Persephone stared down into the bowl of...whatever it was that Kaidan had ordered her as she hadn't made head or tails of the menu. It appeared to be soup of some kind, filled with thick, white noodles, vegetables, pieces of fish and a whole egg boiled in the highly fragrant broth. The server had warned her that the stoneware bowl it was presented in was very hot, giving her a pair of chopsticks and a shallow oval spoon.
"Are you going to try it?" Kaidan asked, looking at her with a gentle smile.
"I'm waiting." Persephone said.
"For?" He asked.
"I don't know." She said in response and he gave a snort, reaching over and grabbing the spoon and the chopsticks, deftly picking up a long string of noodle and swirling it into the utensil, dipping it into the bowl to gather some of the broth.
"Try that." He said, handing it to her and she took it from him, giving it a look then him before slurping down the noodle. There was a pause, and just for a moment her face lit up in a pleasantly surprised smile before she carefully schooled her expression again.
"It's very good." She said once she had swallowed the mouthful, "I like it."
"I knew you would." Kaidan said, "It's one of my favorites, and you can let yourself enjoy it, you know."
"When I enjoyed something, it was taken away." She said, looking down at the bowl again, stirring the contents with the tip of the spoon.
"This won't be taken away, I promise." Kaidan said, "Except maybe to get wrapped to go in case you don't finish it." She gave a small smile at that, forgoing the use of the chopsticks and using a supplied fork to spear a piece of fish, humming slightly in contentment as she ate it.
"Shepard?" Persephone said and she made a small sound of acknowledgement, watching the interaction between the two with a small smile. "Are you aware we're being recorded? Outside the restaurant, video drone and a woman in a dark dress." She said it without looking up and Shepard scowled, craning in her seat to look behind her.
"Son of a-I'll be right back." Shepard said and got up from her seat, "Kaidan, don't touch my katsu!"
"Of course, Shepard." He said and waited until she was gone before grabbing a piece of delicately fried chicken, eating it quickly as Persephone giggled.
Shepard left the restaurant, heading for the familiar reporter, the light on the video drone turning on as she came close.
"Commander Shepard," The woman said, "Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani, Westerlund-"
"I know who you are, Khalisah, what're you doing here? Don't you have more important things to do than broadcast me having lunch?" Shepard asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Who's the young woman, Shepard?" Khalisah asked, "She has a remarkable resemblance to you and Major Alenko."
"None of your business." Shepard said, "Get lost before I have C-Sec remove you, they owe me more than a few favors."
"How do you justify having a carefree lunch date with Major Alenko and...whoever that is while Reapers tear apart our galaxy? Shouldn't you be doing something about that?" Khalisah said, her tone angry and accusing.
"The Normandy is being restocked, we leave in the morning, so forgive me if I want to spend what little downtime I have with people I care about." Shepard said.
"Someone you care about? Who is she to you, Shepard?"
"Like I said, none of your damn business. Now, if you'll excuse me." She turned on her heel and headed back into the restaurant, retaking her seat and shooting Kaidan a look when she saw that she was missing some of her meal.
"What?" He asked with a shrug. "It was Persephone."
"I had one piece!" Persephone objected with a smile, "One! You had like, three!"
"Did you like it?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah, it was pretty good." Persephone admitted with a shrug, "Do you want some of mine? Will that make it better?"
"I'll be stealing from both of you, thank you very much." Shepard said and set about taking noodles and fish from Persephone's bowl and pieces of the sushi rolls Kaidan had ordered, making up for her pilfered food. Persephone's wide smile suddenly faded as she looked towards the door, a small scowl appearing between her brows. "Persephone?"
"Batarian." She said simply and they both looked at the lone Batarian that had entered the restaurant, pushing past the hostess, her shout attracting attention. "Shepard…" The Batarian stopped a ways away, turning to face their table, but not coming any closer. The jacket he was wearing fell open, revealing a vest strapped with many blinking disks, wires vanishing up the sleeve to the small control in his hand.
Persephone grabbed a steak knife from the table, flipping it in her hand so she was holding the blade and turned in her seat.
"For Ara-!" His head snapped back and he crumpled to the floor, the restaurant knife sunk to the hilt between his lower set of eyes. It had happened so suddenly that no one moved, no one breathed and Shepard looked at Persephone, seeing her standing, arm still extended from throwing the knife.
"My god." Kaidan said, and Persephone seemed to come back to herself, her arm dropping and her eyes darting around the restaurant, seeing the shocked expressions and the dead body on the floor. "Persephone?"
"I don't-I can't-" She stuttered, color draining from her face and faint tremors racking her body. "I have to-" She ran from the restaurant, the hostess jumping out of the way.
"Kaidan." Shepard said, getting up from her chair.
"I'll take care of it. Go." He said and she chased after her.