Lup's hand drops and internally Shepard thinks shit. She's never been the best at flirting, she's absolute shit at picking up cues, and it doesn't matter how old she gets, apparently she's just always going to be a little out of her depth with other people.

The smile on Lup's face along with her ears becoming a tornado of movement really sells that home and Shepard shifts a bit closer, getting ready to put a hand out on her shoulder to reassure her. After all, she's used to what Lup threw at her down in the caves. Half of her crew has lashed out at her at one point or another, especially after losing someone or something important. It's fine. It really is fine-

Before she can really get a word in edgewise at all, her mouth just beginning to open into the word Lup, those lips that she had been lowkey admiring are pressed to her own and she feels the breath leave her lungs for a split second. Whoa. Immediately her mind makes connections- she's warm. She's soft, just like she suspected she would be. Her hand is pressed to her jaw and it should be a bit startling but if anything it is grounding.

How long has it been since she's been this close to, well, anyone? It feels like it has been centuries since she and Garrus shared their final kiss on Earth. Bittersweet, filled with a promise that will be forever unfulfilled. It's been a few months here, on this alien island, surrounded by strangers and strange nature alike. She has been well and truly alone. She knows this. She deserves this. But her heart still flutters in her chest and she presses back into the kiss hungrily as the gulf of absence that has plagued her since she washed up on shore bloody and bruised roars into the forefront and she places a calloused hand onto Lup's shoulder, pulling her closer.

She might regret this later. But right now, damn, does it feel good.