Chapter Text
Shepard was usually frigid when she woke up. She couldn’t figure out if it was a being newly resurrected thing, or if it was a fun feature of her cabin on the SR2. She hadn’t been on the ship very long and already more than once she’d woken up shivering, her fingers practically frozen. But right now, she was delightfully warm. Cozy even. For some reason her bed was the perfect temperature right now. The promise of a hangover hovered in the distance. Though with her Cerberus upgrades hangovers weren't as bad as they should be. Especially since she couldn’t precisely remember what happened last night.
She stretched and stopped when she felt an unmistakable yet not unpleasant sensation. Huh, did… did she have sex last night? She cracked open an eye and looked at what she could see of the room. Clothes were thrown hither and yon. Her bra had was flung across the bedside table. But they all belonged to her. Okay, time to think through last night.
She went to the bar with Garrus after finally convincing him to step out of the main battery for at least one night. He’d been on the ship for a week and she’d hardly seen him except for the ground mission to pick up Dr. Solus. The evening was a blur of color and drinks. So many drinks. So, so many drinks. But she didn’t immediately recall any other activities. Maybe she was just imagining things. She was still getting used to this new body after all.
She’d almost convinced herself of that when the sheets rustled without her moving them. She was not alone in her bed. Oh shit. She must have picked up someone at the bar. Damn, she might owe Garrus an apology if she ditched him last night to get laid. Hopefully he did the same. She didn’t remember much about last night, but he’d definitely seemed in need of a pick me up.
She glanced over her shoulder and her eyes grew wide. That was definitely fringe and the back of a bare carapace that she was looking at. She’d picked up a turian. Okay, weird. Very, very weird. She’d never really considered herself attracted to turians. Sure, they had a nice voices. And in a certain light they could be beautiful, but in the way a sculpture was beautiful. Obviously, Drunk Shepard had different opinions.
Well. The deed was done. And apparently done well or at least enthusiastically, if the state of her desk, the couch, and the duvet were anything to go by. How it wound up on the stairs was anyone’s guess. She wished she could remember what happened. Maybe more would come to her later. Right now she had to ask her guest to leave. A little cold perhaps, but it wasn’t like she could make him pancakes. The best she could offer him would be a dextro ration bar.
She leaned over to shake his shoulder and caught a glimpse of blue colony markings in an unmistakable pattern.
“GAH!” Shepard cried, jumping back.
Garrus shot upright, looking around for the danger. His eyes landed on her and he made a sharp noise too. His gaze glanced downward for a split-second, then ricocheted up to the ceiling. Oh right, she was very naked. Shit. She wrenched the sheets up to protect what little dignity she had left. He grabbed an edge and pulled some back. They then sat there for a moment, looking everywhere but at each other.
“Are you…” she started.
“Yes,” he said, adjusting the sheets pooling around his waist.
“Right.”
“Ah, did we…?”
“Yep.”
“Spirits.”
They sat in silence for a full minute.
Fuck. It was one thing to ditch Garrus during a night of drinking to pick up a stranger. It was an entirely different thing to have Garrus be the stranger she picked up. This kind of thing could ruin friendships, had ruined friendships. And she didn’t want to lose him, especially not after just finding him again.
She glanced at him. He was staring down at his hands, which nervously were drumming against his thigh.
“Okay. I have a proposition,” she said, slipping into peace negotiation mode. “We talk about this calmly and rationally like two adults for five minutes and then we never have to speak about it again.”
He nodded slowly and then let out a long breath. “Yeah, that works.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. And they were both silent for another moment. Right, now they just actually had to do the talking part. “So what… do you remember about last night?”
“I remember… the bar. We were talking and drinking… and you showed me how to play some game from Earth.”
“Nickels,” she recalled. They’d had to use bottle caps because it was hard to find physical currency this far out in the Terminus systems. Garrus had been surprisingly bad at it.
“Yeah… it gets a little blurry after that.” He frowned. “But I think we decided to call it a night and come back to the Normandy .”
“We went through the shuttle bay ‘cause we didn’t want… Miranda to know we were drunk?” It seemed so rational at the time, but it didn’t make a lot of sense now in the cold light of morning.
“I think so, yeah. We got on the elevator and…” His mouth opened and closed a few times. “And I didn’t get off at the crew quarters.”
A vague memory of kissing in the elevator rose to the surface. She didn’t remember much, just that she liked it. Really liked it.
“Right and then we…” She waved a hand at the wreckage around them before returning it to securely hold the sheets in place.
“Yeah.”
They were quiet again.
“Now what?” he asked, glancing at her.
She glanced back. “I…” God, this was tricky. This was why people didn’t just sleep with their friends. “Can… we just chalk it up to experience?”
Finally, they looked at each other.
“What do you mean?” he asked, frowning a little.
“We’ve both had a really rough go of things lately and we have a downright insane job ahead of us. Tensions are high and we’re burnt out…” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “And, I don’t know about you, but you’re about the only person on this ship that I really trust right now.”
He nodded. “Me too. I mean… you know what I meant.”
That made her feel a little better. She gave him a half-smile. “So… to me, I guess it kinda makes sense that we got drunk and then hooked up.”
“People do stupid things when they’re drunk,” he added.
“Exactly. Just so happens that the stupid thing we did was each other.”
He chuckled and she relaxed. Thank god, maybe they’d get through this.
“That makes sense,” he mused. “What about going forward?”
“I don’t want this to change things, Garrus. Between us.”
“I don’t want that either.”
“Okay… so this was just… a crazy one-time thing. Another installment in the adventures of Shepard and Vakarian.”
His shoulders relaxed and he smiled a little. “Good. Sounds good.”
“Good.”
The silence between them wasn’t so icy this time. Had she really managed to navigate a morning after conversation with her best friend so easily? Of course it shouldn’t surprise her that he was on the same page. It’d always been like that with them. Innate and inexplicable understanding even from the very beginning.
“Are our five minutes of honest conversation up?” he asked.
She leaned back against the headboard. “I think we have time for one more question.”
“Was it good for you?” he asked carefully.
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Do you want me to stroke your ego? Or tell you the truth?”
“Aren’t they the same thing?” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.
“Your ego’s big enough without any help from me.” She snagged the bra off the nightstand and deftly put it on. When she looked back he was patiently waiting. Oh, he actually wanted an answer. “From what I remember… yeah. It was good.”
His mandibles flicked out and in with an audible click.
She rolled her eyes even harder. “You don’t have to look so pleased about that.”
He did it again but louder this time. Which just made her glare at him.
“You’re an ass, Vakarian.”
He laughed. “If it makes you feel any better… it was good for me too,” he offered, sounding at least a little sincere at the last part.
“That does actually.”
They both turned away and began the awkward process of quickly dressing. Garrus’ clothes were in a small pile near the foot of the bed while hers were scattered about the room like confetti. Her shirt was by the fish tank. Her pants were on Garrus’ side of the bed. She found her underwear by the desk with the gusset ripped clean through. She stared at them for a moment, her face growing warm. That should not have been as hot as it was.
“So we never speak of this again?” he asked, standing by the door.
She whipped back around to face him. “Yes, please.”
“Okay. I’ll be in the battery.” And he stepped out the door.
“Uh, wait.” She jumped to the threshold. “Do me a favor and go all the way down to the shuttle bay and then go to the battery?” Garrus might have been understanding, but her Cerberus crew probably wouldn’t be.
He smiled a little and nodded as the doors opened. “Of course, Shepard.” And the doors shut again.
She let out a breath and turned back to face her cabin. It painted a vivid picture. But that was okay. Garrus was still her friend. They’d never talk about it again. And no one else would be the wiser. This didn’t change anything. So she’d slept with Garrus. So what?