DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters depicted in any of the Mass Effect game.
AN: This is was my favorite chapter to write so far. I hope you guys feel the same way. :)
Shepard:
Liara and I head through the mag-doors hand-in-hand to find Samara meditating in the lounge.
"We're heading out to Eternity for some food, would you like to join us, Samara?" I inquire. She looks up, and a smile crosses her face. She stands up and walks towards Liara.
"Hello, Dear. My name is Samara." She extends a hand towards Liara. Her face lights up and she happily shakes Samara's hand. "I would enjoy joining you, but I would not want to intrude. I know it has been quite a long time since you have seen each other. I would think you would want some time together."
"No, Samara, I insist, please. Any friend of Kira's is a friend of mine. She clearly trusted you if she asked you come with her to my office." Liara replies happily. She turns and shoots me a puzzled look.
"Where is Garrus? I'm surprised he isn't around. He usually sprints off ship the second we are cleared for shore leave." Liara asks very puzzled.
"He shouldn't be far, I saw him oogling some new armor on the sales floor. He mentioned that he would like armor that doesn't have a gaping hole in it." Samara chuckles. "Let's head down to the sales floor. I'm sure we'll find him by that volus merchant. He thinks very highly of you, dear. I'm sure he has missed you. He had told me a few stories of your adventures together." Liara has a strange look on her face, she turns to me and opens her mouth to ask, but stops herself short.
"I'll tell you about it later. It's not a very fun story." I squeeze her hand and pull her closer, gently placing a kiss on her cheek.
We head out of the administration building and find Garrus haggling with a volus merchant about new armor. Liara and I find a bench to sit on while Samara approaches him. She walks up behind him and taps on his shoulders. He turns his back to us and hands his credit chit to the merchant.
The pair chat while Garrus fills out the shipment form. He searches around until he spots our bench. With a huge smile plastered his face, he heads in our direction. When he gets close, Liara jumps up and gives him a very emphatic hug, she even gives him a tight squeeze. He laughs and kisses her on the forehead.
"Blue!" He shouts. "Never change sweetie!" The hole in his armor catches her eye and her jaw falls down wide. She quickly shoots me a look and I nod. The scar on his face is far less noticeable now that it has healed on his turian skin.
"Pick your jaw up off the ground, Sweetie. I'm just fine. It would take more than a rifle round to put this stubborn ass in the dirt." Garrus jests. Liara's face softens a bit, but she still turns to me with questioning eyes. Her eyes trace the massive hole in Garrus' armor, up the scar on his neck and to his eyes.
"So Garrus, the three of us are headed to Eternity for some food and drinks if you want to come with?" I ask, trying to pull Liara's attention back. She snaps her head back around and looks at me as I speak. A huge smile flashes across the turian's face.
"Of course! I've never seen Blue drunk. This could be fun." Garrus replies playfully. Liara scrunches up her face when he calls her Blue. She opens her mouth to interrupt but he quickly cuts her off again.
"Alright, I'll quit calling you Blue...for now." He winks at me. Liara lets out a loud sigh. We all turn and head towards Eternity, making small talk about the weather. When we arrive, the bar smells like fried food, the drinks look eccentric, and the patrons appear happy.
On one table sits two drinks with neon-colored liquid, one blue and one geen, each glowing in the bar's low lighting. At another table, two young krogans laugh as their friend. It seems that his drink turned tongue bright green, causing it to glow. The hostess seats us next to a table with and turian and a quarian. They seem pretty encompassed by their conversation, but begin speaking lower when we sit. Every so often I catch a few hot words like fluid transfers and infection. I can only imagine what the rest of the conversation could hold. I chuckle to myself and look at Liara, who must know what I'm laughing about because she also smirks. Her hand slides across my thigh and remains there. I don't protest, but rather cover her hand with mine. After giving it a quick squeeze, I lace my fingers through hers.
"So what do you think you would like to drink, Kira? How about some ice brandy?" Liara jests. My stomach churns at the thought of the potent drink. I scrunch up my face as I shake the thought away.
"Pass. Maybe just a beer instead." I reply.
"Aw, c'mon! You had a great time with Dr. Chakwas didn't you?" My stomach churns hard this time. Liara giggles and continues
"Last time she and Chakwas had a bottle of Serrice ice brandy, they both drank WAY too much. She had the worst hangover I've ever seen her suffer. She was hysterical when she is drunk. She called me… 'hot?' and asked if I was seeing anybody later. She even tried to be smooth and ask her to keep her warm all night. That was a good night..." she trails off staring in the distance…for a long time.
"Oh yeah, that was a great night...I think. It was a blur really." I reply with a laugh. That night was amazing, but the following day was awful. I spent the entire day in bed in the dark attempting not to vomit. Liara stayed with me for most of it though. She was amazing. She flitted between me and my terminal to keep me up to date on my important messages. She took care of her work; somehow even finding time to bring me food and water. Occasionally, she would even curl up in bed next to me, keeping me company even though I was miserable.
"Illium to Liara. Come in Liara." Garrus teases. I give her a quick nudge with my elbow and she shakes off her thought. Her cheeks flash red for a second and she giggles.
"If you are done daydreaming about your extracurriculars with the Commander, the rest of us would love to chat with you!" Garrus jests.
We order meals and drinks when our waitress checks back on us. She even laughs as Garrus teases Liara. She is a cute asari. She appears to be a young maiden but I can't say for sure. She looks towards Garrus, her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. After she walks away, Liara turns and jabs him in the chest with an elbow,
"She a friend of yours, Garrus?" She laughs
"No, but I would certainly like her to be." He replies smoothly. He watches her walk away, eyes lingering dangerously low, until she walks out of view.
"Commander, what is the policy about bringing guests on board?" He trails back to us with a smirk.
"Well, since you choose to sleep with the ship's battery, I would think you'd rather just stay off-ship tonight. I mean, you are welcome to bring her aboard, but she'd have to register with Yeoman Kelly and you would be responsible for her… and maybe Kelly." I wink and he winces.
"I suppose you are right..." He trails off in apparent thought.
"Maybe if you are smooth enough, she will invite you to her place" Liara says, a serious tone to her voice. "Don't sell yourself short, sweetie." She reaches across the table and touches his hand. The contact startles him.
"You are an amazing guy, Garrus. She would be lucky to get to spend a night getting to know the real you." She continues, a smile creeps across his face. "Although, you may want to change into something less….holey"
"I don't know, Liara. It gives him a rugged edge. It's kinda sexy." I wink at him, he returns the gesture. Liara nudges my side with her elbow. The jealousy on her face is cute, and pushes me to continue. "I mean if you weren't here, I might take him back to my quarters and show him my ship collection." The blue hand on my thigh slides higher and firmly squeezes. She raises her eyebrow at me. The combination of her hand on my leg and her jealous rising re-ignites my desire for her. I slide my hand to cover hers and squeeze, a smile crosses her face.
"Oh, green does not look good on you, Blue." Garrus teases.
"I think I have to disagree, it looks VERY good on her actually." I reply, chuckling. Liara's cheeks turn a bright pink in response to the statement.
The waitress brings our drinks over. Garrus smiles and helps her hand our glasses around.
"Has it been busy today, Rue?" She appears shocked when he says her name. He chuckles.
"It's on your nametag, sweetheart." She looks down at her shirt and her face relaxes.
"It's actually been pretty slow so far. Just you guys for food really. I think the kitchen staff actually groaned with excitement when I handed them 4 whole orders to take care of." She laughs. "I don't want to interrupt; you guys look like you are catching up. I'll be back when your food is up. It shouldn't be long at all!" She smiles and gently pats Garrus in the shoulder. He shoots a huge smile back at her as she walks away.
"Ooooh Garrus. She touched you." Liara teases, exaggerating each word. There is a hint of mockery in her voice.
"Oh, quit teasing him." I nudge her side
"How do you plan on approaching her, Garrus?" Samara inquires. The two continue talking amongst themselves about Garrus' plan. Liara moves her face close to my ear
"I could start teasing you instead" She whispers very low, her hand creeps across my thigh, this time closer to my core. Pleasure washes up my body; I am barely able to stifle my body's response to her touch. I quickly grab her hand and move it further down my thigh. A cocky look crosses her face for a second. She raises an eyebrow and stands up.
"I need to use the restroom. Kira, do you mind coming with me? Bar bathrooms creep me out." She says innocently. Samara and Garrus both nod and happily continue their conversation. We head across the bar and reach the bathroom. Once inside, she grabs my waist and pulls me in for a kiss. This catches me off guard and a gasp escapes my lips. The kiss becomes rougher and hungrier as she pushes me back against the nearest wall. Liara reaches for the door and throws the lock with ease. She pushes her body against mine and her hands begin to wander
"Woah, Liara." I breathe gasping for air. She smiles and leans her head on my shoulder, taking jagged breaths. A smile remains on her face.
"I'm sorry Shepard, I just…Goddess I missed you. I can't believe you are actually here. I keep waiting to wake up." I wrap my arms around her torso tightly and pull her closer. She glances down to her feet and continues,
"I know you were only joking with Garrus, but still… I'm sorry, I know I got jealous, but you died… I watched you get blasted into dark space, but here you are… Alive, and flirting with Garrus." She takes a deep breath. "I'm a mess of emotions right now, I'm sorry Kira." She says between sobs. I grab her hand and put it on my chest.
"Hey, feel that? It's my heart, and it is beating. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." She nods and lifts her head. Our eyes lock. After brushing away her tears, I cup her face in my hands and kiss her softly. "You are stuck with me. If you think Garrus is stubborn, what about me?" She smirks. "Emotions and all, I wouldn't miss this."
"You ARE a stubborn woman, Kira Shepard. You always have been. You couldn't even die peacefully." She giggles, resting her head on my shoulder. "I grieved for 2 years because of you. I didn't believe Cerberus could actually bring you back, but here you are. Now I have to let you back into a space a walled you out of. I'm trying Kira. I really am."
"I know you are. I'm sorry for breaking my promise and getting blasted into space. I left you in this galaxy, all alone." I say as I kiss her forehead. We stand here like this for a few minutes. I finally break the silence
"We should get back out there before Garrus thinks we did something in the dirty bar bathroom. We are way better than that." I wink, a small giggle fills the air.
When we approach the table, Samara looks at me. She lift an eyebrow, questioning. I turn my head to Liara and kiss her temple. Samara and I lock eyes and she gives a subtle nod. We communicate wordlessly well, a skill we have acquired throughout our time together. Liara's puffy eyes helped this time around. We sit down and Garrus looks at me with a confused look, but then continues his conversation with Samara. They are talking about Garrus' plan for the waitress, Rue.
"If I can just get her interest piqued then maybe I can get her phone number" He smiles. He turns to Liara. "What do you think, Blue? Got any interesting ideas?"
"First off, stop calling me Blue before I put another hole in your suit." She continues. "Put on that…What did you call it, Kira? Rugged charm? And show her your hole. Maybe she'll show you…" I quickly put my hand over her mouth.
"I beg you NOT to finish that Liara T'Soni." She smirks and continues, trying to talk through my hand. I remove my hand and replace it with my lips. The ornery look on her face hasn't changed one bit.
"You. Are. Trouble." I laugh. She winks at me, causing Samara and Garrus to laugh.
"But I'm your favorite kind of trouble." Liara replies as she touches my leg.
"Who's in trouble?" Rue replies as she walks up with our meals. Samara nudges Garrus' arm.
"You, if this food isn't better than mine." Garrus replies. She smiles
"Well I didn't actually cook this, but I think that food here is pretty amazing. The clientele here are pretty amazing too." She winks at him as she collects our empty glasses, putting them on the tray.
"Refills?"
We all have full mouths of food but nod happily. She laughs and walks back towards the bar. We continue to eat our meals in comfortable silence. Rue drops more drinks off for us and Garrus thanks her. After we finish our food, Rue comes back again. She drops the check, but Garrus scoops it up and follows her to the register, a hand resting on her lower back. The two smile and chat the whole way back. When he returns, he has a receipt in his hand with feminine hand-writing scribbled on it and a cheesy smile plastered on his face.
"She gets off in a few hours. Then, it's time to woo." He smirks. "Dinner is on me, ladies. Lets head back to the ship?" We all nod in agreement and thank him in unison. Liara stands up and hugs Garrus tight.
"It's great to see you, you crazy guy." She says with a smile on her face. He puts his arm over her shoulder protectively and she slides her hand behind his back, leaning her head on his shoulder. Samara looks at me with a smile; we all head towards the exit together. Once we reach the docking bay, Liara's eyes light up. Garrus and Samara have gone through the door while Liara marvels at the new Normandy.
"Wow. THIS is the new Normandy?" She turns to us beaming. She turns to take in the new vessel. "I've heard it was better, but wow!" She gawks and grabs my hand tightly. She is bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She pulls me closer, bringing her mouth close to my ear, she whispers:
"Does that mean your quarters are bigger too? I sure would love to see them…" She exhales softly in my ear kissing it softly. Electricity surges through my body and settles at my center. I tighten my grasp on her hand and slide my other hand around her waist pulling her closer to me.
"Only if you promise to say please" I reply.
She smirks and we continue through the air lock. The device scans us. When it senses Liara it requires her to scan her hand. This is for security purposes, of course. The panel beeps, then begins de-pressurizing the room. A second beep, and the door opens. We approach the deck.
The expression on Liara's face is pure wonder and excitement. I can't wait to show her around (and maybe show her off too).
AN: Fluff. All of the fluff.