A/N: This is my first Mass Effect fanfiction - I honestly just beat the game yesterday, so I'm super new to the fandom. Enjoy!
To be completely honest, Garrus was tired of the cracks sent his way over his playlist. So what if the Turian National Anthem was his most played song? Everyone had their way of getting pumped for a mission, and his was his music. It was completely normal.
It was on one of the rare days of shore leave that he stumbled upon Shepard's new Kuwashii visor – it wasn't nearly as personalized as his and she'd only began wearing it about a month ago. He paused, knowing how much it had irritated him when his ship mates had gone through his visor, but he was curious dammit! Besides – what better way to get to know her? She had gone through his visor plenty of times, so it was hardly unfair.
So he casually discarded his own visor and slipped hers on. He navigated it easily, despite the basic differences he encountered (his was much nicer). He paused at the track that hit the number one slot in her playlists. He frowned curiously – it wasn't a song he had heard of before.
Mercy – Kanye West.
Curiosity got the best of him and he was greeted by the strangest sound – was that a scream? – followed by the strangest lyrics littered with human slang he didn't understand. What he did understand, though, was the subject matter.
Lamborghini mercy, your chick she so thirsty, I'm in that juicy lambo with your girl she tryin' to jerk me
He wasn't sure if he liked it, but the longer he let it play the more it got stuck in his head. He figured it would be best to skip to the second most-played song, something by Red Hot Chili Peppers. This song was infinitely better than the first, but completely different – and still just as…tantalizing.
What I got you gotta git it put it in you, reeling with the feeling don't stop continue
So, it appeared Commander Shepard liked her music a bit raunchy. That was…interesting. He didn't finish this song either, instead pushing forward to the third track.
Suck my cockiness, lick my persuasion. Eat your words and then swallow your pride down, down, down.
His eyes widened and to his surprise he found himself reacting to the song – mostly to the images that the song put in his mind. There was no way she could listen to these songs when they were fighting – how could she?
Curiosity pushed him onwards, though, and found each song that popped up was just as tantalizing. His favorite had to be something by NIN (whatever that stood for), and he actually let that one play all the way through. In fact, he didn't even notice when the door to her quarters opened and the owner of the visor stepped in. He didn't notice her presence until the visor was plucked off of his head and replaced on hers. She paused when she heard what he was listening to.
"Garrus – are you listening to my sex playlist?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"It was listed as your top five," he pointed out, almost as if he were defending himself. Her lip quirked up in amusement.
"The top five in my sex playlist," she corrected, "I thought you knew how to navigate one of these things – you never take yours off."
His mandibles flickered bashfully and she shook her head before taking the visor off and placing it on her desk.
"You seem awfully fond of twentieth century music," he said, wrapping his hand around her wrist and tugging her down onto his lap.
"You seem awfully fond of the Turian National Anthem," she countered with a playful smile, leaning down to press a kiss to his lips, "We all have our quirks."
He bristled, mostly from embarrassment, and asked, "So then what are your top played songs?"
She rolled her eyes and pulled out her omni-tool, pressing a few buttons until she pulled up her music data. He was shocked when he saw the sheer number of songs on her tool, let alone the number of playlists and the number of genres. He even saw a few Turian songs on there.
He blinked when he saw what held the number one place. His heart constricted slightly and he met her eyes, which met his brazenly despite the light pink tinge to her cheeks.
"It's a good song," she murmured, "Don't let it go to your head."
He just smiled and kissed her – it seemed their playlists had more in common than he'd thought. There, in the number one spot, was 'Stars Behind Me/Die for the Cause'.