The Reclaimer Wars:The Reaper Crisis

Transit

Shepard scratched the back of her neck, staring at her bowl of gumbo while processing just exactly what had happened on her visit to the Waystation. The Normandy had been underway for a little over an hour, traveling to the system's Mass Relay in order to jump out and she still couldn't quite fathom it all. Genuinely, what?

She saw a blur move ahead of her and looked up. Garrus sat across from her, a tray of dextro rations in front of him as he spoke, "I take it something happened aboard the station?" before watching her seemingly wake from her stupor. He then added, "Because I've never seen that look on your face before. You look like someone just woke you up."

"Yeah, something like that," Shepard replied in a mumble. She picked up her spoon and started eating, then looked at Garrus, who seemed to be waiting for her to tell him what had happened. With a sigh and a proud smirk, she told him, "They listened to me, Garrus. They actually listened! About the Reaper Threat!"

"... Wait, so they didn't slam the door in your nose like the Council did?" Garrus snorted, crossing his arms to his chest. She shook her head, to which he commented, "Politicians and leaders whose heads aren't up their asses. That's harder to believe than the Collectors existing, honestly," while still bearing that standard Turian blank expression.

"I know!" Shepard answered, raising her hands and laughing, "It's like someone just slapped me in the face and woke me up from a fever dream! Competent people agreeing that we have an actual threat coming up!?" then she threw her hands up in the air again and stated jovially, "God, it feels good to be validated..."

Garrus chuckled at that, then said, "Don't I know it," though he seemed a bit more grim.

Shepard blinked, leaned forward and, with a sudden seriousness, asked, "Something the matter, Garrus?"

He waved it off and said, "We'll talk about it later, heh. Would rather not sour your good mood," before what passed for a Turian smirk, of expanded mandibles and a slightly open mouth, greeted Shepard as he teased, "I already miss the cute smile from before," which got the Commander to start stuttering like one heck of a mess.

He was proud of himself for that one as he leaned over to eat his food. He and Shepard quietly shared a meal together before the Commander departed from the place, mildly embarrassed at Garrus's jabs, with Garrus himself a bit surprised she had no comeback for that one. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and put his now-empty tray away to be washed, then walked back to the main gun.

Shepard, meanwhile, shook off the embarrassment as she entered the elevator. She held the door open when she saw Miranda approach, with Miss Lawson nodding, "Thank you, Commander. Good thing I caught up with you, too, because the Illusive Man has sent forward several new Dossiers and reminded us to go retrieve Miss Goto from the Citadel."

"We're gonna be heading for the Citadel first thing. I figure the legendary thief could be a fun encounter," Shepard replied, arms crossed. She asked, "I'm guessing you heard the scuttlebutt," when she saw the title on the datapad in the girl's hand. 'The Waystation and Assistance Against The Reapers(Working On Title)'. It was funny to know even Lady Lawson had to have drafts.

Miranda replied with a certain degree of joviality, "Yes. I am quite pleasantly surprised your new-found friends have decided to throw their lot in with us this quickly," before checking on the report on her tablet. She sighed deeply, mildly annoyed at a few grammatical mistakes, before pocketing the datapad.

"I know, right?" Shepard snorted as the Elevator started, moving down toward the cargo hold areas. She thought for a moment, shrugged and added, "But, hey. If the Reapers take us out, who's to say they won't use the Waystation to break out into their Galaxies and try and kill them, too? Self-preservation's one hell of a motivator for cooperation"