Several pairs of human eyes lightly land on her, linger for seconds, and at last flit back to something infinitely more interesting than Commander Shepard's newest alien addition to the crew. Liara licks her lips that had dried suddenly in the impromptu evaluation given and steadies the grip on her food and drink. The attempt fails, as her body has devoted the rest of its energy to holding her legs upright in the mess hall. Unconsciously, her shoulders curl in a position echoing her university days.

She rushes to a nearby chair and sits down before the panic and cold sweat can set in. When Liara looks up, however, what could be the galaxy's oldest krogan stares back, and cold sweat breaks out on her skin anyway. "H-hello," she manages.

Wrex—because the name only just now comes to her—gives Liara the slightest nod in return and brings a scoop of something raw and angry-looking to his mouth. The sight of him gingerly holding a fork in his hand almost makes the asari burst into nervous giggles. Discreet glances reveal that everyone has given them a wide berth, and as his jaw unhinges for rows of large, blunt teeth to catch the meat, she understands why. She watches him chew for several long moments, lips parted in fascination.

He swallows it all in an impressive gulp. "What—never seen a krogan eat before?"

"No—I mean yes!" Liara says hastily. "Sorry." She ducks her head and shoves in a mouthful of vegetables, her eyes determinedly fixed on the plate.

His amused rumbles vibrate across the table. "Looks like Shepard's got herself a nervous pyjak."

Her gaze still cast down, Liara chews while carefully grouping her food into organized segments comprehensible to no one but her. A familiar burn spreads to her cheeks as the fork scrapes on her plate. Is the crew watching her, watching this? Or have they already turned their backs on the shy, socially inept student that nobody ever wants to sit with? Or maybe she's thinking too much again—

But how many times does she have to tell herself that these aren't her damn university days? "That was certainly the most excitement I've ever had while excavating on Therum." Her voice luckily rings out clear enough to offset the tremor in her words, and she forces herself to raise her head, hands loosely clasped together on the table.

Wrex fixes his beady stare on her again. A heartbeat passes, then two, then three. "Yeah," he says and resumes eating.

Liara waits for him to swallow. "Geth and krogan working together—first time I've seen anything like that," she continues. "And yourself?"

"No" is his eloquent reply, and she wracks her brain for something else to follow that, but there's no need because he isn't finished. "But I've run into a few things that would make your skin crawl."

She smiles and picks up her glass. "I'd like to hear them, if you're willing to talk."