Night time visitor

Takes place about a month after the last chapter.

Tali couldn't believe she was doing this. She had never done anything like this before and part of her wondered just how he would react. Sure if he woke right now she would have no explanation as to why she was standing him watching him sleep.

When he was awake, his face was always set in a stern thoughtful expression that rarely change. In sleep his face was relaxed in a peaceful expression with his mandibles fluttering now and again. Seeing him like this fanned the warm feeling in her heart that she had whenever she thought of him.

Just where did it all begin? Back on the Flotilla Tali never thought that any of the boys were cute. Boys just never held any interest to her. Machinery was far more entertaining to tinker with and on the dreadnought that was her home, there was always something she could tinker with. Sometimes it was on her own, but most of the time one of the many engineers would come by and help her/baby sit her.

At first Tali didn't think anything of it. After all, the dreadnaught Rayya was the flagship of the Flotilla, home of the Admiral Board, and one of the older ships in the Fleet. It was well staffed which meant it was always being maintained well. As time wore on Tali soon realized that her mechanical tutorship was being given to her partly because of her father's position. Tali never liked the fact that she always had someone always watching her on behalf of her dad.

Maybe that was why she had started to like him. He was very handy with technology. If he was a Quarian that would have made him a more qualified suitor. Contrary to popular belief, not all Quarians were as handy with machinery as Tali was. If anything, Tali was exceptionally talented.

Not to say that Garrus wasn't good as well. Perhaps more importantly was the fact that he recognized her skills and acknowledged them. He never came to her offering to help with anything. Strange as that might sound Tali liked that fact that he strictly stuck to maintaining the Mako and left the drive core to her. Not that she would tell Shepard or Adams but the drive core was the first thing she had gotten to work on alone.

Garrus also had a nice side to him that he rarely showed. He had been the first one to show her the ship which just stunned everyone on the ship regardless of species. After all, most everyone only had rumors and stereo types to base things off of and trust Garrus to break the mold as fast as he could. The seasoned, hardened, Turian ex-cop had given her a tour of the Normandy which he had been on once before she came on board. She was the untrustworthy, thieving, AI making, mechanical looking, biosuit wearing Quarian.

Garrus had been very polite during the tour, pointing out where Turian influences in various components of the Normandy. He pointed out where she could find the Turian menus from the food replicators. He had shown her the engine room and made the offhand comment that maybe she could work in here during the trip. It turned out to be quite a challenge but Tali was up to it and impressed all with her engineering skills.

He was the first one to really talk to her. Wrex isn't that talkative now or back then. Ash used to spend all her time cleaning weapons and keeping an eye on Wrex and Garrus. Now she just cleans weapons. Liara used to hide in her room out of shyness. Now she's either busy looking over all the relics the crew had picked up exploring shape or sneaking in and out of Shepard's room. Something that the crew as a whole purposely ignored. Shepard was a Spectre and while she did talk to Tali the conversations where never very long. Any spare moment Shepard had was spent with Liara and Tali understood. Garrus had come to her asking for technical help.

Later Tali would find out that Garrus had broken the component on purpose just to have something to talk to her about, but Tali found she could forgive him. Breaking something like that was a cardinal sin on the Flotilla. Sabotage was just a step below stealing a ship.

Still, that initial conversation led to another and another and soon their conversations weren't even about circuits and wires. Tali had taken up the habit of taking her breaks sitting on top of one of the Mako's wheels chatting with Garrus. She never helped him work. The Mako was his responsibility just like the drive core was hers.

She had been the one to invite Garrus to share a meal with her. Years of living in a sterile ship environment had left the Quarian immune system someone weakened but Tali had been given several booster shots and micro implants to ward off disease just like everyone who took the Pilgrimage. Still she took her meals in the privacy of the Medbay which Doctor Chakwas vacated to eat her own meals in the mess.

Garrus's face wasn't very easy to read but when Tali took off her helmet she couldn't read his face at all. At the very least he didn't run away screaming. Maybe he had caught enough of a glimpse of her face behind her visor.

Her face was rounded and smooth. Her jawline long and her chin was small. Her cheeks were high and still held a hint of baby fat. Her eyes were very slanted, large, and solid black with a white iris. Her lips were thin and a light blue. She had a pronounced nose in the center of her face. Her ears were rather small slits on the side of her head though they were hidden by her long shoulder length white hair. In fact, not withstanding her lack of an ear shell, Tali could easily pass as a Human as far as facial features went. Except for the fact that her skin was a light purple.

The meals became a weekly norm for the pair just another one of their little things. The other big thing was the fact they came up with their own language of gestures. One meal time Tali had commented how she had a hard time reading Garrus's stoic expressions but she thought she was getting the hang of it.

"At least you can see my face often enough to learn them. Except for this weekly half hour, I never get to see your face." Garrus pointed out.

Realizing the validity of Garrus's comment, Tali suggested that they come up with their own hand signs and gestures for when Tali had to have her helmet on. At first it was strictly business and just simple things like drawing a "U" across her visor to show that she was smiling. A paw over her mouth piece was her being embarrassed. A tilt to the side was curiosity.

Other things didn't have official translations. Like whenever Tali would inexplicably find herself touching his arm for no real reason. Or perhaps her favorite one that he had started just a couple of weeks ago, about the same time Garrus had had his huge falling out with his father. Before they would turn in for the night Garrus would press his forehead against hers for a few moments.

At first it was quick and Tali thought they had accidently bumped heads. It didn't take long for the "head bump" to become a long drawn out moment of Garrus leaning over her small frame and gazing into her eyes. Tali still didn't know what to make of the gesture but she knew her day wasn't over until she got her good night from Garrus.

And all that led to this. Garrus sleeping peacefully on the medical bed, recovering from a case of geth ambush compliments of a fake distress call. Garrus had been lucky enough to be sitting on the side of the Mako that had gotten bombarded in the initial volley that had torn through shields and armor alike. When Garrus got back on his feet he would spend a lot of time on the Mako.

However right now he was peacefully resting and Tali could admire his features. His nose was flat and small, dead center of his face. His sharp blue eyes were small and beady but fit his look perfectly. His jaw was very strong and his chin pronounced. Behind his hard lips were teeth that Tali knew to be razor sharp. She'd have to be careful of those if things ever advanced to where she hoped they could go to. Garrus didn't have hair. He had light gray feathers instead that Tali ran her fingers through. They were just as soft as they looked and Tali reveled in the sensation.

Despite the differences in their anatomy it didn't stop the fact that she had been terrified when Wrex had ran out of the heavily damaged Mako to rush a wounded Garrus up to the sick bay. After Doctor Chakwas had worked her magic and stabilized the Turian Tali went in to keep vigil over the prone form of Garrus.

Now it was night time and Tali had taken off her helmet and was leaned over his face. She could feel his warm breath against her cheek. Slowly, tentatively she brought her face closer to his and pressed her soft lips against his unyielding one. It was a gentle one sided kiss.

Tali held the kiss until the need for air forced her to pull back and take a breath but she didn't get very far. Her progress was stopped by a gentle but firm talon on the back of her head.

"Do you always steal kisses from sleeping people in the night?" Garrus asked mildly amused at the beautiful blue blush that colored Tali's cheek.

"No." Tali said sternly before she softened her expression once more. "I just wanted my good night kiss." Tali leaned back down and pressed her forehead against his for a moment before touching her lips to his. This kiss was not one sided.

A/N: Okay I to apologize for using the "oh my god he's wounded routine" as a plot element for an advance in their relationship. I tried to make it as small a part as possible. Really, I needed a reason to have Tali alone in a room with a sleeping Garrus and well there aren't a lot of options. The only one with a bed (well two put together if you look) is Shepard and having Garrus in a sleeper pod just doesn't work. Nor does having him at his place on the Citadel though I did toy with the idea. I would have made Tali internal insights come out in a girls outing with Ashley. However, I have other plans for when they make it to the Citadel. So having him the medbay was the only option left to me. Plus I got to show my theory on how Tali looks and how she eats. And that taking off her helmet won't instantly kill her… Also now I can run with the plot bunny of a conversation between Wrex and Garrus as they casually discuss things whilst blasting Geth to pieces.

And I feel as though I should confess the source of my inspiration. Hyperbali put up a 100 sentence tribute to FemShep and Garrus. One night on CQ I took the prompts and rewrote most of them. I've been merging several prompts together to get the short snippets you see here.

Hooah you, hooah.