-Jane-
Jane enters the dark room behind the medbay that Liara had designated for herself, a heating blanket in hand and orders from Dr. Chakwas to make sure the woman is properly warming up. Sure, she also came to the young Asari's side to check up on her after the loss of her mother and if the soft sounds of gasping breath and muffled sobs are anything to go by, her decision was a good one.
She may not know how T'Soni feels, losing someone who gave her life, raised her, and loved her as a good mother should, but she knows loss and she knows that's it's never best to deal with that alone. She searches out the quiet crying with her ears, her sight not yet completely adapted to the dark surroundings, and steps calmly over to the dark shape of Liara's cot.
"Hey," Jane soothes softly, kneeling down beside the woman's bed and laying the folded heating blanket on the edge between herself and the broken girl's turned back. "Chakwas thought you might want this to warm up." Her eyes have adjusted enough to make out Liara rolling over and taking in the offered item. When she reaches for it, Jane takes it as a good sign and helps her unfold it and cover herself.
"Thank you, Shepard," her soft voice rings out, stuffy from her tears and almost too quiet for Jane to have noticed if she wasn't practically sitting at the bedside. The blanket hums quietly to life as its sensors determine the proper settings for the Asari and Jane turns to sit on the cold floor, her back against the railing of the cot.
Jane sits in comforting quiet as she lets the warming blanket aid in soothing the grief stricken archeologist. She knows that any attempt at words on her part aren't what Liara needs. She may never be able to truly know the sympathy of losing a caring mother, but she does have experience in great loss and all she can offer is an open ear for the woman to vent her pain.
Almost as if T'Soni has heard her thoughts, Jane hears the woman finally speak. "I am sorry for the way I acting back at Peak 15." Her voice is flat besides the slight sniffle of past tears and discomforting in its lack of emotion. "I was unprofessional and I shouldn't have mourned Benezia, she… she brought it upon herself."
Jane frowns in the dark at the pain in the words, knowing that the outburst within the facility was a child at the instant of sudden loss of their parent. Liara's actions don't need to be apologized for and she shouldn't have to deny the truth that even Jane can see.
"Liara," she says calmly, her eyes falling to the floor between her legs. "You don't need to apologize for anything that happened back there and she shouldn't feel guilty for crying for the loss of you mother." She looks to the ceiling, thinking back to her own childhood and pulling at the few memories of when she was graced with the blessing of seeing through the drugged and sexed haze and into the woman that truly was her mother. "Your mother may have chosen a wrong path, but it will never change the fact of who she was to you or take away from the love you had for her."
A sniffle echoes from the bed at her back. "You're right… I do love her, but I will always remember her at the powerful woman she used to be, before she was corrupted by Sovereign's power." A sort pause and deep breath sounds before Liara continues, a bit more strength and conviction in her words. "I like to believe she will live on in me, just as all Asari believe their parents do. Perhaps, one day, I may be able to show the galaxy all the good my mother was and not just have her remembered by her one mistake."
Jane doesn't voice her doubts, instead letting her believe in the strength of hope, and nods softly in the dark. She knows that the few and far too insignificant memories of ever being treated as something close to a daughter by the woman who gave her life have twisted her views on such a sense of solace that she can't see past her skepticism, but she won't destroy whatever peace Liara can get.
Instead, Jane waits a moment before turning her head slightly to regard T'Soni over her shoulder. When she sees and hears that she no longer seems to be crying, she twists her body and uses her hands on the cot to push herself up off the hard ground. "You should get some rest, Liara. We all had a long day on Noveria."
Before she can pull her hands away from the surface of the cot, Liara places a soft hand on hers and Jane has to fight not to jerk away like she's been burned. Jane softly pulls her hand away in an easy, but obvious, let-down, hoping she hasn't just backtracked her entire effort to calm the Asari.
She doesn't see the woman's responding frown, but hears the soft hurt it in her voice when she says, "Thank you again, Shepard. I don't think I would have been able to do this without you."
Jane inwardly sighs, knowing her coming here has probably gotten her deeper into something with the stricken Asari. She doesn't necessarily regret offering some comfort, just the fact that it seems to have been taken the wrong way and made it harder once she finally gets the chance to dissuade the woman's feelings.
"Don't worry about it," Jane says with a shrug before adding, "It's something I would do for any of my team." Hoping it'll help to get her point across that this didn't mean more than a friend checking in on a friend in need.
She exits the room without managing to dig her rhetorical grave any deeper and silently wishes that the conversation between the two over this one-sided relationship that's forming will hurry up and come to a head. The sooner she gets the chance to let Liara know she doesn't share the sentiment, the better, for she'd rather not see the girl become too more attached to her so that the reject isn't taken too harshly.
If only I could just say, 'hey, I know you like me and I can tell you know, it won't work out', Jane thinks with a furrowed brow. But no, I can't do that because I don't want to seem like an utter bitch that doesn't even give someone a chance to come to terms on their own first-
"Commander, a moment." Jane is pulled from her inner turmoil by the insisting voice of her chief medical examiner.
"Oh," she turns to Chakwas with a raised brow, her path out the door stopping mid-step. "Yes? Something you need?"
Chakwas smiles with a soft chuckle at the sight of Jane so lost in thought and hands over another large heating blanket. "I was going to ask you to take this down to the cargo bay and give it to Officer Vakarian. He's not in any danger, really, but this might help him feel better."
Jane smirks, her brow quirking a tad bit higher on her head. "Didn't you just examine him to make sure he wasn't frostbitten or something? Why didn't you just give it to him then?" She jabs one fist on her hip as she holds the blanket with the other.
Chakwas pats her on the shoulder and nudges her towards the door. "Because it seems he's just as reluctant to stay in the medbay as his mate." That makes Jane nearly trip over her feet as they suddenly plant to the ground as if she's wearing mag boots. She turns to the doctor with her jaw dropped, all attempt at being a smart ass gone, and Chakwas merely chuckles.
"Don't give me that look. I'm not blind." She pats Jane's back to make her move. "Though, I did have an advantage by having to check him for any signs of injury from the cold, so I can't really take too much pleasure in leaving you speechless for once." Jane mock glares at the older woman's satisfied smirk.
"Now go," she pushes Jane out of the medbay completely, "I gave him some pain meds to help with the feeling coming back into his limbs and that should help him to get through the night with little discomfort. It's late and I'm going to turn in for the night."
Jane takes a step, then stops when she suddenly realizes something. "Wait," she spins as the doors are closing, "there's only one heating blanket here."
"Wow, would you look at that. I guess you'll have to share," the devious woman says as the doors whirl shut and glow red in denied access.
Jane huffs in frustration, glad that no one was awake and in the crew area to overhear their conversation, or see the obvious mutiny of my own doctor, and heads towards the elevator.
She knows that it was only a matter of time before Garrus was examined and Chakwas found his bondmark, and, truthfully, she doesn't really mind or fear the woman knowing about it. The doctor is a professional and takes her job as a doctor just as seriously as Jane takes hers as a soldier, so she knows their secret is never in any danger as far as Chakwas is concerned.
The elevator reaches its stop and Jane steps out, noticing the empty bay as everyone is either in bed or their quarters at such an odd hour in the night. At this, she drops the façade and lets Jane Vakarian finally step before Commander Shepard, knowing that these dead hours of the Normandy are her perfect opportunity to finally be with the one she loves.
She finds said love bundled up in his bunk in the darkened corner behind the Mako, his body curled up in what she thinks is his attempt to hold in his diminished heat. She's never seen him in such a form, and if it wasn't for the painful tugging at her heart from the sight, she'd be amazed at how small he can actually make his large form when he tries.
She quickly flaps the blanket, whipping it open and calling his attention, making him lift his head. She immediately drops to his bunk and covers him with the heavy material, not liking the dazed look in his eyes.
"Come here," he slurs as he tries to sit up and pull her to his lap. She huffs at this movement causing the blanket to fall and practically become useless, but quickly sees the benefit as she climbs into his lap. She pulls the blanket over his shoulders and presses her body to his front, figuring the added effect of two warm surfaces on his body will help warm him faster.
"Damn it, Garrus." She rubs the chill hide at his neck as he drops his head over her shoulder. "You stupid, ugly bastard. Why didn't you stay with Chakwas so she could give you this blanket?"
He rumbles at her jab, his arms tightening around her body and pressing her closer. "Because I hate doctors, not to mention when they start talking about my marriage."
The slur in his voice is lessened, but she still doesn't like even the smallest of hints of it. "Garrus, why are your words garbled? Do I need to take you back to the medbay?"
He nuzzles his mandible against her lower jaw. "No, I just took some pain killers." She pulls his head to look him in the eyes with a raised brow and he shrugs in response to her silent interrogation. "Alright, I probably took a little too much, but I'll be fine once I start to warm up and actually end up needing them. Figured it was better to take them before the pain hit."
She shakes her head, but lets him press back against her, pulling the blanket tighter around his back as it hums to life and starts to warm up. "You really shouldn't self-dose."
"I did the calculations," he mumbles at her ear. "Now, shouldn't you be nicer to someone who nearly froze to death because you thought Noveria was the perfect place to vacation?"
She frowns, even though he won't see it. "I'll have you know that Noveria was not a vacation. I hated it just as much as you did." She scratches her nails against a thinner part of his back and he rumbles at the sensation. He's always liked it, saying it was like she's scratching an itch he can never quite reach and has since ignored until she brings it back up by scratching it. She chuckles when he wiggles a bit in silent command of where her figures should go and moves around his plates, scratching at every spot of thinner material that she's remembered.
"You know," he finally purrs into her ear. "I've heard that when you warm someone, you're supposed to be wearing less clothes." He plucks at the sleeve of her shirt to cement his point.
She raises a brow, stopping her scratching to lay her palms flat against his upper back. "Oh really? So Turians warm up with skin-to-skin contact, do they?" She taps on his hard carapace and smiles. "Seems a bit odd considering your plates don't conduct heat." He ignores her comment, lowering a hand to reach under the fabric of her shirt and run a cold palm up her spine, causing her to hiss. "Okay, okay. Give me a second, just don't do that again."
He chuckles and pulls back enough for her to pull her shirt over her head and toss it off his bunk. Before he's able to reach back to unhook her bra, though, she takes his hands and holds them between hers, trying to will her body heat into them. "Jesus, Garrus. You're freezing. Are you sure you don't need to be in the Medbay?"
He purrs and drops his forehead to hers, the lack of his usual warmth making her lips pull down in concern. "There's not much up there that I'd be doing that I'm not already doing here- well, expect that I'd be missing out on this." He thrums in his chest in what she knows is a comforting tone to try and ease her nerves. "Turians react to cold differently and we heat back up differently, too. This," he motions between them with his head but manages to stay presses against her, "is normal. Our bodies get cold because we don't have fat to hold the heat in. Once we lose the heat, we need a source of it to regain our normal temperature."
His mandible flicks and his eyes squint in a light cringe. "And that's what happens once we start to warm up." His hands tighten a fracture around hers and a low groan rumbles from his chest.
"How badly does it hurt?" She holds his hands to her chest and closer to her hotter body.
"Not too bad considering all the medication I took." His fingers twitch against her skin in what she thinks must be him flexing to try and get more blood flowing. "The pain is a good sign, since dead tissue wouldn't hurt when the blood flow starts to come back."
She likes that his voice is a bit clearer and hopes that it doesn't mean he's getting over the effects of the drugs he took as it seems like he may be needing them. On the topic of his changes in speech, she remembers something from their mission in the frozen station and pushes against him to draw his attention before asking, "Back on Noveria, you got really sluggish. What are the signs of hypothermia in Turians, exactly?"
He must sense her fear over how close he may have been because he rumbles softly, pulling her close to his warming but still chilled body. "Jane… we don't have to think about that now."
She tightens her chin in anger, her teeth biting at the smooth surface of her inner lip, before she squeezes her arms around his armored body. "God damn it, Garrus," she hisses. "I want to fucking know if I was on the verge of losing my fucking husband. You owe me that much."
He sighs deeply, his breath fluffing through some of her fallen hair. "Turians usually go into a deep sleep if our body temperature drops low enough. First, we get drowsy and uncoordinated as our blood flow slows and leaves our limbs in attempt to get our core warm. Our limbs hurt at first, then our muscles get sore and stiff before going completely numb." She buries her face into his cowl as he continues to list off. "Once our temperature drops to the point where we can't maintain heat in our core, we start to shut down and fall into a deep sleep."
She doesn't need him to say what comes next, knowing full well the words he doesn't want to burden her with even though she isn't too oblivious to connect the dots. She can't come up with words, her chest hurting at the unwanted knowledge of just how much they were tempting fate bringing him on that damn shit hole, and only manages to pull herself impossibly close, her legs and arms tightening around his plated body.
"Hey," he purrs, letting her get close and responding in kind with his own hold. "I'm okay now, Jane."
"Don't give me that shit!" She looks up to him, not ashamed of the watery look to her eyes from her stubbornness to not let herself cry. "You almost fucking died! Don't you care about that?"
She searches his eyes and sees his honest regret, which helps to ease some of her distress, but not much. He nuzzles his lip plates against her forehead with a soft purr. "I do care, but looking back at what we saw down there, I'd gladly die to make sure you were safe." She closes her eyes tightly, willing the waterworks not to start and for her face to take on a look of reprimand and sternness. Be a Commander on this, damn it. She feels two large hands, still not as hot as she wants, cup her face and pull her from her inner demands.
"Look at me." She opens her eyes reluctantly, like prying open sealed slabs, and finds herself immediately locking onto his beautiful blue eyes before her. "I may have died down there, but I didn't and I'm here now." He pushes his forehead to hers before lowering his lip plates to hers and letting his words puff against her trembling lips. "Please don't make this more than it has to be. I love you, Jane."
She can't hold back the quick exhale that borders on a sob as he presses his mouth to hers, drinking in her strange combination of grief and relief. She loves the feeling of his rough tongue probing for entrance into her warm mouth, happily letting his cooler muscle enter her to suck the heat from her own.
"I love you," she gasps when he pulls away to nuzzle into her neck with a rumbling purr. "I love you. I love you," she repeats like a mantra to the ceiling, her voice breaking at the shear amount of emotions rushing through her body from the entire day, from docking at the port to their rush onto their escaping tram after setting off the purge.
He nudges his mouth under her chin, stroking his chilled tongue against her sensitive neck and she gasps at the sudden need for him flowing through her veins. She takes her hands from his back and strokes along his waist, paying extra care to message over the scar at his hip from her teeth in silent hint at what she desires.
He growls is response and drops his hands to her waist band, all but snapping off her buttons as he fumbles to remove her clothing. She has enough sense of mind to inwardly appreciate the fact that he's regaining the finer control of his extremities as she feels the sensation of the cloth around her hips loosening before a cold hand dips in, running the backs of his fingers teasingly just below the band of her panties.
She pulls his hand away from her, lifting off of him and shifting her legs enough to ease her clothing off. She climbs back onto him, immediately feeling the cooler temperature of his legs below her, but shoves the thought aside as his hands run to unhook her bra, tossing it aside with the rest of her clothes.
He kisses her while his hands caress her breasts, the chill to them making her nipples perk up at the strange new sensation added in with his usual callous and talon tip. He has her panting in no time, pulling away to run a tongue along her pulse as she fights to keep her breath.
"Garrus, we need you out." She grips his waist and his growls into her hair. He moves back enough to let her drop her hands to his groin, the plates barely open.
She lifts a brow to him in silent question, but he chuckles, running a finger under her chin. "Just cold, Jane." He takes one hand and places it behind his fringe. "I just need a bit moreencouragement."
Taking the cue, she smirks and digs her fingers in the softer flesh behind his head, pulling a responding moan from his lips. She scoots more into his lap and moves her mouth to his neck, biting into it as she takes her hand from his crotch and squeezes his center fringe forcefully.
He responds with a low growl and buck of his hips, the telltale smell that reminds her a bit of mint hitting her nose that comes from his arousal. She knows he likes it rough mainly because it reminds him of what he'd get with a Turian mate but she also figures that force will best get through the numbness of his cold muscles and possible numb nerves.
She gets her suspicions confirmed when he pulls her closer to him, grinding her wet core against his opened plates and using the pressure of her weight to force himself free. She bites harder, even giving her head a little shake, and he bucks with a moan, his head dropping back while a rhythmic thrumming vibrates in his chest.
He pushes her down onto him almost painfully and she gasps at the sensation of him entering her, his penis flexing and pulsing as the increased blood flow starts to cause it to take its ridged shape and fill its pronounced contours and rises. She squeezes her eyes shut and grips his shoulders as uses his hands to grind her against him, directly stimulating her clitoris with the plating at his base.
When the sudden shock of his entry subsides into pleasure and he begins to thrust up into her, using his hands to help guide her as she too moves over him. She cups his face, gazing into his wild and magnificent eyes filled with lust, hunger, and deep devotion.
She drops her forehead to his in silent command to stay as she drops her hands to pull the blanket back up around him, still having enough consciousness to remember the main reason they're having desperate sex in the shadow of the Mako in a crappy bunk too small for one of them, let alone both. She holds the corners down to his shoulders with her hands as she uses her new positon to push against him and change their angle.
They are close to their respect climaxes when they are startled from their reverie by the loud banging of something heavy dropping to the metal floor. Garrus pulls her closer with a low growl, obviously still in a more disoriented mindset to share in Jane's silent panic as she shoves against him, trying to think up an explanation for whoever must be here and knowing full well nothing is going to work.
"Going at it like pyjaks?" The deep voice of their only Krogan member rings through the near dead silence of the cargo bay, amusement clear in his expression. "Damn, Shepard. Can't even wait until the Citadel?"
"We're in the middle of something, Krogan." Garrus licks against her sweaty neck with a quick buck of his hips, seeming to not be as bothered by Wrex's presence as she is. She does, however, notice the tightening of his hold on her hip as one hand wraps around her back and pulls her ever closer. "Bother her later," he growls out.
She scowls at Wrex's responding laugh. "I'm not here to get in the middle of your rutting, Turian." She can hear the shit-eating grin that's most likely plastered on his face just by his words. "Next time, leave a helmet in the elevator. Much easier that way."
She shakes her head when she starts to hear the heavy footsteps make their way towards the elevator, glad to finally have that experience coming to an end. She can imagine him just at the elevator controls when her husband growls out, catching on to something she hadn't noticed.
"You didn't come down the elevator, Wrex. We would've heard it." To prove his point, the grinding and clanking of the loud lift sounds as it descends.
"What do you know, you're right," the Krogan says, his grin still in his voice as the sounds of his footsteps take a step into the lift. He doesn't elaborate beyond an echoing chuckle as the doors shut and the elevator ascends.
Jane raises a brow and looks down to her purrs husband. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He nuzzles against her chest, dragging his tongue along her nipple. "Wrex is a Krogan, Jane." He refuses to elaborate as well, choosing to pull her hips closer and jerk up into her with a feral growl, successfully cutting off her protest and pulling a high moan from her lips.
They easily fall back into their rhythm, chasing the high that they had been so close to before their odd interruption. He takes her throat in his mouth, sending his harmonics through the thin barrier of her skin to echo through her own moans and giving them an odd feeling of duality to her vocals. It's an amazing feeling that does the intended job for them both, sending him over the edge and causing her to follow, nearly screaming as she clenches uncontrollably around his pulsing and flexing cock as he fills her.
As she's coming down, he licks softly against the tenderness caused by his teeth. She knows that he didn't break skin and that any sign of his hold will easily fade by morning, but she lets him soothe the nonexistent wound, relishing the fact that his tongue seems to be warming up to his normal temperature.
Seeming to read her mind, Garrus nuzzles against her temple, nibbling lightly at the damp hair, and says, "You know, I think that worked in heating me up." He runs his talons through her hair in attempt to try and calm the tangled curls from the day. "Though I think I may need a repeat or the treatment."
She mock glares at his smirk, but he easily lets her pull off him. She knows that he's only trying to ease the mood from earlier and understands that they can't put themselves into such a predicament if they were to continue their activities. She stands and motions him to lay down, knowing that it is late and, even though they'll be at the Citadel soon, he needs his rest.
"Stay with me," he pleas, pulling her hand and making her drop to site at his side on the edge of his bunk. "You can always leave before shift starts."
She smiles sadly, stroking a hand along his cheek and down his mandible, loving the feeling of him subtly pushing into her hand. "I can't. I have to head up and clean," she motions to between her legs where she's squeezing her legs to make sure none of his fluids escape. "Then I have to make sure we are ready to dock tomorrow with the Citadel, file my report on Noveria with the Council even though I've already spoken with them –don't ask. After all of that, I have to try and find some time to sleep." He rumbles sadly, cupping one of her cheeks and she places her own hand over his. "I wish I could stay with you, Garrus. More than anything."
"I understand." He pulls softly on her face and she lets him drag her down to press his forehead to hers. "Just promise me that you'll get some rest too. Noveria was hard on all of us, not just Liara and I."
She smiles softly and receives a soft purr and mandible quirk in response before she leaves him with a deep and tender kiss. Her fingers lightly stroking up his mandibles as she pulls away and plants a soft pucker against the smooth expanse of plate at her forehead.
"Rest well, my love," she whispers to his rumbling harmonics, pulling away with a final sigh. She leaves, not wanting to give him any more time to try and change her mind because she knows that he's fully capable of convincing her, not that she'd really put up much fight.
~SquigglySquid says: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!~