As it turned out, Tali did, in fact, have time to squeeze in her saera when they returned to the apartment. And while there was a part of her that expected (and quietly feared) that their desire for this intimate physical contact would wane and diminish over time, for now it was seemingly unquenchable. Still with a little bit of time to kill, they were lying in bed, curled up against each other. John leaned his face into Tali's hair and inhaled deeply before releasing a satisfied sigh.
"You know you smell delicious, right?"
Looking away, even now still a little bashful, Tali muttered a quiet "keelah" before running her fingers along his chest.
"John," she began quietly, easily betraying how pensive she felt, "do you really think that I'll be able to…you know…get rid of this suit? Be able to go swimming with you? Take a real bath with you? Maybe hold your hand and feel your skin while we walk around the market shopping for some silly trinket or something? While I love the…sex, I would like the chance to feel you…you know…more often."
Before answering, he ran his fingers down her chest, gliding lightly over her skin before letting his fingers fiddle with the ring that was gently nestled between her supple breasts. She'd gotten into the habit of removing it from her suit's secret compartment and wearing it around her neck as intended. Gasping a little at the touch, with a smile she brought a hand around his wrist to rub her thumb across it.
His other hand rubbed at the base of her neck as he answered. "Well, I certainly do. I've seen firsthand what you're able to to do. Remember those upgrades you made to the Normandy shields?" Still rubbing his wrist, she nodded. "And that was just you, my dear. Well, Ken and Gabby, too…but you see my point. We have your entire people working on problems, now. And the…Geth gave you a hell of a head start."
Tali breathed a sigh. "I know, but this isn't an engineering thing, John. At least, not entirely. I just don't want our entire lives to be -"
His fingers left the necklace and he pressed them to her soft, slightly cool lips. "Wasted on worrying about your suit. Tal, think about it. Think about what we're doing here. You are naked, lying in my arms without fear of infection or a reaction. For now, it's just this room and just with me. But when our house is finished…?" His bondmate squirmed a bit in his arms, smiling. "I'm sure there's a decon unit big enough for the whole damn thing. And eventually?" His fingers pulled a lock of hair away from her beautifully-lit eyes, leaving his rhetorical question unanswered. "Well, I believe you still owe me a lot of sex. 'In every room' if I recall your claim correctly."
"Keelah, I haven't forgotten. You know I can't wait…"
"I know. But in the meantime," he gestured to their naked forms lying intertwined with each other, "is this enough?"
Tali leaned up, pressing her lips to his and emitting a low hum of pleasure and honest contentment. Her hands explored his chest, quickly running south. "Of course it is, saera. Just having you is enough, you know that. I'm sorry if I make it seem like…like it's not."
He said nothing in response, instead choosing to lower his lips to her head, drinking and basking in her scent and the feel of her hair against his skin. When he kissed her there, he did not pull away, and remained bathed in all of the sensations that this contact provided them.
Was it enough for now?
Keelah, yes.
"All right, so I have to ask: How did you all meet? I assume aboard the Neema, right?"
Their three guests glanced at each other, with Piara gesturing to Hulli to begin.
"Well, I actually worked on the Rayya as a, uh, botanist, believe it or not." John's mouth curled into a light smile. Tali saw it and recognized it as one of quiet approval. "I worked in hydroponics for a while, and that's how I met Pia. She used to pilot the supply craft that would ferry food supplies to other ships in the fleet."
"Yeah, he was into it, too! Every time I'd ferry him, it was 'new fertilizer' this, and 'increased output' that." Piara'Ziem did not care about the bashful, slightly embarrassed posture her friend was taking. Her tone softened, however. "But I was glad that he found it interesting. I've been around long enough to see the difference that disinterest can make in someone's work. And for something as important as feeding our people? Keelah, I was glad to have him care about it, even if most of it went over my helmet."
John smiled at the idea of the weapons officer playing in the Rannoch dirt, and almost snorted a laugh as he envisioned him on his hands and knees with one of those goofy knee pad things and one of the little hand shovels he remembered his mom having and - "A botanist, eh? I somehow have a hard time imagining you doing that."
A lie, of course. However, decorum suggested that he not inform this nice quarian officer that he had, in fact envisioned just such a thing in such a way.
"Well Shepard, you know that we all tend to…Tali what was that human word?"
She beamed at him. Keelah, she loved that she was seen as something of an "expert" on John's people. To her, it was just another little shred of evidence proving to others her devotion to him. "Mmm. 'Multi-task', I think."
"Yes, that. We have to multi-task. So yes, I worked in hydroponics as well as my other security duties. Eventually, I was transferred to the Neema, trained in weapons management and capital ship tactics." Hulli glanced down at the table, momentarily melancholic. "I'll always be thankful for Admiral Gerrel for giving me the chance. It was his idea in the first place."
They resumed their meal when Piara sensed that Hulli had inadvertently caused a moment of disquiet. Piara being Piara, she did what Tali knew she would do. She interrupted the burgeoning silence with an embarrassing story.
After all, what were friends for?
"Mmm, so Shepard," Piara began frantically between swallows of whatever Tali had gotten for her in her food tube, "I have to tell you about this one time! Oh keelah, so we were in the gym on the Neema, right?" Another swallow of food. "She had just moved up to a different level on the ship closer to my cubby, so this was a new gym to her. And we'd just gotten there, and Tali steps onto one of the treadmills and she starts looking around the thing. At first, she tried to be sneaky about it, you know? She would look around a little, checking to see if anyone was watching."
First, John wondered how exactly she was so animated. Presumably, she had had a full day of doing Piara things which maybe lent itself to having a little less energy by this time of day, but while Tali had always been energetic, she had done so in a far more contained way. Her energy came off of her in waves of nervy, endearing uncertainty. Piara's flooded through as a form of the barely-contained mania that only the confidence of age could impart.
It possessed its own quirky charm.
As for Tali, she cradled her head in her hands. Despite no one seeing her flushed cheeks, it was more than apparent that they were exceedingly flushed. Keelah, it felt like every capillary in her cheeks was about to burst. She'd long given up on trying to get Pia to not tell this story, and instead was just praying to whatever ancestors would listen that a hole would open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Her only comfort was John running his hand up and down her thigh, punctuated with the occasional loving squeeze.
"Which there were, of course! With hips like hers, of course people were watching! Mostly the men, but a few of the ladies too." She leaned in a little closer, her mischievous eyes dancing playfully. "To be fair, so was I. But that was because I remembered when I had hips like hers when I was a younger woman. Now, well…not so much. But anyway, after a solid two minutes of Tali circling around the thing and occasionally trying to fiddle with a random switch or press a button she says to me - bear in mind: 'tech genius' - 'Pia, why isn't this bosh'tet turning on?' Now remember, this was a treadmill, not a damn drive core."
John couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by Piara'Ziem. She'd introduced herself in a whirlwind of greetings and tight hugs for both of them - there was none of that nervy quarian inhibition that he'd expected. He would later wonder if it was because she was a much older woman than Tali was. Then she had asked what they were having for dinner and that she had brought dextro-alcohol. Then she had taken an appraising tour around the apartment (minus the bedroom with its anteroom decon unit), commenting about how sparse it was. Tali had to remind her that it was only temporary lodging.
"But still, Tali'Shepard - this is your home! Well, a home, anyway. Keelah, where are all those pictures you were telling me about?"
Hulli and Aril had stayed mostly to the background, knowing that trying to keep up with Piara was an exercise in futility.
"Ah, don't worry, Shepard," Hulli had assured him while leaning in to keep the volume down, "she'll slow down eventually."
She'd yet to show any sign that she would.
At any rate…
"So I saunter - keelah, I did not walk - over to the treadmill and step on, smirking at her for a moment before I did anything. Mmm, you should have seen the look on…well, you know what I mean," she finished with a wave of her gloved hand. "Anyway, I start walking and the monitors don't turn on or anything. She crosses her arms in that 'I told you so' way that she does." John smirked at her. He knew exactly the way that she meant. "Then I take a few more steps and then the thing comes to life!"
John snorted a laugh, giving Tali's thigh a gentle squeeze. "Wait a second. You're trying to tell me," he looked to Tali with a raised eyebrow just to see her head plastered firmly to the table with her hands pressed to the sides of her realk, "that she couldn't get a treadmill started?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Jesus Christ, Tali. I let you play with the Normandy's eezo core and be my chief engi-"
"Oh shut it, bosh'tet!" Chirping her laughter, she slapped him on the arm. His heart swelled at the sound of it - her laughter. What a juxtaposition compared to just a few short months ago. He was going to get an entire lifetime of that sound and he planned on savoring its loveliness.
After finishing their meals, Hulli removed a deck of human playing cards and a set of poker chips from the bag that he'd had over his shoulder. They sat around the table and John mentally prepared himself for the absolute shellacking he knew was sure to come.
"So Shepard, Tali told me when she came back from pilgrimage that you weren't very good at…" The man stopped his sentence as if he'd flung himself directly into a wall. Clearly, he'd realized what he was saying halfway through. Hulli found himself looking at the table for a moment with a clear frown on his face. He was aware enough to catch Tali reaching for Shepard's hand.
Aril and Piara both shot him a chastising look, knowing that he risked souring the mood.
"Oh keelah, Tali, Shepard…I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry for bringing that up."
Tali offered a sympathetic smile. "Hulli, it's, um, it's all right. It's been a while since then." When she looked to John though, she found an odd, pensive expression on his face. Immediately she grasped both his hands. "John," she began quietly, "are you okay?"
Am I okay? Why would I not be? It happened over three years ago. Hell, almost four by now. We've all moved on, right? I've moved on. But…these are the people that helped to get her through it, I think. They saw Tali at her lowest. Well, almost lowest, I guess. His frown deepened further. Damn it.
He looked up to see Hulli leaning forward, weight on his elbows. "Shepard, I didn't mean to -"
John held up a hand. "Hulli, look…it's all right. That was a while ago, but I wanted to thank you just the same." Still holding Tali's hand tightly, he looked at the other quarians that sat around the table with true appreciation. "Thank you, all of you for being there for Tali when I wasn't…when I was…gone from her. She, uh, told me how hard it was for her…" He thought again of the very emotional exchange that they'd had in his cabin shortly after Haestrom.
You left me alone! Alone! For two years! And I…and I…of course something's bothering me! This whole time, I had to try to go on without…"
How she had unloaded her despair, regret, her anger, onto him because she'd had no proper outlet for it. And then she'd melted into his embrace, sobbing her apologies for aiming that torrent of pain at him in the first place.
Now he could only imagine how much worse it might have been for her without them.
"And I just wanted to thank you personally for being there for her. You are good friends to her. And I just…well, I appreciate it."
Tali reached for his hand, found it, the grasped it tightly. Immediately, he felt himself relax again, letting his guilt wash away like so much dirt. Though, it did make him wonder if he would ever stop beating himself up over this sort of thing. During this silence, all of her friends had looked at the table for a moment. Finally, Piara spoke up first, as John had expected her to.
"Shepard, I think I speak for all of us when I say that…well, Tali is like our sister. I'm sure she's told you that we are all like family aboard the flotilla," she saw him nod, "but Tali is more than that to us. I know she's more than that for me." She huffed a breath. "Admiral Raan helped raise her like her own, but I always saw her as one of my own, too." Hulli and Aril earnestly along with her. "And whether she meant to or not, she helped ease my own pain after I lost my Rynah."
He didn't know exactly what had happened to Rynah, but he understood enough that he was likely her mate. Further, he understood a bit of her pain. Shepard frowned, shaking his head slightly as he recalled the horrors of Tali's explanation of felz'elt. "Piara, I'm so sorry."
Her eyes betrayed her appreciative smile - like she knew what he meant. Like she knew that he knew.. "Shepard, that is very kind of you. But my felz'elt…was not as severe as I've seen others suffer. We were together for a long time and, maybe as importantly, we were able to say goodbye before he joined the Ancestors."
He replied with a soft, understated smile. He even reached across the table to give her hand a soft squeeze. It was reactionary; he hadn't even thought about it. "That's…I'm glad, Piara. I know that it can be very difficult to lose your saera."
The quiet and contemplative mood was finally breached by the sound of cards snapping into place as Hulli finally remembered that he had been mid-shuffle when he'd inadvertently brought all of this forth.
John shot him a grateful smile accompanied by a subtle nod.
As Hulli dealt the cards for the first hand, John held out some quiet hope that he would be better equipped to do well at this game since he figured that Piara and Aril weren't all that experienced at playing.
Be that as it may, it still hadn't actually made him any better at the damn thing.
A few hands later and after losing another ten-credit chip, John decided to break some ice while Tali reshuffled the deck. "So, Hulli, Aril - how did you two meet?" Immediately, he had to stifle a chuckle, because for the first time, it was Hulli'Varna who looked the most embarrassed quarian at the table. Picking up on this, he piled on. "Hey Tali, our friend here looks like he's blushing." With a little nudge to her side, he inquired further. "Do you know why that might be?"
"Oh, keelah…"
As for Hulli's mate, Aril simply laughed - it was a loud, spontaneous sound. It sounded like it forced its way out of her despite her best efforts to keep the damn thing tightly under wraps. "Well, John'Shepard, as you're probably aware, I am a doctor. And it was because of said qualification that I met this bosh'tet." She'd accentuated the khelish term with a disrespectful wave of her thumb in Hulli's direction. By this time, Tali had finished dealing the cards, but she hadn't bothered to see what she'd dealt herself: she wanted to hear this story again, this time to see her mate's reaction.
John grinned with more than a hint of evil intent. "Well now, that's interesting. Please, go on, Aril. So what exactly did Hulli do that caused you two to meet?"
There was an audible groan that came out of his vocal emitter. This time, Piara didn't even bother to hide her laughter.
"Oh John'Shepard," Hulli began, "you don't want to hear about -"
"Oh, I think he does, Hulli!"
He could only glare daggers at the pilot in response.
"So anyway," Aril brought the attention back to herself, "of course he came in with a medical issue."
Well now, there's something in how she said that…
"A medical issue, huh?"
Aril leaned back in her chair, arms folded. "John'Shepard, are you familiar with an application called NerveStim Pro?"
The man couldn't help but laugh. He was pretty sure he heard Tali do the same, if not a little more quietly.
Well, there it is…
"Well, by some strange coincidence, I am."
The three guests stopped and just…looked at him - as shocked as they ever were in their lives, perhaps. It was a little unsettling for him, seemingly being put on the spot. Had he - or Tali - committed some sacred quarian faux pas regarding the secret joys of NerveStim Pro? Piara spoke first, her eyes shooting to Tali along with a mischievous, knowing smile.
"So tell me, John'Shepard, how exactly you know about that little program."
Glancing at Tali, he was quite surprised to see that her reaction was nothing like what Hulli's had been. In fact, his saera was smirking too.
If Pia was expecting an embarrassed reaction from her, she was going to be sorely disappointed. After tossing a 5 credit chip onto the center of the table, Tali interjected first, knowing where this might be going.
"Oh please, Pia. You honestly think I would not have told him about that? Do you know how long we've been…together? As a matter of fact, he actually went with me to get a part to fix a malfunction of…" She stopped, and her own eyes widened. "Keelah, Aril, when did Hulli come in to see you? Sometime in 2185?"
Aril and Hulli shared an uncertain look before she answered the admiral's question. "Um, yes. Pretty late in the year. Why?"
Her smirk only grew as John, for reasons unknown to even him, moved his hand further up Tali's thigh, kneading the ample muscle found there. Before she answered, he heard a little gasp escape her. He smiled.
"I, um, actually had an issue with my NerveStim Pro around the same time. We had to go to the Citadel and everything." Tali's lips curled into a knowing and mischievous grin as John tossed in a credit chip of his own. "Was it the, uh, mass effect fields, perhaps?"
Now, John had seen Tali's eyes behave in a number of different ways - they were always so expressive - and her eyes were one of the things that had drawn him to her in the first place. They'd always called to him, like a beacon in the darkness. They were his safe harbor and anchor in the storm. They were anchors he'd used not so long ago to help overcome what had been an all-consuming and soul-crushing guilt. In any case, he had always paid particular attention to her eyes, even if there were times when he'd wanted to wander a little further south. Through those years and all the attention that he'd paid to those glowing orbs should have prepared him for how large Hulli's eyes appeared to him now.
Holy fuck, that was not normal.
"Uh, Hulli? You all right there, buddy?"
"Keelah, that's…it wasn't just me?"
Tali shook her head, laughing. "No Hulli, it was not just you. But, um, do you want to hear something even funnier?"
"Wait, there's more?"
Oh yes. There was more.
"So, you know of Speaker Lano'Tiel?"
"I fold," he announced before scoffing as he cocked his head slightly. "Of course I am aware of the Speaker. Why?"
As Tali continued, John couldn't help but notice the quick smiling glance that Piara's eyes conveyed as she shot a glance over to his saera. He gave her his own knowing half smirk.
"She has…or had, I guess. I don't really know." A frown trailed behind her words as she realized that she didn't actually know what had become of Gerna'Tiel. And she hadn't wanted to ask for fear of an uncomfortable conversation with the woman. "Anyway, her son owned a tech shop on the Citadel, so we headed there to replace the emitters in my suit." She turned to John, placing her hand over his as it rested on the table. "It was called 'Quarian Quirks' I think. It was so funny. Shepard had gone in there expecting a hero's welcome because, you know, 'Savior of the Galaxy' and all."
"I take it he didn't get one?"
"Keelah, no! John, I do not think he liked you very much!"
He snorted a heavy laugh that was fueled in part by the fact that she'd used his first name amongst company, "Ya think? I'm pretty sure he didn't like it that we came in, uh, looking like we were together."
Their friends shot them all wide-eyed looks. Piara started laughing. Tali slapped her hand. "Oh knock it off, Pia! We were just holding hands!"
John interjected, gesturing at them with his voice low. "Do you, uh, want to know how much it was?"
Hulli gave a subtle head tilt and crossed his arms. "Well, if you put that way, Shepard, probably not."
Before finishing off the story, he announced that he was calling. "Uh, two pair, guys. What have you got?"
Tali dropped two queens to go with the third showing on the table. Aril laughed with her flush, and Piara laughed even harder as she threw down her cards with a flourish.
"I believe that is a 'full house', right?"
There were audible groans from around the table as she collected her winnings, which still paled in comparison to Hulli's chips. He was the only one of them not named "Piara" who laughed because he was the only one who had decided to skip this round.
Sometimes knowing when not to play was the difference between winning and losing.
Hoping that the mood had changed with the last hand, the weapons officer hoped for a reprieve. "Shepard, do we still need to know how much the damn thing was?"
Shepard cracked his knuckles with a grin. "Oh yes, I think you do, because it contains the punch line." Aril laughed this time, before stopping.
"Keelah. What is a 'punch line'?"
Tali smirked - it was another idiom she knew about. "It means that he is getting to the part of the story that will make you laugh."
"Or cry, in this case." Once more for effect, he glanced around the table at all of them. "He charged us 200,000 credits."
Now John had been privy to many a time when any of his friends - be it Tali, Garrus, Ash, and even Liara - had done or said something that had made him snort laughter. If the timing was right, he would even spray whatever liquid that happened to be in his mouth all over whatever he was facing.
If any of their friends had had their mouths full, their visors would have been sprayed in much the same fashion.
"But wait there's more!" He turned to Tali with a smirk. "You wanna tell 'em this part?"
Tali giggled. Keelah, she loved having their own stories! Not about death or loss, not about the sad depressing bullshit of the war, but just fun.
"So when Shepard had visited the Citadel, he would often use his 'celebrity status'," she used finger quotes, only adding to the sassy cuteness of it all, "in order to get discounts at the various shops. Keelah, do you remember that restaurant we went to that one time that served the turian estragha? That meal was…'Top Five' for me." Tali looked up at her bondmate hoping for confirmation that she'd used the expression correctly. His loving smile that dimpled his cheeks was just the confirmation she was looking for. Tali shook her head quickly. "Well, that's another story. Anyway, so when he asked Gerna about a discount, the bosh'tet shot him down! Keelah, if it wasn't an emergency, I would have laughed!"
"So what did you do?" Aril had leaned forward in anticipation. "Did you pay the full price?"
"Keelah, no!I gave him the endorsement!"
This was where Piara interjected. "Wait, wait. So I can understand this Gerna not caring about who Shepard was and simply not giving a discount. I mean, it's his store after all. But he gave you one?"
Tali shot her a look of disbelief. "Pia, you do realize that he recognized me nearly as soon as we walked in, right? And I was…well, I was sort of a celebrity. Even you have to admit that."
"Pia, she's not wrong," came the affirmation from Aril.
"Aril! There is no need to make her ego even bigger!"
"We'll have to do this again sometime," John said as he extended his hand for Hulli to shake.
"I agree, Shepard. Maybe next time we will play for real credits. Tali tells me that you have quite a retirement fund available."
John gave him a smirk in disbelief. "Oh, no. I don't think so, Hulli. I'm not too proud to know when to say 'no'."
Next to him, Tali was saying goodbye to Aril. "Keelah, thank you for coming. I was worried that this would be…I don't know -"
"Awkward?" Piara interjected, eliciting laughter from them both.
"Yes, that," Tali replied between giggles.
"Well Tali, there was never a need to worry. He was just as you had described." Aril looked over to John with a satisfied smile, which he reciprocated. "I am even more glad to know him, and that you have each other." Aril grabbed Tali's hands, underlining her earnestness.
"And likewise, Aril." He extended a hand to her, which she took. John looked around at all of them. "The same goes for all of you. Thank you." He gave Piara a grin. "Except you, Piara. You're just trouble."
The woman crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Is that so, John'Shepard? You are one to talk. I've heard stories about you!"
He smiled his response - a full and happy expression. "Well I do hope they weren't too embarrassing."
Piara's head tilt gave away her coy smirk. "That is just something that you will have to guess at, then."
Tali turned her attention back to Hulli. "So, will you be staying around Rannoch for a bit?"
John turned his attention to the man as he answered. "Actually Tali, we will. Admiral Raan was able to reassign us here since Admiral Gerrel left for the Array, so yes we'll be staying on Rannoch, or at least assigned to some of the ships that are…keelah, you know what I mean."
Tali looked from her friends then to John and then back again with an ever-spreading smile planted on her face. John wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Well, I guess we'll have to thank Admiral Raan for this, too."
"Yes, I think we will," he replied with a sweet kiss to the top of her realk.
There were a few more somewhat awkward hugs as they all tried to determine how best to say "goodbye", but eventually John and Tali watched their friends leave as they wore satisfied smiles all their own.
Putting both arms around him, Tali brought herself chest-to-chest with her saera. She bowed her head before whispering, "John, thank you."
Allowing her head to remain where it was, he rubbed her upper back instead. "For what? Volunteering to get my ass handed to me in Skylian Five?" After Tali playfully slapped his chest, he pulled her even closer to him. "No need to thank me. I like them."
She almost asked the unneeded question - "Really?" - but was able to overcome her habitual doubt. He would not have said it if he didn't mean it. Instead, Tali simply smiled, relieved.
"Now come on, I want to get another shower, spoon you, and go the hell to sleep." John rubbed his shoulder, grimacing a little. "It's been a long day."
"And we're still going to the dance thing tomorrow night, right? I mean, if you still want to…"
He leaned in to kiss her visor with a smile. "Yes. Which is exactly why I need to get some sleep. And probably some painkillers, too," he added with a lopsided smirk.
Smiling warmly with appreciation for her lover and best friend, Tali held his hands as she pulled him into the airlock for the decon cycle to commence.