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Cora was an early riser. Between growing up on a colony world and having to feed chickens at the break of dawn and a military career which beat any slug-a-bed tendencies out of a person, she was used to having the first hour or two of a day to herself. She loved this time of day. It was a time to contemplate and prepare for what the day would bring and she could imagine for a few moments that the entire galaxy was hers alone. She looked around the empty mess hall and smiled. "Alone at last," she murmured before tucking into her breakfast.
She'd finished eating and was enjoying her aromatic Asari tea when she noticed the sound of faint music coming from the forward battery. "Of course," she thought. If there was one person on the ship more used to being an early riser than she was, it was Garrus. Picking up her mug, she wandered into the battery to find him hard at work, as usual.
"Hey, Garrus," she called, "Look at you beavering away in here."
He turned from his position at the maintenance console and gave her a confused look. "'Beavering?"
She laughed and gave him a grin. "From the word 'beaver'. It's an animal native to Earth, on the North American continent. They're known for their hard work and engineering skills, among other things."
"Ah," he replied. "I thought I'd heard some of the crew of the old Normandy and guys back in C-Sec use it in a different way, but that didn't make sense in this context."
Cora blushed. "Well, there is another use of the word other than the animal. It's a vulgar expression for a human female's..." she trailed off, looking down at her boots which had suddenly become very interesting.
"A human female's...?" he prompted.
"Er," she stammered. "Forget I mentioned it."
"Aw, Shepard, that's cute," he raised one hand to her cheek as she continued to look anywhere but at him, "I've never seen you turn that shade of pink before."
With an exasperated sound, she brought her chin up and forced herself to meet his gaze. "Fine. It's too early in the morning for you to pick on me, but I'll tell you what," her eyes narrowed in a challenge, "If you really want to know about the vulgar definition? I'll explain it when you finally get up to my cabin to 'blow off steam.'"
He stepped back from her angry glare, unsure whether to be aroused or afraid and opted to go for playful. "You know, I could always ask Joker. I hear he's the expert."
Her glare disappeared behind a mischievous smile. "You could," she drawled, "but wouldn't it be so much more fun to find out in person?"
Now it was his turn to look a little embarrassed and she smirked at him. "Uh, I'll just get back to these calibrations," he said and turned back to the console.
"That's what I thought," she said smugly and went off to prepare for the day.