"Wait, so you really met up with the Consort?" The Commander moved the towel from her face and looked towards the source of the question. Alenko stared at her intensely, an eyebrow rose as he wiped perspiration from his chest. He turned a questioning look to Wrex, who simply gave him a stony smirk and let out a deep, chest aching chuckle. "You… you can't be serious! The waiting list to see her is insane!" Shepard simply smirked as she stretched her back and picked up a pair of dumbbells. The trio had turned the garage area of the Normandy into a makeshift gym to train in-between missions, complete with a weight set, dumbbells, pull up bar and punching bag. Kaidan frowned slightly. "I don't believe it."

"Don't believe what, LT?" All three heads turned to watch the four other members of the ground team walk in; eight sets of eyes scanned the scene in front of them. Two mostly naked humans and a fully armored Krogan was certainly an interesting image to walk into, it seemed like the beginning of one of Joker's many crude jokes come to life. Wrex chuckled again, causing all eyes to focus on him.

"The Consort." He said simply, the smirk still plastered on his face. Ashley's eyebrows rose as she began to nod.

"Oh. Yeah, that totally happened." Garrus let out a bark of laughter.

"You're kidding. Her client list is extensive; it takes months to even set eyes on the woman."All eyes save for Ashley and Wrex moved from Garrus to Shepard expectantly. The Commander simply stared back, the smirk still plastered on her face before she simply shrugged; the steady motion of the dumbbells never missing a beat.

"Then I guess there are some perks to being the first Human Spectre." Her expression widened at the words.

"Ah… well… how…?" Kaidan sputtered, he simply couldn't seem to wrap his head around the facts. Shepard let out a chuckle.

"I don't kiss and tell LT, it goes against my code of ethics."
-

Shepard had seemed quite sincere about the subject in the garage, and that made Liara feel… strange. It was a weird, wrenching feeling in her gut, something she hadn't really felt before. It wasn't painful but it was uncomfortable, and it only seemed to occur when she thought of Sha'ira and Shepard in the same room. She couldn't help but feel flustered and only a little angry. The Commander hadn't mentioned what, if anything, had happened; and besides, whatever it was had happened before they'd even met. It was none of her business. But it didn't seem to stop her mind from wandering back towards the subject whenever she found herself with any free time. So, over the course of the next few days the archaeologist put as much intensity and concentration into her duties aboard the Normandy as she could muster while avoiding Shepard at all costs. Thankfully, the human Commander's abnormal sleeping habits and penchant for drinking alone had proved to be a somewhat reliable source for her to go on; she'd figured out a rough schedule of her habits and only dared leave the safety of the med-lab when she was sure the other woman had either decided to catch a quick nap in one of the sleeper pods or gone off to take a shower before anyone else woke up.

Liara would be the first to admit that she felt like a bit of a stalker; anyone with such an erratic sleeping pattern shouldn't have anyone watching them enough to know any sort of schedule they keep, but it didn't affect her as much as it normally would have, given the circumstances. It kept the two out of each other's way for the duration of their travel between the Horsehead Nebula and the Citadel. She did feel quite bad about it though; she'd specifically asked Dr. Chakwas to let Shepard know that she was busy if she came to talk to her. She had even asked for the med-lab to be locked during the day to ensure no visitors other than the doctor herself. There had been more than a few instances where Shepard had gone to the med-bay only to be shooed off by Karin and told to let Liara work in peace; the asari could've sworn she'd heard a bit of disappointment in the Commander's voice each time she left.

But, the distance she'd put between them certainly didn't last as long as she'd hoped; after about four days of travel the Normandy docked at the Citadel for a bit of shore leave, and Shepard had requested Kaidan and Liara as her shore party to accompany her on some "errands" she had to run. The archaeologist had felt a wave of anxiety come over her when she'd been called to assist her, and she couldn't help but dread the entirety of their stay. The "errands" Shepard ran seemed to consist mostly of the Commander informing various people of progress and finished business she'd helped them with, and over the course of the few hours her anxiety seemed to wane; there was no mention or hint that the Spectre would visit Sha'ira this time. By the time she'd informed an important looking man named Admiral Kahoku of the fate of his men Liara had completely forgotten about the other asari.

The small shore party stood in the elevator in silence as Shepard typed away at her omni-tool, checking off the Admiral's assignment and scanning it for any unfinished business she had before dismissing her subordinates. The music from the elevator hummed through the speakers as the two biotics watched the Commander, before Kaidan cleared his throat.

"Any more errands to check off Commander?" Shepard's eyes scanned the words on the tool before settling on the last item on her list.

"Just got the Consort, then we're through." Liara's heart plunged into her stomach at an alarming speed when the words fell from Shepard's lips; she'd been in such bliss up until this point. The sudden silence that came over the elevator was intense, and she was vaguely aware of Kaidan clearing his throat awkwardly in a vain attempt to clear it away. Shepard seemed less than aware of the sudden shift in mood when the elevator stopped; she simply flipped her omni off and exited.
-

The two biotics sat awkwardly on one of the couches, staring down at their laps. Neither of them looked around, feeling much too awkward to even risk making eye contact with any of the Consorts acolytes. Kaidan cleared his throat again, a nervous tick perhaps, and scratched his chin; Liara fidgeted in her seat, swallowing past a lump in her throat. The Commander had walked into Sha'ira's private chambers five minutes before, and there was no sign she'd be out anytime soon. An acolyte walked up to the pair, a serene smile on her face.

"Are you two comfortable? Would you like anything?" They shook their heads violently; the acolyte gave a soft laugh. "Very well. Oh! Commander, I assume your visit with the Consort was pleasant?" The biotics heads shot up at the exclamation just in time to see Shepard walk towards them, her omni-tool once again active as she checked the last of her errands off her list. She looked up and nodded towards the acolyte, a crooked smile on her face.

"It always is."
-

The artificial sunlight had been dimmed significantly since Shepard had dismissed her two very flustered subordinates after their visit to the Consort's Chambers. The human was leaning against the railing in the Commons, staring out at the lake as she smirked at the memory. It served Alenko right for not believing her in the garage. She'd let him know the truth eventually, but it was just a little too fun to see him get so worked up over something so trivial. She'd chosen her shore party for very particular reasons; Kaidan because she knew she'd get the reaction she was looking for, and Liara so she could finally speak with that woman. It had been nearly a week since they'd had a face-to-face conversation and she wasn't having anymore of it. She was quite fond of the asari, fondness that may or may not be bordering on something a bit more, and she couldn't help but feel a little hurt that Liara was very actively avoiding her. Shepard frowned to herself; the two had left in such a hurry she hadn't even gotten the chance to chase after the other woman.

When she really thought about it though, she knew it was probably her own fault. After the crew's jokes about the Consort she'd noticed the asari's unusually quiet behavior; she was well aware that she wasn't the biggest talker on the ship, but she had been exceptionally quiet while everyone was in the garage. She'd wandered off with Tali after a while, though the Commander had caulked it up to boredom. But that had been when the other woman had begun avoiding her at all costs, and when she realized that might've been the cause of this odd behavior she'd felt absolutely terrible. The last thing she wanted was to make any of her crew feel uncomfortable, especially the asari. Shepard made a determined face and stood straight, squaring her shoulders, that was it; she'd track that woman down and see what was going on. If the conversation about the Consort really was the cause of all this, she'd simply explain the whole thing away and hopefully that would be the end of it. With determination the Commander turned on her heel and had managed to march an entire step before walking face first into Liara.