2185 CE - Citadel, Wards


She hadn't answered him yet, he thought sombrely as he adjusted the strap of his pack on his shoulder. Not that he really expected her to; he'd been almost too clear on Horizon about where they stood but after he got that drunken mumble of an apology and ten minutes of her snoring, he was sure she'd be more willing to open something he'd send.

But... she hadn't even read the damned thing yet. He frowned, irked she was avoiding him, he checked every day to see if the read-receipt had been sent back but there was nothing. Maybe Cerberus had intercepted his message and not delivered it. No, he'd taken all possible precautions to ensure it was delivered.

She was just... avoiding it.

He wasn't even sure what that meant, Shepard never avoided anything. He blinked, realising his own lie. No, she avoided a lot of emotional things, things that showed her weakness, and he knew she'd admitted once to him that he was her weakness. He sighed – maybe she was trying to show Cerberus he didn't matter anymore by ignoring him.

It was working. He certainly didn't feel important, and he deserved it.

He walked off the transport from Inta'sei, heading to the next one to catch his next ride to Grissom Academy, cutting through the Wards of the Citadel. He pressed his lips together tightly as the crowd of people almost overwhelmed him. He hated busy places and he knew the wards were oftentimes in that state but this was ridiculous.

He politely pushed his way through, looking at the time on his omni-tool to make sure he'd make the transport on time, not that it mattered, it was waiting for him anyways and wouldn't leave without him. The further into the wards he travelled, the more people seemed to be compressed in the small spaces, which really irritated him.

He moved closer to the walls, trying to give himself more room and he wondered what the hell was going on to have so many people here. Then he heard it.

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite store on the Citadel."

Kaidan frowned, not sure he heard it right because there was something strange about the voice, there was more than one and they were all off by a few seconds. It sounded like an army of Shepards had taken over the wards. He took a moment to really look around.

People were lined up all the way outside in almost every store, there was a large flickering poster of Shepard with her Widow across her shoulders, winking at passersby on the advertisement poles but she had this grin on her face. The one he recognized the most when she was pleased with herself, when something particularly clever was going her way. He shook his head, leaning it back against the wall, his omni-tool beeping with a priority message.

He felt his shoulder shake with laughter, she hadn't changed much, from what he could see with this little stunt, she still stirring up shit where ever she could and by the annoyed look of that asari vendor on the other side, who's shop was completely empty, she'd manage to piss a few people off at the same time.

"Alenko here," he eyed the poster again, that grin stirring all sorts of memories in him.

"Major, we're waiting on you," Anderson's voice brought his attention back to reality, he nodded at his commanding officer before turning his omni-tool towards the wards, the chaos far more comical than was intended.

"Did you see this, Anderson?"

"Yes, the complaints are stacking up on Udina's desk, which is why you need to hurry up before I get called back in to deal with Shepard's little prank."

"On my way ASAP, we wouldn't want that now, sir," Kaidan grinned, turning off the omni-tool and quickly made his way through the crowd. At least her sense of humour was still intact.