Originally written for Mass Effect Polyshipping week on tumblr in 2016. But of course, THE CURSE OF THE ELABORATE BACKSTORY prevented me from ever getting that done on time. This fic has been growing on tumblr last year and I updated it October 2017 again. Go me!
Big thanks to threewhiskeylunch and nightmarestudio606 (from tumblr) for beta reading.
I expect this to be about nine or ten chapters eventually.
For a long time, all Garrus had were memories. Good memories to turn to when life around him went to shit. And oh, did he have use for those in the last few years.
Now he needs those memories more than ever.
He sits in a hospital and that is definitely his least favorite place to be anywhere. He looks at the man in the hospital bed, his face and shoulders covered with skin-regenerating patches. The doctors have assured him that he is going to be fine and is kept in an artificial coma to help his recovery.
But he still has come here again and again for the last few days to watch him, even knowing that he won't wake up just because Garrus is sitting next to him.
He still wants to see him and letting the memories wash over him.
()()()
The Normandy is new and built in a joint design by turians and humans, but it's obvious that the turians were not responsible for the interior design. A turian ship would have sound padding in the bulkhead, designed for the bulky soldiers stomping down its hallways.
Whenever Garrus walks through the mess hall, he feels like every step from him echoes through the whole ship. It may be of turian design but this is a human ship; he is reminded of that whenever he walks through the ship.
And it's too cold.
He turns the heating unit in his armor up when he exits the elevator at the cargo bay. At least in the cargo bay the ship doesn't feel quite so cramped and loud. He carries his dextro foodpack over to the Mako and sits down on a cargo box to eat it. He usually eats in the mess hall but the main table had been occupied by a loud card game and he didn't feel like sitting among all the humans.
He eats while a vid from his sister plays on his omni-tool. He is so engrossed in her story from her new job that he doesn't hear the soft footsteps approaching him.
"Mind if I sit here with you?" says Kaidan.
He almost spills his food. Kaidan has an incredible voice for a human and he can't deny that it has an effect on him.
"Sure, grab a box," he says and hopes that Kaidan can't interpret the nervous twitch of his mandibles. He never had fetish for humans but now he has found himself on a ship with two of the most incredible people he has ever known and they are both human.
"The card game turned a bit loud up there," Kaidan says with shy smile and sits down on a box.
"Another headache coming on?"
Kaidan pulls a strange face. Shepard looks like that too sometimes but Garrus still has trouble understanding what all those soft bits do and mean. But he wonders what they would feel like under his talons.
"Let's say I'm trying to stop it from coming." Kaidan bites into a thing he has called 'sandwich' before and chews quietly.
Garrus finishes his own meal, occasionally looking at Kaidan. This isn't the first time they have sat together. Kaidan is always happy to answer Garrus' questions and he does the same for him. At some point, their conversation inevitably turns to Shepard and how great she is. They both have a serious case of hero worship.
"Have you spoken to Shepard?" It seems Kaidan wants to start that part of their conversation early today.
"Since we got back from Feros? Just shortly, she did her usual rounds and asked if everything was okay."
"Yeah, she asked me too but I wonder who asks her that kind of stuff?"
Garrus trills in thought. "I think Liara is the one for that."
"Maybe. She said she only talks about research with her." Kaidan stands up and rubs his neck. He does that a lot, Garrus has noticed and it seems to be something he does when he's nervous. It has a strange effect on him because that spot is an erogenous zone for turians. If a turian did that, it would almost be an invitation.
Kaidan turns to him and still rubs his neck. "You want a beer?"
"Yes, sure," he says and he wonders if the nervous rumble in his subharmonics is the same thing as Kaidan rubbing his neck.
()()()
In retrospect, that had been the beginning. Garrus takes Kaidan's hand in his and lets the many talks they had after that pass through his memory. Each time they got a little bit closer, a little bit more personal. Until...
