Tali began to wake up slowly; letting out a yawn that was barely audible. Her legs stretched out slowly, stopping as she felt a blanket wrapped around her legs. Her eyes opened up suddenly as she remembered that the pods did not have blankets.

She was laying on her right side, facing the wall of Shepard's cabin. Trying to remember how she fell asleep, the last memory was simply speaking with Shepard at his desk. She slowly pushed herself to sit up, looking around the darkened room for a moment.

Did Shepard put me here?

The only light in the room was her visor's faint glow and a green blinking light on Shepards monitor. She untangled herself from the blanket before bringing her legs over the edge of the bed. Stopping in the sitting position as she saw a tube of water on the nightstand next to the bed.

She looked at it before turning her head to look at the door. Taking the tube after a moment and drinking half of it. Holding the tube in both hands; fiddling with it in silence. Finally setting it to the side before adjusting her hood to return to its uniform shape. Her eye's moved around the room as she sat on Shepards bed.

So much room for one person…

She realized finally how plain his quarters were. He didn't fill the space with anything, simply a bed, a locker at the foot of his bed and a computer near the door for work. She found his room could closely resemble an office space. Her eyes squinted slightly as she looked around at the blank walls.

So much room that he hasn't done anything with...

Room on Quarian ships was a coveted commodity. Even the Captains or Admirals had very little room to call their own, and every Quarian did something with what little room they were given. Some level of personalization as it was in essence, a Quarians home. She wondered if this was different as it was his job, despite the fact he spent so much time here.

She sat in silence for a while as she pondered. Her eyes rested on the blinking light on Shepards monitor. Sighing quietly to herself before looking at the door. She was feeling hesitant to leave, mostly because she was worried there may be an awkward encounter. She didn't exactly have another choice though; there was only one exit.

I could just lay back down…

She shook the thought out of her head. She had already been sleeping there for far too...

How long have I been asleep?

She opened her omni tool after the idea of time made itself apparent in her mind. Blinking a couple times as she saw it was half past three. It was longer than she had expected.

The glowing display disappeared as she put her arm down. Taking a few seconds to ready herself for whoever may be outside. Pushing off the bed with both hands as she stood up. Walking over to the door, hesitant to tap the button to open it.

After a moment she finally brought the courage up to do so. The door sliding open to reveal the much brighter mess hall. Stepping out after a moment to see the pilot sitting at the table.

A plate of rations sat in front of him, mostly untouched. His eyes had been focused on one of the magazines laying on the table in front of him. They now were watching the quarian that had exited Shepards room. His left eyebrow was raised slightly.

He smiled and gave a short nod to Tali, returning his gaze back to the magazine in his hands. Tali returned the nod, stepping over to the mess. Looking around for a moment to see Kaidan was not in his usual spot near the counter.

Tali turned to look at the pilot, who was watching her with curiosity from under his caps brim. They hadn't spoken much except to greet her when she passed. He had heard some things about her from Kaidan.

He sat back, setting the magazine on the table next to his tray. "Your name is Tali, right?" Tali nodded, stepping up to the table and pulling out a seat to join the pilot.

"Yes, and you're Joker? The pilot?" Tali sat down as she spoke. Her hands rested on the table, one on top of the other.

The pilot nodded, his smile broadening slightly. "Yep, that's me. And this ship is my baby." Tali was amused at his statement, though she didn't voice it.

Her head tilted to the side slightly in curiosity. "I thought it was Shepard's ship?" Her eyes moved from Joker to the magazine on the table. Seeing it was about military ships, it was open to a page about The Destiny Ascension.

The comment somewhat surprised Joker, who mimicked her crossed arms now. "Well if you want to get technical, the ship belongs to the alliance. And we kinda belong to the alliance as well, but that's a whole other ball of wax."

He noticed her peering at the magazine, sliding it across the table to her. She was almost caught off guard but stopped the magazine before it slid off the table. Joker spoke as she looked at him. "I've already read through that one so you can have it." He flipped open the other magazine in front of him, starting to thumb through it.

Tali looked down at the magazine for a moment. Picking it up and flicking it open, looking at the pilot for a moment before giving him a short nod. "Thank you." Sitting back as she started to read.

"Mhm '' Was all he gave back, already looking through the other magazine in front of him. Tali was appreciative that Joker made no inquiry as to her being in Shepard's room.

The two read in silence, the only sound was the occasional page turning. A column in the magazine had caught Talis attention. It had called attention to the idea of the Geth pursuing the Quarian fleet.

Tali found her mind was quickly absorbed in the thought. She hadn't considered the possibility before. She tried to rationalize with herself that the Geth were following Saren, who seemed to be pursuing things related to the protheans.

She wound up staring at the page as she thought about the quarian fleet. That pushed her mind to think about her father, wondering to herself if he was getting enough rest. He had been working more and more the month before she had left for her pilgrimage. He had already been dedicated to his work, it started to become a borderline obsession by the time she had left.

I should get in touch...

The idea had its way of comforting her, while still making her nervous. She didn't want to get back in touch before she was ready to come back. Mostly because she didn't want to get questioned as to where she was or how her pilgrimage was coming along.

Her eyes blinked to attention as she heard the elevator door open. Her head lifted up as she heard approaching footsteps, Shepard coming around from the right side after a moment. He was rubbing his right shoulder, rolling it back as he did.

His tired eyes quickly flicked open as he saw Tali sitting at the table. "Hey, how are you doing? Is your side hurting?" He joined the two at the table, staying standing though. Joker looked behind him to the elevator then over to where Shepards door was. After a moment his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Tali gave a short nod to greet him, finding herself sitting up as he entered. "It's feeling much better and..." She hadn't even realized that she was fiddling with the corner of the magazine. "Well, thank you. For letting me rest." She turned her eyes down to the magazine again.

"Of course. You need your rest." Joker looked up at Shepard, his eyes squinting before they shifted to Tali for a moment. His eyebrows raised slightly, turning his head away as he stood up. Walking slowly and carefully to the sink.

"Got somewhere to be Joker?" Shepard inquired as the pilot went to clean his tray off. Joker shook his head with a sly smirk.

"No, but I'm sure Pressly would appreciate having me back at the controls." He started heading towards the stairs, stopping as Tali spoke up.

"Your magazine's Joker." She stood up to grab the couple of magazines that laid at where he'd been sitting. Stopping as he shook his hand at the offer.

"I got a bunch of them. Just pass them on back to me whenever you finish reading them." He continued walking on. Tali watched his awkward walk till he was around the corner and out of sight.

Shepard was watching the corner Joker had hobbled around. Once again thinking was quite a convenient time for his crew Joker to leave. He turned his head to find the woman he was thinking about was watching him.

She didn't avert her eyes, only studying his expression. Her hands folding together on the table in front of her. "You… never actually answered my question."

The statement took Shepard by surprise. His eyebrows raised as he took a seat, an open chair between them. "What question would that be?" A small smile found its way onto his lips as he mimicked her posture, folding his hands together in front of him.

Tali turned her attention to her hands on the table. "You were telling me about your ship. Something happened in the Attican Traverse?"

Shepard was looking at one of the magazines Joker left behind, one in particular catching his eye. Reaching over to pull one in front of him. "I seem to remember you falling asleep from how boring my story was." He tried in vain to suppress his smirk as he looked at her.

Tali only crossed her arms and shook her head. "The blame of that rests on your Doctor. I don't even remember falling asleep." She leaned forward, putting her arms onto the table. "So…?"

"You know, you have learned a lot about me. Yet I can't say the same about you. So how about you tell me a bit about yourself?" He spoke without looking up from the magazine.

Her head tilted to the side slightly. Having trouble discerning if he was avoiding her question or simply wanted to know about her. His eyes were now focused on a column on one side of the page, shaking his head lightly. Tali peered at the page he was reading now. Figuring she would oblige his request. "What do you want to know?"

He turned his attention to Tali now. Pushing the magazine towards the center of the table. "Well-" He was cut off by the sound of Pressly's voice cutting in over the intercom.

"Commander Shepard. The Council wishes to speak with you in the communications room." The announcement made both Tali and Shepard look at the speaker.

Shepards eyes squinted slightly as he tried to guess the reason. "I'll be there in a minute, Pressly. Thank you." He turned back to Tali, leaning on the table with his right arm. "Anyways, your pilgrimage, I was wondering what it is you're thinking of bringing back to your flotilla for your pilgrimage?"

Tali looked at him, blinking a couple times. He could already tell she was confused, his eyebrow only raising slightly as she remained silent for a few moments longer before answering his question with her own. "Aren't you going to answer the Council's call?"

His eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking at the speaker once more. "I'm sure they can wait for a few minutes." He waved his hand at the speaker. Shooing the idea of the council away. "It's not like the comms room is going anywhere."

Shepard turned to see Tali peering at him out of two squinting eyes. "You probably should go talk with them. They may have something important on Saren."

Shepard weighed the idea in his head for a moment, his head tilting from side to side as he weighed the options. "Yeah… I guess you're right. Time to see what they want then." He reluctantly pushed himself up from the chair. Giving her a short nod before he left.

Tali found her eyes tracking him till he was out of sight. Somewhat relieved that she would not have to answer the question yet, somewhat disappointed that the Council pulled him away.

Taking a couple of the magazines before heading down to the cargo bay to find Iromak, Wrex, Garrus and Kaidan talking around the Mako. Except for Garrus, who was standing on top of it and seemed to be showing off the Mako like it was his prized possession. Ashley was sitting on the bench where she usually cleaned her weapons, watching Iromak with squinted eyes. Tali moved on to the engine room to see if she could help Adams with anything.

Shepard was in the Comms room for an inordinately long amount of time. In the first hour, Kaidan had gone looking for Shepard. He was told by Pressly that he was busy with the Council. In the second hour, Tali had gone in search of him, still carrying the magazines Joker had loaned her.

She went unnoticed at first, her quiet footsteps carrying her quickly to the door that led to the Communications room. She could barely hear Shepard speaking through the closed door. Pressing the button to open it.

Shepard was rubbing the bridge of his nose, a headache had formed in his time talking to the three representatives. "Your logic, Councilor." He spoke directly to Councilor Sparatus. "Is quite repetitive, they can't do anything I'm not already equipped to deal with. Councilor Tevos, you've been unusually quiet on the subject. Do you seriously believe this is necessary? I-"

Shepards attention was suddenly pulled away from the three projections as he heard the door open behind him on the far side of the room. Turning to see Tali in the doorway. He was quite surprised to see her, but she was a welcome sight to be sure. His serious expression was quickly off put by a lopsided smile. "You what, Commander Shepard?"

His attention snapped back as Tevos spoke. His expression returned to its more serious form. "I don't believe that the Alliance will see the need to expend the necessary resources for your requests, we've already got teams dedicated to-."

"Your teams." Sparatus cut Shepard off mid sentence. Shepards head turned sharply to look at him. "Operate outside of our jurisdiction. This would also allow us to keep a more accurate record of your activity."

Shepards hands folded behind him as he straightened his posture. "I thought the Council didn't want to know the exact actions of their Spectres. Plausible deniability and all that?"

There was a long pause in the room, none of them seemed to want to approach that subject. Shepard let out a quick exhale through his nose. Evermore his opinion of the Council spiraled downwards. "So, we're in agreement then? No team."

Tali had been watching from the doorway still, starting to wonder what they were talking about. "Miss Zorah." Tali nearly jumped in surprise. Turning quickly to see Pressly. "I'm sorry but the Commander is quite busy at the moment. Is there anything I can help with till he is done?"

"Oh. Uh, no. Thank you, I was just wondering if Shepard was still busy." Pressly gesturing towards the CIC; Tali obliged and walked away from the comms room. After a few steps, the door to the room closed. Tali had not spent much time on the CIC, largely because it was fully staffed and guarded by alliance troops. She hadn't been explicitly told to not touch anything up there, but she made sure to avoid the idea just in case.

Since it was the only connecting room to the Comms though, she would remain for now. Deciding to make idle conversation with Pressly till Shepard was done. He at first, wasn't excited to have a Quarian questioning him. Pressly did however have a lull in work to do, so he decided to answer her questions.

Shepard exited the room after another twenty minutes of 'discussion' with the Council. Realizing that they weren't budging on their stance, he would have to cave to their demands. He did not, however, have to settle it completely on their terms.

When he emerged from the room, Tali and Pressly were both standing near the large map used to chart their course. Tali seemed to be pointing out a particular area on the far right side of the galaxy.

Shepard was curious about what they were doing. Stepping over to the pair, peering over Talis shoulder. Shepards hands folded neatly behind him. "Plotting out our next course? Captain Tali?"

Once again, Tali found herself nearly jumping in surprise, almost dropping her magazines this time. Turning around to see Shepard, stepping back and bumping into the bar that went around the map's projector. His lips pulled back into a warm smile as he watched her. "N-No! I was just showing Pressly the Perseus Veil. I… I…"

She quickly realized that he was joking. His light chuckle made her feel like she made a fool of herself, looking towards the ground as she started to fumble with the magazines in her hands. The feeling quickly subsided as Shepards hand found its way to her shoulder. "I'm sorry about taking so long with the Council. Were you looking to talk about something?"

It took Tali a moment to realize he was talking to her. Her head pulled back to look up at Shepard. "Oh. Well, I was just wondering if you were done with the Council. They seemed to have a lot to say." Tali was watching Shepard with a distinct curiosity.

Shepard gave a short nod to her. Letting his hand fall from Talis shoulder. "They certainly did, and I'm gonna have to follow through with their request." He started back down towards the mess hall, Tali followed in tow. Pressly watching the two walk away with an eyebrow raised.

"Not yet though, this ship is alliance property and still follows alliance orders. So we continue on for a while longer, I finish up some business at the Lunar outpost and then help Garrus with…" Shepard trailed off as his pace down the stairs slowed. "Some stuff. Then maybe back to the Citadel to pick up the group they want me to retrieve."

He went into the mess hall to grab himself some water, it was still vacant of Kaidan who regularly spent time in the kitchen area. Tali followed Shepard still, leaning on the counter and crossing her arms. The magazines tucked under her right arm. Speaking up while he was drinking. "They want you to pick up a group? For what?"

He set down the bottle, shaking his head before finally speaking. "We believe a team to track, record, and relay your movements to the Council on a more regular basis may increase your efficiency; and aid in the tracking and apprehension of Saren."

He was staring at the wall when he said it, like he was reading it from a poster. Turning his head to look at Tali once finished. "Basically they want to put a tether on me and make sure I keep doing things for the Council." He started rubbing the back of his neck, feeling his headache was fading without the frustration of the Council to fuel it.

"It took over two hours for them to tell you that?" Tali tilted her head to the right. Turning to look up at him.

He quickly shook his head, still rubbing the back of his neck. "I apparently have a message from the Council that has the four files from each person in it. I was supposed to look them over before they called. I haven't checked my messages today though so they gave me a rundown on the group. I also spent most of the time arguing that it's a waste of resources." He stepped over and leaned against the counter next to her. Mimicking her stance of crossed arms. "Right when I wanted to stay as far away from the Citadel as possible."

Tali's eyes watched each page flicking closed as her thumb brushed the corners of a magazine. "So who won?" Tali turned to look up at Shepard, finding that he was watching her thumb through the pages.

His attention quickly turned to her visor when she looked at him. He was confused for a moment; quickly realizing what she was talking about. "Ah, yes. Well. No one, again. That's mostly because Kaidan wanted to practice hand to hand as well."

Her head pulled back slightly in disbelief. Turning to look at the elevator for a moment before going back to Shepard. "He's a biotic. How didn't he break one of your bones?"

Shepard suppressed a chuckle, shaking his head as he waved the idea away. "Kaidan isn't one to exert his powers unnecessarily. He's very careful when working with them."

Tali nodded, finding herself staring up at him for a little longer than she meant. "That's good. It wouldn't be good if… anyone got hurt." Quickly turning her eyes back to her magazines and opening one to distract herself.

He watched her for another moment with a small smile on his lips. Turning to look forward before closing his eyes; the light had started to become an irritant to his headache.

The two stood together for a while, Shepards grasp on time slipped more the longer he kept his eyes closed. He was letting his mind wander, his thoughts roaming from subject to subject. He found that they would always come back around to the same topic though. Tali eventually would be the first to speak up. "So who is it that they want to join us?"

Shepard opened his eyes, taking a moment to absorb her question. "Three Turians, one Asari. Two of the Turians apparently worked for C-Sec for quite a while." He turned his head to look at the magazine she was holding. The left page had the Destiny Ascension on it, the right was filled with various facts on the ship. "The Asari is supposed to be a commando, so I'm sure that will be interesting…"

"What are their names?" Talis question made Shepard pause for a moment. After thinking about it, he pushed off the counter to stand up straight.

"I don't think the council actually said their names. It should be on my computer." He walked past Tali to head to his room. She followed him, looking up for a moment to make sure she didn't bump into the wall.

He returned the lights to their normal level as he entered, pulling his chair out to sit down. Flicking his monitor on while Tali pulled her chair next to his. Wanting to see what the four new crew members looked like.

He had three messages waiting to be read. The oldest had arrived just after ten, It was from the Council. The next was from 'S', the title was simply 'cargo requests', it had arrived at one.

Sislio?

She didn't ask the question, having a fair feeling that she was right about it. Then the last message had arrived in the past ten minutes, it was from Udina. Its title was 'political shit storm'.

Tali let out a brief giggle as Shepard deleted Udina's message without opening it. He glanced in her direction; a smile finally broke his serious expression. "Ah, I… misplaced his message. Tis a shame."

He opened the message from the Council, glancing through the files that had popped up. His smile slowly wore down to a thin line, his eyes starting to squint slightly as he read through them. One thing catching his eye as he read.

Biotic Turian?

Not unheard-of, but it definitely wasn't a standard for them achy. Tali skimmed through them, leaning forward as she read. Shepard sat back to give her room, his arms crossing as he stared at the screen. "What do you think?"

The question was answered after another minute of reading; Tali turning to face Shepard. "I'm sure Garrus will be happy to have a few more Turians aboard." She turned to look back at the screen. "I wonder if he knows any of them…" Garrus was someone she had tried to avoid, largely because of her initial interactions with C-Sec. Wondering for a moment she should try and get to know him.

"Excellent question." Shepard remained leaning back in his chair. Raising his right hand up to scratch his chin. Tali pushed off her knees to straighten her posture, attempting to avoid any unnecessary strain to her abdomen.

"Where… will they be sleeping? Iromak took the last pod." She once again looked at Shepard, who was staring at the ceiling. A quiet sigh escaped his lips, his hand falling back down to his lap.

"Cargo. I need to put in a requisition for some cots." He chuckled lightly as he shook his head. "They also wanted the Alliance to provide a second Mako for their team. They get to discuss that with Anderson though."

He closed the files before opening the message from 'S'. The message consisted of a singular line of text. 'Cargo Manifest sent to tool.' Shepard only let out an inquisitive. "Hmmm…"

Opening his omni tool after a minute. Tali watched him, tilting her head to the side as her eyes drifted down to the glowing display around his left hand. "What… uh…"

Her sentence fell off as she watched his eyes squint as he read. His lips pulled into a thin line as he lifted his head up. The omni tool flicked off with the turn of his hand. "So." He finally spoke up after a moment of thought. "Your pilgrimage?"

She had time while Shepard was with the Council to dwell upon the question. "Well, I was thinking that it's best to wait on my pilgrimage till Saren is… dealt with…" She was rolling the corner of a page up between her fingers. "I wouldn't want to leave when you might need someone who knows the geth."

He blinked a couple times, his eyes darting away from Tali and to his monitor. Realizing something that should have been apparent to him. Clearing his throat before speaking. "I uh… Need to go ask Iromak how he's moving all that cargo."

And why he needs it.

Tali nodded, curious as to what it was. She left it unspoken though, the two splitting up as Shepard went to Cargo. Tali went up to chat with the pilot to see what he knew about the Normandy.

Shepard and Iromak stood in front of the elevator that led up to the mess hall. Both speaking quietly to one another. Kaidan, who had been talking with Ashley on the far left side of the cargo. After a bit of convincing, Shepard agreed to Kaidan's request to play skyllian poker at some point in the night.

Shepard spent his idle time till then in his quarters. Straightening out his bed before sitting at his computer. Proceeding to fill a few requisition forms; sending them out once finished. His mind dwelled upon Tali most of the time that he worked.

When the night cycle took over the ship's lighting and dimmed everything, he returned to cargo. Shepard, Kaidan, Garrus, Wrex and Iromak sat on chairs they had pulled from the mess hall, using a crate they pulled out for a table.

After a few hours, and a few drinks provided by the Commander. Garrus managed to convince the group to start playing for higher stakes. Shepard thought his luck would prevail, and was proved quite wrong when Kaidan or Wrex won out over the group in most rounds.

Soon, Shepard found himself a couple hundred credits lighter than when he started, and with a notable headache from drinking with the others. Deciding that he better not push his luck further, he disbanded from the group. Traveling up the elevator with one hand placed on the wall to support himself as his legs seemed to sway his body against his will.

God. Damn. Drink.

He wasn't sure if he was cursing himself for drinking, or for not bringing water as an mediary for the swill they'd been drinking. Stumbling into the small kitchen area to grab a bottle of water. Using the counter to support himself as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He heard her before he saw her. "You really shouldn't bother it. You'll irritate the scar tissue more than calm it."

Chakwas.

His eyes moved from the counter to the table he had passed. Seeing the doctor was holding a pad that looked rather similar to the requisition requests he would give out if needed.

"Ah, Doctor, I wasn't aware you were up…" He looked back at the counter. Pushing himself into an upright position before starting to drink from the bottle of water.

"Are you not even going to address the headache problem?" She watched him drink, crossing her arms as she waited for his reply.

"It's only a slight inconvenience really. Nothing more." He started stumbling towards his room, shaking his head at her question.

"It's only a minor procedure to replace the tissue with cloned cells. Then-" He held his index finger up to pause her, turning his head with squinted eyes to look at her.

"How do you know?" His speech was slow and slurred; the mix of wanting sleep and being drunk made him quite unsteady. Stepping to use the wall as a support.

"Anderson told me when he brought you aboard. Don't be upset with him, as your Doctor it's best I know these things." Shepard shook his head, heading back towards his room. He trusted Andersons judgment. He stopped again as Chakwas spoke once more.

"I believe your friend, Tali'Zorah, was looking for you earlier." He was staring at his door, something about the way the doctor spoke made him not want to respond. Like she was waiting for him to confirm something. "She was heading up to the CIC the last I saw her."

He nodded, turning around and starting towards the stairs. "Thank you. I'll go check on her." He did as best as he could to keep himself presentable, the stumbling was hard to cover up though. He could feel the Doctor's eyes tracking him as he walked to the stairs.

Shepard spent a minute straightening his clothes out before entering the CIC. The night guard saluted him as he walked through the door. Relaxing at the Commander's word. He moved on to the Cockpit, finding Tali in the chair on the right side. Her head was supported by her left hand, her right holding the corner of a magazine.

She had been reading it, but found herself slowly losing interest. Eventually she ended up just staring out at the stars. Her mind was wondering what the location of the Migrant Fleet was. Her thoughts fell silent as footsteps started gradually approaching.

She didn't think anything of it until Shepard stumbled up. Grabbing the back of Joker's seat, using it to support himself. "Hey Tali." She looked over to see him half laid over the chair. His eyes barely half open as he watched Tali; his head drifting back and forth slowly.

It only took a couple of his slurred words for her to take a guess. "Are you drunk?" She blinked a couple times to wake herself up. Closing her magazine over and setting it to the side.

It wasn't what he had expected, his eyebrows furrowed while his eyes closed. "I… well. Yes, but that's-" She cut him off as she looked at the time.

Standing up as she crossed her arms. "It is nearly one, you have a mission tomorrow and you're drunk?" His eyes opened slightly, soon his eyebrow raising as his head turned slightly to the left.

He remained silent for a few moments. His eyes were watching her glowing eyes. "Yes, I… uh…" He reached up to rub his eyes. "You've…" He was having trouble keeping a hold off his tongue, shaking his head lightly at the statement that he bit back.

"I…? I what?" Tali looked at Shepard who looked very similar to a tree being blown around in the wind. Shepard only chuckled to himself as she questioned him.

Quickly changing direction with what he was going to say. "You're in no shape to be flying. Come on Tali, you should be in bed." He gestured for her to follow as he stumbled back towards the walkway back to the CIC.

She watched him for a moment, her eyes squinting slightly as he stumbled. Following after a moment, deciding she should at least make sure he made it into bed. Bringing her magazine with her. "Right… I guess I had too much to drink." Her voice dripped in sarcasm, something that he was either ignored, or was too intoxicated to notice.

"Correct." The night shift watched their Commander stumble back through the CIC. Pulling a few questioning looks before walking downstairs.

Tali grabbed a hold of his shoulder while he went down the stairs, making sure he didn't stumble and fall. Her hand slipped off his shoulder as he made it to the bottom.

He led her to the door of his quarters, opening it with the press of a button and stepping to the side. Gesturing for her to enter. "Now then, off to sleep. I'll keep an eye on everything from here."

Tali was confused for a moment, looking back and forth between him and the room. "No, Shepard. You-"

Shepard put a hand up to stop her, shaking his head. "Go get your sleep Tali. I'll be right as rain."

She blinked a couple times, shaking her head. "I have a-"

"A pod that is cramped and uncomfortable, I've slept in them before." He gestured to the bed on the far side of his room. "Go on. Captain Tali. You need your rest." He gave her shoulder a pat before stumbling off towards the kitchen to get some rations.

Tali, unsure about it, stepped over and watched him; her head tilted to the left slightly. Shepard didn't notice her till he had finished arranging his tray.

Shepard looked up to see her, a smirk slipping onto his lips as he looked down at the counter. "I could tell you a story if that'd help."

She sighed quietly to herself, shaking her head. "Shepard. You need to get to sleep." He looked down at the tray for a moment, contemplating her statement.

Finally he nodded, picking the spoon up from his tray. "I will Tali, as soon as you get off to sleep as well." He glanced at her as he started eating, nodding towards the room he had given her. "So go on. I'll be asleep in no time."

Tali would finally give in. Slowly giving a nod as she turned to the open door. "Thank you… John." She quickly shuffled into the room. Leaving Shepard with a smile and a slight blush upon his cheeks.

Tali laid in the bed for a few minutes, wondering how he managed to turn it around on her. She eventually put it out of mind. Reading her magazine until the comfort of the bed pulled her into sleep.

Yes. This is late, that is because I'm going to change the upload day to the weekends. Still once every two weeks.

Thank you once again for reading.