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  "description": "A new series, featuring Zal’Haar the Quarian and Kaebus the Turian. Look forward to a Turian breaking a Quarian, and then some. \n\nCommissioned by anonymous\n\nIf you want to get a commission for yourself, keep an eye on my journals and bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/dracthewriter.bsky.social for updates on when I'm open.\n\nAlways eager to see comments, so please leave one if the mood strikes you.\n\nEnjoy.",
  "description_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>A new series, featuring Zal&rsquo;Haar the Quarian and Kaebus the Turian. Look forward to a Turian breaking a Quarian, and then some. <br /><br />Commissioned by anonymous<br /><br />If you want to get a commission for yourself, keep an eye on my journals and bluesky <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/dracthewriter.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://bsky.app/profile/dracthewriter.bsky.social</a> for updates on when I&#039;m open.<br /><br />Always eager to see comments, so please leave one if the mood strikes you.<br /><br />Enjoy.</span>",
  "writing": "[b][u][center]The Quarian’s Repurposed Life\nPart 1\nFor Anonymous\nBy Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nZal’Haar’s time on the Citadel was limited, otherwise he’d be down in one of the Wards rather than near the Specter offices. The Quarian had other things that he liked doing on the station than spending time with law enforcement, but when a job was on the line, one reported where they were demanded. Particularly with the post-Saren economy meaning that anything being outsourced was going to be three or four times better paying than anything that he was going to find in the wild. \n\nThe Quarian shook his head as he leaned against the back wall of the elevator heading up to the Specter offices. His suit, a bright pink, had already gotten a few stares from some of the other people looking for business, but nobody had talked to him directly. They were probably still looking at him the way that everyone looked at Quarians: thieves, at best, and hackers at worst. \n\nHe let them. Better not to get too much attention if he could avoid it. \n\nDespite everything, Zal’Haar smiled under his helmet. So long as this wasn’t one of those jobs that stretched into eternity, this one could set him up for a while. His budget wasn’t exorbitant: living in orbit, taking jobs that paid in fuel and supplies as much as they did in cash, and making sure that he took every opportunity he got to plug in and charge his suit between encounters meant that he seldom had to spend that much out of pocket. One big payment would make sure that he got enough to live on for the rest of the decade, maybe longer. \n\nThe elevator dinged. He stepped out of the glass box and into the transparent rectangle. The floor was completely see-through – admittedly with the giveaway tint of it being one-way – and he could see dozens of people beneath him, clerks and more operating in the filing offices one floor down. The view was interrupted here and there by a rug to deaden the steps of people walking around on this floor, but in this waiting room…\n\nWell, there was only him and the Turian sitting on one of the two chairs not behind a desk. The Turian didn’t even look up from his wrist console as Zal walked over. \n\n[i]If you mind your business, I’ll mind mine,[/i] he thought as he sat down, crossing one leg over the other –\n\n[i]Stars, you’re tall…[/i]\n\nZal wasn’t the tallest – he barely stood five-foot-five – but the Turian beside him had to be over seven feet. Having someone loom that high over him, even casually, was rare. He resisted the urge to look out of the corner of his eye at the enormous Turian, but he didn’t quite manage to resist the temptation to look at the scanners and their readout in his helmet. \n\n[i]Seven-foot-four,[/i] the scanners reported. [i]Thick-shouldered. Broad, but not heavy. Muscle proportions high.[/i]\n\nAll in all, someone that could easily be a soldier. Why was someone like that reporting to the intelligence office?\n\nZal looked up as an Asari stepped out of the main office. She bowed her head at the pair of them. \n\n“Major Bellacus will see you now.”\n\n“[i]Both of us?[/i]” Zal’Haar asked, bobbing his head to the side to indicate the Turian. \n\n“Yes, Mr. Zal’Haar. Both of you.”\n\n“Zal’Haar, huh?” the Turian said, shaking his head as he got to his feet. “Pretty sure I’ve heard that name before.”\n\n“[i]Wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t,[/i]” he said, joining the other man. “[i]Let’s see what they have to offer, hmm?[/i]”\n\n“Heh, this’ll be a good show.”\n\nDeliberately deciding not to take offense, he took the lead. Stepping through the door to the main office, he tuned the Turian out – \n\nAnd stepped into something very much like the void. The office walls were completely darkened, shaded to the point where he couldn’t see a damn thing. The floor was completely carpeted, dulling every step, and there wasn’t a single light to illuminate the chamber. Even with his scanners working overtime, he couldn’t get enough light to see by. \n\nThe Turian stopped right behind him as the door shut, sealing them in. The other man grunted. \n\n“There a point to this crap?” \n\n“[i]I imagine that it’s meant to be intimidating,[/i]” Zal’Haar said. “[i]And it’s not a bad attempt…[/i]”\n\n“Yeah, well, I’m not in the mood to be kept in the dark,” the other man said. “Hey. If you got a job for us, turn the freaking lights on and give us the briefing. Otherwise, let me out and give it to this dick.”\n\n“[i]I have a name.[/i]”\n\n“Yeah, yeah.”\n\n“[i]Major Bellacus?[/i]”\n\nClick. \n\nThe room went from dark to dim. A large half-circle of a desk loomed on the other side of the room and a holoprojector stuck a few inches out of the floor. The walls were no brighter than before, but that didn’t matter; their host had revealed himself, sitting in a tall chair behind the desk and leaning forward with his head in one hand. \n\n“Not the best team in the galaxy, but your talents might be good enough to make it work,” the Turian on the other side said. “Let’s have introductions. Quarian, you first.”\n\n“[i]My name is Zal’Haar. And I am the best thief that you’ve never heard of.[/i]”\n\n“Yeah, that only half-works,” the Turian beside him said, rolling his eyes. “What have you actually stolen?”\n\n“[i]The Blue Suns’ main database code and the arming codes of their entire missile stock, to start.[/i]”\n\n“…Well, fuck. That’s actually pretty good.”\n\nZal’Haar nodded, bowing his head ever so slightly. That had been one of his better accomplishments if he did say so himself. The Blue Suns weren’t the most technologically savvy of mercenary companies, admittedly, but they were quite a powerful group. He’d been hired by one of their rivals – the Blood Pack – to neutralize them and give the rivals a chance to actually engage in a fight better suited to them. \n\nStill hadn’t gone down well for the Blood Pack, but he’d gotten paid. That was the main thing. \n\n“[i]I have a few other stories of my own, but I’ve done what I could to keep my name from getting too well-known. There’s only so much that a thief can do when people start recognizing you, after all.[/i]”\n\n“Heh, never had that problem myself. So, guess I’ll take my turn. I’m Kaebus Malus, hacker.”\n\n“[i]…I have heard that name. I definitely have heard that name.[/i]”\n\n“Heh, good. Means I’m not missing out on any potential audience, eh?”\n\nThat was putting it mildly. Kaebus was one of those that took thievery and criminal behavior to the nth degree, but rather than hiding, he put himself out there so far that it challenged anyone else to do a damn thing to stop him. Everybody knew him, and that meant that he had fans. And those fans were crazy, as far as Zal’Haar was concerned. He’d seen a few of them start fights in bars that required special forces on the police to break up. He didn’t want to get involved with anything where that was concerned. \n\nBut one thing was for sure. Nobody could deny that Kaebus knew what he was doing. The hacker was responsible for bringing down a rogue Geth ship by hacking their mainframe and getting the ship to crash. That was impossible, even for most Quarian ships. If the Specters were hiring someone like that, that meant that this job was a big one. \n\nHe turned back to Major Bellacus. The older Turian shook his head. \n\n“Well, at least the clerks found me some of the best. You two up for a dangerous job?”\n\n“Wouldn’t be here if I weren’t. Long as it’s got a good paycheck at the end of it and you don’t mind it getting released afterward; I’m not operating any kind of black ops here.”\n\n“[i]Just the paycheck on my end,[/i]” Zal’Haar said. “[i]I don’t mind keeping secrets.[/i]”\n\n“Long as it doesn’t come out until the end of the operation, you can do whatever the hell you need to. This particular operation’s ain’t gonna save the galaxy or anything like that, but it’s a chance to keep the peace for a little bit longer before someone starts going crazy again.”\n\n“[i]What’s the job?[/i]”\n\n“Simple enough job, though it’ll take a while to get there. You two are gonna be responsible for getting some weapons and documents outta the hands of a Krogan warlord’s that’s gaining traction on Ilium.”\n\n“[i]A Krogan on Ilium? Sounds like a story there.[/i]”\n\n“Sounds like someone that’s too scared to show his face,” Kaebus muttered. \n\n“Closer to the latter than the former,” the Major said, shaking his head. “This warlord’s failed on every other planet, but somehow, he got the attention of one of the Matriarchs vacationing there. She’s funding him every which way, and that means that he’s got the money to attract attention [i]and[/i] the time to build up something without someone else sabotaging him in the process. \n\n“Now, we don’t think that he’s got any plans worth worrying about, but there’s always the chance we’re wrong. More to the point, there’s the very real chance that he’s going to piss off someone else in power and they’re going to take steps instead. So, we’re getting involved before he has the chance to do something stupid. Any questions?”\n\n“[i]One. Where do we start? You said that it’s going to take a while to get there.[/i]”\n\n“Glad one of you was paying attention.”\n\n“We both were,” Kaebus said, shaking his head. “He’s just the teacher’s pet.”\n\n“[i]I am not. I’m just focused on –[/i]”\n\n“Shut it, both of you.”\n\nZal’Haar nodded, turning off the vocal functions of his suit. Better not to push his luck with something like this. From everything he heard, this was going to be involved, but at the same time, it was the sort of involved that meant a big paycheck, one with a lot of zeroes attached to it. Major Bellacus felt like the sort of employer that liked to cut zeroes out of annoyance, so he wasn’t going to give the older Turian a reason for it. \n\nThe older Turian tapped a button on his desk, activating the holoprojector on the floor. It hummed to life, spitting out a map of the galaxy. Pressing a few more buttons, the Major brought the camera around to a familiar sector of space. \n\n“This is where you’ll be starting: Omega. Pretty sure the both of you have been there before for…whatever reasons.”\n\nThey nodded. \n\n“Good, then you know the rules. Don’t piss off the gangs in charge, don’t get Aria to look at you twice, and don’t start anything that you can’t finish. That said, you’ll have to start a number of things for this mission. See, our target, Warlord Vax? He doesn’t take just anyone under his wing. He only employs mercs that have a good name for themselves. The kinds that win.”\n\n“…We’re going to have to start fights with the other mercs on Omega, aren’t we?” Kaebus muttered. \n\n“Right in one.”\n\n“…Well, at least that’ll make for good showtime,” the younger Turian muttered, rubbing his face. “So, that’s something I [i]can[/i] show off, right?”\n\n“Long as it doesn’t expose what you’re really doing, show off as much as you fucking want. Might even get Vax to pay attention faster.”\n\nNot Zal’Haar’s usual style, but he could make that work. He’d just need to set up a different handle for himself, maybe paint his suit a little to make sure that it wasn’t too recognizable as the pink colors that he liked. That would work out well enough. \n\n[i]The biggest problem will be getting a different digital signature for the suit, but Kaebus should be able to help with that. Long as I can work with him, this might actually work out pretty well for the both of us.[/i]\n\nHe looked back at the other Turian. Kaebus still didn’t bother looking down at him. The hacker only seemed to have eyes for the Major. \n\n“Any other questions?” Major Bellacus asked. \n\n“None on my end,” Kaebus said, shrugging. “Except the pay.”\n\n“It’ll depend on how much you get out of Vax at the end. The more weapons and documents you get off his hands and back in ours, the more you get paid.”\n\n“[i]There’s a baseline though, surely,[/i]” Zal’Haar said. “[i]What would a Specter get paid for doing this?[/i]”\n\n“A Specter would get paid twenty million.”\n\nZal’Haar’s helmet was a blessing at that moment, because he doubted that he could have hidden the shocked expression that darted across his face at that point. Twenty million. Even split two ways, that was more than enough to pay for everything he still owed money on, fuel the ship for a year, and then do absolutely nothing for the rest of the year. He’d still have enough left over to restart business next year, too. \n\n“But Specters aren’t being assigned here. We’re outsourcing to you two to keep it cheaper,” the Major said, folding his arms over his chest. “You two are starting at five million. You want more, you make sure that you get every last bit of armament and every last document out of that asshole’s hands and into ours.”\n\n“And if we do?” Kaebus asked. \n\n“Then the payout goes up.”\n\n“How [i]far[/i] up?”\n\n“Enough to keep you from having to work for a decade. That’s all I’m cleared to say.”\n\n“[i]Which is good enough for me,[/i]” Zal’Haar said with a sharp nod. “[i]When do we ship out?[/i]”\n\n“Tomorrow morning,” the Major said. “And to make sure that you get rested up, we have a room at the port for the both of you. Get down there, check in, and get some rest. You board at 0700, and you’ll want to be sure that you both understand your new identities to a T. No point in heading off if you bust yourself with the wrong name as soon as you get onboard.”\n\n“[i]Understood.[/i]”\n\n“Dismissed.”\n\nZal’Haar turned on his heel, followed a few seconds later by Kaebus. The tall Turian was muttering under his breath the whole way back to the elevator, which Zal’Haar was more than kind enough to hold rather than leaving his new teammate in the lurch. When the tall, rather scar-faced Turian joined him, there was no thank-you. Instead, the other man just leaned back, pulled his wrist console back to his face, and returned to doing whatever he’d been doing in the waiting room. \n\n“[i]I don’t suppose you would care to get to know each other?[/i]” Zal’Haar asked. \n\n“Not particularly.”\n\n“[i]Any reason?[/i]”\n\n“We’re both going to be bored out of our minds on the way to Omega. Plenty of time to learn about each other then.”\n\n“[i]Fair enough. What’s so interesting, though?[/i]”\n\n“Replay of my last stream.”\n\n“[i]…Your last what?[/i]”\n\n“I broadcast the stuff I do. People love to watch, and some of ‘em pay to make it more interesting. Give me challenges and stuff.”\n\n“[i]…Are you telling me that you risk your missions for entertainment?[/i]”\n\n“Wouldn’t call it risk,” Kaebus said, shrugging as he brought his arm back down to his side. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever failed on one of these missions.”\n\nThat, Zal’Haar had no response to. Instead, he sighed and leaned against one of the other elevator walls. His confidence in the mission was dropping fast. \n\n#\n\nThe port hotel was not what one would call ‘clean.’ It was situated right at the back end of the docks where the exhaust blew past before getting sucked into the filters that kept the rest of the ward clean, and that meant that the air had an inescapable smell of smog blowing through every bit of it. Even the bits that were cleaner were still dirty enough to leave one with a fiery throat, and that was the best scenario. \n\nAnd that was just the air. Zal’Haar tracked dirt in from the port walkways as they stepped into the hotel, one of many sets of footprints that tracked back and forth through the lobby. He chose to believe that it was mostly dust rather than oil and who knew what else had puddled through the back parts of the port. \n\nA Batarian waited behind the desk, stern and annoyed as most of them were. The desk clerk looked them up and down, fixed Zal’Haar with a momentary stare, then looked back at Kaebus with the clear indication that he’d decided the Turian was in charge. \n\n“Checked in for the night?” he asked. \n\n“Mmm-hmm.”\n\n“Doors lock at 2300, and they unlock again at 0500. If you aren’t inside by then, then you’re stuck outside, no matter if you paid or not.”\n\n“Hey, that’s fine by me. No interruptions, right?”\n\n“That’s the idea.”\n\n“Great. And data connections?”\n\n“This is a budget hotel. You ain’t getting shit.”\n\n“Damn. You sure? I have a few shows to get out before I ship out –”\n\n“[i]You could have done that before taking the job,[/i]” Zal’Haar said. “[i]And if this is what you’re going to be like, this is going to be one long trip. Keys, please?[/i]” \n\nThe Batarian passed him a set and he walked down the hall. Three doors down, near the back. Not much better, but at least indoors the suit wasn’t working overtime to filter out the worst of the airborne contaminants. It wasn’t great, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing. \n\nAs soon as he stepped into the room, however, he knew that there were going to be problems. \n\n[i]Positive: two beds, even if they’re very, very small,[/i] he thought, looking at the mattresses bolted to opposite walls. [i]Negatives: dusty floor, tiny refresher, and no privacy of any kind.[/i]\n\n“How’s it look – hoooooly crap. They’re just scraping the bottom of the barrel for these budget rooms,” Kaebus said, shaking his head. “This place would be cramped for one person, let alone two.”\n\n“[i]Yes, well, we’ll have to deal with it. One night, right?[/i]”\n\n“Yeah, one night. One…miserable…night.”\n\nThey wiggled through to their mattresses. Zal’Haar put his bag at the foot of his bed while Kaebus tossed his under the mattress. They sat there, not saying anything for the first few seconds. The Quarian glanced at the refresher, then back at the Turian. \n\n“[i]Do you need it?[/i]”\n\n“Nope. I’m going to veg.”\n\n“[i]You don’t have data, though.[/i]”\n\n“You say that. I’ll find some.”\n\n“[i]Suit yourself.[/i]”\n\n“If you need any medicine after showering here, that’s coming outta your pockets, by the way.”\n\nZal’Haar shrugged, making his way to the small refresher. It was little more than a corner shower and there was barely enough room to get out of his suit, but he wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste. Traveling on ships meant dealing with recycled water, and it only took one water cycler going off to make it too dangerous for him to be able to handle. Quarian immune systems were shit at the best of times, and traveling tended to make them worse. His was better than some of his species, but he still had to deal with a lot of pain and suffering if he didn’t pay attention to what he was doing. \n\nAs he shut the refresher door, he stripped off his armor piece by piece. Helmet first, then his shoulder pads, and then the bolts and snaps that held everything else shut. He slid the pieces out one by one, stacking them in front of the door, with the boots going out last. Pinching the door shut once more, he rolled his head from side to side, tilted the shower head to the left, and turned the water on. \n\nThe soft hiss of running water was nothing, but the soft burst of steam that filled the refresher drew a sigh of comfort from him. Once the water cooled enough for him to be able to touch it, he tilted it back and let it flow over him. \n\n“Mmmmph…”\n\nWithout the helmet on, his voice was no longer digitized to his own ears. He hugged himself, holding his arms tight around his middle as the water ran down his head, his back, and over his hips. Everywhere it went, it cut through the sweat and oils that had built up from being in the suit for a day. The water reclamation function worked, but it wasn’t a high-end piece, so there was always something left behind. \n\nHe turned around, spreading his legs to let the water run between his cheeks, some of the water running down his shoulders and over his chest. Despite all his training, his willowy body still felt every bit of pressure from the shower head, and he still had to brace himself to not feel like it was beating against his back like a bruising masseuse. He focused on his breathing, taking in the steam and heat, enjoying what he could and pretending the rest wasn’t as bad as it was. \n\nEventually, he leaned against the refresher door and stood on one foot, bringing the other two-toed foot into the air. Massaging between the toes, he let the water run over it, too, gradually washing away the bit of sweat that had built up between the digits and along his sole. The heat was comforting, but more than that – \n\n“Mmmm…”\n\nJust touching his feet was enough to send a little tingle of something else to his crotch. He bit back a chuckle as he felt his cock twitch, slowly rising between his legs. It was always quick to respond whenever he touched his feet. Not something that most people ever really found out, but…\n\nWell, there were reasons that his boots had little modifications in the soles. He left it at that. \n\nWashing one foot and then the other, he turned around to make sure that he cleaned his cock, as well. Much as it was tempting to spend some time jerking off, he knew better than to get too distracted. The refresher door kept his new partner from seeing him, but it wouldn’t do anything to keep the Turian from hearing him. \n\n[i]And that works both ways; pretty sure that he’s not going to start jerking off in there while I’m showering. Not when there’s a real possibility that I’d hear him.[/i]\n\nWhich was good, because he had no interest in that. \n\nZal’Haar shook his head as he finished rinsing off his penis, letting it fall between his legs as he turned around and washed his shoulders down again. For all that he’d heard of Kaebus – and lots of good things about his skills, at that – the reality was…disappointing, to say the least. Someone that was so focused on their side gig like that would probably put the main mission at risk. Someone that clearly thought that they didn’t have responsibilities to their partner was worse. \n\nHe stopped, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. He was getting ahead of himself. He hadn’t seen Kaebus be as bad as that. A little self-absorbed, yes, and not entirely paying attention to the matter at hand, seemingly, but not so bad as to neglect his partner of the mission. Maybe he was that bad, but Zal’Haar reminded himself that he hadn’t seen that just yet. It was still just…annoying, not bad. \n\n[i]And if it gets bad, then I’m still good enough to carry off this mission without him,[/i] he thought, turning around and shutting off the water. [i]If it comes down to it, I’ll get this taken care of on my own. And then the money will be all mine.[/i]\n\nWhich might be the better deal, all things considered – \n\nNo, no. He sighed, shaking his head as the water dribbled off of him, shaking the worst of it off his arms. It would be easier with a partner, and even a weird one was better than no partner. He needed to relax, adjust his expectations, and everything would be fine. \n\nAt least the refresher was recent enough that it had a dry function. He stood in the middle of the small square, let the hot air blow over him, and then cracked the door open to re-dress – \n\n“Did you move my suit?” he asked, fumbling for the boots.\n\n“Nope. It just fell over a bit.”\n\n“You sure? It’s – mmph – it’s a little hard to reach.”\n\n“Dunno what to tell ya. Just open the door and get it properly.”\n\n“Thanks, but I’d prefer not to flash you. And – ah, there we go.” \n\nFinally getting his hands on his boots, he dragged them back into the refresher. The cheap model left him just damp enough to make his toes squish against the inside of the boots, but it was better than putting them on completely soaked. He dragged them up to his ankles, stomped his feet into place, then started pulling on the rest of his gear. Leggings, hip and groin pads, and then the upper body bits. \n\nHe waited to step out until he had everything but his head covered. As he pulled the door open, Kaebus looked at him with a raised eyeridge. \n\n“What?”\n\n“Nothing. Just never seen a Quarian outside their suit. You all so gray?”\n\n“You live in a suit all your life, you’re not exactly going to get much in the way of color,” Zal’Haar said, shaking his head as he tossed his helmet from hand to hand. “If you put a Turian in one, I bet you anything that he’d be just as bad as I am, and in less time.”\n\n“Maybe.”\n\n“But one thing’s for sure. We don’t have to worry about getting all cut up,” he said, nodding at the Turian’s facial scars. “Though I imagine that you earned each and every one of those.”\n\n“…”\n\n“Which you don’t have to talk about,” he said, shaking his head as he pulled his helmet up. “Just saying. Being completely covered, we aren’t so vulnerable to something like that as you are.”\n\n“But I imagine you’re much more sensitive to what [i]does[/i] happen.”\n\n“For the most part, but as long as we stay in our suits, we’re completely fine,” he said, dragging the helmet down over his face. “[i]One of many reasons that we almost never take them off except for quick cleanings like that.[/i]”\n\nKaebus shrugged, but there was something different about it now, almost like he was waiting for something. Zal’Haar opened his mouth, then thought better of asking; he felt almost like he was being baited into something. \n\nInstead, he sat down on his mattress, reaching for his gear. He set the suit to a fresh cycle of air circulation, spreading it through the whole thing and revitalizing it after being stripped off, and – \n\nAnd then there was something…something that spiked along the side of his foot. Not like a sharp point, but like a sudden annoyance, a tingle-tickle or –\n\nOr an itch. \n\nHe grumbled, instinctively grinding the toes of his right foot against the side of the left, as if that would do a damn thing. He gritted his teeth and tried to pretend that the itch didn’t exist, but it kept getting worse…and worse. \n\nIt was like something grinding against the bottom of his foot in short order, then like something tickling up between his toes. He bit back little yelps that wanted to get past his lips, shifting his position again and again. Instinctively, he stomped his foot against the ground, hoping that something would get through the boot and scratch at the itch, but no. Somehow, it just got worse. \n\nAnd the whole time, Kaebus was grinning. \n\n“[i]Mmmph. What did you do to my boots?[/i]” Zal’Haar grunted. \n\n“What do you mean?”\n\n“[i]You know – nngh – you know what I mean. There’s – there’s something wrong with my boots and – ah – you’re grinning like – GAH![/i]”\n\nThere was no ignoring it. He tried to get to his feet only to stumble forward. The suit kept feeding him air, but the itch was spreading, running up his legs as the suit cycled the interior air around. Unlike everything outside, there was no easy decontamination process for getting rid of the stuff on the inside, and it was burning everywhere that the ceaseless itch went. Between his toes, along his sole, up his leg – stars, it was already spreading up to his calves and nearly to his knees – \n\n“[i]Gaaaah![/i]!”\n\n“And that’s what itching powder does to Quarians,” Kaebus said, chuckling. “Didn’t think it’d be that intense.”\n\n“[i]Nnngh…can’t…get it out…[/i]”\n\n“Can you look up here, please?”\n\nWithout thinking, Zal’Haar did. What he saw was the Turian pointing his wrist-console at him, and this time, he could see a camera blinking. \n\nThe asshole was recording this. \n\nHe tried to lunge for his partner, but he was so weak with the itching powder running through the suit that he didn’t have a chance in hell. Whimpering as he slumped to the floor, he tried to turn back to the refresher, but – fuck, the itching powder was creeping higher. It was like little claws digging into his feet, his calves, and now his thighs, the powder getting higher and higher in the suit and dangerously near his crotch. \n\n[i]Oh please, no, no, no…[/i]\n\n“Oh, look at you. Can’t you walk?”\n\n“[i]Nnngh…I – I can’t…[/i]”\n\n“Wonder how you’re going to get out of the suit.”\n\n“[i]You…nnngh…you…you…[/i]”\n\n“Just a prank man, come on. Just stand up.”\n\n“[i]I caaaaaaan’t![/i]”\n\nThe powder reached the bottom of his balls and he nearly screamed. He arched his back, curling his armored toes as tight as they would go as he slumped onto his side. Every muscle pulled tight, trying to curl him into a ball, and his suited gauntlets pulled at his armor plates near the crotch. Nothing wanted to move. Nothing [i]could[/i] move; everything had to come off from the headpiece down, and that meant that he was completely useless. \n\n“Wow, I didn’t think that Quarians would be that sensitive.”\n\n“[i]Nnngh…gah…[/i]”\n\nZal’Haar couldn’t even talk anymore. His entire body was shaking, spasming as the itching powder consumed every thought. His mind raced, trying and failing to focus on anything but the inevitable itch creeping up his legs – \n\n“Okay, I need to see this up close. Can you get the armor off?”\n\nZal’Haar couldn’t get a word out. \n\n“I’ll take that as a no. Alright, let’s see what you’re packing under there…”\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]\n\nSummary: A new series, featuring Zal’Haar the Quarian and Kaebus the Turian. Look forward to a Turian breaking a Quarian, and then some. \n\nTags: M/solo, Nudity, Shower, Mass Effect, Turian, Quarian, Suit Antics, Mission, Itching Powder, Foot Fetish, Suit Problems, ",
  "writing_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'><strong><span class='underline'><div class='align_center'>The Quarian&rsquo;s Repurposed Life<br />Part 1<br />For Anonymous<br />By Draconicon</div></span></strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar&rsquo;s time on the Citadel was limited, otherwise he&rsquo;d be down in one of the Wards rather than near the Specter offices. The Quarian had other things that he liked doing on the station than spending time with law enforcement, but when a job was on the line, one reported where they were demanded. Particularly with the post-Saren economy meaning that anything being outsourced was going to be three or four times better paying than anything that he was going to find in the wild. <br /><br />The Quarian shook his head as he leaned against the back wall of the elevator heading up to the Specter offices. His suit, a bright pink, had already gotten a few stares from some of the other people looking for business, but nobody had talked to him directly. They were probably still looking at him the way that everyone looked at Quarians: thieves, at best, and hackers at worst. <br /><br />He let them. Better not to get too much attention if he could avoid it. <br /><br />Despite everything, Zal&rsquo;Haar smiled under his helmet. So long as this wasn&rsquo;t one of those jobs that stretched into eternity, this one could set him up for a while. His budget wasn&rsquo;t exorbitant: living in orbit, taking jobs that paid in fuel and supplies as much as they did in cash, and making sure that he took every opportunity he got to plug in and charge his suit between encounters meant that he seldom had to spend that much out of pocket. One big payment would make sure that he got enough to live on for the rest of the decade, maybe longer. <br /><br />The elevator dinged. He stepped out of the glass box and into the transparent rectangle. The floor was completely see-through &ndash; admittedly with the giveaway tint of it being one-way &ndash; and he could see dozens of people beneath him, clerks and more operating in the filing offices one floor down. The view was interrupted here and there by a rug to deaden the steps of people walking around on this floor, but in this waiting room&hellip;<br /><br />Well, there was only him and the Turian sitting on one of the two chairs not behind a desk. The Turian didn&rsquo;t even look up from his wrist console as Zal walked over. <br /><br /><em>If you mind your business, I&rsquo;ll mind mine,</em> he thought as he sat down, crossing one leg over the other &ndash;<br /><br /><em>Stars, you&rsquo;re tall&hellip;</em><br /><br />Zal wasn&rsquo;t the tallest &ndash; he barely stood five-foot-five &ndash; but the Turian beside him had to be over seven feet. Having someone loom that high over him, even casually, was rare. He resisted the urge to look out of the corner of his eye at the enormous Turian, but he didn&rsquo;t quite manage to resist the temptation to look at the scanners and their readout in his helmet. <br /><br /><em>Seven-foot-four,</em> the scanners reported. <em>Thick-shouldered. Broad, but not heavy. Muscle proportions high.</em><br /><br />All in all, someone that could easily be a soldier. Why was someone like that reporting to the intelligence office?<br /><br />Zal looked up as an Asari stepped out of the main office. She bowed her head at the pair of them. <br /><br />&ldquo;Major Bellacus will see you now.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Both of us?</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar asked, bobbing his head to the side to indicate the Turian. <br /><br />&ldquo;Yes, Mr. Zal&rsquo;Haar. Both of you.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Zal&rsquo;Haar, huh?&rdquo; the Turian said, shaking his head as he got to his feet. &ldquo;Pretty sure I&rsquo;ve heard that name before.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Wouldn&rsquo;t be here if you hadn&rsquo;t,</em>&rdquo; he said, joining the other man. &ldquo;<em>Let&rsquo;s see what they have to offer, hmm?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Heh, this&rsquo;ll be a good show.&rdquo;<br /><br />Deliberately deciding not to take offense, he took the lead. Stepping through the door to the main office, he tuned the Turian out &ndash; <br /><br />And stepped into something very much like the void. The office walls were completely darkened, shaded to the point where he couldn&rsquo;t see a damn thing. The floor was completely carpeted, dulling every step, and there wasn&rsquo;t a single light to illuminate the chamber. Even with his scanners working overtime, he couldn&rsquo;t get enough light to see by. <br /><br />The Turian stopped right behind him as the door shut, sealing them in. The other man grunted. <br /><br />&ldquo;There a point to this crap?&rdquo; <br /><br />&ldquo;<em>I imagine that it&rsquo;s meant to be intimidating,</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar said. &ldquo;<em>And it&rsquo;s not a bad attempt&hellip;</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah, well, I&rsquo;m not in the mood to be kept in the dark,&rdquo; the other man said. &ldquo;Hey. If you got a job for us, turn the freaking lights on and give us the briefing. Otherwise, let me out and give it to this dick.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>I have a name.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah, yeah.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Major Bellacus?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />Click. <br /><br />The room went from dark to dim. A large half-circle of a desk loomed on the other side of the room and a holoprojector stuck a few inches out of the floor. The walls were no brighter than before, but that didn&rsquo;t matter; their host had revealed himself, sitting in a tall chair behind the desk and leaning forward with his head in one hand. <br /><br />&ldquo;Not the best team in the galaxy, but your talents might be good enough to make it work,&rdquo; the Turian on the other side said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s have introductions. Quarian, you first.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>My name is Zal&rsquo;Haar. And I am the best thief that you&rsquo;ve never heard of.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah, that only half-works,&rdquo; the Turian beside him said, rolling his eyes. &ldquo;What have you actually stolen?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>The Blue Suns&rsquo; main database code and the arming codes of their entire missile stock, to start.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;&hellip;Well, fuck. That&rsquo;s actually pretty good.&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar nodded, bowing his head ever so slightly. That had been one of his better accomplishments if he did say so himself. The Blue Suns weren&rsquo;t the most technologically savvy of mercenary companies, admittedly, but they were quite a powerful group. He&rsquo;d been hired by one of their rivals &ndash; the Blood Pack &ndash; to neutralize them and give the rivals a chance to actually engage in a fight better suited to them. <br /><br />Still hadn&rsquo;t gone down well for the Blood Pack, but he&rsquo;d gotten paid. That was the main thing. <br /><br />&ldquo;<em>I have a few other stories of my own, but I&rsquo;ve done what I could to keep my name from getting too well-known. There&rsquo;s only so much that a thief can do when people start recognizing you, after all.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Heh, never had that problem myself. So, guess I&rsquo;ll take my turn. I&rsquo;m Kaebus Malus, hacker.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>&hellip;I have heard that name. I definitely have heard that name.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Heh, good. Means I&rsquo;m not missing out on any potential audience, eh?&rdquo;<br /><br />That was putting it mildly. Kaebus was one of those that took thievery and criminal behavior to the nth degree, but rather than hiding, he put himself out there so far that it challenged anyone else to do a damn thing to stop him. Everybody knew him, and that meant that he had fans. And those fans were crazy, as far as Zal&rsquo;Haar was concerned. He&rsquo;d seen a few of them start fights in bars that required special forces on the police to break up. He didn&rsquo;t want to get involved with anything where that was concerned. <br /><br />But one thing was for sure. Nobody could deny that Kaebus knew what he was doing. The hacker was responsible for bringing down a rogue Geth ship by hacking their mainframe and getting the ship to crash. That was impossible, even for most Quarian ships. If the Specters were hiring someone like that, that meant that this job was a big one. <br /><br />He turned back to Major Bellacus. The older Turian shook his head. <br /><br />&ldquo;Well, at least the clerks found me some of the best. You two up for a dangerous job?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t be here if I weren&rsquo;t. Long as it&rsquo;s got a good paycheck at the end of it and you don&rsquo;t mind it getting released afterward; I&rsquo;m not operating any kind of black ops here.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Just the paycheck on my end,</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar said. &ldquo;<em>I don&rsquo;t mind keeping secrets.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Long as it doesn&rsquo;t come out until the end of the operation, you can do whatever the hell you need to. This particular operation&rsquo;s ain&rsquo;t gonna save the galaxy or anything like that, but it&rsquo;s a chance to keep the peace for a little bit longer before someone starts going crazy again.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>What&rsquo;s the job?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Simple enough job, though it&rsquo;ll take a while to get there. You two are gonna be responsible for getting some weapons and documents outta the hands of a Krogan warlord&rsquo;s that&rsquo;s gaining traction on Ilium.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>A Krogan on Ilium? Sounds like a story there.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Sounds like someone that&rsquo;s too scared to show his face,&rdquo; Kaebus muttered. <br /><br />&ldquo;Closer to the latter than the former,&rdquo; the Major said, shaking his head. &ldquo;This warlord&rsquo;s failed on every other planet, but somehow, he got the attention of one of the Matriarchs vacationing there. She&rsquo;s funding him every which way, and that means that he&rsquo;s got the money to attract attention <em>and</em> the time to build up something without someone else sabotaging him in the process. <br /><br />&ldquo;Now, we don&rsquo;t think that he&rsquo;s got any plans worth worrying about, but there&rsquo;s always the chance we&rsquo;re wrong. More to the point, there&rsquo;s the very real chance that he&rsquo;s going to piss off someone else in power and they&rsquo;re going to take steps instead. So, we&rsquo;re getting involved before he has the chance to do something stupid. Any questions?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>One. Where do we start? You said that it&rsquo;s going to take a while to get there.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Glad one of you was paying attention.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;We both were,&rdquo; Kaebus said, shaking his head. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just the teacher&rsquo;s pet.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>I am not. I&rsquo;m just focused on &ndash;</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Shut it, both of you.&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar nodded, turning off the vocal functions of his suit. Better not to push his luck with something like this. From everything he heard, this was going to be involved, but at the same time, it was the sort of involved that meant a big paycheck, one with a lot of zeroes attached to it. Major Bellacus felt like the sort of employer that liked to cut zeroes out of annoyance, so he wasn&rsquo;t going to give the older Turian a reason for it. <br /><br />The older Turian tapped a button on his desk, activating the holoprojector on the floor. It hummed to life, spitting out a map of the galaxy. Pressing a few more buttons, the Major brought the camera around to a familiar sector of space. <br /><br />&ldquo;This is where you&rsquo;ll be starting: Omega. Pretty sure the both of you have been there before for&hellip;whatever reasons.&rdquo;<br /><br />They nodded. <br /><br />&ldquo;Good, then you know the rules. Don&rsquo;t piss off the gangs in charge, don&rsquo;t get Aria to look at you twice, and don&rsquo;t start anything that you can&rsquo;t finish. That said, you&rsquo;ll have to start a number of things for this mission. See, our target, Warlord Vax? He doesn&rsquo;t take just anyone under his wing. He only employs mercs that have a good name for themselves. The kinds that win.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;&hellip;We&rsquo;re going to have to start fights with the other mercs on Omega, aren&rsquo;t we?&rdquo; Kaebus muttered. <br /><br />&ldquo;Right in one.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;&hellip;Well, at least that&rsquo;ll make for good showtime,&rdquo; the younger Turian muttered, rubbing his face. &ldquo;So, that&rsquo;s something I <em>can</em> show off, right?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Long as it doesn&rsquo;t expose what you&rsquo;re really doing, show off as much as you fucking want. Might even get Vax to pay attention faster.&rdquo;<br /><br />Not Zal&rsquo;Haar&rsquo;s usual style, but he could make that work. He&rsquo;d just need to set up a different handle for himself, maybe paint his suit a little to make sure that it wasn&rsquo;t too recognizable as the pink colors that he liked. That would work out well enough. <br /><br /><em>The biggest problem will be getting a different digital signature for the suit, but Kaebus should be able to help with that. Long as I can work with him, this might actually work out pretty well for the both of us.</em><br /><br />He looked back at the other Turian. Kaebus still didn&rsquo;t bother looking down at him. The hacker only seemed to have eyes for the Major. <br /><br />&ldquo;Any other questions?&rdquo; Major Bellacus asked. <br /><br />&ldquo;None on my end,&rdquo; Kaebus said, shrugging. &ldquo;Except the pay.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll depend on how much you get out of Vax at the end. The more weapons and documents you get off his hands and back in ours, the more you get paid.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>There&rsquo;s a baseline though, surely,</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar said. &ldquo;<em>What would a Specter get paid for doing this?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;A Specter would get paid twenty million.&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar&rsquo;s helmet was a blessing at that moment, because he doubted that he could have hidden the shocked expression that darted across his face at that point. Twenty million. Even split two ways, that was more than enough to pay for everything he still owed money on, fuel the ship for a year, and then do absolutely nothing for the rest of the year. He&rsquo;d still have enough left over to restart business next year, too. <br /><br />&ldquo;But Specters aren&rsquo;t being assigned here. We&rsquo;re outsourcing to you two to keep it cheaper,&rdquo; the Major said, folding his arms over his chest. &ldquo;You two are starting at five million. You want more, you make sure that you get every last bit of armament and every last document out of that asshole&rsquo;s hands and into ours.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;And if we do?&rdquo; Kaebus asked. <br /><br />&ldquo;Then the payout goes up.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;How <em>far</em> up?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Enough to keep you from having to work for a decade. That&rsquo;s all I&rsquo;m cleared to say.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Which is good enough for me,</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar said with a sharp nod. &ldquo;<em>When do we ship out?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Tomorrow morning,&rdquo; the Major said. &ldquo;And to make sure that you get rested up, we have a room at the port for the both of you. Get down there, check in, and get some rest. You board at 0700, and you&rsquo;ll want to be sure that you both understand your new identities to a T. No point in heading off if you bust yourself with the wrong name as soon as you get onboard.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Understood.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Dismissed.&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar turned on his heel, followed a few seconds later by Kaebus. The tall Turian was muttering under his breath the whole way back to the elevator, which Zal&rsquo;Haar was more than kind enough to hold rather than leaving his new teammate in the lurch. When the tall, rather scar-faced Turian joined him, there was no thank-you. Instead, the other man just leaned back, pulled his wrist console back to his face, and returned to doing whatever he&rsquo;d been doing in the waiting room. <br /><br />&ldquo;<em>I don&rsquo;t suppose you would care to get to know each other?</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar asked. <br /><br />&ldquo;Not particularly.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Any reason?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;re both going to be bored out of our minds on the way to Omega. Plenty of time to learn about each other then.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Fair enough. What&rsquo;s so interesting, though?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Replay of my last stream.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>&hellip;Your last what?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;I broadcast the stuff I do. People love to watch, and some of &lsquo;em pay to make it more interesting. Give me challenges and stuff.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>&hellip;Are you telling me that you risk your missions for entertainment?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t call it risk,&rdquo; Kaebus said, shrugging as he brought his arm back down to his side. &ldquo;I mean, it&rsquo;s not like I&rsquo;ve ever failed on one of these missions.&rdquo;<br /><br />That, Zal&rsquo;Haar had no response to. Instead, he sighed and leaned against one of the other elevator walls. His confidence in the mission was dropping fast. <br /><br />#<br /><br />The port hotel was not what one would call &lsquo;clean.&rsquo; It was situated right at the back end of the docks where the exhaust blew past before getting sucked into the filters that kept the rest of the ward clean, and that meant that the air had an inescapable smell of smog blowing through every bit of it. Even the bits that were cleaner were still dirty enough to leave one with a fiery throat, and that was the best scenario. <br /><br />And that was just the air. Zal&rsquo;Haar tracked dirt in from the port walkways as they stepped into the hotel, one of many sets of footprints that tracked back and forth through the lobby. He chose to believe that it was mostly dust rather than oil and who knew what else had puddled through the back parts of the port. <br /><br />A Batarian waited behind the desk, stern and annoyed as most of them were. The desk clerk looked them up and down, fixed Zal&rsquo;Haar with a momentary stare, then looked back at Kaebus with the clear indication that he&rsquo;d decided the Turian was in charge. <br /><br />&ldquo;Checked in for the night?&rdquo; he asked. <br /><br />&ldquo;Mmm-hmm.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Doors lock at 2300, and they unlock again at 0500. If you aren&rsquo;t inside by then, then you&rsquo;re stuck outside, no matter if you paid or not.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Hey, that&rsquo;s fine by me. No interruptions, right?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the idea.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Great. And data connections?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;This is a budget hotel. You ain&rsquo;t getting shit.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Damn. You sure? I have a few shows to get out before I ship out &ndash;&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>You could have done that before taking the job,</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar said. &ldquo;<em>And if this is what you&rsquo;re going to be like, this is going to be one long trip. Keys, please?</em>&rdquo; <br /><br />The Batarian passed him a set and he walked down the hall. Three doors down, near the back. Not much better, but at least indoors the suit wasn&rsquo;t working overtime to filter out the worst of the airborne contaminants. It wasn&rsquo;t great, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing. <br /><br />As soon as he stepped into the room, however, he knew that there were going to be problems. <br /><br /><em>Positive: two beds, even if they&rsquo;re very, very small,</em> he thought, looking at the mattresses bolted to opposite walls. <em>Negatives: dusty floor, tiny refresher, and no privacy of any kind.</em><br /><br />&ldquo;How&rsquo;s it look &ndash; hoooooly crap. They&rsquo;re just scraping the bottom of the barrel for these budget rooms,&rdquo; Kaebus said, shaking his head. &ldquo;This place would be cramped for one person, let alone two.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Yes, well, we&rsquo;ll have to deal with it. One night, right?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah, one night. One&hellip;miserable&hellip;night.&rdquo;<br /><br />They wiggled through to their mattresses. Zal&rsquo;Haar put his bag at the foot of his bed while Kaebus tossed his under the mattress. They sat there, not saying anything for the first few seconds. The Quarian glanced at the refresher, then back at the Turian. <br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Do you need it?</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Nope. I&rsquo;m going to veg.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>You don&rsquo;t have data, though.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You say that. I&rsquo;ll find some.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Suit yourself.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;If you need any medicine after showering here, that&rsquo;s coming outta your pockets, by the way.&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar shrugged, making his way to the small refresher. It was little more than a corner shower and there was barely enough room to get out of his suit, but he wasn&rsquo;t going to let the opportunity go to waste. Traveling on ships meant dealing with recycled water, and it only took one water cycler going off to make it too dangerous for him to be able to handle. Quarian immune systems were shit at the best of times, and traveling tended to make them worse. His was better than some of his species, but he still had to deal with a lot of pain and suffering if he didn&rsquo;t pay attention to what he was doing. <br /><br />As he shut the refresher door, he stripped off his armor piece by piece. Helmet first, then his shoulder pads, and then the bolts and snaps that held everything else shut. He slid the pieces out one by one, stacking them in front of the door, with the boots going out last. Pinching the door shut once more, he rolled his head from side to side, tilted the shower head to the left, and turned the water on. <br /><br />The soft hiss of running water was nothing, but the soft burst of steam that filled the refresher drew a sigh of comfort from him. Once the water cooled enough for him to be able to touch it, he tilted it back and let it flow over him. <br /><br />&ldquo;Mmmmph&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />Without the helmet on, his voice was no longer digitized to his own ears. He hugged himself, holding his arms tight around his middle as the water ran down his head, his back, and over his hips. Everywhere it went, it cut through the sweat and oils that had built up from being in the suit for a day. The water reclamation function worked, but it wasn&rsquo;t a high-end piece, so there was always something left behind. <br /><br />He turned around, spreading his legs to let the water run between his cheeks, some of the water running down his shoulders and over his chest. Despite all his training, his willowy body still felt every bit of pressure from the shower head, and he still had to brace himself to not feel like it was beating against his back like a bruising masseuse. He focused on his breathing, taking in the steam and heat, enjoying what he could and pretending the rest wasn&rsquo;t as bad as it was. <br /><br />Eventually, he leaned against the refresher door and stood on one foot, bringing the other two-toed foot into the air. Massaging between the toes, he let the water run over it, too, gradually washing away the bit of sweat that had built up between the digits and along his sole. The heat was comforting, but more than that &ndash; <br /><br />&ldquo;Mmmm&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />Just touching his feet was enough to send a little tingle of something else to his crotch. He bit back a chuckle as he felt his cock twitch, slowly rising between his legs. It was always quick to respond whenever he touched his feet. Not something that most people ever really found out, but&hellip;<br /><br />Well, there were reasons that his boots had little modifications in the soles. He left it at that. <br /><br />Washing one foot and then the other, he turned around to make sure that he cleaned his cock, as well. Much as it was tempting to spend some time jerking off, he knew better than to get too distracted. The refresher door kept his new partner from seeing him, but it wouldn&rsquo;t do anything to keep the Turian from hearing him. <br /><br /><em>And that works both ways; pretty sure that he&rsquo;s not going to start jerking off in there while I&rsquo;m showering. Not when there&rsquo;s a real possibility that I&rsquo;d hear him.</em><br /><br />Which was good, because he had no interest in that. <br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar shook his head as he finished rinsing off his penis, letting it fall between his legs as he turned around and washed his shoulders down again. For all that he&rsquo;d heard of Kaebus &ndash; and lots of good things about his skills, at that &ndash; the reality was&hellip;disappointing, to say the least. Someone that was so focused on their side gig like that would probably put the main mission at risk. Someone that clearly thought that they didn&rsquo;t have responsibilities to their partner was worse. <br /><br />He stopped, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. He was getting ahead of himself. He hadn&rsquo;t seen Kaebus be as bad as that. A little self-absorbed, yes, and not entirely paying attention to the matter at hand, seemingly, but not so bad as to neglect his partner of the mission. Maybe he was that bad, but Zal&rsquo;Haar reminded himself that he hadn&rsquo;t seen that just yet. It was still just&hellip;annoying, not bad. <br /><br /><em>And if it gets bad, then I&rsquo;m still good enough to carry off this mission without him,</em> he thought, turning around and shutting off the water. <em>If it comes down to it, I&rsquo;ll get this taken care of on my own. And then the money will be all mine.</em><br /><br />Which might be the better deal, all things considered &ndash; <br /><br />No, no. He sighed, shaking his head as the water dribbled off of him, shaking the worst of it off his arms. It would be easier with a partner, and even a weird one was better than no partner. He needed to relax, adjust his expectations, and everything would be fine. <br /><br />At least the refresher was recent enough that it had a dry function. He stood in the middle of the small square, let the hot air blow over him, and then cracked the door open to re-dress &ndash; <br /><br />&ldquo;Did you move my suit?&rdquo; he asked, fumbling for the boots.<br /><br />&ldquo;Nope. It just fell over a bit.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You sure? It&rsquo;s &ndash; mmph &ndash; it&rsquo;s a little hard to reach.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Dunno what to tell ya. Just open the door and get it properly.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Thanks, but I&rsquo;d prefer not to flash you. And &ndash; ah, there we go.&rdquo; <br /><br />Finally getting his hands on his boots, he dragged them back into the refresher. The cheap model left him just damp enough to make his toes squish against the inside of the boots, but it was better than putting them on completely soaked. He dragged them up to his ankles, stomped his feet into place, then started pulling on the rest of his gear. Leggings, hip and groin pads, and then the upper body bits. <br /><br />He waited to step out until he had everything but his head covered. As he pulled the door open, Kaebus looked at him with a raised eyeridge. <br /><br />&ldquo;What?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Nothing. Just never seen a Quarian outside their suit. You all so gray?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You live in a suit all your life, you&rsquo;re not exactly going to get much in the way of color,&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar said, shaking his head as he tossed his helmet from hand to hand. &ldquo;If you put a Turian in one, I bet you anything that he&rsquo;d be just as bad as I am, and in less time.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Maybe.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;But one thing&rsquo;s for sure. We don&rsquo;t have to worry about getting all cut up,&rdquo; he said, nodding at the Turian&rsquo;s facial scars. &ldquo;Though I imagine that you earned each and every one of those.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Which you don&rsquo;t have to talk about,&rdquo; he said, shaking his head as he pulled his helmet up. &ldquo;Just saying. Being completely covered, we aren&rsquo;t so vulnerable to something like that as you are.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;But I imagine you&rsquo;re much more sensitive to what <em>does</em> happen.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;For the most part, but as long as we stay in our suits, we&rsquo;re completely fine,&rdquo; he said, dragging the helmet down over his face. &ldquo;<em>One of many reasons that we almost never take them off except for quick cleanings like that.</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />Kaebus shrugged, but there was something different about it now, almost like he was waiting for something. Zal&rsquo;Haar opened his mouth, then thought better of asking; he felt almost like he was being baited into something. <br /><br />Instead, he sat down on his mattress, reaching for his gear. He set the suit to a fresh cycle of air circulation, spreading it through the whole thing and revitalizing it after being stripped off, and &ndash; <br /><br />And then there was something&hellip;something that spiked along the side of his foot. Not like a sharp point, but like a sudden annoyance, a tingle-tickle or &ndash;<br /><br />Or an itch. <br /><br />He grumbled, instinctively grinding the toes of his right foot against the side of the left, as if that would do a damn thing. He gritted his teeth and tried to pretend that the itch didn&rsquo;t exist, but it kept getting worse&hellip;and worse. <br /><br />It was like something grinding against the bottom of his foot in short order, then like something tickling up between his toes. He bit back little yelps that wanted to get past his lips, shifting his position again and again. Instinctively, he stomped his foot against the ground, hoping that something would get through the boot and scratch at the itch, but no. Somehow, it just got worse. <br /><br />And the whole time, Kaebus was grinning. <br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Mmmph. What did you do to my boots?</em>&rdquo; Zal&rsquo;Haar grunted. <br /><br />&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>You know &ndash; nngh &ndash; you know what I mean. There&rsquo;s &ndash; there&rsquo;s something wrong with my boots and &ndash; ah &ndash; you&rsquo;re grinning like &ndash; GAH!</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />There was no ignoring it. He tried to get to his feet only to stumble forward. The suit kept feeding him air, but the itch was spreading, running up his legs as the suit cycled the interior air around. Unlike everything outside, there was no easy decontamination process for getting rid of the stuff on the inside, and it was burning everywhere that the ceaseless itch went. Between his toes, along his sole, up his leg &ndash; stars, it was already spreading up to his calves and nearly to his knees &ndash; <br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Gaaaah!</em>!&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what itching powder does to Quarians,&rdquo; Kaebus said, chuckling. &ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;d be that intense.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Nnngh&hellip;can&rsquo;t&hellip;get it out&hellip;</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Can you look up here, please?&rdquo;<br /><br />Without thinking, Zal&rsquo;Haar did. What he saw was the Turian pointing his wrist-console at him, and this time, he could see a camera blinking. <br /><br />The asshole was recording this. <br /><br />He tried to lunge for his partner, but he was so weak with the itching powder running through the suit that he didn&rsquo;t have a chance in hell. Whimpering as he slumped to the floor, he tried to turn back to the refresher, but &ndash; fuck, the itching powder was creeping higher. It was like little claws digging into his feet, his calves, and now his thighs, the powder getting higher and higher in the suit and dangerously near his crotch. <br /><br /><em>Oh please, no, no, no&hellip;</em><br /><br />&ldquo;Oh, look at you. Can&rsquo;t you walk?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Nnngh&hellip;I &ndash; I can&rsquo;t&hellip;</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Wonder how you&rsquo;re going to get out of the suit.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>You&hellip;nnngh&hellip;you&hellip;you&hellip;</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Just a prank man, come on. Just stand up.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>I caaaaaaan&rsquo;t!</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />The powder reached the bottom of his balls and he nearly screamed. He arched his back, curling his armored toes as tight as they would go as he slumped onto his side. Every muscle pulled tight, trying to curl him into a ball, and his suited gauntlets pulled at his armor plates near the crotch. Nothing wanted to move. Nothing <em>could</em> move; everything had to come off from the headpiece down, and that meant that he was completely useless. <br /><br />&ldquo;Wow, I didn&rsquo;t think that Quarians would be that sensitive.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;<em>Nnngh&hellip;gah&hellip;</em>&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar couldn&rsquo;t even talk anymore. His entire body was shaking, spasming as the itching powder consumed every thought. His mind raced, trying and failing to focus on anything but the inevitable itch creeping up his legs &ndash; <br /><br />&ldquo;Okay, I need to see this up close. Can you get the armor off?&rdquo;<br /><br />Zal&rsquo;Haar couldn&rsquo;t get a word out. <br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take that as a no. Alright, let&rsquo;s see what you&rsquo;re packing under there&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong><span class='underline'><div class='align_center'>The End</div></span></strong><br /><br />Summary: A new series, featuring Zal&rsquo;Haar the Quarian and Kaebus the Turian. Look forward to a Turian breaking a Quarian, and then some. <br /><br />Tags: M/solo, Nudity, Shower, Mass Effect, Turian, Quarian, Suit Antics, Mission, Itching Powder, Foot Fetish, Suit Problems, </span>",
  "pools_count": 0,
  "title": "The Quarian's Repurposed Life 1",
  "deleted": "f",
  "public": "t",
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  "pagecount": "1",
  "rating_id": "2",
  "rating_name": "Adult",
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    {
      "content_tag_id": "4",
      "name": "Sexual Themes",
      "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal",
      "rating_id": "2"
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  "submission_type_id": "12",
  "type_name": "Writing - Document",
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