I adore Shenko, and in the absence of anyone I know wanting to RP Kaidan for me, I am going to write some little Shenko cute snapshots of their relationship in ME3. This one is taken straight from the game – I don't know if anyone else has seen it. I go and talk to Kaidan and the rest of the squad after every single mission, on one occasion after his comment about the last mission I clicked him again and got the comment about 'You didn't wake me' which just made me go AWWHHH and I had to expand upon it. Please review if you like, and feel free to message me if you RP Bioware at all.

The doors hissed open, and a smile flicked across her mouth at the sight that greeted her. For a moment she paused, leaning against the open doors as she stared across the door – Kaidan sat beside the bookshelves, his head down, one hand idly rubbing the back of his neck as his hazel eyes rapidly skittered across the page. Her entrance hadn't disturbed him, whatever he was reading had completely absorbed him, and she enjoyed the voyeuristic moment of watching him. After a moment she stood up straight, crossing the room and moving to stand at the side of the cocoon chair he was in, trying to see what he was reading, but her movement at his side did attract Kaidan's attention and he looked up, smiling at her immediately.

"Hey Shepard…there you are" he said, looking up at the blonde, and she smiled, one hand resting on the egg shaped chair.

"Are you flirting with me Major Alenko?" she teased lightly, an old joke between the two of them.

"I hope so" he chuckled, glancing toward the closed door. "Hey…you didn't wake me this morning" he added, his voice lower as though the metal splitting them from the rest of the ship wasn't enough to mask their voices. His hand reached out, he cupped the back of her knee light as he looked up at her and she shrugged, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear.

"I didn't have the heart" she confessed. "Has anyone ever told you you're adorable when you're asleep?" she commented, a smile crossing her features although she was serious. It was still a new experience to her, waking up to somebody else in her bed. The last time they'd been in a relationship, Kaidan had been far more concerned with keeping their relationship 'hidden'. It had never worked; Ashley had seen the attraction immediately between the two of them and had been happy to enlighten a few of the less observant members of the crew. Just because the rest of their friends had been understanding enough to keep the relationship secret from the Alliance brass, and had allowed Kaidan to believe he was more subtle then he was, hadn't meant it hadn't been obvious – and yet, he had refused to share her quarters for an entire night.

This time around, things were different. Their last mission had been dangerous, they'd believed Ilos was a suicide run, but it didn't even compare to the constant danger they were in this time. It had been sudden last time, they'd known they had a tricky fight on their hands but until Ilos they hadn't believed they might die – this time, they'd spent months with the threat of Reapers over their heads (almost literally) and maybe it was that strain that had worn Kaidan down, and made him more willing to take risks, even if they might get caught.

Or maybe, it was his new status. They were both Spectres now, their situation was slightly different – they weren't at such a risk of fraternisation charges, or being pulled up on something as basic as regs about not sleeping with other members of your crew – their mission was important enough she found it hard to believe even the Alliance would be in a rush to punish romantic relationships in its ranks. Or maybe it was just that he'd lost her once before – the destruction of the first Normandy had left Kaidan convinced she was gone forever, even on Horizon he hadn't truly believed Shepard was back, not 'his' Shepard, he'd been convinced Cerberus had changed her.

She wasn't sure what had changed his mind, but she was happy to accept his new willingness to take risks if it meant they could spend more time together.

It felt…oddly normal compared to the rest of what she faced during the day, to spend the evenings with Kaidan, and then wake with him in the morning. Normally he was awake before her, even with her years of military training Shepard was still prone to sleeping in to the last possible moment. She got out of bed because it was required of her, not because she was a natural morning person…but sometimes the nightmares that plagued her drove her from sleep earlier then she wanted.

The whispers of friends she'd lost, the flames and forest, the ghost of a boy she couldn't save…the blonde had woken with a jolt, immediately wide awake as she stared around the room. The light from the aquarium ensured her cabin was never pitch black, it gave off a blue glow she found reassuring and she watched the fish for a moment as her heart rate slowed and her mind began to slowly process that she was safe…and there was a weight across her stomach.

Turning her head she relaxed further at the sight beside her. Kaidan's face was half buried against the pillows, his eyes closed, his expression blissfully free from any of the tension she sometime saw during the day, his curly hair mussed, one arm was bent and beneath the pillows, the other was draped across her waist, pinning her to the bed although her movement hadn't disturbed his own slumber.

For a long moment she watched him, studying him, noting some of the changes that had appeared since she met him – the first scattering of silver hairs buried in the rest of the black waves, crow's feet beginning to frame his eyes, a faint scar on his jawline which she didn't know the story of…he looked older then he had at Eden's Prime, and she found herself wanting to protect him. He seemed more vulnerable asleep, and her heart swelled as she leant forward and pressed a light kiss against his temple. He had shifted slightly, murmured softly in his sleep and turned his face more into the pillow, but it hadn't woken him – and nor had he woken as she had slipped out from underneath his arm and moved away.

A nervous chuckle escaped him and Kaidan shook his head. "I think you might be the first" he admitted.

"Besides, I figured you needed your rest" she pointed out gently.

"Next time…wake me" he assured her, a familiar smile crossing his face, and Shepard arched one eyebrow, dropping to sit across his lap, one hand on his shoulder.

"Sounds like you have a plan" she commented, her fingers stroking up the skin of his neck. "You gonna share it with me?"

"Sure…when you wake me".