The next few days of travel passed peacefully. Shepard and Kasumi had been virtually inseperable since their night of drinking and gossiping; Shepard had taken an affinity to the young thief's easy, comfortable, and friendly demeanor. Garrus had made himself scarce; she sensed it had something to do with the reaction he had when he'd mentioned Sidonis. She tried to remind herself he'd come to her in his own time, when he was ready to talk. She'd be patient with him.
After returning to the Normandy from her adventures on Illium, and indeed – adventures they were – Shepard felt like she'd been doused in an extra large bucket of ice water. She had a lot to digest, and after seeing Samara and Thane to their respective rooms after a brief introduction to the Normandy and her crew, she retreated to her cabin to contemplate the day's excursion. She told EDI to activate privacy mode, muting all notifications on her terminal and locking her quarters so she'd be left alone for a short while.
She sat down at her desk with a sigh that would've put the most haughty Asari matriarch to shame. What an emotional rollercoaster the last twenty four hours (or whatever the Illium equivalent to twenty four hours was – she was never good at time conversion) had been. The most painful event had been her unexpected reunion with her dear friend Liara. Seeing Liara in her new skin had broken Shepard's heart; her naive, sweet, and shy friend seemed only a shadow of who she once was; her inner light almost extinguished by the two years that had passed during Shepard's demise. She'd certainly never expected to hear Liara threaten to flay someone alive with her mind – an interesting prospect, indeed - but she had to admit.. she was impressed. Liara was talented in her newfound industry and was able to direct Shepard straight to the Justicar and the Assassin without so much as a glance at her terminal. She had begged Liara to come with her on the Normandy, but she had refused. She'd cited some personal business, but promised to keep in touch; a promise Shepard would surely hold her to.
Shepard had never even heard of a Justicar before she met Samara, and if she was being completely honest with herself.. the oath Samara had sworn to her was more than a little unnerving, and the Code Samara lived by just rankled her. She'd swallow her doubts and try to understand her, anyway. Besides, she had more combat experience than nearly everyone on the Normandy combined. She was glad Samara was on her side. The death threat didn't go unnoticed by Shepard, though; hopefully she wouldn't give her any reason to kill her assuming they made it back from the Collector's base.
Then there was the Drell assassin.. and what a show that display had been. She'd watched him fall from the ceiling like a perfectly orchestrated dance of death, killing all before him in under twenty seconds with a grace and poise that could only be achieved by years of dedicated practice. She'd let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding when he began to pray over the still warm corpse of Nassana, and found herself entranced by his steely gaze when she had asked for his assistance for her mission. It was exciting to finally see a Drell in person, and the rumors were true – they were an enigmatic race, and she'd caught herself staring at his ..skin? Scales? Admiring the coloration and vibrant hue. Much to her embarrassment, he'd apparently noticed but had no response other than to raise an eye ridge at her. She'd frozen in place with Garrus and Kasumi giggling furiously behind her and visably winced, but tried to shrug it off with the grace of an Elcor and told everyone to meet her back at the Normandy.
And here they were. Talk about good first impressions.
Shepard was well and thoroughly mortified.
She let out a groan and smacked her head against her desk, causing her hamster Hercules to squeak and seek out emergency shelter in his little wheel. She glanced up and smirked at the tiny creature. At least Hercules didn't care about her lack of social finesse.
She looked at the clock. It was well past most everyone's bedtime, and she'd forgotten to eat again today. She huffed; Gardener would surely give her another lecture and take it personally; he thought she didn't like his cooking. Might as well go grab a snack.
She sat in the dim quiet of the mess hall, munching on a bowl of various fruits. She was tossing blueberries into her mouth when she got the unmistakable creeping feeling of being watched. She didn't even turn around when she spoke. "Kas, is that you? I don't know how many times I have to tell you, you can't sneak up on me, girl." She felt more than heard a deep hum and all of her hair stood on end. Oh, shit. She blanched. "Thane. Hi. Sorry.. Kasumi is always lurking around trying to startle me.." She shook her head and scrunched her nose. "Sorry. How are you? Can't sleep?"
There was that low hum again. Was that a chuckle? "It's quite alright, Shepard. My intention was not to startle you. I hadn't realized anyone else would be awake at this hour." Thane remained stoic and calm, seemingly staring holes through her head with his big black orbs of eyes.
She was gaping at him; scrambling for something to fill the awkward silence when she settled on "Ah, yeah.. I'm the ship's resident night owl. I'm usually the only one up and about this late, don't worry. I won't disturb your privacy."
He cocked his head slightly, apparently his translator was struggling with the term "night owl" and then he nictated a few times and inclined his head at her. "Perhaps now you will have some company. May I join you?"
"Of course, please. Sit." She gestured at the seat across from her. He inclined his head slightly and retreated into the kitchen, retrieving a mug and pulling a pouch from a hidden pocket within his leather jacket. "Would you care for a cup?" He gestured at the mug and looked at her expectantly.
"Ah.. what is it, exactly?"
"An herbal aide for relaxation, commonly used on Illium. It tastes of rahke and kahbu, although I'm unsure what your human equivalent would be."
She quirked a brow and let out a long breath. "Sure. I can't promise I'll like it, but I can't say no to a new experience." She gave him a small smile and scrunched her nose again. That gesture seemed to make him hesitate, but if it was hesitation it was gone so fast she wasn't even sure if she saw it, and soon he was presenting her with a steaming mug that smelled of echinachea. She held it up to her nose and breathed deeply, and took a cautious sip. She'd never been one for tea but the effects were nearly instantaneous, muscles she didn't realize were tense began to relax and she could breath easier.
Thane watched her as if he'd received the desired and expected reaction and began to speak, "I must confess, I've never interacted with many humans outside of my contracts, and even fewer sapient creatures who challenge my skills. You made quite the impression on me today, Shepard." She wondered if the slightly raised brow ridge at the end of that statement had anything to do with her practically swooning over him in the Dantius towers. She began to blush slightly, which earned her a slight upturn in the corner of his lips. Oh, shit.
She tried to recover. "I've been told worse. You made quite an entrance yourself, there, Krios. I don't think I've ever seen anyone move so quickly."
He inclined his head again."I was trained by the best. Later, I became the best."
The curve of her lip denoted the understatement there. "Trained by the Hanar, joined the Compact?"
He nictated – did that mean he was surprised? "Indeed. I was unaware this was common knowledge."
"I don't know if it is, honestly. I may or may not have done some digging before I recruited you. Cerberus handed me your dossier but I was shocked that your race even existed. No offense. I thought I knew all of the species in Council space. I am pleasantly surprised I was wrong."
"Hm." Her frank admission was refreshing to him. He was still curious about the famous Commander and her legacy. "I confess that I, too, did some .. digging, as you called it. It appears that you have risen from the dead. Is there any truth to this claim, or is it the media sensationalizing you?"
She froze; apparently he was as forward as she. "Mm. Yes, I died. I was killed by a collector ship. Next thing I knew, Cerberus resurrected me, and well.. the rest is history."
"That is … intriguing." His mind reeled with the implications if she spoke true. He longed to ask her more about the sea, but decided to hold off until they knew each other better. He studied her. Her features were soft and light in the quiet of the mess; her form frail but firm without armor. She was so .. human. He found her hair and the whiteness around her irises fascinating, but he wouldn't stare overlong. He had his eidetic memory to assist him.
The silence became oppressive for the commander. She didn't know Thane well enough to guess at his thought process so she stood and excused herself. "Well, I reckon I should get some shut eye.. or at least pretend to. I'll see you in a few hours at breakfast. That's at 0600 by the way." She squeezed his shoulder as she walked past and realized in the back of her mind that it was surprisingly solid. "Goodnight, Krios."
He was shocked at the sudden touch. He wasn't the type that welcomed it unnecessarily; in his line of work, it could mean death. He stiffened and then relaxed. Even only her hand radiated warmth. Surprisingly pleasant. Interesting.
He inclined his head to her.
"Goodnight, commander. May you find peaceful sleep."
She was already gone.
AN: We finally got Thane! Yes, I know I'm rearranging events.. but hang in there. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks! xx