After Horizon

“Sanctimonious bastard!”  Garrus stomps through the airlock, his boots shedding clods of matted grass and dirt.  “Contemptible little shit!” 

It’s been like this the whole trip back on the shuttle.  I wonder if my translator is acting up, because it doesn’t really sound like Garrus.  At least, not all the big words.  On the other hand, I’ve never really seen him this angry.  He slams a gloved fist against the bulkhead, making a dull ringing noise that echoes through the whole deck.  Then he glares at me and snarls.

“I can’t believe you let him talk to you like that.  I would have torn his face off.” 

Yeah, OK—that  sounds a little more like Garrus.  As if I’ve asked for a demonstration, one taloned hand grasps an imaginary collar while the other slashes viciously through the air.  I hear gasps from a couple of the more impressionable flight crew. 

“Well, Commander,”  Joker drawls from the pilot’s chair.  “Gotta say our pointy friend here has a, um, point.”  He swivels round to face us.  “I mean, Kaidan’s always been Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, but that?”—his thumb points over his shoulder at a console where the video feed from Horizon flickers on pause mode—“That  was just rude.”  He eyes Garrus circumspectly.  “Not sure it really deserves face removal, but I wouldn’t stand in your way.  I like my face where it is.  And hey, on the plus side, after we patch him back up, you three would make a matched set.”

I sigh and rub the back of my neck.  It doesn’t actually hurt—that ache in the bone hasn’t returned since Cerberus rebuilt me—but old habits, as they say, die hard.  Garrus glowers, blocking the passageway.  Behind him, Miranda has her arms folded and a resigned expression on her face.

I tell him, “Take it down a notch, Garrus.  Kaidan’s entitled to his opinion.”  I would like to say more, but I can feel the eyes of the crew on us, and the walls—among other things—have ears.  “Good job down there, you two,” I say instead.  “Go get some rest.”

“Yes, Commander.”  Miranda pushes past Garrus, turns on her heel and strides briskly off to her quarters.  To file a report for her boss, of course.  No doubt my conversation with Kaidan needs to be carefully evaluated for its effect on my state of mind and long-term ability to carry out whatever nefarious plan Cerberus has in store for me.

Garrus gives me a look that probably means something significant in turian, and stalks towards the elevator.  I let him go, and head towards my terminal to check my messages.  I’ll have to talk to him.  When he’s had time to calm down a bit.