Dimorphism
Going Commando
The elevator door dropped open behind her, which was, unto itself, nothing unusual and easy to ignore. Placing her gear aside at her feet to harden, Kaidan set to melting her tools back into her omni-gel tub.
Williams strutted by, bearing two arms full of unmitigated miscellany – he'd been in the markets again, which was also nothing unusual. As he passed her crate, he shot her an enthusiastic grin. "Hey, Alenko!"
Chief Williams' predilection towards shopping was the stuff of legends. Furthermore, his bartering skills were finely honed, to the point that, in select corners of the Wards, his reputation had begun to precede him. If his name wasn't whispered far an wide amidst merchants throughout the Citadel, Kaidan suspected it was only because they had a job to do, and he simply hadn't the chance to make it into the depths of the marketplaces. Yet.
"Check it out," Ash said, hefting a metal box onto the sentinel's makeshift table as she mopped up, "Gotcha something."
Wiping her hands on her rag, Kaidan studied the nondescript armor case in front of her. There were no industry marks, no telling color scheme, nothing to indicate what might have been inside. Ecstatic with whatever it was he had found, Ash was giving her a look that was far too genuine... a look she couldn't quite trust.
Tossing her rag to one side, she unclasped the latches in one smooth motion. Upon lifting the cover, she knit her brows, dumbfounded, at the armor that lay nestled within. "Um."
Ash beamed, nudging the thing with an elbow. "Pretty cool find, huh?"
"Thanks, thank you..." It sounded flat, even to her own ears. Williams' expression took on a quizzical cast that she couldn't quite decipher, and Kaidan redoubled her effort at sounding genuine. "Really, thanks... a lot. It's... nice."
"Well, you enjoy it, LT." Ash clasped her shoulder before moving to secure the rest of his newly acquired junk, leaving her to stare, disbelieving, at the refurbished asari commando armor.
-o-o-o-
If there was something that no Alliance instructor, tailor, or requisitions officer ever mentioned or admitted to, it was that asari armor was comfortable beyond belief. Conceivably, either no one had ever tried it or it was the best-kept secret in the Alliance military.
Kaidan came to stand behind the commander and squared her shoulders, ignoring the curious stares her presence on the command deck had drawn. Standing in front of Shepard, Pressly tilted to one side for a better view. Shepard's full attention was on the navigator as he trailed off in the midst of his report. She waited for a moment longer, patience belied by the slow, gentle tapping of her fingers on her elbow, before glancing back to see what he was looking at.
The CIC had grown extraordinarily still. Shepard's gaze glanced off Kaidan as she assessed the standing crew. She scrutinized the lieutenant, bewildered, then turned her attention to the crowd.
"Alright, everybody," she announced. Loudly. "Could we all stop ogling Lieutenant Alenko's b...-old new fashion statement and get back to work, please."
A rather unexpected spike of embarrassment burned its way up Kaidan's neck. Being the center of attention at came with being a known biotic, naturally, but Shepard's minor slip of the tongue was a rarity unto itself. Regardless, everyone scrambled to at least look busy at least, even though she still noticed a few glances stray in her direction.
Ash's reaction was much more subdued. Upon straggling up behind Shepard, having missed the entire spectacle, he looked at Kaidan once, then again, mouthing a silent oh. Although he was also staring rather plainly at an oblique angle.
Something Shepard either missed or chose to overlook. As soon as she noticed Williams' presence, she launched straight to duty. "Alright, let's roll."
Ash waited politely until the shipboard VI announced the change in pressure, within relative privacy of the airlock, to comment. "Gotta say, I didn't know you'd like it that much."
"You bought it for me," Kaidan pointed out cheerfully. It probably wasn't worth trying to explain how her Onyx still had an acid melted suit rupture and that thin alien hand-me-downs were better than nothing. Much better than nothing, in fact – they were comfortable.
"Yeah, but-..."
Kaidan shrugged. "So, I figured I may as well get some use out of it."
"But I didn't think you'd be caught dead wearing it," Ash scoffed, keeping his eyes emphatically glued to the back of Shepard's neck.
"Says the man clomping around in pink," Kaidan remarked under her breath.
"Hey, I like pink." Ash snapped back, "Don't diss the pink, ma'am."
The outer airlock door hissed open, cutting short their argument. On their way through the docking corridor, Wrex shuffled past, towards the airlock, no doubt on his way back from... whatever it was he did while they were docked at the Citadel. For her part, Kaidan suspected he patronized the asari stripper parlors, but that was neither here nor there and none of her business to begin with.
The krogan paused in front of her, obstructing her progress as he swept an appraising look down, then back up as she inched around him. Chortling, he continued to the Normandy, tossing over his shoulder, "Looking good, kid."
"Everyone likes it. That's good, right?" Ash asked once they reached the C-Sec elevator, "You have to admit, it's very flattering."
"Which is going to help me in an straight-up firefight." Kinetic and biotic barriers, however, were bound to be a literal lifesaver. And fortunately, Kaidan had both.
"You can always hide behind me," Ash suggested, nonchalant, as they loaded onto the lift.
"Yeah, I think I'd rather hide behind Commander Shepard, if it's all the same to you."
"Alenko, who do you think anyone in their right mind is going to shoot at first?"
"Uh... probably me," Kaidan pointed out, slipping her thumbs under her armor's chest straps and giving them a tug for emphasis. "You know, take out the dangerous biotic commando first mentality?"
"But you aren't as, uh..." Ash paused, suddenly reticent. Momentarily confused, Kaidan abruptly realized that, within the confines of the empty elevator, they had Shepard's full and undivided attention.
Sounding not the least bit enthused, the commander waved a hand. "No, continue, I find this conversation utterly fascinating."
Then again, with Shepard it could be difficult to tell.
"Like I was saying: at least you look nice."
Kaidan snorted. "Thanks, Chief."
"You do!" Ash insisted, then slapped a hand to his forehead. "I mean... Oh, God, in a platonic, I am totally making an objective statement and not opening myself up to potential liability in front of my CO sort of way."
"Thanks."
Working Title: FemKaidan2
Inspiration: So I was talking gender and I was talking Kaidan both at the same time, and it occurred to me that Kaidan would be downright fantastic as a woman. Of course, the next logical thought was that Ashley would be equally fantastic as a man. Then of course, the entire situation presented the perfect opportunity to get Kaidan in asari commando gear.
... what? XD
Noteworthy: Nothing in particular, unless you count the genderswap?
Disambiguation: So, yeah. Presumably, Kaidan and Ash would be recognizable as themselves, even if there were some differences as a result to socialization and so on. Let it be so!
Special Thanks: Chignon, who I talked gender and Kaidan with, also who I pitched the idea to in an overly excited manner, and finally who looked over the end result once I'd hammered it out to make sure I was on the right track. Thank you! :D
Derivative work of material © BioWare, Electronic Arts.