forgivetheinsubordination | IC Contact

[Dropping his hand he tilts his head the slightest, thinking. ...What could it hurt?]

...I'll come in. I've been meaning to ask you something.

[Stepping in he looks around taking in the rover. Even before he was on Gray he never spent much time in the one he'd been assigned. He can't say he's much used to these vehicles at all.]

[Garrus tilts his head toward the small table and chairs before he closes the door behind Zelos. His movements are slower as he makes his way over to take his own seat. Everything hurts.]

Have a seat. And what'd you wanna ask? I don't have any vegetable suggestions, if that's it.

[Small jokes. He's glad he can manage that much.]

[Zelos takes a seat without protest which says something to his respect for Garrus. But the nice thing about being is a liar is nobody will ever know things like that. The secrets of his feelings are pretty ~~tsundere~~ safe.]

I'll just have to catch you on your market day. [He actually smiles a bit and it's not even mocking.] I wanted to hear about Ajna.

[The joke gets a short, quiet hum of approval before Garrus turns his mind to what Zelos wants.]

Ajna. There's a lot to say. I mean, we were there six months, just about. There anything in particular you wanted to hear about, or should I just start complaining about ice and sharks with legs?

[Garrus has a feeling Zelos more wants to know about the end, but he's not sure. Maybe he wanted to know about the previous time the 30-second punishment happened, or the apex species, or something else entirely.]

[Resting his elbows on his knees he hunches over his interlaced hands. What did he want to know? Everything. Patterns. A past to give definition to the present.]

If this includes more octopus you can skip over those parts. [Octopus is creepy okay it's written all over his face like a five year old presented with brussel sprouts.] It was your first mission, right?

[Doesn't like octopus. Garrus is going to need to find out more about that, but later.]

Yeah. First mission for all of the recruits. There weren't any from earlier ones. Never figured out if that meant anything.

[But it's something that stands out. The Neheda had to have recruits before; this group has been a crew for a while. What happened there?]

Three drop points, like Macha. One dealt with bugs, the Shai, like we had butterflies. One had sea creatures, land sharks, that was my group, like another here had a centipede. Third on Ajna had wolves that were mist, able to hide and vanish and reform.

[Which doesn't line up with the third group here, but oh well.]

Ice, snow, not a whole lot of foliage. Not a lot of elevation, either. I mean, some, but not like here.

Sounds like the kind of place I'd hate.

[Had hated. There'd been a him during Ajna mission, or so he'd been told. But that's a separate mystery he's not yet willing to dive too far into.]

Did the instructors have you all split up into teams right from the start?

[It had been the sort of place Garrus hated.]

Yeah. We landed on the ground with colors on our cuffs. Didn't know what they meant, then, but we had them. What we didn't have were active translators. So the whole stretch of fighting our way to the rendezvous point was accompanied by a lot of guessing and a lot of gestures.

Ghost had been lazy, apparently.

What. I like charades as much as the next conscripted murderer [which is to say no he actually hates charades but] but I'm beginning to question if you're really still alive. Can I be sure all you seniors aren't just ghosts from bullshit past?

[He waves his hand in front of Garrus's face.]

How many fingers am I holding up?

[All of them? This is not how you detect a poltergeist...]

[Garrus bats Zelos' hand away weakly. It hurts, but he doesn't get what Zelos is on.]

Nobody who is dead feels pain.

[And he's felt a lot today.]

So I guess you really did make it from then to now despite it all.

[He drops his hand.]

Was it that bad?

[Garrus looks down, delaying his answer slightly. He hates being vulnerable, hates it with a passion, but he hates what was done to him even more. If he can help someone else with it, maybe find a way to use it, then all right.]

Yes.

[A beat.]

It wasn't just the suffocation. I knew it was temporary and it didn't matter because everything was pain. I was hit in the face with a missile and I've never hurt as much in my life as I did today.

[And the same was true for some of his kids, some of his leapfrogs, one of his oldest friends, and very likely his lover as well.]

[Zelos looks down. He doesn't need to imagine something like that to understand it.]

Do you know why they did it?

No. I don't.

[And there's frustration in his subharmonics now. He can't even explain it to Zelos. They'd fulfilled what he'd thought they'd been supposed to do. Who sends people in without clear instructions?]

Which makes it meaningless.

[A whim. Someone decided they wanted to hurt the recruits, and so they did.]

[To say he's surprised to hear that from Garrus is hard to say. To hear it? No. But to be said to him? Yes. But it's a useful thing to hear. Which is why he dislikes hearing it the most. He keeps that feeling from his face. He's just. Well. A worthless guy, hm.]

Then don't let it be meaningless. [He pauses. Looks up. Waves an hand.] Nevermind, that's too bold for even me to say. I would say you're at least considered valuable if this is the path they've chosen.

In that they chose torture instead of death?

[Garrus snorts.]

Or maybe they know that that'll backfire pretty badly. I couldn't come after them, but I've got a lot of friends. So do several on that list. I think there'd be a lot more dead and it would be a disaster on their hands.

[Never create a martyr. That's one of the things military training drilled into you. He takes a breath.]

For someone who didn't get hit with it you seem pretty down, now that you mention boldness.

Well... Yeah. [He hangs his head.] Gliese is paying attention to people not me.

[HOW CAN HE COMPETE?

Yes this is my tag.]

[What. Garrus blinks.]

That's your problem.

[Shaking his head, Garrus reflects on how... off... Zelos' priorities seem to be.]

If that really worries you, find some eggs. Take them to her. They might not do anything, but they might.

What. [He was expecting getting yelled at or made fun of. Not...advice.] You can't think I have a chance with her.

[...]

Wait. You've been hitting on her too?!

[HE TRUSTED YOU GARRUS WTH...]

Hitting on Gliese?

[Garrus snorts.]

I'm not suicidal. That, and I've already got someone. I don't think you have a chance, but I'm not your competition either.

[How do you go from giving advice to someone thinking you're hitting on the object of their affections?]

You say that, but you seem like the kind of guy who doesn't know he's in love until he's ten feet deep and Cupid's pulled up the ladder.

[He is just saying. You're too pure for this world Garrus. How do you live...]

But moving on. [Casually mimic moving the topic aside. They're done with that part!] This isn't the first time you've mentioned that thing. So. Who is it? You can't just keep bringing it up and not tell me that's cruel and unusual.

[Wasn't this conversation supposed to be about CDC atrocities....]

[Zelos' analysis of him is way more accurate than the guy knows, because that's basically how it had happened. And Garrus doesn't even have any real insight into Zelos in return, because once again he's jumping around from topic to topic.]

If I tell you who it is, will you tell me what really brought you here?

[Because he wants to think it's not really Gliese's attention.]

Mm... I guess it is kind of obvious.

[What? You mean he doesn't always just come and bother Garrus when the guy's had an extraordinarily shitty day? Miracles.]

Tell me if you really received treatment from medical and I'll tell you.

[He doesn't have to name his lover. Garrus doesn't know if he's won or lost here.]

I received treatment from three people with medical training. Didn't go to the rover itself. Didn't need to, between that and nanites. Talk, Zelos.

[He'll just nag about it later.... It feels kind of gross to mix play with work like that. He's got morals they're just thin and nonsensically placed.]

I came to make sure you weren't beating yourself up. But it seems my concern was misplaced.

[And he is embarrassed at getting caught out? Skipping this part of the convo by standing up to go.]

IC Contact - Consignment

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