Are you trying to psychoanalyze me? You know I hate that shit. [Then again it's usually not Tali doing that. It was usually Shepard, wandering into the cockpit for the hundredth time and going all Mom on him, all like 'honey are you okay why don't we talk anymore' and whatever.]
[ if this was video, joker would be having a very nice few of the way her face scrunches up — but alas, he'll have to cope with practically hearing her expression in her voice. ]
If I was trying to psychoanalyze you, I'd only have to get you drunk so we could talk about our feelings. [ it works for her, at least; the emotional babbling tends to come out when the drinks are poured and the emergency induction ports get whipped out. ]
Why don't you tell me your opinion on AIs.
[ because she's pretty sure his feelings on one of them can definitely be summed up with hubbahubba... if hubbahubba was even in her vocabulary, and the wryness isn't lost in her tone. ]
[tali honey you are the only one who vomits her rainbow feelings when she gets drunk
nobody does it like you do]
I like 'em. [Joker takes a gulp of his drink before remembering with a snort of laughter that almost sends scotch up his nose, which would have been horrible.] Shepard- she's from before EDI got a body, right? She thinks I have this creepy fetish now. Not saying I don't have some, but.
[ listen she just has very soft gooey insides okay ]
Does it really count as a fetish if it's directed toward one person in particular? [ question of the century. ] I think that's the least concerning of your potential fetishes. Probably. Not sure how Shepard feelings about the fraternizing.
[ which is both half a joke and most likely half a truth — not that she's about to ask shepard how she feels on AI and human fraternizing policies. ]
Screw that, my Commander is fine with it. [And that's a big step backward in the "accept Shepard" campaign. Joker had been getting more and more comfortable with this Shepard, willing to accept her as, if not the Shepard, a Commander of the same caliber.
If she's got a problem with him and EDI, though.]
I want to talk to you. [Off the comms. About Shepard specifically, but other stuff.] Where are you?
[ well, that escalated quickly in terms of accepting varying versions of shepard; there's not much of a point of arguing that this shepard is the only one she's ever known, so she simply doesn't.
nor does she say we're already talking, even if she does start saying it. that's obviously not what he means. ]
My room. [ which she's pretty certain he can safely find and an area of the ship that won't give them hypothermia or burn their flesh off, but just in case — ] Twenty fourth floor, twenty second room.
[It's more like forty-five until Joker finally finds her door and knocks on it with a crutch.] Tali, hey. [He's sorta drunk. Not like Tali-grade drunk, but drunkish.]
[ no one can ever quite achieve tali levels of inebriation, okay. she's probably squinting a little as she opens the door, but she does step to the side in the case he plans to make any move to enter. ]
Joker. [ yeah, there might be more squinting involved before she reaches any conclusions. just wait, she's got this. ] Are you drunk?
Only like forty percent drunk. [That's nowhere near real drunk. Scoot aside, let him in.
Joker hobbles in once Tali allows him past her and sits down on the nearest surface with a sigh, leaning his crutches against the wall. He looks up at her.]
All right, I just want to get something cleared up. Out of everybody here, who's familiar with that Commander being the real Shepard?
[He never asked anyone else before because well, it's just Tali and Garrus and Javik and he hates Javik and it just seems like a weird thing to ask, but-] Really?
I'm the only one who remembers someone completely, oppositely different?
[ that shouldn't sound as questioning as it comes out, but she's not sure how to bridge the topic of "what do you remember?" and "are you going to tell me shepard is an elcor or secretly a cerberus henchmen?" because that's as opposite as she can envision.
she makes a gesture, but who even knows what it means. ]
Shepard has always been — Shepard. [ yeah, that narrows it down, tali. ]
[well okay 'complete opposite' is probably an exaggeration but let it be known that joker enjoys being dramatic]
Yeah, I know, and she- y'know, she does similar stuff. Talks kind of like Shepard. [But at the same time she is really different yo. She's...actually kind of more like the Shepard he'd wanted to deal with back when they first met, but now he wouldn't trade his Commander for any other one in the universe.] But it's not the same.
Did I just get a lobotomy or something? You can tell me the truth, I won't freak out a whole lot.
[ mass effect crew: the most dramatic crew on the planet. ]
Probably because she is Shepard. [ she's just going to casually hammer that into joker's head, don't worry; the differences might be stark and peculiar, but hey, baby steps. ] Or they've taken all of your memories and implanted them with a fake Shepard. [ .... ] Or implanted a different Shepard into our memories, but at least we know neither of them are rogue VIs.
[ isn't she just super comforting, though. ]
I wouldn't know. [ who knows, the ship could be capable of lobotomizing random passengers. wryly: ] Are you sure you don't have a new human body and brain to go with it?
If they gave me a new body with all the same problems as the old one and amnesia, I'm gonna be pretty pissed.
[Joker just sits and rubs his mouth. He can't accept this Shepard as 'the real' Shepard when it feels like saying his own Commander isn't real. Not with how they left things.]
[ except maybe shepard, all things considered, but the point still stands — she wouldn't really cross being shoved into a new body with amnesia and the same issues off the list of potential happenings, though it's far-fetched in its own way. ]
Rannoch. [ which isn't saying much, but if he's from around the same point, she doesn't need much more clarification than that. then again, all of them seem to be on different pages, so — ] You?
Way past that. ['Way' in terms of 'other shit that has gone down' at least.] Well I mean not like, years but a lot's happened since then. You don't want to get caught up.
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voice »
voice »
If I was trying to psychoanalyze you, I'd only have to get you drunk so we could talk about our feelings. [ it works for her, at least; the emotional babbling tends to come out when the drinks are poured and the emergency induction ports get whipped out. ]
Why don't you tell me your opinion on AIs.
[ because she's pretty sure his feelings on one of them can definitely be summed up with hubbahubba... if hubbahubba was even in her vocabulary, and the wryness isn't lost in her tone. ]
voice »
nobody does it like you do]
I like 'em. [Joker takes a gulp of his drink before remembering with a snort of laughter that almost sends scotch up his nose, which would have been horrible.] Shepard- she's from before EDI got a body, right? She thinks I have this creepy fetish now. Not saying I don't have some, but.
voice »
Does it really count as a fetish if it's directed toward one person in particular? [ question of the century. ] I think that's the least concerning of your potential fetishes. Probably. Not sure how Shepard feelings about the fraternizing.
[ which is both half a joke and most likely half a truth — not that she's about to ask shepard how she feels on AI and human fraternizing policies. ]
voice »
If she's got a problem with him and EDI, though.]
I want to talk to you. [Off the comms. About Shepard specifically, but other stuff.] Where are you?
voice »
nor does she say we're already talking, even if she does start saying it. that's obviously not what he means. ]
My room. [ which she's pretty certain he can safely find and an area of the ship that won't give them hypothermia or burn their flesh off, but just in case — ] Twenty fourth floor, twenty second room.
voice »
All right. Give meeeee...thirty minutes.
[It's more like forty-five until Joker finally finds her door and knocks on it with a crutch.] Tali, hey. [He's sorta drunk. Not like Tali-grade drunk, but drunkish.]
no subject
Joker. [ yeah, there might be more squinting involved before she reaches any conclusions. just wait, she's got this. ] Are you drunk?
[ drunk, buzzed, drunkish — it's all relative. ]
no subject
Joker hobbles in once Tali allows him past her and sits down on the nearest surface with a sigh, leaning his crutches against the wall. He looks up at her.]
All right, I just want to get something cleared up. Out of everybody here, who's familiar with that Commander being the real Shepard?
no subject
Everyone? [ well — ] She's younger than most of us remember.
[ considering she probably would have pummeled javik even more if no one had intervened... ]
no subject
Are you serious?
[He never asked anyone else before because well, it's just Tali and Garrus and Javik and he hates Javik and it just seems like a weird thing to ask, but-] Really?
I'm the only one who remembers someone completely, oppositely different?
no subject
Yes?
[ that shouldn't sound as questioning as it comes out, but she's not sure how to bridge the topic of "what do you remember?" and "are you going to tell me shepard is an elcor or secretly a cerberus henchmen?" because that's as opposite as she can envision.
she makes a gesture, but who even knows what it means. ]
Shepard has always been — Shepard. [ yeah, that narrows it down, tali. ]
no subject
Yeah, I know, and she- y'know, she does similar stuff. Talks kind of like Shepard. [But at the same time she is really different yo. She's...actually kind of more like the Shepard he'd wanted to deal with back when they first met, but now he wouldn't trade his Commander for any other one in the universe.] But it's not the same.
Did I just get a lobotomy or something? You can tell me the truth, I won't freak out a whole lot.
no subject
Probably because she is Shepard. [ she's just going to casually hammer that into joker's head, don't worry; the differences might be stark and peculiar, but hey, baby steps. ] Or they've taken all of your memories and implanted them with a fake Shepard. [ .... ] Or implanted a different Shepard into our memories, but at least we know neither of them are rogue VIs.
[ isn't she just super comforting, though. ]
I wouldn't know. [ who knows, the ship could be capable of lobotomizing random passengers. wryly: ] Are you sure you don't have a new human body and brain to go with it?
no subject
[Joker just sits and rubs his mouth. He can't accept this Shepard as 'the real' Shepard when it feels like saying his own Commander isn't real. Not with how they left things.]
What d'you remember last? Before showing up here?
no subject
[ except maybe shepard, all things considered, but the point still stands — she wouldn't really cross being shoved into a new body with amnesia and the same issues off the list of potential happenings, though it's far-fetched in its own way. ]
Rannoch. [ which isn't saying much, but if he's from around the same point, she doesn't need much more clarification than that. then again, all of them seem to be on different pages, so — ] You?
no subject
Way past that. ['Way' in terms of 'other shit that has gone down' at least.] Well I mean not like, years but a lot's happened since then. You don't want to get caught up.