Context: On the Normandy in ME1; pre almost kiss, pre admittance of mutual feelings with Liara.

"Chm," Shepard coughed as she handed Liara a bowl of 'chicken' noodle soup. She sat down across from the sniffling, coughing, and groggy asari that she couldn't help finding cute even when sick.

"Commander?" Liara sniffed. "What is this?"

"One of Earth's traditional dishes when someone gets sick. I had the mess get it together for you."

"You what?!" Joker nearly shouted, indignant in the seat next to Liara. "You haven't let us have soup onboard ever since—"

"Aren't you meant to be at the helm, Moreau? Your shift begins in a couple minutes." Shepard cut him off warily, avoiding his gaze.

"Not till I get an explanation, Commander. I was sick as a dog two weeks ago and—"

"Ah, the right amount of time for incubation for a cold. So you're the one who got everyone sick, then—"

"Commander, it's impolite to interrupt." Joker pretended to scold her.

"Said the interrupter."

"I was interrupting your interrupting."

"Which makes you an interrupting interruptee. Even worse."

"This is starting to make no sense."

"Keep up, Moreau." Shepard laughed.

Liara watched the back and forth with foggy amusement. "Commander, I apologize, but I must interrupt to ask you what exactly this is." She picked up the spoon and let some of the soup dribble back into the bowl, watching it.

"Like I said, Liara, it's a soup some humans have when they're sick. Used to always have it when I was sick at least. 'Course, spacer 'chicken' noodle soup isn't quite the same as the stuff you can get on Earth, but it does the trick."

"So why does Miss Blue get some and I don't, Commander?" Joker interrupted once again. He was in the nasty habit of that. She could just imagine him interrupting her and Liara at some critical, monumental moment in the future. He seemed to always be lurking via the comm if not in person. Still, he amused her and she was happy to have him as her pilot for more reasons than one.

"Because." Shepard smirked and narrowed her eyes.

"Because…" Joker cocked his head, shooting her a look of mixed confusion and indignation.

"Because I said so. CO's whim, Joker."

Joker smirked this time. "Nah, I got your number, Commander. The last time you had soup on this ship, you—"

"The helm, Moreau!"

"Yeah, yeah." Joker stood and slowly found his way to the lift.

Shepard visibly relaxed when he was gone and smiled back at Liara as she studied the bowl's contents. She gave a soft chuckle. "I promise you, it won't bite back."

Liara was too exhausted to blush. She looked up and let herself blame her cold for an unusual frankness and curiosity concerning the Commander. "Then tell me why you no longer allow soup aboard the Normandy." A curl of her lips pulled up in anticipating amusement before she sneezed into a handkerchief.

Joker, you're so dead, Shepard thought. "Chm." She coughed again. "I kinda had a…malfunction the last time I had soup aboard."

Liara quirked a brow. Humans used such strange diction sometimes. She suspected it was a form of deflection from true meaning. This gave aliens such as herself an unfair disadvantage in conversation. "A malfunction?"

"Yes…" Shepard sighed. "It was Joker's fault!" she let out in embarrassed exasperation. "He practically flipped the Normandy one time to avoid some space debris…" She let the sentence trail off, reddening slightly.

Liara's lips curled in amusement again. "So you spilled some soup? That hardly merits the embarrassment you seem to have in remembering the incident, Commander." Liara sniffled and took her first, brave taste. Her brows shot up. It wasn't bad—not at all—and her appetite seemed to be returning.

"Good?" Shepard asked her nervously. "I wasn't sure asari would find it appealing—"

"It's very enjoyable, Commander. I haven't found anything else appetizing until now."

Shepard sighed in relief. "Good."

Liara gulped down a few more spoonfuls. "You were saying?"

"Hmm?" Shepard pretended to forget their conversation.

"You said that Joker avoided space debris then you stopped. What happened?"

Shepard gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, I spilled it obviously."

"And?" Liara pressed with a half a smirk, wondering if some of the medication the doctor had given her was responsible for her newfound courage to tease the Commander.

"And…I may have been standing somewhere…unfortunate."

"Such as?" Liara took another spoonful in.

Shepard gulped. "Such as right next to Captain Anderson."

Liara nearly sputtered out the spoonful. She managed to swallow before laughing aloud.

"Joker's fault!" Shepard insisted and began to stand up.

Liara laughed some more, now convinced her medication was making her a little giddy. "Sit back down here, Commander."

The blush on the Commander's face deepened, but she obeyed. She attempted to change the subject. "You're in a good mood for someone who's sick."

"Well, the great Commander Shepard fetched me lunch and told me an amusing story," Liara smiled. Her eyes widened and she blushed when she realized she'd spoken aloud. She felt herself becoming even warmer than her fever had made her, if that was possible. She looked straight down at her bowl and fished for some more noodles, taking in another spoonful to shut herself up.

Shepard chuckled, feeling some relief that she wasn't the only one embarrassed anymore. "I should go. Duties and all. Promise me you'll rest up. I need you."

Liara's eyes shot up toward the Commanders'. "You need me?"

Shepard's eyes were wide this time at what she'd said. "Chm. Yeah…the mission and all…"

"Right, right." Liara nodded and looked back down at the soup.

"So that's a promise?" Shepard pressed.

Liara looked up to see the Commander's knit brows. She seemed worried. Liara smiled softly. "I assure you, I plan to get better."

Shepard relaxed slightly. "Good. Seriously, Liara—rest. For me. Now…I really should go." She stood and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She hovered for another few seconds and opened her mouth as if she were about to say something more, but coughed awkwardly again before turning the corner for the stairs to the command deck.

Liara sat in a daze for a moment. She had had such brief encounters with the Commander ever since Therum, but she found herself more easy around the human than any other person she'd encountered in perhaps fifty years. Usually that meant she'd make a fool of herself in their conversations, but she found herself minding less and less. The Commander always returned for more conversation, so she must be doing something right.

When she'd finished the soup, she returned it to the mess station, thanking the crewman who'd made it.

She made her way through the medbay's door when she heard the Commander's voice over the comm:

"Attention all crew: Moreau has begged me to allow soup again and since a number of you are sick, I've decided to lift the ban. Just don't make the same mistake I did and stand too close to your CO. She might not be as forgiving as hers was."

Liara couldn't help a small, amused laugh from escaping as she passed Karin to return to her station's cot to collapse and fulfill her promise. She was only glad Joker hadn't had to avoid any space debris while she was still eating the soup next to the Normandy's current CO.