Back again with another chapter. As always thanks to the ever wonderful Daedalus30185 for his help and sometimes hilarious comments.

Since first reviews are special. . . Thank you Guest and Dame Leelee for leaving a comment. You made me very happy! Also a special thanks to those who put enough trust in my writing abilities to add this story to their favorite list and/or watch list. I endeavor not to disappoint. If I do, blame my beta :-P Just kidding! *runs for cover*


Small talk education

It was time to collect. Well, time to ask Garrus for his visor. The software was as good as done, she just needed to install and test it. Problem . . . There were hundreds of ways to start a conversation, hundreds of ways to ask him for the visor. Okay, maybe not hundreds, but still a lot. Though her fear for the turian was gone, well mostly anyway, her fear for idle conversation was still very much there.

She found herself a good distance away from the Mako. Just one step outside the elevator really. It was a relief to see that Ashley wasn't in her usual spot, playing with her guns. So, Shepard had finally taken her with him on a mission. With Wrex no less, as she could see he was missing as well.

Dani exhaled her breath in relief, one she hadn't even noticed she'd been holding. The sound, small as it was, got the attention of the turian she meant to talk to. He raised his head and looked up at her from his crouched position. His mandibles flared a bit. Dani had come to think of them as the equivalent of a human smile. Or smirk. She was never really sure with him.

"Dani, surprised to see you here. You missed your friend though. Ashley is off ship with Shepard and Wrex."

"Ha ha, very funny, Garrus," Dani muttered and slowly took a few steps in his direction.

His mandibles just flared again while he picked up a different tool and started treating the Mako with it. She was grateful for that. She still felt anxious when his predatory undivided attention was aimed fully at her. He knew.

She pulled the Mako apart in her mind. Settled all the different pieces in its own little place. Dani smiled when she noticed that the procedure Garrus was busying himself with, was completely unnecessary at the moment.

While putting the pieces of the Mako back together, she noticed several areas open for improvement and . . .

"Dani?"

She furrowed her brows. Someone was calling her.

"Dani, are you stuck?"

Stuck? She looked up from the part she was envisioning. A new interface between the on board computer and Mako thrusters. It should help tremendously in handling that big hulking –

"Dani, just concentrate on my voice. I'm right here. Just try to focus and come back."

She recognized that voice. It was Garrus! He was calling for her to come back, but . . .

Dani blinked a couple of times until two blue eyes, filled to the brim with worry, came inching back into view. She saw his eyes first, as always. And as always they were pretty close.

As were his teeth. She tried to force herself not to stare at them but failed miserably. Well, maybe they were more like tusks. Maybe he used an entirely different set of teeth, neatly hidden from view, that he used to tear meat from. . . um, eat his food. That row of awfully sharp looking teeth was probably just for intimidation but otherwise harmless. It's just. . . They did their job really well!

"Are those . . . real?" Dani blurted out after a while.

Garrus, just stared at her for a moment. She stared at the large mandibles and saw how they twitched, just a small movement, but enough to draw her attention.

"No, they are just for show. It's not like I use them to, say . . . eat my food."

Damn. Wait, was he making fun of her? But Garrus was already pulling himself upright again and, whatever look of mischief might have crossed his hard to read features, it was gone now.

"So, where were you? You spaced out on me for a while," Garrus asked while taking a step back from her, always mindful of the distance between them. Oddly enough, when first he started doing that, she was relieved. Lately it started feeling more as if she lost a safety net that he took with him when he stepped back.

"I was right here. Just a sudden idea for the Mako's interface," Dani answered him and took a step closer nearer to his presence.

He noticed. His mandibles slightly twitched again, but kept from addressing her movement.

"You'll have to fill me in later then, when you've worked on the details. But, I take it you didn't come here for the Mako?"

Damn. How should she reply? Just say she was here for his visor? Ask if he would take it off for her so she could take it with her? Ask if she could borrow it for a while?

"Dani, are you still . . . I hope not, but I . . . understand if you are, I guess. Afraid, I mean. Of me."

Her eyes shot up to his. "Afraid?" It suddenly clicked in her head. Her silence, he must have taken it as fear or apprehension from her side.

"No, it's not that," she sighed. "It's . . . small talk. I can't do small talk. I suck at it so bad . . . I . . . Um . . ."

She could feel her cheeks stinging with embarrassment. She was just glad that Ashley wasn't around to rub it in.

"You came here for . . . small talk?"

"No!" She cried out. "Not small talk. Just, I wanted to hide what I came here for with small talk."

"That sounds pretty deceitful. I'm sure that's not what you meant."

"Deceitful? No, I . . . I'm saying it wrong then. Damn!"

Garrus chuckled at her obvious discomfort. Stupid turian!

"Relax, Dani. You don't have to hide anything with small talk. Just, say what's on your mind."

"Okay, just tell me in advance . . . If I ask for your visor, will that cause another hysteric outburst of hilarity at my expense?"

Garrus flared his mandibles in a for her now recognizable show of humor. "I don't know," he said with a chuckle. "Depends on how you ask, I guess."

Dani raised her eyebrow and just looked at him, waiting for that stupid proverbial penny to drop. . . whatever a penny had to do with understanding something.

"Ah, I think I get your point. You want me to ask something but the last time you tried, it didn't go so well."

"No, Garrus . . . Whenever I try, it doesn't go so well!"

"Right. So, my visor?"

"Yes."

"Okay, ask for it."

"How?"

"Just, ask for it."

"Garrus!"

"Dani!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

Silence.

"I came down here for your visor," Dani said after several moments.

Garrus' mandibles started twitching oddly again and Dani got the sneaking suspicion he was trying very hard not to laugh at her.

"Forget it," she muttered disappointed and turned around to leave.

"No, Dani wait! I'm sorry. It's just . . . That was not a question. Just, ask . . ."

Dani turned around slowly. When she looked back at him again, she noticed the serious look in his eyes and she understood. He was not trying to make fun of her. He was trying to help her. She nodded at him. Garrus nodded back.

"Okay, so . . . just ask for it. . . What I want to achieve is to get your permission to take your visor with me," Dani thought out loud.

"Um, Garrus . . . I was wondering . . ." God, so many ways to ask one simple question! But which one of them was an acceptable way?

"I, um, have this idea that . . ." No, no need to elaborate, just ask. "I was wondering if I might, um, borrow? Is that good? Borrow your visor for a while. If that is okay. With you."

"Are you going to break it?"

"Break it? No, of course not! Why would I want to? I just need to . . . Actually, do you mind if I keep that to myself for a while?"

His mandibles twitched again. Ah, he was up to something! Sneaky bastard!

"Well, then why would I want to give you my visor? You'll have to persuade me."

"Sorry, persuasion is even further down my list of skills than small talk. Can't you just hand the damn thing over?"

This time Garrus did laugh out loud and Dani balled her fists. She wasn't sure if he was making fun of her or just laughing.

"Sorry, you just got more quad, as Wrex would say, when you get bitchy. No, don't give me that look! You said nothing wrong. We're just practicing your small talk. So, why would I want you to give you my visor?"

"Garrus," Dani sighed. "Look, I promise I will not break your precious visor. It will just be improved when you get it back. Now, I could tell you all I know about high-end theoretical particle physics and some pretty advanced science, but I fail to see the point of that."

"Yeah, you are right about that. Different topic then. How are you doing?"

"Huh?"

"Simple enough question. How are you doing?"

"I don't see how that is any of your business!"

The mandibles twitched again. "It's small talk, Dani. Humor me."

"Fine. I'm just fine. Happy now?"

"No, the correct response would be - Fine, thank you for asking. How are you?"

"Why?'

"It just is."

"And what if I'm not fine at all?"

Garrus turned around and opened the Mako for her.

"Let's go inside," he said, "I'm tired of just standing here like we are about to engage in a fight. Sit down and relax."

Garrus clambered inside and settled down in one of the seats. Dani hesitated for just a moment and then joined him.

"Turian culture is a bit different in that regard," he started to explain. "We don't walk around, displaying our emotions for everyone to see. We also don't inquire after personal matters. Those who are friends or closely related will talk about it eventually.

"Humans, they always want to know how the other is doing, but are always expecting a positive answer, even if that is not the case. Trust me, it confused me as well during my early C-Sec years. Why ask a question if you don't want the real answer? Apparently, it's polite among humans to inquire after one's health, but not to just start venting your problems."

"See? Even small talk has rules and regulations. How am I going to make sense of that?"

"Just, keep it simple. And stick to the weather. For some reason, humans love to go on and on about the weather."

"That's . . . I think . . . the most pointless conversation subject I have ever heard about!"

"And yet, humans love to comment on the current temperature."

"I'm afraid I'll just never fit in. I never know what to say. For some reason, I just can't seem to carry a conversation."

"Well, you're doing okay right now, aren't you?"

Dani looked to her left and took in the appearance of the turian sitting next to her in the other seat, in the dim light of the Mako.

"Yeah," she finally acquiesced. "I guess I am. You're not human though. Not bound by countless silly rules of convention so you can laugh when I fuck those up."

"No, I just have to bow to the strict rules of the turian hierarchy. Believe me, if you are not a very good human, I am a very bad turian."

"Then we have something in common at least," Dani smiled at him. "Thank you, Garrus. For trying to help me. Not sure if it will do any good, but thank you anyway."

They sat inside the Mako for a bit longer and Garrus helped her with several possible topics of conversation that wouldn't result in her putting her foot in her mouth. Maybe one day she would summon enough courage to ask what the hell that meant.

Garrus told her about his time with C-Sec, even his investigation about Saren and the resulting frustration and disappointment that came from it. While he did, Dani thought back to Earth and how Dr. Torque and Alex, though she'd clung to them as a child, had never gone through this much trouble to help her understand.

She watched Garrus as he was talking. Enjoyed the mesmerizing quality of his dual-toned voice. Admired the vibrant gleam in his eyes and the animated way he used his hands to illustrate a point.

From that moment, she started seeing Garrus in a completely different light. The light of friendship.

Now that she knew there was someone to fall back to, she even tried her best to be more open in casual conversation with others.