The woman walked slowly, quietly, trailing her boyfriend as he hiked through the forest.
They were tired, it had been a long hike, but Miranda was no stranger to exertion, she was a hardy woman, but even she was getting a little winded.
What she was a stranger to, was the silence.
As she walked, she had realized that the only sound she could hear was the wind. Her footsteps, the light drizzle of the occasional late summer rains and absolutely nothing else.
This was alien to Miranda, the serenity of this place; she had never experienced anything like it. Miles and miles of pines, long hikes. She had experienced those two before. But the silence, the absence of radio-chatter, of air-cars and roaring lift-jets , No mission objectives, no prime directives, no checkpoints and no Illusive man bearing down on her.
A small smile had formed on her face, unbeknownst to the woman, she was actually starting to enjoy herself. Despite the lack of sand and tropical heat, maybe this would be fun, A weekend away from civilization, just the two of them?
His cabin was a rather small little thing, it smelled of damp wood and sap, pinecones crunched under her feet as she walked up to the door, the blue paint on the door had begun to flake, but the red on its walls and white on its corners seemed to stand the test of time.
"We're here." Her man said with a smile. She watched him for a moment, breathing in the fresh air.
"So we are." She said. "Something tells me you don't have extranet access here.." she deadpanned, hand on her hips.
The man just grinned as he put a key in its hole.
A regular iron key.
Huh. Miranda thought. Been awhile since I saw one of those.
"It's very, quaint." She noted as he began unloading the bags he'd been carrying. Miranda dropped hers and walked further into the tiny cabin, the floor creaked as she entered and began looking around.
The kitchen had an old oven made from cast iron, lightbulbs without LEDs, and she noted that the refrigerator looked like it came from the fifties.
The other fifties…
"It's cozy." He remarked. "I always like coming here. " One of his hands squeezed her shoulder, she leaned back and allowed him to keep her up right. "It's like a different world, you know."
Miranda just nodded.
"Let me show you around." The floor kept making noises as he began leading her throughout the house. First came a living room, an old couch and a table was the only furniture aside from an ancient TV on a wooden table. It all smelled like nothing she'd smelled before, the house lacked the scent of multi-species disinfectant and metal that the Normandy smelled of, instead, she smelled wood and, forest.
The air was clean here.
"Here's the bedroom." He pointed out to an open door. "It's small... But I guess we'll have to make do." The man said with a smirk.
"I imagine we will, commander.." Miranda added, with just a little hint of sultriness in her voice.
The man smiled. A hand brushed her butt, but Miranda pretended not to notice.
"Then we've got the bathroom over there. "
"That old door?"
"Yep, just don't use all the warm water when you shower." He teased.
Miranda had never contemplated the idea of a finite supply of warm water, Traynor would have hated it.
She settled down on the sofa in the living room and sighed, maybe she was just a little tired after all.
"I'm going to go put on the heater, turn on the generator."
Miranda just nodded and lounged back on the sofa.
It turned out old couches were just as comfortable as the new intelli-foam self adjusting elaxing chairs back home, on the ship. Good old leather and padding still had its charms.
Miranda found she was tired, her eyes didn't want to stay open and she realized that maybe she shouldn't have spent all night doing accounting, the woman yawned; and allowed herself to relax for a quick nap.
She woke up hours later, it was dark outside the window and her eyes met with a warm yellow light as they opened, candles.
The woman smelled something very appetizing being cooked and she realized she was quite hungry.
Her ears picked up on the sound of something frying, then a tune being hummed
She smiled as she focused on her man toiling in the kitchen.
He had yet to notice she was awake and was busy poking something that smelled delicious in the pan.
She was just a little upset that he'd allowed her to sleep for so long, she only planned for a nap but now it seemed night was only a few hours away.
"Look who's awake." Shepard said with a smile, greeting her with a kiss as she made her way over.
"You shouldn't have let me sleep that long, John." The woman leaned on his shoulder and yawned.
She heard him scoff, but her eyes were focused on the meat he was cooking.
"We're on a vacation." The man said, one of his hands went around her waist and came to rest on her toned stomach.
"You should let yourself relax sometimes..." A smile grew on her face, she felt warm inside, and having someone worry about her wellbeing was a new and pleasant sensation for her.
She chuckled.
"Says the guy who made being shot at a routine."
"Lots of people get shot at; Soldiers, cops. It's nothing new."
"Those people don't make it a habit to personally antagonize sentient starships."
The man smirked.
"I suppose you're right."
"Always am." The woman teased.
He turned and smiled brightly, his eyes lit up as his rugged features contorted into a teasing grin.
"Sure you are." He said his smile didn't flinch as Miranda poked him in the side, a mock frown on her full lips.
Dinner was a simple affair, Miranda was used to eating in both combat and with powerful people in luxurious mansions, but she'd rarely experienced this simple, homely environment. They sat across from one another; Shepard's chair creaked as he moved and the cutlery didn't come from the same set. The table was a unsophisticated piece of wood and all the light in the room came from a chandelier with actual candles.
It was cozy, Miranda thought as she was bathed in warm light from the chandelier "This is nice." The man said with a smile. There was something very special about his expression, seeing the stress and strain gone from his face, Miranda smiled "It is." She replied.
"These steaks are really good." She punctuated her sentence by stabbing one with her fork.
"No, not just the steaks, I meant our little vacation." He said and smiled at her. "It's been way too long since we've had time to relax like this."
"What about Ilium?"
The man shrugged. "It wasn't much of a holiday. It felt like we just spent all hour time talking to journalists."
"They were awfully persistent..." she agreed.
"Persistent." He huffed, Miranda was pretty sure he imagined his fork was stabbing something else than beef.
"They were practically climbing on each other to get a photo of us."
"But let's not worry about that shall we?"
"Then what should we worry about ?" She said before devouring another piece of meat.
A small smile grew on his face "well… I've been thinking." He caught himself and waited for her to swallow before continuing. "I've always thought it would be fun to go fishing."
"Fishing?"
"Yeah, it's been awhile since we just relaxed and I've always wanted to go fishing here.
"You can't be serious." She said, looking rather skeptical. "I've never fished, and we don't even have a boat."
"We don't need a boat, there's this great spot by the lake, and maybe I can catch us some dinner too! Come on, it'll be fun.."
Miranda pouted, then began contemplating the proposition, she had been skeptical about this whole trip and she'd been pleasantly surprised, maybe this would be enjoyable too?
The woman sighed. "Alright."
"Besides, it'll be relaxing, and 100 percent reporter free."
The next day Miranda had to admit it was rather pleasant, she was lying on a blanket on a rock, a few meters away Shepard was busy as he attempted to catch something, standing on a boulder covered with lichens that looked out over the serene waters of the lake.
The water wasn't a greenish blue like on Illium, rather it was a light blue colour that reflected the forest around them, the air was cool and fresh, clean.
The pines and moss making up the forest appeared to absorb most sounds and Miranda found herself in an environment nearly devoid of noises.
She heard a splash of water as Shepard's fishingrod whipped forward, then it was silent again. She could hear her own breathing, and the wind gently caressing the trees and rocks.
Her man threw a piece of seaweed beside his boots, he muttered a curse before throwing his line back into the water.
"How's it going honey?"
The war hero turned, he was smiling. "Great! I love it!" He sounded genuinely happy, this was a side of him she'd rarely seen before, a side that he was showing more frequently after the great victory.
"You've never called me honey before." He said, Miranda smiled and sat up on her blanket as Shepard pulled his fishing rod back for another throw.
"Want me to call you commander all the time?" The blanket was getting cold so she stood up and walked up to him, she wanted to see if she was better at catching dinner. "That must be getting old."
He didn't hear the boots on the soft moss; he smiled to himself as he whipped the fishing rod forwards.
"Well, I guess I'm not really a commander anymore."
She jumps up on the boulder he's standing on and looks out over the lake, small waves follow his line as he reels it back in.
"Are you really having fun? You're not catching anything."
"I love it, feels a little strange though."
"Why?"
"Well, almost my entire life I've been getting shot at, it's what's normal for me and now, doing something like this." He paused, searching for the appropriate word. "It's.. Weird, I've been dead then resurrected; I've talked to ancient starships and their makers. I've had my mind scrambled by beacons and I've killed hundreds, maybe thousands of living and unliving things." He reeled in his hook, there was nothing on it but Shepard didn't seem to mind.
"And now I'm here." She patted him on the shoulder.
"I understand."
She smiled and put her hands around his waist, they were alone now so Miranda felt no qualms about being a little affectionate. "I keep thinking a sniper will start shooting at us any second now, but it never happens." She said. "But it's a good feeling; it's nice to be safe."
The man nodded. "It's relaxing for sure, but I'm still ready for anything though." He said with a smile and patted his jacket, underneath was a holstered Carnifex. He carried that gun everywhere, Miranda had teased him about it, but she understood exactly how he felt and why he had the gun.
She shared his feeling of unreality, as though it was only a matter of time before something else happened, something horrible.
Maybe that notion would fade in time?
"I'm happy I met you Miranda." He said with a loving smile on his lips, he glanced at her and Miranda smiled back.
"And not just because I put you back together I take it?" She teased.
"Maybe." He replied and touched her rear. "You're good for other things than surgery after all."
"Oh really?"
Shepard chuckled. "I think I can imagine a few things…"