Shepard was in brighter spirits the next day. Sure she had a stolen shuttle in her loading bay and a fugitive in the ship's belly, but she had old friends back as well. Grunt slept on the floor next to Jack's bunk. It was almost sweet when she didn't think about it too hard. Ken and Gabby had their own space. Jacob and Miranda spent most nights together. She and Thane had made a home between the observation deck, life support and the loft. Tali had sent a reply and would be arriving any day, and she was bringing Kal'Reegar with her. The reason for his accompanying her was left unclear. Shepard did her best not to draw her own conclusions. Tali was not Jack, but it still made her nervous that the quarian had left the message a little bare of answers.
The mess was not full, but it wasn't empty either. A few crewmen gathered at the table next to the wall containing the elevator gossiping and eating their dinner. Their laughter floated over to where Shyra sat staring down at her untouched meal. Thane was meditating in Life Support, so she sat alone. Garrus had just exited the forward batteries to grab a bit to eat when he saw her at the end of the table. His heart fluttered for a few seconds before seeming to stop completely in his chest. He rubbed the side of his neck, nervously and with a measure of aggravation. How long would he suffer like this? Would he ever find a way to simply be content as her friend? Or was he doomed to pine for her until death? He didn't understand why he was unable to let go of those feelings for her. He continued to struggle daily with accepting her marriage to another man.
Garrus sighed, then brought himself up to full height. He was a turian. He was Garrus Vakarian of Palavan. And he would not let himself be burdened with something he couldn't change. He was better than that, wasn't he? Yes! He shook his head again against the doubt. He was better than that. She was just as lucky to have him as a friend as he was to have her. He could still love her, he needed only to channel that love into something else, a different kind of love. He could do that.
The turian grabbed his bowl from Gardening with a nod of thanks and waltzed confidently over to where Shepard sat. He took the seat across from her, intending to drag out of her whatever was making her mope. She looked up at him when he sat down and the instant his eyes met hers his resolve against his feelings beyond friendship for her crumbled like a cookie in the hands of a child. His confidence wavered, but he kept up the poise.
"How's it goin'? Where's Thane?" He asked, mentally shooting himself in the foot for the poor opening.
"Thane's meditating." She answered with a wave of her hand toward Life Support. "Things are... good, I guess. The old team is getting back together. Tali is due to arrive with Reegar any day now."
"Kal'Reegar is coming with her?" Garrus asked, intrigued. He leaned forward slightly over his bowl of prawn like delectables.
"Yes, but she didn't say why. So don't ask, 'cause I don't have an answer." Shyra said, cocking a brow at him in a playful warning.
"So if things are good and there's nothing... else." Garrus bought himself a few seconds with a bite of food. "Then why haven't you touched your...?" He nodded to the plate with some kind of meat and an odd looking brown vegetable that had been mutilated on it. He was pretty sure it was called a tatto, or was it p'tatto... Human food was bizarre anyway.
"That." He finished, and shoved another bite in his mouth. He was a little confused but happier when Shyra laughed at him.
"There's nothing else." She giggled. She focused on her friend as he chewed on a mouthful of... bugs? She sighed and took a bite of grilled cow.
"I don't know what's bothering me. I've dealt with way worse situations than this. Maybe it's all the waiting around. I'm tired of waiting. I want to get out there and find the bastard... both of them, and make them talk before I make them pay for what they've done." She stabbed the steak with her fork and cut off another bite, not thinking about how the action punctuated her sentence.
"You're going to eat them?" Garrus teased with a raised brow plate.
"What? No! Why would you... Oh." She smiled. "Funny," She casually pointed her fork at him.
"You're going to eat me?" He playfully threw up his hands in defense against her utensil.
"Well, I'd have to boil you first" She teased back with a grin. He always had a way of pulling her out of the dull drums.
"Thanks, Garrus." She said.
Garrus simply nodded back to her, his mandibles spread in a grin. He wondered if he hadn't been entirely selfish. What they did have was unique and was what she needed from him. This was an intimacy that she shared only with him. This was his way to be with her. So what if he would never hold her naked body in his arms, or know what it was like to make love to her...
His eyes wandered over her face to the reddish blond hair that flowed over her shoulder in a woven cascade. His eyes fell to her creamy hand that rested on the table only inches from his. He wanted to take that hand and press it to his mouth, to smell her skin and touch her hair. He pushed the thoughts aside with a forkful of prawns. There had to be a way to stop this madness from eating away at him like this.