Another Tali/Kal drabble, this time a little more cheerful.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all characters and locations belong to Bioware

"Kal, I'm fine, I swear!" Tali insisted in a flustered tone.

"I'm afraid I can't take that chance ma'am," he clipped briskly. If Tali'Zorah didn't know better, she'd say he almost sounded amused. "You're an Admiral now, we can't have you dying on us from a silly infection."

"I highly doubt I'll die from infection, Kal." The petite quarian shook her head. "Not from a sprained ankle at any rate. Now put me down!"

Kal'Reegar strolled easily across a dusty field, sparsely dotted with struggling, withered plant life, carrying the very indignant Tali in his arms as though she weighed as much as a cloud. Although other parts of Rannoch had been cultivated successfully and were now covered in fresh, green sprouts of new farmland, there was still a lot of work to do, even just within the few settlements that had been established. Even with the Geth's help, resettling an entire planet was going to take years. Tali did above and beyond her part as an Admiral, going out of her way to help, even with the heavy lifting and other menial labor that her people insisted was beneath her lofty status. She brandished her shotgun at them good-naturedly, and they reluctantly allowed her to work beside them. What else could they do? Their headstrong leader wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer, and who could deny her? They owed her their lives.

Kal was another story. He had no qualms telling his long-time friend 'no', although it was usually accompanied by "with all due respect, ma'am…" Tali would stomp her foot, shake her gun at him, and argue until she was hoarse, the platoon-leader was one of the few people who wouldn't budge if it were in her best interests, always with a calm, overtly respectful demeanor that infuriated the young Admiral. Sometimes she wondered if he secretly enjoyed seeing her flustered.

"You're just looking for an excuse to drive me crazy, Reegar," she pounded a fist against his chest, the effect muffled by the thick material of his biosuit, hardly fazing him at all. She kicked her feet and squirmed in his iron grip, but her friend was as skilled in combat as she, and he wouldn't budge.

"My only concern is for your well-being, ma'am," he assured her. "I didn't stick my neck out for you a million times and put my men on the line for your Shepard's cause just to let you perish from a silly sprain."

"So if I'm to die, it must be dignified?" she scoffed. "Keelah, I'm not going to die from a stupid little twisted ankle, now put me down this instant," she gritted out. Kal thought he could even hear her teeth grinding behind her mask. He risked a glance down and was met by mere slits as she glared up at him for all she was worth. He bit back an amused smile, glad for the helmet obscuring his face. He dreaded the day the Quarians would shed their biosuits. He'd no longer be able to hide those boyish grins from the strong woman in his arms.

He wasn't sure when she'd become so important to him. He had racked his brain, sitting up late at night, kept awake by the utter silence of the new colony, for the answer, but he couldn't think of a time when Tali hadn't been there, even though he was several years older than her. He could remember holding her bio-bubble as a young child when she was just a newborn, while his father urged him to be very careful. He remembered the first time she had donned her biosuit and truly become part of the Flotilla. All the celebrations, all the polite conversation, the unexpected jokes that left them holding their sides for ages, the silly arguments, the fierce battles, and even the bitter tears; Tali had been there through all of it, a constant presence in his life for as long as he could remember. She was his first memory, and the last thing he thought of at night before drifting off into troubled sleep.

Nudging the flap of the medical tent aside Kal was careful not to jostle Tali, who was still somehow complaining. He set her down gently on a cot and went about prepping sterile equipment to examine her ankle. The tent was unstaffed at the moment, the doctors probably all called away to deal with the minor cuts and bruises that could prove lethal, even with the help of the Geth 'viruses' that slowly bolstered their immune systems.

"—completely unnecessary, Reegar, this is a total waste of time that could be used—"

Was she really still complaining?

"Ma'am," he interjected, sitting on the edge of the cot. She fixed him with a simmering glare. "Stop whining and let me check your ankle, please."

Tali crossed her arms and huffed, but allowed him to take her small foot into his hands and prod and poke the appendage. She winced visibly when his thumb gently pressed on the sprain. He made a dissatisfied noise in his throat.

"Seal off your suit, ma'am. I'm going to take a look."

"Kal, this is—"

"Ma'am."

With a suffered sigh, the young woman dropped a seal around her calf, nodding at her friend when it was safe to remove her boot. Kal held her small, delicate foot gingerly in his sterilized, gloved hand, carefully inspecting the ankle. It was clearly swollen and showing signs of bruising, her pale skin tinged with bluish-purple. Luckily, there were no cuts, and the bones were sound.

Suddenly, Kal was overcome with the desire to remove his gloves if only just to feel her skin beneath his. Infections be damned, it would be worth it, even for just a second, to touch her soft skin with his own hands. His breath hitched oddly as he ran a thin, gloved finger along the dramatic arch of her exposed ankle. Her two toes curled in irritation.

"What are you doing, Kal?" she asked. "Can I have my foot back, or not?"

Clearing his throat abruptly, Kal'Reegar reached for a crisp, clean wrap and wound it tightly around the sprain. "You'll be fine, ma'am, but you should probably stay off your feet for a couple days. If you're up running around all over Rannoch, this could end up a lot worse than it is."

"You worry far too much." Her voice was gentler now. He spared a glance from his work. She was reclined against a pillow, shoulders sagging heavily, head leaned back against the wall. She was exhausted. All she'd done since recovering from the battle on Earth was work herself to the bone, throwing all of her energy into rebuilding, taking on every task she possibly could. Reegar had seen it before. He saw it in himself. She buried herself in work to forget the things that had happened. Shepard's death had hit everyone hard. He knew Tali had been particularly close to her. He'd been regaled with enough tales of their adventures to know the bond they had was strong.

Without thinking, Kal reached up and removed his mask, the clasps giving way with a faint hiss as the environmental seals released. Tali's head jerked up and her eyes were huge behind the visor.

"Kal, what the hell are you doing?" she gasped. "Put that back on, you're going to get sick!" She struggled to sit up, but the soldier laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her back down wordlessly. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to Tali's mask, where her forehead would be if she hadn't been wearing it.

"I just…wanted to do that." He whispered. "Ma'am."

"Kal, I…" the girl made to speak, but faltered briefly in confusion. "Well…if you're going to do it…at least do it right." She finally got out. Hesitantly, she unlatched her own mask, and turned her exposed face up to his.

He stared down at her face for a moment, his breath catching. Her face seemed impossibly beautiful to him. The slight curve of her cheek, the straight, narrow line of her delicate nose, the smooth, flat plain of her forehead; and her eyes, her beautiful, slightly tilted eyes were such a stunning shade of iridescent purple, glittered up at him. They filled with tears as he watched them searching his own face. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers, and wrapped his arms around her slight shoulders, pulling her close against his chest. She clung to him almost desperately, her dainty fingers digging into his back. Tilting his head sideways, he sucked on her bottom lip gently, coaxing a small, unintelligible murmur from her. Uncertainly, he flicked the tip of his tongue against her lips, surprised when she met him eagerly with her own. She leaned back, pulling him down with her, clutching the material of his suit resolutely in her hands, incredibly strong for her diminutive stature. Reegar gladly joined her on the rickety cot, pressing her close against him as their tongues awkwardly wrestled for dominance, Tali just as forceful as when she argued with him only moments before, Kal steadfastly refusing to give ground like the soldier he was.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kal pulled away for air, only to have Tali, still gasping for breath, yank his head back down, crushing their lips together yet again. Breathing deeply through his nose as she writhed against him, Kal worked a glove loose from his hand, bring it up to caress her smooth, soft face. He moaned at the contact, smoothing her wispy hair back from her forehead, where beads of sweat were beginning to form. How long had he imagined touching her bare skin?

"Kal," she gasped against his mouth. Tears streamed down her face, leaving warm, moist spots against his skin as he nuzzled his face against hers longingly.

"Tali…" he whispered against her cheek. He felt her cheek pull up in a smile.

"You've never called me by name," the girl murmured.

"Sure I have," breathed Kal, "Just not to your face."

She half-heartedly rapped her knuckle against his shoulder. For a long time, they lay there silently, faces pressed together, staring into each other's eyes for the first time.

"We are going to get soooooo sick." Tali groaned, shaking her head.