Chapter 36

Looking to his right, Holt could see a nightstand with several scattered data pads and an empty bottle with it's equally empty glass next to it. Might still have been his quarters if it had not been for the empty bottle being a wine bottle. Holt didn't like wine. Looking to his left, Holt could see the rest of the room which was missing a bar. Clearly not his quarters then.

"Those are mine though..." He murmured as he looked at the discarded clothes around the room. One of his socks had somehow ended up in the fish tank.

"Mmhmm..." Another voice hummed next to him. That was probably the thing that stood out the most from what he had seen since he woke up. The Commander lying right beside him with an arm thrown across his chest.

"Have you ever wondered if the fish in the tank are aware that they're travelling through space?"

"Mmhmm..." Shepard repeated as she burrowed her face further into the nook of his neck. All Holt could see was her red hair so it was difficult to find out if she was just answering in her sleep.

"It's a bit a sad, when you think about it. That they will be travelling to all these different worlds but will never experience them in person... or in fish, I guess." He continued and Shepard didn't respond this time. "Maybe we could bring them with us on some less dangerous missions. Let them live a little. Maybe even bring them with us on the more dangerous missions for the fish that wants to live a lot?"

"You work part-time as an alarm clock?..." Shepard mumbled into his neck as he could feel her lightly stretching her limbs.

"Wasn't it you that complained about my shitty time predictions?" Holt asked as he remembered the scolding he had gotten in the past from Shepard after he had miscalculated the timing for detonations of his explosives.

"Good point." She yawned. "So what's the time, faulty alarm clock?" She asked as Holt could for the first time that morning see her face as she moved the hair away from it. "Your hearing is broken as well?" She asked with a smile as Holt realised that he had been staring.

"Same time as it was yesterday at this time."

"... Am I gonna have to send you in for repairs?"

"Can't fix perfection."

"Can ask Mordin to try."

"It's half past six." Holt quickly answered as he checked his omni-tool that was still within reach.

"No rush then..." Shepard sighed happily as she brought her arm across his chest and nudged her head down to his neck again.

"I don't know... Isn't it usually the captain's job to serve as an example to the rest of the crew? That includes being among the first people up and wor-" Holt's sentence got cut off as he let out a quiet yelp because of someone nibbling his neck. "The great commander Shepard actually nibbles people?" He asked once the shock had passed.

"I'll bite you if you mention it to anyone."

"Think I recall you actually biting me last night."

"I won't be that kind of bite."

"Too bad for you, I enjoy both kinds." Holt softly laughed as Shepard moved up a bit to have her face be more leveled with his. "But alright, my lips are sealed."

"Thank you." She said with a quick peck on his cheek. "And thank you..."

"What's the second thanks for?"

"For accepting me."

"Considering who we both are, shouldn't it be me thanking you?"

"For the last several years, I've been Commander Shepard. To the Alliance I was Commander Shepard. To the people I was Commander Shepard. Towards the end, I was even Commander Shepard to my own family." She began. "You when I said that you were the first one to call me Jane for quite some time? I was being serious."

"I think they're all simply being respectful."

"There are plenty of ways of being respectful while still treating the person as a human being." She chuckled but Holt saw that it was getting to her. Putting his arm behind her head, they laid in silence for a few moments before she continued. "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I highly doubt that Cerberus brought me back because of my personality."

"I don't know, they brought me back because of my personality."

"I doubt that was the reason."

"Yeah, you're probably right. It was because of my good looks."

"I just wanna thank you for making me feel like a person and not just some icon."

"Mmhmm." Holt mumbled as he thought about what she had said. "You do understand that I respect you, right?"

"In you own little way, I know." Shepard chuckled with a sigh. "In your own, refreshing little way, you make me feel like Jane Shepard and not just Commander Shepard."

"Well, I live to serve, Commander."

"Ass." She laughed while hitting him on his shoulder. Holt wondered if a relationship with Shepard would be bad for his health considering how much she was hitting him. They fell into another comfortable silence until it was broken by a third party.

"Mr Holt, Mr Donnelly has asked me to remind you that you were needed down in engineering 43 minutes ago." EDI's voice came through on his omni-tool.

"Oh right..." Holt groaned.

"You promised to meet up with someone else in the middle of our date?" Shepard asked in mock hurt.

"To be fair, I tried to hook up with Daniels. They must've misunderstood."

"Ass." Shepard said with a smirk as Holt sat up on the side of the bed. "Looking for something?" She asked as she must've noticed his confused frown.

"I could've sworn I was wearing underwear when I entered this room last night..."

"Checked the fish tank?"

"Only socks in there."

"Wanna borrow one of mine?"

"... Is this step one in your plan for getting me to wear a skirt?" Holt mumbled as he stood up and began searching the room. Meanwhile, Shepard had wrapped herself in the blanket and sat up while observing his search with a smirk on her face. "You're not gonna help, are you?" Holt asked after a few moments.

"How would you finding your underwear benefit me?" She asked just as Holt found the damn thing under the table. Deciding not to try and figure out how it had ended up there, he instead waved it towards Shepard with a smug smile on his face. "... Congratulations?" Shepard asked with a laugh as Holt began to get dressed. The socks in the fish tank would have to be salvaged later.

"Mr Holt, Mr Donnelly has asked me to remind you that you were needed down in engineering 45 minutes ago." Holt let out a sigh and was about to acknowledge the message just as Shepard took a hold of his omni-tool.

"Tell Donnelly that Holt will be down there in about 15 minutes."

"Roger that, Commander Shepard." EDI answered back while Holt looked over towards the woman on the bed with an evil smirk on her face.

"I'm not Joker. I can actually manage to get from one end of the ship to the other in less than a day, you know?" Holt reminded Shepard as she got up from the bed, blanket the only thing covering her body. "I can actually get there in less than two minutes."

"Not if you'll have a shower first." Shepard whispered as she went past him towards the bathroom, letting the blanket fall just before the door. She looked back towards him with a wink before she was out of view.

"Good point..." Holt chuckled as his underwear was once again thrown away to be lost in the Captain's quarters.