A/N: I confess that being a totally nonromantic person myself, my wedding scenes probably suck beyond description. But... well, I really tried, and I think this is as good as I can manage. So, take it for what it's worth. :) At least I had a lot of fun writing the mini-honeymoon later, so I hope you'll enjoy that at least. It's a bit raunchy, but nothing too bad. ;)
In another bit of news, in a few days I will be leaving for a two week vacation in Scotland. I'm taking my laptop with me, and the lodge supposedly has free wifi, so I might be able to post updates. If that doesn't work out, well, I'll see you towards the end of July. :)
Chapter 14 - Tawdry Ilium Bondings
Year 2191 CE
Nos Astra, Ilium
The siarist temple that Aria had convinced to perform their bonding ceremonies, while ensuring their silence with a very generous donation and also a large dose of threats, was located in a rather seedy underbelly of the glorious Nos Astra. The short shuttle ride there was hardly romantic and from the outside the temple did not look much like a temple at all, more or less fitting in with the rest of dull grey buildings. However, things appeared very different once they passed inside, the decorations while lavish were also tasteful, the central hall where the ceremony itself took place had a lovely fountain designed to look like a natural waterfall, and the entire hall had been built to remind of a gentle Thessian meadow, together with simulated bird and animal noises and a breeze of gentle wind giving the impression that they found themselves outside, back on the asari homeworld.
Morgan and Liara quickly left the little changing room, having put on their ceremonial gowns, the asari apparently not slaves to the superstition that seeing their partner before the very ceremony would bring bad luck, walking towards the great hall while joined by Aria and Tevos on the way there. The other couple wore slightly different dresses to theirs, similar to the traditional asari robes in their length, but leaving their shoulders completely bare, showing off generous amounts of lovely purple skin. Her and Liara's dresses were shorter, roughly knee-length, but with a high collar and a delightful cut on the back. Morgan could not help but to wonder whether the design of the gowns had any significance as well, perhaps having to do with them being of different age than Aria and Tevos. The choice of color also made her curious, Liara and Tevos were both dressed in snow white, while she and Aria wore cyan colored outfits. Perhaps it has to do something with our roles in the Union, maybe Aria thinks that we both are more dominant in our respective partnerships? Interesting...
Many different thoughts coursed through her head as Tali and Garrus came to join them, followed by Rila and Falere, bringing the small white cases holding the ribbons they would soon be tying around their wrists to seal the bonds of their Unions. This is it, Morgan Shepard... you're getting married... well, bonded, but it's the same deal... and this is probably not how I imagined it, but... I know for sure that I did not want a huge public spectacle that would attract the attention of the entire galaxy. Hundreds of guests, reporters poking into every corner, countless speeches, having to be the center of the attention... god, I'm so tired of it. If Liara doesn't need or want it... then I certainly don't either.
Of course, we could get bonded again, in some eighty or hundred years. The galaxy would have forgotten their heroes by then, and we could have a proper private ceremony on Thessia. But... many of those I would like to be there would have passed away by then. And those who are the most important to me, to us... they're here, in this room already, so it is as good as anything. Sure... I would have liked a few others to have been here too, for example Aethyta and Lita, even if our daughter would have no idea what was going on... and not to mention those no longer with us... Mom, you would have loved this, and you would have loved Liara and our baby... and David too, oh how I wish things had worked out differently...
Morgan felt something pulling on her hand, snapping out of her reverie and looking into Liara's concerned face. She immediately flashed a reassuring smile to the love of her life. "Sorry, my mind strayed a bit off track," she whispered, watching Aria imperiously approaching the young siari priestess, smiling welcomingly at them.
"You are not the priestess who I had arranged to conduct the ceremony," Aria spoke to the young maiden. "Priestess... Helvina?" she added, having checked the name on her omni-tool.
"Oh no, I am merely an acolyte," the young maiden blushed. "My name is Leneosa, I will be assisting during the bonding ceremony. I regret to inform you that Priestess Helvina sadly is too ill to perform the ceremony."
"I hope it is nothing too serious," Tevos said, looking concerned.
"I do not think so, she got a little carried away during the feast to celebrate the end of the Week of Temperance," Leneosa explained helpfully. "We have another priest who is very experienced and well respected, and he will be happy to perform your bonding ceremonies, with my assistance."
"He?" Morgan asked, realizing that the young maiden had to be speaking about someone non-asari, which surprised her a great deal.
"With profuse apologies of lateness," came a booming voice as something large shuffled towards them from one of the darkened isles. "I am Priest Tehut. Prepare to be bonded."
As everyone watched the strange creature approaching, Morgan heard Liara gasp and couldn't help but to grin like a fool when she finally saw the massive and very officious black-wearing elcor appearing in their view, shuffling slowly while trying not to knock over any of the trinkets with his huge frame. "Priest Jabar Tehut has spent forty years of service in this temple, performing hundreds and hundreds of different ceremonies," Leneosa explained. "He is very sought after for bonding ceremonies in particular."
"Well... this is slightly unorthodox," Tevos said, sounding a little amused, but her enthusiasm did not seem deterred in the slightest. "But we have no reasons to doubt the qualifications of Priest Tehut."
"In serene hopefulness, would you prefer your bonding rituals to be performed according to asari or elcor traditions?"
"Elcor traditions?" Aria scowled. "Not a chance, why would we want that?"
"Predictably disappointed, because elcor rituals are subtle, intricate and sadly neglected," the elcor stated. "Very well. An all asari couple. A human and asari couple. Very aesthetically pleasing, yes. Your bonding bracelets." Garrus and Rila raised the small white cases in response. "Good. Step forth."
At the priest's urging, Shepard and the three asari approached what looked like a small altar in front of the elcor minister, Morgan and Liara standing hand in hand on the left side, Tevos and Aria over on the right, followed by their improvised bridesmaids, even if Garrus would have undoubtedly protested about the term being applied to him.
"With deep reverence, we begin," the elcor shuffled, somehow looking both respectful and just a little amusing at once. "At the dawn of light, a new life together begins, and we speak the words. We treasure the joy we bring each other every day. We value the trust we place in each other. We embrace the passion our Unions are blessed with. We cherish the love we feel for each other. And we pray, may these gifts never be taken from us." The priest fell silent, and for a moment, Morgan wondered what had happened, until Liara nudged her slightly. She turned around to see that Tali had approached them with the open case, urging them to take the colored ribbons, Morgan noticing with the corner of her eye that Aria was already busy tying the ribbon around Tevos' wrist.
As Morgan began to fasten the ribbon around Liara's wrist the way she had been instructed to, leaving a long tail hanging from the asari's hand with which to tie their wrists together later, the elcor minister began again. "With satisfaction, the first step is taken. The greater whole is enriched. All is one. One is all."
"All is one. One is all," the foursome repeated together, as Tevos and Liara finished fastening the ribbons around Aria's and Morgan's wrists.
"Delighted, we continue," the elcor droned on, the monotonous voice so incredibly strange for the occasion that Morgan couldn't help but feel very surreal, even if she did find the whole event very emotional, especially now with the added and welcome pressure of the ribbon around her wrist.
"The apex of our lives comes, we work to preserve the gifts bestowed upon us, and we speak the words," Priest Tehut chanted. "Each day we look for ways to make each other smile. We hold the trust we place in each other sacred and never betray it. We retain open minds and reach for new ways to bring each other pleasure. We work diligently to remain worthy of the love that we have been blessed with. We share our lives, and our pains and burdens feel lighter for it." The elcor fell silent, nodding slowly to the young acolyte who now moved to stand next to Shepard. "Pleased, the second step is made. The universe rejoices in the harmony between two souls united. All is one. One is all."
"All is one. One is all," they all spoke again, now performing the part of the ceremony where the loose ends of the ribbons were bound to the wrists of their partners, wrapped around the other ribbon already there. This was done using biotics only, and Aria and Tevos were done with their part very quickly, having to wait while the young acolyte, Leneosa, who had moved to Morgan's side, performed this part of the ritual in her stead.
"With pleasure, we move on," the elcor minister continued. "The twilight of our lives approaches... -many apologies human-... we reminisce of a lifetime well spent, and we speak the words." Here Morgan had to bite hard on the inside of her cheek not to laugh, of course the elcor could not have known about her extended life span, but even then, the mere mention of it sounded awkward and absurd. "We celebrate each other's triumphs and achievements. We bask in the warmth of the home we have built together. We revel in the joy that our children bestow upon us. We have shared our lives, through the good and bad, and we are stronger, wiser for it."
Leneosa once again stepped up to help Liara complete the final step of the ritual, Aria and Tevos requiring no aid. The biotics flared around the ribbons they were bound with, melding them to assume a form of a colorful bracelet, before the last few threads holding their hands together finally parted and both Liara and Morgan parted their hands, both now wearing beautiful and perfectly matching pair of bondmate bracelets.
"Immeasurably pleased, the third step is made," Priest Tehut spoke again. "The universe calls, and we return to the source. All is one. One is all."
"All is one. One is all," the two newly bonded couples replied in unison.
"With long repressed anticipation, you are encouraged to seal your vows by kissing your bondmates," the elcor intoned, and Morgan quickly jumped to the invitation, before she had started to grin madly about their odd minister again. Liara melded into her embrace with welcomed gentleness, as the two began to kiss deeply and passionately, oblivious to everything around them, Morgan finding that she couldn't quite manage to hold back her tears, but feeling relieved when she opened her eyes to see that her bondmate's cheeks were also covered by fresh tears. That was just a little bit absurd and silly, but... also so very emotional... gods, I love her so much... I hope I can live up to everything that priest said we should aspire to be for each other. The comforting weight of the beautiful bracelet gracing her wrist felt very reassuring and simply... right, making her truly believe that she could be everything that Liara wanted her to be.
As Liara and Morgan hastily wiped their cheeks clean, Aria and Tevos went up to thank the priest again, and to extend another generous donation, just in case. The two matrons were obviously better in controlling their emotions for public display, but both still appeared deeply moved as the four of them now stood around the elcor minister while Rila took several snapshots of them with her omni-tool. Garrus was about to do the same, but Aria sent him a little warning glance and shook her head, the turian immediately nodding in understanding.
After the four newly bonded had changed back into their regular clothing, they all met in the temple vestibule to discuss their further plans. "I would really love to take you all out for dinner," Aria spoke. "But, alas, we are all far too recognizable to many here, so I'm afraid that is not an option." She handed one credit chit to Tali and the other to Rila. "There is plenty for you to spend the next two days like kings and queens of Nos Astra. But don't get too careless... you still remember what we discussed last night, Vakarian?"
"Sure thing, Aria," Garrus nodded amiably. Apparently, Aria had brought him and Tali up to speed on what made the two girls so special and why they couldn't let them out of their sights. Not that Rila and Falere had shown any inclination to start trouble, they simply were sheltered, innocent, very attractive and lacked any training to protect themselves.
"I think I spotted a shuttle station nearby as we flew in," the Pirate Queen pointed back to the way they had come from. "You can also rent another skycar. We're taking this one to the estate I've rented. Rila, you have our coordinates, just in case... but try not to need us, alright?"
"Of course, Aria," Rila grinned. "Have fun, all of you!"
"Thanks!" Morgan replied for everyone. "I'm sure we will have fun, and we'll see you in... two days?" she looked at Aria, the asari nodding. "Two days it is!"
The estate, true to Aria's word, was truly magnificent. It was located at the very edge of the habitable zone of the polar region of Ilium, even a few miles past the recommended area, so that in the peak of the warmer seasons it stood abandoned, but apparently the current season was the equivalent of Thessian spring and the air was very warm but still comfortable. And the location simply meant that they were far away from the curious eyes of others.
The interior design of the estate was a little odd, everything was crammed into one large open hall, save for two massive bedrooms on the opposite sides of the hall, and since there was no second floor to speak off, they were more like two large lofts facing each other. The private loft spaces had a shower and even a proper bath, which gave Morgan a lot of interesting ideas as she couldn't take her eyes off from Liara, her bondmate absentmindedly toying with her bracelet with a dreamy smile on her face. Large window provided a glorious view outside of the estate, with spectacular mountain range in the background. Another window afforded them a splendid view of the common room below as well as the other loft opposite to them.
In the front of the estate was a large and inviting swimming pool, and a little over to the side, under the shadow of trees, there was a small building that Morgan at first thought to be some kind of storage shed. However, upon further exploration, she was shocked and amazed to have discovered an old-fashioned sauna, one of the most remarkable inventions in the history of humankind. Neither of the three asari knew anything about saunas or how it could have ended here on Ilium, but when Aria revealed that the initial owner of this estate had been some human crime lord from Terminus Systems, that mystery was solved. Still, having made sure that the asari could tolerate the temperatures of the sauna, Morgan took it upon herself to introduce them to this wonderful invention that she had herself experienced only once on Earth, but the memories were some of the fondest from her N7 training years.
It had been an early evening when they arrived at the estate, and the next few hours had been spent on exploring the new place and settling in. Aria had been the first to become impatient, then dragging Tevos up to their bedroom to in her own words 'test whether the bracelets made any difference'. Liara and Morgan felt inspired to conduct their own research shortly after, and following plenty of testing were happy to conclude that yes, those little ribbons around their wrists did seem to open up a completely new emotional layer to the entire experience of Joining.
The night passed rather interestingly as well, which Morgan supposed was only fitting for newly-bonded, with nobody getting all that much sleep. While Shepard and Liara had closed the blinds on their windows, the ever shameless Aria hadn't, and time and time again they could catch glimpses of the bright flare-up of biotics as the Pirate Queen and the Councilor apparently were also not in the mood for much sleeping.
Predictably, the next morning Aria was the first to emerge from the loft bedrooms, stretching and groaning as she made her way downstairs, starting to noisily sort through the massive fridge, making sure to wake everyone else up with the noise that she was making. Once Liara and Morgan had gingerly made it all the way downstairs, wearing nothing but simple robes, they discovered that Aria hadn't bothered to dress even that much, standing at the breakfast table and pouring herself some juice while being stark naked. Well, except the bondmate bracelet upon her wrist, which in Morgan's opinion did look very lovely.
"Aria, damn it, put something on, why don't you?" Morgan hissed, glaring at the completely nonchalantly acting matron.
"Why?" the Pirate Queen blinked in honest surprise. "It's nothing you haven't seen, Shepard, unless there's something terribly wrong with Liara," she added with a hearty laugh. "Or maybe you have not watched a certain vid in a while..."
"Oh, do stop that, Aria," Tevos suddenly appeared behind them, Aria getting hit in the face with a spare robe as she turned towards her bondmate. The Pirate Queen sighed, giving Tevos an evil eye as she reluctantly pulled it on, but left it unfastened on purpose, spending the rest of the breakfast complaining about being stuck with a group of boring prudes.
While eating breakfast, they began to discuss their plans for the rest of the day, eventually moving their chat to the large suede corner couch deeper in the main hall, Aria and Tevos perching in one corner of the sofa, Liara and Morgan on the other. A state-of-art home entertainment system stood right in front of the sofa, and since everyone felt lazy, Morgan's suggestion to simply slack off and watch some vids was met with a genuine approval from everyone. Even though Aria insisted on watching her favorite Vaenia sequel, Morgan and Liara voted her proposal down, slightly worried where such debauchery might lead. Nobody was interested in turian war dramas, so in the end they decided for a salarian spy movie, which turned out to be very exciting, even if Morgan couldn't quite accept that Agent 007 might have been green and sporting two odd looking horns.
Sometime during the movie, Morgan noticed that Aria's mind was not entirely on the vid screen. She had subtly pulled Tevos' robe a little apart, her hand sneaking inside the councilor's clothing, fingers dipping under the swell of Tevos' breast and starting their tender exploration, soft pinches and grazing the councilor's rapidly hardening nipple with her thumb. Even though Morgan tried not to stare, she started to experience serious difficulties following the plot of the movie, finding that her head began to turn towards Tevos and Aria on its own volition, her mouth becoming parched from the arousing view. Liara had caught on what was happening as well, squirming next to her, breathing heavily and struggling not to let her hands run loose over Morgan's body.
The expressions on the faces of the two elder asari were a marvel to behold. Aria kept facing the screen the entire time, her chin straight and raised, as if her profile was cut in stone, not a single muscle moving in her face. Only the fingers of her right hand moved barely perceptibly, toying with Tevos' swelling breast. The councilor in turn was having tremendous difficulties at keeping herself in check, and the play of emotions across her face was simply intoxicating. Time and time again her breath hitched slightly, she continuously kept chewing on her lower lip in order not to gasp, her eyes had darkened considerably, half-lidded from the intensifying pleasure.
It did not take much until Morgan and Liara were no longer able to bear the subtle show put on display for them. At one point, Morgan felt Liara's consciousness starting to slowly push at her to initiate a meld, getting a slight glimpse of the thoughts and images on Liara's mind, and it was enough for Shepard to sharply jump up from the sofa, pull Liara up with her and then drag her towards the stairs leading to the loft, accompanied by Aria's satisfied chuckle.
As Morgan and Liara came down from another shared culmination that left them both breathless, they could not help but notice the familiar subtle flare of biotics flashing outside their window. Morgan gingerly got out of the bed and walked up to the window, freezing and letting out a pitiful whimper when she noticed that Tevos and Aria hadn't even bothered to go up to their room. Liara was speaking something to her from the bed, but all of Morgan's attention was on Aria's powerful body writhing on the sofa, the robe cast aside as Tevos' head was fixed firmly between her legs, the councilor's hands wrapped around Aria's hips to prevent her bondmate from lifting herself from the bed. Guided by curiosity, Liara approached Morgan at the window and froze similarly, the spell broken only when Aria finally surrounded to Tevos' pleasurable attentions, pulling her bondmate in her arms as they shared their delight through the meld.
At this point, taking a slightly cold bath began to appear like an enticing prospect to Morgan, and she sneaked away from the bed, leaving a somewhat worn out Liara lounging behind while she began to prepare the bath for use. However, Liara recovered soon enough and decided to join her, discovering that the bath had several settings to produce bubbles, and her explorative mood quickly set in, deciding to experiment with all of the various settings. Having Liara with her in a bubble bath inevitably led to even more enjoyable encounters, despite Morgan's initial intentions to take things a bit easy. They ended up making out several times in the bath, and Liara had got out and was about to rinse herself off in the shower, standing on the wet tiled floor next to the bath, Shepard had looked up to see the asari's body partly covered with foam, exposing patches of gloriously desirable gleaming blue skin here and there, seconds later tackling Liara and setting them both on fire again.
Only much later, when they were back cuddling in their bed, did they both realize how hungry and thirsty they were, Liara making cute little whimpering noises so that Shepard would take pity on her and descend downstairs to raid the generously stuffed fridge, the asari feeling too lazy to do so herself. Sighing, Morgan got out of the bed, wrapped herself in a towel and proceeded to the fridge... only to notice that someone else had the same idea as they had, Aria already busy rummaging in the fridge, obviously having forgotten to dress once again.
"Shall I fetch you a robe, Aria?" Morgan chuckled, having startled the Pirate Queen a little bit.
"Damn it, Shepard, are you really this prudish or is this Liara's bad influence," Aria glared at her. "Stop being ridiculous yourself, you don't have anything I haven't seen before."
Morgan gave a deep sigh, unwrapping the towel from her chest and then fastening it around her hips, leaving her upper body completely bare. "There, better?" she winked at Aria.
"Well, it's an improvement," Aria nodded appreciatively, then returning her attention to the fridge again. "Very nice melons," she added nonchalantly.
"Uh... thanks?" Shepard managed, blush creeping into her cheeks.
Aria pulled back from the fridge, carrying a couple of melons in her hands, putting them down on the nearby table. "I was actually talking about the fruit, Shepard. Someone smuggled it to Omega and I developed a taste for it." She looked as if she was about to turn back to the fridge, but then suddenly brought up her hand to Morgan's breast, gently squeezing it as she experimentally ran her thumb across Shepard's nipple. "But nice pair of tits, too," she added with a wicked grin, before getting back to the contents of the fridge.
"Damn you, Aria," Morgan growled at the amused asari, then casting a quick look up at the loft, noticing Liara standing at the window, wide-eyed, her mouth forming a perfect 'o'. "Geez, now you've gotten me into trouble with my bondmate."
"Nonsense," Aria snickered, taking out a few bottles of drinks for her and Tevos. "She gets turned on by it, you'll see. The moment you step back into your bedroom, she's going to jump on you."
"If you say so..." Morgan sighed, stepping up to the fridge as Aria gave her access, having taken everything she needed. Shepard bent down a little to take a good look at all the various fizzy drinks on offer, wondering which one she could appease Liara with.
"I'm sure of it, and you're welcome," Aria laughed, and suddenly with disbelief Morgan felt herself being slapped on the backside, the Pirate Queen's hand squeezing her butt as she instantly recoiled and then let out a cry of pain as she whacked the back of her head against the upper shelf of the fridge.
"I'm going to get you for this, Aria!" she snarled after the laughing asari, quickly retreating back to her own loft, leaving Shepard with nothing else to do but to make her way back, cursing the irritating Pirate Queen and her insufferably wicked attitude. Only once she had already made it all the way back to the bedroom and stepped inside, did Shepard realize something. "Aw, shit... I completely forgot to actually grab anything from the fridge!"
"Not important now," Liara hissed in a low voice, leaping on her like a crazed panther and tackling her on the ground, ripping her towel away. Damn... maybe Aria does know what she's talking about... was all that Morgan could think of, before Liara sent them spiraling into yet another intense meld.
Come the evening time, Aria and Tevos emerged to bug Shepard about finally introducing them to this mysterious sauna that she had gushed so much about the previous evening. When Liara expressed her interest as well, Morgan felt more motivated to get out of the bed and start working on getting the sauna ready, not before explaining one more time just what the whole experience involved. Liara and Tevos seemed very intrigued by the relaxing and purifying aspect of the sauna, while Aria was mostly looking forward to be surrounded by a lot of gratuitous nudity.
Once Shepard had figured out all the operating instructions and temperature settings, satisfied with the readiness of the sauna, she walked back to the three impatiently waiting asari, finding them all lazily swimming around the large pool, under the starry sky, an enchanting view that Morgan wished she could simply stay and savor for hours, her eyes following Liara's languid form in particular, graceful in the way she easily glided through the water. The Queen of Omega, the asari councilor, and Thessia's most famous daughter, all skinny dipping in a pool before my eyes... there probably would be millions eager to kill just to trade places with me right now...
"I think the sauna is ready, ladies," she called out, a little regretful for disturbing such lovely view, watching the trio quickly get out of the pool, grab their towels and make a beeline for the sauna. "Don't even think of starting on the upper bench, take the middle at first to get used to the heat!" she called out a warning, quickly following the others.
Removing her bathing suit and setting it aside together with her towel, Morgan entered the by now well heated sauna, finding the three asari perched on the middle bench as instructed, already starting to perspire lightly. "Shame this isn't one of the proper saunas," she said, about to climb up to the upper bench herself, feeling confident she could easily tolerate the heat. "The ones where they use real, proper firewood, I've heard those are the best... but I'm sure this will do just as well."
"So... this is supposed to be relaxing?" Aria asked, a little confused. "Just seems a little pointless... though, the view is nice," she added, running her hand over Tevos' glistening thigh, wiping away beads of perspiration. "Oh, and I just won a bet worth thousand credits regarding you with Tevos, Shepard."
"Oh? Regarding me in what way?" Morgan asked, feeling curious.
"Turns out that carpet really does match the curtains, like I thought it might... so, I won," Aria laughed, leaning backwards to look at Shepard on the upper bench, giving her a broad grin. Morgan found herself briefly deliberating whether she wanted to strangle Aria or just smack her on the crest.
The light banter continued for a good while, mostly consisting of Aria's attempts to embarrass them all, and more often than not succeeding at it. At some point it became slightly too hot and uncomfortable on the upper bench for Morgan and she slipped down to take a seat next to her bondmate. Even if she could have tolerated the heat for a while more, she found it was much more enjoyable to occasionally brush against Liara's body, slick and slippery from the purifying heat. At some point, Morgan overheard Tevos beginning to make sounds as if she was a little short of breath, and this time it wasn't due to whatever ministrations Aria might be performing, so she ended up chasing Tevos out of the sauna, Aria following and eventually Liara and Morgan getting out as well.
"And now for the part that makes sauna the best thing ever," Morgan chuckled, suddenly dashing towards the pool and taking a dive into the water that after spending so much time in blazing heat felt blissfully ice cold. "Oh... so good..." she exclaimed, shuddering with pleasure as she emerged from the water, then laughing as the three asari also reappeared next to her, Liara unable to contain a surprised squeal of delight, Aria and Tevos looking blissful as well.
"Damn it, Shepard... this feels almost as amazing as an orgasm..." Aria gasped.
"You're not going to abandon me for this sauna, now?" Tevos winked at her playfully, to which Aria responded by swimming up to her bondmate and silencing her with a heated kiss.
"Shepard?" Liara asked, as Morgan got out of the pool and started to walk back to the estate to grab some refreshingly cool beverages for them all. "I want to have this... sauna on Thessia at our estate... do you know how to build it?"
"Not really, no," Morgan chuckled, delighted that Liara and the others were so taken with this amazing human custom. "But I know where to look it up. And if you're serious about it, then I insist we're getting the real, proper wood sauna... extra maintenance, but totally worth it."
Deep into the third hour of the delightful experience, Morgan had already lost count how many trips back to the sauna and then running out to dive into the pool they had already made. They were already beginning to run low on the fizzy drinks, and at this point it seemed as if only that could get Aria to call it a night, but the others also showed no inclination to stop and while starting to get a little tired, Morgan wasn't going to be the one to duck out the first either.
Sometime during the night, Morgan and Liara had fallen a little out of synch with Aria and Tevos as far as the pool and sauna rotation was concerned. As Shepard and her bondmate were still swimming around the pool, Aria and Tevos had already sneaked back to the sauna, but Morgan was in no hurry to rush back, pulling herself out of the water and sitting on the stone steps leading into the pool, watching as Liara made graceful circles swimming by her.
"I absolutely love it here," the asari confessed as she continued to swim. "It makes me a little sad, thinking about leaving tomorrow. Perhaps we can come here again sometime in the future."
"I'd love that, and I'm sure Aria and Tevos would like to join as well," Morgan said. "That is, if you had thought about inviting them."
"Of course, they have been delightful company... I must admit, I was a little concerned about Aria and her antics, but... perhaps I have grown so used to the teasing that it no longer bothers me... in fact, I even welcome it..."
"Yeah, I feel the same way..." Morgan smiled happily. "So... shall we head back to the sauna, if you're up for more?"
"I... think it might be prudent if we stayed out here for a while longer," Liara said, making a light coughing noise, Morgan turning around to look at the sauna, groaning as she saw the traces of light biotic flare-up through the small windows.
"Oh god, they're... making out in the sauna?" she couldn't help but to chuckle. "Well, I suppose it was just a matter of time with Aria... anyway, what are we supposed to do until they are done?"
"Well..." Liara said mysteriously, swimming up close to Morgan, her hands slowly parting Shepard's knees as Morgan continued to sit on the stone steps, Liara now settling in comfortably between her legs. "I think I might have a way to keep ourselves occupied..." she whispered, her lips starting to gently work on Morgan's inner thigh, slowly moving towards her centre and Shepard leaned back with a soft moan.
"I think... this beats my previous sauna experience... by a frigging huge margin..." Morgan ground out as Liara diligently set to work on pleasing her bondmate... and shortly after, Shepard was robbed of her ability to speak, closing her eyes and simply enjoying Liara's touch, savoring one of the most memorable nights of their lives...
On the afternoon of the next day, having finally readied themselves for leaving, all four of them found themselves slightly reluctant to get into the skycar and return to Nos Astra.
"Let's come here again next year," Morgan finally suggested, breaking the spell of happy memories.
"I would love that," Liara reaffirmed what she had already said last night.
"I absolutely insist on it," Aria nodded with fierce determination. "I'm sure we can all take at least a week off for a vacation like this..."
"I could not agree more..." Tevos grinned, pressing closer to Aria and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. "It will be our special vacation... the galaxy and its problems can wait for at least a week..."