***Garrus POV***
After his encounter with Dr. Lang, Garrus went back to his room deep in thought.
Dr. Lang carries Aster's scent, and with it she carries mine. I know I'm not mistaken; Dr. Lang is Aster. A turian scent is unmistakable.
Why won't she come out and admit it?...
Is she embarrassed about our relationship?
If this covert mission is as dangerous as we think it is, I need to be careful. No one must find out Dr. Lang's true identity. Not even Nihlus...
I trust him, but I can't tell him who she really is. I'm sure he already knows that Dr. Lang carries my scent. I can make up a lie and tell him we met at a nightclub or something. He won't suspect anything.
When he arrived, Garrus grabbed his bag and took out the snacks he had originally bought for Aster. He wasn't sure why he put the snacks in his travel bag in the first place, but he was glad he did. Now he had an excuse to see Dr. Lang again. Er, see Aster again, even though she doesn't look like how he remembered her.
If he hadn't gone on the mission, Garrus would have taken the snacks to the apartment and left them for Aster to try. He heard many humans raving about the new snacks. Garrus put the snacks inside a small container and left them on the bed before heading out to the mess hall. He didn't want to appear too eager to anyone who may have noticed his interactions with Dr. Lang.
Especially not Nihlus, or any of the female turians on board who had a crush on him.
The mess hall was packed when he arrived. He noticed Dr. Lang's assistant was no longer around.
"Commander," Chellick called out when he saw him. "I saved you a seat."
Garrus waved back and went to grab a plate. Dr. Lang was right; there was no levo good being served tonight. After stopping by a few tables to say hello, Garrus went over and sat down.
"Full house tonight," Chellick commented, looking around. "Everyone looks like they are on their best behavior."
"Yeah, they do," Garrus agreed, eating his food.
"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" he asked, trying to be sly.
"No," Garrus answered.
"So, no news on why there is a human and an asari on board?"
"Can't say I do," Garrus repeated, going back to his food.
Chellick grunted but didn't push the issue. Soon after, most of the crew began to leave and mingle in other places.
"Nyreen was looking for you," Chellick said after a while. "She said something about dinner and dessert."
"I'm sure she doesn't need me for that," Garrus said, not interested.
Chellick looked at him in surprise. Garrus wasn't known to turn down an invitation from Nyreen. There were rumors that the two of them were an item. Not that Garrus would ever confirm if those rumors were true.
"You feeling alright?" Chellick asked, concerned for his friend. "You-"
"I'm fine," Garrus interrupted.
"Alright," Chellick said, not believing him.
Something must have happened when he touched down on the Citadel for two days. Garrus ate dinner as slowly as he could without arousing suspicion. Nihlus's crew loved to gossip, and the last thing he needed was for them to catch on to his behavior.
If that reached his father, he would never hear the end of it. His father was determined to marry him to a powerful family on Palaven. After dinner, Garrus, as calmly as he could, grabbed the container of snacks from the bed and went to Dr. Lang's room. He knocked and waited for the door to open.
"Commander," Dr. Lang said, smiling at him. "How was dinner?"
"Doctor," Garrus replied. "It was fine, nothing special. You were right, there were no levo options available."
Dr. Lang smiled.
"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe.
She was teasing him. She knew exactly why he was here.
"I brought you some snacks," he replied, handing her the container. "I brought everything I had on me."
"Everything?" Dr. Lang asked, smiling.
"Yes, no snack was left behind," Garrus replied seriously.
"Thank you, Commander," Dr. Lang said, her smile growing bigger. "That's so kind of you. I hope it wasn't an inconvenience."
"No inconvenience," Garrus quickly said. "Besides, we both know the snacks would go to waste if no one eats them."
Dr. Lang nodded, "Very true."
Garrus rubbed his neck. He wanted to stay a bit longer.
"H-how are the accommodations?" he asked. "Is it to your liking?"
Dr. Lang nodded, "Yes, it's very spacious. Human ships don't have this much room."
"The beds are bigger too," He added. "I'm thinking we need to upgrade the bed in the apartment."
"Yes, I think so too," Dr. Lang agreed.
Garrus cleared his throat; he hadn't meant to say that. He glanced around, hoping that no one had heard him.
"Well, if you need anything else, let me know."
"I will," Dr. Lang said. "I'll make sure to try the snacks you brought over."
"Have a good night, doctor," Garrus said, taking his leave.
"Good night, Commander," she replied, closing the door behind him.
As Garrus headed back to his room, he couldn't stop smiling.
I knew it! Dr. Lang is Aster. How else would she know about the bed in the apartment? She even said we needed a bigger bed...
I should order a new bed! Hmmm, I wonder if the turian-sized bed would fit. The human bed was nice, but it's not soft enough.
Should I go back and ask her? No, first I need to find a few options and then ask her.
Garrus quickly went on the extranet and began to look for comfortable human/turian beds. He had to find a few options to show Aster.
If anything on board had anything to say about his smile, they stayed silent. The last time someone had asked Garrus why he was smiling so much, they ended up on patrol duty for 6 months.