"So, Tali..."

The quarian looked up. "Yes?"

"Can I ask you a question... about Shepard?"

"Of course." Tali clicked a couple buttons on her console then turned to face her turian friend. "What's the question?"

He was silent for a short moment. Finally he asked, "Do you know what Shepard's favorite color is?"

"Her favorite color?" she repeated. "That's a little random."

"Yeah, I know." He scratched his fringe somewhat nervously.

Tali sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, Garrus? My guess is as good as yours."

Garrus sighed and narrowed his eyes in thought as she turned back to the console. "Why did you want to know?" she asked, typing vigorously on the interface.

"I... just wanted to know."

"Riiiight," she remarked, skepticism audible in her amused voice. She turned back towards him. "Face it, I know something's up. People don't usually just want to know things, especially preferences, unless there's a good reason."

"How do you know that?" he returned, arching the turian equivalent of a human eyebrow.

Tali chuckled. "You can learn about a lot of different things when you're a quarian," she said. "Sometimes you don't talk as loud when people are nearby because you don't want to attract attention, right? It's different for us. People forget that our masks are like a one-way mirror. And not soundproof."

"What do you mean by 'like a one-way mirror'?"

"I mean that you can't see what my expression is very well," she explained, "but just because you can't, it doesn't mean I can't see yours as well as anybody else."

Garrus hummed in understanding. A small silence descended on them.

"I'm going to take a really big guess," said Tali, breaking the quiet.

"Go for it."

"You like her, don't you?"

Garrus didn't say anything.

"Do I need to explain?"

"Please do," he grumbled.

Tali giggled and began. "You always looked at her all those years ago, when we were going after Saren. I noticed that. But there was someone else who was doing exactly that same thing."

"Kaidan," said Garrus.

"Yes. You were afraid th–"

"Okay, hold it," he interrupted. "I was not afraid."

"You were," Tali retorted firmly, "because you're a turian, and turians and humans aren't on good terms. You were afraid she would be one of those people. You were afraid she wouldn't like you."

Garrus sighed defeatedly. "Makes sense. But 'afraid' is a bit of a stretch."

"Anyway," she continued, "Kaidan took the first move sort of, by expressing interest. It went on from there."

"Yeah..."

"He really made her believe he loved her," Tali muttered, pity coloring her words. "And... to me, at least... it looks like all he did was turn right around and break her heart."

There was another short pause.

"But how did you find out so much about people?" he asked. "No offense, but aren't you more about technology and AIs than people?"

"AIs and VIs are designed to act like real people. It helps to know about people first before working on one."

"So then, you know that the thing between her and Kaidan is over now, right?"

"Of course," she said, to his surprise. "That's why you're asking about her."

"You're too smart for your own good, Tali," he scoffed playfully, touching her shoulder. "Thanks."

As he walked away, she called after him, "You can always just ask her about her favorite color."

~o~O~o~

"Did you hear that, Gabby?"

"Yeah. Is the commander really...?"

Kenneth shook his head. "I dunno if that's even possible. Can humans and turians have s–"

"Shhh!" Gabby hissed. "Tali's right there around the corner!"

"Can she hear us?"

"Of course she can! She was just talking about it!"

"About what?"

Gabby rubbed her forehead. "You really are an idiot sometimes."

"Yep," said Kenneth. "It's a special talent of mine."

"Well either way, Shepard could get a lot of crap about it. I hope she's careful."

"If I were her, I would be really careful. Of chafing." He nodded to himself.

The next thing Tali heard was a slap.

~o~O~o~

"Hey... uh, Commander."

Shepard raised her head from the table. "Huh? Oh, it's you." She let it fall back with a heavy thunk. "What is it, Garrus?"

"I was just wondering... what's your favorite color?"

"My... favorite color?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "You know," she said, laughing a little, "no one's asked me that since I was in high school, when this one boyfriend was trying to get to know me better."

The word sent a jolt of alarm through his system. Boyfriend.

"I like red."

"...Huh? What?"

"I said I like red."

"Oh." He thought for a moment and asked hesitantly, "Is a boyfriend... like, a..."

"Someone you're dating," she said rather blandly. "Who's a male."

He wrung his hands. "Do you... consider... me... to be your...?"

She giggled, then nodded. "Yeah, sorta."

"We're dating?"

"You didn't think we were?" she asked back.

"Well, we haven't even... gone out at all. Together."

"We have. There was always some other person with us, though. Miranda never lets me off the ship without two other people anymore."

"But you agree that we're dating."

"Yeah, sure." He stood a bit awkwardly as she thunked her head back on the table. She seemed so pale. Was there something wrong?

"I don't mean to pry," he said suddenly, "but are you okay?"

She looked at him sideways and smiled. "Yeah. I'm just... I'm tired, that's all."

"We're arriving at that next destination pretty soon. Are you sure you're okay?"

Shepard stood up, all signs of fatigue gone, and walked towards him. "You're a really good friend, you know?"

Garrus let a small chuckle emerge from his throat. "I try my best."

"Get ready to leave, okay?" she said, patting his arm. "I want to take you with me."

"You got it."

She touched his face before he left to gear up.

Later on Illium, Garrus made sure to sneak away from the group to the nearest florist, to look for red flowers.

A/N: *wink* FLUFF ATTAAACK!

Thank you for reading! Reviews about any part of this are welcome :) They don't even have to be in-depth! :D

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