spicyshimmy:

galacticdrugdealer:

can we just talk about garrus and shepard’s relationship though

yes let’s because it is one of my favorite topics. 

i mean the wonderful thing about the way the crew builds throughout the three games is that every last member is so different from each other and from shepard, yet they’re all so much a part of shepard’s life. they’re individuals who act as forces and they create a commander who is, essentially, trying to show the rest of the galaxy that this is the way to build hope on a grander scale. finding all these different races and understanding how to work together with them. to understand them. to love them as family and know when to call them out as family. friendship, basically. friendship.

so everybody brings something different to the table. and shepard brings something different to them. it’s a give and take. 

but garrus… garrus. kaidan might beg shepard not to leave him again; liara might share eternity’s embrace with shepard; james’s face might crumple like a little boy’s when he thinks he’s looking at shepard for the last time. miranda and shepard have a rapport like no other and shepard changes jack’s life without necessarily changing her; joker loves shepard as much as he looks up to shepard, that much is clear, and legion and shepard teach each other so much about hearts and souls, while the respect between thane and shepard is a stunning, beautiful, delicate thing. shepard learns redemption, determination, sacrifice from mordin. shepard shares with edi these questions of humanity—and shepard shares the same answers with edi, too. and grunt is grunt. when shepard took grunt out of that big krogan test tube it’s like shepard gave birth to the big lug himself. anderson, the father shepard never had. the family you make out of a galaxy to which you have that responsibility. to learn and share and love and protect. but mostly to learn, because the love comes with the learning.

and then there’s garrus. in the middle of all the love and the loss, like walking straight through a line of heavy fire, garrus is there to know shepard like nobody else. to take point and take aim and pull the trigger without hesitation. 

garrus, who knows there’s no shepard without vakarian. who doesn’t put anything extra on shepard’s shoulders. whose turian heart is big and clumsy and full of maybe too much understanding. who idolizes shepard about as much as shepard idolizes him, only it’s not through a rose-colored visor. they see each other. they know. 

garrus, who doesn’t say there’s no vakarian without shepard, either, even though it’s true. who says ‘give them hell’ and ‘meet me at the bar’ rather than don’t go, even if that’s what he’s feeling. all that hard armor. that hard turian exterior. all that time together. his scars, which are pretty much all named after shepard, made with shepard, because of shepard. 

so that’s friendship.

the galaxy’s impossibly big, but they keep finding each other. and that’s how garrus keeps the faith. they know exactly when to cut each other slack and exactly when they can’t. also, they have the same sense of humor. always important when it comes to your best friend. 

but you never quite know what happens when shepard leaves garrus in london after their final talk, what might just be their last goodbye. whether he’s so good at giving what he gets that his face doesn’t shift an inch, that his posture stays the same as ever, that he pats the nearest weapon and practices exactly what he preaches.

or if he turns to a crumbling wall, pressing his palm against it, taking a deep breath. there’s no crying in invasions, vakarian, he thinks to himself. and he doesn’t. he wouldn’t. maybe he can’t. but the foundations are shifting, and if there’s no shepard, there’s no vakarian. 

what the hell is he supposed to do without you, shepard?