Chapter Nine:

"Aria..."

"Hmm?"

"Your hand."

Aria frowned for a moment, looking down at her palm in confusion. "What about my hand?"

Beside her, Tevos heaved a sigh. "Your other hand. You might want to move it before my mother comes downstairs." The protective way Aria had gently supported the small of Tevos's back with her fingertips as they passed through the throng of reporters outside the front gate had been sweet at the time, but somewhere along the way, Aria's hand had migrated to the swell of her ass, and Tevos was fairly certain her mother wouldn't appreciate the visual.

After one last firm squeeze, Aria moved her hand, albeit with a great show of reluctance. "You never let me have any fun. Where is your mother, anyway?"

"Probably trying to inflict some kind of mental torture on me by delaying this inevitable confrontation," Tevos said dryly. Although she wouldn't admit it, she already missed Aria's hand.

With her usual affected air of boredom, Aria took in the large entryway, staring up at the high ceiling and casting a glance towards the decorative columns. "So, this is where you grew up?" She tried to imagine Tevos as a child, running up the large, sweeping staircase on long, skinny legs, but she found it nearly impossible to picture her bondmate at such a young age. Perhaps she would do a little digging later and see if she could find any old holos.

"One of the places, yes. But to me, this has always been my mother's Estate. Perhaps that's why I don't feel comfortable traipsing through here on my own until she comes down. I haven't lived here since I was two hundred, and there's been a lot of remodeling since then."

"Well, until she gets here, I'm going to finish some very important work."

Tevos watched with mild curiosity as Aria turned on her Omnitool, although she continued sneaking apprehensive looks in the direction of the staircase. "Important work? Is it something interesting?"

"You could say that," Aria drawled as a very familiar theme song began to play. Tevos laughed and shook her head, the nervous knot in her stomach unraveling slightly as Aria unpaused the game of Krogan vs. Asari she had started late that afternoon. There hadn't been enough time after Khalisah's departure for them to pick up where they had left off, so Aria had entertained herself by beating the first several levels of the game while Tevos began the monumental task of clearing out her inbox. By the time they had landed at the Estate, Aria had reached level 35 and Tevos still had over three hundred messages to sort through.

"Wait. Oh shit – a Thresher Maw..."

"Use the rocket launcher," Tevos suggested, peering down at the game. "You're low on health."

"But I don't want to waste – ah, screw it. Die, you scaly bastard!" Aria made a triumphant noise in her throat as the last monster exploded.

"I always thought they were plated," Tevos said as the theme song looped back to the beginning and the next level started. "Put your snipers farther up, they can shoot in both directions."

"Why don't you stop back seat gaming? For someone who claims to be a bottom, you're really fucking bossy."

"Aria..."

"What?"

"The first wave just started, and you haven't finished setting up your defenses."

Muttering a string of improvised profanity under her breath, Aria returned her attention to the game, hurriedly trying to compensate for the precious seconds she had wasted. "I might just beat your high score this time," she said without tearing her eyes away from the line of approaching krogan infantry. Once her commandos had shot down the last of them, a fresh wave of krogan on kakliosaurs appeared along the designated pathway. "Except for that thresher maw on the last level, I saved most of my rocket launchers."

Tevos just smiled to herself and watched over Aria's shoulder. Aria had been trying to beat her high score for over a year, but every time she came close, Tevos always managed to raise it. Contrary to their sex life, they both enjoyed healthy competition in other areas of their relationship. "Did you spend all of your in-game credits on rocket launchers?" Tevos asked as the kakliosaur wave ended.

"Most of them. Why?"

"Because Level 36 has bombs."

Aria frantically tried to purchase defusers from her inventory, but it was too late. A red and yellow mushroom cloud exploded on the screen with the words 'You Lose!' superimposed on top. "Motherfucker!" she shouted in frustration, aiming a kick at the nearest decorative column with her boot.

"Excuse me?"

In unison, Tevos and Aria's heads shot up, staring in surprise and horror. Tevos spoke first, swallowing as she ignored the obnoxious krogan laughter coming from Aria's Omni-tool. "Hello, mother."

Aria quickly shut off the game and let her arms hang at her sides. Normally, she was the one people bent over backwards trying to impress, and it was strangely disconcerting to be in the opposite position this time. The effects of age were subtler in asari than in most other species thanks to their robust cellular regeneration rate, but Tevos's mother had started displaying some of them. There was more mottling around her crest, and light wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes, but there was an obvious family resemblance. Silently, grudgingly, Aria admitted that she had this asari to thank for her bondmate's good looks.

"Thea. I see you brought someone with you."

Tevos felt Aria bristle beside her, and she reached out to put a soothing hand on her bondmate's forearm. Obviously, Aria didn't appreciate being referred to as just 'someone', and Tevos couldn't blame her.

"Aria T'Loak," she said as she offered her palms, even though Tevos's mother had to know who she was. "Good to finally meet you."

Tevos's mother did not take Aria's hands. Instead, she reached out to grip her daughter's wrist, examining her bracelet. "You're bonded legally? The forms were all filled out?"

"Yes. And before you ask, I won't change them." Tevos's statement was full of conviction, but she allowed herself to be fussed over for a few moments, holding still while her mother tried to tug the neckline of her dress over the bite mark on her shoulder. Despite the instant dislike she felt for Tevos's mother, Aria couldn't help smirking a little as she watched her bondmate being treated like a maiden. Tevos's mother was obviously unhappy, but it seemed as though she wasn't going to cast her daughter aside, either.

"I suppose it was unrealistic to hope that those holos were manipulated," she sighed, fixing her gaze on Aria as the remaining traces of warmth vanished from her face. "So, you're the reason my daughter might lose her job and my Omnitool hasn't stopped buzzing since this morning. Honestly, I had hoped that she would outgrow her predilections, or at least learn to keep them private."

"Mother," Tevos said sharply, "I know you disapprove, but that's no excuse for rudeness."

"Disapproval would be a massive understatement." The older matriarch's words were clipped, and once again, Aria was struck by the family resemblance. They didn't just look alike – they sounded alike and moved alike. It was disconcerting, and Aria wasn't sure she would be able to tell them apart from behind. She made a mental note not to slap Tevos's ass without double-checking first.

"Look, I don't give a f - ... I don't care if you disapprove of our relationship," Aria said, managing to keep her voice somewhat controlled. "This isn't about you and me at all. This is about Thea." She jabbed a thumb almost violently in Tevos's direction before she realized what she was doing and tempered her body language.

"Please. Don't." Both of them turned to look at Tevos, whose face was drawn with emotional exhaustion. "Aria, there's no fight to win here. And mother, don't make me choose. I ordered everyone to remain on the ship until I spoke with you. If we aren't welcome here," Tevos said, emphasizing the word 'we', "I'll stay with Liara at the T'Soni Estate. We have an open invitation."

Although Tevos's mother had a difficult face to read, Aria was almost certain that she caught a flash of pain in the matriarch's startlingly familiar eyes. "Stay. My days as a politician are behind me, but I still have several useful connections. If you're determined to pursue... this... you're going to need all the help you can get. You're my daughter. I won't let the other matriarchs take away everything you've worked so hard for just because of your –" she waved a hand at Aria, obviously unwilling to use the term bondmate, but unable to think of a suitable substitute. Eventually, she just let the sentence drop without a proper ending.

"All right." Tevos didn't bother hiding her relief, and Aria realized for the first time that she had actually been afraid of being disowned, or at least temporarily banished from her mother's house.

Unfortunately, just as a wary truce began to settle between the three of them, Tevos's Omnitool buzzed. She looked down at it with a frown, and Aria recognized the worry line that creased Tevos's normally smooth brow. "Do you need to take that?" she asked.

"It's Valern. He's been trying to call me all day." Tevos glanced uncertainly between Aria and her mother, obviously reluctant to leave them alone for even a short period of time.

"Go," Aria urged as the Omnitool continued vibrating. "I'll go tell your –" Aria had to bite off the words 'hot little assistant', since that was normally how she referred to Tevos's attaché, and it had become something of an inside joke between them. "Uh, I'll let Neota know that everyone can come out of the shuttle. I can tell there are enough spare rooms for everyone just by looking at the size of this place."

"Good idea. Just please don't kill each other," Tevos begged, picking up the call as she walked briskly towards the nearest hallway. "Councilor Valern? Yes, I know you've been trying to..." Eventually, her voice faded out, leaving Aria and Tevos's mother alone in the large, high-ceilinged entryway.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause while the two asari stared at each other.

"I don't suppose you would agree to leave if I offered you some form of compensation, would you?" Tevos's mother asked with a frown after making sure her daughter was out of earshot.

Aria's fingers curled into her palms, and she squeezed hard enough to create a distracting ache in her hands. If anyone else had caused her this much annoyance, she probably would have ordered a hit already. "No, I wouldn't. And for Thea's sake, I won't tell her you offered."

The older matriarch sighed. "I didn't think so. But if you cared about her at all, you would leave anyway. She doesn't realize it, but you're tearing down everything she has worked to build."

Only centuries of experience prevented a flash of hurt from appearing on Aria's face. Contrary to her nature, there were times when she felt guilty for meddling in Tevos's life. She liked to think that she made Tevos happy, but she knew that she had also caused her some very large problems. "I know," she finally said, resting most of her weight on one hip. The whisper of leather against leather comforted her slightly as she crossed her arms over her breasts.

The sound of clicking heels echoed up to the arched ceiling as Tevos's mother stepped closer, studying her intently. Aria bristled at the encroachment on her personal space, but held still and allowed herself to be inspected more closely. "What I don't understand," the matriarch began, watching Aria's face for any hint of a reaction, "is what you're trying to accomplish. You don't need amnesty – the Terminus system has no laws, and the Council has taken a neutral stance on your... operation. If you wanted credits, you would have listened to my offer, and if you simply wanted a sexual partner, you wouldn't have bound wrists with her. So, why? Are you after Council secrets, or do you just take pleasure in ruining people's lives?"

"Oh, only some people's lives," Aria drawled, looking directly at Tevos's mother. "But not hers."

"Really? Because you seem to be doing an excellent job of it anyway."

Aria's upper lip pulled back in her version of a snarl. "Look, I don't care if you hate me. In fact, I expected it before I got here. But the least you could do is have a little faith in your own fucking kid." She felt her chest practically vibrating with tension, but resisted the temptation to raise her voice. She often found that a soft, threatening tone was much more intimidating. "She's smart, she's resourceful, and she's damn good at her job."

"Smart and resourceful, but obviously lacking in common sense. Goddess knows I tried, but I suppose I couldn't teach her everything."

Aria rolled her eyes. "And now I understand where some of her neurotic work tendencies come from." When it came to her work, Tevos was something of a perfectionist, and rarely allowed herself any respite unless it involved sex. Aria was proud of the fact that she provided her bondmate with release from the constant stress of her job. That, at least, was one way she improved Tevos's life instead of making it worse.

The glare that Tevos's mother fixed on her was positively icy. Any traces of warmth that had been present while Tevos was in the room were long gone. "Let me make something perfectly clear. You are the worst mistake my daughter has ever made, and once you've finished destroying her career, I'm sure you'll get around to breaking her heart, too. If you had any scrap of sympathy left, you would leave and never –"

"No, I wouldn't." Aria's voice sounded strained and slightly hollow as she listened to herself speak, but she continued anyway. "You think I don't know she's risking everything for me? Do you actually believe I'm that fucking stupid?" The muscles in her face felt strangely tight, and she lifted her hand to rub the tension from her tattooed forehead. "I'm terrified she's going to wake up one day, look at the bondmate bracelet I put on her wrist, and realize she made a mistake. But until that day comes, I'm staying."

For the first time, the older matriarch didn't seem to have any kind of response.

"So, unless you want to fuck with her head while her career is hanging in the balance, you'd better pretend to tolerate me. I told you before, I don't care if you hate me. But she needs you. And she needs me too, whether you like it or not. Both of us will just have to get over it."

Tevos's mother remained quiet for several moments after Aria's speech. Finally, she inclined her head slightly, nodding her reluctant agreement. She took a step back, and Aria almost let out a relieved sigh at the reestablished distance between them. "My daughter doesn't need any more stressors in her life over the next few weeks. I'll refrain from voicing my objections. For now."

"I don't know. I think you'll really like me after a hundred years or so," Aria deadpanned, simply to see if she could make her new mother-in-law's face twitch.

"You make me wish I hadn't been so hard on Irissa," she shot back, and Aria had to prevent her own face from twitching. There was no way she was going to let Tevos's mother know that Irissa was a sore spot. She would try to downplay it in front of Tevos, too. A little possessiveness could be erotic, but jealousy and insecurity were extremely unattractive traits in a bondmate. She had been pushing it earlier by ordering Grizz to guard Tevos, even though she hadn't done it because of Irissa.

Fortunately, before things deteriorated further, Tevos re-entered the front room. Aria doubted that Tevos had stopped walking at all during her call - she had a bad habit of pacing with her Omnitool. "Yes... Yes. Good. I'll message you later. Yes. No. All right. I'll see you in two weeks." When she noticed that Aria and her mother were still alive and uninjured, Tevos smiled, and even seemed to walk more lightly. "Well, one call down, a few hundred more to go. And that's not even counting the extranet messages. Aria, did you ever tell Neota and the C-Sec officers to leave the shuttles and come inside?"

"I'll take care of it now," Aria offered, eager to make her escape.

"Your room will be up the stairs on the third floor, second door to your left," Tevos's mother said as her daughter stopped beside her. Aria nodded her thanks and turned to leave, but paused when she heard Tevos clear her throat.

"Actually, love, you'll be on the second floor. First door to the right."

Sensing that another conflict was brewing, and correctly identifying the cause without being told, Aria nodded a second time and hurried out the front door. This was one argument that Tevos needed to handle on her own.

Once Aria was gone, Tevos's mother didn't waste any time. She turned to her daughter, and the strained look of hurt on her face almost made Tevos physically recoil. She held firm, even though she felt like trembling, and swallowed down the tight, painful lump in her throat. Breathing was suddenly more difficult. "I don't know what to say to fix this," she said. Her eyes were stinging, dry, but she managed to blink back the first few tears. She would not let anyone see her cry, especially her mother. "Every time we have this conversation, it makes things worse. Then we dance around each other for a while, apologize, and the cycle begins again."

"You are my daughter. I love you, and that hasn't changed. But if you're looking for my blessing, or my approval... that's something I can't give. I think you're making a terrible choice."

Tevos let out a long, slow breath from deep inside of her, hoping that some of the weight in her chest would break, but when she inhaled, her body and her heart only felt heavier. "If it wasn't Aria, it would be another asari. You know that."

"It's not just that she is an asari."

"I'm sure it isn't. But I won't let you lie and say you only disapprove because of her reputation, either. You treated all of the other asari I brought home just the same."

"Have you even considered other species?"

Aria would have known what to say, Tevos thought. She would have tossed off a sarcastic comment like, 'Sure. Attachable parts of them, anyway,' or even just punched a biotically charged fist through the ostentatious marble columns to make a point. Perhaps it wasn't the most mature way to handle confrontation, but it had to be better than this, simply standing before her mother and allowing herself to be insulted. It was just like answering to the matriarchs, only this time, she actually cared what the judge thought of her.

"I've thought about how much easier it might make my life, mostly because I crave your approval more than I should. But it will never happen."

Tevos watched as her mother sighed and lowered her head, shaking it sadly. "Then I hope you never have daughters."

The words were almost a physical blow that made her chest explode with pain. For several moments, the golden-tongued councilor was speechless. She wanted children, although she had some misgivings about how they would impact her life, but she knew that Aria's feelings on the subject were much more complicated, even conflicting. She wanted to ask her mother why she felt that way, to challenge her, but she already knew the answer. Because their children would be purebloods. Because they might look or act like Aria. Or, worst of all, because her mother didn't think she was fit to be a parent.

Tevos watched as her mother reached out her hand, then retracted it, seeming to change her mind. "I want to support you. I just can't support this."

The twisting knot in her stomach and the soreness in her throat and eyes went away, and suddenly, Tevos felt numb. She had reached the point of saturation – she simply couldn't feel anything else. "Love doesn't come with qualifiers, mother. I – I need some space. We'll talk later."

Neither of them said goodbye as Tevos headed towards the staircase. Her mind kept circling through the same thoughts. The confidence vote. Her mother. Aria. The first two sent her spiraling down, and she clung to the third as they continued spinning through her head. Despite the loop her thoughts were stuck on, her body felt drained, and the stairs seemed particularly steep. She climbed without looking up, clutching the banister more tightly than necessary.