#shipverse || garrus / smokedanced ( nihlus )

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced asked: "i like receiving but, if you want me to do something i will. i want you to feel good too." / garrus for nihlus???

Nihlus pauses, his subvocals even falling quiet for a moment as he studies the younger turian, before a quiet chirp of affection escapes him as his gaze softens. Shaking his head, he leans in, trailing his tongue along the sensitive edge of one of Garrus's mandibles.

"I feel plenty good watching you come apart for me," he notes, a low lustful growl underlining his words at just the thought. "Now, if it's something you want me to do for you?" There's a noticeable teasing undertone to his growled words as he offers, "I might be persuaded to allow it..."

[anderwhohn]

Mandibles flare angrily as Nihlus growls in return, green eyes narrowing in a warning of his own. It's not that he doesn't understand why Vakarian did what he felt he had to, but spirits, this whole mission was difficult enough with the Alliance making demands of the Council after Saren murdered Shepard rather than seeing a human join the Spectres, and then his own needing to conscript the Normandy for Spectre use to actually hunt Saren down after their former mentor had been stripped of his Spectre status.

And that's just it, isn't it? That Vakarian is another one of Saren's protégés - his last, before Saren apparently lost his mind completely and went rogue. Nihlus knows first hand what Saren's training is like, and what it's like to be on missions with him. He had, until now, thought of Saren still as a friend. And with one of the newest Spectres to join the ranks having been trained by Saren, well…

It hadn't exactly surprised him when Sparatus told him to keep a close eye on the younger turian. And having read the files from C-Sec, and grudgingly even spoken to Executor Venari Pallin to get some insight into his new partner from an outside source, despite the tensions between C-Sec and the Spectres, it was all too easy to see how Sparatus was concerned that Vakarian might go the same way as Saren had in the end.

"This isn't one of Saren's missions, Vakarian," Nihlus retorts sharply. "Nor is it a Hierarchy mission - 'victory at any cost' doesn't apply here, especially when we've got the Alliance trying to make demands after Saren killed their candidate, and we took their best ship and crew to hunt him down. I don't care that you're newer to this role - I just care that you don't add to the diplomatic incidents already piling up on my desk. Unless you want to deal with Sparatus and explain to him why Udina is throwing his latest fit and making new demands of the Council."

"You want me to trust you? Then start acting like the executive officer you're supposed to be. We need the Normandy in order to hunt down Saren, and we need her crew to fly her, which means you have a responsibility to keep them alive. I won't let this crew become collateral damage - I'm not Saren!"

@anderwhohn said: [ wall ] your muse pinning mine against a wall. //for Garrus from Nihlus (your choice of au/verse)

𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒    /    ACCEPTING ↷

Garrus  growls in a warning  as the older turian grabs him, but doesn’t shove him back, not yet  ⸺  he has his piece to say and he’s going to get his message across.    ❝ You can be  mad about it  all you want, but I knew what I was doing. A thank you would be nice. ❞    Oh, he knows he’s not getting a thank you.

❝ You’re not the only Spectre on this mission  ⸺  just because I’m newer  ⸺  I wouldn’t have to go behind your back if you just listened to me! ❞    & he does shove Nihlus now, with enough force to wrangle himself out of his grasp.

They’re never going to catch Saren if they keep jumping at each other’s throats like this, but he’s had it with unquestioningly taking orders. It’s giving him unpleasant memories of how angry he used to grow, working for C-Sec, back before Saren had picked him for a Spectre candidate. Garrus never liked Saren, but at the very least, he learned from him. And Nihlus... Nihlus keeps treating him as if he were his subordinate, not his equal. He understands it, when they’re on board the Alliance vessel; somebody’s got to be in command, that’s fine. But when it comes to the stuff that matters... & hasn’t Garrus proven himself? He’s gone behind Nihlus’s back, yes, but doesn’t the outcome prove him right? He hasn’t messed anything up, he’s made it better. No one got hurt, they got what they went down for. Even if he... had to improvise, a little.

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced asked: “It’s unfair how attractive the pair of you are together.” +reverse / if izzy would say that to nihlus/garrus

It's only been a few days since Isabela agreed to give a relationship with both Nihlus and Garrus a chance after the two had managed to break the tension they had with one another, only to discover that it was in part due to not only their mutual desire for her but each other as well.

And well... It turns out that having two of the Hierarchy's most desirable bachelors paying attention to not only her but each other as well is ridiculously distracting with how spirits damned attractive they both are.

It was bad enough before, just having them both in the same room together - she's always been aware of how attractive both of her friends were, especially Garrus, as he had, in fact, been her first real crush in their youth, though she never acted upon it, being too wary of his father at the time to even consider it.

Now, stepping into Nihlus's cabin, that Garrus and she now share with him while still retaining their own private cabins for the sake of the personal workspaces at least, she pauses just inside the door, quietly taking in the scene before her as Nihlus and Garrus seem to be focused solely on each other at the moment, though she's hardly paying attention to what they're saying as she shamelessly looks them over from fringe to toe talons...

A quiet groan of appreciation escapes her as she can't help but note softly, "Do either of you realise just how ridiculously attractive you are? And together? Spirits, it's a wonder I ever manage to get any work done..."

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced asked: [ TRAINING ]: during a sparring match, sender ends up pinning the receiver against the wall. / triad verse pre-ship garrus and nihlus "blowing off steam" in their battle for who gets to pursue izzy

Nihlus has known for years of Vakarian's rather impressive record, what with the younger turian having been ranked as a hand-to-hand specialist by the Hierarchy not long after completing his basic training.

He's even seen him in action on more than one occasion, mostly in sparring with Shepard, whom Garrus was quite obviously familiar with, though it was almost always entertaining to see how the slippery human would try to to trip up her much larger opponent, only to often get taken down and pinned to the floor more often than not, though they both seemed to share good humour about it, likely thanks to their years of friendship.

It's those very same years of friendship between Vakarian and Shepard that has left Nihlus where he is now, however, once the younger turian realised his own intentions towards Shepard, sparking far more jealousy than he'd expected from someone who had, until now, claimed to be 'just friends' despite their close intimacy with one another.

Sparring seemed the only natural conclusion to this conflict between them - they couldn't very well have the Captain and Executive Officer at each others' throats throughout the whole mission. What he wasn't expecting was the sheer ferocity that the younger turian displayed in the fight, or how damn attractive he found it when his carapace collides hard with the wall behind him, Vakarian's arm at his throat, talons hinting at the threat they'd pose if the gloves they both wore were removed.

The tone of his own subvocals shifts in that moment to something far more... questioningly seductive as he carefully angles his head to show off the length of his fringe, forest green eyes watching the younger turian curiously to see how he'll react to the proposition...

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced asked: “Go. Sleep. That’s not a request.” / garrus for izzy in triad hierarchy verse nihlus had better back him on it lol

Two pairs of green eyes turn towards Garrus, and for a moment, both human and turian manage nearly the same expression as a single brow is raised high at the younger turian's demand. Though there's notably far more amusement on Nihlus's part, his mandibles fluttering with barely restrained laughter as he knows their human is going to try to resist such an order, despite her not having slept in nearly 72 hours that's he's noticed so far.

Isabela's emerald green gaze narrows sharply as she catches the amused rumble of agreement in Nihlus's subvocals, turning to glare at him briefly before focusing once more on Garrus, clearly set on being stubbornly defiant. "I'm fine," she insists sharply, pointedly ignoring Nihlus's scoff to the contrary. "It's not like engine maintenance can be left half-finished, dammit."

Nevermind that she has a full team in Engineering, or that Tali is back on board and more than capable to handle most anything that might come up in Izzy's absence. But after the destruction of the original Normandy in the midst of a space battle, she's all the more determined to keep things in optimal condition, even if it means spending days on end to rebalance the systems after the latest upgrade.

Starting to stand from the table, she nearly stumbles when Nihlus swiftly grabs the back of her envirosuit, effectively halting her progress before she can run back off to Engineering to disappear into the maintenance shafts.

"Isabela," is Nihlus's only verbal warning, the look in his eyes making it clear that he's on board with Garrus's order, and that he knows her well enough to stop her from getting away from either of them before she can hide to lose herself in her work.

Frowning at them both, she switches to their shared tongue as opposed to the Galactic Standard that she usually uses around the mixed species crew. "Don't 'Isabela' me, Nihlus. Spirits, I'm not some pup that needs to be looked after."

There's a notably haunted look in her eyes as she looks away then, even as she lets the older turian tug her back into her seat. She's silent for a long moment, seemingly working through her own thoughts before hesitatingly admitting, "I can't sleep because of the nightmares, alright? I didn't want them to wake either of you, and I can't sleep in the bed alone, so..."

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced || semi-plotted starter.

Darkness.

That's all that Isabela is aware of at first, a seemingly never ending, heavy darkness. It's suffocating, and in such, terrifying, as she's known that feeling before. Suffocating...

Dying...

A ragged breath, eyes opening against suddenly bright, white lights. A voice - human, male - saying she's "waking up". Another - human, female - saying "she's not ready yet!". Cold sliding into her veins, awareness slipping away again as a human woman leans over her, the words not clear...

--

"Look sharp, Vakarian," Nihlus orders as they work their way through the Cerberus space station. He's seen the shit that Cerberus was willing to do, and he's sure the Council and their Spectres have only ever scratched the surface of the twisted experiments the human terrorist group gets up to, but this latest experiment...

'Project Lazarus' - named after some human religious myth - has some... unsettling implications. Particularly based on the vids, audio logs, and medical reports they've come across so far. Cerberus scientists and soldiers alike are scrambling in an attempt to escape the Spectres, Turian Blackwatch and Salarian STG teams backing them, but after gaining more intel when they infiltrated the station...

Finally finding what appears to be the medical wing, they can hear a human woman trying to order someone out of bed over the intercom system. A low growl rumbles through Nihlus's subvocals as he pauses by the door, forest green eyes settling on the younger turian for just a moment before focusing on the task as he makes quick work bypassing the lock into the medbay.

"Spirits," is all he manages at the first sight of who, up until now, everything in their intel has only referred to as 'the Subject'. It should be impossible - she died, two years ago - and yet...

There stands the human, shivering in what might be cold or fear or both, with nothing more than a thin sheet clutched to her otherwise naked body as familiar emerald green eyes lock onto the pair of turians.

A heartbreakingly familiar noise of distress - one unique to Isabela Shepard, in her mimicry of turian vocalisations despite the limitations of her human biology - has him stepping forward without thought, looking her over for injury. She looks so alive - impossible as it might be - though there are strange cracks in her skin, the glowing orange of extensive cybernetics burning from within.

Mandibles fluttering in a moment of indecision, he looks back to Garrus before deciding, "We'll deal with whatever this is later. Let's just get her back to the ship."

[anderwhohn]

@smokedanced asked: “I don’t have any power. I’m nobody.“ / garrus for nihlus

A low scoff of disagreement rumbles through Nihlus's subvocals as forest green eyes level on the younger turian. "If you were truly nobody, Vakarian, you wouldn't have been tapped for potential Spectre training straight out of boot camp," he notes as he leads them through the Presidium toward the Citadel Tower.

"Of course, Castis certainly didn't help matters when he got Fedorian involved. As funny as it is to see Sparatus floundering when Palaven's Primarch contacts him directly, it did complicate things a bit. Saren was… not pleased, to say the least. Particularly when the humans are already creating a stir by trying to get one of their own in the Spectres."

Of course, he can personally see the potential that humanity might bring to the Spectres - or, at least, one human in particular. Commander Shepard certainly stands out above the rest of her species, though he's been careful not to voice that opinion where Saren might so easily hear, particularly since he himself put her name forward as a potential candidate, much to Sparatus's annoyance.

And anything that annoys his cousin surely is worth the effort.

"Besides, I know you, Garrus. How much longer are you really going to be able to tolerate Pallin's attitude? I don't mind stepping in to help you with a case to clear the red tape when I can, but I can't be here on the Citadel all the time. You'd really do better letting me get you into the Spectres yourself, so you could have your own Spectre authority."

[anderwhohn]

Amusement rumbles through his subvocals as Nihlus continues to offer affectionate attention to the younger turian, moving to nuzzle Garrus's neck with a teasing purr as he carefully nips at his throat, just enough to be felt but not enough to leave any marks.

"Relax, pup," Nihlus murmurs with a hint of fond exasperation, his own hands moving to rest one against Garrus' waist while the other trails up his cowl before seeking out that sensitive spot under his fringe. "You're overthinking things - not your fault, it's pretty common for those raised in Hierarchy space, I've found."

While he himself might be considered an outsider among turian society, even with his Spectre status and having served in the turian military - however briefly before Saren pulled him out for Spectre training - he's had more than enough experience with the Hierarchy to know how some of the more traditionalist mindsets tend to be. It's one of the reasons their society on a whole is struggling so much with accepting humanity as equal players in the galaxy, rather than a missed opportunity for another client race…

Pulling back enough to meet the younger turian's gaze, he gently presses on the back of Garrus's head to bring their crests together as he offers a reassuring purr. "I don't expect anything more from you than you're willing to give, Garrus. If you're enjoying yourself - enjoying us - then that's enough for me. I like you, and I enjoy our time spent together. I know you don't think of me as an outsider, but I didn't have the same experiences as you did growing up - I didn't have the same expectations forced on me by my clan or by our society on a whole as those who grew up in Hierarchy space often do."

Nuzzling into Garrus's crest, he sighs softly before continuing. "You're not putting too much on me by enjoying this the way things have been so far, pup. I'm not doing anything that I don't want to give you, and I'm not asking for anything more than whatever you want to give in return. Forgive my assumptions, but I'm fairly confident that you've been thoroughly enjoying yourself. If that's not the case, then yes, we need to determine if we need to change things or even continue at all. But…"

There's a flicker of rarely seen vulnerability is his green gaze as he sighs once more, deciding to let the younger turian in a little more rather than keeping him emotionally more at a distance as he tends to when simply blowing off steam with someone. "I'll admit, I strongly prefer being in charge myself, to the extent that there's only been a very small few who have ever seen me submit to them, even for a single evening, and most of the time there was the usual fight for dominance involved. With you, though? Like I said, I might be persuaded, if you were to simply ask…"

@smokedanced asked: "i like receiving but, if you want me to do something i will. i want you to feel good too." / garrus for nihlus???

Nihlus pauses, his subvocals even falling quiet for a moment as he studies the younger turian, before a quiet chirp of affection escapes him as his gaze softens. Shaking his head, he leans in, trailing his tongue along the sensitive edge of one of Garrus's mandibles.

"I feel plenty good watching you come apart for me," he notes, a low lustful growl underlining his words at just the thought. "Now, if it's something you want me to do for you?" There's a noticeable teasing undertone to his growled words as he offers, "I might be persuaded to allow it..."