Semi-open

[theniputitback]

who ; Parker and the residents of the Shephut
what ; Parker's crew is gone, and staying alone in the empty apartment is not working out quite as well as she'd thought.
where ; Normandy Haus
when ; ...now? Now's good.
warning(s) ; Sad Parker. Which probably means Parker lashing out, at some point.

[She'd refused Shepard's offer to come stay at the

Comments

[savor_last_shot]

Garrus doesn't sleep very well. Or often. It's bad for him, but he makes up for it by catching cat-naps during the day. That might account for some of his paranoia, actually. When he couldn't sleep, he usually just moved through the apartment. He was still armored up - if he was awake, he was usually wearing his armor, after all. He glanced down the darkened hallway as he stepped out of the room he shared with Shepard, the slight glow form his visor providing some illumination.

He froze for a moment as he spotted Parker, hand moving for a weapon - and then he relaxed as he recognized her. He took a step toward her, voice low.

"Parker? What are you doing here?"

[theniputitback]

Parker backed up instinctively at the sound of footsteps, but she, too, relaxed when she recognized Garrus' voice. In a place where people could disappear without warning or turn into animals or suddenly become children again, Garrus had always been there. Even death hadn't kept him away.

She stepped forward, looking vaguely guilty. She really hadn't meant to wake anybody up.

"I..."

She hesitated, and then shrugged. It was hard to explain exactly why she was here, when she'd been so determined to stay back in her own apartment and wait for Hardison and Eliot to reappear. Finally, she went with the easiest truth she could think of.

"I couldn't sleep."

[savor_last_shot]

"I know that feeling," Garrus replied with a shrug. A solid night's sleep was hard to come by these days. Even so, he knew how to read people - even humans. Something was bothering Parker. Her body language practically screamed it.

"I think we still have some of that hot chocolate stuff in the kitchen if you feel like having some. Never understood the appeal myself, but the stuff also kills me if I drink it."

A poor joke, but Garrus found that poor jokes tended to break the ice.

"I can't sleep either and I could use the company, if you want to stick around."

[theniputitback]

Well, at least he wasn't mad at her for breaking in (again). Parker didn't smile, but she shrugged and then nodded in acceptance.

"Okay."

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Garrus nodded and then turned to lead the way down the hall. He wasn't the bestat giving life advice, but he also didn't leave people he considered friends in the lurch.

"Come on."

It was a very short walk. Once they arrived he started rummaging around in the cupboards. Where the Hell did Shepard keep the stuff again...?

"So, aside from insomnia, what brings you over?"

[theniputitback]

Parker slumped into a chair at the table, resting her chin on her arms and watching as Garrus started searching the cupboards.

"I just wanted to be here."

Talking about her feelings wasn't Parker's strong suit. Really, Garrus was lucky she hadn't turned and fled the moment she'd seen him.

[savor_last_shot]

Garrus pulled out a packet of cocoa powder and set it down on the counter. The next step was apparently boiling water. Or milk. He thought they had milk. He pulled open the fridge and pulled out a carton of the stuff and then a pot.

This should be easy, right?

"What's on your mind, Parker?"

Because he could tell from across the room that something was bothering her.

[theniputitback]

Parker looked uncertainly at Garrus. Drinking hot chocolate, even with company, was something that she could agree to. Telling him what she was thinking about? That was something else.

"...Hot chocolate?" she offered, and decided to change the subject while she was ahead. "Why can't you sleep?"

[savor_last_shot]

Garrus shrugged as he started heating the milk. "A lot of reasons."

A lot of demons in his past, really. They added to his paranoia. Fueled it. Plus there were a lot of unpleasant memories that tended to worm their way into his brain when he was sleeping.

[theniputitback]

"Like what?"

Hey, just because she didn't like it when people tried asking her about her personal life didn't mean she wasn't going to pry.

[savor_last_shot]

Garrus shrugged again. This conversation was turning awkward. And all he'd been trying to do was make Parker some chocolate. Possibly find out why she was here in the middle of the night too, but that was a side project. Really.

"Mostly because I can't sleep. Keep thinking about the base and Hypatia."

Mostly true. He wasn't mentioning the memories.

[theniputitback]

Conversations turning awkward with Parker was kind of a foregone conclusion, sadly. She frowned at his answer, glancing down at the table. The base.

"Garrus, do you like it here?"

The question was as unexpected and surprising to her as it likely was to him. But she was curious.

[savor_last_shot]

Garrus actually paused in surprise - that question was unexpected. And for a moment, the question troubled him.

"...I wouldn't say I like it here, but it's better than some of the alternatives. And we're stuck here for now, so I live with it. That's life - you suffer through the hard parts."

[theniputitback]

"I don't like the hard parts."

Parker slid her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, watching quietly as Garrus prepared the hot chocolate.

[savor_last_shot]

"I don't think anyone does," Garrus replied, half to himself. The hard parts of life could be painful. Often were.

But on the other hand, life being easy all the time would've been... what? Boring? Or just lacking something?

He finished up the cocoa (or thought he did; he was just following the instructions, really) and brought the mug over to Parker. "I think we'll be fine."

[theniputitback]

She took the hot chocolate silently, curling her hands around the mug and dragging it across the table towards her, still thinking. She was always up for some challenges. Breaking into bank vaults or art museums. Going up against the latest security technology, or the old ones that no one had ever been able to crack.

Those hard parts were fun. But things like this? Being reunited with her team at last, only to lose them again? Parker would be just as happy never to have to face that sort of thing again.

She took a sip of the cocoa, watching Garrus' face. Her own expression was carefully neutral.

"What would you do if Commander Shepard disappeared?"