If Looks Could Kill and Coffee?
Thank you so much for asking!!
If Looks Could Kill is my forever wip for Nia and Illario. I only have like 11 chapters and only about 8 of them are completely finished. Nothing really makes sense and my story has kind of gone off the rails. Hopefully one day I will finish it so I can share the whole thing 😫
Nia woke up feeling groggy. When she tried to move her entire body ached. She let out a groan as she opened her eyes and took in the surroundings of an unfamiliar room.
She sat up in bed. It was larger than the one she remembered falling asleep in,much softer and leagues more luxurious. She remembered a single size bed with tattered blankets in a darkened back room. She also vaguely remembered Illario next to her.
This was not the same place, and she was definitely alone.
She pushed the covers off her to reveal someone had changed her out of her clothes, or at least what was left of them. She now wore a clean white button up linen shirt. It was loose and baggy on her, but enough that she was covered up from her collar bone to her thighs.
Her skin and hair still smelled of smoke and she still had blood and soot underneath her fingernails. The events of what she hoped was just the previous day came back to her.
Nia assumed no one had figured out she was involved in the whole fiasco. If they had she was pretty sure she would have woken up to Viago yelling at her, possibly in a prison cell. But that was only a matter of time. He would probably find out eventually.
That was a later problem to deal with. Right now she needs clothes and to figure out where she is. She slipped out of the bed and began rummaging around the room for her clothes. They were nowhere to be found. Although she was pretty sure what was left of them was unsalvageable.
She wandered over to the window and slid the curtains open to see if she could figure where she was.
The sunlight blinded her at first, but as her eyes adjusted from what she could tell she was on the third floor of what seemed to be an extravagantly large home. The view from the window was of a beautiful garden, filled with flowers and fountains and trees. The garden faded into the canal which bleed out into the open waters of Antiva.
Only one family in Treviso would ever have a home this nice with this view.
Just then she heard a light knock on the door and then it slowly opened.
With the curtains now open the room was filled with light as Illario stepped through the door, closing it behind him.
He smiled when he saw her by the window.
“Good morning, Princess.” He came further into the room. “I assume you slept well?”
Coffee is a little Shenko snippet that happens in ME3 right after Kaidan returns to the Normandy. He and Shepard are finding it hard to get back into their old grove. There is awkwardness around the morning coffee station.
The smell of fresh coffee pulled her towards the steaming pot in the mess hall. As she approached the counter she collided with someone.
“Oh” she gasped. “Kaidan, sorry I didn’t see you there.” She looked at him blankly.
“Ah no sorry, my fault.” Kaidan muttered. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” He grinned sheepishly as he held up his own data pad.
Shepard smiled politely at him and gestured to the coffee.
“Please, go ahead.”
“No, no,” he stammered. “You go.”
She chuckled. “You were here first. And as the senior officer on board you should take the first cup.” She teased.
Kaidan's face went flush. “No Shepard we talked about this. l am just on the crew. This is your command, your ship, I follow your orders. My rank has…”
Shepard put up a hand and tried to stop him. “Kaidan, relax. It was a joke.” She reassured him. A bad one she thought to herself.
“Ah, yeah of course.” Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed. He chuckled nervously and took a step back, giving her room to take the first cup.
Shepard hurried and took a mug from the cabinet and poured her coffee. Leaving it black, Kaidan paused and asked, “No sugar?” She always puts one packet of sugar in her coffee.
She sighed. “Sugar is in short supply these days. I’ve had to go without.” She looked up at him and smiled. “These truly are dark times.” She took a sip. She was getting used to the bitterness. It seemed to suit her more these days anyway.
Kaidan nodded in agreement. Then an awkward silence fell over them. Kaidan looked at her expectantly like he was waiting for her. Then she jumped. “Oh sorry!” She exclaimed. “You’ll be wanting the coffee now…” she hurried and moved out of his way. He moved over to take his turn at the pot and began to pour his own cup. He heard her rummaging in a drawer behind him looking for a protein bar.
“You know,” Kaidan started as he continued pouring his coffee. “I know a guy on the citadel, he runs a restaurant. He could probably get us a good deal on some su….”Kaidan trailed off when he realized he seemed to be talking to himself. Shepard was already making her way to a table in the back of the mess.
Nice, Alenko...Kaidan thought to himself. He grabbed his own protein bar and headed for a table himself. Much to his dismay all the tables were occupied. He didn’t know anyone on the ‘new’ Normandy crew. He didn’t really feel comfortable joining any of them yet. He supposed he would head back to the observation room and eat his breakfast there.
He passed Shepard’s table on his way out but he stopped when she looked right at him as he approached. She smiled again. That polite smile she gave to reporters, fans and anyone she felt she needed to get what she wanted from, at least before the threats started. The thought made him smile back and he suddenly found himself asking if he could sit.
