Work Text:
Che gelida manina,
se la lasci riscaldar.
- La Bohème (G. Puccini)
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"Shepard, are you okay?"
The dazed man in front of me shudders a hacking breath as he tries to say he's fine. That's bullshit.
I wrap my arms around him and feel him shivering. "He's freezing, get him out of his armour. I'll try to get him warm. Cortez, just get us the hell out of here."
Shepard's voice is too weak to make much protest. I strip down to my own underarmour and draw him onto my lap, arms around him, trying to share as much heat as possible. Fortunately, all the biotics I'd been using left me pretty overheated. And on the verge of a migraine, but I ignore that.
"Kai... Kaidan. I'm f-f-fine. Don't fuss."
I take his hands, first one and then the other, wrapping them in mine. His hands feel small for the strength I know they hold. "Your hands are frozen, John. Let me warm them a little. Don't fight me, okay. I need to do this."
The moment prompts a brief flashback to a conversation I'd had recently with Tali, and I smile despite my worry about Shepard. Her interest in quarian musicals led to her exploring Earth music. She'd found "Phantom of the Opera" and I suggested Puccini's operas to her. The romantic in her loved them, especially "La Bohème", but made one observation.
'But they are all so sad, Kaidan... do humans never have happy endings?'
Shepard shifts a little in my arms, resting his head against my chest just as we get back to the shelter of the Normandy. He whispers, low enough that only I would hear it over the noise of docking. "Thank you, Kaidan."
I rest my cheek against his hair before replying. "Don't ever do that again, Shepard. You scared the hell out of me with that crazy stunt. But I guess maybe that's part of what I love about you..."
I still don't know that we'll get a happy ending, but this act at least ends well, Tali.