#ryderxkandros

[aspendragon]

For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram (shame on you) here are some Mass Effect Andromeda sketches ~ :D

Characters above include: my Ryder, Rae (scar on left cheek), Ember (Rae’s best friend), Kaetus (after getting beat up) & another character I’m sort of thinking about, then there’s Avitus in the center.  

[samrubio]

Kandros 

Day 20

[kestrelsansjesses]

One Last Kiss aka The Smut Chapter/New Galaxy 12

[[Just call this the smut chapter.Ryder and Kandros face the inevitability of Meridian as only they know how. New Galaxy, Same Old Thirst may soon come to an end, but at least we have these two. <3

AO3, previous chapter]]

The end was an inevitability, but it had never, before this moment, been one that was so close. Three separate sections of the Scourge triangulated towards a single, discrete point. Meridian, and their destination, whatever those might be.

“This is it.” After she had briefed Nexus leadership, Wren Ryder went with Tiran Kandros back to his room. They sat side by side on his couch, a hologram spread before them showing… whatever it was. A single point of light that could be planet or asteroid, or something else entirely. “I have to get there before the kett. We leave tonight, in a few hours.” It might already be too late, a thought that she didn’t voice out loud, but there had to be time to say goodbye. Not just for her, though she was selfish enough to want it, but for everyone.

Kandros twisted the projector back and forth, as if seeing the dim image at a new angle might provide answers. “We have to get there before the kett, and we will. A few hours won’t make a difference at this point. Our ships are faster.” Even now shuttles were being packed full. On every inhabited planet, people were getting ready, priming weapons and putting on their armor, faces grim, and in the Nexus, people waved goodbye to loved ones, holding them close. It was all they could do.

“Mm. I wish I had your confidence, Kandros.” Standing, Wren reached to flip the holo off, folding the device up and tossing it from hand to hand.

Kandros’ eyes watched her and he shook his head before offering a suggestion. “What you need is some good old-fashioned turian military stress relief.”

Okay. She’d bite. “And that is?”

Kandros pulled her back onto the couch and she folded her legs up underneath her. “Oh, you know…” he added, voice trailing off.

“Is it yoga? Because Lexi suggested yoga already, and I said no then and I’ll say no now.” Yoga was just another reminder that she wasn’t flexible at all.

Kandros ran a hand down his face, tugging at his own mandibles and shaking his head. “No, Ryder. Not yoga. Sex. We have a few hours before we have to leave, and if this all goes to shit… I want something to remember you by.” It was the first time that evening he had sounded anything less than 100% confident that they would both come home and reunite at the end of this; his face locked-down and guarded, but she had learned to read every micro-twitch, the distinct way he held himself when it was all becoming too much to be heaped onto one plate.

“Oh, yah. That would be nice. Just like old times. Not a great first date story, is it? We slept together and somehow it became… this.” Ryder’s gesture took in the two of them and Kandros’ apartment. She had started to leave a toothbrush there, some body wash, a change of clothing. Things that would suggest she would come back. They would still be there for her if she came home from this. When.

It was, perhaps, not the most intimate or delicately worded proposition, but the constant ticking in Ryder’s mind reminded her that there just weren’t enough hours for that. Far easier to pull Kandros towards the bed, feel him happily concede the lead, than to talk about feelings or eventualities or the looming prospect of death by kett.

Every layer of clothes they shed felt like a layer of worries being stripped away. A shirt- they wouldn’t get there in time. Her bra- the kett would have armed ships, all too eager to fire. Their pants- Meridian wouldn’t be what they needed it to be. Underwear- death.

Once they were in bed, a few steps across the small living room to an even smaller bedroom, it was almost a relief for Ryder to let Kandros take control, a rare concession that made his pupils grow wide and then quickly dilate. They could both work with this, a task that Kandros bent to with gusto, pinning Ryder down on the bed, her wrists beneath his hands, kissing her on the mouth. As she leaned into him, he pulled back, a teasing smile just hinted by his facial structure. His kisses descended downward- the center of her throat, and then the hollow. The space between her breasts, a flick of the tongue for each nipple but not enough, not near enough. Her stomach, her hipbones, and then-

There were many uses for the turian tongue, a dextrous, thin appendage capable of both a great deal of strength and flexibility. It was something they had discussed and joked about, but there had never been the right moment. Now Kandros let go of Ryder’s hands and she gripped his sheets tightly, part of her mind locked away enough to worry that he would be mad if she tore them, the rest of her succumbing to the joy of the experience. He really was very good at what he was doing, enough so that Ryder wondered if he had done it before, but what did it matter if he had?

Closer, ever closer, to that edge but Kandros pulled back again, making Ryder groan out, “No, please, don’t stop.”

“Not my intention, Ryder.” He had pulled his body up to be level with hers again, resting on his elbows so that they were almost chest to chest. She pulled his face down to hers even as he entered her, her legs rising to go around his waist. Every second and every thrust felt almost desperate, the knowledge that this could be the final time they were intimate seeming to hit them both at the same time. It almost seemed appropriate that their entire relationship had started with drinks and what they had both thought would be a quick one and done fling, and now it could potentially end with… something more. Whatever this was.

“Kandros,” she said, at the same time as he groaned, “Ryder.” One final movement together and he gently rolled off her, laying at her side and panting softly in the way that overheated turians did, mouth slightly open, teeth showing. Ryder moved closer to him and he molded his body around her, back to her stomach, face half-nested within a curtain of her purple hair.

“We need to get dressed and get ready to go.” Time was going by too quickly, and there was still so much to do, politics to manage and people to rally, but Kandros sounded utterly reluctant to actually follow his own words.

“I want to take a nap.” Her limbs were filled with pleasant lassitude, and the thought of getting out of bed and facing the world may well have been the most distasteful thing she had experienced.

Kandros responded by nipping the back of her neck, not hard, but enough that she yelped and sat up, scowling at him and throwing the blanket over his head as she wiggled back into her clothing. It was over all too quickly, and now it was time to get down to business.

Before stepping back into the chaos of the Nexus, she and Kandros paused, facing each other. Almost in unison, their hands rose so they both traced each other’s jawlines carefully, almost longingly. “Ryder, come back to me. None of this dying bullshit, okay?” The same thing he had requested of her again and again, but his tone was more urgent this time, tipping her chin so that she had to look him in the eyes. “I love you, and this station would be lonely without you giving Tann attitude.” Those three words made her heart pound, even if it wasn’t the first time had had said it, but could she really make that promise?

“I’m going to do my best, Kandros. You think I want to leave Tann unchecked?” A flimsy joke, but enough to make Kandros give a ghost of a smile. “I love you too. I can’t believe I traveled to a new galaxy just to fall in love with a damn turian.” They never would have met back home, but it was a funny thing, wasn’t it?

“I can’t help it if you humans have weird kinks for us.” The moment was ruined when Ryder attempted a soft punch to Kandros’ sternum, only managing to bruise her hand and set him into a hit of helpless laughter, ending it by sweeping her in close for another kiss.

No one knew what Meridian would be, but she would do everything in her power to come back to him. To come home.

[kestrelsansjesses]

“So what did you do today?” 

“Nothing...”

[kestrelsansjesses]

I was very fortunate to commission @skellagirl​ to draw Tiran Kandros and my Wren Ryder. I can’t recommend working with her more than enough, and also look at how gorgeous this is. <3 Consider this the ‘official’ cover for New Galaxy, Same Old Thirst. ;D

[kestrelsansjesses]

Keep on Coming Home

[Summary: After dying for the second time on the Archon's flagship, Wren Ryder reunites with Kandros. Predictably, he's not very pleased. Comments very, very appreciated. Are you as trash for these two as I am? Continuing of my ‘New Galaxy, Same Old Thirst’ series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Previous

Pairing: Kandros x Ryder ]

As Wren Ryder exited the Tempest for rest and relaxation at the Nexus, Kandros was waiting for her. “I’m guessing I’m under arrest?” She kept her tone sardonic and light, but Ryder’s whole body ached; her activities on the Archon’s flagship had pushed her whole being to the absolute limit and then some.

Kandros shook his head, and there was no sign of amusement in any part of his movements. “Don’t tempt me, Ryder. Tann already wants your head for this.” This wasn’t the homecoming she had anticipated- not by any stretch of the imagination, and some of that hurt must have shown on her face. Kandros softened, held himself less stiff; she hadn’t anticipated PDA. He wasn’t the type, and to be honest, neither was she, but she hadn’t exactly foreseen this either. “My apartment. Let’s go,” he continued, turning abruptly and leading the way without once looking over his shoulder to see if she followed.

He wasn’t wrong in not waiting. Curiosity got the best of Ryder, as it did every time, and she followed with a sigh, rubbing the back of her neck. Somehow, she didn’t think they were in danger of falling in bed with each other, though it hadn’t stopped Lexi from warning her before she disembarked. “Nothing strenuous, Ryder. Nothing. Even if it’s fun.” It was almost like having Ellen back, if Ellen had been a medical doctor rather than a biochemist.

Though it wasn’t fair to Kandros’ little suite of rooms, people stopped Ryder every few feet to talk with and congratulate her. Word of the Archon’s flagship wasn’t common knowledge just yet. If it had been, she had little doubt that not everyone would be so happy to see her. Instead, she was offered drinks by most everyone, people excited just to speak with her. It was surreal, but she had no time to chat. Kandros wasn’t waiting for her.

Finally Ryder could find some safety behind closed doors, leaning against it for a moment. How was it possible to be this tired? But there wasn’t time to rest now- Kandros had turned around abruptly, rounding on her.

“What were you thinking?” He wasn’t yelling, but this wasn’t an improvement; his tone was cool, clipped, and utterly controlled, and somehow this was far worse.

“Kandros, I did what I had to.” She hated her words even as she said them. It sounded like something Alec would say, making any justification he could for his most drastic actions.

Pacing now, Kandros shook his head. “You endangered the whole of the Nexus. You royally pissed off the Archon- intelligence says that even now, the kett are planning retaliation. They could hit the colonies. They could hit here.” But even this wasn’t getting to the heart of Kandros’ issues. He left something hanging in the air still, bait for her to grab and pull out, trying to puzzle him out.

“That’s not what I meant to do, but if we don’t act now, the kett will do something worse.” Up until now, the kett had been one step ahead, but hopefully, with the information they had taken from the ship, the Initiative would finally have the upper hand. It all lay at Gil’s feet now. No pressure.

If Kandros had hair, he no doubt would have run his hand through it again and again until it frazzled. Instead, he tugged on his own fringe in an unconscious gesture, then pulling his crest. “You died,” he finally said, tone flat.

“I got better.” Humor was easier than admitting that dying for the second time had been even more terrifying. Easier than admitting that she didn’t necessarily like the control SAM had over her own body, and much easier than admitting that she needed time to recover.

“You could have stayed dead.” Finally Kandros collapsed onto his couch, the surface hard and unyielding. He folded his head into his hands, peering out through his fingers to look at her. “All I heard was that you died, Ryder, and then you came back to life. How do you think I felt? The minute I leave the Tempest, you pull this shit.”

She sat down next to him, space between their bodies. They weren’t touching just yet, but she wanted to. “I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t die, I couldn’t have saved Drack and Cora. The Archon was trying to… take something from me. From SAM. Believe me, Kandros. I didn’t want to die, but there were no other options.” Her last thoughts had been about him, as stupid as it sounded. If there had been a way to warn him, she would have taken it, but even thinking about saying it out loud felt stupid. Their relationship was too fresh and too new.

He groaned. “You’re impossible. I have a duty to all the people here to protect them.” He sounded wearier than he ever had. “I send my STRIKE teams out and I know they’re risking their lives. I’ve heard them die over comms. I shouldn’t have to worry that you’re going to kill yourself for something we don’t even understand. It might not even work.”

“It’s not your job to worry about me, Kandros, and I’ll figure those blueprints out.” Part of her felt angry, almost coddled. She wasn’t a kid- she was the Pathfinder, no matter what anyone said, and no one was going to hold her back. Every decision she made was difficult, and enough people questioned her without Kandros adding to the pile.

“It’s my job to worry about everyone, whether or not I like it.” And from his tone, it was clear there were days when Kandros didn’t like it. Ryder hadn’t stopped to consider what his own hardships would be like, so wrapped up in her own. At least her crew had managed not to die yet, but what if she lost one of them? People she had fought with, trained with. People she was in charge of. “Are you okay?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.

Her hand slid over to his knee, and then his fingers found her, intertwining quietly. “It fucking hurts, Kandros. That’s what they don’t say about dying. It hurts, and coming back hurts even more and it sucks in every way you can imagine.” No one said she was a poet. She stated things as they were, and there weren’t words enough to explain how cheating death twice felt. “My chest hurts. My head hurts. I’m not allowed to do anything for at least another twenty-four hours, according to Lexi, and all I wanted to do was see you. Kind of stupid.”

“Kind of,” he agreed, anger fading from his voice. “Can you try not to die again? Tann may want to kick you out of the Initiative entirely, and I can’t deal with worrying about you and trying to calm him down.” Though his fingers were not especially dextrous, he ran one over the palm of her hand in small circles, over and over again, the claw providing pleasant frisson.

A grin cracked Ryder’s face, feeling refreshing. Anything other than the frown that had been plastered there since the ship, better than the nightmares that had woken her up by squeezing her chest ever since. “I’ll do my best.” Finally she felt loose enough to lean against his shoulder, closing her eyes. “I’ve got to go to Kadara still. Sloane sent a message- she said it was urgent.” Kandros’ shoulder wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he was familiar, the smell of her him making muscles unknot, even those back muscles that had been constantly clenched since the flagship.

“I’ve got another week of owed downtime. I’m going with you. Sloane… I need to see her again. I need to ask her why.” He didn’t move, except to settle his body slightly, also leaning back, head resting on top of hers. His breaths made her hair flutter slightly, not unpleasantly.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Whatever had happened between them was in the past; he clearly still thought about Sloane’s perceived betrayal of the Nexus, and it was just something else to heap onto his plate.

“It’s a better idea than dying.” Point taken. To Kadara they would go, but not until they had both taken a well-earned nap, the nightmare screams of people they’d failed for once not ringing in their ears.

[kestrelsansjesses]

"Just breathe." or "I don't care what they say. To me, you're perfect." For Kandros, maybe? Thanks for reading the ask, either way!

“Just breathe.” Kandros’ breath tickled Wren Ryder’s neck, a pleasant frisson that seemed to shoot straight down her spine. “Steady hands,” he said, leaning over her shoulder to watch, arms occasionally moving in to adjust her position, one lingering on her waist for a few seconds longer than was strictly necessary.

“Making that difficult, Kandros,” she said, though it could also be noted that Ryder did absolutely nothing to wriggle out of his hands.

Amused, he added, “Pull the trigger back smoothly. Release, let the tension out your back or the recoil will knock you back.”

“I know how to shoot a gun, Kandros.” As if to punctuate her statement, Ryder let off a few rounds at the target they had set up on their small range. Her aim was satisfactory, the assault rifle mostly calibrated by now. Satisfactory, but far from perfect. It wasn’t like she had much time to practice on anything other than live, moving targets lately.

“Really? Because I’ve seen you in the field.” Teasing, he stepped back quickly, ducking out of range from a waving fist, smile creasing his mandibles and causing them to wiggle slightly.

Carefully putting her new toy down, Ryder stood with hands on her hips, trying to look like what a Pathfinder should look like- calm, in control, respectable. Not someone who missed shots because their boyfriend was getting a little too handsy. “Just because I don’t have turian control…”

Her first clue should have been Kandros taking another step backwards. Her second would be that he put his hands up in a placating gesture before he even spoke. “Oh, I know all about your lack of control, but it doesn’t usually bother me.” That’s it. She was going to smack him right across his bony shoulder, even if it meant breaking her own hand. Or, more realistically, she was going to blush a spectacularly unlovely shade of red and open and close her mouth a few times, trying to formulate a witty response and coming up with… nothing.

“You shoot it then. Show me how it’s done,” was what she finally settled on, gesturing back to the range.

The gun was a present from Kandros, modified to be lightweight and hold extra bullets. It seemed to fit perfectly in her hands, the measurements exact. When Kandros held it, it looked like a toy, trigger optimized for fragile human fingers and not a turian’s digits. Still, he gamely took a few shots, and most annoyingly, they hit true center. He turned back to face her, and damn if he didn’t have a cocky smile on his face.

Snatching the gun back from him, Ryder leaned up another shot. Breathe. Make sure all her muscles were right, make sure her arms were in the correct position, pull the trigger and… Hah, yes! That time her grouping was much tighter. Another round wouldn’t go amiss, but just as she was looking down the barrel of her rifle, a hand was placed on either side of her waist and again hot breath tickled the fine hair near her ear.

“One more challenge for you, Ryder. But we can’t do it in public.”

She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, yah? I can guarantee I’m better at it than you are.” And if she wasn’t, at least the challenge would be enjoyable.

“Then you better prove you have control.” Or maybe she wouldn’t be, but wasn’t finding out half the fun?

[kestrelsansjesses]

Poker Night

[[Summary: A more light-hearted chapter of New Galaxy, Same Old Thirst that can be read as a standalone. After the emotional difficulty of discovering the turian ark may be lost, Kandros joins Ryder and the crew in a game of poker, resulting in yet another drunken proposition.

As always, I love to hear what you think! What's going to happen next for me these two? Will they finally be more than just a hookup?

Tiran Kandros x Ryder

AO3]]

“And I fold before I owe Gil every credit I own and the Tempest.” Stepping back from the table, Wren Ryder stretched her shoulders and neck, rolling it back and forth to try and work the cricks out of it. If she could escape this game with some of her dignity intact, all the better; she already owed Gil 347 credits, and refused to give him one more. SAM could have helped, but she had no interest in cheating. Well, not today. Next game, though, if no one managed to dethrone their reigning poker king… Things might be different. “Anyone else joining me?” Her head was pleasantly buzzing with the free flowing drinks, and a snack was in order.

Jaal and Gil didn’t even bother to look up, absorbed in their cards. Liam shook his head, and Cora gave a curt gesture. Kandros, the newcomer to their ship, also shook his head, but Vetra stood up as well, echoing Ryder’s stretch. “I’m also out. Let’s go, Ryder.”

She didn’t follow Vetra right away, just needing a moment longer. “You good, Kandros? I can’t send the head of Nexus Security back completely broke.” The past few days had been difficult on everyone, from learning that the turian ark was possibly lost to pressing forward to Elaaden, knowing that nothing good could await them. Everyone sorely needed this game.

“If I can win a game against Sloane Kelly, I can beat anyone. Don’t worry, Ryder.” At least he was relaxed now, not exactly happy but filled with enough of the turian liquor Tupari to approximate it.

“You’re the boss. Well, I’m the boss, but you know what I mean.” Before heading down the stairs, Ryder clapped a hand to Kandros’ shoulder, resting it there a moment longer than friendship would dictate. He was a grown turian and he could handle himself. If he couldn’t, well… That was on him, and on Gil. She had to trust that not bankrupting everyone in the Andromeda galaxy wasn’t in her engineer’s best interests. Right now, if the cotton feeling of her mouth was any indication, she also needed to drink something that wasn’t beer. Time to swing by the galley as promised, see if she couldn’t find something to at least prevent tomorrow’s hangover from being too brutal.

In the Tempest’s galley, Vetra nibbled on a piece of some kind of dextro-based cracker, shooting Ryder a look laden with questions as she walked in.

“So… This is going well,” Ryder finally ventured, trying to down a large glass of water and look as guilt-free as possible.

“What part of ‘not discussing boys’ do you not understand, Ryder? Or ‘smuggler and security officer don’t mix.’” Taking another bite, Vetra clacked her mandibles in irritation, in as much as Ryder could judge turian facial expressions. “Don’t give me that look. Fine, it’s going great. I’m sure you’ll have lots of awful hybrid children together.”

Rolling her eyes so hard that she thought she could see through the ceiling of the Tempest, Ryder took another drink, silence pointed. After a tense few seconds, Ryder gave in and shrugged. “I’m going to go to bed.”

“With Kandros?”

“Vetra, I will airlock you.” Vetra’s laughter broke the tension between them, following Ryder back to her quarters, where she was more than happy to sit back on her couch and simply unwind with an actual, honest-to-god paper book in hand. The jacket said it was a weighty history tome, but truth be told, it was a direct from the vid adaptation of Fleet and Flotilla. A girl had to have some guilty pleasures.

Just as the titular fleet (turian) and flotilla (quarian) were about to consummate their relationship in a flood of dextro-based fluids, there was a knock on Ryder’s door. Damn it. Always when she was getting to the good part, cheeks slightly flushed.

Dropping the book down on the couch, she stood and yelled out, “Pathfinder Ryder is a very busy woman, so this better be important.” If only she could get a sign on the door that told people to go away; if only she could get a moment of peace and quiet.

“Ryder.” Kandros stood on the other side of the door, swaying slightly. “Your skin looks great tonight.” An empty bottle of Tupari dangled between two claws, and he suddenly leaned against the doorframe, trying to look suave but only accomplishing looking like he couldn’t stand. “You wanna?” He made a gesture with his free hand, a twirl of the fingers that was somehow universal.

Sighing inwardly, Ryder plucked the bottle from Kandros’ fingers, putting it down on her small table. He reeked of the strange combination of what was definitely alcohol and whatever it was they put in the drink to make it appropriate for the turian GI system- something that smelled slightly chemical and astringent to her, though Vetra had said time and time again that it ‘smelled like heaven.’

“Kandros. I do. It’s not that I don’t.” She ran her hand through her hair nervously, trying to formulate a sentence when it seemed like words had left her. “But I also want to be more than that. That was the whole point of this mission. I don’t just want to be your booty call.”

“My… what?”

“Sorry, human phrase. But I like you a lot, Kandros. Even when you’re like this. It’s still kind of cute.” Cute was not a word normally associated with a turian nearly seven feet tall with a penchant for power armor, and yet.

Silence greeted Ryder’s proclamation; it looked like Kandros was having trouble focusing on her, though he finally managed to get both eyes facing forward. His pupils, some part of her noticed, were slightly larger than normal. “Ryder, you’re good, for a human. A good person. I’m going to go to bed.” It wasn’t exactly a stirring declaration of feelings, but at least he hadn’t totally rebuffed her. He started to walk away, managing to trip over his own two feet and going sprawling across the floor, lying there and accepting his fate. His temporary quarters were on the upper deck, and there was no way Ryder would be able to drag him up the ladder to his own bed.

“Kandros, you better come in.” Helping him up (and nearly falling over in the process), Ryder led Kandros to her own bed, one side of it undisturbed. “You can sleep here tonight.”

“You change your mind?” He leered, if such a thing could be possible with that face.

“Not even a bit, buddy,” she answered with a grin. Damn it, but she really did like him. “But there’s no way you’re getting home like this. Just kick back and relax.” He didn’t say anything else, and while Ryder went to go fix herself another drink, he apparently passed out, fast asleep and neatly within his confined half of the bed. She shook her head again. He looked comfortable, at least.

With a shrug, Ryder called it a night, stripping down to her pajamas, knowing that she was safe from him watching. Crawling into bed, she was prepared to sleep with a carefully maintained set of inches between them, but in his sleep Kandros turned to face her, one arm stretching out and looping around her waist possessively. Okay. Well, this was okay. Tomorrow was a new day, after all.