@crimsonsavior continued from x
Shepard wasn’t sure how to react to those words. People usually heard of him because of Torfan -- how infamous he was, ruthless and cruel to his enemies. Shepard’s only goal in life was accomplish his missions, whatever they were. Relationships were out of the question, even if he grew fond of his crew. She had been with them since Shepard had become the first human Spectre, and Udina suggested that she should accompany him to the mission. So long as she keeps her mind focused on the mission, I don’t care, Shepard replied dryly.
But there she was, attempting to communicate with him. Which was fine, Shepard didn’t mind when his crew talked to him -- in fact, he enjoyed knowing about them, but sometimes, he felt like he was giving them too much opening. He was a soldier, ready to kill; he wasn’t used to have bonds, unless they were related to the job. Maybe he was judging her, maybe she just wanted to talk about the mission in general. Who knew?
“I tend to keep my mind busy. Nothing’s more important than the mission, but I don’t have to tell you that.”
Ebony supposes that as someone with different pasts in different places and a timeline that varies depending on who asks, she has the tendency to buy too easily into reputations. She had truly been prepared for Shepard to be a butcher in the literal sense of the word, but while he certainly makes some choices she finds questionable, she has simply met people far worse. Maybe she’s just getting old and jaded, but ‘butcher’ doesn’t quite suit him.
“Oh, no, I know. I haven’t seen you waste a single second of your time.” Always busy with something, though she can’t account for the stretches of downtime where she doesn’t see him. Udina is having her observe, not babysit. What he does in his own time isn’t her concern, so there hasn’t been much casual chatter between them.
Until now, apparently. Curiosity always gets the better of her, boredom often lending a helping hand in the process.
“You don’t mind if I’m completely honest, do you?” He will have to be, because she hardly gives him the time to respond before she continues. “With what I’d heard, I thought you’d be a lot more cruel.”
