Between helping the Yulias, checking on the growth of the levo-based ecosystem around the house, and her repeated attempts to make amends with the Cygros of Muonsol, Glen came to cherish the few hours a day she had to work in the garden with Tali. Thanks to the increasing success of her gene therapy, Tali was able to work alongside the Dreamer without her suit. It was always amusing to see what clothing Tali was trying out; one day, she'd be in a sundress, the next she'd be wearing a poncho. She even tried Glen's clothes once; already baggy on Glen, the green and gray-striped shirt and blue jean shorts were comically large on Tali's slight frame.
That day, however, Tali wore a simple yellow dress that brushed against her knees as she walked through the greenhouse, tending to the plant-life. She and Glen were the only two in the greenhouse, as Liara was taking a nap in her and Javik's quarters, and both John and Javik were checking out the progress of the terraforming. Glen still wasn't sure how she managed to reconfigure the prototype she and Kasumi stole, but whatever she'd done was working well. Some of the native Rannoch plant-life was thriving as well, apparently needing nothing more than water and sunlight.
The omni-strawberries were flourishing in the greenhouse. Glen spent the past few days monitoring their enhanced growth and working to make sure the blossoms were properly fertilized. She was thrilled to find that several of the plants now bore clusters of plump, red fruit … as well as blue and purple fruit as well, all otherwise visually identical to normal strawberries. Glen wasn't sure what to make of that, but didn't let it bother her as she gathered up the berries, careful to make sure that Tali didn't notice.
John and Tali's anniversary was the following day, making it critical to know if the strawberries were a success. Glen stared at the final berry for a few moment, knowing what she had to do.
"Well, here goes nothing." Glen muttered before popping the fruit into her mouth.
Tali glanced over at her. "Did you say something, Glenda?"
Glenda shook her head. Taste-wise, it was perfect. The texture seemed fine, and it had just the right mixture of sweet and tart. Closing her eyes, she swallowed and waited.
Glen's stomach clenched at the sound of vomiting, but she wasn't the source. Glen turned to see Tali, one hand over her mouth and the other holding her stomach.
"Tali?" Glen asked, hurrying to help her friend.
"I'm okay." Tali said, shaking her head. "I just feel a little-"
Her eyes widened moments before Tali threw up again. Glen held her friend steady until it passed.
"C'mon," Glen said, "Let's get you back to your room."
Tali nodded breathlessly, her eyes clenched shut. Glen carefully guided her friend into Tali and John's part of the house. Once Tali was comfortably laying on the couch, Glen grabbed a trashcan and a towel from the bathroom and hurried back to her side.
"Thanks, Glen." Tali said, using the towel to clean herself as well as she could.
"I should probably go." Glen said, only for Tali to shake her head.
"I'm not sick, Glen. Here." Tali grabbed Glen's hand and held it to her forehead.
"No fever." Glen said, surprised. "Maybe a side-effect of the gene treatment?"
"Maybe." Tali paused. Glen held up the trash can, but after a few moments, Tali shook her head. "It is still largely experimental. They told me to watch for a number of possible side-effects: vertigo, nausea, sleeplessness, increased … um, appetite."
"Oh?" Glen grinned at her friend, knowing full well what kind of 'appetite' the pause indicated. "You poor thing."
Tali made a face at her. "The list goes on."
"Yeah, well, screwing around with genetics is heavy stuff." Glen said. "But you said it's going better, yeah?"
"Aside from losing my breakfast, yes. My therapist actually seemed a little surprised how quickly my body is adapting to foreign matter." Tali sighed and lay back on the couch. "And I was hoping to spend some time with our new neighbors today."
Chuckling, Glen said, "Tali, one day you'll be able to run barefoot through the grass and play with the yulias all you want. You just have to be patient."
"I meant Garrus and Chloe." Tali said. "They're arriving today."
Her eyes widened. She activated her omni-tool. "Damn. They'll be here any minute. I should get my suit."
"Easy there, girl." Glen said, rising from the couch. "I'll go welcome them. You take it easy, okay?"
Tali opened her mouth to argue, only to quickly clap a hand over her mouth while the other reached desperately for the trash can.
"Yeah." Glen said, patting Tali on the shoulder as the quarian pulled the trash can close. "Take your time, okay?"
Glen left Tali and Shepard's part of the house. She froze outside the door; it had been a good ten minutes since she ate the strawberry, and she felt fine. That was hardly definitive proof, but it was certainly a good start.
"How about that?" Glen said, patting her pack of strawberries. "So far, so good. Now I just need a dextro guinea pig."
"Hello?" called out a voice from downstairs. "Is anyone home?"
"Garrus?" Glen called back, "That you?"
"Glen? Where are you?"
"Coming!" Glen's eyes fell on the container, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. She grabbed the container and hurried downstairs in time to see Garrus and his wife, Doctor Chloe Michel, entering through the main entrance of the house, a few Yulias slipping in behind them.
"Hey, Scar-face!" Glen slid down the last few feet of the banister and landed with the barest of stumbles. "Heard you were gonna come mooch off of Shepard's good graces."
"Couldn't be any worse than dealing with a grease-monkey like you." Garrus clasped Glen's arm. "Good to see you, Glen."
"You too, Garrus." Nodding at Chloe, Glen added, "You too, doc. Congrats, by the way; I tried to make the wedding, but my stupid door dropped me off on friggin Tatooine. Still shaking sand out of my clothes."
"Well, your present made it, in any case." Chloe said with a laugh. "Not exactly sure what it is, but we're grateful anyway."
Glen's brow furrowed. "You never used it? Damn, I'm sorry; I thought I sent instructions. It's a dream recorder; set it up next to your bed, and it'll record every dream you have on video. You can even set it to repeat old dreams before you go to sleep."
"Really?" Chloe said, her eyes wide. "That's amazing!"
"Speaking of presents,I've got something I'd like you to try, Garrus." Glen presented the container of omni-strawberries to Garrus. "Fresh from the garden. There'll be none of that 'protein-paste' crap here."
"You won't hear any complaints from me. I've had enough sludge to last me two lifetimes." Garrus picked up a blue strawberry and looked it over for a second before shrugging and taking a bite.
Glen held her breath as he chewed and swallowed. Chloe commented, "They smell nice. I didn't realize there was a dextro-equivalent to a strawberry."
"Well?" Glen asked, eyeing Garrus expectantly.
"Pretty good. Not too sweet, not too tart." He picked out a purple strawberry. "You grow these?"
"Indeed. We grow a lot of things; being this far from the other towns and cities requires us to be self-sufficient." Glen said with a bit of pride. "Don't worry; plenty of dextro and levo goodies for everyone. John's even thinkin' about making it a business."
"You're kidding," Garrus said, "Commander Shepard, slayer of the Reapers, a farmer?"
"There are a lot of aliens moving to Rannoch." Glen said matter-of-factly, "Between the Yulias colony and other cross-species couples, there are a lot of new-comers on Rannoch needing levo-protein food, and still plenty of quarians looking for something better than paste. Importing stuff costs an arm and a leg, but John and I think we can cut that cost by at least a limb."
"I see," Garrus said, "And where do the flying cats come into the picture?"
Glen glanced around and saw no less than twenty pairs of cat-like eyes staring at them with varying degrees of interest. Sighing, she said, "I'll tell you as we get you settled in."
