Chapter 35 - Knowledge Begets Knowledge

When they finished at Afterlife, Shepard did actually end up going to Kasumi's house, along with Tali, and stayed the night, so she felt a little better about deceiving her aunt. At least she'd eventually ended up where she said she was going to be. She knew she'd probably end up telling aunt about it anyway since she felt a little guilty about lying. Ashley had passed out in the skycar on their way home so she hadn't spent the night with them, Kaidan took her home instead. She wasn't sure where James, Garrus, Joker and Wrex had gone, but she guessed probably just back to their houses to sleep.

As a late birthday present, Kasumi installed the mod on her omni-tool that allowed it to vibrate when a message came in. All omni's could be silenced so that when a notification or message was received all it would do was light up, but she sometimes didn't notice the light, so the vibrating would help. Tali told her she'd probably get roped into a lot more ridiculous conversations via omni-tool when everyone else discovered she'd gotten the mod. Apparently Ashley enjoyed sending ridiculous messages to everyone to try and get them to laugh in class and get caught. Shepard could totally see Ashley embarrassing Kaidan in class with a vulgar message and decided to pay a little more attention to him in OCS to see if it happened.

The rest of the weekend went by quickly and quietly and saw Shepard working on homework and spending a little bit of time with McKenzie. Besides the actual move to Sanves and starting school, she hadn't had much excitement, so going to Afterlife had tired her out and she was content to spend the weekend recuperating. By the time school started again, she was well rested and ready for class.

The tip to Afterlife seemed to have broken a barrier between her and the rest of the group though it wasn't an overly obvious change. It's not that they hadn't accepted her before, she could just see the last of the distance between her and the rest of them vanish after her impromptu birthday party at the club. Wrex gave her a nod of acknowledgement when she sat down at the lunch table and they were all more willing to explain things if she got lost in the conversation. It wasn't quite as effortless as her camaraderie was between her friends back on Earth, but it was a pleasant start in a promising direction.

The rest of the day passed slowly, as the first day of the week often does, but Shepard was strangely looking forward to her last class of the day. Ever since she had befriended Liara, the class was a little less horrible. She still wouldn't label it as a class that she enjoyed, though, because she still had trouble in it. She hoped she'd eventually be able to get over the soreness that she constantly felt afterwards and that the number of times she fell on her ass would lessen.

It was a coincidence, but on her birthday they'd finished up their training that dealt with power differences and Shepard got a break from being pounded on by Liara. If it had been anyone else she might have started resenting the person, but every time the asari knocked her down she'd be as apologetic as the first time. Shepard told Liara that she didn't have to say sorry every time, but it did prove to her that Liara wasn't getting satisfaction from her superiority. Another point in Liara's favor was that she would whisper helpful hints to Shepard when Shiala was coaching another group even though they weren't supposed to be helping each other. Today, Liara was probably just as grateful as Shepard was for the training to be over and to be starting something else.

For the start of class, Shiala hadn't told them to do anything different than their usual warm up routine, so Shepard jogged over to Liara as the class started their lap around the gym. "Hey, Liara, how was your weekend?"

"Hello, Shepard," Liara said with a smile. "It was very relaxing since I mostly just stayed home. How was yours?"

"It was great. It was actually my birthday last week so after school some people took me to that popular club Afterlife. You heard of it?" Shepard asked. Liara didn't seem like the type to go out and party (not that Shepard was a party animal herself, though), so she was curious to see if the asari knew the place.

"Afterlife... That is one of the clubs run by Aria T'Loak, yes?"

"Yup, though I'm not really an expert," Shepard laughed, "I've only been once. She sounds like one badass asari, though." By then they'd finished their circuit of the gym and all the students were spreading out in clumps to stretch or start warming up their biotics. Shepard and Liara decided to limber up before moving anything with their powers.

"Yes, I have heard of it." Liara paused and looked at Shepard searchingly for a moment. She hadn't known Shepard long but she felt as though she could trust the human. Everything about her was genuine and Liara thought she'd be someone who would keep something to herself if asked. Throwing caution proverbially to the wind she decided to speak again. "There are very few people who know this, so I would greatly appreciate it if you did not tell anyone else, but... my father is actually... friends with Aria T'Loak," she said quietly. Liara was nervous to admit the connection since it was widely known that Aria was akin to a crime lord and she didn't know how Shepard would react to the revelation.

"Woah, seriously?" Shepard's eyes went wide, not only because the admission was shocking but because Liara was trusting her with the information. She felt honored that Liara was telling her such an important fact and vowed not to break her confidence. "That's, uh, pretty intense. So, do you like, know Aria?"

"No, no," Liara said quickly, "I have never even met her. I only saw her from afar once."

"So how does your dad know Aria?" Shepard asked, not exactly whispering, but keeping her voice down.

"I am not sure," Liara admitted. "Both of my parents are quite old, so it could have been a friendship formed many centuries ago."

Shepard's eyes bulged and her mouth fell open of its own accord. "C-centuries?" she stuttered.

Liara looked at her oddly, "Yes... Did I say something odd?"

Shepard hastily clamped her mouth closed and tried to wipe her shocked expression off her face. She knew she was being incredibly rude but... Damn, how old were Liara's parents? "No, I'm sorry, that was kinda rude," she said blushing. "I guess I just forget how old asari can get. How old are you parents? Or wait, is that not okay to ask in asari culture? Gah, sorry, I'm so ignorant," she apologized, looking down at the floor as a blush bloomed across her face.

Liara's musical laugh cut through her embarrassment and had her looking back up at the asari. Shepard observed how Liara's nose scrunched up adorably and her beautifully white and straight teeth flashed as she giggled. It was enough to cool her face down a little bit and get her to join in with a little chuckle of her own, relieved that Liara didn't seem angry or upset.

"Oh, Shepard, you are silly," Liara said with an amused grin. "No, it is not offensive to ask that, though I would not recommend you go around asking every asari you see. Sorry, but are you done stretching?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Shepard said, realizing that they had finished stretching and were just standing idly.

"Would you like to start lifts?"

Shepard sighed dramatically. "I guess, but I know you're just standing next to me because it'll make you look way stronger," she whined, though she winked at Liara to let her know she was kidding.

It was a good thing Shepard winked because Liara was getting ready to vehemently deny such a thing. She would never use Shepard like that, but realized the human was kidding with the wink. She blushed a slightly deeper blue but 'tsked' at her friend. "Shepard, you are terrible."

Shepard just laughed. "I know. But what were you saying about the age thing?" She began lifting one of the lightest boxes to get her biotics warmed up, but knew she'd be able to up the weight in a few minutes.

Liara paused for a moment and began to lift one of the three biggest boxes before answering. "I was saying, if the asari is a friend, the question would just be perceived as a simple question. I am guessing it is probably similar in your culture. Would you go up to a stranger and randomly ask them their age?"

"No, definitely not," Shepard laughed, though slightly distracted by Liara's biotic prowess. "I get what you're saying though. We have a saying that it's not polite to ask a lady about her age. Should I just adopt that principle?" she grinned.

"Well, we are not female," Liara teased, "but yes, that may help you avoid any awkward situations in the foreseeable future."

"Wait, you're not a girl?" Shepard asked, mildly annoyed that her surprise made her drop the box she was lifting and that her ignorance was showing yet again. But really, all the asari she had seen had... breasts, and they sounded like women and just sorta looked female overall. Was Liara trying to say they were male?!

Liara laughed again at Shepard's incredulous tone and shook her head. It was obvious she did not mean to be rude by the questions, so she took them as honest bewilderment and answered them easily. "No, I am not a girl. It is a common misconception, especially since-"

"Alright, is everyone all warmed up?" Shiala's voice rang out, interrupting Liara's explanation.

A chorus of "yes's" rang out from the students as they all lowered the various objects they'd been warming up with. Liara leaned over and spoke softly to Shepard as Shiala began talking about what they were going to do for the day. "Sorry."

"No big, it's fine," Shepard reassured her. "You can prove how ignorant I am some other time," she teased.

Liara laughed at her. "Would you, uh..." Liara swallowed nervously. "Um, would you be interested in maybe coming over to my house after school today to do our school work? I... I could answer any other questions you have about my species as well, if you like." Very rarely did she invite other students to her house besides Sekat and Nyxeris so she wasn't very confident in asking Shepard. She heaved a silent sigh of relief though when a smile lit up the human's face.

"Sure! That sounds awesome. I have a skycar if you want to give me your address later," she responded quietly with a smile, trying not to attract Shiala's attention to their conversation. Their trainer could throw a mean glare.

"W-would you just like me to ride with you and show you the way?" Liara asked.

"Do you usually take the transports home?"

"Um... s-something like that," Liara mumbled. She didn't know why she didn't want Shepard knowing that someone drove her home every day, she just didn't want Shepard to think she was spoiled.

"Sounds god! Meet after class?" Shepard asked.

"A-alright," Liara agreed with a small smile, and then turned her attention to her mentor and her explanation.

-.-.-.-.-

After they'd finished up their last exercises - back in their own power groups thankfully - Shepard headed for the locker room to get changed. She looked around for Liara before going through the doors and spotted her talking to Shiala. Whatever she was saying to their trainer, Shiala nodded and Liara smiled at her before turning away and making her way towards the locker room as well.

"Please tell me you were asking her to give us the day off tomorrow and she said yes?" Shepard groaned as they walked, trying to stretch out her poor, battered muscles.

Liara laughed at Shepard's comment but shook her head. "No, I am sorry," she said with mock sympathy. She'd actually been asking Shiala if it was okay for her to ride back to the estate with Shepard since she'd invited the human over.

"Damn," she sighed. "Oh well." Their lockers weren't close to each other the parted for a short while to get changed before meeting up at the front of the gym. "Ready to go? Do you need to stop by your locker?" she asked.

"No, I am alright. Since this is my last class of the day I make sure to have everything I need for home so that I do not have to stop by my locker one more time," Liara said.

"Hey, me too!" Shepard said brightly as they started walking towards the entrance of the school. "Guess great minds think alike, huh?"

"That is a surprisingly... apt expression," Liara commented.

"It's pretty good, yeah. Why surprising though?"

"The few times that I have heard human idioms, I have been horribly confused by them," she admitted.

Shepard laughed, "Ha, yeah, I can see how they'd be confusing. If we hang out for long enough I'm sure you'll hear plenty from me."

"Then I hope you will not mind me asking for constant explanations."

"Of course not. It'll be interesting to see how I do with explaining them, though. There are some sayings that I'm pretty sure I use that I don't even know the origins of them," Shepard chuckled.

"That seems... redundant. Not understanding what you're saying with your sayings?" Liara teased.

"Jeez, something like that, I guess," Shepard said with a laugh. They walked out of the front of the school and Shepard led them towards her skycar. "This is mine," she announced, and unlocked it so that Liara could get in. Once they got settled in and their bags thrown in the back Shepard turned to Liara. "Alright, where to, captain?"

-.-.-.-.-

"Are you... Are you serious? This is yours?" Shepard stuttered, her eyes wide as she took in the sprawling view before her. The mansion - because something that massive could not just be a house - was the biggest single dwelling she'd ever seen owned by someone she knew. The front courtyard/driveway area had a beautiful fountain and all the vegetation at the front of the house was perfectly manicured. She was already descending in the skycar so she couldn't see behind the mansion, but based on the fact that there were two other big buildings beside the house, she figured there was plenty more that she couldn't see yet.

"Y-yes, this is my family's estate," Liara said quietly. She wasn't nervous about Shepard's initial reaction, since that was always the same, but it was the follow-up thoughts that she was worried about. She'd seen a range from bitter jealousy to harmless awe, and hoped Shepard fell into the latter.

"Well hot damn!" She laughed, touching the skycar down on the driveway where she saw others parked. "This place is seriously amazing!"

"Thank you."

"It must be awesome to live here. Pleeeease tell me you'll give me a tour?" Shepard said excitedly as she climbed out and slung her backpack on her back, turning to look at Liara who was already standing outside. The front of the mansion towered above them both and she couldn't wait to get a look inside.

"If it would make you happy," Liara said with a smile, her nervousness dissipating in the face of Shepard's child-like excitement.

"Totally happy," she said with a goofy grin.

Liara responded with a bigger smile. "Very well then!" she said and then led the way towards the front door.

"Woah, it's old fashioned!" Shepard exclaimed, watching as Liara put her omni-tool up to a panel on the wall by the large door and pushing it open once the light turned green.

"Yes, many things in the house are a bit older since my mother wanted to preserve its age instead of updating everything. There are some things that we did away with in favor of modern conveniences though," Liara explained.

"Neat- Dang this is huge!" Shepard interrupted herself as they walked into the entry way and she gaped at the formal staircase and massive ceilings. Thankfully Liara's mother wasn't home or she surely would have been wondering what all the clamoring was about.

Liara was amused at the human's reactions to everything and she tried to visualize her house as if she were seeing it for the first time. She'd spent her entire life in these rooms and halls so she'd never gotten the awe-inspiring first impression of the house like other people had. Trying to view it through Shepard's eyes was a fun experience. "Shepard, if you keep exclaiming I fear you may pass out," she teased.

"Yeah, but... but... It's just so awesome!" she exclaimed.

Liara just laughed at her. She knew Shepard would never move if she didn't drag her along, so she grasped the human's wrist and proceeded to give her the grand tour of the house. Shepard nearly fell on her backside craning her neck to look at all of the chandeliers in the ball room and Liara had to restrain her from jumping into the pool even though she was fully clothed. By the time they made it up to Liara's room on the third floor, Shepard was running out of adjectives to use, though she was still taking in Liara's room with excited eyes.

"Wow, Liara, just wow. Your house is beyond awesome," Shepard sighed happily as she sat on the edge of Liara's bed. "I'd be spazzing out every day if I lived here."

"I could see that," Liara laughed. "Though I do wish I could feel your excitement towards everything. I fear I must seem quite jaded to you," she said somewhat sadly. She tried to look around her almost impeccably tidy and clean room with an objective eye. Three of her walls were a soft gray and the fourth, the one facing her bed, was a deep, midnight blue. Her room was accented with things that had silver and white in them and her bed covers were light blue. She loved her room, but she didn't feel excited sitting in it like Shepard obviously felt.

"Not really," Shepard defended, turning her attention from the room to Liara."We all get used to the things that we're constantly exposed to, so it makes sense that your house doesn't make you freak out like I am. I'm used to being around my dog Sadie, but when other people see her they have to get used to her at first."

"What is a dog?" Liara asked.

"It's a domesticated animal from Earth that a lot of people keep as pets. She's really, really sweet but she's also very big. She freaks a lot of people out at first." Shepard loved talking about Sadie, and decided to invite Liara over some time so she could meet her. "I guess you could say that shape-wise they're kind of like a non-vicious varren but they're usually a bit smaller, though they come in all shapes and sizes. They also have fur or hair instead of scales. Oh and no spines. And they're eyes are way tinier... Sorry, that's probably all really confusing," Shepard said with a laugh.

"A... bit, but I do think I understand the basics of what you are saying," Liara said kindly. "They sound very intriguing, I would love to meet your Sadie some time."

"Sure! You can come over anytime," Shepard said.

"I would like that," Liara smiled. "Would you like to get started on our homework?"

"Aww, man!" Shepard groaned loudly, but laughed when Liara rolled her eyes. "But yeah, that sounds good."

They sat quietly together in Liara's room working on their homework for the next hour. They didn't share any classes except for biotic training so they couldn't really work together, but the companionship was nice and they enjoyed being together. Shepard finished up her work a little bit before Liara did so she sat contentedly on the bed and gazed around the asari's room. Liara stole glances at Shepard every now and then and wondered what she was thinking about as she examined the things in her room.

She hadn't known Shepard very long, but even the short amount of time she'd spent talking with her was more than she'd done with any other human. She wondered how much about Shepard's personality was uniquely hers and how much was just a product of her humanity. Without befriending any other humans there wasn't really any way for her to know, though. Regardless, she enjoyed being around Shepard and enjoyed her company quite a bit.

Shepard was funny but not overly so or in an obvious way. Her humor was natural and spontaneous and was often just a byproduct of her own silliness. Liara liked how carefree the human was and that she didn't take herself too seriously. She was willing to laugh at her own mistakes and didn't get defensive when others poked fun or teased her. She seemed to treat everybody equally regardless of their race or gender.

What Liara noticed the most about Shepard though was her kindness. Yes, she was prone to bouts of sarcasm and friendly jibes like anyone their age, but it was never done with real malicious intent. Nothing about Shepard's kindness was flamboyant, which to Liara proved that it was genuine. She never made a large production out of helping someone, but instead she did it quietly and without much notice. Always allowing others through a door first if they made it there at the same time, always sharing her supplies with those who forgot theirs, always looking people in the eye when she was having a conversation instead of distractedly messing with her omni-tool or looking around. There were a whole host of other things as well, and Liara was sure that there were many that she missed. Even though she didn't see Shepard all the time, it was the fact that every time she did see the human she saw these courteous actions being performed that convinced Liara of her kindness.

She realized she'd been staring for a rather long time at the human and quickly looked back down at her work before she was caught. Thankfully Shepard was still looking around her room and didn't seem to notice her gaze.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but is that a picture of your mom?" Shepard asked, pointing to a holo of an asari on Liara's desk.

Liara looked up to see which picture she was talking about and laughed when she saw which one. "No, that is a picture of my father," she said. She knew it was going to mess with the human's brain, and eagerly watched her face to see her reaction. She wasn't disappointed.

"Uhh..." Shepard said blankly, looking between the picture and Liara. She could see a hint of the mischief of Liara's face and knew that the asari was gauging her for her reaction. She thought back to their interrupted conversation in biotics class and tried to remember what Liara had said. She said she wasn't a girl... But she didn't say anything about her dad... Gah, fine. "Alright, my human is showing, I'm confused," she sighed, admitting that she was beyond confused.

Liara laughed and grinned. She knew she hadn't been able to finish her explanation about her race in class so didn't begrudge Shepard for not understanding. "Do not feel bad, Shepard, we were not able to finish our conversation in biotics training today so it is understandable that you are confused. What I had been saying was that it is a common misconception that asari are an all female race. It was fueled even further once the humans entered the galactic stage since our anatomy is strikingly similar to those of females from your species. Technically we are monogendered; neither male nor female."

"That's... kinda weird," Shepard said, but her confusion had lessened. "But hang on, if you're not a girl, why do you guys say 'she' and 'her' then?"

Liara was impressed that Shepard had realized that detail. It was ironic too because she'd just had this discussion with one of her classmates a few months ago. "A good observation, and one that many people have made. I think what happened was that over time, all of the other dual-gendered races used feminine pronouns when referring to the asari and we as a people simply assimilated to it. I think that since we were the first race to discover space flight, we like to think that we do not adapt to others but that others adapt to us."

"That's rather... conceited, don't you think?"

"Oh yes, very," Liara quickly agreed, "but I am quite the minority in thinking this way. Most of us buy into our own image, my mother included, though she does not reflect that ideology in a demeaning way. She sees it as a duty to help others, even of our own race, find more peaceful and uplifting ways of achieving their goals."

"I guess I can respect that," Shepard conceded. "Okay, so that," she pointed to the holo," is... your dad? Not your mom?"

"Yes," Liara said simply, waiting to see if Shepard could actually wrap her head around what was just explained.

"So even though she's... well, not female, but, you know, a 'her'," she said with air quotes, "you call her by the male title of 'father'?"

"Yes, because she is my sire parent," Liara said patiently.

Shepard stared at her blankly for a few moments and then groaned in resignation, flopping onto her back on the bed. "Jeez, I give up. I'm obviously an idiot for not understanding," she lamented forlornly, only mostly joking.

Liara laughed at Shepard's dramatic display and leaned over to pat her shoulder reassuringly. "No, Shepard, you are not an idiot. I am sure many people have had trouble understanding our culture. And, if I recall, you have never been outside of the Sol System, right?" Shepard just nodded her head. "Then it is understandable that you are not an expert on asari. I will admit that there are plenty of things that I do not know about humans, either," she admitted, trying to make the human feel better.

"Yeah right, you're crazy smart at everything," Shepard argued.

Liara laughed, "No, definitely not everything, Shepard. For instance, I know that this is... hair," she said, reaching over and lightly running her fingers along the edges of Shepard's long hair splayed out on the bed, "but I do not understand how you humans seem to have no problem cutting it off! On more than one occasion I have seen students come to school with it shorter than it was the day previous. Does this cuttin not hurt terribly?" Most of the humor had left her voice by the end of her sentence and her tone was honestly confused.

Now it was Shepard's turn to laugh. "Oh, gosh, ha! N-no, it doesn't hurt," she choked out, trying not to be too rude by laughing in Liara's face. The asari hadn't made fun of her when she'd asked her stupid questions so she tried to keep her giggles in check. "Sorry. But, no, it doesn't hurt. Hair doesn't have any nerve endings in it," she explained.

"Really?" Liara said with wide eyes. "So you cannot feel this?" She carefully rubbed the ends of Shepard's hair again.

"Nope," Shepard said, her mouth popping on the 'p'.

"Not that I would, but if I were to cut a strand of this you would not feel anything?" Liara asked.

"Well not physically, no, but I'd be pretty pissed emotionally if you did!" Shepard laughed, snatching her hair away playfully from Liara's hands.

Liara gently shoved Shepard's shoulder, smiling. "I would not harm your hair, Shepard," she said with a smirk. "Though from what I have observed it obviously grows back."

"Yeah it does, but that can take weeks or months, depending on how much you cut off or how long you want it to get. Heh, actually I probably need a haircut pretty soon, it's been a while since I've had one."

"Is it a necessity to get it cut?"

"I mean, not really, but do you see every human walking around with their hair dragging on the ground?"

Liara laughed at that visual. "No."

"Exactly," Shepard smirked. "Generally, males keep their hair shorter and females keep it longer, but that's not the rule. It really just depends on personal preference."

Shyly, Liara reached out and gently ran her fingers back through Shepard's hair. She glanced at the human's face to gauge her reaction but she blushed and quickly darted her eyes away when Shepard looked at her and caught her staring. "I, uh..." she swallowed nervously but continued in a soft voice, "I like your hair long."

Shepard grinned at the adorably shy expression on Liara's face. It was funny how quickly she could go from confidently explaining the oddities of her species and asking questions without a problem to hesitant and shy in a matter of seconds. Shepard found it quite endearing. "Well lucky for you I like it long too."

They continued to lay on the bed silently for a few more minutes before Shepard remembered her question about Liara's father. "So, explain this 'sire' business to me, yeah?" Liara laughed and returned to the topic of the asari gender, or lack thereof.

Neither commented on the fact that Liara continued to softly run her fingers through the strands of Shepard's long, dark hair.

A/N - Merry Late Christmas, hope everyone had/is having a great holiday! I know you're loving this 100% Shep/Liara goodness and it's my gift to all of you patient followers :D It's time they got a move on ;P