The Fish-Dog
Summary: Garrus buys Tali a pet.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or anything associated with it. I am not making a profit off of this story. I am just a poor college kid who is addicted to the game.
A/N: Short. A friend asked for this story and I had no idea what to write. I ended up with this.
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"It is kind of cute, I guess…" Tali said hesitantly.
"It is, isn't it?" Garrus asked, puffed up proudly. "I saw it and I thought of you; I just had to get it."
"You… thought of me…." Tali eyed the dark blue quadruped lying on the floor by their feet dubiously. She was almost afraid of finding out how exactly seeing it had made her boyfriend think of her.
The large varren rolled onto his stomach and stared at her with a dopey look on his face. His head lolled to the side and his tongue fell out of the corner of his mouth. A puddle of drool formed slowly but surely at her feet.
"Yeah, I remembered you mentioning you wished you had a pet. Remember? You had just gotten back from feeding Shepard's fish?" Garrus patted the varren on the head jovially. The varren in question pulled his tongue back into his mouth with a slurp, only for it to escape moments later and hang from his lips loosely once again. "When I saw how much the krogan was offering for this little guy I just couldn't resist; it was a steal."
"Ah. I see." Eyeing the varren's large, pointy teeth, Tali added nervously. "You know, when I said that, I was really thinking more along the lines of something… a bit smaller. Like a space hamster. Or a fish."
"What? Snowflake is so much better than a space hamster," Garrus exclaimed. "And you can't do anything with them. Besides, Shepard has more than enough for all of us." Suddenly his expression shifted and turned downtrodden, his mandibles drooping slightly. "Unless you don't like him…"
"N-no! I love him; really." Tali quickly waved her hands in front of herself, shaking her head in emphasis. She didn't want to sound ungrateful; it was the thought that counted.
"Really?" Garrus sounded hopeful.
"Really," Tali assured him, hesitantly petting the large head at her feet to prove her point, getting her suit full of slobber in the process. She was just glad her mask hid her wince as she could all but feel the drool seeping through to her skin. "It's a sweet gift, really. Thank you, Garrus."
"I'm glad you like him," Garrus did the turian version of a face-splitting grin. "I named him myself."
"You don't say," Tali drawled sardonically as she discreetly shook the drool off of her hand.
"Yeah… hey! Why don't you go show him around? There are some calibrations I've been putting off; I should really go do them before the Normandy's performance starts to suffer." Garrus stepped closer and gave her hand a loving squeeze, before patting the varren on the head. "Be good, Snowflake."
Snowflake let out yawn in response.
Tali watched as her boyfriend walked away before locking eyes with the varren. "Great; what am I supposed to do with you?"
Snowflake panted happily as a fresh deluge of drool painted her feet.
"Right. Let's go." Tali was halfway to the elevator before she realized she was alone. Looking behind her, she noticed the varren lying in the same place and staring at her dumbly.
"Come here."
No reaction.
"Here boy," Frowning, Tali tried whistling. No response; the varren just continued staring, that sad, dopey expression, never leaving his face.
"Snowflake," Tali scowled, only to notice a slight shift in his body. Curiously, she tried something different. "Snowflake; come here." Blinking, the quarian watched as the varren sprang to his feet and loped over to her, coming to a stop at her side and butting her hand playfully, tongue still hanging out. "Huh. Imagine that. Snowflake; follow." This time as she walked to the elevator, her new pet shadowed her the whole way. Pushing the correct button, she waited for the elevator to stop before exiting in engineering. About to walk through the door, she was stopped by a gruff voice.
"Why is there a varren following you?" Grunt grunted as he ambled up to the pair and peered at the drooling animal.
"Hello to you too, Grunt," Tali replied sarcastically. Waving towards the varren, she added, "Meet my new pet."
"Varren aren't domesticated pets. They're fighting beasts," Grunt retorted, eyeing the animal in disapproval. "This one looks defective. His face is too dopey."
"His name is Snowflake," Tali informed helpfully.
"Snowflake?" Grunt's lips curled in dislike. "A disgraceful name for a vicious beast."
"He's not vicious," Tali frowned, not stopping to wonder why she was defending the pet she was only moments ago trying to figure out how to get rid of.
"He's a varren, isn't he?" Grunt retorted rhetorically. Looking at the animal, he bent down until he was eye level and growled menacingly at it.
Snowflake hunched down, appearing to cower. Grunt snorted in disgust, straightening. All of a sudden Snowflake sprang up and started slobbering all over the krogan's face. Pushing the mangy beast off of him, Grunt glared.
"See," Tali pet the affectionate animal, talking in a baby voice. "He's just a big baby; aren't you, boy?"
His response was to promptly lie down on her feet and pant happily.
As Tali watched Grunt rumble to himself as he stomped back to his cargo bay, she looked down at the varren squishing her feet. "You know, Snowflake," She started thoughtfully, starting to view her pet in a new light. "It might not be so bad to have you around after all." Taking in his size, she frowned; she was beginning to lose feeling in her feet. "You're sleeping on the floor, though."
Snowflake whined.
"Take it or leave it," Tali warned. Taking his head loll and lick to be his agreement to her terms, she frowned, a disturbing thought occurring to her. She was talking to an animal as if it were an intelligent being.
"Keelah," She sighed. Shaking her head slowly, she placed her hand on her forehead. It was a move she had observed many of the human crew members use when exasperated. "I'm turning into Shepard."
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A/N: It had to have Garrus giving Tali a varren and Grunt disliking it. So yeah…