Liara awoke slowly- languidly. She was lying on her side, one arm stretched across the covers to rest her hand on Shepard's hip. She trailed delicate fingers up her lover's spine tracing the faint scars that criss-crossed her back and shoulders.
Shepard lay spread out on her stomach. She had tucked one arm beneath herself in the night, a bad habit that she could not shake, the other was bent to rest her hand near her face. Her fingers twitched and Liara idly wondered what she dreamt of.
A buzzing from the room beyond the bed interrupted her musing. She had muted Gylph last night but told it to alert her to any important messages. With a sigh she dropped her hand to the covers. The work of the Shadow Broker was never done, even with almost all of her agents dead or out of reach. Not even war could keep the flow of information from picking back up.
Trying not to disturb her sleeping partner, she managed to disentangle herself from the sheets. She grabbed the closest article of clothing she could find-Shepard's black N7 tee- and threw it on. Foregoing pants in favor of silencing Gylph before it could wake Shepard, she activated her personal terminal.
"Dr. T'soni, you have three new messages from Feron, the most recent has been tagged as urgent." The small drone floated over her shoulder.
"Thank you Glyph." She dismissed the drone and opened the first message.
Shadow Broker,
Are you sure this krogan can be trusted? I know he served with the Commander, but is it really necessary I work with him on this?
Feron
She frowned at the message, Shepard had assured her that Grunt could be a trusted informant for the state of the Krogan on Earth. It was imperative that peace be kept between the alien species still residing on Earth, a herculean effort with the genophage cured and an army of Krogan. Tensions were running high, but the information Grunt and Feron were collecting had helped diffuse more than one potential disaster. But if Feron was unsure of Grunt's information… She opened the second message; it would not be prudent to jump to conclusions.
Shadow Broker,
This krogan is going to get me killed! He's almost blown my cover three times now- I have to go, he says there's something we need to see at the bar down the road. Please message me back as soon as possible.
Feron
Liara's frown deepened; she worriedly opened the third message marked urgent.
LShadowB roker
Dissregard previous messages, Grunts a great guy! He said eh's sorry about almost geting me Killed, also to give sHepard a head butt, also
He says not to call Shepard this time, he's not going to set a car on firre agin. This bar is reallly grea, grutn bought me a drink. Maybe six,
Relief edged out amusement and annoyance by a small margin. If Feron's sloppily typed message could be trusted, he and Grunt were fine. No blown covers or impending political meltdowns, she could be annoyed with them later. No doubt Feron would contact her again when he was sober.
Crossing her arms she leaned back in the chair, perhaps her peaceful morning could be salvaged. With a sigh she swiveled to look into the bedroom. Her scowl lifted at the sight of Shepard curled around a pillow, her face buried in the soft down, her shock of red hair sticking every which way. Watching Shepard sleep had become Liara's guilty pleasure in the last three months. There was something about seeing the worry and stress of the galaxy finally removed from her shoulders.
Liara watched fondly as Shepard squirmed in her sleep. Her face scrunched and she mumbled into her pillow, Liara smiled when she caught her name in the unintelligible sounds. One arm reached for the empty space Liara had left.
Suddenly the peaceful planes of Shepard's face cracked with panic. Her hand clenched in the cooling sheets when her searching fingers failed to find Liara's familiar warmth. In a split second she was sitting up, eyes wide. Liara was on her feet and in the room almost as fast.
"Liara!" She managed to choke out before her throat closed.
"I am right here Shepard, I have not left," Liara rushed to her lover's side. The smile she had worn moments ago replaced with intense worry. She smoothed her hand over Shepard's- the one still clenched in the sheets. Taking the hand between her own Liara sat back on the bed and drew Shepard to her.
Shepard's reaction was immediate, she wrapped herself around Liara- arms tangled around her torso, legs wrapped around her waist. She buried her face in Liara's collar and drew in a shaky breath. Her nose pushed into the scratchy fabric of the t-shirt. Her skin was hot and tight, but her hands were clammy. She clutched at the fabric of Liara's shirt.
"Shhh, we are safe," Liara ran a hand through Shepard's hair while the other rubbed soothing circles up her spine.
Comforting with touch rather than words, they sat entangled until Shepard's heart beat slowed and her breathing evened. When she could finally breath without the air catching on its way out, Liara pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. Shepard reciprocated by trailing lips up and down the folds of her neck.
"Sorry, sorry," Shepard repeated the word like a mantra between each kiss; her voice still breathless. Six months and Shepard's dreams were still caught in the middle of a war. She hated how powerless they made her feel, how she could never separate dream from reality until she woke up.
"Stop it, you have nothing to apologize for," Liara cupped Shepard's face between gentle hands, her thumb brushed a damp spot under one eye. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Shepard sighed "No… yes. I don't know," she nuzzled under the Asari's chin, "It was nothing new."
Liara wrapped her arms around the human and rested her chin on her head, hair tickled her nose but she ignored it, "Tell me about it, you know it helps to talk."
She was silent for a moment, but then, "It was the forest again, misty, everything was in shadow, and the whispers-" she took a steadying breath, Liara tightened her grip, "the boy… he was there, surrounded by the shadows. I- I couldn't move fast enough…" she trailed off. Liara knew how the story ended, this dream had been haunting Shepard the longest, since the first attack on Earth.
"He just started burning, and I couldn't move, I couldn't..." Her hands fisted against Liara's back, "Then you were there. And the Normandy. Her crew. Everyone was burning, Earth... Thessia. There was nothing I could do," Here her voice broke but she tried to continue, "Liara I-"
Before she could even think of uttering the first syllable, Liara caught her mouth in a kiss, just a soft press of lips. When she was sure Shepard had gotten the message she pulled away."What did I say about apologizing?"
Shepard swallowed another apology, choosing to chew her bottom lip instead. Her hands knotted into the tail of Liara's shirt.
Liara pressed their foreheads together. "Look at me Shepard, it was not your fault."
"But it was, I sho-"
"No. You could not have prevented it, no one could have." Her words were soft but firm.
Shepard did not reply, it was a moot point. No one else had had the chance. Liara sensed the direction of her thoughts and decided on a new tactic.
"Shepard, you are still avoiding eye contact," Liara smiled softly, "I may have to take drastic steps to reclaim your attention."
Shepard appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood. Playing along, she looked up through her eyelashes, "And how 'drastic' would these steps be Dr. T'soni?" Faintly, her mouth quirked into a familiar grin.
Liara's smile widened, "As drastic as they need to be... Commander." Her words were playful, but her wicked fingers promised more than teasing as they settled on Shepard's hips.
Shepard chuckled, a puff of breath against Liara's collar. It felt good so she did it again; the action finally loosened the knot in her chest. Before long, her chuckles had evolved into laughter. She tried to stifle the sounds in Liara's shoulder, but she couldn't disguise the way her shoulders shook.
It took a herculean effort, but she managed to get her chuckles under control. Although the sight that greeted her when she looked up from her lover's collar was almost enough to send her back into a fit.
The markings on Liara's brow were drawn low over her eyes, the space between interrupted by a wrinkle, and her lips had drawn together in the slightest hint of a pout. Not that she would admit to it, Liara T'soni did not pout.
Shepard sat up to kiss the tip of her her arms around Liara's midsection, she pressed their foreheads together again.
"Thank you," she whispered into the small space between their lips. Up close, she could count every freckle that ran across the bridge of her nose. They were every shade of blue imaginable; before they met she thought she had known what blue looked like, she couldn't believe how blind she'd been.
Liara's face softened at her words. She smiled as she looked into Shepard's eyes, how she had never seen that same shade of green anywhere else in the galaxy was a mystery. She closed the last millimeters between their lips, pressing them together. Shepard's mouth pulled into a smile against hers.
"Give me my shirt back, and I'll get breakfast."
"Mmm, maybe later, I am quite comfortable like this."