Sorry, this is not a very long chapter and also not the best. Before you continue, let me say I do actually like Ashley as a game character. I just needed a bit of an 'enemy' on the ship who doesn't get along with Dani for later story purposes *dun dun dun*. So, yeah, Ashley is a bitch in this story and this chapter in fact. Apologies to those who love her, here... have a comfort cookie!
Okay, the painting scene was supposed to be an upside down painting, but after seeing the Youtube vid 'Artist's love (paint and sand) I decided to go with that. So, if that scene feels familiar, you probably saw the vid :-)
Thanks again - as always - to Daedalus30185 for helping me approve my story telling. Also, my thanks to Guest, Dame Leelee and Arquise for leaving a positive review. Thank you, so much! Also another big thanks to my lovely readers who added this story to their watch list and/or follow list. Enjoy!
Seeing things differently
Garrus surprised friend and foe by handing over his visor to Dani without any complaint. He was anxious the entire time without it and was visibly relieved when Dani returned it to him. When he activated his visor and booted the software, Dani could tell he was both relieved and disappointed to find there was nothing different. She just smiled but didn't elaborate.
When it was time to hand over the gun, he held on for a moment when she reached out for it. Their eyes locked for a moment and when he let go of the gun, his mandibles flared in a smirk and she grinned right back at him.
"Still not going to explain the big deal around your gun?" She asked.
"Not in this lifetime!" he chuckled. "Let's just say it sounded like you meant a different kind of gun."
"They laughed because they thought I meant your assault rifle?"
Another grin. "Right."
"I still don't get it."
"That's because you can't tell the difference between shit and shitting, you dumbass! They were –"
"Williams!" Garrus barked at her, his sub vocals gaining a distinctive higher pitch. "I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you."
"Geez Vakarian, you cluck over her like you hatched her or something!"
"Maybe if someone had clucked a bit more over you, you wouldn't be such a sorry excuse for a human being!"
Ashley snorted. "Sure, I tell it how it is and suddenly I'm a sorry excuse of a human being. Well, at least I'm not delusional like the pair of you."
"I may see things differently, Ashley Williams, but there is nothing delusional about my mind!"
Ashley merely raised an eyebrow. "Really? So there is nothing delusional about deluding yourself?"
"Don't listen to a word she says Dani, that's just what she wants."
"No, I want to know how exactly I am deluding myself since she suddenly seems to have become an expert in analyzing me."
"Oh I'm no expert, wouldn't want to be for that matter. Just plain common sense, sister."
"You're not my sister!"
"Amen to that! Look at you. Acting all nice and cuddly to the turian, even though you are terrified of him. He scares you to death.
You know, he knows, hell everybody on this ship knows! This . . ."
Ashley motioned at them with a broad sweeping gesture. "Whatever this is, it's just a front! And Garrus, you're all smiles and jokes around her, pretending she's not afraid of you as long as you act like her frickin' fairy godmother. It's so obvious, you can't even see it. It would be pathetic if it wasn't so funny!"
Without a word, Dani turned around and headed to the elevator.
"Truth too much to handle?" She heard Ashley call after her.
"Why don't you shut up Williams, no one is interested in your vicious opinions."
"Why are you still even here? Bet she's running to her bunk bawling her eyes out. Why don't you go and try to comfort her? You could both pretend it's what she wants."
Thankfully, the elevator door closed before Dani could hear any more of Ashley's scathing remarks. Her mind - delusional? She might be a lot of things, but she was not delusional! It was time to confront Ashley with her own narrow-mindedness. With something very simple and visual.
She returned shortly after. Carrying with her an old fashioned easel, a black canvas, a bag with canisters, a tray and brushes.
Ashley and Garrus were still bickering when the elevator door swished open. Dani just walked further into Engineering and set up her stuff, without saying a word.
"What, you're going to paint me a picture now?"
Somehow Ashley's remark seemed to have lost its usual venom, it sounded a bit more hesitant.
"Up for a little challenge Ashley? I'm going to paint something, and you're going to tell me what it is."
"I'm not fond of guessing games. And if your painting skills suck, that's hardly my fault."
"There's nothing wrong with my painting skills. You just have to look at it the right way."
With those words Dani turned her back to Ashley, grabbed a broad brush and opened one of the canisters. She smiled when she dipped the brush in the liquid and dragged it across the black canvas. A few wide bold strokes, followed by a few short carefully placed streaks.
"You're painting with black on a black canvas? Wow, there's a stroke of genius right there! Doesn't matter what you paint now, since no one can see it anyway."
"Just because you can't see, doesn't mean I can't. I can see it just fine."
"Sure, easy to say now isn't it?"
"Oh, you will see it too. You just can't see every facet yet. Your mind is not able to process this because it's still missing something. That's where our minds are different. You need that extra something to see. I don't."
Dani noticed how Garrus curiously approached them.
"Where you see nothing, I see possibility. But, just because you can't see the things I can, makes it right if I fault you for that. Yet, you are so eager to fault me for not understanding things you perceive as obvious, even though it's just a matter of looking at things differently."
A last, almost tender stroke across the canvas that to the eyes of Ashley and Garrus still showed absolutely nothing.
"Just because I'm intimidated by Garrus' physique, especially when he's angry, doesn't mean I can't try and work on my perception of him. And just because he is aware of my fears, doesn't mean he can't try to help me put me at ease around him by being friendly. One doesn't have to exclude the other. But if you have a tiny mind, you will only see obstructions and not a way around them."
Dani opened up a second canister and poured its content in the tray. She picked it up and walked back to the painting.
"Use your eyes, Ashley, and see!"
She tossed the contents of the tray onto the painting. It was light grey colored sand. An almost infinite amount of tiny grains splattered on the black canvas and clung to it. In just one instant, their miniscule pale bodies revealed a face hidden within. Dani had created Garrus' profile and captured his essence in simple but startling accuracy. She heard both of them gasp in surprise and Dani felt satisfied that she had shocked Ashley into silence.
"Don't ever call me delusional again."
