Chapter 20

"That's what you're wearing to get food?" Garrus's voice was low as he slid up behind her after getting dressed. His hands found either side of her hips, and she tried to focus on his words instead of his touch or tone.

"What's wrong with my outfit?" she challenged, eyebrow raised. "I already wore this out to get your bag."

"Mmm, I know, but you were only out for a few minutes, and it was by yourself."

"And?" She hadn't figured out what he was getting at. Her pants were long and dark, and her gray tank top wasn't particularly low cut.

"I mean, if we're going out together, it's not going to take much for someone to see me and see my mark on you, then put it together. Are you sure that you want us to go public?"

"Oh, that. I really don't care if people know that we're a thing. I'm not going to pretend to be ashamed of who I care about. Why? Would you prefer it if I hid the mark?"

"No," he answered immediately, and she felt a surge of satisfaction.

"Good, because that's pretty much the only way I'd even consider covering it up."

"Just be ready. People are going to whisper."

"Let them. I'm willing to talk over assholes." He chuckled at that, and she felt a smile tug at her lips when he wrapped his arms around her more fully.

"Mmm, I almost feel sorry for anybody who crosses you on this."

"Operative word being 'almost.'" He made a small, agreeable noise, and she leaned back into his embrace for a beat before he nuzzled at the base of her neck from behind. "Ah, ah. You need to behave long enough for me to get some food in me."

"I'm not even doing anything yet," he teased.

"You were going to."

"It's not my fault you're soft everywhere."

She snorted. "You've been giving me hell about being soft and squishy basically the entire time I've known you. Don't act like it's a surprise now."

"Just remember, I'm not the one who called you 'squishy' this time," he said with a laugh.

"Exactly. This time."

"No comment."

"Smart man."

"We should probably get that food before I get us sidetracked again."

"Mmm, very smart man," she murmured just before he pulled away, and she had a moment where she wanted to take it back. Being in his arms felt like heaven, and the loss of his warmth seemed to add insult to injury.

"I wonder if anybody's managed to gather enough energy to cook yet," Garrus mused as they walked toward the door together, side by side.

"There was some out when I went by, but worst comes to worst, we know how to cook." The door opened for them quietly.

"As long as you're cooking real food for yourself," he said pointedly as they entered the elevator.

"I will, if I need to. I swear, it's like you think I don't know how to take care of myself," she said playfully as it closed behind them.

"You know how to get by in almost any situation. That doesn't mean I'll ever stop worrying about you, Shep." Garrus hit the button.

She shook her head with a small smile. "Fine, but worrying isn't doing you a whole lot of good, honey. All it does is needlessly stress you out, which is also bad for you."

"So you worry about my worrying?"

"Mhmm."

"Now I'm wondering if I need to worry about you worrying about me worrying about you."

She laughed outright at that as the door opened and they walked out together. "Are we both going to end up with some kind of weird Russian nesting doll of anxiety?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Spirits, I hope not. I barely have time for my regular amount of worrying."

"We might want to put a pin in that, then," she said as they rounded the corner towards the mess area.

"Fair enough." They saw Jack and Miranda sitting, the former with a half-eaten breakfast, the latter with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Shepard," Jack said, weariness clear in her voice. "Don't eat the eggs. Everything else is edible, as long as you don't mind it lukewarm."

"I can handle it. You not eating, Miranda?"

"I'm too tired to eat," the other woman admitted, finally looking up from her cup and turning to look at Anya.

"Well, hopefully the coffee will help with that."

"It never does, but thank you. Garrus, I was looking for you earlier. I was wondering if you could manage an analysis on how our weapons performed after the upgrade. It seemed fairly impressive from my perspective, but I'm not familiar enough with the parameters you have set up to do the analysis myself." Anya moved to start preparing herself a plate as Miranda spoke, her stomach twisting painfully at the promise of food.

"Absolutely, and I understand how some of the scripting can be hard to follow."

"Mmm, your technique seems to be a derivative of Palixus's methods, but I can't figure out how you diverged."

"Palixus merged with Sitoin with a little Acario to bridge the gaps. I didn't know you were familiar with Palixus." Anya cocked an eyebrow at that, wondering who Garrus was talking about.

"I'm not as familiar as I should be, evidently. We considered some of his work when we integrated some of our equipment. I didn't have a lot of time to devote to the Normandy before...well. I didn't have a lot of time." Miranda seemed to fidget for a moment. Anya sat down next to Jack, leaving room for Garrus to either squeeze in next to her or sit across from her, next to Miranda.

Garrus was quick to take Anya's former place at the counter, and she watched as he opened the oven to pull out a pan. The lid had the words 'DEXTRO FOOD ONLY' etched on it in big block letters, and she felt herself smile a little. It was nice that the crew was so accommodating of Garrus and Tali's needs. She started eating her toast as Garrus got his plate situated.

"I think we need another day or two to recover before we do much else," Anya said conversationally after she finished the first piece.

"Seconded," Garrus said immediately, taking the spot across from her and shooting her a grin.

"Thirded," Jack groaned. Anya shot a look at Miranda, eyebrow raised, and the other woman snorted.

"I suppose the motion carries," she agreed with a shrug. "I can't imagine trying to make you lot do anything, anyway."

"We're a stubborn bunch," Anya joked.

"A badass bunch," Jack countered.

"I can't argue with either assessment," Miranda conceded. "I'm fairly certain it would be easier for me to train a feral varren to walk a tightrope than...Commander, what is that?"

"What's what?" Anya looked up to see the smile melting from Miranda's face as the other woman studied her.

"On your shoulder, by your neck. You shouldn't have a...oh. Oh!" Miranda's eyes darted from Anya's scar to the turian next to her for a beat, before she turned them downward towards her coffee again. "Never mind."

Anya snorted. "It's fine, really."

"What's the cheerleader going on about?" Jack sniped, studying Anya until she noticed the mark. "Holy shit. With a mouth like his, who's idea was it for him to start biting?" Garrus put his fork down at that.

"None of your business, Jack," Anya chided, irritation sparking.

"Okay, fine, but you don't honestly expect me to believe that you haven't fucked at this point, right?"

"Garrus and I are both very happy with where our relationship is at this point," Anya said vaguely, her cheeks heating.

"If you're both getting off, of course you fucking are! I know a post 'o' glow when I see it."

Garrus choked on a laugh at that. "I'm sorry, is that a real thing?"

"Mhmm, just look at Shep. Mild natural flush, even when I'm not teasing her ass, lips still holding onto a little extra fullness, bright-eyed as fuck, even though we're all tired, and she keeps smiling a little when I'm not actively pissing her off. This girl's been dicked down good." Jack bumped Anya's shoulder with hers.

"Jesus, Jack," Anya groaned, face in her hands.

"Tell me I'm bullshitting, then."

"You're not, but you need to shut the fuck up long enough for me to eat."

"Ugh, fine. Be a downer. I'm going to go see Tali, anyway. She fucking appreciates me," Jack said primly as she cleaned up her plate and stood.

"Don't have too much fun," Garrus said with a snort as Jack began to walk away.

"Like you'd know it if fun bit you in the ass. Or hers," Jack retorted without so much as a backward glance, and Anya had to suppress a laugh. After a few moments, Miranda spoke.

"Well, that was...very Jack."

"That it was," Anya agreed with a grin.

"You know, it's...I don't think this information is...pertinent to the mission we recently completed, do you?"

"What?" Garrus asked.

"Your...level of comfort with each other did nothing to hinder our performance as a team while we were completing our mission. That would make that information something I have no reason to report back to the Illusive Man. I think it's best for me to just omit it altogether. Don't you think that's best as well, Commander?" After a beat, Anya responded.

"I wouldn't ask you to do or not do anything you're uncomfortable with, Miranda."

"I'm aware. I just think...there's no point in bogging down my report with unnecessary details."

"However you want to handle it. I trust your judgement."

"Well, I'm glad that's settled, then. I know that...a real connection can be hard to find, and even harder to hold onto. You've both done enough for me that I don't want to make it any more difficult than it needs to be. Anyway, I think I should go ahead and get that report started. You two enjoy your breakfast." She smiled briefly at the pair before she rose.

"Don't work too hard, Miranda," Anya said quietly, and the other woman nodded before she walked away.

"Huh. Never realized Miranda was a romantic," Garrus said after she was gone.

"Me, either. It's nice of her to keep you and me under the radar a little bit. I didn't even think about the Illusive Man's reaction to the savior of humanity fucking a turian."

"Is...is it going to be a problem?" Garrus asked hesitantly.

"No. It's just...he seems oddly fixated on convincing me to handle things a certain way. I would worry about him hurting you to try to get me to listen to him more. I'd...if you got hurt for such a stupid reason, I…" She swallowed, unsure of how to continue. When her gaze met his, she was relieved to see understanding in his eyes.

"I get it, Anya," he said softly, reaching out and taking her hand in his for a beat. He squeezed once before he let go, and she felt herself smile.

"Good. Just...I hope you realize that you mean a lot to me."

"I do."

"Sometimes I struggle a little with putting it into words."

"Me, too. I think we can afford to both be understanding with each other when it comes to that, right?"

"Right." Her smile grew, and she felt her heart beat faster at his grin. He seemed fairly pleased when he responded.

"Good. Now, we should probably go ahead and eat before our food gets any colder, don't you think?"

"Absolutely, though I think I'd be willing to try taking a chunk out of it even if it was frozen."

"That's because you are an absolute heathen," he teased.

"Mmm, I'm pretty sure it's on you for choosing to get involved with a savage."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good. Who were those people you were talking about earlier? Sitoin and those other ones?"

"Hmm? Oh, right. Well, they're well known programmers, basically. Their methods on syntax and how to document code as it's being changed are regarded as among the best in the business."

"Is their stuff complicated?"

"It...can be. Palixus can be a bit on the intricate side."

"So, how smart do you have to be to handle all that stuff?"

He snorted. "I just understand the methodology, I didn't create a new programming language."

"I'm just saying that smart is sexy. Hell, my only experiences with programming had me frantically searching for duplicate shit like a sugar fueled child."

"I noticed. You got the job done, though." He took another bite and she shook her head.

"Half the time with omni-gel."

"Like a quarter of the time. I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can do insane things with your biotic that I definitely can't do. People have different strengths, sweetie."

"That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to appreciate yours, so hush," she said with a smile.

"Yes, Commander," he deadpanned, and she laughed.

"I think I preferred 'sweetie,'" she pretended to complain, and he chuckled.

"I'll remember that."

"You better."