Author's note: Thanks to everyone who leaves me reviews. Always appreciated. You guys are such hardcore awesome-sauce that you don't even know. I also appreciate the people who don't leave reviews, because hey, thanks for reading at least. I'll get out of your way now.

Most people who know her think that Liara's schedule is a convoluted mess of trickery, deceit, hidden agendas behind even more hidden agendas, galactic market trading, and at the end of the day, family time. For the most part this is all a very accurate guess, if somewhat incomplete. Liara sees it in much simpler terms. There's work, fooling around at work, more work, more fooling around at work, and then there is finally family time.

Liara is able to cram so many activities under the moniker of "work" because she has the Shadow Broker network to assist her, and though it demands a lot of her attention, sometimes, as with all forms of work, it can get pretty tedious. And with so many programs and algorithms focused on doing the work she can't attend to 24 hours a day, this is no surprise.

This is why, in the margins of her work hours, Liara sees no problem with checking out her favorite sites on the extranet, watching vids on Illiumflix, visiting Code forums, and writing the occasional work of fiction when the mood strikes her. All in all, Liara T'Soni is an extremely accomplished woman with more money than she will ever need, and no revenge vendettas or pressing galaxy-threatening invasions that demand her total attention. This is Liara T'Soni, taking life one day at a time, resting on her laurels.

And today just happens to be a special day, though for reasons not yet applicable. Not yet, anyway, thinks Liara as she checks the time in one of the many holoscreens in her office. They orbit around her desk like so many luminous fish, ready to be enlarged at a moment's notice.

At the moment, she is watching the live footage of a Turian politician with his wife. Unbeknownst to her, he has hidden in the closet his Hanar mistress, whose bioluminescence is showing under the crack of the door. He is doing everything in his power to keep his wife's head turned away. Up until the wife had walked in, Liara had recorded more than enough sordid blackmail to keep the politician firmly in her pocket. And it is with satisfied tapping of a few buttons (and a wish to un-see everything that had transpired in that bedroom) that she shuts off the feed and secures it in her blackmail folder.

(Really, she thought, what does anyone see in the Hanar anyway? Because while many Asari go through what her father jokingly calls "the Hanar phase" of their love lives, Liara is not one of them. Perhaps she will ask her half-Hanar half-sister about it sometime.)

Next up is the bi-annual bribing she had to make to ensure that several Salarian officials facilitate the upcoming trade talks between the Salarian and Krogan governments. With a few personal commands sent to her agents (and a few automated ones, because really, who has the time?), she then sends off a message to Wrex to make sure he's doing the same on his end. A few minutes later she gets a personalized recording from Wrex saying that, yes, he was on it, and will you please stop nagging me woman because I have a million things to do today and if you keep sending me these reminders I will die of an aneurism.

Seeing as how he's online she keeps messaging him anyway, and they have a nice discussion (albeit slightly frustrated on his end) about how their respective families are doing, how work is going, how they wish they could just solve a problem by having it shot every now and then (which, ironically, Liara does more often than Wrex) and why haven't the T'Sonis visited Tuchanka in so long? Rolling her eyes, she replies "soon" and ends the conversation before Wrex can turn the nagging tables on her.

She checks the time. Still plenty of time left.

She consults with Glyph (who was already advanced, but in the past couple of decades has been so thoroughly upgraded by Quarian and Geth engineers that it only just barely qualifies as not an AI) to see if there is anything that requires her attention. There are a few things, as it turns out, but those things are boring and she decides to take care of them later.

Stretching back in her chair, she decides that maybe she should check on Shepard's office. Opening one of the vid-feeds, she sees that Jane is being shot at from the doorway fo her office. Tattoos reveal the attackers to be pro-human extremists. Startled, Liara brings up a flurry of more camera feeds. They reveal that, oh joy, the council chambers are being assaulted again. Alarmed out of her mind (because while she knows that Shepard can handle herself, one does not just turn off their ability to worry) Liara mobilizes a nearby cadre of Shadow Broker agents.

The power appears to be off in the building, so it's a good thing Liara has these bugs installed everywhere. Unable to do anything more, and knowing that running to the chambers herself would limit her effectiveness in this situation, a frustrated Liara glues her eyes on the screen as she watches her bondmate take cover behind a desk.

Suddenly a grenade is thrown. "Turn around Jane!" Liara yells uselessly, but Shepard sees it and throws it back, buying her enough time to jump out of cover and lunge panther-like to stab the surviving shooters with her omni-blade. Without missing a beat, her kinetic barriers reactivate as she scoops up a pistol, and she's running down the hall to neutralize any more threats.

The next few minutes are an experience in nail-biting anxiety, as Shepard neutralizes extremist after extremist and Liara coordinates her shadow squad to covertly do the same. By the time most of the enemies are down and C-Sec has the situation in hand, she has dispersed her troops into the shadows of the Citadel. Shepard herself does probably the most badass thing she can think to do and returns to her office, stepping over the bodies of the people she had stabbed not minutes before, and gets back to work.

Really, that woman is impossible. Liara sniffles in relief and calls her.

"Hey Liara." Shepard's voice is utterly cheerful, as if Liara has caught her in any old moment at the office.

"You fool! You have a wave barrier over your desk! None of those heroics were required"

Shepard just laughs, and both of them know damn well that given a choice between keeping herself alive by staying behind a shield or charging off into danger, Shepard would charge off into danger every time. "You know you would have done the same thing"

"Hmph"

"When did you get more cameras in here anyway? I swore I got the last one"

Liara ignores the silly question. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Everyone else is fine too, by the way"

"I can see that. The Salarian councilor got shot in the thigh tough"

"That ought to knock him down a few pegs"

Liara shakes her head. "I'm so happy you're alright"

Shepard just smiles up into the ceiling, unsure of where the bug is but knowing that Liara can see her.

Liara curses, but is just met with more laughing. "Honestly. Do you have much more work to do?"

"You know I don't"

"Then come home, you should make it just in time if you hurry"

"You're not going to tell me what this is about are you?"

"No. Hurry home"

And she hangs up. She checks the time. Just a little left.

Satisfied that Shepard is okay, she decides that she may as well take care of all those mundane, yet important things that Glyph said needed her approval; most of them are peripheral tasks around bargaining colonial rights for the mildly recovering Batarian population in Alliance-affiliated space. It's tricky stuff, like untangling a ball of red tape. Thankfully Glyph manages most of it beautifully, and Liara wonders if maybe it is just an AI at this point. But that's a question for another time. Thanks to her digital assistant, she finishes with the task quicker than she expected.

She drums her fingers against the desk and considers pulling up a video game, but thinks better of it and checks to see if her half-sister is online. When she finds that she isn't, Liara is struck by a sudden whim and searches the extranet for articles on interspecies attraction, with a focus on the Hanar.

It is while she is perusing one particularly fascinating study that Shepard walks in.

"Hey baby"

Liara leans back and cranes her neck to receive a kiss. "Hey yourself"

"What in the world are you reading?"

Liara tries to play off her embarrassment, "Er, nothing much. Broker business"

"Really? 'Turian female lives with two Hanar partners?' This is broker business?"

"…Yes"

"Uh-huh," Shepard says, clearly unconvinced.

"Fine. I had a little time to kill, and I was curious, so I thought I might look it up"

"Are you…curious about the Hanar? Or are you curious about the Hanar?"

"No! Get your head out of the gutter. I'm curious as to how such an attraction can develop. That's all. The Hanar have such radically different physiologies from the rest of the council races, so…" she trails off, not wanting to have to explain herself further.

"Couldn't you just ask your Dad? Didn't she have a kid with one?"

"Yes, my half-sister. You met her once, actually. And no, I can't ask my father because she would take it completely the wrong way, and she'd be insufferable throughout the entire exchange"

Shepard sighs, leaning over and typing "tentacle porn" into the search engine. The screen fills with a cornucopia of sordid images. "And that," syas Shepard, "is why some people are attracted to the Hanar. Mystery solved. For someone who knows a bit about everything Lira, you are still pretty sheltered"

Liara is aghast, "Oh my"

"Yeah…some of this stuff's pretty out there"

"I did not realize that their image was so sexually portrayed"

"It's worse than the Asari, really"

Liara scrolls down the page, her expression contorting into a grimace, "That's not even how they procreate"

"Well, it's a whole wide universe out there. Sex doesn't make sense anymore"

"Do you think this is why my father…?"

"I don't really want to think about it"

"Ugh. While I disagree with your premise that this is why Hanar are targeted by other species as sexual partners, I agree that my curiosity isn't worth having to further dwell on this perverted extranet drivel." Liara closes the browser, checking the time as she does so. "Jane! It's time!" She pulls up a different live-feed.

Shepard narrows her eyes at it, trying to figure out where it is, before recognition dawns on her. "Christ, you have bugs everywhere don't you? This is so wrong"

"Hush, this is romantic. And really no different from the baby videos we used to record"

"No it isn't. And this is weird"

Elsewhere

If Sarah knew she was being spied on, she would not be as nervous as she currently is. She would be even more nervous, because though she isn't afraid of public displays of affection, she is deathly afraid of what Benny will say when she finally pops the question, which will be any minute now.

The venue: their living room. Sarah might like spectacle and fanfare, but Benny does not, and shies away from it when she can, which is fine. Benny's shyness is part of the reason Sarah likes her so much in the first place. And as they sit on their couch, side-by-side, watching Blasto the animated series because apparently there's nothing else on TV (which is ridiculous considering the literally thousands of channels available), and all Sarah can think about is the tiny box in her pocket with the bonding bracelet inside.

"Do you mind if I change the channel?"

"Huh?"

"The channel, can I change it?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sure"

Benny flips through some more channels, settling in on the couch by drawing her legs up on it and leaning against Sarah's side, nestling her head in the crook of her neck. Sarah moves on instinct, shifting her body so that Benny can get more comfortable. It isn't until she's done it that she realizes that the box in her pocket is jutting uncomfortably against Benny's back.

"Ow," Benny draws back a bit, "what is that?"

"What's what?"

"That thing in your pocket"

Sarah panics. "I don't know what you're talking about"

Benny quirks an amused eye-ridge, not at all thrown off by the terrible misdirect, "This thing," she pokes it, smiling. "What is it?"

"Oh that." Sarah manages not to stammer, but only just. She is undeniably nervous, and tense, and this is not at all going according to plan, and the only thing she can think to do is swallow and say, "I don't know"

"You don't know"

"That's…maybe?"

"You maybe don't know what this thing in your pocket is?"

"Uh…yes"

"Can I see it?"

Sarah's heart stops, and she notices everything in the room as if in slow motion. Benny, kneeling above her, smiling. The sounds of, oh god, Outaws of the Code playing on the TV. The fact that it is still mid-day and not early evening, like it would be if Sarah planned this better.

"I don't think that's a good idea"

"Why?"

"It just…isn't?"

"You're being very suspicious"

Sarah tries to laugh it off, but fails to sound innocuous, at which point Benny looks into her eyes with such intent that Sarah knows what she's going to do before she does it.

Benny lunges, and Sarah dodges too late, helpless under the attention of the Asari's tickling hands. After she is reduced to a giggling mess, she feels, amid her stupor, the box sliding out of her pocket. Eyes wide, she sits up to see Benny holding the box in front of her, all mirth drained from her features and replaced with wide-eyed bewilderment.

Benny, recognizing the box (a staple in the rom-coms she enjoys), looks at a sheepish Sarah and back to the box before, slowly, steadily, opening it. Inside is an intricately-designed bonding bracelet, simple and undeniably elegant.

"I wasn't sure if this was the sort of thing you wanted," Sarah is wringing her hands and avoiding Benny's gaze, "being Asari and all. So I just figured I'd…go for it? I don't know. I feel a little silly now"

Benny still doesn't say anything, and taking this as a cue, Sarah shuffles to remove the bracelet from the box, taking Benny's wrist in her hands, and gently affixing the bracelet to its circumference. It is a perfect fit.

"Oh, perfect fit," Sarah stammers, trying to laugh off her anxiety.

Benny just stares at her wrist in wonder, turning it over to see every facet of the intricate design, all the while leaving Sarah hanging for several agonizing minutes.

Eventually Benny finds her voice, and it comes out as an emotional murmur. "Sarah do you know what this means?"

"Uh…I thought I did, but if you ask me like that, now I'm not sure. Um…is it a promise that I will love you for as long as I live, and that I believe that your soul is an inextricably intertwined with mine?"

"Yes"

"Then, uh…yes"

And because nobody really expects their human girlfriend to whip out an extremely meaningful incarnation of Asari-expressed love in the middle of watching brainless citadel TV, Benny is suddenly overwhelmed by the sudden gravity of the moment, and a single tear trickles down her cheek, just like in the movies.

And then her eyes intensify. She grips Sarah's shoulders and pulls her in for a rough kiss, throwing down her girlfriend, now bond-mate, on the couch and announcing with a severe (yet strangely loving) voice that "this is happening," before proceeding to yank off Sarah's shirt, every instinct and muscle intent on giving Sarah the most pleasure she has ever experienced.

Because just like Sarah, Benny has been considering proposing one way or another for some time, and the fact that she doesn't have a bonding bracelet to present right back means multiple orgasms will just have to do. Benny initiates the meld immediately, wanting the both of them to feel every facet of how perfect this moment is.

Unsure if this is Benny's way of saying "yes" (and it is), or some bizarre Asari follow-up to the presenting of the bonding bracelet, Sarah struggles to respond before surrendering to sense and shuddering into the embrace of her eager and extremely frisky lover.

Elsewhere

Shepard and Liara both cram their palms on the exit icon of the live-feed window, banishing it into nothingness before they can see anything they'll regret seeing. Both parents, while caught up in the emotion of the moment, are understandably taken aback by their daughter's aggressive acceptance of Sarah's proposal.

"Well"

"Yeah"

"That was…interesting"

Shepard just grunts.

"Sarah did a better job at proposing than you did at least"

In her outrage, Shepard forgets that she almost saw her daughter have sex again. "Hey! Don't pretend you didn't thoroughly enjoy that night"

Liara laughs, kissing the back of Shepard's hand, the shock of the recent past melting away. "It was perfect in its own way, dear"

"I should hope so! I don't degrade myself for just anyone you know"

The two of them kiss tenderly, though as it drags on their lips start pressing with mounting urgency, and someone's tongue slips sensuously into the other's mouth.

"I remember," Liara says in between kisses, "that you were waiting for me, practically naked except for that outfit. I took you then and there remember?"

"Liara," Shepard says, level-headed, drawing away before Liara can get herself worked up any more (either by kissing or her own recollection). "Considering what we just saw, I don't think I want to do this right now"

"What? Are you s- Fine. Dammit. Okay." Shepard laughs at Liara's frustration, as the Asari pushes her away. "I have to send the first fifteen minutes of this video to Sandra anyway. She's the one who told me when this would happen." Liara fixes Shepard with a dark look as the human moves to leave the room, "But this isn't over Jane. You'd better prepare yourself"

"Ooh. How much time do I have?"

"If you don't stop shamelessly wiggling your ass like that, only a couple of seconds"

Shepard shakes her head, because she was doing no such thing. Liara just gets pretty intense when she's aroused. "I should go," Shepard says.

Gratification is sweeter when it's delayed anyway.

Author's note: Will edit more thoroughly later, if I must.