A/N: Well, here I am again - and say it aloud, I know I'm damn slow when updating this. Bt I'm still updating, that counts as something, right? Right?!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but this piece of writing. But to have a bottle of Saurian Brandy...

Three

Sunrays were warm on his face, and he raised his head to look in he sun. He liked the warmth; always liked the contrast between light and shadow. Today was no different - he was to repair some things a bit further from the main body of colony, and then he could enjoy the rest of the day with Robert.

Suddenly, the sun was covered by a big shadow, the temperature dropping immediately, as twilight covered the land. Sudden noise, not unlike a beehive, overrode any other sound, mixing with cries and explosions.

His commlink came to life. "Steve," sounded Robert's voice, his speech interrupted by pants. Running back towards the colony, he answered. "Robert! I'm coming for you, don't worry!"

The voice of his husband suddenly became much cleaner, calmer. "Don't you dare, Steve - stay where you are!"

Robert!

Steve awoke abruptly, panting heavily at the end of the dream. He hadn't had that dream for weeks, ever since he put the recording of their last call to the memorial wall at Citadel. Now the dream returned - but at least he didn't wake anyone with his screaming as he used to before. He felt cold. He felt alone.

"I'm here, Steve. If you ever feel alone, just give me a shout."

Allison's voice sounded clearly in his head, the words accompanied with the feeling of warmth he liked so much, with acceptance he desperately needed. Bringing his omnitool online, he pinger her.

'You awake, Allison?'

It took only several seconds before his omnitool signalled reply. 'Yep. Want to stare at the ceiling together?'

He quickly typed reply. 'Be there in five.'

Logging out, he quickly slid some off-duty clothes on and quietly left the sleeping pods. The ride to the loft where Allison's cabin had been located seemed to stretch for far longer than the five minutes, but quick look showed it was only around three minutes, before he found himself in front of the door. The door opened as he came closer, parting before he could request the entrance.

"Hey, Steve," called Allison quietly. She had been dressed in strange mixture of what could be identified as lingerie and the standart Alliance nightwear, her hair down as she looked up from some PAD she had been reading. She sat on her bed, propped on several pillows, and as he entered her quarters, she patted the bed next to her. "Shoes off and come here - best seat in the house for my amazing shuttle pilot."

For a moment he felt weird to sit on a bed next to Commander Shepard, but given the closeness they shared, he didn't think about it for long. Kicking of his shoes, he almost jumped on the bed, bouncing slightly on the mattress, causing Shepard to giggle at the sight, especially since his jump made her bounce up a little on the bed as well.

"Really, Steve," she said, amusement clear in her voice. "Who would have thought that jumping on bed could be something you would like to do?"Before he could say anything, she set the PAD on the nightstand, reached for the nearest pillow and hit him with it over the head.

And a challenge was a challenge, after all, and if Allison thought she could win, she was in for a surprise.

Later, Steve would have no idea how long they were hitting each other with pillows, or how exactly they managed to tear two of them, sending the pillow fillings all around the room, or how they managed not to break the bed with al the jumping they did on it. Nor did he remember when exactly they fell asleep, only to wake pleasantly well-rested and relaxed.

But he clearly remembered the exact moment of his eyes landing where eyes of no proper gentleman should ever land, and his mouth getting ahead of his brain. "Did you ever noticed how much your boobs bounce when you do this?"

Allison had been laughing for at least five minutes after that, leaving him to try to die out of embarrassment.

A/N: The comment about bouncing boobs is actually RL inspired. You see, me and my gay BFF were just hanging around one day, doing nothing of real importance, when we thought it might be fun to try hula-hooping again (since that's how we became friends - by hula-hooping and laughing over it). And then he just looked at me and said: "Wow, your boobs bounce when you hula-hoop!" After two years of knowing each other, and doing plenty of hula-hooping together I would say it was quite a funny surprise.