"Commander, don't act like you haven't noticed."
"Alenko, noticing means acknowledging the constant eye-rape my back side receives every time I leave her office. I'd rather not bring it up out of... courtesy for her skills."
Ashley Williams gave an ill-concealed splutter of laughter as she got up from the cafeteria table to discard her tray. "That sounds so wrong, Skipper."
Kaidan Alenko sighed lightly, a soft smile curling up the corners of his mouth in a futile attempt to not laugh at the thought. Williams sat back down, lacing her fingers under her chin and resting them there.
"The LT has a point, though, Shep. You know if she was in the Alliance, they'd court martial her for fraternization faster than you could say 'stalker'."
Paadra Shepherd snorted, running the tip of her dark index finger along the rim of her glass. "True, your both right…but I almost feel…bad, I guess." She shrugged.
Ashley subtly raised a brow while Kaidan's shot unceremoniously skyward. Though Paadra expected the next words uttered to come from Ash's mouth, they instead came from the man next to her.
"How so?" Kaidan inquired. There was a silent but strong curiosity to the way he asked that was also mixed with a pinch of concern. Though Shepherd found it slightly endearing, she herself was curious to the reason behind his alarm.
"Well, I kinda look at it in the way of a girl's first high school crush," Shepherd confessed after a moment, slightly embarrassed, "or a guy's," she added as an afterthought, looking down at the table and then back up, a small, goofy smile on her face. Kaidan noticed absently that a pair of faint dimples appeared on the right side of her lips while only one stood out on the left when she grinned. He could feel his ears burning when she looked at him as she continued.
"Do you remember how you wanted so bad to be with that person, how incredible they looked all the time, how sweet and nice and gracious they were?" Ashley nodded mutely in reply. Shepherd patted the table with her hand once, continuing. "Nothing really came of it in the end. No proclamation of love, no promises, no strings attached. And, eventually, you find that in the end, they weren't the one, they aren't as gorgeous as you thought, and they were actually complete jerk-offs."
"Are you suggesting that's what's up with Doctor T'Soni?" Ashley asked with a dim smile, leaning closer into the middle of the table.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Liara's thing for me is nothing more than a simple crush. If I don't recognize it, it'll just…fade away."
Kaidan nodded at the analogy, though he seemed slightly unconvinced. "Or make it stronger." he simply said, taking a gulp of his protein shake, "That whole absence and the heart thing, you know."
"Well, let's hope it doesn't go down that way," Ashley conceded after a moment of silence, getting up to head to her shift. A wicked smile crossed her face as she said, "Otherwise, Alenko's gonna have to find another arse to ogle without causing the oddest love-triangle in the universe."
She then proceeded to run away laughing as Kaidan did a spit-take with his protein shake, spraying the table and Shepherd's processed veggie-burger in faint green shake splatter. As Kaidan made a futile attempt to apologize between coughing, hacking, and blushing, Shepherd just chuckled and reached for some paper towels. Ashley was always good for a laugh, even at her expense, but she knew how to dish it out just as well as she knew how to take it. Shouldn't have gotten on her for Corporal Lancer, Mr. Alenko...
After Kaidan's coughing and hacking (but not his blushing) had subsided and the shake had been wiped up, the only thing left was Shepherd's ruined sandwich and Alenko's empty tray. Kaidan was hasty in an answer.
"Hey, look, I have three hundred ration credits left over. I'm not that hungry anyway, I'll buy you another sandwich." He picked up her tray and walked with her to the food processer.
Shepherd laughed, picking up her pace to stroll beside him. "Buying me dinner, Kaidan? Someone's feeling bold today."
Kaidan had the sense, underneath it, what she was really implying was I like bold. He chuckled, swiveling to a stop in front of the machine.
"You're the one making this a date."
She griped the other end of the tray, tugging on it playfully. She then flashed one of the most stunning smiles Kaidan had ever seen.
"You never said you didn't want it to be."
"Touché."
She bit her bottom lip subconsciously, lowering her eyes as she twisted around him to punch in the numbers for a meal chip. When she finally pulled away with the chip, she was only mere inches from his face. She gave a soft smile.
"Ya know Kaidan, dinner isn't complete without a little dessert. I have some graham crackers and honey stashed away in my cabin. Meet me here? 2300 hours?"
Kaidan gave a low, brazen laugh. The kind that just rolled up from the back of his throat…and made Shepherd flush just a little.
"Graham crackers and honey? You are such a criminal, Paadra. Now I know you're the one they should court-marshal." He gave his own tug on the tray, pulling her just a little bit closer.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, hardy-har-har, Alenko. Will I see you here?"
He smiled, pouring every ounce of charm he had into it. He toke the chip from her slowly, drawing out his presence upon her tanned hand.
"Yeah, I'll be your partner-in-crime, Shep."