It was late in the morning when Aster and Garrus decided to finally sleep. She was swollen, and her hips were aching.
"How many positions did you say were on there?" she panted, staring up at the ceiling.
"82," Garrus replied laying next to her. "We only got to 20."
"We'll have to try the rest of them out," he mumbled. "I need to work on my stamina."
"Me too," Aster said, falling asleep instantly.
Sometime later, Aster woke up to a heaviness around her waist. It wasn't uncomfortable, but her waist was a bit sore. She rolled her head over a bit and found a turian sleeping beside her. The events of last night came back to her. Aster smiled to herself. She hadn't planned on anything, but it turned out better than she had hoped. Her stress was definitely relieved. Shepard turned over a bit, leaving the hand where it was, and stretched out, trying not to wake her guest.
The stretch made her notice a dull ache and some bruising.
I need to put medigel on those soon.
After a quick check for messages on her omni-tool, Aster turned around to face Garrus.
He's handsome.
Many humans might not agree with her, but she had been turians enough to learn a few things. Now that there was a small light coming through, she could tell that the marks from earlier were a dark blue color. They looked good on him.
"See anything you like?" Garrus asked with his eyes still closed.
"You can say that," Aster replied, smiling. "Just admiring the view."
Garrus grunted but didn't reply. A few moments of silence went by, and Garrus lifted his arm from around Shepard's waist.
"Go back to sleep," he mumbled.
"Fine," Aster replied, scooting in closer until she was able to place her face on his chest piece.
Still warm, She amused himself getting cozy.
Within a few minutes, Aster was fast asleep once again.
Aster wasn't sure how long she slept, but she woke up to an empty bed. She checked her omni-tool, and it was early evening.
He must have gone while I slept, Aster thought, getting up from the bed and grabbing her hoodie from the floor.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Shepard put some medigel on her aches and made her way to the kitchen, only to stop short at the sight.
"Garrus," She said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I didn't know you wanted me gone so soon," Garrus said, sitting on a barstool with a mug.
"N-no," She stammered. "I-just-of course not."
"Relax," Garrus said. "It was a joke. How are you feeling?"
"Funny," Aster mumbled, going to the cabinet to grab a mug. "Not too bad, you?"
"I should have probably stretched. That's devo brew," Garrus said as she poured herself some coffee. "Found it in one of the cabinets."
"Yeah, I found a couple of devo food when I moved in," She\replied, also taking a seat next to him. "Never found the time to clean it out."
"Maybe you don't have to," Garrus said, staring at her. He had given much thought to what he was going to say.
"Why is that?" She asked, taking a sip of coffee. "Planning on staying with me? Or is the plan to forget this all happened?"
"I have a proposition for you," Garrus said instead.
"I'm listening," Aster replied, curious.
I do like how straightforward he's being.
"In my line of work," Garrus began. "I'm always gone for days, weeks, months at a time. After a while, you get used to being alone."
"It's nice to have a place to stay," She whispered, not wanting to interrupt him.
"Given the circumstances," he continued. "I normally wouldn't be doing this, but seeing how life gets tiring, I figure I'll change things up."
Aster knew exactly where he was coming from. Once everything had settled and the peace treaty was in effect, the Alliance, wanting to show good faith, "loaned" Aster to the Council to use as they saw fit.
It wasn't long before she was being sent on personal errands, missions of retrieval, and other non-essential tasks. After the assassination had been foiled, John was promoted, and Aster was seen as a runner-up for Spectre.
That changed when her father, Anderson, told the Council that she specialized in espionage and infiltration before the war, and it wasn't wise to waste her talents on meaningless things. Sure enough, she was given the missions and the resources, but never the title of Spectre. Not that it bothered her, but her talents were being wasted.
"I've grown tired of the solitude, and it's nice to have company."
"You're more than welcome to stay here," Aster said slowly. "It's not impressive or anything, but it has its perks. We can even get a turian bed."
"You can say no," Garrus replied.
"I feel the same way," She admitted.
It's really a no-brainer. Someone like me, who is used to the solitude, wouldn't mind having something constant.
Something that doesn't need to be in the spotlight, something that doesn't have to be shared.
"It's nice to have company," Aster continued. "Besides, I like the view, and we have that pamphlet we didn't get through."
Garrus grunted and didn't say anything. She saw him rubbing his neck.
"I'm assuming last night was just a one-time-only deal?" Aster asked, having him around when it was possible was a huge perk if it came with a recurrence of last night.
"I don't expect you to be exclusive," Garrus replied. "But if we happen to be here at the same time, I have no objections."
"Alright," Shepard agreed. "With one condition."
Garrus waited patiently for her to continue.
"We don't bring other partners here."
"Deal."
It wasn't long before Garrus left, saying something about grabbing his things from the ship. Aster took the time to clean and make room for his stuff. Knowing what she knew about turians, Garrus would appreciate having some room on the workbench. Once everything was moved, she took the time to go through some unread messages and found one from Anderson.
He wanted to grab dinner with her at the Ryuusei Sushi place; the message also mentioned wearing something nice. Aster looked at the time and cursed; she was supposed to be meeting him in 30 minutes.
Aster took the fastest shower she had ever taken, not bothering to wash her hair, and grabbed the nicest clothes she had before dashing out the front door, shoes in hand.
She took a sky cart and got to the restaurant with 5 minutes to spare. She only hoped Anderson wouldn't say anything to her. When she arrived, Anderson was waiting for her outside, and he was wearing his best suit. She had to hand it to him; he knew how to clean up well.
"What's the occasion?" Aster asked, in greeting.
"I can't have dinner with my daughter without having a reason?" Anderson countered, drawing Aster into a hug.
"Ah, so we are having a father and daughter dinner then," She replied, returning his hug.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Anderson said.
"Lead the way," Aster said, smiling.
As Shepard followed Anderson to their table, she saw a glimpse of a turian who looked a lot like Garrus but couldn't be sure.
"Aster," Anderson called out when she stopped.
"Sorry," She said, smoothing her skirt down. "I thought I saw someone-"
Aster stopped short as Anderson went to their table, and Shepard got a glimpse of their guest. It was no other than Dr. Chakwas. Aster was surprised to see her wearing a dress and not her usual doctor's lab coat.
"Dr. Chakwas," Aster greeted. "Fancy seeing you here. Are you with someone?"
Anderson cleared his throat, "I invited Karin to have dinner with us."
Aster couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her, "So it's not just a father and daughter dinner? Could have fooled me."
"Aster," Anderson said in warning. "We can at least have a civilized dinner, can't we?"
"That depends on whether I have to make small talk," She replied politely. "After all, it's not like I was blindsided by this dinner."
"I don't think it would be wise to cause a scene," Dr. Chakwas interjected as several people around them noticed that they were still standing.
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Shepard agreed, sarcastically taking a seat. "It's not like there aren't any important people eating here."
Anderson and Dr. Chakwas both took their seat. The three of them sat in silence as they waited for their waitress to stop by.
"Major Anderson," Aster heard someone call out.
She looked around as Anderson stood up and greeted a turian. This turian looked a lot like Garrus, but his plates were duller.
"Mr. Vakarian," Anderson greeted. "How are you doing?"
"I'm well," Mr. Vakarian replied, glancing at the table. "I see you're here with your family. I won't take up too much of your time. I just wanted to stop by and say hi."
Both of them chatted a bit more before Mr. Vakarian left. By then, the waitress showed up and took their drink orders. Aster got water while Dr. Chakwas ordered wine for Anderson and herself. While Anderson and Dr. Chakwas conversed, Aster excused herself and went to hide in the bathroom for a bit.
Thankfully, the bathroom was empty. Aster leaned against the counter, looking through her messages. She only had a few non-urgent messages pending, but nothing that would make it a good enough excuse for her to leave dinner early.
After being in there for a few minutes, Aster headed back just as the waitress came back to take their orders. She ordered the first levo base meal on the menu, not caring what she got.
Dinner was quiet except for the occasional conversation of passing the salt or the pepper. Dr. Chakwas began another attempt at conversation in which Aster didn't comment or join in.
Anderson was more than happy to converse with the good doctor. Aster wasn't sure why she didn't like Dr. Chakwas, but there was just something about her that didn't sit well with her. By the time their plates had been picked up and their drinks refilled, Aster was fed up.
The music started playing, and most of the couples began to dance on the dance floor. Aster took the opportunity to go over and speak to the waitress who was attending them.
"Excuse me," She said, grabbing her attention. "Can I have the check for the Anderson table?"
"Are you paying the bill in full or in part?" She asked, looking at her console.
"Just my meal," Aster said. "I don't want to intrude on a romantic evening they're having."
"Of course," the waitress replied. "I understand. Your total is 75 credits."
Aster gave the waitress her credit chit and waited for her to run it.
"Leaving already," a familiar voice asked from behind her as the waitress handed her the credit chit.
"Yes," Aster replied, turning around to greet the newcomer. "Time to call it a night."
"I hope it doesn't have to do anything with me," Garrus said, a drink in his hands.
"I didn't know you were here," Shepard said, smiling.
"Lair," Garrus muttered, standing inches from her.