Series: Misadventures of Beau, the Googling Shepard
Characters/Pairing: Kaidan Alenko, Beau Shepard, Kaya the Spacebarista, mshenko
Rating: T (Language)
Summary: Shepard invites Kaidan for coffee during the first day of mandated shore leave.
‘Meet me for coffee down in the wards when you get up. -B.’
The Normandy had docked on the Citadel while Kaidan was sleeping. Beau hadn’t woken him up, instead opting to leave a note with a location marker in his messages. While he’d been grateful to sleep in – his over-tired and over-taxed body needed it – he would have preferred to have as much time as possible with Beau during their mandated shore leave.
Well, a coffee date was a good start.
Kaidan adjusted the straps of the bag on his shoulder and wove his way through the crowd, trying not to bump into anyone and failing miserably. Between the slow pace and stopping to apologize every couple meters, he felt woefully behind schedule and sent a message to Beau, ‘Sorry, nearly there.’
A ping back came a moment later, ‘I’m sorry, too. En route. I had an errand, but I won’t leave you waiting long. Promise.’
It surprised Kaidan how much he’d missed Beau already, they’d just been together the night before. God, he was looking forward to the next week of uninterrupted time off during the Normandy’s repairs – it set him off into daydreams. He should find a nice hotel that wasn’t overbooked with the influx of people pouring into the Citadel so they could be alone. Right on cue, guilt settled into his stomach knowing there were certainly people that needed it more than he did.
No. Kaidan tried to stuff it down and justify his well-earned selfishness. The whole crew been out there in the screaming void fighting for everyone’s lives and this time was precious. They deserved some indulgence.
Kaidan made it to the coffeeshop that Beau picked out, tucked into a bustling corner of the ward. No sign of Beau yet. He walked up to the counter and a blonde barista with ‘Kaya’ emblazoned on her nametag smiled up at him, “Hello! What can I get for you today?”
“Two medium house roast coffees. Room for sugar in one of them, please.”
“Sure thing! Name for your cups?”
“That’s a very nice name.” Her smile brightened and she scribbled on the cup, “Be right up!”
“Thank you.” Kaidan found an empty table near the window that looked out onto the sidewalk. Gazing out at the crush of people walking by, he found the long and lean figure of the one that made his heart backflip in his chest. Hey, there you are.