True to form, Liara was the first to arrive at the apartment the night of the party. Fifteen minutes early, as always, clothed in a an onyx-black sundress and immediately setting about ensuring that the food, music and - most importantly - drinks were all in sufficient supply. Kaidan arrived a few minutes later, carrying a case of Canadian beer under one arm. Joker and Edi were next, and Shepard couldn't help but grin at the casual white dress that Edi had chosen to wear.
Wrex and Grunt arrived together, jostling each other roughly to try to be the first one through the door. Grunt inevitably won out, snorting triumphantly in Wrex's direction. The older krogan denied him the recognition, instead turning to gently butt his head against Shepard's. "Thanks for the invitation," he said with a big grin. "Is this thing going to be as crazy as the last party?"
Posey shook her head quickly, jerking her head towards the kitchen. "We've got plenty of alcohol, Wrex, but we're going to try to keep things a little more toned-down tonight. This is less of a 'drink as much as we can before we're dead' kind of party. More like a 'thank God we can all just take a deep breath and be okay for a minute' type of thing. You know?"
Wrex nodded calmly, smiling though there was just a hint of disappointment in his eyes. When Tali and Zal'Koris stepped in through the door of the apartment, Wrex beamed and lumbered over to pick Tali up in a hug. She squealed in mock-terror, quickly giving way to laughter as Wrex tucked her under an arm and used his free hand to shake Zal'Koris's hand. After he set Tali down, he and Grunt moved on further into the living room as Jack, Samara, and Zaeed all showed up at the same time. As the three greeted Shepard, Garrus came up behind her and clapped a hand to Zaeed's shoulder, eyes glimmering with mischief.
"Glad you're here, Zaeed," Garrus rumbled. "We've still got a lot of work to do on the apartment." The weathered mercenary's hand curled into a fist and he punched the turian's arm none too gently, flashing a wide impish grin.
"Sounds like a plan, Vakarian." The two men wandered off, quickly disappearing from Shepard's viewpoint. Though she wanted to follow them and keep them out of trouble, she still had other guests to greet. Jack was sporting her usual scowl, glancing around at the apartment.
"Did this fucking place get bigger?" Shepard followed her gaze, shrugging.
"Maybe. I asked the Tiberius staff to do some renovations while I was still in London, so that I'd have a place to come home to when they elected me to the Council. I'd never really noticed before, but perhaps they took a few liberties when they redesigned the place."
"Yeah," Jack muttered, though it was all with a smirk, "no fucking kidding." To Shepard's utter shock, Jack stepped forward quickly and embraced Shepard for the briefest of moments, before pulling away and pushing a loose strand of long chocolate hair behind her shoulder. "I've missed seeing you guys."
Posey smiled and nodded. "We've missed you too, Jack."
Samara wrapped her arms around Shepard as well, though her hug was much warmer and less rushed. "It is good to see you again, Shepard." The justicar's voice was serene as always, calming Posey just by hearing it. As she turned and looked around the room at everyone gathered together, pouring each other drinks and laughing about the fonder memories they'd all shared (few and far between as they'd been), an unfamiliar sense of peace washed over her. They were here - every one of their team that had survived this far. And when she nudged Joker and Edi to announce their "marriage", the small crowd erupted into raucous applause and cheery hollers. As congratulations were passed their way, more drinks were poured for all in attendance, and everyone seemed all the merrier.
The party lasted well into the night, never reaching the sweaty dancing fervor that the last gathering had, but still keeping everyone well entertained. They told stories, drank excessively, and toasted to the successes that they had all achieved in the years since the war. But more than a few times over the course of the night, the party would take a somber turn, and a half-hour would be spent reliving the less-than-fond memories that they had shared. All of it was worth remembering, though - that's what kept Shepard from interrupting these tales and changing the subject. Sometimes she forgot that in order to truly appreciate all of the blessings she had now in her life, she had to remember the times where her hope had almost failed her.
People began to trickle out of the apartment around two in the morning. As the last of them finally left, she took in a deep breath and thought about how much everyone had changed over seven and a half years. And how much they had somehow stayed the same.
The glass of her apartment window was cool against Shepard's forehead as she leaned against it, staring out over the Sunset Strip. Wheels were turning over and over in her mind, little questions running amok that she didn't quite have the answers for. She could feel a massive headache coming on, but she didn't even feel like going to get her pain meds at this point.
Why is it, she pondered, that everything about that party felt so familiar? Like nothing has changed?
To tell the truth, everything had changed since the last time she had seen so many of her friends gathered together in her apartment. How could they have enjoyed themselves just as much, when so many of their comrades were missing? All of their absences had been felt, by everyone there. That much she knew, in the way a conversation would quickly veer away from a particular topic to avoid bringing up someone's name. Or how, more than once throughout the night, she'd walked in to the living area upstairs to see someone leaning against the wall, staring between the couches at the massive picture from the first party. A picture of when everyone (or almost everyone, anyway - even at that point, they'd already lost too many) had been there, and still alive. And now, so many of them were gone. But everyone still had a good time - they still laughed and drank, and not in that desperate end-of-the-war manner as last time. In a word, the whole evening had just been. . . relieving. Serene, calm, nearly perfect. The only thing Shepard was missing was all of those who didn't survive.
Even the view out her massive apartment window still looked eerily similar - for all the destruction done to the Citadel, for all the time it had taken to get things back in working order, the Sunset Strip looked almost identical to the way it had before the war, albeit with a few more shiny new upgrades.
Shepard's train of thought was cut off as she felt a long, warm arm snake around her waist from behind. She smiled halfheartedly and stood up straighter, leaning back against Garrus's chest. He purred and hugged her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head as he too admired the apartment's view.
"Guess I'll need to take a look at our backpay accounts, and see if we can finally finish clone-proofing your apartment. Zaeed and I have big plans for this place."
Shepard huffed out a laugh and shook her head, smacking his arm lightly. "I swear to God, Garrus, if you put any sort of explosives in this house, I will make your life miserable." She could feel his mandibles twitch in amusement as he pressed a quick kiss to the back of her neck. His arms tightened around her waist, and she sighed in defeat. Stubborn turians. Deciding to change the topic, she asked quietly, "Did your family make it back to Palaven okay?"
"Yeah, they're back now. Solana leaves for Blackwatch training in a couple of weeks." There was obvious pride in his voice as he mentioned his sister, which brought a warm smile to Shepard's face. "You know," Garrus muttered, running the talons of one hand up and down her side and sending shivers through her spine, "you look absolutely radiant tonight in that dress. The green looks good on you. Not as good as your councilor uniform, but still... Very nice."
"You just like my councilor uniform because it's blue," Shepard said with an eye-roll to rival Aria T'Loak, folding her arms over her chest.
"Hey, it's not just blue, it's a certain shade of blue. Vakarian colony marking blue, to be exact - don't think I didn't notice. It's a very specific color. And a very beautiful color, especially on you."
Shepard hummed with delight and leaned her head backwards to kiss the bottom of Garrus's chin. "It most certainly is. Speaking of colony markings, your dad said something very... interesting the other day."
"Oh Spirits, what was it this time?" Over the Vakarian family's extended stay at Shepard's (their?) apartment to help him recover, it would've been impossible for Garrus not to notice that his family had taken a great liking to her. His father had, on multiple occasions, tried to initiate friendly conversations about fighting tactics, human customs and holidays, and various other topics that always had Garrus shaking his head at how awkward his father was. Fractus's attempts at conversation had always fizzled quickly though, to Garrus's dismay.
"He, umm..." Shepard could feel a blush creeping over her freckled cheeks, but she had already opened this can of worms and knew that there was no going back. It was now or never. "Your dad was helping me cook dinner the other day, and" - she paused as Garrus scoffed at the idea of Fractus Vakarian, cooking dinner like a domestic - "he was telling me how proud he would be to have the markings of his clan on... Well, you know, on someone like me... Silly, right?"
Garrus saw right through her hesitation and hummed thoughtfully, pressing another gentle kiss to the top of her head. "Well now, that is quite an idea." He chuckled as he added, "Never thought I'd see the day when Fractus Vakarian took a liking to a human. But if I'd had to take a wild guess on what human would be able to warm up my father, I'd have bet on you." His warm arms left her waist and he turned her around slowly, taking her hands between his. His eyes flickered nervously as he struggled to think of what to say next, and Shepard took the moment to appreciate how much she had always loved Garrus's awkward, bumbling side when he was nervous.
Finally, he took a deep breath and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "You would look badass with my colony markings though," he said, trying (and failing... miserably) to put on an air of confidence. "If -. . . I mean, if that's even something you wanted. That probably sounds a little stupid, to a human." Shepard grinned and rubbed her thumbs over the back of his hands, meeting his eyes with a wink and a gentle shake of her head.
"There is nothing stupid about that idea, Garrus. I'm a Councilor, and the Savior of the Galaxy for Christ's sake. I'm pretty sure that, at this point, I can get away with whatever the hell I want to. They can't exactly kick me off the Council for taking my mate's markings, species be damned. Although," she muttered, summoning all of the boldness she could, "I guess that I could only use that excuse if I were technically Councilor Vakarian."
A little flash ran through his crystal eyes, and his mandibles dropped just enough for her to notice his surprise. When he smiled, she did too, and their linked hands tightened their grips.
"Well, if you want to do that, there's something. . . else we have to do first, you know." The drawl in his voice was almost enough to make her knees go weak, but the waggling of his browplates did nothing to enhance his sexuality. Shepard smirked at his attempts to be seductive, but she decided to reward him for the effort anyway. As she leaned forward, stretching up on her toes to reach his face without forcing him to bend down for a kiss, she was surprised when the warm chest in front of her suddenly vanished. She opened her eyes, and looked down to see Garrus on the floor in front of her, fishing around in his pocket. Her brow furrowed in genuine concern, and she rapidly knelt down beside him.
"Garrus, are you okay? Is it your leg? I told you that you should've been using the cane during the party, you big stubborn -"
He shook his head and laughed, using one arm to gently push her back up to her feet. "I think you're supposed to be standing up for this, if I've done my research correctly." He shifted his weight until he was half-kneeling, bearing his weight mostly on his good leg. When he was settled comfortably, he pulled out a tiny silver box and held it aloft in his right hand, using one left talon to delicately open the box. Shepard's hand flew to her mouth in surprise, and she felt an instant familiar sting of tears.
"Holy shit, Garrus... What are you - "
"My research also said that there's supposed to be some big sappy speech before I give this to you, so. . . Here goes." He looked up at her, almost bashful, asking permission to continue with his gaze. Shepard nodded, unable to speak, and Garrus smiled before continuing. After clearing his throat nervously, he used one talon to pull up a document on his omnitool. When one of Posey's eyebrows quirked up, he shrugged and tossed a grin back up at her. "I had to write it down, so it didn't. . . You know, sound stupid or anything. Anyway, here goes." His mandibles fluttered anxiously for a moment, and then he took a huge breath.
"Shepard... Posey. If anyone had told me ten years ago where I would be right now, with you, I'd have called them crazy. Maybe punched them. Then I would've stuck around to watch you punch them too. Spirits, all this time with you has felt like a dream. And honestly, Posey, if it is, then I don't ever want to wake up. I was just a kid - a really dumb, smartass kid - when we met, and I had no idea that chasing down Saren could possibly lead me here, to the love of my life and to the most incredible, brave, beautiful woman that I've ever met. When we lost you, Posey... the first time, I mean, on Alchera; that was before I knew that I loved you. You were a brilliant Commander, a perfect scion to humanity, but more than that, you had been my best friend. Losing you made me start to realize just how much you meant to me, even if I didn't know then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.
"I will never, ever, in all my years be able to tell you how lucky I am to have fallen in love with you. To this day, you are still my best friend, and so much more. More than I could've ever asked for, even dreamed for. Spirits, I don't... I don't even have the words to tell you this, how much I feel for you every day. When we were saying goodbye, in London, all that business about 'No Shepard without Vakarian'... Ever since you walked into my life, you changed me in ways I can't even begin to comprehend, and I am so grateful to have accompanied you for so many missions. That statement works both ways, you know - no Vakarian without Shepard, either. I would never have become the man I am today if you hadn't taken that chance on the hot-headed young C-Sec officer who just wanted a piece of the action. I just. . . I love you, Posey. So much. And I want you by my side, whatever may come, for as long as I'm around. You are everything to me, and nothing would make me happier, prouder even, than if you would do me the honor of being my bondmate. My wife."
Tears were streaming down Shepard's cheeks by now. She had no capability to form words, her mind too stunned to think of what to say. So she just nodded, ecstatically, and felt Garrus take her left hand in his to calm her shaking nerves. He held the little ring in between two fingers, a little band of silver with a modest diamond, surrounded on either side by two lilac-colored, opal-esque stones that looked far too rich to be any gem from Earth. "It's cevarodite, from Palaven," Garrus said quietly as he caught her staring at the ring. "You know, I bought this ring just a couple of weeks after you picked me up from Menae. The stones reminded me of your eyes, and Liara had mentioned something about humans exchanging rings as a sign of bonding. I had known for a while by that point, that you were it. You were the one that I wanted, no matter how the war turned out." He paused for a moment, and Shepard could just barely hear the slight shudder in the deep breath that he drew before he said, "I'm just. . . I'm so glad I'm here to give it to you." Shepard nodded slowly and spread her fingers apart. A fresh flood of tears spilled over her cheeks as Garrus, ever so carefully, slid the delicate ring onto her fourth finger and kissed it gently. Her knees gave out beneath her, and she fell to the floor beside him before peppering his scarred and broken face with kisses, tasting the traces of her own tears that she left on his cheeks. His limber arms wrapped around her once again, and she heard him whisper quietly into her ear.
"Marry me, Posey Grace Shepard?"
"Garrus Vakarian," she murmured, pulling back to look him directly in the eyes with a gentle, quivering smile. "There is nothing in this galaxy that I would like more."