Shepard’s Hobbies
-Garrus discovers one of Shepard’s side projects -
Shepard entered her cabin, eager to kick off her boots and slip into her civies. From the top of the stairs, she finally caught sight of Garrus sitting on the couch. He sat in the corner, his arm resting along the back and he was looking amazingly smug.
His eyes were lit when she came into view, like she was some poor merc who had misstepped into his crosshairs.
"Hello Shepard." His voice was purring with poorly concealed glee.
Shepard’s eyes narrowed but a corner of her mouth quirked up, "Garrus. What do you look so pleased about?"
His mandibles flared wide and wicked. She had never seen him this excited and it almost made her anxious, but she smiled back at him, eager to be in on the joke.
"Would you care to explain this?" He asked, gesturing to something she hadn't yet noticed on the coffee table.
Her hesitant smile vanished immediately when her eyes followed his gesture. Laying there on the table was the turian action figure that Shepard had re-painted to look like Garrus. She had been on shore leave, buying paints for her new model ship, when she had seen the figure and bought it on impulse. She had even had a great time while altering the armor and clan markings to make her miniature but, once she had finished it, she had realized that it could never see the light of day. For this very reason.
For a moment, Shepard found no words, but she did manage to keep the blush from creeping all the way up her neck.
"I’ve never seen that before in my life." She tried weakly, but straightfaced.
Garrus laughed, loud and derisive, "You’re going to have to do better than that."
Shepard huffed, she had no other choice but to retreat, "Alright, fine! I bought it with my model ship and I painted it. I was bored and thought it would be fun. Satisfied?"
She snatched the figure off the table and marched it back up to her desk where she had originally stashed it in her supply drawer.
Garrus was hot on her heels and grinning, "You were bored? And the mighty Commander Shepard could think of nothing better to do than to obsess over me?"
"I wasn’t obsessing." She countered, fighting a sheepish smile and feeling the blush creep higher. She slammed her desk drawer shut with the figure securely inside before turning back to Garrus.
He gave her a level, if mocking, look, "You forget I worked with CSec. I've been called in on cases like these, I know stalker behavior when I see it."
That got a begrudging laugh out her, "I'm not a stalker either."
She bumped her shoulder against his playfully as she skirted around him and back down into the bedroom. Anything to keep from being cornered.
Garrus nodded in agreement as he followed, filling his voice with a wistful tone, "No, you're just madly in love with me."
Shepard sighed and put her hands on her hips, attempting to look unamused, "How long are you going to make me eat shit for this, exactly?"
"Oh, at least for another half hour.” He said, chipper, glancing over at the clock on the nightstand before looking back to her, “And then intermediately for the rest of my life."
Shepard laughed and flopped down on the bed, covering her head with a pillow.
"Now, you can't escape that easily." He said, moving to lounge on the bed beside her. He patted her back consolingly, "There, there. It's perfectly understandable, Shepard. I mean, someone with my charm and rakish good looks. You couldn't help yourself."
Shepard groaned from under her pillow and she could feel Garrus shake with contained laughter.
He stretched out farther, settling in.
"So, in your opinion, what else about me makes me so dreamy?"
Jane shook her head, chuckling. She was a bit embarrassed but she had enough self-deprecating humor to appreciate the situation she'd gotten herself into.
Raising her head from under the pillow and meeting his gleeful gaze, she sighed, "I've created a monster with this, haven’t I?"
"You have no idea." He leaned in, nuzzling against her hair.
Shepard allowed it, but didn’t return it as she was still feeling a bit indignate.
"Are you mad I found it?"
The amusement was still in his eyes, but there was concern now too. Jane suddenly saw her opportunity to turn the field to her advantage. All she had to do was feign upset and he'd drop it. But... she loved seeing him this cocky and sure of himself. Garrus was a chronic self-doubter, and she’d put a lot of effort into making sure he knew their relationship was not a gray area.
"I'm not mad, Garrus." She smiled and leaned to place an affectionate peck on his mouth. And then she let her face fall into a look that was more wry. "That being said, I'm not feeling particularly proud either."
Garrus chuckled and bent to place his brow against hers.
"If it makes you feel better, I'm incredibly flattered." He admitted, wholeheartedly.
She narrowed her eyes, "Not too flattered to ever let me live it down."
"Absolutely not."
They both chuckled and Garrus renewed his efforts to nuzzle against her. Shepard returned it this time and reached up to scratch under his chin.
“What can I say, Vakarian? Sometimes, you’re on my mind to the point of distraction.”
He hmmed and nodded, leaning down to kiss her like he meant it.
... much later ...
Shepard sat at her desk, going through new reports. She vaguely remembered an earlier report that she wanted to cross-reference, and opened her drawer to retrieve the old datapad. Her hand stopped halfway in its reach.
Grabbing the two action figures, she stood and walked until she could swing into view of the lower level of her cabin.
Garrus looked up as Shepard waved the Garrus action figure and the newly discovered Commander Shepard action figure.
"Care to explain?"
There was a flicker of sheepishness before he answered, completely serious, "I didn't want him to get lonely."
Shepard’s eyebrows rose, but she said nothing. She did give him a knowing smile though.
Returning to her desk, Shepard placed the figures safely back in her drawer.