Chapter 10 - Days Gone

Garrus
June 12th, 2187

I stretched as I stood up from my desk, planting my fists into my lower back, pushing against it until it cracked, causing me to elicit a sigh of relief. I walked over to the window, looking out over the city. Cipritine was far from rebuilt, but the scars of the war were fading, slowly but surely.

The Reaper remains scattered around the planet had been collected, and most had been dragged to space, with one capital ship being moved to the Great Eastern Desert for study. The units the geth had sent had been invaluable for this task, being completely tireless workers who had no risk of being indoctrinated if the Reapers could still do that. They also allowed the races to study the remains, again, without the risk of indoctrination.

Five months ago, a treaty had been signed by all the races, other than the batarians, who no one had heard from since the Reapers invaded, banning the study of all Reaper technologies outside of designated areas, one of which was in the aforementioned desert.

My office was situated on the top floor of the newly rebuilt Hierarchy Capitol building, a fifty-five-story skyscraper in the city's center. I had to admit, the view from the window was something to behold, and being the only occupant on the floor, it was unobstructed on all sides, allowing me to see the many skyscrapers being rebuilt.

Soft light from Trebia poked through the thick cloud cover of the overcast evening, illuminating the half-completed buildings, casting bold shadows across Cipritine.

I turned from the window, walked to my desk, locked my terminal, and left the office. "Goodnight, Sentia," I say to my assistant as I click the button on the elevator.

"Goodnight, Sir." She replied, starting to pack her belongings as the elevator doors closed between us.

-0-

When I walked through the front door of the house, I was greeted by the sweet smell of talashae steak, making my mouth water. I ventured further into the kitchen to see Amelia prodding a blue-hued steak sitting on the grill. I couldn't decide which of the two I wanted more; on the one hand, I was very hungry, but on the other, she only wore a pair of hip-hugging panties and an oversized purple University of Mindoir sweatshirt with white lettering.

Amelia turned when she heard the rumble, walking over and giving me a kiss, having to stand on her tippy-toes to reach the half-meter in height difference. "Hey, how was your day?" She greeted in fluent turian, no longer requiring the use of her translator, resting her forehead on his.

About five months ago, she had gone to see Chakwas about an ear implant that would allow her to hear the higher pitch turian subharmonics, a fact that had gotten me into trouble more than once, and had learned Hierarchy common, allowing her to deactivate her translator.

She'd also taken up cooking in that time, apparently a passion from her younger years, but lost to time while she was in the navy. That surprised me; since I'd met her, her idea of gourmet cuisine was whatever Gardner had served that day, or a box of protein bars, depending on her mood.

"Long, but it's better now," I said between kisses, grinning down at the short human I couldn't imagine living without.

"Good." She smiled, "Go get changed; dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes." She broke away from my hold, turning her attention back to the steaks, wiggling her butt at me as she moved away. Damn, she was a temptress.

-0-

To say I was impressed with dinner would be putting it lightly. The steak was perfectly cooked, melting in my mouth with each bite. Amelia sat across from me, cutting into her steak and a side of yellow goop that she called mashed potatoes. It didn't look appetizing to me, but she seemed to enjoy it, so I couldn't say anything.

"When are you leaving tomorrow?" I asked, unfortunately having to work and therefore not being able to see her off on her trip.

"Early afternoon. Should be back on Earth in two days." She answered after swallowing her last bite.

I stood from my chair, gathering the dishes from the table and sticking them into the sanitizer. "Well, say hi to everyone for me." Amelia was, of course, going to see the crew of the Normandy while she was there, but that wasn't her purpose for going; she was going to collect the last few items for their wedding, which was in just over a month.

When I turned, Amelia was standing right behind me with a lopsided smirk on her face. She spun me around, her sweatshirt sleeve-covered hands tickling my waist. The touch sent flutters through my body, and I groaned, causing her smile to widen.

She guided my hands up under the hem of her sweatshirt onto the bare skin below it, making sure they made contact with the impossibly soft, impossibly smooth surface. She guided my hands further, trailing up her waist to her breasts, my thumbs brushing against her nipples, causing shivers to run through her body and into my hands.

She bit the side of her lip, eyes filling with desire as she stared at me, her breath getting ragged as he continued teasing her chest. She released my wrists, moved her hands to latch onto my shoulders, and jumped up to wrap her legs around my sensitive waist. Message received. I moved up the stairs towards our bedroom. Part way up the stairs, she clamped her jaw around the now-familiar bite scar on my right shoulder, goading me to run up the steps three at a time.

I laid her down on the bed and started to remove my clothes. She watched me until I was done, still with a wide smile, biting the edge of her lip seductively. Her eyes roamed my bare body, drinking in the rough, silvered plates as she wiggled out of her panties. Unable to resist any longer, I stalked toward her slowly but was dragged unceremoniously on top of her once I was within arms reach. She was on top of me in a flash, flipped around to where her head was facing my feet, her knees on either side of my cowl, and her entrance hovering seductively a few centimeters above my face. Her fingers began to tease the slit between my legs, and it wasn't long before it parted.

She immediately got to work, one hand wrapped around the base of my cock, her mouth giving light suction to the rest, and her tongue, oh spirits, her tongue, lazily drifted in circles around the tip. I cried out as her free hand snuck back and started gripping hard at my waist. From my perspective, I could see how turned on she was becoming, and I could also see her small but perky breasts jiggling with every small movement from under the hem of her sweatshirt.

Wasting no more time, I wrapped my hands around her muscular thighs and slowly pulled my head up to her apex, leaving small nips on the insides of her legs as I went. By the time I had made it to her opening, her legs were trembling, and she was making soft, breathy sounds. My tongue got to work quickly, tormenting her as she tormented me, running it through her lubricious, velveteen folds.

My mouth dropped away as I neared orgasm, and she finished me off quickly, swallowing everything that came out, throwing a look of pure bliss over her shoulder as she licked a wayward drop of my cum from her chin, giving me that gorgeous, lopsided smile. I buried my face back into her with renewed vigor, her previously soft noises turning into sharp, loud moans as I worked, drawing her ever closer to orgasm.

She came soon after, spilling onto my face as I greedily swallowed all that entered my mouth, savoring the taste as it would be the last time I'd see her for two weeks. My head dropped back onto the pillows, watching as her legs trembled, head still looking back at me over her shoulder, but her eyes were closed, and she was breathing heavily. One of her hands was still wrapped loosely around my cock, deft fingers leaving light, ghosting touches across it.

Amelia

I was in complete nirvana, unable to remember a time when I came so intensely that I couldn't move for a few minutes, catching my breath slowly, still kneeling above Garrus. Once I recovered, I opened my eyes, turning back to look at him. He had a ridiculous grin on his face, covered in my cum, leaving the plates around his mouth sheening in the soft dual lights of Manae and Nanus. God, I loved that man.

I rolled off of him, shifting around to face in the same direction before snuggling myself into his chest and drifting off to sleep with his arms wrapped around me.

-0-

June 13th, 2187

I flopped onto the bed immediately upon exiting the shower, exhausted from the intense workout I'd performed in the gym on the private transport back to Earth, my wet hair spread haphazardly around the pillow.

Something about human beds just felt so uncomfortable to me after sleeping in a turian bed for over six months. Even the ones advertised to be soft, like the one in my cabin now, felt like a military cot. That, and they just felt empty without the rumbling hot water bottle that my fiancé happened to be.

I longed to be near him, even though it had scarcely been a day since I had left Palaven, so I rolled over to the edge of the bed and reached into my duffel bag, grabbing ahold of the University of Mindoir sweatshirt I wore the night before, pulling it to my face and taking a deep breath. It smelled like him. It smelled like home.

'Get it together, Ame...', I scolded myself, 'It's been a day!'

Breaking out of my melancholy, I got up from the bed and went to the window, looking into the endless black expanse. Just standing here now reminded me of my cabin on the Normandy. I spent countless hours staring out of the window above my bed. Space always had a calming factor for me, making me more grounded, as ironic as it sounded.

After calming down for a few minutes, I climbed back into the bed, dragging the covers over myself, drifting off to sleep.

-0-

June 15th, 2187

"Hey, Lola!" I heard a call behind me as I disembarked in Vancouver, the sun setting over my left shoulder. I turned, smiling when I saw the source, the absurdly large human was very hard to miss.

"James!" I yelled enthusiastically, closing the distance to where he was leaning against his aircar, looking very aloof. I shrugged my bag back onto my shoulder before offering a hand to the man. James ignored it and wrapped me in a rib-creakingly tight hug.

"Glad to see you're ok, Lola. Sorry we missed you before you left for Palaven."

"S'ok, James, just glad I get to see you guys now," I said with a smile, throwing my bag in the now open trunk.

"So…" James said, climbing into the driver's seat as I opened the passenger's door, "You finally get bored of Scars?"

"Not on your life, Vega." I replied with a chuckle. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, you see, Lucky said we should kidnap you as you left the spaceport, but I told him I like my head where it is, so we're just going to Barrack 31." Barrack 31 was a bar in downtown Vancouver, well known among Alliance soldiers for offering cheap drinks and even worse music. In other words, the perfect shore leave.

"Heh," I laughed, "Smart man."

Vega flew down the designated lane towards downtown with the windows rolled down, allowing the wind to blow through the car, silencing a little of the reggaetón playing from the speakers. I stuck my hand out the window, making a wave motion with my hand, mindlessly letting the wind take it up and down.

-0-

When I entered the bar, I was surprised to see how full it was. James led me to the table deep in the bar, brushing past patrons, military and civilian alike, with a polite nod, to where the crew of the Normandy was sitting in various states of inebriation.

"SHEPARD!" They all cheered as she joined the fray, the closer ones clapping her shoulders.

I laughed, "Hey guys!" I paused, shouting as loud as she could, "Who's like us?!"

The entire table saluted before shouting back, "Damn few!" From somewhere in the group, a cold mug of beer was thrust into my hand, sloshing some of its foamy contents on my arm, the table, and the floor below. I tipped it back, chugging the entire mug amid raucous cheers from the table, "CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG!" Slamming it down on the table when drained, I let out a loud burp, again met by more cacophonous cheering.

As the night progressed, the drinks flowed, inhibitions slipped, and fun was had. It felt good to be around my crewmates again, the camaraderie easily flowing, and with the gentle plying of alcohol, it felt like no time had passed.

After a few drinks, Traynor noticed the ring on my left hand, gleaming in the soft neon light. "OHHHHH! Shepard! You didn't tell us!" She tried to sound hurt, lightly slapping me across the shoulder, but she was just too drunk, unable to match the soldiers around her shot for shot.

I just looked at the woman, still fairly sober comparatively, and chuckled, "I thought the blue paint on my face would make it pretty clear, Sam…."

"Oh…" Traynor said, a little disheartened, but she hiccuped and started to giggle, quickly bringing back her bubbly personality.

-0-

After another drink, the table cycled around until I was next to Donnelly, locked in a heated debate over some engineering task, words slurred by the alcohol and his thick Scottish accent. "Aam tellin' ye Gabby, those cooplings belang oan mode tae, nae mode yin!"

"Kenneth! You're an idiot. Mode two would end up with the drive exploding!" Daniels argued back, nursing what appeared to be her first drink.

I slung an arm around each of their necks, pulling them closer together, "Ugh… guys, just go on a date already."

The look on Gabby's face was priceless, her eyes opening wide at the implication, and Kenneth dumbfoundedly said, "Whit?"

"Yeah, everyone knows you two like each other. If this-" I laughed, pointing a finger at my clan markings, "-was obvious to everyone, you two were next on the list." I looked over at Vega, "How big was the pool for these two?"

Vega laughed, "Ha! You knew about that? It was twenty thousand credits last I saw."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm friends with the Shadow Broker… Of course, I knew about it." I stifled a laugh by taking a sip of my beer, "Aaaaand I might've put a few thousand credits in the pot…."

I turned my attention back to the pair of engineers, who sat staring at me, jaws agape; Gabby's face flushed just at the thought, "One thing I learned about all this is don't give up your chance of happiness. That, and don't make someone wait years to hear that you love them."

Kenneth, completely shocked, asked Gabby, "Twintie thoosain credits? Thay poot twintie thoosain credits oan us dating?"

Ashley walked over, throwing an arm around Vega's shoulders as best she could, "Heh… Twenty thousand isn't much. You should've seen how much was on her and Garrus…."

I spluttered; now it was my turn to go red-faced, "Wait, what? How much was it? And why didn't I get a cut…?"

"Half a million," Ashley answered coolly. Her face was devoid of emotion, but I could see the woman's dark brown eyes swimming with mischief.

"WHAT?" I yelled, sloshing my beer on the floor, "I can't believe this..." I muttered, setting down the pint glass and activating my omnitool, placing a call to Garrus. He had to hear about this.

The turian in question appeared on the aerogel screen floating lightly above my arm. "Hey, everything alright? What's up?" He was sitting in his office, cocking a brow plate at me once he noticed I was a bit drunk.

"Did you know there was a pot for how long it'd take us to hook up?" I asked exasperatedly, almost whining.

Garrus's mandibles flared, and he made an amused rumbling noise that only I could hear, judging by the lack of reactions from everyone else. After a moment, he spoke, "I didn't know, but I can't say I'm surprised. I mean, we had one for Ken and Gabby-"

"Mah God…" Kenneth said from the background, resting his face in his hands, trying and failing to hide his embarrassment.

"-Anyways, how much was it?"

"...Half a million credits…."

Garrus choked, morphing it into a cough, putting one fist in front of his mouth. After recovering, he asked, "Who won it…?"

I looked up at the group, "Uh…."

Ashley, now sitting on James's lap with an arm around the Hispanic man's neck, finally a smile cracking through her otherwise neutral face, "Joker."