AUTHOR'S NOTE: Little bit late, I know, sorry. Work and school picking back up again and I'm pressed for time more often than I'd like. But hey, tonight the wait should be worth it. Before I get onto that, I just want to check and ask. Last chapter. I deleted the little alert "chapter" immediately after posting it. Did you all find last chapter alright regardless? Didn't get any reviews regarding that so I genuinely am not entirely sure how many people might have had some sort of confusion/software fuck ups from that. Anyways, repeating a funny coincidence from ITGU, not counting the Prelude or the Foreword, this is Chapter 69. So yeah, sexual content ahead. Enjoy!

Commander John Shepard

With Aite being a remote system, and us already being in a remote system, it was going to take a few days for us to arrive. The rest of today, tomorrow, and arrive around noon the following day, and it was already reaching the end of the day, and Tali still wanted to talk about her dossier. In the privacy of our quarters, obviously, which is where I waited after I had my dinner. By the time she arrived, I was lounging on the couch with some music and browsing the extranet. When I heard the door open, I sat up, looking to see Tali walking in and already wringing her hands, looking around for me for a brief second before seeing me by the couch. She came down and took a seat on the other end, facing me and hands still wringing in her lap. And not taking her mask off yet.

"You wanted to talk about the dossiers?" I began for her.

"Y-Yes, yes that's right. Um, I did." I leaned forward, a little concerned by what might be getting her so nervous. "I… I-I can understand being curious and wanting to read them, I… admittedly might have peeked myself if-if I could have, but what, exactly… did you read in mine?" I tilted my head to the side a little.

"First, the last thing I wanted to do was invade anyone's privacy, Liara just warned me that there were some things I should know that some might not talk about on their own. I did what I could to respect as much privacy as I could. You may have had more in your file, but all I really looked at was the message with you and the Broker two years back."

"Not extranet history or suit-" she stopped, her glowing eyes going wide behind the mask for a moment as she caught herself, her hands wringing that much faster.

"No? I saw no reason why it would be my business or some source of a concern." I took another moment to look Tali over, trying to get a read on her. She's barely containing embarrassment. The stutters combined with the hand wringing, sure she wrings her hands whenever I'm nervous, but the stutters? That really only happens when she's the embarrassed kind of nervous. That for as long as I've known her, only I've been able to draw out of her.

"Have you been watching those porn parodies of me?" I joked, knowing that wouldn't be the case but some teasing like this might get me closer, on top of just having a little fun.

"Wha-?" She looked at me, her face scrunching up in disgust behind her mask. "No! Keelah, no!" Her hands no longer wringing, and she took a breath. "Just- It's nothing."

"Come on," I scooched a little closer. "Does it involve me? Or maybe," I put an arm over her shoulder. "Us?" I whispered.

Her hands began wringing again. Gotcha.

"You know, keeping the mask on isn't hiding nearly as many of your tells as you might think. I've learned to read your body language. I've watched it quite a bit after all." The hands were wringing faster again. I chuckled. "Hey," I took one of her hands and pulled it away from the other, simply holding it. "I'm teasing. It's fun to watch you squirm," I smiled.

"Bosh'tet," she murmured.

"And you wouldn't change a thing." Tali lightly slapped me on the shoulder but still leaned into me. "So, come on, any hints?" Tali sighed, I could feel her pouting.

"Guides on reading Human body language, Human courtship, educational vids-" she then groaned, having caught herself yet again.

"Define educational."

"No." That earned a laugh.

"Did you have to fill out a packet to turn in? Maybe some exercises, an essay. It's not very educational if it doesn't help you apply what you've learned." My teasing earned me an elbow jab to the side.

"You're mean." Still smirking, I gently pulled Tali aside and down so that she was lying on my lap along the couch. My right arm rubbing, petting at the top of her helmet while my left was only along the top of the couch. Totally not wanting to feel the rubbing, Tali began removing her mask and helmet, still blushing, and trying not to look up at me, constantly failing, and pouting almost as much. Her silvery hair was soft, but felt rather like human hair, if not the same and seemed to enjoy the occasional scratch I threw in, humming in spite of herself.

"I haven't felt anything like that through the Nerve stims. It's nice."

"You know I feel like I've heard of those before but I'm not really sure. Remind me?"

"A program mixed with a bit of hardware built into our suits to let us feel. Though I've learned they leave a lot to be desired."

"Really? There ever updates? Upgrades for it? That improve it?" There was a quick huff of annoyance from Tali, but her body language was making it obvious it wasn't directed at me.

"There's Nerve Stim Pro, it focuses its advertisement as being an improved version, which the change is barely noticeable, but all it really does is add programs and sensations for…" Tali began to blush again, not meeting my eyes. "Adults."

"Wait, how do you know the change is barely noticeable? Did you download it?" I looked down at her, smug grin plastered across my face.

"Yes, but only to see if it was an actual improvement! I deleted it after I was disappointed."

"Oh, come on, you didn't even try the... other features?" I brought my left arm in front of me, activating my Omni-tool while my right hand stopped what it was doing to do a quick search. "Oooh, the second result is a list of cross species relationship conversions? 'Dutifully modified to provide an accurate sensation of the embrace of your lover from across the stars,'" I quoted. Tali grabbed my right hand and pulled it back down atop her head.

"Why are you trying so hard to embarrass me, John?"

"For starters, you're cute when you're pouting. Second, well, I'd tell you about my… solo acts if you asked. No need to be ashamed in the privacy of your own room and boyfriend." Tali sighed, and my left hand moved up to her lower thigh, slowly rubbing along it to the halfway.

"I… might have started a test run. But it was just so… weird. Sudden. I turned it off and uninstalled not even ten seconds in." I do gotta say it's a good thing that I'm currently…. Let's call it positioned so that a part of me isn't so much rising as it is just going forward. Tali might not want to be poked in the shoulder quite just yet.

"How so?" She began wringing her hands over her stomach, her legs shifting and a slight rose tint to her otherwise pale skin as she began to blush once more. My left hand began to squeeze.

"W-Well… I was laying on the bed, I turned it on, and it just… started, for one. No… what did Kasumi call it? Four… something?"

"Foreplay?"

"Y-yes, it was just… a bit of a system shock." Alright the thought of her trying that out on our bed though is doing a bit of work on me.

"And where does Kasumi come into play with that?"

"I… may have been going to her for advice." I knew I had to be blushing myself now, both feeling it and seeing Tali's expression shift to confusion for a moment as she looked up at me, studying my own face before a bit of understanding and nerves.

"Oh?"

"Y-Yes, w-well, you see… I've been taking those medications from Mordin for s-some… a while now. You could say, er, long enough." I was silent for a moment, my movements, and even breathing stopping.

"What exactly are you saying?" Tali took a deep breath and then looked straight up at me.

"That now, instead of waiting for it to be safe, I've been waiting for the right moment." There was a pause. "And, well, I mean, we're already talkingaboutthingslikethatandjustitseemslikeitmightbe-" I put my hand over her mouth, stopping her before she got carried away. Feeling her warm breath, her soft lips against my hand.

"Are you sure?" In my lap, she nodded. I returned my left hand to her legs, but under them now and picked her up as I stood up, a small cry of surprise from Tali before dropping her on the bed and almost falling on top of her, burying her beneath me, one hand to the back of her head, bringing her in close as we began kissing deeply, and my left rubbing along the outside of her thigh. Her own hand went to the back of my head while the other explored my back. The leg I rubbed curling up and down while the other hooked around me. She had the smaller tongue, but I had yet to figure out if her tongue was slightly longer than that of a human. It's a little hard to tell. I was more focused on the fact that she was moaning into my mouth. As a result, I couldn't really help myself from moving my left hand up and grabbing a handful of her, causing her eyes to open wide in surprise and take a deep breath of air through her nose. Now I had both of her legs hooked together behind me as she pulled me in closer. I felt her try to roll to the side, so on her second attempt, I rolled with her, letting her straddle me, yet our lips still locked. No longer feeling like I needed to be the one holding her face against mine, her gloved hands now just against my cheeks, I took hold of her hips, kneading the flesh in my hands, earning more moans and even a combination of those and giggles as I gave the same treatment to her rear once more, but now with both hands, as she rocked back and forth against me. Finally, we broke our kiss for air.

"Suppose we should start taking things off?" I asked.

"Good idea. This might take a bit," Tali managed a chuckle, though it had a noticeable hint of nerves and awkwardness. Completely to be expected. And I'm not going to point it out this time. She backed off me and off the bed, and I followed her. I stood in front of her, hands on her hips, she was so still, breathing onto me.

"Guide my hands. Show me how."

"O-ok. F-first, first I have do this myself. Tali activated her Omni-tool and after the press of a few keys there was a hiss, her suit loosened against her body as the seals released, no longer airtight, no longer a vacuum seal. Not by much, just looking a little bit baggy on her, at least around the torso. First she guided me to where her Realk was clipped to her suit, allowing that to come off of her and letting her fold it neatly to the side, before we began taking off any of the suit proper. There was no need to remove just the gloves themselves first, so Tali showed me how to start with the entire sleeve. First were a pair of buttons that needed to be pressed down for three seconds at the same time, at the front and back of her shoulder. This unlocked a pair of clamps, one on top of her shoulder, and one in the armpit. After opening the clamps, the sleeve would slide right off. I repeated this process again for the other and we paused for a moment, as I just ran my hands along her arms. They were small, lithe, but it was impossible to miss the presence of muscle. An inevitability, given our lifestyles and line of work, but it is certainly a welcome trait none the less. Tali giggled nervously in my arms before guiding me to the gold colored set of rings around her neck. These were simple, and more of an external addition than a regular part of the suit. Just the press of a button on both the left and right sides that let the front and back separate. At the back of the suit, there was still a cluster of life support cables that would attach to the back of the helmet under the realk, but Tali said that those stay attached to the torso. Around that area, on the inside of the suit but not pressing up against her back was a pack that acted as a filter, O2 storage, and an CO2 recycler.

She began by guiding my hands to another pair of buttons on the back of her neck, below where the suit still protected hers, which unlocked a line of secondary seals along a crease down the back of the suit, only now made visible by the fact the suit as a whole was no longer vacuum sealed. There was one above, which opened the suit around her neck, letting that droop forward and gave me an idea how the rest of this would go. So, I rotated around Tali so that I was behind her, and worked my way down the seals, the last of which at her lower back, just where her hips began. As the torso of her suit began to fall forward, her toned back revealing itself to me, I could hear Tali's breathing increase.

"It's… a little cold," she managed another awkward laugh. Even though I couldn't see anyway, her arms had positioned themselves so that I knew she was covering her chest. I hugged her from behind, wrapping my arms around her sides, my hands against her stomach, running my hands along it, or moving my hands to the sides to massage her while I brought my lips down against her neck, kissing her there. She tilted her head to the side to grant easier access as she released another moan and whispered my name. It took some willpower to stop myself from immediately going… a little more forthright. Then her three fingered hand grabbed hold of my right and slowly guided it upwards, placing it against, holding it against her chest. My remaining hand pulled her stomach closer back against me and I knew I was poking at her. Gently, oh so gently I grabbed the soft mound of flesh in my hand, playing with it slowly and carefully, Tali moaning quietly once more as I continued to kiss her neck.

My left hand moved lower, past her stomach, back over her suit and to her inner thigh, massaging her there, teasing her, and then pressing my hand against her, I could feel warmth even through the suit. Tali shuddered and gasped, then quickly turned around to face me, and in an act I would be pleasantly surprised to call fierce, grabbed at my shirt and yanked it up and off me, as my arms obliged, but only to immediately pull her close only for my lips to go after her neck once more, my hands once more returning to her backside to lift her up, her legs instinctually wrapping around me as now I was kissing her throat directly, her breasts pressed up against my chest.

"Ancestors," she murmured, enjoying every sensation. "John, please, let's get the rest of this damned thing off." I carefully set Tali back down to the ground, onto her feet, taking the chance to look her over. Her flat, toned stomach and the presence of visible abdominal muscles, the slight outcropping of the end of a ribcage like structure. If I were in a different state of mine, I'd remember how for the Quarians, their ribs are in a grid pattern, several rows and columns of bone. And... look, boobs are boobs, and in this manner, I am a simple man. So long as they're not balloons or obviously fake, I'm happy. All that I can really say? Physically speaking, Tali may be more gifted from the hips down, but say if somewhere down the line she wants to try putting a part of me between them? It'll work. Coloration, her skin is pale, like the rest of her body, the nipples and areola, just a bit of a darker color, comparable to her lips.

Seeing me look her over, some of Tali's nerves took over again and she began to cover herself with her arms, but I gently took her hand and placed it against my cheek, leaning my face into it and pressing her hand into me. She smiled, letting out a pent-up breath, and we continued. Her boots were just boots over the lower leg of her suit and as simple as any others to remove. No additional skin revealed, but that's what the last two buttons, and the last two clamps would change. With one final push downwards, the last of the suit fell to her feet, and she stepped out of it.

The two of us still pressed up against each other, I was feeling a little overdressed now, so I simply tugged at my own pants and the boxers beneath to fall to the ground themselves. Both of us were breathing heavily now. I continued to gently take the lead, bring Tali to the bed, an arm around her back. As the back of her legs made contact with the edge of the bed, I gently guided her down, and myself over her, dragging her along the bed with me so that her head was resting atop one of the pillows. I began with a kiss to her forehead, a kiss on her nose, a kiss to her lips, in which she greedily tried to make it last longer than I planned. A kiss to her throat. Her chest. I gave her breast a bit more than just a kiss. Tali's hand going to the back of my head and slightly pulling me down as she let out another light moan, her back arching slightly. My right hand went up to play with her other. While my mouth and tongue played with one nipple, I tested the other with my hand. Gently pressing it between my index and thumb, even giving a gentle tug, but the slight hiss she gave out was all I needed to hear to know that wasn't preferred. But that's what testing is for. After a moment of enjoyment, I continued down. A kiss to the belly, to the lower belly, and another teasingly close to my end goal. Though as I moved down, Tali's legs were still pressed close together, and her right hooked over her left to block view. I left more kisses along her thighs, before gently pulling her legs apart, leaving more kisses on the inside of them, taking a few glances forward. It looks close enough to that of a Human woman. And I see that little nub to focus on later. While my right arm now lay across Tali's waist, I moved my left arm up with an open hand for her to take, which she did so in anticipation as I began to breathe on her, teasing her. A few more teasing kisses just away from it, hearing Tali whimper, and yes, squirm at my touch. Before I finally planted my lips against her. Tali gasping, squeezing my hand, as her legs, still straight forward, tried to squeeze my body, before she spread them on her own, and I may or may not have nudged them up a bit so that my shoulders would stay beneath them.

I continued to only plant kisses for the moment, before teasing her more with just the tip of my tongue against her. More whimpers, more groans. Her chest rising and falling with her breathing as she just stared at the ceiling. Until finally I opened my mouth wider and pushed my tongue inside. Tali arched her back and her legs closed, now against my head. A rather nice sensation. There were no bad tastes to discourage me either, I'll have to try and pin down what it does taste like when I'm in a different state of mind. Tali continued to squeeze my hand, her breathing interrupted by moans or just not being able to make any noise at all for a moment before what must have been some kind of Khelish curse. She was holding herself up by her elbows now, staring at me, eyes wide and just trying to breathe. Despite my current activity, I did what I could to smile, before surprising her by removing my tongue from inside her and attacking her clitoris instead. Her mouth immediately closed, her eyes somehow going wider, her expression that of shock before her hand squeezed mine tighter, her other coming down hard against the back of my head to pull me against her, her head launching back into the pillows as her back arched high and she let out a cry, a high pitched barely audible mention of my name, her thighs squeezing my head and her entire body shuddering before she went limp onto the bed, breathing.

Hell yeah.

I kept going, even through two rounds of aftershocks of her just lying there limp, barely able to choke out more than a whimper or groan before she found the strength to speak again.

"Too much. Keelah. Too much." I stopped immediately, rolling to her side, and lying my head on the pillow beside her as she just continued to breathe. I may still be at full mast, but I'm doing nothing until she's ready to continue. "I… I think my… brain stopped working… for a moment there. By the Ancestors." She turned her head to the side to look at me, and I looked right back into her beautiful glowing eyes. Afterglow glowing eyes. "I think Kasumi downplayed how that might feel."

"So, I did a good job? I didn't even use my fingers." I smirked.

"Maybe next time," she managed a chuckle. I caught how she didn't appear to be as nervous anymore. Must be riding a bit of a high from this. "I've gone Twenty-three years with minimal physical sensation. This is… unbelievable." Right, I've gone into this essentially with absolute certainty that I'm her first. This is all rather new for her. So, I gave her a soft, warm smile and leaned in to give her a short and sweet kiss. Her smile as we parted from it is something I'll never forget. It was just filled with so much lo-no. Not now. In bed, it doesn't count. The mind isn't in the right place, and it's not fair to put that on her. I'll keep the smile in close memory, but I refuse to attach that word to it until she says it herself, without all these hormones. We just continued to lay there for a moment, enjoying each other's presence as Tali recovered. Eventually, she glanced down, seeing that I was still raring to go. And surprisingly, she smirked. She ran her hand down my chest and took hold of me, her hands so soft. She slowly began to stroke before she giggled and rolled over on top of me, straddling me. Sitting upright, just behind her hand and it's stroking. She then lifted herself up slightly and then began rubbing herself against me for a few seconds. Tali letting out more slight moans while I just held my breath in anticipation. Finally, she lined us up, and slowly sank down, her warmth enveloping me, her eyes rolling up into her head. Even I groaned now as our hips met, while Tali her head back, her body quivering slightly, all she could let out was the briefest of cries before falling forward, her breathing able to resume.

Eventually, she pushed herself up again, her hands resting on my chest while mine were alternating between her hips and her rear again, massaging the flesh in my grasp. She started just rocking her hips, frequent moans. She stopped for a moment soon after and began raising her hips instead, falling back down along me. Almost constant moans now as we just stared at one another. One of my hands no longer at her hips but rather going up to play with one of her breasts. As she bounced, both hormones and pleasure taking more control over me, I began to meet her with my own thrusts. Now she was cursing to the Ancestors and just in general.

"John, I'm-" she gasped. "Again." Her body curled up. Her head going right to my shoulder as she screamed into it, her back arching with the spasms, her legs locked against my sides, and her insides squeezing me so tightly. And it was already snug. I held on, I just kept holding on. I can keep going, and at the moment, I'm only as close as I am because she finished. She settled down a moment later, just continuing to breathe. "You're not done yet, are you?"

"Nope."

"That both scares me a little, and excites me greatly," she spoke into my shoulder.

"Just let me know when you're ready."

"I… I think I am. But you're going to need to take the lead this time. Start slow?" She picked her head up.

"Whatever you want," I answered as I raised my head to kiss her. Still buried inside her, and still kissing, I rolled us over so that she was on her back. She immediately hooked her legs behind me. The movements brought out another moan from her, but I didn't start again just yet. "You have a hard time talking when you're close, so I'll just ask now. Where do you want me?" Tali just looked into my eyes as a playful grin spread across her face.

"Oh, I think you'll figure that out," she replied as her hooked legs squeezed behind me, trying to lock me in place.

Fuck yeah. I went down to kiss Tali again, my arms wrapped around her back, while hers were exploring my back in turn as I began to pull out, and back in. Out, and in. Slowly, at first. The two of us kissing deeply all the while before Tali broke the kiss for oh so brief of a second.

"Faste-" was all she got out before the kiss resumed, our mouths, our tongues, refusing to stay apart as I obliged her. We were moaning into each other's mouths as I picked up the pace. Yet I did break the kiss, but only for me to instead target her throat again, her head leaning back to allow access, her moans picking up in frequency, as I still increased my pace. Admittedly, I was losing some of my self-control. Hard and fast, was the result. My body seeking its first release in so long. And I was starting to feel it building again. Tali was moaning my name now, adding to the euphoria, she was trying to hold herself closer against me, trying to merge our bodies further. She put her head against my shoulder, and I felt her teeth clamp against it. There was a hint of pain, but it didn't even register, just excited me further. I whispered her name and other sweet nothings into her ear, feeling her melt like puddy in my arms as I continued my hammering. I was close, if I stopped holding it back, I'd release now, but without so much of the pleasure I could have. So, I kept holding on, until I couldn't anymore. I whispered for her to kiss me, and she stopped her biting so that our lips could crash against each other one more time before I buried myself as deep as I could, knowing I'd reached my limit, as I felt Tali scream into my mouth, and I moaning into hers. Her fingers scratching at my back, her legs locking me in, and her insides milking me greedily for everything I had to give before I finally collapsed down on top of Tali. Both of our bodies now going limp. I carefully rolled myself over and off her. The two of us just trying to catch our breath.

"Well. That was worth the wait," Tali remarked as she sat herself up on her elbows and leaned forward to look at the results of her. "Heh. Weird." She then fell back against the pillows and turned her head to me. "So. Kasumi mentioned that Human men can… go more than just once. At least some of them." As I was just looking at the ceiling, a grin spread across my face.

"You are insatiable."

"I am very satiated, John. But I am going to have to get back into my suit before we go to sleep. I'm looking to make the most of the time we have," her body shifted onto its side, one of her breasts pressing up against my arm as one of her arms went over my stomach. "So, can you?" My grin spread a little wider as I could feel myself ready again already.

"Why don't I show you?"

"Please do."