Cat and Mouse

 

Chapter 5: The Morning After the Night Before

 

He awoke to someone rummaging angrily through the nightstand.

“Christ, where did I put it?”

Garrus sat up.

“Shepard,” he groaned. “What are you doing?”

She made a small sound of triumph and held up a jar.

“What is that?”

“It’s for the chafing,” she explained, eagerly unscrewing the lid.

Chafing?

Garrus’ tired brain finally caught up to the present. He looked down at Shepard’s thighs, and unleashed a string of expletives that could make any translator glitch. He grabbed the open jar from her hand, and began heaping it onto her skin.

“Fuck that’s cold,” Shepard protested. Garrus ignored her.

“You’re supposed to rub it in,” she pointed out.

Garrus massaged the ointment into the delicate, red skin of her inner thighs.

She bit her lip and Garrus eased up--afraid he was hurting her.

“God that feels good.”

He worked his palms up her thigh, closer to her center.

Shepard met his eyes, and Garrus pulled his hands away.

“Don’t want to be late for my shift,” he said pointedly.

Shepard rolled her eyes and began applying the cream herself. She was being purposefully seductive as she ran her fingers along her thighs, but Garrus wouldn’t be swayed.

“You planned this,” he said trying to steer the morning somewhere less arousing. “I get that. What I don’t understand is why.”

Shepard’s hands stilled.

“You really want to talk about this now?” she asked. Garrus nodded. She wiped her hands on the sheets and set the jar down.

“Well, either I’ve been hopelessly in love with you for ages, or I just dig the new scars. Take your pick.”

Garrus studied her carefully.

“I’d rather you just told me.”

She grimaced.

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

They were both silent for a moment and Shepard looked more vulnerable than he’d ever seen her.

“I don’t know,” she practically whispered. “I just…when you took off your helmet on Omega it seemed like the most obvious thing in the galaxy.”

“That I was Archangel?”

“That you were the one.”

Garrus paused.

“The one?” he asked.

Shepard nodded and then realized he didn’t understand.

“The—damn it, Vakarian! The one I’m supposed to be with. What do turians call it?”

“…their mate. I guess.”

Shepard shook her head.

“Let’s not bring that into this,” she said hastily. “I’m not talking registering for appliances.”

“What are you ‘talking’?” Garrus asked. “Help me out here Shepard. “

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

“I have feelings for you,” she began carefully, “and last night was fun. I want to keep doing this.”

“Oh,” Garrus’ mandibles flared in pleasant surprise. “Yeah. We should…we should do that.”

Shepard smiled.

“You always know just what to say to a girl.”

They were both late for their shifts.