Chapter 6
Last taste
The scout ship arrived back on the Nimines. They had been down on the planet for seven hours. It was early evening; they were all tired and hungry. All the colonists were alive, a few minor injuries: sprains and strains mostly. They had batarian prisoners now, and one asari who they would hand over to the turian authorities on Palaven. If anyone could find out information on 'the collector' it was the office of the Primarchs. They would make it their business.
Despite their disobeying orders, the Captain had praised the scouts' bravery, and it seemed the incident of the munitions hut was wiped from the Captain's memory, for which Garrus was grateful. He hoped further missions with the scouts weren't to be so 'complicated'.
The group gathered at the far end of the docking bay in the crew prep area, all were still in their armour. Flavian moved to a crate positioned behind him, opening it up to reveal half a dozen items and some personal effects, packed away ready for him to depart the Nimines for good.
He brought out a blue coloured bottle, "This," he said "I've been saving for a special occasion, and right now I can't think of any group I'd rather be sharing it with." Some cups were rustled up and the bottle passed around.
Flavian hoisted his cup in the air "Here's to a successful mission, with a few minor hiccups" and he nodded towards Garrus and Aelia.
"To a successful mission" all said in unison and raised their cups as well.
"Pity there's only that one bottle to go round." Wate said.
"If you require something stronger, lad, then why didn't you say before we poured you that cup?" Terentius pulled out a flask from under his armour shoving it towards the recruit and grabbing Wate's cup in the process. "Here, drink this, and we'll stick to the good stuff that Flavian has kindly offered."
"Where did you pull that from, Terentius?" Aelia said, "No, wait, I don't want to know, just as long as you're not expecting anyone but the dim-witted recruits and yourself to drink it."
"Hey, who are you calling dim-witted?" Wen whined in reply.
Garrus interjected, "You of course; when you get an appreciation for a finer class of alcohol, then you'll deserve to question the moniker Goran has just given you." The scouts in the group laughed.
After an hour of chatting and a bit more drinking, most of the group left the docking bay to return to their quarters. Aelia and Garrus headed to the crew quarters together and as they walked they gave each other furtive looks.
"You had some pretty smooth moves down on the planet, Goran."
"Pity you weren't in the fray, Vakarian, you would have been dangerous."
Garrus laughed, "I thought you said I wasn't dangerous."
"When did I say that?"
He looked at her a smile on his face "When you were trash talking me, remember?"
"Oh yeah, now I remember. Nah, you're pretty dangerous." She nudged him with her elbow.
"Thanks, you're pretty fierce and …"
"And…" she motioned for him to continue.
"It was nice to see the other side of you, Goran, the softer side, the one who seems to care." His voice was earnest.
"How do you mean?" She replied.
"When you spoke to that woman about her children, you sounded genuine. Like it was more than just your duty to calm her down. If you let that side of you be seen more you might make a good upstanding turian woman yet."
Aelia snorted "We'll see, Vakarian, we'll see."
They arrived at Garrus' quarters first. They stopped and looked at each other; Garrus had his back to the door. They both knew what would happen next. Aelia pressed the button to open the door and pushed him roughly through the opening before anyone could see. The door closed behind them and both hastily removed their armour.
They both stank, the smell of their sweat and grime of the fight and the planet's jungle was thickly on them, they didn't care. They were naked and kissing in a matter of minutes, he was already hard, and she already wet. They clung together as he pushed her onto his bunk, entering her quickly and brusquely, as he did he let out a low growl and she responded with a high pitched whine, which continued to build the harder Garrus thrust into her. They continued their fevered pace until both came quickly. Garrus's head remained buried in her neck and she stroked his fringe as his weight grew heavy on her.
Eventually, he rolled off her on to his side and he stroked her torso lightly with his talons, she shivered and closed her eyes. They didn't speak. In one hand he rested his head; with the other he moved his talons down to trace the swollen flesh of her entrance, her juices were sticky and sweet, he moved them gently into her, first one, then two talons, and he watched her intently as she writhed her hips in response.
Aelia rubbed her torso following sensuous lines up and down her sides. Garrus kept moving his talons in and out of her, he could see the pleasure building in her sweet face, and her breath was ragged with desire. He increased the rhythm at which his talons moved and she began to toss her head from side to side. He removed them and quickly manoeuvred himself to kneeling between her legs before she could open her eyes.
He pulled her legs up, she squealed at the sudden movement, and he hooked her knees over his elbows and buried his head in the soft folds of her flesh, lapping at the watery fluid now copiously flowing from her. Her spurs dug into the flesh of his arms but he was numb to the pain, so intent on giving her gratification.
His talons massaged her outer thighs and as he stuck his tongue inside her, she moaned deeply in response. Garrus could feel her internal muscles beginning to spasm and her head movements became disorderly. Her moaning was so loud now, Garrus was convinced that anyone coming down the corridor outside would hear, but again he didn't care, so enjoying this moment of control he had over her.
Aelia grabbed at him wildly till she gave one final shudder and let out a long and guttural moan. Garrus remained in a kneeling position between her legs as he laid her down so that now her bottom, rather than suspended in the air, was lying flat and he reached his hand to her face, his talons outlining her mouth. She grabbed his hand and sucked each talon willingly.
She was still breathing heavily when she spoke. "You know, you really shouldn't torment me so…"
Garrus replied mockingly, "Me? Torment? At the moment I'd say that only one of us is tormented." He looked down towards the direction of his now rock-hard erection, her eyes followed.
She laughed, "I guess you want me to assist you in releasing this torment?"
"It's the least you could do considering…." His look was lustful. He so wanted to slam himself into her but the build up and the teasing was so exquisitely erotic he held back. He would let her make the next move.
She sat up, giving him a contemplative look, moving her talons to stroke her mandible and tilting her head from side to side. "Mmmm." Was all she said. Garrus let out a sigh and she laughingly responded "They say patience is a virtue, Vakarian."
"Whoever 'they' are Aelia, they obviously weren't hanging around with the most rigid erection they can ever recall having."
She laughed again and finally turned around placing herself on all fours, Garrus' eyes widening as she did. She turned to look at him. "I want you to fuck me so hard, Vakarian, that I feel like I'm travelling through to another galaxy without the use of a ship or a mass relay."
Garrus felt himself almost die solely from the pleasure of her request. He gulped loudly, and positioned himself behind her. He entered her with a grunt. He moved slowly at first, the sound of their flesh meeting making little sound. He concentrated, closing his eyes, moving himself in and out, still so beautifully tight, he thought.
She was breathing heavily and he began to move faster, his rhythm was quietly building, until he really was slamming hard into her, she moaned and whimpered, Garrus grunted and groaned, the sound of flesh melting into one another was like a beat of a drum. He tried to concentrate, tried to make it last as he drove into her further but he couldn't hold back any longer and he bellowed out a long intense growl as he felt himself spend inside her. "Garrus!" Aelia cried out his name. He was smiling as he collapsed on top of her, but rolled quickly so that both were lying on their sides, Aelia spooned into him, "Garrus." She murmured.
They lay for a good 15 minutes catching their breath, settling into each other's bodies, entwining their talons together. Finally Garrus spoke.
"I was going to ask you something, but feel free to refuse."
"If you want to do that to me again, you'll have to wait till I've at least refuelled." She said.
"No, not that."
"Then what is it Vakarian?"
"Considering we're the top ranked hand-to-hand on the ship, do you want to be my sparring partner?"
She remained hushed for a moment before responding. "Yeah, okay, that works for me, sure. If I had a drink in my hand, I'd raise a toast to sparring."
"And I'd raise one to tiebreakers." Garrus added.
They both laughed.
Both were silent before Aelia said "About this…."
"Yeah, about this…." He sighed.
"We can't let it get in the way of work or whatever else we're doing." She said earnestly.
"I agree. We're young, we've got lots ahead in our lives, responsibilities."
Aelia's eyes got a faraway look in them "Yes, responsibilities."
They both closed their eyes and Garrus fell into a dreamless sleep.
Over the coming weeks and months life as part of the turian military continued. Garrus was now spending less time with the scouts and more time down in the main battery working on the ship's weaponry. The times he did go out on missions it was usually as a specialist sniper with other soldiers and not the recon teams.
He and Aelia continued their sparring partnership; their discussions on justice, universal events, on what it meant to be truly good, were heated and passionate, but the tiebreakers, the physical releases they sought with each other through sex, were fewer and far between, both too busy or too exhausted, too worried they might get caught, they liked each other's company but both were conscious of the rules. It was almost eight months to the day after the munitions hut incident when Captain Mikras summoned him. This was a rare occasion; Garrus was nervous.
Garrus stepped out of the elevator onto the Nimines bridge. He'd only been on this level a few times and most of them had been in the last few months to assist with calibrating the main weapons into the bridge controls. It was still new to him.
The Captain was talking to the navigator when he approached. "Vakarian."
"The XO said you wanted to speak to me, sir."
"Yes, that's right. We've had a request involving you."
"A request?"
"Your father, he's well-known and well-respected in many circles."
"Yes, he is, sir."
"He obviously has a great sphere of influence, one that even stretches into the turian military. You've been offered a place at Citadel Security."
"C-Sec?"
"That's right, and you'll be leaving on a shuttle for the Citadel in an hour-and-an-half."
Garrus' voice was alarmed "An hour-and-an-half? But I've got…."
"Whatever it is that you've 'got' Vakarian, can easily be handled by someone else, you're not irreplaceable."
Garrus bowed his head. "Yes, sir."
Mikras held out his hand. "Good luck, Vakarian, you've been a good turian soldier, C-Sec is lucky to have you."
Garrus grabbed the Captain's hand "Thank you, sir" and he moved to the elevator feeling a little shell-shocked.
He went back to his quarters and started gathering his things together, his mind racing a hundred miles an hour. He always knew that he'd end up in C-Sec, but they usually didn't recruit turians until you reached 25, he was now only 23. His father must have pulled some strings to get him there. Hell, he thought, he looked at the time. I'll be off the ship before anyone else knows, before Aelia knows.
Everything he had experienced in the last year had come flooding back to him. His passion had been ignited by a fiery little turian female, and it continued to burn. Everything he did he felt he had more passion for; he knew that this is what he wanted, to fight injustice at the heart of civilisation, and C-Sec would be the place to do it. He went to see if she was in her quarters. He ran down the corridor, bumping into Terentius on the way.
"Vakarian, why the hurry?"
"I'm leaving"
"On a mission? Yeah, so what."
"No, not a mission, I'm leaving the ship, the military, I'm going to C-Sec and the Citadel."
"What? Now? Right now?"
"In about an hour."
"Oh, hell that's soon."
"
Do you know where Goran is?"
Terentius smiled, "One last little tryst, Vakarian?" always with the innuendo; Garrus laughed
"No, just want to let her know."
"Well, you can't, she's out on a scouting mission, and not due back for another few hours."
Garrus must have looked dejected because Terentius replied, "Don't worry, Vakarian; a few of us will come down to kiss you goodbye." He slapped Garrus on the back before heading down in the direction of the mess.
Garrus finished gathering up his things and headed down to the docking bay. He was surprised to find a few people were there to see him off. Terentius, Manius, Wen and Wate had come down, a few people he'd worked with in engineering and even Silvan was there. They all shook Garrus' hand, wished him the best of luck and he thanked them all, wishing that he had longer so they could all have a drink together before leaving.
Then he saw her, she was still in her armour, she ran towards him.
"I just heard, Vakarian, is it true?" she was breathless; he could see Pen just behind her.
Pen moved to shake his hand. "Vakarian, good luck, I hope all goes well."
"Thanks, Pen."
He turned to Aelia, "It's true, I'm going to the Citadel and to C-Sec."
The shuttle's engines began to start up as the rest of the shuttle was being loaded.
"You'll fit right in, Vakarian, they're a pretty uptight bunch, I hear."
Garrus laughed. "Yeah, I know, my father was one of them, and he's one of the most uptight turians I know."
They just stared at each other.
"I wanted to tell you," she said, "After all those talks we had…I've spoken to my father."
Garrus nodded, "That's good. Like I said, you'll make a good turian yet."
"It's a start, there's a lot of fences needing mended," she laughed. He savoured the sound of her voice.
They were both conscious of the others looking at them and the shuttle was gearing up to leave so Garrus held out his hand, "Good luck, Goran."
She looked at his hand but instead of taking it, she jumped on him, her arms about his neck, her legs entwining his waist, their armour making a clinking noise as they connected. She ran her tongue along the edge of his face and she kissed him before untangling herself from him and dropping back to the ground.
"One last taste, to remember the good turian. Goodbye, Garrus."
"Goodbye, Aelia." He stepped into the shuttle.
He waved to all of them. He knew it would be the last time he would ever see Aelia, but the sensation of her tongue once again lingered.
Garrus walked from the main battery over to Miranda's office, quietly entering and giving the Cerberus operative time to look up.
"Garrus, what can I do for you?" Miranda seemed pleased at the distraction.
Garrus scratched his head, "I was wondering if you could do me a favour."
"Depends what it is." her voice matter-of-fact.
"I'm looking for some information on someone. A turian."
"Well, you'll have to be a bit more specific than that," she said "Who is it?"
"Someone I think is still in the turian military but I'm not sure, it was a long time ago."
"Well, Cerberus has lots of information on the turian military," she gave him a slightly guilty look. "What's their name?"
"Her name is Aelia Goran, and she's from Taetrus. I served with her on the Nimines, but I have no idea where she went after that."
Miranda raised her eyebrows, "Been a bit of trouble on Taetrus lately, Garrus."
"I know." He sighed.
"Give me a minute; I'll see what there is." Garrus paced the room as Miranda began typing information into her terminal. Ten minutes later Garrus was still standing there, maybe there was no information.
"Here you go." She passed over a datapad. "Took a while, and there's not a lot of info but it's all up to date."
"Thanks, Miranda." Garrus headed out to the mess. Only Gardner was there so he sat down at one of the mess hall tables.
Despite the fact that Miranda had said there wasn't much – it appeared to be quite comprehensive.
It had Aelia's birth date and place of birth, her mother and father – her father Illo Goran, was part of Primarch Idus Valen's contingent, Aelia had mentioned he was in politics but she made no mention of a connection with the Primarch.
Garrus read on. Joined the military at 15, two commendations for bravery, left the military to become an assistant to her father at 26. Married former turian military commander and now head of Taetrus police force Sal Lartius 16 years older than her. One child, a son, Gellius. Still residing on Taetrus.
He scrolled down; it had her list of achievements in Taetrus society, her increases in citizenship tiers had been rapid - she was a philanthropist and society queen, much needed support for her father and husband – all pointed to the upstanding citizen she had become.
There were pictures too, Aelia and Lartius on their wedding day. Society page images of her in new season fashions. Another picture, the family, including Aelia's father, pictured with their baby son. She looked happy, her pretty face was beaming with a huge smile. There were also recent images of Aelia taken at charity events for victims of the Vallum Blast, another taken during an extranet interview with Taetrus Primarch Idus Valen during the aftermath. She stood between her husband and father, a serious but concerned look on her face.
Garrus traced his talon over the last image of Aelia and contemplated the divergent paths they had taken; she had become all the things that she had originally tried to rebel against, whereas he had become the opposite, rebelling against the turian way, against the will of his family, particularly his father, following his own sense of honour and justice. The last few years had been the darkest in his life; he faced situations that called into question the very idea of what it meant to be turian. It was Aelia who ended up being the 'good turian' not he.
Garrus went back to the main battery; he put the datapad in his trunk and began working on the Normandy's weapons system. He was distracted. His thoughts were not on past missions, comrades gone but not forgotten, passionate trysts, or of relationships that might have been. Nor was it of the danger they were facing, the collectors, the reapers, or a mission that was certain suicide. He stroked his unscarred mandible. All he could think about was what sensation might linger from a pair of gentle human hands and soft warm lips.
Well I hope you enjoyed my little labour of love - once again I would like to thank Aricle from Clan V for her useful comments and editing as well as her suggestions for titles for the last 2 chapters, the girl deserves a giant Garrus plushie for her efforts! LovgrenO has also added to his art collection - a little fight scene between Aelia and Garrus, so head over to Deviantart to check it out!