Tam froze mid-step at the crooning growl she had become familiar with, shoulders tightening almost imperceptibly.<i> Damn</i>. She had hoped she was alone. What grimy shadow had that ratbastard snuck out from? She hesitated for a moment, a stream of profanity running through her mind but thankfully going unsaid, and when she turned to look at him, her expression was one of calm neutrality.<b>"My mistake,"</b>she said, seemingly nonchalant.<b>"Didn't see you there." </b>She turned away from the lift and made to approach the desk he hunkered at, flicking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. For utility's sake, she kept her hair cropped in a short, almost spiky sort of pixie cut, although it tended to feather stubbornly out near the back. She managed to keep her expression neutral as she approached the apartment owner, although it was no easy task. Every time she saw Garraus's smug lupine face, she was struck with the desire to break his nose with her fist. She could probably do it, too. Eight-hour shifts of manual labor had left her rather toned, and while he might have been bigger than her, she never saw him do much strenuous work.<br/><br/>Of course, as satisfying as bashing his stupid face in would be, it would also land her back out on the streets. Or, more likely, in jail, seeing as how assault was sadly illegal and all that.<br/><br/>Once at his desk, she reached into the pockets of her work shorts and withdrew her wallet. The owed credits were tossed onto the counter with perhaps a bit more contempt than was necessary, and she locked eyes with the furred alien, almost daring him to give her more of a hard time.<b>"There you go."</b>Her tone was placid, but even a deaf person could have heard the hidden vitriol there. He<i>knew</i>she never skipped on paying rent, he was just doing this to yank her chain. Tam wasn't in the mood for his games tonight. She was sore and aching from hauling cargo all day, and all she wanted to do was take a nice hot shower and pass out for a few hours.<b>"If that's all, I'll be heading up for the night." </b>She wanted to hope she'd allowed to scamper off, but knowing Garraus, he wasn't done tormenting her yet.