"Okay, toughest mission," Tali said, gesturing with her fork. It was strange having the Normandy all to themselves. True, Garrus complained that it smelled like strangers now, but it was fun knowing that they really did have full run of the ship.
Garrus considered. "Horizon," he said flatly.
Tali didn't know if it was the mission that was hard, or the meltdown between Shepard and Alenko afterwards that made it hard. She didn't want to know. Shepard and Alenko had patched up. As far as she knew, Garrus kept a discrete eye on Alenko, but didn't seem to think there was any likelihood of a relapse into…whatever that had been.
She didn't want the evening, which had been so pleasant, bantering and relaxed, to be spoiled. "No fair! I hadn't even joined up yet!"
Garrus huffed though his nose, one of the turian equivalents of rolling his eyes. "Fine. The dead Reaper, then."
Tali shuddered. That had been creepy. Again, the creepiness was amplified by what happened afterwards. "You weren't on that one."
"No, but I had to sit and listen to it," he answered. "Worst enemy?"
"Aside from the Reapers? The Rachni."
"The Queen?"
"No, the little ones. They're like spiders and they scuttle—oh, go ahead and laugh." She didn't see what was so funny. Lots of people didn't like spiders, and Rachni had what most spiders didn't: too much mass.
Garrus did stop trying to restrain his chuckles. "Well, I'd rather have geth than husks."
"Why? Husks just kind of run up to you. It's like shooting…how does it go?" Tali frowned, less at not knowing the idiom and more at Garrus' pick of enemies.
"Fish in a barrel, whatever that means," Garrus answered, sipping his drink, "But you might also have noticed that I generally use a sniper rifle, while you're the one who likes things at short range."
"Yes, you do prefer to keep everything at a distance," Tali said without thinking. She wished for her helmet because, as she wasn't wearing it, she couldn't exactly hide the wince she that tried to follow. She thought she did alright, though.
"Exactly." Garrus blinked at her. Then something seemed to click inside his brain. "Wait, what…?"
"Creepiest thing we fought," Tali said hastily, realizing this was just a rehash of the last question. Suddenly, the evening seemed to be burning down around her ear-holes…
"The Thorian," Garrus answered, his expression pulling into a thoughtful frown. "But wait, go back, what did you mean—"
Tali arranged her expression into something she hoped looked innocent. "I didn't mean anything. What did you mean?" She would have bet hard credits that if Garrus had feathers, he would have fluffed them. "I'm still going to have to go with the little spider Rachni things."
Garrus perplexed expression shifted towards a grin. "I thought you liked it when it got up close and personal."
Tali felt as if someone had just turned a big, bright spotlight on and pointed it at her. "I guess it depends on who it is," she retorted lightly…and realized just how flirty the words sounded.
This…was turning into a nightmare. "Do you ever regret fighting on a human ship?" she asked hastily, hoping to change the topic so completely that any of the car wreck she could see forming from the last topic might be forgotten.
"The Normandy's design was part turian, remember?"
She was so relieved that he let her change the subject. She didn't miss that he seemed to be more attentive, as if suspecting that if he gave it enough time, the fragment that caught his attention might coalesce into something recognizable.
Ugh. She felt like such a nerd!
"You know what I mean," Tali retorted.
Garrus grinned, mandibles waving as he set aside his empty plate. "Nah. Someone's gotta keep you from giving all the dextros a bad name."
"Ah. Yes. I remember you chastising me on behalf of my species for losing out homeworld to the geth," Tali said dryly. It hurt at the time. Now, she knew it was just Garrus being an idiot. Ignorant, not malicious.
Garrus straightened, looking upset and a little offended. "I never said that."
Tali arched her eyebrows. "Would you like me to send you the audio recording?"
"…no…I hate listening to recordings of myself. My voice never comes out right." Garrus' expression shifting from offended outrage to slow realization, to something shamefaced, to genuine upset. His posture changed with his expression.
Tali opened her mouth to say something, she hadn't meant to crush him like that.
"Listen, about what I said…" Garrus said, looking up with his beautiful bright blue eyes.
"Forget it," Tali shook her head.
"No. I was wrong. I was young and…I was wrong about your people."
Tali opened her mouth to say 'thank you,' she never expected an apology, but never got the words out.
"And about you," Garrus added, hastily looking away.
"Oh…th-thanks," Tali faltered.
Garrus looked up, checked her face, then hiked a too-bright expression on, assuming a tone to match. Clearly, it was better to get away from this awkward moment.
Tali agreed completely, cursing her own stupidity for having ruined a great evening.
"So how about you? You mind serving on an all-human ship?"
It was her mistake that ruined the fun, but he was acting like it wasn't, trying to pull the conversation back onto its pleasant track. As if it wasn't her fault for messing it up. Perhaps it was his blatant honesty in the apology he offered moments before that unstuck her next words. "It's not all human. As long as you're here."
She couldn't stop the way her hand clamped over her mouth, shocked that she'd said those words in that tone. She couldn't stop the the blush that surged into her face. She felt like she might just combust on the spot.
Well. Shepard said he didn't pick up on subtle. That was about as subtle as a drunken come-on!
