December Fifteenth

"Wait here," Garrus said. He placed Shep's hand on the four-foot-tall gate after he scooted through it. "Wait here," he repeated.

"I'll wait. What's going on?" Screwy red curls stuck out from under her hat.

"Just wait here."

Garrus left her by the gate, hurrying into the barn. Once inside, he moved to the stalls, where two reindeer grunted at him in greeting. "Easy, boys, easy," he said, patting them. They seemed anxious to do some work.

"Garrus? What's that noise?"

"Almost there, Shep!" He got his rented reindeer—Dasher and Vixen, according to their owner—into their harnesses, clipping the lines to the also-rented sleigh.

She's going to love this one.

"Seriously, Garrus, it's cold. I'm going back inside—"

"Yah!" he called, snapping the reins. The deer surged forward, pulling the light sleigh out of the barn.

Shep's mouth had dropped open in shock.

I knew it, she's speechless. Garrus directed his reindeer through the paddock, turning to pull up by the gate and Shep. The reindeer's breath puffed heavily into the air.

Shep backed away a few steps, pawing for the gun she no longer carried. "What the hell is this?" Her face was a mask of revulsion.

"Shep, are you okay? It's just a sleigh ride. Very traditional. I checked." Uneasiness crawled through him. He'd clearly done something wrong.

"No, no, no, no, no." Her eyes had fixated on the deer, roving over them as she shook her head.

"Shepard, what's wrong?" He hopped down from the sleigh, putting himself between her and the reindeer.

"You bought these, these, things, and what, I'm supposed to trust them?" She gestured to the reindeer, reacting as if he'd brought some kind of Reaper abomination to her instead of draft animals.

Are you kidding me? Garrus's brow-plates furrowed. "Let me get this straight. You've fought the Reapers. You've fought a Thresher Maw on foot. You're ready to go toe-to-toe with any species in the galaxy, tell the Council off to their faces, you are sleeping with a turian, but you're afraid of reindeer? Children ride these things." It just didn't make any sense; his Shepard wasn't afraid of anything.

"Look at their eyes." Shep shuddered. "You can't tell what they're thinking."

They're probably thinking they wanted to get some exercise before getting their oats and barley and maybe half a carrot apiece.

"This is why you kept killing your fish, isn't it? You secretly hate animals." Garrus sighed. "Go back inside, Shep. I'll get these guys set up, and we'll do some Christmas crackers or something."

"Come on, Garrus, don't be mad. I'm allowed a weakness, aren't I?" She looked up at him, grey eyes pleading for understanding.

"I'm not mad. Of course you're allowed a weakness." He hugged her over the fence. "Let me just put them away. I'll have someone pick them up tomorrow. Go inside, love." Garrus patted the reindeer, letting them know it wasn't their fault. Before he could turn to get back in and drive them into the barn, the sleigh shook with a soft thud.

Moving slowly so he didn't spook her, he looked at Shep, curled up in a ball on the floor of the sleigh. "What are you doing, Shep?"

"Sleigh ride. It's traditional."

Garrus didn't say anything, just climbed up beside her and drove the reindeer around in a slow circle.

Shep started by his feet, but eventually was able to sit up and actually look at the harmless animals—which she apparently thought were some kind of monster—pulling them around.

"Not too bad," she decided, trembling lightly.

"Not bad at all," Garrus agreed, unable to do anything but admire her, his bondmate. He had thought her fearless; now he knew she just refused to accept fear. "Ready to go in yet?" he asked.

Shepard shook her head, taking the reins from his hands. "Not yet. I want to drive them a little."