-17-
It took all her willpower not to jump Garrus the moment she saw him walking up that platform. The fact that they were in a war zone and turian soldiers and officers were standing only inches away? Inconsequential.
But Shepard's professionalism reared its pushy head and told her emotions to cool it. They needed to focus. There would be plenty of time for reunions later. They had a new primarch to retrieve. She had to settle for a hand-shake, keep to military code until they weren't in the middle of fighting an onslot of Reaper forces.
Once back on the Normandy, they caught up, as much as they could while both on duty. Confirmed their mutual interest to keep what they had going between them. But it was hardly enough time together before needing to get back to work. She told him to come by her rooms once both of them were off-duty, wine and all, for some proper catching-up.
She went through the briefings from Liara and Hackett, checked in on Victus and EDI in her new robot body, went over ship diagnostics with Adams (even if she could only partly follow along). All the while counting down to 22:00 hours.
It was 21:45 when she received the call from Garrus. Victus wanted him in on an emergency consultation. A major city on Palaven had been hit. He wasn't sure how long it'd last, if he'd be able to come up that night. She told him to go have his meeting, trying her best not to feel too disappointed. It wasn't his fault, and anything for this war had to come first. He signed off, and at 22:00, she put away the wine glasses she'd set out back into her desk drawer.
Shepard dozed off shortly after on the couch, a mercifully dreamless sleep that did not last nearly long enough before she jolted awake to the sound of a steady knock against the door. She darted a glance at the time, just past 00:00. She walked slowly up the steps, rubbing her eyes, hoping it wasn't anything too urgent. She unlocked the door, to find Garrus standing before her, in his casuals, his hand half-raised in the air as if uncertain whether to knock again.
"Garrus," she greeted, having to stop a ridiculously wide grin from bursting onto her face at the sight of him, tempering it with a smaller smile.
"Shepard. I hope I didn't disturb…I should have known it was getting late for you…" he said, his mandibles fluttering as he started rambling.
"It's alright." She was tired, yes. Damn tired, and they were only a few weeks into this war. But she wasn't going to turn him away, not when he had the chance to come up after all. Not when they finally had a moment for themselves. "You can come in."
Shepard locked the door behind them as he walked through, her stomach unexpectedly fluttering as he went to the lower level. She had no reason to be nervous; they'd already affirmed their feelings for each other. Yet there she stood on the top step, not exactly sure what to do next.
Garrus answered that indecision for her, placing himself on the couch. "Not much here has changed. Lights are dimmer."
"Least it's an improvement from the original Normandy," she said, following and sitting down beside him. "I could barely see in the captain's quarters."
"If there's one thing Cerberus knew how to do right, it was decent lighting."
Shepard gave a humorless chuckle at that. One of the few things she'd credit Cerberus for.
"How'd your meeting with Victus go?" she asked, not wanting to spend their time together thinking about them.
"Mostly spent time assessing ground reports on casualties and damage. Figuring out next steps for survivors and our platoons." He shook his head. "I knew this was going to get a lot worse. Still hard to hear third of a city's population is gone within a few hours."
Damn it, how many places, how many lives, would be destroyed by the Reapers when this was all over? "I'm sorry, Garrus," she said, knowing there wasn't much more she could say.
He seemed to know that too, changing the subject by reaching for the wine bottle Shepard now saw he'd brought with him. "So…ready to crack this bad boy open? I'd say we earned it."
Shepard laughed softly, rising for the glasses she'd stored away. "Been ready all day."
One glasses retrieval and wine pour later, she was back on the couch, holding a glass of dark red wine in her hand.
"Cheers." Shepard clanked her glass against Garrus' and took a healthy sip.
"Strong stuff," she said through the slight burn in her throat. "On the sweeter side, though."
"What I was going for. There aren't many dextro-levo wines to choose from."
That reminded her. "Where did you get this from?"
"A store in Cipritine that's been around for centuries. Like I said, with my expert Reaper advisor salary, figured I could splurge."
Shepard lowered her glass. "You've had it this whole time?"
Garrus' mandibles flicked, hand reaching to rub at his neck. "Yeah. I have."
She wasn't sure what she expected to hear, when buying it on Palaven made all the sense in the galaxy. But the meaning, that he'd kept it through Menae in the hope he'd see her again, still be interested in him…
Silence settled around them. Shepard had had a number of fantasies about what it would be like reuniting with Garrus -six months house arrest gave her plenty of time to daydream with that mountain view right outside her window- but none of them had included shifting on the couch or finger running over the rim of her wine glass as both waited for the other to say or do something.
That's all Shepard had been doing the past few months. Waiting for the Reapers to attack, waiting for the Alliance and the Council to see sense, waiting for when she'd see her friends or Garrus again. She was done wasting what precious time remained to them waiting.
She set her glass down, and reached for Garrus' to place beside hers. Just as he finished asking what she was doing and following with a nervous quip about her being done with the alcohol already, she climbed into Garrus' lap and kissed him squarely on the mouth.
Their kisses earlier had been fleeting, reserved for on-duty. Now she had the time to re-familiarize herself with the rough texture of his mouth, the ridges of his scarred plates. Garrus' arms eventually came around her, a hand resting against the back of her neck as he pressed his plates harder against her lips. Shepard wrapped her own arms around his neck, her fingers running across his scales and hide, remembering how much he loved when she'd traced circles on it.
The reaction was instantaneous, with Garrus falling back into the couch and a groan against her lips. She instinctively rolled her hips against his, earning her another muffled groan, this time Shepard faintly picking up on the aroused note in his subvocals, growing in volume as she trailed her lips down to the softer underside of his jaw.
"Shepard."
She stilled at the call of her name, reminded of something she had yet to bring up. His eyes immediately focused on her, silently asking what was wrong.
Shepard rested her hand against his cowl to steady herself. "You can still call me Jane when we're alone, Garrus."
His mandibles twitched, plates shifting to the closest expression of sheepishness from a turian. "Habit, I guess."
"And nerves?"
"A bit." He squeezed her waist. "So where do we go from here?"
She quickly took stock, and knew there was only one acceptable option. "I'd say the bed's a good place to start."
His face plates shifted again, this time in a dirty grin. "Read my mind."
Shepard rolled her hips against him again, feeling plates starting to shift through the fabric of his pants. "More than your mind, Vakarian."
Garrus laughed, one that emanated deep from his chest, as he stood up taking her with him. Shepard wrapped his legs around his waist as he carried them both over to the bed before dropping unceremoniously on top of it.
Clothing was removed with little tactical finesse, both intent on feeling their skin against the other. Now was not the time for savoring and teasing, not when it'd been so long. A fact she was clearly reminded of with the chafing. But Shepard refused to stop for that, instead coaxing him on his back. Everything faded away as she rode him, the responsibilities, the pressures. Her world in that moment consisted of nothing but Garrus and him inside her, his fingers digging into her waist, the vulgar noises he was making with his subvocals.
Their releases came shortly after, Shepard collapsing on top of him. She rested her forehead against his, desperately taking in air. Already soreness was setting in and her chafed skin uncomfortable against him. But it was totally worth it.
"So…" she started with a slightly breathless laugh when she rolled onto her side. "Is this better than the vids?"
"Much," Garrus replied, going in for a kiss this time.
She would have been content laying there, but she had to treat her skin, knowing she'd regret it come morning. With reluctance, she propped herself up, but a hand on her thigh stopped her from Shepard swinging her legs over the bed.
She glanced down at Garrus, who was staring up at her with a look she couldn't quite place. "I…I missed you, Jane."
Warmth spread through her at his words, spoken in the softest voice she'd ever heard from him. She laid her hand over his, giving it a squeeze, and kissed his cheek, repeating the same sentiment she'd also expressed earlier that day. "Missed you too, big guy."
Shepard had no idea what the Reapers or Cerberus would throw at them, how much worse the state of the galaxy would get before it got better, their chances of winning and seeing this through to the end. But as she got up from the bed to the bathroom, she knew no matter what came their way, one thing was certain. They were on this ship, together.
For now, that was all she needed.
