Garrus knew that he would have to polish some serious gizzard for leaving all the gross dishes in a sink full of cold water in the galley for Tali to cope with. However, he couldn't think of any other way to keep her occupied—or from going to cry her woes to Shepard before proceeding to avoid him with all the tenacity Tali possessed—because Tali wouldn't leave a sink full of dirty dishes when she knew the techs would eventually be all over the ship.

So when Garrus' eyes popped open at zero six hundred, he immediately got up, wished he had an overnight bag, and headed for the grocery store.

He still didn't really know what to do with the fact that Tali had a-a thing for him. He didn't want to call it a crush, though whether because it was silly or because he didn't want it to be, he wasn't sure. Analyzing his own feelings was not something to which Garrus devoted a great deal of time.

For once, he'd found something he didn't want to jump into, leaping without looking. Such caution was not normal for him, so he found it odd. He finally justified it as not wanting to end up on the business end of Tali's shotgun for having jumped in without thinking, only to change his mind later.

He felt encouraged at being encouraged that Tali wouldn't take that kind of treatment well. If he didn't think it would work, he knew she would accept that. But only if he really, honestly, truly didn't think it would, because she was not a woman to be jerked around.

He heard Tali before he could see her, fussing and fuming as she tried to scrub off bits of food and sauce that seemed to have lithified overnight. It sounded like two-thirds cursing the dishes and one-third grumping about him leaving them all for her.

But of course, she didn't know he'd stayed the night.

He did the only thing he could think of. He sailed into the galley with a bright morning smile and indicated the dishes. "They just need to soak some more." He reached in with his free hand and pulled the plug in the now stone-cold water.

"I really hate you this morning," Tali said grumpily.

He grinned at the sheer normalcy of the conversation. "I'll make you breakfast. I'll even clean up after it," he offered, holding up the bag.

"You'd better," Tali grumbled, though she craned to see what was in the bag.

He took it as a good sign. She hadn't lied: her little confession of the night before hadn't seemed to change much. "I'm better at breakfasts. Not many people know that about me."

"You don't make a lot of breakfasts for two?" Tali asked.

"Rarely. And never recently," he answered.

Tali hovered as he began preparing the meal. Finally, "I'm sorry about last night."

He sensed she was going to say more, but he spoke before she could. "I'm not." He set the eggs aside. "Look…I don't…this is unexpected. I don't want to say yes, spur of the moment like I usually do things, because I don't want to disappoint you if it turns out to be no. I'm fond of you, and don't want to be the one who-who hurts you. But I don't want to say no, either. So…maybe we can just keep that door open?"

"…and see where it goes?" Tali finished.

Garrus nodded.

"Yeah…yeah," her tone warmed as she spoke. "I like that plan. No need to rush, it's just that it's out there, now."

"Yeah. So…how're you feeling? Last night was kind of rough."

"It was rough. But…I know what you could do about it." A shimmer of teasing, a spark of that sassiness he'd always liked.

"Oh? And what would that be, pray tell?" he deadpanned.

"You could give me a big hug," Tali audibly pouted; he didn't think she was being entirely serious. Just testing the waters. Which was fine by him. He'd reached as far as he was going to reach today. "I was going to go over to Shepard's place this morning, and after the night I've had, she'd give me a big hug if I needed one."

Garrus found this hard to imagine, but he suspended his skepticism. Shepard at home seemed softer than normal Shepard off-duty. She was like a turian that way. Garrus considered the request, then nodded slowly. It was just a hug. It wasn't asking for much. And they were off duty and at home. "Okay. I can do that. I'm her number two guy, right?"

"Right. But you're number one in my books." Tali was not shy about stepping up to him and wrapping her arms around his torso—though she tilted her head so she looked up into his face instead of into his chest, as if looking to see if he was uncomfortable.

Garrus gave a chuckle, wrapped his arms around her, and leaned over to rest his forehead against hers. It was…nice. A little uncomfortable posture-wise, but otherwise…yeah. This wasn't bad at all. Could he get used to it?

…maybe-yes?

After a moment, Tali giggled. "Hey Garrus?"

"Hm?"

"Your breath is fogging up my visor."

It was an opportunity that couldn't be missed. If things weren't supposed to change drastically because of…agreeing to see where this would go…then he could not afford to miss an opportunity like this. "Am I really?" And he breathed on it, deliberately, purposefully, and protractedly.

"Eew! Garrus! That's so gross!" Tali shrieked, immediately twisting to get away.

"It's not like you can smell the morning mouth!" Garrus didn't tighten his grip, but he didn't let go either. He was also comfortably conscious that he had brought fresh supplies for his teeth when he went shopping for breakfast. "Hey, bring that back here—I missed the other side!"

This caused her to into further shrieks of laughter as she squirmed…but not to much effect.