Summary:
Shepard visits Liara on Illium

Notes:
Challenge Yourself: A Month Of Fanfiction 2017
Friday 8/18's Prompt: Involve your pet

"I'm hungry, Shepard."

Sarah looked down at the head in her lap, and was greeted by a sleepy smile. The dappled shadows created by the rain streaked windows did nothing to diminish Liara's beauty.

That didn't stop Shepard from teasing her, however.

"How can you be hungry? It isn't like you've been burning any energy. You slept through almost the entire vid." Honestly she might have nodded off once or twice as well. Documentaries weren't usually her cup of tea, unless of course they were about things that exploded.

"Perhaps I would like to be prepared for when I will be using energy?" Liara's smile was suddenly far less sleepy.

The boring vid became unimportant in Sarah's mind. She looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen, but it was a useless effort, as she knew what she would find there. A motley assortment of dirty dishes, used glasses, an empty wine bottle or two. The only thing in the apartment fit for human (or asari) consumption was probably the protein bars that Liara seemed to have made a large part of her diet over the last two years. The few pre-prepared meals that were present when Shepard arrived had been casualties of the first day of her visit. Sarah shook her head. Her girl was many things, but a cook wasn't one of them. Good thing she had that covered.

Cooking wasn't an option, that left delivery. She looked down at her love, who was beginning to show signs of impatience. "What were you thinking of? Pizza? Salarian? I thought I saw a new krogan place advertised in the cab on the way here."

Liara shuddered as she sat up. "No krogan. Asari have some foods that are served still alive as well, but none that fight back." She brightened. "How about sushi? There is a sushi restaurant that recently opened in the human quarter of the Kalanra markets." She tried to contain her enthusiasm. "They have been highly reviewed."

Sarah pretended to consider for a moment before acquiescing. "Sounds good. I've about reached my limit on prepacs," she indicated the mess in the kitchen. "Although if you can get me the basics, I can at least make pancakes in the morning. Tomorrow's the last day before I have to go."

Liara's face fell as she stood, not liking the reminder of Shepard's departure. The Normandy required a little over seventy five hours for refuel and resupply, and Shepard had promised to spend every one of those hours in Liara's apartment. So far, the spectre had kept her promise.

She turned towards the stairs, taking a few steps before realizing that Shepard had not followed.

"Are you not coming, Shepard?"

Sarah indicated her now empty lap. "Do you see a problem here?"

"Nothing that I have a problem with Shepard," Liara allowed herself a smirk, "but you should probably wear pants if we are going to go out."

"Exactly! That's the point. What did I do when I got here?"

"Pinned me to the refrigerator with your biotics?"

Sarah grinned at the memory. "Before that."

"You undressed with remarkable speed, and then chased me through my own apartment."

"And as I was doing that, I clearly remember saying that I was not putting pants back on until I had to go back to the Normandy."

Liara shook her head as she considered her sometimes childish bondmate. "I had no idea that you were being serious, Shepard."

"I might have not been then, but I've had two days to get used to it now. I may never wear pants again," the human declared with conviction.

Liara changed direction as she turned towards her office, and the terminal contained therein. "I will call a service to have the food delivered." She wouldn't have minded going out with Shepard, but honestly wasn't all that disappointed. The only difficulty now might lie in keeping her hands off her bondmate until the food arrived.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The sushi had been excellent, even though holding off Shepard's advances while waiting for it to arrive had been a special kind of torture. They'd both seen the humor in the incongruity of their seafood dinner being delivered by a hanar, although it had caused Liara to reflect that asari dining habits might be part of the reason that she remembered having seen so few hanar on Thessia while growing up.

They'd taken their dinner to the bedroom like a couple of children, and then proceeded to do very un-childlike things. They'd finally taken a break with Shepard feeding Liara her dinner in the cool glow of the fish tank. Liara had enjoyed the attention, and now watched as her bondmate ate her own dinner with equal creativity. Shepard was amusing herself by placing her tuna on Liara's stomach, then eating it without using her hands. Liara had to admit she was enjoying the sensations very much.

Shepard finally rolled over, resting her head on Liara's chest, facing the asari and the fish tank.

"You've done a great job with those," she remarked, indicating the tank.

Liara hesitated. "I have?"

Sarah nodded as she stroked Liara's cheek. "Just like everything else you do. If keeping my fish alive was the criteria by which my 'saving the galaxy' skills would be judged, let's just say that we should have a plan B ready."

"But every time I have been aboard the Normandy…"

"Not me," she confided. "I forgot to take care of them all the time, at least until you bought me those skald fish."

Liara smiled as she stroked Sarah's hair. "They seemed appropriate."

"Well, I couldn't let them die like the first few rounds." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "Yeoman Chambers has been feeding them for me."

It took Liara a moment to subdue the momentary twinge of jealousy she felt at Kelly's name. Obviously Shepard expected it too, or she wouldn't have referred to the redhead as "Yeoman Chambers." Honestly, this was probably only the second time that the word yeoman had come out of Shepard's mouth since she'd been resurrected. It didn't matter. She trusted Shepard, reflexively possessive thoughts to the contrary. If anything, Shepard should be the one questioning her, given the reception the spectre has received during her first few visits to Illium.

"In that case Shepard, I have a confession as well." She reached to her omni-tool on the nightstand.

"Oh?" Shepard questioned teasingly. "You get yourself one of those fancy fish feeding VIs?"

"Nothing so expensive," replied the asari as she tapped her 'tool. There was momentary buzz as the fish disappeared.

Sarah sat up in horror. "What did you do to them?"

Liara shook her head sadly. "They were never there, Shepard. They were holograms. I knew how much you seemed to find peace in watching your fish, that is why I purchased the skald fish for you." She hung her head. "I tried to recreate that for you here as well," she sighed. "But I was never able to keep them alive."

"Oh, Liara," Sarah pulled the asari close. "It's all right."

"It seems I am not a responsible pet owner."

"You've done OK with me so far."