## Preface

Another Shepard and Vakarian Christmas
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/52536208.

Rating:
  Mature
Archive Warning:
  No Archive Warnings Apply
Category:
  F/M
Fandom:
  Mass Effect Trilogy
Relationship:
  Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Characters:
  Female Shepard (Mass Effect), Garrus Vakarian, Castis Vakarian, Garrus Vakarian's Mother
Additional Tags:
  Fluff, Poor Gun Safety, Again, Christmas
Language:
  English
Series:
  Part 6 of The Cases of Shepard and Vakarian
Stats:
  Published: 2023-12-25 Words: 1,550 Chapters: 1/1

# Another Shepard and Vakarian Christmas

by dispatchwithlove

Summary

> Jane and Garrus share another Christmas together

Notes

> this christmas has been damned hard, so i didn't plan on writing a christmas fic this year, but I got this idea late last night and decided to write it this afternoon. it was written in haste, and i only did a quick sp&g check, so my apologies for the rough draft quality 😁 it was nice having something to focus on today, though ❤️ hope everyone had a good christmas, and if you haven't, that you've been able to at least enjoy a small moment, like a cup of hot chocolate or your favorite holiday show.

## Another Shepard and Vakarian Christmas

Garrus stared straight down the barrel of a shotgun. At the other end was the most gorgeous face in the galaxy belonging to the deadliest Spectre alive. One eye closed, the other eye focused down the scope. Sparkling flecks of light danced in stunning green irises. Even with a gun focused on him, all he could think about was her stunning beauty

“Have any last words?” her voice was sweet, and menacing. It sent a shudder up his spine.

“Come on,” he drawled. “You wouldn't shoot someone with a face like this.”

She smiled and he tugged against the restraints around his wrists.

“You’re handsome, I’ll give you that. Handsome enough to get yourself out of this mess, though?”

She shifted, her knees brushing against his bare thighs. If his hands were free he could pull her red lace underwear down. With the restraints still on, though, he could use his teeth. Either way, he was going to get her naked as soon as possible. His seam ached, cock begging to be coaxed free by the little talented hands currently cradling the gun.

“Well I guess you have to be the judge of that,” Garrus told her. “You’re the one in control here.

A soft breath lifted her chest and her finger loosened on the trigger.

Garrus deepened his voice. “Put the gun down, maybe we can work this out in… another way.”

“I can’t just let the dirtiest vigilante in the galaxy go. Your time’s up, Vakarian.”

She looked so stern, so focused and committed that Garrus couldn’t hold in his chuckle.

“Not gonna be laughing when your teeth are lying on the floor.” Jane inched the plastic gun, the one he gave her for Christmas two years ago, closer to his face.

He laughed harder, so hard his abs hurt. “Got a violent streak in you, saccha.”

“Shh, you’re ruining the bit,” she said then started giggling too.

Garrus paused, the memory of their first Christmas together surfacing. She’d gotten the toy gun out on many occasions since, she especially enjoyed shooting empty drink cans while they worked on a case. It kept her body active and her brain focused. There hadn’t been any other incidents, but Garrus never got over the first time she held it next to the Christmas tree and shot her eye out.

“You took the plastic bullets out right?”

“No I thought—”

Jane didn’t get to finish her sentence because out of nowhere Rocket leapt onto the bed, but the cat had the worst sense of bodily awareness of any predator across the entire galaxy so mid-launch he bumped into Jane's arm. She slipped, there was a click and a sting of pain under Garru’s eye. Garrus yelped in pain and tried to cover his eye with a hand but he tugged against restraints uselessly.

“Oh my god,” Jane gasped, “oh shit. I shot your eye out.”

Through his one good eye Garrus saw Rocket dancing at Jane’s side, looking anxiously up at her and then at him. Jane threw the gun to the ground.

“Well, it was loaded,” Garrus said.

“Fuck. I’m so sorry, mela” Jane cupped his mandible, kissed his nose. “Are you ok?”

“I’m too pretty for facial scars,” he joked.

“I’ll go get ice.”

Jane gave Rocket a reassuring kiss to his head then leapt off the bed, her tits jiggling in the skimpy lace bra Garrus got her this year for Christmas. Damn she looked good, he should have just convinced her to have sex without this silly little game she thought up. He’d be buried deep in her right now, instead of squeezing his tearing-up eye shut, staring at her plump ass as she raced out of the room.

Jane was at the doorway when Garrus said, “Um, you gonna untie me or are we going to try rolling with this?”

Her head whipped to look back. At first her face was surprised and guilty, then she gave him a lusty cocked eyebrow and sly smile. “That all depends on—”

Garrus smiled and flicked his head to the side. “Never thought the deadliest Spectre in the galaxy would tend to her quarry’s injuries.”

“Lucky for you, you’re handsome enough to warm this cold heart.” She winked at him, then sped off around the corner, her fast feet padding against the stairs.

***

After a game of Spectre-Vigilante and a hot shower, during which Jane took very good care of Garrus — massaging his sore muscles, washing him from head to foot — as an apology for the gun incident, they got ready to meet his family at the observatory for their Anivia Vocan celebration. Jane was still in the closet, so Garrus made the bed while he waited. He fluffed the last pillow as she walked out, wood box in hand. He’d almost forgotten about the shawl his family gave her last Christmas.

She took the shawl out carefully. “I don’t know how to put it on.”

“Here, I do.”

Garrus took the shawl from her, draped it over her beautiful red curls.

“How do you know how to do it?” she asked. “I’ve never seen you wear one.”

“Mom made me learn when I was young. All turians have to know for…” He cleared his throat because his next words gave him so many different emotions. Excitement. Fear. Hope. Happiness. “For their bonding ceremony. If they have one. Someday.”

Jane blushed, a beautiful rosy wash beneath her golden freckles. “Oh, yeah. Makes sense.”

As he made precise tucks, his fingers tensed on the midnight blue fabric that mimicked a night sky. The golden sheen stitched throughout mimicked stars. HIs dad had picked the color of the shawl and for the first time Garrus wondered if his dad knew how much stargazing at night had meant to Garrus as he grew up. Probably. Just like he knew Garrus had been head-over-spurs for Jane before Garrus could admit it himself.

With the awkward mention of bonding ceremonies hanging between them, Garrus finished wrapping the shawl around Jane’s shoulders, then stood back to check his work, but he just ended up admiring her beautiful face instead. He smiled wide and a purr rippled out.

“What?” she asked, the blush blossoming, her eyelashes batting.

“Nothing,” Garrus said, “You’re just beautiful, mela. I don’t even have the words.”

She snuck into his arms and he lifted her up to nuzzle his nose against hers.

“I’m not as beautiful as you are,” she said.

“Is that why you shot my eye? Make it even?”

She laughed and slapped his shoulder, then gave him a deep, long kiss.

***

It has been two years since Jane stood next to Garrus, cupping her eye, dreading the thought of telling his family she shot herself in the eye. This time she’d shot Garrus in the eye. They’d never live this down. Just like two years ago Castis opened the door. He looked at Garrus, then Jane, and laughed.

“What is it?” Val asked from somewhere inside.

Castis crossed his arms over his keel. “Another gun accident?”

As she and Garrus stepped into the apartment Jane held up her hand to stop the investigation before Castis and Val could get on a roll. “I shot him by accident, and I already threw the bullets away, so it won’t happen again.”

Castis’s mouth opened but before he got a word out, Garrus said, “No more questions. Let’s just get to the observatory.

“Honestly,” Castis said, “at this point, I think it’s best for us not to know what the two of you get up to. Do your coworkers know your gun safety is this terrible?”

Garrus’s mandibles jittered. “Hey, she’s been holding the gun, both times. I’m innocent here.”

Val came out from their bedroom, her shawl already perfectly in place. When she saw Garrus she clicked her tongue. “Every year you arrive on our doorstep in some kind of state. If one of you doesn’t have an eye injury, then you’re shivering from the cold. What will it be next year?”

“Promise to arrive warm and without injury next year, Mom.”

Val nodded, accepting Garrus’s promise and then looked over Jane’s shawl. “Perfect. Did you put it on yourself, Jane?”

“No, Garrus did it for me.” Jane brushed her fingers over the soft edge resting against her collar bone.

A proud smile spread Val’s mandibles. “I taught him well, and I couldn't be more happy he’s putting that skill to use finally. He looks very handsome in a shawl, you know.”

An embarrassed trill snuck out of Garrus, and Jane guessed it wasn’t due to his mom calling him handsome, but because Garrus never wore ceremonial shawls, so the only reasonable time when he would wear a shawl was… Jane took a deep breath, trying to settle the feelings blossoming in her chest. Excitement. Fear. Hope. Happiness. Garrus would wear a shawl during his bonding ceremony. If he had a bonding ceremony.

Trying her damndest to act like her mind wasn’t swirling with images of a bonding ceremony, how handsome he’d look, the bonding flame flickering between them, she looked up at Garrus.

“Come on,” he said, placing his hand on her back and leaning down to press his lips to her nose. “Let’s go look at some Palaven stars.”

## Afterword

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