Midnight Wake-Up Calls

[popaheatsink]

[Some hours past the middle of the night, the datapad suddenly alights with sound-- clicking, hasty shuffling, and an abrupt BANG as if it were just dropped. The video feature switches on, focusing on a very detailed close up of the fabric of the apartment's cheap commercial carpet. Everything beyond is dark, lost in the blackness of night.]

Comments

[hasashotgun]

Garrus? [...Well that's not good. At all.] What's going on?

[popaheatsink]

[Tali ;; BFF figure out why this is happening]

...It's Shepard.

[hasashotgun]

[Don't worry bff, Tali will fix everything.] Shepard? Did something happen?

[popaheatsink]

Nothing happened. That's the thing, Tali. She won't wake up. Mordin says she's breathing, that her vitals are fine, but she's unresponsive and I-- I can't do anything. [He is useless. Completely useless. There's nothing he can do to fix this.]

[hasashotgun]

She's completely...unresponsive? Oh keelah...[Now you have her worried.] Is there anything I can do? My suit's stripped but I still have some of the equipment in our systems...If Mordin needs any of it...[Yes, she's volunteering up her own damn suit parts to help Shepard if it's needed.]

[popaheatsink]

She's okay, Tali. Not... getting better, but not getting worse. [He didn't really mean to get you super worried too.] But thank you. [He rubs the side of his face, tired, unsure.] While I would absolutely love to hear more about how your suit works, I'll leave it up to Mordin to decide if he needs anything more. Right now, he just wants towels. [Look, humor! Pretend everything will be all right with him ;;]

[hasashotgun]

As long as she's stable that's...good. [Not great, but not bad...So good, yes.] I never said I would tell you how it works. [Humor is a godsend sometimes.]

[There's a pause before she speaks again, quieter this time and once again sounding worried.]...Do you need anything, Garrus? [Like some company? Good, reliable, willing to lend a shoulder if you need it, bff company?]

[popaheatsink]

[There's an even longer pause in reply, making one think that perhaps Garrus had closed the connection without any intent to answer. And then, suddenly:] Wouldn't mind company.

[hasashotgun]

[There's a pause on her end as well.] Company...Where are you staying? [And the reason for that pause is evident. She's on the move, leaving her apartment with the intent of heading straight to you, Garrus.]

[popaheatsink]

[He sends her the coordinates apartment number, then sits back to wait, not knowing what else to say. He'll just be sadly staring at Shepard in the meanwhile.]

[hasashotgun]

[It takes a while, but she does make her way to that apartment. Normally she would knock--the situation, however, is a bit more dire than one that calls for politeness, so instead she simply opens the door and comes in on her own.]

...Garrus?

[popaheatsink]

Hey, Tali. [He sounds a little more subduded in person than he usually does, but he does stand to greet her.] Did you have any trouble finding the place?

[hasashotgun]

[She doesn't have to ask how he's doing, the unusually subdued tone gives that away all to easily to her.] I'm still new, so I got turned around a few times...[A pause, followed by a very tentative question.] Any news?

[popaheatsink]

Ah, it happens. You'll find your way around in no time. [He turns away, then cocks his head to signal her to follow him to Shepard's room. He figured Tali would want to see her first.] Nothing new. She's stable, just not waking.

[hasashotgun]

[She follows after him, keeping close until they come to Shepard's room.] At least she's stable...that's a relief. [She'll take a positive, no matter how small right now.]

Do we have any idea what might be wrong?

[popaheatsink]

Lily has a theory. [He sounds even, steady, and only someone who knew him could recognize the complete lack of humor in his tone for just how upset he really was.]

[He explains the canon-updating theory as best he knows how, quietly, watching Shepard all the while.] ... So all we have to do is wait for a week.