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“What’cha doin’?” Jayce Shepard drops into a seat in the mess, cup of tea in one hand and a sandwich in the other. She’d missed dinner again, and her idea of a grilled cheese sandwich – two pieces of toast with two slices of cheese in between – left Kaidan shuddering, so pulling double duty tonight as her almost-boyfriend-who-likes-to-cook, he made her a proper one despite her arguments to the contrary.
The mess is pretty much empty at this hour, at least, which makes it the perfect place to relax in relative solitude. While he normally would be in the observation lounge, he prefers closer proximity to the coffee pot on nights like this. One of these nights, the memories will fade and the dreams will stop; tonight, however, is not that night. Setting his mug aside, he retakes his seat. “Nothing special. Reading. Relaxing.” He pushes the book he found on the shelf in the Observation Lounge across the table.
Jayce turns her head to read the title, blinks twice, then reaches a hand out, tentatively touching the cover and lifting it to look inside. Bemused by her reaction, Kaidan asks, “What?”
“The Two Towers? Really?”
Rolling his eyes, Kaidan snatches the book back. “Not my fault you can’t appreciate good literature.”
Jayce snorts. “You are such a dork!” She takes another bite of the sandwich.
“How does reading The Two Towers make me a dork?”
She shrugs as she chews. “Just … does,” she manages before sipping her tea to wash it down.
“Well, then I’m in good company,” he argues, “since I know for a fact how much you like The Fellowship of the Ring.”
She nearly chokes as she swallows, and he jumps up to pound on her back until reassured she is all right. “How …,” she croaks after a minute or so, “how did you find out about that?”
Returning to his seat, he replies, “The copy in the lounge has a message to you from Kasumi in it. Didn’t you read it?” Her cheeks flush and he chuckles. “Guess not then.” Clearing his throat, he recites, “Shep – Since you mentioned it was your favorite, I wanted you to have it. The whole set. Enjoy, Kasumi.” Her cheeks get darker and he reaches over until he touches her fingers. Gently squeezing, he murmurs, “Takes one to know one, right?”
Snickering softly, Jayce returns the pressure and smiles. “Right.” As she takes another sip of her tea, she adds quietly, “You’re still a dork.”
Kaidan sips at his coffee, grinning around the brim. “Love you too, Shepard.”