"So, can you cook at all?" Michael asked Shepard in the grocery store.
"Go and look at the video games they have here," Haku said, waving her hand. "Shoo!"
"Sweet!" Michael shouted, and ran as if he stole something. Haku and Shepard realized that Michael, being a petty criminal, probably had stole things before.
"It's nice what you're doing for him, even if you don't realize it." Haku said.
"Hm?" Shepard asked, putting rice in the shopping cart.
"You got him out of Omega, even if you didn't want to." Haku said. "He's only a kid."
"He handles a gun like my crew from the Normandy." Shepard said. "Except my crew never held their guns sideways."
"He shoots better than most. I wonder how well he shoots with the gun straight." Haku said, then whispered "We should get some hair dye for you."
"I don't need a make-over, Haku." Shepard said.
"Oh, c'mon! People think you're my grandpa." Haku said.
"How do you know?" Shepard asked.
Haku walked across the aisle and asked a human woman "How old does this man look?"
The human woman looked Shepard over. "Fifty or sixty."
Shepard sighed, putting his hands behind his back and fixing a small smile to his face. This was the instantly recognizable stance Shepard had taken many pictures in when he was younger.
"Hey, you're Commander Shepard!" The woman said with surprised.
"I am." Shepard said.
"You look older. Why is your hair gray?" The woman asked, apparently not having any manners.
"Stress." Shepard said. "It's nice to meet you."
After they left the aisle, Shepard put sunglasses on.
"I hate people." He said.
"Huh?" Haku asked. "Why?"
"They remind me how low I've fallen." Shepard said. "From the public eye to an old divorcee."
"You're not an old man! And besides, I got divorced. I moved on, when you've been stuck on it for years." Haku said, putting a soft hand on Shepard's stern face. "And besides, women are obsessed with hair. A man would know who you were immediately."
"I doubt it." Shepard said when, suddenly, a man walked over to him, shaking his hand.
"Hey, you're Shepard!" The man smiled. "Thanks for everything."
"Everything...?" Shepard asked.
"Saving the galaxy, of course." The man said, and asked "Can I take a picture."
"Sure!" Haku said, taking the man's camera. After taking the photo, Haku gave the camera back to the man, who was surprised.
"This looks like a professional photo! Thanks, miss." The man said, and walked away.
"Photography was my passion. It was going to be my career after the Alliance." Haku explained.
"Seems I don't truly know much about you." Shepard said. "What was your life before?" Shepard noted he referred to things before someone's life turning sour just as 'before.'
"Well, I had a sister, and I was divorced about a year before the final year of the Reapers," Haku said. "My sister wants to see me, but I told her I was busy working with you, Shep. My husband was an artist, but was abusive. Not that I knew that until he lost his talent and took it out on me."
"What happened?" Shepard asked, shocked someone could lay a hand on such a small, cute woman.
'Cute. I just thought of Haku as cute. Wait, Haku's gender isn't confirmed by this; gay marriage is legal.' Shepard said. 'Hm. Asking directly might be offensive.'
"I shot him in the stomach in self-defense." Haku said. "I had signed up for the Alliance and he came home drunk and angry. He hit me a couple times, but I made it to the safe and took the gun out and shot him once. He didn't die, but I sure as hell divorced him."
"Sorry." Shepard said.
"It isn't your fault, big guy." Haku said, patting Shepard on the back.
"I feel like it is." Shepard admitted. "I feel like I'm responsible for everything that happens to my friends. I push people away to avoid that feeling."
"Don't be like that." Haku said. "You're just one man, Shep, not some omnipresent being."
"I've taken down several supposedly-omnipresent beings, actually." Shepard said. "It isn't that hard."
Haku laughed. "I took down one or two in the same fight. Speaking of fighting, what's Mike doing?"
"I don't want to know." Shepard said when Haku stopped the shopping cart in front of an aisle. Haku quickly walked down the aisle and came back to Shepard a few moments later, a box in each hand.
"Black or brown?" Haku asked, gesturing with each hair dye box.
"My hair was black." Shepard said, knowing he couldn't stop Haku.
"Alright! We'll having you looking younger in no time." Haku said.
Across the mall, Michael was beating several children at video games. The line was several feet long, and, so far, Michael hadn't lost a single match.
"Hadouken!" Michael laughed.