curiosities

Courage, part V

dreamerinsilico:

Follows Courage IV

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“You know… this place actually reminds me a bit of somewhere I used to go when I was a kid,” Shepard said, enjoying the slight, contented haze of just the right number of drinks.  

“A club on Omega reminds you of your childhood, Shepard?” Kasumi laughed.  Her brows were hidden beneath her dark hood, but Shepard could tell by the way her eyes widened that she was raising them incredulously.  ”I mean, I know you have a history with the gangs, but I’m impressed there’d be anything this particular caliber of seedy on Earth, even if you did grow up in the US…”  

Shepard ran her fingers through her bright hair and felt herself smirking as she returned, “Have you been cyberstalking me?  Wait, don’t answer that; I’m not sure whether to be afraid or flattered.”  

The thief, naturally, answered anyway, gesturing elegantly with her glass.  ”Of course I have.  Standard operating procedure.”  The pulsing, red lights of the club caught in her dark eyes and made them glitter.  More than usual.  ”Although… if it would flatter you, I could always dig deeper…”  

Suddenly Shepard was very, very glad the lights were mostly red as she felt her face heat.  ”Or you could always ask.  I’d tell you, you know.”  She smiled, mirroring the slight one that was playing about Kasumi’s lips.  ”It was a warehouse, actually, not a club - that Afterlife reminds me of, I mean.  Same lights, same feeling that you’re walking into the jaws of some very temperamental creature.”  

“Always living dangerously, then?”  Kasumi ran a fingertip around the rim of her now-empty tumbler, seemingly fascinated with it.  

“Sometimes I wonder,” Shepard chuckled wryly.  ”All that stuff?  Feels normal.  I’m sure you know what I mean.  Other things, little things that are just supposed to be part of life - as art and literature and the media would have it, anyway - those are a lot more… difficult.”  

“Hmm.  I do know what you mean.”  She looked up from the glass, meeting Shepard’s eyes, her shadowed face curious.  ”So, in the spirit of ‘living dangerously’…”  Her lips quirked upward.  ”If I were to something… ill-advised… right about now, would I be allowed to blame it on all this lovely alcohol later?”  

Shepard blinked, then laughed.  ”I don’t believe for a second that you’re actually drunk, but if you need an excuse for something, you may certainly use that one.”

“You’re too generous, Shepard.”  That low-pitched, rich sentence should not even have been audible over the din of the club, but Kasumi had leaned closer, and her fine-boned hand was rising to Shepard’s jaw… and her lips followed, soft and warm and tasting very faintly of alcohol.

Oh god.

Oh god yes.