under the sun and moon
second day of fictober!
Mass Effect Andromeda
Juniper Ryder x OC (Elon Miller) / sfw
“Here you are. Already tired of your party?” Elon sat down at Juniper’s side, shoulders barely touching and legs stretched out in front of him. “They’re throwing it in your honor, you know?”
Shrugging, she continued to watch the arriving ships and the ones that left. Juniper’s legs dangled down the platform, probably breaking some regulation or another. “Got a bit stuffy in there and hearing a cheering crowd gets boring after a bit.”
A bottle appeared in her line of sight. Glorious, heavy glass filled with an amber liquid.
Juniper’s eyes widened. “You got beer?”
“The good stuff. Earth imported, 600 year old vintage.”
“Damn.” She could in fact remember the last time she’d shared a bottle of beer with someone and where it happened and the memory spoke of easier days and real sunshine and her brother laughing and making stupid jokes. Right now, Scott was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Cora and Juniper seemed pretty sure that the two of them celebrated in their own way. Not that she wanted to know the details.
Elon took a sip. “Do we drink to something?”
“Sure.”
“Not to you, of course. That would be lame and you’re already tired of hearing your name and congratulations on being the best Pathfinder, defeater of the scourge, hero of our civilization.” His lazy smile made her insides squirm. It’d been one of the first things she’d noticed about him, back in training and back when he was nothing more than a teacher. Talking about conflicted feelings and all. Luckily those days lay in a far away past.
Juniper answered with a laugh and took a sip herself. “Totally.” The beer tasted earthy and a bit too sweet to her liking, but she treasured every drop.
“Oh, I got something.” Elon moved closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He smelled comforting, musk and oil and beer and harsh soap. And he felt impossible warm, even with the temperature of the Nexus regulated to fit every species’ needs.
“Here is to us. May we’ll have beer under every sun and moon in the galaxy.”
“Shit, Elon. That sounded almost romantic.” Juniper patted his hand.
“I’m a guy of many talents.”
“That I know.” An Angaran cruiser landed. Without her and the help of her crew none of this would’ve happened. Juniper tried not to think about it too much, because she liked having a normal sized head. Celebrations seemed appropriate and also rather tiring and she hated the superficial smiles and the shaking of hands.
They watched the departing Angarans in silence. No one seemed to notice the pair of humans sitting on the higher levels of the port, sharing a bottle of beer.
Juniper felt Elon’s eyes on her and his voice seemed quiet. “What’s next for us?”
“Don’t know. We’ll have to rescue the Quarians and the Drell, of course.” Surely not an easy task and one that she’d start in the morrow. She rubbed her neck. “And shit, mother. I have to wake mother up from cryo, once they found a cure for her illness.”
She blanched at the thought. Having her aboard the Arc seemed so surreal. One of her father’s best kept secrets and a final prove of his distrust towards his children. Mother. Juniper tried to wrap her head around the thought of having her back in her life and found nothing but fear and grief.
Elon, noticing the shift in her mood, inched even closer, head resting on her shoulder and eyes warm. His breath tickled her ear. “And here I was, happy to not have to endure another member of the Ryder family giving me the talk. Scott already did that. Many, many times.”
She chuckled, remembering when Scott did more than talk and beat Elon, because of some code of brotherly honor.
“Scott loves hearing himself talk.”
“Oh, he does.” And she adored him for that. At times. Juniper smiled. “And don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you from her motherly wrath.”
Elon kissed her cheek. “You’ll keep me safe, I know.”