"Shepard," Miranda murmured into her commanding officer's ear, causing the other woman to stir.
"Mmm?" Came the slightly groggy reply as deep brown eyes opened blearily, catching steel grey, offering a soft smile to her XO.
Miranda hesitated, her fingers sliding gently across the ragged scars on Shepard's face, the soft orange glow of the cybernetics highlighting the pale, creamy skin of the Commander.
"Why do you keep them?"
Shepard shifted into a more comfortable position on Miranda's lap, continuing to gaze at the woman above her, that small smile still tugging at her lips.
"Keep what?" she responded playfully, knowing full-well what the Cerberus Officer was referring to.
Miranda raised one delicate eyebrow, looking down at the Commander, not at all impressed with her attempt at being coy.
Sighing, Shepard rolled onto her side, burying her face in Miranda's stomach, wrapping an arm behind her second-in-command's back, snuggling deeper into the embrace.
"You don't like them?" Came her muffled reply.
Raising her eyes from the snuggled form of the Commander, Miranda contemplated her exact reason for asking Shepard about the facial scarring.
"Dr Chakwas has surgical equipment designed to heal them permanently you know." She said instead.
Shepard pulled back a fraction, cracking open an eye to consider the normally icy woman in her arms.
"You don't like them." She stated flatly, all trace of her earlier playful manner gone.
Miranda blushed softly at the statement. Unable to meet the Commander's eyes, she threaded her fingers through the silken strands of toffee coloured hair that covered her lap.
It wasn't that she didn't like them exactly they were just… unnerving to look at. In all the vids the Commander's face had been perfect, except for a small scar below her left eye, and truthfully Miranda had fallen for that image of perfection.
Her own vanity would have demanded that she undertake the surgery immediately, unable to contemplate being anything other than beautiful, just as her father had intended; yet the Commander payed no attention to such things.
Shepard may appreciate the view, but she paid little attention to her own appearance, not bothering with make-up, hell, even remembering to brush her hair before she shoved it up in her lopsided ponytail was deemed irrelevant more often than not.
For Shepard, the facial scarring was a reminder of what had happened, what she had lost; she saw no real reason to remove them, besides if others thought her a monster she may as well look the part.
Yet Miranda's obvious dislike for them unsettled her; she didn't think they made her look that bad and she liked to think the Cerberus Officer loved her for more than just her pretty face.
Though, now that she thought about it, Miranda never kissed her face, always aiming either for her lips alone, never straying from them, or going straight for her neck, almost as if she didn't have a face at all.
Frowning now, Shepard tried to remember when Miranda had last kissed her cheek.
Looking down again, Miranda frowned in response to the intense expression on the Commander's face, her fingers stilled in their motion, confused by the sudden seriousness that had enveloped their previously relaxed atmosphere.
"Shepard?"
The Commander's eyes snapped open at the concern in Miranda's voice, twisting her head lightly, she offered up a goofy grin to her XO, tracing small circles idly on her back.
"It's nothing."
Miranda nodded slightly, her face still troubled, but willing to let the issue drop… for now.
Rolling onto her back, Shepard reached up to slip her arm around the Cerberus officer's neck pulling her close.
"Nothing at all." She murmured against soft lips, intending to smooth away her Second's concern.
The kiss was soft, tender, completely at odds with the bad-ass attitude the Commander showed to the rest of the galaxy; knowing that she was the only one who got to witness this side of one of the most famous figures in the universe filled Miranda with a certain amount of smugness, never hesitating to remind, or inform, anyone who showed too much interest in Shepard just how things stood between them.
The kiss turned from one, to two, to three, gradually deepening, until the impracticalness of the position made itself known in a particularly painful twinge in Miranda's back.
The small mewl of pain that unconsciously escaped her forced Shepard to break their little moment of passion.
Grimacing slightly, Miranda pulled back, stretching to ease the pain in the small of her back.
"I don't think I'm meant to bend that way." She muttered ignoring Shepard's small laugh as the younger woman rolled off her lap landing nimbly on her feet.
Eyes clamped shut as she gently worked her back to relieve the cramped muscles she started suddenly as Shepard pressed her lips gently against her forehead, smoothing out the frown lines there.
Keeping her eyes shut, savouring the simple show of affection, knowing that it was time for Shepard to leave and get back to the relatively simple business of saving the galaxy from total annihilation.
Shepard lingered there, drawing out the moment, before placing another on the tip of her XO's nose, moving carefully to place one on both her cheeks, finally ghosting over her lover's lips.
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
Sighing softly, Miranda opened her eyes, forcing a smile as she bid goodnight, doing her best to ignore the tinge of red cybernetics in Shepard's otherwise soft brown eyes.
.
.
.
Garrus whistled softly as Shepard exited the med-bay, "Damn Shepard, I thought you agreed with me when I said women find facial scars attractive."
Shepard grunted something unintelligible, blushing fiercely at the avid attention she was receiving from the rest of the crew.
"Yeah, well, we also agreed that only Krogan women find them attractive." She muttered, rubbing nervously at her newly healed cheek, "And Krogan males have enough trouble landing a mate without throwing me into the competition."
"Touché," He replied, mandibles twitching in amusement.
Nodding stiffly, the Commander crossed the mess with as much dignity as she could muster, pointedly ignoring the slack-jawed looked the servicemen were giving her as she entered Miranda's office.
"Though in her case, I think there's only one woman's attention she cares about." Garrus whispered to the other members of the squad seated around the table, a general air of amusement settling over the group.
.
.
.
The hiss of the automated doors alerted Miranda to the presence of her guest; without looking up from the monitor she called out a greeting.
"Commander, what can I do for-" Eyes widened in shock as she looked up from screen in front of her, mouth parted slightly as she took in the blushing countenance before her.
The fully healed, blushing countenance.
Shepard looked embarrassed, crossing her arms defensively in front of her, turning away from the Cerberus officer.
"Problem?" She mumbled, still unable to look at her XO.
Miranda smiled up at her Commanding officer, stepping around her desk to slip her arms around the younger woman's waist, pulling them flush against each other.
"Nope, no problem at all," She murmured, brushing her lips across the now unbroken expanse of flesh on Shepard's cheek.
Grumbling quietly, Shepard was trying, and failing, to contain her embarrassment at having given in to simple vanity, and it wasn't even her own.