Real Life
Thirty-odd bad guys dead at their hands. The hallway ahead of them silent and empty.
Security systems hacked, VI disabled. Separated by just seventy paces and a cell door from the prisoner they were supposed to collect.
"Our first real shot at getting through this," he says, "and you want to look for bloody souvenirs?"
"Anything I can sell, yes. Come on, we need the money."
"For the spirits' sake, do you want to get rich or do you want to get out?"
"Both, preferably."
He switched to tactical, but before he could analyze their options, she called out again.
"Coming?"
"Wait!" he yelled, when he discovered she had already disappeared into the next room. He struggled to catch up with her, then shook his head in dismay as she methodically went through every crate.
"Aren't you full of bright ideas today" he ground out through clenched teeth, but joined her efforts nonetheless, reasoning that the quicker their search was over, the sooner they could move on.
"Actually, I just had another one" she murmured and her suggestive tone made him turn his head. She had sidled close and was reaching up to caress his neck. As she gently scratched her nails down the sensitive skin below his fringe, a shiver went through him. He closed his eyes and bent his head. "You worry too much, Garrus" she whispered in his ear. He pulled back slowly, rubbing his mandible against her cheek. She captured his face between her hands and softly put her lips to his mouth, her tongue sliding against his -
The single click of the arming of a grenade was all the warning they got. Their heads whipped around to the source of the noise, now replaced by the scratches and thuds of someone frantically scrambling away, the rattle of the grenade as it hit the ground and slid towards them, the high pitched whine building up to detonation and -
Sharp white silence.
#
"Fuck!" he curses as he drops the controller and throws up his hands.
"You got us killed. Again."
"Oops."
"That's what you get for not listening to me."
"That's what I get for making out with you."
"No, it's your pigheaded shortsighted urge to rush in without looking. Just like real life."
She smiles.
"In real life you look out for me better."
He scowls.
"Yeah, well, in real life, when it's game over, you don't come back."
"I don't?"
She angles her head at him, arching an eyebrow, and he frowns, flicking his mandibles in obvious irritation. Then he growls and lunges for her, pushing her over and pinning her down against the mattress. Laughing, she wraps her arms around him, letting her fingers trace the length of his spine.
When he nuzzles her neck and gently bites down, she moans and he feels her hips grind into him. He lets her kiss him, opening his mouth, slipping his tongue into hers, purring with the smug satisfaction that he knows exactly how to turn her on.
"Come on" he says, drawing back and resetting the level.
"Save the prisoner, then make out."
She groans.
"Christ. Just like real life."