Chapter 6: Reading On the Same Page
All good things came to an end. Liara almost forgot she had a finite of hours with the commander before Dr. Chakwas returned from much-needed sleep; Shepard hadn't wasted any time applying her charm on the medical doctor in hopes it would get her out of bed rest.
Sleep hadn't dulled Dr. Chakwas' wit and she was sharp with it, dashing the commander's hopes.
Liara quietly excused herself to her quarters, armed with plenty new topics to research and Earth content to analyze - all in the name of science, of course. Curiosity had no part to play here. Nobody would be fooled by that, if what Wrex had observed and said in the hangar was any indication.
Goddess...
Warmth ebbed beneath Liara's cheeks when the krogan's vulgar implication echoed in her mind. Once again the myth - or was it legend, to the galaxy? - of asari promiscuity hadn't spared the scientist her dignity, and she dearly hoped it was a myth that Shepard hadn't heard. That would lead to misunderstandings, and miscommunication, and-
Why on Thessia was Liara even thinking about this?!
She hurried to her terminal with her handful of OSDs, desperate to derail herself from these scandalous thoughts. They were nothing more than friends - if they could even be called that. Liara only just discovered that there was a human and a heart beating beneath the sterile uniform. She couldn't deny that her fascination was growing though, and she could no longer blame the touch of Protheans imprinted upon the commander's mind. The more she learned, the more she craved to hear.
Liara input the OSD labeled as 'music' into her terminal first, and began copying all the files so that she could return the OSDs - but not the contents. There was too much to go through to digest in one sitting. Everything was synced to her omni-tool, and she adjusted the volume to be at a comfortable decibel level as she worked to transcribe all OSDs over.
"Old fashioned," Liara smiled to herself as she looked at her collection scattered on her desk. "You were not kidding, Lucy."
She made a mental note to look for a basic utility omni-tool the next time they port at the Citadel, and to set it up for the commander.
With all information successfully copied, Liara looked over at other data discs pending to be decrypted and analyzed on her desk - Prothean discs. Her newfound music instilled a newfound confidence and energy in her, and she dove right back to work with a clear mind and shoulders that had felt as though a burden was lifted off of them. Her foot tapped to the beat, and some choruses became predictably easy to hum along with.
Perhaps there needed to be more scientific analysis as to what this 'rock' genre could do on a physiological scale. With it's tendency to be high energy more often than not, it sounded like it would be more likely to stimulate cells to grow than classical music. Would Shepard actually agree to blood tests while listening to different music genres, though?
It seemed a rather rudimentary experiment to run...
But science.
Without thinking, she got up and left for the infirmary to ask.
"Sure," Lucy agreed very easily, and worked very hard to keep her devilish smile off her face. She could hear Dr. Chakwas scowl in the corner. "I think another factor to test in your experiment is whether or not volume plays a part too. Y'know, loud versus quiet. I think we should test loud first."
"An excellent suggestion!" Dr. T'Soni's enthusiasm was contagious, and the marine almost felt a little guilty that this was yet another opportunity for another attempted ploy to-
"She is trying to extract herself from this infirmary, Dr. T'Soni," Dr. Chakwas sighed. "She knows I am not fond of the music and hopes I will discharge her so that you two may run this experiment elsewhere."
-not get the fuck out of here.
Charm rushed to Lucy's rescue when the good scientist looked at her with those damned puppy eyes. Curse them to bloody hell, seriously. Those eyes should be illegal. "Not true, doc. I'd never think of leaving here-" the disbelief made itself evident with the way Dr. T'Soni's expression changed, and she crossed her arms as if to say uh huh. "-not when this is the most I'll get to enjoy your company. And it is an experiment that interests me as well - I'm curious."
"Bullshit," Dr. Chakwas muttered under her breath.
It took all of Lucy's willpower not to laugh. It was rare to garner strong reactions from the good doctor.
Rare for others, anyways.
"If the music will bother you with your work, Dr. Chakwas, then might I suggest we simply move Commander Shepard to my quarters? We can wheel a plinth in there and her recovery will be uninterrupted - as well as isolated from any other external factors that might find themselves here inside the med-bay, outside my control. I would like to limit the variables for now in order to produce accurate data."
Okay, getting further away from command was not part of Lucy's plan. This was backfiring horribly on her, and Dr. Chakwas knew it with the way she smiled sweetly.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Dr. T'Soni. Help yourself to any medical instruments you may need and feel free to call me if you need assistance to draw blood."
"Sucks blood like a vampire," Lucy grumbled under her breath. "Her bloody needles are her fangs."
Dr. Chakwas' smile grew. "What was that, Commander?"
"Nothin'," Lucy sighed.
"Thank you very much, Dr. Chakwas," the scientist chimed cheerfully, oblivious to the humans' true intentions. She was too innocent. "I will let you know when I need help." Dr. T'Soni wasted no time, expertly maneuvering the plinth's controls as she casually packed four med-kits on top of Lucy's legs.
Just what kind of fucking experiment was actually going to be run, if the doc needed this many supplies?
"Dr. Chakwas?" Lucy nervously asked, glancing over her shoulder as she was wheeled away. "Will you be coming to check on me every now and then?"
"From what I've seen, I'm confident in Dr. T'Soni's abilities. You're in excellent hands." The medical doctor casually turned in her chair to start typing away notes.
Was she already typing up her fucking eulogy? Asshole.
"Oh my god," Lucy fearfully faced front. Sweat collected on her palms at one terrifying thought. "I'm gonna be poked to death with needles, aren't I?"
"I will not need too many blood samples," Dr. T'Soni answered, though that dreadful cheer in her voice was ominous as hell. "With current variables to test: only 43 vials."
"Only? Is that gonna kill me?"
"Not at all. I have already looked up how much blood is in the human body; with the size of my vials, you would need roughly 88 of them before you experience side effects."
What a relief that was. Not. It was truly troubling to hear how the scientist was so casual and composed about all of this.
"Though you will need about 4 to 8 weeks to recover, so I would advise against strenuous exercise and to avoid it as best as you can."
"Strenu-" Lucy almost choked on her own spit in her haste to object. "Doc, we're trying to save the fucking galaxy. Strenuous exercise is my job description right now."
"Exactly. So avoid it as best as you can."
How was this experiment more important than saving the fucking galaxy?! Did she hear that part?!
"Requesting reinforcements," Lucy piped pathetically, her eyes widening in horror as she was set up directly beside the analyzer that once held the minerals she'd gifted. If she could, she would take that back in a heartbeat right now. The scientist didn't seem to hear her and begun playing one of the songs, humming along with the melody. "I repeat, requesting reinforcements. Or an extraction. Preferably extraction - but not my blood. I want to keep that."
Nothing. No response. She watched her life flash by her eyes as Dr. T'Soni instead extracted one of the largest and thickest needles from the med-kit.
Jesus Christ, and this woman was an archaeologist. There was going to be a lot of digging involved before she'd strike gold.
Dr. T'Soni strode with an almost sickening glee - endearing, but mostly sickening. She tied a bloody pink rubber band around Lucy's arm and began to palpate the vein. The marine seized up at the sight of the thick needle nearing - was the size of that monstrosity truly necessary? It looked like it should stab butts - and a deceivingly gentle blue hand wrapped above her elbow to squeeze.
"Relax, Commander."
How? 'Cause she was really hurting for ideas right now, especially if she couldn't even relax in a non-fucking-stressful situation.
"L-Liara..." Lucy nearly squeaked, too anxious to be ashamed by such a pathetic utterance.
At least the needle stopped before it pierced her. Give her a bullet wound instead. She couldn't stop staring at it though; somewhere in the back of her brain, a voice mocked her ruthlessly over such an old fear, especially considering she had survived much much worse several times over.
"I... must admit, Commander..."
What, the accent? That she didn't know what Dr. T'Soni's name was? Hell, she wouldn't blame the scientist for that - some days Lucy thought 'Commander' was her first name.
"I did not ever think I would actually see you... scared." Thanks. "It is a very strange sight." Uh huh. Not helping. "Are you scared of needles?"
"I'm not scared of anything," pride retorted. It backpedaled very fast when the tip of the needle touched her inner elbow. "Okay! Okay, no need for torture, okay? I'll talk. Let's work a deal out. Surely there's something we could negotiate? Just... put the weapon down first. Don't stab me."
Dr. T'Soni drew the needle back, and disappointment was actually plainly honest on her face. The monster. "So I cannot experiment the effects of your music on your cellular-"
"Not with that needle, okay? Don't you have anything smaller?"
"But it will take longer."
"Do you want your results or not, doc? Y'gotta work with me here if we're gonna be lookin' for a compromise we can settle for."
The scientist sighed despondently as she went back to her med-kit. "I suppose..."
Jesus, it was like Lucy took the jump for joy right out of T'Soni and kicked a puppy on top of it.
"Well, for what it's worth Liara, thank you for not giving me a new hole to smoke out of."
Lucy smirked a little when she goaded a melodic laugh; better than music.
Maybe needles weren't so bad after all.
...She cursed a different tune when she got poked by one.
One week passed, and Lucy was finally cleared for duty. She wasted no time as she marched up to command and got the latest reports from XO Pressly, relieved to hear that the combined ground team effort under Lieutenant Alenko's command had effectively wiped out the rest of the geth pockets in the system - and found them hiding on one last planet to boot. Tali retrieved valuable data on the geth to analyze, Garrus got extra sniping practice, Wrex bragged about turning geth into tin cans and...
None of this involved Saren in the picture. There was no evidence of what he had done or was going to do, where he was or where he was going to go. They had no leads. They had the Cipher, they had visions, they took away a rachni army as well as state of the art weapons, and they had nothing else.
Where the hell were they supposed to go now?
Lucy nodded and gave XO Pressly leave to his station as she absorbed the information, meandering to the galaxy map. She closed her eyes and did her best to recall every report Dr. T'Soni read, hoping to find a clue that stood out in the midst of all these efforts that were very well potentially wasted if they couldn't catch up to the former Spectre, or be one step ahead.
Maybe the data Tali retrieved would shed some insight? XO Pressly noted that it would take her a while to decrypt, but they didn't have 'a while'. Lucy didn't have anyone better for the job to decode it, though; she would just annoy or slow Tali down if she tried to assemble a team to crack the data.
What the hell were they supposed to do now?
This wait and not knowing what to do - not knowing what to command - was testing her ability to act and think under pressure. It was akin to a live fire situation; it may very well end up as one if they didn't hurry the fuck up and stop Saren. Lucy stared blankly at the galaxy map, temple throbbing with an oncoming headache, well aware there were a few eyes on her waiting for her orders. She had to give something.
"We've got time while intel works their magic. Plot a course for the Hades Gamma cluster, Antaeus system. We'll investigate the missing survey team on Trebin in the mean time."
"Aye aye, Commander," XO Pressly saluted, and head to the helm to belay the orders.
Minutes later, Joker's voice came on the comm. "ETA to Hades Gamma cluster: 2 hours."
Good. 2 hours for stress relief and much needed exercise. She tapped the comm button to speak to Joker directly. "I'll be in my quarters if you need anything."
Not a second too soon, she got a response from the trigger-happy pilot. "Sounds good, Commander."
Lucy walked off and nodded to those who saluted, feeling like she was finally back in the place she belonged and felt at ease - the mark of a workaholic. She had to sharpen up what had dulled for all that time lounging in a bed and begun designing a workout plan in her head to tackle what had been most damaged in the last fight: her right arm. She needed to ensure she could swing just as well as shoot, or she was just going to be a decorative art piece on the battlefield.
Someone very familiar saddled up in her peripheral vision and was homing in on her like a missile; she quickened her steps to retreat to a tactical advantage point and pretended she hadn't seen anything as she waltzed into her quarters. Evidently, it wasn't going to function as the social barrier she'd hoped for.
Rushed door beeps alerted her that there was someone who couldn't afford to wait.
Reluctantly, she went to answer the only person on this ship who would ever pay attention that these doors even possessed such a function. She opened the door and nodded tersely. "Dr. T'Soni." She gestured into her quarters. "Come in. How may I help you?"
"You already have! I have come to say I have finally compiled my analysis on the experiment we ran."
We. Hm. Creative imagination was really needed to exaggerate that.
"Would you like to hear the results, Commander?"
"I was actually going to exercise and test my mobility; I've a mission coming up in 2 hours. Can this wait?"
Dr. T'Soni deflated.
God, now the marine felt like she'd murdered a puppy.
Lucy suppressed a sigh - and the shudders buzzing under her skin, absentmindedly touching the ghost-throbbing at her elbow. Bloody needles. Tiny ones were still traumatic. "Alright doc, share your results but give me a sec to change into my workout gear. Tell me while I work on the bag."
"Work on the bag?"
The marine thumbed at the boxing bag as her answer, methodically stripping and folding her uniform as she changed. She glanced over her shoulder in curiosity when she heard a swift swoosh, not thinking much of it to see that Dr. T'Soni had turned away. Lucy changed in military sweatpants and left her sports bra on, electing for as much freedom up top as possible to test mobility as a whole unit. She wove her handwraps on with practiced speed and begun to stretch, grunting. "Alright, ready. Hit me with what ya got."
Dr. T'Soni turned around, and for a moment, a conflicted look crossed her face when her gaze seemed to focus on the marine's burned side.
The scarring wasn't all that bad, so why was she sad?
Talking about emotions was never really Lucy's forte though; the question pestered her mind, but for some reason it refused to roll off her tongue. She begun to work basic jabs into the boxing bag, constantly circling around it to steal glances over at the scientist. Dr. T'Soni looked so out of place and unsure. Lucy kind of smiled.
"Feel free to grab a stool or make yourself comfortable on the bed. You can login to my terminal too if you want to play or watch anything while you talk."
Hopefully that nudge about talking would actually start it.
Dr. T'Soni moved mechanically, and the marine caught a good look at quite the purple-looking throat. She hoped it was for the reason of which her pride inflated for. There was a small urge to show off, but she needed to focus on the mission and to tune into her limits, not exacerbate past them.
"Er... well... there were many findings, such as, er, your sensation of pain is decreased while listening to it. B-because... and brain scans showed-"
"I'm gonna stop you there, Liara. You seem to be flustered and it's affecting your report."
Struck right on the nail. Lucy felt a little evil, but she felt it was a necessary evil; not just for personal pleasure though. It seemed to fluster the scientist more.
"I... am not used to seeing you like this," Dr. T'Soni admitted, and she shied away as she sat on the stool - though faced the terminal instead of the marine.
"What, working out?"
"No. Casual. Very much so. I thought you said you had a hard time relaxing?"
"Well, I'm kinda working on it by working out. I don't get what you mean otherwise, though." A half-truth. Would Dr. T'Soni tell the full one?
The scientist's shoulders hiked up a little, and she shot a quick shy smile over one. "Nevermind."
This was an opportunity - yet another one, really, that constantly gave Lucy trouble over whether or not to take it. A large part of her wanted to every time, but something always held her back; so she danced around it, hoping that maybe eventually she would be able to cross this roadblock.
"I've noticed that when I say your name, you seem to have a reaction to it. I can't tell if it's good or bad though... Liara. Is it also unexpected?"
"Very much so," the scientist blurted honestly. Her shoulders tensed, then sagged. She solidified her defeat as she buried her head in her hands. "Goddess..."
It hurt not to smirk. "It's okay to be honest with me - in here, it is. Out there, you have to understand, I have to be the way I am in order to keep up morale."
"I do understand that. It is not that though, not really. I mean, it is still strange..." Yeah. Honesty wasn't really a problem with this one. "But... I do not know."
"Well, let's make it simple for the both of us then. Let's not think about this. Let's just feel it." Lucy strode over to the terminal and logged herself in, not at all unaware of the way her presence seemed to fluster the scientist greatly. T'Soni even rolled away a little on the stool. "I won't lie, it's strange to me too, Liara. I kind of have to work past it and just do it anyways, and when I do, it kinda feels right. Doesn't make sense; it feels wrong and right at the same time."
Music helped instill an extra jolt of bravery when she started up her favorite workout playlist. Rule the World was the first song, and she closed her eyes as the energetic pound of the drums thrummed through her in a steady beat.
"I'm gonna make a rule and run a little experiment for myself," she murmured. She didn't need to look to know she's captured Dr. T'Soni's interest; naturally, it came with figuring out how to communicate when she ran her other little experiment with the minerals. "I'm not gonna hide around you. I'm not gonna try to read you. I'm just gonna go with the flow and see where it takes me." She opened her eyes and smiled at the scientist. "You're welcome to join me in my experiment, doc."
"T-then..." Dr. T'Soni inched a little closer. "If we are not hiding around each other..." She rose slowly, her hand on the desk as if to steady herself. "Asari are known for their promiscuity."
Uh.
...Huh.
"I'm sorry?" Lucy cocked a brow, bewildered at where this came from. "Is that a suggestion, Liara?"
She glanced over her shoulder at her bed, but when she faced back front, she was met with a burgundy asari instead of a blue one.
"No! Goddess, no!" Ocean-blue eyes widened in horror, and Lucy didn't know how to really take that hit. It sucked that it landed on her stomach though.
"That kind of came out of nowhere, though..."
"I, yes, I mean, I realize that, but no, no that was not what I meant."
"You're losing me. Fast."
"I just mean, well, asari are known for their promiscuity."
They stared.
Lucy nodded slowly in understanding. "Yeah..." She still had no fucking clue what she was actually supposed to be understanding. "I'm lost. You said that already, yeah?"
"R-right!" Dr. T'Soni almost tripped over the stool when she inched backwards, a nervous chuckle bubbling out of her. "So I wanted to say: I am not like that."
They stared again. Lucy nodded a little quicker this time. "Okay. Okay, I get it. What I don't get is... why?"
"Why... I am not promiscuous like most asari?"
"No, no," Lucy laughed a little. "I mean: why did you bring that up? That came out of nowhere. If it's not a suggestion, then...?"
"Oh, well, I just wanted to explain a little about me - why I am the way I am. I do not approach these things lightly." Dr. T'Soni made a small point with her chin to the marine's dog tags, before looking away with extra color in her cheeks. "This is also what I meant by very casual, earlier. I am aware that there is... something... between us. Or have I been reading too much into this?"
"No," the word came out before Lucy could think of it. A measure of discomfort bloomed in her chest, feeling like a fish out of water; she wanted to at least try though. She looked down at herself, and though her workout gear didn't seem to say anything personal to her, she wagered that military nonchalance to lack of clothing in general had not extended to the scientist. No wonder she never used the showers during peak hours. Lucy went to don a hoodie to spare any more discomfort blooming in Dr. T'Soni's chest.
"No," the scientist echoed, a disappointed look on her face. "There is not something?"
"No, no." They were seriously saying that way too much. "You haven't been reading too much - we're reading on the same page." She smiled sheepishly, rubbing her nape. Never did she think she'd have this kind of feeling, not when she imagined - or maybe just resigned - herself as never having it. "I... feel it too, Dr. T'Soni."
Well she already kind of made it obvious and confessed there was something, when she gave the minerals just to call the scientist cute.
"Liara, please. Always, at least when we are alone, and as long as I get to call you Lucy."
"Deal," Lucy smiled - noting it felt easier to do so around the scientist. Awkwardness quickly made a home in the silence though, at least for her. "Well, then..." She thumbed at her heavy bag. "I really do have to work on that before the next mission, but you're more than welcome to hang out." Please hang out. Liara's company was one of the few that was actually enjoyable on this ship. "Maybe talk about music and your findings?"
"Oh, of course! Let me login and show you all my data."
For once, even though it was a little hard to focus on a report spit-balled what she swore was 100 words a second, she found herself actually relaxing. She prayed she wasn't going to be tested on what was being said. Even if she didn't understand a quarter of it, it was endearing to see this enthusiasm as the scientist lost herself in such a simple experiment. And Lucy got to be a part of it - even if she was a guinea pig.
But now they were reading on the same page because of it. Something positive came out of a frightening negative.
...Maybe needles weren't so bad after all.