Cortez was sitting on the sand, with a bucket of water to his left and a large pile of sand in front of him. He added small amounts of water to the sand, sometimes adding some dry sand from around him, attempting to get the right consistency before he began to build up the structure.

Vega stood behind him, watching. "Seems like this isn't the first time you've made a sandcastle, Esteban."

"I remember when I was a kid my dad would take me to the beach of whatever world we were on at the time. He taught me all the little tips and tricks to making the perfect castles." Cortez replied. "Until he died a few years back, we would still meet up at least once a year and go to the beach."

Vega kneeled beside his friend, watching him starting to pile up the sand into some basic structures. "I remember my uncle taking me to the beach a few times when I was little, when my dad had promised to but ended up too dusted-up to function. They were pretty good times, even though the beaches were always crowded back on Earth during the summer."

Cortez suddenly stopped. "Damn it. I just realized something."

"What, Esteban?"

The other man bumped his fist into his forehead. "I don't think there's anything here to do some digging and detail work on this."

Vega laughed. "You take your sandcastles serious, eh, amigo?" He then patted the man on the shoulder as he stood up. "Don't worry, though. I have something back in my stuff: a swiss army knife."

That made Cortez crack up laughing. "Why do you have such an ancient thing, Jimmy?"

The larger man gave a firm smack to the back of the other's head. "Hey, don't laugh. My uncle got me one long ago as a bit of a gag gift, but I love the damn thing. It's got little doo-dads that should be perfect for doing your crazy detailing you want to do."

With that, Vega turned about and headed back towards the buildings they had changed earlier that day. Along the way, he ran into Tali.

"Vega!" She said a little bit too loud. "What are you up to?"

She stumbled a bit, but Vega caught her. "Nothing much, Tali. I'm just going to grab something from my dress pants because Cortez needs it for his sandcastle."

The quarian gave him a confused look. "What is a 'sandcastle'?"

Vega laughed. "Just go sit over by Cortez and I'm sure he'll yack your ear off about what they are; apparently, he's a bit of secret fanatic about them."

Tali gave him a nod, and then began, in a slightly wobbly jog, to head over to where Cortez was. Vega watched her, just in case she fell down, but, as soon as he saw her sit by the other man, he continued on his way to retrieve his knife. He didn't notice Miranda walking out from behind a tree until it was too late.

The two collided, and she almost fell, but Vega caught her before she could.

As soon as she regained her footing, Miranda pushed him away, with a little aid from her biotics. "Watch where you're going, meathead."

Vega looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming from behind the tree. What were you doing behind it, anyways?"

She shot him a dirty look. "Whatever I was doing, it's none of your concern. Just stay out of my business."

Up until this point, Vega had been as nice and as polite as possible. Maybe it was because everyone else was around them then. But, now that they were alone together, something in him snapped, and his attitude flared up. "Hey, chica, I've been nothing but respectful to you all day, but at every turn, you've been a total pinche puta. I can almost understand the hostility at first, when you didn't know I was one of Loco's amigos, but for the rest of the day? What's your deal!" The sides of his massive, tattooed neck seemed to flare out in anger.

Miranda's brilliant blue eyes narrowed into a gaze that could almost kill. "I could ask you the same thing: no one as nice as you. You're Alliance and I'm wanted by them, yet you turn your head and just let me go?"

"The Major and Shepard and the rest of the crew of the Normandy do it all the time, but you don't treat them like shit!" He shot back. "What makes me so different than them?"

"Me and Shepard have a history together, and everyone knows it: I brought him back to life and then I brought him back from the edge of death after the Reapers were defeated. Everyone in the Alliance knows anyone from the Normandy will NOT turn me over because they know how grateful Shepard is to me and how much goddamn respect his old crew has for him!"

"Even if I was never part of Shepard's crew, which apparently you keep forgetting I was and am about to be again. I know I wouldn't turn you in. The Miranda Lawson I've seen today is not the dangerous terrorist the Alliance paints you out to be. Despite being a bit uptight at times, you are an incredibly good person at heart. You care about everyone here, and you would risk your own freedom to be with a friend." He took a deep breath and then let it out. He then changed his tone to a somewhat calmer one. "Whatever, though. Think what you want of me, and treat me however you want. I don't care anymore. Adios, puta."

Miranda was speechless as he stomped past her into the building where he had changed earlier.

Inside, Vega let out a primal scream as he stopped around for a bit before he slammed his fist into one of the doors of the stalls, leaving a large dent in it. "Damn it, James, what the hell did you just do?" He cursed to himself. Vega knew that if his uncle was here and still alive, the man would be kicking's his ass right about now for how much he had disrespected her by calling her such horrible things. "I need to apologize to her."

"Do you always talk to yourself when you're mad?" It was Miranda, but, the tone of her voice was different, softer, now. Her body language matched it, as she carried herself somewhat reservedly now.

Vega quickly collected himself and nodded his head. "Bad habit." He then took a deep breath, before he walked over to Miranda. "I'm sorry. I was out of line and…"

Miranda gently placed her hand over his mouth. "No, you weren't out of line, at all, James."

Vega almost had to do a double-take when he heard her say his first name.

She continued on though. "I have been a bit of a fucking bitch to you, today. I had no right, I… I just have some trust issues: get used, betrayed, and screwed over as many times as I have been, and that tends to happen. I put up this front of being cold and all-business, yet… it's lonely."

She turned around and took a few steps back from Vega. "The first person I ever really opened up to was Shepard, but… well, that's in the past. I have some good friends now because of him, but I still put up barriers to things that are unknown to me, because… I'm afraid of getting hurt."

Vega slowly walked up to her and placed one of his big, rough hands on her shoulder. He felt her body move at his touch. "Hey, Miranda, you don't have to be afraid of me. I can be your friend just like everyone else. You can trust me."

That brought a laugh from Miranda. "You're so dense it's almost kind of cute." The look of confusion she saw on his face brought a smile to hers. "I won't lie, it would be nice getting to know you more now, but, since I've laid eyes on you at the space port, I've had different… ideas… in mind." She put her hand on his chest and began to slowly push him backwards.

Vega's face started getting red, as the pieces began to fall together. "Wait, so they way you've been treating me all day has been because you like me?"

"No, I didn't say I it's because I like you. Honestly, I don't know what my emotional feelings about you are yet." A wicked smile crossed her face. "I've been a bitch to you because I couldn't admit to myself that I've wanted to pin you against a wall all day to do very, very naughty things to you."

Her skin surged blue and James soon found Miranda arms around him and her lips against his, kissing his with a ferocious lust. He found his hands now against her back, moving with fiery passion as he returned the kiss with the same physical lust as she. As hands explored exposed flesh, the two clumsily made their way into the stall that Vega had punched open.

Miranda broke off her vicious attack with her lips to say breathlessly "Like I said earlier, I'm going to make you my bitch."

Once they were in, a blue field surrounded it and slammed it shut, giving the two some privacy.

Dealing with Kaidan when he had been drinking was something John had always enjoyed, mainly because the other Spectre always got a little frisky. He never complained when his boyfriend's hand slipped through clothing to get a handful of flesh from his backside. It was rather nice as the two walked down the beach, with Shepard's arm draped around Kaidan.

"Seriously, John, I know I say this all the time, but, damn, you have a nice ass." Kaidan said as he leaned his head on Shepard's shoulder. "Not as nice as mine, but, still, it's incredibly nice."

"Cocky much?" Shepard replied with a lively laugh as he leaned his head against Kaidan's. "Who corrupted that poor, reserved, always-broody Kaidan I met 7 years ago? You know, the one that had a black little rain cloud over his head all the time?"

Kaidan laughed. "It was this one guy who's a little shorter than me, with dark hair and these deep, blue eyes you can just get lost in. He's the cockiest, most bull-headedly stubborn, and honest-to-God amazing son of a bitch I've ever met, even though he can't dance for shit."

"I like the sound of the guy." There was a smirk on Shepard's face. "Let's call him up and have a threesome."

"You would have sex with yourself if you could." Kaidan tease as he let out a laugh.

The found themselves near a little alcove of the cliff wall. Shepard pulled Kaidan from his side, around front of him, and then pressed him against the rather flat but slightly rough wall of stone before passionately kissing him. Neither noticed nor cared about the bottle of lager that had fell from Kaidan's hand and spilled to the ground.

Kaidan responded in kind, taking small little nips at the other man's lower lip. His hands began to moved up and down along the scarred backside of Shepard.

John finally pulled his lips away after a few moments. "Hey, Kaidan… do you think about our future together? How it's going to play out?"

Kaidan brought his hands to the sides of John's face, and pulled him in to kiss his forehead. "All the time, John, but I keep it to myself because I don't want to talk about it until you are ready to. I know how focused you are about getting better, so I don't want to bring it up until you're ready." He then lifted John's face so that their eyes locked. "So, is this about to turn into a 'you're ready' conversation?"

There was a slight bit of sorrow in John's eyes when he shook his head no. "Soon, but not today; I hope you're not angry with me."

Kaidan gave him a comforting smile. "Never. I will wait from now until eternity for you, John Shepard… my mother on the other hand, she keeps not-so-subtly hinting at things."

That cracked a smile onto Shepard's face. "Well, I promise, neither you nor your mother, or mine since we're on the mom subject, is going to have to wait much longer." He went to kiss Kaidan again, but was stopped by him.

"There is one thing I want to talk about our future, really quick, though. It has something to do with me."

John raised an eyebrow. "Okay. What is it that you want to talk about?"

Kaidan took a deep breath. "Well, this being my 20th year in the Alliance, I've been in long enough to retire, and, John, I'm going to, as well as resign from the Spectres."

"This isn't because of me, is it, because you don't have to do it just to…"

Kaidan cut him off. "No, it's not because of you. This has been something I've thought about since you died on the first Normandy, and especially more so after I began training my students." He took a deep breath, and began to explain further. "I just turned 39 a few months ago, and I don't know I want to become a Career soldier like I had planned anymore. I want to go back to Vancouver, open a school for biotics so families don't feel the need to send their children to Alliance-sponsored stations worlds away, and build myself a quasi-normal life."

John smiled. "So, this is just for you then?"

Kaidan nodded.

"Well, I might have to steal your life plan, since it sounds so nice."

Kaidan laughed. "I thought you said we weren't going to be talking about future plans of us together just yet."

"Who said I was going to start a school with you?" John teased "I'm going to open my own school for biotics in Vancouver."

"Like hell you are!" Kaidan said as he moved his mouth to Shepard's neck, playfully biting and sucking it.

Shepard broke out laughing as he took a few steps back, with Kaidan following him with his mouth still attached to him. "And I'll call it the John Shepard Institute for Gifted Youngsters!"

Kaidan pulled his mouth off Shepard to say "Oh, REAL original, Professor S." He then returned to biting and sucking and kissing at the other man's neck.

The two tripped and fell down onto the sand beneath them, as John retorted as he landed on his back "Hey, it's not like kids these days have a comic collection like you that spans 200 years of material, so they totally won't get the reference."

Kaidan pulled back from John's neck again and looked him in the eyes. "Mm-hm. Sure, they won't know until they do an extranet search."

Seeing the man who saved the galaxy from something that had caused mass genocide for eons was a totally baffling and completely hilarious sight.

"You ruin all my fun, Kaidan." John pressed his already full lips out to make them pouty and fuller.

Kaidan brought his face in-close with Shepard's, his lips a hair's length above the lips of the man beneath him. "I'll just have to make it up to you right now then." He positioned his body over Shepard's and a hand began to move further and further down the chest of the man on the ground, until finally finding what it had been searching for, below Shepard's waist.

John nodded "Yeah, you do." Their lips finally met again.

The two men were glad for the secluded alcove they stumbled into. That, and their friends were out of hearing distance.