Lucas Von Seraph thought quickly as he walked over to his desk. Aside from the Asari, he had analyzed nearly all of the most vital members on Shepard's crew. The lieutenant was starting to paint a picture from the information he had gotten. To him, it was mildly disconcerting.
"A workaholic, determined Turian, an abrupt yet somehow sentimental Krogan, an adolescent Quarian and a happy go lucky Alliance Marine with a bad family history to boot. I don't even need to interview this Asari here to tell you that we're looking at quite the dysfunctional family here. If Shepard has his act together, all of them are going to drag on him directly or indirect. If he's a renegade, he'll just aggravate the situation. If he's bi-polar...God have mercy..."
"As you might have heard, I'm Lieutenant Lucas Von Seraph." Lucas introduced himself, shaking the Asari's hand.
"Doctor Liara T'soni. It is a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant...you look a bit haggard, if you don't mind my saying, Lieutenant." Liara observed.
"It has been a day but nothing I can't handle. Anyway, tell me about yourself, Dr. T'soni."
"Well, as you already know, I am an Asari. My mother was the late Matriarch Beneziah. I've spent many decades studying the Protheans which proved useful in the conflict with Sovereign. In other words, history has been my life's work. Oh dear, you asked me to talk about myself, not the circumstances surrounding me." Liara sputtered sheepishly. Lucas quickly rubbed his eyes. He was getting tired.
"No, that is perfectly fine. Please continue." Lucas murmured.
"Well, I am just a little over a hundred years old, which is pretty young for an Asari, which I'm sure you already know. Many have described me as naive and innocent, though I am not sure how to comment on that. I must admit that I prefer working alone and with computers over social situations. I have a tendency to...what do you humans say...put my foot in my mouth?" Liara asked.
"That would be the proper expression, yes." Lucas nodded drowsily. He quickly shook his head to wake up. He knew he couldn't nod off just yet.
"Because of working alone and my shyness, I haven't met too many people and friends are hard to come by. Of course, then I met Shepard..." Liara trailed off. Lucas didn't need his optical implants to catch that content smile on her face. Lucas rubbed his head. "I've never been a big fan of relationship and marriage counseling. Too much drama, not enough brains..."
"Yes, that has come up quite a bit. How about we explore this?" Lucas offered, rising from his desk to gaze at the window, hoping the moving blood would wake him up and perhaps avert the lack of patience his drowsiness was causing.
"Very well, you are the evaluator and I defer my judgment to yours on these matters." Liara submitted.
"When did Shepard first catch your interest?" Lucas asked, still not having taken his eyes off the window.
"You mean my professional interest or my personal interest?" Liara asked. Lucas paused.
"Just interest in general. Which came first?"
"Well, that is hard to say. My professional interest of study is greatly intertwined with my personal interest. You could say my personal interest became my professional interest. So to ask me which came first would mean my personal interest, which means that I first became personally interested in him after a few missions. Of course, what sparked my initial curiosity was how he managed to retain a Prothean vision. Which was my professional interest. Oh dear, looks like I might have concluded wrong..." Liara murmured. Lucas meanwhile was staring at her. His bad mood was starting to kick in.
"Omigosh, this woman needs help... And I thought only Theology students over analyzed..."
"Very well then. So it started with the Prothean vision. Now about what time did your feeling start to grow stronger for him, or rather, when did you start feeling the need for him?" Lucas asked calmly.
"It was about the time...after our second mission. On Noveria." Liara explained. Lucas nodded.
"Tell me what happened on Noveria."
"Well, we had to obtain a garage permit and then fight our way through the valley. When we got to the central tram station we found it in complete disarray. After that, and killing plenty of Rachni, we found Beneziah...It is unfortunate that she did not survive the encounter."
"You refrain from calling her your mother." Lucas observed.
"Correct. I choose to remember her for who she ways, not a pawn in her last days." Liara stated quietly.
"And Shepard was there?"
"Yes...he helped me through that difficult time. He cared enough to check up on me."
"Well, let me ask you something Liara..." Lucas proposed.
"Go ahead, Lieutenant."
"The death of your mother, no matter how well you took it, was still an emotionally taxing time for you. Usually, Asari are very collected when it comes to matters of their emotions and inner being. However, even they are not untouchable. Is it possible Liara, that you are acting out of emotions of a bad event and perhaps you need to slow down a little?" Lucas offered.
"What do you mean, Lieutenant?"
"I mean perhaps you should reevaluate your feelings for Shepard and go at his pace. Perhaps you should consider another way to approaching him, start all over again, where you can be more collected in your feelings." Lucas suggested.
"I see. Perhaps I may have been a little fast in my handling of the situation..." Liara admitted.
"Yes, you have plenty of time. Leave humans to be quick and stupid. At best, we can only hope to make fifteen or twenty percent of your lifespans tops." Lucas chuckled. "Whew...okay, clearing the drama part."
"...Oh, by the Goddess, that is a good point!" Liara cried. Lucas looked at her.
"Is something wrong, Liara?"
"You are correct. Humans do not live long at all. Yes, the love two individuals have for each other transcend time and space, but there is still no substitute for the time we have now." Liara stressed.
"That is correct. It is usually attributed to King Solomon for saying 'A live dog is better than a dead lion.'" Lucas agreed.
"And we must make the most of the time that we are given now. We can never be sure how much time we have left."
"I believe that would be a correct assumption."
"Oh dear...that means there are only so many years left." Liara muttered, looking very worried.
"I wouldn't worry about that. The Sermon on the Mount states 'Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.'" Lucas quoted.
"Very well, that is true. However, Shepard is roughly thirty years old. He possibly only has a hundred and twenty years left, maybe even less considering his line of work." Liara said. Lucas was thrown off.
"What does Shepard have anything to do with this?"
"I must be absolutely clear with him on how I feel. He does not have an awful long time-"
"Well, you don't know for certain how long he has." Lucas interrupted. Liara meanwhile was frantic.
"Yes, but I must do as you said and try to approach it from another angle. Oh dear, this is going to take so much time and thought. I must get to it immediately." Liara stated. Lucas meanwhile was starting to panic.
"No, Liara, there is plenty of time I assure you."
"You yourself just said that life is short and precious. Do you realize how fast my hundred and six some odd years went? I can still remember when I was a little one on my mother's knee. I remember when no one had heard of you humans. There is not a lot of time, Lieutenant." Liara asserted. "Indeed, there is not a lot of time left for my patience...and perhaps even my sanity. No wonder Shepard got this way."
"Liara, please calm down. Everything will be all right." Lucas persuaded.
"Yes, yes. For now it is. Listen, you have been very helpful, Lieutenant, but now I must get to business on what you have suggested. You have been most helpful, Lieutenant. Perhaps we could meet again sometime." Liara suggested.
"Not unless we really have to." Lucas nodded.
"Oh, but when everything is cleared up, I insist."
"No, it's quite all right, I don't meet up with patients like that."
"Oh, not like that. I was thinking professional to professional."
"Haha, I'm really busy and all, being a chaplain, special forces, getting dragged on other missions that I can't really talk about."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I have absolutely no time." "For fast Asari like you."
"Oh Goddess, you're right! Time! Oh my, I better get moving." Liara turned to leave the office while Lucas activated his omni-tool to do quick calculations. He punched them into the device.
"Okay...accessing Asari database...psychological developments...she's a little over a hundred, putting her in the Maiden stage...,analytical, reserved type...type A personality...from the sounds of it she hasn't been...uh, 'getting around' as much...put all those into the equation and..." The omni-tool application emitted a glare of an ominous flashing red light which reflected off the lieutenant's face.
"Normal...very reactive readings...but normal considering the circumstances. God help the Commander." Lucas dragged himself to the door.
Shepard was a little taken aback by Liara once she opened the door. She gave him a very hopeful glance before walking off. Wrex was snoring on a chair and could not be disturbed. There was a saying to never poke a sleeping Krogan. Ashley had woken up and was feeling extremely woozy. The same could be said for Tali who was now sitting next to Garrus and talking his ear off. The Turian looked very content. Lucas approached Shepard and saluted him.
"Commander, with your permission, I am going to take a quick break, and I will be right with you." Lucas asked.
"Granted. You're the one in charge here." Shepard agreed.
"Thank you, sir." Lucas marched off to the cafe.
The Salarian attendant brightened up at the sight of Lucas. The lieutenant was regular at the cafe when he was around. The amphibian greeted him amiably in contrasts to Lucas' exhausted look.
"Ah, the human with all the proverbs. You look a little tired there. The usual chai to get you back up?" the Salarian asked.
"Yes, the usual chai. That would be great." Lucas thanked.
"You're welcome, Lieutenant. Now tell me, you always have a new proverb, something you have learned. Do you have a new one for today?" Lucas looked up in thought and let his mind flip over for a bit.
"Actually, yes I have learned something."
"Let us hear it then, human." the Salarian asked earnestly.
"Behind every great man is a woman driving him nuts. Never forget that." Lucas warned before sipping from the chai.