"It would be better for your health."
"Ma'am?" Kal tipped his head in curiosity, blinking from behind his faceplate at his fellow quarian.
Tali swayed, looking for something to lean on. She'd been drinking. Again.
"If you laughed," she said. Her vocalizer hummed, an indigence behind her tone. As if she'd lead off the conversation with the statement.
"I laugh," he protested.
She shook her head. Finally finding purchase on a nearby table. She gripped it as if her life depended upon it.
"I have never heard you laugh," she retorted. "Therefore, you do not laugh."
Kal looked down at his feet, then back up to his company. She was not entirely wrong. It had been a long time since he had laughed. But it had been quite a long time since he'd had any reason to laugh. Or the right company with him.
"And I told you," she pipped up suddenly, words slightly slurred. "You can call me Tali. I think we've been together long enough."
He glanced away, clearing his throat. "Habit," he murmured, his voice processors barely picking up the sound.
"I'll forgive you," she replied, a low trill behind her voice. "For a laugh."
"Right now?"
"Maybe a kiss."
"That, I can manage," he smiled.
He strode across the room in a few strides, Tali having already pulled off her faceplate. Kal removed his own, letting it drop to the floor as their mouths collided.
"Maybe later," Tali hummed, "we can work on the laughing."