Small, unnecessary missions like those were the things that kept Commander Tara Shepard from breaking down under the stress. Little trips to the Citadel to help settle a brawl, or maybe buy a trinket for a friend, was what kept her somewhat balanced. Without such menial tasks, she surely would never had gotten this far.
But they were still tough from time to time, and they often left her worn and tired by the end of the day. As Shepard finally made it to her cabin, she began quickly taking bits and pieces of armor off. Relieved when she got into her civvies, she plopped down on her bed and pulled out a story.
She always liked to wind down from a mission with a nice little bit of fantasy, where everything was always happily ever after and love wins all. She smiled, wondering how, of everything that had died out over the years; these kinds of stories were still widely known. Maybe it was the hope for children, or life lessons. Or maybe they were just... classics.
Over the course of the past couple of weeks, Shepard had devised a lengthy list of great sites with really good stories. She thumbed through the hundreds, trying to find a short, sweet little story to help her relax better.
Her eyes drifted over the names and summaries, but nothing seemed to stick out. Finally, she picked a story at random, completely giving up finding specifics. It was a short love story about a human and an alien. The description didn't tell much more.
As she began to get into the story, the plot was revealed to be about a young woman who had never left Earth before. She was joining a group of salarian scientists on a mission to create better living conditions for a desert colony. The plot was a bit shaky at first, but it soon started to come together. It was obvious that the young woman was falling in love with a completely oblivious salarian coworker. She was hiding her very obvious feelings, and the plot thickened more and more as the salarian's life was threatened.
Shepard couldn't take it anymore. As much as she was interested in the beautifully blossoming storyline, she wasn't able to keep the similarities out of her head. The thought of her own love's life being threatened was barely moving - she could handle protecting him, and he wasn't too bad on his own anyway. But the way the young scientist concealed her feelings towards the salarian was all too familiar.
Everyone could see it, unfortunately. It wasn't that she was being that obvious, it's just that she couldn't help but be enthralled by the good professor Mordin Solus.
The way his big alien eyes stared straight into her soul, the quirky twitches and strokes of brilliance; the uneven horns, and his almost-crazy hyperactive train of thought was strangely... endearing for the commander, and she couldn't help it.
She always felt as if the salarian scientist could tell that she was majorly in love with him, but he never showed obvious signs or even hinted of his suspicion. He was completely oblivious to the pounding heart of his friend.
Shepard sighed, trying to get her train of thought back on track. She sat the stories on the nightstand and walked out of the captain's quarters. A stroke of bravery had taken over her body when she'd read that story, and she was going to act on it before she chickened out. But as soon as she was in his lab, with his full attention of the once determined but now utterly nervous commander, the bravery completely depleted from her and she froze, trying to think of a logical reason for her to be there.
She had nothing.
After a short period of silence, Mordin returned to his work. "Shepard. Need something? Seemed determined. Now not so much."
Shepard gulped hard. Her mind raced for something, anything. Then a bit of the bravery came back. Clearing her throat nervously, she decided to be subtle, at least. "I need some advice, actually. It's kind of embarrassing, actually. But I need some help with this." She paused before going on. "I've met this guy on the Citadel about a month ago, and we've been keeping in touch for quite some time." Or you know, not subtly. Outright lying. Yeah, that never goes wrong. "And, well... We're going to be meeting tomorrow, and I think it could go farther than usual, if you know what I mean."
The salarian seemed to digest the information. "Ah. Sexual advice." He paused, looking at her curiously. "But you are already experienced. Has happened before. Why is this time different?"
Her cheeks grew bright red. "Well, Mordin... he's uh... not human," Shepard paused when Mordin nodded understandingly. "Actually, he's... salarian," she almost squeaked.
Mordin's eyes shown confusion. "Shepard. Salarians not like humans. Barely any sex drive. Have amphibian decent. Definitely not like humans."
Shepard shrugged, barely caring anymore. All her bravery and nervousness had disappeared and she was more tired and disappointed than anything, for some reason. She hesitated before confessing. "Uh... never mind, Mordin. I lied. I was just curious."
Mordin looked even more confused, a look that was not fitting of his beautifully colored face. "Why not just ask then? Could have given answers anyway."
She shrugged again. "It doesn't really matter. I do like a salarian, but he's not more than a friend," she hinted, secretly willing him to take it.
He didn't seem to. "Really? Suppose you still want advice?" he asked friendly-like, completely unaware that it was him she was talking about.
Shepard shifted uncomfortably, a blush creeping into her cheeks. But she shrugged anyway. "I thought that you said they had no sex drive?"
Mordin shook his head quickly. "Said low sex drive, not none." He paused, seeming to hesitate. "Still would have erogenous zones even with no drive." He drew in a long, deep breath before continuing, which was strange, seeing as he always seemed to not breath when he talked. "Salarians have bent chests compared to humans. Indent," he said, pointing on his stomach where his chest started to curve inwards. "Protrude." He pointed to his chest at the base of his neck.
Shepard nodded slowly, trying to figure out why any of this information was helpful. She already knew that their bodies dipped oddly.
The scientist went on. Tracing from the bottom of his stomach to the halfway point of the protruding part of his chest, he tried to explain more. "When gently traced or rubbed, this can be a pleasant sensation." He brought his hands up to behind his head, right below his sexy, uneven horns, and traced his jaw downwards against his face. "Can also be pleasant." Again, he paused as if giving Shepard time to react. "Although pleasurable feelings can be made, most salarians still will not mate."
The eye Mordin was giving Shepard was making her a bit uneasy. If she allowed herself to exaggerate a bit, it looked almost as if he was... daring her to try all these tactics. Before she could stop herself, she smirked and took a step towards her favorite salarian. The sudden intrusion of space caught Mordin off guard, as if he hadn't really expected her to do it.
Her smirk faded and she felt suddenly humbled by his closeness. Without thinking, she leant in and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his wide mouth. She could hear Mordin hiss slightly, and wondered if he was turned on, despite of what he had said before.
Taking advantage of the surprise once again, she fully crashed her lips against his. After maybe three or so seconds of no response, she began to pull away, but the old salarian's lips quickly stretched out to meet hers and pull her back in.
Her arms instinctively wrapped around Mordin's waist, and his fingers gently ran through her hair. She giggled as he seemed disappointed when she pulled away. But instead of unlocking themselves, Shepard pressed the salarian closer to her body, running her hands up his bent chest and lightly nibbled on the place around his neck that he had pointed out earlier. A soft moan escaped Mordin's lips and Shepard smiled into his neck.
"A low sex drive, huh?"