#salarian/human

[lyricsaboutcats]

When Scott keeps the truth of Andromeda from his sister, telling her through SAM that it’s a wonderful place where her father is alive, Jarun Tann finds himself telling her what really happened and unexpectedly becoming her confidant. And after Sara Ryder moves into his quarters, disrupting his carefully scheduled existence as the eighth Director, things between them get complicated.

[arts-butthound]

I posted a thing on Ao3!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/42968883/chapters/107958969

In the Shadows of Giants

“Taking place in between all three of the Mass Effect trilogy, we follow the budding romance between human janitor, Lynn Stobe, and salarian geneticist, Indros Tulic. Between the ins and outs of inter-species dating, salarian union politics, and the brink of a undisclosed war-how do two people navigate, or help each other grow.

There is no privacy in public for a salarian with a human on his arm and a clan reputation to uphold.”

Instead of working on the fic I already have going, my brain said start another- A SALARIAN ROMANCE! Because I’m a sucker and there aren’t enough of those to sate me. We’ll even see the Normandy crews antics sprinkled throughout the story and sometimes get to talk to them.

This is a story of the background characters who we all like talking to, what their lives are like. And I’ve been thinking about this story for years, so hopefully most of the kinks are mentally ironed out?

I worked really hard on the banter. I hope someone enjoys it.

[howgalling]

baby salarian that uses cute priviledges to get samples off of people hfdgkjhfdg

[sol-consort]

Regarding the human kink thing when it comes to turians, some people actually do be nesting, omega-verse style. Imagine being a human assigned to a turian ship, and you just over here in your bunk, innocently arranging the pillows and stuffies, while these guys are just standing there, slack-jawed and harmonizing their subvocals lol

[updated post]

A/B/O is not for me, but I dig the concept of aliens being intrigued by plushies. They are weird when you think about it.

The weird part isn't the plushies–it makes sense for warm-blooded mammals who value skinship to enjoy cuddling soft things, hugs are fundamental for your health—No, The weird part is how the most popular plushies aren't human shaped.

You could argue dolls, but dolls aren't used as plushies. They're more hard and sturdy, something that can withstand being played with. they have joints and brushable hair. Dolls are puppets to tell a story with, a psychological form of play through creativity.

I want you for a moment to imagine an advanced civilisation of bears with me.

With metropolises and bustling economy, they haven't mastered space travel yet but they've been eyeing the planet closest to them, bringing back rocks from the moon, etc.

In one apartment complex, there lives a bear family. The furniture is more accommodating to their larger build, clothes are more of an accessory to them considering their luxurious fur coats keeping them warm.

It's nighttime, tomorrow's a Sunday and mom bear has to leave to work early, she's currently washing the dishes leftover from the wonderful dinner the family just had. Her wife, however, is putting their son to bed. it's his second week in elementary bear school! he's unhappy with his seating arrangement in class however, the teacher placed him too far from his best friend.

His mother promises to have a chat with the teacher about it when she drops him off tomorrow, the son bear is very delighted and roars happily. A big yawn escapes him as his eyelids get heavy.

In his arms, there lies a cotton friend. His most beloved treasure, the most precious inanimate object to his heart. His plushie!

He adores it. It makes him so happy. It helped make him feel safe when he first started sleeping alone after his moms got him his own bed.

Now, I need you to tell me what does the plushie look like?

For me, these are the options that instinctively came to my mind when attempting to imagine what sentient bear cubs living in a 21st century would gravitate towards in a plushie.

A) a teddybear, more fluffy, abstract, and cartoonish looking

B) a plushie in the shape of a honeyjar

C) a plushie in the shape of a fish–more specifically, salmon or trout

D) fuck idk man leave me alone

When compressed down to their core, in the most simplfied form, the choices are:

A) Identity

B) Food

C) Food

D) How did you get into my house?

-

With that long analogy out of the way, when you compare that limited selection to the actual things humans have already turned into plushies, it just doesn't make sense.

Food, yes we have plushies of food but also of animals we do not eat. rabbits, cats, dogs, dolphins, bugs. We have plushies of predetors even, things that once hunted us down, beings that still could very well kill us if we meet face to face, tigers, sharks, bears themselves even.

Animal cartoons are much more popular amongst kids. Fables about talking animals have been a stable genre ever since humans invented writing. Animal plushies are popular amongst adults too.

Plushies of inanimate objects, of plants, of fictional characters and fantasy creatures.

I'm willing to bet that humans already made plushies of verans since the first year they came into space, that they sold out on earth immediately. Hell, I'm sure there are plushies of reapers, of protheons and even of turians and other species.

Not even abstract ideas were spared from being into marketable plushies! isn't there a series designed to raise awareness for mental illness?

The whole meme of "turns your fav into a marketable plushie" spread so much because it is true. If there is one thing humans love, is making plushies of anything not human.

And that's the weird part to aliens, the big boy of human anomalies. "Why do they want to cuddle literally everything in this universe? and how come plushies of other humans is the last thing on that list"

You try to explain it to a salarian once but they just look at you in confusion. What do you mean you sleeping with plushes resembling your species is "weird"?? Don't you humans like hugging each other so much? Yet cuddling the soft imitation of a reaper each night isn't weird to you????

That's not even mentioning how the bear society analogy is flawed because we are biased by nature. We projected the bear society onto our human agriculture and based it upon our own popculture.

When in reality they would hold very different values, a different emotional range. They'd be as diverse as the other alien species in mass effect, sharing more resemblance to them than to humans.

We see someone sad, and we have this need to touch them, pat their shoulder, rub their back, hold their hands, and give a hug. Bears let their children walk on their own while we carry our young more, much like aquatic birds in more ways than we'd think.

A/B/O nesting isn't my cup of tea, but with turians, it's easier to digest. Yeah, they are birds. It would be literal nesting. That's kinda cute.

We like caves, it's also cute. Would turians prefer the top bunkbed? Anyway.

Birds usually throw clutter away from their nests, anything that's not a straw or building material is disposed off to make space for their eggs.

While we like the opposite, clutter fucking rocks! at least for humans.

We have a mattress, then a mattress cover, then a sheet.

Then we have pillows, stuffing, then pillow covers, decorative pillows.

After it, multiple blankets! a soft one, a heavy one, an airy one. Sometimes, blankets come with blanket covers.

Finally, the plushies arrive. Multiple of course, some for decorations, others well worn with cuddles. Sometimes a gaint big one to fully wrap all of our limbs around.

Sometimes our beds have crumbs from food we eat in it, othertimes it has a stray sock we took off while in bed and forgot.

Most of the time it has our phone in it, a pet joins us there, book we're reading, laundry we were supposed to fold but forgot, a bag, or several outfits as we get ready to go out.

That's a cave, much like bears leave the skeletal remains of their prey, we have crumbs from the cookie we suddenly craved at 3am.

Nests are neat and clutter-free, at least the bird ones, always getting cleaned from waste. Eggshells are thrown out as they hatch, baby birds waste are immediately disposed of.

Lizard nests aren't that different.

Because the equivalent to a nest foundation isn't the blankets, plushies, or pillows. it's the house foundation itself!

The concrete walls and the sturdy floorboards. The whole bedroom is already a well-built nest. The bed is just an extra cushion. The fluffy material and loose feathers birds leave at the very top, so the twigs don't scratch the fragile eggs.

So, in conclusion. Turians and Salarians would get VERY overwhelmed in a human bedroom, let alone a human bed with plushies, stuffies, and blankets.

They're like, "Are you expecting a baby???" When they notice what their brain consider is extra protective fluffing for eggs.

Turians even more because of their lack of skin nerves, hard plating, and all. Their outershell makes it hard to appreciate soft things, let alone hugging them, when they can barely feel it.

Salarains? They're softer, more squishy, and they might enjoy the way it feels against their skin. Most reptiles do, and they're the closest thing for reference.

They're warm-blooded, but they do originate from a fully tropical planet + they're amphibians and might have used to be semi-aquatic? Meaning that while they still produce their own bodyheat, it wouldn't be that much to begin with. Space is definitely much colder to them than to a human.

That's why hugging a human is so nice to them! They can leech off of your body heat as their very own sun–or at least a substitute for a heatlamp.

But plushies and blankets are a different story. With blankets, they might make them cold or freeze since they blocked whatever light or heatlamp the salarians must need for sleep when they're not wearing their temperature adjustment suits.

And if you sleep next to them under the blanket, your trapped body heat will cause the temperature to rise above what's comfortable for them and risk overheating them. Same with the fluffy sheets, pillows or plushies.

there's the risk of overheating them with your body as the blanket traps in the heat. it will happen slowly, but that just makes it more dangerous. A slow simmer of rising body temperature as they realise what a death trap a human bed actually is.

Plus, salarians only need one hour of sleep per cycle, it seems very excessive to them that you'd build a whole room and make the biggest piece of furniture in it solely for the purpose of sleep. All of those plushies just to hug to sleep?

Drell, who breathe through their skin, would view blankets as a total nightmare. Their clothes already need a lot of adjustment to accommodate their conditions, only certain material is airy enough to allow them to get a lungfull, and you want to suffocate them with cotton or polyester?

They know you only breathe through your nose, but it still...makes them feel uneasy. Seeing you covered completely in stuffies and thick blankets, only your head poking out. Much like what it would feel for us to see someone go to sleep underwater with a flimsy mask connected to an oxygen tank. Now, this is truly a death trap–the salarians were right.

As long as you forgo the blanket and...allow them to fully strip down, they will give this whole human bed thing a try. Silk or satin sheets and pillow covers feel the best against their skin, smooth surfaces that seamlessly glide, air particles passing through it with little trouble.

Anything fluffy, feathery, or with fur will irritate their skin. It's like something brushing against your nose. They sacrifice a lot of comfort when it comes to indulging the human need to cuddle, but most drell rarely complain as they accommodate to your need, even if it meant you'd be slightly cutting off their air circulation.

Maybe their society is exceptionally polite? Maybe devotion and sacrifice for the ones you love are just ingrained in their biology? It would explain their endless royalty to the hanar despite how staying on that planet is literally killing them.

Oh yeah, owning a humidifier in your room will cause them a lot of pain and discomfort. Turn it off, or if you really want to woo a drell, get a dehumidifier.

Krogans would fucking love our beds tho. Might make fun of it at first, but they secretly also want a soft mattress and plushies to cuddle with.

Get close enough with a Krogan, and they'll start crashing in your room and taking naps on your own bed whenever the chance presents itself.

Don't the asari sleep in pods? I'm thinking of that sex scene in ME, she fucks you in a pod. That's something. At least...Liara gets used to human beds?

-

Anway! having established all of that definitely vital and necessary world building, I can finally talk smut about the turians! the original context of this request!

One look at a human's bed and their minds are definitely going south. First of all, human, you're in desperate need of a mate because your nest is a mess! Why do you have so many different fabrics? Aren't you worried you'll suffocate yourself with a plushie or too while sleeping?

Second of all...they didn't know humans were this soft. You mean, most humans sleep like this? In very comfortable beds? Even like...the army tough ones? Oh, that's why they get so excited for shore leave? so they can return to their actual comfortable nests–sorry yes "beds" and have some decent sleep?

huh.

And none of you are expecting children, correct? This is just how the average adult human goes to sleep?

Turians don't have the heart to tell you that they associate soft beds–ones like yours—to the human equivalent of a heart-shaped bed with rose petals scattered around, candles illuminating the room and a very deliberate lack of condoms.

They try not to...think about it whenever they come into the room. A bluish hue adorning their cheeks, trying to avoid eye-contact as they explain that uh...fuck, they accidentally glanced towards your bed and forgot what they came here to say.

I talked before how jarring it's to them that humans easily allow others on their bed, be it human or not. You just casually invite your friends to sit on it? The same sheets you sleep on each night? the one so heavy with your delicious scent they can practically smell it the second they stepped foot into this room?

And now you're telling them to take a seat, even handing them one of your plushies to keep in their lap. What's a friendly gesture and a show of trust is being very very badly misinterpreted by their brain chemistry, their biology going haywire at what they consider the declaration of "Get me pregnant" Whether you're actually capable of it or not.

-

Sidenote, the angara might be the only ones to share our bed preferences, not only that but show enthusiasm at the mention of plushies.

The only difference is that their society values plushies that resemble people more, angara like them. The dolls and plushie lineup are very intertwined.

Cuddling very intimately with someone isn't sexualised either, nor presented under a romantic light necessarily. Their society prides itself on love and affection; they're direct with expressing their emotions.

A single angara family can have many mothers and fathers, tens of sisters and brothers. Cuddling and sharing a bed is very normalised even far into adulthood.

They might be the ones giving humans the wrong idea by immediately inviting them back to cuddle on their bed after only the second meeting. Just because they decided they like you :) It's the equivalent of going out for coffee.

Protheoans, meanwhile, fall on the opposite spectrum. Javik doesn't have a bed, does he? He never asks for one either. They're a society of warriors, they value strength and abhor tenderness. Brutal honesty is their forte.

But...they also read each other's emotions through touch.

While beds are a foreign concept, plushies are not. Javik can sense the history of a room just by directly touching its floorboards. Plushies and other sentimental objects must be valued very greatly in their society, doesn't he hold onto the disk of memories from his time back before being frozen?

He understands why his own species came to value plushies, but why the hell does yours do it? You lack his abilities, all humans do.

You try to explain it to him, but it just sounds like you're describing vague and badly done emotion reading with extra steps.

He concludes that humans must hold traces of these abilities. It just translates into safety and the need to cuddle others. Also, it is clearly inferior to the protheon's advanced ability, so yeah.

Javik dislikes your bed but likes your plushies and actually welcomes cuddling. He remains stoic throughout it but you can feel him poking through your memories.

Same with your plushies, he asks that he may keep one as a relic. A piece of your soul, your history is encased in it like an artifact in amber.

Touching it almost feels exactly like travelling in time to meet your old self, getting to part the curtians of space itself and get a front row view on the person you used to be.

Plushies immortalise you to protheans, who would've thought.

-

I had so much fun with this an analysis it <333 I know it isn't exactly what you had in mind anon, I'm sorry, A/B/O is listed as a "no" in my requesting list. But the concept was so good I had to approach it in a different direction.

I hope you still enjoyed it!

[flame2ashes]

Mass Effect: Ashley gets Turian and Salarian military medals posthumously if she died on Virmire

Me: (◡‿◡✿)

My brain: But what if.....she still got those medals even if she survived Virmire

Me: (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

[callmeshin]

I've always found it fascinating that, like the overall species for humans, they tend to lowercase all of the Mass Effect races (asari, prothean, krogan, quarian, salarian, turian, etc.). We also know that the species name for humans is Homo sapien. With all of that being said ... does anybody else ever wonder what the scientific/species name for the other races would be?? And are there subgroups (nationalities, ethnicities, etc.) like how there are with humans (Africans, Spaniards, Chinese, Hawaiians, Mexicans, etc.)??

I just can't help to wonder this because I don't recall them ever really talking about this in the mainstream games and my knowledge on the books are a bit foggy and laughable. Not only that but this is something that's always bothered me tbh. Because while I do absolutely love and adore that they've added so many space races, I'd like to know about various subspecies, subgroups, nationalities, ethnicities, etc. In other words?? It's lazy writing to just do it with humans.

Now we do have the Ardat-Yakshi which would have uppercased letters, that's about all we have. I don't entirely want to count purebloods because that's considered an insult. In fact, I would think that using the term pureblood would probably be similar to saying the N-word. It's one thing if one pure blood says it to another pure blood because they've earned the right to but if anyone else says it then it's uncalled for. But that's just my own little headcanon at this point, I guess.

With all of that being said ... has anyone else thought about any of these or do I just think too much??

[bagog]

Something I think about a lot in Mass Effect is when Javik talks about how they used to eat Salarians in his cycle.

But like... homo sapiens were around more than 50,000 years ago and were using tools and stuff.

So, if the other species in the galaxy follow a similar evolutionary time-table... was... did Javik eat sentient creatures?

[skullmoss]

i did forget how unhinged garrus is in ME1 he really is all "we really should've shot that ship down even tho there were hostages. they were dead anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

and even my renegade earthborn sole survivor shepard was like "dude........no?"

[ferniliciousness]

I don't know why, but the idea of just Garrus' crew of mercenaries sitting around and gossiping brings me so much joy. Especially the married ones, you can't tell me the wives didn't want at least some tea, you can only talk about so much when you're a part of a top secret vigilante group lmao.

N7month day 11 prompt: Crew

Gold paint drips onto a work table, falling from an outstretched brush which hovers over a piece of armor. A soft hum of music plays from Gaia's headphones as she puts on the finishing touches of paint. Archangel's symbol, now perfectly placed on Erash's rerebrace, shimmers in the light as she holds up her handiwork.

"Gaia? What are you still doing here? I thought you would have left by now." Garrus' familiar voice rumbles next to her, as the turian leans over the table to look at her work. "You don't have to stay here all day you know? I'm sure you have plenty of work to do at your shop and you've already finished the work we had for you."

"Please Garrus, I'm so bored at the shop. Lunette and Kellic have literally left me with nothing to do there. I swear they run that place better without me; I mean, I'm not complaining, but some days I do wish they would leave me something to do."

"Now, hold still." With fresh paint on her brush, Gaia quickly grabs a hold of Garrus' arm, he wasn't getting away from her this time.

"Gaia really?" The surprise quickly fades from his face as he sees what she's doing.

"Oh be quiet. It's your own fault. You're never out of this armor long enough for me to paint it, and you're the only one I have left now that I'm done with Erash's. Dont worry I'll be quick, only, if you can manage to hold still for a minute."

Garrus mumbles something under his breath, but he concedes to her wishes, holding his arm still while she paints. "Isn't there an easier way of doing this? That doesn't involve paint."

"Youre looking at it." Gaia meticulously places every brush stroke, making sure that it looks perfect. "This is basically like a metal stain. It will flake off in a day or two and leave the design behind, then nothing will be able to take it off. I mean unless you just gouge it out, but if you're getting damaged enough for that to happen I think you have other worries besides ruining the symbol."

"Say, Sidonis? Is it, you know, common, for Turians and humans to get together? Like have you seen it happen before?"

"Well that's a random question." Sidonis places a card down onto the table, where he and Butler were playing a quick card game. "I've never seen it happen, but I've looked at enough Fornax covers to know it does. Why? I thought you were happily married?"

"Oh god no, not me you idiot. Look." Butler quickly gestures over to the table where Gaia is still painting on Garrus' arm. "Look at those two over there. You can't tell me they wouldn't make a good match. Heaven knows the two could use some uh, company."

Sidonis can't help but look at his friend in utter disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me." A loud sigh escapes him. "I think you have picked the most unlikely pair of them all. Those two never stop working long enough to even relax, let alone think about romance.... IF there is any romance between them at all. Which I seriously doubt. Maybe try your luck with someone else.... "

"Who are you talking about? Garrus and Gaia?" The Salarian member Melanis spoke up from behind his workbench. "Hmm, Gaia never struck me as the romance type. Always treats that topic more like a Salarian than a human. I agree with Sidonis on this one. Maybe you should leave the match making to someone else Butler. I would think you would know better by now."

"That Gaia has broken more hearts on Omega than I can count." Vortash can't stay out of the conversation, even as the batarian works away on his terminal.

"Really! Gaia?! I can't see her being a heartbreaker?" Butler sounds surprised as he and Sidonis look up from their game.

"Please. Gaia had nearly every young Merc on the station pining for her when she was making runs, hell I heard even her own crew wanted a piece of her. She never paid them any attention though. I wouldn't be surprised if Melanis was right, she might just not be the type for.... All that."

"How did Gaia ever get that many mercs going for her? I can hardly see her being their type. She's just so.... Not a psychopathic killer." Melanis leaving his work, walks over to continue talking with the group.

"You should have seen her when she was in her smuggler days. I know half those stories about her probably aren't true, but even so, I know no one dared mess with her. Plus her family name definitely helps hype up the image."

"Now, now Vortash. Are you sure we're talking about the same Gaia? The one currently painting fancy designs on our armor, the girl who owns a small shop down in the market... that Gaia.... Is the same Gaia?"

"Oh, you didn't see her when we took down that Blood Pack weapons cache. That girl definitely knows her way around a rifle." Sidonis speaks up, remembering when Gaia had helped him and Garrus find and infiltrate the gang camp. "Let's just say I'm glad she's on our side. She might not look like it but that girl packs a punch."

"I swear I think all of you are just crazy." Butler can only shake his head and return to his cards, while the rest of the group laughs at his disbelief. "I still think they would make a good couple, mark my words."

"Yeah, yeah, if you say so. Just don't be surprised if your wrong... Again. Leave them be Butler, those two have enough on their plates as it is without you playing matchmaker." Sidonis joins him again, and the hideout returns to the quiet.

[dr-ladybird]

Hey what if humans are Mass Effect’s first Council species to have dicks?

Dunno what asari have, and they seem to have *some* sort of recreational crotch-based sex organs, but… dick? Maybe? Maybe not.

Pretty sure salarians do the external fertilisation frog thing (when they bother reproducing sexually at all… the males don’t have fathers at all, remember, like a bee. Mordin is immune to SR2 daddy issues as he has no daddy)

Turians are birds. does this imply everyone has the same hole? cloacal kissing? maybe?

what if neither asari nor turians have dicks. imagine the jokes.

[cerberusdailynews]

[CUISINE] The Stench of Fear - Tourists Still Avoiding Sushi Bars

via Sights Unseen [CUISINE] The Stench of Fear - Ryuusei's Incident Still Haunts Sushi Bars, Deters Tourists The infamous Ryuusei's Sushi Bar shootout may be over ten galactic standard years old by now, but Citadel's sushi restaurants still feel its paralyzing sting on their business in the present. Results from a survey conducted last year by Citadel Restaurant Association and Partnership cast light on the grim reality. Staff and management reported the most drastic decline in their restaurants' popularity and some even had shuttered over past years. "Assassins make an attempt at a Spectre's life in a restaurant and the Extranet zooms in on the sushi bar as the butt of their joke! People didn't jeer at the victims like this when Cerberus razed a whole food court up at Presidium, did they? It's a sick, sick galaxy out there." wrote one anonymous restauranter in the survey. Yet not everyone believes it's just the incident behind the decline. Jomun Gemlen, a veteran restaurant reviewer with reviews published from The Citadel Post to Omega Herald, believes it is really twilight for one genre of cuisine in the galactic scene. “Earth’s time on the plate is over. Every combination of rice and fish in a roll has been seen and eaten. The mouths of the galaxy desire novelty!”, Jomun commented to us, “What one should really keep an eye out for are what’s coming out of Camala and Erzsbat. Today it might be a bowl of raksha hash from a street stall, tomorrow it’ll be ribs and t-bone steak at Presidium!” Whether the spicy and notoriously health warning-labeled cuisine out of Kite’s Nest will win over the galaxy’s tongues or not remains to be seen.

[lyricsaboutcats]

When Scott keeps the truth of Andromeda from his sister, telling her through SAM that it’s a wonderful place where her father is alive, Jarun Tann finds himself telling her what really happened and unexpectedly becoming her confidant. And after Sara Ryder moves into his quarters, disrupting his carefully scheduled existence as the eighth Director, things between them get complicated.

[hellafluff]

Still wild to me that like alot of Major Asari characters we meet in Mass Effect are Purebloods. They just keep throwing that in when I think it's way more interesting when the Asari has mixed parentage.

That being said: Samara's story still destroys me and meeting Liara's father is still one of my favorite character moments with her

[anderwhohn]

@dutyworn asked: [ APPROACH ] our muses haven’t been intimate yet and receiver finally broaches the subject to sender. / nihlus first contact

💌 some more smutty memes [ meme - accepting ]

He knew their species' governments and the Council wouldn't stay out of their personal lives forever, though he had certainly hoped it would have been longer than a few weeks before they started asking him about the more intimate details of their bonding. Not even a full month after their ceremony, and Nihlus had been forced to endure one of the most awkward conversations to have with the Council in his entire Spectre career - and the most awkward conversation to have with Sparatus in his entire life so far.

At least they're putting the pressure on him and not Shepard, as small of a mercy as that might be. But he knows it will only be a matter of time, if he tries to give her more time to adjust to... everything, given how it was her life that was completely uprooted by this whole arrangement in the first place, before they start assuming she - and thus humanity - aren't keeping to their end of the agreement. That's the last thing she needs...

He pauses as he taps a selection of items from a menu on the datapad he holds, trying to select levo foods he knows she's tried and enjoyed, and avoid anything he knows she didn't like or care for. He had wanted to spend this evening out in the Wards, taking her to dinner and to some of the local entertainment, to continue her tour of the Citadel of where would be safest for her to go on her own whenever he's away on a mission, but his earlier meeting with the Council was forcing him to change his plans.

He was determined that she would at least have a quiet dinner to enjoy, even if nothing else went the way he had hoped to spend their evening. After all, he didn't put it past Valern in particular to send spies to follow them if they left their apartment, and if he was going to have to have this discussion tonight, he was at least going to ensure they would have complete privacy, as he'd already scanned the entire apartment for bugs, and removed and destroyed the few that had been planted while no one was home.

Looking up at the sound of the door's chime announcing it's swift opening and closing, his mandibles spread in an easy smile to see Wren returning. She looks relaxed, at least, which is hopeful, as he turns back to the menu to submit the order to be delivered.

"I just finished ordering us dinner," he offers, setting the datapad aside as he stands to greet her properly. A quiet purr rumbles deep in his chest as he moves to meet her, leaning in to lightly press his crest to her forehead affectionately. "It should be here soon."

Though the matter of 'Council business' was never going to make for polite dinner conversation, he shakes his head as he gestures further into the apartment toward the bar in the back corner. "Join me for a drink while we wait? After today's meeting I had with the Council, I think we'll both be needing one," he notes wryly.

"I wanted to allow you as much time as you could have, considering how you were clearly rushed into this arrangement with even less information than I was granted. But it seems the powers that be can't leave well enough alone for more than a few weeks before trying to raise issues..."

He sighs wearily as he pours himself a glass of brandy from the bar, taking a long drink from it before topping it off again before he continues. "There have been 'concerns', from both sides, about the 'legitimacy' of this arrangement. While it's not uncommon for turian bondmates to not rush into..."

Spirits, he's just going to get this out as clinically as he has to. Better that than risk any misunderstandings, he imagines.

"Into sexual intimacy with their partners, especially given that often one or both are still in active duty, it seems that the same leeway is being questioned given our more unique situation. I'm not certain which side decided to start complaining first, but there had to have been more than a few turians to have noted either of us lack the usual signs of being fully bonded."

A frustrated growl escapes him as he takes another drink of his brandy. "Not that it's any of their business, and I told the Council that very thing in no uncertain terms. I won't do anything without your full consent, however, so if you tell me that you're not ready, or not interested at all, then we'll figure something out. I won't let them force or coerce my bondmate into anything. I swore to protect you, and I will do just that - be it from the Alliance, the Hierarchy, or even the Council itself."

[sol-consort]

I’m obsessed with the idea of being the only human on an all alien ship.

Sure aliens do see a lot of humans on the streets in the Citadel, but those are strangers, even staring at them for too long is considered a rude gesture. Most aliens never get the chance to get closer to a human, let alone interact with them anywhere that's not public space.

Being on a ship is more intimate, living in close proximity with others amidst a metal tube floating in space just enforces that intimacy.

Humans are social creatures by nature, much like we need sunlight, without it we wither and spiral into depressive moods. We need some form of interactions, loneliness is deadly to us.

So imagine how these aliens must feel when after so many years of only seeing the humankind as strangers—a mystery so close by yet so out of reach, a species that speedran joining the citadel and fully acclimated to the space life at such a fast pace, barely anyone got to know or discover much about them and next thing you know, they get their own seat in the council.

And now, there's a whole human living in the room next to them. This shiny new thing, eager to talk and socialise. Suddenly, they're face to face with the object of their intrigue. They have a million questions for you, eyes following you when you're not looking, unconsciously tracing your features as you talk to them, a pause in there speech once they feel your soft skin against their own after you accidentally brushed against them.

A turian who treads cautiously around you, unsure of just where you stand when it comes to the first-contact war, knowing that many humans still aren't over it.

He tries to keep his distance as not to make you uncomfortable. But by the spirits, human, you just make it impossible to stay away.

Offering him a polite hello as he steps into the ship joined kitchen, you're sitting on the counter stirring a cup of some...warm liquid? He assumes based on the mist dissipating into air.

A slight swing to your bare legs, courtesy of the pyjama shorts you started feeling comfortable enough to wear around—he tries not to gawk at your thighs. Why do they look so squishy exactly? A passing thought of how his claws would feel digging into them, he quickly forces it away alongside his gaze.

Your eyes are on him; he can feel their heat. Human eyes aren't exactly subtle with your white sclera—unlike the turians dark ones. He accurately guesses your line of sight from a mile away.

Turian brains simply can't ignore it even if they tried to, you're constantly triggering a primal instinct deep within them, a siren going off telling them that they're being watched by what very possibly could be a predetor.

The human tendency to smile with their teeth doesn't make this any easier either. How could such teeth be hidden by something so soft and plump? Lips...he thinks they were called. And to think just your saliva is enough to send him to the hospital, yet you're sharing the same kitchen as him.

You talk casually with him, sipping on your drink occasionally. He almost forgets what he came to the kitchen for...oh right, food.

Humans words aee hard to read, to tell apart their sarcastic and rhetorics from sincerity. The many colourful expressions, he's still not over the last time you loudly announced, "Oh bite me!" after accidentally dropping your fork.

It wasn't an invitation, apparently, just an expression of frustration...not that he was thinking about it or anything! Nope, nah.

He is especially not thinking about it right now, considering the way your shirt is falling to the side, collar almost slipping off your shoulder. Exposing your whole bare neck and collarbone to him, a tantalising view that he has to peel his eyes away from.

You've kindly indulged him in the past, humouring the rest of the crew's curiosity that they couldn't keep contained for longer than a couple days after finally being in such close proximity with a human.

The only human on this ship.

He never stood close enough to one to smell their scent before, let alone the fact that your room just happened to be directly next to his, a thin platinum wall separating the two of you.

You're not aware of it, how you smell to him. Maybe it's the fact humans can get away with wearing such little clothes in space without side effects that your scent in particular stands out the most amidst all the other species.

The colour of your blood is another thing that he overlooked before. When you yawned, licked your lips or anything that involved opening your mouth, he never expected the colour of your tongue to be a reddish pink, for the wall lining and your gums to be a similar yet deeper shade of red.

It seemed so obvious in hindsight, but seeing it with his own eyes was another experience entirely.

Humans are very receptive to touch, he observed. The way you leaned into the asari touch when she massaged the nape of your neck, her hand firmly squeezing the knots out.

The way you had no qualms about one or two of the Hanar tentacles wrapping around your forearm, intertwining the thin end with your fingers, enjoying the pulsing colours within the soft jelly-fish like flesh, a pale pink/light purple gradient.

Layer your head on the krogans legs so nonchalantly while watching tv, barely registering the way his entire body stiffened.

Welcoming all of the salarian's curious touches, studying your features, plucking a strand from your hair to analyse later. Lounging on her his lap while listening to his long speeches and info dumps, even if it's a subject completely out of your field of knowledge, you seem content.

It's so easy to forget how all of these situations are normal bonding moments between close humans.

Everything ranging from playfighting with the drell only to end up pinned to the couch while giggling, to exaggerated proclamations of marriage proposals to the quarian who let you have half of the chocolate bar his family sent him by mail.

...the turian really wants to join, he sees you mingling with everyone without a care in the world for them being a different species. All the research he made about humans—the many search histories he had to delete, the booke he read, the articles, the videos he watched.

So why can't he bring himself to do it? How is fair that you'd pepper the asari with soft cheek kisses if she simply asked for it, but he cannot even manage to look you in the eye for more than 5 seconds because he feel your gaze tracing the facepaint on his plates, the memory of you commenting on how beautiful it is in your literal first meeting still haunts his mind to this day.

[crqstalite]

so random thought — was it a plothole that the nexus really didnt have a single quarian, drell, volus, etc. onboard to help with engineering or other tasks? like every other species had a couple on the nexus, even if their ark hadnt arrived properly. i dont believe that lol

chalking that up to dev hell probably