Chapter 31

Anya swayed in the elevator as it slowed, the slight vertigo combining with the alcohol still in her system to make her feel off-balance. She made her way across to her door, careful to watch her footing. She entered her room, beaming as soon as she saw Garrus at her desk.

"Hey, honey," she murmured, moving toward him and reaching out to touch his shoulder, feeling warm.

"Shepard!" He seemed happy to see her, his own hand ending up in the small of her back.

"Mmm. I missed you." She leaned down to kiss him once, and he ran his talons up and down for a beat.

"I missed you, too. How many drinks did you have?"

"Just one, technically. Why?"

"Your face is doing that thing," he said, sounding amused.

"What thing?"

"The...color thing. You look like you're embarrassed."

"Oh, my face is flushed? I'm all pink?" she asked.

"Just your cheeks, as far as I can tell."

"How bad is it?"

"It's not that noticeable," he reassured her.

"Well, that's good. Jack decided she wanted whiskey, and she put waaay more in the glass than I would."

"Well, that does explain why you're drunk off of one glass," he teased gently.

"I'm not drunk. I'm just a little tipsy. I'm fine." She knew he wasn't convinced.

"Well, I...think you might be a little past tipsy, sweetie. Do you want to lie down?"

"Nah, I'm okay. I need to shower, anyway. You could always join me," she offered with a playful smile, and he snorted.

"If I see you naked, I'm going to have trouble keeping my hands to myself."

"I'm not hearing the problem."

"You're drunk, Anya."

"I am not," she protested with a laugh.

"Fine, then you're...tipsy enough that I'd feel like I was taking advantage. It's different if we're about the same amount of inebriated, but this is…" He shook his head. "Sorry, Shep. I promise I'll make it up to you later?"

She waved off the offer. "You're fine, honey. I love having sex with you, but you really don't have to do anything, okay?"

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy it, too. It still feels bad to say no, though."

"Don't feel bad. You're trying to be responsible." She leaned down, pressing her forehead to his gently, and he let out a quiet, satisfied noise. "What are you working on?"

"Primarch wants my opinion on some potential tweaks for our supply lines, nothing too crazy. Supposed to head down for a debrief in a few hours."

"Anything you want help with?"

"It's fine, sweetie. You try to keep Hacket off our ass, and I'll help reassure the Primarch. We'll get it figured out."

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind about the help, or the shower. I'm going to go get clean."

"Take as long as you need. I'll be here, just...trying to work and thinking about you. In the shower."

"I offered to let you join me."

"I know, I know. I'm just doing it to myself at this point."

"Mhmm." She started to unbutton her shirt, finally stepping away and towards the bathroom, pretending all the while that she didn't notice Garrus watching her drop it off to the side.

"You aren't making this easy. You know that, right?" He said dryly as she moved on to the fastenings of her pants, and she stopped in the doorway, feigning innocence.

"What? Is something getting too hard for you, honey?" The pants quickly joined the shirt.

"Something's getting hard, alright," he muttered under his breath as she shimmied out of her underwear, still ignoring his hungry gaze.

"Well, I guess I'm off to play in the water by my lonesome. Hopefully I'll find something to do while I'm in there."

"Spirits, woman," he ground out, finally turning away. Anya finally took a step so that she was all of the way in the bathroom. She thought she saw Garrus glance over his shoulder one last time, but she didn't have time to call him on it before the door slid closed. She couldn't help smiling at his reaction, though she made a mental note to do something nice for him later to make up for teasing him so blatantly.

Her omni-tool beeped as she started the water, and she read the message as she waited for it to heat up.

I'm not going to get any work done. I hope you're happy.

She snorted before typing her reply.

I wouldn't say happy. Flattered, maybe? A tiny bit proud, perhaps?

She stepped into the spray slowly, letting out a vaguely pained noise at the heat. She heard another alert, and she was quick to look at his newest message.

Smug and horny seems more accurate. Have you always been this flirty when you drink?

She rolled her eyes at that, a smile still ghosting across her lips.

Would you have noticed?

She heard the next message arrive while she was wetting her hair, and she held off on checking it until it was done, wondering why the sound kept going off.

Of course I would have.

Probably.

Well, maybe.

Your guess is as good as mine, Shep.

She laughed at the back to back messages, pondering her response as she started lathering up her hair. She finally sent her retort, feeling pleased.

At least you're a quick study when you do finally pick up on me trying to hit on you.

She rinsed the suds out quickly, rushing towards the end when the next message arrived.

I could say the same about you. Good thing I can always count on you to be flexible when it comes to meeting my limitations.

She bit back another snort before replying.

Bit of a reach, wasn't it? Quick question: is there any chance you want to check out my heat sink later?

She reached for her body wash and loofah, starting the process of scrubbing herself until she felt clean. She managed to hold off on checking his next message until she was done, and she regretted holding off when she did finally open it.

I'll do more than check it out, if you aren't careful.

Her response was almost instantaneous.

Promises, promises.

She turned off the water at that, hurrying out of the shower and wrapping herself in a fluffy towel. She snagged her face scrub from the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, quickly and carefully moving to clean her face. Another message from Garrus made her smile, and she nearly giggled when she opened it.

Damn it, woman. You're going to be the death of me.

She pondered how to reply for a moment before she started typing.

I don't know that you have time for me to be the death of you. Don't you have work to do, honey?

She started rinsing her face, careful to keep most of it out of her eyes. She started to reach for her lotion before remembering that she still needed to replace it, and she huffed in annoyance. His next message dinged, and she opened it eagerly.

Okay, so, just to clarify, we're still joking, right? That last one could have gone either way, and I just wanted to make sure we were good.

She felt a moment of dismay before she hurried to type.

I've been spending almost as much time trying not to laugh as I have washing up. We're good, really. I know written messages aren't great for showing tone, I just like giving you hell.

She bit her lip as she reached for her leave in conditioner, finger combing her hair before working it in. He sent her another message, and she was quick to wipe the worst of the excess off of her hands before she opened it.

That's all I needed to hear, sweetie. You almost done? I needed to ask you about something.

She felt her brow furrow before she stepped out of the bathroom, still wrapped in her towel, though she knew she'd have to readjust it soon. She took the two steps to be closer to him, reaching to touch him as she murmured, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry for being...weird just now, it's just…"

"Just what?"

"I feel like a moron for even bringing this up, because I know it's just making me look paranoid and insecure, but...something you said earlier has been...bugging me a little." He winced as he spoke, and she wondered how she'd managed to bother him.

"Which thing?"

"It's about you...dancing with Vega."

"Oh, that?" she asked, brow furrowed, wondering what was wrong with her scrapping with the lieutenant.

"I just...if you really wanted to go dancing, I could take you sometime. I know I've joked in the past, but-"

"Garrus, honey, no. It's fine. I don't need you or anyone else to take me dancing, I know I'm pretty bad at it."

"But you danced with Vega?" he asked hesitantly, and she realized that he didn't know about their fight.

"No, not literal dancing. We sparred a little, that's it."

"You...oh. So when he said it wasn't pretty…?"

"He was talking about the fact that I kicked his ass a little, not taking jabs at my other footwork," she joked.

"Well, that...does make me feel a little better."

"Only a little?"

"Well, I do feel kind of like an idiot, among other things. You may have saved me some money on human dance lessons. I think I might have time to cancel and get my credits back." He seemed to perk up at that a little, and she smiled.

"I'm glad I was able to help, then."

"You always help, Anya. Thank you for talking this out with me."

"Anytime. Is everything else okay?" she asked hopefully, and he nodded.

"Everything is great now."

"Good." She leaned down and kissed him softly once. "I think I'm going to take a nap after all. If you're still here, will you make sure I'm up? I'm going to set an alarm, too, so don't worry if you can't."

"Nah, it's fine. Primarch still isn't expecting me for nearly two hours. Get some rest." He squeezed her once, still careful of his talons, and she hugged him back for a long moment.

"Thank you."

"Whatever you need, Shep."

"You're the best, you know that?" she murmured as she pulled away.

"Mmm, tell me more after you catch some sleep. I wanna hear this."

"You tell me when and where, Vakarian." He laughed, waving her off with an adoring look, and she felt her cheeks heat a little, contentment blossoming in her chest.

"Sleep well."