Written for a friend's birthday. Shepard/Javik one-shot. Friendship with minor suggestions at future romance. Not in 'Changeling' canon.

Shepard wandered down to the engineering level, EDI's concerns over Javik's activities having piqued her curiosity. He usually brooded and kept to himself, but EDI had said he had been causing a disturbance.

As she hit the button for the elevator, her lips quirked in a smile. Maybe he was harassing Allers again about not wearing a correct 'battle uniform' and how in his cycle reporters were considered less than parasites. Shepard made an effort to wipe the smile from her face. Really she did. It wasn't professional. Allers wasn't a parasite. Absolutely not.

Shepard didn't exactly have much love for the press though, so maybe she hadn't been quite as forceful telling him off as she could have been. Maybe she might have egged him on a little. Just a teensy amount.

The Prothean was an odd addition to the crew, frequently abrasive and in James' words, "A huge dick and surly bastard." She had raised her eyebrows at his colourful description and he had belatedly added, "Uh, ma'am. In my professional opinion. Total dick."

She couldn't argue there, but she did admire his brutal honesty. She was coming to understand him. What it was like to be the last of your race, the avatar of vengeance. The war against the Reapers had only been raging for a few months, and it had already taken so much from her. She had no idea how he dealt with it for an entire lifetime.

In his room, she blinked, her eyes adjusting to the gloom. "Javik?" she called when she couldn't immediately locate him.

"What is it, human?" a dry voice answered her and she looked around curiously.

He was piled into the corner, reclining on a large mountain of colourfully patterned pillows. His eyes lolled in their sockets, and a large bottle of some unidentifiable liquid dangled from his fingers.

"Javik?" she gasped, beyond surprised at his appearance. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I am, as you humans say, becoming intoxicated."

"I can see that. But why?"

His eyes focussed on her and he rolled in his pillows, somehow still seeming dignified and surly, even when splayed out in a heap. "It is my date of birth, Commander. In my cycle, your date of birth was one of the few days where drinking was acceptable. We were permitted two hours of celebration. It was considered an admirable feat to make it to another year of life." He took another swig of the bright green liquid. "We died young."

"Ah." Shepard crossed her arm, far too familiar with the concept of soldiers dying young. "EDI said you were causing a disturbance."

Javik frowned. "I was merely singing a song of my people reserved for such occasions. Your engineering crew, and the smarmy one you call Donnelly took offence. I believe they have no taste for fine art. Prothean date of birth songs are jealously guarded secrets. They should be honoured to hear it."

Shepard fought back a smirk, and tried to nod in what she hoped was a sympathetic way. "Well, like you say, maybe they just don't appreciate fine art. I'm sure Liara would love to hear."

"Bah! The asari is annoying." He rolled his eyes, all four of them adding to the impressively disdainful effect. "I would rather drink for my two hours in peace."

Shepard bit her lip as she watched him lying there, alone among his race on his birthday with no one to celebrate with.

She took a deep breath, and prepared herself for more insults, but asked, "Want some company? I promise not to be annoying and let you drink. Hell, I might join you in getting smashed."

He paused mid-sip and looked at her with a speculative cant of his head. "Very well… your company is not as unpleasant as every other inferior race on this ship. For an ape that used to live in caves, you have done well for yourself, Commander. You are a gifted warrior."

Shepard settled down beside him on the pillows, a little awkward but pleased he had decided to accept some company for once. "Um, thanks, Javik. You give the best back-handed compliments."

"It is no inconvenience for me to inform you of the truth. The races of this cycle like to avoid the truth. They will have no such empty comfort from me. This may be my last day of birth I celebrate."

"It might be all of ours," she said quietly. "But you can't think like that."

"How many planet cycles have you witnessed?"

"What?" she blurted.

"How old are you, Commander?" he replied slowly, as if she was a dim-witted child.

"Oh, I'm uh, lemme think… I'm thirty. Uh, no sorry. I forgot. I'm thirty-two."

He narrowed his gaze at her. "How is it you fumble over your age?"

Shepard fumbled with her fingers in her lap, looking away from his eyes. She still slipped up when it came to birthdays. "I uh, died for two years. Lost track of whether that counted or not. Didn't you notice when you read my history or whatever on Eden Prime?"

Javik shook his head. "No, I did not. It is a great invasion of privacy to read memories. It is a lesson the asari of this cycle are still learning apparently."

Shepard shrugged, unable to argue with that. Asari seemed to love pawing through her brain, but at least it was necessary for the Cipher and to stop Saren three years ago.

"Your mind is your own," Javik continued, and she met his eyes, surprised with his stance on mind-reading. She would have thought Protheans would be the opposite. 'For the good of the Empire,' and all that.

"Only Reapers and their ilk invade and twist minds," Javik said. "I merely read the bare minimum, enough to learn your language and the state of this cycle. I do not pry into your personal thoughts and feelings. We are not Reapers, and we do not practice their habit of mind manipulation."

"Could you look, though? Could you read those lost two years?" she asked, suddenly curious. Maybe he could tell her about her missing time.

He reached out and pressed a finger to the bare skin on her arm, and she knew he was exploring the time she had lost, the great yawning emptiness in her essence when her body had died.

He nodded when he was done, and said, "There is nothing to read. Your body emitted no pheromones; your cells did not replace themselves. That time period is unreadable."

She smiled. "Thanks for trying anyway. I guess there wouldn't be much to tell. Floated through space, fell to a planet; lay on a med slab, blah blah. Your standard sabbatical really."

His lips twitched and she thought perhaps it was his version of amusement.

Javik took another swig of his drink and said, "Perhaps you and I are not so different. So much time lost."

"We won't get it back," Shepard responded and clapped his arm. "But the time we have now is worth living for. Pass the booze, Javik."

"Commander, this is strong enough to strip paint from hulls. You will damage yourself."

"Pass the booze, Javik," she said again and when he did so, she took a large gulp. It burned like a sonvabitch but she swallowed it down without letting a hint of expression show on her face.

Javik paused, his mouth hanging open a little.

Then he sniffed, "Admirable."