I Do Not Own Mass Effect

Chapter Eleven:Good Friends?

"I'm sorry." Wayne mumbled. Tali shook her head as her fingers danced across Wayne's beard.

"Don't." Tali ordered with warm passion in her voice. Wayne had apologized every day after he had woken up. Wayne sat up and sipped his water. It was nearly time to take one of his painkillers. Everything hurt. It was like Wrex had body slammed him into a concrete wall…actually a krogan did…but Wrex was stronger. Wayne coughed after finishing his glass and closed his eyes.

"How many times do I have to say I forgive you?" Tali reprimanded caringly. Wayne shook his head as he rested back onto his pillow, his eyes slowly fighting to remain open. Wayne sucked in a small pained breath and nestled into the pillow. He wearily opened his eyes and looked to Tali.

"I don't want to lose you."

"You never will." Tali chided. Wayne seemed to smile but Tali couldn't tell. He turned his head to one side and barely managed.

"You're the only good I have left in my life. The only actual good…" Wayne's voice was cracked and broken. Tali had never once heard Wayne speak like this to anyone. He suddenly clutched at his sheets, an unfamiliar cold filling his voice.

"And I nearly ruined it. I should have told her that I wasn't seeing Liara anymore… I should have told her about…" Tali silenced him by placing a gentle finger to his lips. Wayne looked up to her, his eyes soft and tender. He looked almost as if he was a child. Seeing Wayne like this was painful. Tali couldn't bear it.

"Everything is alright." Tali whispered.

"You're with me, and that's all that matters, do you understand me, Wayne." There wasn't answer…not right away. He blinked those soft tender childlike eyes toward her and slowly started to nod his head. After that Wayne drifted back into a light sleep. Tali stood, propped his pillows and readjusted his blanket. Once finished, Tali stood near the frame of the automatic door. It barely even registered to her that someone was standing beside her.

"Recovery amazing, phenomenal, wounds of his caliber should take months, year at best. Yet in matter of weeks has reached near full recovery." Mordin mused. Startled, Tali bumped into the side of the door.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Mordin offered as he walked in with a data-pad in hand. The salarian strode around the med bay, clicking his finger against the digital display, entering the data he collected. Afterword, Mordin placed the data-pad to one side and uttered.

"Shepard truly is remarkable…gets job done, fights odds and survives…always survives." He turned on his heel and sucked in a tiny breath.

"The Commander is lucky to have someone like you beside him." Mordin admitted. Tali smiled and shook her head.

"No, I'm nothing special." Tali replied lightly. Mordin shook his head. He believed that Shepard owed a great amount of his strength to Tali. Mordin made his way back to Tali's side and ordered that she rest.

"I'm fine. Please let me stay for just a little longer."

"A little longer…nothing more, everyone needs rest. Bad for health, could get sick, weakened immune system cannot handle fatigue…could endanger you." Mordin scolded. Tali slumped her head forward but agreed with Mordin. She could feel it in her system. She was trying to catch a cold. Yesterday's kissing session did not help Tali's health. She returned to her seat next to Wayne's bed while Mordin took a seat at the desk. For the most part it was silent between the two with the occasional scratch of Mordin's pen. He would look up every couple of minutes as he wrote.

"So, what are you working on?" Tali asked to break the sudden quiet. Mordin placed his pen down and let out a nervous laugh.

"A marriage contract." Mordin admitted.

"Planning to settle down?" She asked with a hint of mirth in her voice, a light smirk spreading across her face. Mordin blinked rapidly, embarrassment clearly taking over him. Mordin quickly opened up the top drawer of his desk and forced the piece of paper into it.

"Getting older, need to think of future, need to commit to something other than work…hear children make great students." Mordin added with a light humor in his voice.

"Children, that's a big undertaking." Tali added seriously. Mordin agreed before leaning forward in his chair. He bit on the end of one of his fingers as he looked onward into the med bay window into his own distorted reflection.

"After our mission in Collector base I reassessed life. Found that science wasn't as comforting…need something more. Not love… only felt it for my parents and clutch mates. Friendship, maybe…unsure what. Whatever it is, I don't like it… can't dissect it for answers…how I normally solve problems." Tali let out a nervous laugh, she couldn't tell if Mordin was really joking or if he was being serious.

"Well, what about Dr. Chakwas?" Tali asked innocently. Mordin's eyes flung open and the salarian scientist grew increasingly fidgety. He said something inaudible and began to mumble.

"She is a good friend…good friend…" That's all that Tali heard before Mordin started to rush her out of the med bay. As he walked her to the door Tali looked back to Mordin. If not for the mask he would have seen the huge grin now lining her face.

"Only a good friend huh?" Tali teased.

"Yes…no…I don't…Human digestive system diverse, yet simple. Acidic compounds in stomach break down ingested matter…." Every time Tali tried to speak Mordin would prattle off random facts about how the human body worked. This continued on until Tali was out of the med bay and out of Mordin's horns. Satisfied the salarian sat down, working on his data in peace.

"Smitten for Dr. Chakwas are we?" A low voice asked startling Mordin. He turned in his chair to see that Shepard was wide awake.

"No, it's not like that at all… it's not probable." Mordin stammered as he looked for a quick excuse…he found none. Shepard just flashed his signature you done it grin. He slowly sat upward, wincing from the mild pain.

"You said not probable." Shepard replied. Mordin's brow furrowed deeply as he looked over Shepard.

"Point being?" Mordin asked gruffly.

"It's different from saying not possible, isn't it?" Mordin felt his heart turn to stone. Mordin clicked his tongue against his teeth, turning his attention back to the med bay window, his own jittery reflection revealing more about himself than he would ever care to admit. It was true that he felt…something. Mordin believed it was a professional kinship he held with Karin. Mordin mulled the thought over and then glanced over to Shepard who was still eying him.

"How is the pain? Is the medication working…must make sure that you are better." Mordin exclaimed. Shepard let out a grunt of approval before lying back down. Mordin suddenly turned his attention back to Wayne and demanded.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it. I couldn't sleep with the noise." Shepard admitted without missing a beat. Mordin slumped in his chair, pulling out his marriage contract. For a split second he considered continuing to fill it out. Instead, he crumpled it and tossed it into the nearby trash bin.

"Reconsider about the contract?" Shepard asked plainly.

"Getting too old. Was a spur of the moment decision…married life not for me." Mordin added coldly. After that Mordin returned to the data-pad, his hands entering various numbers and formulas.

"So, is it true that when I was under you drank caffeine?" Mordin automatically nodded his head.

"Did you really…."

"I vowed to never speak of it again! Never!" Mordin hissed with a fire in his eyes. Shepard laughed until his ribcage started to hurt.

"I can't believe you tried kissing him!"

"Caffeine is a human stimulant. Salarian metabolism cannot properly handle its effects...compared to human physiology it would be like being drunk. Had no control of actions." Mordin fumed. Shepard could only laugh as the salarian scientist babbled on.

"Who told you?" Mordin grumbled.

"Tali did." Mordin bobbed his head back and forth in acknowledgement. After some silence Shepard added.

"I'm sure Thane was flattered." Mordin pounded his head against the side of his desk. The humiliation was too much. Letting out a low breath, Mordin allowed himself to laugh at the situation. The two men sat together making jokes at the expense. Soon, Shepard grew tired and fell into a light dreamless sleep.

Mordin looked him over, making sure that he was indeed asleep. Once he was sure he dug through his the waste bin and recovered the crumpled up marriage contract. He did his best to get all of the wrinkles out as he smoothed the paper on his desk. It was only a rough draft that he was doing long hand. Something he would never show to anyone. Especially a prospective wife. Still, he didn't want to long hand another. He looked over his credentials that he wrote down, his scientific exploits, positive traits about his personality. Everything that would impress a Dalatrass and more. All this contract needed was his signature and for him to write down prospective clans. Mordin's mind raced, recalling clans that may accept. Bo'dek, Veki, Se'rash…so many choices… Kal'bo…." Mordin mused as he absently wrote. By the time that he finished writing down some random clan name on the proposition list he had thought of several more. Mordin was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize what he had written. When he looked down his eyes fluttered rapidly…Written on the list several times was "Karin." At that point Mordin slammed the contract back into the drawer of his desk.

"Just a friend… just a good friend…" Mordin uttered to himself in disbelief. It was because of what Shepard and Tali had said… had to be. He didn't feel that way for Karin. No, this was just a result of friendly banter, nothing more. As Mordin brooded over what he had written his Omni Tool started beeping. It was Karin. She wanted to know if he wanted to have lunch…His first response was to decline, but found he couldn't. After all, it was just Karin.