Based on Mass Effect, © BioWare/Electronic Arts 2007.

This work was made possible by the generous support of my Patrons:

https://www.patreon.com/Snekguy

Disclaimer: This work of erotic fiction is intended for adults only. The story contains the following themes: female Turian x male Human, romance, oral, blowjob, deepthroat, handjob, vaginal, scales, kissing.

CHAPTER 1: PRESIDIUM

“I get off in ten minutes,” Val said, Simon grinning at her pixellated face on the holographic display of his Omni-tool. The resolution wasn’t great, but he could just about make out her mandibles moving as she spoke.

“I’ll be there to meet you,” he replied, “our shift ended early today.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky?” she chuckled. Her voice had a flanging quality, making it oddly musical, like she was singing in harmony with herself. “Are we still on for tonight?”

“Always.”

He closed the connection, the glowing projection shrinking back down into the housing on his wrist. Adjusting the collar of his suit, he walked over to the wall-length window of his sparsely furnished apartment, looking past his reflection and out over the Ward. Before him was a view that resembled the densely-populated cities of Earth, towering skyscrapers looming over the winding walkways below, their innumerable lights glittering in the twilight. The quality of the light here was very different from back home. The yellow glare of Earth’s sun was absent, and there was a pale glow in its stead, the light diffused by the presence of a deep-space gas cloud. There was no day or night here, the city was in a state of perpetual gloom.

As he turned his gaze toward the sky, he marveled at the great arms that made up the alien megastructure, like the blades of a giant ceiling fan. They could open up like a blooming flower, but they were currently closed up into a rough cylinder, each one attached to a giant ring known as the Presidium. Every arm was a metropolis in its own right, covered in the checkered patterning of a city viewed from space, small vessels darting between them.

The suit was a little stuffy, he wasn’t used to dressing so formally, but he wanted to make a good impression on his date with Val. Simon checked himself over one more time, brushing off one of his sleeves, then headed for the door. It slid open with a whoosh, and after a short walk down the corridor, he was speeding toward the ground floor in an elevator.

When he stepped out onto the street, he was met with the familiar bustle of the city. Pedestrians of all shapes and sizes clogged the walkways, aliens of a dozen species brushing shoulders, the sky above him clogged with skycars that ferried their occupants to and fro. They were in open space, there was no ceiling to protect them from the vacuum, but the station’s arcane technology maintained a pressurized atmosphere up to a height of about seven meters.

He set off towards the C-Sec building, where his date worked, almost walking into a lumbering Elcor as he rounded a corner. The creature was about nine feet tall, a massive, hulking alien with elephantine skin. It walked on four stout legs, its gait not unlike that of a gorilla, its beady eyes peering down at him from a face that was otherwise bereft of features.

“Excuse me,” Simon said, dodging around it.

“Surprised and apologetic,” the alien replied, its voice droning and monotone. “Be careful where you tread, little one.”

The Elcor did not express emotion in the ways that humans did, communicating their feelings through pheromones and infrasound. As such, they tended to preface their speech by simply stating their intended tone when they interacted with other species.

Simon continued on, arriving at the C-Sec building before long. He sat down on a padded bench in the waiting room, watching with amusement as an angry Volus argued at length with the Asari who was manning the front desk. The squat creature was hissing and puffing through his bulky environment suit as he described being pick-pocketed by a Quarian vagrant. The Asari was resting her blue face in her hand, trying not to roll her eyes. What did he expect her to do, go out and look for the thief? Quarians always wore pressure suits, there was no description to go on.

C-Sec, or Citadel Security, was a police force that had jurisdiction over the Wards and the Presidium. They handled everything from station security to petty crimes. Simon activated his Omni-tool, checking the time, shifting his weight impatiently.

He had been dating Val for a couple of weeks now, and things were starting to get serious. They were going on another date tonight, and he had been building up the courage to ask her if they could take things to the next level.

Just as Simon was considering giving her another call, Val stepped out from a side door, the panel closing behind her automatically. Her emerald-colored eyes met his across the room, and the bony plates that made up her face rearranged into a smile.

Turians were an avian species native to the planet Palaven. They had a basically humanoid body plan, with two arms and two legs, all where one would expect them to be. Much of their slender bodies were covered in layers of natural armor plating that protected them from their native sun’s radiation, their skin scaly in the places where it was exposed. Val’s carapace was covered up by her wide-collared C-Sec uniform, but he could still make out her figure, her slim waist pinched into a narrow hourglass. Her people lacked breasts, but there was still something alluring and feminine about them that had always appealed to Simon.

Val made her way over to greet him, her gait graceful. She reached out with a three-fingered hand and ruffled his hair, Simon making a show of fighting her off.

“Hey!” he grumbled, “I just got that all straightened out!”

“You’re dressed like you’re going to a funeral,” she chuckled, exposing her sharp teeth in a grin. The tough plates that made up her face almost made it look like she was wearing a mask, but it was all articulated, her heavy brow and the long mandibles that framed her jaw moving as she talked. It gave way to scaly skin on her neck and the back of her head, the females lacking the sharp horns and crests sported by the males. Her face was painted with red streaks that went across both cheeks, making it look like she was blushing, along with two tapering lines that went up the plate on her forehead. Her mandibles were dyed with faded, crimson ink, as were the plates above her eyes. They were traditional Turian tattoos that denoted her colony of birth.

“Why so formal?” she continued, Simon rising to follow her to the exit. “You didn’t dress up like a barefaced politician the last time you took me out.”

“I guess I just...wanted today to be different,” he replied.

“Oh? Is there a surprise in store for me?” she asked as she took his arm. “Did you get me that new Rosenkov Materials sidearm I’ve had my eye on? You really shouldn’t have...but I hope you did.”

“It’s nothing like that,” he chuckled, the pair stepping out onto the Ward.

“So, where are we going?” she asked impatiently. She was a few inches taller than Simon was, so he had to look up at her, those emerald eyes reflecting the glittering neon of a nearby sign. He led her over to the nearest skycar station, tapping a command into the console and waiting for one of the automated craft to arrive.

“I figured we’d do something a little different tonight,” he said, Val cocking her head at him curiously. “We’ve eaten out together the last few times.”

“And you’re getting tired of footing the bill for dextro food,” she added wryly, “I see how it is. I keep telling you, the male paying for the food is a Human custom, but you won’t listen!”

“It’s not that,” he chuckled, watching as one of the skycars broke off from the formation above. It flew down toward them, its engine humming, the cockpit opening to reveal a pair of padded seats. Simon helped Val inside, then sat down beside her, the canopy closing over their heads as the vehicle rose from the deck. She peered out of the tinted glass as they soared over the Ward, the skyscrapers tall enough that they still rose above the skycar as it weaved through the traffic under its own power.

“I wasn’t being serious when I made fun of your suit,” she said, “it’s just unusual to see you out of your uniform. It looks good on you,” she added with a smile.

“I can’t very well take you out to dinner dressed as a medic,” he replied.

“I dunno,” she added coyly, turning her eyes back to the cityscape. “Turian girls like a man in uniform, we’re all about that civic duty. Responsibility is hot.”

Simon laughed at that, but he knew that she wasn’t joking. Her people were obsessed with duty and honor, it was mandatory for them to enroll in the military from age fifteen, and they weren’t even considered full citizens in their society until they finished boot camp. The majority of the Turians on the Citadel worked in security jobs, like Val, as soldiers and police. Simon was also a civil servant, but he was a medic who worked for an ambulance service. It was his job to respond to accidents and to try to get people out of harm’s way in a crisis.

“Where are we going?” Val asked, noting that they were veering away from the Ward. The ten-kilometer ring that was the Presidium rose up before them, Val clapping her hands together excitedly. “Oh, Simon, are we going to the Commons?”

“You guessed it,” he replied, his companion practically bouncing with anticipation in her seat. “I got us a couple of passes for the evening. Well, it won’t be evening on the Presidium, but you get the idea.”

“I haven’t been there in months,” Val continued, “it’s so nice to take a break from the gloom of the Wards. You really know how to treat a girl, Simon.”

“I try.”

The skycar entered the ring-shaped structure through one of the docking ports, emerging into an environment that contrasted sharply with the dingy city that they had left behind. The kilometer-high skyscrapers and the colorful neon was replaced with whitewashed architecture, a blue sky, and scenic lakes. The Presidium was where all of the embassies for the various member species of the Alliance were located, along with offices for the Citadel Council, and other such official functions.

The ground below was designed to resemble a terrestrial park, with terraced fields of grass and verdant trees, water features reflecting the artificial sunlight. The walls of the structure were lined with buildings that resembled upscale hotels and resorts, long walkways bridging the two sides at intervals. The ceiling was actually a huge digital screen that displayed rolling clouds, the formations sliding their way lazily along the length of the structure until they curved out of view.

Their vehicle banked, breaking away from the formation of identical skycars as it headed for a terminal in the Commons below. It gradually slowed, touching down on one of the high terraces that overlooked a sparkling lake, the tinted canopy opening to expose them to a cool breeze.

Simon offered Val his hand, helping her out her seat. She didn’t need his assistance, she was probably stronger and more resilient than he was, but she seemed to enjoy being pampered. Perhaps it was a novelty to her, Simon couldn’t imagine a male Turian affording her the same courtesies.

She made her way to the nearby railing without missing a beat, leaning over to gaze at the Presidium. They were really high up, and there was a great view of one of the lakes from up here, magnificent fountains erupting into the air from its otherwise calm surface.

“Come on,” Simon said, “let’s go for a walk.”

***

They made their way along one of the walkways beside a shimmering lake, the breeze rustling the carefully tended trees to either side of them. Simon hadn’t brought Val here to do anything, necessarily. It was enough to get out of the gloomy Ward, to feel the heat of artificial sunlight, to be reinvigorated by the sights and sounds of nature. Living in the Wards could be disorienting, as there was no day and night cycle, no sunrise or sunset by which to set one’s biological clock. It was twilight all the time, never-ending. They both worked a lot, too, and they rarely had time to just stop and appreciate something as simple as a blue sky or a meadow.

They paused by one of the many Rachni war memorials, a giant sculpture of a Krogan warrior towering over them, and Val pointed to a cafe by the waterside.

“Let’s get something to drink,” she said, leading Simon along by the arm.

They sat down at one of the tables, a Salarian waiter bringing them a pair of laminated menus, delightfully quaint. They ordered some drinks and cakes from the fast-talking alien, who scurried off, returning with remarkable speed. He placed a pint of foaming beer and a large chocolate muffin before Simon, then set a flute of sparkling liquid and a slice of cake in front of Val. She carved out a piece of the soft, blue-tinted sponge with her spoon, making sure to scoop up a generous serving of the cream that topped the confection.

Had she been a Human, Simon would have asked for a taste, but food was something that complicated inter-species relationships. Many of the species in the Alliance shared similar chemistry and could consume one another’s food without any serious danger, but Turians and Quarians were an exception. Their species’ body chemistry was based on dextro-amino acids, rather than the levo-amino acids used by Humans. What resulted could be anything from the food merely passing through their systems without providing any nutrition, to indigestion, to severe allergic reactions that could be potentially life-threatening. As such, he and Val could not share a meal in the traditional sense. She had to order dextro, and he had to order levo.

“So,” Val began, getting his attention as she waved her spoon at him from across the small table. “Are you going to tell me why you’re treating me to an evening on the Presidium, and why you’re dressed as a personal injury lawyer?”

Simon choked on his beer, sputtering into his glass as he struggled to suppress his laughter. She watched curiously as he recovered, wiping his mouth on a napkin.

“We’ve been dating for a little while now, right?” he asked.

“A little over two weeks,” Val replied with a nod of her head, taking another bite out of her cake. “I dunno if I’d consider that a while, but it’s certainly more than a fling. Who would have thought that going out with a squishy mammal would be so entertaining? My friends all advised against it, and who knows what my parents would say if they found out,” she added with an exasperated roll of her eyes. “But I didn’t transfer all the way out here because I wanted to play it safe.”

“So...” Simon continued, Val picking up on his hesitation. “I don’t know how much you know about Human courtship, if such a thing can even be quantified, but there’s a kind of progression to it. You start off getting to know one another,” he said, gesturing with his free hand as he held his muffin in the other. “You date for a little while, and once you’ve decided that you get along well, you take things...further.”

“Further?” Val asked, sipping at her flute.

“I don’t know much about how relationships work in Turian culture,” he continued, resisting the urge to tug at his tight collar. “But I feel like me and you are at the point now where we should consider things like...cohabitation, y’know, sleeping in the same place...together?”

“Oh,” Val replied, pausing her sipping as she raised her tattooed eyebrows. Her response wasn’t a negative one, she was just surprised. “You’re talking about making love.”

Simon’s cheeks reddened enough that they almost matched her own, and he nodded.

“Simon,” she whispered, lowering her voice so that the other patrons couldn’t overhear them. “Maybe we should talk about this somewhere a little more private?”

“You’re probably right,” he conceded, bringing up his Omni-tool and paying their bill.

“Let’s go walk down by the lake,” Val suggested as she rose to her feet, giving him a reassuring smile.

***

“I knew this would come up eventually,” Val said as she clung to Simon’s arm, the pair wandering along a walkway beside one of the water features. “I don’t know what I expected to happen when we started getting serious. I wasn’t thinking that far into the future, I was only thinking about how much I liked hanging out with you after work.”

They stopped beneath the leafy fronds of a tree, Val watching a fountain spew a jet of water high into the air, the falling vapor catching the light to create a brief rainbow effect before raining to the lake below.

“Me neither,” Simon replied.

“My friends felt the need to keep reminding me that I’m not an Asari,” she scoffed, “that the relationship couldn’t really go anywhere. They said that I was setting myself up for heartbreak if I really fell for you.”

Simon began to speak, but she wasn’t done, continuing after a contemplative pause.

“They’re just like my mom. Like, not everything has to be forever, you know?” She covered her face with her hand for a moment, realizing how that had come out. “Listen to me, I’m terrible,” she muttered. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“No, no,” Simon added hastily. “I get what you’re saying. You don’t have to go into every relationship expecting marriage and kids, and nor should you. Hell, you’re only twenty-six.”

“She just wants me to go to Palaven and pop out a brood of little Turian soldiers because it’s my civic duty,” she grumbled, leaning against the trunk of the tree and crossing her arms stubbornly. “I get that, and maybe one day I might, but not right now.”

“So, did you?” Simon asked.

“Did I what?” Val replied, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Fall for me?”

She snorted, giving him a playful shove.

“The fact that I’m even considering this should make that obvious enough. We’re both independent adults, we’ve both done this before, right? Just...not with another species,” she added with a nervous chuckle. She began to pace, Simon watching as she walked back and forth beneath the shadow of the tree. “You know that this isn’t going to be as simple as the two of us sharing a bed for the night, right?”

“Yeah,” Simon replied, “that’s why I haven’t made a move yet. I guess I was waiting for you to initiate something, but there’s no reason that you should know any more about it than I do. We haven’t even kissed yet, but you didn’t complain, so...”

“I didn’t complain because you didn’t complain,” she replied, the two of them sharing an awkward laugh.

“I figured we might have to take some precautions, do some research,” Simon continued. His embarrassment was fading now, he felt emboldened knowing that he and Val were on the same page.

“It’s not like this kind of thing is unheard of,” Val said. “I don’t know anyone who’s done it, but it’s something that people talk about. I don’t know what the...mechanics are like, how compatible we’d be, but I feel like I want to try. Are you...attracted to me?” she asked hesitantly. “I guess you must be, right? Or you wouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Of course I am,” Simon replied without missing a beat. “How could I not be?”

“It’s just...well, I don’t share many features with Human women. I don’t have those flesh sacks that they have on their torsos,” she said as she mimed breasts with her scaly hands. “I don’t have hair, I’m not soft like your kind are.”

“I’m not exactly sporting an attractive set of crests and mandibles,” Simon said with a dry chuckle. “I can’t really put it into words, I just...want to be closer to you. I want to share the same experiences with you that I would with someone of my own species, and I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to do that.”

“I feel the same way,” she said, seeming relieved.

“Then...should we set a date?” Simon asked. “It’s kind of hard to be spontaneous under these circumstances.”

“Tomorrow night,” Val blurted, Simon’s heart skipping a beat. “We’ve waited long enough, right? We’ll both do some research, and then...jeez, I make it sound like we’re studying for an evaluation. We’ll see what information we can find out, get as prepared as we can reasonably be, then we can figure out the rest as we go.”

“My place, or yours?” he asked.

“Your apartment is closer to the C-Sec building,” she replied, “I’ll head over when work has wrapped up. That way, I can stay overnight and get back in time for my next shift.”

“We’re really doing this, huh?”

She reached out and took him by the collar, tugging him closer, her mandibles hovering an inch from his face. Her mouth was shaped like an inverted V, giving her an almost feline appearance.

“I have some idea of where to start,” she said wryly. “How about that kiss?”

Simon lay a hand on the curve of her hip, pressing up against her, having to angle his head upwards a little due to her slightly taller stature. He didn’t know what to expect, but he felt like he was on fire, his blood was pounding in his ears. All that worrying about how she’d react, whether she’d even be willing to try, all for nothing.

His lips met what could only be described as a beak. It was firm and dry, its texture almost like porous rock, but warmer than he had expected. The plates had a leathery quality about them that made them more flexible than they appeared, more like cartilage than rigid bone. She opened her mouth, one of the mandibles to either side of her face grazing his cheek as they tried to find a more natural position.

Simon felt something warm and wet, realizing that it was her tongue, its tapered tip gently batting against his own as Val drew him closer. He remembered its striking, blue color, his head starting to spin as they kissed beneath the shade of the tree. They remained locked in a tentative, exploratory embrace for a few moments longer, their tongues intertwining as they grew more brazen. Finally, they parted, Val glancing down at him with her alien eyes as he steadied himself.

“If we can make this work, it’ll be great,” she murmured.

“It’ll work,” Simon replied, her impromptu kiss leaving him a little breathless. “It has to, this feels too right.”

“I guess we should start walking back to the skycar,” Val said, nodding her head in the general direction of the terminal. “Sounds like we both have a lot of studying to do.”

He took her by the hand, leading her out from under the tree, a new spring in his step.

CHAPTER 2: HOMEWORK

As soon as Simon returned to the privacy of his apartment, he brought up the extranet on his Omni-tool, searching the network for information on inter-species relationships. The first search brought up some rather unsavory results, it seemed that there were more people interested in the subject than he had assumed, but a small change to his search terms cleaned them up.

It didn’t take long for him to find a message board where people were discussing the subject and sharing tips. The pairings were as varied as the species being discussed, it wasn’t just Humans and aliens. Asari were by far the most coveted. The blue-skinned humanoids were capable of reproducing with any other species through some kind of genetic trickery that Simon couldn’t begin to understand. That made them popular partners across the board, especially for Krogan men, who had great difficulty conceiving with their own kind. There were posts by Turians, Salarians, Krogans, Humans, even a Volus who was trying to woo an exotic dancer who worked at a nightclub that he owned. How was that going to work? A Volus was half the height of an Asari, and they were confined to pressure suits.

The Asari had always rubbed Simon the wrong way. As undeniably beautiful and exotic as they were, they tended to use that fact to their advantage, and their thousand-year lifespans made even a lifelong relationship with a Human a fling in their eyes.

One thread caught his attention. It was a discussion about a Human woman who was trying to date a Krogan. Most of the replies were warning her of the dangers, as she was unlikely to make it out of an encounter with one of the seven-foot, one-hundred-and-fifty-kilo reptiles without a few broken bones. She had some quads on her, as a Krogan would have put it.

Another discussion that drew his eye concerned a relationship between a Quarian and a Turian. It seemed to be a far more popular pairing than Turian and Human, or Quarian and Human, likely due to the difficulties that dextro species had with levo amino-acids. A romance with a Quarian was even more complicated, as the species had been exiled from their homeworld by a race of killer machines, spending generations adrift in sterile spacecraft. Their immune systems had been ruined by their confinement, which meant that they had to wear special pressure suits in order to protect themselves. Even minor exposure to bacteria could result in life-threatening infections, which meant that skin on skin contact and the exchange of fluids was completely off the table.

Simon was interested to learn that sexual encounters with Quarians could be facilitated through a specialized suit modification that acted as a kind of built-in condom, the material providing an impermeable barrier between the two partners, while still allowing them to feel sensation. How much sensation was up for debate, it was hard to imagine feeling much of anything through a pressurized suit, but they had to take what they could get.

The conversation did provide some insight into Turian anatomy, at least. While their reproductive organs were a little more...exotic than those of Humans, the males especially, they weren’t so different as to be incompatible.

Simon began to blush again as he imagined what Val might look like nude. According to the users of the board, the carapace-like exoskeleton that covered the faces and most of the torsos of Turians did not extend to their lower bodies. There were some sparse protective plates on their thighs, but below the belt, they were as naked as a Human.

His face only grew hotter as he read on, the various denizens of the forum sharing tips and facts. While Turians could feel limited sensation through their carapaces, one should focus their attention on the exposed, scaly skin. That was where they were most receptive, though it should be noted that the facial plates were more sensitive than those of the torso. The belly and inner thighs were erogenous zones, as was the neck, which was usually protected by the collar-like formation of their natural armor. The Quarian who had started the thread was unable to perform oral sex, as he couldn’t risk removing his helmet, but the users advised those reading that Turians responded well to it all the same.

As Simon read on, he picked up on a few more tips. Female Turians were very proud of their figures, and complimenting their waists usually went down well. They enjoyed metallic scents, but besides putting metal shavings in his body wash, Simon had no idea how that could be accomplished. According to one user, when entertaining a Turian guest, one should remember to raise the thermostat. Palaven was a very hot planet, and one of the reasons that Turians often wore such thick and heavy clothing was because they were cold.

When it came to the act itself, it seemed that ingesting any kind of bodily fluid from one’s partner was a bad idea, and could provoke an allergic reaction. Condoms were a must, silicone-based, if possible. Those were easy enough to get.

Simon continued to read, his confidence steadily growing. He’d had other partners before Val, of course, but something about this felt different. She wasn’t even in the room, yet his heart was racing, his mind swimming with the possibilities. It was almost enough to make him feel dizzy. Perhaps it was the prolonged anticipation, or maybe he felt more for her than he had realized until now, but it made him feel electrified.

There was only one working day standing between them now, he’d have to make sure everything was perfect. They’d need dextro drinks and snacks, he’d have to cook up something that she could eat, he’d need to play with the environmental settings to make sure she was comfortable.

After daydreaming for a moment longer, he turned back to his Omni-tool, intent on learning everything that he could.

***

The neon sign of the clinic bathed Val in its green glow as she entered through the automatic door beneath it, the panel sliding aside to let her pass. She emerged into a brightly-lit waiting room, all sterile, white-washed metal. There were only a few potted plants scattered about for color. Padded benches were lined up against the walls to her left and right, and there was a front desk ahead of her. She made her way up to it, a few assorted aliens who were occupying the seats watching her as she tapped on the glass, getting the attention of a Salarian secretary whose face was buried in a computer monitor.

“I have an appointment with Doctor Faelon,” Val said, the woman looking up from her work. Salarians were amphibians native to the planet Sur’Kesh. They had flat, noseless faces that tapered into a pair of horn-like prongs on their heads, their oily skin covered in mottled patterning. The secretary peered up at Val with a pair of large, dark eyes, gesturing towards the benches with a spindly finger.

“The Doctor will call your name when he’s ready,” she replied curtly, Val making her way over to the nearest seat. There were aliens of all kinds waiting to be seen. There was a fellow Turian sitting across from her, a pair of lanky Salarians who were engaged in a rapid-fire conversation, and a Volus whose wheezing sounded even more labored than usual. There was even a jellyfish-like Hanar, who was suspended in the air by a gas bladder as its trailing tentacles hung just off the floor, its translucent body glowing with a blue bio-luminescence. Doctor Faelon came highly recommended, he was one of the best doctors on this Ward.

She watched as a hulking Elcor lumbered out of one of the doors, its shoulders so broad that it barely fit, followed closely by a Salarian who was wearing the white uniform of a doctor. He was hurrying the creature along, no doubt frustrated by its plodding gait and its sluggish mannerisms. Salarians had very fast metabolisms, resulting in a kind of hyperactivity that made them come off as impatient and irritable at times.

“Grateful,” the Elcor began in its reverberating voice, stating the emotion that it intended to convey in its droning monotone. “Thank you, Doctor. I will return if the problem persists.”

“Good, good. Out you go,” the Salarian grumbled, the higher pitch of his voice contrasting sharply with that of his patient. “This might be a free clinic, but my time is valuable.”

He brought up an Omni-tool as the Elcor trudged toward the exit, tapping rapidly at the orange hologram with his long fingers.

“Valepia Murpanus,” he said, looking around the room frantically. “Do we have a Valepia Murpanus? Don’t tell me that another one is late for their appointment...”

Val stood, the Doctor’s dark eyes turning in her direction.

“Come, come,” he said as he waved his hand at her. “I don’t have all day!”

She followed him into his cramped office, the walls adorned with various medical tools, including a Medi-Gel dispenser. It was brightly lit, and there was a desk from which a holographic display was projecting. There was a screeching sound as the Doctor dragged an examination table back into position, the legs scratching on the metal floor. It seemed that he had pushed it up against the far wall in order to make room for the Elcor.

“Sit, sit,” he said as he gestured to it. Val did as he asked, watching curiously as he waved his Omni-tool at her. “Nothing outwardly wrong with you,” he muttered to himself, examining the readout intently. “No injuries or illnesses detected by the medical algorithm. Not so much as a bronchial infection! State the reason for your visit.”

Val was more amused than offended, he hadn’t even given her time to introduce herself yet.

“Thank you for seeing me, Doctor Faelon,” she began, the hyperactive physician tapping his foot on the floor. “I actually came to you for advice on a somewhat...sensitive matter, not because I require any treatment.”

“Very well, explain,” he snapped. “Out with it now, there’s no need to be coy. I’ve seen more in my thirty years on the Ward than you can imagine.”

Turians were a private people, accustomed to formality and protocol. They valued stoicism, self-reliance, asking for help with such a personal matter was rather difficult for Val.

“I’m going to be...” She hesitated, trying to find the rights words, much to the annoyance of the doctor. “I’m in a relationship with a levo, a Human, and I wanted to know what precautions I should take. I’m supposed to be seeing him tomorrow night.”

“Ah, yes. Recreational mating,” Faelon muttered as he turned his attention to the Omni-tool again. “A fruitless endeavor in your case, but no doubt an enjoyable one, none the less. It’s moments like these that I’m grateful to be free of any hormone-based reproductive impulses.”

He walked over to a cupboard that was mounted on the wall, sifting through a collection of glass vials, muttering under his breath. When he found the one that he wanted, he retrieved a medical tool that resembled a handgun from his desk, loading the vial into it with a click. As he approached Val with the implement, she recoiled, leaning away from him as he brought it to her neck.

“Hold on,” she complained, “what’s in there? Aren’t you going to tell me what you’re doing?”

“If you want to waste more of my time, then of course,” he grumbled. “Quarians and Turians have very similar body chemistry, you’re both dextro, you both have similar physiological reactions to ingesting levo amino-acid chains. Quarians have been dealing with immunology issues since before either of us were born, which makes them experts on the subject. When coupled with some Salarian bio-engineering know-how, we were able to adapt their immune-suppressant technologies to Turian biology. A shot of this will suppress your immune-response for twenty-four hours, allowing you to engage in any...recreational activities as you please with minimal risk.”

“It’s a shot to suppress my immune system?” she asked, the doctor nodding his head.

“I still don’t recommend ingesting any levo-based food or drinks, or any other levo-based fluids for that matter,” he muttered. “But this will prevent inflammation and anaphylaxis should the Human’s fluids somehow end up inside any...cavities.”

He thrust the device into her hand, along with half a dozen of the glass vials, taking her by the arm and guiding her down from the examination table. He ushered her to the door, shooing her out of the room.

“Don’t use more than one in twenty-four hours,” he said, “and come back if you need more.”

“T-thank you, Doctor Faelon,” she stammered.

“Yes, yes, off you go now.”

The impatient Salarian called his next patient, leaving Val standing there with her hoard of medication. She made her way out of the brightly-lit waiting room and into the relative gloom of the Ward, her eyes drawn to a passing skycar as it flew overhead, weaving between the towering buildings.

That was it, then? She had been fretting about it so much, fearing that if she accidentally ingested some of Simon’s fluids, or if they didn’t use adequate protection, she’d suffer some kind of horrific allergic reaction. All she needed was a shot, and now they could make love as though there were no differences between them.

She began to walk back to her apartment, her head swimming with a blend of apprehension and anticipation. On one hand, she worried about what Simon would make of her. Did he really know what he was getting into? How much research had he done? Earlier that evening, Val had run an extranet search for images of nude Human females, and they looked nothing like her. Sure, they shared a similar body plan, but that was about where the similarities ended. Human women were covered in soft flesh, with smooth skin, they had no scales or armored plates. What if she took her clothes off, and Simon wasn’t attracted to her?

On the other hand, the thought of finally being intimate with her boyfriend kept pushing itself to the forefront of her mind. She doubted whether she would even be able to concentrate at work. Sure, he didn’t have a crest or mandibles, but there was something oddly alluring about him that she couldn’t really articulate. He was exotic, strange, there was an element of taboo that she was still wrestling with. But more than simple attraction, she wanted to take their relationship to a physical level, and there was nothing preventing that now.

She walked into the pink glow of a neon sign outside of a nightclub, its light reflected off the walkway, the thumping music bleeding into the street. As she dodged around a gaggle of Asari who were making their way out, she wondered again about what her parents would say, but they weren’t here. One of the reasons that she had left Quadim was so that she could be her own woman, make her own choices. It wasn’t as though they were oppressive, no moreso than what would be expected from Turian parents, she didn’t resent them. But didn’t everyone need to fly the nest eventually? Shouldn’t they go out into the Galaxy and see what they could make of themselves, for good or ill?

This was what she wanted, and she was going to see it through.

***

Simon eyed the digital clock on his wall, watching the seconds tick down as he straightened his dress shirt nervously. Val hadn’t been a fan of the suit, so he had elected to dress in a less formal, more traditionally Human manner tonight. Six o’clock, that was what they had agreed. The hour was fast approaching, and Turians were a punctual people.

He willed his foot to stop tapping on the carpet, turning to look over the apartment. It was sparsely furnished, as he was still fairly new to the Citadel, and he didn’t have many friends to entertain yet. The room wasn’t large, but it had a great view, the wall-length window looking out over the towering spires of the Ward.

His table, while rather small, had been set for two. There was a plant in a stylish vase in the center, artificial, but sporting colorful flowers none the less. According to the florist, a Volus who probably wasn’t entirely trustworthy, it was a replica of a flower from Val’s home colony of Quadim. Simon thought that she might appreciate the personal touch.

Cooking for dextros wasn’t as difficult as he had anticipated. As long as he wore latex gloves while handling the ingredients, and resisted the urge to lick spoons, he’d be fine. He’d stocked the fridge with drinks and snacks, too, and the couch was pulled up in front of a wall-mounted monitor ready for a movie viewing. Unfortunately, most of the movies involving both Turians and Humans were dramatizations of the Relay 314 Incident, not a very romantic event. They’d have to settle on something else, there was plenty to watch on the extranet.

There was a buzz at the door, and he snapped to attention like a soldier, Val’s flanged voice coming through on the speaker.

“Simon? I’m here.” Right on time. He walked over to the door and opened it, the panel sliding into a recess in the frame to reveal Val. She was dressed in casual clothes that weren’t too different from her uniform, a full-body suit with a kind of tunic design on the torso, and there was a glass bottle clutched in her hands.

“Hi,” he said with a wave, peering up at her tattooed face for a moment. “Oh, come in,” he added as he stepped aside to let her pass.

“I brought this,” she said, thrusting the bottle into his arms as she stepped over the threshold. “I read that it’s customary for guests of Humans to bring some kind of alcoholic beverage as a gift.”

“Oh, thanks,” he said as he examined it. Champagne, not bad, she really had done her research. “Would you...like to sit down? I’d take your coat, but...it seems to be attached to the rest of your suit.”

“You laid out a spread just for us?” she mused, walking over to the table and inspecting the flower. She reached out and ran a clawed finger over its blue petals, smiling to herself. “Just like the orchids from Haros, where I grew up. It’s sweet of you to remember, Simon.”

She turned to face him, rubbing her upper arm as she waited by the table.

“Why does this feel so awkward?” Simon finally asked, his laughter cutting through the tension like a knife. Val began to chuckle too, relaxing somewhat as she put a hand to her mouth.

“Right? This isn’t us, all this formality. Who cares about protocol? Let’s just...hang out like we always do.”

Simon strode over to her and set the champagne bottle on the table, resting his hands about her narrow waist. He reached up to kiss her, feeling Val’s fingers delve into his hair, the two sharing a brief embrace.

“I’m really happy you came,” Simon said, “but I wouldn’t have held it against you if you hadn’t.”

“I don’t want this to be weird,” she replied, releasing her hold on him. “I know that we’ve both done a ton of research, and we’ve already decided that we’re going to...y’know. But let’s try to be spontaneous, okay? Treat it like a normal date, and let’s make-believe that we’re going to see where the night takes us.”

“Agreed,” he replied, relieved that she was still on board with their plan. He reached over and picked up the bottle again, Val smirking at him. “You know what goes well with champagne? Popcorn and party mix. Come one, I’ll show you what I picked up.”

Simon made his way over to the fridge with the curious Turian in tow, opening the door and rummaging around inside.

“I got dextro sodas, dextro beers, dextro snacks. I’m trying my hand at cooking a three-course dextro meal, too, so apologies in advance if I poison you to death.”

“I think you’ll do alright,” she said, leaning over to peer inside. “Oh damn, you got dex chocolate too? Gimme!”

He handed her the bar over his shoulder, and she began to unwrap it, taking a generous bite and chewing contentedly.

“This date is already a success,” she mumbled, talking with her mouth full. “Do you know how hard it is for them to make this stuff?”

“At least I have some idea of what to get your for Valentine’s Day,” he added. “What do you want? A soda? Something with a bit more of a kick? I can’t drink this stuff, literally, so don’t be polite. What you don’t eat is going straight into the matter recycler.”

“I’ll take a beer,” she replied over another mouthful of chocolate, “might as well get a buzz going.”

They grabbed a few snacks, Simon making sure to use separate bowls so as not to risk mixing levo and dextro food. He set them down on the coffee table in front of the couch, Val flopping down beside him and cracking open her beer with a hiss. She quickly raised it to her mouth to catch the escaping foam, Simon chuckling as she struggled to drink it.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked, grabbing a handful of popcorn. “I couldn’t find anything that promoted inter-species harmony between Humans and Turians, only ones where they were shooting at each other.”

“Ah, that’s not bad!” she gasped as she set down her beer. “Where did you get this? I think the lettering is Quarian.”

“Yeah, some Quarian dude down in the Ward sold it to me,” he replied. “I guess he wasn’t trying to scam me after all.”

“Let’s see...what to watch,” she muttered, lifting the remote and scrolling through the menu.

“How about a romantic comedy or something like that?” Simon asked hesitantly.

“What, are you trying to set the mood?” Val chuckled as she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “I’m already here, you nerd, the wooing phase is long over. Besides, if you wanted to woo me, you’d show me an exciting action movie.”

“That does seem more your style,” he said, snatching the remote. “Alright then, how about some Human action movies? Knowing you, you’ve probably devoured all of the Turian content already.”

“How about this?” she suggested, grabbing his wrist. She squeezed it until he relinquished the remote, catching it in her hand and giving him a mischievous smirk. As if he needed to be reminded that she was a trained C-Sec officer. “First, we watch a Turian movie, then we watch a Human movie. A double feature, call it a cultural exchange.”

“Why do I get the feeling that this is becoming a competition?” Simon asked skeptically, Val giving him a wry smile.

“We Turians are a competitive people.”

“Alright then,” he said, picking up the champagne bottle. “You’re on. By the way, don’t be alarmed. This is going to sound like a gunshot, but I promise there are no Batarian gangsters sneaking up on you.”

“What do you-”

Her question was cut off as he popped the cork on the champagne bottle, a loud bang echoing through the apartment as it bounced off the far wall, foam erupting forth. He moved it away from the couch, laughing and cursing as it poured onto the carpet, Val quickly overcoming her alarm as she joined him.

“Do drinks from Earth usually do that?” she chuckled. “I should book you for detonating an explosive device on the Citadel, you know.”

“I don’t know if we’re ready for cops and robbers roleplay yet,” he replied, Val snorting into her beer.

“I didn’t bring any handcuffs, so you’re safe,” she giggled as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. “Okay, this one,” she added with a gesture to the monitor.

“Spirit of the Unit?” Simon asked skeptically, “I’m assuming that’s a translation that didn’t quite hit the mark?”

“Just give it a chance,” she said, nudging him with her pointy elbow. “It’s about a team of Turian Saboteurs who get trapped behind enemy lines during the Rachni wars, and have to make it out on their own.”

“Is it a true story?” Simon asked.

“Eh, it’s a little embellished,” she replied with a shrug. “Good movie, though.”

“Alright, let’s do it. The night’s still young.”

***

The movie was winding down, the intense action scenes of Turians and Krogans killing swathes of the insectoid Rachni giving way to drama. One of the soldiers was returning to his home on Palaven, his wife greeting him at the door with their child bundled up in her arms.

The two aliens touched foreheads, the shot lingering on them as though something profound was happening. In a Human movie, this scene would probably have been punctuated by a passionate kiss, but they were just pressing their faceplates together.

“What are they doing?” Simon asked, shoveling another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“That’s one of the ways that Turians show affection,” Val explained, clearly more moved by the scene that he was. “We don’t do that much kissing,” she added, tapping a claw against her beak-like mouthparts. “Come here, I’ll show you.”

She shuffled closer to him on the couch as the credits began to roll, Simon swallowing his popcorn as he peered up into her eyes. She reached out and took his cheeks in her hands, squeezing them, a grin splitting her face.

“Humans are so squishy,” she snickered. “Okay, seriously now...”

As she drew in close, she pressed the leathery plate that made up her forehead against Simon’s, cradling his face in her palms. Her scales were cool against his rapidly warming skin, her slightly metallic scent reaching his nose. He could see how this was more natural to a Turian, it was more comfortable than bumping their mandibles together, like a kind of Eskimo kiss. The longer she lingered, the more intimate it seemed to become, their close proximity giving him little choice but to meet her gaze.

“Uh...how long do we do this for?” he asked, but she pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.

“Shhhh,” Val whispered, “just enjoy it...”

She shuffled a little closer, Simon letting his hands rest around her hips.

“Your face is so warm,” she added with a chuckle, “it feels nice.”

Val leaned against the backrest of the couch, bringing him along with her, the two of them reclining as she kept their foreheads connected. Simon was starting to see how relaxing this could be now, the rapid thudding of his heart beginning to slow.

“Some couples might go to sleep like this,” she murmured, batting her lashes at him. “Perhaps I could show you later tonight?”

The reminder that they were going to be sharing a bed in only a few hours set his heart racing again, Val chuckling to herself as she felt his cheeks flush.

“I’d like that,” he replied.

“I can tell,” she snickered, turning up his chin with a clawed finger. “You’re a lot easier to kiss than a Turian,” she whispered, Simon meeting her embrace as she pressed closer. Her tapered, blue tongue slipped past his lips, entwining with his own. Their pace was more passionate this time, less restrained now that they were out of public view, Val’s doting flurries and gentle pecks sending pleasant shivers crawling down his spine. For someone who apparently didn’t do much kissing, she was taking to it like a duck to water.

He leaned into her as he matched her pace, the texture of her smooth, damp muscle like wet satin as it explored him. She drew shapes on the roof of his mouth, her light touch tickling him, her breathing growing heavier as he responded in kind.

They were mismatched, neither one of them really knowing what to do, making their encounter rather clumsy. One of Val’s mandibles scraped against his cheek, and she felt him flinch, the Turian breaking off to apologize.

“S-sorry,” she stammered, “I’m still trying to figure this out.”

“Don’t apologize,” Simon said, taking a moment to catch his breath. “Just keep kissing me.”

Their lips joined again, Val’s tongue roving covetously. She was growing more confident and less restrained as they went. Simon felt her fingers stroke his cheek as she let more of her weight rest on him, her digits sliding up into his hair. She always seemed to enjoy its texture, stroking him like one might pet a cat, her sharp claws pricking his scalp in a way that he found oddly pleasant.

He returned the gesture, raising a hand to run his fingers across her painted cheek, feeling the armored plating shift as the muscle beneath it flexed at his touch. What he had read on the extranet had been true, the plates on their faces were sensitive.

His fingers traced the unfamiliar contours of her alien face, exploring her strange anatomy. It really did feel more like leather than bone, more flexible, with a slight give to it. Its subtly pocked surface reminded him of dry stone, but it was warmer, tangibly alive. It moved with him, her every expression making the plates shift, dispelling the notion that it was an immovable mask.

She broke off their kiss, pushing her face into his palm and nuzzling contentedly.

“That feels nice,” she murmured, “you’ve never touched me like this before.”

“I’ve been doing my homework.”

“You’re a model student,” Val chuckled, leaning in to give him another teasing kiss. “We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, though. Are you hungry yet? Do you want to eat?”

“Sure,” he replied, taking the hint. “I could go for some food.”

They pulled away from each other, taking a minute to cool off as the tail-end of the credits scrolled down the screen, the pair exchanging lingering glances. They both knew where the night was taking them, but like Val had said, they should act as though this was a date like any other. It was just more romantic that way.

When the movie was finished, they moved to the dining table, as small as it was. Simon brought his champagne with him and fetched another beer for Val. The alcohol was already doing a good job of mellowing them out. Getting drunk would be a bad idea, but some responsible drinking could help loosen the tongue.

Val’s eyes lit up as he emerged from the adjoining kitchen area with the plates of food balanced precariously in his hands, placing the first of three courses before her. He wasn’t quite sure what they were called, but they were somewhat equivalent to shrimp, a kind of crustacean native to Palaven that had blue-tinted flesh in lieu of the usual white. He had removed the limbs and heads, leaving just the fleshy tails. She dipped one of them into the small cup of white sauce around which they had been decoratively arranged, popping it into her mouth and chewing contentedly.

“Simon,” she began, scarcely pausing between bites. “When you said that you’d be cooking for me, I wasn’t expecting you to go this far. I feel kind of guilty, I must be eating through most of your paycheck for this month.”

“I wanted to make something authentic,” he replied, taking a seat opposite her. “You can buy stuff from the Turian aisle at the supermarket any day, there’s nothing special about that.”

“What are you having?” she asked, gesturing to his plate with her fork.

“This is called salmon,” he explained, lifting a slice of pink flesh. “It’s a kind of fish from Earth, I figured I’d go with a seafood theme for the entree. I’m eating it with blinis, they’re like little pancakes, and some sour cream for extra flavor.”

“I’m a fan of seafood,” Val said as she popped another of the crustaceans into her mouth. “Was that a guess, or am I going to have to arrest you for espionage, too?”

“Pretty sure you’ve mentioned it before,” he chuckled, taking another sip of his champagne.

“Is the drink good?” Val asked, nodding to the glass of bubbling liquid.

“Too much for my own good,” he replied, setting it down on the table. “Better pace myself.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drunk,” she began with a smirk. She speared another piece of alien shrimp, marinating it in the viscous sauce. “I’ve seen you drink, yeah, but I’ve never seen you go off the rails.”

“Don’t Turians look down on that kind of thing?” he asked. “I thought you guys were all about civic duty?”

“Not necessarily,” Val said with a shrug. “In fact, the Turian Hierarchy is a lot more lenient when it comes to things like the recreational use of alcohol and drugs. As long as you show up to do your job unimpaired, nobody really cares what you do in your spare time. The Systems Alliance is much more strict about controlled substances, the Citadel too. There’s gotta be a couple of major drug busts a week, mostly Blue Suns gang members trying to get stuff through the docks.”

“Huh,” Simon mused, genuinely surprised by her reply. “I guess you Turians work hard, and you play hard. For your information, I handle my drink pretty well. I’m not in the habit of getting plastered, just...tastefully inebriated.”

***

They chatted about work and other personal matters as they made their way to the main course, making small-talk and sharing gossip about the goings-on at their respective workplaces. The second dish was just as much of a hit as the first, Val digging into some kind of meat platter that had been rather difficult to prepare. Turians didn’t seem to eat many fruits or vegetables, their diet was primarily carnivorous. Simon had gone out of his way to find as many authentic Turian ingredients as possible, and his guest seemed about as impressed as he had hoped. It might have been a very long time since she had eaten a home-cooked meal in the traditional style of her home planet.

Well, Val had grown up on the colony world of Quadim, but it was enough of a struggle to find ingredients from the homeworld, let alone any of the colonies.

When he brought out the dessert, she was even more pleased. There was a Turian dish that could only be described as a kind of custard served with what resembled a slice of gelatin, likely some other type of animal byproduct. He had grated another bar of dextro chocolate over the top as a final touch, giving it a little Human flair.

She dug into it happily, bringing the spoon to her mouth and savoring the taste.

“You’re gonna ruin my waistline,” she said, “this stuff is great.”

“I just put a new spin on an old recipe,” Simon replied, watching her with a grin. “It’s a traditional dessert from Palaven, so it said on the extranet.”

“I’ve never had it, but I think it’s a tradition I want to adopt,” she said as she scooped up the last of the custard. She leaned back in her chair, eyeing the array of empty plates with a satisfied expression on her face. “You’re a pretty good cook, Simon, and I’m not just humoring you. If you asked me to prepare a Human meal, I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. I don’t even know what you guys like to eat.”

“I can’t take too much credit,” he replied, finishing off his slice of pumpkin pie. “I mostly just read instructions on a few extranet sites I found. The hard part was actually finding the ingredients without getting swindled by a Quarian or ripped off by a Volus. I swear those guys can just smell when you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“We might have to do this more often,” she added, wiping up a drop of custard with her finger and sucking it clean. “Assuming I won’t be bankrupting you.”

“I think I can deal,” he said, rising from his seat. “Want to watch the next movie while we digest?”

“It’s your turn to pick,” she replied as she set her spoon down. “I guess you’ve had enough Turian patriotism for one day?”

“I have something I think you’ll like,” he said cryptically, extending a hand to her. She took it, smiling at him as he led her back over to the couch.

“So what’s this one about?” Val asked as they returned to their seats, half-empty bowls of snacks and discarded soda cans strewn atop the coffee table.

“Well, we’ve already sat through a couple of hours of space battles and mass accelerators, I thought we could watch something a little different. This one takes place on Earth, before we discovered mass effect fields, back in the era of wind-powered sailing ships.”

“Wind-powered?” Val asked skeptically, raising one of the painted plates that acted as her eyebrows.

“Don’t scoff, it’ll be exciting, you’ll see. It’s all sword fights, muskets, and broadsides.”

“If you say so,” she said, leaning forward to grab another drink and popping the cap with a hiss of escaping gas.

CHAPTER 3: CULTURAL EXCHANGE

The two characters fenced on the deck of the sinking ship, the ocean spray raining down on them as their blades flashed, their steel clashing. In the background, the other boarders fired muskets, sending billowing smoke into the air as flashes of lightning illuminating the scene.

“They really did this with such primitive technology?” Val marveled, on the edge of her seat as one of the enemy ships fired a full broadside. The cannons thundered, shattering masts and splintering wood, shrapnel sending the actors flying.

“This is how Humans conquered their planet before spreading out into space,” Simon replied, taking a sip of his drink. “They called it the age of exploration,” he added with a dramatic wave of his hand. “They fought pirates, too, they colonized new continents. Didn’t you have sailing ships in Palaven’s early history?”

“Nothing like this,” she replied, “the oceans on Palaven are a fraction the size of those of Earth. Most of our conflicts took the form of marching across deserts and scrubland to assault enemy fortresses.”

“You want another drink, something else to eat?” Simon asked. Val shook her head, then wrapped her arm around his, leaning her head on his shoulder as she watched the climax of the movie.

“It’s getting late,” she murmured, “movie’s nearly over. I’ve had a good time tonight.”

“Yeah?” he asked, smiling down at her as she began to nuzzle his neck. “I wanted everything to go perfectly, I wanted tonight to feel special.”

“It already does,” she said. Her hand moved to his cheek, turning his face so that she could kiss him again. Her pace was more aggressive now, greedy, all of her prior restraint forgotten. She gripped the collar of his shirt, guiding him on top of her, encouraging him to press her into the padded backrest of the couch as they made out.

Was it finally time? Were they really going to take things to the next level? The anticipation had been boiling up inside of him all night like a geyser about to erupt, and now that the moment was here, he didn’t know what to do with himself. So many ideas had flashed through his head, he had made so many tentative plans, but his mind was so foggy now that he couldn’t remember any of it.

He was kneeling with one leg between her thighs, Val putting herself beneath him, releasing her tight hold on his collar to let her hands wander to the buttons on his shirt. Simon wanted to ask if they were doing this here, now, but he didn’t need to. The sensual nature of her kiss betrayed her desire for him, Val murmuring softly when she paused to let him take a breath before plunging her questing tongue back into his mouth. The doting strokes of her blue organ dripped with passion. She was holding nothing back now, her embrace taking on a lascivious quality.

When they broke off their kiss, he crawled his lips down to her neck, Val fumbling with his shirt as he began to mouthe at her scales. They were smoother than they had looked, made up of a fine mosaic that he could just barely feel on his tongue, surprisingly soft. It was only really distinguishable from Human skin thanks to the sparse patches where the scales were larger, almost like small protective plates in their own right.

Val’s fingers faltered, an appreciative shiver passing through her as he left a sucking kiss on her throat.

“Your lips are so soft,” she muttered, sounding surprised. Of course, Turians didn’t even have lips, they couldn’t kiss in the way that a Human could. They could perhaps extend their tongues past their beaks and lick, but it was a very different sensation.

She arched her spine towards him, her hips rising from the cushions involuntarily, her hand reaching up to grip his hair as though afraid that he might pull away. Simon had read that Turians had sensitive necks, but he hadn’t expected this strong of a reaction.

Encouraged, he moved lower, nibbling softly and leaving sucking kisses as he went. He reached her shoulder, having to practically lean inside the protective collar that her carapace formed to reach, a warble rising in Val’s throat that almost sounded like a purr.

“Bite me a little,” she whispered, “gently...” He did as she asked, hearing her loose a sordid chuckle that tapered into a moan. She stopped herself, almost seeming embarrassed by her lapse in composure.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, breathing heavily as she released her hold on him.

“N-no, I want to go all the way,” she stammered, returning her hands to his shirt. Simon leaned down to distract her with a few brief kisses as she unbuttoned it, exposing his torso. His skin was already slick with sweat due to the heat in the room, as he had raised the thermostat to better suit Turians before Val’s arrival.

She slid her hands across his chest, feeling his pectoral muscles flex beneath his skin. Her fingers wandered down to his stomach, pressing down on him, testing his firmness. As someone with a fairly physically demanding job, Simon was in pretty good shape, and he wondered what she must make of him. He had no carapace, and his skin was devoid of scales, covered in tiny hairs that the reptilian Turians lacked.

“Your skin is like glass,” she murmured, moving past his navel as she made for the conspicuous bulge in his pants. Her fingertips brushed it, and he shuddered, a surprisingly powerful jolt of tingling pleasure rocking him.

Before she could undo his fly, he started on her own clothes, struggling to figure out how her odd suit opened. There was a kind of folded lapel that ran down the front, which concealed a zipper, Simon pulling it back. He ran the zipper down her torso until it reached her waist, Val beginning to shrug the jacket-like piece of clothing off as it opened like a clamshell.

Her upper body was enclosed within a carapace of downward-curving, overlapping plates that looked like a suit of organic armor, complete with plates that covered her shoulders. There was a raised collar around her neck and a ridge that ran down the middle of her chest, tapering off into a point as it neared where her navel would have been if she had one. It looked to have a similar texture to her face, slightly pocked like porous stone, but these were much thicker and heavier.

While he couldn’t pretend that her carapace was in any way attractive to him, the way that her narrow waist flared into her almost exaggeratedly wide hips drew his gaze immediately. Hourglass didn’t do her figure justice, it was so feminine, ensnaring his senses. This body had not evolved to be attractive to him, it was purely coincidental, but it made his growing erection strain against the fabric of his pants all the same.

Val noticed where he was looking, shifting her weight as she began to grin, the motion making her hips roll. There were muscles flexing beneath her skin, the individual scales catching the light to make them shine, shadow picking out the contours of her abs. Much like Simon, she was in good shape due to her demanding profession, the configuration of her body at once alien and familiar.

Simon slid down the couch until he was kneeling on the carpet in front of her, beginning to unzip her pants. These worked more like the Human equivalent, Val raising her legs to help him slide them off. The fabric snagged on the bony spurs that extended from her calves, the two of them struggling for a moment before discarding them on the floor. Now, she was only wearing a pair of white panties, their color contrasting sharply with the beige tone of her skin. There was already a wet patch, the sight making his heart leap.

Her thighs were dimpled with muscle, but they weren’t so firm that they didn’t yield when he parted them, his fingers delving into a layer of surprisingly soft fat. Her outer thighs and her shins had more armor plating, but they were wonderfully smooth on the inside, almost as though her anatomy was guiding his hands.

“Is this...what you expected?” she asked hesitantly. Adorable, she was worried that he wasn’t attracted to her. His answer was a lingering kiss to her inner thigh that made her arch her back, a surprised grunt escaping her mouth, his tongue darting across her scales.

“I’m so turned on that I don’t know what to do with myself,” he muttered, and it was a genuine sentiment. He felt as though there was a kind of energy building up inside him, agitating him, begging for release. Simon wanted...no, he needed more, or he might explode like an overcharged battery.

Her claws dug into the couch cushions as he moved from her knee to her hip, pausing to plant an affectionate kiss every couple of inches, feeling her steely muscles tense up as he passed over them. He had an inexplicable, burning desire to kiss every scale on her body, Val gasping whenever she felt the flat of his tongue smear her skin with his saliva. When he neared her mound, he moved up to her belly, giving her a gentle bite on the hip that made her squirm.

“Is this how all Humans make love?” she asked breathlessly, gripping the edge of the couch as though trying to steady herself as she peered down at him with drooping eyelids.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the night we met,” he replied, his tongue nearing the hem of her underwear. “Watching you dance in that nightclub, lit only by the neon, it was ethereal. Like something out of a dream. It drove me crazy, being so attracted to you, but not knowing what to do about it. It was like being a horny kid again.”

He placed his mouth over her mound, exhaling warm air on it, the flat of his tongue pressing against the damp fabric. Val inhaled sharply, both hands taking a grip on his hair, her thighs brushing his cheeks as they snapped shut. He could feel the heat that her loins radiated, her sweet taste making his head spin, only the tiniest sliver of cotton separating them.

“Did you fantasize about me?” she whispered, giggling when he nodded. She was so wet that her panties were sticking to her, the outline of a pair of puffy lips clearly visible. She pulled them aside, the fabric linked to her glistening, blue flesh by a strand of her excitement. Between a pair of scaly, beige-colored lips was a sliver of lavender, wet with a sheen of her juices that made it shine in the low light. Val flinched as he breathed on it, his nose hovering an inch away, his eyes following a bead of fluid as it rolled down her scales.

She parted her lips with her two fingers, exposing her folds, like pleated layers of blue velvet. It was oddly beautiful in a strange, alien way, reminding him of the petals of the alien flower that was sitting in the vase on the dining table. His mouth began to water with anticipation, his member straining against his pants as he drew closer.

Val held her breath, exhaling as his lips met hers, his tongue darting out to glance her vulva. She was putting out so much heat, swollen and needy, her smooth thighs brushing against his red cheeks as she squirmed. She tasted oddly sweet, it was like biting into a ripe fruit, her juices spilling down his chin as he began to mouthe and lick. His hands wandered beneath her legs, raising them as he buried his face between them, his writhing partner’s hands coming to rest on his head.

“Spirits...” she muttered, her flanging voice strained. Her muscles flexed beautifully beneath her skin as she rolled her wide hips, grinding against him, her grip on his hair tightening as he painted her burning flesh with his tongue. With their hard beaks, this was another thing that male Turians likely had trouble with.

Simon explored her folds, finding them more familiar than he had expected, similar to those of a Human woman in spite of their exotic color. They were so delicate, and Val was so sensitive, Simon delighting in the way that she bucked and writhed with his every doting glance. Her burning flesh had the texture of silk that had been soaked in honey, slippery and smooth, his tongue gliding between her puffy labia. He traced her folds, circling her twitching opening, feeling a ring of slick muscles grip its tip as he pushed it inside her. He dragged the flat of his tongue across her vulva, mouthing at her lips, his saliva blending with her syrupy emissions. He had to keep in mind that swallowing would be a bad idea, her bodily fluids were dextro.

Val stroked his hair all the while, beside herself as she squirmed on the couch, Simon pausing occasionally to kiss her thighs and stomach. He enjoyed the contrast between her slick, hot flesh, and her cool scales as he crawled his lips across them.

He began to draw teasing shapes on her vulva, his fingers sinking into the meat of her stout thighs for purchase as her back arched toward him, Val failing to stifle a pained whine. Encouraged, he took the opportunity to slip a hand between the couch cushion and her rear. She might not have breasts, but Val had an ass like a perfect peach, his fingers delving into her springy flesh.

She lurched as she felt him take a generous handful, but she didn’t complain, Simon filling his palm with one of her round cheeks. It was covered in the same smooth scales as her thighs, toned muscle like firm rubber lurking beneath a layer of irresistibly soft fat, his digits sinking up to the first joint. As he squeezed, her flesh spilled between his fingers like warm dough, her steely muscles tensing in response.

A hand on the back of his head encouraged him to keep licking, his tongue wandering higher, locating a firm bud. She flinched when he glanced it, Simon pausing his lapping to peer up at her.

“Sorry, did that hurt?” he asked.

“Fuck no,” she growled, “keep going!”

She reached down and splayed her loins, pulling back her satin folds, her engorged clitoris peeking out from beneath a hood of protective skin that was just as blue as the rest of her. He pursed his lips around it, his nose brushing against the glass-smooth scales of her mound, Val gritting her sharp teeth as a shudder passed through her. It was swollen with arousal, her pulse making it throb against his tongue.

He slowly circled it, Val breathing heavily as she peered down at him, her alien eyes seeming to lose their focus with his every lick. When he trapped it between his lip and his tongue, she loosed another stifled whine, the muscles in her thighs bulging as they pressed against his cheeks. He began to suck gently, darting his tongue across the engorged bud’s smooth surface, drawing it out from beneath its hood. The sensation drove her wild, it was something that she couldn’t have experienced before, not with a Turian partner’s rigid mouthparts.

“Don’t go out with a Human,” she muttered in a mocking tone, mimicking the voices of her friends. “They said this relationship couldn’t go anywhere, but you’re takin’ me places right now, Si.”

“Si?” he asked, pausing his licking to chuckle at the nickname.

“You want two syllables out of me in this state?” she scoffed, “you’re lucky I’m not just grunting. Don’t stop, damn it, this is fuckin’ great...”

She leaned back, letting herself sink into the couch as he resumed his adoring licking, her hips shifting subtly from side to side as he delved between her thighs once again. He lashed at her clitoris, dragging his tongue across her dripping vulva, his hands wandering where they pleased. For more than two weeks he had kept his paws off her, wanting to explore her curves, but being unable to. He was making up for lost time now, reveling in the way that her muscles moved like liquid metal beneath her skin, in the way that his fingers sank into her fat. She had the physique of a dancer or a gymnast, strong and sinewy, yet soft and graceful.

He brought a hand to her loins as he kept her bud locked between his lips, stroking her warm flesh with his fingertips, wetting them with the slimy juices that clung to it. After probing for her opening for a moment, he found it, a ring of muscle sealing around his finger as he pushed it inside her. Immediately, bumpy, pillowy walls of flesh pressed down on his digit as the muscles beyond their slippery bounds clenched. She let slip a moan, her insides rippling, massaging him waves as though trying to suck him deeper.

She was so tight, her insides clamping down on him like a fist, spasming each time that his tongue grazed her clitoris. He could feel the texture of her velutinous passage, bumpy and uneven, covered in wrinkles and fleshy nodules that raked across his skin. Everything was drenched in her viscous excitement, making her loins glide effortlessly along his finger, globs of it leaking past his knuckle.

He paused, his member throbbing as he imagined thrusting it inside her, feeling those maddening bumps slide across his glans.

“Something wrong?” Val asked breathlessly from somewhere above him. “Why’d you stop licking?”

“I was just...kind of amazed,” he replied.

“Am I that different from a Human?”

“Oh yeah,” he chuckled, “in a good way.”

He began to move his digit inside her, the combination of this new sensation and his licking sending a shiver through Val’s taut body. She was wound up like a spring, he could feel the tension coming off her, the nervous energy.

“That’s it,” she mumbled, slurring her words now as she sank her claws into the cushions to either side of her. She began to rock, unable to help herself, thrusting against his finger. “Deeper, yeah...like that. Oh, spirits...move your finger upwards like-”

He did as she asked, curling his digit inside her, pressing it against the roof of her tunnel. She bucked, her claws tearing the fabric, her thighs squeezing his head as her butt rose from the couch for a moment. She was incredibly sensitive there, was that her G-spot?

“If I’d known you’d be this much fun, I would have jumped your bones the first night we met,” she chuckled as she slowly sank back down to the couch. “Er, you’re remembering not to swallow...anything, right? I’m kinda...”

“Wet?” he suggested, wiping a dangling strand of her juices from his chin with the back of his hand.

“Yeah, well...it’s your fault,” she chuckled. “Now that you know how to push all my buttons, stop talking and start putting that tongue to better use. I’m close, I wanna cum...”

He brought his mouth back to her swollen lips, stroking her seizing passage with his finger as he began to lap and kiss. He doted on her, pleasing her the only thing that mattered to him in that moment, feeling her throb around his buried digit. He crawled his lips across her burning vulva, tracing the silky contours of her loins with the tip of his tongue, drawing on her clitoris as he teased it with quick flurries. She was practically fucking his hand now, losing herself in the pleasure, her head lolling as her rhythmic movements made the couch creak.

“Mmf, keep going,” she warbled in her strange, flanging voice. “Don’t stop, Si, fuck. Don’t you dare stop!”

The contractions of her muscles came faster and faster, her thighs beginning to tremble against his cheeks, her labored breathing morphing into gasping. Her ample rear rose from the couch, Simon clinging to her as he struggled to keep his lips sealed around her bud, her warm fluids seeping down his chin.

She loosed a yelp that tapered into a sultry moan, her legs crossing behind his head, her hands taking a grip on his hair as her body began to quake. Like someone had just touched her with a live wire, she jumped and trembled, doubling over above him. Simon kept up his stroking, easing out every last spasm of pleasure that he could, her sopping tunnel kneading him so hard that it was almost painful.

Again and again, he felt her alien body tense, the Turian inhaling sharply before loosing a drawn-out, satisfied sigh. Every wave of her orgasm made her toned muscles flex, dimpling her thighs, and making her abs rise from beneath her flush scales. Her waist was mesmerizing. She was moving like a bellydancer, twisting and writhing in ways that almost seemed designed to accentuate her figure. Reptiles didn’t sweat, but the way that her scales reflected the dim light of the apartment made her seem to glisten, as though her skin was misted with water.

Gradually, she began to come down, relaxing back into the cushions and releasing her tight hold on him. She shivered again as he pulled his finger out of her, provoking an aftershock, his skin glazed in a thick sheen of her juices. He kissed her thigh, now stained with her fluids, a string of it linking his lips to her scales. As he drew back, she began to giggle in a distinctly sordid way, batting her lashes at him. He had never seen her so...happy before, unrestrained, like she was drunk on her euphoria.

“I can’t believe I put this off for so long,” she purred, a hand sneaking between her legs to ease out one last throb of pleasure. “Now that I’ve started, I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop.”

“What happened to that Turian stoicism?” Simon chuckled, Val reaching down to grip his chin between her thumb and forefinger. She guided him up onto the couch, bringing him close, pausing as she prepared to kiss him.

“Like I said, we’re allowed to have our...vices, and I think you just became mine.”

They embraced, slow and placating, every gentle stroke of Val’s tongue overflowing with desire for him. She was in that wonderful state of bliss that follows a powerful climax, still unsteady, basking in her afterglow.

Simon slowly sank into the couch beside her, the room lit only by the standby symbol on the monitor, the movie long forgotten. After cuddling for a few minutes, he felt Val’s fingers brush the bulge in his pants, the sensation jolting him to alertness.

“What are you smuggling down there?” she cooed, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Do you have a permit to carry a weapon on the Citadel?”

“I’ve secretly been a Spectre all this time,” he replied as she slid down onto the carpet in front of him, her clawed fingers slowly dragging down the zipper.

“I’m going to have to check you for contraband,” she said, her voice cracking as she laughed at her own joke. Simon joined her, his chuckling tapering off as she opened his fly to expose his shorts. She hooked her fingers around the elastic waistband, her claws grazing his skin, and pulled them down. Her eyes widened as his member bounced free, standing erect in front of her face, pulsing softly in time with the beating of his heart. She reached out and stroked it, Simon’s eyelids fluttering.

“Weird,” she muttered, her emerald eyes playing over it. “Good weird,” she added hastily, glancing up at him. “Ours aren’t covered in skin like this, and they’re more...pointy.” “Didn’t you look it up on the extranet?” he asked. “That’s what I did.”

“Well, yeah...but seeing it in person is different,” she replied, seeming transfixed. She reached out and gave him a gentle prod with her finger, his erection flexing in response. “The tip is sensitive, right?” She took a firmer grip on his shaft, gently peeling back his foreskin to reveal his pink glans. “This looks more familiar.”

She drew closer, Simon feeling a pang of apprehension. She wanted to return the favor, that was obvious, but her mouth was all rigid mandibles and sharp teeth.

“Hang on a sec,” he mumbled, “is this going to...be alright?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t nick you,” she replied with a toothy grin that was less than reassuring. She extended a few inches of her tapered, lavender tongue, slightly longer than a Human’s would have been. As she curled it, she felt his member throb in her hand, giving him a sly glance. “Trust me?”

He nodded, and she guided his member closer, her tongue glancing the tip like she was tasting a lollipop. Now it was Simon’s turn to shiver, pleasure shooting through him like an electric current as her smooth, damp flesh began to circle his head. She was painting his tender flesh with all the care and attention of an artist’s brush, coating every inch of it with her warm, slippery saliva. She slipped her tongue beneath his foreskin, Simon having to stop himself from bucking as the sensation rocked him.

“See?” she chuckled, “I know what I’m doing...”

He began to relax somewhat as she lapped at his glans, every gentle stroke making his head spin. He was so painfully aware of her tongue, it was all that his mind could focus on her, her passionate licking scattering his thoughts to the wind. It was different from what a Human partner would have done. With her alien mouthparts, she couldn’t suck or kiss, she couldn’t purse her lips around his glans. She was using only her tongue, her skilled organ exploring every contour of his anatomy. It was so warm and smooth, her bubbling saliva leaking down his shaft, her flesh like satin as it raked across his head.

She began to move down, tracing one of his veins with the tip of her tongue, keeping a grip on the base of his member. His skin was slick with her drool now, making it shine in the light of the monitor, her fingers sliding in it as she began to stroke him. Her velvet tongue found his balls, Simon leaning back into the couch, gritting his teeth as she licked.

“It’s so warm,” she muttered, letting his member rest against her painted cheek. “I can feel it beating...”

She began to slide her fingers over his glans, pressing it into her palm, massaging him as her tongue wandered across his balls. The texture of her fine scales surprised him, as smooth as glass in their own right, but subtly textured when taken together. Her touch was so soft, nothing like he would have imagined.

“How am I doing?” she asked, Simon struggling to formulate a coherent reply.

“Great...” “Good,” she chuckled, dragging the flat of her tongue back up his length. She began to pump faster now, using her spit as a lubricant, lapping rhythmically at the tip of his erection. She found the sensitive zone just beneath it, Simon lurching as she began to tease it with the tapered tip of her organ, every stroke of her fist sending a wave of pleasure washing over him.

She brought up her other hand, cradling his balls in her soft palm as she stroked his shaft, Simon’s stifled groan only encouraging her.

“You’re so good with your hands,” he muttered, flinching as she swirled her tongue around his tip.

“What, you think I need five fingers to make you squirm?” she purred as she gave him a squeeze. “We Turians do just fine with three.”

She wrapped both hands around his wet shaft, twisting them in different directions, alternating her squeezing to keep him on edge. She was like a damned masseuse. Maybe not having lips was a good thing, the Turians had to get creative.

He considered stopping her as she brought his glans towards her beak, but she had asked him to trust her, and that was what he intended to do. She opened her jaws, revealing two rows of sharp teeth that ran down either side of her mouth. She had no front teeth, Turians must use their beaks in lieu of incisors and canines, they certainly seemed sharp enough.

He shivered as he felt his glans slide against her slimy palate, her tongue coiling around his shaft as she guided him deeper, keeping him clear of her fangs. He watched as more and more of his length vanished into her mouth, biting his lip as seething pleasure overrode his fear of pinching and snagging. Her warm cheeks pressed around his member like a pair of silken pillows, her tongue writhing around his glans, as though it was trying to find a comfortable place to rest. Val continued to take him deeper until there was only an inch left, his eyes rolling back into his head as he felt his tender tip press against the back of her throat.

Val rested her hands on his thighs as she swallowed around him, the muscles in the depths of her gullet stroking him with all the dexterity of a hand. It was so tight and wet, her saliva acting as a lubricant, soaking his skin in a bubbling layer of warm slime. He covered his face with his hands, trying to endure the intense sensation as Val peered up at him, a smile in her eyes.

Her wriggling tongue cradled his shaft from beneath, undulating, stroking the underside of his glans where she knew that he was most sensitive. With a start, he realized that he had to hold out. If he came in her mouth, he might poison her.

She began to slide him in and out of her throat, her sluggish pace keeping him in edge, her eyelashes batting each time she felt him flex. If Turians had a gag reflex, then she was doing a remarkable job of suppressing it. Beads of her saliva dripped down his length, her pace growing faster, more ravenous. As his breathing began to grow ragged, she pulled back, letting him slide out of her mouth along with a thick rope of her drool that broke to fall to the carpet below. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, peering up at him excitedly.

“Are you close?” she asked gleefully, “does it feel good?”

“It feels amazing,” he sighed, enraptured as she began to pump her fist again.

“C-Sec can do delicate work too, y’know,” she joked. “We don’t just rough people up.”

Val giggled as his hips began to rise from the cushions, Simon thrusting into her hand. She held still, letting him rut into her fist, his skin sliding against her slimy scales.

“You’re close, right?” she said. “I can feel you swelling.”

Val rose to her feet, looming over him as he sank back into the couch, keeping one of her scaly hands wrapped around his shaft as the other gripped the backrest behind him. She leaned closer, pressing her forehead against his. It was the same gesture that she had demonstrated earlier, a Turian show of affection.

“I want you to cum in my hand,” she whispered, her voice low and sultry. It was a request that Simon couldn’t refuse, the pressure inside him mounting, tingling pleasure coursing up his spine. He could feel his climax welling, growing more urgent with every stroke of her fist, Val watching him with intently with her green eyes as she pushed him towards the edge.

He gritted his teeth in an attempt to stifle a groan, the sound escaping anyway as a warm rope of his emission erupted into Val’s waiting hand, a grin splitting her face as she kept up her pumping. His muscles clenched as the pleasure tore through him, harsh and raw, spreading through his body like it was being carried in his blood. His hips thrust reflexively, his spine arching, Val setting her own pace now as she wrung another load out of him.

His member jumped and flexed in her grasp, his fluids splashing against her pristine scales, seeping between her fingers as she rolled her palm across his sensitive glans. She was milking him like a cow, easing out every last drop, eyes like jewels watching him intently as his burning face contorted.

The pangs of ecstasy came slower now, the intense pleasure giving way to a kind of relaxing, dull ache. It was immensely satisfying, his body seeming to melt into the couch, his eyelids growing heavy. Euphoria draped over him like a warm blanket, Val giving him a slow, teasing kiss as her slimy fingers brushed against his still erect shaft.

“You make such a cute face when you cum,” she whispered, her words making his heart skip a beat. He began to chuckle, covering his eyes with his forearm.

“I was expecting this to be a little more one-sided, but I guess I was wrong,” he said as she stood up. He opened his eyes to see her playing with the drooping web of pearly fluid that was clinging to her hand, the gelatinous ropes wobbling as she examined them.

“I think I’m gonna go wash this off,” she said, giving him a grin. “You know, on account of it being poisonous to me.”

He gave her a thumbs-up as she walked out of his field of view, then he collapsed back into the cushions, wallowing in his post-coital bliss. After a moment, she returned from around the side of the couch, the hiss of a beer being opened alerting him. She flopped down beside him, taking a long draw from the can before leaning over to push her face into the nape of his neck. She thrust a soda into his hand, and he popped it open, taking a swig.

“You’re so wet,” she mused, running her fingers across his chest. They were both nude, their clothes discarded in a heap on the floor. Her digits slid in the sheen of sweat that was clinging to his skin, both a product of his exertion and the heat in the room. “Gotta keep my man hydrated, or he’s gonna pass out.”

“I’ll survive,” he chuckled, leaning over to give her a grateful peck on the forehead. “I turned up the thermostat in here because I heard you guys like it hot.”

“It’s rather pleasant,” she replied, “and I like the way it makes you...shiny.”

They relaxed for a few minutes, sipping their drinks quietly, merely enjoying each other’s company as they recovered from their romp. There was no need to gush, no need to make small-talk. The way that Val nuzzled his neck said it all, Simon draping an arm around her shoulders as they sat together. There was no day and night cycle on the Ward, and the wall clock was out of view, the only light coming from the standby icon on the monitor. Simon had no idea what time it was, or how long they had spent together, and it was an oddly enjoyable feeling. He could pretend that nothing beyond his apartment existed, that they might still spend hours and hours together. He didn’t want this night to end.

Val’s flanging voice finally broke the peaceful silence, she was hesitant, but he could sense her eagerness.

“Si, you wanna...keep going?”

“Take it to the bedroom, you mean?” he asked. She nodded her head, her alien eyes flashing with anticipation. “You don’t have to ask me twice,” he said, crushing his soda can and tossing it to the carpet.

She smiled at him, rising from her seat and starting to walk around the couch. She had already made a mental note of where the bedroom was, it seemed, peering back at him over her shoulder as she made her way to the door. Her gait was slow, graceful, her wide hips rolling in a way that accentuated the firm cheeks of her ass. Val was putting on a show for him, Simon leaning over the back of the couch as he watched her come to a stop by the door, leaning against the frame.

“Are you coming, or are you just going to gawk at me?”

He vaulted over the couch, Val laughing as he made his way over, planting a hand against the frame as he pressed her up against the door. They shared another kiss, Val letting her hands wander across his chest, enjoying the sensation of his wet skin as they embraced.

Simon hit the panel, the door sliding back to reveal his bedroom, the dim interior lights turning on automatically. He had set them to a specific brightness prior to Val’s arrival.

She took his hand and led him towards the double bed that occupied most of the space, pausing to glance out of another wall-length window. The sparkling neon of the Ward, and the diffuse starlight from the stellar dust cloud in which the Citadel was currently nestled spilled into the room. It wasn’t nearly bright enough to overpower the lamps in the ceiling, but it was beautiful all the same. They took a moment to appreciate the view, Val squeezing his hand.

“You said you wanted tonight to be special,” she began, her figure silhouetted by the starlight. “I don’t think you really grasp how special you’ve made it...”

Simon stood on his toes to reach her neck, kissing her smooth scales from behind, Val loosing a sigh as she leaned into him. She turned, shoving him onto the bed, Simon chuckling as he bounced on the mattress. Val climbed up on top of him, planting her knees to either side of his hips, her eyes reflecting the light as she peered down at him.

“Hang on,” he stammered, logic finally winning its pitched battle with his arousal. “We need to prepare, right?”

Val let him roll out from beneath her, Simon rummaging through a drawer in the nearby bedside table. She watched curiously as he withdrew a packet of condoms, handing them to her.

“I read that we should use these, they’re silicone-based, so they won’t cause you any irritation.”

She tossed them over her shoulder, planting her hands on his chest and forcing him back down onto the bed, straddling him once more.

“B-but, don’t we need to use p-protection?” Simon stammered. He winced as she sat on his thighs, taking his erection in her hand and pressing it against her smooth stomach.

“I went to the clinic and got a shot,” she replied. “It’s an immune-suppressor, it means we can do whatever we want until it wears off, and I’ve got a whole stockpile back home.”

“But...”

Val brought her mouth down to his neck and gave him a teasing bite, Simon tensing, her blue tongue emerging to rake his throat. She roamed up to his ear, nibbling it gently, his heart beginning to race.

“We’re different species, you and I,” she whispered salaciously. “You can’t knock me up no matter how hard you try, and I want you to try...”

“If you’re sure, then...let’s do it,” Simon replied excitedly.

She gripped his cock in her hand, his skin still a little damp with her saliva, shifting her weight as she brought it to her opening. He flinched as she dragged it between her puffy lips, wetting it with her fluids, taking a moment to grind against his shaft. She was radiating so much heat, so wet that her juices were dripping from her blue flesh in strands, the delicate folds of her vulva sliding against his pulsing member.

She chuckled at his pained expression, wetting her beak with her tongue in anticipation as she finally relented. They gasped in unison as she pressed his glans up against her opening, her blue flesh contrasting with his pink. There was a moment of resistance, and then a ring of muscle slid over the head of his erection, her velvety passage engulfing him. The bumpy, fleshy walls of her tunnel were lined with the nodules that he had felt with his finger, as soft as marshmallows as they raked down his length. Her insides clung to him like a second skin, the pressure and suction making him grit his teeth, a stab of pleasure rocking him.

Val fared little better, letting slip a strained gasp as she took him about halfway, his member flaring slightly towards the middle. She let more of her weight rest on him, her smooth thighs gripping his hips as she inched her way down, finally taking his member to the base.

They took a few seconds to get used to the feeling, too afraid to move lest the pleasure overwhelm them, Val shuddering with every beat of his heart as his member throbbed inside her. Even when she was sitting still, the taut muscles in her depths shifted and squeezed, kneading him through the silky barrier of her loins. It was a good job that they hadn’t tried the condom, she was tight enough that she might have simply pulled it off him.

Simon reached for her narrow waist as her abdominal muscles flexed beneath her scales, his hands resting about her hips, his fingers digging into the meat of her rump. She lay her palms on his chest to support her weight, bowing her head, her breath ragged.

“You okay?” he asked, unable to mask how good it felt to be inside her.

“Mhmm,” she moaned, her claws pricking his skin. “Spirits, you’re so hot. I feel like I’m sitting on a spent thermal clip. I’m gonna start moving,” she added, feeling the need to warn him. There was something delicious about being so mismatched with someone, their bodies finding a way to join together against all the odds, in defiance of chemistry and evolution.

Val began to rock slowly back and forth, grinding his shaft against her textured insides, her flesh clinging to him like latex. Her slippery fluids seeped from her splayed loins, her lithe body twitching as she moved, the Turian almost seeming to hold her breath. Every stroke of those wicked nodules set his nerves alight, every wrinkle that grazed his glans in the reaches of her shifting tunnel sending a fog of arousal rolling over his mind. He felt like someone was microwaving his brain, his grey matter fizzing and popping.

Her pace grew a little faster, Simon running a hand across her belly as she danced atop him, her lovemaking becoming more elaborate. She rolled her hips, making slow circles, teasing him with looping figures of eight. Her abs bulged from beneath her glittering scales as she moved, catching the light, her twisting and shimmying making her loins swirl around his shaft. It was all that he could do to hold on for dear life, his fingers digging into her skin, the bed frame creaking beneath them.

Val raised her arms above her head, lost in her trance, her slim fingers joining in the air as she contorted her body. Simon’s heart skipped a beat as he realized what she was doing, butterflies swarming in his stomach. This was how she had danced the day that he had met her in the nightclub, the flowing movements were the same, the staccato thrusts and sensual swaying of her hips sparking recognition. As the starlight from the dust cloud beyond the wall-length window flooded in behind her, it framed her in its pale light, Simon unable to take his eyes off her. It was like a dream.

She began to rise on his shaft now, the fleshy bumps that lined her tunnel sliding back up his shaft. They caught on the underside of his glans, making his head spin, like the tips of so many tiny tongues as they scoured his exposed flesh. When she slammed back down again, a whirlwind of sensation rocked him, hundreds of the nodules gliding against his skin as she buried him to the hilt.

“Fuck,” she gasped, her blue tongue lolling from her mouth as she lost her composure for a moment. Her insides were spasming around him, undulating, like a throat that was trying to swallow him deeper. Every wave of muscle pressed her pillowy walls against his shaft, her flesh molding around him like she was taking a plaster cast. “I dunno if I can...keep this up...”

“Val,” Simon panted, her reflective eyes opening to peer down at him. “We got all night. You don’t have to rush, you don’t have to hold out. If you cum to soon, we can just go again.”

“We both have to go to work in the morning,” she purred, failing to conceal how much his proposal aroused her.

“So? We’ll go to work sore and tired, fuck it.”

She giggled, sliding up his shaft again, poising there for a drawn-out moment before dropping back down. She knocked the wind out of him, a flare of tingling pleasure making him arch his back, surprising Val as he raised her off the mattress.

“I can do sore if that’s what you want,” she cooed.

He wrapped his arms around her narrow waist, flipping Val over onto her back, the pair of them bouncing on the mattress.

“Are we fucking or wrestling?” she chuckled, batting her lashes at him as he cast her into shadow.

“A little of both,” he replied, planting his hands to either side of her head. She crossed her legs behind his butt, pulling him into her, encouraging him to start moving. He began to thrust, pushing her deeper into the mattress, his Turian partner draping her arms around his neck.

“You can go a little harder,” she cooed, “Turian girls are tougher than what you’re used to...”

They found a slow, heavy pace, the bedsprings creaking in time with their rutting. He could penetrate deeper in this position, his member parting her insides as he pushed into her most intimate reaches, Val gasping with every thrust. She only seemed to grow tighter as they went on, it was driving him crazy. Her velvety, damp flesh caressed him from the base to the tip, those wonderful nodules of soft tissue stroking him as he bottomed out inside her. He could feel every ring of muscles as it kneaded him through the barrier of her cushiony walls, her warm excitement leaking around his shaft to stain the sheets below.

“You’re so fuckin’ deep,” Val groaned, peering down between her thighs to watch him enter her. “I can feel your heat in my belly...”

Simon drew closer, lowering himself down so that he could reach her neck, Val turning her head to give him easier access. She let slip a sultry moan as he mouthed and licked, raking his tongue across her throat, planting lingering kisses on her cool scales. Her muscles clenched around his shaft as he sucked gently, giving her teasing bites, her grip on his hair growing tighter as she drew him closer.

They were moving as one now, her flared hips rising from the sheets to meet his downward thrusts, their bodies slamming together as their pace grew more aggressive. It was like they were in sync, feeding into each other, every spasm of pleasure that was felt by one reflected in the other. She could feel every throb and flex of his erection, and he could feel each spasm of her passage in kind. Her head lolled, her eyelashes fluttering, her hands wandering down his neck and shoulders.

“You’re so slippery,” she muttered, running her fingers across his wet skin as he moved atop her. She ran them down his chest, watching covetously as his muscles shifted, his damp hair falling over his face. “I’d suggest turning down the heat if it’s bothering you, but it’s a good look...”

Now, it was Val’s turn to bring her mouthparts to his neck, Simon shivering appreciatively as he felt her firm beak brush against his jugular. She extended her lavender tongue, dragging it across his skin, sampling his sweat.

“You taste so good,” she purred, delivering a soft nip that made him flinch.

“Don’t swallow it,” he warned, Val giving him another teasing nibble.

Supporting himself with one hand, he cupped her cheek in the other, running his thumb across the painted pattern on her sensitive plates. He guided her to his lips, tasting his own salt on her tongue as they embraced. Their ravenous, desperate kiss was a sexual act in its own right, his pink flesh wrestling with her blue as she cradled his face in her palms. All sense of modesty and moderation had been forgotten in the heat of their coupling, the two pausing only to take ragged, staggered breaths as their bodies heaved in the starlight.

Val finally broke off, her beak joined to his lips by a sagging strand of saliva. She winced as he delivered another punishing thrust, Simon feeling her body shudder as she squirmed on the sheets beneath him.

“H-hang on,” she blurted, covering her face with her hands as Simon slowed. She kept a tight grip on him with her steely thighs, preventing him from pulling out of her. They caught their breath for a moment, droplets of his sudor raining down onto her glistening scales.

“Wassup?” he panted.

“I wanna try something,” she replied, placing a hand on his chest and easing him away from her. They shuddered together as he began to pull out, her muscles clinging to him as though trying to prevent it, like her body was rebelling against her decision. Her nodules caught on his glans, Simon gritting his teeth as a stab of pleasure rocked him, finally freeing himself. He knelt on the side of the bed as he watched her shuffle up towards the headboard, already missing the warmth of her loins. As he watched curiously, Val grabbed one of the tube-shaped pillows, fidgeting as she positioned it beneath her rump. She lay on her back with her head on the remaining pillow, the other lifting her butt off the mattress, creating a shallow incline where her hips were raised higher than her shoulders.

She beckoned to him, smiling as he crawled across the mattress towards her. She kept her thighs tightly closed in a gesture of mock modesty, feigning resistance as he made to part them. Her laughter turned to a comely sigh as he gripped her knees, spreading her legs open, running his hands along the burnished scales of her inner thighs. Her loins were soaking wet, dripping glistening ropes of her excitement, her amber eyes peering up at him expectantly.

“So, what’s this about?” he asked as his erection throbbed in the air.

“I think you’re gonna hit my sweet spot at this angle,” she explained, reaching up and taking his hands in hers. She guided them to her hips, encouraging him to grip them, shifting her weight eagerly as he sank his fingers into her inviting flesh. “Don’t hold anything back,” she added, one of her hands coming up to caress his cheek.

A beautiful ripple passed through her abdominal muscles as he pressed his glans up against her vulva, already so slippery that there was almost no friction as he rubbed it between her swollen lips. He pushed into her entrance, wasting no time as he slid up to the hilt in one smooth motion, the impact making the soft parts of her body quiver. Val’s eyes widened, her mouth opening in a silent wail as she arched her back, her thighs snapping shut around his waist.

“Hey, you said don’t hold back,” Simon winced.

“I’ll forgive you for not knowing Turian facial expressions yet,” she sighed, sagging back down onto the bed like a deflating balloon. “But that wasn’t a bad reaction, that was an oh fuck, I almost came my brains out reaction.”

He doubled over laughing, Val giving him a playful slap on the chest.

“I didn’t say stop!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he muttered as he started to move.

“Oh, Spirits,” Val whined as his member brushed the roof of her slimy tunnel. “That’s the spot, right there. No...a little higher, that’s it. Right there...”

Her legs began to tremble as he found a new rhythm, her eyes losing their focus, staring up at the ceiling. Her hands reached up to grip the pillow upon which her head was resting, delving into the plush fabric. Each time his glans pressed into what must be her G-spot, her muscles seized reflexively, wringing his shaft in wracking waves. Like a fist gloved in wet satin, her insides squeezed and stroked, the ceaseless shifting of her hips as she writhed only making the sensation more intense. Every delicate wrinkle and fleshy barb seemed to sap his will as it raked over his tender head, sliding up and down his shaft, her womanhood sucking with an almost willful intent.

“God damn it,” Simon grumbled, doubling over as a particularly cruel spasm almost made him lose his balance. “I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out...”

“Then don’t,” Val gasped, “give me everything you’ve got.”

The headboard began to slam against the wall as he picked up the pace, sweat dripping from his skin as he drove Val into the mattress, her clawed toes curling. Her gasping morphed into low, encouraging moans, her thighs gripping him with renewed ferocity. Simon found himself pulling her into his thrusts, impaling her on his shaft, a kind of bestial lust overtaking him. He felt like his very blood had been set alight, passion coursing through his veins, Val’s twisting form all that he could focus on. Her muscular core flexed, her mouth hanging open, her thighs trembling as they clung to his hips with an almost alarming fervor.

The diffuse, pale light from the nearby star suddenly came flooding in through the window to their left, bathing them in its dull glow. The slow rotation of the Citadel had moved the great arms that made up the Wards while they had been making love, which meant that the dust cloud was no longer partially obscured. Val’s fine scales caught the light, giving her an ethereal glow, her skin seeming to glitter. The shadows picked out her muscles as they tensed beneath it, her abs bulging as she danced, tiny flecks of what might be metal or minerals shining in her carapace. Simon found himself transfixed, her eyes opening to peer up at him, reflective like those of a cat.

“Gonna cum,” she hissed through gritted teeth, the contractions in her pulsing loins growing ever more intense. They were both building towards a crescendo, like a symphony approaching its climax, Simon’s heart thudding in his ears like the beating of a drum. She reached out and hooked a hand behind his neck, pulling him closer, wrapping her arms around him as she clung to him. Her claws left stinging trails on his back, but he didn’t care, Simon burying his face in the nape of her neck as he neared the limits of his endurance.

Val threw her head back as the first wave of her orgasm crashed over her, choking off a grunt as she pushed up to take him deeper. Her hips moved mechanically, grinding against him, Simon feeling the stark contrast between her firm carapace and her soft scales as she pulled him close. The muscles in her depths almost seemed to be vibrating, the constant shifting and squeezing massaging him, the maddening texture of her pillowy walls driving him closer and closer to the edge as her body contorted.

It was more than he could take, Simon digging his fingers into the yielding flesh of her hips as he joined her in her bliss, his wet hands slipping on her glassy scales. Val loosed another sharp gasp as she felt his cock swell inside her, crossing her legs behind his butt again, her claws digging into his back. She hugged him tightly against her body, keeping him buried in her reaches as he bucked, the writhing Turian failing to stifle an unbecoming mewl.

He groaned into her collar as he erupted inside her, a torrent of his emission pouring from his surging member to flood her passage, Val loosing a sordid moan as she felt its heat bubbling up inside her. Viscous ropes of his ejaculate soaked her azure flesh, forced into the depths of her quivering loins as his member flexed and pulsed. Each throb was chased by a wave of exquisite pleasure, tapering off to afford him a brief moment of respite before the next, each one more intense than the last. There was no end in sight, his muscles burning with the effort, his skin shining with exertion.

Val was trembling like a leaf, her loins wringing him relentlessly, her breathing ragged and shallow. She panted like a beast, her muscles seizing around him as another wave of searing pleasure rocked her, every thrust fucking the gelatinous fluids deeper inside her.

The raging fires of their passion slowly cooled, leaving the pair panting and squirming on the sodden sheets as they slowly recovered their faculties. Like waking from a dream, they gazed at one another, blinking their eyes groggily as they were bathed in starlight. Val’s questing hands stroked his damp skin, delving into his hair, taking a grip and pulling him close. She pressed their foreheads together, their labored breathing slowing, a kind of serenity coming over them as they shared a tender moment.

They remained joined for a little longer, too afraid to move lest the stimulation provoke another aftershock, a kind of wonderful exhaustion finally overcoming them. Val released her tight hold on him, letting him slowly slide out of her, the pair groaning in tandem as his glans raked across her textured walls. His member had been plugging the mess that they had created together, a sagging web of their blended fluids seeping from her splayed lips, its pearly color contrasting with the blue blush of her vulva.

“Don’t even bother cleaning up,” she purred, giving him an affectionate kiss while he was still in range. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

He gripped the cushion beneath her rump and tugged it out from under her, Val chuckling as she bounced on the bed, Simon tossing it unceremoniously over his shoulder. He flopped down beside her, turning her to face the window, wrapping an arm around her pinched waist as he nuzzled her neck. She sighed as his lips brushed her scales, a residual pang of pleasure making her shudder. The interlocking plates of her carapace weren’t too comfortable against his bare chest, but he barely noticed them now, they almost seemed mundane.

“You have quite a view up here,” she murmured, watching as the city-sized arms of the Citadel slowly rotated against the backdrop of the gas cloud. Skycars in the Ward beyond painted bright trails in the darkness, the warm glow of the buildings rising up from below.

“I’ll say,” he replied, reaching down and taking a handful of her ass. She flinched, then pushed into his hand, his still rigid member pressing into her springy flesh.

“I was talking about the beautiful vista,” she added, turning to give him a flirtatious glance over her shoulder. “But I could get used to being admired...”

“Are you sure that all this...is okay?” he asked, gesturing to the globs of fluid that were clinging to her scaly thighs. “You’re sure it won’t make you sick?”

“As long as I take my shots, you can finish wherever you like,” she replied. Simon sighed as she ground her butt into his crotch again, his erection sliding against her scaly cheek, his skin still slick with their juices. “And I got a lot of shots back home, Si. Like, a lot. We’re gonna have to use them all up, or it would be a terrible waste of taxpayer credits.”

“I consider it my civic duty,” he chuckled.

“This was great, by the way,” she continued. Her tone was more sincere now, one of her hands sneaking down to grip his own. “The dextro dinner, the snacks, the dumb movies. The lay,” she added with a mischievous giggle. “You know, your apartment is a hell of a lot nicer than mine, and it’s closer to the C-Sec building. Do you think that maybe...there’s room in here for two?”

“Y-you want to move in with me?” he stammered.

“Why not?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders. “If I’ve learned anything in the last couple of days, it’s that waiting too long to make your move is a bad idea. What do you say, Si? Want to come home to a Turian with a stockpile of immune-suppressants every night?”

“That would make me extremely happy,” he said, nuzzling her neck gleefully.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll take a day off some time next week, and you can help me move in. This place could do with a woman’s touch,” she added, “it’s half empty.” “Some gun racks here, the severed head of a Batarian pirate there,” Simon joked.

“Hey, I like girly things too,” she replied. “But yeah...a safe for my handguns might be in order.”

He kissed her neck again, Val sighing contentedly as she leaned into him.

“Want to go again in a few minutes?” she whispered.

“Again?” Simon asked in amazement.

“What’s the matter? I thought mammals had fast metabolisms.”

“Oh, so you’re making this a species thing?” he said, feigning outrage. He gave her a gentle bite, Val rubbing her butt on his rekindled erection as she arched her back.

“I gotta work off all that chocolate you fed me, or it’ll ruin my figure. Keep cooking the way you do, and I’m going to be needing a lot more exercise if I want my uniform to fit me.”

“I can help you out on that front,” he said, rolling her onto her back. She giggled, wrapping her thighs around his hips.

“I’m sure you can...”

-THE END-