Sheepdog: Chapter 33 - Shepard
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Someone pushed the buzzer on Shepard’s office door.
“Enter.” She called.
Garrus stepped in and close the door behind himself. The office was very small, he almost filled up the unused space. It was really a converted closet near the cockpit. She didn’t like working in her room. People seemed to feel awkward if they needed to come see her. Plus, this was right over the engines so she could hear them. She found that comforting. It was small but nice, and private.
“Hey there, what’s up?”
He pulled the chair out and sat down looking rather excited and pleased with himself.
“I have a plan, but I want your ok,” he smiled.
“Sure, what?” she tapped at her keyboard, saving her work and turning the display off.
He reached out and grabbed her hand over the desk. “I want to have a date. Something special, just you and me. I want to wait, until just before we go through the relay.”
Shepard grinned. “What? All the nice place I take you where people shoot at us then we shoot them back aren’t good enough dates for you?” Garrus chuckled, and she added, “Sure, any particular reason why?” She smiled, cocking her head to one side, inquiringly.
He shrugged and leaned back, “Disrupt the crew as little as possible... and take that last chance to find some calm just before the storm. And, well, you know me. I always like to savor the last shot before popping the heat sink.” Shepard burst out laughing and collapsed with her head down on the desk. “Wait,” Garrus said, “That metaphor just went somewhere horrible.”
She looked up, still laughing at him. “You think?” She managed to stop laughing, “I do like your plan, as long as I still get to come visit you. I do, right?”
“Of course! We have lots to talk about, we also still have to work together. But now, I should go,” he grinned.
“Are you mocking me?” Shepard asked indignantly, her eyes narrowed. But she knew her smile gave her away.
“That’s my thing, ” he was very pleased with himself. “Sweetpea?” he added.
“Sweetpea? No, no, no. Think of something else,” she shook her head.
He kept trying to come up with a pet name, but so she’d vetoed them all. Shepard liked when Garrus used her name, first or last, but she really liked to hear him say Jayne. It made her happy. But for now, she was enjoying letting him try to find a nickname. Someday she’d tell him eventually how much she enjoyed him just calling her Jayne.
Everyone had called her Shepard since she’d been about thirteen, she even thought of herself as Shepard most of the time. Even before that, she had rarely been called Jayne. Shepard didn’t care for the name much. She knew she’d been born in a shelter, but her mother had abandoned her without naming her and no one had known the woman. A volunteer had named her Jane, after one of the Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice . That particular volunteer always gave kids literary names. Eventually, Shepard had ended up on the street and the rest of the kid never called her Jane.
When she was older and enlisted, she’d changed the spelling after a character in an old entertainment program she’d seen as a kid. He’d been a sort of space pirate, had a big gun, and no one messed with him. As a small kid on the streets, that was who she wanted to be when she grew up. To make it even better, his name was Jayne but with a ‘y’. She’d liked that much better than plain Jane with no ‘y’, so she changed it. Now, she had a new appreciation for the sound of the name.
“See you later, Jayne,” he stood and leaned over the desk, nuzzling her cheek. Garrus was trying to fluster her, but it wouldn’t work. Well, actually, it did. It worked too damn well but she wouldn’t let him win.
“Hah, well my reports are finished. So I win.”
Garrus open the door and headed out.
“Make sure you forward me that new code for your scope,” she called after him, going to the door, “I want to take a look.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said a little too flippantly.
Shepard just shook her head and went to go check on Joker, she could hear him sniggering in the cockpit.
“You know people are going to figure it out,” Joker said.
“Eavesdropping, my dear little pilot?” Shepard asked.
“Jamais mon capitaine!” he said, feigning shock.
Shepard made disgusted noise, “Sure, Joker. Sure.”
She kept her voice low as she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck.
“People only see what they want to see. The Cerberus crew might gossip a little about me and my team to pass the time. But do you really think they're going to want to entertain the notion that their commanding officer is romantically involved with a turian? No.” She shrugged, “Besides, I’ve heard the current rumors. Half of them think I was screwing Kaiden and I know most of them think I’m still pining over him.”
“Yeah well, a few think you’re doing Miranda. Or Jack. Or both.” Joker added.
Shepard rolled her eyes, “I know you started that one. Just keep your mouth shut about this.”
“Hey!” Joker was offended that she thought he might start gossiping about her and Garrus. “EDI knows,” he added in his defense, “Aren’t you going to threaten her too?”
“EDI isn’t a blabbermouth.” Shepard chuckled, “Plus, we girls stick together. Right EDI?”
“Indeed, Commander,” for a shackled AI, EDI could sound awfully smug.
“Women, they always gang up on you,” Joker grumbled.
“You wish, Joker,” Shepard snorted.
“Yeah,” Joker said wistfully. “Hey, Shepard. My birthday is coming up.”
“No.”
She knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Spoilsport.”
“Please, Jeff. We just want to enjoy this privately for a while before it hits the galactic rumor mill,” Shepard said sincerely.
“Of course,” Joker said with a smile, “Have fun. Just don’t tell me any details, I don’t want to know.” He gave a fake shiver, “Eww.”