"Garrus, Garrus!"
Riley's rather insistent voice chirped throughout the kitchen, distracting the turian from what he'd been doing. He turned to look at her, but she was gone and a moment later, she was latched to his leg.
"Garrus!"
He sighed softly, mandibles flaring wide in a grin as he lowered his gaze to her. "Yes Riley?"
"Come play with me!" She hugged his leg tighter and he had to grip the counter top with his talons to keep her from knocking him slightly off balance.
"I am trying to make you two lunch." He narrowed his eyes, then lifted them to look around the kitchen. "Speaking of – where is your sister?"
"Shhhh!" Riley put small finger in front of her lips. "It's a secret."
That doesn't bode well, he thought. There was one thing he had learned for sure over the last three years; silence may be golden, but when children were involved, silence was anything but – with children, silence was suspicious. He leaned down and pried Riley off his leg, lifting her into his arms.
Lowering his voice to a conspirator's whisper, he asked her, "where is your sister?" as if they were playing a game.
She giggled. "Bathroom," she whispered back.
Definitely doesn't bode well. He left the kitchen still carrying Riley and went down the hall toward the bathroom. The door was cracked open and he could hear the distinct sound of things being scattered about. Damn it. He really needed to learn to keep a better eye on them, but he hadn't been in the kitchen for more than five minutes at least. His used his free hand to push the door open and nearly choked when he saw Rhiannon sitting on the floor amongst the scattered bits of her mother's make up. She'd painted her face with what Shepard had called lip stick and blush.
"Hi Garrus!" Rhiannon chirped from the floor. "Am I pretty like mama?"
He couldn't help but laugh, his mandible fluttering against Riley's hair. "What do you think, Riley? She pretty like mama?"
"Yes!"
"Should we take a picture?" He whispered.
"Yes," she whispered back.
So he flared up his omni-tool and took a picture of Rhiannon's lastest art adventure. Later that night at dinner, he sent it to Shepard and Kaidan who promptly both nearly choked on their food once they saw it.
It was safe to say he and the girls had a hard time trying to halt their laughter the rest of the meal.
