@ keelahsebye

[thearchangel]

[Nothing's ever simple, is it?]

[Surely, everyone thinks, shore leave is a good time. You're supposed to be relaxing, supposed to be recovering from the horrors of a war you're not sure you can even win. Maybe you have some drinks, unwind in other ways, see your sweetheart or have a hookup. Heck, most people probably just took the time to sleep in without an alarm blasting in their ear at 0500.]

[You were, most times not supposed to be shot at.]

[But, then again, this is Shepard and her crew. The phrase Not Supposed To stopped applying the second she brought a handful of aliens to help crew an Alliance vessel, and proceeded to save everyone in the galaxy from the start of the Reaper invasion. Then blew up the Collectors, then cured the genophage, and just went right on rewriting history wherever she went.]

[It was probably stupid to think she, and the people around her, would have a nice, normal shore leave.]

[To say nothing of her alien boyfriend, and alien girlfriend.]

[That's right - somehow, against the rest of the astronomical odds, and all the other miracles Shepard managed to pull off, she'd also managed to snag the affections of both one washed up turian vigilante turned Reaper Advisor, and one quarian mechanist turned Admiral of her own people. It had really taken a lot of conversations, a lot of negotiating, trust, and more than a few trips to the medbay to sort things out. But by the end of it, Shepard had two partners, and Garrus and Tali kept things between them as they were.]

[Which usually entailed a smart turian mouth held off by a quarian enhanced shotgun.]

[A shotgun Garrus was extremely glad to have at his side, and slightly ahead of him, while they blazed a trail through the Wards to try and reach their Shepard before she ended up going bungee jumping off the krogan monument, or something else equally absurd.]

Joker said she fell through a fish tank - he lost sight of her, but I've still got vitals.

[Thank everything for that nifty little visor and its constant readout of the Commander's life signs...]

Still can't raise her on comms?

Comments

[keelahsebye]

[Tali's glowy eyes squint at Garrus for a moment, suspiciously, because he always always follows up a mention of his scars with something weird about how hot Shepard finds them. Which is true! And in her heart of hearts, Tali is consistently delighted that their strange, breakable, badass human partner has things she loves about each of them (for Tali, it's her hips, apparently. And thighs. Something about "thick thighs save lives" and "smush my head with them"), but that doesn't mean she needs to hear about it, gross.

She's still not especially familiar with the Citadel's many twists and turns -- not the way Mr. "I-was-in-C-Sec-and-it-sucked-but-I-know-all-the-best-restaurants-and-where-to-buy-cheap-shoes" is -- so she gladly follows Garrus's lead. And rolls her eyes once again at this last comment.] I'm sure she'd loooove that. She exists only to make you more and more, what's it called..."badass".

[HEAVY air quotes.]

[thearchangel]

[Not just Shepard! Krogan, too, apparently, if Mordin trying to pair him off with Bakara was any indication. And, to be honest, if Tali were turian, she would have a decent hip to waist ratio. He got it - he could see what Shepard saw in that. Just not himself. But right now, even he doesn't have the heart to follow up with his usual scar joke.]

[But hey, if she ever wants to find the best two-toed shoes on the Citadel...]

Did you just - [yeah he heard those air quotes.] do that hand thing? With the fingers? Air bunnies?

[keelahsebye]

[Tali would argue that Bakara's taste is waaaay too good for Garrus, but that would involve thinking about a) Mordin, b) Tuchanka and c) Mordin on Tuchanka and she needs to focus on rescuing her big dumb hero girlfriend at the moment. Can't do that when your helmet is misting up with tears.

She scoffs, letting her drone do a quick recon around a corner, then charging forward once it beeps an "all clear" signal.] They're called air boats, Vakarian. [They most assuredly are not.]

[thearchangel]

[They're on the same page for once, there. Thinking about Mordin is for later. For a time with too much filtered dextro alcohol and an emergency induction port. Where even their crazy, heroic girlfriend has a moment to breathe... as rare as that's become, lately.]

[Which this whole shore leave was supposed to be, until some new merc group started causing trouble. Part of him, a part he hasn't really acknowledged since Shepard herself stood in his scope in front of a traitor, wants to lose all control on these people. Just turn into the loose turian cannon everyone at home had thought he'd be.]

[It's stupid and irrational and Tali is yanking him out of his own head by his heels yet again.]

Why "boats"? They don't look anything like ships! [He's hot on her heels, though, checking his visor yet again.] Fine, maybe geth ships.