They stood together, foreheads touching, for several minutes. Shepard had calmed his nerves considerably, and he didn't want to ruin her hard work. He focused on her, hoping to keep his anxiety at bay for the time being. He wasn't sure where to go from here, and he desperately hoped she'd take the lead. Shepard always took the lead, and he always followed.
Too nervous to open his eyes, he focused on her scent. She smelled like her suit, rather unsurprisingly, given how much time she spent in it. There was a hint of the soap they kept aboard the Normandy, and a bit of a...Mammal sort of musk about her. None of which was particularly romantic to think about, though it wasn't a bad smell, really. He'd smelled worse, mostly on Omega.
After standing there for over five minutes, he finally hazarded opening an eye. Oh. She was looking at him, a coy smile on her face. "Hey. I must smell pretty good, given how long you've been standing there sniffing me."
He leaned back a bit reflexively, but she moved her hand to the side of his mandible to ease him back towards her. "Wha-oh. Oh. Well...you know. There's nothing a soldier likes more than knowing he's not the only one who smells like...Er..." He trailed off, unsure of how to finish. Ok, he was definitely still nervous. Great.
Shepard lifted an eyebrow. "Garrus."
His mandibles flared just the slightest. "Shepard?"
She leaned forward, standing up on her toes, to give him a kiss on the top of his nose. "Relax," she said, leaning back down and stroking his fringe. "We can take as long as it takes for you to calm down. Would drinking some of that wine help?"
"Actually, we really can't, what with the fact that we're heading to the Omega 4 relay and-" she gave him a firm, steady look. "Right. Take as long as we need. I need. Yes. I...Yeah, I think I'll go grab that wine now." He repeated the nose kiss on her, or at least tried to. Right, that sort of thing doesn't really work so well without lips. She smiled when he did it, though, so she must have appreciated the thought.
He pulled back, nodding, and headed over to where he left the wine. He grabbed it, carrying it back to her. She pulled out a glass from somewhere in her room.
"Only one? Aren't you going to have any?" He took the glass, pouring himself some. He'd definitely need a lot, though...Maybe that wasn't the best idea. He wanted to calm his nerves, sure, but too much and he wouldn't be at his best for her. And Commander Shepard never got anything less than the best, especially from him.
She folded her arms and arched an eyebrow again. "Garrus, I can't eat turian food, remember? I appreciate the offer, though. Next time I'll bring my own and we can drink together."
...Oh. His jaw slacked and his mandables drooped for a moment. "Shepard, I-I'm so sorry, I forgot," he checked the label just to be sure-yes, it was turian wine. As if he didn't need anything else to throw him off his game at the moment. He set the wine bottle and glass down on her desk, looking back up at her dejectedly.
She had gotten quite a bit closer in the time it took him to set his things down. Shepard reached a hand up to stroke his mandible, a small smile on her face. Was she chuckling? Yes, she was. Great.
"Garrus, have I ever told you how cute you are when you're flustered?" She grinned wider, and he realized she wasn't being malicious, but was trying to cheer him up instead.
"No, but I'm not the type to get nervous. I was...A bit self conscious when I took the rocket to the face. Mostly just unconscious, though." Shepard chuckled again, leaning forward to kiss him on his beak. He did his best to reciprocate, mandibles flicking across her skin lightly.
"Hey, Shepard..." He mumbled, pulling back from her ever the slightest. She pouted. "When this is all over, I'll make it up to you."
He did, several months later. He was so glad to see her again, and even happier that she'd felt the same way about him. About them, what they had together. And he was very, very happy to see her reaction to the wine he had bought her.
He waved the bottle at her, grinning. "I got the good stuff just for you."
She pulled him down for a kiss, leaning back after a minute. "Garrus, you really know how to spoil me."
"You think this is spoiling? Oh, I'll show you spoiling, Shepard."
And he did, several hours later on the Citadel as she dragged him from store to store looking for new ship models to add to her collection. There was also a lot of spoiling after that, too.