Chapter Text
The Fortress
Garrus Vakarian had found there were a great many good things about marrying a human. Sometimes he’d make silent mental lists as he simply watched Jane go about her day.
There was, of course, the fact he loved her, but that wasn’t something unique to marrying a human. No. Specially human things only for this list.
First off, he supposed there was human skin. Soft and malleable and so sensitive. Garrus endlessly delighted in being able to elicit a wide variety of responses from Jane by touching her, from tikling her (he had been hugely amused when he found out that was a thing; Jane perhaps less so) to kneading her muscles as she sighed comfortably to softly stroking her as she fell asleep in his arms to… well, more private skin contact of a more spousal nature.
Then, endlessly fascinating to Turians, was human hair. When humans had come on the galactic scene after the Relay 314 Incident (Jane and John both vehemently insisted it was the First Contact War; Garrus and Solana gleefully disagreed, more to annoy them than anything else), Turians had been instantaneously struck by human hair. It was like no other substance they’d encountered before. It wasn’t as close or soft or had the same texture as fur, but it wasn’t sharp and wiry either. Garrus remembered back in C-Sec they had to deal with more than one curious Turian who had touched a human’s hair without their permission.
But now… Now Garrus had a human all to himself, who actually quite enjoyed sitting in his lap as he played with her hair, endlessly fascinated by it. He had to constantly resist his urge to crow triumphantly to all his Turian friends about his wife’s long, silky, smooth, uniquely-colored hair. To said wife’s endless amusement, he could quite literally sit there and play with her hair for hours, stroking it, curling it around his long fingers, and simply marveling at it.
There were also human hands, soft and sweet and strangely but wonderfully five-fingered, and their tendency to hold hands with people they liked. That was a new behavior, and one Garrus found he quite enjoyed. Jane’s hand was smaller, five-fingered, and his taller, slimmer, and three-fingered, but somehow they both fit together perfectly. And… and… when they were in public, and Jane saw something she liked, she would slip her hand in his and look up to him with an expression of pure love and want to share whatever it was with him. That look he treasured above all the riches in the galaxy.
Human actions and traditions were another thing that Garrus quite enjoyed. Of course, humans had their own holidays, which naturally meant John, Jane, Solana, and Garrus would be celebrating both human and Turian holidays. Double the fun for no downside.
Perhaps most important was human physical contact among loved ones. Garrus found that humans were a very physical species. He supposed it must have come from their sensitive skin. Turians had plates, and so couldn’t really feel things as humans could.
Besides hand holding, cuddling and lap-sitting were two new ones for a Turian. Garrus had been quite surprised when Jane wanted to sit on him, but quickly warmed up to it. Likewise, a warm, soft human body with its flexibility fitting neatly into his rigid and sharp plates was a new one. He never did understand how Jane could find him so comfortable, but she did, and when she inevitably fell asleep curled up beside him he would simply hold her and wonder how it was possible the greatest woman in the galaxy could ever fall in love with him.
Today, however, Garrus was amazed at a new human practice he’d never heard of before: that of building so-called ‘pillow forts’.
Turian young did build forts in houses, but those forts were less comfortable hideaways and more defensive barricades for play fights. Garrus and Solana had been summarily banished from the upstairs while their humans were working on the fort. The duo wasn’t entirely sure what to do with themselves, and wasn’t entirely sure what it was their humans were creating, so they sat and talked about nothing.
After what seemed like an eternity later, Jane hollered at the two of them to come upstairs. Garrus had been reading a weapons brochure on his omni-tool while Solana muttered about tiny human pages as she flipped through a real paper history book about the ‘Second World War’. The Turian siblings shared a look and made their way upstairs.
The house was large, as benefited four people with a fair amount of credits between them. (An extra boost was given by the Shadow Broker as a wedding present, but no one needed to know about that.) Garrus and Solana meandered through the large living room, through a hall, and up the stairs to a large second floor. John and Jane were creating their masterpiece in what was termed the guest room, one of the large unoccupied bedrooms to the front of the hall.
“In here!” came Jane’s voice. Garrus and Solana shared another apprehensive glance. The younger sister gestured for the older brother to go first, who scoffed in turn, rolled his eyes, but nevertheless opened the door.
Oh.
The room was nearly unrecognizable. The bed had been moved against the wall, and now served as the anchor for a massive fortress of pillows and blankets on the floor beside it. Nearly the entire room was taken up. There was a small entrance in the front, one they’d have to crawl through, and slight illumination dancing through blankets and cracks. Garrus thought it was a rather well put-together structure.
“C’mon in,” piped up John cheerfully. Garrus looked down at the makeshift fortress, then back at Solana, then back at the fort again. Jane and John usually never did things that were this… immature. (That was, of course, if one were to consider running into battle with zero planning nor care in the universe mature. Okay, maybe they weren’t that mature, Garrus included.) Still, it was rather odd, but Garrus and Solana both did as they were asked, bemused.
Through a small tunnel of a few pillows and draped blankets, Garrus and Solana finally came to the main area. Their mandibles promptly dropped open in surprise.
The main area of the fortress, an enclosed hideaway of cushions and blankets, was far larger than Garrus had ever expected. A large mattress lay on the ground, with pillows strewn about. There, perched upon the mattress like luxuriant emperors of old, were John and Jane.
“Well, I see that someone’s comfortable,” stated Solana with a snort as she got off her hands and knees, sitting over, arms crossed, staring at her husband. John grinned cheekily at her and waved.
“Oh, indeed we are,” he confirmed. “And we wanted you guys to come and make it even more comfortable.” Solana rolled her eyes and huffed, but Garrus could tell she was touched. He was as well, though he continued to find it amusing that John’s charm seemed to be reserved for exactly one sentient being in the universe.
With a grin, Garrus flopped next to his wife, who replied back with that wondrous, luminous expression she exclusively reserved for when he returned to her side once more. She held up a bowl full of dextro snacks. He grinned.
Solana joined John on the other side of the mattress. He offered an equally deep smile and a different bowl of dextro food. She took it and began munching.
“So…” began Garrus. “This is what a human… pillow fort looks like.” He looked around at a string of lights ringing itself around the upper layer of blankets. There really was a lot of room in here; enough for adults. John and Jane had outdone themselves.
“ Yep,” replied Jane, popping the p in her mouth. She grinned over at him. “John and I never really had the chance as kids, you know, so we thought we’d try now.” Garrus and Solana went quiet. John and Jane had grown up on the streets of Earth, orphaned, abandoned, unloved and alone. They didn’t have a home.
However, the two never begrudged the world for it. They were cheerful and forward-thinking, never dwelling on the past. They’d changed their lot, gotten out, and what happened after had far outshadowed anything they faced in their youth.
(Sometimes Jane, Jane who never showed weakness, never cried, never would allow herself to, would wake up sobbing, and Garrus would simply hold her as she calmed. Reapers and the death they brought outweighed most things.)
“We wouldn’t want to have a pillow fort without you guys, anyway,” added John, snapping Garrus out of his thoughts. He looked over to his brother, who grinned at him. He sighed and shook his head, amused. Both John and Jane would think that, of course, and totally believe it too.
“Thanks for inviting us, then, oh dear husband,” replied Solana, saluting him with her snack bowl. He grinned again and picked up a tray from beside the mattress. Solana blanched. “I still don’t understand cheese,” she muttered, as John passed the tray of cheese cubes over to his sister. “Why… why would you eat congealed milk? Isn’t milk for feeding mammalian young, anyway?” John shook his head, fondly exasperated.
“I still don’t get milk in general,” muttered Garrus. “I mean… something that comes from a mother, made in her body that feeds babies?” he frowned, trying to suppress a shudder. Turian parents ground up real food and regurgitated it back to their young, like a normal species. Humans and Asari were weird.
“I don’t know,” replied Jane, glancing down at her chest. “It seems like you don’t mind the delivery area, at least, Garrus,” she continued, firing a devilish smirk back up at her husband. Garrus’s neck flushed blue. John facepalmed.
“No. No, you guys are not starting any flirting or risque teasing or anything of the sort. Especially in front of your siblings. Again.” He sighed and shook his head. “We are going to have a nice, innocent night in our pillow fort and eat snacks and watch holovids. Understand?” Solana was smirking at Garrus, Garrus was trying to sink into the pillows, John was staring at Jane, and Jane was rolling her eyes because her brother was spoiling her fun.
“Fine,” huffed Jane, mock annoyed. She rolled her eyes fondly. “My brother, so pure at heart. You got yourself a noble knight there, oh sister mine,” she continued, looking at Solana, who looked pleased.
“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God,” muttered John under his breath. He shook his head. “Anyway, what do you guys want to watch?” He grabbed his omni-tool and set it up, projecting a picture against a screen of one of the blanket walls.
They transitioned into silence, marred by chewing, laughter, and the occasional complaint or conversation about how that wasn’t how it really would happen. Of course, they were watching Blasto, so commenting on its sheer ridiculousness was part of the fun.
Human holovids were another thing Garrus found incredibly new and interesting. It was an entirely different culture, and entirely different species, and seeing things through their eyes was… well, very eye-opening. Of course, there had been media floating throughout the galaxy from a variety of different species for centuries now, it was just that Garrus didn’t really care until he fell for a human.
He’d now seen quite a few human movies and shows, from brand-new to very old. They ranged from his preferred action movies to strange adventures to imaginations of what humans thought the galaxy might be like to those sappy romantic movies Jane forced him to sit through when she met up with Kasumi and Tali.
But now they watched Blasto, in their crazy human ‘pillow fort’, and as Garrus watched his brother and sister and wife laughing, all thoughts of human movies and oddities and absurdities and congealed milk and even the Blasto film itself faded from his mind. He simply basked in their presence, content to be there, with them, in their own cozy little hideaway.
oOo
John opened his eyes blearily. For a moment, he wasn’t quite sure where he was. The surroundings were unfamiliar.
It clicked after a moment. They were in their pillow fort. Blankets and cushions lay above them, draped together. He tried to move to stretch, but stopped short. There was a weight on top of him. A pressing, familiar weight. A weight he was… holding? He blinked, and fully shook off sleep.
Laying atop him, head neatly buried into his chest just beneath his chin, was Solana. He smiled softly, his arm reaching up to stroke the back of her head. She was beautiful at all times, but he believed she was even more so like this. Peaceful. Relaxed. Not a care in the world.
Her skin was a wonderful silver color, the blue markings of clan Vakarian adding beautiful colored highlights to her face. Sometimes he and Jane would wear the Vakarian markings on their own faces, much to the delight of Solana and Garrus. (The first he’d done that, Solana had stared at him for a solid minute before promptly picking him up and heading for the bedroom.) John could feel his wife’s arms tucked atop his chest and against his side, her two talon-like fingers and thumb comfortable in their familiarity.
His own arms were wrapped around her, fingers firm and hooked around her plates. He could feel her breathing, soft and gentle, rising and falling above him. John moved his hand a touch upward, lightly brushing against the back of Solana’s neck. And… And…
She smiled even as she slept, letting out a small noise of contentment, snuggling closer to his chest. John couldn’t help but crack his own radiant smile at that, holding her closer, running his hand lightly over the back of her head.
He basked in this moment, running his mind over every feeling, every sight, sound, and touch. Philosophically, John wasn’t entirely sure if there was such a thing as perfection, but this came pretty close.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a sound to his left. Turning his head softly, he couldn’t help another smile and shake of his head.
Jane was laying beside him, and on top of her was Garrus. Two humans with two Turians sleeping blissfully atop them as if they were the most comfortable pillows in the universe.
The faint noise he’d heard was his sister waking up. She shifted slightly, moving her neck and giving off a silent yawn. John simply watched his sister; the person who’d been with him always, the person who he’d loved without question his entire life. From as far back as he could remember, orphaned and on the streets, the two of them always had each other. Funny how two kids like that could end up here. Doubly-so that there were two Turians contentedly snoring on top of them.
Jane blinked then looked upward. Her face slowly split into a smile of her own: a soft, warm, comfortable, gentle, loving smile that John only ever saw on her face when she looked at Garrus.
John certainly approved of that match. On the streets they’d seen all sorts of… horrible individuals preying on runaways and orphans. He was adamant his sister would not end up with someone like that. So too did he quietly resolve to watch over her, even as she did some rather questionable things as she came of age, joined the military, and explored the galaxy. John had dated a few women, but nothing beyond that, knowing deep down somewhere they weren’t the one for him. Jane, always fiery, always rushing into things, came on and burned out hard. Thankfully she’d never gone anywhere farther with a few of her flings.
But Garrus… Garrus was his best friend. He trusted him without question; with anything. Yes, he was certain Jane would throw a fit if she knew her older brother was secretly this protective of her, wanting him to stay out of her business, but he was her older brother. They had no parents. That was his job.
Turning away from Garrus slowly, Jane noticed him for the first time. She blinked, surprised. He shot her back a grin, eyes glancing at Solana, turning to Garrus, then to the pillow fort they’d spent hours making yesterday. He fired back with her own smile, a silent conversation between siblings.
Never thought I’d end up like this, she seemed to day, for once honest and open in the privacy of sacred things between brothers and sisters.
I know what you mean, he replied. Me neither.
I… She glanced up at Garrus, face softening, then back to him. I love him, John. I love him so very much. It was a statement, one he knew, but he knew why she said it. It had to be said, had to be shared to someone privately, the words and that wonderful warm, full feeling of love.
I know, he replied, both in response to her and Garrus and to tell him he was in the same situation.
They went back to staring at their respective spouses for a bit, each knowing and comfortable the other was awake but each in their own world. That was, of course, until Jane’s fingers found a good spot on Garrus back and the Turian purred aloud in his sleep. Jane shot John a very familiar, cheeky, challenging grin. He returned the same expression. Oh, it was on.
It was a rather strange sibling rivalry, John supposed, but a fun one; one appropriate for a lazy morning like this when it was just the two of them awake. Especially since Garrus and Solana were right there and frankly deserved all the goodness they could possibly provide.
It frankly reminded John of cats. Solana and Garrus were perched comfortably atop Jane and himself, and the two humans were… well, pretty much petting them to try and elicit the best response.
Still, regardless of him and Jane’s silly game, it wasn’t really about the game. It was about Garrus and Solana. The two humans had come to realize Turian subvocals were a vast and complicated thing, essentially a language to augment a language. Humans could not hear all of them, but both John and Jane knew that purring was comfort-trust-safety. They also knew that Turians never, ever made that noise in public, and were actually pretty much incapable of making it unless they were actually in a situation of supreme comfort, trust, and safety. John and Jane privately cherished every single time their Turians made that noise.
The ‘game’ was interrupted when Solana stirred on top of John. Both brother and sister slowed but did not stop, their hands moving from petting backs and necks to more of a reassuring I’m here and you’re safe soft touch on the back of the head.
Solana’s eyes blinked open, slowly trying to take in the world. John’s face melted into a smile, and he shifted slightly, wrapping his arms around Solana’s neck and holding her close to his chest. Solana reacted instantaneously, unconsciously, wrapping her own arms closer around him and snuggling deeper into his chest. John grinned.
His grin became a soft, warm smile as Solana finally seemed to return to full consciousness and look up at him from where she was perched atop his chest. Her beautiful light blue eyes blinked up at him.
“Hey there,” whispered John, careful not to wake Garrus, still asleep to his left. Solana let out a soft, happy trilling noise he could more feel than hear and gently nudged his chin with the top of her head. John smiled. His wife smiled back, then seemed to suddenly realize where she was. She turned her head Jane and Garrus and blinked.
Jane smiled back at her even as her fingers danced on Garrus’s back. Despite Jane’s reassuring smile, Solana seemed to tense. John frowned. He knew why.
Solana was a very private person when it came to her affections. She rarely held his hand, kissed him, walked arm and arm with him, or even rubbed shoulders with him in public. Oh, yes, dancing, laughing, having fun and sitting together were all in the cards, but more romantic things were usually out. John did not know why this was, only that this was simply his wife’s nature. He did not mind it; if she wanted things more private, then so be it.
This also translated to when they were with Garrus and Jane. Oh, yes, Solana was more than willing to sit with him or hold hands with him, but anything more (and sometimes even these) were usually accompanied by a faint nervous glance towards her brother and sister-in-law. She was getting more and more used to it, more enthusiastic about it, but it was still there.
Therefore, when Solana blinked at Jane and tensed up, he knew why. But…
He was delightfully surprised when Solana blinked again, and slowly, purposefully, turned her head away from Jane, settled back into his chest, and closed her eyes. I trust you… and you’re very comfortable, were the unspoken words John heard. He smiled once more, and as he gently stroked the soft, unplated skin of his wife’s neck, she fell back to sleep, breathing becoming rhythmic and gentle once more.
John caught Jane’s smile and small nod. Apparently she was thinking along the same lines he was. They both turned away, going back to holding their Turians.
This morning was a good morning. John liked this morning.