Chapter 41: Shore Leave?


Serpent Nebula, Widow, Citadel, SSV Normandy.

April 3rd, 2185. 8:00 am. EST

Insistent beeping, along with a raging headache, was the first things Jordan's senses experiences as consciousness returned to him. He groaned as his muscles slowly began to respond, moving his arms and legs slowly in opposite directions. His arms made their way to cover his eyes as he began to register the light coming in through the window, as his legs made their way to the hard ground next to the couch, trying to get a stable hold on things as he rose from a laying position.

Slowly but surely, Jordan rose to support his upper body on the back of the couch, with both feet planted firmly on the ground. He gave it a moment, while the annoying beeping continued, before finally allowing gravity to take hold of his arms, dropping them to his side. From there, his eyes gently opened up, forcing him so recoil at the light burning his retinas. After a moment, the light's harshness seemed to dim a bit, allowing the newly awakened Avatar to see the status of the lounge. As he did so, the obnoxious beeping died down.

Looking a bit to the side, Jordan saw Jack lying on the ground with her back supported by the side of a couch. Her head was dipped down as her right hand held a half-empty bottle of amber liquid. Upon closer examination, it appeared to be the whiskey bottle Zaeed was drinking last night. It looked emptier than when he last remembered seeing it.

Further to the side of the room by the bar, laid Garrus, laying prone on top of the bar. His suit was stained from various drinks, which were no longer glowing as far as Jordan could tell. One of the chairs by the bar appeared to be sheered in half. Examining the status of the Turian a bit more from his vantage point, the Avatar could make out what appeared to be a bottle of Turian brandy, completely drained. Where there was one, there was likely more…

On the other side of the room was Brian on another couch, sprawled out in all sorts of uncomfortable positions. There were marker marks across his face in black, creating the illusion of a full beard and mustache, along with a nice pair of newly drawn angry eyebrows. He, like the other inhabitants, were still sound asleep. However, unlike the other two he'd seen, a blanket was draped over him, as if someone cared enough about the man in an alcohol-induced slumber to make him slightly more comfortable… only slightly, though.

Finally, he spotted the final current occupant of the room, who unlike the others was awake. Kasumi Goto, master thief extraordinaire, and all-around sneaky manipulator, was currently sitting in a chair between the two sofas, a closed physical book in her lap as she watched Jordan with a grin, like always. She seemed to be suffering no ill-effects of a hangover, and had likely gotten away from the so-called party scot-free. When his eyes focused on her, she let out a light laugh and shook her head.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Mister Sower." She said, "How'd you sleep?" She asked innocently. He didn't reply, giving her all the answer she needed. Deciding to be nice, she got up from her chair and handed Jordan some medicine. "Here, snagged some hangover cure from Hialus and Chakwas."

Jordan nodded in thanks as he swallowed the medicine, "Thanks. So…" He trailed off, motioning toward the rest of the room. "What'd I miss last night?"

"The real question is: how much do you remember?" Kasumi replied.

Jordan shrugged, "Up until Garrus started pouring the ryncol…" Jordan trailed off, "What happened with all of that?"

Kasumi giggled, "My, my, was that a fun game." She started, "You, Shep, Jack, Brian, Zaeed, and Tela all started off fairly strong, but it quickly became obvious who was better suited to win. Brian started to slow down after the second shot, and was probably going to lose first." She said, "Then, out of nowhere, Jack just slumps over and passes out."

"Jack?" He questioned, turning his head to look at the still passed out biotic. "But her metabolism should've lasted longer than that." Jordan reasoned.

"Normally, yes. But, as it turns out, she'd swiped Zaeed's bottle from earlier and was drinking it between rounds. By the end of round three, everything caught up with her." Kasumi shot back, "Plus, you should have seen how much she'd had before the competition."

"Damn. Guess she owes us all drinks and a bottle to whoever won." Jordan said with a grin.

"Well, actually, Zaeed agreed to help her out, reasoning that Jack would've drunk them all under the table if she hadn't started early." She said, "Though, I'm sure that's just an excuse. Between you and me, I think he's got a soft spot for Jack." She said with a grin, "I think he said he'd buy the rounds, but she'd gotta get the bottle."

Jordan chuckled under his breath, "Alright, I can see that. What happened next?"

"Alright, so all of that happened between rounds three and four, with Brian checking out in the middle of the fourth round. Zaeed, after seeing the first two go down, voluntarily took fourth place and conceded. And then there were three."

Jordan and Kasumi both smiled, before the former interrupted the story again, "Speaking of Brian and Zaeed… what happened to them when they lost?" He asked, motioning especially toward the former, who was still passed out with marks adorning his face.

"Shep carried him to the couch, where I had a little fun." She said with a shrug, "And Zaeed stayed to watch the show until he left at the end."

Jordan nodded, allowing the thief to continue.

"So, now it was just you, Shep, and Tela. It got way further than we thought it'd go, but you checked out between rounds five and six." She motioned toward where he's woken up. "You were sitting on the couch with your arms behind the back, just relaxing. It'd been a few minutes since round five, and six was about to start thanks to Garrus, when we noticed you'd silently passed out, sitting up right there." She let out a small laugh, "It was kinda funny actually, some of us thought you'd actually make it to the end. But it was not to be." She said with a dramatic sigh.

"I get it, I get it." Jordan said, raising his arms in surrender, "So now it was just down to Shepard and Tela. Neither of which are still here." He pointed out.

"You'd be right. Good job!" She said with a grin, "It was neck and neck, and Tela was visibly slowing down on round eight. Shepard looked like he was going to win, when the unthinkable happened…" She trailed off, leaving the anticipation to build for a moment.

"What?"

"His girlfriend happened." She said with a huge grin, as Jordan's eye widened, "Liara came back over, seeing how far the whole thing had gotten, and chastised Shepard, telling him that the game was unfair and one-sided in his favor. Of course, Tela still had enough sense to ask Liara." Kasumi said, "Turns out, Liara had seen the details of the Lazarus project, and Shepard not only has three times the purifying/detox rate of a normal human for alcohol, but he'd also not had any drinks prior to the contest."

Jordan shook his head, "He cheated?! That bastard…"

"Exactly Tela's thoughts. Shepard, though, conceded his position and granted Tela the win, which made her calm down quite quickly. The game ended there, Liara escorted Shep back to his room, Zaeed and Ashley left right after, and the rest of you who weren't already passed out went to sleep."

"What happened to Garrus, then?" He asked.

"Little Garrus decided to finish off the glasses he'd poured that no one else drank. Zaeed's, Jack's, Brian's, and your own unused shots went to him, totaling in four. Compound that with the bit he'd been drinking in the end, and… well, I'm sure you get it. Hey, did you know that Turians and Quarians are able to consume ryncol. It's so potent, that it doesn't matter what you're made it, it'll still screw you up just the same." She said with a grin.

Chuckling, Jordan nodded, "I did know that, but thanks. I do have two last, unanswered questions, though…"

"Fire away, Avatar."

"First of all, what was with that beeping that woke me up?"

"Oh, that?" Kasumi said, "EDI was supposed to get you up since we're at the Citadel. You, Tela, and Shep have an appointment with the Executor. Something about a progress report and allowing you to go around the Citadel."

Jordan cursed under his breath, "Forgot I had to do that. Guess I've gotta get ready then."

"Didn't you have a second question, Jordan?" She asked with her grin, "Something else that you wanted to know?" It was almost as if she knew what he was going to ask, and that said answer was funny in some way…

"Yeah, what happened to Tela after the game? You didn't say she left with everyone, but you didn't say that she passed out, either…"

Kasumi let out a giggle, pulling up her omni-tool and typing on it, "She left early this morning to return to her room and get ready. She was too tired last night to go anywhere, so she stayed right where she was, sitting next to you, and slept." Jordan was confused for a second. He had ended up laying down, hadn't he? Reading his thoughts, Kasumi finished whatever she was doing and closed her omni-tool. A half-second later, Jordan received a message. Before pulling it up to view it, since it was a photo file, she added, "It's a shame she didn't stay longer…"

And with that, she went back to whatever she was doing, allowing Jordan to pull up the picture.

It was a photo of Jordan laying down on the couch he'd woken up on. However, on top of him laid Tela Vasir, her face buried into Jordan's chest and her frills stretching toward the ceiling. One arm was tucked out of sight, likely into the cushions behind them, while the other was laying beneath her, holding onto Jordan's shoulder. The Spectre's legs were coiled up slightly, hugging lightly onto Jordan's body on either side, seemingly straddling him. He, himself, has a small sleeping smile on his face.

There was a small message left by Kasumi attached to the message: 'You two look so cute!'

Jordan couldn't help the smile nor the blush that rapidly spawning onto his face as he took in all the details of the picture. Saving it immediately to his omni-tool, Jordan immediately stood up perfectly straight, turned to the side, and left the room to get ready. Muttering a quick, embarrassed "Thanks." Under his breath as he left.

Kasumi's smile became soft and small for a moment, silently happy for Jordan and Tela. She looked over to Brian's sleeping face and shook her head. She knew they were hiding a lot, and she'd only scratched the surface with what she'd noticed so far, but she couldn't help but trust them in at least some small capacity.

'Especially Brian, he was quite fun to mess with, after all…', She thought with a soft smile, allowing a small blush to reach her cheeks too. She'd never admit that she'd been snuggled atop Brian last night, too…


Serpent Nebula, Widow, Citadel, SSV Normandy.

April 3rd, 2185. 9:22 am. EST

Jordan grumbled as he exited the elevator, stepping out onto the second deck. He was now dressed in some blue jeans and a red shirt, reading 'Give me Coffee or give me death', which was promptly covered by a black jacket. As the shirt suggested, he'd just downed two cups of coffee before going in the elevator, his headache now nearly gone thanks to the medicine that Kasumi has 'obtained' for him.

In other news, by the time Jordan had gotten up on deck, he'd already heard the murmurings about Agent Messner. His escort of Cerberus Agents outside of the Normandy were refused, as Shepard decided that simply handing the man back over to the Illusive Man wasn't a smart decision. The Illusive Man, of course, had contacted both Shepard and Miranda about the incident but was unable to convince the Commander otherwise. In all honesty, though Jordan wasn't sure, he was fairly confident that Shepard was going to eventually hand him over to the Alliance. Meanwhile, waiting for Jordan outside the elevator was Tela Vasir and John Shepard, both speaking with one another before noticing Jordan.

"…longer is it going to be?" Shepard said.

"I dunno, I'm sure he's nearly-." Her eyes darted to the side and locked onto Jordan, causing the two Spectres to turn and face him, "Speaking of Jordan…"

"Sup." He said with a small smile.

"It's about time you showed up." Shepard said with his arms crossed, "I was afraid we'd have to drag you up here."

"Sorry, sorry." Jordan apologized, "So, we ready?"

"Let's go!" Shepard nodded.


Serpent Nebula, Widow, Citadel, Presidium, Executor's Office.

April 3rd, 2185. 9:58 am. EST

A short walk later and the group of three soon arrived at the Executor's office. Not bothering to obscure his face, Jordan wasn't recognized by anyone aside from a handful of C-Sec Officers, including Bailey at the checkpoint. However, thanks to the warning and news from the Council, they didn't hassle him too much. He'd apologized to Bailey for everything he'd previously, but he waved it off, simply telling him that as long as no extra work was given to him because of him, he'd consider it water under the bridge.

Much like the games when Legion was brought onto the Citadel, most people ignored him. Though, Jordan knew since this was all real now, there'd be no way the Geth would be safe and unassuming on the Citadel.

Regardless, after standing outside for just a moment, the door opened to allow them inside. Sitting across from them at his desk was Executor Pallin, with a guarded expression. Though, to be fair, most Turians appeared guarded… or was that just that they were guarded toward him?

Veneri Pallin leaned forward slightly and greeted them with tact, despite not being a hundred percent supportive of Spectres, "Spectre Vasir, Spectre Shepard."

"Executor." Tela replied simply with a nod, "It's been a while."

"That is has." Replied the Executor.

"You know why we're here?" Shepard asked.

"Of course, Commander. I was the first to be informed that this responsibility would be thrust upon me." He said with a detectable amount of disdain, "So, as per your agreement when you were released into Spectre custody, I must ask the three of you to sit down and ask some questions." He said professionally, muttering under his breath, "Get this done as quickly as possible…", which only Jordan barely caught.

Going over to the side, they each grabbed a seat and sat down in front of the desk. Once seated, Pallin pressed a holographic button on his deck, which caused the light to dim slightly as a shutter closed behind him, "Any and everything you say in this room will be recorded, as per Council agreement, but will not be shared outside of a need-to-know basis. A live-feed of this is being broadcast to each of the Councilors in the event that they wish to watch. Do you understand?" he said in a neutral tone.

The three of them all said yes.

"Good, so we'll start with what happened after your release into their custody, Mr. Sower." Pallin began, "One galactic standard day later, there was an incident on the Presidium. Several diversionary attacks occurred across the Presidium by the Talons in order to distract C-Sec while they raided the Olympus Hotel. Eyewitnesses and vid-footage put you at the scene, Jordan."

Shepard chose to speak up and respond, "I was notified by Councilor Anderson about the situation, and brought a team to stop the Talon attack. Spectre Vasir and I both had Jordan Sower accompany us for the mission, and was nothing less than helpful."

The Executor nodded, "Yes, both you and Spectre Vasir were both confirmed to be accompanying him, not breaching the agreement. I would question why you chose to bring him along for the mission, but that is not important." He told them, "Following the incident, the Normandy left the Citadel by the next day, and left the Widow System. What happened on your mission next?"

Vasir replied, "Shepard continued his investigation into the Collectors. Not once did Jordan leave the ship without an escort from one of us."

Pallin nodded, "Good. Moving on, just as Jordan agreed, a Geth representative soon came to the Citadel. I was in charge of maintaining security. Any information to add about your representative?"

Jordan now replied, "The Geth and I all agree that Prime was the optimal choice. He'd had an interest in both other species and the Galactic governments."

Begrudgingly, Pallin agreed, "The Geth was polite, and made things very easy for us. The same cannot be said for the Migrant Fleet… Let's skip forward, now. A few days after his release, there was an alleged Collector attack on the colony of Ferris Fields. There was an intercepted call from Jordan Sower to representative Prime."

Jordan's eyes widened, "You listened in?"

The Executor gave him a blank look, "Geth communication aboard the Citadel, remember. Despite being cooperative, Prime didn't have a single square inch of it not on camera at all times."

Shepard spoke up, "I asked Jordan to call the Geth." He interjected, "We needed more than just one small Frigate to save a colony."

"Regardless, a Geth fleet appeared at Ferris Field hours after the call." Pallin said, "I will confirm that the contents of Jordan's message were innocent in nature, but the fact that the Geth responded so quickly is cause for concern for the Council."

Frowning, Jordan shifted, "The Geth are on our side. They've been scouring the galaxy to try to stop the Reapers and Collectors, and happened to be close by."

Sighing, the Turian nodded slowly, "According to Prime's testimony, your story checks out. Regardless, the Council was not comfortable with this aggressive move on the Geth's behalf toward-"

Shepard sat up straight at that, "All due respect Executor and Councilors," He began, looking quickly into one of the cameras, "The Geth were the only reason Ferris Fields still exists. If the Geth did not help, I'd hate to imagine how many would have been lost." Jordan could almost see the paragon interrupt while he spoke, and hear the sound effect, "Admiral Hackett and Councilor Anderson can both attest to how helpful they'd been. Hell, we just saved Fehl Prime, and the Geth arrived to help us take care of them by the end."

The Executor seemed caught off-guard by the interrupt and at a loss for words for a moment, before his head tilted slightly. It appeared one of the Councilors was speaking with him, or maybe more than one. He replied after a moment.

"I apologize, Commander. You must understand from our point of view, but that was not the point of this." He said, "That takes care of the questions for Fehl Prime. Let's move a bit further, though. After the events on Ferris Fields, the Normandy was logged going through a few different relays, entering Geth Space for a period of time."

Tela nodded, "The Geth had notified us that there'd been an incident with the Quarians."

That finally got a visible response from the Executor in the form of a wince. Jordan could hear what sounded like distant shouting in the Turian's 'ears'. It sounded like Sparatus wasn't happy. After a moment, the Executor nodded to himself and spoke up, "Before we go further, the Council would like me to notify you that this is the first they'd heard of such an incident."

Jordan scoffed, "The Quarians weren't going to tell you. They got caught with their hand in the cookie jar."

Pallin's blank face showed he had no idea what that meant. "What happened?"

The Avatar of Synthesis nodded, "The Quarians had attempted, utilizing a prototype vessel, to spy on the Geth Collective within Geth space. During their attempt, they were discovered and apprehended by Geth soldiers, and kept on the planet of Haestrom."

The Executor seemed genuinely shocked, "The Quarians made a move on the Geth? The Council has forbidden such hostile actions against the Geth. Can you prove this?"

Jordan nodded, "I can get the Collective to send the appropriate data and files to Prime and the Council." He told them, "The Geth, though, seeing this move against them, took them all alive."

"Why?" 'Such spies would normally be locked away forever or executed.' Went unsaid by the Executor, but was implied.

Jordan frowned at the Executor, "The moment the Quarians were confirmed dead, the Migrant Fleet would have come before the Council and blamed the Geth. And who would the Council side with?" He asked rhetorically, "So, they needed to return all of the captured Quarians alive to the Migrant Fleet. They wouldn't report the incident to the Council in that case, because they'd be seen as the aggressor."

Pallin listened more to what the Council was saying before nodding, "We'd like to review the evidence for such an accusation before coming to a conclusion. Please, continue with your involvement."

Jordan nodded, taking a moment to send out a definitely monitored message to Prime to request the evidence of the event from the Collective. "Legion, the Geth leader onsite at Ferris Fields, requested that Shepard come and retrieve the Quarians from Geth custody and send them back. The Geth Collective was debating on what to do and how to do it, so they were split on the issue and needed a trusted third-party to help."

The Executor nodded, "And I assume it all went well?"

Shepard nodded, "Each of the detained Quarians were returned to their homes." He said, not technically lying since Tali considered the Normandy her home.

Executor Pallin nodded, "Shelving that problem for another day, there's one other location we'd like to discuss. You were seen on Illium in a multitude of locations, involved in a few… altercations, shall we say?"

Shepard nodded, "Our investigations led us to Illium. We recruited more crewmembers on Illium, including Justicar Samara." He name-dropped, most definitely catching Councilor Tevos' attention. "She can vouch for Jordan, and has aided in watching over him."

The room fell into silence for a moment before Pallin nodded to himself as the Councilors spoke. He frowned for a moment before sighing, "The Council would like to amend their agreement with the three of you." He said begrudgingly, holding their attention, "Due to good behavior, Jordan and the Geth's cooperation, and the progress with Geth negotiations, the Council will allow Jordan to be on the Citadel with only one Spectre watching him. Spectre Vasir, the Council would like to offer you freedom from this assignment."

The three of them were shocked for a moment, before Tela laid back a bit in her chair with a small smile, "Thanks, but no thanks." She said with a grin, "I've seen Shepard's mission, and can say with absolute certainty that I'm all aboard." She turned to Shepard, "If you'll still have me, Commander, I'd like to keep our partnership going."

'In other words, her loyalty was achieved.' Jordan thought to himself.

Shepard smiled, nodding, "Of course, Spectre Vasir, I could use your expertise."

Shocked by this other revelation, Pallin finally nodded, "Very well. The Council looks forward to the next update." With that, the Executor pressed another holographic icon and the shutters opened back up. With the light back and the door now unlocked, he nodded, "Thank you for your cooperation, Spectres." He paused for a moment, "And Sower, stay out of trouble, will you? Don't make the Council or I regret this."


Serpent Nebula, Widow, Citadel, Presidium, Voniferus Café.

April 3rd, 2185. 11:49 am. EST

Jordan sat back in the slightly-comfortable metal chair under the artificial sun, sipping on the hot cup of Raelli'vu Narvhalnic. He smiled as the coffee-like yet slightly fruity beverage glided down his throat, warming his soul Letting out a small sigh of relief and happiness, Jordan turned to Tela, who was trying to hold back a laugh as she held a cup of straight black coffee.

Jordan chuckled and shrugged, "What? I can't remember when I last had one of these amazing drinks, it's been ages. Especially from this café…"

Tela Vasir shook her head, "You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" She said, before taking a sip of her coffee, "I really like how the first thing you want to do after Shepard sends us on our way is to come here."

Shrugging again, Jordan took another sip, "It's good, sue me."

Taking another sip, the Spectre looked around the surrounding Presidium for a moment before letting out an audible sigh, "There are worse places for a first date, I suppose." She said in mock disappointment.

Caught completely off-guard, Jordan began to violently cough as the warm liquid entered his lungs. He coughed and hacked for a moment trying to calm himself as Tela burst into laughter, her façade on her face cracking immediately.

As Jordan finally got his breathing under control, Tela spoke while he glared, "You should have seen the look on your face." She said in amusement, "Awww, are you embarrassed?" She asked as red blood flooded into his cheeks, creating a blush, "You're so adorable."

"And you, Miss Vasir, are an asshole." He replied while trying to remove the blush from his face.

"Aw, don't be that way, Jordan." She said with a wide grin, "I'm just kidding… or am I?" She asked him with a shrug, "Who knows?"

"I'm sure I know someone who does…" He muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" He replied quickly, though she'd likely heard him perfectly.

"Now hurry up, it's shore leave time. Let's go hit the shops and bars."

"Speaking of drinking, when's the meet-up at Darkstar?"

Tela took a moment to think, tapping a finger to her chin, "Well, with Shepard busy with Krios with whatever's going on with him, I'd rule tonight out. There was talk last night about doing it tomorrow night. Gives Jack extra time to get me my bottle." She finished with a proud grin.

"A little birdy told me that Shepard almost cheated you out of your win." Jordan replied with a chuckle.

Tela's eyes narrowed, "What does that even… you know what, nevermind, sounds stupid." She said, ignoring the nonsensical human saying, "But yeah, that bastard had the gall to try and cheat last night." She said with a light smile, "I owe Liara a drink for that. He would've gotten away with it had she not… what's the human saying for that?" She paused for a moment, curious.

"Being thrown under the bus?" Jordan said with a grin.

Vasir couldn't help the stupid grin from growing on her face, "I swear to the goddess… sure, she had thrown him under the metaphorical bus."

"Yeah, that works." He said with a chuckle.

"Stupid fucking human metaphors. Speak Standard already, will you? Never had any of those stupid sayings back on Thessia."

"Must've been a terrible upbringing."

"Whatever." She said with an eye-roll, "No matter what, though, I'm going to get Shepard back for that stunt."

"At least you won in the end, right? That's what matters, isn't it?"

"It's more than that, it's the principle!" Tela shot back instantly with a small grin.

They soon lapsed into a comfortable silence, before Jordan got a quick idea after recalling her causing him embarrassment a few moments ago. He pulled up the picture that Kasumi had taken and sent to him, and prepared to send it to Tela.

"Hey Tela, I've got a question for you."

"Sure, shoot." She said with a shrug.

"Could you do me a favor and explain this?" He asked, sending the picture to her. Her omni-tool went off, so she opened the message to display a holographic image. There, in plain view, was a photo of Tela Vasir holding onto Jordan as they both slept in the Kasumi's room. Her playful expression on her face quickly deteriorated as her eyes scanned the image in its entirety.

Her face flooded with purple blood, darkening her blue skin at Mach speeds, as her eyelids pulled further back leaving wide eyes. Her small smile fell into an open jaw, as she immediately closed her omni-tool and making the interface vanish. Her eyes jumped up to look into Jordan's before her blush deepened further. Both of the Spectre's hands raced to her face to shield herself from Jordan's gaze. Jordan couldn't help the victorious chuckle that rose from his throat as Tela groaned.

"Oh goddess…" She groaned out in embarrassment. "How did you… when did… You weren't supposed to…" She stuttered out, before her hands fell away and left narrowed eyes revealed. She grits her teeth and her mouth forms a frown, "That stupid thief!" She realized, "When I get my hands on her, I'm gonna-."

Jordan reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, Spectre. No need to make a scene in public." He said with a grin, "Though, back to the picture, it looked like you were pretty comfortable last night, Tela."

She narrowed her eyes to glare at Jordan, but the violent blush on her face took away from the intimidation factor she tried to utilize. "Fuck you…" She muttered out unconvincingly. He couldn't help but laugh at how adorable the normally fearsome Asari looked. He caught the thought, but didn't care and just laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, tough guy."

"Not so fun when it happens to you, huh?" He said with a grin, his hand falling from her shoulder and landing gently on her hand on the table. After a moment, his grin shrunk slightly, "Though, I do have to ask…"

Her eyes widen again, but not to the same extent as earlier, "No."

"C'mon, just tell me, Tela." He said, "It sounded like you were coherent enough to manage your way back to your room."

"…comfortable…" She mumbled, low enough in volume for Jordan to only catch one word.

"I'm sorry, what was that."

"You were comfortable, ok?!" She almost yelled out, but managed to quiet at the last second. Any blushing that had started to fade had returned with a fiery vengeance.

Sower was shocked for a moment, "What…?"

She looked away, trying not to make eye contact with the Avatar, "It was late and I was tired. I laid down, not caring where, and it was comfortable, so I stayed there and slept." She said, seemingly trying to convince herself that it was entirely accidental.

Jordan's smile turned warm, "Well, I had no complaints on the sleeping arrangement." He said.

She scoffed in response, "You weren't complaining for an hour prior. Hell, you weren't even conscious."

He laughed, shaking his head, "Did wake me up though, did you?" He asked, to which she shook her head.

"I was hoping you weren't going to know about that part. That I'd sneak out early enough, and I'd only have to bribe EDI to stay quiet. Of course, that thief had to have been awake for that…" She finished with a mumble.

Jordan shrugged, "Really, it's fine. I clearly didn't mind, and I still don't." She turned back and let out a quick laugh and small smile as she made eye contact with him.

"There you go, all better Vasir?" He asked.

"Yeah… I guess…"

They stared at one another for a moment, lost in one another's eyes before they simultaneously suddenly felt warmth in their hands. As one, the two of them looked down and noticed Jordan's right hand resting and holding her left. They looked back up and remade eye contact as a blush reformed on both of their faces. Jordan gently lifted his hand from hers and smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry about that." He let out in a whisper, though secretly didn't want to stop.

She let out a light giggle and shook her head, "It's fine." She said, also wishing it hadn't stopped.

The proceeding silence was slightly less comfortable, but wasn't overly awkward. A few minutes later, Jordan had finished his drink, as had Tela. Standing up, Jordan grabbed her cup and threw it away for her, gaining a quick smile in thanks. With that taken care of, they both stood up and looked around.

Finally, Tela broke the silence and spoke, her blush long gone. "So, now that you're free-ish, what's on your agenda?" She asked him, "There's so much to do here."

Jordan nodded, taking a moment to think, "I was thinking of visiting Prime in his pseudo-embassy-slash-office, but I think he's busy today, so I'll do that tomorrow. Any plans, yourself?"

"Nah. I'm stuck babysitting you anyway." She said with a grin.

"Shut up. Are you sure there's nothing?" he asked, not wanting to drag her around if she didn't want to be out there.

"Well… I've been thinking of doing some shopping to upgrade my shotgun." She mentioned, "Was going to hit Spectre Requisitions and a few other places. Maybe hit a few shops for some other things. Maybe even pick up a few bottles to restock Kasumi's."

Jordan shrugged, "Sounds good to me, you can lead the way."

"Really?" She asked with a false eyebrow raised, "You're cool with just walking around and shopping?"

"Yeah, I don't mind." He told her, "Plus, if you're going to help restock Kasumi's room, I can help you out with that."

"I'm sure you could…"

"Don't look at me like that, Tela."

"Sorry, whatever… well, if you're truly okay with that, then let's go…"

"Hey Tela…" He said causing her to pause before they left.

"Yeah?"

"If you pay for some drinks for me, I'll open the Rannoch Rum tonight with you." He offered.

Her eyes widened, and he could almost see the stars shining within them, "Deal!" She said with a wide grin, "You better not be shitting me, Sower. You know I've been dying for more."

"Hey, if you behave, maybe the Geth'll even gift you a bottle or two when we go to Rannoch."

She reached down and grabbed his hand, "Let's go, time's wasting!" She said, pulling him along as they made their way forward and away from the café. He couldn't help but laugh at the joy radiating from Tela and the ridiculousness of her weakness for the Qurian/Geth beverage.

'Confirmed: Perfect bribe material for Tela.' He thought with a grin, being half pulled along toward their first destination.


A/N:

Alrighty, there's the first chapter for the Shore Leave. Glad I managed to get this out fairly quickly compared to my long breaks fairly recently, so there's that! I loved, again, writing many parts of this, it was just fun to see and put some of these characters into certain situations.

Tela and Jordan's weird dynamic/relationship is growing even more. For those of you who have been waiting for this, do not worry. Real progress will be made over the next few chapters into their romance. In the second game, Loyalty Missions were important for LIs and romances, and they didn't really progress for Shepard until the Loyalty was completed for that person, so I'm drawing off of that idea. That's why it hasn't been super present until after Tela's mission.

I also forgot to add this in my last chapter's A/N, but I wanted to add this:

Thank you! To everyone who was extra supportive of me, my writing, and my recent 'break(s)'. These continued uploads are thanks to you guys. Thanks! Special shoutouts to: InfectedElite, leon. richardson, RedSigma, jmeson75, The One True Nobody, Blaze1992, and L3nNy. There were others who brightened my day, too, so thanks to everyone!

Extra special shoutout (Sarcasm) to the wonderful guest reviews and to KyonSmith13. I really needed those words of encouragement, and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to tell me your true feelings toward my story. I don't know if you'll find further time to read this, but I thank you for the kind words! (Still sarcasm.)

Anyway, next chapter will contain more, and will finally have the little Normandy Get-Together in the Dark Star Lounge. Hope you look forward to that. Lemme know what you think, and cya next time!

-swrWriter