Freedom

After more than a year of vaccines and booster shots, Geth runtimes helping to jumpstart her immune system and more worrying than she felt during her entire pilgrimage, tonight was finally the night.

She could finally sleep with her boyfriend without her environment suit.

Shepard was delightfully patient, never once trying to pressure her and always understanding the risks but she was a girl with needs. Needs that NerveStim Pro and over the clothes action never quite fulfilled. And so, here she was, taking a few deep steadying breaths as he stood in front of her, naked save for his boxers and that damn smile that always makes her heart flutter.

"You ready Tal?" He asked, always showing concern like he wasn't mostly naked. She nodded in response, her Omnitool coming up to her neck and 'unzipping' her suit, letting it fall to the ground around her as he undid the locks on her mask and pulled it off of her, his eyes widening as he takes in her form completely for the first time. Not that her suit left much of her (if she was being honest with herself, quite considerable) assets to the imagination and oh wasn't he quick to remind her of that when they were alone?

In her head she had this all planned out, this is where she'd gently push him onto the bed and ravish him like Sarve'er did to Heirax in that unrated adaptation of Fleet and Flotilla that she absolutely hadn't watched a dozen times, stop asking. But it all fell apart the moment she touched his chest.

Keelah, how long had it been since she'd felt someone's bare skin against hers? Years? A decade? Most of her life?

She couldn't stop the tears if she wanted to and her boyfriend, that stupid, wonderful bosh'tet of a man just wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest, one hand stroking her hair and he other running circles along her back. The sound of his heartbeat, the feel of his skin against hers, the smell of a long day running around, all hitting her, unfiltered and overwhelming.

When the sobs of joy stopped, and she stopped clinging to him like she was about to wake up at any moment, she looked up at him with watery eyes. "K-keelah, can we stay like this for tonight, please?"

"Sure Tali, as long as you like." He chuckled in response, picking her up, carrying her to bed and laying down next to her, still wrapped in each other's arms.

Tomorrow, she thought as she slowly drifted to sleep. She'd finish her plan tomorrow for sure.