If there's one thing Commander Noelle Shepard is known for, it's not her cheery nature. Kicking ass and taking names? Absolutely. But friendliness is not her strong suit. She's pleasant with crew members and generally reserved, but she's certainly rough around the edges. Noelle keeps people at a distance-it's what she's always done. Needless to say, as she walked up the steps of the Citadel Tower to meet with the Council, her typical "Commander Shepard scowl"-as she'd heard some of the crew call it-was plastered to her face.
The only reason Shepard is meeting with the Council is because of her mission to Eden Prime. It was supposed to be a simple shakedown run-a way to test the new prototype ship, The Normandy before she endured serious missions. However, a turian Spectre named Nihlus had shown up, and the mission became a race to find a Prothean Beacon, as well as an assessment for Commander Shepard to join the Spectres. The mission had gone awry, resulting in Nihlus' death, the destruction of the beacon, and the uncovering of a traitor. This traitor is another turian Spectre, named Saren, who sabotaged the mission on Eden Prime and killed Nihlus. The human ambassador arranged a meeting with the Council to discuss the results of an investigation into Saren's traitorous behavior.
Her indignant glower remained as she stepped up to two turians that she didn't recognize. Shepard already had a distaste for aliens, turians in particular. Human relations with them were strained at best, violent at worst, due to the First Contact War that had broken out when the turians and humans discovered each other; this didn't seem like it would change anytime soon. Noelle personally finds turians to be too rigid; they're too militant-which is bad coming from someone in the military. They follow orders blindly, never thinking to question their superiors. Shepard knew from her experiences on Torfan that this isn't always the best option. As she thought this, she witnessed her first act of turian defiance.
"Saren's hiding something!" the one with the visor shouted. "Give me more time. Stall them."
The other turian shook his head and scoffed, "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus."
Noelle stared at Garrus, who placed his-what was it? a hand, a talon?-whatever it was on his head exasperatedly while the other turian walked away. Garrus is tall, a common trait in turians. His face is a dark gray, with deep blue paint under his eyes and along his mandibles. He was wearing light armor, as expected from someone in C-Sec, but had a blue visor across his left eye. Shepard found this curious, as a C-Sec officer would hardly have a need for such a tactical piece of equipment. His eyes are as blue as a pool of fresh water, and Shepard felt herself staring into them. She stopped as soon as Garrus noted the presence of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and herself. He promptly straightened his posture and turned to greet them, seemingly unaware of Noelle's strange glances.
"Commander Shepard?" he started. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."
Wait a minute, Shepard thought, a turian investigating another turian? You've got to be kidding me. Turians always look out for their own, regardless of right or wrong. Of course he wouldn't find anything! Indignantly, Noelle crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow at him. Her voice rich with sarcasm, she retorted, "Sounds like you really want to bring him down."
"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way," Garrus admitted. "But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence."
Shepard observed his body language as he spoke, and soon realized that he was actually telling the truth. His fists were clenched, his mandibles flared. From what she knew about turian vocal undertones-which was very little-she could hear how frustrated he was feeling. All of the signs of turian aggression were found in Garrus in that moment, and while Shepard had never seen a turian willing to take down one of their own, she couldn't deny the hunger in his eyes.
Shepard and Garrus made eye contact for a brief moment, in which she finally relaxed her stance. As she was about to speak, she heard Lieutenant Alenko say, "I think the Council's ready for us, Commander."
Noelle sighed and looked to Garrus. "Okay," she said, convinced of his determination. "Hopefully what you found will be enough to convince the Council." Without thinking, Shepard reached to shake Garrus' hand. She wasn't even sure that turians shook hands, but without hesitation he had returned the gesture. Shepard thought it odd that she was being so pleasant with a turian; she bore no love, and little respect for the species so foreign to her. Even so, Garrus' three-fingered hand connecting with hers almost felt...natural.
"Good luck, Commander," he said. "Maybe they'll listen to you."
She smirked at him and walked away. Whatever had just transpired was extremely out of her comfort zone, but not uncomfortable at all. Garrus Vakarian is no ordinary turian, and she knew that wasn't the last she'd see of him.