Early the next morning she was surprised to be woken up by her door opening. She squinted at Garrus as he stood on the steps of her quarters.
"Garrus?" she asked, sitting up in bed.
"Hey, sorry, I thought you'd already be up."
"Ugh, I forgot to set my omni-tool. What time is it?" she reached over and put her lights on.
"About 9."
"Oh, shit," she sat on the edge of her bed, leaning over looking at the floor. "So, what are you doing here so early?" She'd given him the code to her room before, but he'd only used it a few times.
He walked down the stairs and sat on her couch. "I wanted to apologize for last night, I upset you, I'm sorry."
She grimaced, he wasn't too drunk last night then to forget about it. She stood up and stretched. Putting her arms down she said, "Don't worry about it, Garrus."
"I did upset you, though, and that's never something I want to do. You're too good a friend to me. After two years without you, I never take a single day for granted. I won't ever let a problem go on between us." He rubbed his hands together, his elbows on his knees looking at her intently. She sat on the edge of her bed, his serious tone drawing her full attention.
She smiled, "I appreciate that. It's not a big thing, but thanks for coming and talking about it." She sighed and swung her feet slightly over the bed, looking down at them. She was regretting now saying anything about it. "It's just a joke that's worn a little thin, that's all."
Garrus nodded, "It won't happen again."
She nodded and smiled at him.
Garrus felt strangely reluctant to go. He'd said what he wanted to say, she'd responded well, as he had anticipated, they'd never let anything get between their strong friendship before. He should be getting up to leave. Instead he looked at her, studying her for the first time in a while.
Shepard let out a little chuckle, "Hope my morning hair isn't frightening you too much," she attempted to rake her fingers through it.
"No, not at all," he actually was getting a close look at the glowing orange lines her Cerberus implants made. He pointed, "The implants, do you feel them?"
She looked down at her arms, "No. Sometimes they need to be re-calibrated, and Dr. Chakwas takes care of that. They get a little warm when she does it, but that's all."
"How extensive are they?"
"Um, well they run pretty much up and down, and I think they branch out a bit, but you only see the main ones." She looked up at him, "That's what's keeping me together, I guess."
"Interesting." He stood up and sat next to her on the bed. "Can I see?"
She nodded as he picked up her arm and studied it carefully. He pressed lightly on one, then ran his fingertip down the length of it on her arm.
She drew in a sharp breath.
He looked at her quickly, "Did I hurt you?"
"No," she let out a little laugh, "It takes a lot more than that."
"I must have done something, your face," he looked at her critically.
"What?"
"It's getting red."
Fuck, she could feel the blush on her cheeks. His light touch on her arm had excited her.
She stood up, "Oh, no, it just does that sometimes. It has nothing to do with the implants." She put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat.
He stood up, afraid he'd insulted her again, "I keep saying the wrong thing,"
"No, no, I'm just. Well, I need to get a shower and start my day."
He nodded and looked down at her. He'd never seen her be so awkward with him before. It was confusing. "Okay, Jane. I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you need me on the mission today."
She brightened as she walked him to her door, "I will." She stood in her doorway as he walked across her foyer and pressed the button to the elevator. As it opened, he got in and turned, seeing her still standing, smiling at him. He was struck by her form, leaning against the frame, one foot up against her calf. He realized he'd never seen her so undressed before. In a loose tank top and shorts, the light behind her filtered through the cotton garments, letting him see her body underneath. Her hair curled lightly brushing on her shoulder. His eye drifted down to the sensual curve of her breast – he could just see the outline of the bottom curve of one as she leaned to her side. Suddenly the doors shut in front of him and he realized he'd been staring at her, entranced. He frowned and shook his head. He found his reaction to her disturbing.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Shepard went to her shower and got ready for the day's mission. She wanted to recruit the Justicar before she left Illium.
Later that night, Samara safely on board, Shepard ate in the mess hall, listening half-heartedly to Kasumi's account of Jacob's workout schedule.
"The best part is when he does abs, he takes his shirt off for that."
"So, he doesn't know you tap into the vidfeed?"
Kasumi shook her head, "No, I just cloak and watch him in person. It's much better that way."
"Jesus Christ, Kasumi, you're going to get caught."
She giggled, "Totally worth it," she shook her hand, "But I'm a master thief, remember? I never get caught."
Shepard shook her head, "Be careful." Then she thought a minute, "You know what? What if he knows you're there, but doesn't say anything about it? Like he likes you watching him. Did you ever think about that?"
Kasumi pursed her lips together, "Hmm. That's an interesting idea. Maybe."
Shepard took a drink and smiled. Garrus came up with Tali and they sat down at their table.
"Great mission today, Shepard," Tali said, "I never thought I'd ever see a Justicar take an oath like that. I was just telling Garrus about it."
"Mm-hm," Shepard said looking at the two of them critically. It was maddening, trying to figure out if they had romantic feelings for each other.
"Yes, sorry I missed it, but calibrations you know."
"Think you'll be done by tomorrow? I've got to help Grunt on Tuchanka. I could really use your help Garrus."
He nodded as he ate his meal, "I'll be done by later tonight." He looked around the mess, "Where's Samara? I introduced myself to her earlier."
Shepard glanced around the mess, "Don't know. She's got a lot on her mind, though. Likes to meditate a lot."
"Oh yea? That makes her perfect for Thane." He took another forkful of food.
"For Thane?" Shepard said quizzically.
"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.
"Well," Garrus took a drink and swallowed his food, "He was getting too interested in Shepard. Samara should be a distraction for him." He looked around at the shocked faces. He cleared his throat and pointed at Shepard, "He's not right for her."
Shepard stared open-mouthed at Kasumi and then at Tali.
"Really, Garrus." Kasumi said with enthusiasm. "Tell us more."
"No, don't. But, you're way off, Thane has no interest in me." Shepard looked down at her plate.
"Oh, I always thought he did," Kasumi said then looked pointedly at Garrus, "But maybe he has a problem with it."
Garrus laughed and Shepard shook her head, "This is ridiculous," she stood up and took her plate, "You guys have too much time on your hands if you're trying to play matchmakers." She smiled and walked briskly to the kitchen.
Kasumi grinned at Garrus and Tali. Garrus looked a bit contrite, "I hope I didn't upset her, I've been doing that lately."
"She was just a bit embarrassed, that's all." She looked slyly at Garrus.
"Embarrassed?" Tali asked.
"Yea, didn't you see her blushing? Her face was completely red, up to her ears. That's why she got up from the table. It's no big deal, though. Maybe she does have feelings for Thane." Kasumi said.
Garrus held his hand out, "Wait a minute, what did you call it, blushing? When the face gets red?"
"Yea," Kasumi shrugged, "when you feel embarrassed or exposed emotionally. It's a human thing, you can't control it. Turians don't have anything like that?"
"Well, no, our mandibles flutter sometimes in situations like that." Garrus said.
"I never knew that," Tali said.
Shepard walked back to the table, "Don't forget – Tuchanka tomorrow Garrus."
He looked down at her small pink fingers that touched the table lightly by him. He flashed back to earlier in her quarters when he felt her smooth skin when he ran his finger down her arm. He looked up at her, remembering her turning red then, realizing she had been blushing, then reacting awkwardly to his comment on it.
"Garrus?" she said expectantly.
"Oh, yeah. Tomorrow, I'll be ready." He snapped out of his thoughts.
"Okay, good," she said a little suspiciously, but shook her head and walked around to the elevators.
Garrus watched her leave and turned his attention back to his plate. Kasumi was staring at him.
"What?" he asked.
She crossed her arms on the table and looked at him accusingly, "Your mandibles were fluttering."
He shook his head, "No they weren't."
Kasumi gave a knowing smile, then dropped the subject.