bitofapessimist (bitofapessimist) wrote in spinningcompass, @ 2014-08-10 13:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !plot, shepard |
Who: Ty and Shepard
Where: Starts in front of the apartment building then wandering around on the streets to a gym
What: Talking and shit
When: Friday, 9th
Rating: Low
Open: Nope
Status: Completish
The feeling of the sun on his skin was amazing. Three weeks in and he still couldn't get enough of it. He had dragged a chair outside. A table resided next to it, holding a cool beer and some cupcakes. A beer that was slowly getting warmer and warmer. Every day could be the last day of it and that was a seriously depressing thought. He knew he should feel sorry for Aaron but he had a hard time doing so. Aaron would stop being Hodr, Ty was stuck with him for life. The tickling warmth on his body did the rest. It was hard feeling sorry for someone when he was feeling this good, then the other person could always feel it. No, he had every right to enjoy this. He slowly was getting used to all the sensations. At the end of a day, he still had energy left. His power was not completely drained by all the smells, the tastes, the feelings. He had rediscovered the world. --- Shepard was ready to set out to record more of the city into her omnitool. Making a map that she was able to call up on a regular basis seemed like a good way to spend her time. Especially now that she had managed to extend the range, so she didn’t need to carry any bulky equipment. She had been tempted to deck out in one of the armors that had shown up in the closet and drawers of her selected room. But she wasn’t keen on sticking out like a sore thumb. Not anymore than she already did. Shorts and a sleeveless tee had to be enough. She was punching in a few things into the holographic tool as she descended the steps that she almost missed Ty all together. There was just something about him that made her stop. Something familiar ticked in her mind. She only came up with ‘Anders’ brother’ but she still didn’t know who Anders was. “Maybe you can answer a question for me. Who is Anders, and why do I know you’re his brother?” --- The moment he noticed Shepard he straightened himself, shifting from a slumped position into almost an upright one. He was just about to give her a standard greeting than she chose to go for an unconventional one. His eyebrows shot up. “Uhm..." That had not been a question he had prepared for today. "Maybe someone mentioned it?" Someone had been himself when he had first met. When he had rescued her and waited for her to get better. He had wanted to check up on her but decided to spare her the confusion of a weird man she had forgotten. "How are you? You are pretty new here, am I right?" --- “No, not that I can recall. I mean I did probably hit my head pretty hard when I got here, but I don’t think that’s anything I could forget.” It didn’t feel like it anyway. Shepard shrugged slightly, it wasn’t overly important really. Not at the moment, she simply figured it would have been a question he’d be able to answer. Regardless she held her hand out to him, with a smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty new. I’m doing pretty good. Getting used to this odd place. I’m Shepard, by the way.” --- Ty took it with a smile. It was nice to be able to shake someone's hand without the danger of giving them a frost bite. "Ty. Anders’s brother," he said. “ Do you want to sit down? I can get another chair and you can have some cupcakes." He had gotten up and offered her his own chair with a gesture. --- Shepard chuckled softly as she shook his hand. “Well it’s a pleasure Ty.” She puffed out her cheeks slightly when he stood. She wasn’t entirely used to someone giving up their seat for her. “No no, I’ll sit on the step.” It wasn’t too far away, was it? Though she was sure Garrus had probably done just as much, and no doubt got the same reaction. She didn’t want to put him out. --- "Are you sure? It's no problem, " he said, once again gesturing to the now unused chair. He decided to change his tactics. “ You know I'll just get another one and a few more bottles of beer." She seemed willing enough to stay. --- Shepard took a deep breath, he was being stubborn. But she decided so was she, and there was no harm in relenting a little if he was just going to go do anyway. “Alright, I will, but only because you’re going to get more supplies.” She wasn’t the typical woman anyway. No where near being damsel at all. --- “I can't leave you without a beer, can I?" he said with a smile before he jumped up the stairs and vanished into the building. A few minutes later and he was back. He was armed with a six pack and the extra chair. The beer was placed on the table and the chair unfolded. “ See, didn't even take that long." He had done a little sprint up the stairs. Without Hodr he was left with all this extra energy. --- While he was gone Shepard nestled into the seat he’d left behind. Really there was no point in snubbing the guy, he seemed nice enough. Familiar. And that wasn’t something she could find in this place. Not really. Even if she didn’t really know him, not first hand anyway. It was nice to feel like she did. “No, not even long enough to give me the urge to stare longingly at yours.” She teased. Snagging one of the fresh and twisting the top off. She took a healthy swallow. Sighing softly once she had. “It’s been a while since I had a earth beer. Everything else you have to be careful of or it could kill you, or at the very least knock you on your ass.” --- Her comment threw him a bit out of the loop. He simply stared at her for a second or two, a slight blush creeping on his cheeks. Thankfully, she went on and he didn't have to say anything. "So, when was the last time you have been on earth?" he asked as he himself settled down. --- “I don’t know how long I was out, maybe an hour or two before I landed here? Maybe a little longer. I was in London, fighting the good fight. Leading men, some to their death…” A little vacancy entered her eyes, before she shook it off and took a long drag from the bottle. Shaking it off a little. “But no talk of war. It’s a beautiful day, and this is a very good beer.” She took a shorter sip and glanced over at him, with a little smile. “So, Ty, where are you from?” --- So London was still around. "Uhm," he said, finally taking a sip of his own beer. "I'm a Kiwi. From Auckland. Is... is New Zealand still around?" he asked. They were a small country. He doubted that anyone wanted to conquer it. They had no oil, only sheep and hobbits. --- “New Zealand is, yes, but I didn’t hear news of Auckland or any of the other major cities, so I’m not exactly sure if the Reapers…” Shepard spread her hands. She had done all that she could do. And it had landed her here. Sure she was alive, and well, but at what cost. She took another deep swig from her bottle leaving behind only a little to slosh around in the bottom. “There’s hope that they hadn’t moved to New Zealand yet. The population wasn’t all that big, it was mostly pastures and hills, and lots of green.” --- “Reapers? What happened?” he asked. They hadn’t gotten into it yet and even if they had, it wasn’t like she would remember it. He really wondered what had happened to her earth. --- “Reaper are, were, large synthetic life forms older than any written history throughout the galaxy. They were made to wipe out all organic life forms, except for the most primitive.” Shepard watched the beer slosh around in the bottom of the bottle as she toyed with it. “Me and my crew set out to stop the cycle when they started the attack.” She still hated not knowing what came of the Normandy and her crew. --- Ty stared at her. One question was present in his head. “ Why? Who made them?" Why would anyone create something that wiped out all life forms and how could they be older than any culture. Someone had to have created them. --- “Once organic life got to the stage that they were creating synthetic life, more or less, they came through and wiped it out. Because apparently organics and synthetics will eventually go to war and almost wipe each other out.” Shepard couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the notion. “Like each lifetime is exactly the same. But we don’t know who made them. They just referred to themselves as ‘us’ when I spoke to the program they left behind.” --- "So it has happened before?" Ty asked. Slowly and carefully he tried to wrap his head around the scenario. It was a rather scary one. --- “Yep. At least twice, if not more. It’s every fifty thousand years.” Rather than play with the bottle anymore she downed the rest. “I think I stopped them. I can’t be sure. It’s kinda hard to look for news on what happened if you’re this far into the past.” --- “Mmm," Ty said and nodded. “ What happened... right before you got here?" --- “I had gathered help from across the galaxy. People who wouldn’t have fought together if I hadn’t asked them too. Different species fighting to save their enemy’s home world.” Shepard cleared her throat. “Anyway to cut a long story short, they’d all come to get rid of the Reapers on Earth. They’d helped build a weapon that was supposed to kill them all. But it needed someone to turn it on, and to cut the story even shorter, I was the one that turned it on.” --- Ty continued to watch her in amazement. She had to have quite a reputation to be able to summon an army from all across a whole galaxy. "That's a very heroic tale, " he said. His voice gave openly away that he was impressed. Saving the world was a lot better than repairing fridges. "How old are you? If I may ask." He wouldn't judge her to be older than him. --- Shepard chuckled softly. “I don’t know that I’d call it heroic.” Catching her lower lip between her teeth she leaned forward and snagged one of the other bottles before setting the empty on the ground. “I’m thirty-two. You?” She was a little curious. --- Her movement reminded him of his own beer. He took a sip while he continued to watch her. She was kinda cute. “ The same. Though my CV is a lot more boring than yours." He couldn't put 'saved the earth' on it. --- Twisting the top off of her fresh she gave him a little smile. “Sometimes, when my body is aching from a tough landing, or when I get thrown through everyone’s favorite fish tank in that really popular sushi place, I wish for something a little more boring.” She took a sip of the beer, sat back and rotated her shoulders back a bit as if talking about the aches brought them to the surface. “Being the savior of the galaxy is not as glamorous as it sounds.” --- Longing for something normal was something he understood. Being normal was the best he had felt in a while. ”Do you have a lot of old battle wounds? How is your stomach wound?" He could have punched himself right after he said those words. He couldn't have known about her wound, could he? --- “I have a few. Had a few anyway. Most of them were taken care of, the Normandy had a really good medical staff. And other gadgets that took care of scars. I just have the residual aches that comes from living that sort of life.” She brought a hand up to trace a few places on her face where there had been a few. And Shepard was far too used to her wounds being public knowledge that his question didn’t phase her much. “It’ll probably be the only scar I have.” Shifting around she lifted her shirt just enough to show how it was already one, a pink puckered angry looking gash against her ribs. --- Ty breathed out his relief. He had his own scars. Not many and most of them were tiny and came from fights with his brothers. "Sorry, I guess we aren't that advanced here," he apologised for his time. --- She settled back into the chair and took another sip from the beer. “It’s not too bad, I don’t mind having a little to show for, you know?” Shepard shrugged slightly. “What about you? Tell me about your CV.” She gave him a little grin. --- " Uhm, okay. I grew up in Norsewood. In New Zealand. It's a small town on the North Island. I went to school there. Later on moved to Auckland and became a fridge repairman." His tone and expressions gave away that he thought his was a major anticlimax to her story. "Very rewarding career. You wouldn't believe all the fan mail I get," he added sarcastically. A smile remained on his lips as he took a sip of his own beer. --- “That’s… very unexpected.” Shepard admitted, with a little smile. “I’m used to repairmen being rather…” She looked him over. Most of the appliance repairmen she’d ever seen on human standards were not built the way he was. Quite the opposite, actually. So she curved her hand out far from her own stomach, “with a lot less hair, here.” She touched the top of her head. “And a whole lot back there.” She thumbed toward her back. --- Ty laughed. The laugh quickly turned into a low chuckle. "Who knows what will happen in a few years? Maybe hair migration is a common thing amongst my kind. I hope not. I do like my hair where it is. But I do work out a bit. Go running. The gym." He nodded, glancing at her before taking another sip and diverting his eyes back to his beer. --- Shepard chuckled softly, glad to lighten the mood a few notches. “I do the gym a bit myself. Though I’ve had to lay off for a few weeks. And running is kind of a way of life, unless you have to be stealthy.” It was hard to run and not make noise in her gear. --- "Have you been to the gym here yet?" he asked. Ty voted she hadn't, just to have a reason to offer her to show it. --- “Not yet, I’ve mostly been walking around scanning buildings, so I can make a map for myself. There doesn’t seem to be one in the computers. Or not one I can find.” She couldn’t have broke his heart and told him she had if she wanted too. He seemed far too sweet. --- "I can show it to you if you want," he suggested. He hadn't seen any kind of map yet. "I can't help you with the map though," he said almost excusingly. --- “I’d like that. Want to now? Or do you wanna sit here and soak up some more of the sun?” She took a sip of her beer, shifting in her seat in case he did. Shepard shrugged slightly. “It’s not hard, really, and I keep fit from it I’m sure.” --- " Uhm, yes. Why not?" he said. That hadn't been his plan but it wasn't as if he actually had any. “I guess I can get a sunburn on the way." --- Shepard shrugged and stood up, moving the chair so it wouldn’t be in the way. “The sun is good like that. Fortunately, either because I’ve been a spacer for so long, or because of the upgrades I don’t sunburn.” No, she was pale, always pale. --- Ty mimicked her movement, pushing the chair back and picking up the beer and the cupcake plate. "Do you want to do a session? Then I go and grab my training clothes." And he could put Aaron's strength to another test. --- “A session?” Shepard shrugged slightly. “Sure, I don’t see any harm in it.” She didn’t mind showing up a man or two. Surprising them with her own level of fitness. “I’m going to stay in this though. My N7 gear is a little heavier weight than the stuff this place has to offer.” --- “I’ll ask you what N7 gear is when I’m back,” he said. “It will only take a minute or two.” For the second time that day, he sprinted up the stairs. The beer went back into the fridge and so did the cupcakes. His backpack was quickly packed. Water, a protein drink, shorts, shoes, socks, a towel and a shirt. He quickly slipped into his flip-flops and pulled a muscle shirt over his own head. The backpack got flung over his shoulder as he made his way downstairs again. “So… N7 gear… is that something like your combat armour?” he asked as he stopped next to her. --- Shepard tried to hide the fact that she watched him dart up the steps, at least until he was in the building. The sight was enough to urge her to lean against the side and finish off her second beer. Settling the bottle down beside the steps for collection later. She waited patiently while he collected his things. She didn’t feel the need to gather much of anything. A bottle of water probably would have been smart, but she wasn’t sure if she was going to press herself too hard for her first actual workout since she’d got there. “Yeah, it’s anything issued by the Alliance military. N7 is like… Navy SEALs, but for space travel, and off Earth, uh, things.” She hadn’t wanted to mention fighting, because it was more than just that. Sometimes she’d been able to settle a skirmish without actually pulling a gun. Shepard leaned away from the building with a smile. “Alright, lead the way.” --- Ty bit his own lips as she described ‘off Earth things’. He tried not to chuckle at her choice of words. “I think the next gym would be that way,” he said, pointing to their right. “But there’s a better equipped one farther away from the apartments into the other direction.” Taking different routes whenever he went for a run had already left him with a great feeling from the place. “I’d just say we take the fifteen minute walk to the closer one.” --- Shepard was tempted to call him on the face, she’d seen it on a few. Remembered the attempt not to laugh from Kaidan most of all. But instead she shrugged it off and decided on a different venue. “Well, if you can only handle a fifteen minute walk.” She shrugged, hoping her grin made it obvious that she was only teasing. --- This time Ty laughed. “Oh, you wanna play it that way. You are talking to a younger brother here." A challenge did not go unnoticed, even though she meant it only teasingly. “I've been beaten in enough competitions" - mostly by Mike -"to not let back down." His eyes glanced from her shoes to his mostly naked feet. He might regret this but he was too much in a good mood to care. "The longer walk it is." --- She had fallen in love with a few pair of chuck taylors, one of which adored her feet. She did not miss his look. “You might not get too far without those falling to pieces on you.” She pointed down to his flipflops. “Are you sure? I mean I will totally take a raincheck, no hard feelings.” After all she was trained in endurance, and had the stamina to prove it. Even if she didn’t look like much. Shepard brought one knee up to her chest, stretching out her muscles as she did, and followed with the other. Arching her back to set all the cracks free. This would be the first real round of exercise she’d gotten since coming here. And she didn’t want to pull anything by stepping wrong because she hadn’t stretched out. --- “ It’s only half an hour longer," he laughed. He had grown up on a farm. Barefooted long walks, running around on the gravel driveway... as a kid he had elephant soles. But Auckland had softened them. He did not want to do this kinda walk barefooted anymore. "They might be so kind as to survive that." He waited next to her as she stretched out. "So... what about your family? Do you have any siblings? " --- "Oh well maybe they will survive." Shepard knew she was enjoying teasing him a little too much. It was hard not to with the way his face lit up when he laughed. "No siblings, and my parents were killed in an attack that put me in the N7 program. I think I still had some family on Earth, but I couldn't tell you who they were." Shepard shrugged. She started in the direction he had indicated. " Do you have more siblings besides Anders?" --- “That’s tough. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that,” he said, watching her with sympathy. Her history had him line up a whole pile of questions. How old had she been? Had she witnessed the attack? But before he could ask any of these, she had tossed the answer ball back to him. “Uhm, yes. Two. Mike and Axl. Mike is the oldest. He raised us after our parents abandoned us and Axl is the baby. He’s ten years younger than me.” Ty shut his eyes shortly as the sun hit his face. “This is seriously the best feeling,” he mumbled with a wide smile. It was. He had missed it for so long to a point where he had been barely able to remember what it felt like. Soon, he would miss it again. The smile faltered a bit as he looked back at her. “So, what about a new family? Do you have any kids? A husband?” He felt nervous asking the question. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready for anything new. How things had gone between Rachel and him had made him realise that Dawn was still not forgotten. Ty had compared Rachel to her and something new shouldn’t be build on comparisons. Still, the woman in front of him seemed like a great person and love did whatever it wanted. Especially, when you were Ty. --- "Military life doesn't really make it easy to start a family. There had been someone, but he probably thinks I've died on him again." Shepard forced a smile for a second. "It wouldn't be right for me to expect him to drop whatever again." She didn’t expect Kaidan to keep his candle lit for her after he mourned her a second time. She shoved her hands into her pockets and glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "Anybody, besides your brothers waiting for you back in Auckland?" --- " Uhm, no. I guess. Friends but no one special really," he said with a sigh. He didn't want to explain Eva. Or Dawn. Not right now. "So, how long have you two been together?" --- “We weren’t really. I mean we screwed around, but I started out as his Commander, then I was dead for two years. And then we were equals again, I guess? The Council made him a Spectre, so in Council space we were equals, but in Alliance space I was still his Commander.” Shepard ran a hand through her hair, sighing softly. “It’s complicated. My crew knew there was something going on between us, but I don’t think it went beyond that. Pretty sure one of us would be facing a court martial if it did. Or I’d be forced into retirement.” Which wasn’t something she could exactly say she’d regret. She blew out a breath. Kaidan would have been worth that though. --- "Would you have wanted a relationship if it had been allowed?" he asked. Being in love without being able to lead a relationship was something he could connect to. Just that in his case he was the one who had broken it off. If Dawn weeks only turn up here... here he could explain. They had a chance here. Maybe... One day. Ty let out a sigh. --- “I think so. He got me, you know? Well, after I convinced him I wasn’t on team Cerberus, anyway.” Shepard snorted softly. “I didn’t have to explain myself to him. And in battle we were like one well oiled machine. He didn’t make retirement sound like a death sentence.” She did love Kaidan. “And then the Council doesn’t have any regs against fraternization with other Spectres. I’m pretty sure they were simply happy as long as we didn’t kill each other, or try to bring down the galaxy.” But she was fairly sure she would have been ready for retirement, her body if not her mind and soul. --- He threw her a sad smile. “It must be hard that he's not here." He understood. He knew. That magic someone who made all the other women seem dull, boring and ugly. --- “It’s not too bad. I mean, I can believe he’s off safe, living a life without fear. Keeping the rest of the crew out of trouble.” Or she could hope he would do that this time. Hope Kaidan would tie himself to them a she had. “They’re a good group of people. People worth risking everything for.” And she had. “It just isn’t in the cards for me and Kaidan.” --- “Did you never long for having a partner?” he went on. He knew he wouldn’t be able to lead the life she had. The fighting was already a turn off. But it was the impossibility of a relationship would seal the job’s fate for good. He wanted someone in his life he could share everything with. Someone to wake up next to in the morning. Someone he could eventually start a family with. --- “I guess everybody does. Wants something to call their own, you know? But I was a name, a face everyone knew. Anyone that took on that mantle would have been asking for trouble.” Anyone that wasn’t trained, anyone that wasn’t in her line of work. “Even Kaidan wasn’t safe. None of them were. But they knew how to fight, even if it was to overcome battle wounds.” Shepard passed her hand through her hair again, and let it fall back into place. “Otherwise people who hated me, wanted to get back at me for one reason or another, they’d go after anyone that couldn’t take care of themselves. Just to get to me.” She’d seen it done. On Mars. And that haunted her. --- Ty listened and soaked her story in. From her expressions, from her voice he could tell that life had left its marks on her. She wasn't the stereotypical hero soldier who was unphased by everything she’d seen. "Are you happy to be here?" he asked softly, looking at her face from the side and watching her expressions change. --- “Yeah, I am actually. I’ve been doing that for sixteen years. Fighting one battle or another, guarding this, or aiming my gun at that. I might be useless here, but it’s not exactly a bad thing.” And she knew if anything bad came to pass, besides the fact that everyone had switched skills, she’d stand up and fight, and put her life on the line for the people here too. “Now if only I could get a message to my crew in the future, I’d be set. Let them know I’m safe, and alive. So the most of them aren’t beating themselves up for my death… But I haven’t figured out how to do that. Besides leaving a handwritten note.” --- He wanted to tell her that she did not need to. From what he heard once they left this place they returned home. But she didn't have much to return to. Not if she was on the verge of dying. He was quiet for a second. His forehead displaying the deep thoughts he was in. "There is a genie here," he suggested eventually. "Have you asked around if someone can help you?" He really wanted to provide her with the solution. Make her feel happy. After everything she had done for humanity she deserved it. --- Shepard watched his face, watched the emotions brewing, and gears grinding. His solution surprised her though. “A genie?” It shouldn’t have surprised her, not with all she’d seen, but it did. “I haven’t asked anyone, no. I mean it’s more than a hundred and seventy years into the future. It seemed a little too much to expect someone to know how to pass a note that far ahead.” Let alone onto her ship. --- Ty shrugged. “You were transported here from more than a hundred and seventy years into the future. If you can transport a human being across time and space, I think a message should be a piece of cake,” he said. By now, he was used to let out of the ordinary things dictate his life. Things he did not expect and things he usually got no explanation for (and if there was one it was usually cryptic mumbling by Olaf). It did not mean that he liked it but nonetheless it let him think outside the box of normal humans. --- “You’ve made an excellent point. And the people that was wiped out before us was able to send a message that survived fifty thousand years. What’s a couple hundred?” Not that Shepard was the sort to dwell on the depressing but that was definitely a pick-me-up. At least it would mean she tried something. She was able to give him an honest, all the way to the eyes, smile. “Anyone ever tell you, your optimism is very contagious?” --- “Optimism?” Ty gave her an odd glance and a half-smile. He hadn’t heard that word in reference to him in quite a while, not without a negation in the same sentence. “No. I’m told I’m quite the opposite. But I guess I’m not myself at the moment.” --- “Well I wouldn’t have guessed it. You seemed pretty natural with it. Normally it’s me saying positive things loud enough and with enough conviction that people have to believe it. And it gets the job done.” She walked a few steps, smile still lingering. “I didn’t realize this was what other people felt, when faced with undoable odds, and get told it can get done, it can happen, powerfully enough that it has to be believed. There’s no room for doubt.” She was pumped, excited even. “Thanks.” Without a second thought she paused in stride just long enough to spare him a kiss on the cheek. “I needed that.” --- Ty’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the kiss or the surprising effect he had had on her. He had wanted to lift up her spirit and here she was with her spirit all lifted up. He wasn’t used to having that effect on people and he doubted he would still have it once he had Hodr back. If she liked him now for being an optimist, he doubted she would react positively to who he really was. “Uhm, I guess you’re welcome.” Insecurity made his voice waver a little. He knew he wasn’t the greatest catch on earth. The immense list of unsuccessful dates had told him that. --- “Sorry, I guess that was a little forward.” She scratched at her cheek. But her apology didn’t wipe her smile away. “Are you the shy sort? Should I be a little more forward to see if I can get you to blush?” Shepard found it a lot easier to flirt with a better outlook. Her smile turned a little cheeky, as she quirked a brow at him. The mood gave her an extra bounce in her step, and a mission to look forward to. More than just making a digimap of the place. --- Just by saying that she gained the wanted effect: he blushed. Also something he usually wasn’t able to. The almost ticklish feeling in his cheeks felt strange and made him blush even more. “I’m usually not used to being the optimistic sort I guess. I’m more the one who brings everyone down in a group. Or at least, that’s what I’m told,” he explained. “I’m usually not this person. Sorry.” --- The blush made her grin, but his confession, well it surprised her. “So, was that just for me?” Shepard was sure she didn’t know him. Why would he step out of something that was normal for a perfect stranger? She knew she wasn’t that good looking. Sure she’d turned heads a time or two. But usually that was because she was armed to the teeth. --- Ty sighed. The romantic in him wanted to agree. But he was no liar. He hated lying. “I wish I could say ‘yes’. You are certainly the kind of woman I would try to be my best for. But that’s not it.” He stopped shortly. “Have - have you been affected by this weird switch that has happened?” --- Shepard shook her head. “I read about a few of them, it’s pretty interesting. I don’t know what I’d pass on, soldiery-ness?” She chuckled softly. “Regardless of why you said it, it was sweet.” She was still grateful. “So are you saying you are affected by the weird switch?” --- He smiled at her attempt to make him feel better. “Yes. And this is probably the moment where I should tell you that I wasn’t completely honest earlier on. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to jump you with all the information. We’ve met before. I was the one who brought you to the hospital. But you’ve forgot me when I’ve stopped being me. Or who I was. I’m not human. Usually. I hate being what I am.” --- That stopped her. Was that why she felt at ease with him? She wasn’t a naturally shy person, but he felt… familiar, unlike anyone else she’d come across. “What you are doesn’t make you who you are, for starters.” Shepard could think of a million and one examples. “What are you usually?” She figured it would be easy to ask questions while she computed the rest. She only hoped he hadn’t already told her, and she just forgot. She didn’t like that she’d forgot anything. --- Ty grimaced shortly. That wasn’t a question he wanted to answer. For her sake. “I - let’s call it a mutation. My body temperature is usually very low. I can make things cold. Yay!” he said with a depressed undertone. “A side-effect of it is that I don’t taste so much. I smell next to nothing and I never feel warm. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a cloudy, a rainy or a sunny day.” He could go on endlessly about his misery but he stopped himself. “To make short: I can come off a bit depressed at times. My powers just always get in the way of almost everything.” He added a wavering smile before averting his gaze. --- Could he be a primitive biotic? Shepard knew very little about biotics, having only been ‘given’ her own after Cerberus had brought her back to life. “When you get your… mutation back I want to do a scan. It’s harmless, and is generally just a few button presses and a wave of a hand.” She demonstrated by bringing up her omnitool and waving it over him. With a press of a few holographic buttons she had a mini 3d xray sort of display up over the tool. With a flick of her finger it spun around. “Think you’d be okay with that?” If he was what she thought he was, she could help. At least a little. --- “What kind of scan?” he asked sceptically. Ty remembered her omnitool but he wasn’t sure what she was on about. He doubted that anything but disappointment would come out of it for her. --- “Well… It scans everything. It can’t do minute detail, but it gives me your skeletal system, your nervous system, various organs. I can’t do anything about what it gives me, but I can store it and I could have sent it off to the Doctor on the Normandy, and she could have told me if you could be moved or not if you had an injury.” With each system mentioned it was highlighted on the little mini scan she’d done. --- “I know what’s wrong with me if that’s what you are after,” he asked. He didn’t want to crush her hopes of helping him. It was a nice gesture. “Dying is the only way of getting rid of it. Or I can try to make a wish.” He was considering it. He didn’t want to go back to who he had been. He liked baking. He liked to feel the sun. The smells of the flowers, the warmth of a touch. He wanted all of that in his life. --- “Dying isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me on that one.” While she didn’t exactly remember the death part, she remembered how much it had hurt trying to breathe when there was nothing to breathe from. “So if you can wish it away, I’d definitely go that route. But what I’d look for, wont show up until you’re… you again.” Or that was her theory. --- “What are you looking for?” he asked. It sounded as if she had something specific in mind. --- “It’s hard to describe, abnormalities in your nervous system mostly. If there is, there are chips that I could probably create and they can be placed just under the skin, and it’ll help you control some of the things you’re having trouble controlling.” But if there were no abnormalities, she wasn’t sure if there was anything she could do. --- “I don’t think a chip is going to help. I’m…” He wasn’t sure if he should tell her. He stopped shortly and flinched. “I’m a vessel for something. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.” --- Shepard caught her lip with her teeth for a moment. “Would you mind pacifying me? You won’t feel it. You didn’t feel it when I just did it now, did you?” If she could help she wanted to do what she could. He had helped her, twice now. And he didn’t even know her. --- He watched her. She seemed very determined and he didn’t want to crush it. “Yeah, okay. I didn’t feel anything. I don’t think it can hurt.” He smiled at her softly. --- “I’ve got to try something. You seem to hate it. And… I had friends that hated what they could do too. To begin with, and then they made it into an asset when they realized they couldn’t get rid of it.” Shepard didn’t want to see him take drastic measures. Like trying to die. --- “Okay, here is the deal,” he suggested. The smile lingered on his face at seeing her concern. “I will let you try to help me if you aren’t disappointed if it won’t work.” He stretched out his hand for her to shake. --- Shepard slipped her hand in his and gave a good solid shake. “I swear not to be disappointed if it doesn’t work. But it doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying. Even if it means just suiting up and letting you use whatever you aren’t in control of, until you get control of it.” Her hand was a little rough in places, especially along her index finger, and along her palm. All along where a gun would fit. --- “Thank you,” he said with a smile. “That means a lot.” He didn’t think he would ever get control of it. Whenever he got angry or passionate, things started to freeze. There was nothing he could do. --- “Hey, think nothing of it. You saved my life. I wish I remembered it, but…” She shrugged slightly. She wished she remembered more about the whole thing, she knew she probably would eventually. Shepard cast a glance around the area. They had been walking a while. Not that she wanted to stop talking about things, she just figured there was no point in chasing something she couldn’t do anything about at that point in time. “Are we anywhere near the gym?” --- “Uhm, yes! It’s down that road and to the right.” Ty pointed down to turn-off two streets ahead of them. He was glad for the change of topic. Even though it was hard, he should try to make the best of what was now and not live in the depressing future. “So, tell me more about you. I promise I will try to keep the pessimist in me in check as well as I can.” --- Shepard chuckled. “Okay and I’ll try to keep my wiseass flirt in check, but I can’t make any promises.” She scrubbed her fingers through her hair, marking that she needed a cut. Unused to it being longer than reg length. “What do you want to know?” It was refreshing having to be asked, and not everyone just knowing her life story. --- Ty stopped shortly and cocked his head to the side a bit, eyebrows raised and open and honest expression on his face. “I don’t mind the flirting,” he said and added a smile to the mix before he continued to move on. “Uhm, so what was your life like? What did you do besides saving the galaxy?” --- “Like a hobby? I collect scale models of space ships or space bound infostructures.” She puffed out her cheeks, trying to think of life beyond war. “I work out, run when I can. It was a little hard on space ships. I like to dance, though I’m told I’m not very good at it.” A little grin tugged at her lips. “I’m pretty good at drinking males, that are bigger than me, under the table. Human and not so human.” She tugged a few auburn strands free from the rest and wrapped them around her finger. “Would competing in battle simulations count as part of ‘saving the galaxy’?” --- He looked at her from the side surprised. He would not have taken her for a dancer. It had been a while since he has danced. Ten years to be exact. He had liked it once. But since Hodr had started to destroy his life, that part of it was gone as well. “You know what… we should go dancing one day. How does that sound?” --- “It sounds fine to me, just no poking fun. I don’t do it because I look good doing it, I do it because it’s fun. And it relieves stress.” Not that she had any here. When they took shore leave she had plenty of reason to wave her arms around like an idiot. “And I haven’t exactly had time to… perfect moves.” --- “I haven’t danced in over ten years. You are safe with me. Or not,” he added with a short grimace. --- “Okay, another deal, I wont make fun of your dancing if you don’t make fun of mine? Sound good?” Shepard chuckled softly. Oddly enough she was glad they had something in common. “What do you do when you aren’t repairing refrigerators?” --- “Deal,” he said with a chuckle of his own. He wanted to ask for date so that she wouldn’t slip through his fingers but let it slide. “Uhm, besides working out. I like baking and cooking. At the moment, at least. I’m doing ice carving. Sports, both playing and watching. And I guess I’m trying to find the right woman.” --- “No kidding? I took up cooking recently, or before I got reestablished into the Alliance Military and got my rank back.” It seemed like they had more in common than she’d thought. “What kind of sports are you into?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to touch the ‘find the right woman bit, not even as a tease. He was too sweet to mess with if he was actively looking for a significant other. --- His eyes raised in astonishment. He wouldn’t have taken her for the cooking type. “Uhm, rugby, the Kiwi classic. But I like other team sports as well. Netball. Soccer. All good to me. What about you besides battle simulations?” --- “Rugby and soccer I know, but what’s netball?” She stretched her arms up over her head. “I’ve played a little bit of Rugby myself, a little soccer back before I got into the military. Since It’s been kickboxing, different forms of martial arts, traditional boxing, a few fighting styles introduced from the Turian’s, Salarians, and Asari. My favorite, though, is swimming. But I’m more of a player than a watcher. I like to be physically involved.” She gave that last sentence a little bit of a twist, so it had a bite of innuendo tied into it. “I also played baseball, when I was in school.” --- “That’s a lot,” Ty said impressed. “And I make a note not to annoy you,” he added with a smile. He had had boxing training himself but he doubted that it was ever as intense as hers. “As for netball, that’s like basketball, only without dribbling. Once you catch the ball you can only move three steps.” --- “Before Mindoir was attacked I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I threw myself into everything.” She admitted. “Netball sounds a little more difficult than basketball.” Though she liked confrontational sports. Baseball was the only one that didn’t have any sort of face to face, unless the umpire was being an ass. Glancing around, “Which one is the gym?” |