocute people with the power of punk rock, but uh…. (garfield meme here) you are not immune to power drawbacks. safe to say, he’s lost most of his hearing. he was also raised the cyberpunk equivalent of a catholic lol? but it’s more akin to like,,, the legal religion from the silt verses than anything. he’s also got an AWESOME boyfriend

(the cowgirl in the second image is @the-lonelyshepherd’s oc shay. if you’re reading this and don’t know her, check her out!!! she’s cool and shep’s stories are so awesome)

this is sam pines. my BOY. fellow disaster tboy, professional hunter noceda relater-to. absolute poor little meow meow. he’d probably like mother mother but he doesn’t even HAVE a mother mother, carrion bird motif, “my guilt does not purify me” ass.

(the flower clasp is only part of his design while he’s in the cult.)

anyway he’s a born and raised lower level kid. he was abandoned by his mother (DO NOT THINK SHE WAS BAD FOR THIS. it was her only option) and grew up in the foster system until he was nine. at that age he was roped into a cult known as the sentinels. (ill go more in depth with them in another post too) they promised him food and shelter, and he needed it, so he took it. over time he was made to be a soldier for them.

he’s basically a prophet for the sentinels? of sorts. it’s very confusing and strange because it’s a Cult and that’s how they are but yeah. he does get out eventually but it’s more “outcast as a heretic and hunted down and almost killed and then saved by the leader because she thinks he’ll be useful if he still has some devotion left”

bonus info: he’d probably like will wood and jhariah tbh. he lost an arm to his own powers (if i had a nickel for every time power drawbacks showed up in my main ocs if have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice). he feeds stray cats. he falls asleep in the weirdest positions. chronic pain haver (the haverrrrr). all i can think of as basic info rn but im working on making full refs and posts for the rest of the team

[luna-the-cretar]

I feel like Shepnax would be the kind of couple that it’s not entirely clear if they’re dating or not. Like, they don’t kiss or really hold hands or anything like that. But they cuddle and their tails will intertwine if possible. Occasionally Shepherd will press a light kiss on the top of Sarnax’s head while they’re cuddling, or Sarnax will inspect the wonders of Shepherd’s hair and horns (especially the hair. On more than one occasion, Sarnax will throw a dozen questions about Shepherd’s hair—“what is it made of? How does it grow? Why does it grow? Why is it this color? Why does your hair look different from the others?”—and Shepherd always answers them to the best of his ability, even if most of his answers are simply just “I dunno, ask the Professor ‘bout that.”).

Neither of them really use pet names either. Sarnax doesn’t understand the concept of pet names, and Step doesn’t really see the point in them (“why not just call ‘em by their name?”). At one point Sarnax learns about the concept of pet names (via not-so-subtly asking the others about them), and tries to use a couple for Shep, though Shep swiftly put a stop to it (the first time Sarnax called him “My Dear” Shepherd just about died. He can’t quite decide if he loved it or hated it).

They’re dating for over a year and a half before anyone else in the party finds out. It’s not like they were really hiding it, it’s just that nobody ever really asked. Clayton had asked Shepherd if he had any experience with past relationships—just trying to get to know his party members better—and Shepherd tells him that Sarnax was really the first person Shep has ever been with, and he’s just…trying to figure it out, y’know? Clayton is so shell-shocked to hear that his cleric and ranger are just…casually dating, and asks how long this has been going on. Shepherd says it’s been roughly a year and a half, and Clayton flips his shit. They’ve been dating for a year and a half, and he’s just now hearing about this!? What other secrets are his employees hiding from him!? (Don’t tell him what Victoria and Kana get up to in the middle of the night. It is not nearly as innocent and wholesome as Shepnax)

Sarnax is very interested in Shepherd’s scent. Like, to an abnormal degree. Shepherd found it kinda strange, at first, but now finds it quite endearing. Sarnax is outright obsessed with how Shepherd’s scent changes, based on the day’s activities and when he last bathed and what soaps he used (if any). Shepherd has found that Sarnax prefers it whenever he smells like sweat and dirt (which, coincidentally, is what he smells like most of the time anyway)—he assumes it’s because of some primal part in the lizardfolk’s brain. Though he doesn’t mind the way Shepherd smells when he’s freshly bathed, as long as he doesn’t use those fancy smelly soaps (Sarnax likes the smell of fire and bourbon that Shepherd somehow always smells like. Mix that with the natural musk of the forest, and he’s practically got the lizardfolk salivating). Shepherd has, on more than one occasion, walked in on Sarnax obsessively smelling his poncho before he’s gotten a chance to wash it. Coincidentally, those are also the days they spent the entire day traveling.

They are both very curious about each others anatomies. Not necessarily in a sexual way (though Shepherd was very confused about Sarnax’s cloaca, and Sarnax was very interested in the workings of mammalian genitalia), but like. Generally. Such as Sarnax’s obsession with Shepherd’s hair, or Shepherd being oddly curious about lizardfolk laying eggs, or Sarnax being cold blooded (not like it’s really an issue with Shepherd being warmer than most humanoids)

[katara-stan-club]

Talking over the Ventress episode with my mom has (I think) solidified that as much as I liked Ventress and love the fight sequence, it really felt like the middle of the season got derailed just to have Ventress show up and maybe tease a Ventress show? Whether it be how she survived as part of Tales of the Jedi s2 or in a new spinoff show about The Path or something, this appearance didn’t feel natural for TBB to us. Granted, maybe by the end of the season we’ll feel differently and be eating humble pie, but that’s where we stand right now.

More rambling under the cut, you have been warned.

Like it really feels that they specifically had Rex not know what an M-count is just so Ventress could show up and say it, which feels a little :/ come on now. Between Rex possibly having contact with Ahsoka and being the Captain under Anakin “The Chosen One” Skywalker, it feels very odd to have him NOT know what the hell M-count could be.

It’s also frustrating from a narrative perspective to have 2 episodes dedicated to the gang finding out what M-count means, when we the audience have known what it meant since it was first mentioned! I would’ve been fine with Fennec saying at the end of last episode something like “All I know is M-count is something to do with the Jedi, so good luck with whatever you need that info for cause the Empire will never let it go”, and then the Ventress episode could have instead been “well is it safer to stay on Pabu and hope the Empire doesn’t know where we are, or are we endangering all these people’s lives by being here? Can we ever have a stable place to live, or should we constantly be on the run from the Empire, thus painting a bigger target on us by giving us more opportunities to run into them?” But by having both episodes be “what could M-count mean for Omega?” and basically tell us what we already know: they are never gonna be safe from the Empire because they will never stop looking for Omega, it feels like a lot of ground was lost that could have been dedicated to other things, like letting Omega interact with characters other than Crosshair.

Also it’s such a weird episode cause they kinda had to avoid the whole Ventress died thing because that would bog down the episode by confusing people who hadn’t read The Dark Disciple, but it leaves people who know about it hanging with how the hell it happened?? Like there’s that one line about many lives but it doesn’t really answer anything, which is whatever but at the same time super frustrating cause it feels like such an unnecessary can of worms to open? Especially in the last half of the last season of a show that’s already got A Lot going on.

I do wonder how different I would’ve felt about this episode if it had been Quinlan instead of Ventress, because A) he’s not dead and B) we already know he’s got Stuff he’s doing (The Path) so it’s not unreasonable to see hints of it early on in the reign of the Empire. Also having another character of color come back would’ve been nice, since we STILL haven’t actually seen Phee outside of one singular holocall this season, let alone any sighting of Shep and Lyana.

[lilmissnatcat24]

oh I GOTTA ask about control

aaaahhhhh thank you thank you!

so i posted part one of this but then literally never finished it. like it's almost done but i've just had no time and haven't touched it since like october. sorry shrios fans.

but the gist is that shep and thane are both rival assassins on the citadel and they keep getting the same targets and start this friendly and very very flirty competition as to who can get the more kills (very much based on This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Moutar and Max Gladstone) and then they fall in love because why not.

maybe this will get me to actually finish it lol. but here's a snippet:

She reached out to touch him. He wore that same shirt with the plunging neckline he wore when they first met. She was curious how his skin would feel, if it would be warm or cold or if she could feel his heart pumping under her palm. Her fingertips barely danced on his skin before he drew a sharp intake of breath, so sharp that it caused her to falter. Swallowing greatly, he gave her a curt little nod as he turned on his heels to the kitchen, where he placed his drink down and gripped the edge of the counter so tightly she could see the tension on his knuckles. 

Shepard’s stomach plummeted at the sight of him-- uncomfortable, nervous, confused. She slowly followed after him, placing her half-drinken bourbon down next to his as she leaned a hip on the counter. 

“I’m sorry, I thought that’s where this was going,” she murmured uncomfortably. 

He barely gave her a sideways look as he huffed out a deep breath, as if he were holding it underwater this whole time. 

“No, it’s-- I… it’s not you,” he managed to say, slightly strangled. All of his bravado was gone as if it were never there to begin with. He let out a shaky breath, and for a terrified moment Shepard thought he would pass out. “I am in control of my body, perfectly so. It’s how the hanar trained me under the Compact. I am a weapon for their will, and I take that responsibility earnestly. There is not an inch of my skin, of my bones, of the blood that courses through my veins, that I do not have the utmost control over. Except, to say, with you…” 

“Thane…” Shepard whispered. She raised her hand to meet his shoulder, but he slapped it away. 

“Since we have been engaged in this game of chase, there has not been a second of my free time where the very thought of you has not bled through to the very forefront of my consciousness. And since our first meeting, you have proved to be present in the times in which that control I have is paramount to my survival. It slips from my body as if it were nothing more than dust to begin with. My mind, body, and soul have all been superseded by you. It is infuriating, it is unacceptable. I have control over my body,” he added, his voice slightly shaking near the end. 

“It’s… it’s okay,” Shepard said rather lamely, as she had absolutely no clue how to respond to something like that. 

“I have control of my body,” he repeated as if it became a personal mantra to himself. 

Shepard tried, a third time, to reach out and take his hand. This time, Thane didn’t push her away. His skin felt porous from his scales but incredibly warm, almost uncomfortably so. “You don’t need to have control all of the time. You can let yourself go, letting that control slip away will not kill you. You will still be you when you come back.” 

Thane dared a look up at her. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him in months; his flirty messages, his eyes on her, his scent that lingered in the air when she knew he was trailing her. That bit about not having control was something that she could understand intrinsically. She didn’t have control of her body either, at least when it was being used to take out whatever target was demanded of her to kill. But at least she gave into her own whims and wants and desires. 

Shepard leaned forward and kissed him. She was half expecting him to pull away, to push her aside, to leave and never come back. But he just stood there, completely frozen in his place. His lips were as plump and full as she imagined them being, but she was pleasantly surprised to find them sweet too, as if he was drinking fruit juice and not bourbon. She pulled back after a few seconds. His eyes fluttered open, examining her entire face as if she were a work of art in a museum. He has a perfect memory, she thought to herself as she could hear her heart pumping in her ears. He’s probably studying your face one last time before he puts his hands around your neck and strangles the life out of you--

[chroniclesinlacuna]

23, 33, 43 and +1 from the fifty (more) shep questions if you’re taking em!

Ooooh thank you! I'm just gonna do Casey (colonist/sole survivor/Kaidan) for now -

23. What does Shepard think of Conrad Verner? How do they handle him? Casey is. Very confused by this man. But ultimately, finds him endearing, once he gets past the initial conspiracy theories. He's treated him kindly every time, and was honestly genuinely confused/hurt when Conrad accused him of being an ass.

33. Is Shepard free with affection, or more reserved?

ME1 & ME2 Casey doesn't really know what affection is, despite being a handsy bastard. If you asked him though, he genuinely wouldn't realize how it could be taken - he likes sparring, he likes balancing his friends, he likes physically directing people and if you point out he only does it with people he likes he'd be confused and possibly mildly offended. ME3 Casey still doesn't click, but he also turns it up to 100 as soon as he's given the green light from Kaidan. Liara, Tali and Steve get all the hugs. If you squint, his sparring with Vega is hugging too, occasionally. His hand is almost always on Garrus' back while they're calibrating together. It's a thing he'll never ping on for himself, but it's easy to recognize.

43. What was the clone’s fate? Do you think Shepard and their clone could coexist?

Clone's dead. Very, very dead. Casey shot him in the face and tossed him out the back of the ship. They don't talk about it. There's also no mirror in Casey's quarters so...take that as you will.

(This one I do know for June though - he would've tried. He would've tried so hard for coexistence. If they had met in literally any other circumstance, 100% they could've coexisted. In the context of the Citadel? ...might be a fun fic to figure out how that goes.)

+1. what, to your Shepard, is a good death

Oh Casey used to dream about this. Particularly after Mindoir and Akuze. He'd never admit to having a death wish, but uh. He has/had a particular 'fuck it' fighting style. Through most of ME1, he's kinda mad he made it through. But that wasn't really a 'good' death, and with space and time he's been able to admit that to himself at least. Now, post ME3, a good death is a quiet one - preferably on a beach somewhere. He still struggles sometimes with the adrenaline rush he gets in a fight that tells him "this is it, go big or lie down" when he's doing something particularly stupid, but it's getting better.

[tomoeakatsuki]

Okay hear me out, part 7.

13th and 15th episode, season two of TBB.

The start of the episode is amazing. In a bar, exchanging money for an object, teasy talk, undercover men. And then the chaos.

I love this type of beginning (probably because it is very western style).

But we're not gonna talk about it.

First, I would have liked to see a scene where Phee convinced the Batch to go on another mission with her, and maybe another mission with her before this one, where they have an attunement that is lacking in hunt of The Heart of the Mountain and can only have developed by working together.

But we don't have it, so let's talk about Phee and Tech.

When they're on the Marauder, headed who knows where, before Cid's transmission Phee is near Omega, but after the transmission, she is near Tech's seat, a hand on the backrest. She seems protective in Tech's regards while the others are talking about what to do with Cid. And when she gives the coordinates to Pabu leaning forward, Tech smiles at her. I think they've developed something, a soft type of friendship that seems very them.

After they land on Pabu, when Phee says "Missed me, Shep?" hugging him and Wrecker comments "You've got some competition" to Tech, Tech is so confused about what Wrecker said, and Hunter can't help but smirk.

Wrecker, big boy, you know something that the nerd doesn't. Good job.

But it's not over here.

The way he looks back to her, just to be sure that it's all ok. And Phee can understand it, so she reassures him with a simple phrase.

And after there's the dinner scene, that doesn't need explanation.

(Hunter, we know that a hurricane is coming, but between them should go? Not beside them? Your new name can be killjoy, if you continue)

At the end of the episode, when Hunter says to Shep that they will rest on Pabu a little longer, Tech responds "I was thinking the same thing" and shares a look with Phee. We know the power of the look, at this point.

They're happy to stay a little longer together.

Let's talk about a scene two episodes after.

They're leaving for Tarkin's fortress, and Tech is outside the ship, apparently doing something on his pad. He's waiting, and not for so long, because Phee arrives and she doesn't seem happy.

Phee is angry, because he didn't say anything. Tech is nervous, because he doesn't know how to handle the situation - Phee never seems angry before, and he doesn't know if he will be back soon. So he sticks to shorts and military phrases, the ones with whom he's comfortable. Phee doesn't like this, but she understands Tech.

Tech is not so simple to understand, but Phee can. In a different way compared to the Batch, but she can. And this is the thing I like most about their relationship. Phee knows what she can ask Tech without making him uncomfortable, she doesn't press him, she kindly invites him to do new things.

So, she ironizes about the situation.

And she let's see a little about her true feelings. She is clearly jealous that Tech can do something with other women. Only because she thinks that he is a beautiful man and other women will want him (that's the way a woman's mind works if they care about a man, I can assure you this).

Tech is embarrassed, because he can't understand what Phee is implying, or he doesn't want to make it clearer. We don't know.