Keep Working to Figure it Out

The next morning, Charles laid in bed with his eyes closed for a few seconds, listening to Ares' steady breathing. He didn't get up before Ares very often, but it didn't take long for him to learn the sounds Ares made, and judging by the rhythm of his breathing, the turian wouldn't be asleep for much longer. Moving as slow as he could, being as quiet as possible, Charles pulled the blankets back and climbed out of bed, grabbing his cigarillos from the table and the pair of sweats off the floor. He left the room, closing the door behind him to keep the noise and Eezo from bothering Ares.

After using the restroom, he lit a cigarillo and made his way out to the balcony, sitting down in the chair tucked back in the corner next to the table. He rubbed his face with his free hand, leaning back in the chair to look up at the fake sky. Taking a deep drag, he let his head drop all the way back, stretching his legs up onto the table. He still hurt, but not as bad as the day before. The pain had died down to more of a dull ache, the occasional lancing pain when he moved the wrong way. He savored it.

The solid night's sleep seemed to have done him some good. He still felt far from happy about Ares' choice to spend the night with Cammus and then stay out all day after, but it stung a lot less. Snapping at Ares the night before was an ass move, but he really didn't mean to, so, he'd find a way to make it up to Ares. He didn't say anything too harsh, at least. It sure as hell could've gone a lot worse.

Nearly done with his cigarillo, he heard the balcony door slide open and glanced over as Ares stepped outside, topless but wearing a pair of loose pants. "Morning," he said, taking another drag, turning his face back up to the sky to blow out the smoke, watching Ares out of the corner of his eye.

Ares hummed, shaking a cigarette out of his pack and putting it between his mouth plates. He moved to the railing, lighting his cigarette before shifting the pack and lighter to his other hand.

Flicking his ashes over the railing, Charles took another drag. "Do you have plans today?"

"Not really," Ares said, blowing out smoke to the side away from Charles, "No."

Humming, he glanced at Ares' back. "I didn't feel up for the gym again yesterday, but I spent some time at the range. Didn't know if you wanted to go to the arena again, or if I should just plan on heading back to the gym and range."

"Doesn't matter. We can go to the arena, mix up tactics." Ares rumbled, glancing down at him as he took a drag. "Thoughts?"

Dropping his legs from the table, Charles sat up and took a drag before leaning over to scratch Eezo's ear. "If that's what you want to do, sounds good to me."

Ares nodded and turned back to the Citadel view. "Good. We'll see how you work with me up top."

"Alright." Charles stood up and put out his cigarillo. "I'm going to take Eezo for a walk and then make you breakfast. We can go after we eat if you're ready."

Ares rumbled in curiosity. "Make me breakfast?" He turned to lift a brow plate at Charles. "Do you even know how to cook dextro?"

Charles forced a smile on his face, his sense of humor still not quite up to par. "Don't worry, I won't poison you." Turning, he walked inside the apartment. He went to the bedroom and got dressed, heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth and run a comb through his hair before grabbing Eezo's leash. The dog waited for him by the door, wagging her tail.

He took Eezo off the leash when he got inside, tossing it on the breakfast bar as he made his way to the kitchen. Ares still lingered out on the balcony, sitting at the table doing something Charles couldn't see from inside. He washed his hands at the kitchen sink before opening the refrigerator and pulling out a few of the things he'd picked up at the store the day before in his desperate attempt to distract himself. Opening his omni-tool, he pulled up one of the recipes he'd found on the extranet and set to work, cutting the xemna into thin strips and seasoning it before lightly sautéing it in some oil crap from some fruit that grew on Palaven. It smelled like walnuts.

Keeping an eye on the meat, he cut up some weird looking vegetable, one of the few turians apparently ate with any regularity. It kinda reminded him of the pictures he'd seen of porcupines on Earth. The meal prep didn't look pretty; Charles really wasn't much of a cook—even with levo shit—but he figured since Ares practically lived off canned meat and MREs, he'd damn well eat something Charles cooked for him and survive. He tossed the vegetables into the pan, stirring it around just enough to coat them with the oil and give them a little heat, letting them soak up some of the juices from the meat before setting the pan aside.

"I modded your Stiletto," Ares said, stepping into the kitchen, pistol raised toward the wall as he looked at it, apparently checking its balance. "It should feel lighter and fire faster without overheating as quickly." He lowered the weapon and stepped closer to Charles, looking over his shoulder. "What are you making?"

Charles glanced up at him. "Food." He smirked, even though it still felt a little fake, and turned his attention back to cooking. "Thanks for modding the gun."

He set another pan on the burner, adding in more of the oil and cracked half a dozen treken eggs into the hot oil. Grabbing the spatula, he scrambled the eggs before draining off the excess oil. Scraping the meat and vegetables into the skillet with the eggs, he gave them a few quick stirs to add some heat back to the dish before turning off the burner. He reached up, grabbing a plate from the cabinet and dumped the contents of the skillet into the plate before getting a fork out. He turned, gently shoving the plate against Ares' chest. "Eat."

Rumbling as he took the plate, Ares offered the pistol in his other hand to Charles. "For just being 'food,' it looks familiar." He stepped back and walked over to the breakfast bar to sit.

Charles huffed, looking over his pistol. "I'll count it as a win, then."

Ares didn't respond as he speared a piece of the xemna and put it in his mouth. He thrummed, nodding to Charles before swallowing. "It's good."

Charles smiled, setting the gun down on the counter after making sure to click the safety off. "Good." Turning back to the cabinet, he pulled down a bowl before grabbing the cereal from the other cabinet and dumped some into the bowl. He poured himself a glass of juice, too, before carrying them both over to the breakfast bar, sitting down next to Ares to pick at the dry cereal.

Ares ate, letting out soft rumbles and purrs as he made quick work of his breakfast. Stopping, he licked his mouth and mandibles as he looked at Charles, rumbling softly as if in question.

Charles glanced at him, lifting an eyebrow. "What?"

Ares hummed a moment before purring. "Thanks."

A slow, genuine smile spread across Charles' face. "You're welcome."

"I haven't had someone cook for me in … a long time. Not including restaurants." Ares speared a piece of the strange vegetable and stuck it in his mouth.

Charles thought about it for a second, staring down at the bowl of dry cereal. "I think my mom was the last person to cook for me." He picked up a handful of the cereal and shoved it into his mouth, chewing a couple of times before muttering around the bite, "Besides for Cammus." He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "Pretty sure that was mostly because he pitied me while you were gone."

Ares hummed before quickly eating the rest of his meal. Grabbing his plate, he stood and walked around the breakfast bar to dump it in the sink. He rumbled a moment before grabbing Charles' bowl of cereal and dumping it in the sink, too, then went to the refrigerator. Charles sucked on his teeth before pursing his lips, but he didn't say anything. He figured given the conversation, Ares wanted to try his hand at not poisoning Charles.

It really wasn't necessary, he was perfectly content with dry cereal, but now his cereal decorated the bottom of the sink. And … he knew Ares was trying to be nice, maybe even make it up to him, but he had a feeling the turian didn't have any clue what he wanted to make up to Charles for. Or … he just considered it an obligation because Charles cooked for him. Either way, it was sweet, and any other day, it'd probably mean the world to Charles, but he already worked so hard to keep his other emotions at bay, it left him a little numb.

Ares found eggs, cheese, and bacon in the refrigerator and dumped them onto the counter. Leaving them, he went to the cabinets and grabbed a skillet and bowl. He set the skillet on the stove and turned it on to a high heat, rumbling as he used his teeth to open the bacon package. Spearing a slice with his talon, he set it in the skillet, lining up three more next to it to sizzle in the pan.

With one hand, he reached into the cabinet again for a plate while using the other to flip open the egg carton. Setting the plate on the counter, he started cracking eggs into the bowl. His rumbling barely audible over the sizzle and pop of the bacon, he tossed the shells into the trash. Using a talon, he stabbed the bacon and flipped it over before opening the drawers and digging around to find a spatula, using it to stir the eggs up in the bowl.

As the sounds of the bacon cooking slowed, Ares plucked them out of the pan, setting them on the plate. He poured the eggs into the hot pan, creating a thin layer. As it cooked, he grabbed the cheese and dropped a handful into the pan. He waited a moment before using the spatula to fold the eggs over and let the omelet cook for a bit longer. Lifting the pan from the fire, he tilted it to slide the omelet out onto the plate and tossed the pan in the sink. He grabbed Charles a fork and turned around, setting the fork and plate on the breakfast bar.

Charles chuckled softly, picking up the fork and stabbing the omelet. "Thank you … this is really sweet of you, you didn't have to do this." He cut off a piece and brought it to his mouth, pausing to add, "This better not poison me."

The corner of his lip lifted in a weak but genuine smirk before he put the bite into his mouth, humming in approval as he chewed. It really did taste pretty good, maybe could use a little salt, but it was good. The eggs were cooked all the way through, and the cheese melted nicely. He hummed again, cutting off another bite.

Thrumming, Ares nodded. "It's just something you do …. Makes sense, even if we can't necessarily share our food."

Charles swallowed, his stomach churning with the effort it took to fight back another idiotic wave of sadness and smiled, nodding. "We should do this more often, then." The little moment of domestic fluff right on the tail of heartache left him reeling. He'd never understand how Ares could get some things so perfectly on the mark and yet be oblivious to so many others. Then again, Charles wasn't exactly the poster child for appropriate social interactions. Hell, for all he really knew, the shit upsetting him would make zero sense to anyone.

Ares snorted. "You should wait until you actually like what I made you."

"I do like it." Charles shoved the next bite into his mouth, chewing as he glanced up at Ares. He washed it down with a drink of juice before picking up a piece of bacon. "You made bacon. Food of the gods." He broke off a piece and held it out to Ares. "Try it?"

Ares hummed and stared at it, seeming to debate it for a moment before reaching out and grabbing the bacon. He broke the piece in half before setting part of it on his tongue and held it there for a moment. Rumbling, he lifted his head to swallow. "Good. Salty." He thrummed and ate the other piece. "Better than dextro."

Charles chuckled, shoving the rest of the slice into his mouth, humming as the pork fat coated his tongue. "Pigs are tasty animals."

"A lot of animals are 'tasty,'" Ares said, flicking a mandible.

"Yeah, they are." Charles turned his attention back to his plate, cutting into the omelet again. "Bed should be here this evening according to the delivery notice. Pillows, too."

Ares leaned back against the counter behind him, humming as he crossed his arms. "Did they give you an exact time? Or a time frame?"

"Between seventeen hundred and twenty hundred hours," Charles said as he chewed.

Nodding, Ares flicked his mandibles. "We'll be done by then easily enough."

Charles hummed, lifting the fork to his mouth. "They'll haul off the old one, too."

Ares huffed. "They better or I'm tossing it off the balcony."

Giving him an amused snort, Charles continued to eat. He watched Ares as he chewed, battling away each little whisper of doubt as it arose, forcing himself to man the fuck up and deal with it. After a few more bites, though, Ares looked toward the balcony, mandibles moving as if deep in thought. A moment later, he pushed away from the counter and moved around the breakfast bar, stopping at Charles' side. He glanced away again before thrumming and leaning down, pressing his mouth plates to Charles' temple and giving him an affectionate, light nip.

The act made another wave of heartache wash over Charles, and he swallowed, pushing it away again. Reaching up, he pressed his palm to Ares' face, closing his eyes a second as he brushed his thumb back and forth over the turian's cheek and mandible. "I'm alright," he whispered. "I'm working on it, I'll be alright."

Ares merely purred as he stepped closer and shifted to press his forehead to Charles', nuzzling softly. Charles pressed back against Ares' forehead, brushing his thumb over his mandible again.

"I don't like when you smell like this," Ares said, flicking his mandible into Charles' palm. "Why? Why is your scent so different?"

Charles stopped breathing for a couple of seconds, drowning in trepidation. With Ares asking directly, he couldn't really bring himself to deny the turian an honest answer. "I … wasn't prepared," he started, choosing his words very carefully, "... for you to spend the whole night with someone else. It … I …" He clenched his jaw, battling the waves of emotion again and sucking in a slow, deep breath through his nose. "It stirred up some stupid shit, but it's my problem, and I'm figuring out how to deal with it …. So, don't worry about it, okay? I'm not putting this on you. It's my shit to deal with."

Ares hummed and leaned back enough to catch Charles' gaze. "You think the night with Cammus is the same as every night here?"

Taking a deep breath, Charles fought the urge to look away from Ares' eyes, ashamed for even having feelings about it one way or the other. "No. I think you spend a lot of time away on work, and sleeping next to you at night when you're here is important to me." He licked his lips. "It felt like one of the few things I got to have just for me. And … I feel like I've lost claim on some of the other things lately, so … I just wasn't prepared for it. It's still raw, that's all. I'll be alright—"

"If you say that one more time, I'm going to shoot you," Ares said with a low growl of warning before stopping and letting a long breath out through his nose. "And you haven't lost claim to anything. I wasn't sleeping next to him, I was fucking him. You think I trust him, his home, enough to sleep?" He shook his head and looked away for a moment as if to think of his words. "No. I trust here and you enough to let myself sleep. And in a bed, no less. And before you think I did that with Jasmine, I didn't. I may have slept, but I did in a fucking closet because it was secure." He hummed and crossed his arms. "I don't trust them like I do you."

Charles watched Ares for a few seconds, still batting away the various emotions creeping up, trying to strangle him. He licked his lips and sucked in a deep breath. "I love you, Ares. I know you think saying so is … sappy, and maybe it is, but I've never felt this for anyone else. I don't understand half the shit you make me feel, and I sure as fuck don't understand half the shit that goes through my head. I'm not … you can sleep or don't sleep wherever you want, kiss whoever you want, whatever. I can't say shit won't unexpectedly hurt from time to time, but I don't expect you to accommodate my drama. I'll get a grip on the stupid shit, and when something's big enough to be important, I'll let you know."

Ares sighed, rumbling as he dropped his arms and stood up. "I won't know how to understand you if you don't help me."

Panicked, Charles sat there, mouth slightly opened but no words coming out for a few seconds. "I don't … I don't know what it is you want from me. You said …. Look, I know I'm more emotional of a person than what you're comfortable dealing with, and I've put a lot on you since we first met, and it's been … burdensome. So, I'm trying to … I don't want you feeling like you need to carry me, Ares."

Letting a deep breath out of his nose, Ares flicked his mandibles before walking past Charles. "I'm taking a shower," he said making his way toward the hall but stopped without looking back. "I was wrong. I can tell there's something wrong, and I need to fix it, but you won't let me. That … upsets me. I don't like it." He started walking again, making his way into the bathroom, leaving Charles sitting there stunned.

Charles' shoulders slumped, and he hung his head, confused and conflicted, feeling again like he couldn't do anything right. He glanced at his half-eaten breakfast before looking down the hall toward the bathroom. He sat there until he heard the water start running and slid off the barstool, hesitating before making his way to the bathroom door. He stepped inside closing the door behind him. Kicking off his shoes while pulling his shirt over his head, he got undressed and crossed the floor, looking at Ares standing there with his head tilted down, eyes closed. With more hesitation, Charles stepped inside with him. Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against Ares' keel and wrapped his arms around his waist, ignoring the icy water wherever it hit his skin.

Ares rumbled, his chest vibrating against Charles, and lifted his hands, laying one on Charles' back as he hit the shower command to turn the water temperature higher with the other. Charles didn't say anything, just tightened his grip on Ares, turning his head to rest his cheek against the turian's chest, letting the sound of Ares' heart calm him. Ares' rumbling shifted into a deep purr as his hand on Charles' back pulled him closer and the other cupped Charles' head, talons gently carding through Charles' hair.

After a few moments of silence, Charles licked water off his lips, and with a voice just loud enough to be heard over the water, he said, "I'm confused and scared. I just don't want to lose you."

Ares hummed but his purr didn't stop. "You'll only lose me if I die."

"Then you can never die," Charles said, as a matter of fact, rubbing his face against Ares' chest and tightening his grip around his waist.

Huffing, Ares gently scratched Charles' scalp. "I don't plan to."

"Good. Then the rest … we'll keep working to figure it out." He turned his face and pressed his lips to the sharp divide of Ares' keel before pressing his cheek back against the flat side.

"No more 'I'm fine,'" Ares said.

Letting out a soft scoff, Charles said, "You either."

"I … will try."

Charles tightened his grip a little more, nuzzling against Ares. "Then so will I."

Ares hummed for a moment before laying both hands on Charles' back. "Sometimes I don't need to talk. I need … your presence, but not talking."

Charles thought about it for a little bit, the fight they got into back at the hotel starting to make a little more sense to him. "Okay … but … I may not always just know. Maybe you can let me know. If you don't want to say it, then find some way to show me instead?"

"I'll try," Ares said again.

Charles gave him a soft chuckle. "Thank you." He let the silence sit between them for a few seconds before licking his lips again and saying, "Ares … I don't feel like you like me all too much. Tell me what you like about me?"

Rumbling, Ares ran the curve of his talons along Charles' spine before doing it again. "I can talk to you. It's … easy. I don't know why, but I want to. I did when we first met …."

Charles sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment. It wasn't much, but it was something. Something to cling to and tell himself when things felt dark. He repeated Ares' words over and over again in his head, committing them to memory. "Thank you." He shifted his arms enough to press his hands flat against Ares' back, brushing his thumbs back and forth across his wet hide.

"I can't offer much else. Physical comfort can come from anywhere if you look hard enough … it doesn't mean all that much … but I can show you 'me.' Not even she knows everything I've told you, let you in on," Ares said, shifting his hands to rub his fingers into the tight muscles along Charles' shoulders.

Wincing, Charles let out a sharp hiss before biting it off, the sudden, unexpected pain lighting up his brain like fireworks. He let out a soft groan as his muscles started to relax despite seeming to protest the treatment, hurting in the way that also somehow always felt good during a massage. "I like her. Wasn't sure at first … but she's pretty cool. She seems to care about you."

Ares rumbled. "Assassins caring for one another tends to cause trouble … but she's different from what I'd have expected."

Curious, Charles pulled back enough to look up at Ares, eyebrows dipping a little. "How so?"

"She has a kind of ethical code. It's stronger than most," Ares said, humming as he flicked his mandibles and looked off to the side in thought. "And she trusts more than most. She'd probably deny that, but she opens up faster than she probably should."

Charles chuckled, laying his face back against Ares' chest. "I figured it's just because she trusts you that she opened up at all to me." He sighed. "Either way, I like knowing that I know you better than she does. That you trust me more and feel like you can talk to me more."

Ares huffed, shifting his hands to another sore spot. "She has a way of pissing me off. Tends to tamper any sign of trust at the time."

Voice soft, Charles said, "Seems I have a way of pissing you off, too."

"You didn't point out my scars like I don't fucking know what my own face looks like or shoot me in the back," Ares said, digging his fingers into the sore muscle a bit harder, almost as if he were scolding Charles.

Charles arched his back a little against the pain, letting out a soft chuckle, the shock to his system brought on by the rougher treatment starting to stir arousal in him. "What'd she say about your scars?" he asked, suddenly not quite as sure about Jasmine as he felt a second before.

"Something about my scars not making me approachable and that my hood wasn't helping any with covering them," Ares said, scoffing. "As if I didn't know that."

Charles huffed. "Bitch."

Ares took a deep breath, his hands going still for a moment. "I have come to realize she doesn't have a filter. She acts and speaks before thinking." He hummed and shook his head once. "She's going to get herself killed one day."

Considering it for a moment, Charles hummed. "I guess I can't hate her too much for not having a filter. Mine's got more than a few gaping holes in it. But still," he said, furrowing his brow, "it's a fucked up thing to say."

Ares rumbled in agreement. "I say she's going to get herself killed one day because that was almost the day."

"What stopped you?" Charles lifted an eyebrow but kept his face pressed against Ares' keel.

"Because …." Ares became quiet and still a moment. "I was tired of being a lone assassin. I wanted to know someone who could understand as another trained killer could."

Charles winced a little. "I'm sorry I don't. I want to. I wish I did."

Ares shrugged. "This was even before Shanxi, so you didn't even know about it then."

Confused, Charles looked up at him again, brows furrowed. "Know about what?"

Ares stepped back to look down at Charles. "Had you killed before Shanxi?"

"No." He shook his head.

"Then, it all was before you knew what it was like to kill someone, to track them down, set out a plan, and kill them." Ares rumbled and tapped a talon between Charles' brows. "You didn't have that urge yet."

Charles licked his lips. "The beast." He hesitated a moment, wondering if Ares thought him insane for naming the urge he talked about as if it were something separate from himself. A lot of the time, it didn't feel like the beast was him, not really. "It's always been there, it just wasn't so strong until I fed it."

"Right, you didn't have that hunger at the time I spoke with Jasmine." Ares hummed and dropped his hands back to Charles' shoulders to start massaging once more.

Charles nodded and licked his lips again. "Did you forgive her?"

Humming in consideration, Ares relaxed his grip. "I remember, I'll never forget it … but I have given her a chance to redeem herself."

"And then she shot you." Charles' brow furrowed again.

"And then she shot me," Ares repeated. "At that time, I knew it wouldn't be worth it to kill her because she's an idiot. She can't help it."

Charles chuckled. "Is that what keeps you from killing me?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Yes. And I've grown quite amused by it," Ares deadpanned.

Charles grinned, sliding his hands to Ares' hips and gave him a gentle squeeze. "She swears she meant it as a joke."

Ares chuffed. "Then it's good she doesn't have a career in comedy."

Charles let out a bark of laughter, echoing off the shower walls before he cut it off abruptly, knowing it'd be too loud for Ares. "You should tell her the next time you see her."

Ares hummed. "I'm sure I'll have reason to, knowing her."

Letting his gaze roam over Ares for a second, his smile slowly faded. "She said something to me the other day … she said when an assassin lets themselves have a relationship, it's built on a foundation of fear."

"She's right," Ares said as if it were really just that simple.

Fighting the urge to frown, Charles shook his head. "I don't like that."

"You're not supposed to," Ares said, humming as he drummed his talons on Charles' skin. "I learned it in Blackwatch and haven't forgotten it. There's always that fear that someone, sometime, will find out about you, the you that isn't an assassin." He let out a long breath. "It happened with my family. I don't let them know what really happened because of fear of what would happen to them. It was something we were trained to acknowledge and come to terms with, overcoming that fear by doing all we could to prevent it. Sometimes that led to people depersonalizing … like I did. Besides my family—which I couldn't control—it was only me. No lovers, no children … nothing."

"You're all I have left … I don't know what I'll do if something happens to you. How will I even know? You go away for days, weeks even … and you can't always call." Charles scraped his teeth over his lip. "She said you'll probably never want to take me with you, no matter how good I get, because you'll be afraid and worried about me getting hurt."

"I can't tell you what I'll do in the future, but now, I won't take you. When you do get to that point, then ask me again." Ares rumbled and flicked his mandibles. "And, since Shanxi, I've set up a program on my omni-tool. As soon as it reads my vitals flatline, it sets in motion things for you, one of which is letting you know through message."

Charles swallowed against the knot in his throat and leaned his forehead back against Ares' keel, looking down at his feet. "It'll destroy me," he said, his voice flat but sure, stating the most obvious of facts.

Thrumming, Ares put his hands flat on Charles' back, one sliding up to cup the back of his head. "I know … but not doing this will destroy me. I can't stop just as much as you can't."

"I'd never ask you to. Don't want you to. I just want to be with you." He sucked in a deep breath. "But I also don't want to be the thing fucking you up on a job and getting you killed."

Ares hummed, vibrating against Charles through his keel. "Even if I took you to the destination, the planet, colony, or space station that my contract leads me, you wouldn't be there when I kill my target. And you'd be living just as we did on Shanxi. You wouldn't have a home … friends."

"You are my home. I care about Cammus … but nowhere near as much as I do you." Charles took a shuddering breath, feeling like he'd pushed the topic and his luck enough for the time being. "We should get out of here if we're going to the arena. And, Eezo probably found a way up to the bar and ate the rest of my breakfast."

Rumbling, Ares stepped away from Charles and shut off the water. "So long as she didn't eat the plate or fork, I don't care."

"I do, it was good, and it was mine. Plus, bacon." Charles glanced up, a soft smirk crossing his lips before he stepped out of the shower.

"Just make some more bacon," Ares said as if the solution was obvious.

"Nope." He grabbed Ares a couple of towels and passed them over before getting one for himself. "I'll just eat her instead."

Ares snorted and ran the towel over his crest and head a few times. "I don't know how to cook dog."

Charles chuckled. "I'm sure we can find a recipe somewhere, or I can just eat her raw. It won't kill me. Probably."

"Humans are strange about raw foods. You eat some things raw and some make you sick." Ares shrugged as he tossed the wet towel in the hamper. "I'll never understand it."

Huffing, Charles said, "The meat isn't what makes us sick, it's the parasites, bacteria, and viruses some animals carry. Cooking them kills off the other shit."

Ares made a buzzing sound. "That sounds disgusting."

"And yet," Charles said, glancing over his shoulder at the turian, "you eat most of your meat raw, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and all."

"Ours must not be strong enough to kill us … although, who knows, maybe humans are just weak," Ares added with a smirk toward Charles.

"Earth's evolution at its finest." Charles winked before rubbing the towel over his head and tossing it in the hamper. He felt far more relaxed than when he climbed into the shower with Ares, but he wasn't sure how much of it came from Ares working over his tight muscles and how much came from getting crap off his chest in a way that didn't seem to push Ares away.