Shepard's eyes weren't the only ones that kept flickering back to the Geth who sat in the corner of the shuttle.
Well, Garrus was perhaps the exception; the middle horn of his fringe had been damaged, the tip chipped off by a stray bullet during the fight. He touched the injury, wincing, and looked back down at the blood on his hand with a scowl. A chipped fringe was a wound to pride for a Turian.
The reason everyone kept looking at Legion? The small, fluffy ginger and white tabby bundle of fur that sat in the Geth's arms. A small, fury head swiveled around, taking in it's surroundings, large amber eyes wide and bright. A small blue collar was still wrapped around it's neck, a tiny round tag hanging off of it, occasionally clinking against the metal of the Geth platform.
Either the kitten was very brave, or hadn't a clue of what it was being carried by right now.
"What's with the animal?" Grunt asked, eyeing their fuzzy guest. Legion looked at him.
"It is a common earth pet. We have retrieved it from hostile forces, as Tali-Creator found it distressing when we suggested leaving it behind." the Geth explained. Shepard, Garrus, and Grunt all leaned out to look at Tali. Shepard could imagine too easily the grin behind the mask, and it looked like the Quarian was having an internal war of some sort not to burst out laughing. Shepard rolled her eyes. Well, at least she's not pointing a pistol at him.
"What's his name?" she asked. The Geth looked down at the kitten as if to check the tag, before looking back up at her.
"His designation by previous owners is 'Socks'." Damn, this is just too good!
"Are you going to keep him?" Garrus inquired, amusement vibrating in his sub vocals. The question hung in the air for several long seconds as all eyes focused on Legion, whose head flaps twitched as it made consensus. It tipped it's head in Tali's direction for a moment, regarding her before answering.
"Yes."
"I'm sure we can spare some supplies; Gardener can show you where the levo food is. Just be sure to clean up after him." She told Legion as the team filed through the airlock.
"Yes, Shepard-Commander." the Geth agreed before exiting. Shepard watched it go, Garrus coming up beside her.
"Kasumi is going to have a heart attack." he commented. She let out a grunt of agreement, crossing her arms.
"I just hope Legion knows where to find a litter box. And keeps that thing away from Mitch." she said. Garrus pat her on the shoulder.
"Oh, don't worry; I think that hamster is ready for everything. Including a kitten." he reassured her.
"Yeah. But still; if Legion's 'pet' get's its claws on my hamster, I'm launching his furry hind end out an airlock. Regardless if I find myself on the receiving end of a Geth plasma rifle afterwords." she declared. Garrus put one hand over his heart.
"I can see the headline right now." he sighed mournfully. "'Hero Commander killed by Geth after launching it's pet cat out an airlock.' It'll be the story of a century."
"Shut up, Vakarian." she nudged his side playfully. "Go get your fringe seen to."
"Aye, aye, madame." he said, bowing deeply as he backed out the airlock, tipping an invisible hat. Shepard chuckled to herself as he left. It certainly was good to have Garrus around. In the early days, after his 'missile to the face' incident, when she'd had little to no trust of strange, new Cerberus crew, she'd kept the Turian at arm's length almost at all times.
Not to say she wasn't still distrustful of Cerberus, but she felt more comfortable away from him than she had near the beginning, especially now that other friendly faces had joined the team, like Tali and Thane. That, and she had a feeling Grunt would pound Cerberus to a pulp if they tried to do anything with his 'Battlemaster'. Then there was Legion, following her around like a puppy half the time, hanging around the AI Core doing literally nothing at all the other half.
Which was part of the reason she'd agreed to let it keep the kitten. It was all alone in there, and she didn't like that. Socks at least, would give Legion something to occupy that alone time. I hope it's for the best, at least.
She wasn't entirely sure about such a pet on the Normandy. Sure, she had Mitch, but a kitten was a whole different kind of game. And Legion was... well, Legion. 'Extranet sources' couldn't tell it everything about raising a pet. And cats could be nasty little minions of the darkness even if you did raise them right. Hopefully, Kasumi, with her hyperactive love of all things cute and fuzzy, would be more than willing to help with anything the Geth couldn't comprehend.
Legion stepped off the elevator, with intent to put the kitten in the AI Core before getting it the necessary sustenance. However, it's runtimes should have known better to expect the platform could arrive on the crew deck without Kasumi Goto realizing there was an animal with it. Sitting at a table next to Thane Krios and Jacob Taylor, the thief was talking animatedly when she caught sight of Legion, and froze, food still in her mouth.
She let out a gasp, spitting out her food, clutching at Jacob's shoulder and pointing at the Geth.
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Legion!" She gasped. Soon, all eyes in the room were focused on the mobile platform standing near the elevator. Kasumi practically flew to the kitten.
"He's so cuuute!" she squealed as she approached, completely in love with the small animal.
"Mew?" Socks chirped, small head tipped to the side as it watched her.
"Can I hold him?" she asked, rubbing the kitten's head with one hand.
"Yes." Legion replied, transferring Socks into her arms. The orange and white tabby purred as she scratched him under the chin. He was only twice the size of Shepard's hamster, Mitch(whom Kasumi also adored), and though at first glance seemed well, the Geth's scans had detected several signs of minor malnutrition, and there was a small cut on one leg that would need careful tending to. Kasumi flipped the little tag over, and grinned at the name.
"Well, then, Socks. How did this one get aboard, anyway?" she inquired, eyes glittering under her hood.
"He was under ownership of an unknown member of the Blue Suns group. Upon termination of the cell, Tali-Creator found it distressing that the animal would be left behind. We have retrieved it." Legion explained.
"Well, he's just adorable. Better keep him out of trouble, there's a lot of places a kitten could get lost on this ship." Kasumi warned, handing the animal back to the Geth.
"We will secure the AI Core appropriately." It stated before walking away to it's destination. Kasumi and half the mess hall watched as both Geth and kitten disappeared into the med bay, just as Tali came off the elevator. Kasumi turned to her.
"Oh, Tali, I don't know what you said to Legion, but that is the most precious animal I have ever seen in my entire life." she told the Quarian.
"I know." she chuckled back. "I didn't even mean for it to happen! I was going to take the thing and ask Shepard if I could keep it, but then Legion walked up and snatched him right out from under my nose!"
"Youch. Looks like Legion just one another Quarian-Geth battle. 'War of the kitten'." Kasumi declared solemnly. "You do realize just how cute it is that Legion just adopted a pet, right?"
Under her mask, Tali rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling I'm going to pay for my unintentional part in this."
"You know it." Jacob commented from where he sat.
"Shut up, Taylor."
Okay, after multiple requests, and after beta reading an emotionally distressing chapter of one of Jayfeatther's fics, I wrote some more Legion and Socks fluff. I might write more, so keep an eye out for updates.
You know, this was actually inspired by multiple fics where Grunt got a kitten. I decided our favorite Geth could use som attention in the fluff factor. Literal fluff, Socks is just a bouncing bundle of furry cuteness right now. But of course, like all pet owners, there will come a time where Legion turns a blind eye to certain... incidents.
Like Garrus' visor.
For those of you who are just arriving, this is a sequel to one of my one-shots, Legion the Geth and the Case of the Kitten. It isn't necessary, but you should still read it NOW. For those of you here from the results of the Thane Krios and the Spiders of Nope vote, here are the next stuff to vote for:
Javik the jerk and the Friday Morning Routine, Urdnot Wrex and the Legend of the Pizza Fairy, Urdnot Grunt and the Frabjous Snow day, Ashley Williams and the Smelly Surprise, or James Vega and the Runaway Hamster.
Vote up!
Read and REVIEW!
