Book 3, Chapter 8 - Citadel
*****
His named was Javik. He was the avatar of vengeance. He was a skilled warrior. His only mission was to kill Reapers. Aware that he was the last of his kind, he would fight this war, ensure we were victorious, then he'd simply fade away. His people were gone, and he would go to join them in the end. But only after the Reapers were sent to hell.
Did I like him? To be honest, not really. Something about his attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. But I'd learned that I didn't have to be friends with everyone. Some people, I simply worked alongside, we would be pleasant to each other, worked together professionally, but that would be it. Maybe in the coming months, we'd warm to each other, but I wasn't going to hold my breath.
As for Liara, she was left disappointed. The honest truth was that many theories she'd had about the Protheans were incorrect. They were not the benevolent galaxy spanning Empire she thought. The Protheans were brutal. Perhaps Javik had those ideas because he'd been born after the Reapers had arrived, when the entire Empire was at war. But, from what Javik was able to tell us, the Protheans had strode across the galaxy, bending any other race to their will. All other species either submitted or died.
Liara sighed as we sat upstairs in the cabin. "He's just not what I hoped for, nor expected," she admitted. Miranda was next to her. Kelly and Emily were to either side of me on the other couch. "And his attitude is... Well, he doesn't really think highly of us at all."
"Talked to him once. That was enough for me," Miranda said.
"So you're suggesting asking him for an interview isn't a good idea?" Emily asked.
"We'll take him to the Citadel and let him have a look around," I said, "At least we have a date for the summit, but the fact it's still over a week away is really fucking annoying. Even more annoying is the asari..." I glanced at Liara. "Any news on them budging?"
"None whatsoever, Shepard. Mother thinks they're all idiots, of course. They should consider her an expert but asari have long memories."
"At last the salarians will attend," Miranda added, "And the krogan were always going to attend."
"I'm not sure who owes more favours to who, Wrex or myself. But fighting Reapers is something the krogan will want to do, but on their terms. And there will be a price for their assistance."
"What price?" Emily asked.
"I reckon I could put a bet on it and pretty much know I'm going to have a lot of credits in my pocket because I'm right."
There was silence before Liara said, "Genophage."
"Bingo!"
"Fuck," Miranda muttered, "The salarians will freak."
"Let's not get overexcited just yet. I think that'll be the price, but I'll go into the meeting with an open mind. And Victus will have influence too. He's the one who put forward this idea, I'm leaving it to him to argue though he has my support."
In bed that night with Kelly, cuddling into my side as always, fingers trailing up and down my chest, we laid in contented silence for quite a while. She was trying not to fall asleep, while I was finding it increasingly difficult each night to drift off. I was already living on a diet of battle, sex, caffeine and other stimulants to keep me going. I figured I'd just sleep when the war was won, or if I was dead.
After making love the next morning, we dressed in silence before she stopped me walking away and just hugged me. I knew why immediately. "Lot of thoughts in this head of mine," I whispered, kissing her cheek.
"I'm not worried, Shepard. And I certainly know there are things you simply can't talk about. So I thought you'd like a hug."
"I always love a hug from you."
She leaned back and grinned, and I leaned in to kiss her. Pulling her into my body, she started to giggle within a few seconds. "We should probably go downstairs for breakfast. We did make love already."
"True. And we'll be arriving at the Citadel later today."
Joining the others downstairs, the tables were jovial as usual, which still surprised me considering everything going on around the galaxy, but these moments were what we needed to keep us going through the worst of times. Ken, Gabby and Adams spent nearly their entire life down in engineering, but always joined us for meals. I still wasn't sure if Ken and Gabby were an item or not. She had been involved in one of the evenings I'd had with all my girls but, since then, she'd kept her distance.
It was amusing that Miranda and I now shared an office after she practically insisted I didn't have to leave. It was basically her room, but I kept the desk I'd put in there, and a second desk was placed in front of mine where she worked wither back to the door.
One thing I had noticed was that Kelly had done what she'd promised to do. Gone were the trousers, replaced by a short skirt that barely made it halfway down her thigh. And her blue shirt was always unbuttoned, so whenever she leaned over my desk, there was nothing but skin. It took incredible self-control not to continuously bend her over my desk, or do very naughty things to her by her workstation in the CIC.
To my amusement, Miranda had taken to doing the same thing, showing off her incredible legs, while everyone knew she had a fantastic set of tits on her, wearing a shirt one size too small to really show off how full they were. And I probably spent half my day concentrating on not staring at her. She knew... She knew...
Liara ditched her suit when on the ship, taking to wearing the same get-up as Kelly. I was left thinking all my girls had agreed to this. What amused me no end was the fact even Samantha had taken to wearing a similar skirt. When I asked Kelly about that, as I just had to, she admitted it was simply to tease me, the unobtainable woman. "But she does like you," she added. I laughed as she didn't have to spare my feelings. Despite what some people thought, I didn't fuck or try and fuck every single woman I met. It just seemed like it sometimes.
A couple of hours out from the Citadel, I wandered out to see what Kelly was up to. Standing behind her, she knew I was standing there, glancing back and smiling. Stepping closer, I ran my hands up the back of her legs, picking up the hem of her skirt and lifting it over her tight little arse, running my hands around to the front. "No panties from now on," I whispered into her ear.
"Okay," she whispered back, "All the time?"
"Definitely."
She reached down and must have removed those she was wearing, looking down to see a blue pair of panties around her ankles. Traynor looked across, watching her eyes widen, before turning her attention back to her screen but there was no missing the blush.
"Want me to fondle you, right here, right now?"
"Shepard, we've fucked in here before in front of people." She paused. "Ah, that was with Cerberus though."
Running my hands up the front of her shirt, I could feel her nipples through the thin fabric, eventually reaching her chin where I gently moved her face so I could kiss her properly. As we made out, I moved my hand back down her body to between her legs, making her moan as I ran a finger gently along her increasingly wet slit. Before we could really get going, Miranda cleared her throat next to us.
"Jesus wept, you two..." I looked at Miranda. "Couple of things you might like to know, Shepard. Are you going to stop fingering Miss Chambers?"
"Miss Chambers, care to continue this later?"
"Absolutely." Lowering her skirt, she crouched down and handed me her panties. "I won't be needing these." Traynor burst into giggles as I placed her panties in the top pocket of my jacket. "Maybe I should wear them long enough to get wet and you can sniff them?" Miranda burst into laughter. Even I looked at Kelly in surprise. "Well, you always say how much you love my scent..."
"No panties will make me happy."
Walking back into my office, I sat down to look at the messages that had come through. What broke my concentration next was the fact another pair of panties landed on my desk. Looking up, Miranda was sat back in her chair, skirt pulled up and her ankles spread apart. She must have liked the look in my eyes as she ran a hand down her leg to her pussy. "Is the no panties rule for anyone else?"
"Definitely you, Miranda. No panties from now on." I looked up. "EDI, can you open the comm to Liara's room?"
"Done, Shepard."
"Liara?"
