"What does that even mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like: cops and robbers," Shepard said, forming her hand into two finger guns and 'shooting' them at Garrus. She was in for one of her increasingly frequent visits hoping to get the latest gossip on what, exactly, was going on between her best friend and the master thief. So far, Garrus had been terrible about playing along. He kept his mouth clamped shut on the matter, and Kasumi had been no better. She sat in her quarters where Shepard always found her, that all-knowing smile on her face beneath the shadows of her hood. She conversed about anything and everything except Garrus and when Shepard blatantly brought him up she suddenly remembered she had something to do. It was eerily starting to sound a lot like a certain-someone's 'calibrations' excuse.

But Shepard was not blind and anything they weren't divulging to her was clear enough to see in the small things. The way he was always standing beside her during briefings, talons nudging her fingers when he thought no one was looking. How she stole glances at him, confident that no one could see her eyes in that blasted hood.

It was also hard to not notice the games they played out in the field. And they truly were playing. They'd started keeping count of their kills, and lightheartedly chiding each other when one stole a hit from the other. Kasumi enjoyed implementing a dangerous game of materializing right behind one of Garrus' targets, striking them dead just before his bullet flew past at literal breakneck speed. Shepard had heard him swear under his breath at her foolishness, but she also caught a hint of amused fondness to his words.

Currently, Shepard was trying to embarrass Garrus by mentioning the crew's pet name for he and Kasumi. It was not nearly so fun when she had to explain it to him, especially when it was so wonderfully perfect. True, Garrus was technically an ex-cop and Kasumi was a little more tactful and stealthy than your average 'robber', but that hardly mattered in the long run. The turian gave his Commander a somewhat stale expression.

"Sorry. I guess it must be a human thing," he said before returning to his work.

"Spoil sport," Shepard griped, getting up from her seat and pacing around behind him now. "Okay, okay. I'll stop with the questions and leave you alone if you just answer one thing." Garrus paused the tapping on the console and turned enough to face her, brow plates raising warily.

"Yeah?"

"Are things going well?"

"With Kasumi?"

"No, with your never ending calibrations – yes, Kasumi!" The turian ducked his head a little bit and then looked back up at Shepard, jaw slack.

"Well...yeah," he said softly. "We have a lot in common." He rolled his shoulders in a small shrug. "I never quite expected it...but it's...nice."

"Good," she said with a nod as she crossed her arms. Her fingertips tapped at her arms and she looked a little too deep in thought. When she opened her mouth again Garrus lifted a talon to stop her.

"You said one thing," he reminded her and she tilted her head to either side, begrudgingly acknowledging the fact. Seeing that she would get little more than this from him, she finally bid him goodnight and exited the battery. Garrus let out a cleansing breath and shook out the slightly edgy feeling from his limbs. It wasn't that Shepard made him nervous; they'd been through far too much together for that to be the case, but his new found relationship with Miss Goto had begun to make him feel like he was in an interrogation room all the time. Humans were just the incredibly inquisitive sort, especially when it came to romantic bonds. Some even seemed more interested in the relationships of others over their own. Strange as always.

Strange...and exhilarating. That's what this was.

Amongst all the things Kasumi had learned about turians in the last few months, one thing she noticed the most was that they were not a very verbal race. For all the growling and rolling of consonants she'd learned from Garrus, she found that words never really came in to play where it mattered. She'd always had a little trouble reading turian facial expressions, but she quickly discovered that it all came in at the eyes.

The eyes of turian warriors exuded a fiery, dangerous glint, a deep and stark contrast to the glances Garrus offered her from time to time. Though he could easily take on the same predatory stare, the look in his eyes grew softer for her; content and intrigued. Occasionally, the looks were accompanied by a brush of his talons, a flicker of his mandibles, or a relaxed shrugging of his shoulders. Kasumi truly adored these passing whispers of affection and was happy to leave it at that. Words were overrated and had the bad habit of being misunderstood and getting themselves all tangled up. They hadn't even spoken those words since that evening on the Citadel and, truly, it didn't really seem to matter.

Her footsteps were ever soundless as she crept up to where he was waiting for Shepard to return from delivering a package. Even from behind she could tell he was very much alert. You could take Arcangel out of Omega, but there was little to be done trying to get the itch of Omega out of Arcangel. Kasumi played on his senses, drawing near to one side until he turned his head where she ducked into the shadow of his opposite shoulder. She played games like this with authority figures all the time and always found it to be very entertaining. In another time and another place, she might have toyed with him like this as thief against a turian officer. As it was, though... this was much more fun. A grin painted itself across her face, but, oh, she should have known better.

There was a reason the Garrus had survived so long on Omega; he learned the movements and reactions of those around him quickly. He had spent more time around the thief these days and instinctively took note of the way she moved. Deft like a flickering shadow, she was fast, lithe, and decidedly more...flexible than he recalled humans to be. Then again, she was not like the typical armored soldiers he was accustomed to, wrapped in smooth and pliant fabric more suited to her skills.

Garrus could easily see why she was the best thief in the galaxy, knowing quite well that she was there behind him but unable to precisely pinpoint where. The eerie feeling of being followed by something unseen crawled up his spine as he waited with talons flexing into his palms. It wasn't until he caught a distinctive scent that he moved, whirling and taking hold of her arms. He blinked a couple of times, for some reason surprised that she was actually there and not a figment of his overactive imagination. He watched her lips curve into a mischievous smile as she deflected his grip with one swift motion of her own hands.

And, suddenly, he was running after her.

He wasn't sure what had compelled him to give chase when she bolted away from him. Maybe it was something left behind from his days in C-Sec. Maybe it was the instincts of countless days as a vigilante or being part of Shepard's squad. Or, maybe, Kasumi just needed to be chased.

Ducking and dodging between the scattered customers in the market, he followed her down into the back allies. She didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry, striding just enough to allow him to get teasingly close before ducking around another corner. The thumping music of Afterlife grew louder overhead as he rounded up into the sub-entrance. When he reached the top of the stairs in the club he realized that he had lost sight of her in the dim lights. It was as though she had melted away into the dark and vibrant colors that flowed over the floor.

Slowly, he began to traipse around the bar, keeping his gaze forward as he scanned the room in his peripherals. He found long ago that this was one of the most effective ways to notice things that were out of place.

It wasn't very likely that he would actually see her considering she made a living being stealthy, but an interesting thing about Kasumi was she actually had a rather exotic scent. It was something unfamiliar to him and he noticed that none of the other female humans on the Normandy smelled like she did. As such, he simply decided that it was a purely Kasumi scent, and it was something he rather liked.

Minding his limbs as he stepped past a few dancing patrons who had obviously had too much to drink, he settled with his back up against one of the walls. Crossing his arms he bowed his head and gave the room another once over. His vision became a blur of light, shadow and bodies in motion. The heady scent of alcohol filled his nose as an Asari waitress passed by. Time seemed to slow just then as his eyes trained over her shoulder towards the dance floor. He might have missed her amongst the small crowd, if not for those tell-tale movements that set her apart from the standard.

He watched her there for a moment, suspecting she already knew he had seen her. The very same grace that dictated her thievery translated right into her dancing. Every move was smooth and deliberate, and Garrus thought a great deal more interesting to watch than the rollicking of those around her. Slowly, he pressed away from the wall and began to make his way over to her, keeping his body alert in case she planned to flee again. Kasumi made no such attempt as he drew near, but instead brought her hand gently to his and interlaced their fingers.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as she took his other hand and brought him into a slow side step.

"Dancing," she replied with a grin at the obviousness.

"I see that," the turian replied, stealing a glance at her swaying hips. He knew it was probably obvious to her, but he couldn't help it. They were...distracting.

"I was out checking into a lead. Heard you and Shep were making a trip to the markets. Thought I'd say 'hi'." Garrus grinned a little in that perfectly turian way that showed hints of his sharp teeth. Kasumi simply shrugged and continued to smile as she stepped in closer to him, releasing his hands to place her own on his chest. Garrus let his hands hover loose in the air, not entirely sure what he aught to do with them. Preferring not to look like a clueless juvenile, he finally dared to place them on her hips and was happy to see she didn't mind. He studied the shadows on her face that faded away on occasion to reveal the dark color of her eyes. It was a shame she was shrouded more often than not; he'd grown so accustomed to seeing her face. It was a trial to not press the hood back, but when they were in public he knew better than to reveal her visage. Instead, he leaned close and nudged his face to hers, finding that wonderful scent again. Kasumi let her fingers brush over his face, against the edge of his mandibles in the way she'd learned he liked.

The thumping of the music wasn't exactly a match for their more sedate movements, but Garrus didn't care. Once or twice he wondered if it was the club's bass or his heart that was beating through his chest. He thoughtlessly squeezed at the thief's hips when she touched the vulnerable flesh just below jaw plate. For a moment he almost forgot where they were entirely, but when Kasumi's breath exhaled against his opened mouth he suddenly became keenly aware.

He must have stepped away from her a little abruptly because she gave him a startled expression. His jaw worked but no words seemed to come out so he just gave up and closed it again, rubbing the back of his neck as he bowed his head. Kasumi folded her arms over her chest and cocked her hip to one side, tilting her head to look at him.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry," he said a little too quickly, his panic evident as he waved his hands in front of himself. "I just...remembered Shepard is probably going to be waiting for me."

"Ah, right," Kasumi said, and Garrus felt a shock of embarrassment wrack him as a teasing smile curved her lips. "I'll see you back on the Normandy, then?"

"Sure. Right," he said, waggling a finger at her before turning to go. He stumbled a little into a couple of disgruntled dancers when he whirled back around to approach her again. His hands went up to her shoulders and squeezed as he gave her a tentative head bump. "Be careful with...the lead...you're on." Kasumi did her best not to giggle at how frazzled he seemed and nodded, giving his arms a reassuring pat.

"Always, [love]," she said, rolling the word off her tongue. Garrus nodded and made a hasty and less clumsy exit this time. Kasumi watched him go and shook her head a little, amused at how he could be so entirely suave up until he realized what was going on. She brought a gloved finger up to her lips as she realized this was probably the first time they had been this intimate. They had shared small gestures of affection whenever given the chance, and even when he visited her quarters they remained almost painfully platonic.

She felt a little guilty for making him uncomfortable, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about what the next step might be. Garrus had a certain sort of handsomeness about him if you had a thing for turians. She had never personally thought of her preferences one way or another, but she knew she found him attractive, whether because of love or actual physical desire. Maybe it was the undying curiosity she always seemed to carry, but she wanted to learn more about him. What did he like, how did he feel, and where would those playful little growls that sometimes escaped him lead if they were to go unchecked?

But the last thing she wanted to do was make things awkward between them, and it was very much apparent that the poor turian already felt that to some extent given his reaction. They were both flying blind, she supposed, unsure of where to go from here. As she settled into a nearby booth to order herself a drink, she wondered whimsically if he'd thought of her this way too.

Garrus was knocking his head lightly against the wall when Shepard found him where she left him. She cocked a brow and approached him, tapping on his shoulder and jumping as he whirled around. When he saw it was her he seemed to relax, but she could tell something was awry.

"Garrus, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he huffed, looking to the side; a telltale sign he was hiding something. He looked edgy, even more so than normal on Omega. As such, Shepard knew it wasn't going to be the best time to get any information out of him about what was wrong. The turian had a bad habit of clamming up when he was agitated and would only tell her the details once he'd calmed down. He hadn't let her initiate a real conversation for weeks after the whole Sidonis business, so she'd learned to just give him his space.

"Alright," she said. "Let's go."

Garrus nodded, thankful his Commander was not in a prying mood, and also thankful to be heading away from Omega and away from the club.

Spirits, why hadn't be thought about this before? Forget that – how was he going to stop thinking about it now? He'd been floating in his own innocent world with Kasumi this whole time and he hadn't even given consideration to the fact that there might be a physical side to their relationship. Not until just now, anyway, feeling how she moved with his hands on her hips and her fingers on him in the places a human shouldn't even know about! Maybe she didn't even know what she'd been doing and it was all on his end, as embarrassing as that sounded. It made his head hurt, but he admitted to himself that he had started to feel it – that clear and burning want. But it made sense, didn't it? He loved her...everything about her, even though he had never thought for a second he could feel such things for a human. Wasn't it only natural that this would follow? She was so familiar and so alien all at once, he thought, and the idea of taking a deeper step with her both thrilled and terrified him.

When he got back to the Normandy he headed straight back to the battery – his personal sanctuary from the curious eyes of the crew. In his head, Kasumi's words from that night where he'd been caught off guard by his own emotions echoed 'Breathe...Just breathe..."

Once calmed, he sat down on a crate in the corner and thought of Kasumi, the mere idea of her warming him considerably. That was probably a good sign, he thought, and let himself just continue to think of her a bit. He replayed the scene at the club and admitted how nice it had felt in retrospect. It was pleasant in that he hadn't been physical with anyone in a long while, and it only doubled with the fact it was Kasumi. Something about her just soothed him when they were together, and as he let his mind wander to slightly more intimate things, he realized nothing had changed about that.

Rather, she was soothing, but in a different way. One thing was still an issue, though, as he found trouble trying to picture much more beyond simple caresses. He had nothing but a very basic idea of human structure and that was a concern. And since he didn't feel brash enough to ask her if he could take a look, he decided some research might be in order. If this was truly going to happen, whether now or down the line, spontaneous or planned, he wanted to be ready. Though...he wasn't sure he'd ever be entirely ready.

It was easy to feel intimated by the very idea of all this. But when Garrus thought of wrapping his arms around Kasumi, bare and vulnerable, feeling and smelling nothing but all that was purely her, he knew he wanted nothing more.