Subject: "Reader, listen to me."
Author:
Posted on: 2015-08-13 02:27:00 UTC
Naya cradled the Time lady's face with her hands. "D'you think I haven't thought about this already? I've been mulling over this for a long time, you know. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure of my decision. Now stop worrying, you fussbudget. Don't ruin the moment," she said, smiling.
...leaning her own head on Naya's shoulder. "I'll always watch your back," she said. Her voice was soft, meant for Naya's ears alone, futile as that probably was. "I--" She hesitated. "I don't quite have the words for this. But I can't lose you. And I like you a lot as well. And I don't--I feel far too lucky that you're even my friend, let alone anything else. You should...you should think about this, Naya." She pressed a kiss to the quarian's shoulder, unwilling to stop herself, not when she could barely keep from trembling. She had nearly lost Naya. "I'm not...not exactly the best choice of romantic partner out there. I--well. You know me. I hardly lack emotions, especially for you, but...I'm perhaps not the healthiest person you could attach yourself to. You should..." She took a breath, forced the words to come out calmly. "You should really think this through. If--if you want there to be a 'this', that is."
"Don't say things like that. You're not... just... it's like..." The disguised quarian sighed. "Screw it. I'm not good at big speeches like Emiran over there and I don't have Terabyte's ability to find the right quip for everything so I'm going to give it to you straight up: I don't care. Call me irrational, accuse me of being rash, tell me you're not worth it: I don't care. I like you. If you wanna hang around me and I wanna hang around you, I don't see what the big issue is."
The Guardsman, who had moved back to a squatting position, leaned towards Terabyte. "Eloquent. I like it," he whispered to his partner. "Although, I would've said--"
He never finished his sentence: Naya had whipped around and had tackled him to the ground, grabbing a double fistful of his shirt in the process. "NOYANCE, SHUT THE HELL UP!" she bellowed, shaking him around like a rag doll. "I'M TRYING TO CONFESS HERE!"
The Reader pulled Naya off the Guardsman, turning her until they faced each other. "Leave him alone and listen to me for a minute." She took a breath, slid her hands up Naya's arms until they rested on the disguised quarian's shoulders, and continued. "I won't say you're being rash, I won't call you irrational, and I certainly wouldn't dare to contradict you about worth. I like you too, a lot. I want to be with you in any way that's possible. I just don't want you to ever decide you've made a mistake, especially not if you would have realized it ahead of time if you'd only stopped to reflect for a bit. That's all. That's all it is. I just want you to be sure, and maybe to help me figure out where we stand, but--"
Naya cradled the Time lady's face with her hands. "D'you think I haven't thought about this already? I've been mulling over this for a long time, you know. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure of my decision. Now stop worrying, you fussbudget. Don't ruin the moment," she said, smiling.
"You've been thinking about this? For a while, now?" She tilted her head to one side, leaning on one of Naya's hands and ignoring the way her wet hair stuck to her back and shoulders instead of moving with her. Her smile was fond. "Though, as for the moment...I've been thinking about us for a while myself. And..." She paused, turning to press a kiss against Naya's palm. "I'm glad you're sure. Really, really, really glad." She grinned at the quarian, a hint of cheekiness creeping in. "Is this the part where we kiss? Because you're holding my face, and we're standing pretty near each other, and I'd really like to kiss you now, if you think it wouldn't ruin the moment." She tapped her fingers lightly against Naya's shoulders for emphasis.
"I concur with Naya. It wouldn't ruin the moment at all," said Terabyte.
"It's a bit cliché, though," said the Guardsman, picking himself off the ground. "You know: the near-death experience, the confession of love, the kiss on the beach. The works."
"Agreed. This scenario has many similarities to action-romance or romantic comedy shows.
"Pheh. Rom-coms. Totally not my cup of tea," said the Guardsman. "Action-romance isn't so bad if there's way more action than romance. Explosions are more fun to watch."
Meanwhile, Naya fumed silently in the Reader's hands. "Urge... to kill... rising..." she hissed, closing her eyes and trying to breathe through her nose.
...her head. "We're keeping the moment," she told Naya, running one hand up until it cupped the quarian's face. She waited for the DIA agent's eyes to open again before she smiled. "Wouldn't be the same without them, you know," she said conversationally. "Right?"
Not waiting for a response--and, more importantly, not waiting for the Guardsman and Terabyte to speak up again--she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Naya's. Her eyes blinked shut.
This was their moment. Partners by the side, mortal danger, and a good deal of sand. And it was their moment.
The Reader shifted closer, wrapping her free arm around Naya's waist, and smiled into the kiss.
Perfection.
"The infamous beach kiss," said the Guardsman. "It looks different than in the movies."
"That is probably because of all the sand and grit," remarked Terabyte. "It certainly is a departure from the sanitized image of the beach."
"Yep." The Guardsman watched Naya and the Reader kiss. "I never understood why kissing is a thing. D'you know how many germs there are in your mouth? And you're sharing them with your partner! That's... weird."
"Not to mention throwing caution out of the window. Quarians are not normally supposed to be in contact with this many germs in such a short period of time."
"Remind me to remind her that a full disinfection needs to be performed on her when we come back," said the Guardsman. "All of that grit and... spit cold be a biohazard."
"Acknowledged," said Terabyte, nodding.
"Damn, how long can you go on kissing for?"