She felt her Commander demeanor take back over. Her face slid into a careful blankness and her eyes showed nothing more than sternness.

"Kaidan!" the annoyingly perky voice of Adria greeted- to Shepard, it was as cringe-worthy as fingernails on a blackboard (though she had never personally heard the sound, it was horrible on vids).

He smiled easily and gestured to Shepard. "Adria this is-"

Shepard turned around and saw Adria in a bright blue dress that was breezy, flattering, and...fun (that was the best word she could find). She had her brown hair down and it played over her bare shoulders.

Once again, Shepard hated her for her careless femininity.

For being so damn perky.

A small part of Shepard added: for being a civilian. But Shepard could no more have gone ground-side and settled down than she could have convinced her parents to get a horse when she was a child.

"Lia!" she greeted. "I haven't seen you in a while. You taking care of him?" She looked over at Kaidan and playfully smacked his arm. "You said you didn't know her!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kaidan mouth the name Lia confusedly. "As much as anyone can. He's changed a lot since we last served together," Shepard said judiciously.

She laughed- more of a giggle- and nodded. "I can only imagine!" Her gaze turned to Kaidan before looking back at Shepard. "Oh my god," she whispered. "You're her."

Shepard wondered what look Kaidan had on his face that made Adria say that (whatever her statement even meant). She didn't bother looking at Kaidan, just kept her composure.

Not letting her confusion show, Shepard simply asked, "Her who?"

"Commander Shepard."

"That's right," she confirmed, still not completely understanding, but taking guilty satisfaction from Adria's wide eyes- both fearful and disbelieving.

It was petty, and if her parents had seen, she never would have heard the end of it.

Adria looked at Kaidan and nodded. "This is her, isn't it?"

Again, Shepard felt lost at the true, vital nature of the words.

Shepard felt Kaidan's eyes on her. "Yeah, it is."

Adria looked between the two of them a couple of times before nodding- almost in acceptance. "Well, I'll let you both get back to it." She leaned forward in a conspiratorially manner. "I've got a date too."

Shepard gave her a cool smile that was as much part of her commander mode as everything else was. "Knock him dead."

Adria smiled enthusiastically. "Take care!" she practically squealed as she walked away.

Turning back to Kaidan, she kept her cool Commander face on. He was watching her studiously, almost amused, and more than a little horrified. He gave her a mocking smile. "Do you know what you want to order, Lia?"

Shepard regarded him coldly before picking up her menu and pretending to scan it. "Don't tell Liara I butchered her name," was her only response.

They fell silent when the waitress came over for their orders. They both ordered a steak each (though Shepard was sure that Adria wouldn't eat anything more than a damn salad) and he ordered an Earth whiskey and she ordered a glass of Asari honey mead- she contemplated something a little harder, but figured she'd want clarity.

After the waitress left, Kaidan cleared his throat. "So you know Adria."

Without skipping a beat, Shepard said, "Yes, I know Adria. She seems nice."

"When did you meet her?" He sounded strained.

He hadn't ever intended on Shepard and Adria meeting.

Mostly because Shepard was...well, Shepard.

As much as she kept her temper in check, she still had enough of one to make a Krogan think twice about pissing her off.

Shepard fought against the urge to fidget and continued to look him in the eye. "The day I had to bring you to Huerta."

He thought about that for a few seconds (with a look of pure horror) before understanding crossed his face. "That's why you've been acting so strange."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Major."

He ignored that, sounding as though he was doing nothing more than thinking aloud. "Why you've been acting like you're waiting to be told that I've moved on."

Her cool expression turned cold- practically frigid. "You're wrong."

"Change," he murmured and looked at her hard. "You think I've changed."

"I've already told you that everybody changes- and has changed," she pointed out coldly.

"Because of Adria," he finished.

Raising an eyebrow, she repeated a line from when they were still testing their romantic water. "Do you have any intentions there, Major?"

"None," he said firmly. "I prefer my women...adventurous."

A smile threatened and her commander face slipped a fraction. "Not lavender smelling?"

Kaidan chuckled and reached across the table and took her hands in his own. "No. Not wearing blue dresses either." He ran his eyes over her and nodded. "I prefer black dresses and vanilla mint."

Letting her expression relax, she smiled at him. "Good," she said simply.

Kaidan leaned forward a little bit. "How'd you manage not to punch her?"

With a smirk, she lifted her glass of water and said, "I never punched that reporter- Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani."

Kaidan laughed. "Westerlund news." He sighed. "I kind of wanted to punch her for you."

They took a moment of silence as the waiter brought them their drinks. "I doubt that- it's not really your style."

He frowned at her. "I have a style?"

"Yeah," she assured him. "You're calm, collected, and rarely let what's happening around you bother you. You are the very essence of calm."

"Three times she's tried to make you look bad and three times I've had to practically lock myself in the brig so I don't go look for her and punch her for you." He took a drink of his whiskey and looked at her knowingly. "If 'I' wanted to punch her, I can promise that you wanted to."

"And you can thank my parents, Admirals Hannah and Nathaniel Shepard, for my ability to resist such a tantalizing opportunity."

Again they paused as their food was brought. "Was that why you didn't punch Adria?"

"No." She didn't elaborate.

"No?"

"No," she confirmed. "Well, maybe in the beginning. Then I restrained myself out of respect for you." She looked thoughtful for a few seconds as she swirled her drink. "That was a lie. I didn't punch her because of you- and, trust me, I came close once and had to walk away."

Again, they fell silent as a waitress brought them their food. As Shepard began cutting her steak, Kaidan (rather off-handedly) said, "You know, she tried to set me up with you- well not you, but your Lia character. She kept saying that she knew a cute redhead that I might be interested in."

Shepard chuckled. "I bet she kept telling you to get away from Commander Shepard and be someone more sensible- and, if not her, then Commander Lia."

Kaidan shrugged. "Didn't really matter- I already had a cute redhead that I was interested in."

She rewarded him with a smile. "You know, I think this was a good idea."

"Think we can ever get past my being an idiot on Horizon and Mars?" he asked cautiously.

She smiled and he suddenly felt her foot trailing its way up and down his leg underneath the table. "I think we're going to be just fine- despite everything."

He very nearly choked on a piece of his steak and looked down at it with a look of unadulterated anguish.

The steak was just so damn big….

Instead of saying anything else, he merely reached across the table and took her hands into his own. "So, where does this leave us?"

She smiled her crooked half-smile and bit her bottom lip. "I think this leaves us somewhere that allows you to take up a guest residency in the Captain's Cabin," she purred.

He looked down at his steak and began to eat faster.