#no you totally never see Commander Shepard and her boyfriend at goth nights at the club that's just a coincidence

[astorythatwritesitself]

If you're taking the fluff asks, how about D, T, M, I, and E for shrios?

Devoted - how do they show they're serious?

By choosing life.

Things definitely like. Develop & they're into each other during the mission, it's only post-Omega 4 that either Shepard or Thane starts really like... truly acknowledging the weight of things. In the AU I'm working, it's Thane who takes the first step - the way I plan on playing things, I'm saving LotSB and Arrival for after the 'main' game, and LotSB sees Thane get hurt enough that he finally makes the call to stop for a while and get some help and see if he can't unfuck a decade of pointedly refusing more than symptom management (he'd actually spoken to both Miranda and Mordin privately before this to know if there were even options to consider, too, lol).

Adrian's end is a little trickier to notice tbh - but it's in when she's willing to discuss ideas about even like, a year into the future. Places she'd like to go. The fact she'd even talk about retiring from the Alliance, when before, she'd seen herself staying part of it until it killed her. Probably the strongest sign though, was her working to ensure some of her assets would go to Kolyat, in the event of her death - big move, from someone who never factored kids into their life, yknow?

Enchanted - what first caught their eye?

Honestly, the eyes play a strong part for both of them 😂

Adrian's end tbh was like - it's hard for her to recognize if she's experienced romantic feelings, but she absolutely knows if she's Into Someone or not - and her reaction to Thane was enough to warrant a note on her medical file because Mordin believes in keeping good track of any outlier readings 😂 Thane was gorgeous and the way he moved was almost mesmerizing - and Adrian was well and truly Gone the second she met his eyes lol. She's absolutely 'no arguing with people with eyes so dark they're almost black, whatever you say beautiful'.

Thane, meanwhile, knew Shepard by reputation and scattered reports - but seeing a dead hero in the flesh would make anyone pause, particularly when that first glimpse also has her smack-dab in the glory of Illium's sunrise. But it was her patience that registered most, the way she pulled her squad back and allowed Thane his prayers.

(And when Thane later thinks back on the experience, he realizes he was trying very, very hard not to read too much into things. Because there he was, on a mission he fully expected to end in his death, only to be intercepted by someone who /held/ his target's attention so he could finish the job, by someone whose eyes were lit gold in the sunrise.

The gods can be... /clever/ like that, sometimes.)

Intimate - what kind of dates do they like?

So you have a galaxy renowned assassin, and Commander-Goddamn-Shepard, what's their date night like?

Boring as goddamn fuck 😂 At least in some eyes.

They enjoy going to museums and botanical gardens, Adrian absolutely makes an aquarium one happen.

Buuuut also some folks swear up and down, hand to god, cross their heart(s) and hope to die, the two can occasionally be found dancing at small-scale clubs or venues when the music's right. (Absolutely ridiculous - everyone knows Shepard can't dance!)

(not that that stops her)

Memory - what's their favorite memory together?

Hard to say, but in terms of a shared one...

Possibly what is retroactively recognized as their first date - a trip to the Citadel, where Thane paid a visit to the temple, and would Shepard like to come along?

(Vague? Yes - only because I plan on writing it one day 😂)

Thoughtful - what small things do they do for each other?

They've got each other's favorite preparations of tea (& for Thane, coffee) down pat and often have it ready for the other. Adrian also takes a fair bit of pride in learning how to cook, and often uses her sleepless early mornings to put together something nice. Thane, meanwhile - he's not the photographer Adrian is, but he does start taking some, to better preserve and share things with her. (He also, during the events of ME3, has the fishtank VI sent to the Normandy.)