An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 55/72
Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Lemons, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort
Summary:
When Kaidan Alenko met John Shepard, he'd like to say that their eyes met and it was all inevitable from there. The thing was, John was kind of an ass. And Kaidan was kind of stubborn.
today is someone's birthday on instagram ! a dude called @xxzakks_chapter115xx !
I like his aesthetic, and he kinda likes my art too, soooo I guess I could just draw him for his birthday v.v)~ YEEEEEEEEEEEEE
It's also my first time drawing piercings, hope it looks ok like that :M
everyone else in my class decided to have senior skip day today but I can guarantee that if I went with them on their trip I would spend the whole time trying to stay separated from the group for fear of ruining it for everyone else and also I didn’t want to tell my parents I could just stay home because I’m worried they would make me go with them anyway so instead I just came to school and I’m the only one here and it’s weird
Fics take place in alternate timelines than the askblog, but all events are possible.
Trigger warnings: food, death mention, existentialism jokes, injury (but not a serious one)
It was Thomas’ twelfth birthday. His friends gathered around and sang the Australian birthday song, which caused confusion and concern among the parents but giggles among the children. The cake was cut, and someone dared Thomas to eat one of the candles when his parents weren’t looking.
‘Don’t you dare,’ Patton hissed into the microscope in the mindscape, triggering a subconscious response in Thomas.
“Uh…” Thomas hesitated, glancing at the wax candle in question.
‘Don’t listen to him. You have to listen to them or they’ll never be your friends!’ Roman pushed past Patton to yell.
“Well, if you guys say so…” Thomas reached over to grab it.
‘Candles melt with heat! If you eat it you’ll never be able to be warm ever again without coating your stomach with wax and you’ll starve!’ Logan panicked.
‘...’ Patton raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t think that’s right, but I don’t know enough about the digestive system to dispute it.’
Thomas stopped mid-grab. “What if it coats my stomach and I die?”
His friends murmured in a group for a moment, before coming to a consensus that this was a reasonable fear. Thomas and the Sides sighed in relief.
‘That was close,’ Roman murmured, biting his lip.
‘We can’t be reckless and get killed,’ Patton rolled his eyes.
‘Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do without you guys!’ Logan grabbed a pillow from the couch and clutched it to his chest fearfully.
‘You know you’d die with us, right?’ Patton scoffed.
Logan gasped. ‘WHAT?!’
Thomas dove into his presents while Patton dealt with Logan’s sudden conscious realization of his own mortality. Roman took note of which presents his friends deemed ‘cool’ and which weren’t so that he could remind Thomas what ones to throw away later. First from Terrence - a new video game that Thomas and his friends had wanted for months. Definitely a keeper. Next was from Valerie - a poster from that one TV show Thomas secretly enjoyed, but wasn’t very popular.
‘Sorry, Thomas,’ Roman muttered as he added the poster to the list of things to throw out.
Joan got Thomas a camera. It was… nice, Roman supposed, and was neither cool nor uncool, so he guessed he’d keep it. Who knows, maybe someday video-making would be the new hip thing to do and Thomas would be grateful he’d kept it. It was better safe than sorry. (Best to keep the videos short, though, to minimize embarrassing mistakes. Six seconds, maybe? That sounded about right.)
The last gift, though, was perhaps the coolest of all. It was a shiny, brand spanking new Razor scooter. Thomas’ excitement was enough to shock Logan out of his existential crises and made him squeal in delight.
‘Oh my goodness, we gotta keep it Ro! We gotta!’ Logan jumped up and down, the hood of his hoodie flopping to the beat.
‘Obviously we’re keeping it,’ Roman gestured to the screen, where Thomas’ friends were already pulling him outside and begging to get a turn to ride it. Patton took control and guided Thomas to ride off down the street, ignoring the cries of his parents to stop and his friends racing to catch up, breathless with exhilaration.
Thomas felt his heart in his throat and grinned. He didn’t come inside for hours, even after his friends had long gone home. It was only when his stomach started rumbling for dinner that he reluctantly dragged the scooter up the stairs to his room (ignoring his mom’s protests) and settled in for the night.
Roman wasn’t sure what woke him up later that night. The lights gradually turned on in the rooms, signalling Thomas was awake. But hadn’t he gone to sleep just a few hours ago? It couldn’t be morning. He stumbled into the hallway, sinking into the main room. A figure sat at the controls already, slowly guiding Thomas on some silent midnight mission.
“Logan? What’re you doin’?” Roman recalled how Logan used to wake Thomas up and run around the house, but Patton had managed to stop these by convincing him there were monsters under the bed that hated the light and would eat Thomas if he got out of bed at night. Had Logan figured out it was a lie?
The figure glanced over his shoulder at Roman. In the dim wake-up lights, he thought something looked… off. And what was he wearing? Alright, first thing next morning Roman was getting Logan new pajamas. Something less… showy.
“Hey Roman, what’s up?” He asked casually.
“Where are your glasses?” Roman ignored the question.
Logan shrugged. His hair looked messier than usual, Roman noted.
Roman sat down on one of the chairs next to the control panel. As long as Logan didn’t wake anybody else up, he guessed it didn’t really matter if Thomas was awake. “So, what’re you doing? Late night candy run?”
“Nah,” Logan grinned. “I have a fun idea.”
Roman raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Does Patton approve?”
“Psh, nah. He’s in his room with his sciency stuff. I checked.”
“You’re a lot more… chill, than usual.” Something about Logan’s behavior rubbed Roman the wrong way - that and the fact that Roman could see more of Logan’s skin than he ever needed to see. “Why don’t you put on some clothes? You’re making me feel weird.”
Logan ignored his comment, instead leading Thomas to grab his scooter and open his bedroom window. Roman perked up immediately.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Roman’s tone grew harsher.
“Having fun!” Logan pressed some buttons and Thomas climbed out of the window precariously, carrying the scooter in the crook of his elbow onto the roof.
“This - I don’t think this is fun. I think we have very different definitions of fun.”
“Oh come on, we won’t die! Maybe some broken bones, but oh well. We’re here for a good time, not a long time!”
Roman stood up immediately, glaring with sudden intensity. “You’re not Logan.”
The Side rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”
Thomas set up the scooter, aiming for the pool in the neighbor’s backyard. Roman panicked.
“Patton! Logan! Help!” Roman couldn’t stop this psycho Side on his own. How could he-
“Who are you?” Patton finally sank in, looking incredulously at the newcomer.
“HE’S GONNA KILL US!” The real Logan screeched, hiding behind the couch as if a metaphysical piece of furniture could protect him.
Roman turned to the intruding Side triumphantly, but he only smirked and pressed a final button. Thomas leapt off the roof but miscalculated the jump, crashing into the tree and landing on the ground, winded. The Sides gasped at the sudden pain they all felt, but the new one managed a breathy laugh.
“Wh.. what are you?” Roman clutched his chest, trying to calm his heart rate. “What’s your name?”
