Work Text:
Fatima exited the galley the same way she often did at the start of the Tempest’s night cycle: carrying a tall mug of steaming herbal tea in one hand and a datapad in the other.
Her eyes remained fixed on the slowly scrolling text before her, a report from Lexi detailing the training seminar that together they would conduct the following week for other surgeons from the colonies. It was moments like these that made her thankful for the short distance between the kitchen and her personal quarters. Not only did it mean little chance of interruption, but it also made her less likely to trip and fall while she was too engrossed in her work to watch where she was going.
As she crossed the threshold to her room, Fatima’s omni-tool pinged, signaling an incoming communication. She frowned, realizing that she had forgotten to turn her personal channel back on, and hoped she hadn’t missed anything else important. After a brief deliberation between the two items in her hands, she set the datapad down onto her bed, took a small, cherished sip from her mug, and activated the holographic display of her omni-tool.
“This is Ryder,” she said.
“Hey, you.”
Fatima smiled at the sound of Vetra’s voice and her affectionate tone. A sensation of warmth and fullness gathered in the center of her chest as she sat down at the end of her bed.
“Hey yourself.”
“Missed you today,” Vetra continued.
“I missed you, too,” Fatima replied. “Sorry I've been MIA. Had a long day in the med bay.”
“No worries. You free now?”
Fatima briefly glanced over at the discarded datapad behind her. She was, technically, off the clock. Andromeda wouldn’t suddenly cease to exist if she waited until tomorrow to answer her emails.
Work could wait.
“For you? Always. What’s up?”
“Got some requisition forms I need you to look over. Won’t take long.”
Fatima had to stop herself from laughing outright, shaking her head. All right, she thought, so perhaps work couldn’t wait, but any excuse to spend time with Vetra was good enough for her.
“Sure,” Fatima said. “I’ll be right down.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Vetra said, and then ended the call.
Fatima made her way down to the cargo bay, mug still in hand. The room was empty and quiet, save for the distant chittering of Pixie the pyjak and the steady hum of the Tempest’s engine core. Even now, after many months of serving together, it amazed her that the ship could ever be so calm. Theirs was a small crew, but not exactly a quiet one.
It was just like Vetra to stay after work hours while the rest of the ship’s crew had retired for the evening. Although her work ethic was a quality Fatima greatly admired in her, as well as a trait they shared, she couldn’t help but feel concerned. Without being asked, Vetra did so much she didn’t have to for others—not just to ensure the team’s efficiency, but for the sake of everyone's personal well-being. She didn’t want Vetra to shoulder burdens she didn’t have to bear alone.
As soon as they finished looking over those requisition forms, Fatima would bring Vetra back upstairs to her quarters. They would shower and change into their pajamas, huddle under the covers and fall asleep watching one of those turian action vids Vetra secretly loved, and take the morning off. They had both earned it.
Fatima activated the chime on the armory door, announcing her arrival, before she opened it and walked inside.
“Hey,” she said. “So, what are these forms you wanted me to . . .”
Fatima slowed to a complete stop and blinked, raising her eyebrows in surprise as she processed the sight before her: the lights inside the room were dimmed, the privacy shutters on the back window looking into the engine room down, and then there was her girlfriend, standing in front of her desk with her hands on her hips.
Naked.
“Huh,” Fatima said after a few moments, unable to contain the smirk that spread across her face. “Well, this is a hell of a lot better than paperwork.”
Vetra looked entirely too pleased with herself. “I thought so.”
The room suddenly felt much warmer than it had a moment ago. Fatima made no attempts to hide her interest as she moved her eyes slowly up and down Vetra’s form, taking her time to appreciate the view. Vetra was strikingly gorgeous, tall and strong, wiry muscles under soft hide wherever there wasn't any metallic plating. Without her visor to obstruct them, her eyes were vibrant and clear, greener than Meridian itself.
Fatima swallowed audibly. She never wanted to look away.
“Well?” Vetra asked.
“Well?” Fatima echoed.
“You just gonna stand there?” Vetra took one step forward and shifted her weight over to one leg. “Or are you gonna get over here and do something about it?”
Fatima took the bait, finally relinquishing her hold on her beloved tea. She set her mug down on Vetra’s desk as she strode toward her with purpose in every step.
“Lock the door,” she ordered.
Vetra lifted her wrist, her omni-tool’s display glowing brightly in the dark room. “Already on it.”
Fatima’s pulse jumped with excitement as she continued her approach. Even with the door locked and most of the crew off duty, they ran the risk of interruption. The armory was unofficially Vetra’s domain aboard the Tempest, but the room was by no means private. Everyone on the ship had authorized access, if they needed it. Anyone who walked by the door would potentially hear them on the other side.
She tried not to let her eagerness show. Judging by the look Vetra gave her as she stalked forward, however, she had clearly failed.
Fatima stepped into Vetra’s personal space as soon as she was in front of her, resting her hands against the plates at her ribs. Vetra wrapped her arms around Fatima in return, pulling her close and leaving no space between them.
“What’s the occasion?” Fatima asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Been a while since we had some alone time,” Vetra said meaningfully.
“Seriously?” Fatima chuckled. “That’s what this was all about?”
Vetra’s mandibles flared into a smile. “Do I need any other reason?”
Fatima could hardly object to that logic. Their duty rosters kept them both occupied throughout the day, even when they weren’t planet-side, leaving them little private time to spend together. Stars knew she also needed the reprieve after the hellish week she’d had—running errands all across Heleus for their rapidly growing colonies, preparing for the training seminar, even scrubbing in on a major procedure with Lexi.
“If you wanted to get laid, you could’ve just said so.” Fatima smiled suggestively. “I’m always willing to oblige.”
“Wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if I’d done that,” Vetra said.
Fatima hummed in agreement. “You and your surprises,” she said fondly, conceding Vetra’s point.
“My eyes are up here, babe,” Vetra teased.
“I know,” Fatima said as she continued to stare pointedly ahead, admiring the dip and curve of Vetra’s slim waist, the protrusion of her breastbone.
Vetra cupped her face gently with both hands and leaned in for a kiss, bending to accommodate Fatima’s shorter stature. Fatima returned the kiss eagerly and wasted no more time getting started, finding the gaps of exposed skin between Vetra’s plates and passing over them with light, teasing touches. She recalled the previous times they had been intimate, finding the particularly sensitive places on Vetra’s body that she had committed to memory with ease.
Vetra sighed, instantly relaxing under her touch.
“Like that?” Fatima whispered.
“You know I do.”
They kissed again, longer, faster, their mouths frantic and searching. Their hands simultaneously explored one another’s bodies, relearning one another after time apart. Vetra grabbed and tugged at Fatima’s clothing, made hasty attempts to get her out of her sweatshirt, but Fatima stopped her before she could succeed.
She pulled away from Vetra’s lips with a shuddering breath as desire spiked within her. Fatima’s eyes narrowed as they homed in on Vetra like heat-seeking missiles, making one last complete sweep up and down her body.
“Uh oh,” Vetra said. Her tone was light, joking, but her secondary vocal cords shook with anticipation. “I know that look.”
Fatima took Vetra’s hands into hers and walked her backward, until her back was pressed against the blacked-out window.
“What look?” she asked, feigning innocence, but she didn’t give Vetra time to answer.
Fatima stood on her toes for better reach and left a trail of kisses down Vetra’s neck, resuming where they left off. She continued her exploration of Vetra’s body, hands sliding down her waist, past her hips.
“What do you want?” she asked softly.
Vetra moaned when Fatima slipped her fingers between her thighs, coaxing her legs further apart, finding the seam of her cunt.
“Fatima,” she whispered.
Fatima traced a straight line down the center of her, and a faint smile touched her lips at the needy sound Vetra made in response. She gradually applied more pressure, circling her clit with her middle and ring fingers. Vetra’s breath quickened when Fatima’s fingers briefly dipped inside of her and found the first stages of wetness there. She grabbed Fatima’s wrist and tried to guide her fingers back inside of her, but Fatima resisted. Despite the urgency she had displayed before, and how much she craved Vetra’s taste, what she wanted more was to draw this out as long as possible, build the tension as high as it would go until neither of them could stand it.
“Don’t be shy,” she said. “Tell me.”
Vetra whined, squeezing Fatima’s wrist.
“Your mouth,” she replied.
Fatima’s breath hitched at Vetra’s request, a tiny moan caught in her throat. She quickly scanned the room in search of a suitable location.
“Lean on that crate,” she said, nodding to it.
Vetra followed her lead and went to sit on the edge of the supply crate pushed against the wall beside them. Fatima stood in front of her and sank to her knees. She ran her hands down Vetra’s thighs, looking up at her.
“I love you like this,” she said earnestly.
Vetra flared her mandibles out again, breathing in deeply. She almost appeared shy, not used to being the sole focus of someone’s attention. Fatima would show her exactly what it entailed to be the center of hers.
She spread Vetra’s legs further apart and moved into the space she created. She dropped her gaze down to the lips of Vetra’s cunt, now glistening with her arousal, and stared unabashedly, hungrily, at the prize she wanted to claim.
“Look at you,” she went on. “So perfect.”
Fatima kissed the inside of Vetra’s thighs and licked at her hide. The muscles in Vetra’s legs flexed underneath her lips, the talons on her toes scraping the metal floor. Fatima glanced upward, gauging Vetra’s reaction as she parted her labia with the tips of her fingers and pressed a gentle kiss to the newly exposed tender flesh. Vetra sighed, reaching around to grasp the back of Fatima’s head, smoothing her fingers over her hair.
Fatima drew back and licked her from her entrance all the way up to her clit, flattening her tongue. She did it again, and then again, and Vetra wavered between tensing and relaxing, unable to keep still. Fatima directed her attention lower, massaging her inner labia before probing at her entrance.
Vetra said her name once more, a quiet plea, so quiet Fatima nearly missed it. It sent a shiver down her spine, and it was all the prompting she needed. She pressed forward again, her mouth descending on her with great enthusiasm.
Fatima moaned when she tasted her on her tongue, sharp yet sweet, slightly metallic due to her turian physiology, but otherwise not so different from human women. She had been amazed the first time she had done so, not sure of what to expect, but no less eager to discover. Now that she knew, Fatima thought she could easily stay there for hours, bringing Vetra to the brink of release over and over again, if only to taste her pleasure on her lips.
There were several things about being with a turian that Fatima hadn’t expected, but she approached the puzzle just like she did any other: she took her time memorizing, categorizing, asking questions, seeking answers. Each moment she spent with Vetra was an opportunity to learn her—what she liked, what made her laugh, and, most imperatively, what made her eyes roll into the back of her head.
Vetra let out sharp cry at the onslaught of sensation, her head falling back. Her hips rose and hovered above the crate as she chased the warmth of Fatima’s mouth. Fatima pushed her back down and held her still, easing off just a little, and from there she let Vetra set their pace. She paid attention to her body’s cues as Vetra undulated rhythmically against her mouth, alternating accordingly between long, slow licks and losing herself in the taste of her. She paused only to catch her breath, inhaling deeply through her nose, storing as much oxygen as her lungs would allow.
She waited until Vetra’s movements grew steadily more erratic, hips faltering, seeking more contact, before she slid two fingers into her, first one then the other. Vetra gasped at the new sensations as Fatima curled them upward and moved them slowly, the way she remembered Vetra loved the most.
Vetra was getting closer now. Fatima could tell by the way her back was starting to arch, the way she was shamelessly rubbing herself on Fatima’s tongue, thighs straining and trembling. Vetra angled her hips toward her, watching Fatima with rapt attention, green eyes shining even in the low light.
Fatima held her gaze intently before letting her own eyes flutter shut. She moaned again so that Vetra knew just how much she was enjoying herself. Her knees ached, metal floors unforgiving as they were, but she didn’t care. Neither did she care that her jaw was growing tired, nor that a cramp had developed in her wrist. She felt Vetra’s responding shudder, felt the way her thighs squeezed all around her, ankles locking behind her and digging into her back, trapping her. But Fatima couldn’t have felt further from trapped. She felt like she was home.
She also felt her own arousal mounting with each passing moment, driving a needy ache home between her thighs. Vetra occupied absolutely all of her senses—her taste, her scent, the way she moved, the sounds she made. Knowing Vetra would come soon with her face between her legs, the mere thought that she was the source of her moans and whimpers and gasps of delight, sent another stronger jolt of pleasure straight through her.
With her free hand, Fatima hastily undid the closure to her pants before she slipped her hand inside. Her fingers sought her clit through her briefs and she moaned when she felt the wetness that soaked the fabric there. Her cheeks flushed as she rubbed herself firmly, and she whimpered, shocked by how intensely her body responded to the stimulation.
It would take a little more finesse on her part to get them both off, but Fatima always did like a challenge.
“Spirits,” Vetra panted when she realized what was happening. “You’re—you’re—oh.”
Fatima stayed focus on her task, determined to bring Vetra to her peak first. She wanted it so badly, needed it like she needed air to breathe, like planets needed stars to spin.
Soon Vetra tightened her grip around the back of Fatima’s head, trembling with the beginnings of orgasm as she ground herself against Fatima’s mouth. The sensation of Vetra’s inner walls clenching around her fingers and the sweet sound of Vetra gasping her name was all it took to send Fatima careening over the edge after her, her hand working herself faster, hips writhing of their own accord. She came with a strangled cry, the sound muffled by Vetra’s thighs clamped around her head.
Fatima continued to lick her even after they were spent, teasing at her overly sensitive nerve endings. Vetra protested weakly, flinching away from her mouth. Slowly, Fatima withdrew her fingers from Vetra and gave her a parting kiss before she sat back onto her calves. She looked up, making sure Vetra watched her as she put both fingers in her mouth and sucked them clean.
“Fuck,” Vetra whimpered, voice wobbling.
“If turians could blush,” Fatima replied with a wicked grin before she wiped her mouth with the corner of her sleeve. She removed her other hand from her pants, flexing her fingers.
Vetra laughed breathlessly as she moved to sit on the floor. She opened her arms as she did so, and Fatima crawled into her lap, wrapping her arms around Vetra’s shoulders as she leaned in for a kiss.
She sighed when she felt Vetra’s tongue come out to trace her lips, tasting herself, and she was barely able to stop from wriggling in her lap. Vetra, keen as she was, noticed the effect she had on her right away. Her hands traveled down the length of Fatima’s back until they reached their desired destination, firmly grasping her ass. She pressed their hips together tightly, smiling when Fatima hummed in satisfaction.
“I never realized before how much you liked doing that,” she said.
Fatima titled her head inquisitively. “No?”
“I just assumed you were either incredibly selfless or an incredibly enthusiastic top.”
Fatima laughed. “Maybe it’s still a bit of both.”
Vetra rested her forehead against Fatima’s with an affectionate nuzzle. Fatima raised her hand to the back of Vetra’s skull and held her there, caressing the ridges and bumps along the back of her neck. They sat in silence for serval long moments, enjoying the tender mood they created.
“I love you,” Vetra said.
The words were sobering amidst the high of post-climax bliss. Fatima cradled Vetra’s face in her hands and kissed her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and finally her lips. She kissed her deeply, longingly, conveying what she couldn’t put into words.
“I love you, too,” she replied quietly.
“So,” Vetra said, “good surprise?”
“The best,” Fatima said. Surprise seduction was definitely something she could get used to. “You’re exactly what I needed, Vetra.”
“Mm,” Vetra purred. “Back at you, Pathfinder.”
“Just one problem, though.”
Vetra regarded her skeptically. “What’s that?”
Fatima let out a long, wistful sigh as she looked over her shoulder, back at Vetra’s desk. “I think my tea’s gone cold by now.”
There was another beat of silence between them, until Vetra burst out into a peal of laughter and gave Fatima a playful shove, knocking her to the floor. Fatima laughed with her as she scrabbled for balance, grabbing Vetra by the collar and pulling her down with her. The levity of the moment was brief, however, as their mouths found each other once more, and they kissed like they had all the time in the galaxy, breathing one another’s air, bodies sliding together.
When they pulled apart, Vetra grinned.
“Shut up,” she said, voice dropping an octave, “and get naked.”
Fatima recognized the command for what it was—a challenge and an invitation in one, wrapped up in a neat, shiny bow for her to unravel. She opened her mouth to retort, but whatever she was about to say quickly disappeared from her mind when she saw the look on Vetra’s face, her eyes holding the promise of what was yet to come.
Grinning back, Fatima sat up and stripped quickly, more than ready to find out exactly what that was.