Body & Soul

SEVERAL DAYS LATER...



Kelly watched Shepard enter her office with concern. "Shepard, I'm glad you finally came to see me. Ever since the craziness with the Prothean artifact, you've been quiet."

Shepard slumped into a chair opposite Kelly. "We're going to be docking at the Citadel today. Ash will be disembarking, and I've been trying to figure out what I can say to her." She laughed bitterly. "As if anything would make this whole messed up situation any better. Ash hates my guts, and Tali's been avoiding me too. I thought it was bad enough when there was just one women I wanted and couldn't have."



"I don't know what to tell you, Shepard," Kelly admitted. "This isn't exactly a situation my psychology degree prepared me for. I can only treat it like any other traumatic situation, and say that it just takes time. Give Ash and Tali some space, let them sort out their feelings. When they're ready to deal with what happened, then you can try again."



"Liara sent me a message today. Said that even though everyone was back in their own bodies, that the artifact might still have lasting effects."



Kelly considered this. "I wouldn't be surprised. From what you told me, the artifact increased their sexual cravings to uncontrollable levels. In a state like that, with all inhibitions removed and every desire being indulged, a person can find out things about themselves they never considered before. Fetishes they would have considered unimaginable before might now be their greatest desires."



* * *



"Gentlemen of the Normandy! Are you ready?"



It was a large crowd tonight. Fifty crewmen were gathered around the stage still set up in the cargo bay. They cheered as the lights dimmed, and the spotlight shone on the curtain.



"Then welcome to the stage, two women so sexy they could make a krogan go fertile! Our comely Executive officer and her dangerously seductive partner: Miranda and Jack!"



The curtain parted, and Miranda sauntered out first, the crowd letting out cat-calls as she strutted her stuff in a skimpy black bikini. Jack followed soon after, wearing a matching outfit and licking her lips in anticipation of the fun to come.



Side-by-side, they shook their asses as they made their way to the pole at the end of the stage. Miranda didn't have the experience Jack did, but her own natural athleticism helped her keep up as the two of them spun opposite each other, the crowd cheering as the two women snuck gropes and grabs at each other.



Before too long, though, the pole was forgotten. Miranda and Jack whipped off each other's tops, and played to the crowd as they groped each other's breasts. Sinking to her knees, Miranda removed Jack's bottom and happily plunged down between her legs.



For a good fifteen minutes, they sucked, licked, and fingered each other, until they were both sure the crowd was good and ready.



Jack made a signal to the announcer. "It's that time, gentlemen. Be ready on the count of three."



The crowd chanted along to the count. "ONE! TWO! THREE!"



And in unison, fifty pairs of pants dropped to the floor, and fifty rigid cocks sprang into view.



Miranda grabbed Jack and gave her a rough kiss, before the two of them separated to choose their first partners of the night.



* * *



"Tali!" Shepard yelled out, as the quarian tried to duck down a hallway to avoid her. "Tali, just wait for a second!"



She expected Tali to keep going, but she stopped in her tracks. "Shepard, please. It's probably better if we just stay away from each other for a while, don't you think?"



"No, I don't," Shepard said. "Look, Tali, I wasn't lying about that night. When I said I was making love to you, not Ash, I meant it."



"It doesn't matter. I should have never done what I did. It was wrong and I can never forgive myself for it. I don't deserve your friendship."



Shepard laid a hand on Tali's shoulder, smiling warmly. "Right or wrong, Tali, I realized some things that night. That there was a wonderful person right under my nose all this time, but I'd been so blinded by my idiot love for someone else that I didn't realize what I was missing out on."



"Shepard, even if we... even if I wanted that, we would never work. How could you be with someone like me, stuck in this suit all the time?"

"I've had a conversation with Mordin," Shepard said. "Asked what it would take for you to be able to spend some time out of your suit. He thinks with enough immune boosters and antibiotics, that there should be a minimum of risk involved."



"But would you be satisfied with that, Shepard?" Tali protested, even as she felt her heart fluttering in her chest. "Are you willing to settle for me?"



"Tali, I wouldn't be 'settling' for anything," Shepard assured her. "I'd be lucky to have someone as wonderful as you."



Shepard pulled Tali into a close embrace, the quarian clutching onto Shepard and sighing into her chest. "But..." Tali offered up one last protest. "What about Ash?"



"What about me?" said a voice from behind them. They whirled to find Ashley walking toward them, her stern face unreadable.



Tali averted her eyes from her former comrade, and former body. "Ash, nothing I say is going to make what I did right. I can never apologize to you enough for what happened. It wasn't Shepard's fault, I..."



"No, Tali, you don't have to take the blame," Shepard said. "Liara explained it to me. The effect that device had on the two of you. But I was in my right mind, I should have been the one to resist, and I didn't. I was..."



"Would you two just shut up for a second?" Ash interrupted. "Look, I've been thinking things over the past few days, and I think I overreacted. I did some things too, when I was in Tali's body, that I probably shouldn't have. So how about we all just put the sorrys behind us, and decide where this thing between us goes next."



Shepard and Tali exchanged a look. "Thing between us?" Shepard asked.



"Being in somebody else's body for a while... kinda makes you examine your own life a little. Shepard, that night before Ilos... I was scared. I had never thought about you in that way before, but now that I've had the chance to think about it, I think I'm ready to give this a try."



"You..." Shepard reacted in delight, but then looked over at Tali and stopped herself. "No, Tali, I didn't say..."



"It's alright, Shepard," Tali said, moving to walk away. "I know you've always wanted Ash. I'll step aside."



Ash looked over at her. "I'd rather you didn't, Tali."



"But if you and Shepard are going to be together, than I..." Tali let out a gasp. "You're not saying..."



"I looked at your nerve-stim software, Tali," Ash admitted. "I know you're attracted to me and Shepard both. And if Shepard is willing, than I'm ready to let you have us both."



Tali struggled to find an answer for this. "Shepard, do you..."



Shepard looked between Tali and Ash, biting her bottom lip. Finally, she nodded. "I'm game if you are, Tali."



"Uh..." Tali stammered, and then let out a nervous giggle. "I have to go. I need to go visit Mordin, get a few shots."



This gave Shepard a chuckle. "See you in my quarters tonight, then?"



"Yeah, I'll see you," Tali said, glancing over at Ashley and adding, "Both of you."



As Tali dashed away to prepare for the night, Shepard turned to Ash. "You're sure about this?"



Ash responded by pulling Shepard in for a long, passionate kiss. As she pulled away, she grinned and remarked. "Just as long as that dildo comes out again."



* * *



While Feron lightly snored, Liara watched the viewscreen in front of her. In the cargo bay of the Normandy, Miranda and Jack were still going strong with the male crew of the Normandy. But Liara's attentions were focused on the image from Shepard's cabin.



Tali was shuddering in anticipation, as a naked Shepard and Ashley slowly stripped her of her protective suit, favoring each bare piece of skin they uncovered with a gentle kiss. Soon enough, the quarian was as bare as the other two women, and the three of them fell back into Shepard's bed, bodies intertwined.



"Delay all of my current appointments," Liara addressed the info drone that hovered by her bed. "I'm going to be leaving for a few days."



It was time for her to get reacquainted with her former shipmates, Liara thought to herself, getting wet just at the thought.