Summary: The galaxy has been saved. Relief and joy suffuse all, save for one turian keeping watch over the woman responsible for their victory. "She will wake up. She has to."
Disclaimer: I don't own shit.
Queen's Quornor: Contrary to popular understanding, "Turian Dreams" was supposed to be a mere oneshot. In the daze of near-unconsciousness at 4:30 in the morning, however, I neglected to select the Complete tab. I truly was not expecting this many people to favorite/alert this fic; how can I simply let you all down, when you clamor for more of Garrus and Julia? I suppose - she said on a deep exhalation - that I can only attempt to satisfy your desire with another installment. Which is not so much of a problem, except that I am lacking in ideas that are workable with this particular incarnation of Commander Shepard. Which is why I beseech you all to give me your suggestions. I am not inquiring for the ridiculous, or the absurd. I am searching for the mundane, the hopeful. Just little things that every couple would experience, particularly if they originated from severely different cultures and backgrounds. Any suggestions should also, preferably, be a part of a relationship that has been in effect for at least a few months. I am writing post-Reaper scenerios, not jumping throughout the timeline without due cause. Any suggestions which meet these criteria would be much appreciated.
The Plans We Make
If he had not fallen in love with Julia, he might have chosen Tali.
The thought fluttered from his unconscious as he watched the purple-clad quarian across the room, sitting in the other chair. Tali had come to check on Julia's progress, and visit with him. She had also brought a number of datapads to peruse while he updated her on their commander's miniscule muscle twitches, and how optimistic the doctors were about her chances of awakening in a timely manner. She had also brought Liara, which was a surprise, since the asari had been up to her eyeballs in work since the Citadel had been recovered. Apparently it had taken many minutes of gentle, persistent persuasion before Tali had physically dragged her away from her terminal. Liara had managed to snatch a few datapads of her own, and had wedged herself into the corner of the room while she scrolled through them. Garrus thought it was more to keep herself standing than anything, as she could easily have retrieved a chair from one of the other rooms. He could honestly say that he had never seen Liara so exhausted, even after Thessia had been lost and she had drowned herself in work to prevent despair from sinking its claws into her thoughts.
Garrus watched Tali for a minute, skating his gaze over her hooded head, the glowing eyes shielded by violet obscurity, the slender form hidden beneath intricate, swirling cloth and buckles. Yes, in another life he might have chosen her to be his own. As the only other dextro aboard the Normandy, it would have made far more sense for them to get together. But things had not worked out that way. He had Julia, and she had the beginning of an attachment to Kaidan. Oh yes, he had seen the growing attraction between Major and Admiral. There had been small glances and tiny, unnecessary touches, gentle presses of hands against shoulders and arms, and once between palms. With peace finally at hand, it appeared inevitable that Tali would act upon whatever it was she had cultivated with Kaidan. He was so addicted to his duty, she would likely have to close the distance.
Although, Garrus amended, there remained a chance that Kaidan would approach the quarian before she gathered her nerves. He had once caught the major browsing a website describing the conditions under which quarians had been known to remove their suits, or at least parts of them. That had been the only time, in Garrus' memory, that he had seen his friend blush. Kaidan still had yet to offer him a reasonable, perfectly innocent reason as to why he had been researching that particular topic.
Although, that was not to say that he had not tried. The last attempt had dissolved into a myriad of stammers and throat-clearing grunts, as he had gone into a tailspin of medical theory and imagined need to remove parts of Tali's suit to clean wounds in the event that she was wounded. Garrus had taken a certain amount of amusement from reminding Kaidan that quarian suits were programmed to lock down around a suit breach, and Tali always made certain that her antibiotic reserves were full.
At least they had the chance to build a future together, he thought with a sigh. His own future remained in doubt, so long as Julia's neurological activity continued to test as minimal.
"You should stop sighing. She is not going to wake up if you are depressed." Tali's purring voice brought him out of his mental hole. He looked up to meet her shrouded gaze across Julia's prone body. Her datapads were balanced upon her knees, and her head was cocked slightly to once side, a very human gesture that she had picked up from Julia. If memory served, the gesture meant she was either playing coy, or she was inquisitive. Previous experience with Tali suggested it was the latter.
"It's hard not to sigh. The doctors have no idea when she's going to wake up, and until she does, I'm stuck in here with her." His own decision, admittedly. He had come far too close to losing her for him to simply leave her alone.
"Nobody is keeping you here, Garrus." Liara sounded a little less collected than normal. Her composure was usually immaculate, unless she was in an extreme emotional state. Trying to put the galaxy back together would be more than enough to fluster even the mighty Shadow Broker.
"Maybe I just don't trust the doctors to put her back together correctly. For all I know, I'll leave to turn in a report, and when I come back she'll have a head full of black hair instead of her old silver mop." Or worse, what if she chose the exact moment he was absent to wake up? He would never forgive himself if his lover came to all by herself, with no one to reassure her. He wanted the first sound she heard to be his voice, not the beeping of that damned heart-rate monitor. He could not bear the thought of his Julia finally opening her eyes, and losing herself in confusion as she tried to process the fact that she was actually alive and none of her adopted family were there to help her.
"She will be fine. You should take some time for yourself, to help keep your head on straight. Or at least take a shower," Liara suggested, wrinkling her nose. "When was the last time you had one, anyway?"
"This morning. If you want me to smell better, then I suggest you bring me a change of clothes, T'Soni. I am not wearing those backless gowns they use for human patients." Some of the braver doctors had already expressed an interest in expanding their knowledge of turian physiology. Whether the interest was clinical or otherwise, he would sooner resurrect the Reapers than wear anything that would expose his ass to curious physicians.
"Of course you wouldn't. Turians do not look very dignified nor intimidating in shapeless dresses." Tali had to be grinning under her mask. Her eyes were tilted at the corners and narrowed, a sure sign that she was trying not to laugh.
"We always look dignified and intimidating. It's something that comes with being the most militant race in the galaxy," he told her, hiding his smile by adjusting the cowl of his armor.
"Oh, I'm sure you look it at all times where people can see you." Tali's voice had taken on that playful note again. "But according to Shepard, there have been a few moments were your dignity has been severely compromised. Something about terrible metaphors involving heat sinks?"
Spirits, he had hoped that little slip of the tongue had not gotten around. He knew Julia and Tali were as close as sisters, but he had not expected his lover to share such...embarrassing missteps from their early relationship. He could not even retaliate, as his only humiliating stories involving Julia had taken place during some very private moments, such as her reaction to him during their first time together. She had not realized that among turians both sexes kept their reproductive equipment internal, although males were capable of making it external under particular circumstances. Garrus would never be able to remember the look on her face without at least a smirk.
Then there was the time Julia had surprised him by sneaking into the men's bathroom late one night, after he had spent the entire afternoon tinkering with the inner workings of the Thannix cannon. She had helped cleanse him of the grease he had acquired in lubricating the mobile portions of the giant gun, and then turned the encounter into something decidedly more intimate under the condition that they both remain as quiet as possible. Their endeavor had become especially perilous when Primarch Victus had wandered into the bathroom and proceeded to shower in the stall next to theirs. There would have been far less potential for disaster, Garrus knew, if the older male had not begun to talk about the war with him once he realized that the only other turian aboard the Normandy was also present and - as far as he knew - alone. That interlude had been among the most embarrassing in his memory, as well as one of the hottest he had ever experienced. Julia had clung to him so her feet were not in obvious sight, hooking her legs about his thighs and clinging to his cowl, but every single movement she made had nearly undone him, considering how far along they had gotten in achieving mutual pleasure before the Primarch had arrived. Once Victus had finished his shower and left the bathroom, after teasingly chastising him for using so much of the ship's hot water supply, Garrus had spent a good twenty minutes releasing his stress by pounding his beloved, maddening Commander into the tiled wall. All the while, of course, reminding her that they must remain absolutely silent.
He hid his smile, remembering a few other intimate misadventures they had shared, and turned his attention back to Tali. "I'm sure you have a few embarrasing stories floating around yourself. I've seen what our illustrious Shadow Broker has on you. Something about installing, erasing, and reinstalling nerve stimpacks?"
Garrus heard a choked laugh from the corner, even as Tali drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "And how, pray tell, did you get any sort of data from my suit?" Her eyes had narrowed to mere slits; this was one of those occasions when he was glad the quarian had neglected to bring her shotgun. She was really all too fond of bringing it into a friendly conversation, in his opinion.
"I did not get the data." Liara ducked her head, adopting a very good approximation of an emotionless countenance. Garrus knew better; he could see the crinkling at the corners of her eyes, the twitching of her lips. "The old Broker had it. Shepard found that information while she was perusing his old files, just seeing what he had on her crew."
"Keelah! He knew what I had in my suit?" Tali seemed to realize what she had said a moment too late, considering how wide her glowing eyes suddenly became. "I mean... The data. What I bought. On Illium." She hid her mask behind her hands, shaking her head slowly. "Can we please forget that we ever had this conversation?"
"Not a chance, Tali." Garrus smiled at her, letting her know that he would leave it be. "I think we all have much bigger things to worry about than what you put in that suit of yours."
"On that, we can agree." Her voice lowered a bit, losing the playful note. "Have you stopped having the nightmares yet? I can't get a good night's sleep if I'm by myself anymore. I still keep seeing what would have happened if the Reapers had come to Rannoch."
Garrus shook his head. "I've been too busy for nightmares. Not much room for them when I'm drowning in datapads." He could shrug the bad dreams off; Julia could not. He hoped her comatose mind was free of them, because it was unbearable to think that she might be mired in a dark vision and completely unable to escape it. He could not protect her sleep, as he had on the Normandy. Julia had never been able to rest easy unless she was lying in his arms, knowing that he was there to keep away the bad dreams.
He could still remember the first time he had realized she was having trouble sleeping. It had been after the genophage was cured, and Primarch Victus had promised to send aid to Earth when all was ready. Garrus had advised Julia to get some sleep, noting the trouble she was having in merely standing without swaying in place, the black moons beneath her eyes. He had remembered thinking she looks terrible. Why didn't I notice earlier? His concern over her lack of rest had driven him to her loft, where he had heard the quiet moans and whimpers emitting from within. He had found her clutching at the blankets, her face screwed up in horror while her eyes remained shut, her mind lost in the dream. He had immediately gone to her and pulled her into his arms, whispering comforting nonsense into her silver hair and plying the back of her neck with gentle strokes, much the way his mother had soothed him back to sleep when nightmares stalked him as a child. She had gradually relaxed against him, as though bereft of her skeleton, and he had eased her back into the nest of blankets long enough to shed his armor, then join her before the darkness came again. Julia had curled against him, wrapped herself tight around his body, and only quieted when he began carding his talons across her scalp. Garrus was hardly the proudest of men, but what male would not take satisfaction from knowing that his mere presence was enough to ensure a dreamless sleep for his woman? It stirred something primal in him, to know that she trusted him while she was beyond conscious thought. She would never trust any of their companions with such closeness; anyone else would have disturbed her sleep.
Maybe that was why she was taking so long in awakening. Did she know that he was here to guard her? Was her mind still capable of associating him with safety, and healing?
"I had an interesting dream recently, Garrus." Liara's voice startled him from his musings, and he raised his head to meet her too-calm gaze. "I dreamed of a future where you and Shepard had a home together."
"That's not an interesting dream, Liara. That's pretty much a given at this point." He settled back in his chair and crossed his arms, regarding her with smug blue eyes.
Her eyes held a certain smugness of their own. "You did not let me finish. The interesting part was Shepard's condition in the dream. She was pregnant, and from the way you kept stroking her stomach, I presumed the child she carried was yours."
Garrus went very still. Asari were not known for having precognitive dreams, but... "You're just being mean. There's no way I could ever get Julia pregnant. I'm a dextro, remember?"
"I'm fully aware of your biological makeup. However, I do not think that dream to be so impossible. According to the data Mordin collected from the two of you, neither of you have an allergy to the differing amino bases. Without the allergy, there are possibilities."
"That is right. One of my old shipmates from the Neema fell in love with a human woman named Tahnya during his Pilgrimage. Jen'Tavor brought her back to the Fleet with him long enough for her to meet his family, and then they went back to her home on the Citadel. Last I heard of Jen, they were speaking with fertility specialists at Huerta." Tali tilted her head to the side, tapping one finger against her arm in thought. "I remember he said the doctors thought their chances were not small. It just required some genetic engineering."
"What do you mean?" Garrus asked, eyeing the little quarian curiously.
"I mean, some eggs would be removed from Shepard, and then they would give you a little jar. You would go somewhere private, and then - "
"Tali!" Liara protested, her cheeks flushed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant a big jar. Girls do talk, you know." He could hear the laughter in her voice. Who had told Tali that little tidbit about turians? If it was Julia, he was going to have words with her.
"We know how artificial insemination works. We don't need to know the entire process." Liara's face was so dark, she looked like those plum fruits Gardner had kept in the mess before Kasumi came aboard. "Garrus, if you want to find any fertility specialists, just let me know. I can find you the best in the galaxy."
He smirked. Liara had never quite gotten accustomed to the physical aspects of his and Julia's relationship. The emotional, she handled with no difficulty. Whenever she caught them holding each other in the elevator, or more particularly that time she had found them making out in the Main Battery, she always stammered some excuse and fled.
Then again, perhaps it made sense that Liara would be so uncomfortable with the hard reality of their relationship. Garrus knew she would never act upon it, but he was certain that the young asari had some degree of crush on Julia. They were only friends, and would never be anything more. Still, most people would not risk both the Collectors and the Shadow Broker, to say nothing of opening negociations with Cerberus, for the astronomically small chance to bring a lost comrade back from the dead. That was the sort of thing only somebody with no small amount of love would do for the other. He was eternally grateful to the asari for her part in resurrecting Julia, and part of that gratitude meant that he did not act upon his knowledge of her affection for his girlfriend.
Besides, he had no worries about Julia being stolen away by any blue-skinned babes. He had it from her own black-stained lips that she had no interest in female partners. She needed a male presence in her life, somebody who could occasionally remind her that she was, in fact, female herself. She had confided once that she sometimes forgot that she was a woman, until something returned that knowledge to the forefront of her mind. Usually that reminder involved natural biological functions of a fairly messy and inconvenient variety, and a great deal of padding during those times. Sometimes she forgot until something brought her attention to her breasts, such as the time she had gotten shot in the right one during a skirmish with Eclipse mechs. That had been a particularly awkward few days, as she had been under strict orders from Dr. Chakwas to take it easy until the wound healed. Julia had spent most of her time in the Main Battery with him, and every time he had glanced at her, he had caught sight of the gauze pad taped against her skin, silhouetted by her light tank top. Garrus had just started to realize that he found her attractive, so he had avoided making eye contact as much as possible until the gauze was removed.
He made her feel like the woman she was. He was bigger than her, and nothing about him was at all gender-ambiguous. In the beginning he had been a bit apprehensive about the difference in their heights, irrationally more so than their differing species; she had reassured him that she enjoyed being a good foot shorter than him. Whenever he held her, or pulled her close, or just stood next to her, she felt safe. That had never been the case with any of her previous relationships; usually, she was the one making the other participant feel secure. In this little liaison, Garrus acknowledged with a private smirk, the tables were turned. She liked that.
"At some point, I'm sure I'll take you up on that offer, Liara. We want kids, and it would be great if we could have them ourselves, no surrogates or donors required." That would also forestall any awkwardness between his lover, Kaidan, and Tali if they were to actually admit their mutual attraction and get together. He exhaled slowly and looked back to Julia's comatose body, letting his gaze roam across her. "Of course, that involves her waking up first. Not much fun trying for a baby when one of us is completely out of it."
Tali laughed. "Plus you'd give the orderlies a heart attack if they interrupted you. I doubt any of them have seen anything other than a human naked."
"If I didn't know better, Tali, I'd say you have a secret desire to see me naked," he teased. "After all, you keep bringing that up whenever you come visit."
"Even if I did, totally not worth it. Shepard would strangle me the moment she woke up. Knowing her, she would choose the moment I start tearing off your clothes to open her eyes."
"Fastest adrenaline rush in all of galactic history, that would be," he chuckled.
Liara giggled. "You realize that once she's finished with Tali, she would come after you, Garrus."
"Which would only make the orderlies panic that much more, so let's not go there."
"I don't think sending them into a frenzy is Shepard's style," Tali interrupted, putting her datapad aside. She leaned back in her chair, interlocking her fingers and lowering her head in a very good approximation of a human plotting something. "Kaidan told me she's like him when she's in a hospital. Likes to make trouble for the nurses. He says they got drunk together once, and she told him about a number of pranks she pulled on hospital staff during her stay in one after the Skyllian Blitz. Wouldn't give me any details, but apparently she liked to drive them crazy with misplaced items."
"That doesn't sound like Shepard," Liara said, blinking.
"You've never seen her bored, have you?" Garrus smiled, remembering some of the little tricks she had arranged for various members of the Cerberus crew. His favorite was still the smoke bomb she had put in Gardner's stock. It had taken half a day to clear out the crimson smoke, and the mess had smelled like a bonfire for weeks afterward. But the expression on Gardner's face had been worth the little inconveniences, especially since he had incurred Julia's wrath by passing commentary on her growing closeness to Garrus. He had meant it in the spirit of friendly ribbing, so she had replied in kind with a homegrown smoke bomb. Little jokes such as that one had been directly responsible for most of the crew adoring her, and others abandoning her the moment they had finished the Collector mission.
"I can't say I've ever had the opportunity to behold her boredom. When we were still on the original Normandy, Shepard was the epitome of professionalism." Tali nodded her agreement with Liara's statement, a far tinier movement than most humans would have used. It was not usually a part of quarian body language.
Garrus could not help smiling. "She saved her mischevious moments for me and Wrex, I think. After she was brought back, it expanded to the rest of the crew. Especially Joker. For awhile she had this uncanny knack for stealing his hat and leaving it in the oddest places." Many had been the times she had wandered down to the SR-1's cargo hold and started trading jokes with him, or engaging him in a string of puns. One of them would speak a topic, and all sentences would contain some sort of pun related to that subject. Some of them had been bad enough to drive Wrex up to the higher decks, all the while complaining that their terrible jokes were making his ears bleed. Then there were the prank wars, such as the time she had attached a novelty VI to his assault rife. Every time he squeezed off a shot, the gunfire had been accompanied by a long, drawn-out raspberry. Of course, he had retaliated by rigging a remote temperature control module to her armor. One press of a button, and she would go from being perfectly comfortable to either sweating buckets or shivering so hard her teeth chattered.
Inevitably the pranks would end with the two of them sparring in the shuttle bay, playfully insulting each other while trading punches. The occasion that stood out in his memory was a match that ended with Julia sandwiched between a bulkhead and his body, her legs wrapped around his hips and his hands pinning her wrists up by her head. The blatant intimacy of the hold had surprised both of them; with one minute twitch of her hips, he had been absolutely aware that her most private of areas was mere inches from his, that their faces were separated by only a hairsbreadth. If that hold had come about two years later, the match would have ended much like the one he had described to Julia in the Main Battery. As it was, Garrus remembered the feel of her legs sliding down the length of his to rest on the floor, and the surprising disappointment that had risen when she drew away. Back then, he would never have dreamed that she might be interested. Remembering it now, he could recognize it as the moment sexual tension had initially sparked between them. He had no idea when he had fallen in love with her, but that was the instant he had started to want her, whether he had realized it or not.
"He's got that look in his eye again. I bet I know what he's thinking." Tali's soprano purr drew him from his thoughts, making him regard the little quarian with curiosity.
"What look?"
"Whenever you start thinking about Shepard, you get this soft expression in your eyes," Liara explained. "It's as though she's all that exists for you, and you don't see anything else."
"You also go silent for a while. That part makes it easy to tell that you're remembering something good about her. Usually, you can't shut up." Tali stood up and stretched her back, reaching high above her head. "C'mon, Liara. Let's give Lover Boy some time alone."
"'Lover Boy'? Is that really the best you can do, Tali?" he called after the departing duo.
"Vega has a monopoly on the Scars moniker. If I use it, I have to pay a toll." Tali threw him a wave as she left, followed closely by Liara. "Let us know if something changes."
"You know I will." He ignored the soft hiss of the closing door, turning his attention back to the woman on the bed. She hadn't moved much during their discussion, no more than what was becoming her usual amount of random muscle twitches. The doctors thought the movements were due to her brain figuring out how to work itself again, as though the explosion that had killed the Reapers had jarred the connections loose. They were optimistic that, in time, she would wake up. Simple reflexes were the first step in recovering full neurological functionality, they claimed. Garrus hoped they were right. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his life waiting for a twitching, slightly convulsive shadow of the woman he loved to wake up.
After watching the sheets ripple around her toes and fingers for a bit, he returned his attention to his omni-tool. He had plenty of work to keep himself busy, but there was one task he used to keep himself sane. He wanted to find a good place, a home where they could rebuild their lives and retire into obscurity. Neither Earth nor Palaven were really good choices for permanent residences, although he might be able to talk Julia into setting up little getaways on both of their home planets. He was considering Rannoch as a possible choice; given that both the quarians and the remaining geth owed his girlfriend some major favors, it might be feasible for them to set up a home not all that far from Tali's future beach-front property.
Assuming Julia would be of a similar mind, the sort of permanent residence he was seeking had to meet certain criteria. It would be better if it was not heavily populated, so that struck Illium off the list, as well as most major cities. But there had to be enough people around for them to get the supplies they might need, and support both dextros and levos, at least marginally. The other check that required filling was a decided lack of bad memories and associations. That meant planets such as Eden Prime, Horizon, and Thessia had long since been removed from the list. All were capable of becoming comfortable for both of them, but neither Garrus nor Julia would ever be able to look around without remembering something awful. That left worlds they had not explored since the first hint about the Reapers, planets neither of them had ever visited, and locales where they were owed great dues. Rannoch was at the forefront of that column, followed by Tuchanka. The latter might be a bit awkward, considering the turians' role in the genophage, but with the cure dispersed and already in effect, Wrex and Bakara might be able to get most of the krogan to leave Garrus alone. Julia would enjoy helping the krogan rebuild their homeworld, especially if it meant arguing the merits of self-control versus random bloodlust with the Urdnot Shaman again. Just like the quarians and geth, the hulking warriors owed much to Julia, including the very future of their race.
Garrus thoughtfully tapped his forefinger against his wrist for a moment, then scratched Tuchanka off the list. However much the krogan owed his lover, they would have to find another way to render their thanks. Tuchanka was a levo world and the krogan would be very uncooperative about securing dextro-based food. Unless he wanted to eat nutrient paste for the rest of his life, the nearly-ruined planet was not a viable choice.
"Where are we supposed to live?" he wondered aloud. "Palaven's no good for you, and Earth isn't very dextro-friendly. We can't exactly hijack the Normandy and fly off into the wild black yonder, not if we expect to try for kids. She's a great ship, one of the best, but that's no place to raise a family."
He frowned down at his list of potential planets, and considered that perhaps they should find a little moon somewhere and start fresh. It was going to be interesting, acclimatizing to civilian life after the Reaper invasion. He wanted to do so without the constraints of position and responsibility, at least as far as the Heirarchy was concerned. He was still a few names down from being Victus' successor, but it was still too close for comfort. Julia always told him that he was a better leader than he believed, and he could only reiterate that his leadership had resulted in his squad getting slaughtered. To which she would counter that he did a fine job leading his task force and his group on the Collector homeworld, and had Sidonis not betrayed them, there would likely have been a whole group of killers and specialists willing to follow him through the Omega-4 Relay, even as he followed her.
"...rus..."
The tiny sound jolted his heart into the FTL range, and he snapped his wide gaze to his lover's face. She had not moved, but... There, her eyes had changed. Now there was the slightest hint of brilliant green peeking from beneath her long lashes, rolled slightly in his direction.
"Julia?" He came forward, took her limp hand in his. Felt a definite, albeit slight, contraction in the muscles of her fingers. "Julia, can you hear me?"
"Garrrrussss..." whistled past her ripe black lips, as if she was testing the sound of his name, getting used to the feel of it upon her tongue once more. Her eyes cracked the tiniest bit more open, revealing more of the living emeralds he had missed so much.
He resisted the urge to thumb back her eyelids himself. She was alive, and now she was awake. The doctors had been right after all. "Thank the Spirits," he sighed. His free hand rose to cup her face, smoothing his thumb along the sharp line of her cheekbone. "I had thought you were never going to wake up."
"Cudden leave you," she whispered, squeezing his fingers a bit harder. Her head tilted more firmly against his palm, and more green could be viewed. "Reeeaperrs?"
"They're gone, Julia. We won. I don't know how you did it, but you beat them. They're gone forever."
The faintest of smiles curved her lips, a shadow of the sly grin that he so adored. "Peeeace. Tha'll take some gedding yooosed tooo."
"Sounds like you need to get used to talking again. You have been out of it for a week or two. But shouldn't you have a better grasp of language than this, O Great Diplomat?"
"Fuck you, Garrruss," she slowly quipped, a little more clearly than she had spoken before. The curve of her lips remained, and her eyes finally managed to fully open. Something in his chest tightened when he saw how clear her gaze was, that the woman he loved so much was still in those eyes. She was there, and she remembered him.
"Not yet," he murmured, smiling big enough for both of them. He leaned down to press his mouth against hers gently, stroking along the silver fuzz growing over the bald patches on her scalp. "You need to get your strength back first."
When he pulled back, her lips had quirked into a deeper curve. "Loooking forward tooo it."