Chapter 21 - The First Date
"Where are you going?" Liara asked without opening her eyes.
"Thought I'd go out for a bit while the shops are still quiet. If you try and make me sit around the apartment all day, I'm going to go crazy," Shepard replied as she pulled on a pair of jeans.
"You're meant to be resting."
"And I will, but I need a few things, so I'm going out before the crowds pick up. The salarian owned stores should be open by now."
"Humans," Liara sighed as she rolled over to hide her head under the covers, quickly falling back to sleep as Shepard struggled to get dressed on the foot of the bed.
A loud crash from in the living room woke her up again, making the asari bolt out of the bedroom in worry. She found Shepard stuck in the doorway with a large plastic tube across her lap, caught against each side of the door frame, as well as a canvas sitting several meters inside the apartment.
"What are you doing?" Liara sighed.
"This isn't as easy as you might think," Shepard insisted, as her eyes began to wander up Liara's bare legs.
"I... I was worried you were hurt."
"Liara, I've survived the tentacle of a reaper falling on me. I think I can handle a wheelchair... but could you please help me with this," Shepard sighed as she held out the long package.
Liara quickly grabbed the tube off Shepard before the human hurt herself. After safely getting Shepard back into their rented apartment, she disappeared back into the bedroom. Once dressed, wearing the only asari robe she currently owned, she returned to the living space to find Shepard kicking their sofa aside. "What are you doing?" she scolded as she moved to prevent the human from injuring herself.
"Well, it's in the way of the view. I wanted you to stand here," Shepard complained.
"In the way of what?"
"Well, it might sound a bit cheesy, but I hoped you'd let me paint you a portrait. If I'm stuck in a wheelchair for a week, I need to do something constructive. Or should that be creative?" Shepard mused as she rolled back towards an easel she'd set up in the middle of the room.
"You're not expecting me to stand there for five days are you?" Liara sighed as she adjusted the position of the sofa.
"I don't know, how long before you start complaining?" Shepard teased.
"At the rate you're going, about five seconds." Liara crossed her arms over her chest to make her point. "I don't recall even being consulted on this idea."
"Fine" Shepard sighed as she opened her omni-tool. "I could work off a hologram, but it wouldn't be the same."
"I'm sure you'll manage."
"I'm sure... Just stand there, right in the middle of the window."
"Here?" Liara asked as she moved into the spot Shepard had indicated.
"Come forwards a little," Shepard amended as she moved to lift herself out of her wheelchair.
"Shepard, you're meant to be resting," Liara scolded her again, moving as indicated.
"So that's what we were doing last night was it, resting?" Shepard teased, admiring the soft glow from the nebula bouncing off Liara's crest and robe.
Liara felt herself blush lightly as memories raced through her mind, herself on top of Jane as their bodies writhed in unison.
Shepard's omni-tool captured the form of Liara, the asari's shy, slightly awkward nature shining through.
"Shepard!" Liara shouted in mock outrage, betrayed by a subtle grin.
"Too late, I got it," Shepard teased. She smiled as an almost exact copy of Liara appeared next to her. "But look how cute you are. That adorable shy scientist I dug out of a cave on Therum. Complete with freckles and blushing cheeks."
Liara couldn't help but smile. "You're not planning on any extranet posts are you?"
"The only person I want to paint this for is you," Shepard reassured her.
"Okay, but if I don't like it..."
"You have every right to hate it, " Shepard laughed, before giving Liara a wicked grin. "That doesn't mean you'll convince me to change it."
"Then I guess I'll just have to trust you, won't I?" Liara mused as she settled herself onto the nearest sofa, opening her omni-tool. "Some of us have work to do, for now."
Shepard set her omni-tool down, moving the hologram to the desired position, before she busied herself with the blank canvas.
"You know, I've been thinking." Shepard stated as the lent around her easel.
"Always dangerous," Liara replied coldly, before giving Shepard a coy smile.
"Most relays have drifts of several thousand kilometres and up." Liara nodded before Shepard continued. "So why didn't the conduit just slam us into the side of the station, or in the middle of the nebula, or that pizza place you ordered from twice yesterday?"
Liara felt herself blushing as she tried to hide her face behind her omni-tool. "The second time was your idea," she muttered quietly.
"No, I said I felt like a pizza since I had to watch you eat one. Then you ordered two without even asking what I wanted," Shepard laughed. "So, relays?"
Liara frowned at Shepard over her screen, "I'm not an expert on them. Reapers built them, not Protheans. You'd be far better off asking someone researching mass effect theory."
"You must at least have a guess?" Shepard asked as she put her paint brush down.
"You can guess can't you? Silly human," Liara teased.
"Casual racism, great..." Shepard ducked to dodge a pillow flying through the air. "I guess it's possible the protheans were just able to improve on the design."
"More likely the reduced size allowed for a greater accuracy," Liara offered, completely forgetting she was meant to be cross. "Or, the Reapers intentionally built the low accuracy into the design for some reason. I doubt the Promethean would have been able to improve the design, when the reapers had potentially millions of years to design the network."
"See, I knew you had a theory," Shepard laughed before disappearing behind her easel again.
"You know, you still haven't taken me out on that date you promised me," Liara stated after a few moments of silence.
"You're meant to be the one making sure I'm resting. Not running all over the Citadel on dates," Shepard replied without looking away from the painting.
"Like there's really any chance of getting you to behave," Liara sighed.
"You're just trying to get more pizza aren't you?" Shepard laughed. "Or chocolate?"
"No..." Liara replied as her cheeks turned a dark blue. "I was thinking of an asari restaurant. I've tried a lot of human food on the Normandy. I thought you might like to try some food from Thessia?"
"You might manage to tempt me," Shepard said in a sultry voice. "I like what I've tried from there so far."
Liara looked at Shepard in surprise, her mouth agape in shock, before the darker blue spread down her neck, forcing the asari to smile. "You're lucky I can tolerate you sometimes." She hid herself behind her omni-tool, busying herself with her work.
"Come on you little bosh'tet!" Tali groaned as she pulled on the lever.
"Tali, let me give you a hand with that," Adams insisted, quickly moving over from the computer terminal he was in the middle of replacing.
"I've got it," Tali grunted, before the metal sheered in her hands. "Piece of..." Tali threw the handle down to the ground with a scream. "The whole assembly 's fused!"
"We'll just tear it out, and replace the whole system. It's not worth struggling to repair it all if it's that damaged," Adams sighed. "I'll get a team working on it. Why don't you get some rest, you've been down here for twelve hours straight."
"No, I can handle this. I'll fix it." Tali insisted without even looking away.
"Tali, I've told you before. This isn't the migrant fleet, we don't have to repair everything, we can replace it," the engineer sighed. "Go get some rest. Have something to eat."
"Fine," Tali muttered, slowly rising to her feet. "I'll stop by the mess hall, but I'm coming back to fix this."
"Well, don't rush back," Adams urged, watching as Tali walked out of engineering. He quickly placed a call to Garrus's omni-tool, relieved when the call was quickly answered. "Garrus, have you got a few minutes?"
Tali plopped herself down in a chair in the mess hall with a heavy sigh, dropping a thoroughly sterilised bowl of soup on the table in front of her, something Garrus had recommended. She spotted Garrus walking into the mess from the elevator as she struggled to slide a straw through an air filter. The turian collected his own bowl that hadn't been so meticulously liquidised, and sat down opposite her.
"How's the work going on the drive systems?" Garrus asked, trying to seem inquisitive.
"Slowly," Tali mumbled between sips. "Thing took a little more damage that we initially thought."
"Never thought the day would come that getting to play with the most advanced ship in the Alliance fleet would get you down," Garrus commented, starting on his own soup. "I mean, you seemed like you were going to explode with excitement the first time you saw it?"
"It's nothing to do with the ship," Tali replied, avoiding his question.
"You know that we saved far more lives by killing Sovereign, than were lost on the Citadel, right?"
"Yes. Look Garrus, it's nothing here, it's my father," Tali groaned. "I received a message from him shortly after the first news reports went out on the extranet. He wants me to return to the Flotilla. Apparently, he's arranged a rather high level position for me in a research team. Something about being 'the best of our race'."
"Sounds like a great opportunity," Garrus shrugged. "I'm happy for you."
"Yeah, except I don't want it. Garrus, the only thing I've wanted was to be an engineer. I love ships. Playing with their engines. The challenge of keeping the old vessels running. Getting a bit dirty, staying directly involved," Tali explained as Garrus choked on a mouthful of soup he had swallowed in surprise. "A position in a lab. It's... just not me, you know?"
"I think I can understand that. My father was C-Sec. He always wanted me to join. That or the military anyway." Garrus smiled, as Tali's head tilted, and at his best guess, gave him a sympathetic look through her helmet. "I opted to join C-Sec when I was required to enter a service. Catching bad guys just seemed like the better option. Truthfully, I would rather have tried for the Spectre candidacy when I was given the option, but my father talked me out of it."
"I didn't know you were ever considered for a Spectre role," Tali stated in surprise.
"Not considered exactly. More like being considered for being considered. They had thousands of us from the year's recruits. Seems like a poor recruiting tactic, given the experience level required by a Spectre."
"So, why didn't you try for the chance to be a Spectre?"
"My father talked me out of it. He thinks that no one would be above or outside the law. To him, Spectres are the real problem. Government sanctioned criminals," Garrus mused. "Going to be rather hard to argue with him after Saren. I haven't actually had the chance to speak to him ever since I joined up with Shepard. He'd probably just shout his head off as soon as I call him, if he even answers."
"So what are you going to do?" Tali asked sounding concerned.
"I'll call him. He's still my father. He'll already know what's happened, he still has contacts in C-Sec," Garrus shrugged. "What do you think you'll do?"
"Well, I should probably return to the Flotilla. I've got my pilgrimage gift, and I've certainly proven that I'm willing to give of myself for the better of all. I just hope I can talk my way out of this damn research position."
"Well at least you'd be a researcher with a shotgun," Garrus laughed. "You should probably speak to Shepard. Let her know when you need to leave."
"Yeah... I'll... I'll miss y-everyone. I'll miss everyone when I'm gone," Tali sobbed, quickly correcting herself.
"I'll miss you too," Garrus replied with a smile. "We'll all miss you."
"Well, it looks like there's only one asari restaurant that's still open on this ward," Liara said thoughtfully from the sofa. "I could look at the other wards, but they're likely in just as poor condition."
"No, I'm sure it'll be fine," Shepard sighed, not quite sure why she'd finally agreed to go out for dinner. "What sort of food do they do?"
"They'll probably have a little something from everywhere, but it's mostly on cuisine from an island chain off the coast from Armali. It's mostly seafood," Liara answered with a smile, laughing lightly as Jane screwed her face up at the idea. "What's wrong with it?"
"I don't know, I've just never been a big fan of fish," Shepard answered.
"I said seafood, not fish. I think you'll find that they have a lot of variety."
"Okay, sure," Jane sighed. "Make a reservation under your name. I'd rather avoid getting swamped by the press." She rolled herself off towards their bedroom. "I'm going to have a shower. Could you let me know when we're leaving please?"
Liara looked up to stare at Shepard on her way out of the room. "You know you're not meant to try and bathe yourself. You could hurt yourself."
"Well then, I guess you'll just have to come join me." Jane disappeared through the doorway giving Liara a mischievous grin, before the asari quickly followed with no objection.
"I still can't believe you wouldn't wear a dress," Liara griped besides Shepard in their taxi. "It's just clothing."
"Exactly, and not wanting to wear one shouldn't be as such a big deal as you're making it," Shepard laughed.
"I just think you could look lovely in one, don't you?" Liara asked as she slid a hand over Shepard's leather covered thigh. "Are you sure this is suitable though?"
"You don't like them?" Shepard asked, her hand sliding over Liara's.
"Well, I didn't say that," Liara teased.
"Are you sure?" Shepard asked as she pressed her lips against Liara's in a quick kiss. "I guess you'll just have to show me just how much you like them."
Liara pushed herself up out of her seat as the taxi touched down. Her hand slid further up Shepard's thigh as their lips met again. She groaned in frustration as the car's door opened towards the restaurant's entrance. "This is just typical of your luck," Liara laughed softly before sliding back into her seat.
"You wanted to go out for dinner," Shepard stated as Liara exited the car, quickly unfolding Jane's wheelchair after removing it from the rear seats.
Shepard slid herself over towards the vehicle's exit, and into the awaiting chair. Liara quickly turned her around towards the waiting restaurant. Since the Citadel had taken such heavy damage in the attack, many of the wealthier residents had left for their homeworlds, leaving business owners and those unable to leave to rebuild the station's economy. Many of the more up-market businesses that were still open were struggling to draw in customers, but determined to stay open.
The two of them entered the establishment, to instantly be instantly greeted by a very dainty looking asari as they passed through the entry, before quickly being shown to a table. Shepard insisted on switching into one of the restaurant's chairs, a process which included several grunts of pain, and attracted the attention of several of the nearby tables, before the asari host folded her chair up into a corner behind them. She returned with two menus, which to Shepard's surprise, were printed, and left them at their table, leaving with a small bow.
"How am I meant to read this?" Shepard asked Liara quietly as the asari flipped open her own menu.
"Yours should be printed in several human languages," Liara answered casually. "They're used to hosting mixed species groups."
"Fair enough," Shepard shrugged as she opened her own menu. The two of them sat quietly studying each of their menus for several minutes, before Shepard asked, "So is there anything you would recommend for me to try?"
Liara gave Jane a knowing smile over the top of her menu. "You've got no idea about what any of it is, do you?"
"Not the foggiest," Shepard shrugged, getting a confused look from Liara in response. "No, I don't know."
Liara gave Shepard a slightly mischievous smile. "Will you let me order for you then, rather than trying to explain everything that is on the menu to you?" Shepard opened her mouth to respond, before Liara finished with "I promise, I won't order you any fish."
"I really don't have much of a choice, do I?" Shepard sighed in defeat. "Go ahead." She put her menu down as Liara disappeared back behind her own.
Liara discretely called their waiter back over, placing their order in a hushed voice, before they were both left alone again at their table.
"It's just occurred to me, all of the written information on the Normandy, deck numbers, rooms, even the bathrooms, are all labelled in English. How did you manage to find your way around?" Shepard asked, looking a little guilty at not having done more about it when Liara came onboard. Although now she thought of it, the same was probably true for Garrus, Tali and Wrex.
"Well, it's not that big of a ship, just three decks," Liara shrugged. "But, I have several programs on my omni-tool for translating prothean text. I just had to download a patch for it to handle human languages. Failing that, I just asked."
"Makes sense. The Alliance doesn't exactly plan on anyone that doesn't know a major human language to be walking around the ship, and even then, English is the Alliance's official language."
"How many languages do humans have?" Liara asked eagerly.
"I have... no idea," Shepard laughed. "I was raised on various starships, space stations and the occasional colony. The last time I was on earth was during my N7 training, I really don't know that much about it. On the other hand, ask me about the Alliance Navy and I could be far more informative."
"When did you join up?" Liara asked just before the drinks she had ordered arrived at their table.
"Eighteenth birthday," Jane answered after thanking their waiter and taking a cautious sip of the alien drink in front of her. "And what am I drinking?"
"It's made from fermented fruits. From what I've been able to tell of human drinks, it's roughly equivalent to wine," Liara answered quickly. "I think, I was still learning how to do multiplications at eighteen though."
"True, but you would have been at university while my Mum was still in diapers."
"Well now you're just trying to make me feel old," Liara pouted.
"What was it you said to me, you're only one hundred and six?" Shepard teased.
"One hundred and seven now," Liara shrugged.
"What!" Shepard exclaimed. "You had a birthday and you didn't tell me? When was it? Actually, I have no idea when your birthday is. When is it?"
"Which one would you like me to answer first?" Liara teased.
"When."
"Four days ago," Liara stated plainly.
"So... the day we stole the Normandy?" Liara nodded to Shepard in response as she took a sip of her own drink before the human could continue. "The night you... that we..." Liara nodded again. "Is that why you came to my quarters?" Shepard asked looking stunned.
"Of course not," Liara hissed, sounding a little offended. "I came because I wanted to. Because at that moment, that was the only place I wanted to be. Because I wanted to be with you. It was just another day. Asari don't celebrate their birthdays annually. We celebrate every five or ten years. When you've got a thousand year lifespan, a year doesn't seem like such an achievement."
"I just hope it was a night to remember at least," Shepard mumbled into her drink, leaving Liara blushing in front of her as their waiter arrived.
The small asari carefully placed several plates and bowls in the middle of the table with her biotics, far more than she should be able to carry, each loaded with various foods, as well as a plate and bowl in front of each her customers. Shepard politely thanked her as she left, while Liara focused on not choking out of embarrassment.
"Are we meant to eat all of this?" Shepard asked, looking a little surprised at the quantity of food Liara had ordered.
"Biotics, remember? Rather large energy consumption," Liara shrugged. "Almost everyone else on the Normandy seems to eat alarmingly small portions to me."
"You did always seem to eat your way through mountains of mashed potato," Jane laughed. "Wrex might have been the only one to give you a run for your money. I still can't believe he ate that whole varren."
"If you want to avoid fish, don't try these," Liara stated, as she lifted two of what appeared to be spring rolls off of the plate closest to her with her biotics, and placed them gently down on her own. "Then we've got various types of sea weed, that one's a noodle and poultry soup, erm... that one is made from an aquatic mammal," Shepard flinched as Liara pointed to something that looked a lot like battered fish. " and finally, that one is... erm... a sort of grain, mixed with some nuts, vegetables and spices."
"I guess I don't know where to start," Shepard half laughed, looking around for something to serve herself with. "What do I use to..." Liara nudged the handle of a shell shaped object towards her, vaguely reminiscent of a spoon, without the long handle. "Thanks."
"It's not something asari use. Children that can't use their biotics are served by their parents. Restaurants started to adopt it once we encountered other species, as well as mixed households," Liara explained.
"I guess I can understand that," Shepard offered as she piled greenery onto her plate. "Why not just bring everything out on a person's plate though?"
"Tradition," Liara shrugged, "and things get more than a bit messy once you start putting this much food onto one plate."
"Guess it makes sense. Interesting to see just how much biotics are integrated into asari culture. They seem so... alien, to most humans," Shepard explained as she took a cautious, but eager first mouthful.
"So how is your painting coming along?" Liara asked, resisting to the desperate urge to laugh at Jane's look of bliss at the new flavour, deciding she probably looked much the same when trying human food.
Shepard looked up at her, torn between swallowing, or continuing to enjoy her current mouthful. "You're not seeing it until it's done!" Shepard stated after swallowing. "I'm not changing my mind."
"I'm not asking to see it yet, I'm just curious." Liara couldn't help but grin a little. "How could I not be interested in it? You're painting me!"
"And it's still my work," Shepard countered with a mouthful.
Liara sighed as she rolled her eyes. "All the manners I should expect from a soldier. You at least look like you're enjoying it?"
Shepard quickly swallowed, and looked down at the variety of foods on her plate. "Very much. Starting to see why you go a little nuts ever time you try human food." Shepard smiled as Liara laughed lightly at her. "It certainly beats the provisions on the Normandy."
"Be fair though, before I arrived on the Normandy, I'd spent decades working in the field, moving between dig sites. My only options for food were the ration packs, and the occasional meal whenever I was on a transport hub." Liara efficiently emptied her plate as she finished speaking. "I might have to get a home comforts added to the Normandy's supplies," Liara added thoughtfully before the last morsel from her plate disappeared into her mouth.
"No objections from me," Shepard mumbled. "As long as you get some of... whatever that one is." Shepard pointed the handle of her fork in the vague direction of the grain and nuts. "Something incredibly moreish about it."
"That was always one of my favourites as a child. Benez- My mother used to cook it for me. It was one of the few times she ever cooked herself," Liara said as she smiled weakly. "The advantages of being a Matriarch."
"I'm... sorry, Liara, for what happened on Noveria." Shepard stopped eating, as she moved a free hand towards the middle of the table. "If... if there had been any other option, some way to save Benezia from Sovereign, I would have taken it."
"I know you would, Jane," Liara lamented, as she placed a reassuring hand over Shepard's. "But I am grateful that you ended Sovereign's control over her, and I know she would be too."
"I think we're going to need more to drink," Shepard commended as Liara's eyes seemed to well up with tears. She managed to catch the attention of their waiter and ordered a bottle of the wine they were drinking.
"I'm sorry," Liara uttered, holding back a sob. "I guess I haven't really had the chance to mourn."
"The only family you've ever known," Jane muttered. "All you can do is be grateful that Benezia is free of Saren."
"She is still gone though, and it only feels worse that I hadn't seen her for so many years."
Shepard gently caressed Liara's hand on the table, trying to soothe the asari. "She always loved you though, her Little Wing." Jane jumped slightly when a sob escaped Liara's throat.
Jane quickly thanked their waiter as she returned with the requested bottle, before filling both of their glasses, and offering Liara hers. "How about we drink to her memory?"
Liara raised her glass to Shepard's, before taking a long drink from it. "Sorry, I didn't plan on getting this emotional. It's just hard, not being busy. I'm used to waking up each day to a mission on another planet, or digging through a dig site for that once in a lifetime find."
"Well, I promise we'll stay busy once I'm fit to take command of the Normandy, and she's space worthy again," Jane promised with a small smile. "So... do asari do dessert?"
"Well, I'm not sure we have anything I would compare to chocolate, but I'm sure there's something sweet you'll like." Liara gave Jane a shy grin as she picked up the dessert menu on their table. She looked at it for several minutes, before putting it back down on the table.
"What did you pick?" Shepard asked eagerly.
"I'm not telling until you agree to let me see the painting," Liara answered smugly as their waiter arrived at the table.
Shepard gave Liara a playful glare as the asari ordered. "You're not seeing it until it's finished."
"Then I'm not going to tell you what I ordered."
"Tease," Shepard complained, before both of them burst out laughing together as their waiter politely excused herself.