Authors Notes: I thought Akksul was quite...sexy. I have no shame.
The blue
Ryder stood frozen as Akksul had his gun trained on Jaal. The latter had tried to reason with him, but he couldn't. She didn't know if Akksul really would shoot him, but she couldn't take that risk with her friend's life at stake. She holstered her weapon, taking a step towards him, "Akksul…." She started softly. "I know the pain you feel inside."
"How do you know anything, human?" He spat, keeping eyes firmly on Jaal.
"I've been there, Akksul. Like you, I was kept imprisoned, tortured daily. Only difference between us is, my own husband was my captor. He made me do some awful things. Allowed others to do things too. He broke me, but I'm still standing." She put a hand in his gun arm. "So are you, Akksul. They broke you, but you are still standing. Don't let this anger consume you. What a waste of your brilliance if you did." She moved closer, her hand travelling to his shoulder. "Look at me. Look at me."
He wanted to resist, he tried but it was useless. He looked into her eyes and what he saw take his breath away. Not only was she beautiful, but he didn't see what he expected to see. He expected to see anger, disgust or even contempt. He saw compassion, empathy, but why? Why should she care for him when he treated her and her people with such utter hatred? It was only when he saw the glistening wetness in her eyes that he finally understood. She saw the man he was before, looked for him and found it. "I'm not a bad man." He whispered, trying to steady his shaking hand.
"I know, Akksul. Now you have a chance to prove it."
He allowed her to disarm, while he stood, not able to face Jaal and the others. "I care about my people."
"So prove it." She replied, challenging him to show what he could do.
He walked away from the others, head down, shame laying heavy on his shoulders. Ryder said something to him, but he barely acknowledge her. When he was left alone, he let out a small sob, releasing all that pent up emotion that had plagued him since he fled the kett labour camp. He had under estimated the human, she cared even when she had no reason to. That night, he'd fall asleep with the memory of those vibrant blue eyes, reaching into his soul to pull him back from the darkness.
Ryder grumbled as SAM's synthesised voice filled her cabin. "SAM, shut up. Cant you see I'm having a hangover here?" She pulled the pillow over her head, muttering something about, "Stupid AIs"
"Apologies, Pathfinder, but we are about to land on Aya. You also have new email."
Once Ryder was showered and feeling more human and a lot less krogan with a sore head, she sat down at her desk to read her emails as she drank the coffee she snagged from the mess. After dealing with the emails from her crew, she scrolled down through the junk until one caught her eye.
To: Ryder, L.
From: Taarvar, A.
Subject: Not an apology.
Human, I am grateful that you stopped me from shooting Jaal. It would have foolish of me. I still do not trust aliens, but I am learning.
Ryder smiled she read the messaged. Ever the stubborn man, he still couldn't apologise.
To: Taarvar, A.
From: Ryder, L.
Subject: Apology…
Accepted!
She didn't even have time to get up from her desk before he replied. She barked out a laugh as she read it.
To: Ryder, L.
From: Taarvar, A.
Subject: Humans….
Are all of you so arrogant?
To: Taarvar, A.
From: Ryder, L.
Subject: Angarans….
Are all of you so stubborn?
To: Ryder, L.
From: Taarvar, A.
Subject: Question.
I asked first.
To: Taarvar, A.
From: Ryder, L.
Subject: So…
I answered.
To: Ryder, L.
From: Taarvar, A.
Subject: I hate you.
Truly.
To: Taarvar, A.
From: Ryder, L.
Subject: No you don't.
No one does.
To: Ryder, L.
From: Taarvar, A.
Subject: Skkut.
Go away!
To: Taarvar, A.
From: Ryder, L.
Subject: You messaged me
And watch your language.
To: Ryder, L.
From: Taarvar, A.
Subject: You replied….
Now go away.
To: Taarvar, A.
From: Ryder, L.
Subject: No!
I really feel like we're bonding.
Akksul grunted in annoyance. She was deliberately trying to wind him up and yet, he could stop replying. "Gah! Curse that skkuting human." He yelled, slamming his fist down against the desk. She would be his undoing.
Ryder stepped off the ship, ready for her morning run. It was still early so the market place was nearly empty. She had found paths that were little used so she could enjoy her run without too many people staring at her. She knew they meant no harm, mostly just curiosity. She stopped at the waterfall, using the railings to stretch out her muscles.
"Good morning, Ryder." A voice called out behind her.
She nearly jumped out her skin at the intrusion, turning around to see Akksul standing nearby, casually leaning against the wall. "What a cocky looking shit." She thought to herself, noting the casual smirk on his lips. "Well, if it isn't my little pest."
He took a moment to admire her body. She was dressed in shorts and a sports bra, showing a lot of skin. He could easily have her if he wanted to. "I assumed you enjoyed my messages. You did keep replying."
"My eyes are on my face, not on my tits." She dreaded to think what was whirling through his brain. Although, she could feel herself getting wet by his gaze.
"Ahh, another word for them."
Ryder stifled a giggle as she imagined him reading up on human anatomy. "Been doing some research have you?" She teased.
"Hmm. My mothers always taught me to know my enemies."
Ryder crossed her arms, cocking a hip to the side. "I'm curious to what you've been reading that involves, tits."
Akksul dodged the question moving to stand next to her. "I wanted to thank you. You were right, my anger was consuming me."
"You know, I wouldn't have shot you."
"I believe that." He stopped, turning to look at her. "What happened to you."
She sucked in a breath, preparing to unpack the memories she kept hidden. She never normally told anyone what had happened, but he understood what it was like to be imprisoned and abused. "I married him when I was sixteen. Dad was so angry, that I cut contact."
"What did this man do?"
"He kept me locked up in a windowless, basement room. I was stupid and thought he loved me. He got drunk constantly, beat me all the time and raped me. Then he would allow others to join in. That was my life for two years."
"How did you escape?"
He had been drinking as usual. One night, after raping me, he passed out. I took my chance to leave and I did. I ran and ran, until I was found by some farmers. They took me in, found my parents and I went home. No big hero story."
"You are a formidable woman, Lily Ryder." He had never wanted to touch someone in the way he wanted to touch her. "I'll let you continue your run."
Ryder moved off the railing, stretching her body teasingly. "Behave yourself, Akksul Taarvar." She winked before set off at a gentle pace.
He watched her leave, his bio-electrics giving off a spark. "Skkut!" He thought to himself. "I desire her."
Moshae Sjefa looked out of the window of her office, admiring the views. She was grateful that she had the chance to look at them again after being saved from the kett, by a human no less. Lily Ryder was an enigma to the Moshae. She was strong, confident and fierce. Did things for people when asked although no one really understood her motives for doing so. But still, underneath all of that, was a lonely child wanting to receive approval, whether from her peers, superiors, subordinates or just a race of aliens. She sought something that she never found in her own galaxy so she moved across space, sleeping for six hundred years, to seek it somewhere else.
She looked away from the window towards the opening door as she saw Akksul walk in. "Akksul. You're back." She rushed to him, greeting him warmly.
"Glad to see you again, Moshae."
"Come, dear boy. Take a seat." She gestured for him to sit down as she did the same. "Jaal told me what happen. Ryder talked you back from the ledge."
"She did and I am grateful." Moshae noted how his demeanour changed at the mention of her name. "She is….."
"Remarkable?" She laughed offering him a drink, which he declined. "That she is. Although, she seems like such a lonely girl at times."
"Why do you say that?" He asked, curious about what she had found out.
"Jaal has told me a great deal about her. Both parents dead, brother in coma. I feel her father was absent, mostly. She is rather guarded around the things that matter most."
"She shared her painful memories with me." Thinking back to what she told him, made him feel pain for her. "She was so matter of fact."
"Because she chooses not to let those memories weaken who she is. She's a strong willed woman. Those memories would only trouble her if was forced to relive them."
"She troubles me." He admitted, quietly.
"Why is that, my dear?"
"Because, despite myself, I find myself reaching for her in my mind and with my body."
"You desire her, sexually and emotionally. She can be a frail creature, Akksul. You must go carefully.
"I'm not going to approach her!" He scoffed, his denial all too clear.
"And why not?" The Moshae demanded. "She is a beautiful woman."
"She's human. I doubt my mothers would appreciate a human entering the family." He could have cursed himself. He admitted that he had thought about being a part of each other.
"Akksul." She reached over to touch his hand. "Do not deny yourself the pleasure of knowing her emotionally and sexually. She has already proven to care. Do you know what her birth name means?"
"No. What is it?"
"Her name is Lily. It is a flower indigenous to her home planet. Jaal showed me a picture. Such a delicate and blooming flower, much like her."
"I must go. I have a meeting with Evfra." He stood up, walking towards the door. "Thank you for the talk, Moshae."
The Moshae shook her head as the young man left. That boy was too stubborn for his own good. Well, things were going to happen between them, even if she had to engineer the situations herself. She was determined that two broken people would find completion in each other.