OoO( 20 )OoO
April 2, 2183 CE ESD - 1100 EST
Dressing Room, Michael Collins Convention Center, Luna
Everything was annoying now. The Alliance soldiers guarding a celebrity wedding when there were better things that the uniformed men and women should have been devoting their resources to, the agonizingly slow procession leading up to the matrimony, which was being led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, his Holiness Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi.
Shepard was surprised when her team had gotten out of wardrobe. Her time in the room was painstakingly annoying as the tailor took her measurements and offered her tons of clothing that she wouldn't normally be caught dead in out in the public eye. But she simply sighed, and decided on an ebon dress. The tailor complimented her on the choice, saying that dark coloring was more pronounced on someone as pale as she was. It was then that the hat and the tights came out with it. She was ready to tear the clothing to shreds, but instead, bit her tongue and fit herself into the tight clothing before donning the ridiculous headpiece and exiting the room with both omni-tools, one on each wrist.
As she exited, she ran into Wrex, who she was surprised to find out was the first to have gotten dressed. "Wrex? I thought they'd have to scramble to a specialty store for you," said the spectre as she approached him. He took one look at her outfit, from the ridiculously frilly hat to her low-heeled shoes, then burst into laughter. She glared at him heatedly as his bellowing laugh echoed across the walls of the large corridor. "Glad you're getting a kick out of this…"
His laughter died down to a chuckle and he just shook his head. "Sorry, I've just never seen someone dress so ridiculously before."
"Well, prepare to be laughing throughout the whole ceremony then, because this is the norm," she said as she crossed her arms over the outfit straight out of the 2100's. "What about you? How did they manage to get you dressed so quickly?"
"Oh, these were meant for someone else. Apparently there's a krogan here who acts as the representative for the task force they have in China. They made several suits for him to pick from, so I just chose one of the ones he didn't take," said the krogan as he looked around. "Wonder how long the others are going to be."
"Odd they'd choose a krogan to be the rep," said Shepard as she tapped her chin curiously.
"That's what I thought until the robemaker told me that the krogan was apparently one of the most sophisticated people he'd ever seen. Damn sellout…" groaned Wrex as he shook his head.
Before she could comment further, both Ash and Kaidan walked up in their new threads. Kaidan sported a civilian morning coat, waistcoat, and tie, carrying a top hat under his arm. Ashley on the other hand wore the same kind of heels as Shepard, but rather than a knee-length skirt with an overcoat, or dress of any kind, the gunnery chief wore a mint green pantsuit with a pearl necklace around her neck and another matching ridiculous hat on her head.
Looking the spectre up and down, Ash just shook her head. "Are you as ready to ring someone's neck as I am?" she asked as she worked her shoulders inside the coat.
"Don't tell anyone, but I hung the tailor up on their own rack," said Shepard jokingly as she looked over at Kaidan, who shrugged.
"Well, I think you both look fantastic. And I rather like the clothing," he said as he reached up and adjusted his tie.
"That's because you got a top hat!" snapped Ashley playfully as she pointed at him with an accusing finger.
"Ummm…" came a familiar timid voice behind them. They all turned and found Liara standing there. However, their reactions to her clothing were much different. Shepard was nearly blow away, and if Ash and Kaidan's expressions were anything to go off of, they were as well. Unlike anything they had, she wore a hooded gown with a bodice that left her collarbone and all of the above exposed. From the waist down was a long silky skirt that hemmed at her ankles where she had a matching pair of sandal-like heels wrapped around her feet. Instead of solid sleeves, she had simple lace webbing from the shoulders, leading all the way down into glove-like finger holes that her blue fingers were now occupying. Even her face was painted with the similar white markings to the Councilor, but instead was designed to flow with the markings on her face, making them more pronounced.
The silence was almost deafening as they all stared at her, aside from Wrex who was looking at everyone else. "What's everyone staring at?" he asked in confusion.
Liara began to shrink slightly in her heeled shoes, stepping back in embarrassment. But, likely being unused to the odd human footwear, she slipped and nearly fell. Shepard, ever the reflexive one, reached down and caught her before she fell before slowly helping her back to her feet. "S-Sorry," she said as she bowed her hooded head.
"No need. Damn, looks like she got the good stuff!" said Ash, slight disappointment adorning her face as she looked the asari over again. "My sister would kill for a dress like that."
Shepard was also still drawn to the dress. From her new angle, she could see that the bodice really only had a front. The entire back was all decorated braids and weaves of silk that tied off the dress, keeping it in place while still looking majestic. "I'm still getting used to these shoes. Goddess guide me, how do you walk in these?" asked the asari as she stared down at the matching heels.
Shepard chuckled slightly, her face tinged with red as she looked away from the gorgeous dress. "Almost as soon as the asari found out that humans had a similar body structure, fashions collided. For some reason, the shoe industry exploded as asari became fascinated with high heels," said Shepard curiously as she finally looked back into the woman's blue eyes. "As for an answer to your question, you walk heel to toe. Except you wait for the heel to hit before guiding the toe," said the commander as she gave her a quick example with her own.
Liara followed her example and nodded. "Thank you. I do not wish to embarrass myself any further by tripping and falling during the ceremony," she said as she looked at the ground anxiously.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," said Shepard as she let out a sigh. Up to this point, the asari had been dressed in little more than civilian clothes. Her doctor's smock went from boots all the way up to her neck, hiding most of her form from the world. Even on the Normandy when she worked out, she wore a wide-collared t-shirt made to fit both humans and asari with sweatpants, leaving Shepard completely in the dark about how she looked from the neck down. So that's all the spectre focused on, was her face. But it was entirely harder to focus on the woman's face with her silver dress on, making Shepard look away to keep from staring at how gorgeous she was.
Luckily, she didn't have to wait long for a distraction as Garrus approached in a set of blue turian robes worthy of the Primarch with a matching turian hood over his fringe. "Did you guys have as much of a fight with yours as I did with mine? He kept wanting to put me in purple, saying that it matched my clan markings! But I kept refusing and wanted the blue! It took ten minutes of me refusing to dress for him to finally give up!" said the turian in frustration. Finally, he looked around at everyone in shock. "Oh wow, maybe I shouldn't complain…"
Shepard gave the turian a playful glare. "You're one to talk, Primarch," said Shepard, getting a threatening glare from the former C-Sec officer.
"Don't say that out loud or they'll paint the Cipritine fountain with my blood," he said as he rested one arm on top of another.
"Looks like we've only got one to go before we can finally get out of here," said the krogan in annoyance as he waved his hand. "The quicker the better. You all talking about fashion has almost put me to sleep over here."
"Sorry for the wait! They said that they had some spare materials for quarians because Yasa'Pari vas Watson was here! Can you believe it! She was invited!" said Tali excitedly as they all looked at her.
As expected, she was still in her suit. But a fancy covering had been made to fit over it with shoulder pads and a coat that dressed all the way down into a loose skirt. Even the color nearly matched Tali's overall suit design. "Wow…" said Kaidan with a nearly slack-jawed expression.
"Wait, vas Watson?" asked Shepard curiously. "I thought you had 'nar' as an indicator of your ship. Also, quarian ships have human names?"
"Nar is an indicator of our birth ship. I was born on the Rayya, so my birth name is Tali'Zorah, which is my personal name and family name, then nar Rayya, which is my birth ship name. When we come back from our Pilgrimage, we are rarely ever put back onto our birth ship to prevent genetic stagnation," she said as she held one of her three fingers up informatively.
"Right, so 'nar' indicates your new ship," deduced Shepard as she nodded.
"It is so! For example, technically right now, I would be known as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya vas Normandy due to being a crew member of the Normandy. But rarely do we ever use our birthship names after receiving our crew names unless it's for record keeping," she said with her eyes wide with excitement. "As for her ship name, she's actually an actress on the Citadel. She was given leave by the Fleet to pursue a career in cinema, so she essentially got to choose her own name, so she chose the colony that she first went to her Pilgrimage on."
"I wasn't aware there were actual quarian celebrities out there," said Ash with a shrug. "Then again, I don't go to see many modern movies."
"She starred in the recent box-office hit "Behind the Mask", where she played a serial killer disguised as a quarian C-Sec officer. It kinda blew open the doors for quarians everywhere. Now every movie studio in Citadel Space is looking for quarian actors and actresses to be in movies," said Kaidan without a beat, getting a curious look from everyone.
"So you know of her? She's my favorite!" said the girl cheerfully as she spun around. Then, she stopped and looked at them. "Wait, that's not racist is it?" she asked, getting a chuckle from everyone but Wrex who looked even more disgruntled.
Shepard walked up to the girl and patted her shoulder. "You're fine Tali. Quarians don't have many role models, so it's good that they're being more inclusive," she said getting an excited clap from the girl. "Now then, the royal couple awaits. Let's get this over with so I can get out of this ridiculous dress," she finished, wondering if this attendance were some kind of cosmic joke being played on her by Paine after the lackluster answer to her question.
OoOoO
April 2, 2183 CE ESD - 1230 EST
Ballroom, Michael Collins Convention Center, Luna
As was expected, the ceremony itself made Shepard wonder if she could find a thresher maw nearby to fight. The band playing as the couple made their way to the altar was overly sappy, playing such hits as "Undying Light" from Lhalia Z'Vos, a love song from an asari singer in her six hundreds that made the number three most listened to song on Earth for ten weeks straight. Shepard only knew of the song because of the irony that came with comparing someone's undying love to a supernova, a literal dying star.
She sat through the sluggish display with Liara sitting on one side and Ash sitting on the other. While not as excited as Tali was to see the romantic display, Liara did seem genuinely interested in the human custom of marriage. But again, Shepard couldn't look at the asari long without blushing fiercely due to her dress, which she had to admit to herself was extremely attractive on her. Ash, on the other hand, looked about as miserable as she was.
Looking forward, Shepard could see Tali sitting with Kaidan near the front along with another quarian, whose suit was almost as showy as the newlyweds themselves. Garrus and Wrex decided to sit at the back to keep from being eyesores, given their heights.
Once all the glamorous stuff was out of the way, the entire wedding stood and clapped as the pair kissed to seal the deal on their marriage. Afterward, the entire crowd moved into the larger hall of the convention center where there was more room for the reception with tables and tables of food waiting and drinks being handed out by servers.
Wrex immediately made his way to the tables and grabbed a plate before beginning to shove food en masse onto it, causing Shepard to chuckle to herself. But her amusement was interrupted as much to her surprise, the new couple made their way to her.
"Spectre Jane Shepard! It's so good to meet you!" said the glamorous, dark-haired woman who had changed out of her wedding attire and now sported a gown similar to Liara's, but much more elegant and flowing with a train behind it. The man was almost the antithesis to his bride, however. He wore a three-piece suit with silver cufflinks and had his short hair slicked back, looking much more business and much less glamorous.
"It's an honor to have you here," said the man as he bowed his head and reached out for her hand.
Ever the diplomat, Shepard took his hand and shook it before turning to Valerie herself. But the woman wasn't having any formal nonsense apparently, and fully embraced Shepard in a tight hug. Shepard awkwardly patted her on the back before the woman finally let go. Smiling at them, Shepard nodded her head. "Thank you for the invitation."
"Of course. You are the very first human Spectre, and arguably the most powerful human in the galaxy when it comes to Council Space. It only made sense that you should be here," said the man. But his sharp eyes caught her stern expression. "That being said, my lovely bride and I are aware of the magnitude of work you do for the Council. That is why this will be a one time occasion."
Shepard's eyebrow raised curiously. "One time?"
"Of course. You are a Spectre, Jane. Our work is mainly humanitarian. Yours is on a much wider scale than ours, so we will not bother you with further invitations," said Valerie as she snatched a wine glass from a passing waiter.
"I really appreciate that you understand my position," said the commander, slightly surprised at the courteousness with which they were treating her. "I admit when I first saw the invitation I was highly skeptical about you two."
"We understand how it may seem entirely. What with the Pope christening our invitations and the glam and glamour of the whole affair we have here. But those are tradition I'm afraid. Valerie and I are much more frugal with ourselves than many others of our privilege," said the man with a smile on his face.
Nodding, Valerie added on, "All this…" she said waving her hand towards the massive convention center with all its decorations. "This was a request from my mother, for 'tradition's' sake. Chao and I were perfectly happy eloping while working in Africa with the drought they are currently experiencing. But she refused to hear about anything less than...well, this," said the woman before taking a sip of the wine.
"While we will always have a seat available if you'd ever like to attend some of our charity drives, we will not hold it against you if your work keeps you from coming," said the man with a firm and polite nod.
Letting out a sigh of annoyance, Shepard just shook her head. "You guys don't make it easy to dislike you, you know that?" she said, giving them a smile.
"We understand that people of our stature often have an over-inflated idea of self-importance about themselves. We try to avoid that by working with those less fortunate," said Chao before he patted a passing man on the back.
"I'll remember your words. If I should have time available for one of your events, I'll do my best to show up," said Shepard as she too took a wine glass as a waiter offered it to her.
"It would please us greatly. Now, I believe we have taken up enough of your time. So please, enjoy the party," finished the man as he shook her hand again. Valerie went in for another hug, which was less awkward this time, then the pair wandered off and began talking to a very menacing looking turian diplomat with enough medals on his chest to sink him in the ocean.
Turning around, the commander eyed the crowd, looking for her own people as she sipped at the wine. Wrex was still at the long food table, and currently looked to be in a heated debate with an Asian man who looked to be the chef. Deciding to start there, she walked over towards him and heard the conversation they were having before deciding not to interrupt them. Apparently the krogan was challenging the man to give him hotter and hotter foods. Wrex, while no slouch in the food department, looked slightly pale as he requested the next level. She wasn't entirely sure of krogan could sweat, but if they could, Wrex would be drenched in his robes.
Turning around again, she managed to spot Tali speaking with Kaidan and the quarian movie star again. Deciding to introduce herself, she made her way over to the trio. Tali immediately noticed her coming and waved her down. "Shepard!" she cheered as the spectre arrived. "I've been waiting to introduce you! This is Yasa'Pari vas Watson!"
The quarian, whose suit was more of a rich crimson color that matched with all of the dress accessories that she wore for the wedding, eyed Shepard curiously through her facemask and held up her hand in greeting. "Captain Shepard! I've heard so much about you today!" she said, almost eagerly.
"It's Commander actually. I've never been promoted to captain before," said Shepard as she too held up her palm, pressing it to Yasa's own in the traditional quarian greeting.
"First Kaidan and now you too? Tali must keep your crew very informed about our people," said the woman cheerfully in her melodious voice. "And forgive the formality. Our people refer to anyone who leads their own ship as captain.
"We enjoy learning more about those we work with. We're a relatively tight-knit group," said Shepard with a polite nod of the head. "And please, if it makes you comfortable then refer to me as you please."
"And so polite! Tali, you must have pleased the Ancestors greatly to have such a wonderful crew!" said the woman gleefully, making Tali cover her face shield with her hands.
"I...I suppose," responded the younger quarian meekly.
Kaidan smiled charmingly. "She's a hard worker and a pleasure to have around. Keksasokah," he said, getting wide-eyed looks from both of the quarians and a curious eye from Shepard.
"Kaidan'Alenko, when did you learn to speak Khelish?" asked Yasa, whose tone became one of fascination.
"I've been brushing up on it. The Spectre here is fairly skilled in both asari and turian dialects, so I figured I'd pick up one of my own," he said as he gestured to Shepard.
"Keelah, I'm in the presence of such refinement!" said the woman, almost dramatically. Tali looked away in embarrassment, while Kaidan smiled and Shepard took a sip of her wine to keep from laughing. Then Yasa looked at Shepard and grasped her hands together in front of her. "Shepard, I must ask you a favor!"
Nodding, the spectre gazed at the quarian, curious to hear what she had in mind. "I'll do it if I can," she said solemnly, noting the last favor she did for someone in the back of her mind.
"I intend to keep in touch with Tali, of course! But if it's alright with you, I would like to correspond with you too. The future for me holds many possibilities, more of which open up with each new life experience. But there are some experiences I'm afraid I will never be able to see for myself…" she began, lowering her head as if thinking of how to ask for what she wanted.
"You want to ask me for my hands on experiences so you can integrate it into your acting?" asked the Spectre curiously.
Yasa's eyes widened, then she smiled brightly, which showed in her luminescent eyes. "Exactly! You are more than just special forces or a frontline soldier! You are a Spectre, and one of the Council's respected agents! Your advice would be invaluable!"
"Of course. You can contact me here," started Shepard as she opened her omni-tool and began to forward her email account to the quarian.
That was when Tali noticed the other bracelet on Shepard's opposing wrist. "You have two omni-tools?" asked the young woman curiously.
Shepard's eyes widened slightly as she looked from Tali to the spare omni-tool on her right arm. "I brought it as a spare, in case I needed it...earlier," she said, putting emphasis on the word 'earlier.'
"Oh, right," said Tali as she understood the message clearly. Shepard was glad the girl had backed off because she wasn't entirely sure how the two quarians in front of her might react to a potentially living AI that was currently adorning her wrist.
"In any case, you can contact me there. But you must understand that there are times when I cannot answer mails from anyone," said the spectre as she closed down her omni-tool again.
"Of course Captain. You have important work to do, so please only respond if you feel you have the spare time," said the quarian woman as she gasped gently. Looking down, a volus had tugged gently on her coat. "Oh, keelah, Captain Shepard, let me introduce you to my husband, Nalsa Kap. He dabbles in finance and sports when he has the time," she said proudly.
"Good to meet you," Shepard said as she raised her glass towards him.
"Big fan Shepard...keep up the good work," said the volus before he turned to the much taller quarian. "Padwa, we must go now. The car is waiting," he pled, his breathing filter cutting the sentences apart as was typical for volus.
"Oh, how the time goes by. So good to meet all of you! Tali, keep in touch," she said before leaning down and whispering something that Shepard wasn't able to hear. But whatever it was, it almost made Tali squeal in embarrassment.
When the quarian with her matching exo-suit husband left the three alone, they all looked at one another. Shepard then began to look around again. "Has anyone seen Lia…"
"I'm right here Shepard!" said the asari woman from behind her.
This was a new feeling. The woman's voice nearly made her jump out of her skin in surprise. Shepard had gone by many aliases in her work as an intel agent for the Alliance and was skilled in all things stealth. But somehow, this nerdy asari had managed to sneak up on her, nearly making her splash the remainder of her wine on Alenko. "Liara! What are you doing?" asked the redhead as she held a hand over her heart to try and slow the beating down.
"Sorry Shepard! Was just following you around, waiting for an opportunity to talk to you. But you were already talking so I didn't want to interrupt, because that would be rude. But then, I think following you without you knowing and then scaring you was probably also rude, so I apologize," said the asari in a rapid clip as she bowed her head in apology.
"Did you just bow?" asked Kaidan curiously as all three of them stared at the asari who was acting very strange.
"The drink man, the waiter, he said he served the royal family of China and he taught me that greeting. I thought it was very interesting so I tried it! How did you like it?" asked the normally demure woman in a very hyperactive voice.
"It was nice," said Shepard as she eyed Liara suspiciously. "Liara, did the waiter also give you a drink?"
"Of course! He is a waiter after all and that's what waiters do! But...you already knew that..." she said as she looked down.
"And what was this drink called?" asked Shepard as she crossed her arms.
"Well, first he gave me a cup of tea! Then he said I might like a drink you have called coffee! Tasted terrible, but he offered me something called...ehhh...what was it?" she asked herself as she began counting on her fingers.
"Oh god, did he give her an espresso?" asked Kaidan with a horror-stricken look on his face.
Liara smiled brightly and pointed at him. "That's what it was!"
"A scientist that usually stays away from civilization, coming from a species that usually shies away from stimulants suddenly took a shot of espresso…" said Shepard as she downed the rest of her wine and handed the glass over to Kaidan. "I'm going to go ahead and take her back to the ship. You two keep an eye on Wrex and make sure he doesn't pass out from eating peppers," she ordered as she reached out for Liara's hand.
"You got it, Commander," replied Kaidan as Liara took Shepard's hand.
"Liara, I'm going to need you to follow me back to the Normandy, alright?" asked the redhead in an almost amused tone.
"Of course Shepard! I'd follow you anywhere," she said in an almost dreamy daze.
"Good, let's go," said the spectre as she led the woman out of the hall.
OoOoO
April 2, 2183 CE ESD - 1248 EST
Front Steps, Michael Collins Convention Center, Luna
"Bullshit! The M-7 may be more sturdy, but the M-8 has a lower heat output, so that automatically makes it more effective in a firefight. You use less sinks, so the it lasts longer," said Ash as she took the bottle of scotch she had hoisted from a waiter.
Garrus, who sat next to her, did just about the same thing with one of the turian waiters, and the two made their way outside before getting into a heated debate about which rifle was better. Admittedly, Ash hadn't expected the night to take this turn, but she wasn't disappointed at all.
"Chief, chief, chief. You only need more heat sinks if you don't know how to correctly moderate heat distribution. See, with the M-7, you can try and break that thing over your knee, run it over in the Mako, slingshot it through a mass relay, and then let it crash land onto a planet and you'd still be able to pick it up out of the dirt and fire it. Meanwhile, the M-8 can get tripped over and the eezo fragment unlodges, so the weapon can't fire. It's all a matter of experience," he said as he took a swig from his own bottle of alcohol.
"Oh, is that it? You think I don't have the experience? Tell me officer, what experience do you have to back up your defence of the M-7? Because me? I've used the M-8 throughout my entire career and it's only jammed once. Meanwhile, the M-7 puts out enough heat that you could be spotted on a thermal scan from space!" she snapped back as she stole another gulp of the fiery liquid.
"What experience do I have? I've been in C-Sec for years! I've taken down hostages...no...wait, hostage takers! I've taken down hostage takers, terrorists, and even busted one of your human clowns with an M-7. Turns out he was packing weapons into his pants and trying to get through customs with a waver from a phony doctor saying he had artificial legs," said the turian as he took another shot. "We started pulling them out of his pants and they just wouldn't stop. By the time we finally cleaned his pants out we had an entire armory of weapons sitting on the table!"
Ash, perhaps influenced a bit by the alcohol actually started snort-laughing at the story. "Oh my god…" she gasped as she covered her mouth.
"And what's the deal with clowns anyway? I asked Sergeant Guile about it and he said those things were supposed to entertain children! Meanwhile they look like they're painted like a work of modern art with enough makeup to put anyone on guard," he said and shook his head in disbelief.
"They are pretty creep-tastic aren't they?" she asked as she swilled the remaining liquor in her bottle around in circles.
"Creep-tastic indeed. If one of those showed up at a turian party he'd be stuck by so many spurs just from people thinking he's some new alien contact that he'd pop like a balloon," said Garrus as he leaned over against the wall to support himself.
Suddenly, the doors to the inside of the Main Hall opened and both of them looked over to see Shepard leading Liara back by the hand towards the aircar port. As they walked out from under the roof, the sky was again visible through the environmental dome that covered the small city. Liara immediately looked up at the sky and broke away from Shepard's grip, spinning like a young girl as she gasped.
"Wooow, Shepard! Look, it's Earth!" she almost shouted as she pointed up at the large figure of the planet above them.
"I have noticed. Now, let's look at it from the Normandy, alright?" asked the redhead as she held out her hand.
Liara took it once more and smiled brightly. "As you wish, Shepard!" she said cheerfully as she continued to follow her, almost skipping all the way to the port.
"They're cute together," said a slightly drunken Garrus.
"You know, now that you mention it, I kinda agree," said Ash, who knew that she was on the borderline of drunkenness. If she didn't stop now, she'd regret it later. So she lifted the bottle and took another swig of the fiery solution before glaring at him. "And I don't care how many clowns you've taken down with one, the M-8 will always outclass the M-7!"
"We could see the guns through his pants with the scanners! Why did he think that'd work!?" asked the turian in exasperation as he waved his hands about.
Ash laughed riotously at the remark as he completely ignored her to go on another rant about the clown. "Wow, that's really weighing on your mind, huh?" she asked as she looked over at his face. Despite her joke, she noticed a bit of a tone shift in his attitude. He stared at the ground, either in a drunken stupor, or in a very serious manner. She couldn't exactly tell which as the alcohol began to get to her.
Finally, he sighed as he leaned his head onto one of his hands. "Sorry, you just...reminded me of something."
Curious now, she nudged him with her bottle of booze. "Wanna talk about it? I hear I'm a good listener."
"I doubt that," he said, giving her a chuckle before his mandibles twitched again. "But...no, it's alright. Just some unfinished business that I haven't thought about in a while is all."
"Alright, have it your way. You know, I am the granddaughter of the general of Shanxi, so if you're going to make me surrender the conversation then it's just history repeating itself," she said with a diabolical smirk.
He looked at her in surprise before chuckling again. "I see the alcohol has made you a bit more self-deprecating than usual," he said as he took another drink.
"You know Vakarian, you're pretty alright, I guess," said Ashley as she tugged on his cowl.
"Wow, that was almost a compliment," he snapped back as he applauded her sarcastically.
"But the M-7 still sucks!" she shouted, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Oh spirits help me…" sighed the turian as he placed his face in his palm.
OoOoO
April 2, 2183 CE ESD - 1302 EST
Captain's Quarters, SSV Normandy SR1
"P-Please Shepard...I can't take anymore!" shouted the asari, her voice low as she tried not to make too much noise.
"Come on, you can do it a few more times, right?" asked the redhead with a playful smile on her face.
"Please, I'm exhausted…" groaned the doctor as she wanted to collapse, but refused to give in.
Chuckling to herself, Shepard finally nodded. "Alright, that's good."
Gasping, the asari collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air with her muscles aching.
"Not bad, you managed to do seventy five before slowing down. That's twenty more than your previous record," said the commander before she looked down and saw the asari out cold. Sighing, the spectre shook her head. "And she crashes."
When they had entered the Normandy, Shepard immediately ordered the asari to change out of the clothes that the couple had been nice enough to give them all and into PT clothes. She then gave Liara strict orders that she was going to work the stimulant out of her system. So first she grabbed plenty of water, and they began their workout. It would have normally taken place in the gym, but the turians were taking up most of the machines. Besides, Shepard didn't want the others seeing Liara unhinged. The woman already had a bit of a shy side to her. Chances are she'd be humiliated if anyone else found out she had been high on caffeine.
So, Shepard started her on the special forces regimen, minus the running and rucking. So she did situps and pushups, with her last pushup being when she dropped. And now the caffeine had finally passed, and the doctor lay collapsed on the floor in her room. "Took a lot less time than I thought," said Shepard as she stood up and stretched her arms. Reaching down, she flipped the doctor onto her back before picking her up in her arms and carrying her out of the room.
Awkwardly, the asari reached up and gripped Shepard's shoulder in her sleep. "Shhhhhepard…" she groaned as the spectre stepped onto the elevator with Joker, who eyed the pair oddly.
"Not a word Moreau," she ordered, getting a smirk from the pilot as they stood awkwardly in the lift while it took them down to the crew quarters. When the doors opened again, Joker went his own way and Shepard took the opposite direction and headed for the medical bay.
Doctor Chakwas was sitting at her desk, going over the information on a datapad when she looked up to see Shepard. "Commander Shepard! Already back from the wedding?" asked the woman in her charming accent.
Nodding, the spectre walked over to one of the beds and laid the asari woman on it as the silver-haired doctor approached. "Yeah, and everyone's actually enjoying the after party."
"What happened to Doctor T'Soni? Did she hit herself over the head with a few too many wine bottles?" asked the woman with a curious smile on her face.
Shaking her head, Shepard sighed. "She had her first experience with high dosage caffeinated drinks."
Chakwas' eyes widened slightly as she looked down at the woman. "Oh my. What was it?"
"First tea, then coffee, then espresso," said the spectre as she nodded to the doctor. "I worked some of it out of her system and she crashed pretty hard. So I'd appreciate it if you could keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't have any side-effects."
"Understood. Thank goodness she didn't get ahold of any energy drinks…" said the doctor grimly.
"Agreed. I'm pretty sure she would have lifted off, broken terminal velocity and flown to Earth," said Shepard with an amused smile on her face. "In any case, I'm gonna go ahead and send out the rallying cry for the crew. We've got work to do," she offered as she turned around and waved to the doctor.
"Ask one of them if they can bring back a bottle of brandy for me!" shouted Chakwas with a grin before the door closed behind Shepard.
Making her way back to her quarters, the commander sent out the signal to the others and sat back in her chair, thinking to herself about Paine's question, about the marriage, and about her own doubts. Perhaps finding someone to settle down with wouldn't be so bad. Mulling it over, she already eliminated a lot of options for herself. They couldn't be a civilian, as her work would constantly make them a target from many.
Imagining the occurrence on the Citadel with Romanov happening to her loved ones while she was working for the Council was out of the question. That meant either military or police, or even other spectres even. But they would still be a target unless they were with her at all times. Her mind immediately snapped to her crew. Immediately she began cracking up as she pictured Wrex waiting for her on a bed of roses, then pushed the thought from her mind. Kaidan, while a stand up guy, just didn't draw her attraction. Odd, given that he was handsome, smooth, had a pleasing voice, and definitely had himself put together. But she merely saw him as a friend.
Ash was highly unlikely for two reasons. First, she was almost certain that the soldier played solely for the home team, and secondly the unusual way she treated Shepard, as if she were still in the Alliance, would probably make for awkward dinner talks. Garrus was upstanding, proud, and funny. She had also had experience with turians, which meant the transition phase would be less awkward. But there was still something about him that she couldn't read. Some kind of inner fire that she saw burning quietly, waiting for that burst of oxygen to turn it into a wildfire. She wasn't sure what it was about, but that was something she would definitely have to contend with if she ever considered being something more with him.
Tali...was odd. She had no idea what Tali's preference was, or even if she had one. The girl was fascinated with romance and drama, but then so were many of her previous girlfriends. She was also unsure whether Tali had some kind of crush on her, or if it was just a star-struck reaction to many of the videos and news articles that she had that always painted Shepard as some kind of super soldier of destruction. That was putting aside all of the biological incompatibilities with her immune system and constant need for a suit. And lastly, even if she somehow did begin to fall for the quarian, and somehow made it past all of the incompatibilities, there was still the fact that she would have to leave for the Migrant Fleet once more when her pilgrimage was finished. She then wondered if the Migrant Fleet would allow such visits for a person of special interest.
Then her mind shifted again to the doctor who was currently snoring away a caffeine crash in the medbay. Her lips curled into a smile at the state of the awkward asari, from her mannerisms, to her inability to detect jokes, to her elated reaction when talking about the protheans. Then her mind went to the dress again, and the spectre felt herself blushing madly.
Snapping out of her stupor, she smacked her cheeks with her hands before standing up. "We've got important shit to do Shepard, get your head out of your ass," she ordered herself before activated her omni-tool. "Joker, when the crew boards, we're leaving for the Citadel. Set up a pilot for the night if you're off the clock," she said as she turned towards the door and headed to the showers.
"Roger dodger," responded the pilot.