Shepard shut the apartment door behind Michael. It was dark outside, and the team had spent the majority of the day with Rosaline. As Michael had said, 'she's smarter than me, cuter than me, and more entertaining than me. Can I borrow her so chicks will pity me?'
Shepard had laughed at this, surprising the others.
Michael flopped onto the couch, tired. "My tummy hurts." He said.
"Yeah, we saw Miranda jab you in the stomach." Haku said. "It'll get better."
"It hurts like hell 'til then, though, right?" Michael asked.
"Pretty much." Haku said.
Michael took his beanie off, then ruffled his black hair. "I'd better get something from this."
"You said something about a girl, right?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah." Michael said.
"We'll go to her tomorrow. What's her name?"
"Isabella. She's, like, from Italian ancestry, and the daughter of a crime boss."
"This might be more difficult than I imagined. But alright, tomorrow we'll leave for Omega." Shepard promised.
"Thanks." Michael said, falling asleep.
"He looks so peaceful when he sleeps." Haku said.
"It's because he can't talk." Shepard said.
"Stop being so cynical, big guy. You know that he's had a pretty bad childhood."
"I don't, actually."
"He's from Omega, and every childhood there is bad." Haku said.
"Maybe." Shepard said. "Do you think his joking attitude is some facade, or do you think he's normally like that?"
"I don't know." Haku shrugged. "If he's normally like that, that means he hasn't let bad things take him over."
"That's never as easy as it sounds." Shepard said, watching Haku sit down.
"I was raised in New Tokyo." Haku said, gesturing to her sitting style. "I'm not Japanese, but my guardians were."
"What happened to your real parents?" Shepard asked.
"Killed. My guardians were close friends of my mom and dad, and they left me with my guardians when they went to Akuze." Haku said. "I became a marine because I knew that the marines died trying to save my mother."
Shepard put a hand on Haku's shoulder, and Haku moved forward, tightly hugging Shepard as she cried. Shepard hugged back, one of the few gestures of kindness he had done in the years following his fall from grace, and patted her on the back.
"Sorry." Haku sniffed after several minutes of silence, going back to sitting as she had been.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," Shepard said, then thought 'That's the same thing I said to Tali after hugging her when her father died.'
"Shep, are you still going to chase the Illusive Man?" Haku asked. "Don't lie."
"I will, inevitably, go back to hunting him. But I'll help both of you before I go back again. I owe you both at least that much." Shepard looked at Michael as he said this, then looked at Haku. "What do you want to do?"
"You can take me out to eat. I haven't ate anything fancier than a steak in five years." Haku said.
Shepard noted the oddity of this request, then said "Alright. I have to help Michael first."
"Why?"
"I am a firm believer in 'first come, first serve.'"
Haku was surprised. That was almost a straightforward joke. Or, at least, more humorous than Shepard's usual demeanor. Shepard stood, and walked down the hall, stopping only to say "There's an empty guest room here. I forgot to tell anyone about it, but, being chivalrous, I think you should have it."
"You just don't want Mike to spill any soda in the bed." Haku smiled.
"That too," Shepard said, chuckling, and went into his bedroom.
Haku stood, kissed Michael on the head as a big sister would to a little brother, and walked into the guest room. It was an average room, with nothing special on it.
"Guess I'll have to buy some new stuff," Haku said to herself, then opened the closet, finding half of the closed men's clothing and the other half women's clothing.
'He planned this!' Haku realized, jaw dropping. Haku took some blue pajamas, and went to sleep smiling.