Ugh writer's block. Have some stupid shenko fluff.
Takes place on their shore leave before the doomed final flight of the Normandy SR1. The planet Intai'sei between ME1 and ME2.
Shepard lies flat on her back on her couch, panting like an overactive dog. Sweat pours off her body, pooling disgustingly between her cleavage, her neck and sticking her hair to her face.
"LT, I'm going to fucking die. This is ridiculous," she whines to Kaidan.
"Mmph."
Shepard raises her brow crankily at his incoherent mumble and turns over. The leather on the couch makes a wet squelch as her bare skin sticks to it.
"Don't 'mmph' me."
He's lying flat on his back too, on the floor near the couch. They had been lying together on the couch but quickly realized that the urge to murder each other rose at the increased body temperature and sweaty skin pressed together. She'd shoved him onto the ground playfully and he just hadn't got up again, instead rolling over and spreading his arms and legs wide at some vain attempt at cooling.
His eyes are closed and she thinks he might be napping fitfully on and off. She smiles at how healthy and happy he looks, tanned bare skin shown off by just the small boxer shorts he wears. Shepard grumbles privately to herself as she takes in her own skin in just her sports bra and panties, that he's a lucky sonvabitch to be able to tan. She has gotten way too many freckles on this sunny planet, she can see them scattered over her shoulders, a few popped up on her arms. Her cheeks are dusted with them; they had just faded too, from her last Rio shore leave. The months in space on the Normandy hunting for Saren had done wonders to pale her.
Now to, her supreme annoyance, she just looks too young again with the freckles back.
Kaidan cracks one eye open to look at her balefully, "What do you want me to do, Shepard? The air conditioner is broken. The repairman won't be here until tomorrow. It's 50 outside. We're cooking slowly and I can't turn off the sun."
"Why not?" she jokes. "You're good with your hands. I'm sure you could build me a doomsday device to block out the sun."
"Good with my hands, huh?" he smirks.
"Shut up, you. You know you are." She rolls off the couch, falling to her knees and crawls over to him. She winces as she forgets the break of her ulna, the souvenir from Sovereign and takes her weight off that arm. Stupid Reaper, she thinks, he can kiss my ass.
She has mostly healed since coming here, Kaidan taking care of her and the Citadel hospital's antibiotics preventing infection in the bad break.
Still, she's tender and the twinge of pain has her annoyance spiking in the heat. Some days she wishes she could just chop off that gimpy arm and get a brand new, fresh one without the lattice of scars and history of breaks.
"Unless," she smiles as she crawls on top of him, their skin slick. "That was some other man named Kaidan I was screaming for last night."
"Mmm," he murmurs as she kisses his lips, her hair falling around his face. "Maybe it was some other Kaidan who snuck in."
"Maybe. You should give him my number then. I think we could hook up."
"I dunno. He's not as charming as me."
"Yeah but, darling." She teases and he smiles widens at the pet name. "It doesn't matter. He's a sex god. He could be as charming as that volus ambassador and he would be welcome in my bed."
He laughs then and kisses her again, rolling them over so she's beneath him. His eyes crinkle, his face boyish and happy, the sun slanting through the massive windows dancing in his eyes and turning them the color of a sunset.
She loves him. But she's too afraid to say it still. So instead she smiles up at him stupidly and thinks that the whole galaxy should just freeze in this moment and let her have an eternity like this. She wouldn't get bored and she would never tire of his handsome, healthy face and those dark eyes.
His hand traces the side of her face, moving a few strands out of her eyes and she thinks maybe she sees the same love in his eyes.
He shifts and she feels the skin on her stomach peel from his. She groans, the mood broken by the heat.
"We should go swimming," he says abruptly and rolls off her, flat on his back again.
She lies beside him and says, "What? Swimming? Do they even have a public pool here?"
"Sure. They should have. It's so hot." He looks at the doubt on her face curiously, "You can swim, right?"
"Uh, sure," she mumbles. "I wouldn't have made it past N7 training otherwise. I'm just um, not very good."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, I can tread water for hours, you know. Part of the whole training package. But um, it's the forward momentum bit that escapes me. There's a lot of flailing and water gulping."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." She nods, grinning at his incredulous expression. "How many times are you gonna need to swim in space? I just sorta…avoid it. Besides, suits can handle vacuum. They can handle me being dumped in some water. I don't need to worry about drowning."
"I've gotta see this," he says playfully and jumps up. He grabs her arm and pulls her to her feet. "Come on. It's hot and disgusting and we need to cool down. I'm going to see you flail."
"I don't have a swimsuit and neither do you," she protests.
"Doesn't matter, we'll buy some at that clothing store at the settlement."
He throws on a shirt and pants and hands her shorts and a t-shirt and Shepard is caught up in his enthusiasm. A cool swim does sound nice, and at least she won't have sweat clinging to her back anymore.
To Shepard's surprise the pool is busy; she can see a lot of families here, the colonists taking advantage of the planet's warm climate to laze by the water. She's impressed by their set-up; it's actually rather like a resort type of place, multiple pools of various sizes and even a whirlpool one for muscle relaxation.
It's covered partially in a massive dome area, keeping the dusty red sand out but leaving the temperature nice and hot. Part of the ground is either terraformed into grassy knolls or around the pools, concrete and non-slip flooring.
Shepard heads to the women's change room, winking at Kaidan as he heads to the men's. Inside a cramped stall she pulls on her nice new silver two-piece swimsuit she'd picked up at the clothing store. She critically eyes herself in the mirror and decides she likes it. She looks fit and healthy, and if she's honest with herself, even with the freckles she's never looked prettier. She thinks, with a happy hum, that love agrees with her.
Shepard stuffs the bag containing her clothes and the keys for the rented Mako in a safe locker and heads back out to Kaidan.
He's waiting, already changed and as he fidgets, looking at the large inviting pool, she eyes his body. She feels a twinge of smugness that he's hers. He's the best looking guy here, not to mention the most fit. The months of fighting for their lives against geth and mercs have built his muscles sleekly, and they're shown off to maximum advantage in his trunks.
Shepard sneaks up beside him and squeezes his ass, dissolving into giggles when he yelps. Nearby people throw them dirty looks, but she ignores them, still laughing at the look on his face.
She teases him, "What's the matter? Think I was someone else?"
"Well yeah, actually." He smiles, cheekily, "I thought you were some big hairy man, come to carry me off to an underwater lair."
"As his booty?" Shepard wraps her hands around his waist and he puts his around her back pulling her close and running his hands down the bare skin over her spine.
"Arr me hearty," he growls and Shepard laughs so loud a fat old lady by the snack bar huffs. "But I have no fear when Captain Shepard is here to save me from the pirates."
"Damn right," she purrs. "Shiver me timbers, your booty is my booty."
She gives his ass another squeeze and squeals when he reciprocates and grabs hers.
They sober eventually, and make their way arm-in-arm to the largest and deepest pool where there is less people splashing around.
"You look damn beautiful, by the way," he says, grinning at her sideways. "I'm the luckiest guy here."
"Funny. I was just thinking the same thing."
Shepard pauses as they stop by the edge of the pool and grins at him, "Well, obviously not the guy part. I mean, I'm the luckiest gal here."
"Please, Commander." Kaidan stretches, preparing to jump in and kisses her on the corner of her mouth. "You'll make me blush."
Shepard watches with admiration as he arches and does a perfect dive into the water, and glides through it like a shark.
He surfaces, slicking his wet hair off his forehead and his usually styled bangs stick straight up.
He takes a gasped breath and calls to her, "Come on! The water's great."
"Alright." Shepard prepares nervously, shifting on her feet as she tries to mimic his dive stance. "But don't laugh!"
She jumps and hits the water in a belly flop, the water surface tension stinging her skin. But the water is cool and a wash of blessed relief after suffering for two days with no air conditioning and a man she couldn't seem to keep her hands off.
She struggles through the water and then surfaces near him, spluttering and coughing water out of her mouth.
She hears him laugh and suddenly he is keeping her head up out of the water by holding her around the waist, so she can catch her breath.
"What was that?"
"Shut up!" she shushes his laughter and shoves her hair out of her eyes. "I'm not very graceful in the water."
"Shep, you're the most graceful person I've ever seen when you fight." He pulls a messy strand out of her face and won't stop smiling at her, no matter her grumpy drowned rat impression. "How can you look like such a drowning duck?"
Kaidan is still holding her and she lets him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She thinks, judging by the depth of the water, that she couldn't reach the bottom to stand anyway but with Kaidan's height advantage he is able to touch the bottom and keep their heads just above water. So she wraps her legs around his waist and lets him pace around their area of the pool, the water parting around them in a cool current.
Shepard feels a great happiness then, here in a silly public pool being carried around like some normal girlfriend being disgustingly touchy-feely. It's…nice, she thinks.
"Well…ok, don't look at me funny or anything," she jokingly warns as she starts to explain her very ungraceful swimming style. "But I kinda didn't learn how to swim until Anderson taught me when I enlisted."
"Really? You would have been what? Eighteen?"
"Sure, we'll go with that age," Shepard lies a little and presses on before he notices, "Anyway, I uh, didn't get a chance to learn as a kid. So he kind of taught me by throwing me into the deep end until I didn't drown anymore." She chuckles, "It's like my philosophy on life, now that I think about it."
"So you're self-taught?"
"I guess. It's more a 'keep-your-head-above-water' method than a 'become-an-Olympic-swimmer' method. How did you learn?"
He shrugs as she starts to massage his shoulders, feeling relaxed held in arms, the cool water kissing her skin. "I had swimming lessons since I was a kid. My Ma took me."
"That would have been nice."
He laughs, "Yeah, I hated them. Then when I was a teenager, before Brain Camp I mean, in high school I joined the swim team. I was pretty good."
She hums in answer, imagining a dorky teenage Kaidan in tiny little trunks and grins at the mental image. She kisses him then, almost idly and just because she can. The she amuses herself by spiking his hair up with water and laughing when he protests.
They're distracted from their carefree play by the sound of panting and splashing and Kaidan turns around.
There's a little boy behind them, dog-paddling through the water near the edge and dipping under the water and spluttering every so often.
Kaidan lets go off Shepard, leaving her to tread water and slicks through the water to the boy. She follows after him a little more slowly.
"Hey buddy, what are you doing in the grown-ups pool?" Kaidan asks, and helps the little boy clutch the side to keep his head above water.
"Imma big boy now." The kid lisps. "Momma says I should stick to the baby pool, but Imma good swimmer."
Shepard frowns and swims to Kaidan's side. The kid looks way too young to be in water so deep. There aren't many people up this end of the pool besides them and there is no sign of his parents.
Shepard says gently, "I'm sure you are a great swimmer, but you should go find your Momma. She'll be cranky if she find out you're in here. It's not safe in the grown-ups pool." Shepard holds the edge herself and points to the distant ladder. "You're tired and the ladder's pretty far. What if you got all puffed out?"
The little boys large blue eyes fill with horror, "I wouldn't like that."
"No," she agrees, thinking of his head disappearing beneath the water. "So I think you should go find your Momma."
He nods tremulously and looks doubtfully at the far away ladder, his little eyebrows creased.
She turns and says, "Kaidan, could you lift him out? I can't touch the bottom here."
"Sure." He moves and puts his hands under the little boy's armpits, hefting him onto the side. "There you go, big guy."
"You remember to stay out of the big pool, ok?" Shepard orders as the kid clambers to his feet. "Or I'll have to find your mom and get you in big trouble."
"Ok, lady." He nods fervently, "I'll be good. The big pool is scary."
He runs off to the children's area and she breathes a sigh of relief.
"Stupid parents," she mutters as she wraps her arms back around Kaidan's shoulders. "Should keep a goddamn eye on their kids."
"That's a bit unfair, don't you think? He could have wandered off."
"Don't really care," she says bluntly. "Can't keep an eye on them? Don't have them in the first place. Kid could have drowned."
He sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"But anyway, we've done our good deed in the galaxy for the day," she chirps, wiping the thought of a drowned kid from her mind. Kaidan starts walking through the water again, and she wraps her legs back around him. "Let's talk about bad deeds," she purrs and kisses his neck, tasting the water droplets and the slight saltiness of sweat.
She feels his Adam's apple vibrate as he hums, "Bad deeds, hmm?"
"Yeah, like that thing with your tongue you did last night. That was very naughty."
"I don't think so." He raises his eyebrows and kisses the line of her jaw, then whispers to the shell of her ear, "I think you're the naughty one."
"No way, Mr. Alenko." Beneath the water she grinds her hips against his. "It's all on you."
"Mmph."
"Thought I told you not to 'mmph' me?"
"I'm not on duty," he mumbles between open-mouthed, wet kisses to her neck. "I do what I want."
"Yes, you do." Shepard lets her head fall back, baring her throat to him and lets her hair trail like a dark serpent in the water.
"I think we should buy a pool for the apartment next shore leave," she says after a while as his hands massage her back. She can feel his fingertips have pruned, they've been in the water so long. Above them, Intai'sei's sun burns its fiery red-rage but it no longer bothers her. "Then we shall make pool sex a most excellent thing without terrifying little kiddies."
"A most excellent thing, huh?" Shepard can feel that even in the cool water he is hard for her. "I think that sounds like the best thing in the galaxy."
Shepard watches the ripples in the water, his amber eyes, and the water droplets clinging to his dark eyelashes and kisses him fully on the mouth for long moments. She doesn't care who sees them, let them be nosy. Shepard and Kaidan are on shore leave and she cares for nothing but being held in his arms like this.
"You are best idea Lieutenant from now on, ok?" She says, thinking of how she was initially reluctant to go swimming and only did it because of his cajoling. "I thought I might have to murder you, I was so hot and cranky before."
Kaidan laughs huskily and says with a dark, seductive look in his eyes, "Now you're just hot."
"Ha ha." She says sarcastically, "You're so funny and witty, LT."
"What?" He shrugs, his eyes crinkling again. "I'm known on the Normandy for my sense of humor."
"I'm sure. And I'm known for my admirable restraint, clean mouth and punctual reports."
"We're two of a kind." His hand moves down her back in long movements, kneading the muscles.
Shepard wraps her arms tighter around his neck and kisses his mouth again.
"The best kind," she murmurs and thinks she'll never leave this pool. Eternity would be very nice to spend with him.