#thinking about the thing he said about keeping your muscles limber. And its just comically awkward. thats Gregor | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crackinglamb · 4 years

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Fluff-uary Prompt 11 - Heart-eyes

(ME - Jayne and Garrus)

Garrus was sitting in their bed when she limped into the room fresh from her shower, still wearing a towel loosely. He was propped up with a pillow and looking through his visor at something and he seemed to be coordinating with his omni-tool. She leaned against the doorjamb for a moment and watched him. She remembered back to the days when she first knew him – good lord, nearly 6 years ago – when they were just neighbors in the same block of apartments within walking distance to the C-Sec headquarters on the Citadel.

Such simple times, she mused. No thought of Reapers, of war and death and devastation across a dozen systems.

He hadn't noticed her yet, so intent was he on his work and she cataloged the differences those years had made. Obviously his scarred mandible and missing ear made the list, but there was more. His face wasn't as open, as expressive, as it once was. He didn't have the same aura of nervous energy. His plates were pocked and scratched, a litany of marks left by life as a C-Sec officer, a sniper, the one always on her six. He was thirty five now, a respectable adult in the eyes of the Hierarchy. And she was thirty three, cashiered out from the Alliance, on injured reserve as a Spectre.

The Primarch's Assistant and the Ambassador to Earth. They both had seen so much and carried so many responsibilities it was a wonder either of them could still stand up straight. But through it all, they'd had each other. She didn't think it was possible to love him any more than she did. Her gaze grew warm and soft as she watched him.

She scoffed lightly, realizing she was standing there looking at him like a lovesick idiot when she could be next to him. Could be touching him. The sound was enough to distract him from his work and he glanced up at her, doing a comical double take when he registered that it was her. As if it was likely to be some other human standing in our bedroom door, she thought with a smile.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi. I thought you weren't supposed to bring work home.”

He closed down his omni-tool and lifted his visor off his head to place it on its charger next to the bed. “Wasn't work.”

“Oh?”

He got off the bed, a graceful roll that she was frankly jealous of these days, and came to stand in front of her, his talons trailing through the drops of water still dotting her skin from the shower. His eyes roved over the balls of her shoulders, tracing her amputation scars that were barely visible still. She watched his gaze get caught on her prominent collar bones and suppressed a grin. Some things never changed. The look on his face was more poignant than lascivious, but she knew it wouldn't take much to change that if she wanted to.

“No,” he continued, picking up the thread of the conversation. “I was looking at things humans do to stretch out their joints, keep their muscles limber.”

“You mean like massage?”

He grinned, his mandibles flexing. “Yeah.”

“So you were just taking notes?” she teased. He nodded, a bit sheepish. “Why now, babe? What's on your mind?”

“Well, you've had that new leg for nearly a year, and...well...”

She grinned. “You figured it would be healed by now?”

“Yeah, I mean...Sol's back to normal already. I mean...I don't want you to think that...”

“Hey,” she cupped his jaw in her hand, made him look her in the eye. “Miranda thought it would take longer because the Cerberus cybernetics don't want to talk to the turian ones. I'm right on schedule for what she thought it would be like.”

She leaned back a bit, sticking the offending leg out so they could both see the prosthetic, not that she needed any reminders of how weird it looked. It was curved like a turian lower leg, ending in a flanged prong rather than a foot. It had taken her quite a while to get used to walking on it; it was springier than she expected. Somehow the Hierarchy doctor who'd attached it to her existing prosthetic had matched her exact skin tone, so other than the obvious shape, it looked like her own leg. She'd been thinking of getting it indelibly inked with the Vakarian colony markings, if that wasn't going to be disrespectful. She'd considered getting markings tattooed on her face, but didn't relish the thought of sitting for it, honestly.

She looked back up to him, and noticed that his expression had taken on a sort of worshipful aspect as he looked at her. She'd seen that look for years whenever he didn't think she was paying attention and she struggled not to give away the fact that she had. “Well, babe, if you want to rub me up and down, I'm not gonna say no.”

“What?”

She chuckled. “The massaging, Garrus.”

“Oh...right.” He took her hand and helped her across the room to the bed. Being of turian design, it was bowl shaped and laid thick with pillows and blankets. Like a nest, she thought privately. In all their years together, she'd never gotten over the mental picture of turians curled up like cats in a basket. She just hadn't said anything. Garrus was looking at it now with a critical eye. “You can't actually lay completely flat in this.”

“Just noticing that now, are you?” she asked, laughing.

He shook his head, bemused at himself. “Guess I didn't really think about it.”

She leaned up and kissed his mandible. “I know. C'mon, let's sleep. You can figure it out later.”

She tossed her towel and sat at the edge on her side then sort of rolled into the mound of pillows that were there in lieu of a mattress. It was wonderfully comfortable and supportive – she knew Garrus had ordered firmer pillows than he normally would, to accommodate her human build. She lay on her back, only mildly angled upwards and watched him finish up whatever he had left of his nightly routine before he flicked off the lights with his omni-tool and got in beside her. She turned her head toward him and met his kiss, then felt him settle in around her, half cocooning her in his long arms.

She smiled in the dark, wondering if he even knew how much she loved him. She flopped onto her side and wiggled until she was comfortable with her back against his keel. He was already half asleep, but his arm tightened around her, holding her close. She closed her eyes and let sleep carry her away.

#FLUFF-uary 2020 #mass effect #shakarian

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