Face It

Food

Shepard could remember her love affair. With food. She could remember salivating at the thought of chocolate, of ice cream. They were making constant stops around the galaxy the first time around, trying to give their commander her sugar fix. And now.. now she only ate when her hands began to shake.

She stared making her rounds, making sure there was nothing anyone needed. The trip resulted in a scheduled visit to the Citadel- yay, right?- and Omega. She picked Omega first, anything to delay the Citadel.

She sat down near the mess hall, thinking about all of the frivolities she used to indulge in. So many silly little things she used to do. Every Friday, she'd do a little dance, just because. Valentines day, she somehow afforded chocolate for anyone she spoke to. Even went so far as getting a small dextro-amino food producer for Garrus and Tali. Now... there was no love of food. It was just another resource.

Still, she didn't begrudge Gardner when he asked for better rations. Just because she no longer liked food doesn't mean there weren't people who didn't. She wasn't going to punish other people because of her misfortune.

…

The loud clinking of porcelain on the table surprised her. There was a small little...cabin made of chocolate, with a single marshmallow coming out of the smoke stack, placed in the center of a white plate. She followed the arm to find Garrus looking down at her, his mandibles fluttering nervously.

"That's pretty... art project?" She wondered.

"Eat it." He said, forcefully for Garrus. He didn't seem to be comfortable demanding things of her.

"I'm not hungry." She deadpanned.

"You don't have to be hungry to eat." He said.

"Yeah, but I'm not hungry."

"It's good for you. You always said this was good for you. Ashley, too." Garrus was uncomfortable bringing up the dead. Especially since he wasn't sure how Shepard would react.

"I. Don't. Want. It." She growled. She didn't like being ordered around, didn't like thinking of things that were her fault, didn't like his general attitude.

"I'm not leaving 'till you eat that damn house." He sat across from her.

There were a few murmurs around them, but no one dared say anything above a whisper. Shepard was scary when she was mad. It took a few minutes for Joker to be present. He was excited about 'mommy and daddy fighting'.

"When we defeated Saren, you said the only thing that would make you happier was a house of chocolate. Well, I did that dammit."

It occurred to Shepard that this was Garrus' way of telling her everything was okay. It was his way of saying, 'you're alive, smile for me'. The chair she was sitting in fell to the floor.

"Thanks, Garrus."

Her arms were around him. His warmth was distracting. He didn't seem to mind that there were so many people around. His plan was working, that's all that mattered.

She could hear the elevator open, just barely, over the whispering of her crew. She really couldn't help the shudder that racked through her body.

There were a few heavy steps. They paused and Jack sounded, "Hey. Chocolate."

Shepard had never turned around, or fired up her biotics, so quickly in either of her lives.

I didn't want it all to be angsty. Any good? Won't know unless you press that little button about...yes, that one. You know the one. "Review"

It means a lot to me? Please?