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Amelia had taken Kaidan to Nos Astra and left Jack in her cabin. He settled at her desk and began to sift through the information she’d left for him. After a while, he found himself feeling almost at home—a familiar task, a not entirely unfamiliar location. Almost enough to get comfortable.
And then he heard it.
squeak squeak
He looked up. Nothing. He frowned and went back to work.
squeak squeak
Jack looked up again and this time the cage caught his eye. He stood and leaned over to get a better look.
squeak
A… hamster.
He put a hand to his forehead and wondered exactly how long Amelia had had the thing.
Then he frowned. He didn’t remember hamsters living for very long. He peered at the little creature. Was it possible this wasn’t her first hamster? It had now been a year since the end of the war…
squeak
“Well,” he said aloud, probably to the hamster and definitely not to himself, “I will definitely ask Amelia about this when she gets back. In the meanwhile, try to keep your squeaking to a minimum. Some of us have work to do here.”
squeak squeak
Jack sighed.
Jack followed Amelia back to her quarters after the debriefing. She eyed him with a surprising amount of skepticism. “You look like you want something,” she said once the elevator doors shut behind them.
Jack pressed the ‘1’ button once it became evident Amelia wouldn’t. She gave him a Look.
“I made a discovery while you were away,” he replied, feeling that should be a satisfactory explanation for the moment.
Amelia was unconvinced. “Uh-huh.”
How one woman could infuse so much skepticism into such a tiny phrase was beyond him. He crossed his arms and stared at her.
Their little stand off continued until they reached Amelia’s quarters, where she sighed and keyed open the door.
She stopped shortly into the room, conveniently close to her desk. “Well?” she asked.
Jack pointed above her shoulder at the hamster. “You have a hamster.”
Amelia blinked, clearly taken aback. He couldn’t resist smirking at her reaction.
Finally, Amelia replied, “Yes, I do.”
Now it was Jack’s turn to blink. “Amelia. You’re on a frigate.”
She shrugged. “He’s cute. Good for morale.”
Jack almost choked on that. “Cute?!”
Amelia walked over to the cage and peered into, a soft smile gracing her face. “Well, yeah, look at him.”
Jack walked over and looked in at the hamster.
squeak squeak
“I’m not sure he likes me,” Jack said dubiously.
“Aww, who wouldn’t? You’re…” Amelia paused. “No, actually, maybe you’re right.” She frowned at the little creature.
“Thanks for that,” Jack replied, his voice thick with sarcasm.
Amelia straightened up and looked at him, amused mischief in her eyes. “Don’t worry, I like you.”
Jack shook his head. “How long have you had him?”
She frowned thoughtfully and ran some calculations on her fingers. “Um. Going on three years?”
“Hamsters don’t typically live that long.”
She grinned and turned to look at the furry thing again. “Well, he is a space hamster, not an ordinary hamster at all!”
“A… space hamster.”
“Yup,” she replied proudly.
“That… That’s not a real thing.”
“Hamster.” She pointed at the hamster. “Space.” She gestured in the direction of the window above her bed. “Space hamster.”
Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. “Does he have a name?”
“Boo,” she announced proudly.
“Boo.”
“That’s what I said, yes.” Now she had a hand on her hip and her eyes were sparkling at him with amusement and delight and—
“Mmf!”
“It’s a kiss, Shepard, I know you’ve had one before.”
Amelia laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the favor.