As quickly as the pitch-black of sleep had washed over Avitus and Scott, streams of artificial Nexus light flooded through the curtains and prodded Avitus awake. He roused with a long groan, untangling himself from the covers and silently cursing the short sleep cycles of turians.

There was an upside to being up this early, though; if there was ever a sight more perfect than that of a lover curled up beside him, contentedly sleeping the morning away, Avitus couldn't fathom it. He had to admit that he had half-expected Scott to steal away after he had gone to sleep – rendering the whole night a fantastical dream – but he was elated to have his paranoia proven wrong. All the proof he needed was beside him, messy-haired and selfishly hogging every last inch of real estate to be found on the bed.

It was hard to be annoyed about that when Scott looked so cute doing it, though.

Avitus could have stayed there forever, plated legs intertwined with fleshy ones, but that pesky little thing known as turian honor dragged him out of bed to get some work done, much to his own chagrin.

After taking his time under a steamy shower to clean his plating (something that it had desperately needed after the night's events), Avitus headed straight for the espresso machine and brewed himself the strongest cup he could make. As he slowly sipped on it, he fished out some datapads that he had been putting off and pored through them, each containing one of a dizzying variety of proposals for the planned turian colony. It wasn't easy reading, and soon his mind quickly wandered elsewhere. He considered taking the time to make breakfast, but quickly realized that he didn't know how to make any levo food and didn't even have any ingredients for Scott to do so with.

Maybe they could get breakfast together at that little café that just opened?He stopped himself before thinking about it too much, worried that he was getting his hopes up over nothing.

Spirits, I'm never going to get anything done like this.

Ceding defeat to his emotions, Avitus set his empty mug and datapad down on the counter before making his way back to the bed. If he was going to be distracted by this human, there was no point in not taking advantage of the distraction while he could. He gave a soft tug of the covers, grateful when Scott relinquished half without a fight, and curled up around him.

If there was a heaven, Avitus figured, this was probably it. He had made a point to clear his schedule before meeting Scott at Vortex, so there was nowhere to be and nothing to do for the day. He didn't need to deal with the weight of being a Pathfinder or anything else – at that moment, he could just lay there and appreciate the morning. He inhaled deeply, taking a turian sense of pride in the fact that his lover carried his scent.

"Mmmmn…"

Scott had stirred awake, his arms reaching into the air to stretch before they fell back on top of Avitus. He looked over at the turian and smiled sleepily. "Hey, you."

One of his hands reached under the covers to lightly stroke the skin of Avitus' hips, drawing out a low purr.

"Hey yourself," Avitus rumbled. "Want some coffee or anything?"

Scott lazily shook his head and wrapped his arms around Avitus tightly. "Nah, stay here for a while. Do you have anywhere to be?" As he spoke, a hand reached to his fringe and lightly ran across its underside.

"Spirits," he purred at the sensation. "No, I don't." He continued to rumble as Scott's hands passively ran over his most sensitive areas, and before long he couldn't help as his cock sprung forth from behind his plating.

Scott simply gave him a smirk as he reached down to wrap a hand around the length, a clear admission of the fact that this had been his plan.

"I had fun last night," he whispered. "You felt so good, Avitus." He drew out that name, as if he was savoring the way it tasted as it escaped his lips.

Avitus blushed a faint blue as he heard the lewd confession, but his mind was mostly trained on the sensation of Scott's hand as he bucked into it. It was perfectly soft against his cock, and Avitus was driven wild by how small it looked wrapped around him.

It wasn't long before he felt himself building up to a beautiful climax, one that Scott happily encouraged by lowering his head to Avitus' neck and biting down as hard as he could. Though it wasn't very hard from a turian's perspective, it was more than enough to have Avitus seeing white as he painted Scott's hand and his own chest with his orgasm.

"Spirits, Scott," Avitus rumbled. A satisfying shudder racked his body as he drifted in the afterglow. Scott made no attempt to address his own erection, though, which was pressed against the side of Avitus' thigh. Instead, he merely laid with Avitus and stroked his fringe lightly.

Avitus looked over, making a point to briefly eye toward Scott's length. "Do you want me to, you know…" His voice trailed off, but Scott put together the pieces and simply laughed under his breath.

"No, I'm content with this right now." He reached to the floor on his side of the bed and pulled up a discarded towel, which he used to quickly wipe his hand. He handed it to Avitus, who wiped himself off before tossing it back to the ground.

"You sure?" A flash of concern crossed Avitus' face, but Scott sent it away with a reassuring smile. "Really, as much as I appreciate the concern, I'm good. Don't worry about it, Avi."

… Avi?

"I…" Avitus tried to formulate a reply, but his voice trailed off as his mind wandered to thoughts of Macen. Fuck.

Scott gave him a concerned look. "Hey, are you okay?" he quietly asked.

"Sorry, I just," he let out a long sigh and rested his head against the pillow before trying again, "I just haven't had anyone call me that since…" He trailed off his words, afraid to say that name out loud – it was as if the very act would curse the moment.

Scott, though, finished his thought: "Macen?"

"You know about him?"

"Yeah, Sara told me a while back." Scott grimaced, retracting his hands from Avitus and running one through his hair as he sat up. "Fuck, I'm sorry I called you that. I had no idea."

Avitus shrugged and looked at Scott sympathetically. "You had no way of knowing, it's alright." He felt guilty for ruining the mood, truth be told, but neither could help the fact that Macen's death was still a gaping wound for him. C'est la vie, as the humans said.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like a lifetime, though Avitus was sure that it was only thirty seconds at most. Avitus tried to think of how to salvage the situation, but he wasn't expecting Scott to speak up.

"Tell me about him," he softly spoke. "I, I mean, if you want." Scott looked sheepish but hopeful as he glanced to Avitus.

Avitus shot him a confused look, having been entirely caught off-guard by the request. He didn't know what to say to that – no one had ever cared to ask something so personal in a long time.

A worried expression crossed Scott's face as Avitus struggled to find the words to respond, and he fidgeted accordingly. "Sorry, did I cross a line?" he asked. "I don't know turian culture well and I don't want to make things worse and fuck I'm making this worse aren't I sorry this is really stupi-"

Before he could begin spiraling, Avitus lightly placed a claw on his hand and squeezed reassuringly. "It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong. I just…" he sighed wistfully before continuing, "I wasn't expecting that. Do you really want to hear?" Scott nodded enthusiastically in response.

"He was so full of life," Avitus started hesitantly. "I was always the glass-half-empty kind of person, you know, so distrusting of everyone and scared of being stabbed in the back – but then he waltzed into my life as this bundle of optimism that had faith in everybody. I couldn't believe someone like him could ever exist, but there he was."

Scott listened patiently, a soft smile on his face. "Reminds me of Sara," he interjected.

Avitus chuckled under his breath at the comparison, realizing it was surprisingly warranted. "A bit, yeah. They're both stubborn as all hell, but it's because they see the best in everybody and want to bring it out of them." Avitus cursed internally as he caught himself using the present tense for Macen, but decided to continue anyway. "He did that for me, I think. He saw all of the potential for good that I had and inspired me to make a difference with it." Avitus paused, considering how to convey his thoughts. "The best way I can put it would be that he was my compass. He helped show me who I was when I desperately needed that."

"Must have been some compass to lead you all the way here," Scott cracked.

Avitus laughed and scratched his fringe with a claw. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I'm sorry, I don't want to go on or anything. It's probably uncomfortable to hear, but it means a lot that you'd care after having only known me for a day."

Scott shrugged. "Grief is uncomfortable, sure, but you shouldn't have to deal with it alone. Besides," he added with a gentle smile, "I said yesterday that I want to know what makes you tick. If someone had such a massive impact on you, I figure that person must be pretty damn great. I want to know about them."

Spirits, I can't let him get away after this.

Avitus soaked up all the negative emotions floating in the air. All the grief about what he had lost, all the anxiety about whatever this was; he took it all in and acknowledged it, let it do its worst, then discarded it. He felt like he was crazy for being so infatuated with the human after only a day, but he wasn't going to waste the opportunity by letting his burdens take control; for once, they weren't going to get the best of him. He liked to think that Macen would be proud of him just then.

"Hey, how about getting breakfast together? I haven't had a chance to try that café that opened by the docks yet, it looks really nice."

Scott grinned, leaning in to plant a kiss on Avitus' facial plating. "I thought you'd never ask," he whispered before hopping off the bed and going to get his clothes. "I'm absolutely starving. We're stopping by my place so I can get a fresh outfit, okay?"

As he watched Scott get ready, Avitus looked around and noticed that the artificial light seemed just a little brighter.

Maybe things would work out, after all.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading!