Liara studied Shepard discreetly. Her drift was a vague mauve. Liara suspected she was actually seeing pink mingled with a very stable brown, but would never pry. "I thought we might go do something. Walking is excellent low impact exercise. It might help with the stiffness."

Shepard's aura cleared a little revealing more of the pink. It was ironic, since there was a saying 'in the pink of health.' Apparently Alenko was well able to keep Shepard there. "As my mother used to say, 'whatever made you sore will make you un-sore.'"

"I don't think dropping you that far again will do you any favors. Let's stick with low-impact walking."

Shepard nodded, activating her omnitool and beating out a short message which was responded to with a brief ping. If she had to guess, Shepard informing Alenko she'd gone out and with whom. Given the last few days, he might worry if he came home to an empty house and somehow missed the proverbial note on the fridge.

And he'd be reassured that the still-tender, not-quite-back-to-standard Shepard would be in good hands.

Half an hour later, the two women meandered through the nearest shopping district. Shepard wasn't wearing her fatigues, and looked mildly nervous about it. She was armed, however. "We should do something," Liara mused. "Something we wouldn't normally do. Just to say we did it, you know?"

Shepard nodded, looking around with an expression of overwhelming indecision on her face. "Sorry, Liara. I'm drawing a blank." Suddenly, she laughed. "If we'd done this yesterday, we could have looked at dresses."

"Oh?"

Shepard shifted uneasily. "Alenko and I were invited to a charity thing at the Silver Coast Casino. We're either there for publicity or a non-uniformed presence."

A light clicked in Liara's head, a devious smile beginning to play around her mouth.

"Uh-oh. You've got that look…"

"Don't be silly," Liara answered, taking Shepard by the arm. "What are you wearing under your dress?"

"Underwear," Shepard answered, not abashed but caught off-guard by the question. She was a marine, and an N7. The ability to feel modesty-based embarrassment had probably been surgically removed by this point.

"As I suspected."

For a moment Shepard was silent then, "Ugh. That's for raunchy romances!"

"Where did your mind go? One doesn't wear underwear under a fancy dress, Shepard. One wears lingerie."

"Which is underwear. You wear it under."

Liara found herself laughing at Shepard's mulish 'I see where this is going' tone. "It's not something you would normally do for yourself."

"Exactly. You don't wear stuff like that when you're wearing or going to be wearing armor!" Shepard responded. "Or is this a 'have it just to have it' sort of thing…did I miss the point, here?"

She had, but it wasn't the point she was thinking of. "Well, you're banned from wearing armor and if you can't do it for yourself…." Liara leaned over. "Maybe you can do it for Kaidan."

It was the closest Shepard ever came to looking scandalized, and it lasted only a few seconds. After a moment, she relaxed into simple discomfort with her relationship being invoked in a public venue, even if Liara only whispered it. "Did Wrex put you up to this? Is that what this is?" Shepard asked with as much dignity as she could managed.

"Would I conspire with him like that?" Liara laughed at the look Shepard shot her. "No, I'm not conspiring with Wrex. Let's have a look at what's here." She pulled up her omnitool.

Shepard shuffled along with her, still looking uncertain what she thought about this whole situation.

Liara had grown up that every girl ought to have at least one frilly, extravagant little set of underthings she didn't expect to wear very long when she wore them, and at least one very pretty little set of underthings to wear on special occasions simply for the pleasure of being pretty down to the skin.

Shepard, on the other hand, grew up on a farm where things were necessarily kept sensible.

Suddenly, Shepard sighed, her shuffle becoming a more relaxed walk. "If I end up garroting someone with a bra or restraining an assailant with a pair of nylons…"

She was joking again, which meant she'd grown accustomed to an idea she'd never really handled before. "That would be something to see."

They walked along in silence for a few moments as Liara found and obtained directions for the nearest shop. "Hey, Liara…what you said a minute ago…" Apple-green apprehension laced Shepard's drift.

Liara could have kicked herself. If there was one place Shepard's confidence was shaky it was in the arena of romantic entanglements. "I didn't mean it like that. I've gone and stuck my foot in it," she sighed. "Sometimes…you seem like you need an excuse to do things that are just for yourself. Something more than 'because I want to.' That's all."

"That's…kind of where I hoped you were going with that."

By now, Liara regretted her impulsive 'let's do something frivolous and out of character!' suggestion. "Shepard, I didn't mean for this to get serious."

"It's me. I'm just…feeling kind of edgy. It makes me just...ugh." She took a deep breath. "I should've worn my fatigues. You know what? We should get ice cream. You know, after," she motioned with one finger to the instructions on Liara's omnitool.

"Are you sure? This wasn't supposed to stress you out. You look stressed."

Shepard considered, her drift slowly lightening. "You know," she admitted quietly, "I quit keeping a bucket list years ago. Exotic places? Been there. Parachuting, scuba, rock climbing? Done that. Figured there was just no point in keeping one. But…I've never gone shopping for lingerie with a girl-friend."

"You should feel pretty for this party you're going to," Liara agreed with some relief. "Alenko would appreciate the view if you wore burlap, so—"

"Burlap chafes."

Liara let out a bark of laughter as Shepard grinned, a real, easy grin. "There's a story, there."