"Not quite." Garrus rumbled, allowing Beni to slip her too slim wrists from his cuffs with an amused flick of his mandibles. "Give it a few months though, you're growing fast."
"So, until then I can't be arrested?" Those dark blue eyes screamed innocence, but her carefully neutral expression said she had her reasons for asking. Garrus would have wagered his entire armory they had something to do with her honorary aunt Kasumi. How the woman intended to board the Citadel with several high-profile warrants still extant, he didn't want to know, but he had faith she would manage.
"I wouldn't put it to the test, missy. I don't think Shepard wants to spend a day talking you out of a cell at C-Sec headquarters."
Beni nodded demurely, but he could see it hadn't been the answer she was looking for.
"Are you going to take up theft? I taught you better than that." Garrus chucked her chin playfully, pleased at the giggle it elicited. It would be so much easier if Shepard would join in on discouraging Beni's latest habit of declaring herself an apprentice in trade to anyone she considered family.
Last week she was going to be a Spectre, the month before that a C-Sec agent-Garrus had been absurdly proud when she grilled him on his training- there had even been a regrettable phase dedicated to Liara's brokering activities that had ended with Beni permanently banned from sharing space with Glyph without adult superstition. Now it seemed she might be looking favorably on Kasumi's line of work.
And of course neither Shepard nor Liara would see any harm in it, dubious moral-code or no. That meant it would be left to him to have the chat with Kasumi about impressionable young minds.
Beni still hadn't relinquished her hold on the cuffs, inspecting them with an attention to detail she had seldom demonstrated in the work Miranda persisted in assigning her.
Well, there were worse things she could get her hands on with minimal effort; several of Dr. Mordin's more volatile concoctions for instance…
"Did you want to take the cuffs?" It nearly hurt to say it; granted, they had been sitting in his locker gathering dust for years before he realized how entertaining they could be for an inquisitive child with too much time on her hands, but now that Garrus had finally rediscovered them he was singularly reluctant to surrender-
"Could I? Just for a few hours?"
Over and over Liara had warned him not to give in to that wondering, hero-worshiping look. Over and over he had failed to heed her good advice, but no real damage had ever come from it so why not?
"A singular hour. I'm serious. Bring them back before lunch, and don't try saying you couldn't find me- keep looking until you do."
The blush on her cheeks said the thought might have crossed her mind to try exactly that, but between Shepard, Liara and now Kasumi was it any wonder she was developing a cunning streak to rival some of the best criminal minds in the galaxy?
It wasn't as though she could get herself caught in the cuffs, loose as they were on her.
"One hour." Garrus repeated sternly, waiting until Beni nodded her enthusiastic agreement before allowing her to scurry by him to the exit.
She wasn't half way out of the hall before he began to question the wisdom of his decision.
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Beni waited until she was just out of view of uncle Garrus' quarters before taking off at a sprint straight for aunt Kasumi's. With only an hour to spare, they would have to make this lesson a quick one.
It was never a trick finding aunt Kasumi; she could invariably be found either on the port observation deck- one of Beni's favorite places as well- or in the starboard. Beni had never bothered asking where she slept; that was a question even her mother might have had difficulty answering since it could change depending on her aunt's mood.
Luck was on her side; Kasumi had chosen the port deck, and was clearly puzzling over the new furniture. That wasn't a story Beni wanted to admit to just yet. It had taken a month to get permission to nap in here again, and even that had taken a solid week of her best behavior.
"I got 'em." Beni chirped brightly, yanking herself up on the couch to settle primly beside her aunt, offering the cuffs up reverently to hero.
"They are still too big for you though." Kasumi murmured, eyeing her wrists in the same way uncle Garrus had. Beni wasn't sure whether she was disappointed or relieved to be so small.
The smile aunt Kasumi flashed at her was the same one that had upset uncle Joker so much the day she had come aboard, though every time Beni had tried to ask why he was so determined that Kasumi stay away from his work area, her Mama had only laughed and promised to tell her when she was older.
Beni had begun to hate those words, but she faithfully kept a log of every event they had ever offered to explain when she was older. Papa hadn't liked it at all when uncle Mordin remarked that 'older' wasn't a verifiable quantity; having looked up the phrase herself, Beni could not help but agree. Not that anyone seemed to care what she thought, but it was nice to know someone was on her side.
A sharp snap brought her attention back to the present, focusing on aunt Kasumi's fingers just a few inches from her face. "You have to watch me. I'll do this once fast and once slow, then I want you to show me what I did. Remember this. It could be important." A wider smile and a wink that Beni tried desperately to imitate, only managing to scrunch her face into a grimace.
"C-Sec is using a newer model now, for this precise reason." Kasumi clamped the cuffs about her wrists, holding them up for inspection.
Her smile widened at Beni's dedicated scrutiny, looking for any trick in her technique. It was a few seconds more before she nodded her satisfaction, still watching sharply.
Swooping down, Kasumi planted her hands on the floor, kicking sharply at the release until the first cuff released. She glanced back to Beni, registering the wide-eyed shock and delight. These little habits had become so ingrained over the years she rarely had the opportunity to ponder what it would look like to a beginner. She was fast finding that was half the joy of showing Beni her ill-gotten gains. An appreciative audience at last, and one that wouldn't immediately rush off to report her to the proper authorities.
"That's it?" All right, maybe a slightly critical audience.
"That's it. Pressure is key, but you can't smash them against just any hard surface, that's a good way to damage your hands-"
Beni still eyed her skeptically, one brow raised in passable imitation of her mother. Having practiced that particular expression for hours with mirror in hand, she was only slightly jealous that it came so naturally to her honorary niece. Only slightly.
"I don't know if I believe you." She sounded half-apologetic, and Kasumi wasn't sure whether she should be proud or offended. Proud, she decided, definitely proud; what good was it teaching someone that would take every lesson at face value?
"Then watch while I do it again."
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Despite his warnings, Garrus was still surprised when Beni materialized outside his quarters with two minutes to spare. Somehow he had expected something would go horribly wrong; maybe she would accidentally trap Jax, or try playing a prank on Shepard only to find it had gone horribly wrong.
Yet here she was, and there were no blaring alarms or curt announcements echoing down the hall. Just Beni, holding his cuffs in one hand and the keychip in the other, smirking like she knew a secret he should be begging her for.
"What're you smirking about?" His playful tone took any heat from the words and Beni's smile widened.
"I know how aunt Kasumi gets out of these cuffs." Looping one about her finger, she attempted to spin them jauntily in a maneuver she could only have learned from Kasumi and ended up dropping them entirely when they grazed her nose too close. Garrus stifled his amusement at her betrayed glare with difficulty.
After all, it was a question that had bothered him a time or two as well.
"I don't suppose you're going to tell me?"
"I could show you if you put your hands in the cuffs."
"Not falling for that one."
"Please?"
"Are you going to promise me you won't lock me in them?"
He could see the grudging defeat flicker across her features and thanked the spirits Shepard's continuous insistence on honesty were having an effect; between her and Liara's example he was sure Beni would be learning her own tricks soon enough.
"Can't." She grudgingly conceded, a telling blush rising in her cheeks.
"Then you can tell your aunt Kasumi the answer is no." Her blush darkened, a new smile tugging at her lips and Garrus gave up the fight. The most he could hope for now was that this Master Thief phase would end quickly. Until then he was resigned to sleeping lightly and keeping his cuffs close to hand.
He devoutly hoped Kasumi wouldn't show her the use of that infernal cloak.