Author's Note: Inspired by a conversation with a friend. Originally posted on tumblr. I own nothing. Enjoy!

She didn't need to ask what was wrong when he came home. It was written all over his face, and the lack of conversation only made it more obvious. With a sympathetic smile, Shepard stood from her desk and headed to the kitchen, putting on some water to boil while she searched the cupboards.

He went right upstairs to the bedroom. Kristen could hear his shoes thudding to the floor as he removed them. Then the floorboards creaked slightly with the heavy weight of a tired Kaidan throwing himself, no doubt, face first into the pillows. It had been a few weeks since his last migraine, and it surprised her to think he had gone so long without one, given all the meetings he had been attending.

With a smile, she found the box of tea, and went to hunt down an appropriate mug. In the midst of her search, her laptop pinged from the other room, and she told herself that those reports could wait. Her husband needed her more, right now. She glanced once at the pot of water, and decided she could step out for a second, to put her laptop on do not disturb. When she came back, the water was boiling, and she poured it into the mug, over the tea bag. While Kristen let the tea steep, she grabbed a glass, and filled it with cool water from the sink, taking both beverages up the stairs, and into the dark bedroom.

She set the glass of water down closest to him, followed by her steaming mug. He was sprawled out in the middle of the bed, holding a pillow in his arms as he lay on his stomach. His face was in said pillow. Looking over him, the rise and fall of his chest suggested her was close to being asleep, but not quite there. Gently, she laid her hand on his forearm. He turned his head towards her.

"Hi, baby." He mumbled, eyes shut.

"Hey." She sat down beside him, keeping herself quiet. "Need me to get anything?" She saw his eyes open, and he smiled as they closed again.

"Looks like you got what I needed."

"I would hope I'd get it right, by now." She teased, bending over to kiss his temple. "I'll wake you up when supper is ready."

"Thank you."

Shepard left I silence back down the stairs, grabbing her mug of tea. She wasn't the only one who needed something when he got his migraines. The tension that rolled off of him often rolled right on to her. This blend of herbs managed to keep her relaxed for the most part. By now, this was routine, and down to a science. It had yet to fail them.

She went back to her reports for another hour before she started dinner. That morning, she'd had a thought to pan fry some fish. Luckily, it seemed, that would be just the thing to help Kaidan with his migraine.

Ever since they had agreed to live with each other, Kristen had been continually performing extensive research on what would help to alleviate his migraines, or to reduce their likelihood of occurring. She found more tips to help get rid of them than to prevent them, but it was better than having him suffer for sometimes days at a time.

She pulled out the fish, and began to prepare it according to the recipe she'd found. It didn't smell particularly good at first, though once all the spices were added, it was beginning to make her mouth water. Shepard grabbed a loaf of bread, and began to slice it into bite-sized pieces. Soon, the meal was ready, and she had it waiting on the table to eat. Walking upstairs, she woke Kaidan, who seemed willing to come down to eat.

It was silent during their dinner, but his plate was cleaned off in no time, and soon he was laying on the couch. She didn't mind it, and she set the dishes in the sink to be cleaned tomorrow when she finished eating a few minutes later. Sighing quietly, she sat next to his head, grinning when he pulled himself to rest it in her lap. Kristen began gently petting his head, combing her fingers through his short, neat hair.

"Are you feeling any better?" she ventured after a few minutes.

"Not really… But whatever you're doing now feels good."

She chuckled quietly, continuing to pet him as she pulled open her omni-tool, only pulling her hand away from her ministrations to scroll through some of her messages. This was the relaxed life she had fought so hard for, and it was worth every minute, even if she felt like she was going insane, at times. Kaidan went to meetings on a regular basis, while Kristen worked at home. They'd been trying to start a family for some time, but things had been to hectic lately that they'd put it on hold.

Maybe they needed a little time away from everything. They hadn't gone on a vacation for a few years, and she'd heard about a nice place down south that seemed like it would be perfect to spend time with each other, without being completely out of touch.

Kaidan stirred and she glanced at the time.

"Feeling tired enough to try to sleep it off?" she asked when he sat up. He nodded, rubbing his eyes and wiping his hand down his face before he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Love you." he said sleepily.

"I love you, too." she hummed, watching him walk away with her eyes glued to his backside. She would never get tired of that wonderful sight. With a rather wistful sigh, she turned back to reply to a few more messages before she decided that she could wash the dishes before going to sleep. Her brain was too wired to try to sleep, right now.

As she did her chore, she kept thinking about vacation. Kaidan could really use one, he'd been working far too hard lately. As if the migraine wasn't indication enough. Usually by now it was boiled down to at least a minor headache that he could suffer through. But would he even want to go anywhere? Maybe they could just stay at home for a few days, and relax. Or go visit his parents, they hadn't seen each other for several months. Kristen finished putting the cleaned dishes away, and turned off all the lights before she headed upstairs, resolved to talk about it tomorrow.

And then she saw him laying in bed, much like he had been before. Only this time he was confined to his designated side of the bed, shirtless, and under the blanket from the waist down. Quietly, she changed out of her clothes and into an old t-shirt with a pair of shorts, and slipped under the blanket beside him. She rested her hand on his back, surprised at how warm it was at the touch. He seemed to wake up some. She smiled and kissed his forehead, inviting him closer.

He settled his head against her chest, arms wrapped tightly around her. This wasn't their usual sleeping position, but she could make it work. Wrapping one arm around his shoulders, the other hand rested on the back of his skull, starting to gently massage it, occasionally running her fingers through his hair like she had been doing earlier. His breathing evened out once more, and Kristen listened to it for the longest time until she too fell asleep.