Ashley was the last out of the Mako, hanging back a bit. The turian in front of her wasn't too much in a hurry either. Their fearless leader, on the other hand, was already halfway across the almost deserted hangar. She stopped at her locker, tossing her helmet in.
The elevator doors opened, and Liara stepped out, very obviously looking for their commander, who had already stripped off helmet and armour. Ashley threw her gauntlets after the helmet. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the asari girl sidle up to Shepard, engaging the commander in conversation.
She suppressed the impulse to roll her eyes. Really, did that innocent girl facade fool anyone? Well, she amended, anyone except the commander? Ashley had nothing against Liara, especially not since she had seen first-hand that the young asari was more than capable of handling herself in a fight. Given the fact that she wasn't even a trained soldier, Liara held her own with a pistol, and her biotic abilities were downright impressive. Still, in Ashley's opinion, Liara was trying a bit too hard to appear harmless and naive when really she was neither.
She watched them wander off together, shook her head and went back to her task at hand.
A slight snicker sounded behind her, and she resisted the impulse to jump, still feeling slightly wired up from the just concluded mission.
The last she had looked, Garrus had been still at the Mako, probably considering the damage done to the rover and likely regretting the fact that he'd ever volunteered to do some repairs if necessary. If it were her in the turian's place, heaven knew she'd given up long ago. Shepard drove that thing with no regards whatsoever for vehicle, passengers, terrain and bystanders. Like with everything else the commander did, there was only full stop and red-line. It was effective and got the job done, though, so Ashley felt she had no grounds for complaint.
It was faintly worrying, but she hadn't even heard him move closer. For something of that size, he was very light on his feet. But then she knew that already from fighting at his side.
"What's so funny, Vakarian?"
"You're disapproving again. Still bothered by the open examples of interspecies relationships?"
She snorted. "I doubt it's gotten that far."
The way he didn't reply made her look at the turian. "You're not serious, are you?"
Garrus' mandibles flared in amusement, and she wondered for a moment when exactly she had stopped feeling creeped out by that. She hadn't exactly hated every turian on sight, but given her family history she held no liking for them either. Yet, this one here had proven himself in combat often enough, and earned her respect. And trust, somewhat. Just a few weeks ago she'd jumped out of her skin if he'd crept up on her like that. Now the thought of him at her back was actually a comforting one. He was one of the best soldiers she'd ever met, turian or not.
"Ah, what the hell" she dismissed the topic of Shepard and Liara with a shake of her head. "I don't even want to know."
"That's probably for the best." the turian commented calmly, starting to remove his own armour.
"Good fight, though." she changed topics.
He gave a vaguely agreeing sound. "One colony cleared of a Geth patrol, no losses. I would count that a success."
Ashley snorted. "Not that it will keep that way for long. This is too close to Geth space. They are bound to try again, and what happens next time when they send out a distress call, and no Alliance ship happens to be close by? Who in their right mind would try to settle in a place that can become a war zone at any time?"
Garrus chuckled. "Yes. I heard you telling them that in no uncertain terms."
She shrugged. "So I did. And I can't help it if Shepard disapproves of me telling things the way I see them."
"Your words were, perhaps, a bit lacking in diplomacy. I think the Commander merely objected to the phrasing, not the content."
Ashley shrugged again. "Well, I'm not going to mince words. If that gets me into trouble, then so be it. Won't be the first time, anyway."
Another chuckle. "I can imagine. Personally, I find your directness and honesty refreshing, but that's just me."
Ashley was tugging at the seal at the shoulder of her armour. The shoulder piece was bent and dented where a Geth had clipped her, and it caught. She twisted neck and arm to apply more force, annoyed.
"Need a hand?" the turian enquired.
Since he was already here, she might as well. At her quick nod, he stepped closer, taking a hold on the offending piece of armour and hooked it off her. Absently she noted that the touch of his taloned hands didn't even make her pause. Apparently even her subconscious had accepted him as a trusted squadmate, even if he happened to look odd.
"Guess you'll need that repaired." he said, handing her the warped part and stepped back again, turning to his own locker again.
Ashley blinked, but got off the rest of her armour and stored it. Slamming the locker shut, she idly sneaked a look at the turian.
Without his armour and just in his undersuit, he was almost sleek, odd angles and unfamiliar proportions. Though she'd never think of it as anything else than completely alien, there were some aesthetically pleasing lines there. Strange, but not ugly.
Inwardly she shook her head at herself. One thing was certain, if she already was looking at a turian with some appreciation, it was high time she took some shore leave and time off and went looking for some human company. Really high time.
She grabbed a spare uniform and headed off to the showers.
The hot water cascading down her body felt divine, easing the ache in over-strained muscles. Sadly, it did nothing to ease the other tension she carried. Too bad there was no one on board she was interested in enough for that.
She was already wrapped in a towel and standing at the sink, in the process of drying her hair when the sliding door admitted another person to the showers.
Garrus stopped for a moment when he saw her, then continued on his way, dropping his own pile of fresh clothes on the ground near the door.
His presence didn't bother her. One's sensibilities regarding nudity didn't last long in active soldier's duty. In this context, it didn't mean anything.
It would have been rude to stare, though, so she kept her back to him as she heard him turn on the water. Yet when she just happened to catch a look of the turian in the mirror, she did pause. She didn't look for too much detail or anything, but she couldn't help noticing his skin, or plates, or whatever it was was almost silver, with some metallic sheen. Like a statue, she thought.
The turian suddenly looked up, meeting her gaze in the mirror. He shrugged, unconcerned. "I don't mind if you look." he just stated. "If you're not familiar with my species, it's a normal reaction to be curious."
There was no judgement in his tone, and no condescension either as he was clearly just stating a fact, but it managed to raise her hackles anyway.
Deliberately, she turned around and gave him a once-over. Yes, so even on direct inspection there was nothing repulsive about him. And the metallic colour was actually nice. About certain other parts of his anatomy...well, she had known beforehand that turians kept their tender parts internal until needed, so that one was still debatable. Not that she had looked. Or thought about that. Or even wanted to know. Really.
The fact that he wasn't self-conscious at all for some reason annoyed her, and it made her feel even more out of sorts, and there was this impulse to lash out at him, pick a fight.
"Hm. Well. Can't say I see the appeal, myself."
He didn't even have the grace to be insulted, as his only reaction was to shake his head and twitch his mandibles. He was humouring her.
"You are really in a bad mood. I'd suggest you find some agreeable marine to help you relax, but you'd probably claw my face off for that, so I won't."
It didn't help that he was right on both counts. Oh, that comment was certainly inappropriate, but completely consistent with what she'd have gotten in the same situation if he'd been a human squadmate. Actually, if he had been, chances would have been that the wording would have been quite a bit more explicit, now that she thought about it.
Despite that, the suggestion to get laid given by a turian of all things was way over the line. Even if he was a squadmate and she somewhat trusted him to have her back. That really didn't give him the right to make comments like that.
"That's not how it works." she snapped.
Still refusing to be insulted, he gave a sound that definitely had to be a chuckle. "Williams, may I remind you I'm military, too. Species differences aside, some things are the same. It's not that complicated, anyway."
Ashley snorted. "And how would you know that?"
He shrugged again and turned away to turn off the water. "It's a reasonable assumption. This is just about stress relief, and human physiology isn't all that complicated." He seemed to think about it for a second, then added "In fact, it beats me how humans themselves seem to get it wrong so often. But then again, humans do make a habit out of complicating things."
Oh, now that was it. Wounded pride and general frustration overrode reason, or at least reluctance. And suddenly it wasn't about pleasure, or even camaraderie anymore, this was about proving a point.
"You're on." she hissed, "Show what you can do." Without even looking she touched the door controls, locking it.
She took one step closer, holding his gaze. He seemed surprised and momentarily uncertain. "Or was it just talk?"
The turian lifted his head slightly, the gesture clear. He'd accepted the challenge.
She nodded once, like an echo of the formal salute between duellists. You want to play? Fine, we'll play, but by my rules.
She couldn't have told who closed the distance between them. Perhaps they both did. Her towel dropped to the floor, discarded.
Then his hands were on her, gripping her midsection. She responded by leaning into him, forcefully, sending him staggering back against the tiled wall. Ashley had no illusions that she could really win in a hand-to-hand contest with a turian, but her aggressiveness startled him enough to drive him off balance. Only for a moment, though, then he caught on. He growled, the low sound definitely alien but in a strange way she didn't want to really think about a real turn-on.
"Well, if that's how you want to play, I'm game."
He gripped her upper arms and pushed her in turn against the wall. Her back hit the tiles with a flat sound, and she felt her lips stretch into a positively feral smile. She brought her lower arms up and out hard, breaking his grip, and he had to brace himself against the wall with his hands to avoid losing his balance.
That was when she moved in, hooking her arms around his neck and drawing him in abruptly. She pressed her lips to his mouth briefly, despite knowing his mouth wasn't flexible enough to allow for the sort of kissing a human would be capable of. It didn't matter. It was close enough and would do.
His hand found one of her breasts, and pleasure shot through her as his fingers closed around it. His grip was hard, unpractised, unrefined. Just perfect, just the way she wanted right now. The tips of his claws dug into her skin, just shy of actually breaking skin.
She trailed a hand over the plates on his chest, finding they weren't as rigid as she had thought. On the whole, he didn't feel like someone wearing armour, as she would have suspected. More like scales a reptile would have, which made sense. There were some sharp ridges, mainly the one prominent spine running down the middle of his torso from bony collar to about where the ribcage would end in a human, but the plates themselves were smooth and resilient. She felt his muscles tense underneath, which meant that he was wary about her intentions, and that made her smile again.
It was only right that he shouldn't feel so damn sure. He reached for her upper arm, maybe trying to restrain her, and that triggered an automatic response. Her foot shot out, hooking around his heel, unbalancing him again, and at the same time she tackled him, hard.
Ashley heard him snarl and felt him twist against her, but she clung tight as he went down, with her coming down on him hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.
Garrus snarled again, but in a tone she hadn't heard from him before. At least she could tell with certainty it wasn't any sound he had made in battle before. It was risky, what she was doing, because he had his own reflexes, and there were no guarantees he wouldn't take this wrong. Or even play along. That very real risk merely heightened her excitement. She clung tight to him, as he made a half-hearted attempt to toss her off, and clamped her thighs around him.
He tried to roll them around, but she wouldn't have any of that, and shoved against him while leaning her weight on his chest.
He stopped in mid-move with a groan, his claws flexing against the tiled floor. She leaned closer to him, her fingers digging into his collar, and ground herself against him. There were some very nice ridges there that provided some interesting sensations against her already sensitive flesh, and she repeated the motion, feeling something move underneath her, pleasant hardness sliding over her folds.
This was promising, but not nearly enough. She gave him a questioning look, but he didn't react, breathing hard, and visibly struggling to control himself. Holding back, probably out of consideration for the fragile human. She snarled silently. She would have none of that.
She rolled her hips against him, and his eyes widened, fixing on hers. She stared right back, challenging. "Don't hold back." she told him, punctuating the statement with another roll.
She had no idea whether he had heard her words, but he understood her meaning well enough.
With an almost defiant snarl, he arched against her, hands coming up almost reflexively to settle around her waist, and she had to stifle a startled yelp as he drove into her in a single move, burying himself inside her to the hilt. She gasped, for a moment almost shocked by the sudden intrusion, then sighed as her body adjusted, pleasure spreading like sudden warmth through her. She shifted slightly, drawing back, then settling against him again. Yes. That was exactly what she needed right now.
Garrus was almost rigid underneath her, probably trying to gauge her reaction, but she could feel the tension in his muscles, power barely restrained. It was, she reflected, considerate, and very obedient of him, but quite the opposite of what she wanted of him. She'd have commented on this, too, but right now she wasn't sure whether she would be too coherent. She'd have to settle for nonverbal communication, then. She pushed against him, sharply, which drew another, slightly strangled sounding snarl from him. Her intention was clear enough to him, however, and his response was accordingly as he thrust against her. Ashley echoed his snarl and met him with equal force and enthusiasm. Her body moved almost on its own accord, the rhythm they settled into hard and fast. This was too intense to last for long, she knew, which was just fine. She moaned, a slight shudder of pleasure running through her as she held on to him, fingernails biting into his collar.
His own grip on her tightened in response, and she slammed down on him, sliding against his plates in just the right way.
She leaned forward over him, changing the angle, and his thrusts hit a sensitive spot inside her. She moaned, and he kicked up his speed yet another notch.
Pleasure surged in her, peaked, and she came hard, shuddering against him. He snarled again, claws digging into her waist as he moved a few times more against her, sending pleasant shocks through her, then he arched against her as he found his own release.
His grip loosened a bit, and she rested her lower arms on his chest, trying to catch her breath again as she stared down on him.
Reason returned, and Ashley honestly didn't know what to say, or even what she was feeling.
Fortunately, he didn't have the same problem. His mandibles splayed into a slight grin. "I'll have to give you that, Williams, you're a menace on the battle field as well as in this." It didn't sound like he meant that as a complaint, and that startled a smile out of her.
He separated from her, and rolled to his side, gently sliding her to the floor beside him. The tiles were wet and cold against her skin, which was uncomfortable, but she wasn't really inclined to move yet.
Garrus gave her a long look, blue eyes unreadable but intense. "You still seem stressed." he observed. Before she could form any reply to that, he again gave a slight grin, then declared "My turn." His voice had deepened and held an undertone that was almost a purr.
Ashley blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected that. Stupid of her, of course. It was only fair, after all.
She nodded, trying to hide the faint apprehension she felt at that. And then she felt shame at that thought. She'd taken his trust for granted and played this with no regard for him at all save as a means to an end. The difference in species didn't even enter in that yet. She hadn't even bothered to set any ground rules before. It would be rather hypocritical to insist on that now that the roles were reversed.
Obviously she wasn't entirely successful in hiding her thoughts, but he must have misinterpreted what he'd seen, as he shook his head slightly and trailed the edge of his thumb over her cheek. "Don't worry. I'm not in the mood to play rough right now." The purr in his voice was more pronounced now, sending a not unpleasant shiver over her.
His words should have reassured her, but failed to do so, and she was very much aware that he was an alien she still didn't know that much about and she had no clue as to what he might do, or want from her. And her conscience supplied quite readily that this was exactly the situation she'd put him through before. Yet to her, he seemed quite at ease, and none the worse for it. Then his hands were on her again, unhurriedly sliding down her shoulders and coming to rest on her breasts. His thumbs flicked over her nipples, and her breath caught at the sensation of that. That made him chuckle slightly, and he bent closer, his tongue curling over one hardening nipple. Her reaction at that was even stronger, and it seemed to encourage him. He shifted his position, nudging her legs apart to kneel and lean over her.
His objective seemed to be to map out all the spots on her body which responded favourably to stimulation, and he went about it with the same methodical precision - and enjoyment - as he displayed on the battlefield. It wasn't what she would have expected of him, but she felt herself yield to his touch, relaxing despite the fact that having his pointed teeth and spiked mandibles anywhere near a sensitive area wasn't exactly a comforting sight. She closed her eyes as he worked his way down her body. His tongue was rough, trailing a prickling path over her skin. It was quite obvious what he intended, and he kept a slow pace, but for some reason the feel of his tongue against her clit came as almost a shock. She couldn't quite swallow the whimper that that contact evoked, but he didn't seem to take it amiss anyway, because he licked her again.
Ashley was very certain that in some manner there had to be cheating involved, because right now her muscles seemed to have turned to jelly, and that simply didn't happen, but as matters were she was inclined to let it slide. It felt good, very good, and she couldn't really make up her mind, or what was left of it at the moment, as to whether she wanted him to continue this to the inevitable conclusion right about now or see what else he had in mind.
And it wasn't really fair, what she was doing here, either...she wasn't that selfish, and she really should find out what it was that he wanted and liked, although it was really hard to concentrate, and -
His voice was again that deep purr, barely registering through the haze in her mind as he licked her once more. "Don't hold back."
Her own words, quoted back at her in this context, and there wasn't even a choice about it. She relaxed, and another slow stroke sent her right over the edge. Ashley moaned, a shudder running through her, her eyes flying open again as he gathered her up and against him. She wrapped her legs around his oddly shaped hips, and this time she wasn't caught by surprise by the sudden way he pushed into her again.
She wrapped one hand around his neck as he moved slowly against her, intending to steady herself, but at his sudden rumble she figured that he approved of that. Experimentally, she ran her fingers over the back of his neck and upwards, just under the long spines of his fringe.
That got her a reaction, and she smiled.
"That's very...effective", he rumbled.
She'd have to keep that in mind. "What do you want me to do?" she managed to get out.
"Just enjoy yourself." That wasn't what she'd expected to hear, nor did it completely make sense, but she was past caring. Sensation was building again quickly, and that slow pace let her really appreciate both his unfamiliar texture and the bumps and ridges on his plates. She leaned back a bit, changing the angle, and that felt even better. Pleasure flooded over her. She'd been told to just enjoy herself, and that was what she did.
He was talking to her again, but she couldn't make out the words, just his tone, low and encouraging.
She was beyond words, beyond even any thought, just caught up in the now. She arched her back, letting her head fall back, and he licked down her throat.
Then he nipped her shoulder, just over the collar bone, and the sudden, unexpected sensation set her off again. She was gasping for breath, unable to keep herself upright, but he was holding her and she was trusting him not to let her fall. He didn't let go of her, and moments later, he reached his own completion, shuddering against her with a strangely quiet growl.
His hands moved almost absently against her back, stroking skin as she felt him slide out of her, retracting. He continued to hold her close, though, giving a content purr.
It took some time for her to come down from that high, but when she did, she found she was still leaning against him, face close to his. There wasn't much expression in his face that she could read, but his eyes were a calm blue, relaxed and unguarded as he met her eyes.
He was aware of her scrutiny, but just cocked his head to one side, questioning.
She didn't answer, couldn't, as she stared into his eyes. She'd never looked closely before. Oh, she hadn't hated aliens before on principle, and of course she had known they were persons, and all that. Her mind had known that. But she hadn't felt it, hadn't really seen them as such. Especially not with turians, with their immobile, plated faces and mandibles and claws and spikes better suited to an animal than any sentient creature, and given her family history with the species, she simply had disapproved of all of them.
Until this one. And it hadn't taken getting to know him, not even in the Biblical sense. It had just needed that glimpse of the person behind these alien eyes to finally make her realise what she'd been forced to learn over the course of the past few months. When it came right down to it, the differences were just on the outside,or behaviour imprinted by culture.
Disjointed bits of a poem drifted through her mind.
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Yes, he most decidedly did. Odds were aliens weren't quite what Blake had had in mind when he penned that, but the sentiment held true for this as well.
We're all part of the same creation, after all.
And it has only taken a spiky alien in a shower room on a small ship in the middle of nowhere to make her see that.
She traced the blue markings on his face absently. As hard to admit as it was, there were humans that were far more alien to her in their thinking and their motives than the spiky-headed person in front of her who just happened to be born into a different ecosystem.
Turians, asari, krogan, other aliens...they were just people. She'd never understand some of their reasoning, but that was true for many humans as well. It didn't matter. Just like with humans it would depend on the individual whether she could get along with them or not. And this one here...he was trying to be a friend, the way he understood it.
In truth she owed him an apology, but he wouldn't understand and she wouldn't be able to explain. All she could do was try do better from now on.
And at least in her mind she owed Shepard an apology, too. She had thought their commander's easy acceptance of aliens a character flaw, but the opposite was true. Shepard just already had known what Ashley had taken much more time to learn. No matter. At least she had learnt.
"Feeling better?" Garrus asked, with a hint of humour.
Ashley nodded. "Yes." In more ways that you're asking.
"Good." He released her, and got to his feet lightly, then offered her an hand up.
She let him pull her to her feet, then wordlessly stepped into the shower again, turning up the water and rinsed herself off quickly.
He followed her example as soon as she vacated the shower, and she got herself dry and dressed in double time.
As she was done with that, she found he was already ahead of her, back in his blue C-sec armour that he even wore when off duty. He was watching her, his expression as calm as she had ever seen it.
In some way there was still this impulse to shatter that calm with some biting remark, or to make light of it all with a comment like 'I can't believe we just did that'. Even if he'd been human that would probably have been her reaction.
But, no. He deserved better than that.
"I'm sorry if I came on too strong before." she said, hesitatingly.
To her surprise, he just chuckled. "It wasn't quite what I expected, but then I expected none of this. And I meant what I said, you're formidable both on the battlefield and in this. I provoked you, and you reacted accordingly." He shook his head, amused. "I enjoyed that, and I certainly don't regret getting to know you a bit better."
"Same here." And that was another difference in behaviour to what most human men she'd known would have shown. His pride didn't demand pretending nothing had happened or acting awkward or deliberately careless. "Though you probably won that argument." she conceded. He'd been right, it could be simple.
"It wasn't supposed to be a competition", he replied with another chuckle. "but of course, that admission does wonders for my self-esteem."
"As if your self-confidence needs any more bolstering.", she shot back automatically, but her tone lacked the bite it usually had if she really were annoyed.
He took it as the friendly snipe it had been, and waved his hand in the gesture normally used during combat to indicate that he'd been hit, with the additional signal of it being a minor injury.
Ashley laughed quietly, then stepped past him, unlocking the door. Without another word, she left the showers and unhurriedly set her course to the mess deck.