Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Shepard's first name.
Set somewhere during the time period after Sovereign's defeat and before the beginning of ME2.
"This one must have really hurt."
In the dim light that the desk console offers, Liara studies the vast collection of scars that nineteen years of starvation and abuse have left on the other woman. Liara thinks of the scars as a testament to Evan's strength, as some of the injuries that caused them would have killed a lesser person. Shepard's ability and determination to endure despite everything that's happened is something that she finds incredibly awe inspiring.
"A rival gang ambushed me and some other Reds after we stole their entire shipment of red sand. The guy would have shanked me if I hadn't slid out of the way in time. Still managed to slice my back open though," Evan remarks offhandedly, as if a gaping wound to the back was something normal. Liara guesses to her it is, considering her violent upbringing in the slums of Earth.
Silence falls over them once again as Liara's fingers resume their exploration. She maps the smooth skin of Shepard's shoulder and eventually reaches a long jagged scar on the fleshy area between her right shoulder blade and spine. Shepard clears her throat quietly.
"Someone threw a broken plate at me. I don't remember why but needless to say it, uh…got stuck. I had to take it out myself." The image of a young Evan Shepard yanking a plate out of her bloody shoulder in some dark alleyway makes Liara shiver, suddenly grateful for Armali's extremely low crime rate and her own peaceful childhood. The kiss Evan drops to Liara's forehead and the tightening of strong arms around her bare body chases away the image and she blows out a breath. Liara hugs back slightly and Shepard strokes her crest as an invitation to continue. Evan doesn't even know why she's so willing to open up her heart to this asari so quickly, but she can't help herself. Liara's managed to brush past all the brashness and stubbornness and now that she has her, she doesn't want to let go.
The asari thumbs her way down Evan's torso, tracing over various small nicks and stop over the small circular scars that dot her lower belly. "What about these ones?" Liara asks softly.
"Cigarette burns. Some guy saw me walking back to the orphanage with a bag of food and he tried to steal it. I broke his nose but he was bigger, so he beat the living shit out of me and then pushed his cigarette into my stomach a few times for good measure." Shepard's eyes are unfocused, like she's recalling the memory and she shudders slightly before snapping her gaze back to Liara's.
Something in her gaze almost seems like she's waiting for the asari to get up and leave out of disgust, and Liara's heart aches at that thought. Instead, she leans up slightly and places a small kiss to Evan's lips, her stomach flipping when the gentle touch elicits a quiet sigh from the Commander.
"I've thought about getting rid of them so many times, you know," Evan murmurs after a few minutes of silence. Liara looks up from a crescent shaped scar on her forearm and fixes her with a questioning stare.
"I feel like they're a constant reminder of something I tried really hard to leave behind," Shepard explains. "I spent nineteen years of my life doing things I would rather not remember and carrying these around just feels like a burden."
Slender blue fingers trace over the scar that cuts through Evan's left eyebrow and down her cheek. "I think they just represent how strong you are," Liara remarks.
Evan looks down at her with a light frown. "What makes you say that?"
Liara shrugs, her hand sliding down to rest over the other woman's heart. "I've seen and heard enough about them to know that your childhood was the furthest from pleasant. But for you to have survived all that and to still achieve what you have now…I think it's incredible."
Shepard stays silent, her eyes thoughtful as she ponders Liara's words. Eventually, she chuckles and swoops down to kiss Liara lightly. "Huh. I never thought of it that way," she muses, "I guess you're kind of right."
Liara grins a little and stifles a yawn. Seeing this, Evan pulls the blankets over them further and draws Liara closer. "Enough storytelling for one night," Shepard murmurs, removing Liara's hand from her chest and kissing her palm. "I've got a meeting with the Council tomorrow and I need you to be there to make sure everything I say to them isn't 'I told you so'."