Chapter 31: Stirred

Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to BioWare.

Author's Note: This story does not necessarily follow any particular timeline and may not be considered chronologically accurate.

Warning: this chapter contains content which may be considered sexually graphic by some readers. The beginning and the end of the associated section are marked with "*CAUTION*" and "*END*", respectively.

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Unable to sleep another wink in his strange new surroundings, Vadix sat on his bunk in the dim lights of the crew's quarters on the Normandy, watching Cassana sleep from across the narrow aisle between their bunks; he was fascinated. She lay on her stomach, one arm extended to the corner of the mattress, the other curled up beneath the pillow, raising her neck in what looked like an uncomfortable angle. The thin sheet draped over her back had slipped down, thanks to her attempts at getting comfortable on the Alliance standard-issue "bed". One knee peeked out from under the covers off the side of the bedframe—she was clearly used to more space at night.

It was the first time he'd seen her so exposed with such clarity, he realized, thinking back to their encounter in her bathroom.

In her waking hours Cassana was fiery and exuberant and untamable, often irritating in her unceasing insight and relentless questions. In slumber she was calm and quaint and peaceful, appearing almost helpless yet in need of nothing. The only thing in common between her conscious and unconscious states was that Vadix had never met anyone like her. Curiosity was the only reason he was so intrigued by her—or so he told himself.

It had nothing to do with attraction to her specifically.

He knew he was nearing the age when he should settle down and start a family of his own. He knew it was what his parents wanted, and he detested the idea of disappointing his parents yet again. In an attempt to appease them, he had previously tried interacting with other turians, particularly women he knew would earn the parental stamp of approval. Yet, even if one of them had gotten over the stigma of Vadix being "barefaced", he felt zero inclination to pursue any sort of friendship, let alone a relationship, with any of them. Even Juvelea, despite her apparent willingness to overlook the shame written across his face, didn't appeal to him in the same way. Never had he met a person Vadix wanted to know better, in all the ways no one truly knew him.

Until now.

Until Cassana.

She alone was warm and inviting and enticing, yet pushed and prodded and pulled him to be and do more. She alone harbored no judgment or prejudice or discrimination against him because of his parentage—or lack thereof—yet, despite not being an insider to his culture, seemed to understand his constant internal conflict between honoring his unknown biological parents and his loving adoptive parents. She alone seemed to know when something was weighing on his mind, yet also knew when not to ask about it. She was brilliant in every sense of the word.

But she was human.

And, thinking purely in hypotheticals, Vadix wouldn't even know how to begin courting a human; he could barely interact with his own species. Each of his conversations with Cassana had resulted in sparks flying, and he still couldn't decide if they were good sparks or bad sparks.

At first, they had clashed like a volus and exercise—bad news for anyone in the vicinity—but the more they interacted the more he was reminded of biotics: unseen forces creating a gravitational pull impossible to resist.

A movement caught Vadix' attention, drawing him out from this ponderous daze. In her sleep, Cassana had rolled away from the edge of the bed and onto her side. His breath stuck in his throat while his mandibles trembled, either from excitement or horror he wasn't sure: the sexy, infuriating woman's bare chest was on full display for anyone dumb—or perhaps lucky—enough to be awake at this hour. He looked away quickly, feeling like an intruding voyeur, yearning to sketch her in repose.

Shameless, he thought, intending to reprimand her after she awoke. But then another thought stopped him. Or maybe this is normal behavior for a human, he speculated. The majority of his human coworkers at C-Sec had been male, but they seemed completely at ease with being nude from the waist up even while in company.

Regardless, a counterthought appeared, testament to and yet at odds with his own modest values: At least she's facing me—and I'm the last bunk on the row so no one else will see her state of undress.

I don't have to share her.

He couldn't keep his eyes from wandering back to the even rise and fall of her breathing.

He could only wonder and compare. Of course Vadix was familiar with his own naked body after having lived in it for so long. Like all turians, he was hardened, cool, and unforgiving to the touch. There was almost no difference between his armored and his nude forms, except that one was thicker than the other—still Vadix never disrobed at all unless he was entirely alone. Generally speaking, it was difficult to discern between the silhouette of a male turian and a female; aside from the headcrest, there was no noticeable difference. During his time at boot camp prior to earning full citizenship, Vadix had seen plenty of bare turians exposed in the locker rooms but not once had he felt any sort of sexual desire toward either gender of his own species—he had always assumed he was simply too young for such interests. Then, as he had matured, he had been too focused on his education and training to care much for interpersonal relationships.

But now, as his eyes traced Cassana's soft human curves sloping in and out of the sheets, for the first time he understood the "why" behind all the hushed conversations he had overheard but never been privy to: she was breathtaking.

In contrast to himself, she was attractive, alluring, and appealing. Although he was not at all familiar with human anatomy, he felt certain that Cassana was a specimen of perfection. She looked good enough to eat, protein differences be damned. "Spirits," he exhaled, suddenly remembering to breathe.

Across from him, her eyelids fluttered open. "Vadix?" she murmured blearily.

He snapped his jaw shut as quietly as he could. "Mm?" he managed.

"Did you say something? I thought I heard your voice." She closed her eyes again.

She's barely awake, Vadix chuckled to himself. She won't even remember this conversation happening. "Oh, nothing, Cassana. I was just admiring the view," he gestured to her own inert form.

Glancing sleepily down at herself, a smile languished across her lips. "I'm glad you like it," she whispered. "You know, I was secretly hoping you would—but don't tell Vadix," she added surreptitiously.

Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, hands clasped in the space between them, Vadix felt his subvocals purring. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She can never know my side of this secret, he vowed.

Blinking her eyes open once more, she stretched her arm to grasp his talons in her hand. "Y'wanna know another secret?" the words came slurring out of her mouth.

His mouth was too dry to answer so he nodded his head, hoping her eyes were open long enough to see the motion.

Cassana drew his arm back toward herself and yawned, "I'd prefer it if you didn't just see the sights, but also experienced them." With the last of her waking-sleep energy, she dropped his hand on her hip as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

Frozen in place, Vadix stared at the flesh on which his talons now rested. He dared not move for fear of waking her from this fantastical trance. Spirits, please don't let me be dreaming, he prayed.

His arm was just long enough to reach her from his sitting position across the aisle, but the stretch would soon begin to strain his muscles. Glancing around the room and at a clock, his desires battled with his realism.

What if someone caught him?

But what if he never got to touch her again? When she woke up, she probably wouldn't let him touch her again unless they were sparring—and they couldn't very well do that in their birthday suits.

What the hell, he decided, moving off his bedframe to kneel in front of hers.

Suddenly he heard his mother's voice in his mind, from years ago, teaching him proper behavioral etiquette. He paused, thinking over what exactly he was doing. Vadix knew he could never take advantage of another creature—his mother would skin him alive if he so much as thought about it—and he began to draw back.

Then he stopped again. She told me she wanted me to touch her, he argued with himself. But was that really Cassana talking, or was it just the sleep?

His eyes roved up her body until he was gazing into her relaxed face. Removing his talons from her hip, he laid them gently on her cheek.

And then she smiled.

The sight took his breath away.

Ever so gently, he caressed her lower lip with the pad of his thumb. She sighed contentedly in her sleep, his own subvocals agreeing with the sentiment. Slowly he began to explore the smooth contours of her skin, basking in the sensation of her. He followed the profile of her nose, remembering the times she'd turned it up at him. He rubbed the end of her ear, earning him another sigh. He stroked the length of her neck, feeling the steady pulse beneath the surface.

*CAUTION*

Resuming his descent, he trailed his fingers across her collarbone then rounded her shoulder to clasp his talons around her upper arm, where he paused. Vadix knew from seeing his human coworkers—ex-coworkers—that Cassana had been healthy but not particularly muscular. However, after less than a week of training and conditioning, her body was already more toned. Vadix had admired her dedication, and now he could admire close up the physical results of her hard work.

When she had dozed off again, Cassana's arm had fallen to rest in front of her, framing her neck and face. As Vadix continued his discovery of her body, his eyes fell on her breasts, peeping out from under her arm. Catching a glimpse of her naked chest when she first rolled over, he had been mesmerized by the small pink circles that had greeted him—what a strange species! Now, since her then-perky sentinels were concealed beneath her bicep, he settled with petting the entrancing roundness not hidden from his view. Someday, he thought to her mystifying anatomy, I will have the honor of making your acquaintance.

Leaving one hand to keep her chest company, he moved his other down her midsection. Everywhere he went, her skin was like velvet to his touch. Reaching her thinnest point, he paused again, perplexed this time. How does she manage with such an unsupportive waist? Vadix was positively flabbergasted.

No matter. It's clear she manages very well, even spectacularly.

*END*

His talons continued their journey down her side and finally met the edge of the bedsheet.

Again, he could almost feel his mother's "proper behavior" lectures resounding in his skull.

Cassana was just so tantalizing.

A morning alarm went off next to the first bunk by the door and Vadix nearly jumped out of his skin, landing on his ass next to the bedframe he should've been occupying all night. Massaging the sore spot, he inwardly cursed himself for not getting enough sleep.

"Vadix?" Cassana asked just as sleepily as the last time, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What are you doing on the floor?"

He laughed nervously, "Guess that alarm just scared me out of bed."

She nodded, groggy, seeming to accept his lame excuse. She sat up and stretched; Vadix felt his eyes nearly pop out of his skull. Damn, but that was glorious.

"You know, I hardly ever remember my dreams, but I had the best one last night—and you were in it!" she grinned, shaking her head as she rose from the mattress. His heart nearly stopped, before she continued. "Think you'll fall out of bed every morning?" she teased, already falling into her normal banter as she bent to retrieve clothes for the day.

Vadix, still reeling with delight from all the new angles she presented to him, managed to grunt, "Nah, I think I could get used to this."

"Good," she intoned as she pulled on a jumpsuit over her naked body. Then, seeing him rubbing his joints that took the brunt of his fall, the human offered, "I've got something that might help. With the bruising I mean."

Slowly he turned to look at her, his mind still lost in lustful thoughts. "What do you mean?" Vadix managed.

With a smile, she answered by rummaging in her small bag, clearly looking for something. Her mysterious non-answer was intriguing enough to draw the turian's full attention.

He was rewarded with a tube of something, extended toward him by Cassana. "It's a topical cream," she explained. "It's supposedly safe for all species, regardless of protein differences. I remember wondering when I bought it how that could be true." She shrugged, pausing her sentences. "Still don't know how, but now you can give it a shot."

Gingerly, Vadix accepted the offering. "Thanks," he said, feeling unsure about using the foreign substance on his carapace. "But I'm not that sore," he tried to convince her.

But the woman simply waved a hand, her half-zipped uniform flopping against her chest. "Nonsense," she commanded. "In my experience bruises always hurt less right after the moment of injury anyway. Just try it." Her insistence was somewhat irritating, but the turian supposed she was only trying to help.

"Very well," he mumbled, if only to get her to leave him alone.

Cassana continued to watch him, clearly interested in the outcome of this little experiment.

Her scrutiny made him very uncomfortable.

Clearing his throat, the turian asked, "You going to turn around?"

Brow scrunching together, she responded with a question of her own, "Whatever for?"

The man took a deep breath, feeling as though he were explaining to a fledgling. "I can't very well slather this on my clothing, now can I?"

"Well, you could," her mouth quirked in reply. "But that wouldn't be very helpful."

Vadix felt his mandibles pull in tight against his face, knowing his annoyance was now blatantly written across his face. "I can't undress with you watching me," he ground out.

Now one eyebrow jumped in surprise. The human seemed, for once, lost for words. Finally she nodded and turned around, finishing with her own clothing. "Don't just pretend to put it on. I'll know if you don't," she threatened without looking at him.

Scowling, and in what little privacy existed in the back corner of the bunk bay, Vadix squirted a small amount of the clear gel into his palm and rubbed it directly on his rear plates. He didn't have to remove any clothing, but he still didn't want an audience for this particular endeavor.

Ironic, given his own earlier observation of Cassana's nudity.

He felt his subvocals murmur with embarrassment. If this wasn't a double standard, well, he really had nothing to complain about right now.

"Okay," the turian grumbled, still feeling slightly chagrined as he handed the bottle back to her. "Thanks."

"Sure th—" Cassana stopped midword.

It was so unlike her. "What's wrong?" he asked, certain the dread in her face was somehow on his behalf.

"Shit," was her breathy response.

Then she grabbed him by the talons and dragged him past all of their new roommates and out the door.