Shepard was the best wingman ever. Tali didn't know when Shepard's birthday was, but next year? Totally amazing gift.
After the initial conversation about Tali and Garrus, Shepard had not touched on the subject again. Tali appreciated Shepard's advice, and couldn't imagine what else Shepard could say that would help without somehow compromising Garrus' trust in the process.
But, as it turned out, Shepard didn't actually need to say anything more in order to help move things along. She simply went into action and created an opportunity. Wasn't that all she'd felt Tali really needed? An opportunity? Why else would Shepard essentially have pleaded 'I'm having an off day,' when she was doing so much better?
That was what Shepard had done, and she'd done it to Garrus, which was why Tali and Garrus had spent the last half hour browsing in the supermarket, discussing the finer points of quarian and turian personal taste.
Quarians were mostly herbivores by necessity; you couldn't really ranch when you lived on an assemblage of spaceships.
Turians were mostly carnivores by nature; they weren't obligate, but you wouldn't find many turians eating a salad except as a placeholder.
The common ground had to do with the fact that the base food—plant or animal—tended to be flavored beyond recognition.
"There's only so many ways to cook a steak," Garrus pointed out. "So lots of spices, lots of sauces."
"It's the same with us. Vegetables and nutrient squares get boring after a very short span of time—so anything to dress up the flavor," Tali agreed.
Turian cuisine was, by her way of thinking, rather heavy. Quarian cuisine, by comparison, was quite light.
"But do you even like meat?" Garrus frowned as he examined a blue-tinted cut at the butcher's counter.
"I think so. I don't get it often enough to really decide whether I do or not," Tali answered with a shrug. "You're sure this won't be too many vegetables?" She hiked her basket higher on her arm as Garrus added the meat to his own.
He glanced at the basket, then shrugged. "I'm not worried about it."
"Do…" Tali stopped, then lowered her voice. "Are too many vegetables bad for you?"
"Yes. But it would take the quantities of, say, a full day of the quarian diet. A salad isn't going to send me into anaphylactic shock or the depths of malnutrition. Don't worry." He bumped her arm with his elbow.
Tali was glad he seemed so comfortable and relaxed, as if he really looked forward to this evening's exchange…
…not the least because so many romantic-genre vids indicated that cooking for someone else was a way of showing interest, of displaying one's talent to a potential partner. It was a little early to be thinking like that, but she remained aware of the trope, and wondered whether it was accurate.
"I've got an idea for how we can share dinner," Garrus said.
Tali started, dragged out of her own thoughts. "I'm sorry?"
"Well, it's no fun to go halves and eat one our own," Garrus answered, an edge of unease appearing in his voice. "I just thought…your room has a window, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does." It was usually covered over by a privacy curtain on the medbay side, but it was a fairly decent-sized window.
"Well. I can drag a chair in and sit on one side, and you can sit on the other, and we'll leave the comm panel open. Dinner together that won't risk you getting horrifically sick…past my own meagre cooking skills," he added self-deprecatingly.
"I'm sure you can cook just fine. You had to have done before you joined the Normandy."
"You know in those crime dramas, where the detectives are always eating out of takeout containers? There's a reason for that trope," Garrus stage whispered to her.
Tali chuckled. "I never really asked about your career with C-Sec, did I?"
Garrus shrugged. "Pyrotechnics with my dad and most authority pretty much sums it up. It wasn't a good fit. I was just too stubborn to admit it."
"Your dad was C-Sec too, wasn't he? Is that why you joined?"
"Yeah." Garrus sighed.
"I know what that's like," Tali said. "He's…he's still missing, isn't he?"
Garrus blinked. "Actually…no. I heard from him a few days ago. I think EDI was looking for him—well, I think she looks for signs of all the crew's family members. He and Solona, my sister, actually got off Palaven. She broke her leg in the escape."
Tali groaned, knowing about turians and leg injuries.
"But they got off-planet. I'm not sure where they are. Dad probably went back into the service, because of course he did. Solona's still recovering…somewhere. Dad thought it was better not to say where. Just in case." Garrus smiled shakily. "It's one of those things. You're glad to know they're okay, but who can you share it with, when everyone else's people are still missing?"
"Me. You can share it with me," Tali answered frankly. "And I'm glad you did. And I'm glad your people are alright."
Garrus' grin spread. "I suppose I can, at that."
Conversation lapsed as they arrived at the checkout.
Tali hadn't known that EDI was looking for the crew's family members, but hearing it didn't surprise her. EDI was kind that way, and wouldn't say anything about what she was doing until she had something to show for it.
She had initially been leery of EDI, quarian experience with AIs being what it was, but by now she felt quite comfortable around her. She thought it might be nice to do something for EDI, as a kind of thank you for what EDI was doing for everyone else. But what to do rather stumped Tali, so she bookmarked the thought for later and watched Garrus checking out.
He was the one she wanted. And if he wasn't going to catch any subtle hints, she supposed she would need to be direct.
