anaisonfire (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anaisonfire) wrote2021-10-02 11:21 pm
anaisonfire) wrote2021-10-02 11:21 pm
Entry tags:
[Mass Effect] these golden moments
Title: these golden moments (975 words)
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Javik/Male Shepard (Mass Effect)
Characters: Javik (Mass Effect), Male Shepard (Mass Effect)
Additional Tags: Getting Together, long overdue, First Kiss, Post-Reaper War
Summary:
After the dust settles, Javik is left adrift.
Written for the Gold round of![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
writingrainbowexchange (AO3 collection).
After the dust settles (and there’s a part of him that will always note how quickly he’s adopted the primitives’ way of speaking into his own) - that is, after the Normandy limps back to Earth and they discover that Shepard’s victory over the Reapers has not come at the cost of his life - Javik is left adrift.
Not in the physical sense, of course. There’s plenty left to do, in a galaxy that survived where all others did not. Someone has to move the rubble and clear the dead bodies from the streets. It may as well be Javik.
There’s something to be said about manual labor keeping the mind busy. It’s easy to lose himself in the repetitiveness of it, even with the feeling of death and misery pressing in from every side. And it is not so hard to look up and remember that this is not yet another lost battle, another step bringing extinction closer. A victory dearly bought is a victory nonetheless.
(Too, he does not wish to consider what place an Avatar of Vengeance has in this post-war world quite yet.)
He could go visit Shepard, of course. He considers it often, but never quite manages to convince himself to go through with it.
The problem, if one could call it a problem, is thus. First is that Javik has no desire to see Shepard as he likely is, bruised and almost broken. It is ridiculous - there is no reason for it, aside from Javik’s irrational fear that if he sees him something might happen. Superstitious belief has no place in his mind, yet no matter how well he knows that the universe does not care for personal goings-on, he can’t shake free of the notion that if he sees Shepard while he’s injured he’ll be setting himself up for loss. People like them don’t just get to have a happy ending.
And besides, it’s highly unlikely that Shepard is lacking for company. The chance that he will miss Javik while recovering is... almost minimal. His presence is not known for being conducive to healing.
Then there is the thing between them. They never spoke of it properly, not even on those restless nights spent trading stories about war and leadership that inevitably turned more personal the longer they went on. Certainly not the morning after the party at Shepard’s apartment, though at least that cleared any doubts Javik might’ve had about whether or not the attraction was mutual.
In the end, Shepard is the one to solve his dilemma by simply showing up and doing whatever he wants, as per usual.
“So,” he says, casually, like the last time they saw each other was not weeks ago on a battlefield. “I can’t help but notice that you’ve been avoiding me.”
He stops just past the entrance of the tent that the Alliance gave Javik - he hasn’t decided yet if being of the Normandy’s crew or being Prothean is the reason he’s rated one all for himself.
Javik ignores the opening remark - the answer is obvious and he won’t do either of them the disservice of playing stupid - and instead looks Shepard over from head to toe.
“Are you supposed to be walking yet?”
Shepard grins at him. “Depends on who you ask.”
“No, then.” Javik makes sure to convey how unimpressed he is before gesturing at the cot he’s pushed to the side to make more space. It’s the only available surface to sit on that isn’t the ground. “Sit down before you fall and injure yourself more.”
Shepard doesn’t argue with him, which is all the indication he needs to know he’s right.
“I’m not that bad off,” he tries to defend once he’s made himself as comfortable as one can get without lying down. (Javik pushes aside unproductive thoughts about Shepard lying where he sleeps. It’s not relevant… right now.) “Miranda knows what she’s doing. Apparently ‘almost dead’ is easier to fix than ‘actually dead’; go figure.”
The flippant mention of Shepard’s own previous death catches him off guard. It shouldn’t. He’s heard the story, Shepard himself told him after he’d asked. (In retrospect, he’d say that’s when all this started. How many can claim to have actually been killed by the Reapers, only to come back all the more determined to fight them?) Still, the words hit him like a particularly unpleasant biotic attack, a reminder of just how close he’d come to losing this man that he’s come to care about against all sense.
Something must give away his reaction, because Shepard’s gaze sharpens. “Javik?” There is a tone to the way he says his name.
Though he would never admit to it out loud, in a fit of curiosity Javik had done some research on common human courting gestures and something had stood out to him. Since then, his thoughts have been regularly returning to the idea of trying it out (while sober).
No time like the present, says a voice in his mind that sounds far too much like Shepard.
Instead of answering with words that will, almost certainly, complicate matters between them even more, Javik steps closer and carefully takes Shepard’s chin between two fingers.
For a moment, neither of them moves, taking in the long overdue development. Javik basks in the feelings he reads just from that simple touch, and, judging by the way his eyelids flutter, Shepard also finds this simple gesture pleasant. After a moment though, a thread of impatience shines through.
“Well?” His voice already has a rough edge to it and that only spurs Javik on.
Unceremoniously, he leans down and captures Shepard’s lips. It takes a moment of adjustment on both their parts before they find a comfortable angle, but then, oh.
Kissing quickly becomes one of Javik’s favorite things to do in the new cycle.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Javik/Male Shepard (Mass Effect)
Characters: Javik (Mass Effect), Male Shepard (Mass Effect)
Additional Tags: Getting Together, long overdue, First Kiss, Post-Reaper War
Summary:
After the dust settles, Javik is left adrift.
Written for the Gold round of
writingrainbowexchange (AO3 collection).After the dust settles (and there’s a part of him that will always note how quickly he’s adopted the primitives’ way of speaking into his own) - that is, after the Normandy limps back to Earth and they discover that Shepard’s victory over the Reapers has not come at the cost of his life - Javik is left adrift.
Not in the physical sense, of course. There’s plenty left to do, in a galaxy that survived where all others did not. Someone has to move the rubble and clear the dead bodies from the streets. It may as well be Javik.
There’s something to be said about manual labor keeping the mind busy. It’s easy to lose himself in the repetitiveness of it, even with the feeling of death and misery pressing in from every side. And it is not so hard to look up and remember that this is not yet another lost battle, another step bringing extinction closer. A victory dearly bought is a victory nonetheless.
(Too, he does not wish to consider what place an Avatar of Vengeance has in this post-war world quite yet.)
He could go visit Shepard, of course. He considers it often, but never quite manages to convince himself to go through with it.
The problem, if one could call it a problem, is thus. First is that Javik has no desire to see Shepard as he likely is, bruised and almost broken. It is ridiculous - there is no reason for it, aside from Javik’s irrational fear that if he sees him something might happen. Superstitious belief has no place in his mind, yet no matter how well he knows that the universe does not care for personal goings-on, he can’t shake free of the notion that if he sees Shepard while he’s injured he’ll be setting himself up for loss. People like them don’t just get to have a happy ending.
And besides, it’s highly unlikely that Shepard is lacking for company. The chance that he will miss Javik while recovering is... almost minimal. His presence is not known for being conducive to healing.
Then there is the thing between them. They never spoke of it properly, not even on those restless nights spent trading stories about war and leadership that inevitably turned more personal the longer they went on. Certainly not the morning after the party at Shepard’s apartment, though at least that cleared any doubts Javik might’ve had about whether or not the attraction was mutual.
In the end, Shepard is the one to solve his dilemma by simply showing up and doing whatever he wants, as per usual.
“So,” he says, casually, like the last time they saw each other was not weeks ago on a battlefield. “I can’t help but notice that you’ve been avoiding me.”
He stops just past the entrance of the tent that the Alliance gave Javik - he hasn’t decided yet if being of the Normandy’s crew or being Prothean is the reason he’s rated one all for himself.
Javik ignores the opening remark - the answer is obvious and he won’t do either of them the disservice of playing stupid - and instead looks Shepard over from head to toe.
“Are you supposed to be walking yet?”
Shepard grins at him. “Depends on who you ask.”
“No, then.” Javik makes sure to convey how unimpressed he is before gesturing at the cot he’s pushed to the side to make more space. It’s the only available surface to sit on that isn’t the ground. “Sit down before you fall and injure yourself more.”
Shepard doesn’t argue with him, which is all the indication he needs to know he’s right.
“I’m not that bad off,” he tries to defend once he’s made himself as comfortable as one can get without lying down. (Javik pushes aside unproductive thoughts about Shepard lying where he sleeps. It’s not relevant… right now.) “Miranda knows what she’s doing. Apparently ‘almost dead’ is easier to fix than ‘actually dead’; go figure.”
The flippant mention of Shepard’s own previous death catches him off guard. It shouldn’t. He’s heard the story, Shepard himself told him after he’d asked. (In retrospect, he’d say that’s when all this started. How many can claim to have actually been killed by the Reapers, only to come back all the more determined to fight them?) Still, the words hit him like a particularly unpleasant biotic attack, a reminder of just how close he’d come to losing this man that he’s come to care about against all sense.
Something must give away his reaction, because Shepard’s gaze sharpens. “Javik?” There is a tone to the way he says his name.
Though he would never admit to it out loud, in a fit of curiosity Javik had done some research on common human courting gestures and something had stood out to him. Since then, his thoughts have been regularly returning to the idea of trying it out (while sober).
No time like the present, says a voice in his mind that sounds far too much like Shepard.
Instead of answering with words that will, almost certainly, complicate matters between them even more, Javik steps closer and carefully takes Shepard’s chin between two fingers.
For a moment, neither of them moves, taking in the long overdue development. Javik basks in the feelings he reads just from that simple touch, and, judging by the way his eyelids flutter, Shepard also finds this simple gesture pleasant. After a moment though, a thread of impatience shines through.
“Well?” His voice already has a rough edge to it and that only spurs Javik on.
Unceremoniously, he leans down and captures Shepard’s lips. It takes a moment of adjustment on both their parts before they find a comfortable angle, but then, oh.
Kissing quickly becomes one of Javik’s favorite things to do in the new cycle.