Shut Wide Eyes
Chapter 3 – Hallucinations and Guy Talk
I had fun writing this one. Anyone else disappointed we didn't see what the hallucinations actually did to Shepard?
Kate walked into Mordin's lab the next day. She couldn't imagine that this would be any worse than when Mordin had first cornered her with a lecture on Turian mating. Chafing, yeah, she didn't really believe it, but she was certainly glad for the assortment of moisturizers and oils Mordin had sent to her cabin. Garrus had declined the invitation to join her saying he had some work to do. Maybe it would be easier without worrying about him watching.
Thane was already there listening to the exuberant Salarian go on about the scanner he was almost finished with thanks to the information Miranda had provided. "Have designed special contacts for Miranda to wear. They provide a digital readout as she looks at each guest. Will need another day to produce a working set. Quite remarkable if I do say so myself…. Ah Shepard, glad you could join us." Mordin waved her over. "Was just showing Mr. Krios the scanner developed to detect Illusive Man's bio signature. Don't know how Miranda managed to obtain the information… Maybe don't want to. Still, invaluable however she did it."
"Well at least we'll know who to target now," Kate said with a smile.
Mordin nodded, "Now to task at hand. Have either of you coupled with the other species before?" Kate's cheeks burned red as she and Thane both shook their heads. "Ah well, no matter, have already sent some material for you both detailing the other's mating practices. Biggest worry will be Shepard suffering from hallucinations."
"Hallucinations? Yeah, about that, you mean I can get high just from touching him?"
"Possible. Humans differ in sensitivity to Drell, some are affected merely by contact, others won't feel anything until saliva is exchanged. Need to find out your sensitivity level to determine strength of remedy. Similar to process of finding correct anti-histamine dosage for you and Officer Vakarian to prevent allergic reaction."
Kate blushed redder now at the mention of what she and Garrus had to go through to be compatible together,"Ahhh ok, so what do we need to do?"
"I think, Shepard, we start by simply touching one another to see if that has any effect on you. Mordin, will hand contact suffice?" Thane asked.
"Yes, would be a good starting point, after that will need both to remove clothing to have more surface area exposed," he said happily.
"Great we're sitting here trying to figure out how high I can get from Thane, and Mordin thinks this is a fun science experiment. Now I know what rats feel like," Kate thought.
Kate reached over and took Thane's extended hand. It was softer than she expected. More like broken in leather.
"So how long until we know that I've been affected?" Kate asked after a minute.
"Probably would have seen something by now. No difference in vision or thought pattern, progress to next step. Remove clothes please."
Kate looked from Mordin to Thane. She wasn't going to strip in front of them. Besides, anyone could come through the door. "Umm, don't you have a screen or something we can stand behind?"
"Will have to get used to being unclothed in front of strangers Shepard for walking around at the party." Mordin said while looking over a datapad.
"Yeah, well at the party I'll have a mask and no one will know it's me."
"Do not see what difference it will make. Also need to inspect bodies for any identifying mark that will need to be covered." Kate glared at him. "If it makes you feel better there's a divider screen in the corner."
"I know this is difficult Shepard, but try to remember why we are doing this," Thane placed his hand on her shoulder as they walked to the screen.
"Right, get the Illusive Man off our backs so I don't have to worry about him coming after any of my crew and then we can get back to worrying about the impending doom of a Reaper invasion. Yeah, that helps," she said sarcastically. "Look, this has nothing to do with you if that's what you're thinking. I've only been close enough to two men to be comfortable being naked around them. I'm not an exhibitionist by any stretch of the imagination."
"I was not implying you should be. I understand the desire to be modest and not wanting to be on display. But the doctor is right, we will have to do more than just remove our clothes in front of one another."
"I know, but the first time is just the worst. Let's just get it over with and we can move on."
Thane gestured for her to move behind the screen first. Kate walked to the corner and began unbuttoning her top. She slipped it off over her head, leaving her bra on, and turned to see Thane facing away from her, his jacket off, and in the process of removing his vest. Kate stared at his sculpted back, each muscle defined and covered by his green scales. Thane turned around and looked back at Kate. His eyes roamed over her form and she self-consciously wrapped her arms around her bare stomach.
"Believe an embrace would be the next logical test. Ensure plenty of skin contact," Mordin called happily from the other side of the screen.
"Please be at peace, Siha. You need not hide yourself," Thane said calmly as he reached out for her.
"Siha, what does that mean?" she asked, suddenly remembering the bite marks on her shoulder as Thane embraced her. His skin was cool to the touch and she shivered as he wrapped his arms around her.
"A Siha is one of the warrior-angels of the goddess Arashu. She is fierce in wrath and a tenacious protector. You embody the spirit of a Siha more than anyone else I've met," Thane rubbed his hands along her back attempting to warm her.
"You think too much of me Sere Krios," Kate said, her head resting on Thane's shoulder.
"On that, we will have to disagree," he chuckled.
Mordin came around the screen tapping away on his omni-tool. "Skin to skin contact does not appear to have any effect on the commander. Oh, will have to use cloaking to cover bite marks. Next step oral contact. Remember to utilize the tongue as well."
Kate glared at Mordin over Thane's shoulder. She looked back to Thane and took a deep breath leaning up to him as he leaned down to her. Her eyes closed as they reached each other. His lips were smooth and firm. There was a sweet spice taste, nutmeg or cinnamon perhaps, that was actually quite pleasant. His mouth opened slightly and she allowed his tongue entrance. She had to admit, he was a very talented kisser. After a few moments he pulled back and she opened her eyes.
The room was filled with colors now. Everything seemed to shimmer. She giggled as she looked around. Thane now had a beret on and Mordin had a bow on one of his . . . horns, was what were they called? She couldn't remember now.
"That's a strange hat Thane, and Mordin, when did you get a purple bow?" she asked reaching out to it.
Thane caught her wrist as Kate started to stumble forward.
"I believe we have found her sensitivity starts at Drell saliva," Thane said trying to keep the commander from falling down. Kate smiled widely as she looked around. She turned back to Thane.
"You're a good friend, Thane," she said her hand on his chest. "I'm hungry! Wonder what Gardner's making for dinner. Maybe I'll go check." She skipped around a puzzled looking Thane and Mordin completely forgetting about her state of undress and called out as she came out from behind the screen. "Hey, Garrus! You're all fuzzy looking. Where'd you get the pet varren? It's so cute! Can I pet him?" Then she whispered, "Does it bite?"
Garrus had just entered the lab, figuring he should probably suck it up and keep an eye on Kate and Thane. He had not expected to see Kate without her shirt on as she came bounding over to him and jumped into his arms. He carried her over to the middle of the lab, looking from Mordin to Thane. He wasn't pleased to see the drell without a shirt on either.
"What did you do to her?" Garrus asked staring at the babbling commander in his arms.
"Found the commander does not react to skin to skin contact with Drell but apparently has a strong reaction to Drell saliva. Not to worry, will begin working on a serum to counteract the effects right away. Could be developed over time of course, but as mission is less than 3 weeks away, speed is necessary. Suggest you take her back to her quarters. A shower and sleep will help," Mordin turned back to his lab table pleased at the results of the experiments.
"I'll do that," Garrus replied looking at Thane. "When I'm done, we should probably talk."
"I'll meet you in the mess hall after dinner," Thane said bowing at Garrus as he carried the commander up to the loft.
xx-xx-xx-xx
Garrus managed to get Kate showered and into bed. She had protested, but fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. He ran his talons through her hair and touched his forehead to hers as she peacefully slept. He turned down the lights as he left to go meet Thane. Garrus exited the elevator and rounded the corner into the mess hall. Thane was sitting alone at one of the tables a mug of tea between his hands. Gardner was cleaning up from dinner.
"Hey Garrus, need anything?" Gardner called.
"Nah, thanks Gardner. I'll just grab something to drink and find something to take up to Shepard when she wakes up," Garrus answered as he opened the fridge looking for his favorite juice. After getting a glass, he walked over and sat across from Thane.
"Thane," he greeted the Drell.
"Garrus, I hope the Commander is sleeping well."
"Yeah, she is. She was still muttering nonsense, but she's asleep now. Mordin called up to ask how she was doing and let me know he had the serum ready."
"Ah, I will be curious to find out if the Commander remembers anything from her episode."
"Mordin said it wasn't likely. She should be back to normal once she wakes up," Garrus took a drink of his beverage. "Look Thane, I didn't mean to imply you purposely did anything to Shepard. I was just surprised to see her in that state. I apologize for blaming you."
"No apology necessary. I would react similarly. You have to admit, the effects produced some rather interesting reactions," Thane smiled as Garrus relaxed a bit.
"She kept asking if we could keep the varren and wanted to name it Fluffers. I think I successfully convinced her that varren don't make good ship pets," Garrus laughed softly remembering the pout she gave him. "But now I'm just stalling and trying to avoid what we really need to talk about," his mandibles fell slightly in a Turian frown.
"Indeed," was all Thane offered waiting for Garrus lead the conversation.
"You're not going to make this easy on me are you?" Garrus asked as Thane smiled and nodded for him to continue. "I guess you probably know Turians are extremely possessive of their mates. It's just engrained in our nature. As much as I try to tell myself logically that this mission is the best way to catch the Illusive Man off guard, my instincts always get the better of me."
"The Commander cares for you a great deal. She told me earlier how worried she was about you and how this mission would affect you. While I admire and care for her very much, my wife was the only woman I will ever love in that way. I hope you will believe me when I say I have no desire to come between the two of you. Love is a hard thing to find in our line of work."
Garrus smiled, "She is one hell of a woman. What she sees in a broken Turian vigilante is beyond me. But I'm certainly not going to question her judgment."
"I believe that would be most wise. She doesn't take kindly to people questioning her decisions."
Thane and Garrus sat at the table quietly finishing their drinks.
"Did Shepard ever tell you about the time we infiltrated a merc base that was making illegal human drugs? The lab got shot up pretty good during the fire fight and some of it became airborne. Fortunately, for Wrex and me it didn't affect Krogans or Turians. Shepard and Williams however collapsed on the ground in a fit of giggles and wanted this fired onion type snack, whatever those are. Wrex and I ended up carrying the two of them back to the ship," Garrus laughed at the memory.
For the rest of the evening Garrus and Thane swapped stories and shared some laughs. Thane told Garrus about his wife and life before she was tragically taken from him. Garrus felt for the man, knowing how hard it was for him during the two years Kate was dead. Garrus in turn told Thane about his time in Omega and losing his men. By the end of the night, Garrus was slightly more comfortable with Thane's roll in the mission. At least he knew Thane wasn't interested in Kate. They had agreed that at the end of the week he would join Garrus and Kate up in her room. Garrus deciding he'd rather be there then not.
Thanks for the faves and alerts! Until next time!