A/N: Ok, so I adjusted the chapter order to make it easier to read! I know it was confusing and the random order idea was just bad from the start. So hopefully it's better to read now. I don't own any of the characters and I hope you guys enjoy!
Octavius Vakarian adjusted the collar of his tunic casually, back straight and a blank look on his face as he waited for the door to open.
When the great Commander Shepard opened the door to her and his son's home, he would not smile, nor would he glare. He would simply introduce himself, say hello to Garrus, eat the meal they wished to provide for this evening and be on his way home to Cipritine. He had far too much work to get done and it wasn't going to do itself. But he would be lying if he said he wasn't happy to see his son in person after so long. He had longed to embrace him since the first vid call he made after the Repears fell. Tonight, he would get a chance.
But that meant meeting Shepard, the human woman in a relationship with his boy. It was not a problem that she was a human nor was it the fact that she had been the reason her son blindly followed her into what Garrus described as the depths of hell before. It was the fact that she was a spectre. The first human spectre and he did not like spectres.
He was a C-Sec man, through and through and he did not take to spectres whatsoever. They held way too much authority and were immune to law. He had witnessed first-hand the power those individuals held and it was not something he ever wished his son be exposed too. Garrus had been an incredibly stubborn child, bent on doing justice and defeating evil (his childhood games were taken very seriously) and that translated over into his young adulthood. He had intercepted the application Garrus sent in to the recruitment center to protect his son from those privileges. If pushed, he had no doubt Garrus would go too far in his quest for justice and he couldn't stand the thought of losing him.
His thoughts were interrupted by the front door to their apartment opening up and Garrus stood there, a look that was both welcoming and defensive. If he were honest with himself, the fact that Garrus invited him into his home at all was surprising in and of itself. They hadn't ever really gotten along. Their arguments were long and drawn out and left him with a massive headache afterwards, but it was to be expected when he was arguing against someone who was so much like him.
"Dad."
"Son."
They stood staring at each other for a moment before Octavius moved first and embraced him, their mandibles touching briefly. When he pulled away, Garrus gestured for him to move further in. The apartment was small with bare walls but it looked lived in. He flicked his mandibles in amusement when he spotted two rifles, pulled apart and cleaned to perfection on the coffee table. Soldiers even in times of peace.
"How was the trip?"
"It was long, but that was to be expected."
Garrus nodded and for a second, looked like he was trying and failing to come up with something to say. Octavius waited patiently, doing his best not to do or say anything that would ruin the evening. He did not want to fight with him again so soon. Instead, he wanted to sit down and tell him how proud he was of him with his part in the war. He didn't necessarily like the fact that he was at the forefront of the attack, but he had fought hard and won.
"Shepard," Garrus said and Octavius broke his stare to see the new arrival. She was small. Smaller than he expected. The news and articles had painted her to be this larger than life fighting machine, but she looked like she could barely lift a sniper rifle.
"Shep, this is my dad. Dad, this is Shepard, my mate."
Octavius nodded and accepted the handshake from the woman before him. A small smile graced her odd shaped mouth and he flared his mandibles slightly, being polite as she addressed him and thanked him for coming. His nod of acknowledgment seemed to placate Garrus enough for him to relax and suggested a round of drinks before their dinner.
The awkwardness, however, did not leave as easily as his son's apprehensiveness.
Their entire meal was talk of rebuilding, the newly integrated council species (the Krogan being inducted as a council species was something Octavius never thought would happen during his lifetime) and Victus, who had plans to step away from the role of Primarch in the coming future. All-in-all, their evening had gone better than expected and the elder Vakarian had truly come to realize how happy his son was. He had noticed, when he came back home to Palaven with fresh scars and a story to tell, that he was more focused and matured than the last time they had met face to face.
It was plainly obvious what the motivation behind Garrus' sudden shift from an angry young man into a responsible adult on a mission. Even before Garrus admitted to their relationship with the human commanding officer, Octavius had an inkling that the feelings Garrus held for her went far beyond friendship. But Octavius also had to admit that he wasn't thrilled when he found out. He had contemplated threatening his son with disownment if he so much as even though of mating with this woman he hadn't meant and, frankly, didn't even really like. Garrus, however, did what he wanted and Octavius couldn't fault him for pursuing what he thought was best for him. He had done the same thing when he was a young man and if he hadn't, his children wouldn't have been created at all.
He thought back fondly to the moment he told his father he was going to bond with his dear Cassia, a poor girl from a traitorous clan, and chuckled at the look of pure shock and anger he had received from him.
Tainting the bloodline with such trash! If you go through with this, you are dead to me!
He hadn't taken his father seriously back then and the man hadn't actually meant the words he hissed at his own son's retreating back. But the animosity between the two had been very real and very hard to deal with and he didn't wish to do the same to Garrus. Both of them had already carried the weight of the universe on their shoulders. He didn't want them to carry the weight of his non-acceptance of their relationship.
He vowed that it his personal feelings for the woman who sat beside his son, her fingers running smooth tracks over his knuckles, wouldn't become a barrier between him and Garrus. Far too much time had been wasted and who knows? Maybe one day he would come to see this human woman as a daughter.
"Dad…we wanted to talk to you about something."
Octavius flicked his mandible in amusement at the nervous quiver in his son's voice and Shepard's bright smile.
Yes…one day, he would.
