She was halfway through stuffing an overly large pastry in her mouth when she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

It was late and the Normandy had been beyond quiet. She thought for sure she'd have the mess to herself as she made her way from the war room to her cabin for a few hours of much needed sleep. Her growling stomach had cut through her weariness enough to make a detour necessary. It wasn't that she cared about eating in front of people, rather that she hated getting caught with her mouth full and in this case 'full' was an understatement.

"Did you even check what flavor that was before you stuffed it in your mouth whole?" Kaidan asked, laughter evident in his voice as she looked over her shoulder at him.

The humor in his voice erupted into full blown laughter when she turned and she glared at him because her mouth was just too full to tell him to shut the hell up. If he carried on like that he was going to attract an audience no matter the hour and that was just what she didn't need; a crew seeing their commanding officer with her mouth overflowing with pastry.

Chewing didn't seem to be helping as fast as it should have been. There would be no quick retorts for her tonight. That didn't stop her from dancing out of the way of Kaidan as he came around and tried to catch her by the arm.

"Come-on Shepard, you don't need to glare. You know I'm only giving you a bad time in return for all the times you've done the same for me." He managed to snag her elbow and he tugged her towards him.

She allowed herself to be pulled into the circle of his arms but continued to glower at him, chewing all the while. What had they put in this pastry? A military-grade bonding agent?

Finally she was able to swallow the damned pastry.

Despite her initial irritation at getting caught with her mouth full Kaidan was warm and solid. The exhaustion that had drove her from her console in the war room was replaced with a new feeling that settled warm and low in her belly. She leaned into him still pouting but now with a completely different agenda in mind.

His mouth turned up at the corners as he leaned in to press his mouth against hers, gently teasing her mouth open as he did. "Mmm," he murmured against her lips when they finally broke apart. "You taste like my favorite flavor."

She pulled back and smiled up at him, "Oh yeah, Major? What flavor is that?"

They both froze instantly when another voice cut in. Turning they saw Vega sitting at a table against the wall. He was smirking.

"Cherry, huh? Color me surprised. I'd have figured you for a peach kind of guy, myself."