Chapter 45: Sparked

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.

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Cassana has been acting so strangely, Vadix thought as he left the conference room. The awkwardness between them seemed to ebb and flow, usually because of something one of them did. Most recently it was that moment on Tuchanka.

What had that been about anyway?

The woman had walked out into no-man's land like she'd been brainwashed. It was completely reckless, risky, stupid even.

And then that viper had nearly bitten her!

Prior to that day, the turian had never heard of a tarcfid but when Ashley had launched into an explanation about the most dangerous aspects of the planet—aside from the warring krogan—Vadix had paid strict attention. The thought to communicate any of that to his partner had never crossed his mind; he had assumed she would also be concerned about potentially lethal wildlife.

Apparently, he had been mistaken.

Lucky for them, at least one trainee had been attentive. Immediately after the human had darted away, Vadix began mentally running through the list of animals from the marine's earlier lecture: the poisonous tarcfid, the hefty keenra, and the carnivorous lileec. If she was going to be approached by any beast, he hoped it was one of these—because then he would recognize it and have no qualms about taking the creature's life in order to protect his partner's. If it was something else, well, he'd shoot first and ask questions second.

Watching her through his scope, the man had noticed movement near the horizon—going toward Cassana. When the blurred motion morphed into a dull yellow hide, he had put the pieces together and leapt into action without thinking.

The snake-like creature scurried close to the ground on two stubby legs toward its unsuspecting victim, its forked tail whipping behind it, moving faster than Vadix would have expected from something that looked so asymmetrical.

Standing where she was—frozen, like she'd seen a ghost—Cassana's body had partially obscured his viewfinder. He didn't want to risk injuring her so, mind numb to any thought other than 'not her', the turian had jumped over the small barrier and dashed at an angle away from the seasoned soldiers and toward his oblivious partner. As he ran, he tried to watch the tawny blur and judge how long until it reached her.

After what felt like an eternity, yet somehow seemed less than a single heartbeat, the man had positioned his rifle atop a rock, whirled to face the alien he'd grown to love, focused his sights, and pulled the trigger.

The tarcfid's feet had already left the ground, lunging for its human prey.

And then it fell back to the ground, less than an arm's length away from Cassana. The echo of the shot pierced both the sound of blood rushing in Vadix's head and the cloud of melancholic longing that engulfed his friend, resulting in a reactionary shriek from her.

He barely registered the creature's death before he was dashing again, this time directly toward the redhead, nearly dropping his firearm as he swung it over his back.

Some part of his brain recognized that he was yelling, but it wasn't the part that registered actual words. Whatever he was saying seemed to have no effect on the woman, and his vocal cords decided to stop working.

He'd wanted to shake her.

For ignoring her surroundings. For nearly getting herself killed. For scaring the living spirit out of him.

But before he could touch her, she'd jumped him.

If it had been anyone else, under any other circumstances, Vadix would have reacted the way his body had been trained: using the attacker's momentum to push them to the ground and then incapacitating them.

But this was Cassana.

Which, he was beginning to realize, meant all bets were off.

So, instead, he'd merely gasped as his feet ground to a halt, her lightweight body meeting his own with surprising force.

And then she was licking him.

Licking inside his mouth.

It was not only an unexpected action in the moment, but something he'd never thought to expect in his entire existence. Turians didn't lick each other.

Did they?

Did humans?

What was she doing?

And why did it make him feel so…desirable?

Before Cassana had even begun rubbing his fringe, he'd wanted to succumb to her. In any way. In every way. Whatever way she wanted.

Remembering the moment made his subvocals purr again, wandering slowly back to the training room, alone.

So why had she stopped?

What had it been like for her, until that point?

And why had she apologized?

True, everything about that interaction was well outside his knowledge or experience, but the man thought he'd been responding in an appropriate manner, at least somewhat. But had he inadvertently done something to offend her, something taboo?

No, that wouldn't explain why she had asked him for forgiveness.

It should have been the other way around.

Why did she feel the need to say sorry?

He recalled how pink she had looked, warmed from the planet's sun, eyes wide and clear and pleading. Then he'd looked at her, really looked at her, and Vadix could hear her heart rate increase as he watched her.

It had looked like she wanted him.

Yet she'd just stood there, waiting for him to speak.

What had she been thinking about? What was she expecting?

In his mind there was nothing to forgive, so he readily agreed with her demand, no questions asked.

But perhaps he should have pressed for details then.

Now that some time had passed, and she treated him almost exactly as she had before Tuchanka, he wondered what it all meant.

Did she lick all her coworkers? Was this just some human ritual he knew nothing about?

Maybe this was what all women did to express gratitude in these situations? While it seemed unlikely, the turian knew nothing about the cultural and social norms of other races.

Or was it the outward display of whatever had been going on inside her head before he'd interrupted her reverie by saving her life?

What if he wanted it to mean something more?

How could he get answers to these and so many other questions?

Whatever the reason, as he'd watched her expectant face, seemingly torn between yearning and remorse, he could see she regretted it. Regretted him.

And that realization cut deeper than he would have expected. Harder than he would have liked.

In that moment Vadix knew he was lying to himself: even a pretend relationship wasn't enough to keep him from wanting what he couldn't have.

And he didn't think he could pursue a real relationship with someone else, when he already cared so deeply for this human. Even if he could, it wouldn't be fair to the other person.

So he'd turned his back before she could see the truth—the truth that he wanted her—reflected in his gaze.

No matter what emotions he thought her face had shown, her actions made it clear that the moment they had shared was, to her, a mistake.

Back in the present, arriving at his destination, Vadix looked around the room, searching for something he knew he wouldn't find.

Until he saw the magazines.

He nearly swallowed his tongue.

Cassana could not see those. Especially not the first one. What would she think of him then?

The man gathered them quickly, mentally scrounging up a plan.

"EDI, can you tell me where the waste disposal bags are kept?" he queried the ship while struggling to force the slippery papers into something resembling a neat stack.

She responded immediately, her voice as fluid as ever, as though he weren't asking the most random question of his life. "I'm sorry Vadix, but the Alliance only allows trained and authorized personnel to access the trash compactor. If you have something which needs to be disposed of, I would be happy to direct you to the nearest crew member who can assist you."

His mandibles stilled as he briefly considered the direction that interaction would inevitably take. "No, no, that's alright," Vadix hurried to reassure her. "I'll just deal with it," he muttered to himself as an afterthought.

That meant plan A would have to be scrapped.

If only he had a plan B.

Unfortunately, not only did he not have a back up plan, but he likely didn't have a lot of time either.

He'd just have to hide the infernal things in the bunk room until he could think of some other way to get rid of them.

Ducking out of the training room, the turian scanned the area to check for active observers. Cassana seeing him with these periodicals may be the worst thing that could happen, but being caught by anyone else would surely be disastrous as well.

However, everyone seemed intent on their jobs.

Vadix scurried toward the elevator, slamming the call button more than was strictly necessary.

When it arrived with a loud ping, his heels actually jumped off the floor and he peeked around his shoulders to ensure no one was watching him.

As far as the man could tell, he was making a clean getaway.

Soon enough he was bolting through the ship once more, this time moving from the elevator to the crew's quarters. The room was blessedly empty and Vadix tore across it to his bunk.

Unfortunately, he didn't have extra space in which to store this "gift". Setting them carefully on the flat bedspread, he determined to make some room. The stack shifted threateningly.

Vadix held his talons above them for a moment, willing the papers to remain motionless. When they made no contrary response, he shifted his attention back to the bag he'd packed before leaving the Citadel.

If he stuffed several things under the bedframe, he could probably make the magazines fit. Or else he could simply leave them on the floor and hope no one looked too closely at the hidden materials.

Neither option was particularly appealing.

Then the automatic door whooshed open.

And, although it was situated at the other end of the room, it generated enough force to disturb the stillness of the air.

Which was all the pile of infuriating publications needed to morph into an avalanche.

Vadix winced just before he heard the voice that must belong to the intruder.

"Everything alright back there?"

The accompanying concerned yet polite subvocals told him it was a turian.

Which meant it was the veteran sniper, Garrus Vakarian.

With a sigh, the younger turian shook his head. "Fine, everything's fine," he muttered. Try as he may, his own secondary vocals were not so easily convinced.

The soldier picked up on his wordless distress and walked closer. "Anything I can help with?"

Vadix thought he sounded hesitant, like he was genuinely offering but wasn't sure he would be up to the task, should he be needed.

Did he need help?

He nearly scoffed at the question.

Indubitably, was the answer.

But could the other man provide that help?

His pride answered with an emphatic "No".

His mouth, on the other hand, was less certain.

And was much quicker to react.

"Do all humans lick their coworkers?"

Without turning, Vadix could hear the older turian stop in shock, immobile for a single heartbeat, before his subvocals restarted. They were pitching like solar winds.

It was another heartbeat before Garrus responded.

"I'm not sure the answer is no, but I've never been 'licked' by any human crewmember on this ship," he began slowly. "Did one of them lick you?" Both of his verbal tones were incredulous.

Again Vadix cringed. "Yes," he answered softly.

Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut? he chided himself. He knew that Vakarian didn't like him much to begin with; this conversation wasn't likely to do him any favors in the popularity department.

"Okay," Garrus responded, drawing out the word as he thought. "Under what circumstances?" At least he seemed to be taking the conversation seriously, instead of writing Vadix off as a complete nutjob.

Heaving all the air out of his chest, the recruit sat down heavily on his mattress among the paper debris, staring uncomfortably at the floor. "It was on Tuchanka," Vadix started. Perhaps saying it all aloud would help him make sense of it all.

"We were practicing with the rifles, under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Williams. Cassana had gone out past the barrier, and I noticed something moving toward her. I thought it was one of the planet's native species and ended up shooting it before it could attack. When I got to where she was standing—she still hadn't moved from the spot—she jumped on me and then—" The words stopped, halting his account.

It still felt as though he'd imagined the whole thing.

But then again, he never would have dreamed that Cassana would touch his mouth—with her tongue, of all things.

Shaking his head once more, Vadix finally lifted his eyes to meet the veteran's gaze. "And then she licked me. I know it sounds crazy but…" He trailed off, half dazed with wonder.

Garrus, however, seemed less perplexed after this clearly inadequate explanation. In fact, one mandible dipped out in a half-smile. "Did she lick your mouth plates?"

So swiftly he felt almost light-headed, the younger turian's eyes focused once more, pulling in a sharp breath. Both the deliberate words and the knowing tone caught his attention. "How did you know?"

"Oh, Vadix," Garrus chuckled. "She wasn't licking you. Well, not just licking you, anyway. Cassana was kissing you."