Characters: Shane Shepard, Nihlus Kryik Pairing: Shryik/OTP: Duty Before Everything Warnings: i don’t know Notes: prompt meme result. Yarrow (cure for a broken heart) from mording
Shane still wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed her to visit Akuze on the tenth anniversary of her life falling apart before her eyes. So much had happened since then, and she wasn’t sure if she should be grateful that Akuze ever happened.
Her hand, bare of glove or gauntlet, rested against the smooth marble of the statue that had been erected in her honor. Toombs had eventually died with the doctors citing complications from the experiments that Cerberus had done on him. All that had done was make her worry that much more about Jack. Yet not once did she think of herself and all Cerberus had done to her.
“Garrus told me once that sacrifice is expected of turians. You don’t erect monuments to your heroes,” Shane said quietly, looking over her shoulder.
“Maybe other turians. You sacrificed a lot, Shepard, and that should be honored,” Nihlus replied, mandibles flaring gently.
Shane gave a soft snort before taking a long pull of the bottle in her free hand. She sighed, resting her forehead on the cool marble.
“I shouldn’t be honored for living by sure dumb luck. This should be for my unit, for Toombs.”
She heard the dirt crunch underfoot as Nihlus closed the distance.
“Your name is well known. You shouldn’t blame yourself for that. You didn’t ask for this to be built in your honor.”
Shane sighed, eyes clenching tightly.
“I should destroy this whole fucking lie,” she muttered, and almost seemed like she was about to before simply just taking a couple unsteady steps backward. Nihlus caught her by the elbow. With his other hand he tilted her head up so their eyes could connect.
“Toombs wouldn’t blame you for this,” he said carefully. Shane’s time before the SR-1 days were well documented but he had often skated through that part of her life, only needing to know if she could get the job done, if she could be a proper Spectre.
“He blamed me for plenty,” she argued before emptying the rest of the bottle into her mouth. Before Nihlus could do anything she flung the bottle at the monument. It shattered on impact, the pieces of glass falling to the ground.
It was only when the last shard had dropped that Shane finally allowed her shoulders to slump as she worked hard at keeping the tears from forming. For a moment Nihlus stood a literal arm’s length away, unsure exactly what the proper action would be. The Commander had always worked to keep her softer emotions hidden from the galaxy. She had called it having a reputation to uphold.
Turned out he didn’t have to do anything, as Shane simply dropped her head against the turian’s chest, jaw clenched as she tried to keep a cap on everything but the silent sobs racking her body gave her away.
A cure for a broken heart was often just a hug from the one you cared about the most in the galaxy. Alone, just the two of them. He would never bring it up later, even if he almost had wanted to tease about his armor getting rusty from all the shed tears.