Matriarch Aethyta glanced up as Liara approached, and closed her eyes silently. Goddess damn, Shepard, if this doesn't go well …

Liara sat down firmly on the stool directly in front of her. She looked down at the bar, saying nothing for a moment, the Presidium "sunlight" falling onto her face from an angle, making her look younger, vulnerable. The eyebrow tattoos above each eye were drawn down, unconsciously mirroring the way Shepard looked.

Aethyta waited, taking in the battered white armor and trendy battle-cut lab coat, the nicks and scars on the surface of the armor, and then Liara looked up, eyes wide and blue and … it was as if Benezia herself was staring at her.

"H..hi". Liara's voice was almost shaky for a moment, and delicate blue fingers gripped the bar more securely, seeking purchase, stability. A breath. "I suppose you are aware why I am here, Matriarch."

Aethyta snorted, the tiny scales of her skin deforming around the set of her jaw as she bit back a laugh. "You're here because your girlfriend has a fixation on happy endings and little insight into asari culture." And because she's a stubborn bitch.

Liara fixed her father with an angry glare, then shrugged, as if letting it go. But her fingers were still gripped tight against the bar. "She can be very .. persuasive in the way she puts things to get what she wants, Matriarch."

Aethyta sighed, and poured herself a glass of pris para, Slamming it back with a faint shudder, she poured herself another. "Mike, I need about 30 minutes to myself here. That alright?"

The human proprietor only nodded. "Yeah, it's quiet anyway. Family?" He nodded politely to Liara. Aethyta nodded as well, giving a tight, empty smile. "Yah. Lemme know if something comes up." Then she turned back to Liara. "Okay, kiddo. So here we are. I don't have any fancy way of saying this where I don't sound like a bitch or a creepy stalker, and having dealt with Shepard's creepy stalker I'd rather not make it sound like that." Her mind took her back for a moment to another bar, on Ilium, and the amusing results of that meeting.

Liara's own mouth twitched. "I .. heard about that. As long as you don't have to shoot me in the foot, I think we can.. can just talk." The last words came out rushed, and Liara bit her lip briefly. I am not going to become a babbling idiot. Goddess knows I did enough of that before … everything else went to the bottom of the ocean.

Aethyta nodded. "Alright. So..where should we start?"

Liara's eyes narrowed, and her shoulders straightened. Her spine stiffened, and she stared directly at her sire. "We can start, father, with why you never contacted me, and never .. told me who you were, and yet followed me around wherever I went. First Priu, then Ilium, then Cyone, then … "

Aethyta grunted. "Truth? After Nezzy left me, I didn't know what the hell to do with myself. I was...I was never ashamed of you, Liara. I never , ever wanted to be anything but a part of your life. But that wasn't .."

Liara shook her head, almost angrily, the sun glinting off her crests. "No, father. That's not what I mean at all. Why have you been .. following me? If you aren't part of the life I lived before .. things changed... my digs, my work with Serrice, my Prothean researches, why would you be here now? It isn't about me, it was never about me, was it?"

Aethyta swallowed, and eyed the harsh asari drink in her hands ruefully before slamming it back. "No, it wasn't. I was... not honored among the matriarchs like your mother was. My wisdom was dismissed at the time. Hell, I was told I was crazier than a krogan babysitter. And after Nezzy and I went our own way...there was a while where I had nothing to do, a few stupid kids who thought I had a point that went on to shake their asses in some club, and a bunch of hurtful memories."

She looked up at her daughter. "Then you went from just being a kid to being a very dangerous information broker. You did a lot of … questionable things. Your personality changed overnight. Cerberus connections, a drell who was a Shadow Broker agent...there were a few in the Matriarchy who had watched Benezia fall and trusted in her wisdom, and look what that cost us."

Liara stared at her father. "They set you over me to watch me, to make sure I wasn't a danger." Aethyta shrugged. "Come on, you can't blame the matriarchs for keeping an eye on you."

Liara's voice was cold, and yet angry."I am not my mother." Aethyta did not change her tone of voice as she said, "you did threaten to flay someone alive with your mind. You mentioned asari commando units. Hell, you even bought a pin-stripped suit."

The younger asari woman stepped back from the bar, clenching her fists. Ever inch of her was both quietly still and on edge. Aethyta noticed Shepard in the background, pretending to talk to a turian, eyes narrowed. Liara exhaled, then looked back up at her father. "I had to make them take me seriously. I wasn't going to actually do it. " There was a pause, and then Liara frowned." And...you bugged my office on Ilium."

Aethyta just tilted her head slightly. "That'd be the logical conclusion, yeah." Liara said nothing, and her father continued."There were worried you would do something extreme. No one had a clear idea what was going on. And the more involved you got, the more dangerous you seemed. . ."

Liara scoffed, delicate hands making a dismissive motion "A danger to the Asari Matriarchy? Me? I was just an information broker."

Aethyta leaned forward. "No, you were a T'soni, daughter of a powerful matriarch. You were friends and more with Commander Shepard and who knew how much influence you had with humans. You knew Garrus Vakarian, son of the old friend of the Turian Primarch. You knew Tali'Zorah nas Rayna, daughter of the lead Quarian Admiral. You knew Urdnot Wrex, leader of the most powerful Krogan Clan on Tuchanka. Hon, you may not wanna admit it...but for a while there it didn't look like you were just a damned information broker."

Liara shot back , angrily. "So the Matriarchs were going to have me arrested?"

Aethyta shook her head. "No...if you got out of hand, became a danger...or an embarrassment, they were going to have you killed. They asked me to watch you...to determine if you were a danger."