I was working on the Mako when she came in. She always seemed to be around after an important mission, to get the crew's oppinion I suppose. She would do her routine, talk to Wrex, then Ashley, then Tali and last she would talk to me. She always seemed very interested in my backstory, I admit that she is a very good listener, but something was different when she talked to me. She would open her mouth and show her teeth everytime I made eyecontact with her and I can't figure out why. It has to have something to do with their race's customs, I will have to ask Luitenant Alenko, from what I pick up about their interactions they are close. Sometimes the commander would only buy something from the merchant on the lower deck, but I would always notice her eyes lingering on me just a little longer than they were supposed to. I had different theories about her behaviour, it might be because she wants to show she is dominant, I am not sure how humans display dominance but it is an option, or it could be because she was experimenting on my species, she had been asking a whole lot of questions lately... It is a riddle to me, not only is she from the opposite sex, she is also an entirely different species.
I finished up my work and went looking for Luitenant Alenko, not being able to locate him I decided to question Joker about the commander's behaviour, since he was the next young human male on the ship. Joker seemed to be startled when I spoke to him "Excuse me, Joker, would you be willing to answer some questions for me?" He looked back at me and nodded seeming to think deeply while he did so. "What do you want to know?" He asked me, looking a bit cautiously. "It is about commander Sheppard, I do not understand her behavior and I was hoping you could enlighten me." He visibly relaxed when he heard this was about Sheppard. "Well, I'm not sure I understand her all the time, but I could try." He offered. I nodded and explained "Whenever the commander comes by the lower deck to hear us out on our opinion on the mision she always makes a point of talking to me last, but while she is talking to others she still seems to keep an eye on me. Also whenever I make eyecontact she bares her teeth and I do not understand what kind of messages she is sending by doing this." At first Joker laughed for a minute and then he said "I'm guessing baring her teeth is her idea of a smile, she has never been very good at that, for the rest I have no clue. But either way, you will probably want to ask Luitenant Alenko about this matter." He then mumbled something about getting back to work. While walking away I could still hear him snickering which gave me the sense that he did not tell everything he knew.
As I made my way to the elevator I saw luitenant Alenko on his usual spot, I walked up to him. "Lieutenant Alenko, could you answer some questions about the commander for me?" The lieutenant narrowed his eyes suspiciously but agreed. "Have you noticed the commander's strange behaviour lately?" I asked, hoping to find an answer. "Not in particular, what's strange about her behaviour?" The lieutenant asked still watching me with suspision. "She seems to be keeping a close eye on me lately, she smiles alot too. Is there a second meaning to smiling in your culture?" The lieutenant seemed to be in deep thought.
Kaiden p.o.v.
This Turian really thought the commander was in love with him, huh? It was obvious, if it was even true. Why did Vakarian even tell him all of this? To make him jealous, or maybe, just maybe the former c-sec officer didn't understand the signs the commander was giving him... I can make use of that, what should I tell him... "Smiling has been known to be a challenge in some human cultures." I said with a straight face, but deep inside I was laughing at his ignorance. The Turian looked even more confused now "Shepard is trying to challenge me?" I felt the corner of my mouth twitch at the use of her last name instead of saying commander and lied "She might be, I do not know. She is the opposite gender, I have no clue what she is thinking.". The turian then excused himself and I smiled triumphantly, the commander will probably think Vakarian is challenging her and that will be his downfall.
Garrus p.o.v.
I still felt confused after getting the answer to my question, challenging? I don't know if I could win when facing Shepard in a battle, she is a strong opponent, an admirable one, she fights with precision, focus and above all grace. I find myself often thinking back to misions with her, fondly might I add, she is a perfect example for anyone in the military. Beside being good at combat she was very capable of socializing when she needed to, though she always needed to rest after a day of interacting. She is a mystery to me, one I would love to unravel. While lost in my thoughts I bump into the person occupying my thoughts "Excuse me commander, I was lost in my thoughts." She smiled and said "Be sure not to get too lost, there is still a war we need to win." She then walked off leaving me pondering on Alenko's words.
I retreated to my room and noticed something unusual, my heart was beating in a fast pace, faster than it normally does. Confused I decided to wait and see if my heart would calm down, when it finally did I was contemplating going to see doctor Chakwas to ask about it. But since the beating had returned to normal I saw no problem in it and I fell asleep at my desk. I woke up a few hours later, most of the lights in the Normandy were either dimmed or off. I had dreamt something, though I wasn't sure what. I got up and decided that I might as well get some food. At the small kitchen-like room I got some food that was brought to the ship specially for me. When the commander had heard about the diet turians have she insisted on having it on board, I ofcourse appreciated it, but I had been surviving good enough on the food I had brought myself before.
As I was eating in the kitchen I heard footsteps approach, I continued eating and waited for the footsteps to reach the kitchen. When the footsteps were almost at the door they stopped, pausing at the light coming from the kitchen probably, and then they continued. The commander stood in the door opening, her dark hair loose over her shoulders, not in the tight bun she would always wear in daytime, she wore a dark green jumpsuit with thin bands to hold it up, the lower part of her jumpsuit barely reached the middle of her thighs. Something about this sight made me stop eating and stare, she stirred something in me, though it was hard to tell what. She squinted her eyes at the light and said "I didn't expect someone to be up this late, you know eating when you're supposed to sleep is not exactly good for your body, right?" She smiled and walked over to the cooling device, where she got some thick white substance and put it in a bowl. She then sat down and ate "If it is bad for your body, then why are you eating?" She chuckled and said "Well, yoghurt is good for your body at all times, so I don't have to worry." I was confused, but the sleepy commander seemed very pleased with her answer. I assumed she was too sleepy to have a serious conversation, so I kept eating. Then I remembered what the lieutenant had told me about the commander's behaviour and I decided to ask her about it.
" Commander, when one human smiles to another, what does it mean?" The commander looked up from her meal and seemed to think as hard as a sleepy mind could. There was still some of the food she had called 'yoghurt' on the corner of her mouth, I suddenly felt compelled to wipe it off. The commander stopped eating and seemed to freeze when I leaned over, one of my fingers extended and wiped off the odd substance. At that moment Joker decided to come waltzing through the door, he seemed to freeze at my action and he immediatly walked out of the room again closing the door behind him. I wanted to taste the substance, but, remembering the time I got sick from human food, I decided against it and I wiped it on a nearby handtowel. The commander then seemed to quickly finish her meal and went away, murmuring a goodbye. As I left too I realised the commander had never answered my question.
I went to my room and fell asleep on a sofa, just large enough for my body to fit when it was half curled up. The next time I awoke it was because of noise outside of my room, sleepily I opened my door to see what was going on. My vision was a bit blurry and I rubbed my eyes. I could see lieutenant Alenko freaking out over something and Joker laughing his ass off. I decided this was not what I wanted to start the day with, so I closed my door and just lay down with my eyes closed, waiting for sleep to get me. I woke up an hour later and thought it best to get up and work a little. I put on something other than my sleeping clothes and headed for the lower deck. As I walked past Alenko he seemed to glare at me, not in the mood for human complexity I walked past him and entered the elevator. As I walked over to the Mako I greeted Ashley and heard her say something about Wrex sleeping in. I worked on the Mako for about three hours, I had written down the names of some parts that had to be replaced and made a mental note to tell this to the commander.
Then someone tapped my shoulder, I stood up and saw it was the commander I smiled and she smiled back. "It means they are fond of that person." She said, I must've looked confused because she added "About the question you wanted me to answer this morning." I then asked "Could it also be a challenge?" She thought about it and answered "It could be, yes, but normally it isn't. Are you trying to challenge me then?" She looked a tad confused as she said that. "Well, no I thought- Well, I thought you were challenging me?" I felt ignorant and stupid when I said that. But the commander laughed and said "What kind of challenge were you expecting?" I shrugged and said "I don't know, maybe a fight or something like that." She seemed to think and nodded "We could do that, a fight, I mean. On earth we would sometimes fight, but with gloves, so you wouldn't permanently damage each other. It was mostly entertainment but I still have some of those gloves." She looked very excited and I said " What are the rules then? I mean, you would have a disadvantage, my skin is made of tougher material than yours." Then Joker joined the conversation saying "The commander could wear light armor on her upperbody and you would just go shirtless, I think that is about even. I wouldn't underestimate commander Shepard's strength if I were you, most who do end up dead." I nodded and was handed a small bundle of papers bound together, it looked old. I was told the bundle of papers contained some of the rules, as they both left I realised what I had just gotten myself into and I groaned.
After meeting up with the two of them I told them I'd rather not have the whole crew watch, after some of them mocking me about it they agreed that we would fight on the middle deck (the same level as the elevator and the med clinic) and we would do so when we were docked at the Citadel and most of the crew would be out, that way we would disturb nobody. After thinking about it some longer I thought it was a pretty stupid idea, but I know that the commander won't let it go. So when we arrived at the Citadel and almost every one was out we stood on the middle deck, on opposite sides of each other. The commander in loose shorts and a light armor top with long sleeves, and me in just the lower part of my usual common clothing. Joker was the judge and sat on the side with his crutches beside him, judging by the smile on his face he was thoroughly enjoying this. As Joker counted down the commander and I circled around each other waiting patiently for an opening, the commander was less patient and lunged first. Seeing it coming I dodged her punch easily and lunged at her myself, I made contact with her armor, but not with the force I had intended to. The commander did not waste time and punched me right back, resulting in me stumbling backwards. The rules were that the first one on the ground lost, there were three rounds. The triumphant smile on Shepards face made my heart beat faster, ignoring it I lunged first pushing her back a bit. She was definitly stronger than I had expected of such a squishy looking being. She immediately punched back and I dodged it by jumping to the side, she threw another punch directly after the last one and missed by just a hair. She was out of balance and I struck her in the stomach making her fall over.
"Round one out of three, won by the turian!" Joker exclaimed, he looked like he hadn't had this much entertainment since he was first recruited. This time I was smiling triumphantly, pulling her up by her hand I noticed she was smiling too. Then came a long time of punching and dodging by both of us , something about the fight made me hold out longer, it felt as if I could fight for hours. Ofcourse that ended when a hard punch against my lower jaw landed me on the cold flooring. She could hit pretty hard, I was sure my jaw was going to be sore the next day. "Round two out of three, won by commander Shepard! Final round!" Joker yelled. I smiled at his excitement and could see Shepard doing the same, then we were on each other, punching and dodging, lunging and jumping. After about fifteen minutes of dodging I lunged at Shepard and managed to hit her shoulder, she lost balance but still hit me right in my stomach. For a second we were both silent and then I squeezed my eyes shut, prepared for the impact of the iron floor. Instead I felt my head collide with something round and I eventually landed on the ground, but not half a second later something hit me on my head again and I could feel something that had landed on my body. I groaned from the dull pain inside my head as I tried to open my eyes, at first I was crosseyed and then I could feel the weight shifting and realised it had been Shepard lieing on top of me. I didn't have much time to think about it, because I heard a voice "Commander what are you-" . I opened my eyes and saw lieutenant Alenko standing with his jaw hanging down, beside him stood a grinning Ashley. Shepard then got up a little and straddled me placing a hand against her probably aching head, she opened her eyes and everyone in the room seemed to wait for her to catch up with what had just happened. I propped myself up on my elbows as a curious Tali, Liara and Wrex had also come to see what was up. The commandrr then told everyone in a calm voice "You are all dismissed." She then took one look at me and stood up. I stood up as well and as the crew left she began laughing, I was confused for different reasons, first was because of her calm tone, second was because she was laughing and third was because she had stayed on top of me so long, secretly I had also felt somehing when she had straddled me. "Well, that didn't end quite as I had expected." The commander said, smiling. "Yeah, I'm going to leave you two now." Joker said as he got up on his crutches and went away.
The commander then held her hand out, I shook it "It was still a good fight though, it's good to know you would be able to handle yourself without weapons too." She said. "The same goes for you Shepard, you are much more than I had expected." I said as I smiled. The commander's cheeks became red at that, and I thought to myself that I really needed to read up about human anatomy and behaviour. Then unexpectedly the commander asked "What does it mean when one turian smiles to a human?" I thought about it and answered "It means they are very fond of them." I could feel embarrasment, though I did not understand why. Maybe I had unknowingly let more of my feelings slip through that sentence than I desired to. The commander seemed satisfied and touched the side of my face with her soft hand, even if it was only for a brief moment, I unconsciously leaned into her touch. She then left to replenish energy. I changed clothes and began cleaning up the mess we had made during the fight.
While I was cleaning up I heard someone speak up "Vakarian, what do you think of the commander?" I stopped cleaning and turned to see it was lieutenant Alenko, he leaned against a wall and seemed to be sad. "I think she is an admirable person and I would follow her to the end of the galaxy." I answered, knowing my words to be true. "I think so too, but she is also special to me. Is that all you think of her?" He asked again. I was a little confused, Shepard is special to me, she has changed my life, she... What more do I think of her? Is there more than just admiration? Yes. But how much more? I do not know yet, I am very fond of her, that I do know. "She is... special to me too lieutenant." I answered. The lieutenant looked me dead in the eye and said "If you are unsure of your feeling towards her, then don't mess with hers." With that he left. And I was alone once again, feeling tired I decided to go to sleep. Taking off my shirt I collapsed onto the bed in my room.
I awoke to the sound of something falling in my room, I immediately sat up and turned the lights on. My eyes reaction with less speed than my brain did I waited for them to adjust. In my room stood Shepard, her eyes were closed and she was just standing in the middle of my room. "Shepard?" I asked, my voice cracking from the fact that I had only just woken up. No reaction, I got out of my bed and walked over to her, she didn't react. She then fell over, catching her was easy as I was standing in front of her. I decided something was wrong with her and picked her up and began walking to doctor Chakwas' office. While walking Shepard seemed to cling closer to my body, maybe for warmth I thought. It would be a logical explanation since she was only wearing her jumpsuit. And while walking I noticed for the hundredth time how different her body was, it was so soft and vulnerable. Her body had some odd shapes, like her breasts, I had ofcourse had an education and through that I knew mammals had breasts, but they seemed oddly attractive on her. And then those legs, with fewer bends than most turians, yet also very alluring, the soft texture and round forms seemed so pleasant and appealing. When I was at doctor Chakwas' door I felt like I hadn't looked at Shepard enough yet, but feeling like that was inapproperiate, I opened the door. "What do you-" doctor Chakwas began, then she looked at me with confusion. "Could you explain what you are doing here?" She asked trying to sound irritated, but her voice betrayed her interest. "The commander walked into my room and will not open her eyes." I explained shortly, hoping that was enough to go on. The doctor then smiled tiredly and said "It was very sweet of you to bring her all the way here, but she was only sleepwalking. Sleepwalking is harmless, you should look it up. But I will be going to sleep soon too so it would be better if you two could leave." I nodded and began making my way to Shepards room, feeling very sleepy. As we arrived at her room the door needed a password. A password. I did not know the password. I cursed silently and made it over to my room, laying the commander on my bed and letting her get comfortable under the covers. I took an extra pair of covers and fell into a dreamless sleep.