Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 26
Prompt 26: Least Favourite Companion
SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2
Trust
Normandy SR-2, en route to Aeia, Alpha Draconis System, 2185 CE
"Commander? You in here?" Garrus stepped into the Port Observation lounge and cast his gaze around the room, which looked completely deserted.
"Hng?" He heard a groan, shortly followed by a giggle, from behind the bar and stepped around the comfortable couches to see Kasumi sitting next to Kara Shepard on the other side of the counter, leaning against the wall, both with drinks in their hands. Shepard looked up at him and grinned. "Hi Garrus," she slurred.
Garrus blinked down at the two of them and gave the thief an appraising look. "What's this then?"
Kasumi shrugged and stood up, looking a lot less drunk than her companion. "Nothin' special, Vakarian," she said, hopping over the counter. "Shep was feeling a bit… irritable… after our last mission. So I offered to cheer her up with one of my special concoctions!"
Shepard slowly dragged herself to her feet, clinging to the counter like a liferaft. "… What was in that drink?" she asked Kasumi blearily.
"Apples," Kasumi smiled back at them. Garrus helped Shepard get steady on her feet. "Mostly apples." She opened the door and gave Garrus a wave. "I'm going to go get something to eat in the mess. I'll be back in a bit."
"Wait-" Garrus blinked and stumbled as Kara leaned against him. The door slid closed. "Damnit Goto," he said to himself. All he had come looking for was a report on the Thanix Cannon upgrades, and now he was babysitting his drunk commanding officer.
Again.
"Come on," he said, gently maneuvering her to a spot on one of the couches. She wasn't as drunk as usual – hell, by her standards she was only just tipsy – but she still gave him her drunk smile and giggled. He rolled his eyes. "What sorrows are you drowning today Shepard?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
Shepard shrugged. "That 'abandoned' Collector ship wasn't exactly a picnic, Vakarian," she said, making air-quotes. "If I ever have to fight another one of those Praetorians…" she shook her head and lifted her hand to her mouth, frowning in puzzlement. "Where's m'drink?"
"Kasumi took it," Garrus lied.
"Damnit." Shepard leaned back and sighed, staring at the ceiling. "I just can't believe it," she said softly. "Fucking Illusive Man and his bullshit.
Garrus sighed also, understanding her frustration. "I don't like it either," he said. "But Cerberus is our best hope at stopping the Collectors, and the Reapers."
"I know," Shepard shook her head and lifted her head up, glaring at nothing in particular. "I just don't see how we can do that when we can't trust this guy to be honest with us. When we can't trust his people."
"You don't trust Jacob and Miranda?" Garrus looked surprised. After everything Shepard had done for Miranda on Ilium, helping her sister, and considering they were on their way to investigate the disappearance of Jacob's father, he found it hard to believe that she didn't at least trust them a little.
Shepard snorted. "Yeah right," she said. "About as far as I can throw them. Miranda's just so…" she wrinkled her nose.
Garrus smirked. "Perfect?"
Shepard slumped down in her seat and did a convincing imitation of Jack's voice. "Cerberus Cheerleader." She shook her head. "She reminds me of all the girls I went to high school with."
"Jacob's trustworthy enough," Garrus said, shrugging, deciding not to press the topic of high school. Humans always seemed to get stuck on it somehow. "He's a team player, he's solid, good with biotics."
Shepard shook her head. "Compared to the other people I have on this team? I'd pick you or Tali or even Jack or Kasumi over Jacob on a mission. Plus," she looked over at Garrus very seriously. "His teeth are too straight. They creep me out."
Garrus laughed. "Now you're just making things up."
She shrugged again. "Whatever," she said. "I don't like 'em."
Garrus gave her a look. "You don't have to like them, Shepard," he said. "But they are part of the team. Cerberus or not, you should give them a chance."
Shepard wrinkled her nose and slumped a little further in her seat, saying nothing.
Garrus leaned back in his own seat and looked out through the main observation window, watching the stars go by. He laughed.
"What?" Shepard leaned forward, looking out the window. "What's funny?"
Garrus smiled. "I remember another pair of human crewmates you had some trouble getting along with."
"Hm?" Shepard looked at him. "What do you mean?"
He continued staring out the window. "A certain gunnery chief we ran into on Horizon?" he mused. "And a Biotic Lieutenant?"
Shepard seemed to sober slightly. She sighed and scratched her head awkwardly. "I guess I was kind of like that about Ash and Kaidan, huh?"
Garrus chuckled. "Half the time you were in the Mako with me and someone else who wasn't one of them you'd complain about Ashley's bigotry or Kaidan's awkwardness."
Shepard sighed again. "And then Kaidan gave his life for the lot of us on Virmire."
They sat in silence for a while, both looking out the window at the stars. Garrus spoke after a moment. "You trusted him when it came down to the wire, right?"
"Of course," Shepard said, slightly indignant. "I wouldn't have had him setting up a bomb if I didn't!"
"And you trusted Ash too," Garrus pressed.
Shepard leaned back, still staring out the window. "Get to your point Vakarian," she grumbled.
"My point is," Garrus said, standing up and crossing the room to the refrigeration unit under the bar. "You didn't trust them at first either. But they proved themselves." He took two beers out of the unit, one with a bright blue 'DEXTRO' label on it, and crossed back to Shepard, handing her a beer. "Now, I'm not saying Lawson and Taylor hold a candle to Williams or Alenko, I'm saying that you shouldn't be afraid to give them a chance. They might surprise you."
Shepard opened her beer and gave him a look. "When did you get all wise and full of advice to give?"
Garrus shrugged. "hey, I just came in here to ask about that Thanix Cannon upgrade, I wasn't intending to give you sage wisdom. Sometimes that just happens when you come looking for your drunk commanding officer."
"Hey," Shepard attempted to give him a stern look. "I am NOT drunk."
"Uh-huh," Garrus smirked, opening his own beer. He held it up next to hers. "Here's to old friends," he said. "And people you can trust."
Shepard clinked her beer against his and took a long swig of it. Then she spoke again. "Here's to you," she nodded at Garrus, smiling. "You're people I can trust."
Garrus smiled and had a sip of his own beer. "I appreciate that Commander," he said. "And for the sake of team morale at least, giving Lawson and Taylor a chance would be appreciated too."
"I'm doing my best," Shepard grumbled. They sat together a little longer, drinking their beer. "But still," she said eventually. "His teeth are really creepy."
Garrus laughed. "You think so?"
"Seriously," Shepard shook her head and shuddered. "It's like they're in my dreams, following me…"
Answer: Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor
For me it really is a matter of least favourite as opposed to characters that I dislike. I can't think of a single squadmate in all 3 games I actively dislike. Of all of them, there are some I prefer and find less interesting, and ultimately of all of them, Miranda and Jacob are far less interesting to me compared to the other squadmates. So consider this drabble just an excuse for me to write a little more drunk!shep and for Garrus to give her some food for thought.
For the curious, Kasumi IS making a Pratchett's Discworld Nanny Ogg reference when she says 'mostly apples', and the last line is a reference to a Hold Steady song called 'Teeth Dreams'.