"No second thoughts? This is your chance to back out..."
.
A/N: One "nice" dinner with Shep & Miri for surfergirl3537, coming right up... :)
.
"So..." Oriana turned on the couch to face Miranda. Emily, who was lying between the two sisters, was happily hugging the plush volus her aunt had produced from her (obviously well filled) bag before they'd settled in front of the large terminal screen. Miranda averted her eyes and started scrolling through the datapad holding Oriana's promised vids. "You've never told me anything about Shepard..." her sister went on but Miranda still didn't look up.
"There's nothing to tell..."
Oriana threw her arms up in frustration. "Oh come on! I told you all about Danner..."
Miranda's eyebrow rose but her eyes remained on the datapad. "And I wish you hadn't..."
A smile spread across Oriana's face as she poked her sister's shoulder. "Heh, it wasn't that detailed... But anyway, tell me just one thing... You've never really told me how you two met. Was it love at first sight?"
"The first time I saw her, her remains were stuffed into a coffin and I had to start rebuilding her from scratch... Interested in any details?"
"Eww, no!"
A satisfied smile spread across Miranda's face as she continued to scroll through the datapad. Her sister, however, wasn't giving up that easily... Ugh, she should have known... Bloody Lawson genes...
"Well, then... how was your first date? Did she take you out for dinner?"
Miranda paused and her eyes fell on the new ring on her finger. "Yes," she started and finally put the datapad aside, turning to her sister.
Oriana chuckled. "A romantic dinner... Classic..."
"We had our first date very recently, in fact," Miranda continued as her fingers started playing with the ring absent-mindedly.
Oriana's eyebrow rose. "You had your first date just recently?"
Her sister's voice jolted Miranda out of her thoughts and she let go of the ring and turned back to her sister. "We had a galaxy to save," she stated matter-of-factly. "We didn't have time to go on dates at the time..."
Oriana shook her head in disbelief. "You're the weirdest couple I've ever met..."
"Are you done?" Miranda huffed in annoyance and ran a hand through her hair. "Do you want to hear it or not?"
Putting on her most charming smile, Oriana propped her chin in the palm of her hand on the couch's backrest and nodded.
. . .
"Shepard, could you please just stop fidgeting with your clothes?" Miranda reached over the table and slapped Shepard's hand away from her cleavage.
"Well, excuse me for not having the perfect genes and thus the perfect body for something like this..." Shepard answered, her hands already back to pulling at the fabric of her top here and there.
"It's a simple top, Shepard."
Shepard pouted as she pulled on the black top, trying to rearrange the fabric that hung – in a, as the woman in the shop had called it, "artistic way" – from the top's front, held together by a silver brooch. "I like my shirt's. They are simple..."
"Yes, but your fans would recognize you if you wore them. The same goes for your armor." Miranda's eyebrow rose at the memory of all the times they had left their apartment just to be surrounded by a crowd of people only seconds later – every one of those encounters ending with them having to run through endless numbers of alley ways just to loose their pursuers until they'd finally been able to go back home... "We wouldn't have even made it into the restaurant..."
Gasping in mock indignation, Shepard placed a hand over her heart. "Are you saying my fans wouldn't recognize me just because I'm dressed adequately for a change?"
Miranda groaned and slapped Shepard's hand away once more, this time being interrupted by the disapproving sound of someone clearing their throat at the side of their table. They both turned and saw a waiter wrinkling his nose at them, an eyebrow raised as he looked down at his two guests. The hand that had slapped Shepard's away only seconds ago immediately closed around the former commander's and Miranda lowered both their hands to the table, lacing their fingers as she raised an expectant eyebrow herself, daring the waiter to voice his opinion. The man, however, knew better than to provoke those gleaming eyes even more and he simply turned around and left without another word.
That's what I thought... Satisfied, Miranda leaned back in her chair and freed her hand from Shepard's, turning her head to let her eyes wander around the room. Why Shepard had insisted to drag her to this fancy restaurant was beyond her... Not that they couldn't afford it, of course. The Alliance still paid well and the way things were going, Miranda was pretty sure they'd never have to, as Shepard once had suggested, "sell their own vids on the extranet to make some extra cash"... She involuntarily shook her head. What an utterly absurd idea... She'd rather start working as a waitress in Afterlife than exposing herself to the masses on the extranet like that! Not that it wasn't worth seeing what happened in their bedroom, mind you... After all, she was-
A annoyed grumble made her turn back to Shepard, who'd meanwhile picked up the datapad holding the restaurant's menu, her eyes narrowing as she scrolled through the hundreds of dishes they offered in this place. A smile started tugging at the former operative's lips as she held out her hand. "Need me to translate?" she offered.
The datapad was immediately shoved into her hand and Shepard leaned back in her chair with a sigh, running a hand through her hair. "Why do they always have to insist on writing a menu in French as the only human language available just because they want to sound fancy?"
Miranda shrugged her shoulders while she scrolled through the menu. "Anything you'd like in particular?" she asked over the datapad. Shepard shrugged.
"A burger," she answered grimly, causing Miranda to roll her eyes.
"Well, you could get a... steak, maybe?" Shepard's face lit up and Miranda nodded to herself, settling her eyes on the datapad once more. "And what kind of vegetable would you like with your steak?"
Shepard's brows furrowed in feigned irritation. "What's that?" She smiled.
Miranda's foot crashed against the former commander's shin underneath the table. "Behave yourself," she ordered, her eyes already narrowing again. "It was your idea to go to this place, so you better choose a bloody dish along with a bloody wine or I'm gone!" she hissed, placing the datapad down on the table as she leaned forward, threateningly.
"I..." Shepard ran a hand through her hair once more before she nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm just..." She let her eyes wander around the room. "I'm just not used to places like this," she finally admitted.
"Then why did we come here?" Miranda crossed her arms in front of her chest while she waited for Shepard to answer.
The former commander involuntarily reached for one of her pant's pockets but quickly put her hand back on the table.
"Erm..." Miranda's eyebrow rose expectantly. "Because..." Shepard winced as she searched for the right words. "I... heard the carrots are great here. I think I'll take those to my steak," she hurriedly added, giving Miranda a smile. "What about you?"
Once the waiter had decided to honor them with his presence again, the ordered dishes were soon enough standing in front of them and they both started eating without another word. Or rather, Shepard shoveling her food into her mouth made it impossible for Miranda to start a conversation and she quickly dismissed the thought and instead focused on the steaming lobster on her plate.
Miranda was about to lift another spoon of chocolate mousse to her lips as she noticed that Shepard had stopped eating her dessert. She placed her own spoon on the plate again and watched the woman in front of her nervously turn her head from side to side while she'd started to fidget with her outfit again. "Is something the matter?"
Shepard's head whipped around and she hastily cleared her throat. "No." She forced a smile. "Why do you ask? Don't you like the dessert? We could get something else..."
She immediately searched for the waiter but Miranda stopped her and grabbed Shepard's hand before she could wave him over. Holding Shepard's hand, she could feel it shaking slightly in her own hand and Miranda placed them on the table, starting to stroke the back of Shepard's hand with her thumb. "What's wrong?"
"I..." Shepard evaded Miranda's eyes and instead reached for her pocket with her free right hand.
"Jane?" Miranda's soft voice and the rare use of her first name made Shepard wince.
Taking a deep breath, Shepard finally produced a small box out of the pocket and carefully placed it on the table, keeping her hand over it as if to shield it from harm (or rejection).
Miranda's heart skipped a beat and her breathing stopped for a second before she swallowed once. Before she could stop it, the sarcasm she had used so many times before to protect herself and her feelings took over. "You're not proposing to me, are you?" she blurted out, immediately biting her lower lip at her own words. Please do!
Noticing Miranda's apologetic look, Shepard relaxed and a playful smile tugged at her lips as she shook her head. "Nah, just some mints..."
A short, nervous laugh escaped Miranda. "You ass."
Shepard's smile widened and she slowly pushed the box towards Miranda. "Want some?"
You bet! Miranda let go of Shepard's hand and carefully took the box in both of her hands. She shot another suspicious glance at Shepard. It wasn't entirely impossible that the box actually held mints, but the nervous glint in Shepard's eyes made Miranda hope for more...
She slowly opened the box and was greeted by a deep black ring with light silver ornaments running through it.
"Miranda Lawson, will you spend the rest of, at least my life – since you'll likely live half as long as the rest of us – with me?"
Still silent, Miranda took the ring out of its box and contemplated it, brushing her fingers over the smooth surface, inspecting the engraved ornaments... A smile spread across her face.
Shepard cleared her throat. "You know, this would be the part where you either say 'yes' or throw it away and storm out of the restaurant... We don't actually have to get married," she quickly added, giving a short laugh. "Don't even know if people still do that nowadays... But you could see it as my commitment to you."
Miranda's eyes were still fixed on the ring and Shepard sighed, continuing, "I hereby swear that I won't flirt with any realtors anymore..." Still no reaction from the woman sitting across from her. "Or get distracted by asari neighbors with a magic touch..." For a split-second, Shepard could have sworn she saw Miranda raise her eyebrow, but her former XO still didn't respond. "I'll also try and do whatever it takes to make you happy and-"
"Oh, you better!"
Miranda's voice almost made Shepard fall off the chair. The former commander quickly regained her composure again and leaned forward on the table, taking Miranda's hands (Shepard's ring already where it belonged) in her own. "Is that a yes?"
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Yes, you bloody fool!"
. . .
"I knew it!" Oriana exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew that ring was new!"
Miranda blinked. "Well, yes..." she started. She'd never been one to wear jewelry, so the ring automatically would stand out. There was no need for her sister to point that out... and stare at it this intently... Starting to feel uncomfortable under her sister's sparkling gaze, Miranda quickly grabbed the datapad and pointed at a random vid description before Oriana could embarass her even more...
"How about this one?" She handed the datapad back to Oriana and noticed with satisfaction, that she'd finally managed to throw her sister off balance. Oriana blinked in confusion but then shrugged and approached the terminal in front of them. "Didn't know you liked elcor love stories..."