Feb 27
"That's close enough."
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Experimenting with a limited color palette for another Aria drawing.
Done in Clip Studio Paint.
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"That's close enough."
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Experimenting with a limited color palette for another Aria drawing.
Done in Clip Studio Paint.
Commission for @avatarwill113 , nude version here✨️
I shamelessly took this opportunity to draw Aria with full body tats again and I think I'll never go back 😌
@peachyatelier @colonel-dynamite-gun
I drew it
I started with Aria and got bored with her cat so I speed run it… sorry! But I hope it’s crusty and mischievous enough
Who said … ARIA fanart (+Icon)
Aria appreciation post
felt so bad that I needed to draw Nyreen and Aria… I feel better tho-
What happened after that kiss in the Omega DLC.
Arc Effect AU. Shepard gets a message from of all people, Aria, to come to Omega on important business that can't be sent on any channel and after getting to Omega, Aria tells Shepard about Jaune and how he is getting worse and she wants Shepard to help him, leading to the meeting you wrote earlier
“You have an incoming call from Omega, Captain,” Joker’s voice crackled over the intercom, casual as ever, but there was a subtle edge beneath it.
Shepard looked up from the galaxy map. “Patch it through, Joker,” Shepard replied evenly.
There was a brief pause, long enough to mean something.
“They’re requesting a private channel, Commander,” Joker added, the teasing lilt gone now. “Encrypted.”
Shepard’s brow arched slightly. That narrowed the list down to exactly one person. “I’ll take it in my quarters,” she said after a beat.
She didn’t rush, but she didn’t waste time either.
The elevator ride felt longer than usual, the quiet hum of ascent filling the silence. Shepard’s reflection stared back at her in the polished metal doors.
The doors slid open with a soft hiss.
Her cabin was dimly lit, Shepard stepped inside, the door sealing behind her. She crossed the room and activated the private comm terminal.
The holographic projector flared to life in a burst of violet light.
And there she was.
Aria T'Loak materialized in shimmering hard-light, reclined in her throne on Omega, one leg crossed over the other, fingers drumming lazily against the armrest. The neon glow of Afterlife pulsed faintly behind her, casting her in shifting hues of blue and red.
“Shepard.” Her voice was smooth and controlled.
“Aria.” Shepard folded her arms. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Aria’s lips curved, though it didn’t quite qualify as a smile. “That depends on how much you value old alliances.”
Shepard’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Get to the point.”
Aria leaned forward just enough to show interest, just enough to make it deliberate. “I need your help extracting someone. A mutual acquaintance.”
Shepard gave a dry huff. “I didn’t realize you had acquaintances, Aria. Let alone mutual ones.”
“I don’t,” Aria said flatly. “With one exception.”
That caught Shepard’s attention.
The air in the room felt heavier now.
“Alright,” Shepard said carefully. “Who is he? You said I know him, too. That’s interesting, considering I don’t exactly spend my downtime cultivating underworld contacts.”
“Jaune Arc.”
Commander Shepard froze.
For a fraction of a second, the room seemed to go silent, the steady hum of the Normandy fading into the background as the name registered.
“You know Jaune?” Shepard asked, the surprise unmistakable in her voice.
Aria inclined her head slightly. “I do,” she said evenly. “He and I are… business partners. In a sense.”
Shepard’s posture stiffened. That answer only raised more questions. “Explain,” she demanded.
Aria leaned back, “He came to Omega looking for information. Human trafficking rings operating beyond Citadel oversight. He had names, coordinates, he wanted confirmation, and access.” She paused briefly, fingers tapping once against the armrest. “In exchange, he offered to solve a problem of mine. A few ambitious idiots thought they could carve out territory in my district.”
Shepard crossed her arms. “So he cleaned house.”
Aria’s lips curved faintly. “That would be putting it mildly.”
Her expression shifted, not softer, but… reflective.
“After hearing what he claimed he could do, I assumed he was another overconfident soldier with a martyr complex,” Aria admitted. “Then I saw it for myself.”
Shepard’s eyes narrowed. “Saw what?”
“Efficiency, I saw him dismantle three separate merc outfits in one night. No civilian casualties, no collateral damage, my people barely had time to process what happened.” Aria told him. “He doesn’t fight like a merc; he fights like a fucking action hero.”
That sounded exactly like Jaune.
“So you recruited him,” Shepard said.
“I offered, he accepted,” Aria told her. “But he had conditions.”
Shepard tilted her head slightly. “What kind of conditions?”
Aria’s expression flattened, though there was something almost respectful beneath it. “He said I couldn't assist in piracy, slavery, or the narcotics trade.” Her jaw tightened slightly. “He was very clear.”
Shepard blinked. “He dictated terms to you?”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed?”
A faint, dangerous smile touched Aria’s lips. “I informed him that Omega operates by my rules. I made it very clear he was not in a position to negotiate.”
“And?”
Aria’s eyes gleamed. “I attempted to blast him off his feet with my biotics for his audacity.”
Shepard’s brows lifted. “You what?”
“I thought it would end there, a broken human and a lesson delivered.” Aria's smile deepened. “It did not.”
The lighting around her flickered as the hologram adjusted.
“My Biotics didn't work, and one moment, he was standing in front of me. The next…” she exhaled softly through her nose, remembering. “My guards were on the floor, and he was standing directly in front of me, with a sword at my throat.”
Shepard let out a quiet chuckle, the tension easing just slightly. “After that?” she repeated.
“Things were… Tense,” Aria admitted. “He had a sword at my throat, Shepard. That tends to complicate first impressions.”
A faint smirk tugged at her lips.
“But, he grew on me.”
Shepard huffed softly in agreement, leaning back against the desk in her quarters. “Yeah,” she said knowingly. “He’ll do that.”
Jaune had a way of getting under people’s skin, not with charm, not with bravado, but with relentless sincerity. It disarmed people more effectively than any weapon.
Her expression sobered.
“But if he’s working with you,” Shepard continued, “Why call me? Is he in trouble?”
Aria didn’t answer immediately, but she nodded. “Yes,” she said quietly. “He’s in trouble.”
The shift in her voice made Shepard straighten. “What kind of trouble?” she pressed.
Aria’s jaw tightened slightly. “Jaune’s been spiraling.”
Shepard’s stomach dropped. “Spiraling how?”
“He pushes himself,” Aria said. “Too hard, too often, it's like every operation became more aggressive and riskier. Like he was trying to prove something, to someone who wasn’t even there.”
The faint neon glow behind her flickered as if mirroring her irritation.
“Before you arrived on Omega, I lost contact with him. No check-ins. No encrypted updates. Nothing.” Aria continued. “He’s gone completely dark.”
Shepard’s face tightened with visible concern. “Any idea why?” she asked.
Aria shook her head, frustration bleeding into her tone. “No fucking clue,” she muttered. “He’s disappeared before, one day, maybe two. Cooling off, handling something alone, but this...”
Her fingers curled slightly against the armrest.
“Two weeks.”
The number hung heavy between them.
Shepard’s mind raced. Jaune isolating himself for that long wasn’t tactical, it was personal.
“Any leads?” Shepard asked. “Anywhere he might’ve gone?”
Aria exhaled through her nose.
“The last ping I got on his signal came from a backwater world on the edge of Citadel space, borderline Terminus.” She flicked a control off-screen, and a star map briefly shimmered beside her. “A few scattered colonies. Nothing strategic, nothing valuable.”
“Which makes it perfect,” Shepard murmured.
Aria nodded once.
“He was tracking someone there, wouldn’t tell me who.” There was a faint irritation in her voice at that memory. “I didn’t press... That was my mistake.”
Shepard was already thinking ahead: fuel reserves, squad readiness, and possible hostile factions. “Send me the coordinates,” she said firmly. “We’ll head out as soon as possible.”
Aria gave a small nod. “Not a problem.”
Data began transferring across the channel, and there was a pause before Aria spoke again.
“Shepard.”
Shepard looked back up at the hologram. “Hm?”
The hologram flickered slightly as Aria studied Shepard in silence. Then, more quietly than she had spoken all evening, she said: “Make sure he’s okay… will you?”
The request hung in the air.
Shepard blinked, genuinely caught off guard. Of all the things she expected from the Queen of Omega, threats, leverage, veiled ultimatums, that hadn’t been one of them.
A small, knowing smile tugged at her lips.
“You sound like you care about him.”
Aria rolled her eyes immediately, the mask snapping back into place. “I don’t care for a lot of people,” she said flatly. “Hell, I don’t even care for some of my sisters.”
There was bite in her tone, but it lacked conviction. Aria exhaled softly, gaze shifting away for just a second.
“But Jaune…” she continued, voice lowering despite herself. “He’s different. Special, I suppose.”
She leaned back in her throne on Omega, folding her arms.
“He’s kind when he needs to be, and ruthless when he has to be. But he never confuses the two. He doesn’t compromise who he is, not for power, not for survival.” Aria said, her eyes flickering to the side for a moment before looking back at Shepard. “He’s loyal to a fault, like a dog or a puppy, you know what I mean?”
Shepard let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. “You’re preaching to the choir,” she replied warmly.
Jaune’s loyalty had nearly gotten him killed more than once. Shepard knew that better than most.
Shepards expression shifted. “I’ll make sure he’s alright,” she said. “You have my word.”
The weight of that promise wasn’t lost on either of them.
Aria held her gaze for a long moment, measuring her. Then she gave a single, respectful nod. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
The hologram dissolved in a wash of violet light, leaving Shepard alone in her quarters.
Silence settled heavily over the room.
Two weeks... Jaune had been off-grid for two weeks.
Her thoughts spiraled. Ambush scenarios, underground facilities, black-site prisons, rogue biotic syndicates, mercenary reprisals, all of these hit the Commander's thoughts all at once.
Jaune was throwing himself into something big and personal. Fighting alone when he shouldn’t be.
Her jaw tightened. He always tried to carry too much on his own.
She exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down her face. “Please be okay…” she muttered under her breath.
Memories surfaced of her time with Jaune before everything had happened. Memories of Jaune smiling awkwardly after a mission, brushing off injuries like they were nothing, of Jaune standing between civilians and gunfire without hesitation, of the young man refusing to abandon anyone, even enemies who didn’t deserve saving.
That kind of man didn’t just disappear. Which meant something had gone very wrong.
She moved toward the fish tank, folding her arms as she stared at some of the fish.
“I just hope you’re still standing when I get there,” she murmured. Then she groaned softly, tilting her head back. “Oh, who am I kidding… It’s never as easy as it should be.”
Especially not when it involved Jaune Arc.