Off-Duty

His crew was stressed out, there was no denying it. Shepard knew them all well enough to recognize the signs- hell, even the bridge crew were visibly more on edge. The commander himself was noticing subtle changes in his own patterns that did plenty to tell him that he wasn't immune to the steadily increasing pressure.

Sure, he wasn't going to cave under fire and it wouldn't affect his performance in combat. It really only manifested in changes to his sleeping schedule. The best remedy to this situation? Nightly walks throughout the ship after the rest of his companions were in their bunks. Patrolling the decks had become a regular ritual for him lately. Besides, it gave him a chance to get acquainted with the "nighttime" crew.

"Nighttime" because according to Galactic Standard Time, all non-essential government offices were closed. It didn't stop the discrepency in time from messing with his head, just a little, if he had to think about it oo long. He dismissed the notion of wasting too much energy continuing to think about it with a mental shrug just before the lift doors opened onto Deck 3. Now to take a hard left and grab a snack from the galley or go out into the hallway before him?

Deciding to use the restroom before getting that snack, it wasn't until he'd finished washing his hands that he heard a quiet, muffled grunt coming from the far corner of the bathroom, behind one of the doorless stall partitions. Not occuring to him at first what was going on, he stepped back towards the door and craned his neck to the side a bit to check in on the source of the sound.

Garrus was backed up into the corner, head bowed, wearing nothing but what looked like a pair of civvie trousers thrown over his shoulder. His arms were front of him, and there was a long, blue...Oh.

Shepard cringed at himself for not realizing sooner what was going on. It was right in the beginning of a new shift and the turian had obviously figured that anyone who was going to use the restroom had already done so before beginning work, and had gone the place where he figured he'd have the most privacy. Shepard had never thought too hard about it, but he had to admit that the blue shaft was nothing if not intriguing. He stayed stock-still as he watched.

Garrus' back was pressed into the walls and arched forward, his narrow hips were pushed forward. One clawed hand grasped the base of the blue cock while the other consistently worked its length in long, smooth strokes. The organ itself was interesting to look at- proportionally, it was just a tiny bit thinner for most of its length than a human's and had no fleshy head, but it was definitely longer and the base was quite thick. It looked slick- wet, even- and it had ridges in some intriguing places. Instead of sating his curiosity, watching Garrus was just arousing his interest...Among other things.

Shepard wasn't sure what to do next- he didn't want to interrupt and embarass his friend, but he didn't want to just wander out like nothing had happened. The turian was obviously oblivious to what was going on around him and when his eyes were open, they were focussed intently on the activity surrounding his cock.

"What the hell," he figured. He and Garrus were nothing if the best of friends and Shepard doubted his own ability to just act like nothing had happened. Clearing his throat softly, Shepard did his best to keep his eyes trained on the turian's face and not the place they tended to want to wander to.

Garrus' head shot up, pupils visibly dilating in surprise. "Oh! Shepard." There was a brief, awkward moment of silence. "I...I'm sorry..." He quickly whipped his pants off of his shoulder, stuffing them into a bunch in front of his groin. "Oh, jeez..." Now how did he handle this without coming off as creepy? There wasn't much he could say without sounding like some sort of fraternizing pervert. Then he remembered the story that Garrus had told him about how he and his female teammate had once burned off their frustrations with each other. He wasn't sure how the turian would react to having a male human suggest what he was about to, but...

"No. I was just thinking about what you told me once about how turians 'burn off steam' before missions, and I was wondering..." An expression of curiosity seemed to replace the former one of embarassment.

The turian seemed to consider what his commander was getting at before he slowly nodded his head.

Shepard wasn't too keen on having someone walk in on them, so he locked the door as he disrobed. Thankfully the bathrooms on the Normandy were kept spotless and sterilized...Any other restroom and he would not be comfortable with what they were about to do. He stripped down, tossing his clothes aside for the time being. Garrus discarded his trousers, adding them to the pile. His erection had retreated in the initial shock of discovery, but the human's visible arousal caused the anticipation of Shepard's touch. When the commander's hand finally contacted his hip he shivered a little and bent his head forward to gently bump their foreheads.

Their heads still pressed close, the Spectre allowed his hands to roam over Garrus' form. It was alien, quite different than a human, from the slight build and odd, leathery plates to a scent that reminded him of burnt pine. Alien, but definitely not unpleasant. One hand trailed gently up his partner's side, eliciting an airy purr from the turian, before settling behind his fringe. Garrus nuzzled Shepard as the human began scratching him gently there.

"Spirits, Shepard." That voice was like an aphrodesiac now. Shepard wondered why the hell he hadn't noticed just how utterly sexy and alluring his friend was before. He pushed his lips forward slightly and brushed them against Garrus', becoming aware of a distinctly hot, slick pressure on his lower belly. He must be doing something right; the turian's keen eyes were now focussed on him as he rocked his pelvis forward, sliding his emergent cock firmly against the toned muscles. Shepard returned in kind, pushing into the heat, and then Garrus' hand was around them both, temporarily robbing him of breath...

Not really consciously controlling the flow of their rut, somehow they ended up with Shepard with his back up against the cool walls of the room. With his partner braced between himself and the wall, Garrus siezed the other man's thighs and lifted his legs clear off the floor. He poised to enter the human when he paused.

Shepard shook his head. At this point, he didn't fucking care. He was rock-hard, his balls felt tight and he felt ready to burst just from them grinding their cocks together. The turian's cock seemed to constantly secrete some sort of extremely slick fluid, and anyway, this wasn't his first time. "Do it," he managed to huff out. That was all Garrus needed to thrust forward, pushing that oddly- no, exquisitely-shaped phallus into his entrance. Shepard flinched a little at first, halfway expecting some pain despite his lust-fuelled bravado, but soon settled and relaxed around his lover. Inside him, it felt different than a human would have- if anything, it was better. Its natural taper eased him into Garrus' increasingly deep thrusts and those ridges he had noted earlier felt fantastic. Held securely in place, he allowed his cheek to rest against a tattooed mandible and kept one hand nestled behind the turian's fringe, tugging impatiently at his erection.

Garrus was hunched over, breathing hard, his powerful legs shoving him up and towards Shepard. Spirits, burying his cock in the human felt amazing. He hadn't ever really considered taking a human as a mate, but if there was anyone he trusted completely it was Shepard. The safer he realized he felt, the more determined and urgent he became.

Shepard again brushed his lips on Garrus' and lapped a little, sometimes licking a mandible, sometimes a lip, sometimes getting lucky and catching a bit of Garrus' own tongue. Their coupling was noticeably more frenzied and feral now, neither really saying anything coherant, and it wasn't long before the human allowed himself to rush over the edge. His body spasmed several times as his orgasm seized him, and he could feel himself clench around his partner's hardness.

This must've sent Garrus over the edge as the turian quickly- but with a surprising gentleness- set him down and fell against the wall on his elbow, resting his forehead on his lower arm as he finished himself off with the other hand. A keening note accompanied his obvious orgasm; sharp teeth gnashed as several intermittent, long jets of clear fluid shot from the tip of his cock. He, too, shuddered, wishing that there had been a bed for him to collapse onto. At a loss for words, all he could do was repeat what he'd said earlier to Shepard: "...Spirits."

After recovering a bit, he regained control of his voice. "Sorry about that, Shepard. Opposing chirality...I didn't want to..."

Shepard shook his head and laughed. "It's okay, Garrus. Really!" he added after an uncertain look.

"So, that's how we blow off steam in the turian military..." Garrus quipped, a facetious ring to his voice.

"It's damn effective," Shepard came back. He wasn't lying, either- he hadn't felt this ready to fall asleep in a while. Not at this hour, anyway.

Both men cleaned up and re-dressed, each headed to their respective bunks.

"One more thing." Shepard added as the bathroom door slid open. "Next time you need some privacy, Garrus..."

Garrus watched silently, waiting for him to complete his thought.

"Just come up to my quarters."