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"Tell me about the Joker pilot." Javik never asked, he ordered.
Garrus felt his jaw tighten, mandibles close to his skin. Even if he was good at following orders, he didn't answer to Javik. "Why?"
"He smells different than the other males. And not just because of Shepard's pheremones."
"Not just..." Garrus shook his head, unsure if he wanted to laugh or groan. I do not need to know about Shepard's pheremones, now do I? "Did you ask him?"
"He said to get my damn stupid four eyes out of his cockpit."
"So why are you asking me?"
"You understand war better than most here, so many of them too young and hopeful and stupid. Is he a weakness?"
"He is the best pilot I've ever known, and he has saved our lives more times than I can count." Garrus could feel the lower range of his voice deepening, even as the upper tones lifted. The atonal tang would've been enough to send another turian under the nearest table for cover.
"And how high can you count then? You only have six fingers to help you." Javik was unimpressed, his four-eyed glare steady, his voice cold and smooth. "Why are you defensive?"
"He may physically have brittle bones, but he has a spine of steel in every way that matters." Garrus shoved back from the table, suddenly not particularly hungry.
"Do I care if a snake can sing, or do I only need know that his venom is potent?"
Garrus stopped, turning his head, waiting for Javik to finish.
"Can he fly?"
"He makes ships dance in ways I used to think impossible."
"Then he is a strength." It was Javik's turn to leave the table, though his motions were smooth and calm in contrast to Garrus' sudden shift. "Though I ask you not indulge your mutual love of primitive humor in front of me again. There is only so much I can stand before I wish to tear your tongues out for some silence."
"Huh." Garrus suddenly understood the slightly wide-eyed blink Javik had managed to startle out of Shepard a time or two. He'd be doing the same thing right now, if his eyes were spaced far enough apart. "Alright then. I'll, uh, try to restrain myself."
Javik, of course, didn't even nod an acknowledgement to that. Imperious bastard.