The party inside was still pounding, but the bass-heavy music was muffled by glass doors of the balcony. Jasmine was leaning on the rail, watching the occasional vehicle speed by. The outside is dark with artificial night, lit by the Strip and the apartments across the way. The quiet is strange but just as she starts to miss the breezes of Earth, the glass doors slid open for a moment.
"All by yourself out here, Jazz? I thought you liked parties." She cracked one eye in time to see the handsome Galina Shepard lean beside her, smiling at her. She wore her pants with the knee pads and her fitted tank top, glad to be rid of the horrible skin-tight dress from the other day, but her face is made up for the occasion. It may have been the alcohol, but Jasmine decided that shade of red lipstick looked perfect on her. It almost matched her hair too.
"Just needed some air," she said, smiling back at the Commander, "What are you doing out here?"
"Same as you, I guess," Shepard shrugged, "And I wanted to talk to you too."
Jasmine turned to her fully, "Talk to me?" Shepard absentmindedly looped a finger in Jasmine's bangs, eyeing the pink newly added to the white.
"We haven't been able to sit and chat in a long time, with everything happening," she released the curl she had made and beamed again, "I miss my best friend." Jasmine giggled and pushed her bangs behind her ear out of habit, heart fluttering like a schoolgirl.
They talked quietly despite the privacy, inching closer with every sentence. Eventually, Shepard rested her arm along the rail and lightly ran her thumb over Jazz's, an action that failed to catch her attention. While the other regaled a story about her friend Hyun-Jung, the guy she lived with before relocating to the apartment, Shepard found herself thinking very far back to their days on Earth.
Finally, the story ended and there was a lull.
Shepard chuckled at her thoughts, "Remember the day I left to join the Alliance?" Jasmine looked confused for a moment, then turned pink and burst out with laughter, bent forward and covering her smile with her hand. Shepard took the chance to lean in. As soon as her warm breath tickled her ear, the laughter—cackling—doubled and she pushed Shepard's shoulders, but the arms around her waist prevented any escape.
"G-Gala! Stop that! N-no!" She shook and shivered in her arms, turning her head and shrugging her shoulders to try to escape the onslaught. It wasn't until her giggles and whines were broken by a sudden moan that Shepard stopped, grinning from ear to ear in triumph. Jasmine's face glowed with embarrassment. "You did the same damn thing the day you left."
"That's not the only thing I did," Shepard winked and Jasmine shoved her shoulder playfully. Instead of moving away, Shepard rested her forehead on hers and untangled her arms as to set her hands on Jasmine's hips. After a long pause, both of them content with silence, Shepard moved her hands to the other's neck, thumbs tilting her head up a little. Jasmine remembered just how gorgeous she was.
It began with the whistle of an excited breath sucked in through Shepard's nose as her red lips crashed against Jasmine's equally enthusiastic ones, smudging the lipstick. Her hands were gentle, her fingers loosely gripping her hair, but everything else was powerful, almost demanding. Jasmine tilted her head and opened her mouth only to find the kiss tasted like alcohol and fire—nostalgic. It enveloped her, prickled her skin, warmed her stomach, and made her toes curl. Shepard swallowed their moans and turned so Jasmine was pinned against the rail. When their hips grinded against each other and the shorter woman whimpered, Shepard dared a glance down at her face.
She was very pleased with the sight.