Stars


Three © Genesis Eve Whitmore 2011. Captain Tigermark M’Rega © Tigermark 2011. Mass Effec, and related characters © Bioware and are used without express permission in the spirit of fan fiction. All events and characters in this story are fictional and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. The author asserts moral ownership of this work and reproduction or reposting by any means without the author’s express permission is prohibited.



Tigermark stalked along the corridor back to the Mess Hall aboard Stripes One. He was retracing his steps, trying to find his old, battleworn leather A2 flight jacket. He’d noticed he’d left it somewhere while getting dressed in his quarters. Their mission had been successful, and the altered Geth destroyed. He and his Lieutenant has returned to the ship and ate in the Mess, and then he’d returned to his quarters to shower and change before they departed. Now he couldn’t find his jacket.

All his crew, paw-picked for their skill and abilities to crew Stripes, were well disciplined. He doubted they’d bother his jacket if they saw it, so he was confident it would be in the Mess Hall. He strode into the hall, his tail waving idly, and stopped. There was no sign of the jacket on the chair where he’d sat. He looked around the room, his tail now lashing agitatedly. A few curious eyes turned his way, but then looked quickly away when they saw the expression of consternation on the felinoid’s face.

“Now where could it have gotten off to?” he asked himself as he turned to go out along the observation deck. As he entered the long room, Tigermark again felt the awe he always felt when he beheld the stars. Outside the ship was vacuum, so there was no distortion. Millions of stars could be seen. Then he noticed a lone figure standing against the rail, looking out also. The light inside was dim, so he could only make out who it was as he stepped closer.

“Hello Three, taking in the stars…too?”

Tigermark stopped in his tracks as the pure white felinoid looked over her shoulder at him. She was standing, leaning slightly against the railing. The stars beyond framed her in a nimbus of lights. The look on her face was…flirty? Actually, Tigermark would have had to say downright sexy. He was taken aback, as Three had never shown anything like this side of herself in the months he’d known her. Then he noticed, she was wearing his jacket! Now he was really unsure of what to do. Tigermark swallowed and found his voice.

“Ah, I see you found my jacket. Thank you.”

Three’s expression turned into a sexy smile. The she blinked and seemed to return from whatever reverie she was in when Tigermark had walked up.

“Ah! Capitain! I, ah, was just looking at the stars. Yes, I found it in the Mess. I was coming to give it to you, but I got distracted by the view.”

Tigermark smiled lightly. “So you were wearing it to bring it to me?”

Three actually blushed under her white fur. “No, but we’re on the shadow side of the station, so it’s chilly in here. I slipped it on…”

She quickly slipped the jacket off and gave it to Tigermark. He took it and folded it across his arm. Three looked up at him, feeling a little unsure as to whether he was going to scold her or not. He looked at her a few seconds before he spoke.

“I don’t mean to be nosy, but I kind of doubt that look you had when I walked up was meant for me. Lucky fellow, whoever he is.”

Three shrugged. “I was just thinking, lost in memory as I looked at the stars. Your jacket, I like the scent of it. Very masculine. It has seen many adventures, yes? I smell your scent, and gunpowder and oil and steel. It…reminded me of an old friend of mine. Gone many centuries now.”

The white furred felinoid …trembled? Or perhaps shivered? The look on her face was now sad as she looked down. Tigermark nodded to himself. He gently reached out and lifted her chin.

“Three, I have a lovely wife, back in my own time and place. I cannot be anything but a friend. A good and stalwart friend I will be to you, until time and tide take us our separate ways. I too have left friends and more on distant worlds and times. The stars, wherever we are, remind us of the vastness of the multiverse. No matter the patterns, no matter the places, they remind us of other places and times we’ve looked at them. And the ones we’ve looked at them with.”

A smile returned to Three’s face. “Yes! Exactly! That is what I was feeling.”

She paused a moment, and then looked a bit sad again. “But now we must be on our way. More missions, more fighting. More friends made, only to be lost.”

Tigermark looked at her for a long moment, and then put his jacket on.

“Perhaps so, but no need to hurry. We can wait a little while longer.”

The tall striped felinoid put his arm around the smaller one’s shoulder, draping the open jacket across her to fight the chill. Three was uncertain for a moment, but then leaned into the brotherly embrace as they both turned to gaze out at the stars, their thoughts on friends and loved ones, both old and new.


The End.

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Artwork done for me by the incomparable Genesis Eve. Saw the card drawn and was inspired to write the story. It's a companion to "Three, Two-in-One." Posted here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7062523/

Hope you like the story. I sure love the artwork.

TM