keelahselai | stuff and things

She wasn't quite sure she believed it yet. One trip to Medical and...an entire lifetime of being on tenterhooks, fearing for her life every time she so much as sneezed - gone. Just like that. The CDC could reverse indoctrination, manipulate time and universes, but somehow it still hadn't quite sunk in that they could do this one thing.

Tali left Medical caught somewhere between nervous and excited, fidgeting and unable to keep still even for a second. The visor in front of her face had only rarely been this claustrophobic before, and she was acutely aware that there was a world of vivid colour and fresh air on the other side of it. And it could be hers if she could just get over the nerves.

...She maybe lasted ten minutes before contacting Shepard. Voice call, not text, words tripping over each other - Tali needed to meet her, talk to her about something, it was really important, nothing wrong just really important, she was outside on the edge of the lake, see her in five.

The five minutes or so between the call and the familiar sight of Shepard's figure appearing in the distance was spent alternatively pacing back and forth and rocking on her heels, fiddling with the pockets of that N7 hoodie she had on and forcing herself to take deep, even breaths.

She was fine. Totally fine. ...Just nervous as hell for so many reasons.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tali reaches for the clasps on the mask and Shepard can't help but do the mental math - the camp is, what, a few kliks north? She can carry Tali that far across her shoulder without much issue, but it's not going to be a fast trip. Halfway, she thinks. Get her halfway and then plug her with the hypo needle from Ajna and hope the boost to her immune system is enough to get her the rest of the way to medical. As long as someone's still manning the rover instead of screwing around the basecamp (and she's willing to bet credits at least Anders is - the workaholic), it'd be fine.

The hiss of the mask releasing sharpens her to the present, attention crosshair locked. She lengthens her stride the whole half step required to get slightly out in front of Tali - to give herself a clear vantage of her friend's face in case something in her expression shifts or drops or, hell, in case her face balloons from some kind of allergic reaction. Whatever. And it's-- weird. Seeing Tali without the mask, all pale flesh and thin drawn lines, eyes all ghostly bright without the dense material cutting down on how reflective they are.

"You look fine - as far as I can tell, anyway." Would she be able to recognize it if Tali didn't?

stuff and things

my life tbh