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“I thought that was you over there with Alenko.” Shepard leaned forward on the bar and lifted one finger.
The bartender slid a frothing glass of beer to Ash, then seeing Shepard’s motions, turned to the liquor bottles behind the bar.
“You actually came,” Ash said. “Guess I can upgrade my beer next round. LT owes me money.”
“Why invite me if you didn’t think I’d come?” Shepard accepted the iced whiskey. “Alenko hasn’t even noticed me. Better entertain me with conversation, or I’ll slip out. Alenko will never believe I was here.”
“I’m sure he’s noticed you, ma’am.” Ash hopped on a bar stool and spun to face the room. “Yep. He’s noticed you.”
“How can you tell? He’s enthralled with that brunette.”
“He’s all flushed. Fidgety. Look how he’s turning the cup around and around in his hands. Classic LT with Commander Shepard proximity.”
“Alenko’s too busy reading the rule book for me ever to throw it at him. He has nothing to worry about with me. And, seriously, don’t invite me if I just throw water on the party.”
“Nah. We like you. Thought it would be fun to do something off the clock. You don’t do much with your liberty, do you, ma’am?”
“Where’d this girl come from?”
“Go say hi. Ask her. She’d probably say.”
“What’s her name? You’ve already met her, presumably?”
Ash’s eyes shifted between Shepard and the couple at the table. Ash took a long pull of beer then slapped it down on the bar behind them.
“She seems pretty into him.” Ash leaned on her elbow, mirroring Shepard. “When he left for a second, she whispered to me. Said he’s sooo cute.”
Shepard’s eyes narrowed. “She was trying to girly-talk you into information on him?”
“I don’t mind.” Ash grabbed a handful of nuts off the bar and popped one in her mouth. “LT deserves some stress relief. He’s wound so tight, he makes clocks tick backward. Plus, she’s cute. He’s cute. Why not?”
“She’s cute, he’s cute? Equation for soulmates,” Shepard said sourily and spoke into her whiskey. “How long’s this been blossoming? Hour? Five minutes?”
Shepard waited. When Ash didn’t answer, Shepard looked over at her.
Ash smirked. “Really wanna know, huh, Commander?”
“Just curious. What if he brings her over to celebrate the minutes since they found true love? I’ll be embarrassed if I give a paper anniversary gift and it’s really gold. But then, why not just go straight for a cradle? Can’t waste cute and cute. Hop, hop, hop, little rabbits, breed your cuteness for the galaxy.”
Ash stared at her. “You drinking before you got here, Commander?”
“That sentence grates with the Commander part. I may have met Garrus for a cocktail earlier.”
“Instead of sitting here watching them. Go say hi.”
“Think I might just do that. Come along. I’ll take point.”
Shepard moved through the sea of dancing bodies stopped at the table with Kaidan and his true love. The girl stared up at Shepard. Dark eyes and bronze skin. Dammit. They’d have the cutest little rabbit pups. Or whatever you called a baby rabbit. A bunny? Dammit, that made it even cuter.
“Hello. Came over to meet your friend, Alenko.”
Kaidan’s eyes shifted to Ash.
“You’re Commander Shepard.” The girl twisted in her chair to face Shepard. “This is so exciting. I’m Sara.”
“Hi.” Shepard offered her hand which Sara pumped enthusiastically.
“I hear all about you on my comm calls. Your ground missions! I mean, the parts I can know about. It sounds so exciting.”
Comm calls? Shepard folded her arms. Then it was more of a golden anniversary than paper. They must have prearranged for her to meet him here.
“You get a lot of chats in?” Shepard asked. “We’re running in the dark more times than not.”
“When I can’t call, we talk by messages. It can get lonely in space, I know. My dad always said: don’t let the ones you love go too long without a reminder.”
Kaidan smiled warmly at that, but catching Shepard’s eye, his expression fell into a solid neutral. The ‘ones’ you love wasn’t the same as the ‘one’ you loved. Shepard could be misreading the situation. It wouldn’t be out of Ash’s character to be screwing with her.
Kaidan and Sara were both brown-eyed, had similar coloring, and like Ash pointed out, both cute. Sara had told Ash he was cute, not sexy or gorgeous, a stunner, someone who took your breath away, who -- Or any of that nonsense. Someone could call a family member cute.
“So, Alenko.” Shepard redirected her attention to him. He squirmed under her eyes. “Sara is your . . .”
She let it hang open, but Kaidan seemed to be hanging on for her to find the last word. Officer training. He probably didn’t want to interrupt a superior officer.
“Sister?” Shepard decided.
“ My sister?” Kaidan touched his chest.
The emphasis on “my” led Shepard down a different path. “Sister of a family friend? Grew up together. Almost like a sister?”
“Where are you getting sister from?” Kaidan asked.
Sara opened her mouth, but Ash put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t interrupt the Commander.”
Shepard looked between the three of them. Then it hit her. Ash and Kaidan didn’t look so dissimilar themselves, and Ash’s hand hadn’t left Sara’s shoulder. Sara was looking up at Ash with an annoyed expression. Annoyed like you’d be to a . . .
“You're Ash’s sister?”
“Just passing through the Citadel on a work-study summer thing. This has been the best part of the trip.” She threw Kaidan a coy smile. His posture stiffened, and he returned a wooden smile. “I’ve seen you both on the news. Didn’t think I’d actually get to meet any of you.”
Shepard chewed her lip. She’d obviously misread the situation with no help from Ash. She cast Ash a sidelong look, but Ash only grinned widder.
“Can’t believe I didn’t recognize you as Ash’s sister sooner. Welcome. Let me buy everyone some drinks. Then, why not tour the Normandy? She’s sitting all alone at the dock.”
“Alone, Commander?” Ash asked. “Ten to one, Joker’s keeping her company. By the way, LT, you owe me.”
“For what? I already bought the first round. Shepar-- The Commander is getting the next.”
“Doesn’t seem like a waiter is coming. I’ll order at the bar.” Shepard pointed to each of them. “Beer? Beer? Beer? Okay.”
Footsteps quickened behind her on her way to the bar.
“Changing your order, Alenko?”
“Just, uh . . . Curious. Getting a vibe.” He faced her at the bar. “Were you thinking . . . Because Ash just left me with her. It’s not . . . You know.”
“‘You know, what?’ She’s cute. You’re cute. Magnetism. Why not, right?”
“What?”
Shepard finally drew the bartender’s attention. She put up four fingers.
“Beer,” she shouted. “That kind’s good.”
“Shepard.” Kaidan leaned into her vision.
“Why’d you bet Ash I wouldn’t come? You didn’t want me to come?”
“What? No, of course, not. I was happy to see you.” He nodded at the door she’d come through earlier. It was the right entrance. Ash had been right then, he had seen her come in.
“Your face is sweaty.” Shepard leaned her weight on an elbow. “Does it make you nervous being around your CO in a social context? Don’t want me to see you let loose. I might chew you out for scuffed boots, an unbuttoned collar, a five o’clock shadow? I won’t write you up, okay? Relax.”
Kaidan frowned.
“Okay,” he said slowly.
“Okay.” Shepard grabbed the tray of beers.
“Picking someone up at a bar is not how I let loose. Just to get it out there.”
“How do you let loose then?” She balanced the tray on her hip.
Kaidan unbuttoned his collar. “My boots are already scuffed.”
“And the five o’clock shadow?” She didn’t realize what she was doing before she’d already traced her finger down his jaw.
Kaidan’s eyes widened but his smile stretched even wider. “Uh, guess so. See. I don’t need to pick up Ash’s sister. No cute magnetism.”
“Yeah,” Shepard said, still feeling the echo of graininess under fingertips.
“Better get those to the William sis--” Kaidan turned and stopped abruptly.
Shepard followed his eyes. The table was empty. Bodies still moved on the dance floor. Waiters passed drinks to customers at the tables. Two men were loudly asking about an asari dancer when they’d obviously come to the wrong bar. No sign of Ash or Sara.
“Hope you wanted two beers,” Shepard said.
“Huh.” Kaidan stretched on his toes to see over the heads then landed back on his feet. “Well, guess, I’ll get looser than I thought.” He took the tray of beers from her.
“I don’t know how many you’ve already had, but for me, let’s find a table. Less for Dr. Chakwas to patch up if I fall from a chair instead of a bar stool.”
Someone had just grabbed their table, but Kaidan spied an empty table against the wall. They maneuvered through the dancers and around tables of people who had also probably decided they’d rather fall from chair height. A wrinkle-eyed woman with a beer in one hand snagged Shepard’s arm when she passed.
She smiled at Shepard and nodded toward Kaidan’s retreating form. “You two are so cute together.”