Chapter Seven:

"How long do you think she'll be in there?"

The question surprised Liara, mostly because it was exactly what she had been thinking. She turned to glance at Kaidan Alenko, who was seated at the other end of the luxurious couch where Nelyna, the greeter, had seated them. He was frowning, and his expression was a mixture of impatience and discomfort, a contrast to the comfortable, relaxed attitudes of the other patrons that had come to visit the consort today. They were waiting somewhat unhappily for Shepard, who had gone up to tell Sha'ira that her problem with Septimus Oraka was now resolved. The consort had turned them away at the door, insisting that she wanted to meet with Shepard in private this time.

"I am not sure," Liara said after a long pause. She glanced around the room, watching the various acolytes move to speak with their assigned customers. She could not quite put her finger on why the atmosphere of this place bothered her. Perhaps it was simply because there were so many people conversing all around her in a relatively small space, or perhaps it was the fact that Shepard was no longer with them. Over the past few weeks, Liara had discovered that she always found a certain measure of comfort in the Commander's presence.

When Liara realized that Kaidan was still staring at her, waiting for her to say something more, she blushed and looked away from him. "I am sure she will not be very much longer."

Honestly, she had been on-edge ever since Shepard's first visit to Sha'ira's chambers. She and Kaidan had been permitted to stand back and observe Shepard's meeting with the consort, but part of Liara wished they hadn't. Her presence had almost felt like an intrusion on a private moment. Something about the way Sha'ira stood too close to Shepard as she spoke, even reaching up to brush aside a lock of her red hair, made Liara extremely uncomfortable, although she could not quite articulate why.

Kaidan shifted restlessly on the couch, looking just as uncomfortable as she felt. That soothed some of Liara's nerves. At least she wasn't the only one. "Hey, do you want to go look at the statue outside? I've gotta get out of here, or I'll go stir-crazy."

It took Liara a moment to process what Kaidan had said, but then she remembered the large krogan statue in the Presidium's lake. "Very well," she said, standing up and brushing the wrinkles from her pants. "I think that might be a more pleasant way to pass the time." Kaidan stood up alongside her, and together, they walked towards the door. Once they reached Nelyna, Kaidan murmured a few brief instructions to her so that Shepard would know where to find them once she was finished with Sha'ira. Then, they stepped back out into the Presidium.

Liara had never been to the Citadel before, and upon her arrival, she had been slightly overwhelmed. There were so many people, and bright lights illuminated everything, at least on the upper levels. She had been adjusting to it slowly over the past several hours, although she still took a sidestep that was wider than necessary to avoid a group of turian C-Sec officers passing by over one of the bridges.

Finally, they arrived at the edge of the water, and Kaidan leaned against the railing, staring out at the large statue on its pedestal in the water. Hesitantly, Liara joined him. She had not formed much of an opinion on the silent, neutral Kaidan Alenko so far, although he seemed pleasant enough. She had noticed that, like her, Kaidan prefered to spend as much time in the company of Commander Shepard as possible. However, she had not yet heard the human call Shepard by her first name. Secretly, that made Liara happy.

When she realized that she was studying Kaidan instead of the statue, Liara looked out over the lake to observe the monument instead. Although the face of the krogan looked rather angry, she supposed that wasn't entirely out of character. "I have read about this piece," she said, trying to make conversation and hoping she would not fail miserably. "After the Krogan Rebellions, there were many petitions to remove it from the lake. The Council rejected them."

"I think that was the right choice," Kaidan said, turning his head casually to look at her. "You need to remember everything about history, good and bad, even if it doesn't fit with your personal views."

Liara smiled. "I could not agree more. Unfortunately, there is no completely unbiased way to view history, although scholars have struggled to take a neutral stance since there was history to record."

Kaidan was silent for a while, staring down into the water instead of out at the statue. "Have to admit, going on missions with Wrex has improved my opinion of the krogan. He's a bit rough around the edges, but a good squadmate. I trust him to watch my back if someone's shooting at it."

"That is good to know," Liara said. "I am afraid I do not have much experience with krogan… or humans, to tell you the truth."

"You seem to be getting along with the Commander just fine," Kaidan said, although his tone was a little abrupt. For a moment, Liara wondered why, but before she could pause to consider the problem further, a voice called out from behind them.

"Liara!" Liara whirled around, her face breaking into a warm smile as she saw Shepard striding towards them. "Alenko! There you are. Why didn't you just stay downstairs? It's probably more comfortable than out here…"

"Dr. T'Soni was just telling me a little about the statue, Commander," Kaidan said, folding his hands behind his back and straightening his spine as Shepard stopped in front of them. "And it was getting kind of crowded in there."

Liara was only half-listening to Kaidan's explanation. Instead, her attention was focused on Shepard. She did not look the same as she had when entering Sha'ira's quarters. Her hair was mussed, sticking up at strange angles, almost as if fingers had been running through it. The points of her freckled cheeks were also flushed, and she was grinning wider than usual. Liara felt her stomach drop to her boots. Although she was no particularly fluent in social interaction, she was very observant. It did not take a particularly astute person to realize why Shepard had taken so long.

"Sorry about the wait," Shepard said, although she didn't sound truly apologetic. "Come on, let's go meet the others at Chora's Den. They should be waiting for us there by now."

Liara sighed. She did not want to go back to Chora's Den at all. There were far too many people, the music was too loud, and the atmosphere was even more unpleasant than the consort's chambers. She knew that she would feel extremely out of place there, especially since most of the other asari in the club would be working the poles above the bar. Although she was aware of the misconceptions other species had about asari, she had never seen the stereotypes presented so blatantly before.

Reluctantly, Liara and Kaidan followed Shepard towards the nearest Rapid Transit terminal. Liara could not help observing Shepard's large, square hands and the dexterity of her fingers as the Commander punched in their destination. Something about them was strangely compelling, and she felt slightly sick as she imagined them touching Sha'ira, stroking the side of the consort's face much as she had stroked Shepard's before, trailing down the slender column of her throat, then - … Fortunately, their cab arrived, and Liara's thoughts broke off just in time. She did not want to imagine any further.

"So, what did the Consort want with you?" Kaidan asked as the cab arrived, its door sliding up and open. Hurriedly, Liara slid into the cab first, taking the far seat next to the window. Shepard took the middle space, with Kaidan following to sit on her other side.

Shepard shrugged dismissively. "She gave me a few things," she said. "A trinket… don't know what for… but she said I might need it in the future. She also offered me 'a gift of words'."

Liara's eyes widened in surprise. "A gift of words? That is a rare treasure indeed, Shepard. The consort does not offer her wisdom lightly." She ended the statement there, trying not to consider what else Sha'ira might have offered Shepard in the privacy of her chambers.

Shepard turned to look at her in the back seat of the cab, and as she did, Liara felt their thighs brush. For a moment, she forgot to take in air. "I didn't really understand it, but she seemed to… I don't know… read me or something. She knew about my past, although that isn't unusual. An extranet search would have told her that. But there was more. It was like she could sense my emotions. I guess it was a bit like seeing a shrink."

"Shrink?" Liara repeated, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Psychologist," Kaidan explained. "So, that was it, Commander? Nothing else interesting happened?"

Liara turned her attention back out the window, wondering why Kaidan was so insistent on pressing Shepard for details. She certainly did not want them. Perhaps… perhaps she had been oblivious, and Kaidan knew the Commander better than she thought. If they had some sort of understanding, his irritated behavior and intrusive questions would make sense. She stared down into her lap, twisting her hands together and trying to avoid looking at Shepard and Kaidan. She had thought… She wasn't sure what she had thought. It was rather embarrassing to contemplate. Suddenly, she thought she understood how the turian general, Oraka, had felt when Sha'ira politely brushed aside his feelings.

"Nothing I feel like sharing," Shepard said neutrally as the cab came to a stop. "Come on, we're here. Let's go find the others and have a drink before we get back to the Normandy."