18.5: Goodnight, Tali
Part 2

Man, am I glad that's over.

John Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the elevator. The human hadn't expected it, but finding adequate quarters for Liara had been difficult, to say the least. Even with the rotating schedule of hot-bunking and the plentiful supply of sleep capsules and beds that the Normandy had, there just wasn't room to squeeze her into the schedule. But he wasn't about to give up on finding a former crew member a spot to rest, if only for a little while. So he tried to find someone to share a room with her.

That had been a major mistake.

Despite Miranda's recent warming up to him, the officer was icily cool to the information broker. Possibly even more so than she had been toward Tali, at first. It wasn't that they were openly hostile, but there was a mutual... Distrust? Respect? Wariness? Whatever it was, it was there. And despite the women's relatively cordial words to each other, he knew that neither would have agreed to such an arrangement. Not even for his sake.

Samara also was a no-go. Putting an information broker who had threatened to flay someone with her mind and sold a man's corpse to a paramilitary organization for unknown experimentation in the same room as a wanderer who adhered to a strict code of justice was just a bad idea from the start. And that's to say nothing of what John didn't know about Liara's activities over the past two years.

Jack, Zaeed, Grunt... None of the rooms on the engineering deck were good options. They had chosen to stay in their rooms because they liked the isolation. Robbing them of it would not end well for anyone involved.

He had hoped that Garrus would be alright with allowing his former squadmate to have a shift on his bunk. The turian, however, simply didn't have room for her. The cot, tucked directly under a console off to one side, was inaccessible while he ran a myriad of simulated trials on the newer thanix cannon and the standard magnetic accelerators. Evidently, his calibrations had literally taken over the room; every surface was covered with holographic interfaces as he simulated combat conditions while talking to the AI. Liara wouldn't have found any relaxation there.

Thane had been open to the prospect, and Liara had initially accepted, despite the lack of a "proper" bed in the life support area. However, all that had changed at one point, after the drell slipped into a bout of sollipsism. While Liara was taken by his tale of how he'd met his wife, she had been curious enough to ask who had hired him for that particular hit. The answer had come without hesitation: The Shadow Broker. To say she made a rapid about-face would be an understatement comparable to calling Fleet and Flotilla "somewhat popular".

Kasumi's room, however, was locked. For some reason, not even his or Miranda's overrides could get the door open, and the woman wasn't answering her omni-tool. The thief, apparently, knew how to build a nigh-unbreakable security system. An unshackled EDI might have helped, but the commander wasn't that desperate to open her door.

Eventually, he had gotten Doctor Chakwas to cave, allowing the former crewmate to sleep on a cot in the AI core "for old time's sake". The elderly woman still managed to give Shepard a burning glare before he left, warning him that Liara would need to leave if Tali became ill for any reason. As he hit the interface on his cabin door, his thoughts drifted back to that particular moment.

That was cryptic of her... I mean it's not like I whisked Tali over to my bed to-

The door to his cabin opened.

"-a setting for ears?"

He blinked. "Tali?"

During their time fighting together, John had heard Tali yelp before. Surprise and pain had been part of the job, after all, though she had adapted to it well. Even though the quarian had managed to rein it in after their first time fighting rachni on Noveria, there were still times where she could be caught off-guard. Kasumi had proven as much during the quarian's first few days aboard.

That was nothing compared to the shriek that came from the quarian's helmet.

She leaped in shock, her powerful legs nearly propelling her halfway to Shepard's "skylight" in the ship's reduced gravity before she landed on the bed again. John clamped his hands over his ears reflexively, barely noticing her fingers dancing chaotically across her lit omni-tool as she practically slapped at it without looking. It shut down as the quarian began to stammer, still barely audible over the ringing in the human's ears.

"John! I- I was- I mean... It isn't- But you- I just-"

"Tali..." He shook his head, and some of the background buzzing faded. "What are you doing here?"

"I swear, it isn't what it looks like... I mean, except... But I wasn't- I mean didn't get t- I mean just didn't... Not that I-"

She's cute when she's guilty. Must have wanted to surprise me after her shift. John grinned as he stepped into the room, closing the distance to the bed. "Tali..."

"Oh, Keelah, Quala told me this would happen. I told her I wouldn't but I can't believe I was- I mean thought- I mean..." She continued to ramble, her fingers twitching as she visibly resisted the urge to fiddle with them.

"Tali," John repeated, grabbing hold of her arm. She froze as he touched her, her glowing eyes widening as she squeaked once more.

"You... You touched me," she murmured airily.

He raised an eyebrow. "You know I'm not going to hit you, right?" John grasped her hand, and he could have sworn the quarian had shivered in his grip. He heard her take a shuddering breath, but continued talking. "Look, there's no need to be so guilty. I'm just... surprised is all. I'm okay with you coming in to talk to me." He began to stroke the back of her glove absentmindedly, and she gave a slight whimper. "I'm not mad. I mean, it's not like I'll kick you out or anything..."

"Mm-hmm," she hummed, her eyes half-closing. "I- I need to... I need- N-need to..."

"You need to relax," John interrupted with a grin, placing a hand on her back.

"Khhhlahchonn," she mumbled, her eyes sliding shut as she leaned against him.

"I mean just look at you, you're practically falling asleep on me here."

"Na-nahtirrrd."

He grinned and shook his head, rising from her side. "I don't believe that, not after what happened at Azure. You can stay here if you like." No point making her even more worried now either. "I'll just take a quick shower and set up on the couch, okay?" He gave her leg a soft pat. The quarian gave an odd sound after he did, somewhere between a huff, a whimper, and a moan. He paused, looking at her in surprise. I guess she might be worried about that dream she had the other night. Or maybe it's just Liara. Jealousy, maybe? The human shrugged, moving back to the bed. Eh, so she has a clingy side. She's still Tali. "But if you want, I could put that off til the morning." He put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a loose hug.

"Uuuuuhchonn..." She pulled him even closer, pressing her torso against his. "N-neeed you here, r-rightherenow."