A/N: Another chapter for you. I know that these aren't coming fast enough for some of you and I'm sorry. I will do my best to get a chapter out every week. I may miss a week or two here and there, but I think that working within a schedule will help me focus and practice for that matter.
This chapter is a long one but I hope it meets your expectations. You'll appreciate these slower chapters when you see what I have in store for you in the future.
Cheers and happy reading.
Oh and yes, The City of Dreaming Books is a reference to an actual book written by Walter Moers. I highly recommend reading it and all of Mr. Moers' works. They are among my favorite reads and strike me as something Riley would certainly be reading.
It had been a week since Liara's first meeting with Kallah and this was the first time in two weeks Riley had been back to school. She sat on a bench by herself, watching the other children play in the school yard. Making friends was something Riley had never been good at, she had never quite fit in when she was at the Systems Alliance Academy, no one ever taught her how and being a student at the Citadel Academy was just a repetition of what she learned growing up by herself except this time she had her Mother and Liara, both a constant source of comfort for the little Shepard.
Of course her ability to fit in at the SAA had other outside influences, the Shepard's had exemplary military careers but news of the Commander's unpopular Reaper theory spread fast and wide on Earth and it negatively affected Riley's life among her peers. She had spent most of her four and half years at the Academy shunned and alone. Having no meaningful friendships made her often times the focus of the school bully simply because she was a Shepard, a reason that Riley never understood and simply thought that there wasn't anything likeable about her. The girl had always been too small to be picked for any of the sports and she never felt smart enough to find camaraderie among the more academically gifted students. Then there was her Mom who took the responsibility of having most of the negative impact on her. Being so young, Riley didn't understand what Jane was doing or how hard she was working on a galactic level. What she did understand was that while she was at the SAA, her own Mother rarely came to see her and when she did, it was only on holidays and birthdays for a few hours at a time. How could she expect anyone to like her if her own Mother didn't? So Riley's solution to all of her problems was to ignore them by burying herself in books and music. A person didn't have to have friends in order to have fun reading or playing a piano. She had mastered the art of being alone and at a certain point, she rather liked it.
On the bench she sat swinging her legs, hands folded on her lap, pondering the latest escapades of the main character in the new book she'd been reading called The City of Dreaming Books when a shadow fell across her. Looking up at the figure that was silhouetted by the sun, she squinted and shielded her eyes.
"Hi." The voice chimed.
Riley recognized the voice but not the tone and her heart started to pound in her small chest, "Hi."
"Can I sit with you?"
Riley nodded and the figure sat. With the sun out of her eyes she could clearly see Kallah.
The asari girl looked at her and smirked, "Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you. Why you sitting by yourself?"
Riley began to calm. She looked down and shrugged, "I dunno."
"Well, don't you want to play?" Kallah asked with what seemed to Riley as genuine concern.
"Yeah. But...," Riley sighed.
Kallah looked down at the girl next to her, "But what?"
Riley dangled her legs, then picked at a spot on her pants and quietly spoke, "I don't have any friends."
Kallah smiled. She slung her arm across Riley's shoulders and pulled the smaller girl close, "Sure you do. You have me."
Riley tilted her head and looked up at the girl, a mask of curiosity on her face, "You're my friend?"
Kallah nodded with a slight smile, "Well, sister really, we're sharing the same Mother after all."
Riley looked down and smiled to herself. It made her feel good to finally have a friend and to have that friend call her a sister felt wonderful. A few moments of awkward silence fell when she looked up at the older girl and smiled, "Thanks."
Kallah smiled back, "What're you thanking me for?"
Riley shrugged again, "I dunno. Just thanks I guess."
Kallah sighed and held onto Riley, "Okay."
Riley looked up at the girl, "So, you're coming over to my house tonight."
Kallah looked down at the girl, "My Mother says I am, so I guess I am."
"Momma's looking forward to teaching you, she's talked about it all week." Riley fiddled her fingers in front of her, every once in a while glancing out of the corner of her eyes at Kallah.
Kallah laughed, "She's not even your real Mother, why do you call her that?"
Riley frowned a little, "She's a real enough Mother to me."
Kallah rolled her eyes, "I mean that she didn't carry you in her body, she didn't birth you and you still call her Momma. It sounds like such a baby name for her anyway."
Riley was hurt by what Kallah was saying, "Her name is Liara, Momma is her title and your Mother didn't birth you either."
Kallah chided, "She's not technically my Mother, she's my Father and she didn't have to birth me, she gave my Mother her DNA. We are related by blood, you and Liara aren't."
Riley was getting upset, "Blood doesn't matter, she takes care of me and she tells me all the time that she loves me as if she carried me in her tummy."
Kallah pulled her arm from around the smaller, younger girl, "Blood is everything Riley. You'll learn."
Riley looked over, tears threatening to fall. She was beginning to believe what Kallah was saying and that hurt her and scared her. She had long feared that one day Liara would be tired of her and because she wasn't the asari's blood daughter, the Momma she knew and had come to love could and would leave her. In this moment though, she was going to fight for what she had and try to bury that fear, "It isn't! If it is, then why'd you call me your sister? You said we were sharing the same Mother."
Kallah laughed mischievously, "I don't know, just fooling with you I guess. Why does it matter to you so much?"
Riley huffed and slid off the bench, "You're a mean person Kallah," and walked away. About halfway away she turned back, "And calling your Mother a Father is stupid, they're both female." She turned and walked away fast, counting under her breath to see how far she would get before she felt the first punch.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kallah yelled after the younger girl.
Riley didn't turn back. Kallah watched her walking away and remembered what Liara had shared with her during their meld. She now knew almost everything about Riley and she was well aware that the little human was unsure of her own worth or that she was loved. She bit her lower lip and thought. We're not much different from each other. It was easier to not feel anything for the little girl when she knew nothing about her, but now she was feeling a bit bad about picking on Riley. She got up and ran to Riley and pulled the girls shoulder, turning her around. Riley flinched and covered her face. Kallah just looked at her and when Riley didn't feel any pain, she slowly opened her eyes to see Kallah staring at her.
Kallah sighed, "I'm sorry Riley, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I know that it bothers you and I was just picking on you. I won't do it again, not about your Mom or Liara anyway."
Riley had been crying and wiped her face with her sleeve and then looked at her, mistrusting every word, "She loves me. They both do." The little girl said it in a tone that belied little confidence.
Kallah knew Riley made the statement because the human was trying to believe it herself and was having difficulty, "Liara loves you Riley. She loves you a lot."
Riley sniffled and tried to suck up her emotions but was having difficulty, "How do you know?"
Kallah looked down feeling ashamed that Liara has shared with her and not her own daughter and here that daughter was, standing in front of her, seeking answers that Kallah wasn't equipped to give. She didn't know what to say except, "The meld."
"You can know these things in melds?"
Kallah met Riley's eyes, "Well, yeah. A meld is all about sharing memories and feelings and your Momma shared hers with me. She loves you, a lot."
Riley looked away, "Oh."
Kallah was eager to change the subject, "Anyway, I only pick on you only because I like you."
Riley looked back at the older girl and stared, "If you like me so much, why'd you beat me up?"
Kallah gave Riley an embarrassed smile, "That just means I really like you." She put her arm over Riley's shoulders and started them walking towards the school before the buzzer sounded.
Riley scratched her head trying to make sense of this new friend, "You're weird."
Kallah giggled, "So are you."
Riley looked up at the girl and smiled, "I know." She slung her arm around Kallah's back and hooked her hand on the taller girls shoulder. She still didn't trust the girl, but she was beginning to understand the idea of friendship.
Jane came through the door looking more haggard than normal. She dropped her bag and hung her jacket in the closet. Making her way into the rest of the house she saw Liara in the kitchen fiddling with a pot of water.
"Hey, cooking is my job." Jane smiled.
Liara, slightly startled, looked at her, "I thought it might be nice for you to just be able to come in and relax before you took Riley out."
"It's okay, I don't mind fixing dinner. It gives me time to debrief my head before I try talking with either of you."
"If it makes you feel better, I am only making spaghetti...by request and from the jar."
Jane laughed, "Yeah, our little one has gotten smart after the last time you tried to get all fancy with her dinner."
Liara frowned at the memory and looked back at what she was doing.
"Aww Li, I'm sorry. I was just joking." Jane moved from the counter and put her arms around her bond mate.
Liara leaned back and smirked, unimpressed, "I am going to get better."
Jane turned Liara around and drew her in and pecked her on the lips, "Yes you will. Where is she anyway?"
"The girls are playing quietly with their dolls in her bedroom."
"No one's screamed yet? Nothing's exploded?" Jane chuckled.
Liara raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, "No. They are acting quite civil to one another and if I did not know any better, I would think that they were friends."
"Huh. Go figure."
Riley and Kallah were sitting on the floor in Riley's room playing with a few of the dozen dolls that Kallah brought with her from home. Riley didn't have any dolls like Kallah had but what she did have was a doll-sized Commander Shepard that a volus toy company distributed after Shepard had saved the Citadel from Sovereign. A story that Riley still had difficulty believing because Jane was simply Mom to the young girl. Imagining her Mom single-handedly taking down a large synthetic space bug was a concept that was hard for the eight year old to grasp.
The Commander Shepard doll was in a sad state of disrepair. Riley had removed most of the armor and the doll was left with only pants, shirt and a missing boot. It had life-like hair which she never brushed and so it stuck up in a knotted nest at the top of the head so badly that the helmet didn't fit. She did admire that facially it resembled her mother almost exactly but she still preferred her action figures to dolls. Kallah reached over and gently took the Shepard doll and ran her hand over the head to try to smooth out the hair.
Riley looked at the girl gently making sense of the mess that the she created. She looked at Kallah's dolls and saw that none of them were human. the asari girl had one krogan doll that resembled Wrex but the rest were asari. She picked one up and held it, gently running her thumb over the face and head. None of Kallah's dolls had armor and all were in different asari outfits and Kallah had even more outfits stored neatly in the box that she brought with her. Riley looked at the doll in her hands and then her eyes shifted upwards to the girl sitting next to her, then down at the Shepard doll resting gently in blue hands. Kallah saw Riley looking at her and handed the Shepard doll back to her, "I'm sorry. Here."
Riley smiled at the older girl, "Uh...mm...would you like to trade?"
Kallah looked at Riley with curiosity, "Trade?"
Riley took the Shepard doll and held it next to the asari doll in her hand, "Would you like my doll and you can give me one of yours. It would sort of be like you getting a doll that looks like me and I can have one that looks like you."
Kallah looked down at the dolls that Riley was holding reverently and abruptly grabbed the asari one, startling Riley.
Riley felt foolish. Perhaps it wasn't appropriate to make such a suggestion. Maybe Kallah loved her dolls as much as Riley loved her action figures and couldn't stand being parted with them.
She dropped her chin, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. We don't have to, I was only..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Kallah had pushed a different asari in the little girls hand and gently took the Shepard. Riley looked up confused and was met with Kallah's smile.
"If we're going to trade, I want you to have my favorite one. My Mother sent her to me from Thessia."
Riley swallowed and looked back down at the asari doll in her hands. There was a strong resemblance to Kallah and this doll had yellow Commando armor. The face on this doll was much more realistic than those of the other asari dolls and it was more beautiful than anything Riley had seen. By the time she was able to thank Kallah, the older asari girl had the Commander Shepard doll back in her armor and had swapped out the one boot for a matching pair she had in the doll case.
Kallah looked at Riley with a giant grin, "She's really pretty. I love her, thank you."
Riley smiled back and held up her asari, "So's she. Thank you too." Riley's smile faded and she got up and ran to her toy box. She rooted around throwing toys out and onto the floor until she found what she was looking for. She quickly moved back and plopped in front of Kallah, holding out her hand.
The asari looked at her, "What's this?"
Riley smiled, "It's a hair brush. For your doll."
Kallah took it and looked at Riley. She started brushing the hair on the doll and was very happy with the results, "She has a name you know."
Riley looked at it, "I know, it's Commander Shepard."
Kallah shook her head, "No it's not. I renamed her."
Riley raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Really?"
"Yeah."
"What is it then?"
Kallah looked at Riley with pride, "Commander Riley."
Riley laughed, "Well then if you renamed her, I can rename mine."
"Oh? What are you gonna call her then?"
"I think she will be Captain Kallah of the asari Commando's."
Both girls laugh hysterically and were still giggling when Jane stepped in, "Hey you two, what's going on?"
Riley's eyes light up, she gets up and takes a running leap into Shepard's arms, "Mommy!"
"Hey sweetness. You two having fun and playing nice?"
Riley settled in Jane's arms and shoves the asari Commando doll in her face, "Kallah and I traded."
Jane tried to pull her head back to get a better look at what her daughter was holding in front of her, "That's great!"
"She has Commander Riley and I have Captain Kallah."
Jane's heart was soaring at seeing her daughter so happy. Having a friend has changed Riley for the better and brought her out from the little shell she was hiding in. It made her happy to see Riley blossom with Kallah around, "Hey Kallah, how are you doing?"
"Fine Commander, thank you for asking." Kallah smiled shyly. No matter what she said before about Commander Shepard, she secretly revered the Spectre because she was a great soldier like her own Mother, but was intimidated by the Commander. The woman had quite a following and what she did for the Citadel would be remembered by it's inhabitants for many years to come.
Jane sighed, "Kallah, call me Jane."
Kallah understood and nodded, "Yes ma'am."
Jane chuckled and put Riley down, "Momma is going to have dinner ready in twenty minutes. I want you girls to clean up your toys, wash your hands and help set the dinner table. After dinner Riley, you and I will drop Kallah off at home before we meet up with your auntie Ash."
Riley nodded, "Yes ma'am."
Jane looked at her daughter, "Remember. Twenty. What's twenty mean?"
Riley nodded, "Fifteen."
Jane set her daughter down and ran her hand down Riley's head, "That's right. Good girl."
When Jane left, Riley walked to her bed and put her asari doll gently on the pillow then went and started to help Kallah clean up. Kallah saw where Riley put her doll and she got up and put hers next to it and then continued to clean next to her new best friend.
Five minutes into quiet cleaning, Kallah broke the silence, "So back at school, before we went to class, what did you mean about my parents being female?"
Riley stopped what she was doing and looked at the asari, "Well, your Mom is a girl."
"You mean my Father?"
"I guess, if that's what you call her, but she's a krogan and krogan's have males and females so she's a Mother not a Father. Aren't asari all female?"
Kallah chuckled, "Not really. We're neither."
Riley looked at her friend questioningly, "But Momma has...she looks...she's got..." Riley tried to say the word that would express her understanding of female anatomy but she was embarrassed.
"What?"
Riley wasn't aware that her hands were floating in front of her chest and when she realized what she was doing she quickly put them down, "You know..."
Kallah was puzzled, "No. I don't."
Sighing Riley finally blurted it out, "Breasts."
Kallah giggled, "Breasts?!"
Riley turned a shade of deep red, "Yes. Breasts."
"So, you think that because asari have breasts that we're female?"
Riley giggled shyly, "Kind of. Well breasts and other stuff."
Kallah looked like a cat ready to pounce on a rat, "Other stuff?"
Riley looked at her innocently, "Girl parts."
"You mean a vagina?"
"Yeah, because the only ones with breasts and a vagina among humans are the women. It's how babies are born and breasts are how they feed them."
Kallah rolled her eyes, "That's the same for asari."
"So you're girls then."
"No, we're not anything."
Riley shook her head, "I don't get it."
Kallah smirked, "Maybe you should ask your Momma."
Riley frowned, "Maybe you should."
Kallah raised an eyebrow, "Maybe we both should."
Riley smirked, "Fine." Looking over her shoulder she called out, "Momma!"
It took a moment but Liara peeked around the corner, "What is wrong? Is everything okay?"
Both girls looked up at Liara and Riley asked, "Are you a girl?"
Liara was confused and didn't have time to give her daughter a more educated answer, "By human standards yes, by asari standards no. I must go or the bread will burn." Liara disappeared.
Riley was frowning in confusion at the spot where Liara had been when Kallah pushed her shoulder and giggled, "Told ya."
Ash side-stepped and Riley made a crash landing on the make-shift mat with a grunt.
"You see what I did there?" Ashley walked over and helped the little girl up by offering her hand. Kneeling down in front of the girl she looked her in the eye, "You have to try to be quick. If you're fast enough you don't even have to do anything, just let them use their own body weight against themselves."
Riley nodded, "Okay."
Jane leaned against the wall watching the teacher and her student. She was taking a break because it seemed that Ashley flowed right into the role of teacher and she didn't want to confuse her daughter by giving her two ways of learning things, but this one she just had to step in, "Wait a minute there teach. Come here a minute. Riley, step back."
Ashley saw that Shepard wanted to demonstrate something and moved into position.
The Commander eyed her opponent, "I'm offense, you're defense."
Ashley nodded, "Yes ma'am." She readied herself.
"Okay RJ, watch and learn." Shepard ran towards Ash and the Gunnery Sergeant performed the same maneuver she did with Riley, easily moving aside as Shepard fell beside her. Immediately and quick as a fox, Shepard whipped her legs around sweeping Ashley off her feet and once on the ground got her in choke hold.
Riley's eyes where wide as she watched her Mother work. Seeing her mom like this introduced her to a new side of the Spectre and she was in awe.
Try as she might to release herself from Shepard's hold, Ashley ended up having to tap out. The Commander let her go and they both stood up.
Trying to catch her breath and panting heavily, Jane looked at her daughter, "So, when it looks like you might lose the fight, there's always another way out. Always."
Riley nodded, "Okay."
Ashley chuckled, "Should've saw that coming."
Jane patted her on the shoulder, "I have more years on than you, more experience, you'll learn more moves along the way and maybe make up a few too." She looked at the time and then back at her daughter, "We have time for one more round and then we have to get you home for a shower and bed. You ready?"
Before Riley could answer there was gruff laughter on the other side of the hangar. She looked over and saw Garrus and Wrex looking at them with their arms crossed, laughing. When they saw that they had gotten the attention of their entertainment, Garrus nudged Wrex and they started to walk forward.
Riley's heart pounded at the sight of Wrex but she wasn't as afraid of him as she was the first time she met him. Looking up at him and meeting his eyes she swallowed, "Hi."
The large krogan chuckled and tapped her on the shoulder with his fist, "Hey pyjak. You keep listening to these two and you ain't gonna learn anything."
Jane shook her head and crossed her arms knowing full well that engaging Wrex in a battle of insults would teach her daughter a smattering of colorful words but Ashley took the bait, "And you think you could do better big guy? Show us what you got."
Riley's head snapped from Ashley back to Wrex and her jaw dropped a bit. She expected the big krogan to take a chunk out of the Gunnery Sergeant, but he stood his ground, chuckling.
Garrus laughed, "Well big guy, looks like you're getting sucked into becoming a pyjak trainer." He started to turn so he could go back to what he was doing.
"Not so fast Garrus. Where do you think you're going?" Shepard crossed her arms and leaned back on one leg.
Garrus stopped and turned to face the Commander, "Calibrations Shepard. Lots and lots of calibrations."
Shepard smirked and shook her head, "Uh huh, nope. Riley needs to learn to shoot a gun and I can't think of a better person to teach her."
Garrus' mandibles flared and he looked down at the the little girl with the big green eyes staring up at him. He smiled at her, then he looked back at Shepard, "Fine. Have her at the range tomorrow."
The Commander laughed and punched Garrus on the shoulder, "You're too easy Garrus. I'll have her there and ready." She turned back to Wrex, "And you," Wrex looked back at her. She was the only human, and a woman no less, to make him nervous although he never showed it, "You think you can teach her a few new things, be our guest. The more she learns, the better."
Wrex looked down at the little girl. She's kind of cute, for a human, "Did your mom teach you about the 'blood rage' ?"
Riley shook her small head.
"Hmm. Okay. What about a krogan charge?" He got down to one knee and met the girls eyes.
Riley calmed a bit more and shook her head.
"Then she's not teaching you well."
Shepard stood straight, "Hey."
"That's why I'm here," Wrex continued, "I'll teach you the good stuff."
Ashley sneered, "Yeah. Sure. This is gonna be entertaining."
Wrex got back up and put his hand on Riley's shoulder, leading her to a corner of the mat, "Stand here." He walked back to the middle and hunkered down, looking at the girl, "Now charge."
Riley gave him a questioning look and then up at Jane, "What?"
Jane chuckled, "You heard him. Charge."
Riley looked back at Wrex.
"Charge!" Wrex yelled.
Riley jumped and without thinking ran at the old krogan at full speed. As soon as she was at him he leaned forward and bounced her off of him. She landed hard on the ground.
Everyone tried to hide their giggles at how ridiculous it looked to see a human child charge a krogan, except Jane who helped her daughter up. When she pulled Riley up from the ground her face went white, "Oh shit."
Everyone immediately looked.
"I wasn't here." Ashley said and started to back away.
"Oh Shepard, you're in trouble now." Garrus piped in.
Wrex stared, his mouth dropped open.
Riley looked around and then put her fingers to what everyone was looking at and felt something warm and sticky over her right eye. Looking at her fingers she noticed blood and felt it running down the side of her face.
The Commander turned on Wrex and punched him in the arm, "You made an eight year old charge a fully armored krogan?!" Turning back to Riley, she grabbed a small towel and held it to the girls head, "Shit, shit, shit. I am in so much trouble! Liara is so going to kill me! And I don't mean the kind that's instant, I mean molecular ripping, blood-boiling, furious asari death, complete with the eye and you all know what eye I'm talking about. Asari terror eye!"
Riley's one eye went wide as she looked at her mom. She had learned enough to know that getting in trouble with her Momma was bad business, but knowing that her Mom would get in trouble for this was...entertaining.
Wrex looked at her, his mouth trying to form words. He wasn't worried in the least what Jane would do to him but he absolutely did not want to feel the wrath of Liara.
Ashley grabbed a med kit and knelt next to Riley, "Calm down guys, it's not that bad. Let's just calm down and clean Riley up and we'll all be fine. Okay?" When everyone nodded she turned her attention to Riley, "Look at you little soldier, not even a tear, I'm impressed."
Riley smiled with pride, "It doesn't hurt."
Ashley giggled, "Liar. I'd be crying like a baby if I got an injury like that."
Riley giggled, "I wanna do it again."
Wrex pointed at Riley and looked at Shepard, "See. She's part krogan like her mom."
"Not likely, and no RJ, you can't do it again." Jane looked over Wrex's armor and saw where Riley's head hit a pointed plate and then stood up looking at the krogan, "It was an accident and I'm sorry I hit you Wrex."
Wrex only looked at her, "I can take it from you Shepard, it's Liara I'm afraid of and krogan's don't fear anything."
"Well you're lucky because it's not you she's going to kill. Remember, the eye." She gave Wrex her best asari stink eye then turned and knelt down next to Riley and Ash, "Let me see that." She gently pulled the gauze away that Ashley had stuck to the wound, "It's going to take some stitches, let's get her up to Chakwas, party's over."
After this, Garrus was absolutely sure he didn't want to teach Riley anything in case she got injured, "So I guess target practice is off?," he said with a hint of hope.
Shepard looked at him as they passed by on their way to the lift, "No, see you tomorrow."
He looked down, shaking his head and to himself, "Better go make sure all those guns are calibrated or she might shoot an eye out."
"Well Commander, you're in luck, it's just a small cut and only required one tiny stitch. That's the fun thing about head wounds, they're dramatic bleeders." Chakwas smiled.
Jane stood with her arms crossed and looked from the doctor, to Riley and back again, "Okay, thanks doc."
Chakwas put her hand on the Commander's shoulder, "You've become quite the attentive parent, I've never seen you so worried."
Jane frowned, "What? About her?" pointing to Riley, "Hell, she's a champ, I'm not worried about her at all, I'm worried about me."
Chakwas gave the Commander a sideways glance, "Ahh, Liara. Just tell her that accidents happen and that all children get hurt."
"They do yes, but do they get hurt trying to charge a krogan male in pointy armor?"
Chakwas laughed, "No, not that I know of and I have to say that Riley is my first patient who's ever charged a krogan before. This will go down in medical history and I will be famous."
Riley giggled and looked at her Mom.
Shepard smirked, "Gee. Thanks."
Jane ushered Riley through the front door and quickly into the bathroom. She started the shower, helped the girl undress, "Get cleaned up, I'll be back to help you out."
"Okay."
She stepped out into the hallway and was startled by Liara, "Oh! God! You scared me!"
Liara smiled and gave Jane a look, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah! Yes. Absolutely. All good. Just showering before bed. We worked up a sweat." She called out behind her, "RJ, call me when you're ready, I'll help you out." Before she let Riley respond she hit the button and closed the door. Turning back to her bond mate she took her gently by the arm and led her to the living room, "Want some wine?"
Liara looked closely at Jane, "What is wrong?"
Jane only momentarily met Liara's blue eyes, "Nothing. Not a thing. Why? Why would you think something's wrong?"
Liara stopped and crossed her arms turning to Jane and glared at her, "You are stammering and your face is a shade of red I have little experience with."
Jane looked around shaking her head and then looked at the ground just in front of Liara, "Just hot from working out."
Liara's eyes narrowed, "Tell me the truth. I have gotten very good at reading humans, two of them especially."
Jane slumped and let her arms drop. Propping her hands on her hips, she leaned against the wall and met Liara's glare, "Riley got injured."
Jane waited for the dreaded stink eye but to her surprise, Liara remained calm, "Is she okay?"
Shepard was shocked. She thought for sure Liara was going to go crazy, "Yeah. Just a small cut...and a stitch." She looked sheepishly up at her bond mate, waiting for a change in mood and when there was none she continued, "You knew didn't you?"
Liara looked at her and a hint of a smile broke through, "Of course I did."
Jane sighed, "How?"
Liara moved closer and pecked the Commander on the lips, "What kind of parent would I be if I did not know what was going on with my child at all times?"
Jane rolled her eyes and smirked, "You, dear doctor, should know better than to answer a question with a question. Who told? Ashley?"
Liara stepped away, "No."
"Who?"
Liara giggled, "I have my resources."
Jane smiled a warning, "T'Soni."
Liara turned and gave her a smug look, "It would seem that krogans are terrible at keeping secrets when they are terrified."
Jane shook her head, "Wrex."
Liara laughed, "You should have heard him groveling for forgiveness Jane. He was truly pathetic." Liara did a mock impression of the krogan warrior, "Hey Liara...I'm so sorry for hurting the little one...it was an accident...I swear...please don't hate me. And then he said something about my eyes."
Jane smiled holding her forehead with her palm, "He says he's terrified of you."
Liara was incensed, "Whatever did I do to deserve that kind of reputation?"
Jane giggled, "Have you seen yourself in a fight Li? It's enough to scare anyone."
Liara just shook her head and smiled, "Well, as long as my little pyjak is still in one piece, you are all safe."
Jane smiled, "She is and she was a real trooper too. Not a tear shed."
Liara crossed her arms, "That is good. Now, if you do not mind, I will get her out and ready for bed, it is well past her bedtime."
Jane pursed her lips and nodded, "Okay. I'm going to get in for a shower too."
Liara stole a kiss, "That is good, you need one." She quickly rushed off before Shepard could retaliate.
