Human rituals

Chapter 1

Three weeks have passed since Garrus was back on the Normandy. Meeting with Shepard once more was the best thing that could have happened to him, he wished more than anything in the world to be able to support her in her endless fight against the Reapers. Nonetheless, there was something different this time. He felt inexplicably nervous around her, and he started to notice he was watching her back more than he should lately. Something was seriously wrong with his body and his priorities. It took him some work to finally accept that he felt attracted to his commander, but he was especially mad at himself for the moment his hormones started to act. They were in the middle of a war! His mind had been going over again the consequences of creating a bond with her without stopping, and to be honest, the results were not very encouraging. Even if he could find some good reasons, he didn’t even know if she was willing to try. He sighed frustrated, looking at the omni-tool on his arm. His mind kept telling him that it was a bad idea, but there was a voice in his head with a simple phrase that made him forget about everything else.

If not now, when?

Not being able to contain his curiosity any longer, he tried to formulate his question the best way he could to get the information he was looking for.

How to seduce a human female.

Although his search made him feel embarrassed, soon he started to get lost in the articles that gave all kind of advice about courtship between human beings.  Some were stranger than others, but he felt he was starting to get an idea about what he needed.

“Pay attention to her body language and her facial expressions”. Well, he would probably have trouble with that. But later he would make sure to change his search to “Human expressions and how to recognize them”

His mind had already started to ramble about how to put in practice everything he learnt so far, but a familiar voice made him startle. He quickly stopped what he was doing and turned around with a guilty attitude, as if he was doing something he shouldn’t.

“Is it a bad moment?” Asked the recently arrived woman when she noticed her friend’s discomfort.

“N-not at all, I was just… You know, doing some research about calibrations and giant weapons… Ahem, do you need something?” He answered awkwardly, making Shepard smile. She knew that the turian was trying to hide something, but if he didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t force him.

“Not really, I just wanted to talk. Do you have a minute?”

-Sure-. He quickly recovered his composure, trying to leave his nervousness aside. –Got something on your mind?-. He asked genuinely concerned about her mental well-being. The last mission wasn’t exactly easy.

The woman walked silently towards the handrail and leaned herself on it with a thoughtful look. She took a few seconds before answering.

“I was thinking about the salarians. It is… Kind of frustrating. Trying to come up with a way to get their support in the war while the Reapers keep destroying everything. Besides… Mordin…” She paused when she said his name aloud, as if her mouth went suddenly dry. She didn’t need to say anything else; her friend understood perfectly what she meant. Garrus came closer to adopt the same position as her.

“That wasn’t your call, Shepard. You know that. Besides, helping the krogan was the right thing to do. Who knows what might have happened if you had sabotaged the cure and they had found out. We need to work together to win this war, not to create motives to start another one.”

The commander felt as every word from the turian lighten the heavy weight that made her restless. She still mourned Mordin’s death, but Garrus had a good point. Even if the leader of the Urdnot clan wasn’t a good friend, she couldn’t allow herself to lose the krogan support in the war. She stood straight before speaking again.