#shepardxgarrus

[biowarelove]

Underneath your blood is blue by Delomia

[n7shepart]

Garrus Vakarian coloured pencil illustration and graphite sketch

There’s no Shepard without Vakarian!

[katherineshep]

A smile of a luckiest man in the world

Did anyone but me notice Garrus's wide smile in ME3 when Shepard shows him human protocols on reunions?))

If not, make screenshots of that talk in Main Battery before and after their kiss.

Then you'll see it - a widest smile of a happy Turian that thinks he's a luckiest man in the world ❤❤❤

[kestrelsansjesses]

Scar Tissue

[[Summary: When I played ME3, I sort of blindly took the option to erase Shepard’s scars without really considering the implications. Then I wondered how Garrus would take it, and here. Have some angst.

AO3]] 

“Shepard. This tech you found would let us erase the scars selectively. With careful application, we could do your whole body.” Dr. Chakwas leaned back in her chair, pouring a careful finger of whiskey and passing it over to Shepard. “Drink before making a decision. Sip, not chug, my dear.” The drink burned all the way down Shepard’s throat, but she had already made up her mind. The alcohol was only fortifying her, making a choice that seemed obvious even more so.

“Do it. Just my face.” Finishing the rest of her drink (and ignoring Dr. Chakwas’ request that she not drink it so quickly,) Shepard stood, walking over to one of the examination tables. Hardly her first time here, and not likely to be her last. Before the machinery could swing out over her face, she traced those few scars she did have- the jagged one that echoed the shape of her cheek, going from eye level to roughly mouth level, tinged a faint red. The one on her forehead, going into her hairline. The one at the corner of her mouth. Not many, but none of them had been there a few years before. This was all Cerberus, and stress. It made her feel older, but not in a linear way- older by decades, battle-worn as any krogan.

The actual procedure itself only took moments, the flicker of pain nothing compared to what she had felt before. Then Dr. Chakwas was passing her a mirror, and Shepard could hold up a scarred knuckle, each individual finger seeming to have a separate story, and see a face that looked untouched for the first time in too long. Gone. All gone. Maybe the great Commander Shepard should have been above vanity, but her own reflection made her smile. “Got someone I have to show, doc. Thanks.” There would be a nice transfer of credits to Dr. Chakwas, the source ‘anonymous’, after this.

“You should rest, let your face settle some,” she was saying, but Shepard was already out the door, a flood of painkillers taking away so many of the aches and pains she no longer noticed in specificity, mood bolstered to the point of being very nearly silly, the whiskey not helping the cause any. The crew was staring, though whether they were doing it because their captain wasn’t walking in an entirely straight line or because her face was suddenly lacking distinct topography wasn’t clear, and to be honest, Shepard couldn’t bring herself to give even a single fuck.

“Garrus.” Leaning against a wall in an attempt to look suave, Shepard entered his domain, the smile on her face attempting to be cocky and instead just looking uneven.

To her chagrin, he didn’t turn around. “Can it wait? I’m in the middle of some-” No, not this again. It had been months. Spinning him around bodily, Shepard made him look at her, holding his face in her hands. “I’d say kiss me, but I need my lips intact today.” She’d have to settle for their customary forehead touch, though in her current state, it was more of a gentle headbutt and then a step backward, waiting to see if he would notice. Of course he would notice. It wasn’t like she had touched her hair or lost weight or done something that would be equally inexplicable to a turian.

“Shepard, what the hell happened to your face?” Not quite the reaction she had been hoping for. Garrus held her face between his hands, turning it this way and that, blinking his eyes rapidly. “Or are you another evil clone? Because if we’re dealing with another clone, I’m out.” He held her gently though; deep down, Garrus knew this was Shepard, as much as he didn’t seem to want to believe it.

One finger went over the space where her most prominent scar had been, rubbing the spot again and again like he could rub away make-up. “Before the Citadel was attacked, I traded medical supplies with another turian I met. He gave me something that could erase scars.” She was naked, so naked, all Shepard wanted to do was go back to bed, sleep everything off. Not that it was ever an option for her. Not that she could ever see a future where it would be.

He let go of her face, hand dropping to his side, and something about it reeked of finality. “Those scars were you. We all supposed to erase our scars now and forget what we earned?” She wanted to reach up and touch his own, that side of his face that was twisted and gnarled from where it had taken a rocket launcher. She’d thought he had died then, and even now it hurt, but she wasn’t a touchy person, couldn’t bring herself to be that person even now.

“You earned yours. Cerberus gave me mine. Maybe I don’t want to be reminded of fucking Cerberus every day.” They were already making her life hell, additional worries on top of the Reapers, and yet Shepard owed her life to them. They had made her in a very literal way, and it was something she faced with every aching part of her body. “I can’t look at my face and see them anymore, Garrus. I can’t do that.” If anyone knew how close she was to breaking from all this shit, they’d lose their faith in her. She couldn’t even let Garrus see; any facial expression Shepard had reverted to something neutral, guarded.

“They were still you,” he replied, but his voice was softer now, more quiet. “You’re always still you. Commander Shepard, savior and asshole of the galaxy.”

“And sometimes I just want to be Shepard.” Garrus had softened now, and the the spirit had gone out of both of them. Not in a bad way; they simply had too much history with each other to fight for so long. “I didn’t erase all my scars, Garrus. I’m still me. It’s just my face.” Just the most visible part of herself, but also the thing she had to see every day in the mirror.

Maybe to both their collective surprise, Garrus grinned at her. “You still got that scar near your hip that I like?” This was better ground, more familiar.

“I can show you.”

“I guess the calibrations can wait.” Garrus touched her face one more time, fingers mourning the missing topography of scars. They would be okay; they had weathered worse than this.

[miss-space]

Good f!ShepxGarrus fics?

[saulbaby]

Imagine that Shepard gets sick, and Garrus knows that human illnesses can be especially dangerous to turians- but he wants to help her anyways. So he starts bringing her soup and tea and medicine while wearing a full hazmat suit.

[frodabaggins]

Mass Effect Holiday Cheer! Fic for tamealltherares titled "A Mass Effect Christmas Story"

Rating: G

Characters: Several, with some Shepard/Garrus, also implied Liara/Javik and EDI/Joker.

Summary: Shepard gets talked into throwing a Christmas party for the Normandy. Just a little holiday-themed Normandy crew fluff!

For tamealltherares for the gift exchange! I hope you enjoy and have a great holiday season!

December 6

“Soooo, Lola,” James says as he sidles up to her in the mess. “You know it's the most wonderful time of year back on Earth. You're gonna throw a party, right? I mean, that nice new apartment, just waiting for a little holiday festivity. Feliz navidad, no?”

Shepard glances up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Did you just invite yourself to a Christmas party at my place that I never even said I was hosting?”

“Hey, you know you love me. I have good ideas sometimes.” She thinks that cheeky grin is a little too cheeky, but, to be fair, she's been thinking along those lines already.

“I'll think about it. And Vega? If I do it, you're bringing the eggnog.”

“Yes ma'am.”

------

December 8

“You are aware, Shepard, that Earth holidays are effectively meaningless off-planet, as they are tied to a calendar based on Earth's rotation around Sol?”

Shepard glances up from a datapad telling her about some mechanical repairs the engineering team is thinking about doing. “Yeah, EDI, I know. But it's not about the date. It's about a lot of other things that are important to humans.”

“The exchanging of gifts?”

Shepard shrugs. “That's part of it, but it's really about getting together with the people who are most important to you, sharing things with each other, being a family – whether biological or a family you choose.”

“I see.” EDI appears to consider this for a moment. “Jeff and I will be there.”

------

December 12

“I do not understand this human need for togetherness and gift-giving,” Javik complains as Shepard oversees some repairs to the Kodiak. “It is useless. In my cycle, such frivolities would not be tolerated.”

“You don't have to come if you don't want to,” Shepard points out (she knows he will, though). “All I'm saying is – Liara will be there.”

“Liara is a child,” he says with a snort, and walks away.

Yeah, he'll be there.

------

December 15

“A gift exchange, huh?” Wrex looks particularly tired today, with three new baby krogan climbing over his hump. Shepard has a tough time keeping track of them, despite being godmother to about twenty by now.

“I was going to knit sweaters for all of your kids but it would take me until <i>next</i> year to do it,” Shepard teases. “But yeah, gifts. Everyone's welcome, and there will be plenty of food. And don't worry, the apartment is fully krogan-proofed.”

“Sounds like a plan, then. Heh heh.”

------

December 18

Shepard enters the observation lounge to find Tali behind the bar, carefully mixing drinks.

“Didn't you learn your lesson already, Tali?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, Shepard! Of course I did, I'm just trying out some recipes for eggnog, you know, for the party.”

“I didn't realize there was dextro-eggnog.”

“There isn't, that's why I'm trying some out. I read about it in one of your books and I thought for sure we would have to try it.” She takes a sip through her emergency induction port, then makes a blech sound.

“Okay, that one needs some adjustments.”

------

December 24

Now this is a party, Shepard thinks to herself as she scans the apartment, watching all of her friends enjoying themselves. Wrex's kids are playing (roughhousing) in the wrapping paper, as any good kid should do after unwrapping their Christmas presents. Tali has perfected her eggnog a little too much, and is probably in the bathroom being sick. Several people are in ugly Christmas sweaters, including Shepard.

“Ahem.”

She turns, and there's Garrus, in possibly the ugliest sweater of them all, the turian version of a grin on his face.

“Ahem yourself,” she says, smiling.

“You know,” he responds, setting his drink aside and taking one of her hands, “I did some reading beforehand and I found this really interesting human custom that you never told me about. It involves some kind of plant, that you hang from the ceiling?”

Shepard finds that he's tugged her into the archway leading from the kitchen to the living area.

“Garrus,” she says admonishingly. “You didn't.”

He just looks up pointedly, and Shepard follows his gaze. Sure enough, right there is a sprig of mistletoe. She can't help but grin, however, as his mouth meets hers.

Several people in the other room see, and there are some catcalls, while Wrex yells loudly for his kids not to look (guaranteeing that they will all look). Shepard laughs as the kiss ends. “You're all getting reprimands for this!” she yells.

“Merry Christmas to you, too, Shepard,” Garrus says.

[biowarelove]

My favorite space love birds by Delomia

[whereintheworldischarleslee]

I WAS THIS FUCKING CLOSE FROM SAVING THE GALAXY BUT THEN I HAD TO GO HOME GOD FUCKING

THANKS, MOM AND DAD. NOW THE REAPERS WILL FUCK THE GALAXY'S SHIT UP. AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT. I NEEDED TWO MORE HOURS, AT LEAST. COME ON, GUYS.

Also ShepardxGarrus 4ever.

[rafawriter]

Shepard took his hand. It was another reminder that they were different, different species, different backgrounds and different worlds. Yet they had gone though so much together, shared so much, lost so much. No one else understood her like he did. No one knew her like he did. No one trusted her like he did. And she knew, no one loved her like he did.

From Mass Effect 2: One Night in Nos Astra

[biowarelove]

On Shore Leave by CuprumRook

[biowarelove]

I want a rematch! by Delomia

[biowarelove]

Aww... Garrus, you are so cute by Delomia

[biowarelove]

“For whatever it’s worth, I’m with you” by Sapphona

[biowarelove]

The fight is done, the war is won by Sapphona

[biowarelove]

Somewhere warm and tropical by Delomia