"What in the world are you watching?"

Garrus straightened up immediately as he opened his omni-tool. Too late. Shepard had already seen plenty of what he had thrown up on the wall to watch. He knew it was a silly indulgence, especially during war time, but sometimes, he just needed the escape.

"Was that a cartoon?" Shepard asked, walking down the stairs into her cabin.

"Ah, yeah," Garrus said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "One of my favorites from when I was a kid."

Instead of scoffing like he expected, Shepard smiled widely and plopped down on the sofa next to him. "I've got some free time, let's watch."

"Really?" Garrus asked, hearing the hope in his sub-vocals. Shepard nodded eagerly and he knew then she wasn't just humoring him. Flaring out his mandibles in a grin, he started up the show again and then settled his arm around Shepard's shoulders.

"So what are we watching?" Shepard asked as a view of Cipritine came up on the screen. Four large turianoid vakels, each wearing a different colored mask, holding a different weapon, stood on top of a tall building.

"It's called Teenage Mutant Valluvian Vakels," Garrus said eagerly. "It's actually based on an Earth show called -"

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," Shepard said with a laugh. "I watched the 2k151 version when I was little. I didn't realize other races remade it."

"I've seen an asari version, a salarian version and even a volus version," Garrus said, looking at the screen. The Vakels were fighting members of a street gang who refused to go into military service. "The volus version is actually pretty good, but there's no fighting. It's all negotiating or enforcing embargos on other clans."

"They look like human sloths almost," Shepard said, her eyebrows raised. "Bet those spikes on their backs come in handy."

"You have no idea," Garrus said quickly. "In this one episode-"

"Let's just watch," Shepard said, patting him on the knee.

The scene changed and the Vakels walked through what seemed to be an old abandoned warehouse.

"So that's April?" Shepard asked, looking at the young female turian wearing a yellow ribbon around her neck.

"Appria," Garrus corrected. "In this version, she's thirteen and has two years to go until basic." Appria jumped up and welcomed the Vakels back to the lair. "I had the biggest crush on her when I was seven."

"I can see why," Shepard said, tilting her head. "She's pretty cute. So what are the Vakel's names?"

"Uh, Iulius, Marcus, Ninus and Palius," Garrus said. "They're based on titan mythology. Iulius is the leader, Marcus is the muscle, Ninus does the tech and Palius eats a lot."

A new person came onto the screen, wearing deep purple robes, holding his antlered head high.

"That's totally Master Splinter, isn't it?" Shepard said. "What kind of animal is that? He's a like a deer and mole hybrid, I like it."

"He's a Bevillin. Goes by the name, 'The Unspoken of One," Garrus said. "He's a former Priest of Valluvian, and he teaches the Vakels the old ways."

"Tell me he uses those antlers in a fight," Shepard said.

"It's so cool when he does," Garrus said.

The next scene started and Garrus cringed as two humans appeared. He glanced over at Shepard, her eyebrows raised considerably. "Are those supposed to be humans?" she asked.

The two humans were tall, but almost volus shaped, with no neck and comically large ears. Instead of speaking, they simply yelled at each other the entire time. "You've got to remember, Shepard, this show was made maybe three years after the Relay 314 incident."

"Ah, stereotypes," Shepard said with a sigh. "Well, back then turians were portrayed as spiky monsters, so I guess I shouldn't be insulted."

Garrus and Shepard watched the rest of the show in silence, as the Vakels defeated the humans trying to poison Cipritine's water supply.

"That was pretty good," Shepard said once the show was over. "I can see why you like it."

"It's simple," Garrus said. "Black and white. Good guys win and the bad guys lose."

"Wish everything was that easy," Shepard said with a sigh. Garrus felt her try to snuggle closer to him, which he can't say he minded. "Got time for another?"

"Gladly," Garrus said, queuing up the episode. "In this one, we meet Scintilla, who was The Unspoken of One's best friend in basic training-"

"Shh..." Shepard said, leaning her head on Garrus' shoulder. "Why don't we just watch and see what happens?"

And so they did.