Garrus chattered quietly to himself, the mandibles on the sides of his face flicking back and forth in irritation as he attempted to loosen a bolt underneath the bottom of the Mako. He was currently sprawled on his back underneath the light reconnaissance vehicle, performing some minor repairs on the electronic targeting system the turret used to lock onto enemies. Normally, most people—and especially most turians—would be nervous to crawl underneath such a heavy vehicle. However, claustrophobia was not something that really bothered Garrus. He had been in quite a few tight places before, especially during his job with C-Sec. A small chuckle escaped his non-existent lips, as the thought of one of his earlier assignments as a fresh officer.
He had been forced to hide inside a crate of what was supposed to be illegally modified weapons being transported from a Hanar weapons dealer—in reality, an undercover Citadel Security operative—in the Presidium to a gang of krogans in the Wards.
It had been quite a surprise to the gang of krogans to find that the crate did contain weapons—but all of them were used in bringing the criminals down and to justice. Garrus had overheated every single weapon he had to the point of destruction in order to neutralize the threat. Executor Pallin had made it very clear to Garrus that these weapons did not come cheap, but… to be honest, Garrus did not care about what Executor Pallin thought. There was only one person whose thoughts and opinions Garrus truly valued: Commander Shepard's. He was a man of courage, of confidence.
Well… Maybe not just Shepard's opinion. There was another person on board too, one who he had fought alongside on several missions—each of them a success. She had mechanical and engineering skills that surpassed even his. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was a strange woman, and yet an intriguing one as well. At times, Garrus found himself wishing that she would come out of the room that house the drive core and help him fix the Mako. Wasn't he more interesting than the drive core?
Garrus paused in his repairs. "… What am I thinking?" He muttered to himself, shaking his head and clearing himself of these thoughts. Over the last few weeks, Garrus had been noticing a change in his own behavior around Tali. When she was around, he was… talkative. Even if it meant having arguments with the quarian, he was still eager to have a conversation. However, when she was not around, he was introverted, so to speak.
Even talking to Shepard had become difficult.
He was wrenched from his thoughts once more as he heard a sound. His mandibles flicked in curiousity, and he would have sat up to look around; however, being cramped underneath the mako, that was an impossible task. So, he listened carefully to the sound, which he now deciphered as footsteps. There were only a few people who frequented this level of the ship: The requistions officer, Ashley, Wrex, Adams, and Tali. The footsteps were much too light to be Wrex.
They were also too light to be human footsteps. Garrus felt his heart begin to thump within his chest, as he narrowed it down to the last remaining option. He finally managed to speak up. "Hello, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." The footsteps stopped, and he heard the quarian's quiet voice. "How did you know it was me?" Her accent could be described, in human terms, as "east European". At least, that was the way Shepard and Ashley described it.
Garrus shrugged lightly, then realized Tali was not able to see him. "Your footsteps are too light to be anybody else's," He replied truthfully. There was a momentary pause; then, he saw Tali's feet, just before she crouched down to peer underneath the Mako at him. It was difficult to decipher her expression behind the visor, but… her body language told him that she was somewhat amused. And something about amusing Tali made his heart flutter within his chest. Gods, I'm worse than an asari schoolgirl, Garrus thought to himself.
"What exactly are you doing underneath there?" She asked curiously, tilting her head. Garrus blinked, then replied, "… Fixing the Mako?" Tari sighed, and added, "I mean, what exactly are you fixing on it?" Garrus chuckled, and then purred, "Just trying to fix the targeting system. It's difficult, getting to the access panel underneath the Mako." By now, Tali was flat on her belly, shuffling underneath the Mako until she was beside him. For a moment, she stared at the open access panel, studying it intensely.
"Well… I can see how this will work, but I know an easier way to do it." She held her hand out, and glanced at him. "Would you mind? This will only take a second, I promise," She replied. For a moment, Garrus was recluctant to allow somebody else to work on his beloved Mako—but then, he reached over to push the tool he was using to pry the vehicle's circuitry apart into her hand. For a moment, his hand lingered there, his palm pressed against hers.
Then, he turned away, somewhat embarassed by what he had done. What's wrong with you? Stupid, stupid, stupid. You're on a mission to hunt down Saren, and all you can think about is Tali? He wondered to himself. He went into another long train of thought, not even realizing that the quarian was quickly repairing the vehicle in a manner he had never even conceived—and coincidentally, shifting her body so she was a little closer to the turian.
"Hey, Garrus?" Tali asked, turning her head in order to stare at Garrus through her dark visor. The turian paused for a moment, startled by the sound, of her voice and then rolled over on his side to stare back at Tali. "Yeah?" He asked, not really caring how close they were to one another. He was sure Tali did not care either, as personal space was a quality a quarian could not afford to have. "Do you… mind if I call you Garry?"
Tali was obviously nervous, but… even without seeing her face, Garrus could recognize a tone in her voice that he had not noticed before. She reached out and affectionately placed a hand on his shoulder. For a moment, the turian's eyes widened; however this expression was soon replaced by a smile, before he returned the gesture.
"Of course not. Just… don't call me that while Wrex is around. He'll never let me hear the end of it."
Tali laughed, "I promise, this will be our little secret… Garr-Bear." The two of them heard a deep chuckling, and shifted slightly to stare at Wrex's reptilian feet. His gravelly voice said, in between bouts of laughter, "Garr-Bear? That's just way too good. You two are so cute together."
Author's Note: Aww, they really are cute together, aren't they? XD I just wanted to try my hand at a one-shot, fluffy, cutesy fan fiction. Maybe I should just stick to humor? Tell me in any reviews you leave of this story, or of my other story, which has just recently been updated.