"So what are we doing back on… What is this place called?" Shepard said and looked up at Nihlus from her position on his couch.
"Illium, Nos Astra to be specific." Nihlus said and looked up from his meal of boiled lizards. Shepard was learning to put up with the sight of him eating them, which was nice since they were his favorite. "And we are here because it is a big port, full of a variety of food, shops, bars, and I have an apartment here so it makes it easy lock you up, keep you out of trouble." he teased.
Shepard took a big bite of her wrap, full of some sort of beef like meat. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad to have tag along." she said and swallowed.
"Really? The last time I let you out of the ship you nearly took a swim in a pool of lava." he continued the teasing as he finished his meal.
"You're the one who crashed," she defended and slouched down further on the couch.
"Yes, but I am amazing and got us out of it. Not to mention let you ride on my back like I was a mount?" he said and put his plate in the sink.
"Wait? You're not?" she asked, pretending to be surprised and turned around to look at him.
"Funny," he said. He moved back over to her and ruffled her hair. "Well, I'll be back later."
"Where are you going?" she asked, getting up and following him, her wrap half eaten in her hands.
"Out, I need to… relieve some stress." he said, glancing back at her, seeing her confused face. "Sometimes I wish we still couldn't understand each other" he muttered and sat down on the couch, motioning for her to join him. "Turians are not the sitting still type. It irritates and stresses us out." he explained.
"And yet you spend most of your time on a ship." Shepard said her mouth full of another bite of her wrap.
"Yes, which is why you see me get irritable." he said and she nodded in complete agreement, making him roll his eyes. "Anyways the most effective ways for us to relieve the stress is combat or…" this was awkward "or sex."
She was quiet for a long moment. "Why can't you just say you want to go get laid." she asked and he shoved her. She laughed, "Sorry, I get it though, and you know if you get testy on the ship I can help you." she said as she sat back up right.
He looked at her in shock. Surely she didn't mean that she would be willing to have sex with him, right? Could he really be so lucky that she was interested in him too? He tried to compose himself. "I didn't think…"
"What? You don't think I can hold my own?" she said, offended. "I'll have you know that back in boot camp I was near the top of my class, I've gone against men twice my size and handled them fine."
Nihlus was just staring at her at this point. "I'm not sure we are on the same page." he finally said, making her pause.
After a moment her cheeks went red and she swatted the back of his head under his cowl. "Get your head out of the gutter." she snapped at him. "Great, now I sound like a whore." she pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, I meant sparring, I sparred against men twice my size." she cleared that up.
"See now that makes more sense." he said, enjoying her frazzled behavior. She really was cute.
"Besides, I don't think anatomy would… work." she said, gesturing between the two of them with her hand.
He thought about it, "No, it probably would work, the concept of sex is rather simple." he said, watching her cheeks turn an even deeper red.
"Stop thinking about it." she said and shoved him. He didn't even budge, but he started laughing and she got up, frustrated. "You're such a jerk, I liked you better when you couldn't talk." she said, but she was laughing too. "Just go get laid, you jackass."
"That…" he caught his breath so that he could talk. "That didn't translate, what did you call me?"
"Basically it means you're the butt of an ugly stubborn mount." she explained and threw her shoe at his head when he roared with laughter again.
"Ow," he said and rubbed the side of his head where the shoe hit. "Alright, I'll be back tonight. You have food, water, should I turn the TV on so you don't feel so lonely?" he teased as he headed to the door.
"I'm not your pet," she said, crossing her arms in front of him.
"No," he said and put his finger under her chin and pressed his forehead to hers. "You're my friend." He pulled away and left, locking the door behind him. He sighed as he stood outside the door. He was finally at a port, finally able to go and find someone to relieve this tension with, and yet all he wanted was to go back in the apartment with Shepard. 'You'll see her in a few hours.' he kept telling himself. 'And you're sharing the bed with her tonight, if you're going to get through that you are going to need to get this out of the way.'
Nihlus went down the street to the nearest bar and settled down beside an asari out by herself. He bought her a drink and they started chatting. "What brings you out tonight?" he asked, his voice a seductive purr.
"Just looking for a good time," she said and sipped her drink, her tongue rolling over her lips to catch any drops of alcohol as she pulled the drink away. Her eyes looked him up and down and he knew this was going to be easy. "What about you?"
'Oh just trying to find someone looking for simple release so I can go back and curl up with the woman I want and not have urges overrule my better judgment.' he thought as he downed the rest of his drink. 'I really need to get drunk.' He looked back at her and grinned, "Just looking for someone to share my time with." he answered and she scooted closer. He put his arm around her, his hand resting on her hip, and ordered another round of drink. 'I really want to be drunk.' he thought and kept the shots coming.
By the time they left the bar he could feel the alcohol working through his system, allowing him to relax and give this woman what she thought was undivided attention. They went to a cheap motel and he rented them a room. The asari was already clinging to him, her lips and tongue teasing his mandibles. "Let me get the door open." he said and wormed past her to unlock the door to their room. Once inside he pinned her against a wall, his hand at her throat, angling her head up towards his. She hooked a leg over his hip and ground against him, drawing out a purr as he licked at her neck. 'Shepard…' he thought and worked his hands under the asari's clothes. It wasn't Shepard, he knew that, but he suddenly wished he was drunker so that he could think it was.
They moved over to the bed, losing their clothes and armor on the way. "Well aren't you a big one," she purred as he moved into position.
He chuckled and bit her neck below her ear, causing her to let out a moan. 'Stop talking… let me just try to pretend that you're her.' he thought and pushed into her.
"Was it not to your liking?" she asked once they were done and he was getting dressed.
He finished putting his armor on and shrugged. "Does it matter? We aren't going to be seeing each other again." he said. It was good sex, but it didn't give him what he wanted, he knew it wouldn't.
"Humor me, what was wrong about it?" she said and stood up, holding the sheet around her naked body.
He stopped by the door and sighed. "You aren't her." he said and left without another word.
He headed back to his apartment and slipped inside. He was still wound up and decently drunk, but when he spotted Shepard asleep on the couch he felt the annoyance and irritation dim. He smiled and turned off the TV she must have fallen asleep watching.
"Hm… Nih?" she muttered sleepily, the lack of noise and light waking her up.
"Yeah," he said softly and picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bedroom.
"Did you have fun?" she asked, her head resting in the crook of his neck.
He set her down on the bed and got her to let go of him. "Not really," he said honestly and started taking off his armor until he was just in his under-armor pants.
"I'm sorry," she muttered and burrowed under the blankets.
"Hey, wait." he said and pulled the blankets off. "You're still fully clothed."
She groaned as he pulled her shoes and socks off. "Fine…" she muttered and sat up, pulling her shirt above her head.
"I didn't mean to strip that much." Nihlus said, watching her toss the shirt aside, leaving her in only her bra.
"Hand me my sleeping shirt." she said, pointing at her suitcase. He went through it and pulled out the shirt she meant. "Here," he said, turning back to her and freezing. She was standing now, her chest bare expect her arms covering her chest, and her pants crumpled up on the floor beside her, leaving her lower half covered by just her boy-shorts panties.
She took the shirt and pulled it over her head. "Can you get my sleeping shorts too?" she asked sleepily.
With some effort he turned away and back to the suitcase, pulling out the article of clothing she was referring to. "Here..." he said handing it to her without looking, but she didn't take it. He sighed and turned to look, finding her on the bed, fast asleep again. "Spirits, someone up there wants to torture me." he muttered and moved over to her, pulling her shorts on, his bare fingers lingering on her hips. "Shepard..." he said, waiting for a response but she didn't stir. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. "Why couldn't you be a turian." He pulled back and slid into bed beside her. It wasn't that he wanted to change her, he just wanted to change the situation. If she was a turian… Ah who was he kidding, if she was a turian she would have every male draped across her feet. He was good, but he wasn't sure if he was that good.
"It kind of reminds me of New York, expect with flying cars." Shepard said.
"Is that where you're from?" Nihlus asked and joined her by the railing, looking out over Nos Astra with her.
"I went to a boarding school there for a few years." she said and turned to look at him. "My family is from Chicago, my father owns a law firm there. Though I guess without knowing what the places are I'm just speaking gibberish."
"Well with any luck I can see these places myself once we get you home." Nihlus tried to reassure her.
She laughed, "I doubt they would let you out of DC."
"DC? Another city?" he asked and she nodded.
"It is the capitol of America, my country." she explained. "Humans aren't the most accepting of things that are… different than them."
"But you adjusted to the idea of aliens pretty well." he said and when she looked away he wondered what her face looked like under the mask.
"I never really got along with people very well." she admitted, her shoulders slumping.
He put an arm around her waist, pulling her against him in comfort. "I don't see why, you are pretty amazing." he said, his sub-harmonics letting out a low purr. 'You certainly have won me over.' he thought.
She leaned against him. "There are few who think that. Most people think I'm cold, but I just was taught to always try my hardest at everything so when others don't it… I don't see why they half ass things." She sighed and slouched more. "And now I'm trying to justify myself and all it is doing is making me sound like a horrible person."
Nihlus was silent for a moment. "Maybe a horrible human, but not a horrible person." he finally said.
She snorted a bit of a laugh, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? That I fail at being what I am?" she asked.
"If you were a turian you would have every male pining after you." he tried a different route.
"But I'm not a turian, just a bad human." She shifted her arms to awkwardly hug him back. "But thanks for trying to cheer me up, big guy."
"Anytime." he said and held her close. 'Spirits, you smell good. You really did adjust to aliens well… Maybe it isn't that big of a stretch to think you'd be willing to consider… us.' He could just tell her, ask her to just think about them. "Shepard, I…" he paused when his omni-tool beeped. He pulled away from her and pulled up his omni-tool. After quickly reading the message he grabbed Shepard and started pulling her through the crowd.
"Nih, what is wrong?" she asked, trying to keep up with his fast pace.
"Remember how I said I had feelers out for any sign of your crew? Well I just got a message from one of my contacts, someone is selling an exotic pet that sounds like it can be one of your crew." he explained, not slowing down.
She grinned under her helmet. "So we can go get him?" she asked.
"That's the plan." he said with a laugh and pulled her into an elevator with him, hitting the button for the dock.
"How far out is it?" she asked as they loaded onto the ship, allowing her to pull the helmet off now they were alone. She ruffled her out of its flat position from the helmet.
"It will take us a few hours to hit the relay and from there it should only take us a few hours to get to the base. It is close to a mass relay so they can ship out… products quicker." he said and sat down in the pilot seat.
"I'm going to go make sure the guns are ready." she said, heading down the hall.
"Go ahead and switch into that new armor I got you, the one you're wearing needs to be repaired from that blizzard." he called down to her and she waved in response.
Nihlus checked her guns and armor again. "Are you sure you don't want to wait on the ship?" he asked, sub-harmonics cooing lowly, he was still shaken up from the incident on Nepmos.
"No, it is my crew mate, it will go over easier if I'm there, they can't even understand you." she said, pushing away his hands from the locks in her armor. "I am fine, there is no lava here, nothing I haven't faced before, just calm down or it will give both of us away."
His mandibles twitched, but he backed off. "Fine, repeat the cover story to me again." he said.
She rolled her eyes, "We are freelancing pirates looking for an exotic pet for a rich turian on Noveria." she repeated for the fifth or sixth time.
"And?"
"And I am not to speak, you are the leader and I am your quiet asari partner." she said with a sigh.
"Good, now stick close." he said and helped her strap her helmet on.
They docked to the merc spaceport and Nihlus requested them permission to board. "Won't they know it's you by your ship?" Shepard asked as they were waiting for a response.
"I changed the identification code." he assured her as they were pinged the okay to board.
They entered the ship, Nihlus in the front with Shepard at his heels. Three batarians stopped them a little ways into the ship, shadowed by two large krogans with shotguns ready. "Talik Kryik?" the one in the lead asked and Nihlus gave a short nod. He pulled up his omni-tool and read something on it before nodding. "Your credit checks out, lay down your weapons and we can precede."
Shepard shifted behind him and Nihlus put up a hand to still her. "We keep our weapons." he said simply.
The batarian eyed Shepard. "Short for an asari, aren't you?" he teased, looking up and down her armored form. "Other than that pretty easy on the eyes."
Nihlus bit back a growl, swallowing down his protective instincts. "She is with me," he growled.
"Everyone has a price." the batarian smirked. "We could trade, your… friend for the pet? You can pocket the money and she can join in a party with me and a few associates."
"I'm going to shoot him." Shepard muttered over the com.
"She is with me," Nihlus growled, moving her behind him.
"Have it your way," the batarian said, giving it up with a smirk. "But you still have to lay down your weapons, don't want one 'accidently' going off and hurting your friend now."
Nihlus' mandibles twitched. The batarian had set up a trap and Nihlus had walked right into it. They had confirmed that she was important to him and was now using that to manipulate him. Reluctantly he handed over his guns, gesturing for Shepard to do the same. After a long look she released her weapons too and followed Nihlus deeper into the ship. They were led into a cargo bay of the ship, lined with cages full of exotic animals and sentinel species forced to live like puppies in a bad mill. She paused to look at a dead reptilian dog lying in its own waste.
"Shepard," Nihlus called and she scurried to catch up to him through the narrow paths through the cages.
They continued to wind their way through the inhumane cages, pretending to listen to the batarian as he boasted about one creature or another, and finally she spotted him. "Ten o'clock." she muttered into the com and he looked ahead of them.
"Where?" he asked, seeing nothing.
"Right, ten hours… nine o'clock-ish then." she corrected and he turned his head and spotted what she saw. In a cage a few rows over was a creature that looked similar to her, same hair sprouting out of its head only shorter and brown, same pale pink skin. "It's Joker… Jeff…" she said, her voice catching.
"What about that one?" Nihlus said, stopping the batarian mid-sentence.
The batarian looked to where he was pointing and smiled. "Ah, that one is a rare find. A scouting group found it on a wrecked ship. There were a few more like it, but sadly those have all found new homes. This one has been harder to place because it is weaker. I could give you a discount to make up for that though." he informed them as they made their way over to him.
Nihlus pretended to look him over before turning back to the batarian. "I think our employer would like it, how much?" he asked, freezing when he heard Shepard cuss over the com. He turned to see what was wrong and was met with a familiar feel of a pistol against his head.
"Now, now, Nihlus, no reason to put up a fight." the batarian said. "Don't let her go, and don't underestimate her like last time." he ordered to the two krogan who were holding tight to Shepard. "It isn't you we want, Spectre, though you would fetch a price." He ordered one of the other batarians to move into place to have a gun on Nihlus so he could move forward and to Shepard.
"You fucking four eyed bastard, I'm going to kill you." Shepard cursed at the batarian, inaudible to everyone but Nihlus and Jeff.
The batarian ripped her helmet off, exposing her as a human. Jeff moved in his cage. "Shepard." he called, hands gripping the bars trapping him.
"When I heard about you and the fight you put up I was very mad at my mercs for killing you, I know a lot of people who would pay a fortune for such a fighting spirit." the batarian said, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her to look up at him past her red locks of hair. "So imagine my happiness when I heard that you were not only alive, but traveling with a Spectre to try and find me."
"Fuck you," she growled and bit his finger.
The batarian cried, jerking his hand back, but she refused to let go, her teeth digging in further with each jerk. Finally she released him, his blood dripping down her lips. "Stupid bitch," he growled and slapped her hard, making her head jerk to the side.
Nihlus moved to stop him as he continued to hit her, but the gun at his head clicked, giving him pause.
"That all you got, pansy?" Shepard cursed up at him when he finally stopped hitting her. She spit blood out of her mouth that poured down from her bleeding nose.
Despite not being able to understand her, the batarian must have caught the meaning because he turned back to her and slammed his knee into her gut several times until she was gasping for breath. The krogans let her go as she slumped, to busy gasping for air to stay on her feet. "Shepard," Nihlus said, going to move to her side, but the krogans raised their guns at him.
"Time to go, Spectre." the lead batarian said and snapped his fingers, signaling the krogan to lead him out.
He reluctantly started backing away, his eyes never leaving Shepard's limp form on the floor. 'I knew I should have left her on the ship.' he thought, his sub-harmonics letting out a low painful coo. He watched as her eyes opened and she slowly got to her feet. All the merc were on him, slowly guiding him out, that they didn't notice.
She wiped the blood off her face and jumped the nearest batarian, her arm slipping around his throat, blocking off his oxygen.
Nihlus didn't pass up the chance and kicked the shotgun out of one of the krogan's hands. He ripped it from his hands and slammed the butt of it into its owner's head. The other krogan tried to fire, but Shepard grabbed his gun, jerking it up so the shot only hit the ceiling. The brute grunted and threw Shepard off, sending her flying into one of the cages. It buckled under the force and she crumpled against its captive.
Nihlus grabbed the krogan and slammed the gun into his head until he stopped moving. Three down including the one Shepard had choked. He turned to find the other two running away and fired at them. The lackey fell, the shot ripping through half his side, but the leader was only grazed and kept running. "Shepard, we need to go." he said, pulling her up with the help of a drell. "Kolyat?" he asked and the boy nodded. "Good, hold her while I get Jeff out." he said, leaving a dazed Shepard in Kolyat's young arms. Jeff backed away from the door to the cage when Nihlus tapped his gun. "Thank you universal gestures." he muttered and shot off the lock. He backed away from the door and slowly Jeff crawled out of the cage. Nihlus put two and two together, Shepard and the batarian slaver had both said that Jeff was weaker than normal. He cursed as the alarms started going on and jerked Jeff into his arms. "You know how to shoot, kid?" he asked Kolyat.
"N-no." he said, stumbling under Shepard's weight.
Nihlus grabbed a pistol from the down batarian at their feet. "Nothing like learning on the job. Just try to aim for their heads and pull the trigger." he said and shoved it and a few thermal clips in Kolyat's hand. He took a shotgun for himself and grabbed the other one for Shepard for when she came to. "We're going to have to fight our way out." He shifted Jeff so he was over his shoulder, trying not to jar him too much when he let out a cry.
He led them through the maze of cages, ignoring the pleas for help as they ran past. Normally he would try to help as many people as he could, but he was thinking of Shepard first, she was more important.
They staggered through the ship, Nihlus leading the way and slowly making progress through the mercs setting up defensive lines to stop them. They made it about two hallways before the mercs were too thick to press through. "Damn it." Nihlus muttered and set Joker down around the corner. "Bunker down and keep them safe, I'm going to see if I can't punch a way through." he told Kolyat and rounded the corner. Shots immediately fired at him, making his shields ripple. He fired at the closest merc, but the bastard ducked down behind his cover and the shot harmlessly hit the wall. He slid back behind the corner, letting his shields recharge. "There are too many, I can't get a good shot of before they rip through my shields." he said, more talking to himself. He looked down at the three. Joker had moved to Shepard's side, trying to get her to snap out of her daze. 'She must have really hit her head.' he thought and moved to her side too. "Come on, Shepard, I need your help if we are going to get out of this." he said, shaking her shoulder. "Snap out of it, that is an order." he barked and the soldier in her kicked in.
She sat up a bit and looked up at him, her eyes focusing with a bit of effort. "My head is killing me." she said and they shared a chuckle.
"We'll worry about it when we are back at the ship, right now I need you watching my back." he said and helped her to her feet.
She leaned heavily against him. "Right… give me a moment to stop the spinning." she said, her forehead against his cool armor. She took several deep breaths before looking up at him and nodding.
He wiped the blood from under her nose and handed her the shotgun. "It is all I could find." he said, noticing her dislike in the way she wrinkled her nose.
"Just not efficient." she said and took it, looking back at the other two and smiling wide. "You two just sit back and watch the show." she said and together her and Nihlus rounded the corner and started firing.
Nihlus let out a murr at how easily they slipped into rhythm. One shot while the other reloaded, always giving the other cover fire as they moved forward. Together they sent the mercs cowering behind whatever they could find before their shotguns could rip through them, only to be pounced on and quickly handled as they made their way through the ship.
"Start moving forward." Nihlus called down the hall to the other two as Shepard and Nihlus picked the bodies clean of thermal clips. They also switched to assault rifles they found on the dead mercs, better for conserving ammo. Kolyat grabbed Jeff and helped him follow through the pool of dead aliens, trying not to slip on the mix of blue and red blood and guts on the floor. The progress was slow, but steady.
And then the mercs started to thin out, at first it was a relief, allowing them to move quicker, but then Nihlus started to wonder why. As if in answer his omni-tool popped up a warning message. His hacking program had intercepted some of the mercs' com and played it in his ear.
"Disengage, charges are set, this time we end it."
"What about the cargo?"
"Forget it, getting rid of that Spectre is more important."
"Shit…" he muttered, making Shepard turn to see what the problem was. "Keep pushing forward, we have to move, now." he said and went back to the other two. Shepard turned back to the mercs, taking them out with swift shots to the body, nice and easy to aim, but took more ammo. Nihlus picked Joker up and threw him over his shoulder again. "We need to run." he said to Kolyat. They ran to Shepard and Nihlus grabbed her arm and sped her up. "They are going to blow up the ship, we have to move." he said and they started running. Their shots were sloppy, but the mercs were thinning out as most of them got into escape pods. "It should just be around this corner and down the next hall." he panted, his mandibles flaring with relief that they were going to make it. They rounded the corner as the ship shook somewhere deep within. He stopped and looked back at Shepard and Kolyat a few steps behind him, but what was behind them caught his eye. He could see the fire from the explosion at the end of the hall.
"Don't look back, just run." Shepard told him, panting hard. And then she tripped. Nihlus was already at the dock to his ship, several yards away from her, unable to do anything. Kolyat paused in his steps and went back to her, pulling her to her feet and they crossed the short distance as the explosion danced closer. They all crowded into the airlock, the door sliding shut just in time, the heat from the fire brushing across their faces.
Nihlus didn't pause as he went into his ship. "Sorry," he said before dropping Joker roughly into the pilot seat and started hitting buttons on the console, ordering the shit to undock and move away before they were caught in the explosion.
"Ow…" Joker said from the chair. "Nice alien boyfriend you've got there." he said teasingly to Shepard, looking over at her and his face for a little worried. Her nose was still bleeding and she kept rubbing her head. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just a headache." she replied and started towards the mess. "Going to get something to drink… Oh and Nihlus can understand you." she called as she left.
Joker snapped his head up to Nihlus, who was looking down at him questionably. "So… you can understand me?" he asked and Nihlus nodded. "How?" Nihlus sighed and left after Shepard, even if he answered Joker wouldn't understand him, he didn't have an omni-tool.
A/N: There it is. Hope you guys liked it and you will be happy to know that the next chapter is already in the works, but I can't grantee when it will be out because finals are coming up and my second job is starting to pick up too. But anyways thank you Cyan for your edits. She is amazing guys so give her some love. As always please review and give me feedback on what you think.