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Shepard had a serious dilemma at hand. She had made many choices in her life, who would live or die, what side of a an argument to take, and where to spend money and resources. Shepard had always chosen confidently, decisively taking pride in her decisions and rarely second guessing or regretting her choices.
But no choice had been so difficult as what dress she should wear for this special night out on the Citadel. She stood in the bedroom, in front of her full length mirror, trying to decide. She was ready, her hair and makeup done, nothing too flashy. Her red hair was half up, with long curls already falling out of the clip. She kept her makeup simple, mascara, lipstick, blush. She stood there, dressed in a flesh colored strapless bra and thong and went over her clothing choices again. She held each dress in front of her body, trying to picture it on. There were three options, all short, form fitting and mostly simple styles. One in black with a lace overlay on the hem and the collar, a blue strapless dress with a corset style waist and a flared skirt, and the final was a dark green one shoulder gown made of a shiny material. Her choice had seemed more obvious a few days ago, when she’d gone shopping with Liara.
She had a stroke of inspiration and grabbed her omnitool, pulling up a quick chat window.
T you busy?
She tapped her foot impatiently. She had no idea what time it might be on Rannoch, but if Tali was truly busy, she would have an away message up. The messaging program pinged softly.
No. What’s going on Shepard?
I need fashion advice.
She knew despite Tali’s history with clothing, she was actually a bit of a fashionista and had a not so secret obsession with human fashion. She activated the camera and took a quick picture of each dress for Tali to scrutinize.
Which one do you think he will like best?
Tali responded almost instantly.
The blue one.
Okay that was my first instinct, but I just wanted another opinion. Thanks T. Got to go.
You are welcome. Have fun.
Shepard smiled and closed the chat program. She pulled the dress off the hanger and admired it again. It was the perfect shade of blue, it would compliment his eyes and his clan markings. She slid it over her head, careful not to mess up her hair or her makeup. She smoothed out the hem and made sure the waist and bodice were properly fitted.
“Garrus?” she called, touching up her lipstick once more. “Are you ready?”
He was the only male she knew that could take longer than her to get ready. Which was funny because he didn’t even have hair or a beard to fuss with or any of the common primping habits.
“Wow,” he said as he entered the bedroom.
“Tali, we were right,” Shepard thought as Garrus wrapped his arms around her waist and began nuzzling her neck. She leaned into his arms and smiled.
He was dressed in his best turian version of a tux, black and blue tunic with sleek black trousers, He had even had his clan markings touched up for the occasion. She let her hands caress his cowl.
“You look smoking,” he said squeezing her waist and running his hands over her sides, stopping just below her breasts.
“So do you,” Shepard wiggled out of his arms, but he grabbed her loosely around the wrist, pulling her back toward him.
“We’re gonna be late.”
“Let’s be late,” he purred, dropping his voice low, knowing how much she liked it.
“You made the reservation 6 weeks ago,” Shepard put her other hand on his shoulder, but grinned as he tried to change her mind. He put his mouth close to her ear and spoke again, low and seductive, making her shiver.
“I don’t care.”
“I care,” Shepard smiled as she disengaged fully from her husband.
He was pretty persuasive, but tonight was special and they couldn’t miss their reservation. She caught a glimpse of the two of them in her full length mirror. Even though they were different races, they just looked right together. They complimented each other in their blue and black clothing.
She slid her feet into a pair of simple black heels, high enough to be dressy, but low enough to be comfortable for a few hours of wear. Garrus let out an exasperated sigh, but he let go of her wrist and instead took her by the hand, her five fingers intertwining with his three. They walked the medium distance from their large apartment to the new 5 star restaurant on the Presidium, arriving right on time.
The asari hostess greeted them with excitement, they were quite famous on the citadel for a multitude of reasons: the fact they were a rare turian-human couple, because they were both heroes of the reaper war, and because they were known throughout the galaxy as the deadly set of married Spectre badasses.
“We have our best table ready for you. Plenty of privacy, as you requested,” the asari guided them to their table in a secluded corner of the restaurant. Our sommelier has brought in several levo/dextro specialty wines just for you. Nothing but the best.”
They thanked the the asari, who left them to take care of their meals. Garrus proudly pulled out Shepard’s chair for her, and she grinned widely at him as she sat down.
“Well done, Mr. Vakarian,” she said, folding the elegant cloth napkins over her lap. “This is a classy place.”
“I wanted our anniversary to be extra special, Mrs. Vakarian,” Garrus was already looking at the wine list with a critical eye. “I’ll expect you to be on your best behavior, no crashing through any aquariums this time.”
Shepard was about to throw a piece of bread at him, but their server was already at the table reading them the specials. Dinner was a four course meal, with separate levo and dextro prefix menus. Each course was more decadent and skillfully prepared than the next. They were both impressed and determined this was worth the long wait.
While they waited for dessert, Garrus poured them each a fresh glass of am extremely good, extremely expensive wine they’d ordered.
He raised his glass in a toast, something he’d seen humans do many times, “To us!”
“To us,” Shepard clinked her glass with his, happily toasting him back.
“Three years. It’s not too late to back out. You could trade me in for a new model.”
“I like this model, he’s already broken in, and his reach is beyond compare.”
Garrus flared his mandibles in the turian version of a smile. “Love you too.”
Because the table was so isolated, Shepard didn’t feel embarrassed to lean across and give him a quick kiss. As they broke apart, Garrus began fiddling with something under the table.
“I know we said no gifts.” He slid a thin black box toward her.
Shepard laughed, “How did I know you would never follow a request like that?”
She excitedly opened it anyway. It was a silver necklace with blue stones, the color matching her dress perfectly. She suspected a certain someone may have tipped him off to what she was considering to wear for this night. It was just long enough that she could slide it over her head, and so she slipped it on, arranging the chain so the stones lay flat against her breastbone. It was perfect. She leaned across the table to kiss him again as a thank you, a little longer this time.
She sipped at her wine for a moment, enjoying watching him from across the table. “I have a present too,” she announced.
Garrus was a little surprised, but she figured he wasn’t expecting it, she had no way to hide a box in this dress. Instead she brought up her omni tool and fiddled with a few buttons. His message light flashed once.
“Check your messages,” she said, lowering her tool and taking another drink of wine.
Garrus did as he was told, seeing the most recent message was a forward from Shepard.
to: G. Vakarian
from: J. Shepard
Better lock up your rifle collection.
-S
Forward message from: Urdnot Wrex
Glad I could help.
-Wrex
Garrus scrolled down to read the rest. When he saw the from address, Shepard saw him perk up and scroll faster. She knew exactly what he was seeing, and was practically giddy with excitement.
It was from the Tuchanka National Orphanage.
Congratulations Commander J. Shepard and Garrus Vakarian!
You have been added to our list. Please finish the provided form and return as soon as possible so that we may finalize your adoption request…
Garrus stopped reading and looked up at Shepard, her green eyes dancing. “Really? You’re ready?”
Shepard grabbed his hand and held it beside her wine glass. “Yeah, I asked Wrex to pull some strings and it turns out they just re-opened adoptions to non Krogans. He got us a spot on the waitlist and as soon as we submit the paperwork, he’ll push us through.”
“What a gift...” Garrus looked again at the message and then back to Shepard, who had an eager smile on her face. He watched her smile slip for just a moment while she waited for his reaction.
“You still want to, right?” she squeezed his fingers, suddenly worried that he might have changed his mind.
“Of course!” Garrus exclaimed, his subvocals full of happiness and warmth. “I can’t want to adopt ourselves a little baby krogan.”
“Happy anniversary.” Shepard nuzzled his brow, pulling away as their waiter came back to the table. A large cake was placed in front of them.
“Special cake, one side each for your individual taste,” the asari announced. “Ordered by a Dr. T’soni.”
The waiter cut the cake in half, exposing the separate pieces, and served them each a slice. The cake was decorated immaculately and tasted absolutely amazing. Shepard made herself a note to thank Liara profusely for her thoughtfulness.
After dinner, they took a walk around the presidium, strolling hand in hand, enjoying the artificial moonlight. They then made their way to the new dance club at the casino, where Shepard and Garrus performed their best tango. They’d gotten better in the years and Garrus had even taken Shepard for private lessons. They danced together like they fought, their rhythm always in sync, eyes answering each others questions.
It was all they could do to keep their hands off each other on the short taxi ride back to their apartment. But once they got their, Garrus kept Shepard distracted as she fumbled with her key fobs, his hands sneaking under her dress, his mouth against her neck. Finally she got them inside, and she eagerly pushed her husband up against the nearest wall. Clothes came off, creating a trail to their bedroom, with Shepard violently kicking off her shoes in the doorway. Even after being married for 3 years and together even longer, there was nothing like dancing to put them in the mood for a triple x throwdown.
Afterward, as Shepard lay on her side of their bed, she closed her eyes and cataloged the events of the night. It had been an amazing anniversary. Her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was, “I have never been this happy.”