A Night In

Shepard was in the kitchen of his new apartment preparing a snack when he heard a knock at the door.

“Who is it?” Shepard called.

The doors slid open with their familiar swishing sound to reveal Tali standing in the doorway.

“Permission to come aboard Commander?” Tali purred.

Shepard beamed at her, quickly wiping his hands on a towel before running over to give her a quick hug.

“Permission granted,” Shepard said while planting his kiss on Tali’s faceplate.

Shepard led Tali to the living room and sat her down on the couch and returned to the kitchen to finish cooking.

“So…do you have any plans for this evening?” Shepard yelled from the kitchen.

“No, I’m as free as the dust in the solar wind,” Tali replied.

Silence.

“You know…Fleet and Flotilla? Shalei and Bellicus on the balcony?”

“Sweetheart, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about,” Shepard laughed.

Tali walked into the kitchen and sat down at the island to watch Shepard cook.

“So you’ve NEVER seen Fleet and Flotilla?? How? Well, I know what we’re doing tonight!” Tali said, voice rising with excitement.

Shepard smiled. “Movie night?”

“Movie night.”

A few minutes later, after Shepard had whipped up something for himself and something for Tali, he turned off all the lights in the apartment and sat down on the couch with Tali. Tali tucked her feet underneath her and leaned against Shepard, head on his shoulder. Shepard put his arm around her shoulder, absentmindedly stroking the soft cloth of her suit as he watched the TV.

Suddenly Shepard had an idea.

“Glyph!”

“Yes Commander?”

“Call the housing supply store and have them send up a portable decontamination unit.”

“Right away Commander.”

Tali looked up at Shepard. "What are you up to John?"

Shepard grinned. “You’ll see.”

An episode of Fleet and Flotilla later, the door chimed, indicating someone was at the door. Shepard extricated himself from Tali and went to get the door. On the other side of the door stood a volus deliveryman with a decontamination unit nearly double his height.
The volus wheezed. “That will be 20,000 credits.”

“Here you go my good man.”

The volus took the credit chit Shepard offered him and turned and waddled back down the hallway. Shepard watched a few seconds, snickering to himself, before wheeling the bulky machine into the living room. Tali turned her head to see what he was up to, and Shepard saw her eyes widen underneath her visor.

“Keelah Shepard, what is that monstrosity for?”

Without a word, Shepard activated the unit and disappeared into his bedroom. Tali stared at the machine in utter confusion as it hummed away. Shepard reappeared a few moments later with his hands behind his back.

“Close your eyes.”

Tali did so.

“Hold out your hands.”

Tali complied and felt Shepard place a soft bundle in her hands.

“Open your eyes.”

Tali opened her eyes and saw a simple pair of gray sweatpants and sweatshirt with a small N7 logo on them.

“Umm…John?”

Shepard shrugged, “Well…I thought you’d like to be more comfortable…”

Tali stood up and hugged him, holding her forehead against his, the couples “kissing” gesture.

“Well…if you want me to put this on, you’re going to have to close your eyes.”

Shepard sighed and sat down and covered his eyes. He heard a hiss of air, the unmistakable sound of Tali unsealing her suit. Shepard peeked through his fingers, to be quickly swatted on the arm.

“Bosh’tet.”

Shepard grinned and covered his eyes again. Shepard heard the rustle of clothing and had to fight the urge to peek again, but he respected Tali’s wishes.

“Done.”

Tali pulled Shepard’s hands off of his eyes and stood back. Shepard’s jaw dropped.
Tali stood before him, dressed in the sweats, her long, raven-black hair tumbling loose around her shoulders and her silver eyes twinkling at him, unobstructed by the mask. The sweatpants fit a little awkwardly on Tali’s legs, but other than that, they fit her fine.

“Tali, you look…absolutely beautiful.”

Tali spun around slowly, her hair billowing out around her head.

“Well, I’m glad you like it.”

Tali sat back down next to Shepard on the couch, and assumed her previous position cuddling with Shepard.

“Thank you John, these are much more comfortable.”

“You’ll be fine as long as the decontamination unit is running right? I’d feel really bad if you got sick. Probably freak out pretty bad too…”

Tali giggled and squeezed Shepard, “Yes, yes, love, I’ll be fine. Now let’s watch the movie.”

Shepard took Tali’s hand, savoring her baby-smooth skin against his own rough, calloused hands. He squeezed it lightly.

“I love you Tali.”

“I love you too.”

On the TV, the main characters were on the balcony when a thought popped into Shepard’s mind.

“Tali, you quoted the vid earlier. Just how many times have you watched this?”

“Every time my friends and I had a sleepover.” She looked up at him. “We memorized the lines from the musical.”

Tali was silent for a few seconds before Shepard felt her jump in his arms.

“We can activate sing along mode!!” Tali said excitedly, jumping up off the couch and dragging Shepard up with her.

They stood facing each other and Shepard raised his eyebrows. Tali just looked at him and held up a finger, “Just wait.”

Music started playing on the vid and Tali took Shepard’s hands. She smiled and started to sing.

“Let the moon’s shining light…hide two lovers with its rays…”

Shepard’s jaw dropped for the second time that evening.

“Though I know that dawn will set us on course for separate ways…I will hold this night in memory for all my living days…”

Tali reached up to caress Shepard’s face and Shepard just placed his hands of hers.

“Now unmasked…I feel your skin…on miiiine…”

The room was silent for a few heartbeats as Tali waited for Shepard to retrieve his jaw from the floor. He pulled her hands away from his face and held them in between them. He looked her in the eyes and smiled.

“Oh. My. God. Tali.”

Tali smiled shyly and looked at the floor. Shepard pulled her chin up to look at him.
“That was absolutely amazing. I had no idea you were so into this…that was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen and heard. However, I’m going to have to take a few credits out of your pay to cover the cost of repairing the new dent in the floor. And my dentist bill. My jaw hurts.”

Shepard laughed and Tali joined him. Shepard ran his fingers through Tali’s hair before his face suddenly grew very serious. Tali immediately stopped laughing.

“John…what’s wrong?”

Shepard dropped to the floor, searching for something underneath the couch. Tali sat down and watched him scrabble around on the floor. She returned her attention to the vid when she  noticed Shepard had stopped digging around under the couch. He was…crouched in front of the couch? No…not crouching…kneeling…on one knee. Tali’s eyes widened and suddenly she found it very hard to breathe.

Shepard held out a box containing a simple ring. “Tali…will you marry me?”

Now it was Tali’s turn to let her jaw hit the floor. She stared at him, completely unable to sleep. Shepard’s smile started to fade as the silence dragged on. Suddenly Tali dropped to her knees on the floor in front of him and hugged him fiercely.

“Oh yes John! Yes!”

Shepard set the ring down on the ground and returned Tali’s hug. After holding each other for a few minutes, Shepard leaned back with tears in his eyes and saw Tali was crying as well. He reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes, running his fingers along the faint purple lines on her face as he did so. Without looking away from her, Shepard reached out to grab the ring. Holding Tali’s hand, he placed the ring on her finger and then leaned forward and kissed her. He stood up to sit on the couch and Tali joined him.

Still holding her hands, Shepard began to tear up again. “Tali…I love you so much. I’ve loved you since the first Normandy. I was going to tell you, but then the Collectors attacked…I was spaced…all I could do was hope you were safe…you were okay. As I started to black out, I remember thinking ‘I never told her…’ Then I wake up two years later to discover that Cerberus was the one to bring me back to life. I was scared, after what they had done to the Flotilla, that you could never love me. I remember when you accidentally told me you loved me back.” Shepard smiled, eyes glistening. “It took every ounce of my self-control not to jump for joy right then and there. But when I came back down to talk to you, I was scared when you said you couldn’t be with me. Then you told me why…and I knew I just had to correct you. Yes, I could have had anyone, but ‘anyone’ wasn’t you Tali. You were the only one that could make me happy. You were, and are, the only one for me. I love you to the point it hurts. I want to be with you forever Tali.”

Tali was speechless. All she could do was wrap Shepard in a hug once more.
“Wow John. And you said I was a sweet-talker. What is a girl supposed to do when her boyfriend says something like that?”

“Well…”

Tali placed a finger on his lips.

“Shepard…I know. You have no idea how happy YOU made ME that day. I have no idea how I could’ve been so stupid, trying to push you away like that. Thank you for making me ignore what my brain was telling me. I will be by your side always John.”

Tali yawned.

“I’ll be right back.” Shepard got up and left the room, giving Tali a quick peck as he did so.

He returned a few minutes later lugging an air mattress, blankets and pillows.

“Sleepover!”

Tali laid on the couch and watched Shepard set the bed up. When he had finished, he looked over his shoulder and saw that Tali had fallen asleep. Noiselessly, he gently picked Tali up off the couch and tucked her in. He slid in next to her and put a protective arm around her.

“Good night Tali.”