Citadel, Shepard's Apartment
"No, Get lost" Grunt manned the front door, denying anyone from coming to Shepard's party. It wasn't much, but the simplicity of rejecting people was fun for the tanked-bred krogan. He grinned wickedly as each neighbor gets turned away, disappointed that they are unable to attend Shepard's legendary party, but too terrified to go against the krogan.
"How's it going over here?" Shepard asked. Shepard was curious on Grunt's slight giggle nearby the entrance, wondering whether the young krogan was laughing about his "incident" at he Presidium or just finding ways to past the time.
"It's going good", Grunt replied. He was having a lot fun just rejecting everyone who wanted to join the party.
"I can see that. Anyone interesting trying to get in"
"Not really" Grunt directed his attention back to the screen of a human and a dancing vorcha "Get lost!"
"You should let me decide that". A bit concern on Grunt's new hobby, Shepard wanted to see what was so interesting on denying anyone from coming in.
"Huh..Okay" Grunt reluctantly handed the next annoyance to Shepard, "But it's ugly out there"
Ok, bring out the next one, I doubt it'll be that bad, Shepard thought to himself. As soon as the next group appeared on the screen, Shepard was attacked by a shriek of excitement followed by the view of fangirls hoping to be noticed by the hero of the Citadel. The fangirls, which consist of asaris and humans, were just ecstatic at the sight of Commander Shepard.
Shepard turn to Grunt, "Grunt", he said "keep up the good work".
"Heh heh, will do" Grunt went back to rejecting the guest, "For the last time, NO!"
Shepard walked away and went about mingling with the rest of his crew, until he heard his name being called.
"John?" Shepard turn and saw the screen. A familiar face. A man with a scarred face appeared on the screen.
"There's no "John" here, get los-"
"Hold on, Grunt", Shepard was able to stop Grunt from turning down the man, "Let him in".
"Hmm" Grunt grumbled, feeling like his fun was spoiled.
"And what do you mean, "There's no John here"? Don't you know my name?"
"Never remembered you mentioning your name, Shepard" Grunt replied, "All I remembered from our first meeting was, 'I'm Commander Shepard'. No first name whatsoever." Shepard thought back to their first meeting and realized the numerous occasions on how he usually introduced himself. It was all formality, but at least someone should know his first name.
A moment passed, the door finally opened to a man, wearing the Alliance navy blue outfit, similar to Admiral Hackett's, and a face full of scars with a hint of cybernetics and a glowing red, left eye, while the right was crystal blue.
"John, it's been a while" said the man
"Jared! What are you doing here?"
"I came to see my old friend. It's a rare occasion to see the "Hero of the Citadel" on shore leave"
"I see" Shepard then realized something that was slightly amiss from the old friend. "You're an Admiral". It was not a question and Jared could also tell from the tone. Shepard was surprised for a moment, then quickly asserted himself back to the 'old friend' demeanor.
"At ease, John. Today is all about catching up, not reporting to the higher ups" Jared reassured. He knew full well how Shepard treated his higher-ups with respect. Well, only those who deserve the respect.
"You haven't changed a bit, Jared, especially the cybernetics" Shepard smiled. No matter the rank, the man standing before was still the same man who helped him get through the hard times after Akuze.
"Heh, a wound that let's me remember my greatest achievement...as well as my greatest fault" Jared reminisced, "But I hear you had it worse. Didn't bother calling us after your revival?"
Shepard winced at Jared's last remark. It's been years since the last time they met. He remembered when he said goodbye to Jared and another friend of his at the docks before his "death" from the Collecters two years back. He never contacted his friends after Cerberus revived him.
"I think you know about "that" from the reports"
"I did, but face-to-face interaction sounds more convincing than what I've read on paper""
"Ahem". The conversation was interrupted by Grunt's impatient grumble, "Is he coming inside or can I kick him out?"
"I would like to see you try, krogan" Jared grinned. He looked at Grunt in the eyes, showing his lack of fear towards the tank-bred and actually hoping for a fight. Gruntthought the same.
"Right, sorry about that" Shepard said, trying to avert any sort of confrontation at his party. he looked at Jared "Come on in"
"About time" Jared responded.
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