Jane Shepard fingers the end of her long braid anxiously as she waits for the elevator to reach her destination, exiting when the doors part before her and heading down to C-Sec headquarters. Her parents had taken shore leave on the Citadel months earlier and her mother had arranged an internship for her at C-Sec; though she'd always meant for Jane to join the Alliance, she thought it would be beneficial for her to have some previous experience in law enforcement. Jane had been ecstatic when her mother had told her the news, at the newfound freedom of being on her own on the Citadel; and her excitement holds up until she reaches the entrance to C-Sec headquarters where nervousness takes over. Standing in the doorway she suddenly feels very alone as she takes in the crowded space station, surrounded by hundreds of unfamiliar faces and species she's never seen before.

After taking a few moments to adjust herself to her new surroundings she turns back towards the doors and heads in, trying to bolster her confidence as she approaches the young blonde officer at reception. The man introduces himself as Officer Warren and pulls up her file on his data pad then excuses himself to find the Executor to get her assignment. Jane stands awkwardly at the desk looking around the office, unsure of what to do with herself when she sees a turian sitting in the waiting area out of the corner of her eye. She wonders how she missed him when she walked in, but assumes she was likely too distracted by her own nerves to have noticed him. She examines him for a moment; he is young, likely close to her age based on his size compared to the adults she had seen before, his face is adorned with blue colony markings spanning across his cheeks and bridge of his nose then continuing down along his mandibles and he sports a relatively short fringe.

Just then he looks up from his data pad, as if he can feel her eyes moving over him and she smiles sheepishly, blushing slightly at being caught staring. His mandibles flutter against his face for a second and he looks back down shyly just as the door opens and Officer Warren and a rather intimidating looking turian come into the room.

"Miss Shepard, we're pleased to have you." He begins, standing before her with a rigidness that only comes from extensive military service. "I am Officer Vakarian, Executor Pallin has tasked me with your orientation and training."

Shepard gives him a nod of acceptance and extends her hand to him, "Jane Shepard, glad to be of service, Sir."

He tilts his head slightly to the side in appraisal and accepts her hand, seemingly impressed by her decorum.

"Garrus here will help you get acquainted with the Citadel and escort you to your room," Releasing her hand he turns to the younger turian sitting on the nearby couch, who stands at attention upon hearing the elder's call to him. "We'll start work tomorrow morning."

She nods to him again and smiles at her young companion as he comes to stand at her side. "Thank you, Officer Vakarian."

He responds with a curt nod and disappears unceremoniously behind the door he came out from. She turns to her guide and he gestures towards the exit, leading her back out into the throng of people populating the busy ward.

"Garrus, is it?" She asks shyly, looking up at him their size difference seems more dramatic and she suddenly feels rather small despite being above average height for a girl her age.

He nods, looking down to her warmly with piercing blue eyes. "That's me." He says with a soft chuckle, "And you're Jane, right?"

"Yep." Feeling slightly awkward she looks down, avoiding making eye contact. "So… do you work for C-Sec?"

She hadn't expected the rumble of laughter that came from him and she looked up through her lashes at him, his mandibles had relaxed away from his face and exposed his lethal looking teeth in what appeared to be… a smile?

"No… that was my father you just met. I'm not old enough yet, and I'll serve in the military for a few years before anything else. I leave in a few months."

"Oh… how old are you?" She asks, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I'm fourteen." His brow rising in a quizzical look at her reaction, "What? How old are you?"

Jane tries to erase the surprised expression from her face, "Nothing… just... you're so big…. Eh… tall I mean, and I'm sixteen."

He gives her another teeth baring grin and snickers, "I'm average for my age… you're just small."

Shepard laughs, taking comfort in her new friend as they navigate the crowded walkways. They walk in companionable silence for a few moments as Shepard tries to absorb everything going on around them. She sees the familiar smiles of asari and salarians manning storefronts as they walk by, noting some stores she would like to visit later when she stops in her tracks at the sight of a large alien in front of them moving slowly toward them on all fours. Garrus notices her reservation and leans down slightly, "That's an elcor. Don't worry, they're harmless." He reassures her with a gentle hand rested on her shoulder.

Shepard relaxes and sighs, grateful to have such a kind hearted guide. Though she knew that he probably couldn't offer much protection if they got into a rough situation, she felt comforted by his presence and acceptance of her and the fear of being lonely while she was there quickly faded. Noticing that they've stopped walking Jane looks up to the neon sign above the storefront and then down to Garrus who seems to be rather excited to take her in.

"Castle Arcade?" She grins up at him and he returns her smile, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her along with him inside. Oh yes… they were going to be great friends indeed.

After spending a few hours too many at the arcade Garrus watches his new friend talk to another young human girl at a clothing shop while he procures some basic necessities for her in the levo market across the way. He'd seen plenty of humans before but never took the time to really examine them as they generally weren't enthusiastic about interacting with turians, though this one he thinks he'll be spending a good deal of time with, so he thinks he should probably get used to how odd her appearance is to him. He's making a mental note to look up what the brown stuff growing off her head is called when the man at the counter asks him a question.

"Sorry… what?" Garrus asks, turning back to the man to see that he had assembled a variety of foods fit for human consumption.

"Is there anything else that you needed?" The clerk repeated politely with a smile.

"Uh… just any toiletries that a human girl would need." He responds with a fair amount of uncertainty, he has no clue what she will need.

The friendly clerk gives him a chuckle and snaps his fingers, "I've got just the thing." He reaches under the counter and pulls out what looks to be a travel kit. "This should have everything she'll need."

Garrus examines the package, unsure what most of the strange objects it contains are, then nods and hands over the credit chit from C-Sec his father had given him to make sure she had everything she needed. He thanks the man and grabs the bags, turning to meet Shepard at the other store when he finds her standing right behind him and bumps into her.

"Whoops!" She laughs and grabs onto his arm to steady him. "Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on ya there. What's all this?"

"Just some food and a few other things you might need." He replies with a shrug, "But honestly, I don't really know what any of it is."

"It's okay," Shepard laughs, "I don't even think human guys know what half the things we use are. Thank you, Garrus, this is amazing." She takes a few of the bags he is carrying off his hands and gives him a bright smile with her strange flat teeth. "Show me where home is?"

"Of course." He leads her back through the wards and to the apartments near C-Sec headquarters, they ride together in the elevator up to her floor and reaching the door he pulls a key from his pocket and opens it for her. "Home sweet home." He says, handing her the key.

Jane pockets the key and walks inside, setting down the bags on the kitchen counter and exploring the small apartment as Garrus followed and started putting the food away. Garrus finishes unloading most of her items and pulls out the toiletry kit, curiously examining the strange small tubes of flowery smelling substances, different sized plastic planks with bristles coming off of them, and minty scented string that he found the strangest of all. He was still thumbing the hairbrush when she returned from the bedroom with an excited expression on her face.

"This place is awesome!" She exclaims, coming to his side and bouncing on the pads of her feet. He can't help but smile down at her, she's the silliest creature he's ever encountered and he likes her all the more for it. "Please say you'll come visit me."

"If you want me to, I'd be happy to visit." He sets her brush down and heads toward the door. "I should get going, though… my dad's going to be looking for me soon."

"Probably, we were at the arcade for a while. Thanks again, for everything." She moves in towards him with her arms extended and awkwardly bumps herself against him, her arms wrapping around him while his hang at his sides, unsure of what to do. After giving him a slight squeeze she pulls back and laughs at his confused expression. "Sorry, I guess hugging isn't a turian thing. I guess I'll see you later."

"Probably tomorrow at C-Sec, my dad's trying to drill rules into me before I go into service." He chuckles softly and opens the door, giving her a small wave as he leaves. "If you need anything, we're just three doors down."

Shepard smiles at the door as it closes after him, he's cute, she thinks as she picks up the shampoo, toothpaste and other various items he'd gotten for her and heads to the shower.