Takes place a day or two after chapter 20 in Changeling titled, 'Getting Away With It'.
Grunt is hungry, angry and worst of all, bored. Ever since Battlemaster had helped him on Tuchanka she's been busy with organizing ship upgrades and to his annoyance, she seems more interested in that strange human male she has started letting sleep in her cabin.
Grunt doesn't understand. What is so special about him? He doesn't understand why out of all the crew members that the human biotic is the one she talks to most and always pays attention to. He can smell the taint of a defect on him, he's heard the pilot and EDI speaking, the one called Alenko's head is messed up with a flawed implant. He hasn't even been on the ship long, and the Miranda woman had carried him onboard wounded. Why would Battlemaster Shepard want to deign that weak pyjak with her presence? He would only slow her down.
She is strong, Grunt knows this. The man is weak.
Grunt decides he'll never understand humans, or the strange things they do. Shepard seems to want to wrestle with him all the time, but maybe it was her way of showing dominance over an inferior male?
He turns this thought over in his head as he lumbers to the mess area. Maybe some fish will help calm him down, and at least take away his hunger problem. He'll corner Battlemaster later and convince her to take him for a fight somewhere before the next mission…
The human male called Alenko is sitting at the mess table eating a large pile of pancakes. Grunt growls low in his throat. Shepard had made pancakes for Grunt last week…and now Alenko's eating the same kind of ones. Had Shepard made them for him too?
He thought Shepard had only done that especially for him…
The one called Alenko looks up at the noise he makes and raises his eyebrows. "Uh. Hello, Grunt."
"Alenko," Grunt nods and decides that the human is too soft. It would be dishonorable to steal his pancakes. He would be too weak to get some more. He crosses to the freeze and digs out some frozen fish, shoves them in the microwave then plonks down in the seat across from the biotic.
"Shepard made you pancakes?" he asks, and the dark-haired man glances up. Grunt bites the head off one of the fish and makes a satisfied noise.
Alenko makes a disgusted face at Grunt's delicious fish. "Uh, no. Actually, if you must know, I made them for her." The male smiles stupidly and Grunt thinks maybe his brain is messing up on him again.
"She hates cooking."
Bah. Shows what he knows. Human males are stupid, he decides.
Grunt takes another bite of fish and swallows, a little smugly self-satisfied. "She cooks me pancakes sometimes."
"Because she's kind," Alenko answers, as if that explains everything.
"Hmpf. She is not," Grunts says and gulps another fish whole. "She is ruthless; she is krogan in human form. She is war and violence in the deceptive guise of woman."
Alenko nods and shrugs, eating more of his pancakes, "Sure. But she also makes you pancakes just because you like them."
Shepard had. His stomach had been sore; Massani had dared him to drink a gallon of engine oil, so he had. He wasn't a child. He was brave. He was a krogan of Clan Urdnot now.
Still…he had been lying in the shuttle bay, a whirling misery in his stomach and Shepard had come and taken him up to the mess and made him pancakes and gave him some water and suddenly he hadn't felt so bad.
Shepard was blood and anger and explosions. She was not soft. She only did that for him so he could be part of her krantt again and be ready for battle.
Grunt growls and can't help saying with a little pride, "She burnt them especially for me, they taste better that way. She says so."
"Oh um, yeah." Alenko laughs and Grunt frowns. "I'm sure she meant to do that."
Why's he laughing?
He's about to demand Alenko tell him why he is mocking Shepard when Massani walks in, smoking those cigars he likes and with a knowing smirk on his face.
"Well, well." Massani coughs and flicks ash in the direction of Alenko, "Would you look at this: two of mommy's little boys sitting together. Where is she?" He mockingly looks around for Shepard, "Knitting you some booties?"
Grunt sees Alenko shove his pancakes away and his brows lower over his eyes. He knows that's a human response to anger, he's been watching the vids. Interesting.
"I think you should watch your mouth," Alenko says.
Massani laughs and then he does a back and forth motion with a fist hand to his mouth, bulging one cheek with his tongue, and Grunt doesn't understand. "Speaking of mouths, I wonder where hers was last night. She that good, son?"
Alenko seems to understand though and stands roughly from the table, scrapping his chair across the metal. He moves to collect his plate and walks stiffly to shove it in the sink for washing. Grunt thinks that tight line in his shoulders means he is either terrified or rage-filled.
Grunt bets on rage. He can smell electricity in the air and he thinks that Massani has hit a sore point.
Massani barks another laugh, "Really though, I should pat you on the back. Who would have thought that tight-ass bitch would-"
Grunt watches, mildly surprised when the biotic whirls around and Alenko doesn't seem meek anymore as he growls, "Don't you call her that!"
Massani chews on his cigar and walks closer to Alenko. Grunt can see Alenko is the taller, but Massani has the bulging muscles and bigger bulk. He crosses his arms and Grunt can see them flex, "Why? The princess loves a bit of banter like she loves a bit of old-fashioned drilling-"
"You don't want to say that again," Alenko says through gritted teeth.
Grunt is getting excited; he can smell testosterone and anger and pride in the air. Maybe Massani will kill Alenko? Put him out of his imperfect misery. It is a dishonor to limp through life so weak, having to be protected by Shepard. Grunt abandons his fish and stands up. He can't resist pumping his fists together in anticipation.
He hopes they'll tear into each other like rabid varren. Blood and bones and flesh rending. The tank mother tells him these are good things.
"What are you gonna do?" Massani flicks his cigar on the floor and cracks his knuckles. "Are you her goddamn knight in shining armor?"
"Show some respect. Or I'll teach you to."
Grunt thinks Alenko's eyes are suddenly a lot darker, his posture is wired, the sleeves on his shirt rolled up. Now that he looks closer he can see Alenko has muscles too. Why though? How could a defect fight?
"Oh ho!" Zaeed raises his eyebrows at Alenko's obvious unwillingness to back down and crows, "So her Alliance soldier boy, who she moped around the ship all cow-eyed for weeks, moaning and bitching like a cat in heat, does actually have some quads. And here I thought she was afraid of a little hard stuff," the merc makes a motion with his hips, smirking.
Alenko is suddenly in front of Massani, gripping the front of his armor roughly. They're seconds away from punching each other and Grunt is so happy. He thought this day would be boring!
"Come on now, son." Massani hisses in Alenko's face, "She doesn't care. Tell me: is she a screamer? I've been dying to find out but she won't let me fuck her-"
The mess explodes; Alenko balls his fist and socks Massani in the jaw. To Grunt's upmost surprise the blow actually seems to reel the merc back, blood streaming from his mouth.
Huh. Maybe he wasn't such a pyjak…
Massani quickly recovers though and hurls an armored fist at Alenko's stomach. The biotic dodges out of the way, quicker than Grunt thought him able, and is suddenly behind Massani with a foot to the back of his knee. Grunt thinks of the tank's lessons; typical tactic - take your opponent down as quickly as possible. You get them on the ground and they're yours. You can drive a sharp knife into their throat and watch the life drain from their eyes.
The merc is no amateur though and spins, kicking Alenko in his injured thigh and drawing a gasp of pain from him.
He backs up and Massani gets off the ground and charges him, the bundle of flailing limbs they become is driven into the wall, wrestling for dominance. The merc gets a good hit in on Alenko and splits his lip and there's the sweet tang of blood from both men in the air.
This is the best day on the Normandy yet, Grunt thinks joyfully. There's going to be a murder!
"You must cease your struggle." Grunt's battle-heart falls as the machine that lives in the ship cuts in. "You will damage each other or the Normandy. I will summon Shepard."
Massani and Alenko take no notice. The merc has his hand wrapped around his neck, forcing him into a headlock and to Grunt's shock there's a sudden burst of blue and the mess table levitates to Alenko.
Grunt moves closer to observe, and the table is now positioned directly over Massani's head. If Alenko throws it at Massani, it will bash his skull in. The table is not small; Grunt would have trouble lifting it even with all his genetically engineered muscles.
Why would Alenko be considered defective with that kind of power? Shepard and Samara are the finest biotic warriors Grunt knows and he has never seen them Lift something of that size.
Grunt growls again, Massani must have lied to him. Alenko is a warrior worthy of Shepard's krantt.
"Do it!" Massani yells, taunting, "I'll fucking rip your goddamn amp out!"
Alenko struggles against his grip and red-stained teeth bared in anger, retorts, "What are you waiting for then?! Scared I'll drop the table on your head?"
Massani does look alarmed and Grunt thinks they're in a perfect stalemate. "You goddamn idiot." The merc says, "All this over one goddamn woman."
"Apologize for speaking about her like that!"
They're both stubborn, unwilling to back down. Grunt thinks he would have already thrown the table and killed Massani.
"No goddamn way," Massani rasps.
"What the fuck is going on here?!"
Shepard has arrived; he can smell her unique scent of flowers particularly strongly and thinks it's coming from her hair. She looks rumpled and flustered, her hair dripping wet with some shampoo bubbles. Grunt knows EDI must have just pulled her out of the shower. She's not properly dressed even, just a hastily thrown on men's shirt and tracksuit pants. Her hair trickles water into her furious eyes.
"Battlemaster! Your men are fighting and I'm observing their skills." Grunt pipes up, eager to be helpful. Shepard likes when he helps. "My creds are on the one you call Alenko."
"Thank you, Grunt. I can see that," Grunt's heart deflates a little; he thinks she's being sarcastic.
Shepard turns back to the two fighting males and he can see her eyes widen in horror when she notices where Massani's hand is, right at the back of Alenko's neck.
Grunt knows that's the best way to take down a biotic. A human one anyway, doesn't work so well for asari. If you rip an amp out before it's been powered down, with the biotic still standing and using it, it makes them collapse like a ragdoll in most cases. A sudden shock to their nervous system takes them out nicely, and for bonus points, it sometimes causes them to stroke right out.
The tank shows him memories of human biotics on the floor, twitching. The hardest part is getting close enough to do it; most protected the back of their necks. And it's very difficult getting close to someone who can control gravity.
Massani is an excellent killer and Grunt respects that.
Shepard looks suddenly afraid, "Zaeed! Are you touching his amp jack?! Fuck." She swears and is over to their side, but stays out of the range of the hovering table. Instead she barks, "You remove it and I swear to fucking god, it will be the last thing you ever touch with that hand."
She turns to Alenko and Grunt sees she looks very stern, her face twisted in anger, "And Kaidan Alenko! You put that table down, now."
Massani doesn't remove his hand from Alenko's neck and the table does not waver.
Shepard flares with her own power and grits out through her teeth, "Massani, if you do not let him go right now, I will rip your fucking head off."
Grunt watches the mercs' eyes flicker to Shepard and knows that she means it. He releases Alenko from the headlock and the biotic stops glowing.
The table is gently set on the ground and Shepard explodes, "What the fuck are you two doing?!"
"It's nothing Shepard," Alenko mumbles, shame-faced. He won't look her in the eyes. The mess looks like a war zone hit it, chairs and the table moved from their usual places. There are spots of blood on the ground, Massani's nose and mouth are dripping steadily and Alenko's lip looks swollen.
"Get out of here, Zaeed." She points to Massani and then the hallway with the elevator. She rolls her eyes and says, "I just know this is your doing somehow."
"Me?" Massani affects innocence, shrugging, "How about you call off your little guard dog? Not my fault a little boning sends-"
Shepard huffs and flicks her head, sending water droplets everywhere, "Oh I am so done with you today. I want you to go to your trash room and I don't want to see your face again."
"But Shepard-"
"Now!" She orders and Grunt would never disobey if she used that tone on him.
"Fine, fine." Massani backs down and throws a sarcastic salute to Alenko who glares at him witheringly.
"Nice game soldier boy. Didn't think ya had it in ya."
"Out!" Shepard yells again, and as Massani slinks off slowly she sends a little spark of blue sailing from her finger tips to telekinetically boot him in the ass, throwing him out of the mess area. Grunt can hear him thump to the ground, sprawling by the elevator.
"Grunt, please start cleaning up."
"Yes, Battlemaster," he nods and begins to move the table back to its proper position.
"What was all that about, LT?" He can see her reach up, bunch the long end of her shirt in her hand and dab Alenko's split lip with it in the absence of a tissue, "This is unlike you."
Alenko sighs and moves to stand closer to her, almost pressed together, blocking Grunt's view. He shuffles over to pick up another chair and the vantage point let's him make out Alenko's hands wrap around the bare skin that is revealed by her lifting up her shirt.
"Your crew, Shepard, they're not Alliance." He says so quietly Grunt has to strain to hear, "They don't show you the proper respect you deserve."
"Ah, he was mouthing off again?" she says in a knowing tone.
Alenko swallows and nods.
Shepard shakes her head and smiles crookedly, "Don't worry about it LT, I'm used to it."
"He shouldn't speak to you like that." Alenko says firmly, "I won't allow it."
Battlemaster laughs and Grunt watches her put her shirt back down and lean up to press her lips at the corner of the male's mouth, avoiding the split area. "You're a sweetheart Kaidan, but I can fight my own battles."
Grunt doesn't know why she keeps doing that thing with her lips. He had thought it was some dominance right…but she doesn't seem very dominant over him. She lets him put his hands all over her, lets him disagree with her.
Grunt just doesn't get it. Maybe he'll have to ask Garrus or Mordin.
"This isn't how this works though," Alenko says. "You're my partner, we fight together."
"Thank you, really." Shepard begins gently but then her voice hardens into her battle-tone that would have Grunt throwing himself at an enemy to please her, "But you get into a fight on my ship again, provoked or not, I'll put you on latrine duty." She turns to Grunt and he starts, pretending pick up a chair, "Besides you're setting a bad example for Grunt. We want him calmer, not starting fights everywhere."
"Shepard…"
Grunt watches closely, and an inkling of understanding enters his brain. The tank didn't show him memories of this, but he thinks they spoke about it on Tuchanka when some of the older krogan mentioned the female camp. What they did there.
"Zaeed will settle down when I deal with his weird revenge thing in a couple of days, don't worry so much," her hand reaches up and traces a path over his forehead, "you'll get wrinkles."
Alenko sighs, closing his eyes and she backs away from him, leaving now the fight is over.
"Grunt, next time, maybe come get me or something, ok?" she says and Grunt nods.
"Yes, Battlemaster. I only wanted to see their combat skills."
Shepard wrinkles her nose and she picks up the wet mop of her hair to wrap over one shoulder. "I'm going to finish my shower and pretend two of my men didn't just try and kill each other."
She walks away and Grunt thinks that he's glad he wasn't the one to piss her off.
Alenko has picked up a chair and slumped in it, clutching a glass of water, gently probing his lip with his tongue. Grunt is curious and settles himself in the seat beside him.
He thinks he finally understands what Massani was saying now. Why Alenko got so uncharacteristically angry.
"Massani, what he was saying…you're her kin?" Grunt asks and watches Alenko's eyes widen.
"Kin?" he shakes his head vehemently. "No, we're not related. God no."
"That's not what I mean." Grunt searches for the right word as Alenko sips some water. His lip turns the water in the glass bloody. "She's your…mate. You rut with her?"
"Rut?" Grunt grins as the human male spits water everywhere, some of it dribbling down his chin. "No, that's not what I call it. I would never, I mean, we're not animals. It's different."
Argh, why were humans so frustrating and wily? All he wants is a straight answer and they always had to clarify things, pick at them. Grunt prefers his own kind, krogan never mince words.
"You don't bed down with her at night then?"
Alenko stammers, "Uh, I guess we do."
"What's it like?" Grunt wonders, "Having a mate?"
He couldn't imagine curling up with a female. They're soft and smaller. Wouldn't he be afraid to break them?
But, Shepard is small and Grunt has never thought of her as breakable.
He's confused again. He doesn't get the games that they play. He doesn't know why Shepard and Alenko want to sleep next to each other and wrestle and press lips together. Grunt wishes he was on Tuchanka now and could ask Shepard's old friend Wrex. He seems to know what to do with females.
"It's uh…nice, I guess."
"I have clan." Grunt says, "But no kin. I will have a mate in the future."
He will, he decides. He wants to see what it's like. Why it would make a man so apparently mild want to kill a merc with a lifted table. He had been shoveling pancakes in his mouth gormlessly only moments before, seemingly small and weak to Grunt and now the krogan privately thinks he's one of the best warriors on the ship. Grunt appraises him with new eyes; he's tall, with good muscles and good training and skills. He had almost taken Massani down straight away at the beginning of battle, without his leg injury he might have. Alenko was just not used to showing off his prowess like Massani or Grunt.
"You almost bested Massani in battle. I was wrong." Grunt admits humbly, "You are not weak."
Alenko blinks in surprise and says nothing, just takes another sip of water.
They sit in silence for a while; crew members walk into the room and then back out again swiftly. It probably looks like Grunt tried to kill Alenko and it makes him smirk as he asks, "You would fight to the death for clan and kin?"
Alenko looks him steadily in the eyes this time, and Grunt thinks this is a man who would kill, who can command and who might be kind at heart but is not weak for it.
Grunt still has a lot to learn. He's glad he's with Battlemaster so she can teach him.
"In a heartbeat," Alenko says quietly, "It's what you do for people you care about."
Grunt sniffs, decided. "Next time I will join the battle and turn it to your favor. Shepard is clan. I can still rip out his spine for you, Alenko?"
"Um, no thanks. It's fine. But thanks. And you can call me Kaidan."
There's another thing he's been wondering when he is around Shepard. It doesn't make sense to him. Maybe…maybe the one whose name is Kaidan knows.
"Do you know why…Battlemaster likes to smell like flowers?"
Kaidan coughs and stands up, "Ok, this just got weird. I'm uh, I'm uh just gonna go and get some medi-gel from Dr. Solus. Thanks for the chat, Grunt."
As Kaidan leaves, Grunt stomps to the fridge and gets some more fish. Today wasn't such a bad day after all; he's not angry or so bored anymore. Maybe tomorrow he'll ask Shepard about the flowers. If it is a clan ritual, then he wants to smell like flowers too.