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Giyra’s new neighbor is interesting. She’s never seen a Drell in her lifetime, even with the rebuilding of the Citadel and many new faces moving in with it. She figures she won’t see much of him – there aren’t many stay at home partners in this section of the Citadel. Most people who move into these spaces are politicians or higher up members of C-Sec who still pride themselves on working 24/7. She and a few others make up the small group of stay-at-home partners who’ve become fast friends, checking in on each other weekly and trading news items, merchant coupons, and the gossip they hear through the grapevine.
She’s not even seen the Drell’s partner yet – she would have assumed he didn’t have one, but as she watches the movers unload the boxes, there are simply too many of them to be furnishings for one person. No one else in the block has seen anyone except the Drell either. Maybe the partner hasn’t arrived yet or has simply been too busy. She has to admit, it’s making her curious — there hasn’t been much gossip for a few weeks now.
The doorbell rings and she draws her attention away from her window. Surprise, surprise. The camera shows the Drell outside of the door, holding what looks to be a small basket. Giyra smiles and unlocks the door.
“Good morning! To who do I owe the pleasure?” She asks. The Drell makes a small bow.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. Thane Krios. We’ve just moved in next door and I thought it appropriate to come pay my respects.”
“Thane Krios, you say? Lovely to meet you. I’m Giyra. Would you like to come inside?”
Thane looks surprised. “I don’t want to be a burden –”
“Nonsense. Do you drink tea?”
“I do.”
Giyra smiles and waves him across the threshold, making her way to the steaming teapot. She quickly finds two teacups and pours, placing one on the kitchen island across from Thane. He returns the smile and looks at her expectantly, waiting for her to take a sip.
“Did you live here before the rebuilding? Or are you new to the Citadel?”
“I was a nomad before the Reapers. Even with the residence I had from my youth, I was always traveling.”
“How stressful! I’m sure you’re glad to be settled into somewhere a bit more permanent now.”
“I am eternally grateful and indebted, in many ways.”
Giyra smiles at him blankly.
“So! Thane – what do you do for work?”
“Ah, I am retired. I’m hoping to develop some new hobbies. Do you know how to cook human food?”
Thane certainly looks young and Giyra is very sure he can’t be over 40. He must have an important job if he’s able to retire at such a young age. Or perhaps he’s grifting off of someone more profitable?
“I’ve got the basics down,” Giyra replies. “Are you particularly interested in human food?”
“My wife is human,” Thane explains eagerly, “And I’m looking to have dinner ready when she comes home or to be able to surprise her with something decidedly human ,” he smiles, “Something other than a pizza that is made and delivered by someone else.”
A human wife – this Drell is turning out to be fascinating.
“That’s sweet of you,” Giyra compliments. “What does your wife do?”
“She is an advisor to the New Council,” Thane beams.
A human advisor to the New Council…does he mean Commander Shepard ? The woman who was the reason everyone even had a place to live again after the war? Giyra tries not to let her expression waver.
“Your wife wouldn’t happen to be Commander Shepard, would she?”
Thane smiles excitedly, “The very same! You know of her?”
Giyra laughs. “ Everyone knows of Commander Shepard. She’s practically a living legend!”
“She certainly is to me. A very precious one.”
It’s sweet, really, the way that Thane’s eyes water slightly as he says this, his expression bursting with admiration. She’s never thought about Commander Shepard’s love life, but at least he seems to be with her because he loves her.
“Have you become familiar with the merchants and the other neighbors? I’d be happy to show you around,” Giyra offers.
“I would be most indebted to you, thank you,” Thane says.
Since their first meeting, Giyra has been fascinated time and time again by the Drell. He approaches every task with the utmost joy and motivation, and for all the skills he’s mastered, he’s had equal instances where he just couldn’t get the hang of the task he’d set for himself.
He’d taken to gardening like a fish to water and she watched their patio flourish with green life. Every morning she watches the Drell inspect each plant with meticulous care, cutting off any dead leaves swiftly and efficiently, administering water through a slim watering can to those that are in need of drink.
She accompanies him to the merchants when he decides to redecorate the interior, giving her thoughts on paint samples and artwork choices.
She tries her best to impose everything she knows about cooking onto him, but it’s an area where he lacks. He’s great with a knife and can debone a fish quickly and precisely, but so far every attempt to cook a meat based dish has ended in overcooking, undercooking, not enough seasoning or mistaking one ingredient for another.
He doesn’t give up though and she’s positively impressed by that. The other neighbors have sometimes come to her, hoping to grab a morsel of gossip on Commander Shepard’s husband, but she never has anything for them. He’s simply a man who is devoted to his wife, in every sense of the word. He’s struggling with cooking, but who hasn’t undercooked pyjack meat once in their lifetime?
And so she relishes her new neighbor, no matter how odd some of his tendencies are.
Thane could have chosen a simple recipe. He could have chosen something incredibly hard to mess up - he hears humans enjoy salads. Shepard has Council meetings today though and he wants to reward her after the week she’s been through. How she manages to sit through any amount of time with those bolstering idiots is beyond Thane’s mind. He’d have walked out after they’d blasted the Reapers, but Shepard, being Shepard, felt it was her duty to stay. In case the galaxy ever has a repeat – he’s hopeful that won’t happen in their lifetimes. One Reaper War is quite enough for the both of them.
He settles on roasted fish with Asari honey marinade that he’d picked up at the store yesterday. The clerk had assured him it was delicious and easy to use: “Just pour it over your meat and marinade it depending on how strong you want the flavor! I love a good 2-3 hours in the fridge before putting it onto the grill,” she’d said, smiling.
He isn’t about to skimp on flavor – Shepard likes strong drinks, spicy meat, and dishes that are generally bursting with flavor. He can deliver for her. He takes the full cup of marinade and pours it over the fish. The white meat of the fish looks more on the golden side now that it’s coated. Pleased, he zips up the bag and places it in the fridge. Three hours and it’ll be around 4:30, plenty of time for him to grill the animal and put it on a plate piping hot for when Shepard returns home at 5:30.
In the meantime, he needs to wrangle the weeds on the patio.
He’s thought growing some plant life with the bit of outdoor space they have could be a good hobby now that he’s retired. Kahje would have been a perfect planet for many plant species to thrive, with the humidity and all, but he’d never gotten the chance to do anything there other than have a bed to return to between missions. The climate controlled Citadel isn’t as exciting, but he takes pride in the vegetation that covers their space, enjoying making his rounds in the morning and checking in to see which needs water or perhaps some more nutrients added to the soil. Shepard has introduced him to what she calls snake plants which he’s found don’t need as much upkeep, but can grow as tall as you let them – he’s hoping that the one in the back left corner will eventually be taller than him.
“Good afternoon, neighbor!” Thane picks his head up from inspecting the peace lily to see a waving Giyra on the neighboring patio.
“Giyra! How is the day treating you?” Thane adjusts his apron and strolls over to the fence.
“Good, good! I was thinking of popping downtown to see if they’d gotten those Earth eggs in yet. Were you there today?”
“No, I’m afraid I’ve been anchored to the kitchen since this morning. They gave me a new kind of fish and I was learning how to remove its bones,” Thane says with a smile. Giyra looks puzzled.
“They sold it to you with bones?! They should have taken those out – no need for you to do all that by hand. It takes so much time and is such a mess.”
“I thought I could learn – I’ve been seeing more of those bone-in videos on the Net and thought perhaps I would make one of them for my Siha,” Thane sighs. “But I picked a boneless one instead. A skill that should prove useful to me though – you never know when you may need to debone a fish.”
Giyra chuckles. “You always make me laugh! I’ve got to head out and see about these eggs, but let me know if you want to come to tea next week! I invited the block — it can be a nice little monthly get together.”
“The invitation honors me. I’d love to.”
Giyra waves her hand nonchalantly, “Don’t mention it. Hope it all turns out with the fish and the bones!”
Thane watches as she disappears into her apartment and turns his attention back to the plant. He should, of course, cook something for the tea gathering. He’ll have to search the Net and see what dishes are most suitable for a meeting like that.
“Once you’ve got a nice marinade going, go ahead and get that meat on the grill! You can put it directly on for fast cooking and for the most delicious smoky flavor when it’s done.” The human girl on the Vid says, speaking over a beautifully shot reel of a thick slice of varren meat.
Seems easy enough. Thane has meticulously sliced cabbages set to the side – James had once mentioned coleslaw to him and after research, he’s settled on it as an appropriate side. The rest of the crew said they would bring other side dishes, but what kind of host would he be if he left all of the sides to others?
He places the sliced fish on the flaming grill, one by one, pleased with the sweet scent emanating from the meat. Once they’re laying in a row, he turns his attention back to the vegetables. The vid said he could leave the meat for 10 minutes – plenty of time for him to douse the cabbage in the sauces he’s acquired. He shakes the vial of vinegar into the bowl of cabbage, till there is a small pool of liquid at the bottom. He reaches for the Tuchanka sauce Grunt had given them as a housewarming gift six months ago and repeats the shaking. The cabbage is now bright red – surely, a sight that will excite Shepard. He uses the spoon to mix the Tuchanka sauce and vinegar with the cabbage and then picks up the herb grinder to grind what Shepard refers to as peppercorns onto the vegetable. He finds the grinding soothing, his hands falling into a familiar motion of twisting and the peppery scent settling nicely into his nostrils.
Another scent catches his attention – a smoky scent coming from the grill. Just like the girl described! He considers this his sign to check on the fish – surely it’s been 10 minutes. He wipes his hands on his apron and picks up the tongs, peering over the meat. There’s smoke coming off of the grill – a lot of it – but the girl had said there would be a smoky flavor. The previously white fish looks almost black now, which isn’t the same as how the girl’s meat had appeared, but she was using varren meat. Thane is using fish and he assumes just like any other meat, since they all color differently, a black fish probably means success. He smiles, turns off the flames and peels the fish off the grill and onto the nearby serving plate. The skin sticks a little bit to the grill and he breaks a few pieces, but the flavor is more important than presentation. He’ll get better at presentation in the long run anyway – for now, all that matters is that the meat bursts with flavor.
He makes his way back inside to the fridge, rummages around until he finds the herbs he’d gotten on sale at the beginning of the week. They’d really given him a fantastic deal – 10 credits for a large bundle. He’d wondered if the herbs were in season, but decided not to look a gift Krogan in the mouth. Back with the platter of smoking fish, he sprinkles the herbs on top. The cabbage on the side, the fish in the middle – quick and simple. Thane smiles. He hopes Shepard will enjoy her food. If everyone else enjoys it, that’s a plus – but he mostly cares that she is happy and satisfied.
“Been too long!” Wrex’s voice booms through the apartment living room.
“We were here for drinks two weeks ago – is that memory of yours a little clunky, old man?” Jack drawls, placing a bottle of liquor on the island countertop.
“A lot can happen in two weeks, kid,” Wrex laughs. “We’ve had 8 new Krogans born in that time alone!”
“I always thought Krogans came out of the womb fully formed,” Joker muses. “I don’t think I’ve ever thought about them as small.”
“Pay us a visit sometime, I’ll show you all the newborns,” Wrex replies.
“Thank you for inviting us, Thane,” EDI says, walking toward him. “The apartment looks beautiful, as always.”
“Of course,” Thane nods. “Please, make yourselves at home.”
“Commander of the House not off work yet?” Joker asks.
Thane glances down at his watch – 5:15. Usually Shepard is punctual, but it’s a Council day and he knows that she sometimes has to linger to brush shoulders.
“It’s a Council day,” Thane smiles and Joker raises his eyebrows, a knowing look on his face.
“Jeez, imagine having to suffer with those bastards for hours at a time. Hell of a woman you got, Thane.”
Thane chuckles and as if on command, the apartment door unlocks, Shepard’s face entering sight as the door swings open. Thane makes his way to the door quickly as she works to take off her shoes, craning her neck upward to meet his lips for a brief kiss.
“Siha,” Thane greets. “How was your day?”
“I didn’t punch anyone,” she grins. “In terms of sitting with the Council for 4 hours, that’s a win.”
Thane beams, “A rousing success, to be sure.”
“I think you should be allowed one free punch per session,” Joker offers. “It’d help morale, you know? Get all that extra anger out.”
“I’ll note it as a suggestion for our next meeting,” Shepard grins, going in for a quick pat on the back from Wrex and nodding her head toward Jack.
“Tell those idiots to stop dodging my emails,” Jack says, opening the bag of chips she came with and chomping down on one. “Would hate to have to make a personal visit.” “If I could get you extra funding, I would have given it to you already Jack,” Shepard replies, reaching into the bag and popping a chip into her mouth. “You know they’re shit with replies on things that actually matter.”
“Isn’t that the whole point of you still working with those bastards? Getting people actual help?”
“I’m off the clock Jack, can we do this later? I would kill for a cold beer.”
Jack rolls her eyes but relents, returning to the chip bag.
“I believe the other guests should be here soon, love,” Thane says, placing a hand on Shepard’s back. “We have beverages in the smaller fridge though?”
Shepard turns and puts her hand on the back of his neck, a small smile playing around her lips. “Vega owes me one, it’s okay. You must have been running around all day.”
Thane leans in and places a kiss to her forehead. “I spent my day practicing. Giyra invited me to tea next week as well – I must think of what to prepare for her.
“Spousal tea?” Shepard jokes.
“Not fair, I want an invite to the neighborhood wives’ club,” Joker says, looking eagerly at EDI.
“You can’t crash their party, Jeff, no matter how much you want to.” EDI replies.
The door opens again and the last of their friends pile in, voices climbing over each other.
“You can’t just stop people at the liquor store and ask for their number,” Miranda drawls.
“He had good taste in beer! Sue me!” Vega replies.
“I’ve been picked up in weirder places,” Cortez adds.
“Yeah? Try getting hit on while you’re in the middle of setting up a shot,” Garrus says.
“Sure, because that doesn’t sound made up,” Jack chimes in from the kitchen island.
“It’s good to see you my friend,” Thane says, smiling at Garrus as they shake hands. The rest of the crew pile into the apartment, placing various packages of food on the island and exchanging greetings with each other. Shepard attempts to help Thane in carrying the new plates out to the patio, but Thane shoos her back to their friends, arranging the various meat and vegetable platters along the long table outside. They don’t have enough chairs for everyone, but no one complains – they’re happy enough to spread out and catch up with each other, the fear of the end of the galaxy no longer looming over their heads.
“You said you were practicing,” Shepard’s voice sounds from behind Thane as he places the bowl of bright red noodles that Grunt has brought beside the chocolate chip cookies from Liara.
He turns back to face her, hands interlocking behind her waist.
“I learned about deboning ,” he says, “We’re having fish tonight. I followed along with a Vid – and I made coleslaw with that sauce Grunt brought us for the housewarming.”
“Fish?” Shepard cocks her head to the side. “Damn, you’re getting gourmet on me.” She smiles and kisses him again, letting her lips linger on his as the white noise of the Citadel buzzes around them. “Damn nice man to come home to.”
Thane smiles, “I am the lucky one.”
She steals another kiss before craning her head back toward the patio door and shouting, “Food’s on!”
“Asari honey marinade fish and the coleslaw dish from Earth,” Thane says to the group as they make their way onto the patio. “And of course, everything else you all so generously brought.”
“I’ve always liked the honey marinade,” Liara comments, picking up a plate. She furrows her brow at the plate of black fish. “Though I don’t think I’ve ever eaten fish this…color.”
“I once thought that perhaps my daughters were in charge of creating this marinade,” Samara notes, “A merchant told me that those at monasteries were responsible for production, but I don’t think it was the same monastery they inhabited.”
“The color is from the grill,” Thane explains to Liara, “For an enhanced smokiness.”
Liara still looks quizzical, but gingerly takes a small piece of fish. The rest follow suit, Shepard and Thane being the last to go – Shepard fills up her plate with a generous portion of fish, cabbage, and takes a sampling from everyone’s dishes. Thane stays close to her and watches while she takes a bite, searching her face for a review. He hears a loud crunch . Is the fish supposed to be crunchy? He remembers the Vid mentioning a flaky texture, but nothing about crunch. Shepard chews slowly and finally swallows.
“Thoughts?” Thane asks eagerly.
“Definitely smoky,” Shepard laughs. Thane beams.
“I think…you may have burned it.” Thane cocks his head to the side and looks at the pile of fish on Shepard’s plate. He prods his fork over, picking up a chunk and plopping it into his mouth.
He’s surprised by how much he has to chew after the initial crunch. It feels like he’s gnawing through rubber and he waits for the sweetness of the Asari marinade to burst through, but it never comes. Shepard watches him as he chews and finally he swallows the fish down.
“I wonder if they sold me the wrong marinade,” he ponders. Shepard chuckles.
“I think you cooked it too long,” she offers. “It’s alright, you’re practicing. Not as bad as anything Grunt’s cooked for us.”
“You said you liked my Pyjack legs!” Grunt calls out.
“I said they were edible , that’s not the same,” Shepard replies. Thane can’t hide his disappointment – but surely, something else about the meal is salvageable.
“Try the cabbage then –”
“Hey! House husband! When’d you get this sauce?” Wrex calls out, peering at the cabbage suspiciously.
“It was a gift from Grunt –”
“From six months ago? Didn’t that kid tell you to eat this stuff ASAP? Goes bad after 3 months,” Wrex laughs. Thane’s face falls.
“It’s Krogan, I had assumed that most of your products are built to endure over long periods of time.”
Wrex laughs again. “Yeah well, normally you’d be right, but this sauce is made from the good stuff. We go through it so fast it’s unheard of for anyone to keep a bottle more than a few weeks, so it’s never an issue – didn’t think about how other species would eat it, I suppose.”
Thane’s stomach fills with disappointment, cursing himself for not double checking the Net about Krogan ingredients. He was playing it safe, he thought, with the fish and the marinade and the simple vegetables and he followed all the instructions that the human woman showed in her Vid. Surely there was a place where he went wrong. Maybe he’d grilled the fish too long? The Vid was meant for something tougher like varren or Pyjack meat, but perhaps fish needed less time?
Shepard places her hand gently on his chin and lifts his head up from the plate to look at her.
“Hey, stop beating yourself up – it was your first time. You’ll do it better next time!”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a proper meal to come home to.”
Shepard cocks her eyebrow. “Please, we were eating nutrient paste on the Normandy almost every day. Compared to that, even overcooked fish is a luxury.”
Thane chuckles. “True, you can’t get much worse than nutrient paste.”
Shepard kisses him. “Plus, everyone brought sides. We’ll eat that and if we’re still hungry we can order a pizza.”
Thane nods. “You’re right. We have our friends here, we should enjoy their company.”
“I can still show the chef my gratitude when they’re gone,” Shepard says, giving a light slap to Thane’s behind. He laughs and shakes his head at her.
“Yes, yes, I’ll be happy to take it.”
To be honest, Thane didn’t think him or Shepard would make it out alive from the Reapers. That they’d managed to come out on the other side and have the opportunity to build a home together is something he still doesn’t quite believe he deserves. But he’s not going to waste the opportunity, slowly roaming his tongue over Shepard’s cunt, savoring the taste. She lets him drive, holding her legs apart while he flicks gently up to her clit. He wants to add to his memory bank – fill up his reserves with flashes of nights like these. He’ll never forget his kills, but he asks for mercy – for the somber reminders to be interspersed with his devotion toward the one thing that kept him amongst the living. His hands find Shepard’s and he interlocks their fingers tightly, giving a gentle squeeze as he ends up in the same pattern he does most nights – yearning to taste even deeper inside of her, explore every inch of her soul. Her muscles tense in the pattern he’s familiar with, a sign for him to keep the pressure on.
He’s more than happy to. He’s a man who has spent his life committing sin and asking for understanding, asking for forgiveness. He accepts that his actions have consequences. That his actions caused him to lose Irikah, to be unable to reach across the emptiness and find connection with Kolyat. And then the universe gave him the woman who laid under him now, all shining red hair and a mischievous grin – someone who saw him as he was and accepted it, no questions. She’s more vivid than his most visceral memories and he wishes he could be closer to her than even this, as he laps at her cunt and leaves some on his lips to share with her as she crests over the edge, Thane keeping a hand on her clit as he moves to kiss her, letting her taste herself on his mouth.
“I missed you today,” Thane murmurs, letting Shepard’s body settle for a moment, placing kisses along her jawline.
“You woke up with me this morning,” Shepard says with a contented sigh.
“I’m afraid a lifetime of waking up to you will still not be enough for someone as greedy as me,” Thane admits, not needing to take his eyes off of her as his cock prods at her wet entrance. He loves pulling a flush from her as she smiles, breath catching in her throat for a moment as he easily slides inside, her heat giving him an otherworldly buzz. She’s eager, he can tell, her arms clasping around his neck and pulling him forward, like she doesn’t want to wait around.
He’s happy to oblige, even if he wants to savor in the tipsy-like feeling he gets from the first few minutes joined with her. His skin is on fire, his base instincts guiding him in and out, the grooves and curves on his cock gliding along her walls and providing her with a heightened experience of her own. He remembers in the beginning, when he’d been concerned about how his own fluids would combine with hers and how she told him it was like flying in the lightest ship in the galaxy at the fastest speed. How her body took on a life of its own and her pleasure was elevated, herself feeling as though she was bursting and buzzing with energy.
They have the luxury of their own apartment now, no longer confined to the quarters on the Normandy, where she allows her mouth to open, groaning into Thane’s mouth and their voices coming together as he crosses his own line, giving himself fully to Shepard, spilling and pulsing inside of her, grabbing at her shoulders to pull her even closer, tighter, hugging her as if it will keep her from any harm the world has in store.
“I missed you too,” Shepard says into his shoulder. Thane hugs her tighter and finally releases her so he can look at her face. He wants this face in every memory bank he has.
“I am most grateful to be yours,” he says. She tilts her head and shares a smile with him.
“Hey, I got pretty lucky with you too.”
He smiles, basking in the afterglow.
“Maybe we can see about some cooking classes for you,” Shepard offers, her eyes teasing. “Or find some better Vids for you to follow.”
Thane laughs. “Anything for my Siha.”