The Normandy was due to dock at the Citadel at 1300 hours. Shepard planned to leave only a skeleton crew on board and let the rest of the crew out on shore leave until 2330 hours. That would allow just enough time to resupply the ship in preparation for its next stop at Feros.

Shepard spent the morning at the desk in her quarters with a pot of coffee (and a rapidly emptying bowl of sugar - she liked her coffee strong and sweet), making all the necessary arrangements for staffing and finalizing the supply requisitions. Her mind kept drifting back to the previous night. If she let her eyes close, she could remember the taste of Ashley's lips on her own, the feel of Ashley's hair in her hands, and the look of desire in Ashley's eyes. The distraction was definitely making her work take longer than it should have, but she couldn't say that she minded too much.

Shepard did, however, want to get everything squared away so that she could take a bit of shore leave of her own. She had a girl that she owed a drink to, and she didn't intend to disappoint.

By mid-afternoon the commander had approved everything that needed to be approved and responded to whatever correspondence required response. She had reviewed all the intelligence available on the situation on Feros, sketching out preliminary strategies for the mission objectives. By now, the majority of the crew were on the Citadel, leaving just Shepard and a few necessary staff behind.

Shepard stood at her closet, stretching her neck from side to side until she felt a satisfying crack. She didn't own much outside of her standard military issue, and most of the rest bore the N7 logo. She fished around until she found a pair of faded blue jeans, then continued the search for something to wear with them. She located a dark gray tank top that she knew set off her green eyes and red hair, not bothering with a bra. The jeans and shirt hugged her body in all the right places, emphasizing her toned backside and lean, muscular arms. She finished the ensemble off with her silver-tipped cowboy boots and black leather jacket. After stopping to run a quick brush through her thick hair, she set off to Flux to buy a girl a drink.

OoOoO

Williams started her day off with a workout in the gym (a real one, not a "waiting for Shepard to show up in the middle of the night" workout"), followed by a hearty breakfast, filling her plate with eggs and hash browns. From there, she headed to the storage area to check over her armor and sniper rifle. Satisfied that everything was in proper order, she looked through her foot locker for something suitable to wear on shore leave. Although she knew she looked plenty good in her compression tee, she didn't think that was exactly date-wear.

Ashley found an off-white, low-cut V-neck tee and paired it with snug black jeans. She added black motorcycle boots and a studded leather belt. She decided to wear her hair down - she got the feeling that Shepard liked it that way. She left the ship shortly before dinner time, hoping to take a quick walk along the Presidium lake before hopefully meeting Shepard at the club.

OoOoO

By the time Shepard reached Flux, it was near 1930 hours. She'd hoped that she hadn't left Ashley waiting too long - she wasn't sure exactly what a good time to meet was. She stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the club, wondering what her plan was for the night. Step 1 was to buy Williams a drink. Step 2 was to buy Williams another drink. From there, the plan got a bit fuzzy.

It occurred to her that she should probably try not to be too obvious about this being a date, since there would likely be other crew members enjoying themselves there. She wasn't ready for this to be the subject of shipboard scuttlebutt just yet. She didn't even know what was going on with Williams at this point - she certainly didn't want the rest of the crew dissecting it before she had it figured out. She would need to mention this to Williams, and hope that she didn't take it the wrong way.

Shepard straightened her jacket and took the stairs two at a time to reach the club, nodding at the bouncer as she headed in.

Much to her relief, she spotted Williams at a table in the corner. Garrus and Tali were sitting with her, and they all laughed at something Garrus said. Shepard headed first to the bar, ordering two bourbons. Drinks in hand, she made her way to the corner table.

Ashley noticed her approach. Smiling broadly at Shepard, she indicated the empty chair next to her. Shepard set the drinks down on the table. "Thought you might enjoy a taste of home, Chief." She didn't want to give the quarian and turian any reason to suspect her motives might be more personal in nature.

"Much appreciated, Commander," came the reply, along with a wink that only Shepard could see. Garrus and Tali greeted Shepard, and then Garrus continued his story. As best as Shepard could tell, it had something to do with a C-Sec investigation into fish missing from the Presidium lake whenever a particular Krogan ship docked at the Citadel. It was hard to keep track of the tale when Ashley's shirt was cut so low. Shepard's eyes kept returning to Williams' cleavage. When she wasn't checking out the chief's chest, she was fascinated by the way Ashley's long fingers played with the rim of her bourbon glass. She had remarkably beautiful hands despite, or even maybe because of, the callouses that came from years of military service.

A short time later, Garrus and Tali excused themselves to see if they could find some turian brandy, leaving Shepard and Williams alone at the table.

"So. . . come here often?" ventured Shepard with what she hoped was her most charming smile.

Ashley ducked her head and laughed. "Only when I hear that there might be some good-looking marines on shore leave, ma'am." Ashley couldn't suppress a grin when she playfully added the "ma'am".

"You look. . . amazing, Ashley. I'd probably start groping you right now if I could, but I think we might want to avoid providing any gossip fodder to the crew for now, if that's okay with you."

"No worries. . . it's a good idea. I was thinking the same thing. And thanks. You look pretty damn good yourself. By the way, that jacket looks much better over clothes than it does over pajamas."

"Smartass." With that, Shepard signaled to the barkeep for another round of bourbon.

Ashley and Shepard each sat back and enjoyed their drinks, listening to the music, chatting and people-watching. Mostly Shepard was admiring the view right in front of her. She was finding it difficult to not reach out and touch Ashley. When she thought she could stand it no more, she leaned over to Ashley, and in a low growl said, "Ash, I know it's still early, but I'm going to head back to my quarters." Williams turned to her with her brows lowered in disappointment. Shepard continued, "The crew isn't due back on board for a couple more hours, so I'm sure nobody would notice if you happened to join me." Ashley raised one eyebrow at the implication and nodded her assent.

Shepard quickly rose, putting on the jacket she'd removed earlier, and made her way to the nearest transport to head back to the Normandy. She didn't need to look behind her to know that Williams was following behind her, keeping a respectable distance but most definitely in a hurry.

OoOoO

Williams headed to Flux a bit early. Better safe than sorry. She found a table in the corner, and ordered a beer. She rejected a pass by Alenko, sending him off to find another target. She was soon joined by Garrus and Tali. They turned out to be remarkably good company.

Then she saw Shepard. She was wearing her leather jacket atop some wonderfully form-fitting jeans. But it was the cowboy boots that did Ashley in. There was nothing sexier than a woman in cowboy boots. She watched Shepard walk over to the bar. The woman was all confidence and swagger. Although Shepard didn't notice it, Ashley could see dozens of pairs of eyes following the commander as she walked through the club.

At that point, Ashley became suddenly self-conscious that she was sitting there with two crew members. It was much too early in the relationship (is that what this is?) for them to acknowledge anything in front of the crew. And Williams wasn't sure what, exactly, they would be acknowledging. She'd have to figure out a way to convey that to Shepard.

As it turned out, she didn't need to say anything to her. Shepard sat a glass of bourbon in front of her, addressing her as "Chief." That told her Shepard had a similar idea, so Ashley happily played along. Garrus continued his story about fish and Krogan and something, but Ashley only registered bits of it. Shepard had taken off her jacket, and underneath was a tight, dark tank top. Ashley was distracted by the curves of Shepard's breasts beneath the tank. She noticed that Shepard was obviously without a bra, allowing her to enjoy their natural appearance. My first impression about those was right - they are completely wasted under her armor. The sleeveless shirt emphasized the lean muscles of Shepard's shoulders and arms.

Eventually it was just the two of them at the table. After a flirty greeting that she was unable to use before, Shepard confirmed what Ashley had also thought - that they try to keep their private lives private. Ashley took the opportunity to tease Shepard a bit, and then the two just sat and enjoyed another drink together.

It was still early in the evening when Shepard suddenly leaned over to Ashley and announced she was leaving. At first Ashley only heard the sexy growl, but then the words registered in her brain. She looked at Shepard, disappointed that the night was over too soon. But then Shepard clarified that Ashley could join her, and Ashley quickly signaled that she would.

The two made their way back to the Normandy separately, but quickly.