Hello dear readers!
Sorry it took so long to write this chapter but I'm already working on the next one so you will not have to wait so long for that one. I made up a few turian words again, I put the translations in the footnotes. Now on with the show!
()()()
Shepard smiled at him, and it was like the sun rising over Palaven's mountains.
What the hell? Getting poetic now, Garrus?
He couldn't stop staring at her, taking her in. Her short, black hair, with the bright blue streak on her left side almost touching her eye. Her blue eyes, framed by dark lashes, some black paint around her eyes making them shine even brighter. She looked so alien, but fascinating. But it was her smile that stood out the most. Her smile for him.
Her gaze shifted towards Nihlus and she smiled at him too. Before he could clamp down on them, his subvocals released a quiet growl. It was just a short burst of something like jealousy and Garrus wasn't even sure why, but Nihlus had heard it. His mandibles snapped into a smirk as he got up to pull Shepard into an embrace. Again, Garrus felt that growl escape before he could stop it. Nihlus turned Shepard around so that he could look over her shoulder and he grinned - grinned!- at him. Garrus knew he had been caught; he was jealous of Nihlus over a human woman he hardly knew. He would never hear the end of this.
Shepard stepped out of Nihlus' embrace and turned around to Garrus. She extended her arm and held out her hand. Garrus got up, dipping his head respectfully, and grabbed her lower arm with his hand. She looked at him slightly confused, and he realized that he had turned her human style handshake into a turian greeting among friends. He touched the inside of her arm and she didn't even wear armor there! Stupid! Garrus wanted to slap himself, he knew how humans greeted each other, better than most turians probably. Why was he acting so weird?
She took a step towards him, as close as it was possible with a chair standing between them, and put her other hand on his shoulder. He couldn't feel her touch through his armor, but he was aware that she was now clearly in his personal space, looking into his eyes. As she edged closer, his visor gave off a proximity warning.
She smiled and he could see her flat teeth. "We haven't really been introduced yet," she said, "I'm Lieutenant Jane Shepard, Alliance Navy."
Garrus widened his mandibles and wondered for a second if she knew that he had smiled at her. He was aware that many aliens found this look intimidating. "Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec." He put his free hand on her shoulder, unsure if this was the right thing to do. This didn't look like any form of greeting he knew, and from the outside, it looked like the only thing to stop them from embracing was the chair between them.
She still smiled and they stood in this weird, almost embrace, a little bit too long. Nihlus stepped up and gently broke them apart by offering that stupid chair to Shepard, and they all sat back down. Johnson came back in and he took her offered hand and shook it as they introduced each other. Yes, that's how it's done! Stupid!
Johnson sat down with a happy smile on his face. "Sarah wants to meet me at the Presidium in half an hour. I would say I'm sorry to leave you guys, but honestly, I'm not." He grinned at them and waved his credit chit over his coffee cup to pay for it.
Nihlus smiled at him and asked, "Why didn't you invite her to join us?"
Johnson looked at him, his expression suddenly serious. "This is the turian part of the Citadel. I feel intimidated here, and I'm a big guy. And no offense to Lieutenant Shepard here, but she clearly looks like a woman who can hold her own in a fight." Shepard raised her hand, "None taken." Johnson nodded at her and turned to Nihlus again, "Sarah is a tiny woman, a scientist, not a soldier. I don't want her walking alone around here."
Nihlus looked equally serious now. "Do you think a turian would attack her like a wild animal? Because we can't control our predator side?" There was a threat there, just under the surface of polite conversation.
Johnson didn't flinch. "No, Nihlus, I know turians are not wild animals," he pointed to Garrus, "I hang around with this guy, you know, and he's pretty much the nicest guy I have ever known." Garrus hummed in embarrassment. Shepard looked at him with a smile and Garrus' hum grew louder until he forced a hold down on his subharmonics.
"Have you been to this part of the Citadel lately?" Johnson asked, sweeping his arm to include the whole area outside of the window. "Racism, or is it speciesism? Anyways, it runs rampant here. It's the same everywhere, if the different species don't mix, prejudices against the unknown aliens grow. Look around, look at the market there. You might see a salarian occasionally or a volus but no human would dare to show his face here without some turian friends around him."
Nihlus sang a sad tone and lowered his head in an apology. "I'm sorry, Frank. I apologize for my accusation, I should have known that you are not that kind of a person. I had not realized that the situation has gotten worse."
Shepard spoke up, an angry furrow between her eyebrows. "Has it become that bad? I had hoped that people would have gotten used to each other over time." She made a short snort, "that explains a lot..."
"What do you mean?" Garrus asked her. Her face had a look of barely suppressed rage for a second and then turned calm again. He realized that she was very careful with the emotions she showed.
She turned to him and gave him a sad smile. "On my way here a young turian boy wanted to talk to me, he was just curious I think, maybe he had never seen a human before. But a woman, probably his mother, grabbed him roughly and pulled him away, scolding him. And then she yelled at me, some curses that my translator couldn't define. I thought it was just a misunderstanding, but maybe it wasn't?"
Garrus felt frustration rise. Like Frank had said a while back, the galaxy was a different place now. People should adapt and try to get along instead of secluding and stewing in their old prejudices. But as he had noticed today with Peters and Lerv, the speciesism didn't even stop at C-Sec. If C-Sec couldn't even be an example, how were people supposed to learn?
Before he could say something in his anger, Shepard spoke up again, looking at Nihlus. "You know it was the same before we started the combined training program, remember? People didn't know about each other and they just assumed the worst. Maybe we could set up some kind of festival, let people experience the different cultures. We invite some of our guys, you know the ones who went through our training? We could have a mixed martial arts tournament, performances, dances, things like that. Humans and turians with each other, no separating, show everyone how we can work and live together." Her eyes were alight with excitement and her optimism was infectious.
Nihlus smiled at her and gave a subvocal trill of happiness and pride. "I may not have time to organize this directly, but I'll gladly lend my new Spectre authority to this. I know just the right person to take this up, I'll contact her right away."
"Is she a turian?" Shepard asked. Nihlus nodded and Shepard suddenly had a mischievous grin on her face. "Would she get along well with a human? Male, military, serious?"
Nihlus looked at her curiously, "Sure, she's not a prejudiced turian and comes from a military family. Who do you have in mind?"
"I wonder if I could get Anderson to chairman this. His staff on the Citadel are very capable, they could handle things without his direct involvement all the time, and his name does carry some weight around here." Shepard smiled at Nihlus, and Garrus felt like he was missing some part of the story here.
Nihlus shook his head, "You do know that Anderson has had some bad experiences with turians? There isn't a whole lot of love in him when it comes to us. You can't change everyone, Shepard."
"I know Nihlus, I know I can't change people. But maybe I can just give him a nudge in the right direction so that he wants to change himself." Again those eyes, full of light.
Garrus was fascinated. He knew she was a soldier, a deadly force. But now she was more like a guardian of understanding, forcing people to come together. He knew it wouldn't be easy, and she probably knew it too, but she was determined to get people to work with each other.
Nihlus and Shepard already put together a contact list and had their omni-tools exchange data. Garrus noticed how Frank looked at her like he saw her for the first time. There was that growl of jealousy trying to rise up again and Garrus stamped down on it with determination. You have no claim here!
Frank must have noticed something and grinned at him now. Garrus felt very stupid. He stretched his throat, "Eh, I think we could include C-Sec in this project. Spirits know we need this just as much as anybody. I spoke to a new human recruit today, apparently speciesism is just as common at C-Sec as it is here. I'll talk to the Executor, we'll have to deal with the security anyway, and maybe we could find something to participate in."
Nihlus nodded absentmindedly, but Shepard looked at him with a wide smile and her whole face was alight. Like the sun over Palaven - Oh stop it. "That's an excellent idea, Officer Vakarian!"
"Please, call me Garrus, Lieutenant." He said and her smile got wider.
"Then I ask you to just call me Shepard, Garrus."
"Gladly, Shepard."
They looked into each others eyes and neither looked away until Frank cleared his throat. He coughed into his hand and got up to leave. "I'll leave you now to meet Sarah."
Nihlus stood up as well, "I don't feel comfortable having you or Shepard walk on your own in this district anymore. May I suggest that we all go to the Presidium together? The three of us can easily find a place to eat there and Frank will get safely to Sarah." He looked at all of them one after the other. Frank and Shepard shrugged their shoulders while Garrus hummed his agreement to himself.
They apologized to the waiter for not getting any food and stepped outside. The wards had no day and night cycle, the light was the same as always but Garrus felt like the atmosphere had changed. Turians were staring at them and at their two human friends.
A group of five young turians, all wearing the same black armor with a red logo on their shoulders, stepped slowly towards them, following them to the main street. They walked the same speed as them, keeping the same distance. But they were not just following, they were herding them out of the district, blocking the path behind them. Garrus and Nihlus exchanged a look, they were both aware of the situation. Frank was already in C-Sec mode, sending out a message to headquarters and setting his omni-tool to record like he always did. Garrus looked at Shepard, her face was friendly and he wondered if she had not even noticed the group behind them. But then he saw her feeling for a weapon apparently hidden under her vest. She looked at Nihlus, who already had a pistol out and held it close to his chest. She urgently shook her head and whispered, "We can't shoot here, there are civilians and children around here!"
Nihlus hesitated for a second but then he nodded and let the pistol disappear again. Behind them the group was walking faster, closing in on them and Garrus could hear the menacing growls. Nihlus and Shepard exchanged a look and Garrus felt slightly left out. These two knew each other well and they communicated without words. They both stopped and turned around at the same time, their arms spread wide and with a friendly smile said "Hello!" to the group. The other turians almost ran into each other and seemed momentarily confused.
Nihlus had his mandibles wide in a grin and addressed one of the black-armored turians directly. "How can we help you, friend? Anything you wanted to say to us?" His smile was friendly but his subvocals were singing a clear threat.
The other turian answered the same way and then pointed with a hateful snarl at Shepard and Johnson. "These two should not be here! They don't belong here or even on the Citadel!" He was shouting now, making a big show for his audience. "Let them go back to their muddy planet, let them go back living in caves! You should be ashamed to be in their company, that is not the turian way!"
"To learn something new is not the turian way? That explains a lot!" Obviously Shepard did not have a lot of patience for stercus. She took a step forward, her empty hands still visible. Her voice was deep and loud, she was talking for the benefit of the families around them. "So, it is you who get's to decide how a turian is supposed to live? You tell the people who they can talk to? You decide what's right and what's wrong?"
Now another kind of growl was rising from the turians around them. Turians followed orders of superiors and listened to their parents. That was ingrained in every turian from early on. But for young men like the five in front of them to assume that they could decide for others, that showed an immense lack of respect. Does Shepard know that?
The leader of the group realized that he had lost the popular vote; he twitched one mandible and his group turned away. Shepard started to walk backwards and the rest of them did the same, not letting their eyes stray from the turians in the black armor. Finally they felt safe enough to turn around and walk to the transport terminal. Suddenly something hit Shepard on her back, splattering her in purple goo. One of the agitators had thrown an overripe necitina at her. The juices had sprayed all over her back and were dripping from her hair and down her bare arms.
They all stared at her, wondering what she would do now. Garrus saw her gripping something under her vest, probably the grip of her pistol. He wondered if this would make her forget the civilians. For a moment her face was full of rage but then the emotion was gone and like a mask another expression slid over her face. She smiled, no - she laughed! She laughed like this was the funniest thing that had happened to her all day, and to his surprise he heard some of the children laugh with her. Even some of the older turians were grinning and somehow the whole incident turned into a funny little thing.
The agitators realized that they still couldn't get the aggression against the humans they had wanted and turned away. Shepard waved at some turian children and then climbed into a skycar. As soon as she was out of sight the smile fell from her face and she desperately tried to wipe the fruits juices from her arms with a rag. Nihlus produced a wet medical pad from his armour and looked concerned at her arms. Where the juice had touched the naked skin, angry red welts had formed. He wiped the skin clean and applied some medigel. Shepard hissed whenever he touched one of the welts, they were clearly painful.
Garrus felt completely helpless, "Is this an allergic reaction towards dextro-fruit?" he asked. Shepard shook her head and gave him an assuring little smile followed by a pained grimace.
"No, I'm not allergic to dextro, few humans are, it's just like sugar to us. But this juice feels like acid!" She looked angry at her arm as if she could make the red marks go away just by staring at them.
Nihlus trilled apologetically, "These fruits are quite sour, the juice is definitely acidic. It even burns on my skin and your skin is so sensitive..." He had a dreamy look on his face, his talon moving lightly over her arm. Garrus stared at him and his jealous growl came up again. Shepard chuckled and gave Nihlus a flick on his mandible with her fingers.
"Stop playing around, Nihlus. I have to wash this off, as soon as possible. Any idea?" She looked between them and Frank spoke up. "Your apartment is not far from here, Garrus."
"Excellent" said Nihlus and had Garrus program the destination into the car. "We will take Shepard there and you, Frank, can continue on your way to meet Sarah, before she starts to worry about you."
Faster than Garrus could worry about the state of his apartment, he found himself searching for one of his softer washcloths for Shepard. He also gave her some levo-salve for irritated skin and Shepard raised an eyebrow in question that he had such a thing. "I have visitors, sometimes..." he mumbled. He didn't want to explain that asari and human skin sometimes suffered from sex with him.
He left Shepard to washing herself in the bathroom and took a look at her vest that she had taken off. As he started cleaning it, he realized that it wasn't armor, but it was still a protective vest, with some kind of sturdy inlay inside. There was also a hidden knife on the left side and some other small weapons Garrus didn't recognize. He smiled, humans looked weak, but that was deceiving.
Shepard came back into the room and smiled when she saw him cleaning the vest. The outer material made that easy. "Thanks Garrus, you didn't have to do that, " she said.
He shook his head, "It was no problem. I was also curious about it, it looks so harmless but I just found a knife here." He looked at her with mock indignation.
She laughed. "Us humans lack the natural armor you guys have, so we have to use some tricks. That vest is no substitute for armor, it won't stop a bullet but it would probably stop a knife. Made me feel much safer back there with the turian hooligans."
"Hooligans?"
Shepard shrugged her shoulders. "Old word, means something like aggressive troublemaker. Hey, you found my toys!" She pointed at the weapons he did not recognize.
"I was wondering what these are." He held up a little tube-like metal object. Nihlus leaned over the back of the couch to look at it as well, balancing some drinks in his hands. He looked just as confused as Garrus felt. Shepard took one in her hand and showed them how a short needle got extended when she pressed down on the end of the little tube.
"It's a new system for non-lethal takedowns." she explained. "Contains a strong sedative that works on most species, even turians!" She grinned at them. "It even works on krogans but only for a short time, their redundant nervous system is impossible to really shut down."
Nihlus sat down on the couch next to Garrus and handed out the drinks. Shepard flopped down sideways on Garrus' only armchair, her legs dangling over the armrest. He wondered how this position could be comfortable, but the way she smiled at him showed him that she was happy. He liked that smile on her face.
"What is your fighting style?" Garrus asked, wondering what kind of soldier would have a need for injectors like that.
"I began training as an engineer, cause I'm good with tech. I'm pretty good at hacking and stuff like that, but as it turns out I'm also a good shot. I got trained with pistols, submachine guns, and sniper rifles." Garrus' interest was peaked as he heard her say sniper rifle. "Infiltrating also means stealth missions. They are developing a cloak system for us but it's not finished yet. We have to make do with keeping to the shadows for now." Garrus could just easily imagine her sliding in and out of the shadows.
"Infiltrators get combat training to take down any species quietly. Well, except the krogans, nobody has figured out how to do that with krogan." She laughed again and flexed her feet. "Most moves we learn are lethal and that always annoyed me. I wanted to have a way to sneak in and out of a place, undetected and not leaving a trail of corpses behind. My old engineering friends and me got together and developed this prototype. Finding a sedative that worked on a wide range of species was the hardest part."
Nihlus scanned one of the injectors with his omni-tool. "Human scientists developed that?"
"Not alone, a salarian helped." Shepard turned and put her feet on the ground, her elbows resting on her knees. "Never met him, but he was extremely productive. Developed the sedative in something like two weeks, when some of our scientists had already spent months on it, unsuccessfully." She leaned back and bumped her head on the backrest. The armchair was for a turian, the backrest ended in a roll to rest the back of a fringe on it.
Garrus trilled apologetic, "Sorry, I guess that chair is not made for humans."
She smiled at him with her lips wide, showing her teeth. "No problem, I prefer having my knees up anyway." She flopped back sideways, putting her knees over the armrest and smiled at him again. Garrus was beginning to really like that smile.
"So you are a sniper?" he asked. He had been one of the best snipers in his platoon during his military training. "Maybe we could go to the gun range together and have a little sniper challenge?"
Her eyes lit up, "Oh, I'd like that. What gun do you use?"
They happily compared make and models and exchanged stories about impossible shots they had taken. Nihlus rested his fringe on the back of the couch and started to nod off. Shepard and Garrus kept on talking. It was so easy to talk to her.
The conversation wandered from light hearted stories about pranks and mishaps to real missions. Shepard told him about a mission that she got to lead as a new N6, where she had lost contact to her team and was on her own. She was sniping pirates until she was out of ammo, then she had to take out the last opponent in close combat with a knife. Shepard fell silent for a while and then spoke with a hushed voice.
"Sometimes I think that it shouldn't be fun, you know? Killing people. I'm good at it, sometimes it's even fun, exhilarating, and ... it really shouldn't be. It's always someone's son or daughter on the other side of the scope. My mother would probably be horrified at what I do." She looked him in the eyes. "My parents were simple folk, we lived on a farm and I had never held a gun in my hand until..." her voice got even quieter, "until I joined the Alliance."
Garrus wanted to get up and hold her in his arms. This urge to comfort her surprised him. But he didn't get up, they hardly knew each other and embracing her was much too personal for their new friendship.
"If you are fighting for the good side, helping people..." Garrus began, trying to somehow comfort her with words.
Suddenly Nihlus' omni-tool chimed and Nihlus woke up with a start. He looked at the translucent display and groaned. "The council, I have to take this somewhere private." He looked questioning to Garrus.
"All I can offer is my bedroom or the bathroom," Garrus said and pointed towards the bedroom.
"I think I prefer the bed to the toilet." Nihlus said, scratching his fringe. He closed the bedroom door behind him and Garrus could faintly hear him talking.
Just as he wanted to continue the conversation with Shepard, his own omni-tool chimed, announcing a vid-call. He groaned in annoyance when he saw that his father, Aethius Vakarian, was calling him. On a vid-call of course, so he could see if Garrus kept his apartment clean and what kind of company he had. "I'm sorry Shepard, it's my father, I have to take this. He's..." How do I explain this without sounding like a little child? "I don't want to have to justify to him why a human is sitting on my couch. Could you be, like, quiet?"
A short emotion flitted across her face, something like hurt but then she smiled again. "I'll be sneaky, don't worry. I'm an infiltrator after all." She sat herself down on the floor so that the couch's backrest covered her. Garrus moved to the kitchen area so that the camera was facing away from the couch. He took a deep breath and opened up the call interface on his omni-tool.
"Hello father. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, my son, everyone is well here on Palaven. And if you'd call your mother occasionally, you would know that."
Garrus clamped his mandibles in a wince. His father was right, he hardly ever called his mother even though he loved talking to her. "Yes, sorry, I was busy."
"Don't give me excuses son, I don't want to hear them. The reason I'm calling is I have arranged another praecipit convenire for you. The meeting is tonight, at a turian restaurant on the Presidium. I have sent the time and coordinates to you just now."
Garrus groaned and he trilled his annoyance loudly. "Father, you can't just set me up on a praecipit convenire at such a short notice. I have plans for tonight." At least he hoped he had, he had wanted to ask Shepard to spend time with him.
"Then you will have to change your plans. Do I have to remind you of your duty as my son and your responsibility to your clan? Sapita Fedorian is the daughter of Lartius Fedorian, who is the brother of the Primarch of Palaven. The Fedorian clan is of the highest tier in the Hierarchy and it is an honour that they have agreed to a praecipit convenire. You will not embarrass our clan by dissenting."
Garrus had to hold down tight on his subvocals to not reveal the anger that welled up in him. This was the main reason why he had left Palaven. He was so tired of this part of 'the turian way', how parents planned their children's life. He should have told his father a long time ago that he would never agree to a praecipit collocatio, a prearranged bonding. Aethius Vakarian was still looking for a suitable mate for him, one that was of a high tier and a beneficial connection for the clan.
"Father, please, you have to stop this. I will never ..."
"You are my son and this is my will. You cannot disobey."
Garrus sighed, there was no way out for him. Unless he wanted to break with his family over a vid-call, he had to do what his father expected of him. "Fine, I will meet this woman but then we will talk about this. No more praecipit convenire without talking to me."
"We will see. Please look and act presentable tonight. Your mother sends her regards. And clean your apartment. Farewell, Garrus." And with that he ended the call.
Garrus wanted to punch something. He looked over to Shepard, she had watched him during the whole call. Her face showed something - Garrus called back on all his expertise to recognize the emotion. She looked sad, disappointed.
He went back to the sitting area and Shepard stood up from the floor. She looked at him expectantly and he felt like he had to explain himself.
"Sorry about that, I had hoped we could have ... if you had time tonight, ..." he was fumbling badly, he knew it but he just couldn't find the words. "I wanted to ask you ... but now I can't. Apparently my father has made plans for me and I have to meet this ... woman."
"For a praecipit convenire?" It sounded strange when she tried to make the turian words. "Is that like an arranged rendezvous?"
He nodded at that, feeling like he should somehow apologize for that. But why should he, it was just a meeting that he had to go to, they would have some polite conversation and then go their separate ways again. Just like with the other five convenire his father had arranged for him. The women had all been in the same situation as him, they had to go to these meetings to keep their families happy but none of them had any plans to actually agree to a bonding through that.
Shepard still looked at him, her face serious. "So are you expected to marry the woman that your father picked for you?"
"That's the traditional turian way, parents find a suitable mate and arrange the bonding. The children have no say in it. It's not always like that anymore, many families leave the bonding to the children but my clan is very traditional. My father wants to raise the clan higher in the Hierarchy and one way to do that is by mating his son to a high-tiered woman of another clan. He hopes to find a woman for me who I can agree to."
Shepard's face was unreadable. Garrus found that confusing, he was usually so good at reading human faces.
"I didn't know that turians had arranged marriages like that." She said with a polite smile. "We, I mean humans on Earth used to do that too, but that was a long time ago. I'm sure parents still try to influence their children in any way they can but arranged marriages don't happen anymore. At least as far I know."
She put on her vest and gathered up her equipment. Garrus felt panic rise, he didn't want her to leave. He could see that she was disappointed but he wasn't sure why.
"I should go, I'll be leaving for Earth tomorrow to start my N7 training. I still have to pack." She didn't look at him and went to the door. "Goodbye Garrus, it was fun meeting you. Tell Nihlus I'll call him later." She finally looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes sad. With a small wave of her hand she disappeared into the hallway. The door closed behind her and Garrus had the distinct feeling that he had lost something important.
()()()
Don't worry, I'm not going all Jane Austen on the story, just a little.
Many thanks to Credete, who almost drove himself crazy editing my ramblings.
The words I'm using for the turian expressions are latin words, jumbled around with extreme disregard to any kind of grammar.
Here are some translations:
praecipit convenire = a prearranged rendezvous / date
praecipit collocatio = a prearranged bonding / marriage.
stercus = bullshit
But some things I just made up with random letters.
Thanks for reading!