Sorry for the late update.


Chapter 29 - You Know What They Say About Assuming

This was not happening. The older sister of her younger sister's new best friend was freaking 'Sex Eyes' Morinth! Shepard's brain had jumped into panic mode and her body hadn't decided whether or not it was going to punch Vasir and run or stay frozen, rooted in its place. Why me? I mean, seriously, what the hell? I've been on this stupid planet for less than two weeks and this kind of crap is already happening? Even Julia couldn't have gotten me into this much trouble! Is this-

Her thoughts were cut short as Morinth shifted on her bed and turned her head to look over at them. The instant her eyes landed on Shepard a predatory gleam twinkled from their depths and she twisted her body to sit up straighter and face them fully. Her hooded gaze seemed to rake over Shepard's figure and her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip slowly. All of which sent Shepard's brain into a frenzied, fear-induced whirlwind.

Oh gosh what if she jumps me right here? Are her and Vasir together? Oh shit, what if they both jump me?! I can't fend them off, they're like freaking biotic ninja's compared to me! Shiiiiiit!

While Shepard's brain had been spazzing, Morinth had risen from her bed and was languidly making her way closer to her 'prey'. Her steps were deliberate and precise, full of dangerous grace that exuded confidence and sex. Shepard's body had evidently decided to freeze in place because she did nothing as the asari came to a halt inches from her body. She vaguely realized that Vasir had moved from beside her and was now facing her as well. Shepard's eyes snapped to Morinth's mouth as it began opening, getting ready to say who-know's what, and Shepard's muscled tensed, her body ready to stop, drop and get the hell out of there.

She was not prepared for what happened next though.

As if a mask had been dropped, the seductive, predatory gleam on Mornith's face vanished and was replaced with one full of vindictive humor. Instead of closing the distance between them, the asari took a step back, throwing her head back and laughing as she stuck out an arm to steady herself on Vasir's shoulder. Vasir was laughing as well, a teasing smile on her face.

What... The hell?

"Oh, Goddess, Tela, did you see her face?" Morinth gasped, attempting to talk between bouts of laughter.

"Oh, I saw it alright. Shit, Shepard, the look on your face was priceless," Vasir chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the whole situation.

Shepard had to physically shake her head to clear away her dazed thoughts, completely confused by the total 180 the two friends had pulled. One second Mornith looked like she was going to ravage her, with Vasir watching, and the next thing they're both laughing their asses off. I'm so lost... "Um... What?"

"I can only guess what you've heard about Tela and I, but did you really think I would just pounce on you like that?" Morinth asked once she was finally able to control her laughter. Her shoulders were still shaking slightly and she had a broad grin on her face, but she was at least able to form words coherently.

"I-What? No!" Shepard exclaimed, her eyes wide with embarrassment. They both just smirked at her answer and stared at her smugly and knowingly. "Um... Ok. Y-yes? Kind of...?" Shepard stuttered out, a blush igniting across her face when she actually stopped to think about how ridiculous that would have been. In her defense, though, the way James and them had talked about Morinth had Shepard pretty well convinced that Morinth was just a walking sex machine.

"I may sleep with just about anyone, and while they may be hesitant at first, I don't force people. I have had my eye on you, but I wouldn't take you unwillingly. I'm not a rapist, you know." Morinth somewhat huffed. Shepard could tell she was still amused by the situation, but that was fading away quickly with her explanation. Her mood seemed to be able to fluctuate quite rapidly, and Shepard realized that this was probably one asari that she did not want to piss off. Her or Vasir.

Trying to firmly settle the last of her terror from moments before, Shepard swallowed nervously but apologized, "Sorry... I didn't mean to, uh, assume. Sorry."

Morinth sighed dramatically and shook her head like she was disappointed, but then got another somewhat sly look on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. "I am curious though... What are you doing here? I can tell from your reaction that you already knew about me, so I don't see why you'd willingly approach me."

Vasir answered for her. "The little human girl your sister is always talking about, and who's here right now, is Shepard's younger sister. Shepard here came to pick her up."

"She's your sister? How precious," Morinth said, drawing the 'r' out longer in a way that made Shepard suppress a shiver. Morinth may claim to not be a total animal, but it was obvious that a large part of her personality was just making everything ooze sensuality. Lord, doesn't that get exhausting? Shepard wondered.

"Yes, McKenzie's my sister," Shepard confirmed, somewhat hesitantly. Vasir hadn't turned out to be as bad as she thought, though that was only based on this one interaction and that wasn't really enough to fully judge her character, but she was still skeptical about Morinth, and she was nervous that her sister had been here with them without a parent.

Vasir must have picked up on her anxiousness again and she scoffed. "Shepard, do you honestly think we're such monsters that we would mess with kids? What the hell kind of people do you think we are?"

With her sister the topic of conversation, Shepard was becoming a bit more defensive and less like a terrified rabbit. She was still intimidated by the two asari, but she would be damned if they messed with Kenzie. "Look, how am I supposed to know anything about you guys? All I know is what other's have told me, which is basically to watch out because you guys are evil. So how do you think I'm going to react when I find out my little sister is in a house alone with you two? You could be doing God knows what to her and no one would have known any better." Shepard took a deep breath after her small rant to try and calm down. It wouldn't do well to get worked up in front of these two.

"Well, well, look who's got some guts. You know," Morinth said slowly, "not very many people have the guts to talk to us like that..." She trailed off and Shepard was starting to regret her outburst of anger. After a few more seconds of silence, when Shepard was sure she was about to get mind blasted or something, Morinth just made a little 'hmph' sound and took a step back. "It's strange. Not used to people standing up to us," she said finally.

Shepard let out another tiny breath, trying not to let them see how she had tensed up. This asari's personality whiplash was starting to give her a headache and she wondered if Morinth was the equivalent to a human with bipolar disorder. She closed her eyes briefly and rubbed the back of her neck, trying to loosen up her stiff muscles. "Look, sorry, I guess. I realize it was pretty stupid of me to believe what everyone said without getting my own opinion. I know I'd hate it if someone did that to me." She wasn't a push over, but in the few moments she'd spent with these two, she could tell that they might not be as bad as Ashley had described. She wasn't kidding herself into thinking that the gossip was unfounded though, it had to of come from somewhere, therefore she was still going to reserve her judgment about Vasir and Morinth, but she wasn't going to be an asshole about it. "But if you hurt my sister..." she started. Is it too dramatic to tell them I'd kill them..? I'd sound like one of those cliché heroes from movies or wars.

"Relax, we'd never mess with kids. And really," Vasir cut a sneaky look at Morinth, "she's just a big softie when it comes to her sisters too, and as much as she tries to pretend otherwise, she'd kick anyone's ass if they touched them."

"Tela, shut up!" Morinth rounded on her friend and swatted her arm. "What the hell!"

Vasir just laughed as she fended off her friend, smiling smugly at Shepard. "See, she tries to hide it because it'd ruin her tough, sexy act, but this one here would do anything for her baby sisters." She defended herself from a few more smacks before Morinth stopped and huffed at her, an angry pout on her face. Which, regardless of the situation, still looked sexy.

Huh.. she just never turns if off, does she. Wait... did she say sisters? As in multiple? "So Falere isn't your only sister?" Shepard asked hesitantly. She didn't want to get hit by Morinth.

Morinth finally quit pouting and turned to look at her. "Yeah. Falere is the youngest, she's only 19, and Rila is my middle sister, she's 54 and just started as a First year at the Academy."

Shepard had barely registered the rest of Morinth's sentence after she had heard that Falere was 19. Whaaaat?

Her silence must have been quite noticeable because both asari looked at her strangely. "Shepard?"

"Falere's 19?!" Shepard exclaimed. That was older than her! Was she like, an asari special needs kid? Wait, but she looked little, the same size as McKenzie did.

Her thoughts were interrupted by, yet again, laughter. Both asari had doubled over and were clutching their sides as they heaved with laughter. "Oh, Goddess. Shit! That's too funny!" Vasir wheezed. It took them a few more seconds to calm down, during which Shepard was getting impatient with them.

"Why do you keep laughing at me?" she huffed.

"Because your ignorance is hilarious, Shepard," Vasir quipped back, still chucking. "If you keep saying or assuming dumb things, we'll keep laughing."

That made Shepard mad; she'd never been dumb at anything. "Well excuse me that I've been on this planet for two weeks and don't know everything about everyone," she snapped.

"Hey, calm down, human, we're just messing with you," Morinth cautioned, though not angrily. She was still amused by Shepard and wasn't holding her anger against her.

"Sorry," Shepard mumbled.

"I'm sure someone's told you this already, you just probably didn't think about it. We age slower than just about every race except the krogan. If you matured at the rate we did, you wouldn't be an adult until you were about 60, which, from what I've read, is almost half a lifetime for humans. We have a millennia to live out, so don't you think we'd spend a lot longer growing up?"

Now Shepard just felt ignorant and foolish. Sure, she'd only been on Sanves for a couple of weeks, but that didn't give her a right to get angry about things she didn't understand. This wasn't the first time and she knew it wasn't going to be the last time that something would surprise her about other cultures and races.

Out of the blue she was struck by a thought of how her mom would have reacted in this situation. It wouldn't have matter that these two were laughing at her expense, Hannah would have smiled, apologized and asked to have been informed better so that she wouldn't offend anyone else in the future. That was just how her mom was; caring and genuine towards everyone regardless of who they were. Shepard had always been told that she was a lot like her mom, kind and understanding to people, but in this moment she didn't feel like it. She felt ashamed at her anger and her quick judgments. She sighed quietly and tried not to let the heat behind her eyes turn into tears.

"You're right, that makes sense. Sorry I freaked out," she said quietly.

Vasir waved away her apology, having noticed the fight go out of her shoulders. "Whatever, don't worry about it."

The three stood there in silence after that, Shepard staring at the ground not wanting to embarrass herself further, Morinth watching Shepard hungrily and Vasir smirking at both of them. Her best friend really was interested in this human, but it was funny that Shepard showed zero interest back. Most people that Morinth set her eyes on knew what her attentions meant and though they might have been nervous, most were quite willing. Her friend was gorgeous, even by asari standards, and most people were extremely eager to do anything she said if it meant they got her attention and affections, even for a short while.

She was pretty sure she knew what was going through Morinth's head right now, too. It wasn't that Shepard had been afraid of her and she wanted to show the human that she wasn't some sex-crazed animal. No, it was the fact that after Shepard had gotten over that initial fear, she hadn't even once noticed Morinth's beauty. Most people, once they got past their stuttering nerves of even being in her presence, fawned over her and stared at her unabashedly. Shepard didn't do that. It was like she didn't even see Morinth as attractive and she was pretty sure that was what was driving Morinth crazy.

Goddess, this is going to be hilarious to witness. Part of her wanted to help her best friend in any way possible, but another part of her was extremely amused that Morinth was being ignored, since it had basically never happened before. She decided to wait and see, and in the mean time break the growing silence. "Well, this has been fun and all, but I wasn't kidding when I said me and Morinth were bored out of our minds babysitting those two. Rila should be home pretty soon and you're here to pick your sister up. It was nice officially meeting you and all, but we're ready to get out of here," Vasir laughed, though not in a demeaning way.

"Oh! No, yeah I totally get it. Um..." Shepard was unsure of what words to leave with. How do you say, 'Thanks for looking after my sister and not eating her like I thought you would' or 'Nice meeting you, I'm glad you didn't jump my bones'?

Vasir solved her problem for her though. "Morinth, call Rila and tell her to hurry up. Shepard, I'll take you back to Falere's room," she said as she headed towards the door.

Before Shepard could turn and follow her, Morinth had stepped into her pathway and leaned in close, definitely in her personal space. Shepard gulped nervously as Morinth stared at her with hooded eyes and with that terrifying predatory smile. "I guess I'll see you around... Shepard," she said slowly, and licked her lips.

"Uh, y-yup!" she managed to get out and then took a sidestep and dashed around Morinth and out the waiting door that Vasir had opened. She's freaking insatiable! Dear Lord... No one she had ever known was this driven by... by sex. Sure, Julia was a huge flirt, but she was all talk, and holy hell she was nowhere near Morinth's level. She heard Vasir laugh in front of her, but ignored the sound and followed her back down the stairs.

McKenzie and Falere were still seated on the floor playing with toys, none the wiser to what had transpired between their older siblings.


A/N - I have no excuse for my absence except that I discovered the awesomeness of Final Fantasy XIII and I've been playing it non-stop... And totally fan-girling over Fang and Lightning. No shame admitting this: Holy hell those two are hot. And yes, I know they're video game characters. No, that doesn't change my opinion.

I know Shepard is a tad OOC, and I apologize, but she hasn't built up her confidence enough yet to be more outgoing. New situations are hard for her since she's had so few of them in her lifetime.

Anyway, enjoy.

PS. 'Growing Pains' Hit 30,000 views! You guys are seriously the best! *cake for everyone*