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If someone were to ask him how coffee had become so galactically popular, Kaidan would not have an answer for them.
What he knew was what Ashley told him when he first got started at the Virmire: all dextro ingredients were color coded purple, the second blender would occasionally need to be slapped to really get going, and make sure he knew how to pronounce all of the different varieties of names there were, because if there was one thing a multi-species clientele could get collectively riled up about—it was mispronounced names.
Kaidan was good with names. Good at matching them to faces. Good at not mixing up the orders and the names. Good at spelling them. Even good at pronouncing them exactly as the customers gave them.
But that’s what an Alliance soldier was supposed to be, even if he was retired. He was observant, precise and distinct.
It was how he recognized the N7 soldier, the first day he stepped into Virmire. Good-looking man. High cheekbones, blue eyes, scar on his temple. Very tall. Even under normal circumstances, Kaidan might have spared an appreciative look.
But it was the way he walked that drew Kaidan’s eye. A too-purposeful stride, an alertness that was a little too much.
When he came to the front of the line, Kaidan’s suspicions were confirmed. When he turned his head, lines of black ink were visible.
“Where did you serve?” he asked, as the man fumbled for bills.
He paused, and looked up, blinking. “Excuse me?”
Feeling a little foolish, Kaidan tapped the back of his own neck. “N7. That’s pretty impressive. Are you still with the Alliance?”
The man raised an eyebrow at him. “…So far. Retired now. How did you know about—”
“I know the look. I served in the Alliance for a while myself,” said Kaidan. “Based in Vancouver.”
The man’s eyes light up at that. “Really? Hey, me too. Where did you serve?”
They exchange tour information and complaints about the mess hall food (they agree the bacon was just pathetic) but the queue is starting to get a little long and Ashley is gesturing rudely at him from behind her cash register, so Kaidan waves him on before realizing that he completely forgot to ask for the man’s name.
There were already three java chip frappuccinos in the queue, so Kaidan just scribbled “N7 Guy” on the cup and rolled with it. He felt more than a little foolish calling out the order, and already had his customer-service reflexes kicking in. Yes, he’ll call his manager, no, he didn’t mean to be disrespectful. Whoops.
But N7 Guy didn’t seem offended. In fact, his eyes seem to brighten and he laughed. Not a full-blown belly laugh, but a short exhalation that made Kaidan smile at him in return.
“That might violate some procedure, right there,” he commented. “What was your rank?”
“Major.”
N7 Guy laughed again. “Damn, you outrank me. I’m still a commander.”
Something very inappropriate popped into Kaidan’s head; he squashed it down.
Instead, he just said, “See you around.”
N7 Guy nodded, raising his frappuccino up in salute. “See you around, Kaidan.”
--
That might have been the end of that. There were very few with whom Kaidan held more than passing conversation; no matter how attractive he might find them or how tantalizing those little peeks of their lives could be.
This proved not to be the case with the N7.
Usually, he came in the mornings, during the rush. If Kaidan was at the cash register, he’d give a little wave from the back of the line. If he was working drink orders, the N7 would hang out on the other side, ask him meaningless questions about his day.
It was refreshing, having someone new to talk with. Him and Ashley knew each other too well, and with Kelly and Traynor to train, they often didn’t feel much like talking.
Not just refeshing. It was…just nice, having someone new take interest.
N7 Guy kept coming by, and Kaidan realized two facts:
1) He kind of had a thing for him
2) N7 Guy was the type of customer who never gave his real name for drink orders
The first time, he gave the name ‘Grunt’, which left Kaidan blinking. Because who named their child Grunt?
Still, when N7 Guy came up to the counter to grab his order, Kaidan resolved to make conversation out of it. He was still an interesting man, after all, and Kaidan wasn’t too picky.
“Order for…Grunt?” he called out, dragging it out just enough that N7 Guy was already jogging over, faintly apologetic grin on his face.
“Krogan,” he said before Kaidan could even begin to think of the question. “Tank-bred. I didn’t choose it for him. He wanted to try the hazelnut chocolate.”
That would have been the perfect opening to ask for his name. However, Kaidan was more preoccupied by the idea of a krogan on a sugar rush.
“…Is that a good idea?”
N7 Guy pulled a face. “It isn’t Ryncol, so I’m willing to take that chance.”
“…Right.” Kaidan’d like to say more, but the guy was already walking away with an absent wave, and it took conscious prompting for Kaidan to wave back.
Damn.
--
The next time, he came in with a date. A beautiful woman with a shaved mohawk and more tattoos than Kaidan could count. She seemed impatient, her and the N7 standing out of line and looking up at the menu. He said something to her and she shook her head, punching him hard in the arm, before heading off to the seat by the window.
This time, the order was for ‘Jack’, and Kaidan blended the drinks and tried not to be too disappointed that he only found out the guy’s name the same time he found out he was taken.
Still, he wasn’t going to be bitter.
“You have interesting taste, Jack,” Kaidan said as he approached the counter.
N7 Guy blinked. “Excuse me?”
Kaidan jerked his head towards the woman by the window. “Her. She looks terrifying. Beautiful, but terrifying.”
“No, wait, I’m—what? Did you call me Jack?”
“Isn’t that your name?”
“No, that’s her name. My name is—”
Later, Kaidan would kick himself for letting the opportunity slip by, but at that moment in time a different question had arose immediately to mind and came out of his mouth before he could think the better of it.
“Your girlfriend’s name is Jack?”
Not-Jack looked profoundly disturbed. “She’s not my girlfriend. We would not be together in that way, even if we were compatible.”
“Compatible?”
“…yeah, I don’t, uh, like women in that way.”
“Oh. I mean, I like both, so…”
“Oh.”
Silence.
“…I should go.”
Ashley slid past him with a fresh order.
“Smoooth,” she murmured.
--
This continued for a good month.
Every time N7 Guy came in, he greeted Kaidan by name, asked about his day. Even after that embarrassing exchange about Jack. He started a new game of tossing out random locations to Kaidan—planets, far off colonies, or even just old training grounds. If Kaidan had been there, they compared notes. If not, the N7 would describe his own impressions of the place.Every time, Kaidan resolved to ask for his actual name.
But Virimire was a busy café, and all too quickly they had to move on. N7 Guy gave him some name that invariably belonged to one of his many squadmates, some of whom he actually brought to the café. To Kaidan’s immense frustration, absolutely none of them used his proper name within his hearing and when they order for him, they also use different nicknames. Kaidan found himself writing orders for the ‘Commander’, but also called out drinks for ‘Loco’, ‘Vander’ and inconceivably, ‘Lulu’. N7 Guy, somehow, took it all in a stride.
Even worse: Ashley knew exactly what his name was, and refused to tell Kaidan, despite bribery and attempted threats.
“Just ask,” she said, dragging out the word and very clearly not rolling her eyes at him. “He’s a bit of a pushover—I don’t think he’ll care that much. Just ask him, laugh about it, and get his number.”
“Why don’t you try it?” he snapped back at her, more than a little exasperated. “Thought he was your type.”
Ashley popped some gum into her mouth and chewed audibly. “Oh, he is. But, he’s also your type, and I haven’t seen a lot of those come through here. Besides,” she flashed a grin. “His friend with the muscles? He is way more my type.”
“Oh…” Kaidan blinked, thrown off-guard. “Thanks, Ashley.”
“Don’t mention it,” she levered herself off the counter as a fresh group of asari came filing through the door. “Just don’t make me do the dirty work. Got it? Be assertive.”
--
Easy enough for Ashley to say: difficult for Kaidan to actually do.
Asking for his name might be easy enough, if one went about it in the right way. So Kaidan scribbled the question over the whipped cream in syrup. He had done it before, and it always worked.
N7 Guy just took off the lid and drank from it without really paying attention.
That was the first ridiculous situation.
The second was writing his number on the cup properly.
Somehow, the marker was still smudging by the time N7 Guy picked it up, and it smeared into one unreadable mess.
The third time, he made sure to wait until his number was dry on the cup before sending out the drink orders. Only this time, he accidentally switched the orders and the N7’s friend, the one with the muscles, thought that Kaidan was hitting on him. In retrospect, it was kind of funny to have this hunk of muscle swagger up to the counter to lean over it and tell him, not unkindly, that he wasn’t interested. Ashley was the only reason he was not completely mortified; she slid between them, cocking her hip, and claimed it was supposed to be her number on the cup, only Kaidan must have written it wrong, if she could just fix that…
The N7 was laughing his ass off at his table, though when he caught Kaidan’s eye, his expression went thoughtful in a way Kaidan could not interpret.
--
He didn’t return to the coffee shop for a full week. Apart from a few wistful moments, Kaidan didn’t think too much about it. People came and went from Virmire all the time.
It wasn’t the first time an attractive customer had slipped away, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Still, it rankled.
Then the biotic classes he was assisting with made an abrupt switch from afternoon to morning classes, and Kaidan was forced to change his Tuesday and Thursday shifts to the afternoon, and Kelly’s training was drawing to a close, so there was little time to think about the N7 for more than a passing moment.
The following week, things finally settled down, and that was when he saw him again.
Kaidan came in for his afternoon shift through the back, and was barely putting on his apron when Ashley scooted around him, holding a fresh box of tea bags and stage whispering that Mr. Lean and Mean is back and needs a refill—just black.
Somehow, the N7 had managed to nab the best seat in the house: the table in front of the glass front, where people liked to sit and watch the passerby: the colorful and varied population of the Citadel. It was this activity that he was engaged in now—Kaidan looked, and saw what had caught his interest: an asari couple with a small girl, one holding each hand and swinging her back and forth, to her giggling delight.
“Cute, huh?” he asked, to get the other man’s attention, though he was pretty sure that the N7 had noticed his approach.
N7 Guy’s eyes flickered up at Kaidan and his coffee pot and back to the couple, though he moved his empty cup over where Kaidan could reach it.
He was smiling. “Pretty cute, yeah. A lot better than that couple arguing earlier.”
“Oh yeah? I thought I heard yelling.”
“Well, it must be pretty frustrating if your partner is an elcor.”
“…Ah.”
N7 Guy nodded, picking up his mug and taking a sip, only to nearly spit it out again. “Hot!”
“Best café in the Citadel—did you expect anything less?”
N7 Guy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave a rueful smile. “Probably shouldn’t have. She said the service was excellent.”
“Depends on the day and how much coffee we’ve had.”
“I’ll bet.” He was studying Kaidan. Kaidan kept his eyes on the couple outside, and pretended not to notice.
“You got a minute?” asked N7 Guy.
Kaidan did look down at him then. “Can I help you with something?”
The man gave a tired smile. “Just wanted to ask a fellow old soldier a few questions. Do you mind?”
Kaidan shook his head. “Not at all. I need to take my break, anyway.”
He made a point of ignoring Ashley’s smirk and sotto voice “You really want to work eight straight hours, Alenko?” and assured Traynor that if she needed any help, he would immediately come to her aid. Then he made his way back to the windowside table, stomach twisting in a not entirely unpleasant way, and took his seat. The N7 was perfectly relaxed, not even a little self-conscious having a complete stranger to join his table. Kaidan tried to mimic his careless posture, leaning back with one arm dangling over the back of the chair, but felt ridiculous, and immediately reverted to ramrod military posture.
“So, what did you want us old soldiers to talk about?” asked Kaidan, adopting his words, hoping that he didn’t look as uncomfortable as he felt.
“Retirement. I was discharged a few weeks ago myself, and I seem to be finding myself a little…”
“Lost?”
He nodded. “There are resources, and services to help, but…I don’t know. You seem to have everything together, so I was hoping you might have some…”
“Insights?” prompted Kaidan, again, less nervous and a little more amused.
N7 Guy ducked his head. “Yeah.” He peeked up at Kaidan from under his eyelashes. Kaidan tried not to notice how long his eyelashes were. “If you don’t mind.”
Kaidan relaxed then, leaning back against the support of the chair. “It would be my pleasure. What do you want to know?”
“Well…basic questions first I guess. Why did you retire? How long did you serve in the Alliance?”
“Just my time,” said Kaidan. “I wanted to go for longer, but—” he tapped his temple. “I still have the L2s, and I get headaches from time to time. I was getting older, and I didn’t want to be a liability. There are new implants that might help, but…” he shrugged. “They’re a part of me now. Besides, there are other things I can do.”
“Like what?”
“I volunteer at that school on the other side of Silversun Strip. I…work with biotic kids. Pretty young, most of them are just hitting puberty and their powers are going a little—”
He tapped his forehead again, and the N7 nodded. “A little nuts?” he supplied.
“You got it. Their talents aren’t enough that they can be sent off to a specialized academy, but still destructive. I help them figure out how to contain it and talk to them about any problems they have.”
“Wow. How often?”
“Usually just Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Sometimes I meet up with them on the weekends. The rest of time, I’m here.”
“Sounds like you’re making a difference.”
“I hope so. At the very least, I’m saving them from having the sort of nightmare program I had.”
N7 Guy’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Nightmare program?”
Kaidan studied his cup, noting the ring stains already starting to form. “It’s a bit of a story.”
N7 Guy spread out his hands. “I’m retired. I’ve got time to spare.”
It wasn’t a story he told just to anyone. There was too much potential for shock value—and that was never what he intended by telling it. He had his scars—they healed. It was a formative incident in his life, but it was behind him now. He was at peace with himself.
So, haltingly, Kaidan began to speak. Told him a little bit of what happened before, and what happened afterwards. And the soldier did not react the way others did—he reminded Kaidan a bit of Channery—they both understood that the story was what it was. Not a ploy for sympathy, not a diatribe against turians. Just what happened a long time ago.
“You have a pretty positive outlook,” commented the N7, before the lull after the story could grow awkward. “It’s a shame you had to leave. The brass could use more people like you in their ranks.”
“I won’t lie: I miss it. I miss my crew. But…the part that I liked the most: meeting people, making a difference in their lives—I’m doing that right here. And there’s a much smaller chance of dying.”
“Not knocking your choices. I should start looking into that, myself.”
“What do you want to do?”
N7 Guy’s shirt creased as he shrugged, a smooth motion. “Don’t know. Just spending time with my crew, now, while I still can. Maybe I’ll work with fish. Or volunteer at the starship museum. Yeah, I’d be good at that.”
“Well, we could always use another cashier, if you’re itching for something to do.”
N7 Guy laughed and shook his head. “I’ll think about it.”
“Why the starship museum? Were you an engineer?”
“No,” said the N7, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. “Uh…I like model ships. I collect them, put them together…uh, you know.”
Kaidan stared at him. “Are you embarrassed?”
“No!”
Kaidan burst out laughing at the defensive note in N7 Guy’s voice. He couldn’t help it. After a moment, N7 Guy joined in.
“Maybe a little embarrassed.”
“Hey, don’t be. I think it’s cool.”
“You think so? You should come see them some time.”
Kaidan blinked, at a loss for words. “Uh, sure.”
“Only if you want, of course,” said N7 Guy quickly. There was a dull flush rising under his skin, which was odd, considering the shop’s temperature control had been on the cool side today. “Sorry. I know most people—well, my crew thought that I was a little loco for—”
“It’s fine,” interrupted Kaidan, suddenly fighting to bite back his grin. So the guy could get flustered. Good to know. “It does sound interesting. I wouldn’t mind seeing it. It’s just…not what I would expect.”
N7 Guy looked deeply relieved. “Right. Sorry. It’s just something I can do with my hands. Delicate work, you know, instead of just being a blunt instrument.”
Kaidan laughed. “Well, I can certainly appreciate that.”
N7 Guy grinned.
Kaidan had excused himself and was restocking the back room before his brain caught up with what he said.
He spent the rest of his shift replaying the moment over and over in increasingly vivid and excruciating detail, and wondering if the man’s reaction could be considered encouraging or not.
--
Because his life wasn’t weird enough, it wasn’t until his former CO walked through the door that he actually made any progress.
Shepard waved when she entered the café, drawing an answering smile, though his hands were handling customer’s money and couldn’t return the wave. Just seeing her made his spirits rise. There had been a time when she could have made his heart hammer too loudly in his chest, but that time was past. They were still close, though. He knew about her relationship with her gunnery officer, her quirks about cleaning her weapons and endured her attempts to set him up on blind dates whenever she had the time. Which, mercifully, was not often.
“Long time no see,” he said when she sauntered up to the register, giving him a little mock salute, which he returned. “What brings the great Commander Shepard to this humble floating rock?”
She smirked at him, though it softened to a smile. “Only you can bring me here, Kaidan. I’m on shore leave. Anderson ordered some R and R for my team, so I thought I’d come see my favorite ex-marine. How’s the coffee business?”
“Brutal. Almost makes me miss getting shot at.”
She laughed. Kaidan grinned, pleased at himself.
“Your usual?” he asked, nabbing a cup and checking the appropriate boxes.
She nodded. “Mhm-hmm. And a Winter Wonderland latte. Venti.”
Kaidan whistled through his teeth. “Bit of a sweet tooth, huh Commander?”
She shrugged. “My cousin is meeting me here, and he told me to get something he hadn’t tried yet.” Her smile turned a little wicked. “Make it out to ‘Sheploo’, won’t you?”
Kaidan snorted and shook his head. “Nice. What did he do to earn that one?”
“Just an inside joke.”
“Right. Poor guy.”
Shepard rolled her eyes. “Don’t be sorry for him. He’s an idiot.”
“He is your cousin though? I don’t have to tell Garrus? Not just someone you’re seeing on the side—” He cut himself off at her glare, though he couldn’t quite stop grinning.
“No, we share blood. Literally. He donated to me once. I think you’d like him though. He definitely likes you.”
Ah. So she did have some free time. And a cousin was a lot harder to turn down than a squadmate.
“Not interested, Shepard.”
She just hummed a couple notes. “You never know. Anyways, would you be free for dinner tonight? Just us, promise. I’m buying.”
“I always have time, Shepard.”
She grinned again. “Awesome. Bring the coffee over to us when it’s done—we’ll be here a while.”
She went and took the seat by the window—her favorite spot—and, coincidentally, the same table N7 Guy frequented.
The café was always quiet this time of morning, now that the work rush had come and gone—so Kaidan left Traynor at the till (she had the perfect personality for customer service…minus the occasional nervous babbling) and went to make up Shepard’s order. Her coffee was easily brewed; the latte would take some effort. Kaidan winced at little when he remembered that part of the design was a bunch of hearts. He debated leaving them off…but Shepard would notice, and the resulting heckling would be worse than any minor embarrassment about heart sprinkles.
He was just putting the tray together when the bell on the door chimed; he looked up only to see N7 Guy squeezing through, ducking under a doorframe meant for ordinary people.
He spared Kaidan a smile, but then, to Kaidan’s complete disbelief, made his way towards Shepard, whose smirk had only grown more evil. He bent down to kiss her cheek, and took the chair across from her, his back to Kaidan.
Kaidan stared. And tried not to. Then stared some more.
How did he miss that?
They didn’t look alike, but there was a similarity in posture and body language.
Well. This made things interesting.
With great reluctance, he put the drinks on the tray and carried it over to the waiting table of doom. He hoped he could keep his face straight.
As one, they both greeted him by name.
“One coffee for Shepard and a Winter Wonderland for a Mister Sheploo.”
From his periphery he saw Shepard’s approving nod, but his eyes were still on N7 Guy (who might also be a Shepard. Well, this would be confusing), who only looked rueful.
“That’s going to rot my teeth, won’t it?” said N7 Guy, sparing Shepard a playful glower. She pretended not to notice, lifting up her cup with both hands and blowing gently.
“She does that,” agreed Kaidan, meeting N7 Guy’s gaze despite his embarrassment. The flush of embarrassment deepened into something else, something that seared. He cleared his throat. “So, you’re cousins, huh? Would never have guessed it.”
N7 Guy smiled bashfully. “Yeah, we don’t have much of a family resemblance. Just a name.”
“Shepard and Shepard,” returned Kaidan. “How have I never heard of you?”
N7 Guy leaned back in his chair. “I’m the good one. Channery’s the one that blows stuff up.”
“That’s a lie,” said Shepard amiably. “You blow stuff up too. At least I usually do it on purpose.”
It didn’t answer his question, but Kaidan let it drop.
“Well, this won’t be difficult at all.”
Both Shepards laughed this time. Channery was definitely making fun of him. N7 Guy, on the other hand, seemed to think he was sharing the joke with Kaidan.
Well, an opening was an opening.
“I’m going to have a first name from you,” he said to N7 Guy, with utmost seriousness. “I’ve known this Shepard for too long to call her anything but that. Otherwise, it’s Sheploo from now on.”
He could hear Shepard’s eyeroll.
N7 Guy’s grin went bashful. He rubbed at the back of his neck.
“Yeah, I realized that. Sorry, most of the time I think Commander’s my first name.”
“I’m definitely not calling you that. Not unless you call me Major.”
Shepard made a noise of disgust.
“An interesting idea,” said N7 Guy. “But enough jokes. John Shepard.” He extended a hand to Kaidan.
Kaidan took it. John’s skin was as rough as expected, with a couple of smooth scars on the palm.
“Kaidan Alenko. But you already knew that.” He cleared his throat, pulling a bit at his collar as he did so. “I’ll, uh, let you two talk.”
Shepard made the predictable entreaty to stay—easily deflected and easily released. John nodded at him as Kaidan turned away.
In the back of the coffee shop, Kaidan let himself pause.
John.
He had gone through all that trouble for a John.
He laughed at himself and went back to work, his heart a little lighter.
--
Despite the pleasure of finally, finally learning N7 Guy’s name, Kaidan had more than a few bones to pick with Shepard when their dinner date rolled around.
Still, manners dictated that he wait until they were seated and had their food before starting his own interrogation. It was difficult; Shepard kept shooting him little smiles, even as she updated him on Wrex’s new status as clan leader, Tali’s appointment as Admiral, and Liara’s peculiar run in with a high volus believing itself to be a ‘biotic god’.
But finally, Shepard slowed down enough to start digging into her food, and Kaidan pounced.
“So…John is your cousin?”
Shepard, mouth full of sushi, only nodded.
“There were two Commander Shepards running around the Alliance and no one else picked up on it? That’s a human interest piece if I ever heard one.”
Shepard shrugged. “They try to hide it. I’m the official Shepard. John…his work has always been under the radar. Weird, given his personality, but he’s good at it. If any of his missions had went to hell, then all of Council Space and then some would have heard about it. But they didn’t, and he’s retired.”
Kaidan leaned back in his chair, and poked experimentally at his Thessia roll. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”
Shepard smiled—not one of her wry twists of the mouth, but a soft curve. “No one would. But he’s a gentle person. A good man, exactly the one you want.” She started on her tempura. “You really should ask him out and see where it goes. He likes you.”
“Shepard—”
“He likes you. He’s an idiot for not introducing himself, but I think you might like that.” The smile she gave him was much more mischievous this time. “Don’t you?”
Kaidan sighed. Even after all these years, answering her was still an immediate reflex. “Yes, Shepard.”
--
It was another few days before he saw John again. When he did, it was Friday, twenty minutes to eight, and it was his turn to close up for the night.
John was the last customer to come through. He practically ran through the door. Kaidan happened to look up in time to see the action, and noted with amusement that, as relaxed as he seemed, he could not shake his boot camp run.
“Hello stranger,” he said, irrationally pleased to see John look something other than completely relaxed. “Haven’t seen you around much lately.”
“Yeah,” John rubbed the back of his neck again, looking sheepish. “I, uh, got caught up with errands.”
“Oh?” Kaidan leaned on the counter, looking mock-unimpressed. “What kind of errands?”
John shrugged. “Eh. Lost statues, ancient medals, reuniting lovers. All in a day’s work.”
Kaidan did not smile. His mouth did not even twitch.
Maybe.
“That is very interesting.”
“Not when you do it every day. And I got up way too early today.”
“Well, you’re in the right place to fix it,” said Kaidan. “What can I get you?”
John blinked and looked up at the menu over Kaidan’s head.
“Uh…haven’t thought that far, actually. What’s your favorite?”
“Swedish kava,” said Kaidan. “It’s like turian kava, but actually drinkable for humans.”
John’s lips twitched up in a smile. “The kind that keeps you up for two days straight?”
“Yep. Want it? I mean, if you think it’s too late—”
“It’s not too late. I’ll have two.”
“All right.” Kaidan started the preparations, moving around behind the counter. John stayed where he was on the other side, for all intents and purposes watching. It sent a weird prickling down Kaidan’s spine.
“Who’s the drink for?” he asked, wondering if he should be willing the beans to grind faster or slower. He was tired, it has been a long week…but John was here now, and even if Kaidan was cringing, it was worth it.
“Is it important?” asked John. He was wearing a leather jacket today. Still had an N7 stitched into the collar, but it looked like a comfortable cut. And it was cut…very well.
“Well, it packs a pretty big punch for humans. I don’t want to know what it does to drell. Or a volus. Or whoever you pal around with. Who are you meeting tonight?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” asked John, his voice light, teasing.
Kaidan very resolutely did not turn around.
“Weeell, why not? Human?”
“I think so. Nothing suggests otherwise.”
Kaidan did turn around at that. “You don’t know?”
John shrugged. “Everyone has their secrets. They could be half-asari, for all I know.”
“…Then they would be asari.”
“…Right.”
This guy was kind of an idiot.
“Well, is she on your crew?”
“He. And no, he wasn’t. Still in the Alliance, though. Good biotic.”
“Biotic, huh? Then he’ll definitely like it. Won’t feel half the side effects a non-biotic will feel.”
“Er, should I be drinking it then?”
Kaidan snorted. “Big guy like you? It’ll be fine. Just eat something, move around, and you’ll be fine.”
John hummed. “Not a bad idea. I’ll float the idea with him when I ask him.”
It sounded like a date, thought Kaidan, his hope sinking in his chest. It could still not be, but that very well wasn’t a question he could—
No, wait. Yes he could ask. There was absolutely no reason not to. If he was going to have his hopes dashed, it was not going to be stretched out any longer than it had to be.
“This a date?” he asked, trying for lighthearted, finally turning back to John, both cups in hand. He held them out, feeling a little foolish, like it was an offering.
John didn’t immediately relieve him of the cups. Instead, he just looked at Kaidan.
He reached out, and took only one of the cups from Kaidan’s hands. He tipped it to him, and took a sip, not breaking their gaze. “You tell me.”
Kaidan blinked. Looked down at the cup in his hand. Looked back at John. He should probably react, but any coherent thought was lost in the sudden ringing that started up in his head.
He wanted to say something, but nothing was cooperating with him.
John shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable.
“I’d like to ask you out, if you couldn’t tell yet. Normally, I’d take them out for coffee, but you already work in the best café on the Silversun Strip, so you probably wouldn’t want to go. But we don’t know each other that well, so I thought we could go on a walk. And, uh, talk. As you do.”
Kaidan’s brain jumpstarted.
“Blasto would have been good,” said Kaidan. “But, you know, walking’s…nice, too.”
“So you’re interested?” said John, too quickly. Kaidan could see the relief all over his face. That made him feel a little better. No matter how nervous this might make him—John clearly reacted much worse.
“Yeah, I’m interested. Might have picked a different brand though, if I knew this was what you had in mind. I wasn’t kidding when I said this could keep you up all night.”
“That…isn’t a bad thing, strictly speaking.”
Kaidan nearly dropped his cup at that. While he fumbled and tried not to burn himself, he saw panic flit across John’s face.
“Was that too much? Too fast? Sorry, I don’t usually do this.”
“Flirt with baristas?” asked Kaidan.
He meant it as a joke, but John nodded. He looked so earnest, Kaidan could not quite stop his own easy smile.
“Well, it’s your lucky day. Though, whether or not you actually get lucky is still up for debate.”
John laughed. “What, you’re sure you’re not going to have to burn off the extra energy?”
“No. This barely makes up for all of that energy I spent just trying to get your name. You have some heavy lifting to do before we…get down to anything.”
“I’ll do my best,” said John, though the boldness of the line was rather ruined by the fact he was definitely blushing now. Kaidan allowed his grin to widen.
“I look forward to it.”
--
As it turned out, they did have extra energy to burn. And Kaidan had to use quite a bit of it to drag John away from his model ships.
He was in love with a complete nerd.
But still.
Worth it.