milliways_bar | The Pilgrim's Return

Entry tags:

The Pilgrim's Return

The quarian who comes through the door is walking a little taller than she did the last time she was here, and more confidently as well. In fact, she's very nearly swaggering. She's also in a much better mood than she was on her previous visit - although she's not as happy as she might otherwise have been.

Still, she's in enough of a celebratory mood that the unexpected appearance of Milliways doesn't ruffle her one bit. She is also feeling generous enough that she might buy drinks for friendly strangers, in the interests of spreading her good mood around.

[Tiny space tag: Tali'Zorah]

[OOC: Slowtimes are inevitable, but I promise I will respond to all tags when I can. Also, until next Saturday, I'm on mountain time, not the usual Eastern Standard Time.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Garrus!" Tali spreads her arms. "I am now Tali'Zorah vas Neema," she announces.

"That's great Tali," Garrus shakes his head, still smiling. "Tali'Zorah vas Neema," he says experimentally. "Kind of a ring to it. It suits you."

He remembers what Tali told him about how Quarian titles worked way back when on the Normandy, when he had been obtuse enough to inquire about her own name. The name change signified her passage into adulthood, or something along those lines, and it happened after she completed her Pilgrimage. It was kind of like when a Turian received their first position after they graduated boot camp, kind of. Garrus didn't have to leave Palaven and travel the stars to earn his place in society.

"Thank you," Tali says proudly. "The Neema is a prestigious ship - one of the core flotilla ships in fact. And admiral Han'Gerrel invited me to join the crew!" This is clearly a Big Deal.

"I knew your people would be proud of you," Garrus says. "After what you did, I mean."

"In truth, the Migrant Fleet is rather insular - so my helping to save the rest of the galaxy didn't mean much to them," Tali says wryly. "But they found the geth data from the Armstrong Cluster very interesting. It will take some time to decrypt, of course."

"I keep getting stopped on the street by turians who've seen me on the news, who want to thank me for the part I played," says Garrus, sounding disconcerted. "You were by Shepard's side--and mine--for all of it. You chose to be there, and even if your people aren't proud of you for that, I am."

Tali lowers her gaze. Maybe she's blushing behind that mask or something? "Well, um...I'm glad for that. It's not like nobody knows about it, but..." She looks up. "It's a Pilgrimage story to them, and not much more than that. Except to the admirals. They're very worried about the Reapers, and they are currently debating whether or not to inform the Conclave about it. I think in the end they won't keep it a secret, like the Council is doing, but I'm not certain."

Garrus inclines his head. "I'll admit that having the Migrant Fleet doing something would be a big step forward for what Shepard was working for," he begins, "but I'm not exactly thrilled with that many civilians being in harms way. I feel like it would be wrong for the Quarian people to put their necks on the line for a galaxy that refuses to do the same for them."

Tali holds up her hands. "That's jumping ahead a bit," she says. "The Admiralty Board may choose to tell the Conclave about the Reapers. It doesn't mean that we will take action against them. The Conclave will debate a course of action, and probably end up doing nothing. And the Admiralty Board is likely to abide by their decision." Tali sighs. "In this case, I can't blame them. Battling the Reapers...where would we even start?"

The turian begins to feel restless as he thinks of an answer to the rhetorical question.

"I don't know," he croaks. He looks away from Tali, indefinite guilt gnawing on his insides. He should know what to do.

Tali lays a hand on Garrus' shoulder. "If we ever get any new information about the Reapers, I promise you that my people will act on it - at least, I will, if nobody else does."

"I'd hope you'd at least give me a call beforehand," he replies, a glint of mirth in his eye. The thought of Tali standing alone against an unfathomable number of Reapers armed with nothing but a shotgun and an omni tool was horrible, yet completely ridiculous.

"Well, of course! I will need someone who can use a sniper rifle. Quarian marines are generally trained with short-range weapons, you know."

"I see why you use a shotgun now, Tali'Zorah, Quarian Marine," Garrus growls teasingly. "But honestly, between the two of us, we wouldn't even need to use guns. After we overloaded their weapons and dropped their shields, you could deploy your combat drone and I could just step up and kick ass alongside it." He rumbles in laughter at the thought. "What did you call that thing again? Chikkita?"

"Chiktikka vas Paus," Tali says. "It's a silly name, I admit it. But I was thirteen when I came up with it and I didn't know any better," she admits. "Now that I am a science officer, I can give Chiktikka a few upgrades. But I still don't think she'd be ready to take on a Reaper. A Geth Prime, maybe."

"A science officer?" Garrus asks, curious. "What have you been up to in the Migrant Fleet since you got back?"

"Presenting that geth data to the Admiralty Board and the Neema's captain," Tali replies. Something in her voice implies that she's smirking. She continues, in a more serious manner, "They decided that I could best serve the Fleet as a science officer. Although I am going to be a very junior officer for a while. They don't just give command positions to recent Pilgrims, no matter how good their gift is."

Garrus nods. "You'll prove yourself again soon enough," he agrees. "No junior position I know of could contain you for long."

In the Hierarchy, no one was given more responsibility than they had proven themselves capable of handling. If someone failed in their position, it was assumed that it was because their superiors had given them more than they were ready for. Tali though, Garrus was quite sure, was more than ready for anything the Admiralty Board could throw at her.

"Thanks," Tali says, with a bit of a sly chuckle. "I will try to live up to your expectations and make full officer in...oh, less than three years. Three years is the average."

"Oh no Tali'Zorah, I'm not worried about you living up to my expectations. You'll pass them up just fine," Garrus informs her. "I'm the one who can't get anything done."

It was good that Tali's life was beginning to open up for her. Over the past week, Garrus got the impression that his own was just about to close. He wasn't making the difference in C-Sec that he thought he could. Everything stayed the same.

Tali had worried that Garrus was a little too optimistic about what might be possible on the post-Siege Citadel, so she isn't surprised to hear he's having this problem. But she is still saddened.

"It isn't your fault, Garrus," Tali says quietly. "In difficult times, most people are inclined to fall back on old ways of doing things rather than trying new ones."

"It isn't my fault. That's the problem," Garrus says. "People outnumber me. Trying to change how things are--it's like digging a hole in the sand. I can't change anything, and no one even expects me to. But I should," he affirms. "No one else cares enough to try."

He looks back at Tali. "Oh uh. Sorry," Garrus apologizes sheepishly. "I didn't mean to whine. C-Sec's just been really frustrating lately. You were just unfortunate enough to be the first person I've seen in the past few days that I could rant at without looking like a total ass."

"It's all right. What are friends for, after all?" Tali falls silent for a moment. "Remember what I said before, about how people tend to go back to their old ways in times of trouble even if trying something new would be better? I think you did that, when you returned to C-Sec. You don't like it, but it's familar, and in a way that's comforting."

It was true that Garrus had felt lost after Shepard died. He still felt lost, sometimes. But was that really one of the reasons he went back to C-Sec? To seek familiarity?

The idea disturbed him.

"I... never really thought of it that way," Garrus says, brow knitted in thought. "The Citadel is the same as it was when I left--I'm not talking about the physical damage. The people, the Council, the shady underside. It's all just like it was." He pauses for a second to think. "Maybe that's why I can't stand it," he continues slowly. "I've changed."

His mandibles pull close in a worried frown. "That's... not a bad thing, is it?"

"We all changed," Tali points out, spreading her hands. "I don't know whether it's good or bad. I think you just have to figure out how you changed and what you should do now."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject