This was nice.

Kaidan couldn’t remember the last time it had been just them. When they had last gotten -- a break. Gods, even the word sounded so foreign. Alone with his partner for the first time in ages. After Virmire, after Horizon, after Cerberus -- hell, in the middle of the Reapers. None of that mattered. Nothing mattered when they stood beside him like that, looked at him like that.

Not even the garlic burning in the pan. The aromatic smell snapped him out of his thoughts and his eyes moved down again, moving to fix his mistake.

“Guess I’m distracted,” he mused with a little smile. After so long of being forced to be diligent, knowing an attack could come from anywhere... it felt good to be distracted.