~SquigglySquid says: Short update, sorry. Got home late from travel, but I will have more tomorrow.~
~Jane~
"You know," Jane muses over her cup of chocolate laced coffee, "I don't know how I'll be able to manage in a hotel room by myself for a whole week." She smirks at the sound of his huff off to her side.
"I think you'll live, you've been living off me for long enough I'm sure you can even afford the good rooms." She mock pouts when she catches his eye in between bites of his breakfast. He nudges her leg with his knee and her cheek softly with his forehead after swallowing a bite. "I'm sorry, Jane. You know I wouldn't put you out if it wasn't for a good reason."
She smiles and runs her forehead across his, to which he responds with a soft purr of contentment. "Of course I know. I'm just being a shit with you." His mandibles flick in a mirroring smile. "I'm glad and think it's great your mom is visiting. How long has it been since you've seen her last?"
He pulls from her and turns to his meal, guilt on his features. "Too long…Not since before coming to the Citadel. I talk to her plenty on vid calls, but I haven't been home. Usually it's always my dad leaving to Palaven to see her and not her coming here to see us."
Seeing him struggle, she lays her hand on his forearm on the table, silently allowing him to continue. He hums in appreciation and sits back in his seat, done with his breakfast, before continuing. "She's staying at my dad's apartment, but my mother has a knack for showing up unannounced. She's had it ever since I was little." His mandible flicks out in what Jane thinks a far-away look would be on a Turian.
She smirks and shifts so that she is seated sideways in her chair, facing him more. "Don't tell me that you had some typical television sitcom moments as a teen…"
Garrus snorts, "I can't believe humans are so embarrassed by that." He smirks at her shocked expression.
Jane glares and swats at his arm lightly, him not even able to feel it past his C-Sec armor. "You're so full of shit. You make Palaven sound like some giant orgy planet where people are going at it on the streets." He chuckles and she tilts her head back, questioning what she's going to do with this insufferable Turian. Shaking her head she looks back to him to see a warm expression in his eyes and she can't help the warm feeling in her chest. "How long is your mother staying on the Citadel?" she then asks.
He ponders for a moment, probably thinking back to an earlier discussion he probably had with his mother. "About a week, give or take a day. She wasn't exactly too sure on the exact departure date."
Jane can't help the soft smile that crosses her face as she thinks about the happiness that Garrus' mother's visit will bring him. Since first getting word of it yesterday, he's seemed more cheerful and a bit anxious to see her. His joyful attitude seems to be contagious, but she knows that deep down, her happiness comes from the sight of his own.
In some strange way, Garrus' mother is important to her too, not just because she gave birth to him, but because she gave him his life.
From his stories, Jane can tell that his mother was the one he looked up to as a child, the person he looked to for guidance. His view of the world is what it is because of what his mother had taught him. When he told her of his father, Garrus was filled with frustration and unease at their relationship, but when he spoke of his mother, his eyes lit up and she could see the blind love he had for her.
If it hadn't have been for his mother, Garrus would not be the strong and determined man that Jane loved today, plain and simple.
For that, Jane would gladly sleep in a hotel room, no matter the cost or quality of room, so that he could get a chance to see her again. It is with that determination that she stands, now empty coffee cup in hand, and lays a quick peck of a kiss on the top base Garrus' middle crest, before heading over to the disposal.
As she deposits her morning trash away, she feels and hears him walk up behind her. He deposits his own morning remnants away from around her while nuzzling his head in her hair. She chuckles at the soft scratch of his plates on her scalp.
"Wait," she startles with sudden realization, "how are you going to explain your apartment smelling like me?" He pulls back from her head and she tilts back as much as she can, trying to reach eye contact but failing. Close enough.
He hums softly and strokes his hand through her loose hair. "I'm sending the sheets of the bed to be cleaned, so the strong smell of arousal should be taken care of."
"Garrus, we had sex on more things in your apartment but the bed." She says, her brows dropping in a frown.
"Not in a few days at least, so the smell isn't as strong." His muzzle returns to her hair, taking in her scent as he tends to do when her hair is down, and one arm wraps loosely around her torso. It is because of that that she's found herself leaving it down and over her shoulders more often despite how odd it feels to not have it pulled out of her face in one way or another.
"I know the apartment still has to smell like me in more innocent ways," Jane moves her hand back and he takes it, linking their fingers, without prompt.
"I'll think of something to say." He speaks softly as his fingers softly caress hers. She never thought she'd enjoy the casual embrace of another, the intimate touching that didn't immediately mean sex and desire, but she can't stop the light feeling that enfolds from her chest every time she feels his physical affection. "I doubt my mother will be able to know all the nuances of human smells."
She snorts, "And what if she does? For all you know your mother could have been well around that block."
He grunts in disapproval and gives her head a light shove with his head. "Now who's the one making Turians out to be sex fiends…and my mother no less?" She hears his mandible click in response to her soft chuckle.
After a few quiet moments in his arms, she pulls away reluctantly. "Come on, I need to head out before your mom docks and decides to stop by." She shakes her head when she turns, knowing he sees it, "It'll be a lot harder to explain a human in your apartment if your mom is able to smell said human in person leaving your home."
Garrus walks with Jane to the living room where she has her things pilled together and awaiting her departure. It's a small cluster of items consisting only of her duffle with her clothes and toiletries, her guitar, her small tote that holds her sketchpads, and a slightly bigger tote that contains all the food from his kitchen catered to a levo diet.
Despite her protest, Garrus helps her with her things by taking the two larger bags before she is able to snatch them up. "I'm a grown woman, Garrus, and a damn N7. Let me carry my own damn bags." She tries to reach for them, but the damnable bastard holds them high, stubborn as always. Giving up with a frustrated, and overly exaggerated, sigh, Jane decides it's not worth the effort and gets the remaining bags.
He walks to the door, but stops before the sensor can react to let them out, turning to her. "I wanted to thank you again. I don't want you to have to sleep in a hotel…"
She silences him with a press to his forehead. "Don't worry about it, I've slept on rocks in full armor," she pulls back slightly with a smile. "You should take her to a place in Tayseri Ward called Macedonia's. That's where I got you that steak you said reminded you of home. You said you wanted to take her somewhere nice."
A look of surprise passes his face and he pulls back a bit to examine her face. "You got that dinner from Macedonia's?"
"Yeah, why?" She is confused by his reaction. She didn't understand his reaction and certainly hoped she hadn't ruined that great experience by serving him some place he disapproved of or something.
With a slight shake of his head, he flicks a mandible out and softens his expression. "It's nothing." He closes the gap between them again, silently assuring that she had done no harm. "It's just that that place is somewhere the higher tiered Turians go. It's really expensive so not everyone can afford it and usually you see mostly superior officers there." He snorts softly, "I even think my dad likes to go there with Pallin and the Counselor."
Jane frowns and bites her lip, wishing she could put a word in with Macedonia herself to get Garrus a nice evening, but knew she couldn't because of their mutual agreement to keep their relationship a secret. The hatred between their two species was still too prevalent and their individual careers too important for their attraction to be known.
With a dejected sigh she nods in understanding, but he nudges her head, pulling her attention back. "Hey, I didn't say I wasn't going to go. I was just surprised that you had gone through so much trouble that night to give me something that meant so much." He nuzzles against her, "I definitely need to figure out a better way to repay you for that now."
She smiles with a soft chuckle and lifts up on her toes. "I can think of a few things."
He hums in piqued interest and she kisses his mouth plates, soft but firmly. Both of them can only use one hand while still holding the bags, but even so, he tangles his in her hair, pulling her close, while her own cups his mandible to do the same.
She opens her mouth at the soft flick of his tongue and he dives in, slowly caressing her own. His actions are loving, not igniting the flame in her belly but sending enough sparks to make her body buzz with contentment. Despite their want for more, the short kiss is enough and they pull away with equal smiles in their eyes.
Done with their goodbyes and knowing that they will have to hold off until they can see each other again, they leave the apartment and Garrus walks Jane to the transit hub to call a shuttle. When it arrives, he helps her pack her bags into its storage compartment and she makes him promise to 'stop fussing over her convenience and have fun with his mom, damn it.'
He agrees with a mandible flick and imitation of a human eye roll before she shuts the shuttle door with a twist of her lips. She sees him through the window watch her cab as it lifts from the hub, turning to return to his apartment once it enters the moving traffic.