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Jul 21, 2020

proving it

"“Hey, Vetra,” Elly takes her hands in Vetra’s, two fingers pressing against five, and smiles up at her. “I’m always here for you, both of you. As I’ve said. I really care. I mean it.”

A collection of moments telling the story of Elly Ryder and Vetra Nyx, a human and a turian falling in love inmidst a new and unknown galaxy.”

here's how elly ryder looks like in case you're interested

8 chapters (6,128 words)

ao3 link | or read it down below ↓

—1—

Finding a new home in the Andromeda galaxy and building a civilization. That was their original mission. No one had expected to find all their so called “golden worlds” to be inhabitable. Much less to get thrown onto one of these worlds and have their Pathfinder Alec Ryder dying to save his daughter, Elly Ryder.

Simply waking up after 600 years of deep sleep was difficult enough. But then dealing with the loss of their expected home and her dad? That’s too much for Elly. The worst part of it all: she’s supposed to be the new Pathfinder. She’s supposed to deal with everything – exploring new worlds, setting up outposts and leading the Initiative project to its original goal. This new kind of responsibility is crushing, and it will take a lot of time to get used to it.

And this isn’t the only thing she’ll have to get used to. Now, she also has her own ship with her own crew. A crew that fully believes in her and her abilities. It’s more than she could’ve ever come up with in her wildest daydreams. Sure, she’d dreamt of having her own ship, just sailing around in space and discovering new things. But this is bigger than all of that – and at what price did it come? Was all the pain this journey had brought so far really worth it?

This is no time for doubt or weakness though. She has to be strong. For her crew. For the sleeping humans on the Hyperion. For her brother. For her father. He had done so much for this project and she knows how much he wanted it. After several fights in their family, in the end, all of them had agreed to it and had even looked forward to this new start in a faraway galaxy. Even though it meant leaving everything they’ve ever known behind. Their home, their friends, the view outside of their favorite café, the visits to the National Space Museum and so on. They would never see the Earth again, nor would they see the Citadel or Eden Prime or anything of the Milky Way ever again. And since communication between the two galaxies would take very long, they also wouldn’t hear anything from the Milky Way, at least not in their lives. Their only hope concerning that is to raise a new generation in Andromeda which can someday, hopefully receive a message from the Milky Way.

She’s so lost in thought she barely registers Cora’s voice behind her. “This is it, Ryder. The Tempest is yours. Unless you’ve got something to say for the log?”

There is a whole galaxy of currently inhabitable planets, a mysterious thing called “the Scourge” and other possible dangers ahead. But as she stares out the windows at the bridge, she can’t help but believe there is still hope out there. Of all these possible worlds they could discover, there has to be one for them to live on. The Miky Way has them. Earth. Thessia. Palaven. Sur’Kesh. Now it’s on her and her crew to find their counterparts in the Andromeda galaxy. The following words coming out of her only feel natural.

“We were all expecting a golden world. A home where we could start over and fullfill our dreams. Now there’s just a long road ahead. But hold on to those dreams. We will get there.”

—2—

Vetra Nyx has been on the run all her life. Home always felt like hell – well, what had she’d called “home” in the beginning. Her parents fought all day long, not giving a care about her, much less her newborn sister, Sidera. One day, while feeding Sid, she’d overheard them screaming at each other again and after hearing a loud thud, she’d looked out the window to see her mother running away. Whatever it was her father did… her mother and all the others erased their existence from their minds. Her dad snatched her and Sid, and they left Palaven together. Time passed and soon enough, their dad became increasingly overwhelmed by the task of taking care of them. It all went downhill until… even he left and never came back. She and Sid were completely left alone, no guidance, no money, no family but each other. It was time the two left just the same – and so it came she and her sister sneaked into the next ship leaving not too far away from their settlement. It was a risky endeavor of course, she had no idea where they were going, but at that time everywhere was better than where they currently were. For the following few years, Vetra kept the only family left to her alive by doing all sorts of jobs. Kesh, one of her clients, hired Vetra a handful of times to retrieve things for her. The tasks got bigger one after the other, and after Vetra gingerly asked her what she was doing with all this, Kesh introduced her to the Initiative.

Up to that, her whole life had been anything but easy. She never had room to think much about what she wanted – everything was about getting money for food and shelter and taking care of her sister. It was surviving, not living. Even though their time at the Nexus wasn’t exactly easy either, it was closer to living than what was before.

And now her life is the closest it has ever been to living instead of surviving. She has a stable home – the Tempest. She has a place and a job here and she has people around her she can (somewhat) trust. And most importantly: her little sister is safe and sound on the Nexus. Sure, things are pretty messy right now and looking somewhat grim, but at least her only family is with her in this chaotic new galaxy. It’ll take months, probably even years or decades, to get this project fully working. Lots of heated discussions and unnecessary fights will happen before the first planet is ready to be colonized. Even more than anticipated, since now it’s not only a lot of red tape but there’s also the question of how to repair the damage the Scourge has caused. If there’s one person who can manage all of that, it’s gonna be Elly Ryder. Vetra isn’t one to quickly trust people, but this woman is an exception, and the turian will make sure she knows just how important she is.

―

“We’ve been failing for months, Ryder. Now that we have you, we have a chance out here.” It’s the truth. The Nexus is a giant mess. Three lazy ass diplomats sitting around and arguing isn’t going to change a single thing. No, it’s about time someone takes action. Now they’ve got a Pathfinder, maybe not the one they wanted, but probably the one they need. The people on the Nexus can complain all they want, Vetra is already convinced the Pathfinder’s, no, Ryder’s arrival means the return of what they’ve had lost so long ago: hope.

“Wow, that’s some laser focus,” Ryder answers, smirking and leaning against the boxes taking up most of the space in her small room.

Vetra takes a step back. Is that meant to be a joke or is she serious?

“Yeah… Was it too much? Some people get intimidated.”

Ryder walks up to her, the smirk never leaving her face, instead growing even more prominent. “I’m not just some people. I really like the intensity.”

Oh. Now that’s new. She already figured out Ryder is a very… honest person but this is… unexpected, still. She isn’t used to someone complimenting her ambitions so earnestly. The people she used to work for were always rather ungrateful to her. Even on the Nexus, where she had done much work for the Tempest, no one was really that nice to her. People were much more focused on themselves.

“That’s good. It’s nice to feel… appreciated.”

Vetra mentally slaps herself. That’s about the lamest answer she could’ve given to something so huge. Or maybe it isn’t huge. Maybe she isn’t special at all, and it’s just that Ryder is fascinated by people in general. Yeah, it’s probably that. Better let this all go. She turns around and walks over to her desk, where her datapad is still lying with her mails open.

“I should track down a lead for Gil’s actuators. Back channels, you know?”

Ryder nods and slowly walks backwards in the direction of the door while still looking at the tall, slender woman sitting down at the desk.

“We’ll chat later, then,” she says, leaving the room with a slight blush appearing on her face.

—3—

“Hey Ryder, what’s up?” Vetra contacts Ryder over the comms. No answer. With a sigh, she hops out of the Nomad and walks towards the cliff Ryder is standing on. They’d been searching through the Remnant caves of Havarl and for the last few minutes, Ryder has gotten awfully quiet while driving the Nomad to their next destination. Usually, Ryder would have something to say about everything. During their travels with the vehicle she commented on so many things, it was almost like she was moderating her own show. Sometimes the squad was annoyed by this, but Vetra found it cute nonetheless. Ryder has to endure so much, and yet she radiates delight and curiosity. Vetra still wonders how she manages to do that.

“Ryder?” she calls again. There’s a chasm before them, made out of Remnant technology. They’ve been here before, cleaned up some enemies, but they haven’t done anything further. “Are you okay?” she asks, coming to a halt beside her. The red-haired woman turns her head and looks at her with a blank face.

“You can talk to me, you know,” Vetra reassures her, not knowing what else to say.

Ryder nods and a few seconds pass before she quietly sighs and answers.

“Sometimes it hurts, you know. The… thing with my dad, I mean. I’ve always looked up to him. Sure, he was rough but he was… still is my dad and I love him. But the more I realize he’s gone now, the more I also realize how much I didn’t know about him. He never really told me about his work. Not even about the parts that were not classified. SAM told me there are still many memory fragments left to discover. He feels like my dad but at the same time like a total stranger. And I don’t want to be mad at him, but I am mad at him for leaving us behind. I know it’s not his fault but…” her voice cracks and the tears that have built up in her eyes spill over. This is so unlike her usual calm and happy composure, and Vetra is not quite sure how to deal with it. She had to calm down a sad or angry Sid a couple of times, but never a crying Elly Ryder.

“But… it still hurts,” Ryder finishes, the tears still rolling down her cheeks. “God, I’m so sorry, Vetra.” She shakes her head, as if to tell herself to stop crying. Neither of them say anything as Vetra searches for the right words and the silence becomes more and more uncomfortable. Eventually, Ryder excuses herself again and wants to go back to the Nomad, but Vetra grasps her hip with her large hand.

“Ryder…” she takes a deep breath in and looks down, not daring to look into her glistering eyes. “I know how you feel. I felt the same way about my dad. To this day I don’t know why he left, only that he did and we weren’t ready for it. So…” she looks into her eyes now and holds on tight to her with both of her hands. “You are not alone.”

Ryder says nothing and just nods instead, and Vetra can see a slight smile making its way onto her lovely face. How could she be so vulnerable and so beautiful at the same time?

“Thank you,” is the only thing Ryder does say in the end. Vetra feels a gloved hand touching her cheek softly and this time she can clearly see the bittersweet smile beneath her many freckles.

They stand there for a few moments until Ryder gets out of her embrace and slowly walks back to where they came from. She turns around and calls after the tall woman. “You coming, Vetra?”

“I’m right behind you, Ryder,” Vetra says, even though she’s standing right where Ryder left her, the tingling sensation on her cheek still present. A quiet rumble leaves her throat and with big steps she follows her into the Nomad again.

—4—

The Nexus, though a place full of bureaucracy, is probably the safest place to be for the Milky Way species in Andromeda.

One can spend a lot of time watching Ryder dashing through the Nexus, running from place to place and handling one task after another. Sometimes she’d stop for a second, get lost in her thoughts, and then utter a small “oh!” and quickly walk towards her next destination. She is always on and about. It’d be almost sweet if it weren’t so worrisome. If Vetra were to be a little more bold and brave, she’d just grab Ryder, give her a proper meal and make sure she gets enough sleep. That’s what she’d do to Sid. But Ryder is not her little sister. She has to take care of herself, and as much as Vetra wants to help, she also doesn’t want to be a bother to her.

“Hey, my favorite turian,” Ryder’s voice pulls her out of her thoughts about said person.

“Hey, Ryder,” she answers, and gets greeted by a pout on the humans face. “What?”

“Y’know, you could… call me Elly. Since I call you by your first name, too.”

“Everybody calls me by my first name,” Vetra says, ignoring her request. Sure, she isn’t a good turian, but she isn’t gonna be that respectful and speak to her commander so… casually.

“So what?” She furrows her eyebrows and puts on something Vetra interprets as a pleading face, one Vetra has trouble not to give in to. “Please?”

“All right, Ryder… uh… Elly.”

The human woman squeals in delight and hugs her forcefully.

“Hey…” Vetra protests, surprised by the feeling of Elly’s body pressed against hers. “The others…”

A disinterested grunt comes out of Elly as response and she stands there for some time, hugging her quietly before stepping back and looking at her. “So how are you?”

“That’s what I should be asking you,” Vetra retorts, the worries from ealier entering her mind again.

“No talking about me, I want to know about you.”

You can’t get Elly to talk about herself when she doesn’t want to, so Vetra tries to make her feel good otherwise.

“Well… I wanted to thank you again. For helping me with Sid.”

Elly gives her a puzzled look. They’ve talked about this before, but at that time, Vetra was somewhat angry with Sid. She still is, to be honest, but by far not as much as she was before. Sid is still a kid, and Vetra raised her like her own child, but she has to let her do her own things, step by step. At least, now they’re not alone anymore. They have lots of people by their side, helping and supporting them, especially Elly. And they have lots of things to do to get to the goals of the Andromeda initiative. Everyone can and should play their part in that. Even her sister.

“I thought about it some more and…” she tries to explain, “I’m just… thankful. You’re here for us. And you care.”

“Hey, Vetra,” Elly takes her hands in Vetra’s, two fingers pressing against five, and smiles up at her. “I’m always here for you, both of you. As I’ve said. I really care. I mean it.”

“Elly…” Her voice has grown somewhat frantic, and she’s so embarrassed, but tries to not let it show. Just as she tries to not show the surprise at the sudden constraining feeling in her heart. It feels like falling and flying at the same time. She’s speechless. Once again. How can this woman say and do such things to her?

“We’ll, uh, meet on the ship, then,” Elly says, letting go of her hands and slowly walking away towards the ship docks. Vetra already misses the warmth of their hands pressed together and wonders, just for a brief moment, if Elly might feel the same.

—5—

According to SAM, it is the only thing they can do to get them out of the Archon’s grip – killing Ryder. The Archon had put stasis fields around them, which would only respond to living signals. And SAM couldn't find any other solutions besides the most horrible one to exist.

Vetra can barely manage any fitting words for the anger and disbelief she feels right now. “Ryder... you’re crazy.”

“Um… just in case: It was nice, knowing you all.” Peebee, the young adventurous asari, sounds so casual, just like most times, but Vetra can hear the slight tremble in her voice betraying her poise. Peebee is probably just as bad as she is with feelings, though right now Vetra's sure they are both crushed by the sudden fear overwhelming them.

“All right… Do it,” Elly’s voice holds the same amount of fear in it.

The two look up at her and all of Vetra's blood seems to freeze in her veins at those words. Elly is absolutely unbelievable, facing death with a readiness unlike anyone else. She and her brother were the only ones left of her family, she has once told her. Vetra knew that feeling all too well, given that it's only her and her sister left. Despite that fact, Elly is prone to jumping into danger at first hand. And Vetra would be lying if she said it didn’t bug her. Too many times she had to stifle an upset or worried comment after Elly had stormed recklessly into a group of Kett or driven the Nomad too close to the edge of a deep abyss. But this outdoes everything.

“Stopping your heart now.” The immobilizing field around her disappears, and her limbless body drops before them. Vetra is convinced her heart has just stopped beating together with Ryder's heart. Maybe SAM is an enemy after all and just got them here to kill them altogether. No, no, no, no… Everything that's left to her is the image of Ryder lying there, and she shuts her eyes, trying to burn the image away. Being trapped in a stasis field until her death suddenly feels like an easier option than to see Ryder dead right in front of her without her being able to do something.

“Stimulating the cardiovascular system…” SAM’s usually soothing voice rings in her ears, and she would love to punch it for doing this to Ryder, which is of course impossible given that SAM has no body to begin with and she is immobilized anyway.

“Zero activity.”

“SAM…” she just says instead in the most threatening manner she could. If this doesn’t work… she’s either gonna die too or travel to the edge of the galaxy and live there alone for the rest of her life.

The same announcement from before comes again. “Stimulating the cardiovascular system…”

The next few seconds that pass are filled with silence which seems to stretch endlessly long, so long that Vetra swears she could feel every atom of her body slowly deceasing. Not even the most intense and life-threatening fights she has been in have anything on the soul-crushing fear she feels right now. Her mind is replaying her life in a flash, as if she’s dying herself, but it all gets stuck at Elly Ryder. She’d do anything to hear her laugh, see her cute face with the many freckles and touch her smooth red hair, just one more time…

And then, suddenly, one deep breath is what it takes to restore all the life inside her. She opens her eyes, which she had closed unintentionally because she couldn’t bear to look at the lifeless body of her commander, her friend, of … whatever they were. Ryder is laying there with open eyes, coughing wildly. After she’s catched her breath, she picks up her assault rifle and gets up on wobbly legs.

“Ryder…” The only word that's left to Vetra. Her subharmonics are filled with fear, and she's glad the other two can’t hear it – though they probably know how smitten she is anyway.

“I'm okay. I'm okay,” Ryder repeats, mostly to herself and walks over to the console to free her teammates, seeming a little more like a lost soul than a living being. She taps some buttons and looks at her squad mates with a weary smile and a thumbs up. Vetra can’t remember what the gesture is for – is it something positive or negative? The thought leaves her mind as soon as it entered because now she and Peebee are freed as well.

She opens her mouth to ask if Elly really is okay, but leaves it be. Now is not the time for talking. They have an Archon to hunt down.

—6—

“I think I've had enough of dying for one lifetime.” Elly sinks her hands into her bedsheets, imagining they were her brain and she could sink her flesh like claws into her memories and erase parts of them – between her practically dying twice, the Exaltation, the Jaardan – it’s too much.

“Pathfinder, I want to remind you I would have done anything else had there been another possibility available. We may be both aware there was not anything else left for me to do, but even so I am sorry. This situation was just another proof that my powers are not unlimited,” SAM said in private.

“Thank you, but I don't need any condolences. Especially not from you, a machine without real feelings.”

“Though I do not have any real feelings as you may have, I have spent a long time among humans and other species, long enough so I can roughly understand the concept of these feelings, Pathfinder,” SAM replies.

“Fuck – Look, SAM, I do not want to talk about it right now, okay?!”

“Understood, Pathfinder.”

She buries her head in one of the pillows. SAM calling her Pathfinder after every sentence just makes everything worse. But she is right, isn't she? SAM isn’t capable of feeling what she is currently feeling, so its understanding words were just empty words. She lays down flat on her bed and feels her eyes water. Shit. Thinking about this was just the last straw. There's so much – too much – on her mind and the Archon and his army are still alive and there are no habitable planets for their people – well she has activated the Monoliths on Eos, Voeld and Havarl and the conditions there have gotten better, but this victory was only temporary with the Kett still at large.

“Pathfinder?” SAM’s voice pops up again.

Elly groans loudly to voice her disapproval, letting out a “What?!” in the most annoyed tone she could manage.

“Vetra Nyx is requesting access to your quarters.”

She rolls around on her bed. Is adding Vetra to the mush that is her negative thoughts right now a good idea? The only thing she is capable of right now is complaining about how bad her situation is. Everything in her screams to let her go, but even so the opposite leaves her mouth.

“Okay.”

The doors open to reveal the brown-beige face and the purple markings she has grown to love. Vetra isn't wearing her armor – she is wearing something that resembles a turian pyjama.

“Hey, Elly,” she sits down on the bed and Elly feels her weight pushing down the mattress. Not daring to say anything or even look at her, Elly just stays unmoving on the bed.

“Are you okay?” She's slowly gotten accustomed to the subharmonics in Vetra's voice, and right now she's sure there's worry resonating in them. It’s a honest question, though Vetra isn’t one to push someone into answering.

“No,” she says at last. “Vetra… Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” the turian woman takes off her boots and lays down next to Elly. Her copper hair is sprawled all across the pillow and she runs a talon through the soft strads. Upon this, a small smile appears on Elly’s face and she turns around, facing the other. Vetra notices her swollen eyes and begins to grow more worried. Simultaneously, Elly’s smile disappears again and she opens her mouth.

“How do you deal with all the bad memories?”

Vetra stops her movements and looks her dead in the eyes. That question is so vague and difficult to answer… nothing she’ll say will be of help, probably. But she’ll try anyway.

“Uh… first: making new, good memories. Second: talking about the bad ones and third: try to resolve them if possible. I guess that about sums it up?”

Elly hums. “Well, I don’t see you doing the latter two.”

“Hmpf. Doesn’t make my advice any less helpful, does it?”

“Probably not.” There’s that grin again. The one that lights up her face and makes her cute freckles stand out even more inmidst her puffy cheeks. The one that Vetra has grown to love. She’d like to say something about how beautiful she thinks Elly is, but is sure it’d be inappropiate right now, especially considering she still doesn’t know… what they actually are. By now, she’s sure Elly has been flirting with her on one or two occassions. But Vetra is the last one to believe Elly actually likes her, of all people. Everyone loves Elly, and Elly loves everyone. She’s a sweetheart to almost everyone (except for her enemies, of course) and she might as well has found another person she’d rather be with.

“Vetra?” Elly’s quiet voice pulls her out of her thought process. It sounds so… foreign. Fragile. “Can you… stay here, for a while?”

“Of course. Anything for you,” she answers and she means it. Vetra has done many things for other people before, but only for money. But for Elly, she’d gladly do anything for free. She could give and give and give simply because this woman deserves that much. She has seen so much, but has never given up, always getting up and continuing the fight. Though she can be fierce, she still has a soft heart. Shit, Vetra thinks, and feels her heart tighten in her chest.

“In that case… can you hold me… just for a bit?” Her voice is still nothing more than a whisper. Vetra isn’t sure if her mind is playing games or if there’s really a blush adorning her cheeks. In any case, she’s quick to oblige and puts her arms around the much smaller body of Elly Ryder. With a content sigh, the human buries her head into her chest and through the thin fabric, Vetra can feel her nose, cheeks and lips press into her chest plates. It’s more than anything she could’ve hoped for. A two-fingered hand reaches up and strokes her hair, continuing until she hears a quiet snore.

Vetra isn’t sure if she’s allowed to stay, but she isn’t going to wake up a sleeping Elly Ryder either, so she decides to stay right where she is.

—7—

Vetra hears a small giggle coming from Elly and before she can turn her attention to her, she hears the loud poof of her jump-jet and more giggling as she dashes up to the top of the mountain.

“Hey!” Vetra calls after her. “I said no jump jets!”

She grins to herself as she hears Elly laughing freely, a sound she hasn’t heard from her in a while, and she can’t help but laugh with her. If she could get Elly to let loose for just one second, then the trip was already worth it. Though she also has another card up her sleeve.

“Looks like you’re having fun,” Vetra says as she reaches the top, taking a second to look around and admire the view herself. Of course, she’d taken Elly here to show her the amazing view, but also to talk to her. The knowledge that Elly is trusting her so much to let her worries go gives her an extra amount of hope for what is about to happen.

She walks over to where Elly is flat on the ground and lays down beside her, both still out of breath from climbing and laughing.

“Hey… Is this real?” she asks, not clarifying what she means on purpose. Vetra wants to know if Elly already knows. They have been flirting pretty regularly by now, but she still isn’t sure if Elly means any of it. Vetra is somewhat used to people flirting with her, but not because they like her. No, because they only want to use something of her, whether it’s her gun skills, her persuading manner, or her craftsmanship. People never want her, as a person. So when the compassionate and understanding Elly Ryder started flirting with her, of all people, she got… confused. Did she care that much for her? If she really did, it would change everything. Not only had Vetra found a new purpose on the Tempest, she had also found a home, and maybe now, a home in another person. Turians were taught to just accept the flow of life, but for the past weeks she kept wondering – what would it be like, having a quiet home with a loving partner? After spending all her life running, not daring to think upon the possibility of a home, much less a person to share it with besides her sister, now she considered if this was actually something she’d want.

And if Elly doesn’t reciprocate her feelings… then she is fine with that too. She is fine for as long as she can stay by her side. No matter what the answer is, she will respect it.

“Hmmm… I think the sky looks real. Could be, no, should be real,” Elly answers, still out of breath.

“Haha,” Vetra utters a fake laugh. From the corner of her eyes, Vetra could see Elly turning her head to her direction.

“I mean… this. How you are towards me. It's like you… care.” And for emphasis she nudges the back of her hand against Elly’s in the lightest of touches.

“… More than a friend.” Only now does she notice how deep she's breathing and she's not sure if it's left over exhaustion from the climbing or from how close they are right now, alone, out here in the messed up but perfect world.

“I don't mind if it's ‘no'. I just want to make sure. It gets messy otherwise,” she adds hastily. The last thing she wants is to assault Elly with this. Although she has to admit, she would actually mind it a little. Now that she has had a first taste of what could be – just the two of them, fooling around, making life in Andromeda a little bit brighter, filling each other's hearts – it's a sweet little thought. One she's growing more fond of than she'd like to admit.

But all these thoughts are put to stop by what follows. Elly takes her hand, which had been laying flat open like an invitation, into her own, entwining their fingers in a firm but pleasant grip. The next words coming out of Elly sound so delicate, so vulnerable, as if she's telling the universe’s biggest secret only for her ears to hear.

“I do care about you. A lot. More than a friend.”

It comes off as so simple, but it throws Vetra off, so much she doesn't know how to answer, so she chooses to just voice her surprise.

“Really? I didn't want to assume. It seemed so unlikely...”

She doesn’t even get to finish her babbling because suddenly, something absolutely miraculous happens.

Elly leans over her, cups her face and presses their lips together, like that ‘kissing’ thing humans do. The kiss is just like her – soft but with a fierceness beneath. Something that leaves Vetra aching for more.

“And how’s that for proving it?” She asks and her voice sounds sweeter than the sweetest wine Vetra has ever tasted.

“I’m convinced,” she answers, not trusting herself to say more, instead leaning in to kiss her again. Of course, she has heard several things about kissing, but she never really spared it a thought. Turians don’t usually kiss – their hard mouth plates would turn that into a rather difficult task. But with Elly… she could get use to this kissing thing.

—8—

“Hey, Vetra.”

Elly kisses her in the space between her mandibles and her carapace, tasting the supple leather-like skin. Vetra grumbles, her subharmonics signaling that she's listening. The Tempest hasn’t gone on as many adventures as before, leaving them with plenty of time to fool around in the lounge – or in Ryder’s private quarters.

“You’re preetty,” Elly traces her purple marks and places several kisses along them. The hand that’s resting on her hip grips her a little bit tighter at that, and she can hear another faint rumble coming from the turian. It’s cute how all it takes to get a strong woman like Vetra flustered is to call her pretty, Elly thinks. Vetra isn’t one to give up so easily, though.

“Uh huh,” she chuckles. “How about you say something more meaningful, babe?”

“That was meaningful!” Elly complains and lets her hands roam over the others carapace and even further along her body. Some minutes continue like this until Vetra grips her hips and pins Elly under her with a loud creak of their bed. As they look into each others eyes, her mandibles flutter and she leans in to kiss her but Elly stops her, placing her hand against her chestplate.

“Wait! I do have an important question!”

Vetra grumbles but stays silent, waiting for her to continue.

“Since the bad guy is defeated now… when do I get my magic sword?”

“I told you I don’t have one,” she chuckles darkly and leans further in, practically speaking into her ear, “And besides, you didn’t even win. You cheated, remember?”

“Oh, even so,” Elly replies, “You should have enough contacts to get hold of one, right?”

Vetra moves away from her side and looks at her face again. Her hands trace the soft skin on her cheeks, relishing the warm feeling on her fingers. “Why exactly would you like to have this ‘magic sword’ and what is it anyway?”

“A sword is an ancient weapon humans once used. It’s like this very long piece of metal and you can stab your enemies with it. And if it’s magic, well… it’s magic.”

Vetra looks at her in confusion, not quite sure of what use this weapon would be. She isn’t too informed about human history, so she doesn’t know how exactly it was supposed to be used.

“Well, nowadays they’re mostly used in ceremonials or plays,” Elly tries to expand on the meaning of swords. Laughing, she adds, “We could play princess and uh… princess. Or use it on our wedding ceremony. As a symbol, the proof of our love.”

“You’re crazy,” Vetra says, still not unterstanding what was up with this ‘sword’. Elly grins in return and places a quick kiss on her lip plates.

“So, are you gonna prove it or not? That you love me.”

Vetra lets out a deep rumble through her subharmonics, pressing Elly harder on the bedsheets. Her nails scratch along her chin, digging into her skin. “I’m sure there are… other ways to prove that.”

“Hmm,” Elly presses longing kisses on her lips, pulling her closer to her body until the turian is laying on top of her. “I’m not aversed to that.”

Her hands tug on the thin, grey fabric on Vetra’s body, as she does the same to her. In between kisses, Elly starts giggling loudly, making Vetra pause and look at her.

“You’re surely good at proving. I still want that sword, though.”

“You little minx,” Vetra laughs with her, and together, they fall into oblivion once more, finding the warmth in each other.

Maybe there is someone with a magic sword in the Andromeda galaxy after all. Who knows? And if there is, Vetra will do anything to get to them. Because she is good at proving her love for Elly Ryder, just as it is the same the other way around.

#mass effect andromeda #vetryder #vetra nyx #sis ryder #female ryder #fanfiction #my writings #mine

crystalldragon