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bagog · 5 months

Note

for the reverse trope writing prompt: instead of fake dating, everyone is convinced that you aren't actually dating, with mshenko?

Lol! Fun, okay, here goes:

Traynor was about to buzz the door of the Loft when its holo turned green and the door suddenly opened.

"Oh, Major!" Traynor stepped back, Kaidan jolted at the sight of her.

"Hi, uh... hi Specialist." His eyes flicked awkwardly between the Traynor and the lift, and he scootched forward so the Loft door shut behind him.

"Just giving your briefing to Commander Shepard, I suppose?" Traynor drummed her fingers idly on the data-pad she was carrying. "Just updating him on the situation with the evacuation on Gellix."

"Um, no, I... Shepard and I just had a little time between shifts."

"Hmm," Traynor tilted her head, "Alright then!" Kaidan's brow furrowed, but he stepped quickly to the lift and descended. Traynor barely gave a shrug before buzzing the comms. ~~

A few days later, docked at the Citadel, Kaidan had split a cab with Joker and EDI to some shops around the Presidium. They both seemed to be headed to the same store though.

"Welcome to Melvail's Hobbies and Gifts and Rites and Rituals!" exclaimed a holo VI of the eponymous salarian upon their entry. "I'm sorry Melvail is not melvailable today! I hope I can help with any of your questions! Please melvail yourself of the kiosk to make any purchases! We cannot currently offer access to our behind-the-counter rites and hobbies, please come another time!"

"Beckley says this is the best place on the Citadel for dice, never said I could get baptized here, too." Joker leaned against the counter, stared down into the glass case where a hologram of Krogan fertility idol spun slowly in the air.

Kaidan walked up to the kiosk and began flipping through the listings. The idol hologram shifted into a model of a quarian live-ship.

"Yes!" Kaidan pumped his fist at his side. "They still have one!"

"Picking up a new hobby, or buying for someone special?"

"The latter," Kaidan said after a pause. "Shepard had this model before his arrest, but they don't make it anymore."

"You know you don't have to buy your CO presents? Especially when you outrank him."

"I'm not... He's not my..." Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just wanted to do something special. I'm meeting him for lunch later, it's our first time back on the Citadel since we started dating."

"Dating what?"

"...what?"

"What are the two of you dating?"

"Like dating rocks!? No! We're.... dating, we're going out."

"Pfffffffft," Joker sputtered, terminating in a laugh. "Pretty good one, Major."

"I'm not joking."

"Jeff," EDI touched Joker's shoulder lightly. "I believe Kaidan is employing an idiom to express that he and Commander Shepard are working together in their capacity as Spectres."

"No, I'm not doing that," Kaidan angrily punched at the buttons to purchase the model. "We're... seeing each other. We are engaged in a relationship." When he turned to his silent friends, they both blinked at him, listless.

"I don't get it." Joker said at last.

~~ The next day, Shepard and Kaidan sat across from one another in the mess. "I'm just saying," Kaidan spoke in a hushed tone. "I was nervous about the crew finding out, but now I'm frustrated nobody seems to get it."

"I know what you mean," Shepard spoke quietly in reply. "I told James we were dating at poker the other night and he thought I was trying to push our something." Kaidan sipped at his coffee, eyebrows still furrowed over the rim.

"Last week, while we were assisting with that evac, I was talking to Garrus and it kind of slipped out that you and I are "a thing." He goes 'Just because everyone says you're the ass-wiping hand of the Council doesn't mean you're a 'thing,' Kaidan.'"

Shepard shook his head. "I don't know. I'm a likeable guy, I've got likeable qualities. Some might call me a catch! What's so hard to believe a guy like me could be going out with a guy like you?"

Kaidan chuckled, patted Shepard's arm and left his hand there a moment. "Hey! It's not an us thing! They've all got pigeon brain or something."

Greg Adams happened to notice them out of the corner of his eye as he rounded the bulkhead. With a nod and a whistle, he stepped up to the table.

"Commander, Major. Was just coming looking for you, Commander. And Major, just passed someone who was looking for you. Lucky I ran into both of you at once!" His eyes drifted down just for a second at where Kaidan's hand rested on Shepard's arm.

Shepard cleared his throat. "That's great, I was just getting a little morning pep-talk from my boyfriend."

Greg nodded understandingly. "Glad you're getting comms through, still, that has to be a real relief for him to get messages from you letting him know you're alright."

"No, I'm his boyfriend, Greg." Kaidan patted Shepard's arm. Greg scrunched up his face.

"For what?"

"For--what do you mean 'for what'? I love Shepard. I am in love with Shepard." He froze as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but Adams showed no sign of comprehension.

Just then, the hatch to Liara's office opened. She stepped out and looked directly at Adams.

"Oh Chief Adams, I wanted to talk to you about the power coupling outside my office, do you have a moment?"

Adams nodded and went immediately to take a panel off the wall at Liara's prompting.

"So..." Shepard said, practically under his breath. "You... love me? You're in love with me?"

Kaidan swallowed, a shy smile playing at his lips. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Over at the panel, Liara and Adams were talking indistinctly. When Adams motioned over his shoulder at the table, Liara said something that involved clasping her hands together. Adams whirled around to look at Shepard and Kaidan in wonder, then immediately turned around in embarrassment.

Over Greg's shoulder, Kaidan caught Liara quirking him a significant look. He chuckled, "Can always count on the Shadow Broker."

By the end of the day "Kaidan and Shepard are together" was a secret everyone on board thought they were keeping to themselves.

That ended up being... less disbelieving in a relationship than just... no one understanding, but I hope it was at least a little fun. Maybe I'll have to give it another go later on. Thanks again!

#fanfic #mshenko #mass effect #kaidan alenko #ask prompts

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skinnyazn · 7 months

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Ohhhh how about tearful kisses with Liara T'Soni x Femshep 👀🫶🏻? Writing, pls!

So I got lost in the sauce and wrote a long ass fic based on this prompt, which you can read here: Like Tears in the Rain. But here is the excerpt from the fic just for this prompt:

She watches Harbinger’s laser vaporizes the ground next to her, flipping over a vehicle. It lands right in the path of her team.

“Liara!” Shepard shouts, going back for the Asari and dragging her to cover. Garrus slams his body against the flipped tank as well.

“Normandy, do you copy?! I need an evac right now!” She looks down at Liara, who’s starting to bleed on her.

“We’re taking on heavy losses up here, Commander,” Joker yells through the comms, but moments later the Normandy pulls in. Shepard feels a surge of pride knowing only Joker could pull off a maneuver like that.

“C’mon,” Shepard groans, lifting Liara over her shoulder and running back to Normandy. Other soldiers filter off the ship for ground reinforcement. The earth shakes each time Harbinger’s beam cuts through it.

“Here, take her,” Shepard grunts, handing Liara over to Garrus.

“Shepard!” Liara moans, reaching out as blood trails down her side.

“You gotta get out of here!”

Garrus tries to pull her onto the ship but the asari pushes back.

“I’m alright, Shepard.”

“Don’t argue with me, Liara!”

“You’re not leaving me behind!” she cries. And all Shepard can see is the shy, helpless scientist she first met on Therum.

“No matter what happens,” Shepard steps toward the asari, “you mean everything to me, Liara.”

Tears stream down the asari’s face now as her commander kisses her with the hopelessness of a dead woman walking. Garrus looks away.

“It’ll always be you,” and she wipes away the tears and blood splattered across her azure cheeks.

“Shepard I…”

But behind them, the high-pitch whirling of Harbinger’s charging cannon shrills.

“GO!” Shepard yells, looking at Liara for a final time before sprinting away from the ship.

“I love you!” she hears her lover sob as the loading door closes and the Normandy pulls away, but her focus is on the beam now. She weaves through Harbinger’s lasers until things go white.

#I'm sad now #ow ow me heart #mass effect #mass effect 3 #shiara #Shepard x liara #commander Shepard x liara #liara x femshep #my writing #my fics

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commander-krios · 1 month

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JEFF AND EDI WIP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

OK OK OK

This fic starts on Earth, after Shepard, Joker, and the Normandy get taken into custody after the Alpha Relay incident. Joker is imprisoned, Shepard is imprisoned, and the Normandy is grounded.

So the Alliance is trying to get Joker to not exactly turn on Shepard, but to save himself instead of protecting her. Little does the Alliance know that Joker and Shepard are in love with each other and won't throw the other under the bus.

So EDI comes into play because she uses her friendship with Joker to break him out and get him onto the Normandy, all while fucking with the Alliance engineers who think she is a VI.

I'm having a lot of fun with this one. There are some flashbacks but also, this is RIGHT before the Reapers come to Earth so there might be a little tension and angst involved.

Snippet:

"You're what?" Joker swiveled around in his chair, eyes on the woman who'd stood behind him. "You know what they'll do to you, right? And to me just to get to you?"

"It's why I'm having EDI drop you off on Omega. Garrus will take you somewhere. Get you away from Alliance reach."

Aurora stared down at him, face unflinchingly serious, blue eyes nailing him to his seat despite the desire he had to get up and throttle her. Not a hair was out of place, secured tightly in a bun against her head, her uniform devoid of the Cerberus logo she refused to wear, pressed to perfection. She looked like the dangerous Commander that she was. But he could see beneath the facade. She was going to crack and without him by her side, she certainly would.

"The hell you are." Joker tipped the brim of his hat up so he could meet her gaze without an ounce of fear. "This changes nothing."

"It changes everything, Jeff."

Maybe it did. He had no idea what the hell to expect when they got to Arcturus. But he wasn't going to leave her to take the fall alone. He would never leave her again.

"It's you and me, Aurora." The statement was strong, sure, and if it surprised her, she didn't show it. "Always has been it. I go where you go."

"As do I." EDI's voice echoed in the cockpit, as determined as Joker. Joker didn't mention that EDI was tied to the ship that would be bringing Aurora to her doom, but they all knew the truth. Even if she wasn't part of the Normandy, EDI would not abandon them.

#guchaigue #wip ask game #my writing

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greypetrel · 1 month

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hiiiii for your Shepard Max!!

the lovers: love, harmony, mutual attraction; “I love you so much.” possible AUs/settings/ideas: fluff, soulmate au, confessions, mutual pining

Hi Rowan! Thank you for asking and here you go. It’s silly, it’s light, you can totally forget the galaxy is under attack if you have rock music playing loud enough. (a note: I do like Miranda a lot, but Max’s opinion differs from mine. They grew on each other as rivals, but their start was rough.)

Tis the prompt List

Through the bars of a rhyme

[ Shepard (genderfluid) x Liara T'Soni | Full spoilers for Mass Effect 2 and 3 | 3935 words ]

The Lovers. Upright: Love, unity, relationships, balance Reverded: Disharmony, imbalance, conflict, detachment, bad choices, indecision

2185 – Normandy SR-2

There were no messages from Liara, when Shepard managed to finally sit down.

And maybe go through their mails without anyone to watch them. Hopefully.

They stopped their index finger upon the key to open the first message, hesitating, and looked up instead. Searching for cameras, cctvs, anything.

There were at least eighteen thoughts about having been brought back from death by Cerberus they had to examine. The Illusive Man left them feeling like they were watched and weighted, examined like a fish in a shop. How bright were their eyes, how long ago had they been caught, if their meat was still good to eat, if the fishmonger left the entrails in and the scales on. Sure, Miranda had an interest in keeping them safe. Keeping her investment and her fucking project alive.

Max’s first instinct was to unscrew a pothole in that absurdly big cabin and deprive the pretentious, classy bitch of the satisfaction. They already knew how painful and quick that death was, after all.

But-

Joker.

Beside the mission -someone else could have done it. They didn’t really need them- Max couldn’t leave Joker there, on his own in the grasp of fucking Cerberus.

Not after he threw away a career in the Alliance to follow them.

They would die before admitting it openly, but they were far more grateful for his presence there than they were for a second chance at life.

“Ok, then.”

They patted their hands on their thighs and rose. A quick glance on the messages list confirmed that there was none from Liara, and they needed something to distract themselves from the knowledge that the one person they wanted to hear from the most… Wasn’t there. Not a word, not a greeting not a “What the fuck did you do”.

Not that Liara would have ever told her that.

But nothing at all?

They had to distract themselves. Definitely.

Searching for cameras to dismount would have been a nice distraction, and a much useful one.

Chambers told them that the loft -eurgh- had been filled with everything they may need and want. And if any dossier of them they followed was accurate, there had to be a toolbox in that room, somewhere.

Miranda couldn’t get their scar right on their right cheek, sure. But giving a toolbox to an engineer was… Basic politeness? Basic politeness, surely. Or one thing to complain about if it was missing.

And so it began the operation “explore the goddamn huge room”. Max started to open each drawer and every cabinet, shuffling through the contents -who needed that many shirts?- and snorting to the things that were there because clearly people didn’t know them. Like: silk nightgowns? In pastels? Oh, no.

Nerves raising for that and because there was no sign of one single screwdriver -they would have been content with just one and a roll of duct tape- they almost missed the box, labelling as yet another fancy item – they found a hair curler! As if her bob was long enough to curl or they had the minimum intention to.

But something they didn’t know what, made them stop before slamming close the cabinet door fully.

It wasn’t a cardboard box. It was a fancy one, rigid and covered in leather, closed by metal clasps.

Weird.

Max huffed, shrugging it off and deciding to open it nonetheless. Just for completeness.

Surely it held some other shitty thing she didn’t need, like… They didn’t know. A vertical iron steamer. Miranda looked like the person who would have thought a vertical iron steamer was a basic need necessity, as if anyone looked at how many wrinkles your clothes had when you were shooting at Collectors.

Sitting crossed-legged in front of the cabinet, Max unlocked the box, and yelped when she saw the content as they had just seen a ghost.

Their vinyls.

Their family’s vinyls collection. The one her family collected and kept, brought along from Livorno to Mindoir. The one Max escaped the Batarian attack with. The one they dragged with them wherever they went, the one that held all their childhood.

The one they were sure died with them on the Normandy.

Joey Tempest was looking at them from the cover of The Final Countdown, with the very indenture from mamma’s nail that signalled it was their copy, and not another one.

They shuffled through the discs, checking if there was everything.

The paper sleeves were more worn out, some weren’t their copies but were the right titles, but everything was there, up to the last one she didn’t really like but her grandpa did – Dire Straits. They knew the list by heart still, and the thought was at the same time comforting and heartbreaking.

Max felt the urge to cry.

It was better than any message she could send her, in hindsight.

Because there was a handful of people that would have known to look and retrieve those discs.

But there was only one who knew the whole list.

---

2183 – Normandy SR-1

“Don’t you find it weird?”

Max asked, half a laughter in their voice not betraying how much her heart was in her throat with nerves at the question. They carefully checked their position, slouching a little more against the wall of her cabin, arms crossed to their chest and an ankle crossed over the other. Very casually as if they were doing nothing special at all.

“Should I?” Liara asked, sitting on the chair of their desk, looking up at them again. Her brows furrowed minutely in doubt. “Who else found it weird?”

“Well, you know… In chronological or alphabetical order…” Max pretended to think about it. “Everyone.”

“Everyone?” Liara wasn’t convinced.

“Yup.” Max nodded.

“Why so? It’s just… music?”

The Asari really looked out of her depths. She carefully deposited the vinyl she was looking on the pile of others on her lap, placing both hands flat on top of it right after. Treating them like they were precious and could break if handled badly. Professional deformation, most likely, but it felt a little like it was Max that she was treading so carefully with.

“Yeah, in a storage medium that’s out of production since a century, difficult to store and transport, it takes up so much space, readers are rare and expensive, complex to build by yourself… They’re a relic and I can’t listen to them, basically, and I’ve heard more complaints about my playlist than about everything else I did commanding this ship.”

Max realized only then that it was such a stupid thing to say she couldn’t think of many other that were worse. Why not talking about ex partners since they were there? Boia, they hadn’t even kissed yet -well they almost did but were interrupted, it didn’t count- and Max was already making it awkward. They plastered a smile on their face and laughed, shrugging it off and waving a hand in the air, dismissively.

“Joking, of course.”

Liara didn’t laugh. Liara looked down at the discs in her lap and took some time to think, caressing the cover of the first in line - The Final Countdown, and Max totally, absolutely didn’t take it as a sign. It was just a case that she had stopped on their favourite. On what had been mamma’s favourite.

“I think it’s sweet that you still keep them, even if you can’t listen to them directly.” The Asari moved the pile on the desk with the same care of before, making sure they were all stable before letting it go. “But I’m an archaeologist, loving old things no one can nor should use anymore is the basic requirement for my career.”

She rose up and smiled at her, cheeks taking a shade of blue that looked deeper than before. Max interpreted it as a blush, and smiled back at her, her heart singing in relief. As close as they could get in presenting her new love interest to the family, and it went well.

“And who knows, maybe one day you’ll be able to acquire a reader.”

“I’d need a bigger cabin.”

“Never say never?”

“With the Alliance fundings?"

They shared a laugh, sweeping the awkwardness of the moment away. It felt more natural, then, that Liara had walked closer. Too close.

It felt as much natural for Max to lean forward.

“Can I?”

“P-please.”

Her lips were soft, and Max started to think that Dire Straits weren’t as bad as she had always thought. To Romeo and Juliet they could relate, right then.

---

2185 – Hagalaz

“Dr. T’Soni has left something for you, dr. T’Soni.”

Liara sighed, putting her terminal down to face Glyph. For all Max’s effort, they had managed to switch the drone to call her dr. T’Soni, that was true. Which was nicer than being called Shadow Broker -she still didn’t feel the title as belonging fully to her. The only issue was that the drone now referred to everyone as dr. T’Soni.

Max had apologized, saying that with such a short time, and so many more urgent reparations to be done to the outer shell of the ship, they and Tali couldn’t do more than this. Shepard, Garrus and Grunt had taken down quite the number of antennae and outer components to break in, after all, and if Liara wanted to survive on that ship and in that role, shields and communications were the priority.

Glyph had been a favour. A thank you for the dinner and the talk and well. The rest.

“Which dr. T’Soni are you talking about, Glyph?” She asked, massaging her temple.

“Dr. T’Soni who commands the Normandy, dr. T’Soni.”

Of course.

Liara felt irritation and unease rising in her throat. She told them not to do anything. But telling Max Shepard what to do most often than not resulted into having them doing the exact opposite.

How they survived as a subordinate in the Alliance, Liara never understood.

Nonetheless, she rose and headed where Glyph led her to see that “something” Max left her.

Liara knew that that dinner had been a mistake. She should have cut it right there and then, left them free. Cut the ties before having to mourn them all over again. Running to the Omega 4 relay was suicidal, Max hadn’t had the audacity to say otherwise either. And she had the audacity for much of anything. Including jumping into a relay no one ever returned from on a Cerberus mission.

It had been a mistake.

It had been a mistake falling -because Liara knew herself and she fell, hard and deep- for a human that would have lived but for a blink of an eye and that hadn’t fallen as hard, that was clear. Rekindling that fire, now that she had made up her mind, build herself another life from scratch of the wreck that she had been after the Normandy -the first one- was destroyed. She couldn’t do it again, and she should never have boarded the SR-2 again.

“Just one for the road” they had told them. “It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

It meant everything, for her, and it scared her that Max had behaved with their usual happy-go-lucky, carefree demeanour. Like nothing ever mattered beside going with the flow. Like Liara didn’t matter enough to leave her with sadness and regret.

Goddess, if they knew how long and how difficult it had been to retrieve all her damn records…

But no.

Letting doubt and fear turn into rage wouldn’t do. Liara had better things to do.

She would enter her cabin, see whatever Max left -a bottle of her Italian fizzy drink of choice, no doubt- and went straight back to work. Like removing a band-aid.

The door slid open in front of her, and she thanked Glyph for letting her in first.

“Goddess-”

Whatever she thought she would have found in there, that wasn’t that.

Balancing between the pillow and the headboard of the bed, the paper sleeve reflecting the neon light above, there was one of said bloody vinyls she all but spat blood to retrieve. With a post-it stuck on the front.

Liara ran to the bed and took it in hand, caressing the the cover. The singer in black and white, looking to the side with a smile in his eyes.

Bruce Springsteen, the album Born to Run.

The post it just recited two simple lines in a messy, angular cursive she knew all too well and she didn’t think she would have seen again.

Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness I'll love you with all the madness in my soul

(etc etc but I didn’t get bigger post-its.)

Max-

Oh she hated her. Her and her post-its and her ways from a century prior.

She almost didn’t realize she had dialed the Normandy -they docked out half an hour before, but they couldn’t be to the relay yet- until Max’s voice rang, slightly nasal and as if she was singing.

“Yeeeeees?”

“Whoever uses post-its anymore?”

“People of taste, of course.” They huffed. “And of money, can you believe those ones were the most expensive I could find? And they’re so small. Thieves.”

“Why did you get them, then?” Liara sat more comfortably on the bed, carefully placing the disc on her propped up legs.

“Because it’s Cerberus money I was spending. On hindsight, it may have been better to buy the bigger ones in a ridiculous quantity to push the price up. Mh. EDI, notify me in two hours to buy a shitton of huge post-its.”

“Yes, Shepard.”

The computer sounded a little resigned, if an AI can even express feelings.

“Yeah, well… Pretend I thought of this before and I wrote the rest of the lyrics of that verse.”

“Aye aye, Commander.”

They chuckled at that, and there was a full minute of awkward silence, full on unsaid. It felt bad to hang down, it felt unfair to drag this on. On the background of the call, Liara could faintly hear other voices, and heard Max answering distractly, correcting the and giving orders.

“Max, I-”

“There is-”

They said, at the same time. It broke the tension and made the both of them giggle as if they were far younger than whatever their documents said.

“You first.” Liara told them.

“I left another thing in the bigger cabinet in your cabin. Hope you don’t mind.”

“… You didn’t leave me that horrible trap, did you?”

“Hey. It may be the first motorbike I build, but Raffaella isn’t horrible! You’re hurting her feelings.”

“Raffaella?”

“Like Raffaella Carrà.”

“Of course.”

Shaking her head and now dreading to hang the call down, all previous doubts somewhat mitigating in her mind, Liara rose from the bed. The vinyl got back on the pillow, safe as it could be -it survived a float in open space, but it was old and it was long ingrained in her to treat old things with due respect. Knowing the personal history of it only made it more important to preserve.

“Nothing named after Raffaella Carrà can be horrible.”

“It was very insensitive of me to assume the opposite, please bear her my apologies.”

“It will be done.”

Max kept chatting, talking of how Raffaella Carrà had been a great Italian personality from the 1960s onward, and made it as icon for the LGBTQ+ community, collected a great deal of international successes and sang stuff you just couldn’t avoid singing and dancing, even if she wasn’t her favourite genre. As she spoke, as usual not minding much that there was no answer on the other side, Liara opened the wardrobe, half listening and half not. When she saw, she stopped listening altogether.

“Oh, Max…”

“I thought I’d spare you the trouble of collecting them all again. Beyond the Omega 4 could be quite the bother, even for the Shadow Broker.”

Finally tears came up to the Asari’s eyes.

“I’m-”

“If you say you’re not up to the role, T’Soni. Bruce Springsteen is a gift, but I’m only lending you the rest, ok?”

“Are you sure-”

“When this is over, I’m coming back for them.”

“Max, if you-”

“I’m coming back for them.”

They said it with such sureness and determination that Liara almost believed they would have. That passing through an abandoned relay counted as a normal Tuesday activity. A couple of tears fell on the black leather of the box.

“And well, if you could be with them too when I do…” And then they hesitated. “… Well, uh, I’d be happy, that’s it.”

Liara nodded as an answer, blinking tears away from her eyes. She felt quite stupid, both for being still unsure of them, and for not answering vocally to a call.

“I- Uh-”

“Damn, you are pathetic, Shepard.”

A groaning voice Liara knew interrupted, passing by with heavy steps.

“Oh, please, Garrus.” Max groaned, on the other side of the com.

“Your music made her cry. It’s decrepit and loud, of course she’s crying.”

“Reach and flexibility, Vakarian.” Max hissed, annoyed. “Reach and flexibility.”

“You won’t have either, if you have the tastes of and act like an octogenarian Krogan.”

“Boia, dè.” Max scoffed in italian as per her usual. “First of all, Krogans live-”

It held such an amount of normality that Liara couldn’t find it in her to complain because what had to be a call of two now had a third person in it and it ended up in the other two bickering. She had almost forgot how homey it had become on the Normandy, before… Before.

She just held close to her chest the box with Max’s records, the records that were the only thing she got left of their family, the ones that held a memory each, and kept laughing through the tears.

When Max hang down, still assuring her that they would have been back before she knew it, Liara knew for certain that she did matter.

That assurance, over and over again, and those vinyls, felt more like a declaration of love than the first time they actually told her they loved her.

Half an hour later, she was back to work, assured Feron that she was fine.

And asked Glyph to play Born to Run.

---

2186 – Normandy SR-2

Everything was set in place.

It took them days to put the plan in motion. Day upon day of sneakily entering Liara’s room as she was outside of it - she needed to get out more, and the plan would have helped on that too, coincidentally. If Glyph hadn’t malfunctioned again and everything was going smoothly…

… Max had only to wait.

They sighed, sitting down in front of Raffaella the motorbike cross-legged. It wouldn’t have done waiting idly, so they may as well get some work done. Work on the bike had considerably slowed down since they had not access to Cerberus’ infinite fundings anymore, and their petty crusade in spending them in the silliest possible ways was officially over.

The fuel tank was bothering her particularly: the gasket had something defective, and as much as Max tried to reshape the rubber, fix it with heat, tighten the tube, it kept leaking. Pouring water in the tank from a glass, now, produced the same result.

They huffed, displeased and frowning at the droplets trickling down the skeleton of the bike. A new gasket was needed, but with the Reapers attacking and Earth in that state… She had to salvage something else to serve the same function. Maybe ask Tali if she had an idea. Tali always had ideas.

In the meanwhile, since Max Shepard wasn’t entertaining a hobby to get bored by it, they decided on the engineering panacea. The solution for everything. The final answer to life, the universe and everything.

Duct tape.

A good roll of tape around the junction would do. Why spending more money on a new gasket when you have cheap, humble, extraordinary duct tape at your disposal?

There. All done. This time water didn’t leak.

Feeling very proud of themselves, Max looked around to see what was the next thing in line when-

A loud guitar riff started to blast from the interphone.

It stopped.

Max smiled wide, looking up at the speaker.

The same guitar riff started again, and it kept up for more time before stopping.

It started and stopped five times, and Max got back to work, humming alongside Angus Young’s guitar as it started again and again.

The sixth time, the song kept up, unstopped, and Max knew what would have come in some moments.

“Shepard, the crew is complaining.” EDI dialed in, sounding resigned. “Again.”

“Tell them I’m the Commander, and the Commander chooses the music.” Max answered, unbothered. “They should thank I have taste, Anderson liked disco.”

“Must the music in private cabins be dialed in the whole of the ship?”

“Not the one in everyone’s cabin. I’ll fix it, worry not, I just need to-”

“Shepard.”

Max looked up from the bike leaning to the side so she could see up the stairs to the door. Liara, still in her pajamas and with just a silken dressing gown not closed on, was glaring at her from the door, absolutely livid.

She was so beautiful when she was angry.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Max beamed, smiling brightly at her as if nothing had happened. “Did you sleep well?”

“Shepard, why are my cabinets playing music when I open them?”

“Oh it’s you?” Max asked, faking surprise. “Lucky, can we change cabin?”

“Max.”

“it’s such a great song.”

“Max, it’s playing in the corridors!”

“’Cause the walls start shaking, the Earth was quaking-” They sang, returning to work.

“And in your cabin and-” Liara stomped down the stairs to reach her.

“-My mind was aching-”

“Tell me you didn’t program my cabinets to play AC/DC in the whole ship whenever I open them.”

“-And we were making it and yooou-”

Max hopped back up on her feet and grabbed Liara’s hands, twirling her around and close to their body.

“-shook me aaaaaall night long!”

“I’m serious, Maxine!”

“Oh, me too! Yeah yooou shook me aaaall night long-”

Their full name was a low hit, but who cared now? They had the Asari they loved in her hands, finally free to see her without permits and documents and whatever after six months of home arrest, commanding their ship, free from Cerberus, with a crew they could choose and yet another suicidal, galaxy-saving, impossible mission to accomplish.

Everything was grim and dark, but Liara was not, Liara was there, their records were back in her bedside table, and at the possible end of the galaxy, Max Shepard could take a breather and concentrate on the good in life.

They knew perfectly well that the anger of the Asari would not have lasted so long. And indeed, it lasted only to the end of a very badly sung chorus before she sighed deeply, shook her head and stopped resisting Max’s attempt at dancing to join her in.

“I’ll fix the cabinets back, I promise.” Max told her, leaning forward to catch Liara’s lips in a kiss.

“You’d better.”

“But it is a great song, isn’t it?”

“I love it.”

Liara kissed again, and for three minutes, everything was good and the music was nice. Her grandma was right, when she said Max had been named after Maxine Sullivan in one particular song. It was later than everyone thought, and since it was, they all may enjoy themselves when they still had time.

#mass effect #mass effect fic #me fic #shiara #liara t'soni #max shepard #writing petrel #she's an idiot but at least she's pretty

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timptoe · 1 year

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Finally started playing ME Andromeda, I’m about thirty hours in (so no spoilers!), and…it’s kind of lovely? I get the sense from the fanbase that it’s pretty hated but I’m kind of liking it. First impressions:

It’s very much like if Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Inquisition had an adorable baby. Is that why people don’t like it? Because it’s so much less hoo-rah military?

I also heard no one likes the Frostbite graphics but they don’t bother me? The asari are a little cutesy, but everything else is gorgeous.

I do miss Shepard and the crew, tbh. Love the Liara cameos. Will always want more of Kaidan and Joker and Tali and Vega and everyone.

Do like the new crew, especially their interactions with each other. Hardcore shipping Drack/Lexi. And the Drack-Vetra friendship is really sweet.

I just met Reyes and hooooooo boy. Scott’s been flirting with Gil but he’s suddenly falling hard for Reyes—sorry Gil, don’t hate me forever.

Also Gil just go kiss Kallo already, ugh.

Also also (because Reyes’ voice actor is also male Hawke’s voice actor) my new Dragon Age II headcanon is: after Hawke meets Zevran and does his quest, he will only speak to Isabela in Zevran’s accent for the next six months. She hates it but finds it weirdly sexy. (Much how I am reacting to Reyes’ voice.)

Jaal++

Did the Nexus really not carry a QEC to talk to the Citadel? They traveled to a different galaxy and didn’t think, hey, we have tech that’ll let us say “yo descendants we just woke up!”?

Exaltation is a sufficiently creepy plot point, right up there with indoctrination and Reaper liquidation.

I miss quarians.

I do not miss missions. The open world style is my jam, I love the viability/colonization aspect, love the way this game does side quests.

I find the concept of the exiles to be weird. You sign up for the Initiative, are deemed worthy of being sent ahead on the Nexus instead of an ark (so you’re presumably all in), and you flake out in less than a year because…it didn’t all go to plan? That part of the narrative’s kinda weak.

Though I just got the first part of the Jien Garson whodunit and I’m super invested already.

Really intrigued by the Remnant.

Andromeda does feel less high-stakes than the original trilogy, which is too bad. Sure you’re not dealing with galaxy-wide apocalypse, but survival in Heleus should feel a lot less Laura Ingalls Wilder and a lot more Oregon Trail.

Overall, I’m liking it. Less than halfway through so still plenty of time for it to go sour, but I’m intrigued.

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda

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dragonflight203 · 8 months

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Some thoughts as I replay Mass Effect 1:

-Hackett is one of the ones to recommend Shepard as a spectre. No wonder he feels comfortable calling them up for missions through the game. He probably feels Shepard owes them a few.

-One of Joker's first lines is that he doesn't like having spectres on board. That tune changes quite quickly.

-The game eases into aliens. For the few couple of hours the player only interacts with humans and one turian. Another turian is shown in a cutscene. Geth, which are basically advanced robots, are enemies you can kill without guilt. It's not until the citadel that the game really embraces alien diversity. Bioware's wariness on how comfortable players would be about aliens shows very clearly.

-During the Eden Prime drop scene Kaidan is the one to ask about survivors. Of course he is. Kaidan, you paragon.

-Everyone learned about aliens in school. Everyone is an adult. First contact was 30 odd years ago. How exactly did the curriculum get updated so quickly that everyone learned about this in school? Bioware, your timelines make me cry.

-Manuel definitely got hit by the beacon at some point. Interesting that he also saw Saren, but his speech is so confusing no one realizes he's talking about a second turian.

-Nihlus may feel differently about humans than Saren, but he is Saren's student. He skipped all the survivors and made a beeline to the beacon. He's not cruel, but he is efficient. The beacon is the priority.

-Nihlus, we hardly knew ya. Every time I replay it's always surprising how short his screen time is. And those faces when he interacts with Saren... Bioware did a very good job on making him nonhuman but still recognizably expressive. The difference in facial expressions between ME1 and MEA are light years.

-Benezia is clearly used to Saren's tantrums. She dodged like it's something she does on a regular basis.

-Kaidan, about informing the Council about Saren: "Makes sense. They'd probably like to know he's not working for them anymore." Love this man.

-Kaidan only gets migraines. Having experienced one recently, that's a big only. And he's soldier that's frequently in combat. I hope the future has excellent pain killers.

-For this playthrough I'm planning to have Tali and Liara as companions, so I'm skipping everything on the Citadel that isn't necessary or unique to the first visit until I pick them up. It makes the game feel quite different. I usually spend hours on the Citadel during my first visit; this time I'm leaving quite quickly.

-Pallin's skepticism about humanity makes more sense when Harkin is considered. Harkin was the first human in C-Sec, he's corrupt as hell, and humanity did a lot behind the scenes to protect him. Pallin's big on following the law no matter what. No wonder he's not impressed by humanity.

-Anderson has extreme tunnel vision about Saren. From the minute he's mentioned he's convinced Saren's behind it and he's doing it solely out of hatred of humanity. He repeatedly brings this up.

Meanwhile, in the game I get the vibe that Saren doesn't care about humanity too much. He doesn't like them, he might antagonize them if the opportunity comes up, but they're not worth the bother to put actual effort into tormenting. Humanity just isn't that important to him.

-Love those silent interactions between council members where they just look at each other. Again, the difference between ME1 and MEA is stark.

-Going by the Geth core Tali retrieved, Saren considers Eden Prime a victory. The tantrum he threw indicates otherwise. Does he really consider it a victory, or is that just a speech he gave to motivate the Geth?

-At this time, I'm not convinced Anderson believes in the Reapers. He still thinks it's Saren, he just doesn't think it's worth debating Shepard on it.

-I genuinely like Udina as a character. I'd hate to be around him, but he's determined to do a good job, pragmatic, and truly devoted to humanity. Also nice to have someone around who pushes back against Shepard. ME3 wastes him.

-Garrus mentions that he rose in the ranks through C-Sec. What was his actual rank? Detective or the like, I presume. Pallin knows who he is, and that's impressive considering the number of officers there are. Even with Castis as a father.

-Tali mentions Quarian overseers to the Geth when speaking to Shepard. The game definitely pushes the slavery parallels with the Geth, even in ME1. "Overseer" is not the first term I'd use for supervising machinery. Or maybe that's the American cultural bias showing through.

-Everyone info dumps in ME1. Everyone. Enjoyable, but a bit exhausting at the start of the game when it feels continuous.

-Liara in ME1 is a completely different character than in ME2 and ME3. I'm hesitant to consider the change natural growth. It's a shame, because ME1 Liara has quite a bit of potential. They didn't need to rework her character for the later games.

-First time playing on Insanity, and I'm surprised at the lack of trouble I've had so far. Everyone says the battle with the krogan at the end of Therum is difficult, but I only died once. I might regret this later, when I get to the Uncharted worlds...

Edit: Fix spellings

#mass effect #mass effect 1 #mass effect 1 replay

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katthekatt · 8 months

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Some more of my Mass Effect headcannons, Drinking edition:

> in ME2 when Shepard gets poisoned in lower Afterlife its because of their cyber parts after being resurrected that they survive the poison, Miranda more or less made Shepard even harder to kill.

> speaking of drinking in ME2, Shepard has an episode of alcoholism during the events prior to the Suicide Mission, which is why we can drink at every location. During this, the new companions don't really see it as something that bad. They just think Shepard is just an alcoholic by habit and don't mess with their life. However, our Garrus and Tali know better, and by the time of the Suicide Mission, presuade Shepard to give up drinking for a while. Mordin, too, had called out Shepard on their drinking but with little success in actually preventing them from doing it.

> Earthborn Shepard has a history of drinking from an early age because of being in a gang, due to this, they have a higher tolerance towards it. And abuse this when companions challenge them, in particular James, Jack, Zaeed, and Grunt. If Kaidan or Ashley try to do it, Shepard passes on the offer.

> Earthborn Shepard, again, I think wouldn't mind if Grunt wanted to drink. Although I don't see Grunt doing it offen he does it to show dominance in bars. Colonist Shepard wouldn't encourage it like Earthborn Shep, but still would think it's not that bad and that it grows character if you are exposed to it young. Meanwhile, Spacer Shepard would definitely disapprove become of their strict upbringing.

> Zaeed and Jack share drinks once in a while and talk. Jack doesn't trust Zaeed much at first and thinks of him as just someone she can have a drink with that isn't Cerberus and knows how hard life is. With time, they grow a friendship, and Jack looks up to Zaeed, calling him a badass.

> While EDI and Legion are AI and can't get tipsy or drunk, the conventional way by the time of ME3 EDI has created a virus that works in the same way with its effects that takes about an hour to fight off. She hasn't used it and doesn't plan on doing so because it's counterproductive considering she is the Normandy. The virus was created only for the sole purpose of throwing it in Joker's face after he insisted EDI couldn't do it.

> Wrex and Garrus both don't drink much at all. Garrus drinks only for dates, and Wrex thinks that drinking is for people without courage and need to get it some other way. He has whoever shared a drink with Shepard after they had insisted on commemorating the Genophage cure.

>Thane and Samara don't drink, period, each with their own reasons.

>Miranda, for all her talk of being made perfect, actually has a low tolerance to alcohol. After Shepard learns that they don't leave her alone about it when she brings up being created flawless. Or in reverse, Miranda can't get drunk at all and is a neat party trick she prides herself on.

#mass effect #mass effect headcanons #commander shepard

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callmissrogers · 8 months

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"Kaiden was a good man and a great soldier. He found with us what we all hope to find, a family. We will work as a team and as a family to bring down Saren and get justice for him and for every other soul that we have lost in this fight." Shepard said, standing tall as she always did when addressing her crew. But Garrus could tell that there was something else going on. His eye mask could pick up on things on things such as stress, anger, and sadness. This meant that he could tell that under this brave exterior, he could tell that she was crumbling under the surface.

"Alright, back to your positions," Shepard said.

The crew members all filed out, each heading for their respective postings.

Garrus, on the other hand, simply rounded the corner and then waited.

As he suspected, Shepard stepped out a moment later when she could feel certain no one would see her, and she made for the Starport. He had noticed that whenever things got especially difficult, she would steal away to that room.

Now, he had a small crisis.

Did he leave her be? Or did he follow? What did humans prefer?

But then something Shepard herself had said made up his mind for him: "We are all searching for connection, understanding, validation, a listening ear and shoulder to cry on."

He'd follow.

The door slid open, there she was, learning against the glass. She was crying.

Carefully, he went over and stood next to her. When she saw his reflection in the glass, she turned round to face him.

"Garrus - " "If you want to talk about it - I'll listen to you - and if you just need someone to sit by you, I can do that too,"

She looked at him and wiped her eyes on her sleeve before sitting down facing the glass.

" It's my fault. " She whispered. He sat beside her, " What is?"You know what. I killed Kaidan. " "Is that what you think? Shepard, you didn't kill him. He made that decision for you. " "I - " "Shepard, I understand that you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. But just because you're the commander, that doesn't mean everything is on you. . . You are not alone out here, you have Liara, Tali, Joker, who would take about a million bullets for you, and me with my witty humor. "

Shepard couldn't help but smile at his little joke.

"Thank you Garrus. "

"Shepard?" "Yes." "You don't have to always be strong, alright? It's ok to be human and to need to feel things. I'm here, if you ever need someone to let your guard down with."

Shepard looked over at the Turrian. How could someone, who wasn't even a human, understand emotions so well?

Her follow-up question to herself was, how could a human feel her heart begin to flutter over a Turrian?

#mass effect #shepard x garrus #garrus vakarian #short story

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swaps55 · 11 months

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Please tell me something about that Noveria First Kiss AU! <3

You may not like it, which is why it has remained a WIP. I toyed with making something happen with everyone having a night off at Port Hanshan, but what came out was some drunk teasing that escalated much faster than anyone (even me) guessed. Sam reacts badly when he doesn't have time to chew on his feelings first, and when he's up against a wall he lashes out. And, uh. His choice of targets was not ideal.

I didn't know how to fix the spot I got them into, or how the fuck to get the actual kiss out of it, so I haven't returned to it. Part of me wants to, just to explore it, because it feels in character enough to be worth poking at. But with Fugue and Mezzo being such angst fests, I haven't had the mental fortitude to give to it.

“You’re jealous,” Ashley informs him.

“Of what,” Shepard scoffs, giving her the same look he gave the NCD inspector who grounded the Mako.

“That woman is hitting on him, and you can hardly keep your butt in that chair.” She bops the leg of his seat with a foot. His eyes narrow.

Garrus swivels his head between them, mandibles flaring, and Tali sets her cards down. Joker sits back in his seat and crosses his arm, like there’s a show about to happen and he’s got a front row seat. Wrex shoves another glass of ryncol towards her, and like an idiot, she takes it.

“He hates being hit on,” Shepard informs her.

“Yeah,” she says with a snort, “because it’s never you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

Amazing how much nuance in the human – alien – whatever – voice gets lost when you’re drunk, or maybe she would have noticed how flat Shepard’s sounded, or how little humor was in it.

She grins. “It means he’s wanted in your pants since probably five minutes after he met you, and somehow you haven’t noticed.”

“I notice plenty,” Shepard says, leveling her with a stare. “We’re close. Why does everyone assume it has to be about sex?”

[more stuff]

“Leave it alone, Williams,” Shepard growls. “We are what we are. Stop trying to make it something it’s not.”

“Tell him that,” Ashley says, gesturing towards Alenko, who is now glancing over his shoulder while he waits for their drinks. “I have never seen someone so desperate over someone as that guy. Pretty sure if the two of you just got a room and fucked each other’s brains out you’d both be a lot better off.”

Shepard shoves out of his chair with enough force Ashley actually jumps. Just as she starts wondering if maybe she pushed him too far, Alenko chooses that moment to return with his drink. Garrus swivels his head between them, mandibles flaring, and Tali sets her cards down. Joker sits back in his seat and crosses his arm, like there’s a show about to happen and he’s got a front row seat.

“What’s going on?” Alenko asks, cautious.

Shepard meets his gaze like a rail gun lining up a target.

“So, what, you want to fuck me?” he demands, eyes flashing, and Ashley sucks in a breath. “Is that what we’ve always been about? Is getting in my pants what friendship is to you? Because if it is, fine. I’ll go fuck you in that corner right now if that’s the price of doing business.”

Alenko stares at him in incomprehension that erodes into something Ashley can’t even name, before it fades completely and all that’s left is a slate so blank it hits harder than any bullet she’s ever fired.

“Go fuck yourself,” he says, quiet, indifferent, as he sets his drink steadily on the table and walks out of the bar while everyone at the poker table stares after him.

He’s only made it a few steps before Shepard’s expression to shift to shock, then horror, but it’s too late.

#swaps replies #cr-noble-main #mememe #meme replies #snippet

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sol-consort · 8 months

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Can you imagine tho the aliens reactions when humans all start collectively singing the same song. Like it’s busy in the bar or something, everyone’s doing their own thing, and suddenly Bohemian Rhapsody comes on and every single human in the bar stops what they’re doing to sing along like we’re compelled by some unseen force to do it, maybe some try to pull in their non human friends and get them to join in

You know for a fact Joker and Shepard definitely sang to some stupid y2k songs while sitting on the helm together and roped EDI into joining them.

Especially the meme songs, what's better than a whole ship captain and their pilot singing along to "I LOVE IT!" By Icona pop and Joker really bringing out the vocal cords in the "I CRASHED MY CAR INTO THE BRIDGE. I WATCHED AND LET IT BURN" while in the lower engineering decks, they're not sure why Liara keeps pinging them all panicking and saying "check on joker pls" and "is element zero inflammable?" and "coordinates for the nearest bridge?"

Humans L O V E joint community behaviour. We would do so many things for the bit, walk slower if we hear a song we like in a nearby shop, sing along if it's in a bar or a concert, drum our fingers to the beat if we're in a car with a strangers, have a rhythm to our footsteps when listening to music through headphones.

There are so many different songs, so many different instruments! A vast ocean of potential with more than a 100k songs being uploaded per day based on Spotify.

Hell have you seen these videos of military marches where the soldiers have to sing along to something like "I'm a barbie girl" or "call me maybe" and not laugh as a way to build discipline?

I bet you alliance marines still use the same technique with humans, so all the alliance ships and personals have so many songs memorised back from their training days.

Captian Anderson taking the crew to after a successful mission to unwind and the bar just happened to play a tone familiar to the human ear? Of course the literal whole drunk crew of the Normandy will sing like their it's their last day alive. Some yelling, some quietly, some so offbeat but confident and others nailing the beat perfectly but don't wanna look like show offs.

Humans are so adorable omfg, they love doing things in groups and they'd join stranger humans in singing along to a song they like. Humans love playing even as adults and singing is just a form of play. So is poker, billiard and so many things.

Garrus would definitely be roped into it, give him a hard hitting song about being a winner and he's so on board with the rowdy humans tugging him along to join and commenting on how they've never heard a turian sing before.

Tali would be so shy about it but maybe if it's a nerdy song about something she loves? Some human must have wanted to fuck spaceships and wrote something about it.

Oh and parades and ceremonies too! World cup opening and closing songs! The fan cheers in matches and concerts! Humans invented being cheerleaders and each human has one inside them ready to come out the second their alien friend is hesitant about something and needs a bit of enabling from good old chaotic humans.

Dude, just imagine karaoke night with all human songs. In ME1 boring rover planet exploration, Shepard and Ashley definitely sing along to a playlist they had Kaidan install into the car and he snuck some of his favourite songs in their to join them with.

With time and cycling team members, at first, the aliens are weirded out, wtf is this some kind of cult.

But then they're like.

And it just becomes a tradition to sing along while on long car rides on planets. Sometimes, you catch Wrex humming the lyrics while on long elevator rides. Other times, Liara will have the song playing in the background while she works.

It's just so fun to introduce the aliens to how colorful life can be when you sing along, dance without knowing all the steps and being a silly little race.

On a less pop and enthusiast drunks note.

There are also the emotional songs, ones from sad movies or plays. The known songs people play in wedding slow dances or after a break up. A bunch of humans would sing it slowly, lovingly, emotions showing through the sheer importance this song ment for them.

#☆several characters #☆garrus #☆Wrex #☆Ashley #☆Tali #☆Liara #☆Kaidan #☆humans #☆human kink #☆fluff #☆galactic species

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stormikins · 8 months

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Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

tagged by @nowandthane thank you!! Warning I ramble a bit in this lol

I am a fan since: 2017, I got it for Christmas in 2016 so I always just say '17

Favorite Game of the series: By virtue of simply replaying it the most, three. I really love the combat in it so I've played it near thirty times? But all time fave would have to 1 because of the aesthetic, tone, and story. There's something about first discovering a world which is what me1 is about.

MShep or Femshep? Gotta go with Femshep. I have played both, its just hard to capture the male shepard image I have in my head in the character creator so Femshep it is.

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer: earthborn! My main Shepard Jenn is earthborn so that's what I'm going with. Though, I have numerous Shepard's are various background combinations. I have feelings about each background trust me

Biotics or tech: Both! Though I really do love biotics, you can do some cool stuff with them, setting up and detonating both biotic and tech explosions.

Paragon or Renegade: I have to repeat what nowandthane said, paragon choices, renegade dialogue.

Favorite Class: Sentinel. I love the versatility of the class, but I do have an affection for Infiltrator because that's what got me through me2 on insanity.

Favorite Companion: Tali. By story value, Javik. He's like one of the most important characters

Least Favorite Companion: Javik, throw your attitude out the airlock. IM JOKING! (he has every reason to be like he is. I love him very much) Liara is my answer though only because I don't like some of the story choices the devs did with her. (ex: why does she have Shepard's armor in a display case when i didn't even romance her??? I can't mention this at all??)

My squad selection: For Jenn's playthrough: Wrex/Tali in me1. Garrus/Mordin/Miranda generally in me2. Thane and Miranda/Samara for the collector base. Kaidan/Javik/James in me3. Of course, I mix it up based on story aspects and the difficulty settings. But me3 is pretty fixed bc I always play on insanity.

Favorite in-game Romance: Tali and Garrus. I'm a sucker for awkward, wet cat of a man like Garrus is. But Tali's romance man.... her parting line to Shepard during the beam run "I have a home" makes me insane actually

Other pairings I like: Obligatory Nihlus/Shepard/Kal (and the duos within in this throuple) mention here. Other than that, Joker/Miranda and Joker/James, Ashley/Garrus, and Shepard/Wrex, I could list a whole lot so I'll keep it to those ships lol

Favorite NPC: Nihlus and Kal'Reegar for sure. Victus and of course Niftu Cal our favorite biotic god.

Favorite Antagonist: Saren. He's the best one that we get in all three games (Harby could have been number one if they did anything with him in three but that's a rant for another time lmao)

Favorite Mission: Haestrom/Tali's Loyalty mission because that's when I get to see Kal <3 and blow up a colossus with the Cain. Also, the Collector Ship mission I have to mention because it's frankly the only mission besides the two previously stated where I've loaded up the save to play it on insanity when I'm bored. It's fun. Of course, this is with the Infiltrator.

Favorite Loyalty Mission: Tali for numerous reasons. Kal mention here. But I love the insight into Quarian culture we get. Also we see that fire in her when she's talking to the Board which I always appreciate. Along with her dialogue at the end, "I got better, Shepard. I got you." and then on the ship afterwards, "I don't think life is about what we deserve." I love her so much.

Favorite DLC: Leviathan. Only because of the horror aspect.

Control, Sythesis, or Destroy? Destroy. I have so many issues with the ending and that's the least worst option in my opinion so. (I too ignore that it wipes out the Geth and Edi fuck that)

Favorite Weapon: The M-90 Cain or the M-99 Saber aka the "Big Iron". Lancer in three was my favorite weapon before I found the Saber. Special mention to my bud the Mattock, I have been convinced of its glory. I do not think the Harrier is better anymore lol which my brother would be happy to hear

Favorite Place: me1 Citadel my BELOVED.

A quote I like Quotes I Like: The ENTIRETY of Sovereign's dialogue on Virmire GOD ITS SO GOOD!!!! / "Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer." / "Does this unit have a soul?" / "Just followed your example, Shepard. Yell loud enough and eventually someone will come over to see what all the fuss is about." / "I won't let fear compromise who I am." / "I MADE A MISTAKE!" / "Help me out here, Shepard. The line between friend and foe is getting a little blurry from where I stand." / There are so many great quotes in these games I could go on and on but I'll stop myself

No pressure tags: @spacebunshep @jtownnn

#mass effect #tag games #brb gonna go play the game now

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otemporanerys · 1 year

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Spectre Requisitions ‘23 - The Rec Post!!

It’s that time of year again! I took part in the Spectre Requisitions Rare Pair Exchange @spectre-requisitions-exchange (link to the collection here) and man. SO MUCH good shit.

I can’t reveal what I wrote (yet) but I have been reading through the collection and here’s a few incredible works that I really enjoyed! Remember to kudos and comment if you find anything you like 💖

(NB: I focused on fic, but honestly every bit of fanart I’ve seen for it is also incredible, please go check it out)

Gifts for Me

I was SO lucky this year - loyal friends will know that I’ve been suffering from a massive dose of Lawkarian brainrot, and I got not one, but TWO long-ass Garrus/Miranda fics!!!! honestly still can’t get over it, incredible

Between the Devil and the Deep, Garrus/Miranda, 20K, E

Set pre-ME2, Miranda recruits Archangel for a job, fucks him to keep him sweet.

This is just. Pure filth, and I love it. Aliases, power plays, both Garrus and Miranda being amoral little weirdos. What more can you ask for?

The Woman in White, Garrus/Miranda, 16.9K, E

Set pre-ME2, Miranda recruits Archangel for a job, doesn’t really do ANYTHING to keep him sweet (but they fuck anyway).

:chinhands: This is just. GORGEOUSLY written, and the begrudging way in which they start to like each other (but not too much) is incredible. Top-notch Garrus POV

Gen

loose ends, Maelon & Mordin, 9.9K, T

Set during and after ME3, canon-divergent AU. Maelon finds Mordin in the wreckage after Tuchanka and nurses him back to health.

I love their relationship in this - Mordin’s so aware of Maelon’s weaknesses (or what he perceives to be his weakness) but there’s still so much caring, despite the huge gulf between them. Also the easiest way to make me a teary mess is a Urdnot Mordin cameo 😭

The Stories We Tell, Joker & Tali, 3.1K, T

Set during ME1. Tali forces Joker to be her friend.

Really great dialogue for everyone - it’s very cute and fun until suddenly it’s not!!! which is rude!!! but still very good, A+++

Care and Maintenance, Kaidan & Tali, 2.2K, T

Set during ME1. Kaidan and Tali bond over dads, tech and Shepard’s reckless driving.

This one was just nice! And also who doesn’t love a bit of Shepard driving slander

F/F

swear, this one you’ll save, Nyreen/Solana, 1.5K, G

Pre-canon: five times Solana has a secret about Nyreen.

I’m only slightly obsessed with these two, and this fic was so perfect. Childhood friends to lovers is a god-tier trope, and it’s so deliciously bittersweet

Real, Beautiful, f!Shali, 0.7K, G

Post-ME3, A morning on Rannoch.

The post-war fluff we deserve, imo!

A Knife in Starlight, Morinth/f!Shepard, 1K, M

Set during ME2. Character study with a side of smut.

I think Morinth is incredibly interesting as a character, but the real standout of this fic is the Shepard - Ruthless, stone butch, wonderfully jagged.

M/M

Collide, m!Shakarian, 4.1K, M

Set during ME2. Friends-to-lovers and mutual pining.

I love m!Shakarian anyway, but mutual pining?? Sexually charged pining?? LOVE CONFESSIONS?? Good shit

M/F

Change of Command, Garrus/Miranda, 3.6K, M

Set during ME2. Epistolary fic, a series of comms transcripts between Garrus and Miranda.

Yes, someone else wanted Lawkarian!! The (verbal) sparring is so much fun, and the format is perfect.

Beauty Like a Raging Flame, f!Shaeed, 6.2K, E

Set during ME2. Shepard gets into a fight in Afterlife, and Zaeed has to go pick her up.

There’s a lot of Shaeed this year! But this one is my favourite. The Zaeed voice is great (appropriately crusty, not too soppy, just the way I like it) and it’s nice seeing him paired off with a Paragon Shep. Plus, Zaeed’s turned on by violence. Smutty perfection

only echoes in the melody now, Kasumi/Keiji’s Greybox, 3.4K, E

Post-ME3. Bittersweet porn with feelings.

God, this one really blew me away. The prose is incredible, and there’s so many little bits that really land how fucked up the greybox concept really is. The ending is great, too. Can’t recommend this enough.

Longing Makes a Thief, Kasumi/Rolan Quarn, 17.7K, E

Kasumi and Rolan run into each other during a job, and realise they’ve met before - sort of.

This was so much fun - bubbly like a glass of champagne. The banter’s great, the smut is great, it’s all so good. Run, don’t walk!

Poly

An Unfortunately Sexy Man, Addison/Kandros/Kesh/Tann, 6.6K, M

MEA. Addison, Kandros and Kesh all have one thing in common: a devastating, inexplicable crush on Director Tann.

I’m not really one for crack, but this is definitely an exception. Genuinely funny, and the Tann voice in particular is incredibly on-point.

#spectre requisitions #spectre requestions 2023 #fic rec #mass effect fan fiction #mass effect rare pairs

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commander-krios · 1 month

Text

Food For Thought

Fandom: Mass Effect Pairing: Jeff "Joker" Moreau/James Vega Rating: Teen Summary: There are two things Joker associates with James Vega: food and jokes. Not particularly in that order. As they're preparing for the final push against Cerberus and the Reapers, Joker's surprised to find there is a lot more beneath the marine's muscular exterior. More he's willing to explore if they get the chance. Words: 3883 Additional Tags: Mass Effect: Citadel, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Friendship, Love, Crushes, Comfort Food, Pre-relationship, Pining

Written for @hatboyexchange, for @ginbiscuit, hope you like it!

Read on AO3

The scent of eggs and bacon was the first thing his brain registered when he woke. That, and something spicy, like hot sauce. With a groan, Jeff Moreau shifted against the mattress, bones and muscles protesting the movement even with the new and improved bone weave. He was tempted to lie there, stare at the ceiling of Shepard's new apartment, and possibly drift off again. Wouldn't that be lovely, to not have to deal with the reality of their situation: the Reapers, and Cerberus, and the possibility of the extermination of the entire galaxy. To pretend, like all of the other idiots on the Citadel, that the Reapers didn't exist, that there wasn't a war waging in space, that everything wasn't going to shit.

It took his body a few more minutes before he could even sit on the edge of the bed, the alcohol he'd drank the night before leaving him sluggish, tired, perhaps a tad hungover, but he'd never admit such a thing even under torture.

Sighing, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, trying to focus on the fancy closet sitting directly across from the bed, filled with nothing. Each shelf was as empty as the next, a parallel to their lives. Dust had settled on the flat surface, untouched in who knows how many years. Living out of a locker on a starship was difficult, stuffed into close corridors with other soldiers with barely any privacy, but the empty closet made Joker almost miss it. Living in an apartment this big, all alone with no one else to bump into in the halls, felt altogether too lonely for him. The apartment was too quiet this early in the morning, no gentle hum of the mass effect core to make him feel one with the universe.

Shaking the thought away, Joker forced himself to his feet, immediately regretting that he'd left his crutches on the ship. He rarely used them anymore; the only thing Cerberus had been good for was the medical tech they'd invested in him, but after the amount of alcohol he'd drank, a little extra help wouldn't have sucked.

Joker shuffled out of the spare room, only to find the rest of the party goers sprawled in random places throughout the apartment. Cortez was sleeping on one of the couches, curled underneath the flimsiest of blankets. Jack had thrown herself on the floor, a pile of pillows she'd scrounged up masquerading as a makeshift bed. A groan from the bathroom behind him alerted him to Grunt's location. Shaking his head, Joker left them all to their suffering and worked his way down the too big staircase, hoping he wouldn't slip and break his neck on the landing. A pathetic way to end his career.

He could see the headlines already: Hotshot pilot with a freighter sized ego dead due to his own hubris.

He guaranteed that Shepard would find that hilarious.

Pausing at the bottom of the staircase, he found a similar situation to the one above spread across the living area. Couches were occupied, piles of pillows and blankets hiding sleeping people, all dead to the galaxy outside... and well, the delicious smells from the kitchen inside. Idiots, every single one of them. There was nothing stopping him from grabbing whatever food Kaidan was frying up. It smelled even better than the food he occasionally cooked on the Normandy.

Entering the kitchen, massive compared to the one on the ship, Joker stopped short when it wasn't Kaidan hovering over the eggs on the stove, but James Vega.

Ok, that was unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome.

While he might've preferred Kaidan's company most days, and Shepard was always a good option number two as far as friends go, James Vega wasn't bad for a choice either. He might've been annoying at times, (to be fair, Joker found most people annoying), but his heart was in the right place and that made all the difference.

And no, it wasn't because Joker was starting to develop a slight crush on the marine. If anyone said that, he'd call bullshit on them. Jeff Moreau did not do crushes.

Joker cleared his throat as loudly as he could. Vega glanced over his shoulder, taking in his sudden appearance with a grin and nodded towards one of the empty stools at the island.

"Hey, Hatboy! You're the first one awake! Come, hang out. How do you like your eggs?"

Joker didn't like his eggs in any way because he never ate them. 9.9999 times out of 10, they were from an animal he'd never heard of before. And even he had his limits when it came to eating random space fare.

"Eggs? Where did you find eggs? And why am I afraid to know what system they came from?" Taking care not to jolt his aching joints, Joker managed to get onto the stool with little trouble. Letting out a relieved sound, he was surprised to see James watching him. "What?"

Motioning to the egg carton beside the stove, Joker was surprised to see the package claiming they were real chicken eggs. Huh, guess you really could get anything on the Citadel if you looked hard enough.

"So? Eggs?" James prompted again, turning back to the cooking, adding some seasoning to the ones currently frying. "I can make them any way you want. Scrambled, poached, over easy."

"Uh, whatever you think." Joker managed, not understanding anything he just said and not wanting to make a decision either way. "I'm not picky."

A blatant lie if there ever was one. But then again, everyone else would be up soon enough so it might not be hard to push his food onto one of their plates. With all of the biotics in this apartment, he was positive he could find someone.

Jack. She was always hungry. That would work.

Realizing he was stuck in his head, Joker glanced up to see that James was watching him again. He scrambled for an excuse, a distraction, something to turn the conversation away from him. "Uh... so you like to cook?"

Stupid, Joker. Great question. Of course the man who was always cooking on the Normandy liked to cook.

He would've slapped himself if he could guarantee he wouldn't break a hand doing it.

James chuckled, sliding the eggs he'd been cooking onto an empty plate before reaching over for a small bowl. He tossed some peppers and onions into the pan, the smell divine despite his usual dislike of both foods. Maybe... he could eat something if James made it.

The sudden realization made Joker flush, embarrassed by the direction his thoughts took. Why did it matter if it was Vega who cooked it? The man was a cooking machine, he'd probably cook for him every day if he asked. The very idea of waking up to a freshly cooked breakfast, to spend it with someone as likable as James Vega, was just a plus.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"My abuela taught me how to cook. She was amazing at everything she put her mind to. Huevos rancheros, tamales, pozole, sopes, flautas. She taught me what she could before she passed away." James cracked a couple eggs into the skillet next, breaking up the yellow center, the color bleeding into the whites. "She made it fun, even when I didn't want to do it. Without her, I'd be stuck on military rations."

"I'm sure we're all grateful." Joker muttered, glancing at the coffee machine and wondering if he could manage to make a pot before Shepard got his grubby hands on it. The last thing he needed after a night of heavy drinking was consuming an even heavier cup of sludge. But that would mean getting off of the stool and he might not make it to the machine before collapsing in a heap of broken bones.

"You can be sarcastic all you like, amigo, but when you try my eggs, you'll be changed for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, well, considering the rest of my life could only be a few days, I'm not sure if that's the compliment you're implying." Joker decided to risk it. Sliding off the stool, his knees and ankles protested when he landed on the floor, and he clung to the island for support, waiting for the pain to pass. Taking a breath through his nose, he let it out of his mouth in a hiss.

James looked at him in concern, pausing in his cooking to check in on him. "You ok, flyboy?"

"Yes." He snapped, eyes closed in pain as he counted backwards from twenty, trying to will some comfort into his limbs.

The sound of a plate sliding across the island caught his attention and Joker opened his eyes, only to find a plate of scrambled eggs with peppers and onions there, shredded cheese sprinkled along the top, only just melting from the heat of the food. Something red and chunky and totally disgusting looking sat off to the side.

"Here, eat. You look like you need something heavy after all that beer." He turned away, reaching into the cabinet for a pair of navy mugs with the Systems Alliance symbol etched on them. "I'll grab you that cup of coffee."

Joker felt his anger immediately evaporate at Vega's words. He pulled himself onto the stool again, lifting up the fork next to his plate. He wasn't entirely feeling well enough to eat. Especially when it was something that looked like it'd already been eaten once. "You, uh, you don't have to do that."

Vega chuckled, filling both cups with steaming black coffee. "I know I don't, but I like doing it. When someone comes into my kitchen, I take care of them."

Joker raised an eyebrow at his statement, ignoring how his heart hammered when Vega leaned forward to place the mug next to him, his large arms flexing beneath his shirt. "Your kitchen, huh? I'm sure Shepard might have something to say about that."

"Hey, Loco doesn't need all of this space for himself. And we both know he'll never use the kitchen." James laughed again, a deep and low chuckle that was warm, affectionate, teasing.

Joker felt his cheeks heat and he ducked his head towards his plate, pushing some food around with the fork in his hand. As kind as Vega was being, Joker didn't think he could eat. His stomach was churning, his neck damp with sweat, his hands shaking as he tried to reach for the coffee. He nearly knocked the cup over, the sudden jarring of the mug spilling coffee over the sides and onto the counter.

Maybe he wasn't ok.

"Is something wrong with the food, jefe?" James leaned on the island, arms crossed in front of him, a soft look on his face. "I can make you something different if you don't like eggs."

"I..." Jeff let out a tight breath, trying to calm the nervous flutter in his stomach. "It's fine. I think I drank too much last night. My stomach feels weird."

James hummed, nodding as if he understood. Maybe he did, but with the amount of muscle mass he carried around, there was no way that Vega got as drunk as Joker did on the same number of drinks. And Vega didn't seem to imbibe as much as some of the others did.

"I have a remedy for hangovers. Used to get a lot of them during my early days in basic." James waved to the plate in front of him. "Eggs and coffee are great and all, but I make a protein shake that would perk you right up."

The thought of choking down some thick liquid concoction turned his stomach and he covered his nose, trying to fight against the overwhelming nausea. "No... thanks."

James watched him briefly, almost as if he too was waiting to see if Joker lost whatever was left in his stomach on top of the food. When he didn't, the marine smiled and took the fork from him, shoving the eggs into his own mouth instead. Joker felt an immediate sense of relief and his stomach settled slightly, enough that he could sip on the hot coffee without dropping the mug.

"You don't know what you're missing, jefe." Vega practically inhaled the food, the plate cleared in the matter of minutes. He deposited the empty plate into the sink before turning back to where Joker was still drinking his bitter drink. "Let me cook for you."

"I don't know, Vega-"

If Vega cooked for him, did that mean he'd owe him something? Joker didn't like owing people. He'd never be able to repay him, and if either of them died while they were fighting the Reapers, that would be an unfulfilled obligation that would haunt him well into the afterlife... if there was one.

Most likely, they would all die a painful death and suffer as husks for the rest of eternity.

"You spend all of your time at the helm. And I know we don't have time for a decent meal on the Citadel," James rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away nervously towards where the dirty dishes sat. He stared at them briefly, as if thinking through what he wanted to say before he said it. "But I'm good at improvising. And we could both use a good meal before we get to Cronos Station."

Joker didn't have a response to that. "I guess that makes sense."

When James smiled at him brightly, he didn't want to investigate why the idea made his heart pound even harder.

~~~~~

"20 hours until Cronos Station." Shepard's voice echoed over the comm, sounding weary yet determined despite it all. This was what they'd been heading towards, the final confrontation with Cerberus... with the Illusive Man.

Not so illusive anymore, are you, asshole?

With a tired sigh, Joker set the autopilot and leaned back into his fancy pilot's seat. Another expense written off as necessary when Cerberus was his boss. If you wanted a comfortable and well rested pilot (since he tended to nap in his chair majority of the time), you provided said pilot with the best of the best. And leather seats were well worth the price tag.

But everything the organization had done, before and after he and Shepard's time with Cerberus... yeah, he didn't know if selling his soul was worth the leather seats in the end.

"Am I interrupting anything, jefe?"

The nickname alerted Joker immediately to who was in his cockpit with him, and the familiarity of it made him blush. Pulling at the brim of his hat to hide his face, he shifted forward, tapping out a correction in their trajectory. There was no reason to end up in the middle of a star because Vega was distracting.

"Interrupting? Oh, nothing at all. Only the possibility of flying into an asteroid field or being in the path of a Reaper. You know, the things we're supposed to be avoiding until we get to Earth."

Joker couldn't help but glance at James out of the corner of his eye. The sarcasm hadn't been lost on him if the smirk on his face was any indication.

Vega glanced at the terminal that projected their path. Then he glanced at the viewport above them, the blue of the mass effect fields surrounding their ship, a beautiful swirl of blues that made him feel at home. Even beyond that, the glittering of thousands of stars against a velvet black space could be seen, reminding them all of how large the galaxy was. And how small they were.

"I don't see any Reapers out there."

"Oh but they're there, Vega. Lurking in the shadows like the monsters your parents told you about as a kid."

"I didn't have nightmares about squid monsters when I was a kid."

"Well, unfortunately, that's what we've got." Joker looked at the viewport above them as well, taking in the sight and wondering if his family was safe somewhere. Dad and Gunny... he didn't want to think about it too hard, but they were always there in the corner of his mind. Lurking much like the Reapers did in dark space. "And they're a nightmare for billions of other people now."

James made a low noise in his throat. "True enough."

Jeff tried to ignore him as James sat in EDI's vacant seat, his burly build looking out of place among the sleek leather, but found it difficult to despite being irritated at the interruption. Not only did James Vega take up a lot of space, but his personality was as large as his arms. There was barely a chance that he'd be able to ignore him for long.

The two of them sat without speaking, staring at the stars out of the viewport, the hum of the mass effect field the only thing to break the silence. It was... comfortable which surprised Joker. There weren't many people he could sit with like this and just exist. Especially when existing was difficult enough without having to fight for it.

Vega shifted and Joker could feel his gaze on him. "Hey, jefe, I brought you something."

The man leaned forward with a small blue food container held out in his enormous hand, letting it dangle in the space between them. Joker eyed it with skepticism, not entirely sure he trusted whatever it was being offered.

"What the hell is that?"

James laughed quietly, shaking it slightly while still holding it out. "Take it and look."

Joker's eyebrows came together, but he couldn't help the curiosity he felt. He hesitated briefly before finally taking the container. "You aren't trying to poison me, are you?"

"Why would I poison the man flying the ship? That seems like a bad end for me."

"As if EDI couldn't just fly the ship without me." Joker opened the container despite his morbid jokes, finding some sort of pastry looking thing there. It was still warm to the touch, the scent of dough and some sort of spicy meat greeting his nose. He'd barely eaten much more than an Alliance issued protein bar and lots of coffee, anything to keep him awake while they careened towards their inevitable destruction. His stomach betrayed him and immediately grumbled at the sight of the food. Still...

He slanted his eyes in James' direction, not bothering to hide his suspicion.

"Don't look at me like that."

Joker grinned, his mood turning to something less depressing, even if it would last for only a moment. "What's this for? Some sort of revenge for me not eating the eggs this morning? Did you throw so many spices in here that I'm going to be farting fire for weeks?"

"You don't trust anybody, do you?"

"It's kept me alive this long."

"That's no way to live, man. Believe me, it'll eat you alive." James turned his gaze to the controls, watching the flickering orange lights.

"I can't imagine you ever being upset." Joker muttered, lifting the tiny pie looking thing and turning it in his hands to inspect. It didn't look like it'd been tampered with. So he leaned closer, sniffing it for any sign of something weird. All he smelled was what could've possibly been beef.

"It takes a lot of work to smile in times like these."

Fair enough.

Joker decided to take the risk and eat the thing in his hand, if only for Vega's sake. Why waste perfectly good food? The first bite was flaky, the pastry dough breaking into tiny pieces on his tongue. It was followed by the spicy beef and vegetables filling, and for a brief moment, Jeff Moreau thought the Reapers had blown up the Normandy again because there was no way that this type of food existed in reality. He must be dead and in some sort of culinary heaven.

A little moan slipped past his lips. He immediately flushed red at Vega's chuckle.

"That good, jefe?"

With a mouth full, Joker tried his best not to blush deeper. "Shut up."

Crumbs spilled onto his uniform and he brushed them off, embarrassed at how easy it was to get to him.

Dammit, Moreau. It was just food. No need to get all worked up over it.

He was grateful that there was no one other witness to his embarrassment besides Vega himself.

Glancing up at the optical sensors above the helm, he realized that wasn't true. There was no way that EDI hadn't heard everything. And she'd definitely give him shit for it.

James laughed again, but this time, the sound was a bit more free than it'd been before. It made Joker feel... good. A strange feeling, to be sure, but he liked it when Vega smiled. Maybe a little too much, but there was something soft and good and comforting about James Vega that most people lacked. Joker didn't trust easily, minus the trust and respect he had for Shepard and Kaidan (and EDI, as strange as their friendship was). But Vega was someone he knew he could trust, even if he wasn't entirely sure why.

"Why do you do it?" Joker asked quietly, putting what was left of his food back into the container. "The food and the nicknames? What's the point?"

Sighing, Vega let his gaze fall to his hands that were now settled in his lap. He was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts possibly, but Joker knew what it felt like to be questioned about the things he did to make himself feel better... to protect himself.

Finally, Vega glanced at him, expression full of determination and a softness that Joker wasn't expecting. "The point is to make people smile, even when they don't feel like there's a reason to. The galaxy is burning and there are monsters hiding in the dark, but we have something they don't have. Love. Hope. We have people we can rely on and people we're here to protect. Even if it's only for a brief moment, we have everything. And I intend on loving everyone until I'm spacedust."

Not much could get an emotional reaction out of Joker past anger. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so strongly about anything, nowhere as much as James clearly felt about this. But it was important to him, that was obvious, but for some unknown reason, all Joker could get out was a "That's.... uh... something."

"You can say it's stupid."

"No, it's not- I never thought about it that way." Joker cleared his throat, staring at the pastry in the little container in his hands. So much consideration was put into something so small. James Vega was too good for this cruel galaxy. After another moment of silence, Joker somehow found his voice. "Thanks for the food."

"Plenty more where that came from." Vega promised him with a little smile. "All you have to do is ask."

Joker smiled back, accepting Vega's offer with a newfound appreciation. Maybe... maybe there could be something there. Maybe there was something to hope for, something to fight for past survival.

Maybe there was a future waiting for him after the war.

#mass effect #mass effect trilogy #mass effect 3 #me3 fanfic #my writing #hatboy exchange #jeff joker moreau #jeff moreau #joker moreau #james vega #joker x vega #joker moreau x james vega #voker

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