Author: I introduce a new character in this one. Her name is Sandra. She has a Southern accent. American South, not Estuary English. Think Dallas from Suburgatory, if you watch Suburgatory.


Only a little while ago, comparatively

Everyone is, at least on some level, attracted to the Asari. Of course this attraction varies in degree. Most all people are able to at least acknowledge their aesthetic qualities, and to many, this realization is not strictly objective.

Of course, just because everyone is attracted to the Asari doesn't mean that the Asari are indiscriminately attracted to everybody. They simply are vastly more inclined than other races to appreciate the aesthetic value of those other races.

This, to many people, can be very confusing. For humans especially, attraction to the Asari is a confusing issue, and to many people is a transformative process.

Such was the case of Sarah Stottlemeyer as she embarked on the journey of self-discovery that was college.

She sits now in her room, fumbling through the extranet for Asari porn. It is a very mixed bag. She clicks on a link to human woman on Asari porn. What she discovers there makes her doubt her entire mortal experience.

Ever since she was a little girl, Sarah was straight. She did not think she was straight, she just was; it was an intrinsic part of her being. She was attracted to boys, and as she grew up, she came to be attracted to men.

It was a fairly natural progression. Almost mathematical.

This progression however was interrupted when, one fateful day, she was paired with Beneziah T'Soni in class and had the foundation of her sexuality completely and irrevocably rocked. Something about this bookish girl made her nervous; made her shiver when their hands accidentally touched, made her breath escape her body when Beneziah smiled at her, made her heart flutter when Beneziah complimented her.

Needless to say, it was a thoroughly confused Sarah that left the classroom that day.

She had met Asari before. She wasn't attracted to them. But she had read somewhere that for every person in the galaxy there is at least one Asari, a gateway Asari if you will, to whom they become so attracted that they develop a taste for all the others.

For Sarah this was especially true with Beneziah T'Soni. In her confusion she spent a great deal of time perusing porn sites, satisfied with surreptitiously scratching this new itch with tawdry videos of licentious blue aliens. The more she watched, the more confused she got. Her confusion reached its peak when she found herself looking more and more, not only at Asari, but human women as well.

It was a fairly natural progression. An almost mathematical, if not extremely disconcerting, self-discovery. She was not the first woman (of any species) to undergo this, nor would she be the last.

And through it all, through the haze of an ever-expanding porn folder, there lingered the image of Beneziah T'Soni, not even doing anything especially sexy; just helping her with her lab work. Writing down figures, pouring chemicals from one beaker into another, shyly smiling at her when the work was done; that girl was so fuckin' hawt.

Her own mind-vocabulary startled her.

Unsure of her own evolving sexual tastes, she sought advice from that one unshakeable rock of emotional support: her mother. She makes the trip out to the colonies for this visit, costs be damned. Sarah is extremely close to her mother.

"Mom…I…I don't know...something strange is going on"

"Baby, just tell me. You can tell me anything," Sandra Stottlemeyer's gentle voice is naturally soothing. It's like talking to a petite doe-eyed fairy godmother. She reaches across the table to take her daughter's hand in comfort.

"I don't even know how to begin. I've been having all these strange feelings…"

"Strange how?"

"Mom, I think I'm attracted to a girl"

"Oh! Oh dear"

"Yeah…"

"How long have you been attracted to girls dear? I thought you were-"

"I thought that too! But I just…I met this one girl and…I don't know. Ever since, I've been having these thoughts and feelings. Like, I want to ask her out and stuff. I want to kiss her. I've never felt this way before"

"Oh honey-baby-sweety-doll," Sandra beckons her daughter over with insistent hand flapping, "c'mere"

The weight of her confusion needing a release, a distraught Sarah welcomes her mother's embrace. She doesn't cry though, she isn't that distraught, just sublimely confused.

"I know you must be really confused. You're at that time in your life when you become receptive to all the possibilities in life," she strokes Sarah's hair, "I accept you no matter what. But you have to be careful, this girl might not feel the same way about women"

"I don't know, I…I keep thinking that maybe if I just asked her…"

"Oh dear, you really are smitten aren't you? What's this luck lady's name?"

"Beneziah T'Soni"

Sandra immediately stops stroking and holds her daughter at arm's length, scrutinizing her with narrowed eyes. "T'Soni? Is this girl an Asari?"

"Y-yes," Sarah's heart begins to pound.

Sandra looks at her for a long time, grim-faced, making Sarah extremely apprehensive. After a while, Sandra's expression cracks and she snorts, then laughs like a tickled madman. It is quite unbecoming of the petite woman's usual placidity.

"What? What is it?"

"Hahahahaha! That's your problem? You're attracted to-" She erupts into even more hysterics, "heeheehee, you're attracted to an Asari?"

Sarah is a little annoyed now. "Yeah, I am. What's so funny about that?"

Sandra wipes away tears as she rests a comforting hand on Sarah's shoulder, "Baby-sweety, everyone is attracted to the Asari. It's natural!"

"What!?"

"Yes! Nothing weird about that. Hoho, can you imagine? Is this why you've been acting strange in the last few weeks?"

"Yes!" She had been having a lot of erotic dreams about Beneziah! And about Asari in general! And even some strange ones about being dominated by strong, famous human women! Sarah is becoming quite tired of her mother's flippant attitude to her confusion. "It's not strange?"

"Honey-pie, I'm attracted to Asari. Why do you think I like Outlaws of the Code so much?"

"What!? I don't know! The action scenes are pretty good!? Oh god, is this why you don't like me watching them with you? What do you do in there?"

"Baby I don't give a flying patoot about any action scenes. Have you seen what that woman wears? I swear, it always gets me all hot and bothered." Sandra blushes shyly.

"But…what about Dad!?"

"Don't get me wrong. I was attracted to your father too, may he rest in peace. And I am still attracted to men. But Asari…are attractive on a whole different level. Sometimes, oh I feel silly even telling you this, sometimes I have these fantasies…"

Sarah faints from too-much-information overload.

Weeks later she summons her courage and approaches Beneziah T'Soni in the hallway.

"Hi, er, Beneziah? Can I borrow you for a minute? I have something important to ask you"


Quite a Bit Later

Liara goggles at the realization that the woman in front of her is a Code fan like herself. Sandra merely goggles, still unused to being in the presence of a veritable galactic legend. Shepard, recognizing the enthusiasm lighting up on her bondmate's face decides to get out of the room to escape the imminent nerdgasm.

"Okay Liara, Sandra, I'm going to excuse myself for now. Maybe I'll go see what the girls are…" she stops herself mid-sentence. "…Up to. Nevermind, I'll be in the basement"

Let's rewind a bit.

Sarah had met Benny's parents, Benny had met Sarah's parent; Liara had figured it was high time that the parents meet each other, and so had arranged for Sandra to visit her daughter on the Citadel, a visit that included a day at the T'Soni household.

Sandra was, naturally, unprepared to learn that her daughter was dating the progeny of Commander Shepard herself ("Sandra, you don't have to call me 'Commander'. Why does everyone still call me that? I haven't been a commander in years!"). She was so taken aback that she had stuttered and mumbled through her own introduction. Galactic legends or no however, Shepard and Liara were still people, and cognizant of this, Sandra gradually became more comfortable.

Still, the introductory small talk was more than a little tense, as any first meeting between parents whose children are dating each other is bound to be. Shepard mostly sipped her tea in lieu of talking, and Sandra struggled to overcome her stammers. Liara was carrying the whole conversation, with occasional help from Benny and Sarah.

And then someone brought up the topic of Outlaws of the Code, which brings us to the present. No-one really remembers who brought it up. Benny, perhaps, in an attempt to break the ice by bringing up favored TV shows. But whoever did it, elicited the following reaction from Sarah's mother:

"Oh I love that show! I have every boxed set to date!" She mulls in quiet embarrassment, "Oh my, how unbecoming. I've only just met you and there I go acting like a schoolgirl"

Liara is deathly quiet, "You are a Code fan?"

"Er, yes"

The girls excuse themselves, and as soon as Shepard sees the look in her bondmate's eyes, she does too.

"Okay Liara, Sandra, I'm going to excuse myself for now. Maybe I'll go see what the girls are…up to. Nevermind, I'll be in the basement." She scurries off.

"Oh my, that was strange"

Liara ignores that, "I must admit, I too enjoy watching it from time to time." An understatement. Liara T'Soni is a stark raving fangirl. She watches each episode as it comes out (often making Shepard watch them with her), discusses them on forums as soon as it's over, and buys the merchandise whenever she can (putting it to dubious use, as Shepard (and Sarah) could attest).

"Oh? How nice! I didn't really want to watch it at first because everyone liked it and I didn't want to be part of the bandwagon. But then I watched the first episode and, well, it was really good!"

"Yes, the pilot was excellent. Though I don't think it was until the second season that Disasia," (the name of the head writer), "truly spreads her wings." Liara immediately realizes that she might have revealed too much about herself, "*ahem!* I mean, uh, it's just a good season"

"Oh I knooow! That's when the show really takes off. Marcella," (the protagonist, a rogue Justicar out to kick ass and take names, code be damned. She has a tough exterior that makes the ladies swoon, and a gentle demeanor underneath that exterior that only intensifies the swooning), "really comes into her own there. The actress…oh shoot, what was her name again?"

"Ensis K'Gassin," Liara answers much too quickly.

"Right! She plays that role so wonderfully! But if you watch 'the making of' she's actually quite friendly. Ehe, I feel a little embarrassed admitting this but I actually once stood in line for three hours to get a picture with her. Do you want to see?" She pulls up the image on her omnitool

The photo depicts Sandra looking like she is about to faint while the Asari actress slings an amicable arm over her shoulders. Liara is silent for a moment, considering whether or not she wants to do what she is considering doing. After a few painstaking moments she decides: "I have something to show you"

She takes the woman deeper into the apartment, revealing that it is actually much larger than it looks on the outside. They eventually arrive at a closed door that Liara pauses in front of, mulling over her decision one last time, before steeling herself and ushering Sandra in.

This was a tough decision for Liara as she did not have many people in her life with which to share her love for Outlaws of the Code.

"Oh my…"

A love big enough to warrant an entire room in the house dedicated to Code memorabilia. This is what Liara does when she isn't running the Galaxy (and all the other cool stuff she does).

Sandra looks at upon the room in wonder. There is a replica of the rifle Marcella uses! There's a (recently used) replica of the (scanty) battle robes! Andohmigosh, Sqeee! There's a signed poster by Disasia herself!

Sandra looks Liara straight in the eye. "This. Is. So. Coooooooool"

In an instant a friendship is forged in the hot irons of mutual fandom. They peruse Liara's extensive collection, chatting nonstop about their favorite aspects of the show. Favorite character, favorite episode, favorite season, favorite nuances of the show's writing; favorite pretty much everything.

"I don't recognize this scene in any of the episodes," Sandra remarks, breath-taken, as they pass by a particular poster of Marcella in the passionate embraces of Lizelle, the slightly touched-in-the head Asari Specter often tasked with bringing Marcella down, though she never quite succeeds. Subtext at its finest really.

Liara gazes wistfully upon the poster, "It's a fanart I had commissioned. It cost me…well not very much at all, but I value it highly"

And so began the lengthy shipping discussion, consisting mainly of the phrase "why don't people see it!?" As seasoned shippers, both women had to cope with the fact that they were (at least in the world outside the extranet) alone in their hyper-particular fervor for Outlaws of the Code shipping. Truly this was a fortuitous meeting.

"Sandra I am very glad to have met you," Liara says as she and Shepard walk the Stottlemeyers out the door.

"Oh honey, c'mere!"

"Oh, oh okay," Liara was not expecting the sudden hug, but accepts it bemusedly.

"And you'll show me how to make an account on-"

"Yes! yes, of course. I'll email you." Shepard looks at her bondmate in amusement. Liara's predilections were no secret to her (as the leather burns could attest), but it was still cute that Liara gets embarrassed about it every now and then.

Liara closes the door and her daughter and bondmate eye her with a pair of smug grins that say "We know how much you were fangirling up there." Liara stares the both of them down and straightens her nonexistent coat.

"What?" she asks, as they giggle, "don't think you have the upper hand here. I know your web histories." The gigging immediately stops. "That's what I thought." And she walks away in a manner most dignified.


Author: Maybe I got too carried away here. We'll..we'll see. Anyway, thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I friggin' love reviews.