Chapter 10 up!

I hope you all like this story; I plan for it to be a long one. M rated smut in the next chapter.

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I. Didn't think I'd meet you here

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Angrily, he clutched the small shot glass and brought it up to his mouth, downing the drink in one burning gulp. His taste buds fizzled out and left him with the bitter and tangy aftertaste that only cheap liquor can provide. Bringing his hand up to rub his eyes, he mentally chastised himself for his mistake. If it weren't for his utter stupidity earlier, he wouldn't be in this accursed place, putting up with blaring techno beats and ravenous women taking turns at shoving their asses in his face.

"Come on, Officer. Can't you just have a little fun on the job?" A venomously seductive voice travelled through the air and brought his attention to three figures in the corner of the club, not far from where he was. 5.67m away, just under the 6.0m threshold for audible eavesdropping range. He clicked his visor through the other readout options before setting back to 'audible distance', and readjusted himself in his seat for a better, inconspicuous view.

"I spent a long time in the archives…"

"…and you know it hasn't been that long since I last spoke to her…"

"…maybe we could head somewhere private…"

"Would you like another round of drinks?" The eavesdropper turned to face a young waitress. After taking a second to regroup his thoughts, he nodded curtly and returned to scanning the crowded room. His audible scanner was handy everywhere else besides a place like this. He picked up every little conversation, including some that were quite interesting and others that he didn't care much for. But they were all a waste of his time because of how difficult it was to pinpoint his target's conversations alone. Too bad this was his assignment. And no matter how miniscule or degrading it was, he needed to go through with it. This was the ultimatum that was given to him as a deciding factor of his fate among the ranks of the rest of the C-Sec officers. If he didn't want to atone for his mistake through a few grunt missions, then he can quit and settle into a life away from the law.

The waitress returned with 3 more shot glasses for him to drown in. He took one, then another right after. Having to clear his throat a little, he opened his mouth for a deep inhale. The liquor stung in his throat and he could feel the bubbly sensation of a slight buzz in his head. At least no one had bothered to forbid alcohol consumption on the job.

"…another night with him is torture…"

"…need to go to the bathroom…"

"…cancel the meeting tomorrow…"

He tapped his fingers on the table impatiently as he watched his targets move just outside of his extended earshot, no longer seeming to be immersed in conversation. The two were on their own data pads now, forgetting about their third companion who left to go dance on some other patron's lap. The room dizzied a bit when he turned his attention back to his last shot glass. Screw it. He downed it with a little more struggle than the ones prior. Dancers and patrons were already starting to float around the room more wobbly than usual. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them with the hopes that the room would no longer be moving. It was to no avail – he was drunk. Leaning his head back in his chair, he forgot his task at hand and thought about what he would tell his superiors in the morning.

Well instead of gathering intel through eavesdropping, I decided to get drunk instead. Sir.

He laughed to himself at the absurd idea. This whole thing was absurd; Sitting alone in a dance club, drinking by himself with light tactical armor on and a visor on his left eye. If that didn't scream undercover operative, he didn't know what else would. Then again, there were quite a few others in the club with a whole variety of different types of armor on as well. So maybe he did have a chance still that he hadn't been found out yet.

"….bathroom was so dirty…"

"…another song like this the other day…"

"…can get some space around here? I need you to be a little more professional around me, Lieutenant. I'm still your commanding officer regardless of where we are. Now go…do something. Over there on that side of the club."

His attention was now focused on a very angry looking human woman, dressed in light tactical armor. Alliance issued? His eyes moved to watch her roam around their half of the room, searching for an empty seat. She paused when she caught sight of her watcher, and started making her way through the people towards him.

"Is that seat taken? I need a break." The Turian shook his head and gestured for her to sit before stacking the empty shot glasses out of her way.

"I uh… see you've been having a good time?" She spoke carefully, nodding towards the glasses he was handling. He gave her a look of feigned interest and turned his eyes towards the bar. One of the targets with the data pad was gone. Damnit. This is why I don't drink. He gave up and turned back towards the woman.

"As good a time as any. What about your now rejected admirer?" He motioned to the bartender by holding two fingers for drinks. The woman scoffed and held up two of her fingers after him. They waited in silence for their 4 drinks to arrive before continuing.

"He overstepped his boundaries and I had to deal with it. So no, it's not a very good time. Once I get this liquor in me though…" She paused and took both shots at the same time, keeping careful watch of her new acquaintance. "You can call me Shepard if you want, my last name. Everyone does."

"Hm..Shepard." He rolled the name over on his tongue, over annunciating the consonants. Reaching for one of his two shot glasses, he locked eyes with her.

"Vakarian." He said it slowly, allowing her to hear each syllable of the name, then he took the shot. Shepard eyed him carefully before reaching her hand across the table. She grabbed his remaining drink and downed it herself. The Turian male leaned back in his chair once more and chuckled.

"So that's what I get for inviting you to sit, hm? Some first date." His head cocked slightly towards Shepard while he watched her lap up a final drop from the glass. She laughed breathily while waving the bartender over for another round.

"You didn't look like you needed it. I did you a favor, Vakarian."

"Yeah, one that is still going on my tab, regardless. "

She curved her lips into a devilish grin and stacked their newly emptied glasses into another tower.

"Don't worry, it's been put to good use."

2 hours later, the human and Turian still sat at the same table, just as drunk, if not more so than the rest of the club.

"I finally feel like I fit in at this place," Shepard started and reached sloppily for the mixed cocktail at the center of the table. "But that's only because I'm more wasted than I've been in a mile."

Vakarian cocked his head to the side, squinting his eyes at her. "…don't you mean, 'while'?"

"That's what I said, 'than I've been in a while'." It was stated so matter of fact, that he was forced to believe her. He was drunk after all.

The Turian male glanced at her with curiosity lingering in the gaze before leaning his head on his hand. He sipped at his now stagnant tasting beverage. He was in the stage of drunkenness where he almost couldn't bear to force anything else down his gullet. Lights flashed and pulsated throughout his periphery and he struggled to focus his pupils on Shepard. He realized after much effort that her mouth was moving again, and there were sounds coming out of it. Well, he couldn't hear or understand them for that matter, but her lips were opening and closing for what seemed like forever, which pointed to some novelization of a new story for him.

In the first hour that they met, they exchanged pleasantries. The man let the woman talk for the most part, offering her short but polite verbal queues to her questions and comments. As the time rolled by, so did the drinks. The two became very obviously drunk. Vakarian was the one to finally break the first barrier by suggesting they play a game of 20 questions. The woman delighted in the idea and insisted with drunken slurs that she start the game.

A small finger uncurled around her dewed glass, pointing towards the man across from her.

"Okay, Vakarian. I'll get started since you aren't listening to my stories…How many times have you…had sex in a public place?" She grinned, baring her teeth in a glistening white row. Vakarian groaned and lowered his forehead to the table.

"…can't remember…or 4 times." His answer was muffled by the music around them as a ridiculously fast paced beat blared in their ears. Shepard winced at a head rush, and chimed back as crisp as she could make her voice.

"Did you say 3 or 4 times? That's a solid number!" He raised his head in time to catch her next question.

"Where were those places?" Vakarian flared his mandibles and bared his own sharp teeth in mimicry of the human's smile before retorting, "I thought it was my turn to ask a question."

Shepard waved her hand lazily while she sipped up the last of the blue concoction. When there wasn't another answer from the woman, Vakarian took it as an invitation and asked his burning question.

"hmm…Where are the places you've had public sex?" Shepard's mouth flung open in defeat and she threw her hands up to the air in playful frustration. She looked wild to him, and he gazed on with interest while she straightened up her back and combed through her hair with all 5 fingers of a hand.

"Well, there have been 3 distinct times that I can remember; On an Alliance vessel in the cockpit of the ship, in the C-sec library, and behind some crates in a warehouse whose location I will not disclose." She nodded, satisfied, and took a sip of her companion's drink. Her mouth puckered in disgust and she quickly set the drink back down in front of him. "You uh…you can keep that drink…ugh."

"Gee, thanks Shepard. I thought you'd never extend the offer." He snorted before chugging it. He wiped a mandible with his finger and frowned when his vision refused to return to normal. "Let's get out of here." He heard himself say it, but he didn't realize that it actually was him. The real Garrus wouldn't do that. Oh, right. He's drunk off his ass. How could he forget?

Uncertainty overtook Shepard's will. Uncertainty is a feeling that a soldier gets used to from the start. This feeling was different though, it held some other feeling with it. It carried with it a warm nervousness, raising her temperature and tingling in her loins. When she brought herself to her feet, those feelings were joined by the overwhelming sensation of zero gravity inside her head. She was on the ground, but her mind was cloudy, airy, and wistfully light. Her arms shot out as her center of gravity gave way to chase after her mind. To her surprise, warm steady hands grabbed at her waist, pulling her close to the support that was the Turian's torso. She blushed and uncharacteristically leaned into him, smiling up through her foggy drunken haze. She felt his chest rumble and shake, the vibrations of his tonal laughter reaching her bosom with a fiery heat.

"Mmmm..I like that sound. It feels good to my ears." Her words stumbled out of her throat and her tongue lingered over the final 's'. She reached for his waist as she felt him pulling her body towards the exit door, bumping softly around dancing figures.

As they neared the door to the outside alleyway, the Turian wondered at how he was supporting two bodies worth of weight. His felt tired and lazy, and all he wanted to do was fall asleep on top of this soft woman. So it came as no surprise when he found himself pressing the woman against the wall outside the door. Suddenly his body didn't feel tired anymore and he imagined how it would feel to have her naked body pushed against him in this way. His mind cleared of the techno haze and was replaced with a new type of fogginess; lust.