Uh huh. Yeah. If there was any surefire way to fry a poor engineer's brain, it was to witness her lover threaten to flay somebody with her mind.

"I've never seen her mad before. And I never want to ever again."

Sylvia requested privacy from her squad prior to heading into this office, and she was regretting that decision now. She stood and waited awkwardly - despite wanting to do anything but. Run away, mostly, but her emotions threatened to overwhelm her logic, a harrowing reminder that it has been two years for Liara since last they touched or kissed.

Hesitantly, Sylvia cleared her throat to be heard. She frowned a little when the asari sat at her desk and made no move to tear away from her screen, instead opening up new emails - or answering with more threats. This was all just business to Liara. There was a frightening air surrounding her. Sylvia tried again, this time approaching to walk past the desk. She stopped dead in her tracks when the asari twisted and stared at her, her expression almost emotionless.

But there was guilt in her eyes.

"Shepard," Liara breathed coolly. She stood only to give a brief hug, as if it was a reminder of what one should do upon seeing an old friend.

"Is that really all that I am now?"

Discipline warred with temptation, but Sylvia stayed her hands and her lips. She smiled tersely. "It's good to see you again."

God was it ever. Or maybe not. She really couldn't make up her mind right now.

Could Liara stop doing whatever the fuck it was that she was doing to freak Sylvia the fuck out?

"Likewise," Liara nodded. She sat at her desk and gestured to the chair across from her.

Sylvia had half a mind to pull on that dainty slender wrist and push Liara up on her desk instead. She nearly followed through when the idea burned with all the feelings that coursed through her, and it became nigh impossible to listen to that logic that scolded her every few seconds. Her heart plummeted and shrivelled when Liara delved back into her terminal, her tone even and professional.

"Cerberus reached out to me and said you would need some information about a few persons of interest."

"You, namely," Sylvia blurted. She wished to dismantle her armour to pinch her thigh as punishment. She suppressed her groan when the asari's brow arched ever so slowly, but at the very least she looked amused. Sylvia shifted nervously in her seat and nodded. "Erm... Yes, I'm assembling a squad for a mission. Would you happen to have-"

"Thane Krios and Justicar Samara?"

Disarmed of her voice, Sylvia could only manage a dumbfounded nod. She was utterly horrified with the way Liara smiled, slippery and sly.

"I'm good at what I do. That, and it helps to have that information forwarded from Cerberus - courtesy of your XO, Miss Lawson." The asari navigated her terminal, and soon, there were pings on Sylvia's omni-tool. "I've already compiled their files and just sent them over to you. Is there anything else I can assist you with today, Commander?"

"N-no..." Sylvia squirmed a little in her seat, wracking her brain on how to approach the subject. The question tormented her and compelled her to act rashly, her hand sliding across the desk as she twisted her hand, her palm up as she reached in hope. "Well, there is one thing... Would you be open to having dinner with me? I'd like to catch up with you, if you're... You know... If you're okay with that."

Liara's stare was disconcerting. She still had a blank expression.

Then she smiled.

"Very well. I can arrange something at a restaurant and make some reservations for us, once you've concluded your business in Illium."

"All concluded," Sylvia blurted. She reluctantly retracted her empty hand and shot up into standing, making a hasty retreat out the office. "I'm gonna go change into my civvies and then I'll be back here!"

"Come to my apartment instead, I'll hail a cab for you at the docks."

Sylvia almost collided into the door frame in her surge to anxiety. She whirled around and bumped into the wall by accident, chuckling nervously. "Y-your apartment?"

That smile on the asari's face appeared innocent, but it felt anything but. Liara seemed as though she was thriving off this apprehension. The memories Sylvia bore of an equally nervous lover had all but disappeared, when the broker rose and approached with confidence. She gifted a brief kiss on the cheek, lips ghosting along skin to leave a searing scandalous secret whispered in the ear.

"Yes. I've some ideas of my own of what I'd like to do with you, and I'd prefer to do so in private. For now."

There was no level 10 emergency bailout with this. Sylvia was fiercely flushed and rubbing sweaty palms along her slacks for the entire cab ride. Her stomach roiled as if there was a mako driving around in there and she swore she was going to hurl in her lap. She tried to focus on Illium's skyscrapers as they buzzed by, holding onto the hope that things would remain carefree and chill with Liara, to play catch up - at least for Sylvia, to find out as to what the asari's been up to these past couple of years.

"It's a long time for her, even if it hasn't been for me. But... How do I even ask that? Hey, girl, good to see you again. So other than that small bit where I died, how've you been?" Sylvia rolled her eyes hard. She saw what grief did to Liara when she'd lost her mother. Then they both lost Ashley - and then they survived the aftermath of what Sovereign and Saren did.

Was this why there was a sense of feeling off between them? And why did Liara look guilty, earlier?

Sylvia wore her bottom lip down until she'd bit hard enough to taste blood. "Has she met someone else? I... God... I know it's selfish, but I hope not."

It hurt immeasurably just to think about it, and her restless mind was already off concocting horrible images of Liara with somebody else. There was a new wave of nausea rocking her to the core when the cab stopped and announced the arrival of their destination. Sylvia tilted her head and looked up out at the window, her mouth falling down as a result.

"She lives here? What the fuck..."

At the front of a majestic skyscraper shielded by a fence, waited a turian security guard that climbed down the steps as if coming to greet her. Or frisk her. She reluctantly climbed out the cab and met them at the fence, where the gate opened and announced registering her ID. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Welcome, Commander Shepard," the guard announced with a brief salute.

Lost and bewildered by the sheer size of this place, her returning salute was half-assed, and she smiled apologetically for it. "Thank you, uh..."

"I've been informed that you are Liara T'Soni's guest; you will find her on the 76th floor, room 32. Take the elevator to your right when you enter. Please raise your arms so that I may search you for weapons - security protocol, ma'am, please don't resist."

"Don't intend to," Sylvia cooperated without complaint, allowing the guard to search away. The turian jerked his head towards the entrance.

It was his turn to be puzzled when she couldn't fucking move.

Another apologetic smile, accompanied by a nervous laugh. She massaged her nape and shrugged. "Sorry... What floor and room again?"

"Floor 76, room 32, ma'am."

"Right... Thank you." Sylvia forced her wobbly legs to move. Her stomach recoiled viciously as she climbed the steps, wiping her sweaty palms on her slacks before she reached for the door handle - that slid open for her anyways. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat down but it refused to go away. Her breath was taken by the sights inside the fancy lobby, her anxiety soaring at an all-time high.

"Fucking hell, Liara's got to be rich to be living in a place like this. Just how many figures do information brokers make?"

Sylvia strode for the elevator, though eyeballed the lobby and some of the denizens here as she casually searched for the stairwell instead. 76 floors would be more than enough to blast away her anxiety, right? The second she found a windowed door that seemed like they had stairs behind it, she took the opportunity without a second thought. She focused on the sounds of echoing footsteps as she raced up the stairs, controlling her breathing and pace so as not to be winded in seconds.

But every step brought with it more anxiety instead.

Desperate to bring back some measure of calm, she hightailed it up the stairs with intensity and recklessness, zipping around as she noted the numbers on the doors. She gradually slowed into a sloth pace, gasping by the time she hit floor 40.

"Yep. I can see Cerberus hasn't made me an acrobatic machine. Did they really have to keep this part of me? I wouldn't mind waking up more athletic and never needing to groan about going to the gym ever again. I'll have to remember to let Miranda know it's okay to improve the design, maybe make me less OCD next time I die too."

Yes, yes, this morbid line of thinking was doing wonders in distracting her. There were enough things screaming incoherently in her brain. She decided to call it quits after another couple of floors and entered the hallways to utilize the elevator, though stopped at the 75th floor to pace up and down the halls until a salarian poked their head out the door to give her an annoyed stare. She begrudgingly took the elevator to the 76th floor, then headed in the opposite direction so as to stall the hell out of coming up to room 32.

Unfortunately, someone seemed to have already planned for that.

At the end of the hall, there was a window overlooking the city below - and a familiar asari that didn't seem interested in looking out for the view. She'd leaned casually on the window sill with a subtle smirk on her face.

"Good evening, Commander." Her calculating gaze roved up and down, her nose scrunching a little as she chuckled upon the dazed engineer stuck on auto-pilot. "Had your exercise for the week, I take it?"

"I... Took the stairs, yeah..."

Sylvia could feel heat tearing at the baseline of her throat, and she prayed that Liara would just misinterpret the red splotching as exertion.

Fortunately, no mention of it was made - for there seemed to be a more pressing issue.

"You certainly smell like you have," Liara teased gently, gesturing with her hand before she swiftly passed the engineer to take lead. "You may use my shower, I'll prepare garments for you and your clothes can wash while we're out."

"Would you even have anything in my size?"

"Mm."

"...Not really an answer, is it? I suppose I don't really have a choice. Don't want to gas her to death."

Sylvia was beginning to feel incredibly foolish now, her anxiety now made itself evident. The graceful poise ahead of her was more unnerving than it was comforting. She tried to keep herself collected upon them reaching and entering Liara's apartment - and at least found comfort in that she spotted many downright ugly Prothean artifacts preserved inside. Her breath was taken by the large window panes and she abandoned her lead, walking straight up to them as she looked outside.

"Wow," she breathed in awe, restraining herself before her sweaty palms marred the impeccably clean windows. "This place is amazing, T'Soni. Proof that hard work pays off."

"Thank you," the asari returned coolly, waiting patiently by the stairs. "I'll show you around after your shower."

Hint taken. Sylvia smiled sheepishly as she jogged over to catch up, careful not to touch even the railing. She couldn't resist teasing a little. "This place is licked clean, wouldn't ever think you used to be a hermit living in dirt."

"You mean an archaeologist?" Liara corrected with a slight levity in her tone. The seriousness of it all fell through the atmosphere and Sylvia eased up a little when there was a playful look shot over the shoulder. "Well, thank you, though I can't claim all the credit. I have a drone that handles the bulk of the cleaning. I'm pleased to hear you so satisfied with the conditions here." She stepped aside as she gestured towards a closed door. "The bathroom is in there. All amenities are in the cabinets, just help yourself to whatever you need and send me a message on my omni-tool if you require anything else. I'll be working on my terminal downstairs."

"O-oh... Alright. And my spare change of clothes?"

"I'll leave it on the bed here for you."

"Okay."

Neither moved. Sylvia was stuck gaping, feeling out of place. She wanted to reach, touch, kiss - but there was something off-putting, and a feeling like Liara was a thousand miles away. That sly smile returned, though, when it seemed rather evident that the engineer was overstaying.

"Okay," Liara parroted calmly. She gestured to the doorway again, before taking her leave. "I'll program some music from my terminal to play in there and help you relax."

Sylvia wanted to scream, suppressing her cringe long enough until her stupid face was out of sight. She wasn't supposed to be so obviously nervous. What happened to being cool, or charming? She was probably making Liara wonder what in the hell she ever saw in such a frazzled scatterbrained human to begin with. The engineer hid away in the bathroom and all but raced to take her clothes off for the promise of freezing to death and spare herself further mortification.

She froze instead at the first song that softly played, and the lights dimmed to accompany the mood of a familiar piano - a melancholic song she had played on repeat for Liara, once. It seemed to be an instrumental version when the lyrics never came, and her lips pulled in a sorrowful smile as she whispered them.

"I know, it hurts, it's hard to breathe sometimes. Those nights are long, you've lost the will to fight."

Part of her wondered if this was the song played after her... Death... But Sylvia tried to stay away from such thoughts. She couldn't imagine the pain - it hurt far more than enough to think of Liara grieving all over again.

"I know I wouldn't take it well if I lost her the way that... She had lost me." Sylvia frowned, standing under the showers and turning the knob to frigid temperatures to try and desist this line of thinking. "I hope I didn't mean that much, at least at the time, but now..." Her eyebrows knit together in conflict. "I'm not making much sense. With the way things are going, I don't mean much at all right now, anymore."

It hurt. It hurt, because Liara still meant so bloody much to her - and it hurt just to think that she was going to have to subdue that part of her, because so much time has passed for the archaeologist.

Rather: former hermit.

"She's so much more graceful and confident, now. She's grown. Moved on. I'm proud of her, of course, but I just wish it didn't take pain and death to do that to her."

Sylvia sighed. She let her head fall forward for the water to beat upon her back. When the song finished, the mood eased a little more with simple piano tunes to set the tone. She set the temperature to be a hearty warmth and tried not to think too deeply about the bathing products that were here. There was a subtle heat returning to pulse at the base of her throat when she'd opened a bottle and immediately registered Liara with the smell.

"Wouldn't take her to be the fruity type with how she's like right now," Sylvia idly mused. She chuckled over an idea. "I gotta find a blueberry scented body wash for her, see if she clues in as to why."

With time ticking away, she knew she couldn't stall much longer. She rinsed herself off and wrapped up the shower, cursing herself for not preparing a towel ahead of time. She left a trail of water as she searched the cabinets, haphazardly towel-dried her hair as much as possible, and dried herself off before wiping down the floor. She steeled herself at the door, poking her head out to check if the coast was clear before she'd raced for the clothes left for her on the bed. She was immediately baffled by what she saw and groaned aloud.

"A dress, T'Soni?"

Somewhere downstairs, a throaty chuckle followed by an amused hum was her answer. She groaned again and plucked at the thing between her fingers as she frowned. Her mind worked furiously to deduce this contraption before her - this thoughtful and meticulous torture that seemed planned ahead of time.

"I bet you knew I was gonna hit the stairs," Sylvia grumbled under her breath. She didn't expect a response, much less to be heard, and she watched herself when she got one.

"Guilty," came the easy breezy response. Another chuckle. "I'll come up there to help you in a minute."

That lit a fire under Sylvia's ass.

"N-not necessary!"

"From the sounds of it, it's very necessary. I'm just finishing my email now."

"Liara, please," Sylvia blurted, ditching her towel as she spun the dress in her hands to figure out where the hell the zipper was. Her heart skipped a beat and she swore she was going to faint when she heard dainty steps echo on the stairs. "Liara, don't do this to me!"

"I'm not doing anything, I'm only coming to help."

That coy calmness? That deceptive offer?

"Lies!" Sylvia hissed, her face flushing hot when laughter danced it's way up in the air. She threw on the spare underwear - the back of her mind finding it immediately peculiar that there was a sports bra her size - and began to wiggle her way into the dress from the bottom.

And got stuck.

The echoes stopped at the top of the stairs. She heard a sharp inhale, and she conceded to her defeat.

"Can you please just get in the mako and grind me into dust already?" Sylvia lamented in despair. She just didn't have the courage to pull the dress off and sought what meagre comfort she could have in this darkness, her arms locked above her head.

That slow exhale finalized her doom - but her heart sank for a different reason, over the reminiscent tone.

"Oh, Syl..."

Decisive footsteps came, and the fabric was released when the zipper was undone behind Sylvia. It was peeled away against her will, and before she could protest, lips captured hers in a soft kiss. It grew demanding, needy, as if she was being kissed for evidence that she was here. She eschewed her pride and let the dress fall forward off of her, grabbing Liara's shoulders as she gave all the proof that was needed. The asari's nails burned a path down her stomach and she groaned when her bottom lip was bit, suckled, and pulled.

"Fuck," she hissed, opening her eyes to find that she was already being watched by ones that held a sinful promise in them.

And then realization.

Liara pulled away with a small apologetic smile. "Sorry, I did not mean to presume and pressure that-"

"Presume and pressure all you want," Sylvia blurted, but a cold draft had her brain racing to catch up, and she grinned despite the blush that struck across to throb at her nose. "I-I mean, well, I'm not... I uh... Just a little bit slower?"

"Of course," Liara stepped back, then turned away. "I apologize for teasing you about the dress. I have normal attire for you as well, if you prefer that."

Sylvia reluctantly collected the dress off the floor, glaring at it before she sighed and shrugged. "Well... I guess it depends on what kind of restaurant we're going to, and what you're wearing."

"Mm, it is a formal restaurant, and I'll be wearing a dress - but we won't have any persistent issues once I speak with the manager."

At that, it wasn't really much of a decision. She didn't want to cause any trouble and wanted to make the most of her time with Liara.

"Ah, I'll wear the dress. How often do I get the chance to, right? Just... Uh... How the hell do I actually put this on?"

A warm chuckle set her at ease. She'd shrunk a little when Liara's eyes were back on her, but at the very least those eyes stayed on her eyes. She was coached and manoeuvred until she had the dress on, then was gently turned by the shoulders for the zipper to be done up in the back. Her damp hair was brushed over to the front of her shoulder, and there was a brief tense second when those hands lingered on the zipper.

Goosebumps raced down her spine when soft lips pressed to her nape, though her anxiety stilled over the melancholic tone.

"You're really here," Liara sighed. "It's... So good... But so strange to hear and feel you again. You're exactly how I remember you to be. Nothing has changed with you."

"You were expecting changes?" Sylvia asked out of curiosity.

"I wasn't sure what to expect with and from Cerberus," came the honest admission. "I admit, I am skeptical that they would pay the fortune they had to bring you back, yet not have some kind of insurance in place to ensure their finances and assets won't go to waste - or if you'll turn on them."

"As far as I know, I'm me. All of me down to the T, unfortunately." Sylvia shot a playful look over her shoulder. "I found that out the hard way in the stairwell. Was wishing they'd give me some enhancements, you know?"

"Mm, of course you did," Liara chuckled. Another lingering kiss to the back of the neck. "I've... I still remember some of my naive dreams about you, the adventures we could have, the discoveries we would make - and how we would be the saviours of the galaxy, single-handedly stopping the Reapers on our own."

"They don't have to be dreams," Sylvia rushed to reassure, "We can still make all of those a reality."

"It's certainly not as easy as I dreamed it to be," the asari chuckled halfheartedly. "I can tell you all about the scandals of the universe, yet I have yielded remarkably little information about the Reapers and the Protheans, despite the network of contacts I've established over the course of these years. Admittedly, however, I haven't quite invested as much effort into stopping them, as I have in finding the Shadow Broker."

That piqued curiosity - and a dreadful feeling. Sylvia arched her brow and turned around to scrutinize Liara's expressions closely. "The Shadow Broker?"

There was a terrifying flash of poisonous anger in those blue orbs, eradicating what little innocence was left in them. The asari seemed to struggle not to seethe spitefully, moving over to the dresser to prepare her own garments. "We'll discuss it at dinner. I'll get ready now, if you'd like to go back in the bathroom to finish drying your hair."

"Finish drying my hair?" Sylvia stared for a moment, then lingered back into the bathroom to search the cabinets.

Her heart sank when she pulled a blow-dryer out from below the sink.

"All these years... She's prepared this home as if I've been living here with her, hasn't she?"