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sinfulwonders · 4 years

Note

I think prompt #82 would be cool! Anyway you’d want to take it. Maybe pregame where they both are at a party? Honestly I love your writing and I think you could do something cool with it! Fluff/Angst/NSFW whatever you’d like! Preferably a happy ending of some sort of possible! Thanks for the consideration!

Wow. I am so so SO sorry this took so ridiculously long to write. I hope you enjoy it anon. I had most of it written a while ago, but doing the WIP challenge I found it and decided to finish it! Again, so sorry it took forever. It’s ingame, not pregame, so I hope that’s okay!

The Party

Words: 4613

Prompt: 82. “You’re really drunk right now. I don’t think you’re gonna remember any of this.” “I’m not drunk at all. You’re just blurry.”

Summary: Shuichi goes to a party! Drunk shenanigans ensue!

“So, Saihara-kun, did you decide whether you are coming to my party tonight?” Shuichi jumped at the sudden presence of a young girl standing in front of his desk.

“A-akamastu-san,” Stuttered the startled detective, as Kaede leaned in inquisitively. “Umm, yes, I’ll be there.”

The ultimate pianist pumped a fist in the air in triumph. She turned around towards the other side of the classroom and shouted to a group of students talking and laughing amongst themselves.

“Saihara-kun said he’ll come tonight!”

“That’s what I like to hear from my sidekick!” responded Kaito, who proceeded to flash a smile and his signature thumbs up. Maki gave a curt nod of approval from next to him.

The rest of the students congregated near Kaito and Maki gave similar nods and words of praise followed by a few cheers of approval.

Shuichi blushed, “Me being there w-won’t make much of a difference on the party. I-it’s really not a big deal.” He felt himself hiding his face in the cap that rested loosely on his head.

Kaede could tell he was growing anxious from being the center of attention. She took his hand in her own and pulled him out of his chair.

She gave him a warm smile as he rose, and he slowly responded with a small, nervous grin.

“We’re all just thrilled that you’ve decided to hang out with us outside of school! There are no expectations of you at this party, we just want to hang out with you, Saihara-kun!”

Shuichi breathed a small sigh of relief as he felt his body relax just a bit. While attending Hope’s Peak High school for the past few months, he had managed to grow close with several of the students. He considered that an incredibly impressive feat, as he was terribly intimidated by his fellow Ultimates. After all, he never thought he deserved to be at the school, as his first case was a mistake that haunted Shuichi constantly. This inferiority complex accompanied with his social anxiety (especially in group settings), made hanging out with his classmates outside of school a fear-inducing scenario.

After a few words of encouragement from Kaito, the group began to go back to their previous conversation. Kaede nudged Shuichi and spoke quietly where only he could hear, “I’m so proud of you for going to this, and hopefully you’ll have a wonderful time! I know you’re nervous, but thank you for facing that fear for our sakes!”

Shuichi cringed at her sweet smile.

I wish my intentions were that pure.

Shuichi was not going to this party for Kaede. He was not going to this party for Kaito or Maki or any of his supportive friends. He was going strictly to investigate. There was a thorn at his side, an unexplainable enigma of a person that perplexed him. It was equally bothersome and intriguing, and when Shuichi caught wind that he would be attending Kaede’s party he had made up his mind to overcome his anxiety for a night and go to learn more.

This party isn’t a social event for me Kaede, I’m sorry. I just need to figure him out. I need to know his motives and what he’s thinking…Ko-

“Saihara-chan ̴!”

Speak of the devil.

Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader, also known as a consistent source of Shuichi’s distress, skipped into the classroom, a childlike smile adorning his pale face as he made his way to the detective. The green haired Rantaro Amami followed behind, sighing like an unenthusiastic babysitter.

“Oma-kun…I t-told you, that name’s too girly for me…” Shuichi sighed, knowing that insisting that Kokichi use proper honorifics for the umpteenth was useless.

“Well kun is way too harsh to describe a pretty boy like you!” Kokichi spoke in a sing-song tone, but his face held a mischievous smirk.

Shuichi blushed involuntarily and Kokichi’s eyes lit up.

“Is my beloved Saihara-chan falling for me?” After the words left his mouth he suddenly got closer and his eyes face darkened as he whispered, “What happens if the detective falls for the supreme leader of evil?”

“O-oma-”

“Nyeheehee!” His face was back to his regular devious smile, and he leaned back from the detective, hands resting behind his head, “As much fun as it is to torture you, I actually came because Rantaro told me that you were coming to the piano nerd’s party tonight!”

Rantaro shrugged as Shuichi looked at him. The green haired boy had an unnatural talent for being the first to know anything. He always had the most popular music, clothes, and anything else that was trendy months before it became mainstream.

Maybe Rantaro should have been known as the Ultimate Hipster instead of the Ultimate Adventurer… But wait, he wasn’t even here for that conversation! How did he-

Rantaro, seeing Shuichi’s confused expression, lazily nodded in the direction of a tall boy sitting in the back of the classroom, “Shinguji texted me.”

“Oh okay…” Shuichi responded, not knowing that the two were even friends. He turned back to Kokichi, “Yeah, I’m going to the party.”

Kokichi’s face lit up, “That’s great! I’m so happy I won’t even poison your drink like I was planning! I’ll still poison Miu’s though, since I heard that doing random acts of kindness helps build a stronger community! I mean freeing everyone from a long-term headache is pretty kind, don’t you think?”

“Shut up, Cock-kichi!” screamed the abrasive inventor, running over to the boy at the sound of her name.

The two started flinging vulgar insults at each other and Shuichi decided that that was a good enough distraction to sneak away from the situation. As the detective took step out the classroom door, he glanced back at the two fighting. He locked eyes with Kokichi. The boy grinned that conniving grin as he mouthed:

“See you tonight.”

Shuichi rushed out of the room, irritated with Kokichi’s deliberate flirting just to take him off guard. He had a purely professional interest in Kokichi Oma. As a detective it was his duty to find out if any of his claims about running a massive evil organization and committing crimes were true. He didn’t think so, but he needed to figure out how to tell if Kokichi was lying. He wasn’t obsessing over a classmate.

I have a moral obligation.

He told himself that as he had watched the supreme leader during class the entirety of last week. Shuichi sat behind him, so it was natural for him to look that direction. He had watched how he interacted with different people, physical reactions, and facial features, but hadn’t come to any clear conclusion on the boy having a ‘tell’. He wished he had more opportunities to stare into Kokichi’s large violet eyes, not because he thought they were mesmerizing, but to get a read on the boy of course. It also didn’t help that Shuichi had no baseline. Since Kokichi lied about everything, there were no clear truths or lies to base a pattern from. Kokichi was truly a mystery for Shuichi to solve. A mystery Shuichi needed to solve.

A mystery wrapped in white cotton and soft purple hair, smelling slightly of lavender.

And so it was in his unquestionably professional interest that he attended the party that night.

--------------

He arrived at the venue an hour after the party began, as he had read somewhere that that’s the cool thing to do. Rantaro opened the door, holding a red solo cup in hand and smiling wider than Shuichi had ever seen him before.

“Welcome to my humble abode!” he swayed, definitely tipsy.

Although Kaede was throwing the party, Rantaro had offered his off campus flat (special permission was given to him by the school to stay there instead of the dorms) as a venue for the party. It seems that one of the benefits was that the students could drink freely without worry of getting caught drinking on campus.

“Come on in, make yourself at home! Drinks are over in the kitchen!” Rantaro sauntered off, zigzagging through the many people contained in the modestly sized flat.

So. Many. People.

There were more people than just Shuichi’s classmates. It seemed as the entirety of Hope’s Peak was crammed into the two bedroom apartment. The music blared and a blur of unrecognizable faces practically swallowed the detective. He inhaled sharply.

You can do this.

He nervously stepped into the mass of people, following the flow of steps and desperately looking for any friendly faces. His panicked anxiety causing him to forget his true motive for being here almost immediately. He ended up in the kitchen, the sound of Kaito’s loud voice drew him like a magnet.

“Damn it, how’d you win again?” Kaito yelled, an exasperated Maki lightly holding him back from flipping over the beer pong table.

The fluffy haired blonde at the other end of the table smiled kindly at the shouting astronaut, “I’m sure you’ll beat me next game! I’m worthless, nothing compared to an actual ultimate such as yourself!” the boy’s eyes got wider and more wild and Shuichi took a step back instinctively, “My luck is bound to run out soon, so when it does please use me as a stepping stone to bring hope to every beer pong enthusiast in the universe!!!!!” He cackled.

“Komaeda, you need to chill with giving that hope speech to everyone we meet… you’re really hurting our friend retention rate,” a brunette male mused next to the still manically laughing blonde. He took the boy’s hand and said quieter, “Also… you’re not worthless.”

Little did the brunette know, that Kaito was too competitive to back down from a challenge, even one from a self-deprecating hope-enthusiast.

“Oh it’s on! Maki Roll, you ready to play one more round and beat this punk?” Maki sighed in anguish and glanced up, locking eyes with Shuichi.

“Saihara!” she said uncharacteristically enthusiastically, “You just got here right?”

“Hey guys, yeah I just got here,” Shuichi walked up to the pair.

“Perfect. Kaito, meet your new partner.”

“Eh? But-” Shuichi was instantly silenced by the intense glare Maki shot him. She quickly pushed the two closer and dashed off, avoiding various people and obstacles with reflexes faster than what should be capable of the ultimate child caregiver.

“Haha! I guess Maki Roll got sick of me!” Kaito chuckled, “I guess we have been playing for a while now... but this kid is just so annoyingly lucky… That’ll change soon if I keep playing!”

I need to remind myself to never take Kaito gambling.

It turns out that Kaito and Maki had been playing beer pong since the party began.

No wonder she got out of there. I guess I’m stuck now, but this is way better than standing around not knowing what to do with my body.

Nagito threw the first ball, and it plopped softly into a cup.

“Newbies take the first drink!” Kaito cheered, patting his sidekick on the back. Shuichi sighed and took a drink of the amber liquid. The cheap beer went down his throat with only a mildly repulsive aftertaste.

And, as an added bonus: For the first time since he arrived, Shuichi was able to loosen up a bit.

And he continued to loosen as the boys began their devastating losing streak to Nagito Komaeda and Hajime Hinata.

“Prretty ssure we almosst had em that time,” Kaito slurred as he swayed at the end of the table, obviously drunk from spending two hours losing badly at beer pong and, as a consequence, drinking a lot of beer. Shuichi, having started much later, was not wasted but was still very tipsy.

“Kaito- Kaito I think we gotta be done. You’re too…you’re too drunk.” The detective stumbled over his words, struggling to sound as sober and authoritative as possible. The wasted Kaito agreed eventually, stumbling over to the couch when he saw that Maki was over there. Shuichi smiled and rolled his eyes at his friend’s predictable nature.

He watched him sit and talk with Maki and sighed in relief at being released from mom mode. He wandered around in the flat, no longer anxiety ridden. Shuichi felt confident, and also fuzzy, like everything was a little out of focus.

But mostly confident.

Shuichi suddenly noticed a black and white checkered scarf in the distance, a flash of purple entering what seemed to be Rantaro’s bedroom. Shuichi followed the boy in as much of a straight line as he could, to discover what he was doing. He peeked in to see Kokichi in the dimly lit room sprawled on the bed, scrolling through his phone, and very much alone. Kokichi quickly looked up and caught the not-so-sneaky-especially-while-drunk Shuichi staring at him in the doorway.

“I-I umm, hi Oma-kun.” Shuichi said, disappointed that he’d been discovered so easily.

“Saihara-chan, hi. Come to escape the noise, too?” His demeanor seemed different than at school as he sat up on the bed. Calm and quiet. But as his Shuichi entered the bedroom, his mask quickly reappeared, “Or did you come to be alone with me?” He crooned.

Shuichi rolled his eyes at the boy’s usual aggressive flirting to make him uncomfortable trick and plopped down on the mattress next to the supreme leader. Kokichi raised an eyebrow in interest.

“You’re a weird guy, Oma.” Shuichi stated, no malice in his voice, “I can’t figure you out.”

Kokichi laughed, “You just figured out that I’m unsolvable? Man, maybe you’re not the ultimate detective after all!”

“I wouldn’t say unsolvable. It’s certainly a pain though,” Shuichi sighed and fell backwards, letting his head hit the sheets.

“Then why do you keep trying?” Kokichi asked, head tilted like a puppy.

Shuichi stared at Kokichi for a second and laughed out loud. Kokichi looked taken off guard for once.

“You know, that’s a really great question,” Shuichi smiled up at the boy looking over him, “I keep avoiding that question myself, so I don’t think I could give you a good answer.”

Kokichi laid back on his back beside the detective, meeting his gaze.

“Ya know, most people are boring. They’re predictable and easy to figure out. I’m glad I don’t bore you, Saihara-chan.”

This time, hearing Kokichi call him Saihara-chan didn’t seem to bother Shuichi. Kokichi said it like it was an endearing nickname.

Kokichi continued, speaking quieter, “And you know… you’re not boring either. To me I mean.”

As weird as it was, it seemed that Kokichi had given the detective an honest compliment. It didn’t seem backhanded or sarcastic, unless Kokichi was a much better liar than Shuichi had previously suspected.

The detective couldn’t help but blush a little.

The two boys laid there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, but soon enough Kokichi jumped to his feet, his mischievous smile once again plastered on his face.

“We better hurry back, or we’ll look pretty suspicious! Alone in a bedroom like this! What will your dear Kaito say?”

Shuichi rolled his eyes and stood to his feet, instantly remembering that he had a lot to drink as the room shook slightly, “Yeah let’s go.”

The two boys exited the room to find the flat much emptier than a few minutes prior.

“How long were we in there?” Shuichi wondered out loud.

Shuichi and Kokichi made their way to the kitchen, and after being forced into taking shots with a drunk Kaede and Rantaro, the two told them that after learning that Rantaro’s apartment complex had a volleyball court, a large chunk of drunk students had gone to play a game.

“Well, I say game, but Akane Owari, from the other class, is ready for war,” Rantaro sighed, “She challenged Nidai to a volleyball showdown and things may have gotten a little out of hand when someone suggested it be boys vs girls. Needless to say, Chabashira is out for blood…”

Shuichi winced when he heard that. Tenko was ready for any chance to bring the population of degenerate males down a peg or two.

“Well what’s the plan now Amami-kun?” Kaede asked, a little disappointed that so many people had left her party at once.

“Well there’s still a bunch of people around,” Rantaro noted as he looked at the no longer packed apartment, “So we could always play a group game.”

“Like truth or dare or something?” Kaede asked, eyes lighting up.

“Ugh, truth or dare sucks,” Kokichi groaned, “half the game is so boringgggg. Why don’t we play dare or drink?”

“Dare or drink?” Shuichi lifted an eyebrow.

“Yeah! My organization created it to get rid of the worst part of truth or dare: the truth! Of course we used play a slightly different version… ‘Dare or Die’…but we had to switch it up because we were losing too many people!”

The three others sighed at Kokichi’s outrageous lies. At least Shuichi was pretty sure it was a lie. But the group agreed and Kaede gathered a group of people together. Shuichi happily accepted Rantaro’s offer of another shot. He let out a hiccup and a small giggle as he poured a drink for the game, which caused Kokichi to scan his narrowed eyes over the boy.

“Are you good, Saihara-chan?”

Shuichi saw what he surmised to be genuine concern on the boy’s face.

This is my chance to get back at him!

“Aww, are you worried about me…Oma-chan?” Shuichi mimicked Kokichi’s usual sing-song tone, and even copied his use of chan. He stuck his tongue out at the boy when he didn’t receive a reply, and he sauntered off towards the gathering group of teens. He smiled to himself that he had been the one to catch Kokichi off guard for once. He didn’t know that the supreme leader had stayed back to hide his red face from him and the others.

-----------

Soon, the students that hadn’t gone to play or watch the volleyball war taking place outside were gathered in a circle to play ‘Dare or Drink’.

“I am so thrilled to experience a classic game from your culture! I am ready to absorb as much information as I can about this ‘Dare or Drink’ for the people of Novoselic!” shouted a very excited Sonia Nevermind.

“Umm…Miss Sonia…it’s not actually a classic game, Oma-kun made it u-” Kazuichi Soda attempted to correct the princess but was interrupted by a still very drunk Kaito.

“Soda! I dare you to write out an embarrassingly sexy text and send it to a random contact in your phone.”

And so the group began their game of dare or drink.

--------------

Shuichi could barely remember why he had ever been nervous to hang out with his classmates outside of school.

With alcohol involved this is easy!

“Saihara,” Rantaro purred, “I dare you to kiss a guy in this room.”

Never mind. This is awful.

“H-huh? W-who?” Shuichi stuttered as he glanced around the room.

Rantaro hummed at the question, then a sly smile overtook his face, “Pick the guy you think is the cutest…”

Shuichi focused his mind a bit, and thought.

Do I find any of my classmates cute? I mean Momota is an attractive guy, but I just think that in a best friend kinda way, plus he’s really not my type. Amami is attractive, but I don’t think he’s anything compared to Oma, I mean his cute face and those eyes… Wait a second…

Do I like Oma?

He looked over at the boy, who was now giving him a sultry stare and licking his lips.

“I choose drink!” Shuichi blurted out, his face now beet red.

“Aww even drunk Saihara-chan is a prude! How predictable!” Kokichi laughed as Shuichi chugged the rest of his mixed drink.

He couldn’t help but be more than a little hurt by the words of his newly realized crush. Even if said crush didn’t realize his new status.

I mean I came to this party for him, after all. Even if he doesn’t know it. That’s pretty rude.

Because it was true. Although Shuichi’s intentions had been ‘purely professional’, he had indeed come to this party to get to know the supreme leader. And now here he was being accosted by the one and only. That pissed drunk Shuichi off.

“Oh yeah? Well let’s see how you do with the same dare,” Shuichi tried to glare as menacingly as possible at the boy sitting across from him, which only was effective at making Kokichi laugh harder, “I dare you to kiss the cutest boy in the room.”

“Is repeating dares even allowed?” muttered a monotone Maki, but Rantaro shushed her quickly.

“My house, my rules. And I say yes,” He smirked.

“Aww but I can’t kiss myself Saihara-chan! So I guess I can’t do your dare! So sad!” Kokichi gave the detective a dramatic sigh and a pout.

Shuichi didn’t back down, “You can’t count yourself, Oma-kun.”

“Psh. As long as you agree that I’m the cutest one,” Kokichi sang as he stood up and sauntered around the room, lingering on each and every guy sitting around the circle. While inspecting them he announced, “And don’t worry, I’m not gonna wimp out like Saihara-chan! I take this dare very seriously!”

Shuichi rolled his eyes as he popped open a beer that was sitting nearby.

“Eenie meenie miney-” Kokichi lilted nonchalantly as he made his way around the circle. He stopped in front of Shuichi and grinned, “Mo.”

“Eh?”

“We gotta get rid of this emo hat!” Kokichi plopped in front of the detective and quickly removed the hat placed on his head, much to the other’s dismay, “Yep I was right! Saihara-chan really is the prettiest boy here!”

“Wh-what?!” Shuichi stammered. He saw Rantaro chuckling in the background while Maki and Kaito watched the two with abject horror.

“Wwwwhat, you didn’t know you were cute? Were you born in that hat or something? Have you never seen your eyes?” As he bombarded the detective with questions he leaned in closer to the detective’s ears and whispered, “If you really don’t want me to kiss you, just say so. I won’t.”

Shuichi thought about it for a moment and then quickly shook his head, “N-no. It’s fine. Go ahead.”

Kokichi smirked at the answer, “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

He dove onto Shuichi, effectively knocking him onto his back and slammed his lips onto the detective’s. It was a powerful kiss, and at the impact of the ground behind him and Kokichi’s lips on his own, Shuichi let out a gasp. This proved to be the perfect moment for Kokichi to quickly push his tongue into the other’s mouth. Their tongues danced around one another in a strange tangled tango; it was saliva heavy and warm, but decidedly not unpleasant in the slightest.

Shuichi wasn’t sure when he had wrapped his arms around Kokichi, but he had, pulling the smaller closer to him, needing to feel his body heat near his. The smaller had his arms around his neck, his fingers instinctually kneading and caressing the nape. This, along with the feeling of tongues twisting and swirling against one another in his mouth, caused Shuichi to let out an embarrassing moan.

With that Kokichi immediately pulled off of him, untangling his arms and quickly throwing them behind his head. He smirked, “And that, ladies and gentleman: is how it’s done.”

Rantaro, Soda, Sonia, and several others whooped and clapped for the boy. Oma proceeded to bow dramatically as a red-faced and still panting Shuichi finally managed to sit up.

Well that really didn’t go how I intended it to go… but…damn.

Shuichi stared at the supreme leader, now laughing and daring Kaede to do something embarrassing. He wasn’t listening, his eyes just focusing on Kokichi’s lips.

Those lips just…kissed me…

Shuichi quickly inhaled the rest of his beer as a distraction.

--------------

Rantaro let out a yawn and quietly said, “I think the game is over.”

It really was. The game of Dare and Drink had quickly devolved into a sort of spin the bottle type game, where all the dares now had to do with kissing someone. Shuichi was thankful that he had not been forced to kiss anyone else besides the one time with Kokichi. He didn’t want the flavor of grape chapstick to fade.

As the group dispersed, Shuichi stood and instantly regretted it. The room spun around him and he had trouble balancing. A hangover was inevitable in his near future.

“Ah, Rantaro. Can I crash here?” Shuichi asked wearily, and the green-haired boy smiled cooly in return and said of course.

At least now I don’t have to worry about getting home.

Shuichi thought that while finishing off his umpteenth beer. That’s when he noticed Kokichi alone on the couch. He wandered over, in as straight of a line as he could, and plopped down next to the boy. Kokichi glanced up and grinned, “Just couldn’t get enough of me Saihara-chan?”

“Hmm. Maybe I just felt bad for you,” Shuichi hummed, “You’re sitting all by yourself.”

Kokichi stuck out his tongue and Shuichi couldn’t help but eye it a bit hungrily, “Or maybe you were just desperate for another kiss! Well that’s just too bad, Saihara-chan. You shouldn’t have wimped out on your dare! You could have gotten a second kiss with moi!”

Shuichi frowned, “You seem awfully convinced that I would have chosen you for my dare.”

Kokichi feigned shock, placing his hand over his heart like an overdramatic actor, “Are you saying you wouldn’t pick me?! I’m hurt! Wounded even!” His expression instantly changed to boredom, “But that’s a lie, of course.”

“Which part?”

“Who knows?” Kokichi giggled, “Does it even matter?”

Shuichi decided that this was his chance to catch Oma off guard. He smirked and leaned in, whispering in Kokichi’s ear much like he had done right before he kissed him, “It does matter. And for the record, I would have chosen you, Oma-chan.”

The usually unflappable Kokichi Oma paled and then quickly turned several shades of red. Shuichi took this as his chance and placed a quick peck on Kokichi’s lips, “There. That’s for my dare.”

Kokichi, still red faced but desperately trying to reassemble his mask, chuckled, “You’re really drunk right now. I don’t think you’re gonna remember any of this.”

Shuichi chuckled back, and dragged his finger lightly along Kokichi’s jawline, “I’m not drunk at all. You’re just blurry.”

“You really let loose tonight, Saihara-chan,” Kokichi mused as the two got closer and closer, as if being pulled together by some magnetic force.

As they neared Shuichi pulled Kokichi into another passionate kiss, not really caring if anyone else saw. Kokichi quickly broke it and looked at Shuichi, eyes wide.

“How are you planning on getting home tonight?” There was no ill-intent in the words, but rather just genuine concern, an emotion very rarely seen from Kokichi.

“Amami-kun is letting me stay the night.”

Kokichi laughed out loud at that, then muttered, “That meddling bastard.” Shuichi cocked an eyebrow and Kokichi sighed and continued, “Rantaro. There’s only two beds. One for him and one for me. Or at least that’s what he told me yesterday. How convenient that he’s suddenly ‘selflessly’ offered for you to stay!”

Shuichi shook his head, “I don’t know about that, I mean I asked… Also I can always sleep on the couch-”

Kokichi scoffed at the very idea, “No way. No way is Saihara-chan lowering himself to sleep on some dirty old couch. Eww. Nope, it’s decided!” Kokichi looped his arm through Shuichi’s own and dragged the wobbly boy to the guest bedroom, “You’re staying with me tonight!”

“I suppose I can live with that.”

#oumasai #requests #kokichi ouma #shuichi saihara #omasai #saiouma #saioma #danganronpa

38 notes · View notes

lollytea · 7 years

Note

I have a three hour class coming up, so naturally, I need to give you something that will take you three hours to write to make it fair. Gimme all of them for either Satin Diamond or Jazzle, your choice.

Idk enough about Puzzle to do ALL of these about Jazzle so I went with the sparkles.

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other?

Now I’ve said that Guy is a HUUUUUGE impulse buyer who would probably throw money at whatever remotely reminded him of Satin. But I also imagine Satin as the type to spend MORE on stuff for Guy.

Just because while he’ll buy anything that holds his attention long enough, she’s more focused on the quality. If it’s expensive, its good. All shit that goes on her boy gotta be designer and she is hellbent on dressin him pretty.

So Satin. Its Satin.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap?

Guy. Whenever he has a tight schedule, he’s either working or napping cuz damn son hes exhausted. But the thing is, that leaves him with very little time to spend with Satin. So sleeping in her lap is the best he can get.

Meanwhile, my girl has a way better sleep endurance than he does. She can pull off an all-nighter and still seem perfectly composed the next day. Satin’s fuckin incredible.

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes?

who tf u think

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway?

Guy is often begging Satin to get some sleep. But listen, if she’s in the zone, you cant stop her. Yes, Guy, she’s aware its 2am.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies?

Neither Satin or Chenille have much experience in cooking. They were pretty spoiled and never had to lift a finger in any kind of housework during their childhood and teenage life. Both of them have had to learn since they moved out but they gotta stick to the basic stuff.

Bless her, Satin’s heart was definitely in the right place. But what she tried to cook was gourmet which she sure as hell was not ready for yet.

Guy’s childhood ran more on a chore wheel kinda thing. He and his siblings had to take turns cooking dinner each week so like he’s a lot more acquainted with it. But is he proud of Satin’s obvious efforts, that’s his girl! You did amazing for your first try!

Tbh he probably tries to eat some of it just to be like “Nonono its fine, we can totally eat this for di-” *Chokes and has to spit it out* “Yeah ok imma make some cookies. You did a good job tho I love you”

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”?

At a petstore, Guy points at two lizards lying on top of eachother “That one’s me and that one’s you.”

“There’s a fine selection of squeaky toys over here and I'm going to pick one just to whack you with.”

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes?

I mean Guy wears the clothes Satin MAKES so

I'm sure he’s tried on her actual clothes a couple times tho

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?”

Satin: “Okay okay, so it was a good day. A really good day. A productive day. Bought the groceries for dinner tonight, made the phone calls, picked up the dry-cleaning, went to the post office, got the car fixed, vacuumed the living room-”

Guy: “Aww baby, that’s great. Hey, where’s Jade?”

Satin: “Where’s who now?”

Guy: “Our 2 year old son? You-you picked him up from day-care, right?”

*Sounds of Satin grabbing her keys and tripping out the front door*

Guy: “.....was that a yes orrrr?”

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions?

Guy cant read maps so he drives. Also if they have a kid (or theyre babysitting the other kids) Satin’s better at telling them to behave so its better if she’s not behind the wheel.

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws?

Guy poses, Satin draws. Its like part of their whole model/designer dynamic. Duh

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips?

Guy backflips, Satin has chips

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking?

After the first article of clothing is removed, Satin is forced to confiscate Guy’s glass.

“Sweetheart, listen. We cant afford to do this again. We cant go back to jail.”

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts?

They both do ofc

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own?

Satin did when she was really little but Guy hadn't the foggiest clue why she kept doing in. He just piped up with “That's not your last name, it’s mine, silly!” Then proceeded to tell her what her last name was in case she forgot.

She did start calling herself Satin Diamond a few years before they got married. Like it wasn't his real last name so it didn’t matter much. Plus it sounded classy as hell. You wouldn't wanna fuck with a lady called Satin Diamond.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside?

Neither of them are huge fans of spiders but as Guy always had to suck it up and take spiders out for his little sister’s sake, he’s a lot more equipped to dealing with it.

16: Which one gives the other their jacket?

Satin often doesn't wear jackets so if she cold, Guy’s on that shit in an instant

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling?

They both got a pretty good relationship with eachothers siblings. Guy’s brothers are all lovable nerds in their heart so they adopt Satin immediately

Meanwhile Chenille is like a sister to Guy so like she knows he’ll cherish Satin with all his heart but like. Like a sister. Tell me Chenille hasn't blown her top several time cuz her annoying little brother/her sister’s boyfriend is being a shit again

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other?

Guy probably. Their relationship kinda develops from friends to occasional flirting to more recurring flirting to constant flirting and like Guy is almost CERTAIN they’re on the same page. Orrrrr flirty might just be a budding aspect of Satin’s personality because hey, it does suit her very well.

Eventually he just gets confused and impatient and blurts out like “HEY ARE WE DOING WHAT WE’RE THINK WE’RE DOING CUZ I LIKE YOU A LOT AND-”

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting?

Pretty good, considering they weren’t really ready to be parents. The whole nine months was like last minute cramming for a test. They read so many baby books my fuckin god.

But no Satin’s a natural mom. Not as high energy as Poppy and a lot more subdued but still very caring and considerate. She’s calm and logical when helping her kid deal with problems and makes sure he always feel comfortable when talking to her. Jade is REALLY close with his momma.

Also if he gets caught sneaking out at night, he’s shish kabob. But he respects and understands that. His mom is the best person in the world. He just wouldn't dare fuck with her

Guy is also a very devoted father and tends to act as the sillier parent. His relationship with kid can be best described as “Lovingly argumentative.” But no matter, how much he makes fun of his Dad, Jade is probably his biggest fan. He knows the man’s complete filmography by heart and aspires to be an actor too. (Jade cant act for shit but ssssh he’ll change his career choice when he’s older)

But yeah, Guy spent years as his acting coach and tried so hard too because he personally believed his boy could do anything. Turns out he couldn't but ehhh, its the thought that counts. Guy loves Jade to bits and vice versa.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters?

Neither of them use perfect grammar but Satin is most definitely the number thing. Guy is not.

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them?

I dunno if either of them are the type to get bullied. At least in the case of Satin, she just doesn't take crap. But I guess in the case of Guy, who’s just so unashamedly himself, he might piss off a few other kids with that toxic masculinity mind-set. It probably doesn't happen often but if it ever did, Satin would bite their heads off. She aint here for this bullshit.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun?

Guy: *puns*

Satin: “You’re doing amazing sweetie” (I imagine death so much, it feels like a memory.)

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy?

Hear me out. Guy is the impulse buyer, which is why it shocks everyone when Satin is the one to buy the puppy. She was going through an emotional week ok?? Leave her alone

Guy actually has to be the voice of reason here because babe do we have time for a dog idk if we can do this

They end up keeping it and tbh they are TOTALLY the type of people to call themselves the dog’s mommy and daddy. They’re those people fite me

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired?

Satin doesn't get tired easily but she wears pinchy shoes a lot so Guy gives piggybacks when she needs it

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering?

I need to tattoo “Guy is Satin’s biggest fan” to my gotdamn forehead

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder?

Satin. Guy hates candid photos so fuckin much so like nobody has any pictures of him laughing or sleeping or just walking around with no makeup on.

Except for Satin. Satin has like a billion. Guy just doesn't know about them cuz she knows he’d make her delete them.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked?

I mean Satin DID give Guy a makeover when he asked. You don't think the legendary Guy Diamond look was a one man job, do you? Nah, the twins helped create the icon.

Hell, his first experience with makeup was Satin hiding him the girls bathroom stall when they were like 12 and covering up the acne on his chin after she caught him getting upset over it.

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of?

Look if Satin ever gets a snake, Guy aint gonna be pleased

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains?

Okay but listen to me. Guy makes a big deal every time his hair gets wet. He hates rain. He hates it so fuckin much.

One time when they were teenagers, they agreed to meet at the other end of town to see a movie. Ofc theres a downpour and Guy’s standing with his umbrella at the bustop, waiting for Satin’s bus to show up. But once she steps out, she looks frazzled af, clearly having not expected the rain.

So its been a long day and Satin is pacing back and forth, unintentionally splashing puddled as she rambles about an unfair detention she received, about Chenille stealing her hairdryer, about her homework not making any sense.

The rain suddenly stops pelting her head and a shadow falls over her frame. She turns around to find him with his arm outstretched and his umbrella looming over her.

Guy blinks, confused as she stares at him in shock, his hair a soaking mess. “What?

And Satin is just internally “Imma marry him. I stg imma marry this loser.”

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures?

Wherever there’s city lights and rooftop penthouses. Theatres, restaurants and glitzy ballrooms. They live for the night glow. Tbh take them to Paris. Let them dance under the Eiffel Tower at midnight. Tell me that isn't the pinnacle of romanticism.

Also Satin takes the pictures. She’s the better photographer between them. Guy gets too eager and so many of his pics are fuzzy

12 notes · View notes

lafaiette · 7 years

Text

Give Yourself To Harmony - 4 / ?

This huge alien who looks like a chubby, purple potato, this loud man who is part of the newest alien species just discovered in Heleus, this angara who expresses himself so freely and openly just like the rest of his species, is his sister’s boyfriend.

Her first boyfriend, since her nerd ass never found someone intelligent enough to understand how special she is.

At least, that means this weird guy is clever.

In which Scott Ryder finally meets Jaal Ama Darav, his sister’s boyfriend. It will take him a while to get used to this.

Chapter 1 - 2 - 3

Also on AO3

Warning: this fic contains spoilers of the game, the ending, and the post-game content!

“Ryder,” SAM’s voice says, interrupting her dreams, “it is 0800 and Kallo wants you to know we have arrived at destination.”

She groans, rolling on her back; it’s a bit difficult, considering Jaal’s limbs are practically glued to her body and his embrace is so tight she can barely move.

He is snoring against her hair: if the sound was at first disconcerting and a bit deafening, now she can’t sleep without hearing it.

He even talks in his sleep sometimes, like the Moshae told her: random mumblings that don’t really make sense, but sometimes he also pronounces her name and calls her or asks her silly questions.

She actually writes them down whenever she hears them and later shows them to him; some make sense and reveal his interest for topics he must have thought about for a long time, but didn’t find the time or willpower to ask her directly.

Others are… special.

The silliest one was probably “did you ever cry watching a vid?”. She showed him which movies had made her bawl her eyes out in the past and she promised they would watch them all together.

The sweetest one was “how can I ask you to marry me without offending you?”

She didn’t tell him about that one, but she holds it dear in her heart, waiting for the day when he will find out the answer for himself and act.

Today he isn’t talking, just snoring and snorting, but he refuses to let her go when she tries to get off the bed.

“Thank you, SAM.” she whispers, not wanting to wake him up abruptly. “Are the others awake?”

“Kallo and Gil worked for most of the night as usual.” the AI says. “Cora and Suvi are on the bridge, Drack and Peebee are eating breakfast in the galley, Liam and Vetra are in the cargo bay, Scott and Lexi in the med bay.” A pause, then he adds slowly: “My responses tend to slow down when I use the crew’s first names, but you are right. It feels more familiar, this way.”

“Of course it does.” she smiles affectionately. “You can’t keep calling your family with their second names, SAM.”

“I agree. I noticed a change in their behavior too. Liam and Peebee call me Sammy sometimes.”

“If you start giving us nicknames too, I’m sure Dad will shed tears of happiness from up there.”

“I’m not sure my humor algorithms have developed so much. Playful nicknames depend on one’s talent to find amusing or endearing characteristics in another person’s appearance or personality and turn them into a funny, inoffensive name.”

Chloe manages to sit up, although Jaal’s arms and legs instinctively tighten around her, anchoring her to the bed. She starts caressing the arm draped over her stomach, watching intently the holographic figure of the AI on her desk.

“SAM, I doubt you could ever offend us.” She grins, even bouncing a little. “Come on, try it with me! What nickname would you give me?”

She never thought she would have a conversation about nicknames with an AI while in bed with her alien boyfriend, in their comfy room illuminated only by the stars outside.

For a second, it all reminds her of those vaporwave songs she and Scott always listened to while studying.

If SAM could stutter, he would probably do it right now. Instead, he just stays quiet longer than usual and then he says, very slowly: “I’d call you Static.”

“Well.” She blinks, then frowns, thinking about the reason behind such a choice. “That’s original. Why would you call me like that? Jaal is the one with the electromagnetic abilities.”

“That’s right.”

She scratches her head, not really sure she understands, and then she does.

Her hair. Like every morning, it’s sticking out in all directions, thanks to Jaal’s electric waves she constantly sleeps next to.

“Oh!” She beams at SAM’s round figure, hoping he can sense her pride. “SAM! That was a cool joke!”

“Thank you, Ryder.” SAM sounds almost smug and even a little bit flattered, but maybe it’s just her imagination. “I still need some time to think about good nicknames for the rest of the crew.”

“Please, do. I want to hear the one for Jaal.” Speaking of him, he’s still snoring like there is no tomorrow. His arm moved and his hand is now on her belly, warm and broad.

“Come on, honey.” she whispers, kissing his cheek while trying to get untangled. “It’s time to wake up.”

But he looks way too content and adorable, so she decides to let him sleep a little more. She manages to get out of bed and find her clothes they threw on the floor the night before.

Her breasts and the space between her legs still ache in that pleasant, soft way that speaks of how delicate and gentle Jaal is. She dresses slowly, blushing while she thinks about last night, Jaal thrusting into her and moaning words of love in her ear as she gasped and called his name.

She is about to tie her hair in the usual ponytail, the one she makes without even using an elastic band or ribbon, but then she changes her mind and lets it flow down her shoulders. They are not going into battle today, so she can keep it free for once.

She isn’t used to the feeling and it’s weird to look down and see the brown curtain follow the movement of her head and even block her line of vision. But Jaal loves her hair and she saw his face when he looked at that old picture of her with the pigtails.

“SAM, do you think I would look good with a different hairstyle?” She rubs her neck, suddenly self-conscious. “When I don’t have to fight, I mean. It would be nice to change it once in a while, at least here on the Tempest or on the Nexus.”

“I’m not an expert about human hairstyles and my opinion wouldn’t be much helpful.” SAM gently replies. “I suppose Alec never thought such knowledge would benefit me and our work.”

“Yeah, of course.” She looks at the mirror that popped up on the console of the wardrobe when she approached it.

She brushes two locks of hair fallen near her eyes with her fingers, staring critically at her reflection, then she takes a red hairclip shaped like a star and ties those locks behind her head: this way her hair is still let loose, but she managed to style it in a more tidied up way.

To be honest, she never felt beautiful. When she was little, some human kids at her school used to mock her looks, saying her nose was too big and her lips too full, and those comments stuck with her ever since.

Letting her hair frame her face like this would highlight all those flaws, she thinks, but she also admits she looks older and more sophisticated this way, almost elegant, sort of like Mom was.

You are more lovely than anyone I have ever known, in body and in spirit.

If Jaal told her that, it must be true, so she believes him and goes for it, brushing the tip of her hair with the comb one last time before going back to the bed and kissing his cheek.

He makes her feel gorgeous every day and she almost doesn’t know how to show the full extent of her gratefulness.

“SAM, please, wake him up in… let’s say, five minutes.”

“Of course.”

She smiles at her boyfriend, then at her reflection in the mirror and moves to leave her room.

Before she steps into the corridor, SAM says: “That hairstyle suits you, Chloe.”

She laughs and smiles at AI, nodding.

“Thank you, SAM.”

There is no time for a shower, so she goes straight to the galley to eat something and make sure Jaal’s favorite nutrient paste is still there and hasn’t been entirely used by Suvi for her weird culinary experiments.

“Who the hell are you?” Drack’s amused voice asks her as soon as she enters, the krogan’s eyes quick and attentive as always. Peebee, busy munching some of those dry cookies she likes so much, is slower, but when she finally raises her head and sees Ryder through bleary eyes, she gasps.

“By the Goddess!” she exclaims, in a fake high-pitched voice. “Ryder! You look so cute!”

“She’s right, kid. You look great.”

“Aw, thanks.” she laughs, fidgeting on the spot. She wonders if make-up would be too much, but then she changes her mind. It has never really been her strong suit and she doesn’t want to ruin this humble, but decent result by painting her poor face clumsily.

“Jaal won’t stop touching it for the whole day.” the asari cackles, wiggling her eyebrows, then she gasps again, an idea forming in her restless mind: “Oh! Remember your pigtails? I saw a human wear them differently once! She kept them on the front, not the back, though.”

“Yeah?” Ryder opens the pantry and sees that the paste is still there, much to her relief. She starts preparing a bowl of it, while Peebee continues excitedly: “Yes and it was cute! Actually, now that I think about it, it reminds me of the neck flaps angara have.”

She can’t see it because her back is turned to the table, but Ryder can definitely hear her sly tone as the asari concludes: “Why don’t you style your hair like that, the next time? I’m sure Jaal will love it.”

“It would give him an instant boner.” Drack comments dryly and Chloe’s cheeks turn beetle red.

“I… I will think about it.” she babbles, doing her best to ignore – or at least erase from her memory – Peebee’s next words: “Using hair during sex, huh… I wonder how that feels like.”

“Kid.” Drack grunts. “Please. I’m eating.”

“Thanks for the chat, guys!” Ryder exclaims, voice cracking, and she flees the room, a bowl of paste in her hand and one of cereal in the other. She forgot the milk, but she doesn’t really want to go back into the galley to retrieve it, not with Peebee describing in detail how cool a hairjob would be like.

She lets out a long, relieved sigh once she is back into her quarters. Like she asked him to, SAM has called Jaal, who is stirring and moving in bed, but still refuses to completely wake up.

“Let’s give him more time.” she giggles, placing his bowl of paste on the small table, before sitting on the bed and eating her milk-less cereals. It’s almost heretical and her mind can’t comprehend exactly what she’s putting into her mouth, but it will have to do for today.

Jaal seems to sense her presence, because his arms immediately look for her body; once he finds her, he smiles contently, eyes still closed, and nuzzles her thigh.

“Come on, sleepyhead.” she says, poking his forehead with her spoon. “It’s time to get up.”

“Five more minutes.” he mumbles, his voice deeper and hoarser than usual. It does things to her groin, but she fights the urge to undress completely and join him back under the covers.

A part of her cannot wait for him to wake up and see his reaction; another is scared and timid, but she knows he loves her no matter what. He told her so yesterday too.

To be honest, they always tell each other how much they love each other, almost every day. Liam once said they are the couple with the highest level of PDA he ever saw.

“Alright, only five more minutes.” She leans down and kisses his cheek, holding back a giggle when her hair tingles his face and he scrunches up his nose.

He is still too sleepy to open his eyes, but his hand on her legs refuse to move when she tries to get up after finishing her breakfast.

“Come on!” she laughs, poking him with the spoon again. “Eat your food and join us on the bridge. We’ve arrived on Aya.”

He hums affirmatively, but whines sadly when she frees herself from his hold and leaves the room again, her laughter making him smile into the pillow.

On her way to the bridge, she meets Scott and Lexi: her brother’s eyes are less red today and he clearly took a long, hot shower, because he looks refreshed and his cheeks are finally pinkish.

“Oh, how cute!” Lexi exclaims as soon as she sees her. “I wonder what caused this sudden change in style…?”

“She never braided her hair like that before!” Scott gasps, pretending to be shocked. He even puts a hand on his chest and takes a staggering step backwards, as if hit. “Sis! What’s gotten into you?”

“Come on, I just wanted to try something new.” she grumbles, blushing, and glaring at the smiling asari and her silly brother. “It’s not that bad, isn’t it?”

“No, of course not. You look really pretty.” Lexi reassures her, although she is definitely going to write this in her next psychological report.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” Scott’s smile softens and it becomes a little melancholic, but also very sweet. “You remind me of Mom.”

Then, before she can react and hug him, he turns smartass again and grins cheekily: “I’m sure Jaal will have fun touching it.”

Chloe huffs, redder than her shirt, but seeing her brother like this is a balsam for the soul. Maybe a good night of rest really did miracles or maybe he’s just really excited of finally setting foot on a new planet.

Frustration. That’s what SAM felt when he was briefly connected to Scott. At least, that’s what he told her and that detail has always been carefully stored in a corner of her mind, a painful reminder of what her brother went through, even before leaving the Milky Way.

It seems a part of that frustration is finally leaving him, transformed into relief, excitement, healthy curiosity. If everything goes right, then he and Jaal will be finally able to develop a beautiful friendship.

She wonders if he will ever call him “brother” like Jaal does. Scott can be pretty awkward with new people, even more than Dad was, and it might take him a while to get used to let himself go when around Jaal, but there is time and they are in no hurry.

At least, not until Sahuna will learn that he is finally back on his feet.

“I saw Aya from the windows. It looks great!” Yeah, that’s definitely impatience and curiosity. He is grinning more than he ever grinned before. “I read some info about it, but the Initiative doesn’t say much about it.”

“Yes, we don’t want to risk the kett learning too much from our communications, should they ever start to spy on us.” Chloe sighs, shaking her head. She admits that’s always been a big fear of hers: accidentally leading the kett right to the angara’s most important planet.

Fortunately, that has never happened and both the Initiative and the government on Aya have taken even more extreme measures to ensure only the minimal and most protected information would be transmitted; also, confused and lost as the kett are now after the Archon’s death, she doubts they have the resources and time to try anything reckless like diving through the Scourge.

“I want to visit the museum. And the Embassy. Oh, and the tavetaan!”

“Wow, you remembered the name.” Ryder chuckles, heading with him to the bridge, and he grins at her from above his shoulder as he climbs the ladder.

“I’ve had my fair amount of free time, remember? Ugh, sis, you really need to install a lift here. My back can’t take this ladder.”

“And where would you put a lift here? Come on, move your ass!”

Despite his complaining, Scott rushes to the bridge, happy like a child, and Suvi shares his excitement, listing to him all the flowers and cool rocks she found on Aya.

“There is this plant, the tavarv, and I tried following an angaran recipe to prepare snacks with it, but…”

“Let’s just say they weren’t good.” Kallo flatly adds from his seat, earning himself an angry pout from Suvi. He is the only one who can bear to see her like that without feeling bad.

“How rude! Jaal said they were good!”

“Of course he did.” Scott chuckles and Chloe, behind him, braces for a bitter joke or an annoyed comment.

But that never comes. Her brother shakes his head at Suvi and says matter-of-factly: “He is an angara. His taste-buds can appreciate that kind of food.”

There, nice and simple, the most practical statement in the world, pronounced without any snarky remark.

“See?” Kallo exclaims, pointing at him. “He gets it! He is the third one, after me and Cora, to tell you that!”

“Ryder tasted an angaran pie.” Suvi mumbles, her pout reaching the “trembling lower lip” stage. “She said it was excellent. Isn’t that true, Ryder- oh!”

She and Kallo see her only now and they both beam at her and her new hairstyle. Suvi even gets up to go near her and admire the red star-shaped hairpin.

“Ryder, you look so good! It’s so nice to see you like this!”

“A simple, but elegant look.” Kallo agrees, before smirking playfully. “Addison might treat you better, if you styled your hair like this all the time.”

“Oh God, no. I can’t let the people on the Nexus see me like this. I have a reputation to defend.” she jokes, but a part of her knows that she will have to look the part in the years to come.

‘Tight shirts and boring shoes, here I come.’ she thinks wearily, but the thought of Aya manages to make her feel instantly better.

That place brings so many good memories and the lake where Jaal brought her has truly become her favorite place in the universe. That day was so perfect and she can still taste the sweetness of the water on his lips or feel the timid touch of his broad hand between her legs.

(“Like this…?”

“Yes... Just like that, I think.”

“You are…” he chuckled, face flushed, in awe. “Very soft.”

“And you are…” she giggled, reaching for the length between his legs. “Very hard.”)

“Uh-oh, dreamy eyes again! She must be thinking about Jaal.”

Her brother’s voice reaches her ears and brain and she snaps out of it, staring at Scott’s smug grin.

“I…”

“Red cheeks, too.” Kallo sighs dramatically, shaking his head. “Must be something sweet.”

“Don’t you have a ship to fly?” she grumbles, suddenly happy to be able to cover her face with her hair. “Scott, stop laughing, or I will force you to meet Evfra.”

“Who?” A hint of panic does appear in his eyes – and Chloe feels bad for that -, but he’s also so thrilled to finally visit new places that the idea of meeting more angara, new people, doesn’t scare him anymore. In fact, he looks curious about that too.

“Evfra, the leader of the angaran Resistance. He helped us on Meridian too, but I doubt you saw him.”

“My brain was kinda fried in that moment, sis.” He hesitates, playing with his sleeve, eyes focused on Aya, which is getting closer by the minute as Kallo pilots the ship.

“Do you think I could meet the Moshae? She sounds interesting.”

“As soon as we land on Aya and she hears about you, she will expect you to go to her office.” she chuckles, before grimacing. “Sorry. It’s just that she is an expert about Remnants and she will want to hear what happened exactly on Meridian.”

“Oh boy, she’s gonna be so disappointed.” Scott laughs nervously, but he calms down when his sister pats his shoulder and says, smiling: “Don’t worry, she is also very kind and I’m sure she will understand. I’ll come with you too.”

“No! I mean, thanks, but…” He swallows, looking at the clouds now surrounding the ship as they fly towards the LZ. “I want to do this alone. I want to get used to all this by myself.”

“Scott…” she sighs, eyeing him worriedly. “Don’t strain yourself. You know you can ask for help, right?”

“Yes, yes! And I will ask for it, if I need it, I swear it. It’s just…”

“Chloe.” SAM intervenes on their private channel. “I believe Scott wishes to experience this by himself. Landing on Aya and exploring it will be his turning point, just like it was for you.”

“Oh.”

I… I will never be like you or Dad.

SAM is right. Scott needs to feel ready, useful, professional. If she and Jaal accompanied him around like two babysitters, he would probably feel like a child and it would probably hinder his experience with the angara.

“SAM, you are getting wiser than me.” she jokes, using the private channel, and the AI replies a millisecond after: “I’m flattered.”

“Alright, then.” she tells Scott, who beams at her. “Go have fun. You will probably meet Drack and Liam at the tavetaan, so don’t get too drunk.”

“Psychologically prepare yourself for the food, man.” Liam’s voice says behind them. “Angaran paste is the… shit, who replaced our Pathfinder with this new girl?”

“Ha ha.” She glares at the grinning man, folding her arms. “Yours was the rudest reaction, by the way.”

“What, are you writing them down? I’m sure Gil made a smartass comment.”

“He didn’t see me yet.”

“Hey, Gil!” Scott opens the comms, dodging his sister’s hand before she can swat him. “Did you see Chloe’s new hairstyle?”

“What?” the engineer sounds flabbergasted, then he pauses. “Please, tell me it’s pigtails.”

“Shut up and help Kallo pilot the ship.” she huffs, starting to regret her choice, but she knows Scott is just joking – probably to feel better and avoid thinking too much about his First Contact experience – and she still can’t wait for Jaal to see her and…

The door of the bridge opens and she doesn’t turn around at the speed of light, absolutely, she is ready to swear it in front of Tann and the rest of the leaders. She just moved very quickly, clearly alerted by the sound that isn’t absolutely familiar after all the time spent on the ship.

Nobody believes that, of course, judging by Liam’s snickers and Suvi’s giggles, but her initial embarrassment goes away when Jaal enters the room, perfect and perfumed as always.

His eyes immediately settle on her, recognizing her face among the others, and then they widen beyond measure. They are already pretty big, like all angara’s, but now they are practically filling his entire face.

He walks over to Ryder in two fast strides and stops just a few inches from her, staring at her like she is the most wondrous of creatures, the birthplace of creation, the answer to all questions, a stars-filled deity riding a yevara in the sky.

“Incoming boner!” Drack announces with his unmistakable belly laugh and Chloe splutters, hiding half of her face behind a hand, trying to ignore Liam’s louder snickers and her brother’s amused snort.

Jaal successfully ignores them as if they even aren’t on his same plane of existence. He keeps looking at Chloe, eyes big and full of nebulas, and his hands at his sides twitch, yearning for contact.

“Do you like it?” she asks, fidgeting, feeling like a teenager on her first date wearing her best frilly dress. “I… I wanted to try something different today.”

He doesn’t reply, but he’s blushing a lot and she suspects some of that blood is flowing down like Drack said.

“You can touch it, you know.” she giggles, raising an eyebrow at him. Jaal has always been fascinated by her hair, but she usually lets it down only in bed.

He touches it and kisses it before and after making love or before falling asleep; when on the Tempest or while taking a break somewhere while on mission, he twirls her ponytail around his index finger or brushes back her bangs, sweet gestures of love shared while modding weapons, eating, or waiting for a shuttle to arrive.

To see her hair like this, out of bed, must be pretty interesting, exciting, and yes, perhaps even arousing for him. He immediately raises a hand and gently brushes it against the side of her head, watching the delicate brown threads flow through his two separated fingers like silk.

Then he notices the two locks of hair tied behind and he tilts his head to see what that’s about: she hears him gasp when he sees the star-shaped hairpin.

“The wonders of human hair.” she jokes, getting redder. Jaal’s eyes quickly move back to her face and he says slowly, with all the sincerity, love, and certainty in the world:

“You are stunning.”

And here she giggles again, looking down before looking at him again, biting her lips as she grins at him.

His hand grabs hers and he is about to say something, something important and sweet and tender, she can see it, when Kallo announces: “We’ve arrived.”

Scott is bouncing on his feet right in front of the console of the galactic map and Chloe hears him point at all the cool things he’s already spotting in the docks of the city.

“Wow, it’s all so clean! Look at those cool roofs! And what are those things, solar lights?”

“Well,” she chuckles, looking back at Jaal, who seems to have just remembered where he is, “someone is eager to get off the ship. We should go.”

“Yes.” he says, voice hoarse and rumbling. He brings her hand to his mouth and kisses it without breaking eye contact. She grins again.

“Scott!” she then calls. “Come on, we will accompany you to the main entrance.”

Her brother runs to her like his life depends on it and then he remembers Jaal is here in the room too; the two men look at each other, slightly embarrassed, then Scott clears his throat and nods at Jaal with a smile.

“Good morning.” he says and Jaal smiles back; for a moment, they really look like two brothers-in-law and Scott even opens his mouth to say something else, but then he stops and nods towards the airlock.

“So…? Shall we go?”

“Yeah.” Chloe swallows down the slight disappointment and prefers to feel only the hope blossoming in her heart instead, the one that tells her these two dorks will soon talk with each other without embarrassment and fear.

She also dreads it a little bit, because that will also be the day when they will joke about her and Scott will show her boyfriend all the old, mortifying pictures of their childhood.

But that’s not a bad thing, after all, she thinks as Jaal’s hand move to caress her hair.

- - - -

Aya is beautiful. It’s alien, different, and new and Scott’s heart thrums wildly in his chest.

It’s like he finally boarded a ship and went through one of the relays of the Arcturus Station, leaving it all behind.

Well, he did do that – he did that to a so large extent that he left his whole galaxy behind -, but that’s not the point.

The point is that he’s finally exploring Heleus. Seeing the people and things that live in this new home so unfamiliar, so scary to him.

And even if his First Contact experience didn’t go so well, he’s not going to consider those two encounters on Meridian and the Nexus official, but will instead focus on what and who awaits him here on Aya, hoping he has learned one thing or two after a few hours spent on the Tempest with his sister, her angaran boyfriend, and the angaran dictionary SAM was so kind to update for him.

The docks of the city are cool – tidy and colored, they remind him of those Greek or Italian cities the Alliance often advertised to sea-lover aliens like the salarians and the drells.

The angara seems used to the Tempest landing in their city, but some still glance at its shape and engines with a yearning to learn more about them. Some even stop to admire it from afar.

Almost everyone acknowledges Chloe and Jaal’s presence, nodding at them, greeting them with a wave of their hand or a big smile, often followed by a “Pathfinder!” or “Hi, Jaal!”.

Then they see him and their curiosity returns: they don’t conceal it and it’s clear they notice his similarity with his sister – or perhaps they even recognize him from the vids -, because he hears the words “brother” a lot.

The two guards at the entrance are forced to ask him questions; he doesn’t appear on their records and they scan him first, eyeing him and Chloe.

“A new member of your crew, Pathfinder?” one of them asks, her tone kind, and she chuckles.

“Yes, he’s my brother, Scott.”

“H-Hello.” Babbling again. Why does he always have to babble in front of the angara?

He remembers what he told Chloe and what she told him; he thinks about the stuff he read while ill and the stuff he read the previous night and a bit of his anxiety dies out, although his hands keep sweating a lot and his throat is dry.

Thank God angara do not shake hands or he would have made a mess.

“Wait! You are the one the Archon caught!” the other guard gasps. He can’t see their faces due to their helmets, but the tone of the guard’s voice is unmistakable: awe, surprise, and even a tiny bit of admiration.

“Yes, that’s me.” he says, lamely, but the angara don’t seem to mind the obviousness of his words. They are thrilled by the confirmation, instead, and one of them laughs, even bouncing on his legs.

For a second, he reminds Scott of a cute, big, purple rabbit.

“I heard you helped killing him! Anyone who kicked the Archon’s ass is welcome here.”

He smiles at that, a true smile, and his next joke is decent, caused by his anxiety, but also his joy to be here, be alive: “It was a pretty good ass-kicking, I admit it.”

The angara laugh and then the door opens; Jaal and Chloe exchange with them a few more words while Scott proceeds, entering what looks like a small plaza, with a holographic news outlet and a beautiful mural depicting angara in ceremonial outfits.

There is a particular smell in the air, pungent, odd, but not unpleasant and he fills his lungs with it, his mind unable to give it a name. It reminds him of lilac or perhaps basil, but he isn’t sure and he stops trying to recognize it. Everything here is new, different, but that’s not always a bad thing.

“The market is this way.” Jaal tells him, pointing at a beautiful pathway lined with flowers, benches, and round floating lights, which turn out to be a bigger, more complex version of the angaran omnitools that everyone in the city can use.

The feeling of being in a tropical or Mediterranean city increases, but there are also many details that tell his mind he isn’t on Earth; first of all, the angara he can see everywhere, accompanied by their melodious voices, colorful garments and scarves, and loud manners.

Then the flowers and plants, so mysterious and strange-looking; Scott has never been an expert about flora, but he recognizes a new ecosystem when he sees one.

There are waterfalls too: he can hear their sound echo in the pathway and then he sees one, tall and majestic, its sweet water falling on his hair and skin in round, luminescent droplets. It’s not cold and he is sure it shimmers faintly: perhaps an effect of the angaran bioelectricity?

At last, the market appears in front of his eyes, framed by more colored tiles, by the symbols of the angaran alphabet – which looks eerily familiar -, by more angara talking, bartering with each other, selling and buying or simply enjoying the view from the terrace.

A sight like this would have overwhelmed him just the day before, after his first awful encounter with the angara; now he feels calmer, even though he cannot deny how painful that little bit of anxiety still boiling in him is, especially when it twists his stomach like that.

He prays there are public bathrooms here.

“Well… We will leave you to your exploration, then.” his sister says, smiling at him, and she shakes her head when Jaal asks her a question with his eyes. He doesn’t even need to pronounce it: she immediately understands what he wants to tell her and she replies in the same way, using her expression and a simple gesture of her hand.

She has learned a lot from Jaal and the angara.

Despite the startling openness on his sister’s face – she has always been so awkward and goofy that reading her was like trying to decipher a Hanar poem -, Scott doesn’t feel bad, jealous, or scared.

He’s surprised and a part of him – one he still doesn’t want to admit exists – wants to become extroverted and clear about his feelings too.

“Alright, I… I will start from the market, I guess.” He clears his throat, looking around with his hands on his hips, a typical Dad’s pose. “What should I do if I get lost?”

“Use the map on your omnitool – SAM automatically downloaded it for you – or the one provided by the transport service.” Chloe explains without missing a beat, precise like Mom. Then she smirks and he sees a trace of amusement in her eyes. “Or ask for directions.”

Jaal laughs at that, but he is not mocking him, just agreeing with her, and Scott plays along, lightly punching her shoulder.

“Go, you two. Go smooch somewhere and let me explore in peace.”

“Brother. Scott.” Jaal hesitates for a second, before lowering his voice: “If someone bothers you, call us or come to us. Understood?”

“What?” Part of his anxiety spikes up. “Why should someone bother me?”

“They might exaggerate with their jokes or ask you too many questions, for example.” Jaal is eyeing him like he is a frail child, one who needs a lot of protection to go around. He feels mildly offended, but then he understands the big guy’s intentions.

He isn’t trying to offend him nor he thinks he really is weak and in need of assistance. He just wants to make sure his experience on Aya will be good, for the sake of Chloe too.

Every time he stops to think about things for a second without giving in to panic, things look better.

So he doesn’t snap at Jaal or glare at him; instead, he smiles at him and punches his shoulder too, seeing how happy that makes him and Chloe.

“Don’t worry! I’ll handle them better than yesterday, I promise. And if I won’t…” He looks at them both, serious: “Then I’ll come to you, I promise.”

“Good!” His sister and Jaal beam at him, then they leave, heading hand in hand towards the raised side of the market, the one with the terrace looking out over the beautiful, incredibly diverse landscape of Aya.

He thought it was strange seeing lava and hurricanes coexist together with lush vineyards, vines, and tropical forests. This sight that he observed from the Tempest as they landed was jarring enough to confuse him, but now he thinks it’s a pretty good analogy to the angara: welcoming and full of life, but also passionate, stubborn, ready to show how lively they can be.

He admits this was a thought that frightened him a lot: it haunted him during dinner, because if the angara can be so open with their love and kindness, that means they can be open with their rage and frustration too, right?

But then he saw the love in Jaal’s eyes, he saw the way he worries for Chloe, the way he always touches her with respect, with a sense of healthy possessiveness that says “you are mine and I am yours, whenever you go take me with you.”

Even now, from the distance, he watches them walk along the terrace with huge smiles on their faces and Jaal’s eyes never leave hers as she speaks or points at stuff on the horizon. His hand grasps tightly hers and he admires the shape of her nose and the color of her hair.

Believing the angara capable of being abusive partners just because they show their emotions without restraints was a foolish, rude, childish thing to do and Scott is aware of that now, so aware that shame burned his heart more than once during the night, as he spent hours reading their vocabulary, filled with poetry and affection for every little thing in life.

Ascribing to this new alien species human faults or characteristics is stupid and he should know better than that. He knows it was his fear talking and that he really didn’t think all angara capable of being dangerous with their feelings, but that’s not an excuse and he feels the strong urge to shout how sorry he is at the top of his lungs, so that every angara can hear him.

He glances at his sister and her boyfriend one last time, before they disappear from his sight, swallowed by the crowd and foliage: Jaal is whispering something in her ear and Chloe is laughing, her hair moving in the wind and drawing shapes in the air.

Scott sees some angara look at them, probably surprised by seeing one of their people and a human be together. They glance down at their hands, then at Chloe’s smile as she kisses Jaal’s cheek, then at his dark, intense look as he whispers something else, his other hand moving to touch her hair.

Ah, he was right, then. They are really going to smooch each other somewhere.

Chuckling, he enters the market and is relieved to see it’s not dissimilar from the market one would see in a small town of Earth or in specific neighborhoods of the Citadel: there is food – surprisingly, only a vast array of fruit and vegetables -, but also weapons and armors and anything angara may need in their fights against the kett.

One of the merchants glare at him when he timidly approaches his booth, so he steers away from him and stiffly moves to the fruit merchant, an angaran woman with a small, but kind smile.

“Hello.” she says, noticing his interest. “Would you like some angaran fruit? It’s all cultivated here on Aya.”

“Uh…” His bad habit of torturing his hands come back, but as long as he doesn’t snap his fingers in half, he should be good. He spots a round, yellow fruit similar to a mango, but it clearly isn’t a mango and he has no idea how it tastes like.

“That is a paripo.” the merchant explains. “It’s sweet, with pungent undertones. I think you might like it.”

“I…” Scott takes a deep breath and looks at the angara. Small steps, he tells himself. Small steps. Don’t mince your words.

“Forgive me if I’m rude,” he starts, hoping it won’t sound like a terrible apology for what he’s about to say, “but I was told angara mostly eat… paste? Is that right?”

The angara chuckles, a crystalline sound. Like Jaal before, she isn’t mocking him or laughing at him, but simply expressing amusement and it’s fascinating and refreshing how immediately clear the meaning is, how Scott can understand it so easily, without misunderstandings.

“Yes, we turn our food into paste. Easier to carry and consume in battle without wasting precious resources. That way more people can eat and we… how you humans say it? Kill two birds with one stone?” She chuckles again, shaking her head. “That’s a silly, but funny idiom. I like it.”

“Silly, but funny. That’s us!”

He uses humor to feel better, and he does feel better, especially when the merchant laughs with him.

“Fruit in this form is rare.” she continues, gesturing at her goods. “And expensive. If you buy a paripo from me, it means you are have something to celebrate.” She stops, blinking slowly. “You know, it’s strange. I’m sure I already had this conversation, long ago.”

“Maybe another alien asked you the same questions.” Scott suggests, taking a new interest in this paripo fruit. It looks good and if angara think it tastes sweet, then it must be the most saccharine thing human taste-buds will ever taste.

Also, if it really means what the merchant said it means… he has another reason to buy one.

“Yes!” the woman exclaims all of a sudden, making him jump. “You are right! I said the exact same thing to the Pathfinder, the first time she was allowed through the gates.”

“Oh, you mean my sister!” he blurts out, a huge grin spreading on his face. He’s always happy to brag about her and hear more about her experiences, especially now and here, surrounded by her First Contact species.

The merchant blinks again, eyes wide, then she narrows them, studying him intently. Scott stays still, continuing to smile, and the angara murmurs: “Stars. You do look like her.”

“We are twins.” He rubs his neck, not used to being stared at like that. “Uh… So…”

The angara starts chuckling again and this time the sound turns into a giggle.

“She was calmer than you.” she says, sincerely but without judging. “But still very, very excited and curious, like you are. I can see you are part of the same family.”

“Thank you.” He smiles and nods at a paripo. “Can I buy one?”

“Yes, we accept your credits. Bartering for a paripo would cost you too many things, anyway.” She taps something onto her omnitool and Scott’s pings; a window opens up and he can see the total, which apparently includes a “bag” to carry the fruit.

It’s a lot of credits, but it’s not like he didn’t bring any money from the Milky Way. Chloe was also kind enough to send him some, a few days before his discharge from the Cryo Bay.

He accepts the transaction and both omnitools ping again.

“Thank you.” the angara smiles, before turning to take a bag of unknown material and one of the round fruits. She stops, though, and looks back at Scott.

“Wait, do you plan to continue your visit? You can leave the bag here and come get it later.”

“Oh!” He glances at the fruit: it’s not big, but it will definitely get bothersome to carry around. “You are right. Thank you.”

The merchant takes a rectangular label and what looks like a short, green pencil. She hands them both to Scott and motions him to write.

“Your name.” she explains when he stares at her without moving a muscle. “So we will know which bag is yours.” She grimaces. “Not that I expect more people to buy a paripo, but you never know. The Archon’s death is cause of celebration.”

“Tell me about it.” he chuckles, writing down his name in clear – Latin – letters; the angara observes them take form on the label with an appreciative hum, then asks: “What does it say?”

“Scott.”

“Scott Ryder.” She nods, as if she heard that name before and she probably has, although she didn’t know it had his face. “Mine is Felaan. Thank you for helping kill the Archon, Scott Ryder.”

“You are welcome.” he grins, suddenly feeling proud of himself, and he gives her the label. She sticks it to the bag with another giggle.

- - - -

He reaches the tavetaan next and it’s a cozy, relaxing place. There are mostly angara sitting at the tables or at the counter, but he also sees Nexus scientists and researchers, taking a break or talking with the citizens of Aya.

He sees hope and enthusiasm in everyone’s eyes and he knows it’s all very recent, that things were bad at first, especially when exaltation was first discovered or when the truth about the Jaardan came out.

The war isn’t over, of course, and both the angara and the Initiative know this, but with the Archon dead and the kett confused and leaderless, it’s obvious people just want to let themselves go for a while and enjoy this moment of relative peace.

This is what his sister and her team achieved. When she first came here, there were fear and distrust, then she changed it all for the better.

But, he admits to himself, even if rather timidly, I guess I did my small part too.

He asks for a drink and the bartender – he discovers he’s actually a very important figure, a sort of cook-slash-scientist who continuously works on nutrients and food to help the population – smiles at him and gives him a tall glass full of… something.

“Oh boy. What is it?” Scott chuckles, not nervously, but excitedly. The drink smells funny, but not bad. It looks like plain water, but he sees that beautiful shimmer again, as if it is full of glitter, and realizes it really is the water of Aya.

The bartender – Roaan - confirms it is, his grin growing.

“There is a small quantity of tavum in it. It’s an intoxicant, but it shouldn’t get you drunk.”

“Alright. Here goes nothing!” He closes his eyes and drinks the water all in one gulp.

At first, he tastes only the light, peculiar sweetness of the water, then the tavum hits him like a sack of bricks to the face: he coughs and sputters, but thankfully he doesn’t spill any of the drink onto the counter and the bartender lets out a roaring laughter, not unlike Jaal’s.

The unpleasant experiences he had the previous day are gone from his mind: Scott laughs with the bartender and the other angara who watched the scene and then two of them let him taste their own drinks, sharing directly the glass with him, not caring that he’s an alien.

He learns the names of the fruits used to make those cocktails, the names of the drinks, and then the names of the angara themselves. They are loud and kind and it’s almost like being back to the barracks on the Arcturus Station, but there isn’t an underlying sense of shared frustration here, only joviality and camaraderie.

And instead of looking at his map, Scott asks them for directions.

Thanks to their explanation, he finds the Repository of Memory without problems, but he risks to get lost in it: not because it’s particularly big or anything, but because it’s full of angaran, Remnant, kett, and Milky Way relics.

He looks at every single stand, reads every single plaque, and asks so many questions to the curator – an angara called Avela – that her two assistants have to intervene so he can ask them questions too, without bothering the poor, busy woman too much.

They say this with the most amused and fond smiles he ever saw on someone’s face and when they learn he’s Chloe Ryder’s twin brother – “Stars, I didn’t notice the similarities!” – they become even friendlier.

“She found three very important angaran relics! They predate the Scourge, a detail of the utmost importance.” the curator says and his pride for Chloe grows, just like his hope to be able to find similar artifacts in his journeys.

He still fears he won’t be able to grow like she did, but perhaps all that matters is that he grows, even if his results will be different from hers.

Just as he ponders about that, admiring an ancient angaran musical instrument, a door opens and two other angara enter the room, coming from what looks like an underground part of the Repository or another floor entirely.

They catch his attention immediately: one angara, a woman, looks rather elegant, with golden accessories on her head and clothes. She looks different from the other female angara he saw: more… delicate, but tougher at the same time. She gives him a lot of maternal vibes.

The other angara, a man, is scary. A big, frowning guy with two ugly scars on the left side of his face, glaring at his angaran omnitool as if it just offended his mothers.

“You work too much, Moshae. Your vitals are still low.” he says with a tired sigh and Scott thinks he is the one who should rest more, if that’s how he usually sounds like. Then he realizes how he just called the woman next to him.

“That’s not true. I believe I’m not working enough, to be honest.” the Moshae chuckles graciously. “I enjoy being ambassador of Heleus. It is a huge responsibility, but it’s not like I never had those before.”

Then her eyes – so big and galaxy-like like all angara’s – set on Scott and she lets out a small, whispered “oh”. She smiles at him and walks over to him, followed by her confused, tense companion.

“Paavoa.” she greets him, slightly bowing her head, and Scott does the same, mouth dry, sweat running down his back.

“Hello.” he says, hoping that’s the right way to respond to that. “So… you are the lady Moshae?”

She giggles at that, but doesn’t correct him or anything, so he assumes he didn’t say something entirely stupid. The guy behind her, though, looks even more confused and annoyed.

“I am. It is a stubborn title that will never leave me, I fear.” Her smile grows and it becomes warmer. “You are Scott Ryder, are you not?”

Her friend, who is busy typing something onto his omnitool, freezes and his head snaps back at where Scott is, big eyes drilling a hole into his face.

“What?” he murmurs and Scott desperately tries to remember whether he ever offended this guy or his family in any way in the past.

“I… I am.” he confirms, looking back and forth from the Moshae to her friend, silently asking for her help or any kind of explanation. “You saw me in one of the vids going around?”

“Oh, no, I saw you that day on Meridian! You probably didn’t notice me, you were far too weak and hurt.” Her tone turns sympathetic and kinder when she pronounces the last sentence. He knows she is perfectly aware how painful a meeting with the Archon could be.

“You were on the battlefield, too?” he says, not really able to imagine such a lady punching or shooting kett, but angara are surprising creatures, he learned, so his confusion passes soon.

“I was and I greatly enjoyed myself.” She raises her chin high, proud. “The day the Archon died will probably become an angaran holiday.”

Then she turns to her friend, her smile containing a hint of amusement.

“Evfra, stop glaring at this poor boy and introduce yourself.”

Being in the presence of the leader of the angaran Resistance should fill Scott with his familiar anxiety and panic, but the past hour he spent in Aya did miracles for him and he feels reborn, so much he is able to beam at the towering angara and extend his arm to shake hands with him in the angaran way.

“Evfra of the Resistance, right? I heard about you. I’m Scott Ryder.”

His gesture greatly surprises Evfra: he obviously didn’t expect him to know how angara greet each other and he looks at his arm like it’s a poisonous barb, before relaxing a bit and bumping his fist against his shoulder.

He grunts while doing so, but at least he isn’t glaring at him anymore.

“Ryder.” He pronounces that name with a fake calm and his expression hardens for a second. “Please, tell me you are not related to the Pathfinder.”

“I am her twin brother.” He feels like joking, even if Evfra looks ready to die. “Can’t you tell from my face?”

The angara stays silent, then he inhales and exhales slowly, even closing his eyes while doing so.

Then he looks pained and a sound much similar to a low, resigned sigh leaves his lips as he turns to the Moshae, scowling.

“I want to retire.”

- - - -

Half an hour passes until the Moshae lets him leave the Repository. Like Chloe expected, she asked him some questions about the Archon and the Remnant tech, but it went better than what Scott hoped: not only he didn’t panic or answered rudely due to his trauma, he also managed to keep calm enough to answer honestly and clearly, sometimes even cracking a joke or two.

He promises her he will come back soon to continue their conversation and the last impression she gives him is that of a very wise, strong-willed woman.

Evfra is probably the grumpiest angara he has ever met, but there is great sincerity in his manners too and he goes straight to the point, blunt and honest like very few people in the Milky Way were.

There was a moment when Scott stared too much at his scars and the angara glared at him again, barking: “What? Never saw scars inflicted by a kett weapon before?”

“Sorry!” Scott’s panic rose a bit in that moment, but he managed to keep it under control and fix everything with a candid: “The kett left some scars on me too. On my brain, to be more precise.”

Evfra narrowed his eyes and frowned, perfectly silent, while the Moshae gasped loudly.

“The Remnant tech, right?”

“Yeah. When my sis and I interfaced with it without our AI, it fried our brains a little. The doctors found some faint scarring on them.” He realized he had probably revealed a very alarming detail, so he hurried to add, also to defend his sister’s reputation: “But it’s nothing serious! It doesn’t stop us from doing our work, it was just… uh… a flesh wound?”

The Moshae smiled at that and reassured him that she understood perfectly, but Evfra stared at him with something akin to sympathy and a weird kind of respect for the whole time.

Now Scott is wandering near the entrance of the Resistance Headquarters, admiring the way the light plays with the waterfalls and the differently colored skin of the angara.

He’s getting hungry and just as he debates whether go back and buy some fruit to eat while walking or see if the nutrient paste the tavetaan sells really is that bad, he spots his sister and Jaal near the terrace.

She is laughing as he plays with her hair – no, he’s trying to braid it.

He’s laughing too, but there is also a look of deep concentration on his face whenever he looks back at the brown locks in his big hands. She is holding her hairpin, waiting for him to complete the hairstyle.

“So I twist it… just like this?” he asks, seizing the hair in a delicate grip and twirling it; Scott realizes he’s trying to tie it in Chloe’s usual ponytail, but with little success, also because of his bioelectricity which causes a lot of static to go around.

“Yes, then ...” she starts, but another laugh bubbles up in her throat and she lets it out, bringing a hand to her mouth to muffle it. There are tears of mirth and joy in her eyes and Jaal laughs with her, bumping his forehead against the back of her head.

They laugh like two teenagers in love – no, that’s not right, their love actually looks more mature than that. It reminds Scott of a kind of love he already saw before and then he understands.

They are just like Mom and Dad were in private, in those quiet moment when Dad thought he and Chloe were asleep or too busy in their rooms to hear how loudly their parents were laughing and joking.

He remembers a particular day, when he walked in on his parents playing like that: Dad couldn’t close the zipper of Mom’s dress, no matter how hard he tried, and they were giggling so much their faces had gotten all red.

Dad looked rather sheepish when he noticed Scott, but the twinkle in his eyes stayed there for the whole day, another proof of how much he loved his family and how much strength his hard job took from him.

“Wait, I’ll show you again.” Chloe says and she ties her hair in just a few seconds, with swift, precise movements of her hands and wrists. Jaal hums thoughtfully, then he delicately unties the ponytail and smooths her hair with his large palms.

“Beautiful.” he murmurs, before kissing the back of her head and her cheek, and she laughs again, patting his thigh.

“Come on, Darling One! Try again.”

They look adorable and Scott smiles, wondering how he could ever fear the angara to be dangerous, how he could ever fear Jaal to be dangerous for Chloe.

He is about to leave, his heart finally at peace like never before, when he hears them.

“Ugh, can you believe it? The alien took him!”

“It means he really is dense, then.”

He slowly turns to where the two voices are coming from. Two female angara are whispering to each other while giving sidelong glances to Chloe and Jaal; they look surprised, disappointed, one of them might even be a bit angry, but most of all they look confused.

“I don’t understand. What does he see in her? She is not bad-looking, but…”

“Her head is small and her legs are weird. Also that hair he’s touching… Skkut, it’s disturbing.”

Scott breathes deeply and counts to ten, although he keeps glaring at the two angara without pause.

“The most handsome fighter of the Resistance… together with an alien.” One of the two women sighs, folding her arms on her chest. “What a waste.”

“I heard humans might be compatible with us, though.” her friend says, causing the other angara and Scott to jump.

What?

“What?”

“Yes, I’m not joking! They are much similar to us, even internally, and since we were… you know… created, maybe the Jaardan wanted us to be similar to other races they found in the universe.”

The other angara babbles some unintelligible words, then she manages to spit out: “What are you saying? The Jarevaon Imasaf is too far from here! The Jaardan…”

“The Jaardan created life. Who knows, maybe they were able to travel through galaxies without much problems, they saw the humans, and thought it would be useful to make us compatible with more species.”

“Useful why?”

The angara shrugs. She is talking about her species’ creation and the possible implications and reasons behind it like one would talk about the weather.

Her friend shakes her head, scoffing, and goes back to her unashamed staring. Chloe and Jaal are laughing again after the ponytail Jaal tried to make immediately got loose.

“Stars, can you imagine? Their children would be so odd. Her nose is so big.”

“I like her laughter, though.”

“Yes, but he is more stupid and blind than I thought.”

Scott can’t stand that anymore: grunting, he stomps towards the two women and clears his throat loudly to catch their attention.

They gasp and turn to him, tensing up.

“That human is my sister.” he starts, making the two angara gasp again. He can’t tell, but they are paler than before. “And she is the best person in Andromeda. The fact that the best fighter of the Resistance was able to see that and got together with her means he is a great person too.”

He folds his arms, glaring at the two women, trying to look imposing and bigger like Dad taught him before he went to work on the Arcturus Station.

“So, please. Stop talking ill of my sister and my brother-in-law and aim your jealousy and envy at someone else.” He grunts. “Better yet, appreciate how special their love is and find some harmony in your lives. I just did that and it feels good.”

He smiles at them, to show them he’s not angry anymore – he still is, but he doesn’t want to appear too frightening or resentful – and walks away, heading towards the Resistance Headquarters, his steps light, his heart even lighter.

The two women share a dumbfounded look, then they glance at the couple again: they are now facing each other, Chloe’s hair tied in a messy, but tight ponytail, and Jaal is caressing her cheek while holding her close. They are staring into each other’s eyes, murmuring words of love.

“Alright.” one of the two angara admits with a sigh. “They are kind of cute, I guess.”

Her friend stays quiet for a while, then she timidly asks: “Don’t you think the Pathfinder’s brother is particularly… fascinating?”

A few notes about this chapter!

- The frustration Scott feels is actually canon. After finishing the game, you can ask SAM how being connected to Scott felt like. He says that he sensed frustration and a growing desire to explore the unknown while staring at the relays of the Arcturus Station. "The rest is private", but he also says that despite his illness, Scott was ready to jump on his feet and fight. Ryder is as strong as he is, but she expresses that potential differently, probably because her job was more satisfying and she didn't miss anything while in Andromeda.

- All the angara mentioned in this chapter actually appear in the game: Felaan really is the fruit merchant, Roaan is the bartender/scientist who takes care of the tavetaan and works on the nutrient paste, and the two whispering angara are the ones who gossip about Jaal when you first explore Aya.

- I'm not sure whether Bioware really is pushing the "angara and human are compatible" idea or not with all their hints scattered around, but I like to think that through some space magic (or perhaps thanks to the angara's nature itself, like the end of the chapter implies) they might really have children together. Hybrids are actually canon in the Mass Effect universe: in the OT, it's stated that there are ways to create interspecies offspring, but they are illegal and frowned upon just like experiments with AI. It's a pretty delicate topic and I still have to decide whether an angaran/human hybrid would look good and healthy or not, but since the angara were a The Sims-like experiments made by the Jaardan, I wouldn't be surprised if their creators made them compatible with other species they observed in other galaxies (maybe the Jaardan could observe the other galaxies thanks to their synthetic nature or, if they weren't synthetics, they used the Remnants? Who knows?). It's all crazy theories, so let's just say it's all a big, bolded "?" and let's go with adoption for now :'D

- The comments about Chloe's look and her insecurity come from the heavy criticism the default/Sara look (the one I used for Chloe) got when the game was released. At first, I didn't like it much either, but then it really grew on me and now I think the default face is the cutest. I love it a lot ; v ;

#mass effect #me:a #jaal ama darav #chloe ryder #rydaal #lafaiette's fic #THESE CHAPTERS ARE GETTING SO FREAKING LONG

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