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“Hey, guys, weird question.” Shepard began pacing her tiny quarters, while Liara put down the datapad she was studying and Garrus poked his head out from the bathroom where he was brushing his mandibles. “Do you remember, earlier today?”
“When we were running all those errands on the Citadel?” Liara’s brow furrowed as she finished Shepard’s thought. “Why?”
“I felt...stronger? More badass? When we were done.”
Garrus spat and rinsed out his mouth, taking the time to consider his answer. “Back in my C-Sec days, I used to have a similar feeling whenever my team made a big collar. Felt like I could fly just by jumping hard enough. Things are more complicated now, but these little tasks: straightforward, low cost. Helping real people with real problems. No wonder you get a buzz.”
Shepard shook her head. “It’s more...specific than that. It was like... I suddenly felt like I could nova more effectively.”
Liara nodded vigorously. “I, too, remember having a similar breakthrough about my singularity technique, at around the same time. I know that there is a cognitive phenomenon where sometimes looking away from a thorny issue and spending some time doing something else can sometimes spur a sudden breakthrough. ...Perhaps that is what happened with us?”
“Maybe?” Glints of biotic energy arced across Shepard’s fingers as she tapped them together, deep in thought. “It does seem like a strange coincidence, if that’s what it was.”
“Maybe for the two of you. But at the same time--now that you mention it--I felt like I was physically stronger and healthier. Again, could be psychosomatic.”
Shepard shrugged. “Well, I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. And I also wouldn’t mind putting your, ah, increased vigor to the test.” She hip-checked her asari lover. “What do you say, Liara? Shall we put him through his paces?”