"So... You know that old saying about who outranks an Admiral?"
Trish tilted her head towards the random question to see Nikki led next to her in the hotel bed, gazing at the ceiling and making no attempt to fix her adorably messy bed hair.
"An Admiral's wife." She answered the age old half joke/half truth. Nick nodded but didn't look over.
"Right. Would... Do you want outrank a spectre?"
"Nikki!" Surprise coloured Trish's voice as she sat up in a hurry, twisting her whole body for a better look at her partner while she sought clarification: "Are you proposing?"
"No. Maybe? Umm..." Nervous uncertainty clouded the commander's eyes. "More sort of... trying to work out if you'd want me to propose? Kaidan and Liara said they would never have considered that whole... thing... if they knew I was taken and- Well, I know it's not an obligatory requirement anymore but if we are going to think about starting a family..." She trailed off as if deciding the reasoning was either unnecessary or counterproductive. "Obviously it would be much better than this if I did..."
Trish chuckled, throwing one leg over to straddle her hopeless Mindoirian.
"You."
The sentence was punctuated by a brief kiss to her partner's forehead.
"Are crap."
Another peck, this time on the cheek.
"At subtle questioning."
The action mirrored on the opposite cheek.
"And hopeless at romance."
"Is that a no?"
Trish shook her head with a smile.
"I would love to outrank a spectre." This time lips brushed lips, the kiss quickly deepening, and when they finally broke away the nerves and uncertainty had faded from Nikki's eyes, replaced with their usual mischievous twinkle.
"Hmm, I suppose I best find you one then. Let's see... Bau and Rix are obviously out on account of being male... What about Vasir? Asari, blue eyes instead of brown I'm afraid but-" She was cut off by a playful punch to the shoulder.
"I'll find my own spectre thanks." Trish leant down with her own eyes sparkling. "Oh look, I've found one... Whatever will I do with her?"
"Marry me, I hope."
"Definitely."
Any other potential words were swallowed in a passionate kiss. Instead of ending when Nikki pulled back to catch her breath it simply moved, Trish working her way down her lover's neck. It was a perfect moment, only ruined when, instead of joining straight back in, Nikki decided to use her mouth for talking.
"So... How do you want me to propose? Traditional restaurant date or..."
Trish ignored her, hoping she'd get the hint and shut up if she just continued with her ministrations.
"We could go to some secluded paradise somewhere... Joker's always going on about being the best pilot in the Alliance, he could airdrop the ring from the Normandy just as I pop the question-"
"Here and now's good enough for me." The civilian finally gave in and spoke, hoping it would help end the conversation, before trailing her tongue across just the right spot to make Nikki gasp.
"Joker's good but I think even he might struggle with the middle of the seventh floor. Plus it's a bit short notice and I haven't actually bought a ring yet-"
Trish groaned in despair.
"Is there a reason you're still talking?" She pushed the soldier away, Nicola's back hitting the bed as Trish glared daggers at her from above.
It didn't quite have the effect she was after as the blasted woman spoke once more, but this time her voice was soft and full of awe as her gaze swept across the vision straddling her.
"Damn, you're so beautiful right now."
The compliment made Trish's heart swell and despite her overwhelming desire she couldn't help teasing:
"Just right now? You used to say I was always beautiful to you."
"You are! Just some days you're beautifuler than ever. You're always the beautifulest person in the galaxy, but some days you're extra impressive."
"I know you're a soldier sweetheart, but do you have to slaughter grammar? Repeat after me: more beautiful, most beautiful."
"Smart arse. We can't all be geniuses you know. Besides, it's not my fault if I have to use made up words because the real ones don't do you justice."
"Mhmm. Nice save..." She leant in for another kiss before adding: "Still sounds stupid though."
"That's cos I am stupid. I'm your idiot remember?"
"No you're not. You're my fiance. Now will you shut up and prove you love me?"
Nikki's grin filled her entire face as she reached up and flipped their positions, although she couldn't resist getting the last word:
"Yes ma'am."
...
"Sir. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." Shepard saluted as she entered Captain Anderson's temporary office in the Citadel embassies.
"Well I knew you were shipping back out today Commander and I was curious when the receptionist said your visit was personal instead of classified." All sense of formality between them dropped as the door shut behind her and he waved for her to take a seat. "Besides, I've always got time for you Shepard."
"I think I proposed to Trish." The spectre blurted out without any further preamble as soon as she made contact with the chair.
Surprise, confusion, happiness and amusement all streaked across the captain's face before settling into a fond look that if translated into words would read: only you.
"You think you proposed to Trish?"
"I said some stuff and now she keeps calling me her fiance instead of... what she used to call me. It was all very... me..." She rubbed a finger across her eyebrow, an old tell of nerves or embarrassment that Anderson hadn't seen in years.
"Look, she's already taken great delight in taking the piss out of me for this so can we skip straight to the part where I ask if you'll be my best man?"
"I'd be honoured." The old soldier smiled. "Although it does depend..."
On what? The question was clearly visible on Shepard's face and Anderson continued before she could actually voice it.
"On whether you just think you're getting married or are actually getting married."
The spectre scowled at the teasing. "I'm getting married."
"Then I'd be delighted. When's the happy day?"
A smile reappeared on her face as she shrugged slightly.
"After Saren."
"I didn't know Saren was getting married, he kept that quiet."
The scowl returned in full force.
"You know what I mean." She glared and he chuckled.
"Of course. Congratulations. It's been a long time coming. You realise you two have already been together for longer than my marriage lasted right?"
"I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but thanks."
...
It would have been so easy for Shepard to let herself get distracted by thoughts of wedding plans, but they couldn't get married until after her mission was complete. Therefore, instead of letting her mind wander with what ifs and what's going to be's, she told herself she was going to use it as a motivational tool to stay focused on the hunt for Saren.
The sooner she put him down, the sooner she could make Trish her wife.
Wife, there was a word that made her smile whenever she thought of it.
Not that she had time to think about it, in between reading intel reports for any hint of her target's location or plans and working through training exercises to keep her squad sharp.
Of course with it being such a big deal it was impossible for it not to come up occasionally in her communications with her fiance.
Fiance... That's not such a nice word. It's just awkward, it sounds clunky and foreign. I much prefer partner, or even girlfriend, not as much as wife though. Wife's definitely my favourite.
Her fian- blurgh... ok, 'future wife' (much better), had tried to get her involved in the planning but she had politely declined, insisting that a) it was much more important for her to focus her planning skills on 'securing a date', and b) she would enjoy the day regardless, so Trish should just plan her perfect wedding and it would all be ok with the spectre.
It took less than three hours for Shepard to realise that probably wasn't the best response to give and she quickly composed a new message.
[Re: wedding.
Actually, I've changed my mind, I do have a few stipulations: 1) I am not under any circumstance wearing a dress. I don't care if it's my wedding day, it is NOT happening!
2) I'm inviting Jude so the location has to be dog friendly.
3) I'm inviting Tali and Garrus so the caterers need to be capable of providing dextro food.
Other than that I'm not fussed. If you need a simple yes/no question answered then I'll get back to you as soon as I can, but otherwise I leave it in your capable hands.
(Or should that be your mother's hands? I just know she's excited about this. Has she managed to take over all command of the operation yet or is she still acting in an advisory role? Actually, don't answer that, stop distracting me, I'm trying to work, the galaxy's not going to save itself you know.)
Love, Commander Wifey]
...
[To Commander Wifey, (that's another promotion I've missed, I thought you were still Commander Fiance, otherwise why am I still planning all this?)
In answer to your demands: 1) You're going to be a bride, you've got to wear a dress, it's traditional. Now, in order to save time that can be better spent on saving the galaxy, let's just fast forward through the next five days worth of arguments and negotiations to arrive at a compromise:
How about you wear your dress blues instead? It's smart, contains the word dress and makes it easy for your side of the wedding party to match. I'm assuming you'll be inviting your Villa chums and they're certainly not going to have time to meet up beforehand to all buy the same suit.
Also I saw a vid once that mentioned an old wedding rhyme about having 'something old, something new and something blue'. I never paid any attention to it but that can count as something blue.
2) You're too late. I already invited Jude, she said yes. She's my guest now, find your own guests.
3) Ok. Although you do realise quarian edible food is different and harder to find than just simply 'dextro food' right? Just because a caterer markets themselves as 'dextro friendly' doesn't mean it'll be suitable for Tali. Don't worry though, I'll make sure they both have something they can eat.
4) Mum is very enthusiastic right now. So far she's still advising but I fully expect a coup for the leadership soon.
5) Don't blame me. You're distracting yourself.
6) How are you doing with 'securing a date'? You realise I can't actually book the location or any thing else until I have a date right?
Love, 'The future Mrs Shepard']
...
[To 'The future Mrs Shepard' ...
...
...
...
I'm sorry, I had brain freeze for a moment over the awesomeness of being able to call you that. Anyway...
1) That is acceptable. However if my uniform is 'something blue' does that make your uncle 'something old'?
2) Fine, be like that.
3) Thank you, you're the best.
4) Do you need a protection squad? I can send you one.
5) No I'm not! *Looks around shiftily* If Saren destroys the universe before I stop him I'm blaming you.
6) I'm working on it. Slowly. This would be so much easier if he just attacked a place and then stayed there until I could reach him. Or you know, invited me round for tea and scones. Why do the bad guys never do that in real life? They could combine it with revealing their dastardly plans.
Tell you what, why don't you just decide on a location and if they're fully booked by the time we're ready I'll just commandeer the place for Spectre business. :)
Love, Commander Future Wifey]
...
[To Commander Future Wifey, (I am never going to get bored of calling you that).
1) I'm so telling Uncle Steve you said that.
2) }
"Commander! I've got the Council on the line."
Shepard broke off reading the latest message from Trish, barely remembering to acknowledge Joker as she legged it to the comm room.
Hopefully the council would finally give her a credible lead on Saren.
Hopefully they weren't monitoring her personal comms.
...
Author's note: I thought long and hard about whether to give the best man position to Anderson or Garrus. In the end I decided if the wedding took place in ME3 Garrus would probably have gotten the nod, but at this point in time she's been through far more with Anderson than anybody else. Not only an insane number of N missions together, but he was also the one who covered for her when she went AWOL when Trish miscarried.