His words were honest. It was true, they weren’t the crafted whispers of poets hundreds years past. They weren’t gilded or artistic, falling from lips like ambrosia with wild promises and grandeur. No, they were blunt, and truthful, but striking.Â
A brow lifted at his admission, and any strength Ash could muster to keep herself from smirking was surely lost at his words. Her face felt warm suddenly, making some sort of instinct demand that she look away, that she hide it. But as Shepard’s embarrassment shifted to that of a confident smirk, that, Ashley couldn’t find herself looking away from. Her eyes locked with his, and suddenly her face felt too warm, too flushed, making her bite her lip and grin as if that would suddenly stop everything.
It didn’t. But there was always Plan B.
Her chin lifted, eyes lidded and smirk in place, as if daring him to taunt her for the same ailment (a blush—God, she should know better, damn it) that Shepard himself suffered. Her pulse was quick, her heart beating loud beneath the cage of bones that held her together.Â
But when Williams spoke, her words betrayed none of the quavering sappiness that she was reduced to thanks to Shepard. Her words, as ever, were brassy, confident, challenging. He’d have to try harder, though at this rate, it was a losing battle.
"Oh, yeah? How crazy are we talking about?"
But hell, Ashley could think of worse defeats. If losing meant having the First Human Spectre admitting he was damned crazy for her, then maybe she didn’t need a victory after all—that was one in its own right.
"Because I think I might need a better idea of what I’m dealing with. You know, so I can work up the right response…"
That was, indeed, a question worth asking.
Aiden himself didn't quite have a clear answer towards his insanity regarding Ashley Williams. It was greater than anything he had ever encountered in his life, yet more incomprehensible than his first encounter with the Prothean Beacon. Putting it into words was the most difficult challenge he had endured in a while. Between this, and facing down a Banshee, he'd take the Banshee in a heartbeat. At the very least, there was no need to explain anything to a figure that just wanted to ram its hand through his torso.
Unfortunately, and fortunately for Aiden, there was no escaping this particular fate. He could not turn from her, and he absolutely refused to flee. The both of them deserved better than that, and if she wanted to hear this, then he'd endure his own awkward mindset. He'd lay it on the line for her, in ways that he never had before. For Ashley Williams, he'd allow himself to be at his weakest.
"I keep forgetting how much of a pest you can be. Thanks for reminding me."
Not even her blush, beautiful and ego-sustaining as though it was, could bring him to forget that. Ashley Williams was one of the finest soldiers the Alliance had ever, and likely would ever produce, but she was also a pest without peer. A thin smirk pressed along his lips at that, spurred on by the words he'd ever say. His heart pounded to a degree that he could hear it in his ears, he could feel a twitch in his hands, but if he didn't say it now, he'd never be ready to.
"I haven't felt like this for a long time, and back then, I'd never have the courage to say it. Hard to believe, isn't it? I can stare down a species bent on galactic annihilation, but stringing together a few pretty words is just a line that I can't cross. It speaks to what I feel about you. And if this is the answer you want, then you'll get it:
You're the type of woman that I could give up what I do on shore leaves for. I never thought I'd say that, but I didn't think about a lot of things like this when it came to you. I also never thought that someone could give me peace like you do. After this war, I intended to continue fighting until someone blew my head off my shoulders. When I look at you, I can think about a future somewhere on Earth, with my gut hanging out over my waist, and feeling happy with that.
Everything that you do makes me want to be better. I'll never be a better man, but you make me want to try. You make me want to be better, because for once in my life, I want to make someone happy."


















