Garrus' head was spinning, and it had nothing to do with the beer he'd sipped during dinner. (He couldn't complain about the salad, the taste was fine, but texture-wise it wasn't something he would want to repeat often.) Tali was decidedly flirting with him. More than that, her hand over her mouth stance and the brilliant tinge to her face indicated quite clearly she had said more than she meant to.

He had no idea what to say. He had no idea what to do, and while running away seemed a perfectly logical thing to do, he couldn't find the muscles to make his legs work.

"Don't-don't look at me like that," Tali said quietly, sounding as if she might be close to tears.

He was looking at her. Yes. How was he looking at her that he shouldn't? He felt like he'd just been struck over the back of his head.

Tali sighed, standing up and turning so he couldn't see her face. "Alright. Fine. I'll level with you," she said thickly. "I'm…I've become very fond of you, Garrus. Not like with Shepard, or Liara. But…fond. You know? And, I know you still think of me as a kid—"

He didn't, he realized. Not really. More, just out of habit because she was Tali, who came to the Normandy under Shepard's wing. She'd ended up a little under his wing, too. Not in any really overt way, just…he kept an eye on her. Made she didn't get into too much trouble.

…but that wasn't quite true. He'd been fond of her, and relegated her to that position. But he hadn't done it for Liara, or any of the first-termers in the crew now. It had only been for Tali.

"—but I'm not a kid. At least…I don't want to be. Not for you. So…so yeah. That's out there. I-I love you, Garrus. So if you could just, you know, close the privacy curtain and get us both out of this very awkward, uncomfortable situation, I'd really appreciate it."

She had her back to him, so she couldn't see him open his mouth to speak.

"Just…just think about it a little?" her voice wavered. "I'm sure this is very sudden for you. You're a turian and I'm a quarian, and yes, we can eat the same food—it was great, by the way—but…"

He stood up and tapped on the glass.

Tali jumped, then jerked around. Sure enough, her big eyes were swimming with tears he was sure were more frustration with herself than anything else. "Just…just think about it," she said blankly, her eyes fixed on his, expression open and raw. She put one hand on the window and attempted a brave smile.

Unsure what to do, Garrus put his hand against the window, over hers. "…I'll think about it."

"This won't change anything," Tali began, tone one of justification.

"I know it won't. Goodnight, Tali."

She pursed her lips. "Goodnight."

Garrus drew the curtains closed, careful to make the movements easy and fluid, not abrupt, as if in a hurry to hide her from view.

There would be some horrible dishes in the morning, but Garrus didn't care. He wandered down to the belly of engineering. It was comfortably familiar down there, and he felt the need for familiarity.

Once he was down there, he called Shepard. "Garrus?"

"Shepard. Did you know Tali had a-a thing for me?" he asked wearily.

Shepard frowned. "Of course I did. So did Chambers and Dr. Michel."

Garrus winced. How did he not know about any of this? "Did you try to set me up this evening?"

Shepard's expression went flinty. "I did not," she answered firmly. "I asked you to do something I would have done otherwise because you were the best man for the job. And I know you've been putting in long hours with the refugees. I was worried about you both."

That was Shepard. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"See you later."

"Goodnight, Garrus."

Garrus hung up, then curled up in his mobile bunk. Tali had a crush on him? Forget Dr. Michel and Chambers. Tali? Little fragments of conversation here and there began to crystalize, until he wasn't sure how he could have missed it.

And how did he feel about it?

If he was honest…bewildered. He'd never had much luck with other turians…and he felt he was likely to have even less luck no, scarred as he was. And Tali was…pretty…he supposed. He didn't feel any weird twistings of his stomach when he thought about kissing her as he did if he thought about kissing Dr. Michel or Chambers. And he thought about it, deliberately, each in turn, to make sure.

No. He didn't get any uncomfortable stomach twisting. If anything, he felt…curiosity.

And except for a few asinine statements early in their relationship, he'd always gotten on well with Tali, their relationship being fairly playful, the occasionally more barbed remark notwithstanding. She was snarky and spunky. He'd always liked that about her.

He'd never considered someone outside his own species. Now that he had no choice but to think about it…well. He certainly wouldn't want anything to do with Xen or anyone else he'd met on the Flotilla. But Tali was special.

And, testing his own feelings earnestly, he didn't like it when he imagined Tali hooked up with some other quarian. That Reeger fellow, for example. No, he didn't like that much at all.

But was this really the time?

He immediately labeled this thought a knee-jerk defensive reaction. Shepard and Alenko were taking the shore leave as a chance to live like a real couple. They weren't wasting a single minute, war or no war.

He tried to change his point of view. Tali was someone among the quarians. Quarians were clannish. Imagine for a minute that news got out that she was seeing a turian. He didn't think it would go over well…

…and yet, everyone and their cousin dated asari…