literature

The Friend Zone

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Literature Text

"So then he says, 'Oh, it's okay. Our amino acids are all different, so it's not like we can get diseases or anything if we go natural'."

"I'm telling you, this is why you shouldn't date humans."

"So then I had to explain about cross-species fluid contact. Completely killed the mood."

"Not to mention that you're a quarian. How could he be so insensitive? You deserve somebody who's going to respect you. Somebody who's going to treat you right."

"Oh, I think I'm just going to stop dating for a while."

"No! Don't do that. Don't let some human spoil you."

"It's always the same thing. 'Ooh, she could get sick. Ooh, she's vulnerable. I wonder what she looks like under the helmet'."

"You'll find someone out there who cares about you for who you are. Someone whose food you can eat, even. If you're hurting for something to do, maybe after work we could catch a vid or something?"

"Oh, that's sweet, but a little dry spell isn't going to kill me."

"We could watch 'Fleet and Flotilla', it got awards for its portrayal of, um, turian and quarian relationships."

"Anyway, if worst comes to worst, I did have the nerve-stimulation program built into my suit."

"And I hear that the loves scenes are... what?"

"Oh yeah. Standard equipment for any responsible adult. Here, let me fire it up..."

"A moment of silence for a brother in the friend zone." Shepard said into her drink, chuckling softly, as Garrus realised that she too had been listening to the conversation across the bar. "Wait, did that translate properly?" She asked and he nodded. Some idioms were lost across species but some translated all too well...

"Poor bastard." Garrus muttered and Shepard raised an eyebrow at him.

"It is kind of his fault. He wouldn't be having so much trouble if he would just man up and tell her how he felt." She reasoned, shrugging and Garrus gave her an incredulous look. She raised her eyebrow again. "What? Did 'man up' not translate right?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No, it's not that. It's just that she clearly doesn't think of him like that. The direct approach could be the most painful." He reasoned and she frowned.

"I think she does. Think of him like that, I mean." She said and Garrus frowned back at her as she leant back against the bar.

"Right, that's why she dated someone else." He said sarcastically and she nodded.

"Yeah, in fact, it is." She said, confusing him. "Maybe she figured he wouldn't be interested. Maybe she thought that he had friendzoned her. Maybe she figured that they were too different and he could never feel the same way... So she went for someone she never cared about, in the hopes of forgetting him. But here she is, left by the guy she never truly cared for, having to pretend to not care about the guy she really loves..." Garrus shook his head at that.

"Are you kidding me? It's obvious how he feels about her!" He said, still looking at Shepard as if she were mad but she simply shrugged.

"Yeah, to us maybe. But it's a hell of alot easier to see things like that from the outside. And even if she did pick up on it, could she ever be sure? They're so different, how could she be sure that it wasn't just a cross-species misunderstanding? Can you think of anything worse than if you thought your best friend liked you and you tried to act on it, only to discover that you had made a mistake? That he, in fact, didn't think of you like that and you had not only got your heart broken but lost your closest friend as well?" Garrus could, indeed, imagine, more than she knew, but he still shook his head at her point.

"Then she would just be over thinking things." He said and she shrugged.

"But so is he. Just face it, they're both idiots. But he's not yet lost hope that they could be together. He just needs to ask and I'm sure he'd get the answer he wants." She said and Garrus sighed, shaking his head again.

"It's not that simple. Why does it fall to him? You're saying that he should be the one to 'man up' and tell her how he feels when she couldn't do the same." He pointed out and she sighed.

"Yeah, maybe. But maybe she has a damn good reason. Maybe the stakes are even higher." She said and he raised a brow plate.

"Oh? How could the stakes be higher than a broken heart?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Maybe she's his boss. In that case it would be inappropriate of her to make a move on him." She reasoned but Garrus shook his head.

"In that case it would be equally inappropriate for him to make a move on her." He pointed out and Shepard nodded.

"You're right. Maybe neither of them should say anything. Maybe it's too damn risky..." She said and he sighed, collecting his thoughts for a moment before replying.

"Maybe... But maybe that's worse. To constantly be around someone you care for and not be able to tell them." He reasoned and she sighed.

"So, that's the question Garrus: Which is worse? To never take a chance and let love pass you by or to take the chance and risk losing your best friend?" She asked, her gaze had been wandering around the bar during the entire conversation but it had finally come to rest on him, her piercing eyes watching him intently. He sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I honestly don't know, Shepard. But when I do, I promise you'll be the first to know." He said honestly and she nodded, lowering her gaze.

"Yeah... same."
Garrus and Shepard go for drinks on Illium, post-Horizon, and start projecting like crazy.

This is completely separate from my other Garrus/FemShep fics.

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I've had writers block while re-writing Finding Me and then this popped into my head. So I wrote it down in the hopes that it would clear my writers block. It's worked a little but Finding Me is still gonna take some time.

Hope you enjoy!

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Yeah, I may not be so good at leaving well enough alone...

Part One - READING
Part Two - [link]
Part Three - [link]

And, also, the follow-on comic:
© 2012 - 2024 GohokeKitty
Comments5
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General-Mudkip's avatar
I liked this. I thought it was a very thoughtful moment with Garrus and Shepherd, trying to hint at each other on who should be the one to make the first move and say how you feel......or at least that's how I took it XD! Great job :D