A/N: Just a quick note that in this particular one shot, Shepard and Garrus are together already, so, even though this conversation can be heard before the Omega 4 Relay mission, it actually happens after that mission in this story. As well, this chapter is dedicated to Cassandra Y, who asked me for a happier ending to one of my stories, so I wrote this one for her. As always, I own nothing. Finally, if you like this story please review, and let me know if there is a particular conversation that you would like me to write a story for!

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Game: Mass Effect 2

Location: Eternity Bar on Illium

Conversation: Between a Quarian (Nayar) and a Turian (Dantik) on a couch inside the bar

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Friend-zoned

Dantik was more excited than he had been in a while. Nayar had messaged him a few hours ago to meet her at Eternity that night. He hadn't heard a lot from her lately because she had been too busy with that human to message or get together with him. But he guessed they had some falling out, and she had seemed really excited about getting together in her voice message. Maybe after being with the wrong guys for so long, she finally realized that the two of them should get together. Spirits, he really hoped so. When he first met her, he was a security guard at a bar at the Azure hotel. He was working one night, when he heard shouts from a corner of the club. When he went over to investigate, Nayar was there in the clutches of some drunk Turian, who was pawing over her suit. The man was so drunk he was actually attempting to take her mask off, seemingly unaware that the exposure would kill the poor woman. Dantik promptly threw him off her, and bodily escorted him out of the club. Nayar had later come up to him at his post to thank him for protecting her, gave him her number and tried to convince him to come home with her. However, he wasn't about to take advantage of a girl who had almost been killed and was on top of that, clearly drunk. So despite the fact he was really attracted to her, he kept it strictly friendly, and had finally put her in a cab at the end of the night, and paid for her to get back home safely, and alone. She came back into the bar a few weeks later, and got a job as a bartender. She recognized him right away, and had been friends ever since then. After that night though, she hadn't shown any interest in him again, even as his own feelings for her got stronger. They ended up being best friends; they would get together, hang out, go to the bar or grab dinner. Unfortunately, their conversations lately would quite often talk about the guys she was with, and what they had done to either break her heart, or cause her to break theirs. She deserved better than to be with such losers who obviously didn't get her. She needed someone dependable, who already knew her, and who would treat her properly. He just had to make her see it.

As he strolled in the bar, he scanned around and saw that he was the first one there. He went up to the bar and ordered a two drinks, one Turian ale and a sterilized Turian bourbon as well as a handful of the Turian nuts he knew she couldn't get enough of. He then retreated to a couch and sat so that he had a good view of the entrance. After a few minutes, he noticed a beautiful green and gold hood weaving through the crowd, and with a smile, he stood up and beckoned her over towards him.

"Dantik!" came a feminine cry, and the young Quarian woman flung her arms around the Turian's cowl, and after a moment of slight hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her tight and pulled her in closer to him .

Much too soon for him, she pulled herself out of his embrace and flung herself with a sigh onto the couch.

"You have no idea the hell I've been going through lately" she sighed, as he sat slowly back onto the couch. "Seriously, it's just been awful. I have the absolute worst taste in men."

"That's not true" said Dantik quickly, trying to reassure her that it wasn't her who had the issues, it was just the dumb guys who she was with.

"No seriously, I do… Ooooh! You got me my favorite! You are the best friend a girl could have!"

Dantik inwardly cringed to himself. Why did she have to say that? He didn't just want to be her best friend, he wanted to be so much more.

"Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, Ethan… God, he is such an asshole. Probably the worst dating experience I have ever had, and with my track record that's saying something."

Dantik leaned towards her, ready to give her the support he knew she needed. He could tell she was upset about the whole experience. He had also heard about all about the past guys and the stunts they had pulled, and if she said this one was bad, it probably was.

"So, tell me what happened" Dantik said, picking up his beer to take a sip, while Nayar launched into her story.

"Well, things were going really well between the two of us. We had been out a few times, and this one night, we went to this new bar in the Rinda district. We both had a lot to drunk, like a lot, and one thing led to another and we wound up in his apartment."

"And he tried to pressure you didn't he" Dantik interrupted, already feeling indignation starting to run through him. How dare this human try to pressure a Quarian into sex! Of course a human wouldn't realize and understand just how dangerous and intimate something like that could be. The linking of suits to other environments is a delicate process for Sprits sake!

"Oh no! Well, kind of but not in the way your thinking"

"Oh…" said Dantik, his sudden flare of anger abating. "Well, what did he do then?"

"Well, we were getting into it, and I tell him to, you know… use protection cause well…Duh! So then he says 'Oh, it's okay. Our amino acids are all different, so it's not like we can get diseases or anything if we go natural.'"

"I'm telling you, this is why you shouldn't date humans."

"So then, I had to explain about cross-species fluid contact. Completely killed the mood."

"Not to mention that you're a Quarian! How could he be so insensitive?" Dantik couldn't believe this guy Ethan, (what kind of a name is that anyways). Humans are just way to ignorant to date Quarians, especially someone as special as Nayar. She needed someone who would understand that she had certain needs, and these humans just didn't seem to have what it takes to be with someone like that.

He leaned in closer to her, wanting to get her to focus on him.

"You deserve somebody who respects you. Somebody who's going to treat you right" he said softly, wanting her to see that the person who she kept looking for in all the wrong places was right there in front of her, just waiting for her to realize it.

"Oh, I think I'm just going to stop dating for a while."

His mind almost shut down at those words.

"No, don't do that!" he said rather quickly. "Don't let some human spoil you."

"It's always the same thing. 'Ooh, she could get sick. She's vulnerable. I wonder what she looks like under the helmet.'"

He could understand why she felt like that, because it did hold a lot of truth. A lot of species who dated Quarians were attracted to them for certain reasons, and some of those reasons weren't all that great. A lot of guys wanted a girl who was vulnerable and in needed someone to save her. And he guessed that there was a certain appeal in the mystery of not knowing what she looked like… But that isn't why he felt the way he did. He loved her personality, She was so much fun to hang around with. She had this… magnetic personality, just drawing you to her. Plus, she was actually really smart. She knew a lot about tech, and how to build and fix things. Once, his omni-tool had been infected with a virus and Nayar was the one who fixed it for him. She was an amazing, fun woman and he wanted to be with her so bad. She just needed to see how good they could be together…

"You'll find someone out there who cares about you for who you are. Someone who's food you can eat, even" he said, glancing meaningfully at the nuts she had just picked up and was now chewing on.

Nayar shrugged her shoulders, and started sipping on her drink. Dantik frowned to himself. Maybe he needed to make his feelings for her a little more clear. He knew he needed to stop being so subtle, and just make how he felt known to her.

"Anyways, if you're hurting for things to do, maybe after work we could catch a vid or something" he suggested, trying to inject some promise of things to come into those words.

"Oh, that's sweet, but I'm okay. A little dry spell isn't going to kill me."

He cringed to himself. He wasn't trying to do her a favor by relieving her boredom! He was trying to be romantic for crying out loud. Why couldn't she see that!

"Well, we could watch 'Fleet and Flotilla.' It got awards for its portrayal of, um, Turian and Quarian relationships." It wasn't the smoothest line in the galaxy, but it was a romantic movie, and he did suggest they watch it together. Really, it was the perfect idea. If she saw just how good Turian and Quarian relationships could be, maybe it would plant the idea that the two of them could work together. Maybe then she would give their relationship a chance!

"Anyways, if worst comes to worst, I did have the nerve-stimulation program built into my suit."

"And I hear that the love scenes are…what?" He had been so caught up in his plan that he completely missed the fact that she had started talking about nerve-stimulation programs.

"Oh yeah. Standard equipment for any responsible adult. Here, let me fire it up…"

He couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, for a couple of different reasons. He was shocked that she had a program like that built into her suit, and was both turned on and horrified that she was about to use it in the middle of a crowded bar. On the other hand, he couldn't believe that she would rather use a program built into her suit than even think about the idea of the two of them. He really didn't even have a chance… Feeling dejected, he tried to think of something to say, but before he could come up with anything, he saw her shoot what he could tell was an angry look to the table beside them .

"Uh, excuse me human. Private conversation. Urg."

There were two people at the table; a tall Turian with some horrific scars marring one side of his face and a small, lithe Human with shockingly bright red hair. And both seemed to have been listening to the entirety of their conversation.

"A little space please?" Dantik shot out to the two of them, echoing Nayar's sentiments. The couple then threw back the last of their drinks, and started to stand up.

"Remind you of anyone in particular Garrus?" Dantik heard the woman say loudly, shooting her companion a wink and a smile as they slowly passed by Dantik's table.

"Hey, I got over the nerves eventually" the Turian shot back good naturedly, and wrapping one arm tightly around the woman's waist, the two exited the bar together.

Dantik sat there stunned for a minute. He had this feeling the couple had made their conversation loud for his benefit. They obviously made their relationship work, and from the sounds of it, it wasn't necessarily with an easy start…

"Nayar. I really want to take you to see a vid this weekend" he burst out. She looked up from her drink at him, seemingly startled. "I can pick you up at 7, and I'll take you out for dinner after." After a brief pauses he added, "You know, if you're free."

She stared at him for what seemed like hours, her body tensed up, with what he didn't know. She then visibly relaxed, and reached over to touch his hand.

"Sure Dantik, I'd like that" she said shyly. His mantibles opened wide in a Turian kind of grin, and he squeezed her hand gently.

"If you'd like, we could see 'Fleet and Flotilla' now, I think there's a show that starts at 22:00h" she suggested coyly. Leaping to his feet, Dantik offered his hand out to help her off the couch. As they walked towards the door, he put his hand on the small of her back, and grinning like an idiot, led her to the nearest cab.

"Well," he thought excitedly to himself, "it's a good start."