I'm so glad you said mshenko is what you wanna write because it's what I wanted to request! your mass effect fics rock. if we can suggest a place and a reason, then "in the street" and "longing"! and mshenko, please :)
Shepard’s face is pressed against the window of the shuttle as it descends towards the landing pad. Garrus would give good credits to be on the other side of it, looking at that weird, fleshy human nose mashed up against the glass.
It’s rare Shepard looks like an idiot. Garrus takes a lot of enjoyment in those moments when they come.
“You look like an idiot.”
He also enjoys pointing them out.
“I saved the galaxy,” Shepard replies, mashing his face even closer against the glass. “I can look like an idiot if I damn well feel like it.”
No doubt he’s scanning the ground for a familiar face, even though this high up he wouldn’t be able to tell Kaidan from a pyjack.
“You know, up until right now I held on to the belief that you saved that galaxy for me. Now I see the truth. It hurts, Shepard.”
Shepard tears his face away from the window to grin. “I’d never let anyone come between us, big guy.”
Garrus’ mandibles quiver.
“Ok. Fine. Kaidan bats even one eye and I let him come right between us.”
“It’s the hair, isn’t it. I can’t compete with the hair.”
Shepard chuckles, slouching back in his seat and fidgeting, knee bouncing as he waits for the shuttle to land.
Sure you don’t want to come? Garrus had asked Kaidan when this entire expedition had come up.
Everything that happened on Tuchanka is something I wasn’t part of, Kaidan had told him. I think it would do him good to just spend time with you. The person who was with him through all of it.
There’d been more than a little guilt in his voice, and it spiked more than a little worry about Shepard. Aside from being a little more quiet, inward, than normal, every time they’ve talked Shepard seems...ok But Garrus knows almost better than anyone how good Shepard is at hiding things.
I worry about him, Garrus.
So Garrus worries, too. But upon seeing him in person again Garrus had been pleasantly surprised to see his old friend looking and sounding more like he had in the days when all they had to contend with was a rogue Spectre. Less weight on his shoulders. Less lead in his steps. Maybe that worry is misplaced.
Kaidan’s always been overprotective of Shepard. But then again, so has Garrus. Few people knew just how bad things had gotten leading up to the Omega 4. Maybe Shepard’s told Kaidan about it. Maybe he hasn’t.
Maybe there are a few things Shepard will never let get between them.
They’d spent a week on Tuchanka touring the rebuilding efforts, playing with broods of tiny, headbutting krogan, reviewing expansion plans with Wrex and Bakara, and watching a stockpile of shark documentaries Shepard had put together with Grunt. The entire time Shepard had been so much like himself that Garrus was almost baffled. He thrived with the krogan.
Up until the dedication ceremony, anyway. At the very mention of Mordin’s name Shepard went into the same lockdown Garrus remembers all too well from those late nights in the galley during the Cerberus days.
Those had not been good nights.
It had taken Shepard a while to shake it off. Long enough that Garrus had gotten Kaidan on the comm to ask what to do.
Keep him looking forward. Point him at the future. Not the past. He needs to remember what it was all for.
With all the damn krogan hatchlings rolling around that hadn’t been too hard. One squirming, reptilian bowling ball later and Shepard had been all smiles.
But now that it’s over and home is in sight, Garrus gets a glimpse at the other future that’s kept Shepard moving forward.
The moment the shuttle door opens Shepard flies through it. No corona propels him on this particular occasion, but the speed is similar.
“No, it’s fine, I’ll get your bag,” Garrus grumps. He’s already having nightmares of what it’s going to be like to spend a week on Earth, alone with the two of them and no backup. Mentally he calculates how long it would take Tali to get here from Rannoch.
The only reason he catches up is because Shepard slows down to search the crowd waiting on the platform, and Kaidan isn’t there. Shepard scowls. “Where the hell is he?”
Garrus points. Across the street on the other side of the platform a familiar human slams the door of a skycar, expression frazzled.
Shepard doesn’t even look before darting into the street. Try telling Shepard that traffic doesn’t give a shit how many times he saved the galaxy.
But Shepard somehow bends the universe to his will, like he always does. He reaches Kaidan unscathed, wraps him up in his arms and kisses him so deeply Garrus clears his throat and looks away. He also waits until the sign tells him it’s safe to cross the damn street.
“Hey, you,” Kaidan tells Shepard with a grin, then glances at Garrus. “Did you forget someone?”
“No,” Shepard replies. “But this weird turian keeps following me around. I think he wants my autograph.”
Garrus snorts.
“Come on, big guy,” Shepard calls out. “You’re gonna love the orchard. Lots of space for target shooting, and a lake where I can kick your ass skipping rocks.”
“Your life sounds very exciting,” Garrus replies.
Shepard’s gaze slides to Kaidan, expression soft. “Yeah.”
That’s the moment Garrus stops worrying. Whatever bad days are still ahead of him, Shepard will pull through. Because if he needs to look to the future to remember what it was all for, he doesn’t need to look any further than the hand clasped firmly in his.