Author's Note: Originally posed on tumblr. I regret nothing.
"I'm going to bed." she said as she walked through the office towards the bedroom upstairs. She paused just long enough for him to look up from his computer and nod.
"I'll be up when I'm finished with this report." James said, very distracted as he went back to his work. It had been nearly three years since the war, and he'd recently been awarded N7 status. He'd just come back from one of his first missions, and James had yet to file the report. He was nearly done, thankfully, but he wasn't quite ready to go to sleep.
At least that's what he'd been telling himself. He sighed and sat back once the report was filed with Alliance Command, thinking of what he could do while he was still feeling awake. He started browsing the extranet, looking at the news to catch up on things he'd missed while he was gone. In the back of his mind, he kept telling himself to just go to bed even if he wasn't necessarily as excited about being with Shepard as he used to be.
It'd been intense for the first year or so, really. They hadn't seen much of each other, but they talked every day, and when they did get to see each other they spent their waking hours in bed, hoping to make up for the lack of physical contact in the past few months. The next year they'd both become too busy, and there had been a few days here and there where they didn't hear from one another. Even fewer days that James had been able to actually come home and see her in person. And with this last year, he was so busy working that he'd admittedly been ignoring Shepard to the point where he could see she was thinking about calling off this relationship between them. James didn't really want that, he did still love her. But, there was something missing between them and he didn't know what it was. It made him nervous to think he could lose her.
Scrolling through the Citadel News site, he stumbled across a paid advertisement that caught his attention. He might normally scroll past the personal ads, but for some reason he felt compelled to read this one.
Human female looking for a nice afternoon with a friend. Welcome to all species. Must enjoy Batarian Shard Wine, exotic music, and have a sense of humor. Prefer to meet in a bar, or coffee shop anywhere on the Citadel. Please write if you're looking for a friendly conversation.
It seemed familiar to James, but he couldn't place his finger on why. Maybe he was thinking of someone he'd worked with? It was interesting that there was no name or age given, but he could assume that this was an adult, given the fact that the bar was mentioned. He could feel safe about that, at least. He looked below and saw no responses. Glancing over at the doorway, checking to make sure she had gone to bed, he sighed, and began to write up a response. He was just looking for someone to talk to, really. Maybe this stranger could help him figure out what to do with his relationship.
He'd settled on meeting in a small coffee shop in the markets about ten minutes from where he was now. Giving a surprisingly modest description of himself, he told the woman to meet him there in the early afternoon. That way he could tell Shepard he was going for a run, or something. She usually wasn't interested in joining him. He felt guilty, thinking about lying to her, but he would rather lie and tell her later that he'd been seeing a friend than tell her he was going to meet some stranger, and have her worry. James was going to get this settled before it became an issue.
The reply was sent, and he turned off the computer, going to get in bed.
Shepard was curled up on her side of the bed, holding her spare pillow to her chest. When James sat down behind her, she lifted her head for a moment, eyes open. Smiling at each other, Jame laid down and pulled her against himself. His left arm stretched out and she rest her head on it comfortably, eyes closing again. This was comfortable for them, and in the next fifteen minutes they were both out cold.
The next morning he was alone in bed upon waking up. He laid flat on his back for a while, staring at the ceiling. Time off killed him, more often than not, because he didn't know what to do with himself. He lifted his head when he heard something outside the bedroom.
"Aw, I was hoping to wake you up." Shepard grinned, holding a tray of food as she walked in the room. As she set the tray down, James sat up with a smile.
"You did wake me up when you ran into the doorway." he chuckled, looking over the food. It didn't look like there was 'hers' and 'his' - it was just a mass of food for them to share. "This looks really good, though, thank you." he leaned over to kiss her cheek, grabbing a fork to stab a couple of pancakes.
James glanced at the clock on his omni-tool. It was nearly 3 in the afternoon, and he still hadn't seen the mystery woman he'd written to the previous night. She'd never given a description of herself, which seemed a little risky. He was nearing the end of his second cup of coffee, and it seemed like he was holding out for nothing. She hadn't even responded to him with an 'okay,' or 'see you there.' He shook his head, looking down at the surface of the table. This was stupid, he should just leave.
"… James?" came a familiar voice from some distance away. His first thought was to come up with some reason he was here when he wasn't supposed to be. He glanced over, and she seemed… happy?
"Hey, Lola." he cleared his throat as she ran a hand through her hair, placing her hand on the back of the chair next to him.
"I uh… I didn't know you were going to be the one I was meeting." she laughed a little nervously. The small blush on her face made James grin. then it dawned on him.
"Wait, you were… Well that explains the lack of personal information." he laughed. "So, Batarian shard wine? That stuff is kind of shit."
"Shut up, it's better than a lot of other things." she mumbled, sitting down with embarrassment.
"I didn't know you liked it." he said quietly after a minute or so of silence.
"Well apparently you do, too." she teased, looking over. He sighed.
"Yeah, you caught me." they both laughed. Why didn't he know these little things about her after this long? They started making that small talk that they'd seemed to have been neglecting for so long, and for James, that was all that they'd needed to rekindle that flame he'd been desiring. He saw her passionate about something - several things - for the first time in a long time, and the way her eyes lit up, it was almost as though he had been living with a completely different woman the past few years. She was relaxed, and confident with herself, challenging him with that playful glint in her eye. This was more like the Shepard he knew - the one he fell in love with. This had been a happy mistake.
And on the way home, they made sure to pick up a bottle of Batarian shard wine for dinner.