Shore Leave—Segment 2
Short Mass Effect Fanfic
Setting: Shortly after Mass Effect 1
Pairings: FemShep/Joker
Joker's fingers danced across the familiar console. The process was automatic, routine, but he still felt a bloom of pride as the ship responded to his practiced touch. No one could fly her like he could. He was the best pilot the Alliance had—that was why he'd been assigned to the Normandy in the first place.
Funny, really, his pride and talent had led to the best assignment he'd ever have and the worst test since flight school. He let his head fall gently back onto the headrest, the place where she'd touched it. He liked it when she teased him—it was that level of casual but genuine respect that had enabled them to become such good friends—but a part of him thought it would be easier if she were as cold and formal as most of his previous commanding officers. And less damned confusing.
Joker scratched his jaw, feeling the scruffy beard that was borderline regulation. Life with Vrolik's Syndrome taught you to think carefully before every literal step, not just throwing your weight around haphazardly like some drunken krogan. While he refused to act that way in general—that stupid disease may hurt him, but it sure as hell wouldn't define him—he did prefer a more cautious approach to relationships. Hell, he thought bitterly, maybe that's why I've had so few.
The Normandy entered FTL.