#elementnought

A bottle of ryncol rested within arm's reach. In front of her on the desk was a datapad full of casualty reports and troop movements as well as requests for intel from a recent recon mission she had gone on. She sighed, rubbing at her temples with one hand. The other was stroking the cat's fur. Mieze was perfectly content to take up the rest of the chair. 

Shane wasn't on her first or her second or her third bottle of ryncol. She was on her fourth and she didn't see herself stopping any time soon. Usually she drank in excess to help her get to sleep but the flashbacks and nightmares were doing a fine job of keeping her awake. 

Jack usually was a huge help in getting the Commander to sleep. Her sheer presence was often enough to calm the vanguard and let her sleep in peace. If the flashbacks got too bad even for that, Jack would often stay up with the Commander and they'd sit in silence just sharing the occasional touch or kiss once in a while. 

She groaned a little bit and shifted her weight in her chair. Her hand accidentally knocked the bottle off of the desk and it crashed to the floor. The crash woke Mieze and she meowed, hopping onto the desk to peer over the edge at the glass and the rest of the ryncol Shane had left in the bottle.

With a barely audible grumble, Shane dropped to hands and knees and proceeded to pick up the pieces with her bare hands. The glass sliced into her hands but she didn't care. By the time she had picked it all up she had a nice soup of blood and glass in her palm. She quickly tossed the shards away then wiped her hand off. She applied medigel to stop the bleeding and wrapped it crudely. 

While some would stop drinking after that, Shane grabbed another bottle regardless.

"Here's t' the Goddamn war I'm still fightin' 'cause people are all idiots who don't even believe their own eyes," she slurred out before taking a long swig. She really missed Jack. 

Eventually the Commander fell asleep at her desk, still doing work. Mieze settled in around Shane's shoulders like a stole. 

By the time Jack came back, Shane was sound asleep. She noted the new bandage on Shane's hand but didn't say anything. She only helped Shane to the bed. The older biotic instantly curled up against the younger and fell into a deeper sleep. 

Funny how the two had argued some months back about drinking yourself stupid because of personal problems. But sometimes one had to put arguments to the side for later. 

Or, they both recognized sometimes situations change as well as opinions.