14 - [Audio]

[thearchangel]

[And, once more, the distinctive 'echoing' quality to Garrus' voice is absent. It sounds pretty flat, by comparison.]

[Garrus himself just sounds sort of... tired. Maybe it's due to stress, or just... plain old resignation.]

Are we really doing this again...? I mean, come on. Wasn't once enough?

Comments

[ACTION]

[xenoshepherd]

[Shepard smiles, light and quick and open.]

Yeah, I remember.

[Ingrained habit of weighing the pros and cons of every action before she takes it briefly interrupts the nice little vacation she very dearly wants to take.

Pros of taking this further: the obvious stress relief that they both could use, honestly. Mutual attraction, mutual trust coming to a head. A distraction and a way to prove that neither of them will allow something like an impromptu transformation to interfere with how they feel or taking action.

That list goes on. The cons are considerably fewer. Yes, Shepard is blind, but she can hear, taste, and feel just as well as she had the day prior. So can he.

And with their terms already laid out on the table, nothing else can really stop them.]

Ready if you are, soldier.

[ACTION]

[thearchangel]

[Dammit, he likes seeing that smile. He likes it a lot -- it's crooked, and it's real, and it's her. What he abandoned everything for, what he tried so hard to be... what he truly cares for.]

[That she's willing -- that means a lot. He believes what she's telling him, and believes it completely. Still, he can feel his heart beating faster when she speaks, while she thinks. Given their surroundings, this... may be their only chance. Nothing's attacking, no one's missing. They can be selfish.]

[When she answers, he lets out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in -- it's half a laugh, half a sigh, and out of long, ingrained habit, he presses his cheek against hers.]

... I... Yeah, I think I am.