Aster wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but found herself stirring awake. She didn't consider herself a light sleeper, but her time as a N7 had taught her to trust her instincts. She wasn't sure what woke her, but Aster listened for anything out of the ordinary. Convinced there was nothing there, Aster got comfortable again before closing her eyes.
Then she heard it, a soft tickling sound. Aster stood up slowly from the couch, grabbed a knife from the table, and as quietly as she could, made her way to the door. She leaned her back against the door, waiting for it to open.
Who would dare to break in? Did one of John's enemies come after me?
The door whooshed open, and the shadow of a turian appeared kneeling. They straightened up and stepped inside. Not waiting to see who it could be, with all the power she could muster, Aster grabbed the turian and pushed it forward onto the floor. She straddled the turian from behind, twisted one of the arms behind its back, and grabbed its fringe, twisting it to the side.
"Who sent you?" Aster asked, leaning in close for him to hear, the knife at his throat.
"Get off me!" the turian grunted, struggling.
She pressed the knife harder.
"Who sent you?!"
The turian growled and pushed off the ground, sending Aster reeling back a bit, losing her balance. It was enough for the turian to turn around and tackle her with speed only known to turians.
Both of them struggled a bit to get the upper hand, but the turian finally managed to use his weight to push her underneath him. The turian pinned both of Aster's arms between them. As much as she struggled, she couldn't get free.
"If you're here to kill me," Aster said, struggling. "Get on with it."
"You're nothing but a coward," she continued. "Is killing my brother that hard for you that you need to go after his sister?"
"I'm not here to kill you," the turian said in a strained voice.
Aster stopped struggling and looked at the turian, unsure whether or not to believe him.
"Why are you here?" She slowly asked. "Why are you breaking into my apartment?"
"I'm not breaking in," the turian said. "I-"
Aster raised her eyebrow. Only a fool would believe that.
"What apartment are we in?" he asked, looking around.
"Four," Shepard replied, still confused.
The turian leaned back a bit and gave Aster back her arms. She propped herself up a bit and scooted out from underneath him as much as she could. She gave the turian a long look. As far as she could see, the turian had some sort of markings underneath his eyes, from one side of his face to another, and down both sides of his mandibles. Aster shifted a bit and grimaced as the turian's armor bit into her soft skin. She had forgotten that she wasn't wearing anything underneath the hoodie.
"If you're not here to kill me," She began, shifting a bit. "Then what are you doing here?"
"I wasn't trying to break in," the turian said once more. "A friend said I could stay in his apartment."
"Which apartment?"
The turian looked at his right palm and grunted, "It looks like a four."
Shepard grunted and didn't say anything else.
"Say," Aster began after the turian didn't move, and the armor began to start to become very uncomfortable. "Would you mind getting off me?"
The turian apologized, hurried to get off, and stood up. Aster also stood and made sure her hoodie was pulled all the way down as far as it went.
"Sorry about earlier," She said, a bit embarrassed. "I don't like strangers."
"It's my fault," the turian countered. "I should've known better than to break into an unknown apartment."
"I'm Aster," Aster said, introducing herself; it seemed appropriate.
"Garrus," replied the turian. "Are you hurt?"
Aster did a self-assessment on herself and felt a couple of sore spots. She could feel some skin abrasions on her chest from the earlier grappling with Garrus. Aster also had forgotten how soft her skin was without armor.
"Nothing medigel won't fix," She replied, not liking how the hoodie was rubbing on her skin.
"Do you need help?" he asked, bringing out some medigel from somewhere on his armor.
"No," She said quickly. "I think I can manage."
"You sure?" Garrus asked. "It's the least I can do."
"I appreciate your offer," Aster said, trying to come up with a good excuse for refusing his help. "But you don't need to do that."
"Alright," Garrus said, putting the medigel away.
Both of them just stood there, not saying anything. There wasn't much to say in this situation.
"I should be going," Garrus said, breaking the silence and walking toward the door. "Sorry for the intrusion."
"Don't worry about it," She replied, showing him out. "Have a good night."
After Garrus was gone, Aster took off her hoodie and went to the bathroom to see the damage. As suspected, she had gotten a few bruises on her chest and a few raw spots where the armor had rubbed. She applied a small film of medigel to the worst areas and within no time the healing process began.
Pleased with the patchwork, Aster donned her hoodie once more and went to turn off the movie. While Shepard put away the reports and cleaned up a bit, there was a soft knock on the door.
Who is it now? she wondered, grabbing the knife once more.
"Garrus," Aster said, opening the door, a bit surprised, and shoving the knife in her hoodie pocket. "Everything alright?"
On the other side of the door was none other than Garrus. He looked a bit embarrassed to be knocking.
"I-I have a question for you," he said, rubbing his neck.
She waited patiently for him to continue.
"What does it mean if someone puts a picture of a sock on the door?"
Aster was taken aback by the question. Was that still a thing? Only a marine would do something like that.
Trying not to laugh, Aster answered in her most serious tone of voice, "It means your friend is getting laid. I'm assuming you found it when you went to knock?"
"Yeah," Garrus replied, rubbing his neck again. "He said he would leave the apartment for me to use. Didn't think he would be back so soon."
"Do you have somewhere to stay?" She heard herself ask.
Aster was surprised at her boldness. She wouldn't normally offer, but he sure did know how to make that armor look good. She had nothing against turians; on the contrary, she admired them. Not that she would let anyone know, since many humans still didn't get along with turians.
"I'll find a place," Garrus said, looking at his omni-tool. "There are a few places on the Citadel that have rooms available."
"Why don't you stay here?" she asked, a bit embarrassed.
"I-you sure?" Garrus asked, also a bit surprised by the offer. "I don't think you would want rumors to spread."
"What rumors?" She asked, confused.
"Well," Garrus said, embarrassed. "Being a turian sympathizer and all of that."
Aster laughed a bit, "Does it look like I care what they say? Let them say what they're going to say."
"Not with that attitude," Garrus said, also smiling.
Aster stood aside and let Garrus pass as the door closed behind him.
"Make yourself at home," She said. "I'll get the bed ready."
"The bed?" Garrus asked, sitting on the couch.
Shepard almost grimaced at how that sounded. Did it sound like she had invited him to sleep with her?
"I can take the couch," Garrus said, not skipping a beat. "I don't want to put you out."
"You're not," Aster said, glancing at him as she headed to the bedroom. "I doubt you'll fit on the couch."
Aster opened up her closet and took out the extra pillows and blankets she had collected over the years from various presents. She knew for a fact that a human bed wasn't nearly as soft as a turian one, but with the added blankets and pillows, that should be enough.
She put the majority of the blankets and pillows on the bed and also took one of the blankets and a pillow to the living room. Garrus had already taken off his boots and was sitting awkwardly on the too-small couch.
After placing the items on the couch, Shepard beckoned Garrus to follow her.
"It's not much," She said, fluffing up the pillows. "But-"
"It's great," Garrus said, interrupting. "I can't thank you enough."
"Don't worry about it," Aster said, waving her hand at him. "It's not like I had plans or anything."
"You're not going out to get laid?" Garrus asked in a teasing voice. "Hate to have interrupted any plans."
"You're not," Aster assured him. "I've been told that men don't really like women who can shoot better than them."
"Besides, does it look like I'm dressed to go out?" Aster asked, twirling around in her hoodie. "I learned that most men just want a prize. Besides, I just want to relax around a bit before the next mission."
Garrus gave her a long look, "I bet all you have to do is walk out dressed like that, and I don't doubt you would be able to find someone to take home."
"You're full of charm," Aster said, clearly not believing him.
"Well, I'm a stranger, and I'm in your bedroom," Garrus replied
Aster choked on her spit. She could feel a blush beginning to creep into her cheeks.
Are all turians this bold? I do believe this is the longest I've interacted with a turian...
"Besides, I wasn't just talking about a human," Garrus continued, shuffling the blankets around. "I'm sure a turian wouldn't say no to you."
"I wouldn't say no to you," Garrus muttered softly.
Aster stared at him.
Did he just say what I think he said?
"Yeah. Sure," She said, clearing her throat. "Thanks for the motivating words."
"Turian aren't known to lie," Garrus stated, sitting on the bed. "Besides, I just got back from a long mission myself, and I don't have any plans either."
Aster was speechless. Was he offering what she thought he was offering...
She could feel a smile wanting to emerge.
"I don't know if you're serious or not," Aster said, crossing her arms in front of her. "But you shouldn't be offering such things out of pity or payment."
"Who said it was pity or payment?" Garrus asked, beginning to take off his armor.
"You're serious?" She asked, surprised.
She didn't think a turian would be interested in a human since there weren't many known interspecies sexual relationships between the two species. Even if it was just to relieve some stress.
"I have no objections," Garrus said, as the last piece of armor came off. "Not unless you do?"
Aster finally smiled; he was really serious. After giving it a brief thought, what did she have to lose?
"I don't have objections either," She replied, taking off her hoodie. "Besides, it's not like I had other plans either."
Aster went to stand in front of her and help him take off his full-body garment.
"So how do you want to do it?" she asked, unclipping the buttons from his shoulders.
"I have a pamphlet."
Aster bit the bottom of her lip to stop herself from laughing. She had to wonder who had time to create a position-friendly pamphlet for humans and turians.
I'm sure they're making a bank.