From the writer: Just so you know, this started as a request from my late friend, Kat. She asked if I could write a short mature romantic story with two "Mass Effect" characters, and after bouncing it back and forth to figure out who, I settled on Miranda Lawson and everyone's favorite corporate investigator, Gianna Parasini. However...I came up with a twist to the story that surprised the heck out of Kat, and she loved it. I hope you love it, too...and if you don't like it, blame it on her! *wink!* By the way, this links a bit with the much, much bigger story I brought here, "Coda"!

Now, I've got to stress this is mature...this is no-kidding slash fiction. You'd better understand, all right? Don't let any kids read this, okay? I'm telling you!

Let me be clearer: THE FOLLOWING STORY HAS FICTIONAL YET STEAMY, SERIOUSLY KINKY LESBIAN SEX!

All right, then! Oh yeah, "Mass Effect" and its characters owned by EA and BioWare!

"COSTUME PLAY" - A "MASS EFFECT" Short Story

Dedicated to Kat!

by Charles Spencer

Gianna Parasini was looking forward to this meeting as she moved down the hotel hallway to her destination. Outside, the cityscape was alive and bustling...even hundreds of stories up, the sky traffic was thick. It had been seven years since The Reaper War, and Earth was most of the way to normal. New Miami was definitely a sign of that recovery, and Gianna's kind of town. Sleepless, exciting, and a little bohemian in the right places, especially at night. One thing that the great war against the Reapers taught Humanity and every advanced race was to live each moment to the fullest...to feast on life and all it could offer when one was able. Many more liberal hearts called it the best possible way to honor the memory of their late and beloved savior, The Shepard herself.

Gianna finally reached the hotel room she was instructed to go to...7196. She was here for official business, not for fun. That's why Gianna was dressed for business in her conservative red suit she always preferred. She rang the chime.

A moment later, the door opened...and Gianna could only stare.

Gianna had seen Miranda Lawson before, but from a distance, when the investigator met Commander Mary Shepard for the second time on Illium...Miranda had been part of the hero's crew at the time she fought the Collectors. When Miranda contacted her the night before, she told Gianna she had stumbled upon information of interest to her employers, ERCS. Between then and tonight, Gianna took the liberty of investigating Miranda's history. A former Cerberus operative who, a few years after the war, became a freelance intelligence agent for the Earth Systems Alliance and the rest of the Council worlds. Genius and expert combat specialist. She was created in a test tube to be perfect in every way by her late father. Before she was 20, her twin sister Oriana was created, also engineered to be perfect.

Gianna stared because Miranda Lawson, who she did recognize from Illium years before, was without a doubt perfect as she stood in her hotel room's doorway. Her curvaceous, panther-like form was barely clothed in a skin-tight black and white bodysuit that seemed to be painted on the woman. Her long dark hair was to kill for. Her skin, porcelain-flawless, almost glowed in the light. Gianna suddenly felt self-conscious...and a little warm. The perfect woman said, in a thick Australian accent, "Miss Parasini?"

Gianna blinked and found herself again. "That's right. You're undoubtedly Miss Lawson. May I come in?"

The woman in black and white nodded and stepped aside for the woman in red, who entered to the spacious, high-income apartment. Gianna began as she took in her new surroundings, "You said you had something for me?"

The perfect woman softly closed the door to her room as she answered, "Yes, some information that might be of value to you."

Gianna turned back to her host and folded her arms. "Okay. I like to get right down to business. What do you have for me?"

The pale-skinned beauty smiled, her eyes examining the investigator. "You're in such a hurry. You can't stay for a few minutes?" She walked to the kitchen area, her long and perfect legs hypnotic as they moved, her killer high heels clocking on the wood floor. "I could get you something..."

Gianna frowned. "This isn't exactly a social call I'm making, Miss Lawson."

"Of course. What I'm asking can't be any trouble, either." She stopped at the doorway to the kitchen and offered again, "So...may I get you something?"

"No, thanks." Gianna began to feel tense...something was off about all this. "Miss Lawson - !"

"Call me Miranda, please. You prefer simply Gianna, correct?" The woman Gianna and the rest of the galaxy knew as a war hero turned fully back to the woman in red and moved toward her, in no hurry.

"Uh yes, Gianna is fine. Miranda, what is going on?"

The beauty in black and white put her hands on her killer hips and stopped before the investigator. "Gianna, there's no reason to be worried - "

Gianna quickly said, "I'm not worried."

The perfect woman's cool eyes examined the woman in red. "Well, you seem a bit on-edge."

Gianna suddenly blurted in frustration, "You would be too if you were being stonewalled!" The perfect woman gasped, taken off her guard, and for a moment honest fear was there in her eyes. Gianna thought that strange instantly...hadn't this woman helped Commander Shepard fight the Collectors and then the Reapers? The former terrorist looked away from Gianna then, self-conscious...unsure. The investigator's expression calmed and she said quietly, "Hey. Please talk to me, Miranda." The woman in red took a step closer to her host, her voice measured, intended to soothe. "I know you wouldn't have called me without a good reason. If something's wrong, just talk to me. What is this about?"

The uncertainty in the woman in black and white suddenly shifted to a mortified expression. She shook her head and managed, "This is so embarrassing. I told her this might not work! But no, she said it would! Why did she have to have a blasted call taking her away - !"

Gianna blinked. "T-told who? Have to have what - ? Miranda...just tell me what's up."

The perfect woman looked to the floor and lifted her gloved hand to comb her slender fingers through her long, amazing hair. The gesture almost made Gianna want to stare again. Still frowning, when her host spoke again, the woman's voice...changed. She lost her Australian accent completely to become much more neutral and learned. "I'm truly sorry. I...I'm not Miranda." The woman looked up at Gianna and confessed, "I'm Oriana Lawson, her sister."

Gianna was surprised silent for a beat, and then she suddenly laughed...the sound was truly merry and warm, and Miranda's twin couldn't help but smile, if only uncomfortably. Gianna shook her head as she grinned... "Well, for the love of - ! It was all right in front of me, but I didn't realize!"

Hesitant, Oriana bit her perfect lower lip before she asked, "Y-you're not angry...?"

Gianna laughed again. "Honey, if I'm gonna get angry every time someone tried to pull the wool over my eyes, I'm just not meant to be an investigator!" The woman in red stepped up to the lady in black and white and gestured to her. "Oriana? I want to make sure this time!"

Oriana smiled. "I'll show you. You must know there's an age difference between me and my sister?"

"Yeah, but...you look exactly like Miranda. Yet you're not as old as she was during The Reaper War...there should still be some differences."

Oriana smile became brighter. "Thank an amazing cosmetic specialist I met for that. She pointed me in the direction of herbal treatments that made my skin as pale as Miranda's...and she showed me ways to make me look older. To accentuate my cheekbones and jawline, but the cumulative effect is best under lights. But it changes when it's not as bright. I'll show you...lights low, please!" The lights of the apartment went low, and the affect was dramatic. Oriana's face became younger, softer as the optical illusion created by her makeup was broken.

Gianna was amazed. "Wow...I do see the difference now. Nice to meet you, Oriana."

Oriana Lawson nodded. "Thank you, Gianna...and I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, but I don't get it. You could have just told the truth, that your twin wasn't here."

Oriana shrugged. "Well, Miranda thought trying to deceive you might be fun."

Gianna raised an eyebrow as her smile turned mischievous. "Did she, now?"

Oriana looked down and smiled. "She did. You must understand, my dear sister has something of a...naughty side to her."

Gianna grinned. "Uh-huh! So Miranda had something important to take care of that wouldn't wait?"

Oriana nodded. "Yeah, she left an hour ago. She said she'd be back later...but even she didn't know how much later. She might be another hour...or she might be gone all night."

Gianna lost her grin. "Oh. Well, that's...great."

"But the information she wanted to give you is important! Maybe...you can stay for a while?" Oriana's smile was kind, inviting.

Gianna nodded. "I can...just as long as it isn't boring."

For about an hour after that, Gianna and Oriana talked as they sat across from one another over a coffee table...they both drank water Oriana fetched from the kitchen. The perfect woman filled in a lot of gaps that the investigator didn't know about her and Miranda's history. Gianna definitely learned more than she wanted to about the twins' father. The investigator mused, "I'd say I'm sorry your father is dead, but I know you can't be sorry."

Oriana was fully at ease as she sat across from Gianna, as she crossed her perfect legs. "I'm not, but there are times I wished things were different. I wish Miranda and I truly had a father. I wish we were brought into this world because of love, like other children are." Her perfect face showed how much she wished that.

Gianna nodded. "I know you and Miranda finally met a couple of years before The Reaper War. You two probably caught up with each other fast, being twins?"

Oriana nodded. "We did, but above all it was so wonderful to know I had a guardian angel watching over me my entire life. Miranda loved me so deeply, so much more than my adopted family did. She devoted herself completely to me...I'm going to do the same for her."

"What do you mean?"

Oriana's expression became solemn. "I want to be like Miranda in every way. I had my own goals once, but the more we were together, the more we got to know each other, I realized my sister is the kind of woman I've always wanted to be. Strong, courageous, daring..."

Gianna smirked. "And a little naughty?"

A smile crept across the perfect woman's face. "Oh, yes. I won't be going out of my way to join a terrorist organization though, don't worry! Miranda has been so kind to help me learn all she knows so we can work together. I've learned most everything I need to about gathering intel, counterintelligence, martial arts, combat weaponry..."

Gianna's expression became a little serious. "But what about you, Oriana?"

"Hm?"

"You say you want to...to be like Miranda completely?"

"Yes...in every way possible, and not simply in appearance."

Gianna looked at Oriana thoughtfully. "I know twins look alike and all, but twins can still be individuals, honey. You've got your own personality, your own goals and dreams, right?"

Oriana's perfect eyes shifted. "Miranda is still the strongest of the two of us, Gianna. I honestly do want to be exactly like her. Mirror her in each and every way. And being together since the war has helped...we have a connection that helps us know each other as twins." Her full, perfect lips smiled a bit more. "It's like costume play, but I want to be serious about it. I want to go all the way with it, just like I tried to do with you when you came here." When she next spoke, Oriana's voice became Miranda's, her sister's accent taking away the softness in her voice. "I have had a lot of practice, and it's what I want. Being the mirror image of my dear sister will truly bring me happiness."

Gianna understood that...more than once, she played a role she wished she could always take on. But she always kept herself grounded, she never lost herself to the lure. Gianna said, "I know your older sister must be a hero to you, but Oriana Lawson's got some value, right? You're an amazing person, too...hell, you're just as perfect as Miranda is!" She truly meant that; hell, it was the truth, wasn't it?

Oriana's expression became much warmer, clearly thankful for Gianna's sentiment...but she continued to speak with her sister's voice. "That's lovely of you to say, Gianna. Thank you." Slowly, deliberately, the perfect woman stood and stretched her amazing body. "Begging your pardon, I hope you don't mind if I change?"

Gianna shook her head. "Go ahead, I won't stop you."

"Thank you." Then...Oriana undid the collar of her bodysuit, and began to slowly, carefully peel herself out of it right in front of Gianna. The woman in red was about to drink from her water, but she froze. She watched with awe as Oriana stripped out of her black boots and her bodysuit, and her perfect, incredible body only wore a piece of underwear, but it was as much like swimwear or excercise wear, jet black with long sleeves. The effect of it upon her pale body, the way it accentuated the length of her perfect legs, was incredible. Oriana then moved to a pair of black high heeled shoes on the floor next to her sofa...she slipped her feet into them, and her complete look made Gianna's breathe a little shallower. Oriana bent over, and her hands slowly skated up her legs from the ankles up. She stood straight and lifted her arms...she combed her fingers of both hands through her lustrous, flowing hair...

Gianna managed to snap out of the trance she was put in and slowly asked, "O-Oriana...what are you doing?"

Oriana looked at Gianna and said simply, in her sister's voice, "I'm teasing you. Is it working?"

The investigator's mouth almost dropped open. Quickly, defensively, she stood from her couch and said, "E-excuse me..." She pointed at her glass of water. "...uh, this needs some ice!" She almost ran to the kitchen and managed to get inside without stumbling.

Inside, Gianna stood at the sink, but she didn't use it. She was too busy thinking desperately: Holy shit, girl, what's wrong with you? Keep a cool head and relax. Yeah, right! The most amazing woman I've ever seen in my life is seducing me, and... And Gianna wanted that. She wanted Oriana so damned much...or did she want Miranda...? She understandably felt more than a little confusion...

"Gianna."

The woman in red felt her heart skip a beat, and she dared to turn around. Oriana was there, framed in the doorway of the kitchen, her hands upon each side...her perfect hips shifted to one side, making her posture more sensual, but it didn't seem to be a conscious move. Or maybe it was something she adopted from Miranda, along with the former terrorist's voice as she spoke: "If something's wrong...just talk to me. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Gianna turned fully, and her behind rested against the sink's edge. She told the truth... "I-I'm not uncomfortable...but I am worried."

"About what?"

The investigator managed, "I... I'm worried I might not be good enough for you."

"Why?" Oriana moved into the kitchen slowly...her pace gentle. "I think you're amazingly beautiful, Gianna. And I like you...I really like you." There was suddenly no distance between the women as they faced one another.

"I like you too, Oriana," Gianna almost whispered. The investigator felt herself flush...one of the two literally perfect women in the galaxy thought she was amazing...! "But Miranda should be back by now, right...?"

Oriana smiled a bit more as her pale hands reached out and rested upon Gianna's hips. "If she's not back by now...she won't be for the rest of the night."

Gianna's smile became hungry as she said, "Good answer." Her hands moved to gently clasp over Oriana's as she held the hips of the woman in red. Gianna kissed Oriana then, gently but quickly...and then again, and again, but each time the kisses got slower and slower, and the perfect woman kissed back matching the pace, loving, patient. They took their time as a heat built within them both...they knew the further they went, the better it would become. But Oriana drew closer, and as one arm wrapped around Gianna, the other moved up and took hold of the back of the investigator's head...Ori unfastened the hairclip, which kept Gianna's hair in a bun, and it spilled down like water, long and beautiful...and then Oriana pulled Gianna into her, and they began to kiss each other much more deeply...their tongues found one another, and their lips pressed against one another with a passionate hunger. Long, sweet moments passed...

Gianna Parasini's hands flew up and cradled Oriana's face as their tongues caressed each other's mouths...suddenly, Gianna broke the kiss and she said desperately, "Your bedroom. Now!"

Oriana Lawson's eyes were needful, but her grin was full of anticipation as she took Gianna's hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. The two went to the far end of the living room, and entered the luxurious bedroom, its most dominant feature a king-sized bed with satin sheets. Oriana broke away from Gianna briefly to shut the doors. As she did, Gianna quickly began to strip from her red businesswear...Oriana turned and watched, almost hypnotized, as the dusky beauty clothes slowly, finally fell into a crimson puddle at her feet, and she kicked away her red boots. Gianna's nude form was exotic, almost Amazonian in her grace...and it opposed gently the perfect pale beauty of Oriana when she slowly, smoothly stripped from her black underwear, her every move an amazing tease. The sight of Oriana nude except for her black fuck-me shoes got Gianna hungry as she wondered if Miranda shaved her pussy, too.

Oriana moved and her heels clocked on the floor briefly before she reached Gianna and held her tight, and they kissed for another few quiet, wonderful moments...and then things began to get serious. Oriana guided Gianna to a corner of the foot of the bed, and had her sit down. Gianna did so...Oriana then knelt in front of her and began to gently part the investigator's legs. Gianna didn't need much help to do that.

On her knees, Oriana drew closer...her hand moved and found Gianna's ready pussy between her taut inner thighs. Oriana began to massage Gianna then...her pussy became moist very quickly, which helped the perfect woman's fingers massage her. Gianna's breaths fell into nervous, hitched gasps from the sensations given to her. She tried to speak... "Uh...oh! Oh! Ohhh...you...tease, you..."

Oriana kept smiling as she looked up into Gianna's eyes, truly happy she made her partner feel this way. But...her smile shifted, the corners of her mouth curled to give her expression one full of mischief...she began to gently thrust two of her fingers into Gianna. The dusky beauty shuddered from the sudden feeling given to her pussy, and her exhales of breath turned to moans with each thrust Oriana gave to her.

Gianna felt the need to lie back, but not all of the way...she kept her upper body propped on her elbows as she looked down her form and watched Oriana do her work...she looked into the pale, perfect beauty's eyes, and saw her needful devotion. Moments passed this way...and then Oriana moved ever closer. Her thrusts into Gianna stopped...

...only so Oriana could bring her face close, and her perfect tongue extended from her mouth to begin to lick into Gianna's pussy.

Gianna almost cried, "Oh! Oh...ohhhh..." They continued to look into one another's eyes until Oriana's face dove and her lips began to press upon Gianna's as she licked into her pussy deeper...Gianna couldn't see the perfect beauty's face anymore, only her black hair as it spilled everywhere between her legs. Gianna suddenly lost all of her strength, the feeling becoming everything, and her upper body fell back limply on the mattress. It was beyond any words as Oriana licked into her and caressed her thighs...Gianna's hands moved and took hold of her own beautiful breasts, caressing them as she was overwhelmed by ecstacy...she couldn't help but squirm joyously as her hips gyrated urgently in response to Oriana's tongue. Minutes melted away...

...and suddenly, both Gianna and Oriana heard someone say loudly, "What in the world...!"

At first, as she felt sudden shock from the interruption, Gianna thought it was Oriana...but the voice was coming from a different location than from between Gianna's legs. She moved to try to sit up, and managed to prop her upper body on her elbows again as she saw Oriana looking away from her toward the doorway to the bedroom. There, in the suddenly open threshold, Miranda Lawson stood. The former Cerberus operative looked at the scene with wide eyes...and dammit, Gianna thought self-consciously, she really was just as perfect as Oriana in her black and white bodysuit.

Unprepared, to say the least, Gianna didn't know what to say at first. "Oh...uh..." She finally gathered herself and said lamely, "Hi. Gianna Parasini, Elanus Risk Control Services! Miranda Lawson, right?"

Miranda gave her a bemused look and nodded. "Of course." She then looked toward her sister and said coolly, "Ori, I told you I didn't expect to be gone long!"

Gianna looked at Oriana between her legs and raised an eyebrow. "No kidding?" Caught, Oriana smiled a bit more. Gianna looked at Miranda and said, "Somehow I was given the impression you might not be back for a while."

Miranda put her hands on her hips as they shifted to one side...she gave her sister a look. "Aha. My dear sister has developed a bit of a naughty streak."

Miranda's voice spoke again from her twin as she said, "I got it from you, dear sister." Oriana then began to thrust two fingers into Gianna again.

The investigator was taken by surprise and shuddered. "Oh! Ooohhh..." She found her breath again and smiled at Miranda. "You must be proud of your sister, huh?"

Miranda kept her smile, but her eyes became serious. "You can be certain of that, Gianna. We've gotten to be very close, you know. And sometimes...we like to try new things." Her own expression now reflecting a naughtiness, she asked Oriana, "Isn't that right, dear sister?"

Miranda's mirror image answered once more in her voice: "Absolutely, dear sister." Then...her face drew close to Gianna's pussy again, and Oriana Lawson's full lips peeled back in a silent snarl as she licked with a renewed hunger just above where her fingers thrusted slowly but firmly.

Gianna felt the need to collapse on her back, and did. She also wanted to melt into the mattress. "Ohhh...oh, you perfect beauty, you...ohhh..."

Slowly, deliberately, Miranda moved to the bed as she undid the collar of her bodysuit...she quickly stripped it down to her hips. She wore a black lace bra, which she also took off with a practiced motion to reveal her pale, perfect breasts. Miranda sat down next to Gianna...and then leaned over her, her face hovering over the investigator's. Miranda said, with a smile that wasn't so much naughty as it was wicked, "Ori got a head start on me...but I know how to catch up quickly. And I must say, Gianna, I'm not surprised my twin likes you so much. You truly are a beauty."

Swept up in the ecstacy of the moment as she felt Miranda's twin eat her out, realizing it was going to become something twice as perfect, Gianna Parasini managed a dreamy smile. "How did I get to be such a lucky girl...?"

Miranda Lawson said, "Perfect timing, I guess. Come here..." Her face descended upon the investigator's, and their eyes closed as they began to kiss deeply.

It was just the start of a long, amazing night...

THE END