2leftfeet: (alpha coronae australis)
Cdr "rhymes with witch" Shepard ([personal profile] 2leftfeet) wrote2014-06-16 11:30 pm
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shepard.lydia@cdc.org
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brokentoaster: (004 looks away)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-03-27 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
Uh...

[ That briefly wrinkled frown goes mostly unnoticed as he's suddenly bombarded with questions. They aren't even very difficult ones, just unexpected and.. well, he hadn't really given most of them much thought. He's still getting used to the idea of being a leader, even for a group so small. ]

I don't really know about makin' a... a plan. They're not all fire users but close, all but one, the only Longhorn outta a bunch of Leapfrogs. They're all real strong in their own ways... pretty sure they're all stronger than me, actually. I don't think they'll give me much trouble...

[ And even if he did, he's not sure how much he can share with Shepard. There is no gag order placed against sharing Cell details with anyone on Grey, but he already knew a few things about his team that should be kept between them, for trust's sake. Still, the uncertainty of his new role weighs heavily in his words and posture. He grips the bowstring at this chest even tighter and glares down at the ground, unable to meet her questioning look. ]

I've never been a leader for anythin' or anyone before.
brokentoaster: (011 confused)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-03-29 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Alright... I think.

[ It's a lot of things he doesn't understand all at once, and he's barely gotten started. But he has worked on a small, close-knit team before. He wasn't a leader among them, but the situation isn't as foreign as he thinks. And it's like Shepard says, he just needs to know what he's working with. Except he would tweak that, just slightly... he wants to know who he's working with too.

He's still looking away when he speaks, glaring slightly as if to cover his nervousness with anger. The usual. ]


Well, I'm glad you're back. Any advice you have to give... I'll listen.

[ Listen, but not necessarily take, and edit, like he's already quietly doing. She's still on Grey, for reasons he still doesn't understand, especially as a Commander in her own world. But the last time he brought it up, she'd nearly bitten his head off for asking. He still trusts her, still remains curious, but there is hesitation too. ]

How did you get to know your team, when you were commandin'?
brokentoaster: (016 serious)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-02 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ His frown deepens slightly, not really liking what he's hearing, Even if it is honest, good advice. ]

So be available to talk and get lucky... alright.

[ No, he clearly does not know the connotations of what he said just then at all. He's still glaring at the ground as he says it, and when he looks back up at Shepard, he's still serious. ]

I'll start by readin' all their files soon as I'm back in the rover. Before that, there anythin' I can do for you?

[ Still firmly serious, but he becomes less so when his ears perk and head tilts slightly. ]

Need a shower or some food or anythin'? I still got some jerky, and some khesau meat from a hunt the other day.
brokentoaster: (closeup)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-03 06:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ The moment of studying is returned, as he turns his head up long enough to stop glaring at the ground and look her in the eye. He's mentally debating asking... no, telling her something important. It's a debate that doesn't last more than a few tense seconds. It's like she said - everyone has something to say eventually, and right now Shepard is in the right place at the right time. He hadn't been ready, when Aeryn questioned him. Now, in the light of recent events, he doesn't have time to wait until he's ready. ]

There's... somethin' else that happened, that I didn't draw. My father came through here while I was in stasis, with the temp rescue recruits. Tried to find me, maybe to kill me. I dunno. He left before I woke up.

[ It's all very low and quick, as though he's afraid of being overhead, and there is an effort being made to keep his voice flat and calm. It's an effort, but it doesn't disguise all of the anger simmering beneath the suface. ]

If he comes back with anyone new, I need to lie low for a while. Figure out a plan. If you see another elf with long white hair and blue eyes, let me know. But don't kill him.

He's mine.
brokentoaster: (002 resting bitch face)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-07 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ No questions asked. Good. He's not ready to go into any more detail than what he'd just given her. ]

Thanks.

[ His posture straightens out, arms finally dropping to his sides after being so guarded before. The anger he'd been trying to contain passes and subsides, like a boiling pot being taken off the fire, but his expression stays hard and firm. Almost like a solider.

Almost like hers. ]


I'll leave some khesau meat by your tent anyway.
brokentoaster: (003 snarks)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-07 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ The solider-like posture remains, but that's defnitely an eye-roll he's giving her. A slight one, but still an eye-roll. ]

'Course I'll leave him some, but it's not comin' outta your portion.

[ You can't tell him how to do everything, Shepard. Especially not how to share food; he takes it too traditionally and seriously. Those experiencing a loss are more likely to skip meals. Crichton's portion would need to be dried, to keep it from going bad should he forget to eat.

Not that he won't try to remind him. ]
brokentoaster: (004 looks away)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-07 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ False surrender or not, it's taken seriously. He gives her a short nod of approval. ]

Alright good.

[ He stands there quiet for a moment, thinking. So much happened, and he knows Shepard is catching up on the network as much as she can, what with her Blackglass being in hand as it was before he came to meet her. She likely saw it, but it's worth mentioning, worth breaking the rigid line of his back for a more casual slant. ]

Oh yeah, one more thing that happened... Dagger gave out some... animals to Red team, and some others. There's three of them in fourteen. They're cute and kind of annoyin' and I can't cook them.

[ Then, even more casually. ]

Oh, and Anders was able to cure the nightmares Corvo's magic's been givin' me.
brokentoaster: (011 confused)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-07 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ The shock on her face and the gravity of her question takes Jasper by almost just as much surprise. He goes rigid again, but not in the way he was before. This time his tight stance is more out of nervousness. A similar animal fear he thought he was done with. ]

Yes... you were there, remember?

[ He thought he was safe telling Shepard, thought she knew Corvo had taken him and vanished in a cloud of swirling black mist. She had been the only other one around to see it happen. ]

It was durin' the shuttle crash, on Ajna.

[ Thinking on it again, she really couldn't be blamed for not noticing. The wind was powerful and ringing in their ears, they were all nearly frozen to death, and Shepard had suffered a nasty concussion. He also hadn't mentioned anything happening as a result until now, when it was already over and fixed. He thought maybe she already knew, maybe already guessed after how he had burned his hands. Thought now that he was better it was safe to be more open about it.

Maybe he thought wrong. ]
brokentoaster: (004 looks away)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-07 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
No... don't think so. I mean I know he watches me sleep sometimes, but he does that to everyone in fourteen, it's just his way.

[ He doesn't realize how strange and awful that sounds until after he says it out loud, and grimaces slightly at his own mistake. That's probably going to do nothing to calm Shepard's alarmingly heightened state right now. He grows more tense at the shoulders, but only because she does too, and it's strange to see her like this. He'd been living with the man since coming to the CDC, and he's learned Corvo's habits. Learned and accepted them, even if they came with nightmares.

He'd been too scared to bring it up with him, anyway. Not after Corvo had put a knife through his neck for the infamous Blue mission, even if he asked him to. Something he'd be sure never to mention to Shepard now.

A subject change is in order. He tries it a little too quickly. ]


He holds his new pet like it's a baby too, i-it's weird but kinda cute.

Edited 2015-04-07 05:09 (UTC)
brokentoaster: (002 resting bitch face)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-07 07:33 am (UTC)(link)
I know, but... Shepard, I live with him. Share a bunk...

[ Its weak, because he can't argue back. Wants to reassure her that it's fine, that yes he lives with Corvo, but everything is alright. He's leaned to live with the man, and though he'd never admit it to anyone but Corvo, cares more than he ever should have let himself. It wasn't either of their faults for wanting a father, or a son, to care about. But it hasn't been alright, not since day one.

Just thinking about it is enough to make him feel like sinking down, back down deep to that black and breathless watery abyss he'd become so used to in dreams before-

He pushes the idea from his mind before it can effect his expression. He didn't just blank for a second, no. His face goes rigid again, lines imitating hers as best he can, though his are still slanted with a mixture of doubt and confusion. It's difficult to keep hidden without retreating to his usual mask of anger. ]


I'll be fine. Just said Anders fixed it.
brokentoaster: (013 serious talks)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-09 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ He straightens out and nods, short and firm and business-like. Doesn't even bother to brush away the hair that falls over one eye. ]

I won't.

[ And then, remembering something about an elbow-dialed call and an apology and a juicebox in Medical. ]

I mean it this time. I won't keep it quiet, but... I'm gunna be keepin' it between me and Anders.

[ He almost thinks of asking, if it's alright he keeps it between himself and the other mage now, but in the end he tells her. Try as she might, there's no hiding how alarmed she is. It's hidden in the lines of how she holds herself, but the the concern behind her pressing questions had been clear as the daylight filtering through the leaves above. If he knew what else she'd been feeling, that sickening stench of salt and rot that always lingered, that couldn't be from the water so clean just behind them... he'd tell her to go see Anders too. ]
brokentoaster: (016 serious)

[personal profile] brokentoaster 2015-04-09 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ He nods again, still working on keeping his expression tight and neutral, though he breaks just enough quickly push that hair from his eye. ]

Thanks.

[ For allowing him to keep it between him and the healer, for understanding, for... what he suspects might be praise, but he's unsure. It's not something he's heard much in his life, however long and drawn out it's been. He's not familiar with it enough to determine on his own. Perhaps it's just another suggestion to be strong, because he isn't. Isn't strong enough to handle it all on his own. Perhaps it's praise meant for Anders. He did do an excellent job of healing him, even if they spell wouldn't last and the nightmares would return.

But that would be another night. For now he would sleep soundly. Hopefully Shepard would too soon. ]


I'm gunna go roast the rest of that meat. Expect some later. Take your time gettin' back to it, alright?

[ He doesn't wait for an answer, and instead takes his leave back the way he came... right back up the side of a tree.

Because that's definitely the fastest route back to the rovers. ]