A/N: 2024 update! The wonderful DCFG planted a little seed in my head and this popped up from it :) This one is a little shorter than the others, but I kinda lost myself towards the end. Going back into the missions at this point would have thrown it all off and I wanted to do something silly with it. I'm hoping I achieved that.

There were no words in any modern language to describe the feelings in Joker's head at the moment. But they could all be boiled down into one simple result: Hangover. He couldn't even remember how he got back to the ship in one piece. Somehow, he managed to make it to the crew quarters and pass out in his bunk, but didn't have the coherency to take his braces off. Now his legs were stiff and cramped from being stuck in them all night. The night before was still fuzzy and garbled. He vaguely remembered Shepard finding him and talking to him but what about wasn't clear. And to make matters worse, his hat was missing.

The mess hall was still fairly quiet enough with most of the crew still out on shore leave, leaving Joker to quietly suffer the prior night's endeavors alone. His legs ached as he searched for something resembling water and made his way to the table. He buried his head in his arms trying to quiet the aching throb that pounded in his head as he tried to think through the haze. The sound of the elevator swishing open made him wince in pain. Joker peered one of his green eyes up from his arms when a small chuckle drew his attention. He uttered a groan and buried his head back in the cradle of his arms.

"How the fuck are you not hungover?" he growled.

"Well, aren't you just a bundle of energy this morning?" Jenna snickered. Joker's only response was another groan. "Good morning to you, too." She took a seat across from him at the table and crossed her arms in front of her. When Joker looked up at her, she was burying her head in her arms as if to mock his own position. He scowled at her and uttered a low growl before dropping his head back down. Shepard copied him with a mock growl of her own. The pilot peered over his arm to see her doing the same and glared at her.

"Stop it," he mumbled.

Jenna gave him an innocent look, but still kept her position. "Stop what?"

"Mimicking me."

"I'm not mimicking you." Joker huffed and Jenna did the same.

"I fucking hate you sometimes," he groaned, once again burying himself in his arms.

"That's not what you said last night."

Joker immediately sat up, wincing from the sudden punishment his head threw at him for doing so. Short memories flooded back into his mind. Trying to blow Shepard off when she came to see him at the bar; Standing at the railing feeling ashamed of himself; That amazing first kiss. She said she loved me? That wasn't a dream, was it? No, it couldn't have been. I went to the bar and she kissed me. Wait, so what about...Oh shit. I told her about my nightmares, didn't I?! That had to have been a dream! What I said last night?!

Shepard snapped her fingers in front of his face trying to get his attention back. "Hello? Shepard to Joker. Come in, Joker!" Joker recoiled back slightly at her snapping and looked at her with confusion. She rolled her eyes before laughing at him. "Relax, Jeff."

Wait...she called me Jeff instead of Joker. So..."So...last night was real?" Shepard nodded gently.

"You even cried a little. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Shepard giggled, sticking her tongue out slightly. Joker glared at her and huffed. Her features softened slightly as she chuckled. "Yes, it was real. And I meant every word." Joker offered her a small half smile of his own. "Of course, it was fun to see you go from Joker the Grumpy, Bitter pilot to Joker the Angsty pilot to Joker the Jackass," she explained, pointing in the air as if to emphasize each change.

He quirked his brow at her. "What?"

"Well you see, after we cleared the air of our tension, we went back to drinking that rather expensive bottle of bourbon you bought. Unfortunately, you had a head start on me and by the end of the night you were...how do I put this?" Jenna tapped a finger on her lips before gesturing at Joker. "Plastered."

Joker pulled his lips back into a sarcastic grin and sat back crossing his arms. "At least the liquor didn't go to waste."

"While this is true, and you did lighten up afterwards, the jackass in you decided to prove a point to me and show me you could dance. While I'm not entirely unconvinced you could maybe do that sober, I was pretty sure you would have broken something in several places if you tried that drunk." Joker covered his eyes with his palm and sighed. "At that point I had to haul your ass back to the ship with Kenneth's help. It's a good thing he helped me, too, 'cause you 'bout fell over on me in the airlock mocking the decontamination process. You ended up knocking your hat off in the airlock when you attempted to nuzzle up against me."

Joker groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. "Okay, that explains how I got back to the ship. But honestly, you guys couldn't get my braces off? Thanks to you, walking around today hurts more than it should," he complained.

Shepard gave him an exasperated look. "It's not like I didn't try. I wanted you to help me take them off after Ken left, but you weren't exactly willing to help! You were determined like hell to make out with me!"

He leaned forward with a feral grin on his face. "Did I succeed at that attempt?"

Jenna glanced at a point on the ceiling and drawled out, "Maybe. That's for me to know and you to attempt to remember." She slowly got up and revealed the hat she was hiding under the table. Pulling it over his eyes, Shepard leaned into him and whispered, "I'm not going to tell you what else you attempted to do," before nipping at his ear and leaving him with a peck on the cheek. Joker's heart felt as if it jumped into his throat as he attempted to sputter a response. All he got were sounds fumbling out of his mouth before Shepard fell back against a bulkhead holding her sides in fits of laughter. Joker scowled at her before burying his head back in his arms.

He looked up just enough to glare at her. "I'll let you know whether or not I hate you or not after my head stops feeling like it got hit with a freighter."

Shepard caught her breath back and shook her head. "But the look on your face was priceless! I didn't know that shade of red existed."