A/N: The promised continuation :) At first I was a little skewy about it, but its really come easily- and man, I do love my own Shepard. LOL. Thanks to everyone who reivewed and asked for a continuation, and especially to cuteaccent, who kept messaging me and gave me the idea for romance.
Allandra Shepard was pragmatic to a fault. She pilfered freely from containers that did not belong to her because "if they meant to keep their stuff they wouldn't have left it lying around." Her explanation for saving Elysium during the Blitz? "They ruined my shore leave."
Liara had never felt the attraction for humans that the rest of her kind seemed to feel, but she found Allandra Shepard (who still went by Ally) very attractive indeed. She'd sacrifice a dig for her; and precious little was more important to her than the Protheans.
Given that she'd had a Prothean vision, though...
At first her interest was entirely clinical- something that Shepard had teased her about until she was a blushing and quivering ball wanting to sink through the deck plating and never be seen again. Then the human laughed cheerfully and clapped her on the shoulder.
"It keeps you on my ship? I welcome it," she grinned, revealing a gap where her right molar should be. Through more blubbering apologies, Liara managed to ask about the gap.
"Oh, that? Got the shit beat out of me," she shrugged. "Alliance offered to fix it but it just shows I'm dangerous." She grinned, showing the gap off again. It was a very childish gesture, but one that suited her to a fault.
This was what endeared Liara to Allandra Shepard as a person rather than an object of interest.
Over time, as she got to know her better, she kept getting more interesting. She spent a lot of time talking to her while the Normandy was in FTL, and Liara found herself tongue tied more often than not- an embarrassing situation. Here she was, asari, older than Shepard would ever be- and she couldn't string two words together properly in her presence.
And Shepard knew it. She grinned cheerfully at her, ribbed her mercilessly for it, and once shut her babbling up with a kiss on the cheek that stopped the asari's heart.
Goddess… dazed she could only watch Shepard leave the room and clap Doctor Chakwas cheerfully on the shoulder, easily spinning into a conversation with her as the door shut between them, cheeks heating up.
Shepard was so confident, so outgoing. Liara admired and respected her; as much as she didn't want to admit it, she looked up to her. In her 30 odd years of life, Shepard had achieved more than she ever had. Even though she was only a maiden, her only claim to fame was researching a dead race.
She also couldn't help but notice how very attractive Shepard was. Even with the scar she claimed to have come from a knife fight under her right eye (though she was known to enhance the truth when it came to scars) and the missing molar, she was easily the most attractive human Liara had ever met. Those models just didn't come close. It was the humour in her eyes, her warm laugh and genuine care for her crew. Her childish ways masked a brutal upbringing and life so effectively, yet Liara had seen her in battle; she was a truly frightening sight.
And there she went again, blushing furiously merely at the thought of her. Oh, Goddess. She was such a mess. Determinedly she turned to her console and tapped away, trying to outrun the blush, or at least outthink it.
The door hissed open.
Footsteps.
Silence, but she knew that Shepard was grinning at her turned back, missing molar showing, waiting for her to acknowledge her. She felt a smile cracking her own face and tried to hide it.
The footsteps approached and stopped again. Shepard was coming closer. She rigidly held her own impassive expression and again, the human moved closer, now standing right behind her.
Light fingertips grazed her exposed shoulders, burning where they touched and sending a delightful chill down her spine. Warm breath on her neck, her fingers efficiently working the knots from her neck and shoulders and making her eyes roll back in her head in contentment. A sigh escaped her and she stopped typing on her console.
"You work too hard." Shepard's voice was thick as she moved her massage up to where her neck and head met and encountered a particularly painful knot. She winced and pulled away, but gently, oh so gently, Shepard pulled her back and probed the knot.
Liara fought to hold still. This hurt but was always worth it.
"Hang on," Shepard's voice was intense with concentration as she placed her hands on both sides of her neck and twisted it twice, once one way then back. A sudden sharp pain radiated from the knot and had her wincing, but when Shepard probed it again, it hurt less.
"Better?" Liara turned her chair around to see Shepard's brow furrowed with her focus and she just smiled, gingerly touching her neck. Shepard leaned close to her and her breath flagged momentarily. Unconsciously she licked her lips.
But all Shepard did was probe at the knot again to make sure it was gone. Disappointment filled her but she tried to mask it. She didn't want her feelings to ruin this… whatever it was they had going.
As she was moving away, however, she caught a glimpse of Shepard's eyes, and the desire filling them was unmistakeable. Then it was gone, so fast she wasn't sure it had ever been there.
But she could hope, and hope she did.