Chapter Text
Being in charge of the Tempest on his own again felt odd. He kept worrying. Last time he left his sister on her own she got captured by the Archon and tortured, since then he liked to keep her close and seeing her space empty every time he glanced over was unnerving him.
“Where to Pathfinder?” Kallo called out.
“Oh, er…” Gabriel stumbled.
“She’ll be fine.” Suvi smiled reassuringly. “She is in one of the safest places in the cluster.”
“With Reyes though, so not that safe Suvi” Kallo interrupted.
The science officer laughed “The day that man lets Odile Ryder come to harm on his watch is the day that the sun explodes”
“You know this is not really reassuring right? This could totally happen, worst in fact…” Ryder grimaced.
“I am still sketchy on why we even let the Charlatan onto the Hyperion. This seems like a breach of security.” The pilot said.
“He is an ally Kallo. We can’t just bar him on the premise that he might be a bit dodgy” Suvi frowned.
“A bit dodgy!? That’s an understatement…” Kallo said.
“GUYS! Not helping here!” Ryder furrowed his brows.
“She’ll be fine Gabs” Vetra’s voice came over the comms “I have no love for the man, but when it comes to your sister, I am with Suvi. Now let’s get going Pathfinder, we are all bored to tears staring at Meridian here”
“Can Turians even cry?” Ryder wondered out loud.
“If you don’t get moving, you will find out. Is that really something you want to test?” Vetra teased.
“I’m going, I’m going!” Gabriel cringed “Kallo, take us to the Nexus I need to speak to Gramps”
The Nexus finally started to feel lived in, with the departure of the Hyperion, and new waves of outpost deployment, the stagnant feeling of a waiting room had disappeared, replaced with a more leisurely atmosphere, much more like the Citadel back in the Milky Way. The road ahead was long, but they were finally well on the way.
When they arrived the rest of the crew peeled off in different directions, running errands, meeting up with old friends. He found himself alone with Vetra on the tram to Operations, Sid was still at work, and Drack was meeting Gabriel in Kesh’s office.
“You have that look” Vetra squeezed his hand, searching his face.
“What?” his eyes widened in shock “What look? I have no look…”
Vetra laughed “Ryder, you are blushing. I knew you were up to something! What do you need Drack for?”
“You’ll find it out” he tried for coy.
“Yeah, now I’m definitely scared… what are you plotting?” she raised a brow.
Ryder frowned “It’s a surprise. Kind of. Trust me?”
“Against my better instincts,” her mandibles flared in a smile “explicitly.”
“Good” he raised himself up, reaching for her, running his fingers affectionately across her mandible “You’ll enjoy it.”
Vetra’s subharmonics hummed in answer, her free hand found his waist, hooking a finger into his belt she roughly pulled him to her.
He suddenly had strong desire to ditch this entire idea and go back to the Tempest, make her purr his name over and over again. The heat in her eyes was not helping his resolve, his hands caressed her hip, eliciting a soft quiet moan from her.
“Ahem…” a cough stopped his hand half way up the inside of her thigh. A salarian stood at the open doors of the tram, stubbornly staring at the floor.
Vetra burst out laughing, disengaging herself from Ryder “I’ll meet you later?”
She bent down to brush her forehead against his, before turning and walking out.
Gabriel followed the sway of her hips with a sinking feeling of disappointment.