Shepard had a bounce in her step.
Shepard never had a bounce in her step.
"I mean, look at her!"
Liara had to admit Tali wasn't exaggerating. From the moment Shepard set foot outside the skycar, the lightness in her stride was apparent even from their perch on a balcony one level above her in the Presidium.
"I—yes, she definitely does."
"I've never seen her like this!" Tali said as she leaned over the railing, "Want to bet on what's got her so happy?"
"I don't place bets on principle," Liara said as she crossed her arms.
"On principle? Now that you're the Shadow Broker, you mean?"
Her closest friends eventually figured out her unscrupulous title, an inevitability Liara anticipated in the circumstances of close-quarters life aboard a warship.
"It strikes me as a little unfair," Liara said with a slight upturn to her lips, "Not unlike having insider information."
"Sure, but you wouldn't dare dig up that sort of stuff on Shepard," Tali said, narrowing her eyes at Liara.
"No," Liara said with an honest shake of her head, "I'd never break her trust like that. So…very well. I'll play along."
"Great. Bet fifty credits?"
"I'll play along for fun only."
Tali grunted and hunched her shoulders, "Fine. No betting. But if you think I guess right, you have to ask Shepard if it's true."
"And same to you."
The two of them watched Shepard as she crossed the plaza. Their commander's eyes were wandering back and forth as she took in the sights and sounds of the Presidium. It wasn't as if they had never seen Shepard happy or pleased before, but those moods were far more often paired with her characteristic smirk instead of a full smile running from one ear to the other.
Liara hazarded a guess first.
"She just punched Khalisah al-Jilani. Again."
Tali snorted a laugh as she said, "I'm pretty sure she felt a little sorry after the last time. No, more like she's reminiscing about the time Anderson punched Udina."
Liara shook her head.
"As satisfying as I'm sure it was to shoot Udina herself—and as justified as it was—that was only a few months ago. Udina's the last one she would reminisce about…maybe she found a new ship model for her cabin. A rare, collectors one. Autographed by Admiral Hackett."
"She likes her models, but not this much," Tali said.
"Not dramatic enough? Alright, perhaps someone just told her the Alliance killed Harbinger and they're gifting her its head to mount on her wall."
Tali looked at Liara as if she was crazy.
"Why would—I mean, even if she had room, and even if Reapers had a 'head'—why would she do that?"
Liara shrugged, "It's something humans do. It's like a trophy to them."
"That's just weird," Tali said at the thought before returning her attention to Shepard, "Maybe…oooh, I'll bet it has something to do with Garrus. Maybe they're engaged!"
Liara opened her mouth but stopped short of disagreeing as her eyes grew.
"Well?" Tali asked.
"Maybe not engaged, but…it must have to do with Garrus," Liara said as Shepard paused at a café down below.
"And I don't hear a 'no,' so come on—you have to go ask her now," Tali said, placing her hand on Liara's arm as she yearned to end the mystery.
"Alright," Liara said, mirroring the smile that Tali's eyes shone with behind her mask, "Let's go."
In yet another departure from the norm, Shepard purchased a strawberry shake from the café. Strawberries and all their derivative products may have been her all-time favorite food and flavor, but she indulged them only as a treat.
It was a losing battle to contain her feelings. During the flight to the Presidium grounds, once she was alone in the skycar, the words she so recently said sank in—and how true they were.
To cold practical ears, her words sounded out of place in the midst of the Reaper invasion, but to Shepard, there was no denying emotions that came unbidden. There was nothing to it but to embrace them as they livened her step, brought a wide smile to her face, and inspired her to buy a strawberry milkshake of all things.
"A…what are they called? That ice cream drink?" Tali said as they peered around a corner, her voice heavy with disdain for the beverage that resisted emergency induction ports, "Have you ever seen her drink something so…I don't know, it's basically candy."
Liara shook her head.
"Energy drinks, loads of coffee, and anything with alcohol are most of what she drinks. But that's a milkshake. Come on."
Shepard found an unoccupied vista from which to admire the Presidium lakes and fountains. Soaking up the view with upturned eyes while leaning over a railing, her gaze slid to the side when she sensed Liara appearing on her left and Tali on her right.
"Hey guys," Shepard said, glancing from one to the other, "What's up?"
"That's what we wanted to ask you," Liara said, leaning in towards Shepard, "You seem to be in an awfully good mood."
Shepard hummed as she sipped more milkshake through a smile.
"You could say that."
Bowing under the pressure of Tali's piercing eyes, Liara fumbled into her question, "This wouldn't, um, have to do with Garrus, would it?"
"Sure would. You two placing bets?"
Tali beamed victoriously at Liara, who was laughing in spite of herself at Shepard's keen perception of her two friends.
"We…might be," Liara said as both she and Tali leaned in, "You're not engaged, are you?"
It was Shepard's turn to laugh this time, "Garrus and I aren't that far along, but…this was just as important to me."
Tali bumped her shoulder into Shepard's, "Then stop keeping us in suspense! We never see you like this. I mean, you're drinking a—a milkshake. And since when do you just walk around smiling like a…"
Liara tilted her head towards Shepard as Tali trailed off, "I think she wants to say, 'like an idiot.'"
The comment couldn't pierce the armor of Shepard's mood enough to engage her trademark glare as she leaned into her unoccupied hand, taking another long sip from her milkshake.
"I told him I loved him," she said to no one in particular.
Liara and Tali exchanged excited doe-eyed glances with each other.
"You told Garrus?" Liara asked with a wide smile of her own.
Shepard hummed again in affirmation.
"And what did he say?"
"Hmm? Oh, he kind of just stumbled over his words."
"He—what?" Liara asked, blinking a couple times.
"He didn't say he loved you back?" Tali asked.
Shepard shrugged, "He wasn't expecting it. You know how easily I fluster him."
Her infamous smirk made a brief appearance as she took another pull at the straw.
"B-but, Shepard," Liara said, "He must have said something."
"Go back and ask him to say it too!" Tali said, "You—you could order him to!"
"Guys," Shepard said, holding a hand up in Garrus' defense, "He'll say it when he's ready. I just said it 'cause I was ready."
And that was the truth. She said it without the slightest hesitation, because it felt right, because it felt real.
I love you, Garrus Vakarian.
It summoned bittersweet memories of the last time she had admitted that sentiment not only to another person, a girlfriend now four years past, but to herself as well. The time felt right, and she could not have been more sure of her devotion to Garrus. And as out of place as the words seemed in the midst of a war, it also seemed there was no better time. They could all die before the war was over. Better to be honest with the feelings she had today than to take the chance she should save them for tomorrow.
"I, well…alright," Liara said, conceding Shepard's position on the matter with a begrudging pout.
"You really meant it, though?" Tali asked.
"Do I really love him?" Shepard said, staring across the wide-open space of the Presidium ring while the smile spread across her face once more, and the butterflies that made her feel like youth fluttered in her stomach, and the urge to dance unabashedly on the spot and tell the whole damn galaxy she was in love with Garrus Vakarian did battle with her better sense of restraint.
"Yeah, I guess I do."
Author's note:
Inspired by Stuck by Caro Emerald (just the chorus, less the verses).