Chapter 4: Like a School-girl

Her conversation with Samara did not distract her enough. She decided to go down the hall to talk to the drell assassin. What's the harm? She walked with as little emotion on her face as she could control, full well knowing Kasumi was watching her descent, while sitting on her couch with her door wide open. Kasumi is enjoying this too much.

She regained full control by the time she made it to his quarters. She wanted to find out why he was dying, and if she could do anything about it. That was the first of their many conversations. Most of them concerning his work and the hanar.

Then he spoke about solipsism. She had thought about his telling of a memory the night before. She was fascinated. Then he explained - in great detail. A slight blush rose on her cheeks again as he asked, "Wouldn't you rather loose yourself in such a memory, than spend the night alone staring at walls and metal and plastic?" She thought to herself, yes I would. Imagining herself touching him... What the hell? I'm not a blushing adolescent. She then turned the conversation towards something more neutral.

Finally she asked, "The last time we talked you remembered one of your assassinations, something about sunset colored eyes?" She could see the light coming across his face, as he spoke of that memory. It left her curious, but she didn't want to pry too much.

As she got up to leave, he opened up a little to her saying that she was the first friend he had met in ten years. She decided to be a little more flirtatious, it wasn't often that she felt this drawn to another, the last was Kaidan, but she tried to forget the chaos surrounding that topic.

"Friend, huh? That's a start."

"A start? That's... intriguing. I will always be here to talk." And with that she left, feeling satisfied about their conversation that day.

But that wasn't their last conversation that day. She couldn't sleep. Plagued by nightmares, always the same ones. She got up, looked at her alarm clock. 0300 in the Normandy's night cycle. Awesome. She was only in black sweatpants and a tank top, no shoes, but didn't care. She needed to walk. She decided to go to the mess, and rummage through the fridge, maybe find something to snack on.

She was in midst of digging through the fridge, when she heard a familiar voice coming from one of the tables nearby.

"Cannot sleep, Commander?"

She jumped a little on the inside, shocked, but it didn't show. She grabbed a bottle of water and a small container of grapes, or what she thought were grapes. Can't be certain with all the lab-grown food... She sat across from Thane, as she started to focus.

"Thane, didn't expect to find you here. Can't sleep either?"

"Mmm, no. Drell sleep cycles vary from humans'... I've come to the realization that during our talks, you've never really spoken about yourself."

"I like to listen."

He paused, as if waiting for her to continue. She did after a little drawn breath.

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"How about your given name?"

"Hera Shepard."

He seemed a little surprised, but oddly pleased with that knowledge. He then shared what knowledge he had on human mythology. She liked watching him as he spoke about the gods and goddesses of ancient Earth, and compared them to his own. She then told him about her mother, and her affinity for such tales too.

Their conversation started reminding her of the one with Kaidan, which, admittedly, still gnawed at her mind from time-to-time. She heard his voice, "It makes you beautiful." She then, awkwardly, thanked Thane for his company and swiftly went off to bed. I have to let go.