Liara smiled politely as her meal arrived and quietly began to eat. Omni powered down and tablets left at the office she tried to pretend to be happy for the break. She frowned slightly that there wasn't nearly enough orange on the plate until remembering that was her color coordination goal for her notes, not her dinner. Cheeks flushed she ducked her head down slightly and poked a few limp vegetables around the plate.
Perhaps she had been spending too much time on her dissertation, and perhaps the fact that the school librarian no longer kicked Liara out when she fell asleep on or under a desk was not a good thing. She was also pretty sure her camping cot and a blanket where not typically considered good items to have in your office.
So here she was, mostly of her own volition and partially because her roommate wanted the apartment for the next few hours. The restaurant had opened recently near the space port, which meant it was also very close to campus. A place that was designed for people to go eat alone, that was their billing, "A Place to Eat Alone". Liara had laughed when she first heard it, but when she realized that tonight she was indeed going to eat out alone it became much more appealing. After all, most asari restaurants were designed around sharing with a group and if you came in alone there was always a pause while the hostess tried to find the smallest booth and the servers would try and rush you out. A place where you were supposed to come in alone and eat without any hassle sounded very appealing as Liara had passed a patio filled with asari on cushions feeding each other and passing plates around.
The reality of this place was that you sat far too close to a wall in what felt like a cubical. While no one made a fuss over her being by herself it did feel wrong in its own way.
Not even half done with her meal, Liara was about to signal for a server to pay and leave when a small screen lit up next to her. Mouth still full of food, one cheeky bulging out slightly, she squinted at the display.
Would you like to eat with someone? Y/N
Liara blinked, hand half raised to select "Yes" before letting it fall back to the table top. How pathetic was that, going to the restaurant for single eaters and complaining that she wanted to eat with someone else. Sighing at the display Liara turned away and put another large scoop of rice into her mouth. Feeling even worse than she had coming in, even worse than when she'd been shooed out of her own home, and somehow worse than when one of her students found her sleeping in her office—that was the exact moment that the wall in front of her suddenly slid to the side.
Across the table from her sat a human with blazing red hair, green eyes wider than Liara's, and an impressive amount of noodles hanging out of her mouth. She had one hand on the display next to her and the other raised as if in self-defense. The pair of chopsticks pointed at Liara as if ready to fight her with them.
Liara reflexively tried to swallow and consequently thumped on her chest to dislodge the rice in her wind pipe.
The woman across from her flushed an adorable pink and then red as she hastily tried to eat the last of her noodles or get them back into her soup bowl. She mostly succeeded in getting them onto her uniform.
They both looked at one another again, mouths still full, flustered, and not at all presentable to the outside world. Then the woman began to laugh, and Liara found herself laughing in response. With a small grin around her mouthful, Liara waved at her and was rewarded by a wave back. It took her a minute to remember to swallow.
Wow. She has freckles. Wow, oh wow. She's cute. I should say something. I should not say anything, Goddess, she'd run. Her hair is so bright. Wow.
"Did, did you press the button to eat with someone?" Liara asked.
The woman seemed to snap out of it and smiled sheepishly. "Ah, yeah, I did. Do you, that is, uh, do you mind that I pressed it? I didn't realize this is what it would do."
Tevura help me, she even sounds hot.
"No, I actually was about to press it myself." Liara lied.
Please believe me, think I'm confident, gosh look at her.
"Oh, good, I'm glad!" The woman smiled and the silence stretched on. "I'm Commander Shepard, System's Alliance."
Liara stared at the hand being held out towards her in confusion. Asari typically touched wrists or faces in greeting, and it took her a half second to wonder if that's what this was for. She mimicked the motion. "I'm Master Liara T'Soni, I work at Serrice University."
Shepard waited a beat, then smiled and moved her hand over to grab Liara's. She moved them up and down a beat as she said, "A genuine pleasure to meet you Liara."