Pairing: Liara T'Soni/FemShepard
Spoilers: Mass Effect 1, 2, 3
AN: I wrote an Aria/Tevos fill that briefly mentioned asari pheromones 'marking' a sexual partner. Another wonderful anon author ran with the idea and wrote this story: www. fan fiction s/8084963/1/Marked I wrote this minifill in response/gratitude.
...
Taken
...
It started innocently enough, with a friendly inquiry about her 'bondmate' from a merchant in the presidium. Shepard frowned, wondering how the talkative asari knew, but assumed that it was just a lucky guess.
Then, things started getting weirder.
Whispers and eyes followed her. A pair of young asari maidens, giggling behind their hands near the docking bay. A matriarch giving her a saucy wink as she passed by. Even a condescending smirk from Aria T'Loak in Purgatory.
Aethyta was the one who finally clued her in. "So, are you and my daughter going to embrace some kids into eternity any time soon, or have you just been practicing?"
Shepard blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Come again?"
"I'd say you've been coming an awful lot already," the matriarch drawled. "Liara's scent is all over you."
"Liara's - what?"
It was Aethyta's turn to blink. "You don't know?" It was, perhaps, the first and only time that Shepard had ever seen Aethyta even slightly embarrassed. "I'm going to take the awkward silence as a 'yes', then. When asari start having lots of sex with a regular partner, their hormone production spikes. It's worse with maidens, but it happens during all three stages of life. Most other species think we're the whores of the galaxy, but asari can be very territorial when it comes to our families."
Shepard was still completely confused. "So that means..."
"It means my kid's marked you. Think of it as an invisible tattoo that says, 'this fine ass belongs to Liara T'Soni, and if you even so much as look at it too long, I'll warp you into dark space'. Something like that."
Suddenly, everything clicked in to place. "I should probably talk to Liara about this," Shepard said, grateful for the explanation, but wishing it hadn't come from such an awkward source. Most of her conversations with Aethyta were weird enough already.
"Yeah, 'talk'. Right. Good luck with that."
. . .
"Did you have fun on your day off, Shepard?" Liara asked, not bothering to look up from her glowing monitor. She had known that Shepard was outside the door before it even opened.
"You could say that," the human said in a voice that sounded far more irritated than Liara was expecting. "If you count running errands a day off... Sometimes, I think people start talking about missing items on purpose whenever they see me coming. 'Oh, however will I find the fabled Grand Dildo of Athame? It would really boost troop morale! And I also need the Banner of This Is Such a Damn Waste of Time or we'll surely lose to the Reapers.' It can't possibly be a coincidence."
The asari did not look away from the screen, although she reached out with her hand to briefly caress Shepard's knuckles. "I shudder to think what the Banner of This Is Such a Damn Waste of Time looks like or how large the Grand Dildo of Athame is. I especially don't want to know where in the galaxy you came up with those... um, interesting hypothetical examples. Your brain is a frightening place sometimes, Shepard."
The human was more amused than offended, but still cranky from her trying day. "Well, you should know. You've been in there often enough. By the way, you didn't tell me that melding with you would leave a scent. I had to deal with asari staring at me and making sly comments all day, including your father."
Liara finally looked at her. "Oh, Goddess. I meant to discuss it with you. It just never came up, and - ... exactly what did Aethyta tell you?"
"Wow, are you blushing? Your father didn't say anything that bad, although I think there was an indirect compliment of my ass in there somewhere."
Liara took Shepard's hand and pulled her gently towards the bed. They both sat down, knees touching. "Well, I suppose I should start by explaining that when an asari becomes, well, bonded, their hormone levels change. We begin producing pheromones. They make us seem more attractive to our mates on a subconscious level and warn off competitors." The asari frowned. "It sounds rather primitive when I put it like that."
"Is that part of the reason so many different species like asari? Wait, that came out wrong... I don't mean that, you know, asari are purposely - I just..."
"It's all right. Yes, our pheromones do attract other species, but this is much stronger. More... noticeable..." Liara gripped the material of her lab coat, her fingers clenching and unclenching in her lap. She looked decidedly nervous, and Shepard decided to take pity on her.
"Well, it's better than a tramp stamp," the Commander joked, but she stopped smiling when she noticed just how embarrassed Liara still seemed. She couldn't meet the human's eyes. "Hey, it's okay... look at me, please?" Obediently, the asari lifted her head. "I actually think it's sexy. There's a reason my hand migrates to your ass whenever we're in Purgatory, and it's not just because I'm a pervert. I like it when everyone knows the sexiest asari in the room belongs to me."
Somewhere along the line, Shepard's voice had dropped in pitch until it was a seductive purr against Liara's ear. "I can't blame you for doing the same thing."
Liara's eyelashes fluttered, brushing her cheekbones, and her lips parted slightly. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. "It... it will wear off a little, but for the most part, it's permanent, unless we're separated for months at a time."
"I'm okay with that." Shepard slid a firm hand around the back of Liara's neck, massaging the lower part of her crest as she leaned in close. "Very okay with that. But we'd better meld a lot anyway, just in case..."
Quickly regaining her confidence, Liara crawled onto Shepard's lap, straddling the human's hips and pushing her back onto the bed. "Exactly right. By the time I'm done with you, Commander, every asari on the Citadel is going to know that you are, as the humans say, taken, in every sense of the word."