The Dare

Garrus had been expecting this. He couldn't even remember who had come up with the idea of 'species-inappropriate dares', but so far Wrex had eaten mindfish, the amusing result being that he thought he was a pyjack for a full twelve hours. Shepard had drunk ryncol, and promptly passed out – not a particularly amusing stunt, but it had fulfilled his part of the dare. And now it was Garrus's turn.

He eyed the Presidium pool with consternation, and then eyed the bright orange flotation device Shepard had provided with even greater dismay.

"You want me to wear that?"

"Or you could just drown," Wrex said helpfully.

"It's a life vest. Humans wear them all the time on boats on Earth," Shepard explained. "The color is to help rescuers spot people in the water."

Garrus grimaced, but pulled on the vest regardless. "And you say the pool is deep enough for me to stand?"

"Most of the way. There's a short stretch in the middle where you'll have to swim."

"Or flail," Wrex suggested. "Either way would be funny."

"What about Kaidan?" Garrus asked, peering down at the water. His dare was to swim – or wade – from one side of the presidium pool to the other. It was only about 50 metres, and he would be able to stand for most of the distance, but even so…

"I have to drink Turian whiskey," Kaidan reminded him. "But I can't do it until we're back on the Normandy in case I go into anaphylactic shock and Chakwas has to save my life."

"Right. Of course. But I'm allowed to drown right here on the presidium, at night, with no one around to rescue me."

"Kaidan and I can both swim," Shepard said negligently. "We'll fish you out if you get into serious trouble."

"I don't think I want to know what your definition of 'serious trouble' is," Garrus complained, lowering himself into the water. It came up to his waist, and he felt marginally better about this… until he started walking forward and the water quickly got deeper, rising to his chest, then shoulders. Shepard, Wrex and Kaidan were keeping pace along the walkway over the pool, keeping a close eye on him despite their amusement. Chaos and recklessness were all the rage at the moment, but actually killing their team mates was definitely not on the agenda. And then the bottom dropped away from beneath his feet, and Garrus realised that this was the part where he would have to swim.

Sadly, turians were just not built for this, and the first thing that happened was the damn vest kicked in, floating him up and over, onto his back. Kaidan had shown him a few rudimentary swimming strokes, but all of them involved being on his front, so Garrus tried to turn over…

The vest protested, tipping him straight back onto his back. He tried again, and ended up with his head being dunked. Panic kicked in then and he flailed about, trying to get his head back up, and he found himself floating on his front, managed a few strokes of what Kaidan had called 'dog-paddle', before the vest flipped him onto his back again. His legs shot into the air, dunking his head again and he flailed some more, splashing wildly until he was once more able to breathe. Floating on his back. Damn vest…

But this wasn't all bad, he realised, once he'd calmed down a little. He was floating… not splashing, not flailing, and the sensation was strangely peaceful. He glanced up at the walkway and saw his three companions doubled over in laughter, trying to keep the noise down so as not to alert security.

Okay, enough was enough. He would show them…

Physics, he thought to himself. If he could float, he could swim, he just needed a paddle of some sort. He flattened his hands out, like Kaidan had shown him, and pushed experimentally at the water. The result was that he began turning in a slow circle, so he got the other arm involved… and wow, that seemed to work. He'd moved a few inches towards the further shore. He did it again, and again, and soon he was making real progress. Slow progress, and with no small amount of effort – just keeping his head out of the water was making his neck ache – but he was doing it! The edge of the pool came closer, and then he felt his dangling feet touch the bottom and gracelessly struggled about until he was once again standing waist-deep in the water. His team mates were waiting for him, with odd expressions on their faces.

"Good god, we've actually done it," Shepard said with awe, as Garrus clambered, cold and dripping, out of the pool. "For the first time in history, we've taught a turian to swim."