John was standing outside the Normandy by himself drinking some coffee as he watched the sunrise on this beautiful planet. 'How long has it been since I've had something as simple as a good cup of coffee,' he thought to himself as he was finally starting to take the time to relax and unwind after so many months of constant conflict and war. It was only their third day here on the planet for their three-week shore leave but the crew had already gotten bored enough they decided to start building homes for themselves but instead of using the prefabricated homes in the bay of the Normandy and just setting those up they all chose to cut down some trees and try to build their houses the hard way.
The crew had actually gotten a few of the small homes done, they weren't anything like log cabins, far from it actually but as long as the crew was happy John could give less of a shit what they did. As the sun came up he could see the beautiful colors coming over the water, 'I hope one day I can watch this with Tali every morning,' and just as he thought this he heard the door behind him open. He turned thinking he had just made what he thought come true but all he saw was Garrus coming out with some alcohol and a few tools, which he figured were for the crew and their houses.
"You're up early," he said as he turned back around watching the sun finish its rise out over the water. "Says the one who snores so loud the crew can't get sleep," Shepard laughed at his jab as Garrus stood next to him, "What's on your mind?" he asked seeing Shepard staring out at the sunrise. "I was just thinking about the future," he finished off the rest of his coffee and turned towards Garrus, "So you planning to build a house too?". Garrus smiled at John, "No, as much as I'd love to try and cram myself into one of those tiny homes I like my bunk enough as it is,".
"Well maybe if you'd lose some weight you could fit in them better," Garrus just laughed and shook his head as he started to walk towards the woods but not before he yelled back one last time, "Asshole!". John then walked back into the Normandy heading towards the elevator and going to the mess hall to return the cup he had used for his coffee. Gardner was still the Mess Sargeant of the Normandy and even though they were on shore leave he had refused to leave the ship as he said, "I don't trust someone like Joker to be cooking me food anytime soon,".
John hadn't ordered him to leave the ship or anything so as long as he enjoyed himself Shepard wasn't going to stop him. John left the mess hall and decided he would go back up to the room and check on Tali and see what she wanted to do today. When he got into the room he noticed that she was up and sitting on the bed typing something on her omni-tool. "What's happening?" he asked as he walked down to the bed and sat down next to her, "One of the Admirals told me that the geth have completed their cure for us, but it will only work for the older quarians as it is too strong for the young one's immune system's to handle so they will have to wait until they come of age to take the cure,".
"That's great, are you gonna take one?" he asked getting more excited than she seemed to be as she laughed at John's excitement at the announcement. "It's not something like the pills that you humans take or something that I have to ingest, it's a program that is downloaded into our suits and over about a weeks time will slowly strengthen our immune system and after that, I will be able to take off my suit at will but I won't be able to remove my suit at all during the week I download the program or else it will hurt the program and I could get very sick,".
"Oh, so what are you trying to say?" Tali turned to him and held John's hand, "I'm asking if you want me to go ahead and activate it because I know how you are and how much you like for me to take my helmet or suit off,". John gave her a fake look of hurt, "Me? No, I do believe you have the wrong person my dearest," Tali slapped him on the arm laughing. "It's definitely you love, but I just wanted to make sure you know and have a decision in this because it is going to take a week straight," John never even seemed to give a second thought as he answered her, "Yes most definitely I think you should take it,".
"Ok, but first I want to do this," Tali said and before John could question her she took her mask off and gave him a long and deep loving kiss before she broke the kiss and put her mask back on. "I can't wait to do that more," John was flustered at the moment as he hadn't expected her to do that but he was never going to complain about getting to kiss the love of his life. "I'm gonna go ahead and get the process started so we can get it over with as quickly as possible," John came to and smiled at her being happier than he had ever been in his life, "I can't wait for that to be normal," they both then hugged and held each other for a few moments until a beep came from Tali's omni-tool.
"Well it's started so we have a week and then I'll be able to get out of this suit and walk around with all of you just like everyone else," John smiled at her just taking in her beauty and imagining getting to see her true body and face every day. He then thought of something as he got an idea, "Do you even have clothes to wear?" Tali then seemed to realize the same thing John was thinking about. "No I don't," John then nodded and pulled out his own omni-tool pulling up a clothing store and going to the women's section, "They don't have a quarian section so we can just get some human clothes for you and they should fit pretty well,".
Tali nodded excitedly before they began their shopping adventure for clothes. After they finished their shopping they had gotten her enough clothes for an entire week for her to sleep in, wear around the ship and outside, and a few different bikinis that Tali liked after John had suggested her getting some of course. "You can also steal some of my clothes to sleep in from time to time if you wanted to," Tali looked at him and cocked her head sideways, "Why would I take your clothes whenever you just ordered me my own clothes to wear,".
"Well you don't have to, it's just something that girlfriends, at least human ones, will do from time to time," Tali just nodded at him and seemed to think about it for a moment. "Why would they steal their boyfriend's clothes, that seems wrong to do," John laughed and shook his head, "No it's not I promise, they do it because my clothes smell like I do and they like to smell that whenever we're away from them,". Tali let out an "ohhhhhhhh," as she understood why they would do such a thing. They did it just like she gave him a picture of her face, just something to remember them while aren't here.
"How many clothes do you have that I can have then?" she asked smiling now wanting to steal some of his clothes. John got up off of the bed and walked over to his closet, "Well I have quite a few uniforms and everything but you probably won't want those," he searched through everything for a few minutes before he found something perfect for her. "This should work perfectly for you," he then turned around with his N7 hoodie in his hands and held it out to Tali. "But this is your favorite jacket I can't take this from you," she said not wanting to take some of his prized things.
John just shook his head, "It'll be even more prized to me whenever I can see my girlfriend looking good in my jacket,". Tali finally gave in and took the jacket in her hands, "How do I put it on?" John laughed and took the jacket from her hands, "Lift your arms up for me please,". Tali did as he said and when she had her arms up he slipped the hoodie on over her helping her get her arms and hands through the right holes. It took him a second to help her understand the armholes and head hole but once he got it on her it looked as natural as it would on anyone else.
"It's definitely too big for me," John looked at her as she wore and she was definitely right for the most part. It was too big for her but he expected that as it hung down halfway down her thighs and it almost completely hid her chest. However, when she turned to show how it looked all the way around he noticed that even though it was big you could still partially see her butt pushing the back of the jacket out. "You're right about it being too big but your curves still show off enough for me," Tali looked confused until she looked down and behind her, and then she realized what he meant. "Of course, the horny commander Shepard would notice that," she said faking her annoyance as she blushed behind her helmet, "I'm just loving all of my girl is all," he said as he walked up and hugged her tight.
"I love you ya know," he said as he looked down at her and her new outfit for now, "and I love this outfit, it makes you look even cuter,". Tali smiled so wide he swore her helmet was about to break from it, "Thank you, and I love you too," John touched his forehead to her helmet and kissed it. "I can't wait to be able to spend the rest of my life with you," he said as he suddenly picked her up and carried her to the door. "Where are we going!?" Tali asked as she was worried about someone seeing her with John's jacket on. "We're going to go check on the crew and get outside for a little while," he said as he carried her into the elevator and pushed the button for CIC before he set her down.
"I can't go out there with this on," John got worried at that moment thinking that she was talking about her getting too hot, "I thought your suit could automatically cool you down?". Tali looked at him confused for a second, "It does but that's not what I'm worried about, what if one of the crew members sees me in this?" Shepard calmed down when he understood why she was so worried and lightly laughed to himself. "Why would it matter if they see you in it, everyone already knows you're with me, I promise you they won't be upset at you for wearing one of my jackets,".
"Ok, well I'm still worried," Shepard just smiled at her as the elevator doors opened, "If anyone says something to you just let me know and I'll resolve the problem," he said as he gave her a wink and a smile. The pair then walked through CIC with none of the crew at their stations, 'Good their all out doing something besides work,' he thought as they made their way to the door and stepped out onto the ramp they had set up to exit out near the Pilot's chair, mostly for joker but also for the convenience of the crew. "Let's go make the most of this vacation shall we?" he said as they walked down the ramp and Tali looked at him smiling and nodded, "It's already the best vacation I've ever had, just because you're here with me," Tali then grabbed John's hand as they walked out onto the beach as she was so excited to start the next part of their life together, one without war and conflict getting in the way of them being together.
