Disclaimer

I do not own any of the characters or storylines from the Mass Effect Universe.

Author's Note

I wrote this back in October/November for the kmeme. The original prompt was for a story about Aethyta and Benezia's breakup. (Some chapters may be inappropriate for some readers, but they will be marked accordingly.)

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Aethyta was in bed, alone. She finally had to acknowledge that this had become a bad habit—one she needed to break, and fast.

It had been almost a decade since Nezzy left. Sure, she'd had a few quick lays since then, early on. Like an idiot, they'd all been asari, reminding her just enough of what she really wanted that it was that much more frustrating when it fell short. She should have gone for turians, or krogan, or maybe even elcor. She remembered liking elcor. And now, although she didn't like to admit it (and wouldn't if you asked), it had been quite a few years since she'd taken anyone to bed.

Not that this dry spell had anything to do with Nezzy. These things just happen every once in a while. Besides, a few years isn't even that long when you were nearly a thousand years old.

Yeah… ok, it was really starting to get to her. There was only so much satisfaction you could get from your own hand after a while. She had to admit that it was high time she had a real cock in her mouth, or a tongue on her clit, or at least some nice tits (that weren't her own) in her hands. Something. Anything.

Aethyta cursed and finally threw off the covers. She was obviously not falling asleep anytime soon. She walked through her dark apartment to the small alcove she called a kitchen. Taking down a glass from the cupboard, she sat on a stool by the counter. The stool was cold on her bare ass. Didn't matter—she'd be warming up soon enough.

It was somewhere between the third or fourth glass of elasa that the doorbell rang.

Aethyta guessed she better get dressed. She considered not answering, but she thought it just might be that turian who lived down the hall—the one with the nice ass who'd been bugging her lately. Maybe she could even solve her little problem tonight.

She didn't want to scare the kid away by answering her door naked, but she thought she'd better give him something to look at. So she dressed in something she felt was appropriately slutty, and went to answer the door.

"Shit," was all Aethyta could say when she saw who it was.

"Hello," Benezia said.

This was unexpected. So was the hot jolt that started in her gut and shot right between her legs.

"Am I… interrupting?" Benezia asked.

For a very brief moment, Aethyta was glad that Nezzy wasn't interrupting anything. Then she thought about it, and desperately wished she was.

"Shit," Aethyta said once again.

At least Nezzy had the decency not to stare too long at her outfit. In fact, for a second she looked a little unsure of herself. Aethyta couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her look like that. Maybe that was the reason she stepped aside to let her into the apartment. Or maybe she was just more drunk than she thought.

Aethyta led Nezzy through the apartment to the kitchen, still sort of half-stunned at the sharp turn her night had just taken.

"You want a drink?" Aethyta asked.

"Sure," Nezzy said.

She guessed tonight was just full of surprises—Nezzy was never one to drink. She pulled down an empty glass and filled it before topping off her own.

Shit was right. Nezzy looked good.

But the whole thing was just messing with Aethyta in all kinds of ways. Besides the slight throbbing between her thighs, she now had a tight knot right inside her chest that felt like it wanted to burst.

Sure, seeing Nezzy brought back all sorts of memories of laughter and sex: of playing with those tits as Nezzy tried to work, or of making suggestive gestures behind the holo when Nezzy was on vid calls. Or, Aethyta's personal favourite: the time she had gone to the Citadel on one of Nezzy's business trips and had snuck into the anteroom where she was waiting for the councilor—surprisingly, it had been as easy as paying off Tevos' attaché to take an early lunch. And Aethyta had to give credit where credit was due: Tevos always was one classy broad, and recovered like a pro when she walked in just as they were hitting the last shuddering wave of their shared orgasm. Nezzy had been horribly embarrassed, but Aethyta had considered the whole thing a huge success.

But seeing Nezzy tonight also brought back memories of anger and contempt. Nezzy's cold logic was always what got to Aethyta the most. Especially during those last few years, their arguments became a test of willpower for the both of them, with Aethyta screaming and yelling the most outrageous and profane things just to break Nezzy's calm. Sometimes she did, leaving Nezzy either in tears or in a state of uncontained rage, during which she'd say the meanest things, just to take them back the next day. Aethyta had considered those times, when Nezzy broke down, as also something of a success, even though they left her without any sort of satisfaction.

And then Nezzy left. There wasn't some big final blowout that really left everything on the line; one day, she was just gone. She barely even took anything from their house. Just herself, their unborn child, and more than a little piece of Aethyta's heart. There was no note, no messages, not a single word. Not then, not after.

Until now. Until she has the quad to just show up without warning after a decade without contact. And still Nezzy wasn't saying anything. She was just standing there awkwardly in Aethyta's kitchen, staring at her glass.

Why wasn't Nezzy saying something at least?

"So… how's the kid?" Aethyta said, no longer able to take the awkward silence. And what else do you say to someone who up and left you after over a century together?

"She is doing well... Liara, her name is Liara," Benezia said.

No shit. Aethyta already knew the name of her own damn kid. She still had friends in Armali. It didn't matter that Nezzy had left before their daughter was born.

She glared at Nezzy, waiting for some sort of further explanation, but none came. Well, she had guessed that Nezzy hadn't come all the way here, unannounced, to tell her about the last time their daughter had the sniffles.

… Or to tell her about her first steps, or her first word, or—shit. Nezzy could have at least sent her some sort of message in the last ten years. Hey, I had the kid. She's blue. That would have been enough. Well, not enough, but it would have been something.

But still, Nezzy just stood there. If she was going to play it like that, fine. Two can play that game. Aethyta wasn't about to prostrate herself in front of Nezzy for a few simple updates just because she shows up out of nowhere.

She continued to watch Nezzy in silence, the very odd mixture of emotions still confusing her body. Aethyta began to think that Nezzy really was just going to stand there doing nothing all night, when she watched her then swirl the green liquid a few times in her glass and down the whole thing in just a few gulps. Nezzy leaned forward on the counter as she placed the glass down, and Aethyta had to wonder if she didn't do it on purpose because damned if she didn't now have the best view of Nezzy's rack. And what a rack it was.