If it bothers him, the way she feels now, he hasn't said. He won't ever say. This is Shepard. The reason the galaxy still moves. The reason he's still alive, frankly. Though... sometimes now, when he thinks about that, he can't say he knows why. He doesn't know why this feels so... why these moments feel like the center of the universe. A stabilizing force.

Grey smoke feather and hot liquid stone. He doesn't want to pull away.

"Yeah... always." It's a breath, it's a prayer and a hope all in one. "Because it'd be an awfully empty world without you."