2
Major Kaidan Alenko, the second human Spector was staring out into space from the crew deck of the ship. They were between missions and the downtime was grinding on his nerves. Throwing down his data pad in annoyance, he had not gotten any real news updates in days. He exits the room and heads to the mess.
It was a well-known fact that biotics needed almost double the caloric intake of others of their species. Anyone who had never been to an Asari banquet would attest …and the idea ran his body cold. Thessia was gone. The images of the city burning filled his mind but he pushed them away. He had spoken to Liara right after the mission but she was too grief stricken for him to be much help, he had meant to speak to Shep also but time had slipped away and much as Kaidan didn't want to think about it there was this unspoken rift between the two that neither was quite sure how to fix yet.
It was never the right time the last time and you lost her because of it. His inner voice chided.
Getting to the mess he was surprised to see no one but Gardner there. The former Cerberus mess hall officer had signed on as soon as the Normandy had been recomishioned. While he had been proud of working for the terrorist cell he had been swayed after Shepard's rescue from the Collectors and had followed the majority of the crew. It was unusual for Kaidan to see a ship that had its own cook in Alliance regulations but Shepard had insisted. Now he saw why, not only was the man a good cook. Able to handle making the best of bad rations and complex needs of different species but he also served as a morale officer. In these dark days everyone came to the mess to talk to or just to listen to his advice.
Without a word Gardner grabbed two trays and doubled them up, passing them to Kaidan with a wry smile. "Major." The mess was hardly ever vacant but Kaidan had never been a fan of crowds and noise, he tended to haunt the mess in the off hours or just eat alone to avoid migraines before missions. He noticed that Gardner was watching him closely but trying to appear as if he wasn't. Training as a Specter had taught him to be observant; fourteen years in the Alliance taught him to go with your gut.
"What is it Gardner?" He asked around a mouth full of meatloaf. The man shifted uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck, a tell of a man uncomfortable with the subject.
"Wah? Oh it's nothing major. Just scuttlebutt you know… Something EDI and that Traynor woman were talking about. But you know how rumors go."
"Comm'on Gardner if those two said it it hardly counts as a rumor those two are as close to the lines as you get.
"Yea but it was not something. . ."He stopped looking Kaidan in the eyes and dropping his gaze. "We have so much going on right now. Do we really need to make waves when the whole galaxy is at war?"
"Gardner." His tone cool a trick he had learned from Shepard early on.
"It's just I thought I overheard I mean. "His hand was back on his neck now, his gazes firmly holding something on the floor." EDI asked the Specialist if it was considered acceptable for Commanders to have relations with two members of her crew. The robot was one of ours so she was looking into Alliance regs and all…"