Side effects

Thane's eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room. It was dark, apart from the soft, blue light that came from the fish tank. As his eyes fell on the mess of dark hair on the pillow next to him, he couldn't help but smile. What was it she called it? A rat's nest. Whatever she called it, Thane was quite fond of his siha's hair. It was soft, like silk and in the right light, it almost shone. Along with her pale complexion, freckle speckled nose and dark green eyes, she was nothing short of stunning.

When Thane had realised his feelings for Shepard, he was unsure of how to proceed. As he had told her, he had never felt affection for another species. To be brutally honest, he had never felt affection or attraction for anyone except Irikah and Shepard. To feel his soul wake up again after so many years was both frightening and wonderful.

At first, he had fallen for her intellect, her tactical skills and her marksmanship. However, as time went on, he started falling for her physical appearance as well, despite how different she was from drell females. The way her raven hair moved in the wind, the way her eyes glittered when she spoke about something that interested her, the dimple in her left cheek when she smiled, the freckles that covered her nose and cheekbones. It all caused Thane's heart to give a little flutter.

Now, he loved every part of her. Even the parts that she thought no one would love. Every scar, every imperfection, every dark thought, every fear... She was his siha and he would love and protect her until his new lungs were unable to draw breath.

Rolling onto his side, Thane had to fight an urge to run his hands through her hair. She was a very light sleeper and he didn't want to risk waking her. She needed every hour of sleep she could get. He worried about her. She was quite bad at looking after herself. Eating and sleeping was something she seemed to have little time for. She'd gladly step in front of a bullet to save a friend. The words self preservation appeared to have no meaning to her.

As he lay there, watching her chest rise and fall in her sleep, Thane felt completely at peace. Kolyat was safe and working hard under Bailey's command. Thane was in a warm, comfortable bed with a siha at his side. She had woken him out of his battle sleep, once more showing him the wonders of the world. With the help of her, he once more loved life. Every night, he thanked to the gods that they'd give him a second chance with a new pair of lungs. A chance to make amends with Kolyat, a chance to make Shepard happy. Apart from the reapers, everything was well.

"I love you." He whispered quietly.

Pulling the covers a bit tighter around his slender body, Thane relaxed against the mattress once more. He loved Shepard's bed, though he'd never admit it. The cot in LS had been alright, but he had never stayed in it for extended amounts of time. Shepard's bed was comfortable and he didn't mind staying in it for a while after waking up. Of course, Shepard was a part of the reason why he didn't want to get up.

"Morning." A voice rough from sleep pulled him out of his thoughts and he shamefully dragged his eyes from Shepard's chest to her eyes. She was smiling. "Like what you see?"

"Always." He purred and scooted over to kiss the little dimple in her cheek.

"Mm." Shepard cuddled up against him and sighed happily. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long. A few minutes, at most." His fingers combed through her hair. "Sleep well?"

"Can't complain." She stroke over the ridge on his head. "You?"

"I've slept quite well. Having someone next to you is comforting." Gently, he nipped at her bottom lip. "You are beautiful, siha."

"I can say the same thing about you."

Thane moved his hands to her hips, pulling her naked body closer to him. Well-shaped bodies collided, as did full lips. Shepard's nails raked over his back and he hummed appreciatively. It hadn't taken her long to learn where she was to touch him to get a favourable reaction. As her hands moved to the red folds on his cheeks, he moaned quietly into her mouth.

He pulled her ontop of him. Her breasts pressed against his chest and he moved one of his hands to take one of them in his hands. Every time they had been intimate, Thane had mapped every reaction from her. He know where to touch, where to squeeze and where to avoid.

"This is a nice way of waking up." She laughed softly against his lips.

Though Thane was known for his patience and self control, he was now impatiently tugging at the hem of Shepard's panties. It earned him a low chuckle and a lick along the red folds on his neck. He shivered as pleasure rushed through his body and craned his neck, allowing his siha better access. While her tongue had been distracting him, her hand that wasn't resting on his neck had wandered down to his groin.

As her hand wrapped around the hardness there, Thane's eyes drifted closed and a low, deep sound of pleasure escaped him. It was too low range for Shepard to hear it, but he knew she could feel how his chest vibrated as he emitted the sound. Despite their differences and, although few, physical incompatibilities, they understood each other perfectly.

"Siha." Thane moaned, unable to keep silent as she squeezed gently. He did his best to not buck his hips.

It had been so long since they managed to make love. That night the same week that he joined the Normandy was the only time they had found the time to do so. Thane hadn't quite understood exactly how bad the war was until he rejoined the Normandy. There wasn't a day when Shepard hadn't been up for at least fifteen hours, working non-stop. But now, just after ending the war between the geth and the quarians, there was little to do for the commander. It gave them time to once more feel the other's body against their own.

"Siha." He repeated. "I have not been touched in a while. If you continue your ministrations, I'm unsure how long I'll last."

Even though Shepard withdrew her hand at his request, he was left with conflicting emotions. While he wanted to draw this out as much as possible, he also missed the pleasure. His siha's now free hand came to rest on his hip and she kissed him deeply. The feel of her and the taste of her... She was perfect beyond words.

Shepard broke free from the kiss and pressed her full lips against his neck instead. She trailed hot kisses down his body. Her lips pressed against every inch of the large scar on his chest, on the spots where his nipples would have been if he was human, down the faintly visible abdominal muscles (he recalled that she had referred to them as 'abs') and on the soft, pale skin just above his groin. He knew where this was going.

Fellatio wasn't something he had ever heard of before he entered a relationship with Shepard. Of course, he wasn't too experienced in the sex department. While he and Irikah had a healthy sex life, it had been quite tame. With Shepard, it was exciting.

The thoughts of how exciting their sex life was washed away from Thane's mind as Shepard took him in her mouth. His eyes drifted shut and a gasp escaped him. It took all of his self control to not buck his hips. Even though Shepard had assured him that she liked doing this for him, he couldn't believe that it was even remotely nice for her and he wouldn't add to it by nearly choking her.

It didn't take long before Thane felt the familiar heat in the pit of his stomach and his hands clenched into fists as his back arched off the bed. A strangled moan of pleasure came from him moments before he climaxed. Momentarily, he forget where he was, who he was with and what they were doing. There was just a hot, red, burning pleasure.

When he came down from his fantastic climax, Shepard was resting her cheek on the inside of his thigh. Her large, green eyes were looking at him with simple, pure love and her lips were shining. With his chest still heaving, Thane reached down and caressed her cheek. His siha grabbed his wrist and gave his palm a quick kiss before standing up.

"I'm going to have a shower." With a smile, she pulled off her shirt and threw it in his face.

Thane followed her with his gaze until the bathroom door slid shut behind her. Once it had done, he fell back against the pillows and just smiled up at the skylight.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to start the day by giving Thane a blowjob. Normally, Shepard didn't get intense side effects from having sex with Thane. Sometimes, she'd simply feel like the colours in the ship were brighter. Once or twice, she'd seen one of her fish swim across the mess hall. It had never been anything worse than that.

Today was different. Perhaps it was because of the lack of sleep, perhaps it was because of something else. But she was seeing some seriously strange shit. Like, a face in the kitchen bench or small vorcha on the breadbasket. It wasn't bad enough to interfere with her duty, but it was still annoying. Looking down into her coffee, she saw a vortex form there, seemingly out of nothing. It caused her to tilt her head and stare in disbelief.

"Are you alright, Shepard?" Steve asked from the other side of the table and there was a frown in his voice.

"Huh?" Shepard dragged her eyes from the intricate pattern that had replaced the vortex. "Yeah."

"You sure?" It was obvious that Steve didn't believe her. "Perhaps you should take the day off today. You've just defeated another reaper."

"I'm fine, Steve." Shepard smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"If you say so." He shrugged and sipped his coffee. "But I still think you should rest a bit."

Luckily, Tali chose this moment to arrive and interrupt Steve from continuing to pester her about her health. It was great to have Tali back on board. She was definitely one of Shepard's favourite people, along with Thane and Garrus. Today, however, the patterns on her hood were swirling around, making Shepard feel slightly nauseous. Yeah, giving Thane a blowjob that early in the morning wasn't a good idea at all.

"Hello Shepard." The qurian said cheerily. "Can I sit?"

"Of course, Tali." Shepard pulled out the chair next to her. "How're you settling in?"

"It's the same ship, Shepard. Just with nicer people." There was a smile in her voice. "And I'm happy Thane's back. I'm guessing you are as well."

"It's certainly nice to be back on the ship. Being confined to a hospital bed was more than frustrating."

Tali, Steve and Shepard jumped a bit at the sudden voice. Though Thane had assured her that he wasn't intentionally sneaking up on people, Shepard was really beginning to doubt that. She was certain he got some kind of sadistic joy out of nearly giving people a heart attack. Douche.

"Not okay." Shepard scolded and turned to him.

She froze as her gaze fell on him. He was, well, sparkling. As if he was a character in a comic book, small, green, star-like sparkles were scattered around his body. It was quite a funny scene, actually. He quirked his eyebrow at the confused look on her face.

"Are you well, siha?" He asked gently.

"Yup." Shepard assured and forced herself to meet his eyes.

He scanned over her and a knowing smirk appeared on his lips. Looking around the room, he leaned forward to press his lips against hers.

"Perhaps your actions this morning weren't the best way to start the day." His voice was so quiet that the others couldn't hear him.

"Oh, shush." Shepard blushed.