After Horizon

A faint noise wakes me.  I open my eyes and see Garrus, standing in front of the display case, examining my model ships.  He’s still naked.  I enjoy the view—I wasn’t kidding when I told him he was hot.  His body is all sharp edges and bones like poured titanium, wrapped with lean, corded muscles.  I close my eyes briefly and remember the feel of that body against mine, his warmth, the alien angles, the coiled strength.  He moves with that grace I’ve always admired, turning to examine the other items around my desk.

I kick off the sheets that I’m tangled in and he looks up.  “How are you feeling?” he asks. 

“I’m fine,” I say.  “You know I heal fast these days.”

“Yes,” he says.  “That’s lucky.”

I walk up the steps to stand beside him.  He’s seen the picture frame at the far end of the desk.  He glances at me, as if asking permission.  I shrug.

He moves towards it, and the image flickers on.  Garrus stares at himself.  It’s him, in his C-Sec armor, on the Presidium.  The day we first met on the Citadel.

The image dissolves.  Now it’s a closeup of Garrus sighting down his scope, his expression intent, predatory.  I don’t remember what he was aiming at, but the surroundings could be one of a hundred interchangeable prefab modules, probably a merc base.

The image shifts again.  Garrus on Therum, the barrel of his sniper rifle smoking, leaning against a hulk of twisted white metal. 

“Our first geth colossus,” I say. 

He turns.  “Where did you get all these pictures?”

I shrug.  “Had them in a backup data store.  I uploaded them there, whenever we were in range of a comm buoy.  A personal account.  It wasn’t hard to get access back, once I could prove I wasn’t dead.”

He seems stunned.  I add hastily, “They weren’t all of you.  There were plenty of others of the ground team, the flight crew.  And pictures of places, things.” 

“I remember that colossus,” he says.  “I remember Wrex charging it, that maniac.  And the two of us,  shoulder to shoulder, matching each other shot for shot, trying to take it down before it fried him.”  He shakes his head.  “That colossus was the biggest, baddest thing I’d ever come up against, up till then.  How many more of them have we killed since?  Hell, how many worse things have we killed since?  I’ve lost count.“  He glances at me.  “Shut up.”

I bite my tongue and listen.

“I looked up to you, you know.  You were everything I wished I could be.  A leader.  A hero.  Spirits, a real live Spectre.”  He chuckles.  “And a pretty good sniper.  For a human.   I was… privileged to have your friendship.  I would never have imagined we could ever be— ” He stops.

“Equals?” I suggest.  “Lovers?”

“John,” he says quietly.  His voice is strained, trying to control his emotion.  “Didn’t you use to have something else in that frame?”

I understand what he’s asking.  “Yes,” I say.  “That changed, after Horizon.  When I realized how I felt about you.”

He faces me, rests his forehead against mine.  I slide my arms around him and pull him closer.  God, he feels so damn good. 

“I really can’t visualize it,” he muses. “You, uh, submitting to Kaidan.”

I choke back a laugh.  “No,” I say.  “We didn’t have that sort of relationship.”

“So then it’s possible for you to be in a relationship that doesn’t involve you bleeding?”

I slam him violently against the wall and sink my teeth into his throat.  He gasps.  I look quickly into his eyes, but I don’t see anything there now but growing lust.  I feel a grin spreading over my face.  “I’m very versatile,” I tell him, as my hand closes around his cock and he groans.  “Just so you know.”

- END -