Author's Note: As much as I wish I'd thought up these awesome cocktail names by myself, credit goes to SaveGame for coming up with the recipes. They were so spot-on some of them were even included in the Citadel DLC!
If you haven't actually tried Full Biotic Kick yet- what are you waiting for? Kaidan in a glass. Mmm, yes.
Shepard surveyed the small table next to her deck chair with wide, excited eyes. An assortment of cocktails adorned the little reed-woven table, glasses frosty, umbrellas bopping slightly amongst the liquor and ice in the salt-water breeze. Speckles of sand clung to the moisture sweating off the glasses. A six pack of beer sat invitingly on a mound of sand beneath the table, ice cold beneath her toes when she nudged it.
This was Aurora Shepard heaven.
The Commander leaned forward to inspect the post-it labels secured under each drink, lifting up her sunglasses to settle on her jet-black fringe and squinting against the strong beach sun. Full Biotic Kick. Oh. Hell. Yes. She was definitely drinking that one first. The Shadowbrokertini. The blueberries bopping in the bottom on the flute reminded her exactly of her favourite Asari bouncing in excitement at her terminal. The Heat Sink. Spirits, indeed. She was definitely popping that shot. The Tasty Tankbred. Shepard poked at the contents of the tumbler with a straw. A mix of chocolate sauce, crushed cookies and sprinkles floated at the top of the cocktail on a bed of milky foam. Eh he he. She made a mental note to save that drink for dessert.
Shepard sighed happily, peeling the damp label from the Full Biotic Kick and settling back into her deck chair, sliding her sunglasses back into place and closing her vivid green eyes. She balanced the drink on the smooth, taunt expanse of her belly and basked in the warmth of the sun. She couldn't remember the last time she had been to a beach, or had a proper shore leave. Getting drunk on a beach amongst crabs and seaweed had never been high on her list of things to do, as her pale spacer skin was apt to burn when exposed to sunlight for short periods of time. She had opted to spend her last proper furlough with Kaidan in Alaska to see the famous Aurora Borealis lights she had been named after.
Shepard mentally kicked herself for not deciding to spend the second half of their precious shore leave naked and romping in the sand dunes with Kaidan on a beach instead.
Yes, this was heaven. A smorgasbord of alcohol, damaging sun rays and stinky beach air. The Commander was so tired. She had completed the mission she was born to do. She was not going to move from this chair, or this beach. She was going to lay here and drink herself stupid on cocktails and beer. She deserved this, to get drunk and burn her freckled skin to a shade akin to that of cooked lobster.
The whiskey-brown colour of the liquor she held in her hand reminded her exactly of her favourite biotic's deep brown eyes. Making a mental note to save some beers for Kaidan, she raised the drink to the sun, toasting with no one in particular, and held the glass to her lips.
"SKIPPER!"
A sharp voice barking in Shepard's left ear startled her, causing her to accidentally spill the contents of the Full Biotic Kick over her chest and lap. Noting wryly to herself how ironic it was that the cocktail dedicated to her lover had now found itself in all of said lover's favourite places, Shepard grabbed for the towel hanging off the head of her deck chair and sat up, dabbing at the spillage of bourbon and spiced rum staining her one-piece swimsuit. Scowling slightly and hoping that another glass of the cocktail would miraculously reappear on the smorgasbord beside her, she turned to see Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams stretched out on a deck chair beside her.
"Ashley?" Shepard asked, incredulous. Dropping the towel, the Commander gaped at the soldier she thought she had lost on Virmire. "What- what are you doing here?"
Ashley stretched out as lazily across the woven deck chair as one can do whilst wearing Heavy Phoenix armor, resting her armor-clad arms behind her head and craning her neck to look at Shepard. "What am I doing here? I should ask you the same question," the Chief replied, smirking slightly at the dumbstruck expression on her Commander's face. "Didn't I tell you last time not to come back until you'd saved the galaxy from the Reapers? Were old and grey? Married the LT? And drinking alcohol in your condition, no less! Skipper, you should know better than that."
Shepard sheepishly held a hand to her toned, flat stomach, feeling like a child caught sneaking cookies from the cookie jar as a wave of guilt washed over her.
"How do you-?"
The Chief's smirk grew wider. "Let's just say scuttlebut is present everywhere, even in the afterlife."
Ashley surveyed the selection of cocktails on the table beside the deck chairs before reaching for the untouched six-pack of beer. Uncapping the bottle expertly with a twist of her hand, she settled herself back on her deck chair and took a long swig of the beverage, regarding her Commanding Officer with a knowing gaze."This is quite the setup you've got going here, Skipper. Surprised you haven't got visions of the LT prancing around in budgie smugglers."
The Gunnery Chief grinned widely and nudged the Commander with her boot as Shepard blinked at her confusedly. "I'm joking, of course."
"I'm sorry, I'm not following," Shepard admitted, watching Ashley's pink and white armored foot poke her knee.
"Oh Skipper, you're not meant to be here. We've spoken about this already. You aren't ready, same as last time. I don't know why you keep ending up here."
The Chief moved to the side as Shepard flopped back down on her deck chair beside her, her green eyes unfocused as she stared out towards the vast expanse of ocean. "Maybe it's time now," she shrugged. "I'm tired, Ash. So tired."
"Tired, shmired, Skipper," Ashley snorted. "What is wrong with you? You've finally rid the galaxy of the Reapers! You're free to live your life now." Ashley regarded the Commander with a steely gaze. "Don't give up just yet, Shepard. I don't care if you think you're tired. Think of the LT. It will break him if he loses you again. You've never been selfish in your life. No reason to start now."
Shepard snorted at the Gunnery Chief's words. "You think I'm being selfish because I'm tired and want to rest? Haven't I done enough for this galaxy? I just want a rest."
"Hey hey now, none of that," Ashley nudged Shepard with her elbow. "You're Commander Shepard. You don't know the meaning of the word "rest". You need to go back and live the life that you deserve. Don't stick around in this shithole. No offence," she quickly added to no one in particular as a rumble of loud thunder sounded in the distance. "It's alright for me. It was my time. There is some pretty great man candy around, and up here, it doesn't matter to anyone that I'm a Williams." The Chief surveyed the surrounding landscape, twitching her nose at the smell of the tangy ocean air. "I fulfilled my life's purpose. Helping you to stop Saren."
Ashley lent forward, resting a hand atop of Shepard's stomach. "You have so much more to live for, Skipper. Saving the galaxy from the Reapers isn't your only purpose in life, you know."
Shepard sighed and placed her own hands on top of Ashley's. "Alright, alright. I'll go," she gave in after a brief pause. "But just one drink first?"
"No."
"Hey, I'm still your Commanding Officer. I get to dictate whether I'm allowed one drink or not."
"Up here, I'm the one who's dead, so I outrank you, Skipper. Heaven's overflowing thanks to this war. Get out of here, both of you. That's an order."
It hit the Alliance Commander in an instant. That ever familiar feeling of pain- overwhelming, searing pain. Shepard gasped as her knees buckled from under her, causing her to fall heavily onto the sand. She struggled to inhale, feeling as though her lungs were constricting within her chest, the swimsuit gone as her diaphragm struggling to expand amongst the melted armor seared to her bloodied and burnt skin. Blood pooled from her right leg as sharp tendrils of pain shot up her thigh and into her lower back. Her face burned and throbbed, her eyesight grew hazy. Shepard felt something- no, someone- poke from the insides of her lower abdomen. She clasped her belly with her burnt hands as she felt a heavy weight roll painfully from within her, as if nudging her to get up and move.
"Get out of here, Skipper," Ashley winked, settling back onto her deck chair as she watched Shepard struggle to hold herself up on all fours in the sand before her. She popped open another beer with a relish. "And make sure you remember me when you're naming that bun in the oven."