~Garrus~
Garrus wakes up before his alarm is set to go off, like he does every day, but what isn't the same as every day is the warmth radiating against his chest. As gently he can manage he looks down in shock at his situation.
He is laying on his side and Jane is facing him. They are still separated, but her arms are wrapped around one of his and he pulls his free hand from laying against her hip. They don't touch anywhere else and are fully clothed, but he can smell the scent of her, made up of her soap and natural scent, and he can't control the deep purr that seems to have not stopped since last night.
In his inactivity he has forgotten to move to turn off his alarm and it blares loudly, but the sight of her eyes squeezing tighter and her brow furrowing keeps him in place. "Mmm, morning already?" she mumbles sleepily as he rolls back a bit to turn the alarm off, and returns to his spot to see her peeking one eye open with a tired smile. "Stay here," she pulls against his arm, wiggling closer so that she can press it against her chest and closes her eyes again. "Work is overrated."
He chuckles and brushes the hair away from her face, "I don't think it'd look good if I didn't show up to my first day in Investigations."
She groans and buries her face into the pillow below her face, but releases the tight grip on his arm and he's not really too surprised to find that he already misses the pressure from the contact. "But you're so warm," her voice comes out muffled by the pillow. She huffs, then turns her head a bit so he can hear her more clearly. "You're no fun."
He chuckles and gets out of bed, covering her back up with the blankets once she settles back. He then heads into the bathroom to get ready for his day and finds himself thinking about the predicament they woke up in while he strips and steps into the shower.
Calling it a predicament isn't really accurate, at least not from his point of view and if her reaction this morning were anything to go by, she doesn't seem to see it that way either. It was strange, sure, to find himself so comfortable around Jane because usually touching between Turians was usually kept to intimate situations, and couldn't this morning be considered that, but it wasn't unwelcome.
He clearly remembers what they did last night and it wasn't anything like what all his other such mornings fell after. The two had just sat together on the couch, talked about each other, then headed to bed to sleep and nothing else. Was finding themselves in each other's arms without the influence of alcohol and no sign of regret such a bad thing?
He didn't seem to think so, and if anything, he enjoyed it and wouldn't mind it happening again. Hell, if she didn't wake up later and think it was all some huge mistake, he would be willing to see if it'd happen again. He didn't even know what, if anything, would come from today and he didn't mind seeing where things would take them if she didn't either.
If she wanted otherwise, he was also perfectly fine dropping it and letting what they already had stay just the way it was. This morning was nice and all to wake up to and the idea of a repeat was just as nice, but he respected her above all. Besides, their friendship exited before any touching ever got involved and would definitely not be effected now.
Getting out, toweling off, and moving to get dressed, his mind clear and ready for his first day, he soon was on his way out. Stopping by Jane fast asleep in bed he smiles at the fact that for what seems like the first time since she's stayed with him, her face isn't twisted in a pained grimace. He grabs his visor from the desk, glad he can finally get to be able to wear it in Investigations, and walks out or the apartment with it in hand.
He returns late that night with food in hand for the two of them. Jane had asked him if he could bring a late night cheeseburger from the place he had first taken her to and he was fine with doing it because he could go for some Xemna.
Usually he would make a joke about her constantly being hungry, but he was stopped short when she snapped out a quick threat that if he did she'd lock him out of the apartment for 'being mean to a starving biotic.'
Looking back, her being a biotic does make sense for the large amounts she could eat where he was always hearing that human women were supposed to eat light. Turian biotics were said to need to almost constantly replenish even off the field and a joke persisted that you'd never see a Cabal without at least half their storage of their suit designated for food alone. Compared to that, Jane was eating light when she needed to make up for what she lost by working out during some of her free time.
Arriving at the apartment, he found something very different with his apartment. Against the opposite wall from his front door, creating a type of divider between kitchen and living room area, is a long, but not very wide table with two chairs pulled up under one side. He tilts his head in confusion at the new addition.
She runs up to him with a smile and offers to take the food from his hands. "You like it?" She calls over her should as she takes the food to the table. "I figured that you might not always like eating out of your lap on the couch."
He joins her and sees that the surface is made of wood, worn and scarred from untold sources. She runs her hands along it soothingly, before looking up to him with her bottom lip held between her blunt teeth. "I was given it for an unbeatable price by the same person who sold me the guitar after I agreed to play for him. I thought it was a perfect size, big enough to use, but small enough to fit without clogging up your apartment." She looks down timidly. "If you don't like it, we can always return it."
He grabs her chin, happy that she doesn't flinch or react from his touch, and raises her head to meet his eyes. "I do like it," he returns his gaze to the table, running his free head along its surface and feeling the divots and pockmarks.
She smiles, he releases her chin, and he moves to sit down in one of the chairs while she goes to grab some utensils and a drink for each. She brings them, takes a seat, and the two clank their drinks together before digging in.
He has to admit that it's definitely nicer to eat his meal at table where he doesn't have to hold everything or settle with something resting on the floor and it gives a more relaxing feel to their meal.
Near the end of their meals, Jane points out that the table gives a feeling of division to his apartment between kitchen and living room. She also brings up that now, when one of them cooks a meal or is spending time in the kitchen, the other can sit and talk. "Plus," she adds with a smirk, "you're desk doesn't look so lonely and mistreated without its chair. Wouldn't want to break up such a great pair."
"Oh, so the whole time it was for my chair?" he jokes with a smirk of his own. "What a shame, I thought it was for me and my apartment as a whole."
She shakes her head to the negative, "though it does help this place look like you haven't just moved in and gives it some character, there is no helping you." He laughs with a soft thrum and she smiles. "Though, you do look good with that visor of yours."
Her comment brings attention to the fact that he still had it on as he had gotten just as used to it as when he wore one like it in the military. She raises her hand, but stop before touching, waiting in silent question. He nods in silent permission and she runs her hands along the metal and towards the back of his head.
She doesn't touch his plates or any part of his actual face, but he still feels and hears the bass rumble from deep in his chest that has been making an appearance since the night before. He's starting to get a suspicion of what it is, but refuses to go down that road of thinking, too serious for him to pester with right now.
Jane has a look of awe as her fingers return to the front and ghost in the air over his left eye around the holographic interface's perimeter without disrupting it. He realizes that when she had seen it before, when she had said she dropped it during one of her nightmares, she wouldn't have been able to see the blue hologram because it was off. She must notice his attention because her emerald eyes focus back to his and she smiles.
"That's damn impressive, Garrus," she admits and turns back to her plate, his deep purring ceases and he moves back to his own food. "Glad to see your technical skills are good for more than locking up a girl's credit account." He catches her smirk with a sidelong glance and flicks out the mandible on her side in a mirroring move, seeing that her own eyes catch it.
The two finish up their meals and when he goes to get up to dispose of the trash, she puts her hand on his should in silent order to stay and gets up to do it herself. He watches her as she moves from placing the trash into the disposal, to the recycle for the glass bottle of their drinks, and to the sink, remembering back to this morning that seems so long ago.
She still looks as carefree and happy as she had with her sleepy eyes and tousled hair and he finds that he still likes the look on her, the fact that she lets him see it.
When he had left to work today he had decided that he would let the incident set until the night where he could talk to her. All day he was able to set the thoughts of her to the back of his mind and work, it's what he was raised and taught to do and came naturally, but he never really put it out completely. Now, after thinking it over and letting it get the chance to dissipate if it really was just some split moment of comfort, he found that he still felt just as strongly about trying this closer relationship with her.
"So," he begins delicately, "want to talk about this morning?"
She moves to the living room and motions for him to follow as she sits on the couch, "Not really." He works hard to keep the unexpected hurt from showing on his face when he sits down on the couch, making sure to sit on the opposite side from her to give her space. She must see some inkling of it because she shakes her head and scoots closer, and turns so that she is sitting sideways and facing him, her knee just barely touching the side of his leg. "No, that wasn't the way of saying it. Don't take it wrong."
She looks down to their contact and picks at the hem of her pants. "I figured we'd only need to talk about it if we thought we should keep it from happening again." She bites her bottom lip and says a bit quieter, "And I'm perfectly okay with it happening again."
He chuckles from the release of the tension he hadn't known was building, but stops her with a raised hand before she can react negatively. "I'm perfectly okay with that too." She smiles and he grabs the hand from her pants and interlocks their fingers like they've done before. The deep rumble returns but he doesn't care to question it again and decides to just let it be.
She watches her free fingers as she runs them over the top of his clasped hand, running over the small ridges of his plates under his glove. He can barely feel the caress on his plates because of the material, but when the pressure of her fingers touch the skin between and around the plates of his flexed knuckles he softly purrs at the pleasant feeling.
"Where do we go from here?" She looks up from their hands, searching his eyes. "Do we just stop at holding hands and waking up close to each other?"
"Is that what you want?" He doesn't know why she's asking him, he's in the same spot as her.
She opens and closes her mouth, thinking it over. He's never thought he'd think this but, damn does he want her to say no to that question. Finally, with stern confidence, Jane looks back to his eyes unwaveringly. "No, I don't want that. I want to see if where this takes us. I want to see if this is more."
Her declaration gives him a strange feeling in his chest that flutters around with that continuous rumble. "I want that too, Jane."
"I don't know what to do in a situation like this," she admits with a sign of defeat. "Any time I've felt anything somewhat like this is was always with some floozy or one night stand."
He understands completely what she means because long term relationships for Turians, and in extension him, aren't anything like this. Maybe she, as a human, would have a better clue as to how to go on if he just offered her opening with the assurance that's he with her the whole way. "What do you want to do?"
With that, Jane moves faster than he can catch and she's suddenly pressing her lips against his the plates of his mouth. He's seen this before and knows it's a kiss that species with lips often use to show affection, but he would have never imagined how soft and strong they feel against his own flesh.
He purrs a bit louder, reaching a level that he knows she hears, but before he can come out of his thoughts long enough to reciprocate her kiss, she pulls back. He knows the kiss has probably only lasted a second, but the moment seemed like endless bliss.
"Damn," Jane raises one hand, he notices that the other is still gripped in his, to her lips. "I'm sorry, I've never done that before." She runs her hand through her hair, "I don't anything about how to do this." She looks into his eyes, "Is this too fast?"
He knows what too fast is and can be sure it isn't this, but he knows she is afraid of ruining anything with him. He would like nothing more than to show her otherwise and that she would never have to worry about losing his friendship because of whatever may or may not happen, but doesn't know how to properly express that.
He wants to take things at a pace that she is comfortable with because he has discovered through his time knowing her that her comfort is his, so he decides to offer a chance for that. "It's not too fast," he pulls her hand from her hair and works at smoothing the tangles her fidgeting caused, "but we should take it at a pace that's comfortable for you. Obviously, this isn't it, so I'm going to take a stand and say that we're done for today."
He lays his palm against the side of her neck and his large hand nearly engulfs her, his thumb lies just under her eye and stretches down to where his second finger lies just above the collar of her t-shirt. Despite the drastic difference in size, she doesn't get uneasy and instead she pressed her face slightly against his palm with a pleased smile, to which he thrums softly.
She nods quietly and the two separate enough so that they can be comfortable as they watch something on the holoscreen. They sit pressed against the side of the other and their hands entwined until they can no longer manage to keep their eyes open. At that point, they move to the bedroom to climb into bed and find themselves in a mirror position of that morning.