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“Just to summarize, this space station is practically the seedy underbelly of the galaxy filled with criminals who kill you for coughing if they are in the mood and you want me to wait here while you buy us some food.” Shepard crossed her arms over her chest, which was made awkward because she still was holding Liara’s hand while scowling, the idea incredulous.
“It’s more inconspicuous for me to go alone. I’ll acquire some necessities and immediately return. Afterwards we can strategize our next steps together.” Liara assured her, squeezing her hand.
“I don’t like this.”
“Nothing is going to happen and I’ll be back shortly, just stay here and do nothing to draw attention to you.” Liara gently left her mind and with one last backward glance stepped out of the ship, disappearing.
Shepard closed the ramp with a grumble, turning to face the blue sphere, circling around her. “You can’t tell me there isn’t a high probability she might get attacked or mugged after how she described this place, Omega.” She huffed, knowing Glyph only got snippets of her words, just like she did when he responded.
Something about crime statistics, Liara and her biotic capabilities and something about an Aria. Somehow it was harder to understand his asari than Liara’s, but nevertheless there had been much progress with learning the language after weeks aboard the ship.
She smiled when he circled around her once more, with his tiny holographic bow tie, and played some upbeat piano piece.
She patted him on his round little head, which left her hand tingling from his weird technological makeup, grinning when he happily chirped, following her around on the ship.
*
“Go on.” Shepard’s eyes flickered from Liara, nearly wiggling in her seat, an expectant expression on her face to the bowl in her hands.
She swallowed, using her fork-like cutlery to push the food around, apprehensive of the weird tentacles, looking like tiny ones from a squid and some strange purple and yellow pieces of something. The food steamed in the bowl, the overly sweet scent encompassing, added by Liara’s own portion.
She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. A part of her wanted to ask what was in it, but another knew better, perhaps knowing it wouldn’t kill her was enough. Liara’s gaze was heavy and she had looked so proud showing Shepard the food as if she had gone out and hunted it down herself-
She took a forkful, pushing it into her mouth before she could overthink it any more. She froze, eyes meeting involuntarily Liara’s, seeing her smile. Her face didn’t twitch as she quickly swallowed.
“It’s good.” She hummed. “Great.”
Liara clapped her hands together, reminding her of a happy little penguin. “It’s my mother’s and I’s favourite. My father doesn’t like it all too much but I believe it’s simply delicious.” She dug into her own food and Shepard used the chance to take a sip of what she thought was water, only to have more sweetness burst onto her tongue.
She grimaced, feeling like a petulant child. Everything was so damn sweet. First the food rations they had eaten for the last few weeks daily, and now this. She didn’t know what was worse: the weird puree-like texture of this that tasted like fruit loops covered in gummy bears or the dry rations tasting like crumbly white chocolate.
She took another bite, trying to swallow without chewing or tasting. Her tongue tingled like every time she had eaten something since crash landing and her biotics simmered beneath her skin. Her stomach made a strange gurgling noise.
She quickly smiled when Liara looked up at her, inwardly crying over the fact she might never eat anything again, which wouldn’t taste like biting into a dozen sugar cubes.
“I brought something else.” Liara rummaged through her bag, pulling out another container of food and Shepard, who had survived so much, might just cry a little.
What was next, something that tasted like chocolate with sugar sprinkled on top?
“I don’t eat it often, it’s a krogan recipe from before the Krogan Rebellions. My father likes to make it on special occasions, her own father taught her how. I should warn you it has a bite to it, so don’t feel bad if you don’t like it.”
Liara opened the container and a whiff of something seasoned reached her nose and her stomach grumbled angrily in response. Shepard didn’t hold out much hope she wasn’t biting down on the next burst of sugar, but Liara was watching her with a crinkle between her brows, so she dug in.
It wasn’t sweet. Shepard blinked, chewing eagerly. It was savory, something tasting like meat and chilli. It wasn’t overly spicy like the food Shepard was fond of but it was great, heavenly, a revelation to her tastebuds.
“Tears? Oh no Shepard, I didn’t think, you are crying, I am so sorry.” Liara rambled, pulling the container away, and she quickly clasped Liara’s wrist to stop her.
“No, no. I love it.” Like a horrible, horrible human, she had the container quickly snatched back.
Liara stared on in disbelief as Shepard shoveled the food into her mouth, letting out a moan.
“I, isn’t it too sharp?” Shepard corrected in her head, spicy, she must mean spicy from the context and language learning sucked just a bit.
Liara reached for her arm, eyes flashing black, and Shepard scrambled to push her thoughts around like her superior officer was checking in for an inspection of her bunk.
“You don’t like asari cuisine.” And perhaps she couldn’t hide any thoughts from Liara, she sighed at Liara’s slumped shoulders.
“It’s just so sweet. Humans sometimes eat sweet food for breakfast or dessert but not constantly.” Shepard let some pictures flash through her mind, she was at least getting better in that. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I should apologize. You were eating food you didn’t like just because I gave it to you.” Liara looked away, playing with the cuffs of her suit.
“I ate it because I wanted to.” Shepard patted the hand on her arm, adding. “And I’m far away from home so at least there is something here I can eat.”
“This shouldn’t be a criteria. Promise me, from now on, if you don’t like something you will tell me.”
“Promise.” Shepard rubbed her neck, adding quickly. “I don’t like asari shower products. They make me look so polished and it takes ages for my skin to stop feeling slimy.”
“You didn’t say anything.” Liara straightened, mouth agape.
“Yeah, well, I was pretty pumped about being able to shower every day and I guess most other races have scales or protective shielding and other types of skin than humans do.”
Liara grasped the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. “You’re right, but we can still look and see if there might be something better suited to you.”
“Eyes on the prize, I survived way worse conditions, so don’t worry.” Liara took her hand, thumb tracing over the dozen littered scars there.
“This shouldn’t be something you have to survive. You deserve to feel content, happy.” Shepard looked away, just shrugging, relieved when Liara changed the topic. “So this isn’t burning your tongue.”
She pointed at the krogan dish, taking a bite from it herself. A moment later Shepard had the phantom sensation of eating something really spicy, so that your tongue felt like it was on fire and watched Liara’s face turn purple. Her blue eyes shimmering.
She laughed, even as Liara gave her a petulant look. Yet despite that the asari took another bite and after swallowing, poked her purple tongue out at Shepard who only grinned, playfully moving to grasp it.
Liara quickly moved away, tongue disappearing as she grinned cheekily and took another bite.
“Hey, I thought the other one was your favorite!” Shepard reached for another bite, protesting when Liara playfully blocked the attempt with her own cutlery, laughing.
“But we should enjoy everything life offers,” Liara hummed, voice deepening, “shouldn’t we?” She lifted a brow, her head tilted while she innocently blinked up at Shepard, who was left sputtering.
“Not the only not sweet food around here.” Shepard managed to say at last, quickly going for the bowl again.
*
“I can’t believe you painted my hand blue.” Shepard glanced down at their joined hands, both blue, then quickly made a sweep of their surroundings, instinctively pressing closer to Liara.
“It’s easier if everyone believes you to be an asari. We don’t know how others would react to a new species already so deep into ‘their’ territory.” Liara reminded her and Shepard nodded, in full suit and the helmet, which felt weird with all the extra space at the back of her head, for her not there crest.
She didn’t know how safe it would be in a fight or if she fell down a great height but priorities first.
“So Queen of Omega, do I even want to know?”
“Aria, she had had Omega under her reign for a long time, cunning and not to be crossed, but she has some sort of honor or a code. Omega has grown in power and economy under her leadership, but it does not say much about the way she rules. My father had some dealings with her and therefore House T’Soni so she knows the family and she already knows we are here.”
“House T’Soni?” Embarrassment, a mental wince.
“It’s the house of my family. My mother is the regent of the house and I’m her heir.”
“So you are some kind of heiress? Is your mother some kind of Queen?”
Liara stopped walking, her hand twitching in Shepard’s. “I neglected to teach you about asari politics, Goddess, my mother would be so disappointed in me.” Her sigh was weary, a tight knot in her stomach.
“I’ll explain later for now, Benezia is a matriarch and beside that an important figure in politics. Matriarch’s are revered in our society for their wisdom so while overall Thessia is democratic and the different regions autonomous most you could say are led by higher houses. Armali, where the seat of my family is, for example takes lead from House T’Soni and therefore my mother. Not only does my mother expect me to become involved in politics but many of her followers and others are waiting for me to.”
Liara grimaced and Shepard nodded in understanding as they started walking again. “Aria is a self-proclaimed Queen, but she has great sway in the Terminus-systems and a lot of acquaintances in higher places.”
“And your family is one of them?”
“Not in the way you think. My father knows her from her days as a commando and later as a mercenary. But Aria would like to have sway over house T’Soni, therefore she will deal with me.”
“So we walk in-”
“Get you an unregistered translator chip and one for an omni-tool and perhaps I can even trade for another ship. Money, after all, is no object for us.”
Shepard’s eyebrow rose, hidden by the helmet, but Liara was still in her thoughts and attuned to her feelings. “It isn’t. Our cover story for you is quite simple. You are my tiamna, so you won’t be expected to talk much or show your face while being expected to shadow me everywhere.” At Shepard’s silent question she elaborated.
“Tiamna is nowadays simply translated as bodyguard, even if the correct translation would be guardian of temples. It relates back to a time where we stored all our knowledge in temples. A temple was not only a place of worship but also one of learning. Storing great libraries and artifacts. Tiamna protected that knowledge from those who would steal it and those who would keep it for themselves. Later they followed Matriarchs after all experiences breeds much wisdom, which led to them becoming leaders of our race. Their knowledge something as worthy as our temples to protect.”
“So science and religion coexist without conflict?”
Liara looked up at her, brows knitted together. “Why would there be conflict?”
Shepard hummed, noticing the music getting louder, the ground vibrating from the bass. More aliens were wandering around and in the distance was a huge holographic display showing an asari dancing on a pole and she blinked, heat crawling up her neck. Afterlife flashed red beneath the image.
Liara followed her gaze, and Shepard quickly spoke up. “For humanity, there has always been a conflict between religion and science. One of the widest spread religions was Christianity, which states that one god created all life and so on. With science and evolution coming into play, they saw it as a threat to their belief, while many scientists can’t fathom believing in something that they proved can’t be true. It’s the whole `can something exist despite you not being able to see it’ thing.”
Shepard stumbled over her explanation as they made their way into the club, images of flames adorning the walls, flickering always in motion.
“I see, while not every asari follows a faith and it has weakened over the centuries, there never has been conflict between science and religion. For us, it is one whole.” Liara paused as Shepard did, overwhelmed by the loud music, the many foreign smells, the flashing lights and the dancefloors.
Her eyes took in the bars and tables but also the many asari dancers. Above the bar on top of a circular platform, on different tables, and a few spattered around. All in something similar to black skin tight spandex, which on the first glance covered them conservatively while hiding nothing. Only for one to turn around, showing much more as well as drawing attention to some kind of boob windows and bared inner thighs.
Shepard stood there agape for a moment, then spun around, covering her visor. “I fuck, I didn’t mean to look.” She sputtered.
“Perhaps I should have warned you. There is a reason why my species is rumored to be promiscuous. Many asari spent their maiden years either dancing or as mercenaries. In some ways it is even expected that is why many of my fellow scholars don’t take my research into account, they believe me to be far too young to have anything of value to contribute.” Embarrassment turned into bitterness, a scowl marring Liara’s features.
Shepard squeezed her hand, sending a wave of pride. “Then they are idiots, you are so smart, not even a hundred of them would be worth one you. And if it’s their choice.” She waved to the dancers. “Then good for them. The other species are just shitty about it because they spent all their money here.”
Liara chuckled lightly, her blue eyes twinkling in the flashing lights, and bumped their shoulders together. “That is nice of you to say, Shepard.” There was a gentle mental caress. “We should go up, follow my lead.”
Liara straightened with a deep inhale, her expression closed up. Shepard saw a flicker of anxiety, yet to someone who had spent little time with her she looked composed. Even imposing in her shining white armor with barely any scuff marks and Shepard nearly expecting the familiar tiny bolts of biotics to come alive around her.
She followed half a step behind her, to her right as the doctor led them around the dancefloors into the back where two staircases went up to a first floor both guarded by turians with their weapons drawn.
Shepard's gaze narrowed, hands twitching and she was Liara’s bodyguard for this, wasn’t she? So she drew her own weapon, holding it lazily to her side as they climbed the stairs, the turian watching but not stopping them.
There was a white couch, a purple asari with face markings that gave her a look of always scowling, leaning back against it, arms spread wide on the rest. Black pants, a white leather jacket over some kind of black corset, accentuating her attributes. Eyes focused on them, looking even with all the lights and without a meld nearly black with how dark they were.
Aria raised her hand and a batarian quickly left the ranks of bodyguards around herself, weapon drawn, pointing at Liara-
Shepard quickly stepped in between, own weapon forgotten as she grabbed his at the muzzle, pushing it down. In the same movement, she tripped him over her leg and pushed him to the ground as he stumbled. Pressing her knee on his back, she pointed her gun at his head. He tried to buck her off, but she remained firmly in place.
“Someone is feeling overzealous I see.” The purple asari, Aria, Shepard deduced, drawled.
“Well, he did have his gun pointed at me.” Liara answered, no inflection in her voice.
Shepard looked up at her, really wanting to pull the trigger, but waited for Liara’s approval.
“He is here to ensure who is visiting me is who they say they are. Perhaps he has lost his manners over time.” Shepard glanced at Aria, who was already studying her intently. “I never thought I would see you here on Omega and definitely not with a companion.”
“Let him go.” Liara nodded at her and Shepard did as she bid, returning to her place behind her, watching the batarian stand and pat himself down with a sneer. “I have some dealings on Omega, some I hoped to conclude here.” Liara waved back to her, making her step forward. “I hope it is of no consequence that my tiamna has accompanied me?”
Aria tilted her head, gaze calculating, and Shepard tensed, waiting. “That remains to be seen.” She waved her people away, offering Liara a seat beside her.
*
“My mother would hit me over the head if she could see me now.” Liara, spreading out her supplies and tools, lifted a brow. “Letting myself get implanted by an alien really does set a new precedent for me.” She chuckled, holding out her arm.
“We do not have to do this. While it might be of aid in the future, I understand having no qualified medical professional performing the procedure might be worrying.” Liara paused, her apprehension brushing against Shepard.
“Psh.” Shepard waved her off. “Medical professionals are overrated and if anyone is doing this, I’m glad it’s you.” She assured Liara, watching her disinfect the area on the back of her wrist. “Even so, you’re probably the leading expert on human biology in this sector of the galaxy.”
Liara hummed thoughtfully, her mouth curving into a smile. “I guess you are right. Are you ready?”
“Born ready.” Liara nodded, squeezing her wrist before cutting a two thumbs long vertical line into the back of her wrist, wincing as she did.
Shepard bit her lip, exhaling deeply. Blood slowly appeared and her doctor was quick to wipe it away, gently putting pressure on the cut with gauze. Her other hand reached for the tweezers and the chip caught in between them before gently placing it into the open wound. Into her flesh. A weird sensation raced through her arm, prickling in her bones.
“So how high are the chances it’s going to blow me up?”
Liara didn’t answer for a moment, tongue peeking out between her teeth, gaze flickering between her omni-tool and Glyph rattling of instructions, projecting a step to step guide. Looking an awful lot like the DIY videos on the internet.
“It will not blow you up.” Liara quickly asserted, a prickle of doubt in her voice. “It was made for an asari and all the scans and the things you told me prove our species are remarkably similar in our physiology.” Her hands trembled slightly, activating the chip and carefully getting the tweezers out, afterwards wiping the blood away.
The last step was covering the wound with medi-gel, causing it to close slowly. Liara traced with her thumb gently over her skin, reassuring, but Shepard couldn’t help but tease.
“Like our reaction to eezo? Because one of us got nearly poisoned from it while for the other it is normal to ingest it with every meal and drink.”
Liara huffed in response, scanning over the chip now buried in Shepard’s flesh with her omni-tool. “You are a biotic and you didn’t tell me it was possible for your species.” She argued, slapping Shepard against the shoulder with her free hand in reaction to her laugh.
Her next words were stopped by a wave of pride. With a last tap on Liara’s omni-tool, suddenly a holographic interface lit up on Shepard’s wrist. “It worked.”
“Wow, so much relief and here you had me believing you were a hundred percent sure this would work.”
“I did calculate a high rate of success after all you yourself declared that I’m brilliant.”
“So, can I now take over the galaxy? Take control over all technology and cause it to rebel?”
Liara snorted, tapping around on Shepard’s brand new omni-tool. “Normally I would say no, but something tells me you would manage. Foremost you have access to the extranet and we can contact each other even if we are separated. I can also-” Liara tapped around her own omni-tool, which chirped in response. “Keep track of you and you of me, if anything ever happens.”
“Might come in handy, who knows.”
“Now for your translator, if you turn to the side it might be more comfortable.” Shepard did as told, relaxing when Liara gently cupped her jaw and guided it to the right, cold fingers prodding at the space behind her ear. “It is fascinating that your species organ for hearing is outside of your head, so unprotected.”
Liara brushed back her hair to the other side, giving her an unobstructed view of her ear, even as her hand lingered, playing with the wisps of hair on her neck.
“Not the only thing you find fascinating now, is it?” Shepard grinned, leaning into it as Liara gently raked with her fingers through her mane, eyes fluttering close.
“Not at all.” Affection curled up inside her gut and Shepard caught Liara’s hand as it left her hair, feathering a kiss against her inner wrist, melting at the soft smile Liara gifted her, the blush spreading over her cheeks.
“Just please don’t cut off my ear.”
“Only because you asked so nicely.” Liara offered, adding. “Perhaps you should hold it out of the way while I operate.” Shepard folded her ear forward, feeling Liara’s grip on her jaw tighten a bit, then felt the incision.
Observing out of the corner of her eyes, Liara and her tweezers and the other chip. She suppressed a flinch at the pressure against her flesh. Her doctor gently dabbed the blood away afterwards, closing the wound at the same time a strange high-pitched whine rang through both her ears.
Shepard groaned, the sound nauseating, instinctively reaching up to cover her ears when they both popped, similar to the effect caused by breaching a certain altitude. A dull throb settling behind her temple.
“I apologize.” Liara cradled both her cheeks in her hands, rubbing soothing circles into her skin when she urged her to face her. “Translators are normally implemented in childhood; this reduces after and side effects. You probably will have headaches for a few days and pain in the jaw area in addition to sometimes hearing high-pitched noises.”
Shepard moaned, rubbing her temple. “Can’t you just knock me out for a few days?” Liara shook her head, her chilly hands little relief. “Kiss it better?” She asked without thinking, eyes shooting back open when she realized, opening her mouth to explain, but Liara cut her off.
Capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. Their noses brushed together and one hand unsurprisingly wandered to her neck, disappearing into her hair. Shepard sighed, sinking into it, shivering when Liara traced her bottom lip with her tongue.
Shepard responded by playfully catching it between her teeth for a second before pressing forward to deepen the kiss. Liara purred, goading her on and she grasped the asari’s waist, pulling her into her lap, the pinch of her wrist quickly forgotten with Liara flush against her.
Liara straddling her left her breathless, feeling her legs tighten around her waist as they crossed behind her back. Shepard kissed her slow and deep, trying to convey those overwhelming emotions taking residence in her heart, Liara holding her tight in response, whimpering when they parted.
Panting, they rested their foreheads together, hearts hammering to the same beat inside their chests. Liara brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, hand lingering on her cheek as she leaned down and kissed her again. Following with a kiss against the corner of her lips, another beneath her jaw, against her pulse point, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, leaving behind goosebumps in her wake.
Shepard dared to let one hand caress lightly the back of Liara’s neck, tracing the folds there, soft like the petals of a flower, invoking a deep purr and Liara eagerly arched upwards into the touch.
She cleared her throat. “Not that I minded at all but for humans, kissing it better normally means kissing the injured part of a person for comfort, I guess a sort of symbolic gesture to remove pain.”
A spike of embarrassment, which flickered out quickly. Liara nosed at the column of her throat, reluctantly leaning back to face her. “Interesting, we should definitely test the effectiveness of the treatment.”
Liara gently grasped the hand still resting on her waist, pulling it up to her lips, pressing a kiss right beside the incision, all the while holding eye contact. Entangling their hands before she leaned forward, pressing a kiss right beneath her ear to the side of her jaw. Lingering for a moment, breath tickling, Shepard’s insides buzzing as if struck by electricity repeatedly.
“Better?” Liara husked, head tilted, batting her lashes, and Shepard pulled her in for another kiss.
*
Shepard was torn between skipping, heart racing, feeling the phantom of Liara’s lips still on her own and pulling out her gun, shooting everyone in sight.
After finding the resolve to part, Liara had convinced her she needed to go alone to Aria to negotiate, which Shepard didn’t like at all. Who knows what the crime lord or the citizens of Omega would try, but in the end Liara had put her foot down, telling her she knew how to hold her own.
Shepard knew that but still wasn’t comfortable leaving Liara on her own and especially not with getting left behind on the ship. So she said she would explore Omega therewile, which left Liara arguing against that.
In the end, they were both unhappy, but agreed. Her exploration had started with the docks, just looking at all the different space ships, the colorful folk bustling into and away from them. With her newly gained translator she got snippets of the conversations around her. It was jarring at first, temple throbbing to hear all those high sounds and guttural one’s turn into something she was able to understand, asari. Her asari still had ways to go, yet understanding was a lot easier than speaking herself.
So she listened in to the chatter going on around her wandering the streets, suppressing the impulse to pull out her gun every time a turian or batarian got too close.
Instead she concentrated on the different stalls, the foreign smells getting filtered through the helmet. Observing the everyday life, which seemed to include people getting mugged or openly shot in the middle of the market, at least no one flinched or had an obvious reaction to it.
When she grew bored, she followed a salarian into a dimly lit establishment, a bar. Smoke fogged the air, a holo projector showed some kind of sport with biotics and a ball and of course a bar, with a floating pink hanar behind it.
Somehow she managed to order, swirling the fluid around in her glass. A rich dark red, a thessian conoction she had seen in one of the memories Liara had shared with her, some kind of banquet where her mother held a speech and her father had sneaked her some of it.
Liara had described the taste as something fruity and mild, which like everything asari she concluded even without being able to taste it, would mean it was overly sweet. Shepard couldn’t wait to show Liara all of her favorites, probably starting with a burger or steak, bourbon and leaving sweets for last to thoroughly blow her mind.
It only made her wish Liara was here more. Her fingers tapped against the bartop. She already would be telling her all about what ingredients were in the alcohol, how they were cultivated and what cultural background they had and somehow bringing the protheans into it.
Her smile was quickly wiped away when another patron stumbled into her, her hand clenching because it wasn’t the first and she heard dumb snickering behind her.
Shepard closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax. She had promised Liara not to get into any trouble or start fights and she wouldn’t break that. Not with the worried crinkle between Liara’s brows and the slight jut of her lower lip in the back of her head. No, no fights.
“Out of the way, whelp.” Someone shoulder checked her, hard enough for her to trip and crash into the bar.
It jolted her but in her armor it didn’t hurt, but her glass spilled all over her armor, causing her to snarl.
She whipped around to see a krogan with red plating and red armor standing in her place, her glass shattering in her hand as she saw his red eyes flicker to hers after sizing her up, unimpressed. Her no fight was immediately forgotten.
Seeing him regard her so nonchalantly his head slightly leaned down, she stepped forward without thinking and leaned back. Head-butting him directly against his forehead plating and nose.
A high-pitched sound whined through her ears but she just growled, watching with satisfaction him taking a step back, clearly not having expected it. Her head throbbed, but she ignored it.
Remained in place as he roared, rushing forward so they were nearly touching, lips curled upward into a snarl. She didn’t twitch, closing the remaining space, hands twitching to put a fist through his face, biotics curling around it.
He spat out a thundering laugh. “Got a quad on you, pyjak. You asari are normally all so docile, might be because you are so squishy.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully, turning to the hanar, ordering a shot of something he immediately downed. “The name is Wrex and from one warrior to another.” His red eyes studied her, squinting as if he was trying to see beneath the armor. “Better for you to leave, this is going to turn ugly.” He bared his teeth, eyes glinting, and was that a smile?
Shepard’s mind was still on the quad, thinking about what it could mean before the rest registered. “Shepard.” She stated simply, taking him in once more.
Noting the deep claw marks on his forehead plate, the numerous other scars marring his hide. The shotgun strapped to his back, his scuffed looking red armor. He left her with a nod, honing in on a table at the back with a salarian and three turians playing cards.
Almost looking bored as he quicker than anyone could realise grabbed the salarian by the throat, lifted him up into the air before throwing him to the ground.
The turians sprung up reaching for their weapons and suddenly biotics flared around the krogan. The first one was hit in the face by a wrap, the other two getting blasted into the air by his shotgun. All around Shepard patrons scrambled to their feet, reaching for their weapons.
The bartender suddenly had in every tentacle a gun, all pointing at Wrex who with a grin stepped on the salarian’s head, caving it in, greenish blood spattering.
Shots rang out from everywhere, hitting the barrier around the krogan, who chuckled before charging at the closest hostile. Throwing himself into the fray. Shepard simply observed the ensuing carnage. Wrex threw all aliens alike through the air, the bark of his shotgun loud and deadly.
Putting another salarian into stasis, only to rip his head off with his bare hands. It wasn’t clean or with finesse, rather gruesome, he was simply playing with them.
Despite that as he was too busy caving in the head of an asari, Shepard winced at that, a turian sneaked up behind him, his own shotgun aimed at the side of Wrex’s head. Remembering her own fight with a krogan, for all their resilience, a shot in the head still seemed to kill them. She reacted.
She didn’t know why. To her knowledge, Wrex could be a monster, a slaver, killer of children or what not, perhaps it only mattered because it was a turian, she intervened.
Charging and knocking the turian off his feet, pulling out her gun while stepping on his throat, ending him. Wrex whirled around, taking in the scene, gaze calculating before he chuckled.
“Eh, craving a bit of fun? Don’t think you will get it here with those worms.” He offered while Shepard ducked as suddenly she became a target too.
She rolled her eyes, watching Wrex rip the hanar apart, sliding out of cover to lift one batarian at the same time she shot an asari. Together they made quick work of the remaining patrons, the bar quickly falling silent. Shepard listened to the loud thuds of Wrex’s steps, tensing, prepared for him to turn on her, but he didn’t.
“No need for remorse, all of them were blood pack scum.”
Shepard turned to face him, finding him standing behind the bar, finishing a whole bottle of something before burping. She glanced at all the bodies littering the floor and hoped he wasn’t lying as she drew closer to him, his gaze heavy, far more intelligence shimmering in his eyes than she had credited Krogan's to have.
“I hoped for more excitement but this was, pah, not even worth pulling out my gun.” He continued, filling two glasses with ominous glowing fluid, pushing one to her.
Shepard glanced at it, not taking it.
“What are you?” He asked bluntly, and her gaze snapped to him. “You are not an asari, even as you smell as if one has a claim on you.” He leaned forward, nostrils flaring. “And your blood.” He nodded to her ungloved hand, which was bleeding sluggishly from a cut.
Shepard hesitated, and he shrugged. “If I wanted to kill you I had, so.” She took off her helmet, breathing in deeply, constantly wearing a helmet was not fun. Especially with strands of hair clinging to her forehead and neck.
“Huh.” He squinted. “And here I thought I had seen everything ugly the world had to offer.”
Shepard lifted a brow, and he chuckled. One of his massive three-fingered hands reached out, patting her head like she was some common mutt. “Ha and furry like a pyjak.” She ducked, pushing it away.
“You are one to talk.” She snapped back, even as a grin twitched at her lips. “What’s that?” She nodded to the shot.
“Ryncol the stuff for warriors.” He considered her. “If you can ingest asari stuff, I don’t think it will kill you but if you are too afraid.” He reached out to take the shot and Shepard snatched it, downing it.
Her eyes widened, but she forced her face to remain blank as it burned down her throat, exploding in her stomach.
“Didn’t seem.” She cleared her throat. “Impressive.”
“Hah, I like you.” He poured them both another. “So you a, what they call it, a humans?”
“Human.” Shepard corrected. “How do you know?”
“Rumors mostly about the turians hiring mercenaries because they have trouble with a new species. Always love hearing about the turian’s having a bad time.”
Shepard scowled, hand clenching. Bombing their settlements, killing civilians wasn’t enough for them? Now they even hired gun fodder, not even deigning to sacrifice their own troops? Fucking cowards, she trembled, so many causaulties, so many families she had to notify.
“Can’t stand them either.”
“They are slaughtering civilians, they didn’t even give us any chance to handle this diplomatically, exterminating us like we are just some pests.”
“Know something about that. Them and the spineless salarians neutered us.” He growled, putting his glass down so forcefully it cracked.
“Neutered?”
“Your asari didn’t tell you? They thanked us for saving their asses by creating the Genophage, causing most of our births to be stillbirths if the fetus even grows to that stage.”
Shepard swallowed, couldn’t even imagine someone doing that to another, but she remembered bitterly all the gruesome things humans did to each other. “That’s terrible. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry won’t stop my race from going extinct.” He growled darkly, taking another shot. “So you coming with?” He looked over his shoulder at her, stepping out behind the bar.
“Where?”
He squinted. “You look like someone up for a good fight, so I’m going to the headquarters of a rogue blood pack cell. They are involved in trafficking, drugs and all kinds of things, my employer wants them dealt with.”
Shepard considered for a moment, wincing when she remembered her promise to Liara, which she had already broken and she only needed to be there when the asari called, so perhaps she didn’t have to find out?
Even so, she was itching for something to do, the gentle tug at her gut reminding her only of Liara’s absence, the possible danger she was in. Additionally, Wrex was surprisingly good to understand, the slow paced way he talked or at least was translated made it easier and her horrible accent wouldn’t be an issue with him, either.
She shrugged, putting on her helmet. “Alright-wait, what do you mean I smell like an asari has claimed me?”
“Hah, the eager little thing didn’t tell you?” He sniffed into her direction again and Shepard puffed up, crossing her arms. “Being with an asari regularly does that to you, some kind of pheromone other asari can pick up and we krogans get a hint of it.”
Shepard sputtered, stumbling, and perhaps the shots were going to her head. “She has been teaching me her language!”
“Is that what whelps call it nowadays?” He chuckled, leading them through a throng of people, farther away from the docks. “If you like that sorta thing, having someone rummaging around up there.” He knocked with his fist against his head. “To either their own.”
Shepard squinted. “So it comes from regular melding, completely harmless.” She set her shoulder, even as her neck still burned.
“Nah, if that was enough, they would mark their family as well.” Wrex scratched his chest. “It’s as I have been told, a bit of instinct and a bit of intent to keep others from vying for their mate. For all their openness, an asari can be quite possessive.” He snorted. “Normally it is barely noticeable, but you.” He showed all his teeth in a grin. “It’s like your asari rubbed herself all over you.” He roared with laughter as Shepard tripped, yet his arm shot out in front of her to stop her from falling.
“Either she’s eager or inexperienced or both, asari maidens are nearly as bad as a varren in heat.”
“Hey.” Shepard stepped into his path, pointing up at him. “Liara is brilliant, she has a doctorate in archeology and even if it were so, this is no way of speaking about someone.”
She stumbled over her words, cursing in english in between words when her anger made it harder to find the right words. After all, whatever a varren was, it sounded too close to bitch in heat which made the edges of her vision go red.
“Huh, calm down, didn’t mean anything by it.” He clapped her on the shoulder, pointing behind her. “There we are and she’s probably a matron then ready to settle.”
Shepard grumbled, but observed the building, seeing activity inside, the guards stationed at the door. “What is the plan and matron? Liara told me she’s quite young?”
“Plan?” He looked down at her, shaking his head with a snort before he just drew close to the guards, not giving a single shit as they warned him to back off and simply shot them. “I’m not some fountain of information. I’m a mercenary, I get paid for doing shit, not teaching.”
Shepard took a moment, his sheer audacity and yet she couldn’t deny she liked it. Normally, it was her jumping into the fray and her squad cursing her before going after her. Following him inside, with the entire building alerted to their presence, she pulled out her weapon and took cover behind the first pillar.
“Asari have some kind of life stages, three bigger ones: maiden, matron, matriarch. And who knows for an asari a hundred years can mean young or 700.”
Her head shot to him. Trying to grasp the concept of living that long, for a moment, believing she might have mistranslated. “Seven hundred?” She quickly turned around when the first hostile came into view, shooting him in the head.
“Your asari tell you anything?”
“We had more important things to talk about!”
“Talk about?” Wrex threw over his shoulder a grin. If he were a human, Shepard was sure he would have wiggled with his brows and charged into the group of hostiles.
Shepard blushed, shaking her head, now was not the time to think about Liara straddling her and quickly charged after him, detonating his warp. He noted this, and they exchanged a glance, before setting warps up for the other and detonating them, falling easily into a rhythm.
“So, asari live easily for a thousand years.” He rasped, breathing heavily after having cleared the first floor, thuds and voices rising above them.
“A thousand?” Shepard gasped out, leaning against a pillar. “Who even lives that long?”
“Krogan, we can still kick ass when we are like 1500. The rest of them die in the time a krogan blinks. You one of them?”
“Humans live up to 150 years, biotics longer.” They made their way up the stairs, Shepard quickly rolling behind cover as grenades flew.
“Pathetic.” Wrex answered, reloading his shotgun.
“Pathetic? Bet I can take out more than you!” Shepard shouted over the gunfire, gathering her biotics around her.
“Don’t think so, whelp!” She grinned, letting loose her charge, quickly ping ponging from one hostile to the other, blasting them at close range with the shotgun she had taken from the old fart of a krogan.
She heard Wrex roar, answering screams of death. She ignored it, just like the ringing in her ears. Swiftly going to one after another until she had to pause. A bullet whizzed past her ear, another hitting her shoulder as she took cover, panting. Not sure if the shots, the chips or just the getting shot at was causing her head to ring and her vision to go slightly fuzzy.
Glancing at Wrex, who used his biotics with one hand with another grabbing a turian by the throat, throwing him upwards into the ceiling, stomping, as he fell back down, on his throat.
Shepard counted the remaining ones, stopping when her gaze fell on an open grate, an enormous weapon peeking out of it. Her eyes widened, and she hefted it up. The gun heavy, her arms trembling under the strain.
She peeked out of cover, aiming at the group to the end of the room and fired, crashing back into the pillar from the strength of the recoil. Like a missile, a tiny bomb exploded, taking the mercenaries and part of the structure out. She laughed gleefully, hands trembling, arm vibrating.
“Hah, that was an excellent shot.” Wrex lumbered to her side, the building falling silent.
“I think I won.” She grinned, nudging him with her elbow.
“Pah, with that.” His red eyes looked down at her, considering. “Next time we do this bare handed, look who wins then.”
She picked up a piece of gore from his shoulder, brushing it away with a grimace. “I’m not a fan of being covered in guts.”
“Weak. You wear them with pride, showing off your kills.” He sniffed, stepping away to a little alcove at the back of the room, picking up a datapad, scanning something. “We're done here, ready for a drink?”
“I don’t know.” She thought about Liara, realizing her arm was still vibrating.
“Your asari really has a grip on your quad, always speaking about her.”
“Quad? You brought her up with the claim thing and her name is Liara.” Shepard spoke up, even as the your asari made her heart strangely flutter.
“Quad?” At her uncomprehending expression, he simply grabbed himself between the legs. “Your-”
“Yes, yes, I understand now.” She interrupted him, covering her eyes. “Wait, you have four of them?” She asked before she could stop herself.
“Yes, why? How many have you?”
“None.” Shepard facepalmed, adding. “And don’t try baiting me with Liara. My pride is not that fragile that I’m ashamed I listen to her or follow her lead. She’s brilliant, a thousand times smarter than me and knows the terrain better.”
“That’s just sad, no wonder your female has you under her thumb.” Wrex scratched his chin. “Even if they have good ideas. If only they wouldn’t talk that much or get so angry once they realize I’m not listening. They are so complicated.” He huffed.
Shepard paused, causing Wrex to stop as well. “You realize I’m female as well?” At least she felt that way most days.
“What?” He glowered down at her, muttering under his breath something about hips and child-bearing before lumbering on.
“There they are!” They rounded the corner of the staircase just in time for four hostiles to climb them.
Weapons raised to fire at them the same moment Wrex just grasped her armor and, without biotics, threw her at them. Like she was just a log.
Shepard had a split second, flaying in the air, calling forth her biotics and tensing her muscles before she crashed into the four of them. Throwing them all down the stairs, landing in a heap.
There was groaning, some of it from her, when she weakly raised her gun, finishing them. One of them had time to shoot her, the projectile luckily bouncing off her armor but probably leaving a nasty bruise behind because of the close range.
“Guess you didn’t win after all.” Wrex came to stand above her when Shepard didn’t get back up to her feet, instead remaining on the floor.
“You just threw me!” Shepard growled, her whole body aching and her constant use of biotics catching up to her. A nap sounded nice right about now. “And didn’t even kill them, so I still won.”
“I knocked them down, doing all the work.” Wrex grasped her by her armor again, picking her up like she was an unruly kitten, clapping her hard enough on the back she nearly crashed to the floor again. “And perhaps you should answer your omni-tool.”
Shepard elbowed him in the side, which didn’t face him before tapping at her wrist, shaking it, waving it around. “How do these work again, and don’t say anything about my asari and didn’t she show me again, she did, but a lot is going on and I might have forgotten?”
He closed his mouth, grasping her wrist, shaking it up and down a little harder. “No idea.” He shrugged. “I just somehow get paid and pay others waving my wrist around.”
“Great.” Shepard tried again, tapping at her wrist, pretty sure Liara was calling her.
“Yeah, now come on, your asari will track you down if she needs you. I need to get paid and a drink.” Shepard protested what caused him to simply shove her forwards. “I’m not taking a no, you helped finish the job, you get a cut and we drink.”
But what if something was happening to Liara? And more drinking didn’t seem like the best idea with how hazy she felt, food, food sounded good. Liara had said nothing would happen to her with her house status and all that. And Wrex was already shoving her forward with no regard. She glared at him over her shoulder.
They came back to the market district, or at least what she would call it, most aliens, stepping out of their way or rather Wrex’. Her eyes lingered on something which looked like a food court, stomach grumbling and the spices she smelt causing her mouth to water.
Someone crashed against her and she stumbled a step back in the same movement, reaching for her rifle, aiming it at her assailant.
“Keelah.” An alien, in a suit. She tried to think of what Liara had told her.
They held their head, shaking it. Too big for a volus, too slim for another asari. Glowing white eyes looked up at her through a violet tinted visor. Quarian. She sounded young. And all around her were metallic parts. Shepard’s distraction must have caused them to run into each other. She quickly holstered her weapon.
“I apologize, Ma’am.” She picked up the parts from the floor, only to notice the quarian hadn’t moved an inch, eyes focused on her.
Quickly, she freed her hand, offering it. “Are you injured?” She winced at the thought, trying to see if she cracked the visor or anything else.
“No.” The quarian finally answered when Shepard was ready to pull her hand back, helping her up. “Thank you.”
Shepard tilted her head, uncomfortable under the stare. “Shepard!” She looked over the quarian to see Wrex standing there, huffing.
“Apologies again.” Shepard quickly transferred the items into the quarian’s arms before hurrying after Wrex until she realized where they were going.
“No, no, no.” Shepard stopped walking, which Wrex didn’t care for, shoving her forward. “I can’t go in there.” Even if perhaps Liara was still in there negotiating, she perked up at the thought.
Wrex blinked down at her, giving her another shove. “Don’t care, you’re coming with.”
But Liara would probably be angry or disappointed after all in the few hours they had been apart Shepard had revealed herself, gotten into a fight and not answered her calls. Wrex didn’t seem like a guy to keep mum about any fight he got into.
“Wait, Aria is your employer?” Shepard hissed when they ended up by the stairs again.
“Eh, for this job. She pays well, gives simple instructions, easy money.” Aria’s guards gave them a once over but let them proceed. Shepard’s attempt to somehow get out of this situation was wholly crushed by Wrex simply taking a hold of her shoulder and this felt awfully lot like a hostage situation.
Only that she liked Wrex and he hated subterfuge and this was probably him being friendly, if she interpreted the way he bared his teeth and his red eyes shined right.
“Wrex.”
“Aria.”
“Shepard.” Liara, who had been relaxing back against the couch or at least had projected the image of calmness, sat up, leaning forward and a line appeared between her brows.
Shepard glanced anxiously at Aria, not trusting herself to speak in front of her because she had no doubt she would definitely know Shepard wasn’t an asari the moment she did.
Considering her options, she quickly went down on one knee, looking down at the floor while holding out her hands, palms facing upward.
Like humans, asari had different greetings, used depending on status and familiarity. Normally and now in retrospect it made more sense for it to depend on age, the younger part normally held out their hands, like she did only at chest height, to show respect and willingness to meld in a show of trust.
Liara had greeted her as an equal the first time she had mistaken it in her injured state as an offer for a double high five. But now she was Liara’s tiamna and didn’t trust herself, so.
Wrex snorted but Shepard didn’t dare shoot him a look, exhaling when Liara stood, her legs coming into view, and felt her colder hands on top of hers, the familiarity of no longer being alone in her head.
Worry and anxiety swelled up in her chest and she quickly offered Liara her recent memories, seeing her do a quick sweep, flinching when she felt her misgivings.
“I see we found your asari.” Wrex laughed and embarrassment flared a moment before Liara stepped back.
Shepard dared to look up, seeing his grin and Liara’s frown as she took in the krogan.
“I still have business to attend to.” Aria broke the staring contest, her gaze cold, sweeping over them. “Even if I’m surprised your tiamna saw fit to team up with a mercenary.”
Liara opened her mouth to say something while Shepard stood, crashing against Liara, both grasping at each other to keep their balance when Wrex once more clapped her on the shoulder.
“Hah, found her in a bar, quite fiery for being a squishy asari, you should have been there, she just head-butted me and then joined the fight. Also helped me clear out the warehouse and get these.” Wrex threw the datapad and a tiny box he had gotten at a batarian, who startled and let go of his weapon to catch it, hastening to turn them over to Aria.
Shepard winced beneath her helmet as Liara’s eyes narrowed and could have sworn she even felt a flicker of her ire despite them not being connected. Or perhaps it radiated off her as she crossed her arms.
“I see.” Aria offered after a moment. “I’m not paying her extra.”
“Didn’t think so, but she deserves half of my reward.” Wrex shrugged, elbowing her hard enough into the side, she wheezed. Nearly tripping into Liara who caught hold of her.
Aria waved at one of her goons, who quickly drew closer, scanning over their omni-tools before returning to his post.
“Still.” Aria stood, drawing closer, eyes resting on Shepard. “It doesn’t explain you leaving your mistress’ side.” The asari paused in front of her close enough to touch and she made sure her bare hand was as far away as possible, despite Liara’s reassurance of asari never forcing a meld, she didn’t trust Aria or the hard glint in her eyes not to. “Do you not pay her enough, T’Soni?”
Liara stepped closer to her side, forcing Aria to take a step back to look at her and calming Shepard enough for her to stop twitching for her gun. “I saw no need for her to be present for our negotiations, and gave her the freedom to explore Omega. What she did with her time is of no concern for me as long as she does not tarnish the reputation of House T’Soni.”
The two asari stared at each other and Liara, despite being often shy and nervous, held her ground, eyes icy, a muscle in her jaw twitched and her body language practically dared Aria to not take her at her word.
“Well, she drank three shots of ryncol and is not only still standing but left her enemies drowning in their blood.” Wrex interrupted, rolling his shoulders. “Is our business concluded, Aria? This is boring me and this one promised me another round.” He pointed at Shepard.
Shepard wanted to slap her palm into her face as Liara’s gaze darkened. Her pursed lips, telling Shepard she was definitely in trouble when Aria grasped her helmet, where her chin was. “If you spend more time exploring Omega, I should remind you of the uppermost rule.”
She bit her lip, stopping her biotics from flaring or from lashing out, not used to having someone in her space, especially against her will. “Don’t fuck with Aria.”
The asari said it so seriously and Shepard was embarrassed. Her first thought was, she didn’t want to sleep with the asari before realizing what Aria had meant. She bit down on her inner cheek to stop herself from laughing.
Like who even said something like that? As a threat it sounded ridiculous and even if she knew not to underestimate an asari, not after seeing Liara in action, she was pretty confident she could take Aria if she wanted.
Her musing was brought to a halt when Liara’s biotics flared at the threat, not visibly but humming in the air and by Aria’s expression she had noticed it too, interest sparking in her gaze. Shepard nodded, waiting for Liara’s agreement.
“Wait for me at the bar.” She paused, struggling to keep her voice calm. “I believe our dealings will be concluded shortly.” She gave Aria a look, then sat back down on the couch, nonchalant.
Wrex quickly tugged her away, leading them to the bar, when Aria dismissed them with a wave. Shepard rubbed her neck, not even putting up a fight as Wrex pushed a drink into her hand, raising his own, which was more a mug than a shot glass.
“Korbal!” Despite that he downed it in one go, Shepard following hesitantly after, Liara was already exasperated, so.
“No clue what that means.” She coughed, her throat not having adjusted to the burn yet, dark spots appearing in her vision.
“Victory or death.” He grumbled, ordering another for them both. “So that’s your asari?” He looked back up to where Aria resided. “Didn’t seem to like Aria in your space.” He laughed and Shepard just shook her head.
“Liara just worries.” She shrugged.
“She definitely has your quad in a vice.”
Shepard groaned, shouldering Wrex. “She doesn-”
“What were you thinking, Shepard?” She twirled around to stand at attention, regretting it when the room spun.
“Woah. I mean, um, I didn’t?” Shepard hesitantly said, wincing when Liara ducked her head, grasping the bridge of her nose.
“We can discuss it later. For now, we should get our things, I arranged for different transport.” Shepard nodded, mumbling a bye to Wrex before hastening after Liara, taking care not to trip with how the ground was moving.
“So where are we going?” Liara stopped, looking over her shoulder past Shepard at Wrex, who had followed them.
“We?” Liara inquired, shooting Shepard a look who shrugged.
“I’m coming with.” The krogan simply stated, not a care in the world.
“You can’t.”
“You don’t even know where we are going.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “Wherever you are heading, there is probably gonna be some fighting and humans seem to be a lot more fun to fight with.”
Shepard grinned, which quickly vanished when Liara whirled around to face her. “You told him?”
“He knew I wasn’t an asari, it was an accident.” Perhaps she could hide behind Wrex, who just looked amused.
“I can’t believe-” Liara didn’t finish, rubbing her temple. “A few hours. I asked you not to draw attention and not only you did, but somehow you managed to reveal yourself to a krogan battlemaster. Need I remind you what the last one did?”
“I know.” Shepard reached out, grasping Liara’s hand, who deflated. “I didn’t mean to.” Liara nodded at that, squeezing her hand. “And I trust him.” She offered weakly, which was true and perhaps foolish, but she was a soldier, used to following her instincts.
“Fine.” Liara huffed, drawing closer to Wrex, pointing at his chest. “But if you betray us or do anything to put Shepard into harm’s way.” Her biotics shimmered into view and she didn’t need to finish her threat. “And try not to take apart our ship.” She stepped back.
Wrex narrowed his eyes, chuckling. “You didn’t tell me your asari was this fiery.” He studied her keenly. “No wonder you can’t talk about anything else.”
Shepard reddened, especially as Liara cocked her head, gaze flickering between Wrex and her, and lifted a brow. “I mean, I told him you were a good fighter and had quite the biotics.” Shepard trailed off. “Didn’t you want to show us our new ride?” Shepard waved for Laira to take the lead, who did after one last glance, lips quirked up in a smile.
Shepard elbowed Wrex into the side, only causing him to roar with laughter. The trio made their way to the dock, Liara clearly thinking about their next steps, Wrex just going with the flow and Shepard trailing behind, sulking, already regretting ever talking to the krogan.
Liara was just unlocking the ship, the ramp lowering when a shout rang out. “Get them!” Liara raised a hand, creating a dome around them, projectiles bouncing off.
“There they are!”
“Did you think you could steal our ship?”
They quickly took cover, Wrex unholstering his shotgun lazily, giving her a wink. “Knew you were good at attracting trouble.”
“I think the mercenaries from the dig site have a few friends.” Liara leaned out of cover, shooting a batarian in the leg.
“Seems so.” Shepard aimed with her own rifle, regretting drinking as her first shots missed. Squinting, she steadied herself, ending up hitting some mercs.
Yet they clearly had the numbers and the three of them couldn’t cower behind the ship's ramp forever.
Her companions must have taught the same, Wrex erecting a barrier in the same moment there seemed to be a flash of electricity, some of their enemies screaming out, getting shocked the same moment a lilac ball flashed past them. It looked like Glyph, but Liara definitely hadn’t told her he could fight-
Liara unceremoniously hauled her to her feet, using the moment of distraction to get them behind a wall of metal? Seemed like someone was repairing their ship. There was the bark of a shotgun, directly followed by another. Her gaze found Wrex in the thick of it, charging another krogan into a construction. Yet, another figure-
The little quarian. From the distance she couldn’t be sure entirely, but-
“Okay.” She stood, reloading her rifle, uncaring off the bullets ricocheting around them, looking at Laira. “The little quarian is in trouble, so I’m going to charge in and-” Liara grabbed her shoulder, pulling her out of the way as a trail of shots punctured the metal wall until she basically was backing the asari into the wall.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
Liara simply lifted a brow, head cocked, and Shepard feverishly wished she wasn’t wearing a helmet. Even if it would have been hard to resist stealing a kiss at least she could have thrown in a wink and a grin. Under these circumstances she gave a cheeky salute and charged.
In the split second it took her there was a flicker of biotics, the sound of something expanding and she hit the singularity Liara just had managed to lie down. With her armor on, it barely hurt. Only forcing her a step back while more than a handful of mercs blew up, ending up sprawled on the ground.
“Keelah.” Same quarian, Shepard noted, shooting the merc popping up behind them.
Wrex let out a roar, tangling now with two other krogans. She felt Liara moving up behind her, bullets whizzing past her, and they definitely had no cover here.
With an apology she turned to the quarian, picking them up mid charge, hissing when the distance wasn’t enough to reach cover, most bullets harmlessly bouncing off her but one definitely went through, the back of her thigh exploding with pain.
Past her exploded a warp, Liara laying down cover fire and the quarian in her arms simply popped up, the bark of her shotgun, causing a high-pitched ring in her ears. Quickly scrambling the last steps to slide into cover.
“You’re hurt!”
“Are they multiplying?”
“I do not believe anyone has yet developed the technology to breed a clone army and this in the matter of moments.” Liara shook her head, not even faced by the continued gun fire as she tucked Shepard back to the floor, slapping a dose of medi-gel on her wound, enough for her to not bleed out anytime soon.
“Thank you.” Shepard offered, squeezing Liara’s hand at the same time an explosion shook the ground beneath them, the shooting ceasing.
A whoop caused her to look at the quarian, who was tapping on her omni-tool rapidly, her lilac sphere hovering next to her, clearly having just ended the fight.
Liara pulled her up with her, both considering the dozens of bodies. “Kid, did you just ruin my fun?”
Wrex stomped over to them, the quarian scrambling up and away from him, yet she rocked up on her toes, pointing at him. “Fun? They were shooting at us!”
Wrex leaned down to her, snorting. “You’re on Omega can’t be the first time. And you got involved.” He shrugged, turning to Liara and Shepard.
“Who are you?” Liara asked, causing the quarian to fidget, yet glowing white eyes rested on Shepard, which the asari noticed, stepping in front of her.
The quarian said something which Shepard didn’t understand, because it was much too quick, words becoming indistinct. The quarian was rambling, going a mile a minute. She clasped Liara’s hand, hoping to gather information through the meld.
“That doesn’t explain why you interfered in the fight.” Liara replied, voice icy, her emotions in turmoil and the only thing Shepard got was that the quarian was called Tali something.
Tali looked between the three of them, gaze meeting Shepard’s. “I know you aren’t an asari.”
Liara straightened and her biotics flared threateningly. “I don’t mean any harm.” Tali squeaked out and Shepard wrapped an arm around the asari’s waist to hold her back from doing something prematurely.
“My visor has some features.” Tali tapped against it, twitchy. “I was curious and followed you and then those guys appeared and you were so nice.” She trailed off.
Shepard considered her, she looked so small and nervous. “Thank you for helping.” She offered. “That was quite something.” She nodded to the dead mercs.
“Weren’t we going somewhere.” Wrex grumbled, causing Tali to jump.
“Yes. It was nice to make your acquaintance. Farewell.” Liara said rather abruptly, walking to their ship, pulling Shepard with her, who was looking at the quarian, who seemed to have deflated, giving her an apologizing wave.
“Wait! Can I come with you, Shepard?” Tali’s voice got higher around her name and Shepard halted and therefore Liara.
Tali was wringing her hands and again she seemed so small, much too small to be alone out here with mercs and other unsavory individuals. Shepard glanced at Liara, nudging her when she purposely didn’t look at her.
“Please, can she?” Shepard asked through the meld, feeling Liara’s hesitancy waver then grumble.
“Fine.” Liara sighed, waving Tali along, who bounced on her feet, quickly trailing after them.
*
While taking in their new ship, Shepard searched for Liara, just coming from talking to Tali, who had settled in the engine room. They had left Omega swiftly after making sure they had brought along all their possessions from the other ship. This one was smaller, but seemed more advanced and sophisticated. Liara must have paid a pretty penny, Shepard couldn’t imagine the merc ship had been worth much.
She stopped at what she believed to be the Captain’s quarters, knocking and grinning when the door opened with a swish. Finding Glyph hovering in the air and Liara laying on her side on the bed, studying a datapad intently, yet looking up with a smile at her entrance.
“Wrex and Tali are settling in, Tali in the engine room.” Shepard rubbed her neck. “She seems to enjoy engineering? Mechanics? Seemed pretty excited about getting to tinker on the engine.”
Liara sat up, staring incredulously. “You’re letting her work at the engine? What if she blows us up either on purpose or by accident? What is she doing?”
“Well,” Shepard's gaze flickered away, taking in the room, the desk and terminal, the door seeming to lead to a bathroom and the skylight above the bed, “I’m not sure.”
At Liara’s frown, she elaborated. “I just understood something about the engine and about her species’ coming of age ritual? Something about leaving and bringing the flotilla a gift? Don’t give me that look, she talks quick and asari is hard. I mean, you have like a million letters in one word and then only pronounce like two of them and in my defense she seems pretty trustworthy and excited.”
Liara palmed her face. “It’s called Pilgrimage and all quarians need to do it to show they are a useful addition to any ship they may join, especially with the flotillas limited resources.” Then she met Shepard’s gaze. “And don’t even start, your language has words which all mean different things and are written differently but are nearly pronounced the same and then you have words which are written the exact same way but pronounced differently.”
Shepard just crossed her arms with a huff as Liara sighed. “And where is Wrex?”
“In the armory, he said he wants to be the first to fire the main gun if it comes to it.”
Liara’s eyes widened, only to slip shut as she groaned. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
“What why?” Liara just gave her a look, and she deflated.
“Come on, a krogan battlemaster surely comes in handy and it’s always good to have someone on board who knows something about tech.”
“Krogan grow bored easily and act on impulse most often. What do you think will happen when Wrex itches for a fight in this small ship?”
“He might throw me around some more.”
“Some more?” Liara shot quickly up from the bed, scanning Shepard from head to toe, even if she had already taken proper care of her wounds prior. Her features darkened and Shepard grasped her wrist before she could stomp out of the room and hunt down the krogan.
“Just a couple of steps, to take out some mercs.” Liara lifted a brow, tapping her feet with her arms crossed.
Shepard sighed, pulling up her shirt, showing the blue bruising curling around her right side to her back. She shivered when Liara softly traced it with her fingertips, the coolness of her hand bringing some relief.
“Again, why did you think it was a good idea going with him?”
Shepard shot her a lopsided grin, shrugging. “All in all, it could have gone worse?” She held out her arms for Liara to step into, which she did.
“It didn’t go like we planned.” Liara murmured against her throat, her breath ghosting over it, while she wrapped her arms around Shepard.
“Mhm, no plan survives enemy contact.”
“Is that something they teach you in the military?” The smile in her voice was audible. “Actually, it might make the Council trust you more seeing you working together with other species, even more so if-”
“I’m never gonna befriend a turian.” Shepard interrupted her firmly, repeating it when Liara stayed silent. “And if I say yes, are you going to point out how superior asari are again?” Shepard teased, chuckling when Liara swatted her arm, stepping out of her embrace.
“The last I knew, we were exchanging knowledge about our cultures and societies. It is not my fault if humans, how did you phrase it? Just,” she held up her hands, making air quotes causing Shepard to burst into laughter, “Wing it.”
“Well, it is not my fault asari like to solve their problems by talking about them for so long until they just aren’t there anymore.” Shepard paused, considering. “Which makes more sense now after Wrex told me how long you live.”
“He did?” Liara frowned, her smile disappearing.
“A thousand years, huh? That’s quite a lifespan.”
“Which means yours is shorter.” Liara ducked her head.
“A 150 years, with my biotics perhaps longer, but we don’t know. After all, more or less, we are the first generation of biotics. There is some indication for it, but we won’t know until one of us bites it under natural causes.” She shrugged, swallowing when Liara turned away from her, climbing back on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest.
“Then you have already reached one sixth of your life expectancy.” Liara licked her lips, shoulders falling. “I’m barely considered more than a child in my society’s perception.”
Shepard’s brows rose, just like the horror, the pure dread in her gut. “Child?” She coughed out, panic flickering over her expression and Liara regarded her, forehead creased, holding out her hand as Shepard tried to control her breathing, to not hyperventilate.
Liara sifted quickly through her thoughts, her own horror rising. “No, not like that. In your terms, I would be considered a young adult. I have fully reached the age of maturity, I’m fully developed in body and mind.” She broke off, embarrassment spiking. “Has Wrex told you about the life stages of an asari?”
Liara nodded when the conversation with Wrex flared through their shared mindscape. “I’m considered a maiden, which means in asari or most of the galaxy’s standards I should dance in clubs, be a mercenary, explore and do everything there is to do in wild abandon.” Annoyance, tinged with defeat and indignation, spread through the meld.
“Then I should settle down when I reach 400 hundred, the matron stage, conceive and raise children and at last with 800 as a Matriarch I should become a guide for our society, spread wisdom, engage with politics. I’m 108 and I do not wish to spend my years doing what is expected of me just because. I always wanted to learn, to explore the past, to uncover the mystery of the protheans, so I studied, got my doctorate and have been doing field research for the last fifty years.”
“You are simply amazing.”
“Thank you.” Liara gave her a shy grin as the meld hummed with affection. “So, I’m a consenting adult.” She returned to the topic of conversation, beaming when Shepard joined her on the bed, sprawling out on her back, their hands still entwined.
“Good.” The thought she might have taken advantage of Liara in any way was excruciating.
“Does that mean I have explicit consent to do this?” Liara hovered over her, the corner of her mouth quirked up. Her fingers raked through Shepard’s hair before she joined their lips in a kiss.
They both laughed when it was slightly awkward at this angle, kissing upside down not as easy as believed. “Anytime.” Shepard replied more earnestly than she wanted, heat crawling up her neck.
“I will keep that in mind.” Liara continued playing with her hair, lightly scratching over her scalp and she was getting much too good at this, Shepard melting into the bedding with a hum.
Eyes heavy as she forced them open to ask what she had come for. “Where am I staying?”
The fingers in her hair stilled, their gazes meeting. “I believe it would be best to-” Liara trailed off, biting her bottom lip. “With strangers on board and with you the most experienced in strategy and warfare and this room closest to the bridge and therefore the cockpit, but with my knowledge of the language and technology-” Liara was so cute when she rambled. “I’m not rambling!”
Shepard chuckled, forgetting they were still joined. “At least you no longer deny that you’re cute.”
“Shepard!” Liara looked away, but her cheeks were tinged a deep purple. “We should share accommodations.” Liara blurted out at last, out loud.
Shepard blinked. Hoping she wasn’t nodding too enthusiastically, they had done so on the merc ship as well, with both unfamiliar with the ship and flying such a big one only the two of them it had been necessary. It was more efficient as they already spent most of their time together, language learning and what not. But there had been bunk beds and not one single bed.
“Right.” Shepard nodded again. “It’s a strategic advantage, should we be boarded or are pursued. It’s just putting our resources together.”
“Exactly.” Liara nodded, gaze flickering from Shepard to the wall and back, yet her fingers resumed their caress, which-
“May I touch your crest?” Shepard closed her eyes. This was not how she wanted to approach the topic. Not in the least, she covered her eyes with her arm, mortified when she felt the tangle of emotions in Liara. “Just if it is alright and not like overstepping a million boundaries, only if you are comfortable with it, I was just curious.”
“Yes.” Shepard peeked over her arm at Liara, who cleared her throat, voice more steady this time. “You may.”
Oh. They stared at each other, both unmoving before Shepard carefully sat up, crossing her legs beneath her as she turned to face Liara. The asari copied her, wiggling closer until their knees touched.
Her fingers curled around Shepard’s wrist, trembling almost unnoticeable when she exhaled shakily. “Hey.” Shepard murmured, softly reaching up to cup her cheek. “We don’t have to, not ever if you aren’t comfortable.”
“No.” Liara covered her hand, leaning into her palm, the crinkle between her brows smoothing out. “Just be careful, it’s not like your-” She searched for the right word. “Hair.”
Shepard nodded, understanding, after all Liara had freaked out badly when she had first shed a hair, which had wrapped around Liara’s finger, terrified she had hurt the human or crippled her in some way.
Liara bowed her head, placing her hand on her forehead, where the silvery spots started appearing like a tiara around her crest. She let it rest there for a moment, before slightly tracing upwards, the skin smooth and cool.
Liara sighed, her shoulders relaxing and she dared to caress the grooves in between the scalp tendrils, the asari provided, shuddering at the touch. Falling forward, leaning her head against Shepard’s shoulder, as she followed the arch to the point the tendrils met.
The sensation in the meld was weird, but not feeling much different from when Liara caressed her scalp. Shepard repeated the motion on every groove, smiling softly when her reward was a purr. She let her fingers wander on the underside, taking her hand away the moment Liara jolted in her arms.
“Did I-”
“No, there are just a lot of nerve endings meeting at the base of my crest, so the area is very sensitive.”
Shepard nodded, instead focusing on the folds of Liara’s neck she had before once or twice carefully brushed up against. But now she mapped the region, the petal-like folds, the ridges, shivering when Liara purred louder, wiggling closer until she was more or less in her lap.
Her nose brushed against the column of her throat as she nuzzled deeper into the space, causing Shepard’s heart to pound against the cage of her ribs.
She swallowed heavily, especially with the input she got through the meld, the sweet affection but also the flare of desire, Liara seemingly boneless in their embrace. The little dance between them felt both like awkward stumbling and seamless moving together, they both skipping steps and yet in sync, twirling and catching. Fingers brushing together, quickly pulled back yet familiarity. Heading together into a direction unknown, both uncaring to where.
Shepard was caught off guard when Liara backed away, pushing her lightly in the chest, causing them to fall back on the bed together. In the same movement, before she could make a sound, Liara kissed her. Unrestrained, with no hesitation, immediately deepening it.
The meld flared with emotion, making Shepard’s head spin, numbing to the physical world, no meld having been this intense. Wisps of biotics emitted around them, their heartbeats turning into one.
Liara flicked with her tongue against the roof of her mouth, earning herself a groan and Shepard leaned up, cupping her neck, thumb brushing against her pulse point, losing herself completely in the sensation of heat and wetness, passion and need. Nearly every inch of them touching with Liara laying on top of her, hands buried in her hair beneath her head.
A slight wiggle, the roll of her hips, Shepard had to pull back breathless, moaning when Liara took the chance to nip at her jawline, to kiss down her neck, only to return the second she grasped her hips, stilling their relentless rolling. Their kisses simmering down slowly, just like their bubbling emotions, leaving them both panting.
Shepard hazily peered up through the skylight to the stars above. Liara rested under her chin, directly above her heart. Hand lazily trailing up and down Shepard’s arm, in intervals softening her touch so she was brushing over the fine hairs there. Even with them no longer kissing and the meld having grown shallow, it was hard to distinguish where she began and Liara ended.
“Oh, that reminds me.” Liara perked up at her voice, humming. “Wrex said something about pheromones?” The hand tracing her arms froze. “Something about me smelling like you, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
A twitch, Liara didn’t even seem to breathe, but she was hit with a wave of mortification. “Time to sleep.” Liara blurted out, clapping and the light dimmed.
Shepard laughed. “Really?” Liara said nothing, burrowing deeper into Shepard. “Wow, and here I was expecting some scientific explanation of I don’t know having scent glands to mark territory, like an exclamation of that’s mine fuck off or in your case more please kindly fuck off-”
“It’s not like that!” Liara insisted, lifting her head to stare down at Shepard, face more purple than blue.
“Aha, but there is something.” Liara groaned, having confirmed Shepard’s suspicions and went back to hiding in her neck. “You gonna tell me?”
Silence was her answer, a huff against her neck, causing goosebumps to erupt and then like a grumpy toddler. “No.”
Shepard burst into laughter, shaking her head as she pulled Liara closer, letting her keep her secrets for now. Staring up, the endless vastness of space spread out before her, there was nowhere else she wanted to be right now. She pressed a kiss against Liara’s crest, melting into the mattress, just listening to her breathing.