Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect.
Author's Note: This is where you'll find assorted K 'n O-centric silliness, ficlets, drabbles and more.
Additional: This is a companion piece to my main story, Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained. Thank you for reading!
1sentence : epsilon
01 / Motion
There is a difference between moving and being moved, and Kolyat starts to understand just what that difference is the first time he sees Oriana play the violin.
02 / Cool
Oriana wakes up sweat-free for the first time in weeks, and after noticing that the room's temperate controls are set lower than usual she hears her drell roommate grumble I hope you're happy from within his cocoon of thermal blankets.
03 / Young
Irritation prickles at the back of Kolyat's throat when he sees Oriana trying to hide her laugh... an effort that ultimately fails when the drell insists, very sternly, that his voice "is not funny!"
04 / Last
Kolyat is the last of his father's legacy, but after Miranda tells her about the origin of her birth, Oriana fears the same may not be true for her.
05 / Wrong
Their first argument ends with her admitting that she's just so used to being right.
06 / Gentle
Oriana traces one of the bands of splotchy scales that mark Kolyat's abdomen and smiles thoughtfully while murmuring, "I don't have any birthmarks."
07 / One
"I have a rule about quality over quantity," the human tells him with one of her slender eyebrows raised, "so in theory, one sulky drell should last me a lifetime."
08 / Thousand
Kolyat has always taken a traditional approach to cleaning, but Oriana is more interested in the numerous tiny bubbles that glisten on his scales than she is the dishes.
09 / King
She's the better leader but sometimes she lets him call the shots, and Kolyat isn't sure if he can ever admit how much that means to him.
10 / Learn
When Oriana chooses to do her xeno-colonial thesis on Kahje he offers his assistance, but when he finds himself mouthing memories over a textbook holo of the Encompassing she stops typing mid-sentence and sits beside him instead.
11 / Blur
He slips off his uniform for the first time and Oriana is mystified by the way his scales thread against her skin in an endless wave of white on teal.
12 / Wait
Her fingers catch on the edge of the glass before the doors close and she seizes the opportunity to slip inside, offering no word of explanation to the elevator's startled drell occupant.
13 / Change
"You are a woman now," Miranda says as she and Oriana embrace; the younger twin can see Kolyat standing across the room, his expression torn, before he finally turns to meet his father's tear-streaked face.
14 / Command
"I said you could wear the uniform but I never said you could give the orders," she teases while straddling the black-eyed C-Sec officer.
15 / Hold
Pain uncoils in Kolyat's gut when Oriana peels the dead scales from his wound, but when he closes his eyes against the heat left by her fingertips he knows the injury isn't the only thing keeping him there.
16 / Need
He didn't need his father and she didn't need her twin, but while Kolyat and Oriana watch the Normandy approach the landing pier there's no mistaking who they're there to see.
17 / Vision
"Auburn," Kolyat repeats, frowning at the alien word, "but I thought your hair was black?"
18 / Attention
To say that Kolyat's puzzled chest-high stare is awkward would be an understatement, so Oriana flicks the bra at his face instead of the floor.
19 / Soul
When she asks him if he's Whole he doesn't answer right away – not because he doesn't know, but because he never thought he'd answer "yes."
20 / Picture
He has no holos of her because he doesn't need them, but that doesn't stop her from populating the apartment with holos of him.
21 / Fool
Kolyat isn't sure what to think when he finds a copy of Fornax tucked between her academic datapads, but when Oriana sees him looking at a human centerfold upside down she reaches over and turns it right-side up.
22 / Mad
After Oriana comments that the Tupari Machine sounds a little like him Kolyat goes out of his way to stock up on Paragades just to spite her.
23 / Child
Every time he sees Mouse he can't help but recall the black-footed child projected in miniature above his palm, and Kolyat is struck by just how long ten years can be.
24 / Now
"Life's too short not to," she tells him as they stand before the door to Life Support.
25 / Shadow
The first time she coaxes him on top he almost loses his nerve, but the way her body flushes under his shadow soon proves to be intoxicating indeed.
26 / Goodbye
The real reason Kolyat doesn't like his father's messages is because with every closing word it feels like Thane Krios is leaving all over again.
27 / Hide
It's hard not to notice that the gaggle of women across from their booth is staring, so when Oriana chooses not to say anything Kolyat takes it upon himself to toss his menu down and inquire, loudly: "What, are you waiting for hallucinations or something?"
28 / Fortune
There are days when Oriana envies Kolyat's freedom to make mistakes.
29 / Safe
As the two of them stand before a sign that reads 'WARNING: CENTRIFUGAL PSEUDO-GRAVITY IN EFFECT, DROPPED ITEMS OR PERSONS JUMPING WILL FALL TOWARD THE WINDOWS,' Oriana leans against the guardrail and asks him if he's ever seen someone try it before.
30 / Ghost
When she tells him of her guardian, he tells her of his ghosts; how the first was deep in battlesleep, the other weighted down with stones.
31 / Book
"I've thought of a title for our memoir," she announces while counting the fins that crest his head, "and it should be The Hitman and the Clone: Two Surprisingly Average People Who Never Saved the Galaxy, Unlike Their Famous Family Members."
32 / Eye
Kolyat doesn't tell her that one of his fondest memories is of the first time he flicked that lock of hair away from her eye.
33 / Never
"You know I can't forget," he growls, watching her thought-lined face darken as she looks away, "so why should I forgive?"
34 / Sing
Her fingers play his pulse just like an antique violin, and suddenly Kolyat understands the appeal of her favorite symphony.
35 / Sudden
Kolyat jerks once, cold-scaled, breathing short, his eyelids nictating one-two-three-four times before he sees Oriana's startled face hovering just above his own and her hands are smoothing the fins of his scalp and he is confused until she explains that I'm alright, Kolyat, I'm fine and no one came for me, it was just a dream, it was just a memory.
36 / Stop
Normally Kolyat can get away with falling asleep when he's forced to watch one of her vids, but the weight of a pillow smacking against his face followed by Oriana complaining that he's 'making that noise again' puts an end to that little ruse.
37 / Time
Kolyat isn't happy about visiting Nos Astra, but after watching the sunrise with Oriana he says nothing for a long time, breaking the silence only with a whisper of "It's just like he described."
38 / Wash
When he walks in on Oriana while she's rinsing off her face he finds that he is fascinated by the way her makeup leaves tracks of color across her cheeks, and he can't resist reaching out and smearing a trail of black beneath her eyes that mirrors his own.
39 / Torn
It isn't the first time that the edge of his frill has split the skin between her finger and her thumb, but it is the first time that he's pressed the cut against his lips and made her laugh and call him "quite the gentleman."
40 / History
She never asks him what it's like to see Talid's face on the news, not because she doesn't care, but because Kolyat always looks away.
41 / Power
A dizzying sensation assails Oriana's head when she sees the aura curl about her trembling hands and the glass that has lurched across the table of its own accord.
42 / Bother
The tiny twitch of her mouth is enough to tell Kolyat just who was responsible for changing all his omni-tool alerts to "Shepard V.I."
43 / God
Kolyat doesn't believe in sihas, because believing in them means he would have to believe in a goddess who lets them die.
44 / Wall
There's a beat of silence as the ex-hitman stares into the gunmetal alloy of an old Carnifex, and Oriana is frustrated because she will never have the power to make him forget.
45 / Naked
Angry tears blur the corners of his eyes when Kolyat slams his fist against the wall, but her hand catches his elbow short and he turns around to find that he is trembling because when he looks at her she can see him, every ugly part of him, because he cannot look away.
46 / Drive
"I should have known you wouldn't settle for somewhere normal," Kolyat chuffs when she presses him against the wall of a C-SEC utility closet.
47 / Harm
The next time Kolyat goes out of his way to preserve her "delicate constitution" Oriana gently reminds him that her body can take a lot of crap, but she sure won't.
48 / Precious
The young drell swallows audibly when Miranda Lawson steeples her fingers and begins their conversation with "Now, about my sister."
49 / Hunger
His species might have fled Rakhana's jaws only to be swallowed by the sea – for as far as Kolyat is concerned, Kahje is the same old beast with a new identity.
50 / Believe
It isn't long before Oriana realizes that Kolyat needs to prove himself, if not with a bullet in the back of some politician's head then by the uncertain weight of his hand on hers.
Trivia:
13, 17, 24, 37, 46 – all of these reference dialog found in the game.
22 – the Tupari Machine (found outside the warehouse in ME2) shares the same voice actor as Kolyat.