(commissioned artwork of Kandra and Kaidan Alenko by @xla-hainex)
Title: Vanguard of Our Destruction - Moments
**Note: these prompts were originally published in my Dribbles & Drabs collection of prompts, but because their muses were chattering so loud in my head of late, I decided to re-edit and update them then pull them into a collection of their own. There may be more prompt responses in future that will be posted here as well. I will be posting them a few at a time until I've caught up to the original ones.
Pairing: Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, female OC Alenko/James Vega
Characters: John Michael Shepard, Kaidan Alenko, Kandra Shepard, James Vega
Tags: (These will vary with each prompt posted, so please mind the tag list on AO3.). Twin Alenkos, Shepard stays on Earth, kissing, video game level violence, claustrophobia, angst, mShenko, fVenko (eventually), suggestions of abuse/torture, blood mention, rock paper scissors at 14000 feet, fast burn then a slow reburn, slow burn, no one left behind
Chapter 4: Cleaning the other person’s lips with a lick and a kiss
Chapter 5: I think you're beautiful
Chapter 6: Where does all the blood come from?
Chapter 7: Cross my heart and hope to die
Excerpt:
“You missed a spot.”
Kaidan frowns, confused as he echoes, “I missed a sp-”
Instinct has Kaidan backing up a step, his hip bumping into his chair as Shepard lunges forward in a heartbeat, but Shepard's quick and his skills and agile, and before Kaidan realizes it, the N7's hand slides carefully around the back of his head. He's caught so off guard that the plates clatter back onto the table loudly, but Shepard stays with him. “M-Michael, what the –”
Shepard’s grin widens. He only has an inch or two over Kaidan, but as he stands there, lips hovering over Kaidan’s, his tongue darts out. It is the most bizarre situation Kaidan's ever found himself in - and after the hunt for Saren over the past year, he's been in a lot. But as Shepard draws back, Kaidan now sees a bit of sprout or maybe it’s lemongrass, he can’t tell for sure this close, on the tip of Shepard's tongue. It disappears between Shepard's lips. “Not bad,” he murmurs, “but you taste better.”
“I what –”
Shepard repeats the move, his lips descending just as quickly as before...
(commissioned artwork of Kandra and Kaidan Alenko by @xla-hainex)
Title: Vanguard of Our Destruction - Moments
**Note: these prompts were originally published in my Dribbles & Drabs collection of prompts, but because their muses were chattering so loud in my head of late, I decided to re-edit and update them then pull them into a collection of their own. There may be more prompt responses in future that will be posted here as well. I will be posting them a few at a time until I've caught up to the original ones.
Pairing: Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, female OC Alenko/James Vega
Characters: John Michael Shepard, Kaidan Alenko, Kandra Shepard, James Vega
Tags: (These will vary with each prompt posted, so please mind the tag list on AO3.). Twin Alenkos, Shepard stays on Earth, kissing, video game level violence, claustrophobia, angst, mShenko, fVenko (eventually), suggestions of abuse/torture, blood mention, rock paper scissors at 14000 feet, fast burn then a slow reburn, slow burn, no one left behind
Chapter 1: Playfully biting someone
Chapter 2: Please, I'll do anything
Chapter 3: I don't want to lose you again
Excerpt:
“You’re a Red, aren’t you?” Anton challenges. “Once a Red, always a Red." He kicks Kaidan, a move that pulls a groan of pain from him, then adds in a deceptively mild tone, "This man is a threat to our very existence. Kill him.”
Shepard's eyes widen, a chill rolling across his shoulders and straight down his spine. With Anton this close, there's no way he misses it, and the gleam in his eyes says as much.
They have Commander Fucking Shepard in a corner, arm twisted behind his back. At their mercy.
48. offering the other your coat (for whoever strikes your fancy)
from this list
on AO3 here
Whoever strikes my fancy, eh? Well, thanks to @jedirangerpenguin and her constant love of certain characters of mine, have a bit of Kandra Alenko and James Vega from Vanguard of Your Destiny. :D
Setting: somewhere between Chicago and North Carolina, Earth during the Reaper war.
~~~
They take refuge in the burned-out carcass of a building set in the heart of yet another dead city laid to waste by the Reapers. It shouldn’t leave Kandra so anxious and antsy, but she can’t help it. Their journey across the country has bounced back and forth from one extreme to the other so many times over that having moments of quiet and peace are very…alien. Almost frighteningly so. At the moment, her nerves jitter so badly – like ants creeping along beneath the surface of her skin – that fighting the urge to scratch or rub the area until it goes away leaves her almost as dizzy as the defective implant in her head does. And these days, especially since leaving Chicago, the urge is nearly constant.
We need to be up higher. At least then, they’d have to climb the walls to get to us, or fight their way past barricades we can put in place. But..they’d just as easily come down from the rooftop, wouldn’t they? Climb in through the broken windows, tear a hole in the floor or a wall, or even use the ventilation systems? And we won’t even know they are there…
The scuff of booted feet breaks through her thoughts and she jumps, spinning around on her heel, her fingers already tickling a wave of dark energy into existence, preparing to release it…
“Hey, now, princesa!” Vega calls out in a mixture of amusement and hesitation. “It’s just me!”
Her hand flutters as the energy dissipates, and she curses while glaring daggers at him. “Щоб тебе качка копнула!”
As usual, Vega chuckles and approaches with caution. “Heh. Well, you’re yelling at me in Ukranian, right? That’s better than it could be, I guess.”
With hands propped on her hips, she stomps a foot, stirring up a small whorl of dust and ash into the air between them. “That’s all you have to say for yourself? After scaring me like that?”
“Not sure what you said, so…yeah?” He shrugs. “What’s it mean, anyway?”
Turning away from him, she walks over to stare out the pane-less window at cloudy, darkened night skies. God, what she’d give to see the moon and stars again. “It means you should get kicked by a duck!”
“A duck?” He follows her but stays out of arms reach. “Really? That’s the best you can do?”
“Ducks can be vicious,” she insists, her eyes still sparking with barely contained fire. “And trust me, you don’t want any other Ukranian curses thrown at you. They’re not nearly so nice.” She has to fight back a twitch at the corner of her lips. “At least ducks you can outrun.”
He chuckles again, and from one second to the next, the tension in the room eases to more comfortable levels. A gentle tap pulls Kandra’s attention back around to find him nudging her upper arm with a protein bar. “It’s not much,” he admits, true regret in his voice, “but it’ll get you through for a while.”
“Thanks.” She uses her teeth to tear the wrapper open as she turns back to look out the window, nibbling at one end. Her appetite hasn’t been what it should be since Chicago, not since Kaidan came back from that mission all battered, bruised, and bloodied. She knows that, as a biotic, she needs to do more to fix that, too. She’d been so worried then, wondering if her twin would even survive, she’d lost herself in doing what she could for him while Michael went back to doing what he does best: leading them forward.
But now, more than two weeks later and with Kaidan well on the mend, she still needs to pull herself together. The only thing that has kept her going through all of this, really, has been James watching out for her, making sure she eats something, drinks enough water, gets rest when she’s tired. It’s difficult to believe that just before they arrived in Chicago, they fought more like cats and dogs with each other.
Sudden warmth surrounds her, seeping in through her shoulders and neck. She glances in James’ direction, and discovers the reason; a jacket, the hoodie he likes to wear when he’s out of uniform, now lies tucked around her. It’s huge, hanging down well past her hips, but the warmth it provides is undeniable. And I didn’t even know I was cold. “James?”
His attention is out through the window when he replies sounding almost a little defensive. “What? You had goose bumps all over your arms and neck.”
A small shiver runs up the back of her hands. A quick look assures her his assessment is correct. “I…thank you.”
That has him turning, a lazy smile stealing across his face, perhaps a hint of relief in his eyes. “You bet. Can’t leave my princesa freezing all night long, now, can I?”
She huffs softly and nibbles at the protein bar. “You know, you’ve been calling me that for a while now,” she muses, a soft smile finding her lips this time. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
Even in the dim light, it’s easy to see the flush that reaches his neck, ears and cheeks as he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Just…a nickname,” he assures her. “Some people need names that match them better’s all.”
One brow arching, she watches him closely. “And you think of me as a princess?”
“Heh. Yeah. Well, you see… I tried calling you Lola a couple of times, but that just…” He gulps and shifts uneasily before turning to leave. “Never mind.”
Before he gets more than a few steps away, Kandra turns and grabs him by the arm. She has no idea who Lola is, and she’s not sure she wants to know in all honesty, but she doesn’t want him leaving with this sort of awkwardness between them. Not when she knows she owes him much more than that. “Wait. Please?” He doesn’t look at her, but he stops. “I want to thank you.”
A frown creases his brow as he finally glances down at her. “You already did.”
“For the coat, yeah.” Now that she has his full attention, she pulls her hand back. “I mean for…everything. For watching out for me in Chicago. Making sure I ate. Trying to keep me from worrying too much. Reminding me when I needed to sleep, drink, that sort of thing. I…was a bit preoccupied after Michael and Kaidan came back, and…”
The creases smooth out as understanding dawns. Huffing softly, he reaches a hand out, brushes a few strands of her hair out of her face and nods. “I know you and I didn’t start out too well when the Reapers arrived, but I’ve got your back, don’t you worry.”
There is a hell of a lot more sincerity in his eyes than she expects. Not that she doesn’t expect it, but it’s rather intense. Still, it’s reassuring. “And I’ve got yours, James. Whenever, however you need it.”
He looks about to protest, but must change his mind because he smiles instead. “Thanks. I’d…better go check on the others. You gonna be okay up here by yourself?”
She looks back at the window, the mess of the room, and her earlier concerns return in a flood. Deciding that being alone right now probably isn’t the best idea, she shakes her head. “I’ll go with you, I think. Safety in numbers, right?”
James’ smile deepens. “Sounds like a good idea to me.”
(commissioned artwork of Kandra and Kaidan Alenko by @xla-hainex)
Title: Vanguard of Our Destruction - Moments
**Note: these prompts were originally published in my Dribbles & Drabs collection of prompts, but because their muses were chattering so loud in my head of late, I decided to re-edit and update them then pull them into a collection of their own. There may be more prompt responses in future that will be posted here as well. I will be posting them a few at a time until I've caught up to the original ones.
Pairing: Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, female OC Alenko/James Vega
Characters: John Michael Shepard, Kaidan Alenko, Kandra Shepard, James Vega
Tags: (These will vary with each prompt posted, so please mind the tag list on AO3.). Twin Alenkos, Shepard stays on Earth, kissing, video game level violence, claustrophobia, angst, mShenko, fVenko (eventually), suggestions of abuse/torture, blood mention, rock paper scissors at 14000 feet, fast burn then a slow reburn, slow burn, no one left behind
Chapter 8: Pull over. Let me drive for a while.
Chapter 9: a gentle “i love you” whispered after a soft kiss, followed immediately by a stronger kiss
Chapter 10: Group hug
Chapter 11: Giggly kiss
Chapter 12: Taking their coat off for the other
Chapter 13: As we huddle together, the storm raging outside
Chapter 14: Please don't get hurt. Not because of me.
Excerpt:
“Hey, now, princesa!” Vega calls out in a mixture of amusement and hesitation. “It’s just me!”
The energy dissipates while she curses and glares daggers at him. “Щоб тебе качка копнула!”
As usual, Vega chuckles, but, she notes, he approaches with caution. “Heh. Well, you’re yelling at me in Ukrainian, right? That’s better than it could be, I guess.”
With hands propped on her hips, she stomps a foot, stirring up a small whorl of dust and ash into the air between them. “That’s all you have to say for yourself? After startling me like that?”
“Not sure what you said, so… yeah?” He shrugs. “What’s it mean, anyway?”
She turns away from him and walks over to the pane-less window. Outside, the skies - like in any city attacked by the reapers - is a mass of darkened clouds that block out the night skies.
God, what she’d give to see the moon and stars again.
“It means you should get kicked by a duck!”...
~~~~
And with these chapters, Vanguard of Our Destruction - Moments is caught up! Keep an eye out for more prompts and drabbles in future!
