Mordin is analyzing data as always when Shepard breezed into the room.
"Shepard. How can I help?" the salarian asks her, not looking up from his terminal, like he usually does. Shepard found the former STG operative dear for he reminded her of her father at times, back when he was recording his observations on the soil samples back on Mindoir. Of course, she doesn't approve of Mordin's contributions to the genophage modification, but she's still fond of him, nonetheless.
"I need information on a drug called Hallex, Mordin."
"Hallex? Hallucinatory, as name implies. Similar to lysergic acid diethylamide, much more potent though. Can interfere with coordination," the scientist describes, as he continued to type away. "Any particular reason for interest?" Mordin continues, eyes breaking contact with his monitor momentarily to give the commander a quick glance. "I'm trying attract a sexual predator so I can get up close and entrap her. She uses Hallex to drug her victims," Shepard explains.
"Interesting choice. Hallex not paralytic nor sedative. Must be for hedonistic purposes."
The word 'paralytic' made Shepard reel slightly and doesn't quite know why.
"I might have to take it if she offers me some to avoid getting my cover blown," she continues, making Mordin drop whatever he is doing and move closer to her.
"Problematic. Recommend caution." Mordin takes a sharp inhale. "Accomplice necessary. Going in alone risky. May cause biotics to go unstable. Know what you are capable of, but drug might affect decision making."
"I understand, Mordin. Samara will be watching me."
"Good! Can never be too careful. Anything else?"
Shepard offers a good-natured smile. "Nothing else. Thanks, Mordin. I'll let you work."
Upon thanking him and exiting the tech lab, she heard her stomach rumble. Now is a good time to go down the elevator and have a quick lunch at the mess.
Thanks to the supplies she bought from the Citadel, the food Mess Sergeant Gardner is serving had gotten significantly better. The menu for today is roast meat with a side of mashed potatoes and vegetables of assorted colors. Shepard isn't sure of where the meat and vegetables came from, but nonetheless they were delicious and she decided against asking. Conversing with some of the crew, including Garrus who took a break from his calibrations to eat, the commander allowed herself to loosen up a bit, shaking off any distractions she might have before she entraps Morinth.
Marching to the elevator, she plans to proceed to her cabin to rest and get dressed for the occasion. Upon opening, however, she didn't expect Thane's lean, sinewy muscles greeting her. Suddenly her throat felt dry. God, did he always shine like this? The scent of his musk reaches her nose, subtle yet penetrating, with dulcet hints that made her cheeks flush with crimson. She had always found Thane attractive, with the way he carries himself with cool confidence, the way he straightens his collar, the way his leathers embraced his body like a second skin in all the right places…
After engaging in little small talk with the drell while he's half-naked, her hand being held by his, and staring into his deep, dark obsidian eyes, she definitely needs a cold shower. Shepard still feels his hand on hers, the texture of smooth scales warm against hers, significantly distracting her as she thought of him running his hands all over her skin as she explored his. She turns down the temperature of the waters lower in an attempt to remove her perverted thoughts. A voice in the back of her head berates at her. You're being unprofessional, Shepard.
But as much as she wanted to deny it, the attraction is multifaceted, not exclusive to physical want. Religion is something she avoids, but she respects his dedication for his, even asking about his deities. His knowledge of human works took her by surprise, prompting her to invite him to her little "club" with Kasumi when he made a very amusing reference to The Princess Bride during the encounter with the volus who claimed to be a biotic god. He barely spoke, but when he does, his words are mostly meaningful and something to ponder on. Though he may have been absent throughout Kolyat's life, he deeply cares for him, and sees him as a blessing from his goddess Arashu, something that made him endearing in Shepard's eyes.
Most of all, what drew Shepard the most to him is his ability to appear stoic and grounded to the public eye, yet so vulnerable when there's only the two of them in the room, a gesture of trust that neither of them took lightly.
Beginning to shiver under the icy jets of water, she turns off the shower, and blotted her skin dry with a fresh towel. Dressing herself in the faux leather dress Kasumi got for her when they retrieved Keiji's graybox in Bekenstein, she looks at herself briefly in the bathroom mirror. She dusted powder over her face and applied more makeup than usual; normally, she just puts on her favorite red eyeshadow then a smear of eyeliner to conceal her darkening eyelids brought by sleepless nights, and she was good to go. Makeup had little use to her. They'd smear and rub off in the middle of an adrenaline-filled gunfight, but if she's going to die, she might as well feel confident before death.
She decides that she'll honor her word and talk to Thane before she continues with Samara.
His back faced the door as usual, but the moment Shepard walks in, he looks over his shoulder. It is something he never did before. "Siha. You came." She sits down to the seat adjacent to him. "I always have time for you Thane." Frills engorging, Thane gives her a kind smile. "I've been thinking about you," she tells him, color in her cheeks.
Thane recalls the first time he saw Shepard in this dress. Heading to the mess hall, the door to the starboard observation whooshed open and caught his attention, and she steps out with Kasumi. Humans have hair, something mammals have and his species lack, and her neck-length locks had been cut shorter, closer to her scalp, further accentuating her high cheekbones and strong jaw. The fabric snugly fit her body and Thane found himself staring; he hasn't felt this desire since Irikah. Respectfully, he looks away and acknowledges her, and she greeted him with a smile that can be described as bashful. As she walked away with Kasumi, he heard the thief giggle.
After his brief retrospection, he replies to the woman before him. "And I you," he said. Thane decided that he will tell her tonight, in case he will never get the chance to again. "Will you hear my confession, siha?"
"Last time we talked like this, you said you'd explain what 'siha' means."
"I need to explain myself to you first," Thane replies, clasping his hands together. "When I married Irikah, the hanar let me leave their service to raise a family. But I had no other skills, so I freelanced. When Irikah was killed, I pursued those responsible. Once I eliminated them, I had no goal. I accepted the Dantius commission because I didn't know what else to do."
The siha before him gives him a concerned look. "Not the healthiest attitude to take on a mission," she comments, leaning closer to him. "You're right, it's not. Looking back now, it's clear I'd resigned myself to death," Thane responds, finding the words to say. "I would've fulfilled my contract. If Nassana's guards caught me afterwards, it would have been a good death. But someone else was pushing to reach the target. Forcing me to move faster. Challenging me. I had to reach her first."
Shepard furrows her brow, concerned further. "I had no idea you planned to die in there," she sincerely replies. "It wasn't a plan. My body had accepted its death. My mind had been dead a long time," Thane admits, his gaze not leaving Shepard. "But I met another siha," he confesses, oxytocin rushing in his bloodstream. "Few are privileged to meet even one."
"You still haven't told me what a siha is."
"One of the warrior-angels of the goddess Arashu," Thane said, making Shepard's heartbeat quicken as she realized that all this time, he had been calling her an angel. "Fierce in wrath. A tenacious protector. I confess, I've come to care for you. Perhaps I'm being foolish," he continues, moving his hands closer to where hers was. "We are very different."
That Shepard can agree with, but it never stopped her from admiring him.
"I'm not sure if we know each other well enough to call it love," she admits. A soft hand clasps over Thane's calloused ones, making his heart flutter against his chest. "But I feel something for you too. Something more than friendship." The black pools of Thane's eyes glimmered in the soft light at Shepard's admission. "I've never felt affection for another species. I'm not sure what to do now," the drell confesses, his siha gripping his hands a little tighter.
"We'll just have to figure it out," Shepard replies, smile endearing and honest. It prompts his lips to tug to a smile as well. "I look forward to the memories."
Fingers laced together, they linger. Shepard's skin is cooler than a drell's; he found it comforting. This is a memory Thane will treasure until the day his soul departs from his body. He looks deeply into her onyx brown eyes, normally they burned with fervent rage and righteous fury only a siha possesses, now they are full of tenderness and affection. Shepard is looking in his eyes as well, seeing a reflection of herself in the gentle, obsidian pools of his eyes. Upon closer inspection, she registers his irises as deep green.
One hand leaves Shepard's grasp, and touches her cheek lovingly. Dark strands of short hair brushed against his knuckle; hair is something that intrigued Thane about humans. Asari, turians, his species, and so many others have very little options regarding the shape of their heads, while humans can cut the hair on their head without injury, and they even grow back. He strokes her hair gently, playing with it with care, making her giggle.
Shepard rarely laughs in public, much less giggle, and so hearing her voice tinkling makes him feel warm and soft in the chest. Thane loves seeing his siha happy, and he wants her to remain that way, even long after he's gone. The sudden contemplation of his death prompted him to return his hand to hers and clasp them tightly, silently wondering if their fingers would fit perfectly if his fingers were unfused. A simple, yet unattainable pleasure.
"I should go," Shepard finally says after a few minutes of holding hands, not wanting to break the contact, but she must. "Samara needs me to hunt Morinth."
"Speaking of Morinth," Thane mentions as she stood up from her seat. "Siha, please be careful. This predator Samara described… she will have no mercy," he continues. "I can't bear the thought of losing people I have come to care for again. Especially you."
Thane freezes when Shepard leans over and gave him a chaste kiss on his forehead, right exactly on the pentagon marking on his forehead that all drell possessed. His siha's kiss spoke to his soul with a gentle promise of love. "I will. I have someone to go home to now."
As Shepard left the room, the heavy sigh he was holding back since he brought up the mission involving the ardat-yakshi escaped his lips. Clasping his hands together, he closes his eyes, bows his head, and prays for his siha.
"Arashu, merciful mother, I pray for protection. Arashu, whose embrace encompasses all, I beg not for my protection, but for one of your angels. And should she face inevitable danger in her path, grant me the power to protect her."