The two turians sat across from each other at breakfast. Sonya had taken hers to her quarters to finish reading the reports she didn't get to. Nihlus nodded a silent thanks to Garrus for letting him have the night with her. The reply was returned in the same manner if not with a little humility. It had been five years since she'd seen him after all and she had never stopped suffering his loss. It had only seemed right, as far as sharing ones mate was 'right' anyway. It would be a touchy situation until it was decided if it would work. There were only two way it could end, in Garrus' mind. A strange sort of communal trio of overs, which gave him the willies, or blood shed and some one leaving the Normandy... one way or another. But Sonya seemed happier. The glow was back, and it wasn't because of sex. He wanted her to be happy, and he was glad she was, but he had a hard time feeling good about it. He knew it was a confidence issue. It didn't help to smell her on the turian across from him and know pretty much what had happened. But the 'favor' would be returned in a few days, then he would see just how willing Nihlus was to continue this charade.
The FTL drives hummed quietly in the background noise of the ship. Sonya hung over the railing of the galaxy map platform looking down at the winding route they were taking to get to the rendezvous that would take them to the Council. He always thought it made her ass look amazing when she did that, not that it didn't any other time, but looking up the ramp so see that staring back at him was just, mmm, too much.
He took the liberty of joining her on the platform and gazing down at the map. She didn't mind. He'd done it before with less suavity. At least Kelly wasn't giggling or snickering behind them like a teenager.
His mandibles fluttered. He could smell her, but he could also smell the other. He hadn't tried to be with her since Nihlus' night with her. He wasn't sure he could go through with it. It wasn't about her, or even Nihlus. I was about monogamy. It was something his father had taught him was right. Of course his father believed in a very ridged set of rules and if it couldn't be done the C-Sec way, it shouldn't be done at all. So maybe he was wrong about that too. But how long could this really last? Were the three of them to grow old together? Or wait for one of them to die? It was such a strange notion to begin with...
His thoughts were distracted when Sonya 'accidentally' rubbed her breast against his hand on the rail to 'get a closer look' at the map. She had subtly hinted over the las few days that she wanted to see him, that she missed him, blah blah blah. It was just her way of trying to keep him from depressed about being replaced. Sure she loved him, and they had something great together, but Nihlus was back. In this game Nihlus trumps Garrus. His had was all Garrus. He was out. He ignored her hand and started to walk away.
"Garrus?"
She called after him in her Captain's voice. He halted and returned to her side.
"Yes, Com... Captain."
He still slipped up from time to time.
"I'd like to speak with you when you have a moment."
She was usually not this formal, so he agreed and hoped she wanted to talk about official matters and not the thing that had forced him from her strange, soft arms. She had him meet her in the Port Observatory. He took the liberty of downing a few shots from the lightly stocked bar while he waited. He wasn't drunk when she got there, but he wasn't sober either.
"Hey, pour me one." She said as she sat on the sofa across from the bar.
Garrus nodded and poured her a tall glass of her favorite mix and added a few ice cubes to add that subtle swirling effect in the alcohol. She seemed to appreciate it. She took a few sips then fished an ice cube from the glass and began rubbing over her lightly exposed cleavage. He watched for a second, completely taken by the eroticism, then averted his eyes to another bottle of booze. Something hard and cold hit him in the side of the face.
"Hey!" He complained and looked at her with a hurt expression.
"Hey' yourself, ass hole." She bit back.
"What's wrong?" He asked, trying to play dumb. He knew it wouldn't work by the scowl on her face, but he had to try.
"You know exactly what's wrong. You agreed to try this, but since he's been back you won't hardly touch me."
"I know. And I'm sorry..."
Another ice cube his his face.
"Damn it, Sonya! Fine! I'm not sorry! I don't think I can do it! I don't want to do it! I don't want to share you! He can't possibly really want to share you either. How could any man want to share his mate? This is crazy!"
"So is people who have been dead for years returning to life, but it's reality and I don't know any other way to give you what you both want." Sonya replied, her bow furrowed.
"What do you want?"
The real question was 'who do you want', but it wasn't a fair question. She loved both of them, and making her choose was cruel, but sometimes life was a bitch and you have to deal with it... one way or another.
"Right now, I just want you."
It wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, but for the moment it would have to be good enough. His need for her was an ever present nagging sensation in the back of his mind, like the way an addiction to a drug might hound a user until they give in and seek out a fix. She was his drug and he needed a fix. She was offering it, un-wrapping the package in that slow, motionless way with her 'I want you, NOW' stair. If he didn't go to her, she would surely come to him. She knew he liked it when she was aggressive. No. This time she would have to work for it. She needed to convince him that she still wanted him, even with Nihlus around.
She attacked him, pushing him up against the wall and licking along the softer skin of his throat, pulling purrs from him. He took her on the bar of the Port Observatory, licking the liquor off her body where she poured it, moaning and purring and growling. He nipped at her skin and raked his talons down her back when he reached his apex. Hard, fast, wild sex soiled the counter top and they both got their 'fix', but his satisfaction would come later when she would have to prove to him that he was not the second choice.
Reapers had been detected in the area and the Normandy sought shelter in yet another asteroid, powered down except for vital systems like Life Support. Everyone wore a thermal suit to keep warm. They were awkward and rather unflattering, but it was better than dieing in their best duds. There wasn't much that could be done until it could be confirmed that the Reaper had moved beyond detection range. Several members of the crew found other things to do, other ways to keep warm. Precautions were a must quietly enforced by the doctor. People would need to procreate, but not until the threat was removed.
Sonya sat curled up on her bed wrapped in an extra layer of thermal sheets reading another report. The power cells would need to be replaced once they got to the base, as well as a few of the guns, hull plating, the list went on. The Normandy had seen many hard battles and only barely escaped from a few of them. She was lucky compared to those that did not make it. Sonya glanced up when her doors hissed open. Nihlus walked in with an odd grace, considering the cumbersome thermal wear, and he had a small space heater in hand. She smirked at him with a raised brow.
"Joker said a personal space heater shouldn't put out enough of an energy signature to be detected and it's damn cold. I thought I could share mine with you." He explained before she could ask.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." She smiled.
Nihlus set the heater on the floor a meter or two away from the bed and climbed in next to her. He wrapped his arms and legs around her and buried his nose in the bend of her neck. She cringed and giggled.
"That tickles!" She grinned, cuddling into him.
Nihlus chuckled and rubbed his face against her neck playfully. She smelled so good, even in the cold. He could smell Garrus too, but it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. She was his too.
Her skin was warm to the touch thanks to all the thermal she had wrapped around her, but he had something else in mind to fill the hours before they dared an energy spike to check the sensors. For a long while they sat together listening to the heater quietly whirr. Nihlus read the reports over her shoulder, breathing her scent. He tightened his arms around her in a little hug every now and then, treasuring the moment.
His hot breath on her skin tickled, but it wasn't the kind of tickle that made her laugh. Instead she was finding more and more difficult to concentrate on the pad as the turian behind her started quietly purring. The rumble in his chest threatened to put her to sleep. She put the pad down on the thermal comforter and glanced back at him over her shoulder. She smirked when she found him with his eyes closed. She gently nuzzled him and his eyes sleepily fluttered open.
"You fell asleep on me." She told him, and kissed a mandible.
"Oh, well... you're so comfortable." He teased.
"If you're tired we can get out of these suits and take a nap." She suggested.
She was tired to, bored from reading the reports. Plus she wanted to snuggle in close to his firm body and find all the areas of unshielded skin.
They undressed quickly and dove under the thermal sheets and comforter, leaving their suits laying over the desk. They wrapped each other up in their arms to share heat more than to be close, but the result had them caressing and kissing and nuzzling one another as soon as the chill had subsided. Nihlus' hands moved over her body as smooth as silk, only nicking her occasionally with a light scratch to pull a gasp from her and feel her tense against him. He slipped one hand between the fabric of her panties and her skin and found the wetness already moistening her lips. He gently rubbed the pads of his fingers over her, rousing her and caressing the bud that swelled under his urging. She panted heavily against him. Her fingers flexed and dug into the hard plating of his chest. When she tried to move to return the favor, he tightened his arm around her, pinning her arms between them.
"You mean to torture me!" She accused him.
He growled softly and nuzzled her face. His long, tapered tongue found it's way passed her parted lips. She surrendered to his exploration and looked a leg over his to allow him better access to her. Her willing vulnerability set the fire in his gut to a roaring blaze. His own wetness was a slick sheen on the surface of his folds. Removing his hand from her blushing loins, he pulled her atop him and let her grind herself against his folds. The sticky smacking sounds were muted by the heavy bedding, but he heard them none the less and the hardness within him began to peek out and enter her open body. His tongue lapped at her erect nipples and lightly bouncing breasts. He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the smooth skin of her tummy and pressed into her belly button on the way to caress the flesh that rolled with his penetration. This made her cry out with pleasure each time his head passed by the pressure of his thumb. When he was fully inside her he could see the end of him slide up to tease her belly button, then down again as she pumped him. He waited for her to orgasm a few times before rolling her under him. His rhythm was slower than hers, but his thrusts were harder and more complete. His love was firm, but tender, as was his heart. He nuzzled her as he loved her. She kissed and caressed the naked skin of his throat. She moaned his name and he growled against her neck with his teeth in her shoulder as they reached their apex together. They drifted off to sleep holding one another with foreheads pressed together. He whispered those three words she knew so well just before her dreams carried her off.
When she woke the heat was suffocating. At some point in the night Garrus had climbed into the bed on the other side of her. The combined heat from the turians was stifling. There was more than enough room on the king size bed she'd upgraded to before the Reapers came. So she lifted herself up to rest her back against the coolness of the wall behind her. She looked at the two sleeping men, both of them facing inward toward her. It surprised her that Garrus had joined them to sleep. She had assumed he would leave if he ever found her with Nihlus, and vice versa. To see them both in her bed at once was as flattering as it was frightening. She didn't have to wonder long what would happen when they woke. Garrus' eyes opened first. She slid back under the covers to greet him with a kiss. Sleepy blue eyes flutters and he nuzzled her and pressed his mouth to hers in a 'kiss'. He always did like a mourning love session and began fondling her breasts, when she stopped him he woke a little more fully to investigate why his advancements were being halted.
"Nihlus," She whispered. "I haven't showered since..."
"I don't care." He purred and nuzzled his face against hers.
"What? But I thought... you were so adamant..." She stammered in disbelief.
"The Reapers aren't going away." Garrus sighed. "They probably know we're here. We could all die before the end. I don't intend to waste a second of my time with you over 'rights' to who should be the one to be with you. You love me and I you. Nihlus is my friend, though we don't always get along. There's no point or time to be bitter. I won't loose you to my selfishness."
His eyes were wet with tears that would never be allowed to fall. He had too much pride. It was the same pride that he cast off to be with her. She coulnd't have loved him more than she did in that moment. The quiet, unusually tender love they made in the bed didn't last long between the two of them, but it meant more than anything else she could imagine him doing.
Nihlus woke to find them with each other in the soft throws of passion. It was a shock to say the least, and his brow knitted with anger. But he kept his peace due to the agreement. As he watched them love one another he noticed the differences in her response to Garrus than how she was with him. It was different. Not more or less love. Not more or less attraction. Just different, and he began to understand what Dr. Chakwas had been trying to tell him. Love was love, no matter the species or how one chose to interpret it. He didn't feel attraction to Garrus, but he loved him as a friend. He knew the turian would always have his back... and hers. And he loved her as much as he did. Maybe this was what was right for them. Watching them, hearing their song, he began to enjoy it. He liked to see her happy and in the grasp of ecstacy, Garrus too, but differently.
At first Garrus had jumped, startled. His mandibles pressed flat along his jaw, ready for a fight if one came, when Nihlus moved to join them. Sonya looked worriedly from one to the other. Nihlus didn't use words to try and explain how he felt. He nuzzled Sonya then looked to Garrus. The turian with the blue face paint raised a brow plate at him.
"What are yo...?"
Nihlus answered when he pressed his forehead to Garrus'. Garrus pulled back and moved away, nearly falling out of the bed.
"Oh no, no. I'm not going that far!"
"I don't intend to mate with you, Garrus." Nihlus said, shaking his head. "I'm only mean to bond us to each other, the three of us. If we are to be this odd family we should not be selfish with our hearts. The only body I'm interested in is female." He nodded to Sonya.
Garrus considered his words. He had just admitted to not caring. He couldn't be much closer to Nihlus than having his passion on him from being with Sonya, and what he was saying made sense. He slowly climbed back toward Sonya, slipping an arm around her hips. She was still quivering from being with him. Nihlus slipped an arm around her as well and pressed his forehead to hers. Tentatively, Garrus slowly leaned in and added his scent to Nihlus', then to Nihlus himself. They were a family now. Two mates for one woman. One amazing woman. He never dreamed he'd be in such a situation, much less willingly. But here they were, and he realized he didn't mind it so much.
Sonya kissed him first. In his mind at that moment she chose him over Nihlus , and nothing would ever change that. They shared their love that night. They shared their love for her, and she shared herself with them. At first, some of the positions had been painful, but as they both filled her, loved her, nuzzled and nipped at her, caressed her body inside and out, the waves of bliss beyond any she'd ever felt crashed over her in a steady, pulsing current.
Sleep came quickly afterward. Arms and legs intertwined. Nuzzling foreheads bid everyone good night and told of love. It wouldn't always be so. Garrus and Nihlus still had their times when they were alone with her, and those were the best But they grew to appreciate the other in new ways. Grew to understand what the other was to Sonya and that she needed both of them as much as they needed her. They became close, and though that closeness never crossed the line of strong friendship, they were not ashamed to press their heads together as men to express how deeply they cared for the other. For they'd come to love each other as much as they loved her, because of her, only differently.