A/N: Thank you all for your continuing support, it means a lot. Shout out to hmenley and all those serving in any form of military, it's much appreciated. Thanks to Rae for cleaning this up. Enjoy!
As they lay entwined together, Liara couldn't think of a more secure and happy place to be. Ever since Shepard had rescued her on Therum, Liara's life had turned into a roller-coaster. The dance the two of them played in showing their interest for each other excited Liara. She eagerly found new ways to tease Shepard or hint at her feelings towards her. When they finally confessed their love to each other, Liara had never felt such an all-consuming feeling of happiness in her life. Looking at the half-asleep figure entangled with her, she could honestly say she would be able to die with no regrets. "Isabelle?" she asked.
Shepard stirred a little, turning her head slightly to Liara. "Mmmmm?" she replied lazily, still half-asleep.
Seeing Shepard this vulnerable and beautiful, Liara couldn't help but feel an overwhelming love for her. "I love you," she said sweetly. It wasn't the first time she had said it to Shepard, but she had never felt it so intensely before.
A huge smile formed on Shepard's face as she reached an arm around Liara's head and pulled her down gently for a sensual kiss. "I love you too, Liara," she whispered back.
Liara, wanting to show her love for Shepard in a non-physical way began to think of ideas for gifts that she could get for Isabelle. Thinking through typical asari gifts between lovers and bondmates, she couldn't come up with anything she felt would be appropriate for Shepard. She wanted something that Shepard would not only appreciate, but something that would also represent her as a person and a lover. "Izzy, how would you describe yourself?" Liara asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"Hmm? Why?" Shepard asked, the drowsiness slowly leaving her.
"Well, you and I both know what I think of you and how I describe you, but I'm curious how you would describe yourself," she replied, trying not to give her true intentions away.
She watched as Shepard contemplated the question, putting on her 'thinking face' that Liara loved so much. "I guess you could define me with two things: guns and roses," Shepard replied.
Liara understood the first reference, but didn't know the other. "What is a rose?" she asked.
Shepard smiled at her and sat up. "A rose is a popular flower from Earth, usually a symbol for love and romance."
"I see, what does a rose look like?" Liara replied, making a mental note to include these roses in her gift.
Shepard gave a bit of a laugh. "Well, that's a bit of a tough question. Roses come in many different colors, each with its own symbolic meaning. The typical rose is red, which symbolizes love," Shepard said. "What's with all the questions? You planning on buying me some flowers, T'Soni?" Shepard asked teasingly.
"No!" Liara immediately replied, not wanting Shepard to know she was going to get a gift for her. When she saw the look of disappointment on Shepard's face, she winced a bit at the way she reacted. "What I mean is, I was just curious. Humans have very interesting symbolism, and I must admit that some elements are very beautiful," she recovered. She frowned a bit at the variety of roses. She would have to do more research than she originally thought to make it perfect for Shepard.
Shepard gave her a slanted grin at the response. "Well, for the record, I would love roses from you any day of the week. I'd never get tired of them, so long as they're from you and you're around for me to show my appreciation," Shepard said, caressing Liara's crests and pressing her body closer.
Liara's eyes fluttered and a gasp escaped from her at Shepard's electric and sensual touch. 'Gifts can wait until later... much later.'
Liara woke from her dream and found herself on her couch, her wine glass now lying empty on the ground beside it. She stood up and looked back down on the couch, which now had a telling wet spot on it from reliving the numerous times she and Isabelle had made love. At least I didn't relive her death all night, Liara thought, though she still felt tears falling from her eyes as she remembered how real the dream felt. She walked over to the kitchen and poured herself some water. I never did get her that gift, we ran out of time. Liara thought over Shepard's words that day, and an idea popped into her head.
Moving from the kitchen, she went over to her extranet terminal and began searching for information on roses and the meanings behind their colors. She found many useful sites, and even found information regarding the arrangement of the roses and what those meant as well. Satisfied that she knew what she wanted to do, she finished the rest of her water and headed towards Nos Astra's marketplace.
"Can I help you?" the salarian salesperson asked as he approached Liara.
"Yes, I'm here to get a gift for someone very special to me," Liara replied.
"Ahh, very good! Do you have something in mind?" he asked.
Liara looked around the store and found the section she was looking for. Walking over to the sniper rifles, she picked up a Black Widow and handed it to the merchant. "I would like a custom variation of this, please."
Eyes going big from having one of the most expensive items in the store handed to him, the salesperson jumped into action. "Yes, yes, yes! What kind of customization do you have in mind?" he said as he walked over to the counter to begin entering the information.
"I would like it to be upgraded with light-weight materials, extra ammo capacity, an armor piercing modification, as well as a custom design," Liara stated. "The rifle is to be jet black. On the left side a singular, thorn-less, blue rose. On the right will be two roses entwined together, one red and the other violet."
The salarian nodded and inputted the information as she told it to him. "This is quite the gift, but you must understand this is going to be very expensive," he said, wanting to make sure the customer could pay for it.
"Money is not an issue. How much?" Liara asked with no emotion in her voice.
"2.5 million credits," the salarian replied, hoping that she would be able to pay and that he hadn't wasted his time.
Liara pulled out a datapad and typed a few things on it, and pulled out a credit chit and placed it on the counter, leaving her hand on it. "How long will this take to complete?"
The salesperson looked back to his computer. "I would say about a week," he replied.
Finding this acceptable, Liara nodded and removed her hand. "There's three million on that credit chit, I will be back here in a week," she said, then promptly turned and left the store leaving the salesperson staring blankly back at her.
"I can't believe that you let it out," Miranda chastised.
"I am the Captain of this ship, last I checked, so I am free to do as I please," Shepard retorted. "And Grunt is not an it, he is a Krogan."
"Well, he certainly has the Korgan aggression, he nearly killed you! I didn't spend two years rebuilding you for you to throw it all away on some tank-bred experiment," Miranda scolded.
"You keep mentioning that, Miranda. Is that all I am to you? A perfect shining example of your handy work?" Shepard asked, annoyed and extremely offended. "I do not judge you based off what your father did to bring you in this world. Perhaps it was too much to expect you to show the same respect to others."
Miranda recoiled from Shepard's harsh response, she hadn't thought what she said would have offended Shepard. "Of course not, Commander, I value you as a person. I even enjoy your continuous interruptions of my work," she replied, trying her best to give a warm smile.
Shepard's expression softened a bit, but not completely. "What about Grunt? I thought you'd understand him, being that you were also grown in a lab," Shepard asked.
Miranda frowned. "That's different, Shepard," she said.
"How?!" Shepard immediately replied. "You say you were created to be perfect, a legacy to your father. Grunt was created to be perfect, a legacy to Okeer and the Krogan. How is that different?"
Miranda faltered slightly, seeing that Shepard was right. Miranda hated when Shepard was right, and it seemed like that was quite often. "I see your point, perhaps we can find some use for him," Miranda relented, which drew a smile from Shepard.
"Good! So, you find my presence to be just an 'interruption'?" Shepard teased, knowing that she had Miranda around her finger.
Miranda grew increasingly frustrated. No matter how she went about it, Shepard always got the upper hand on her somehow. "Yes, I have very important work, and you make a habit of distracting me from it," she said.
"Perhaps I'm trying to keep you from over-working yourself," Shepard suggested with a mocking smile. "You don't always have to be perfect."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "I suppose not, but I swear you intentionally cause as much trouble as possible to give me more work," she said.
Shepard gave a good laugh to that. "Perhaps I just want to give you enough work so I know you'll be in your office when I want to visit," she teased.
"Careful, Commander," Miranda replied, raising a suggestive eyebrow.
"Don't gotta be, you're not blue," Shepard replied smartly, a huge grin on her face.
Miranda scowled at the mention of Liara. "I don't know, Shepard. One could begin to wonder with all the time you spend down here," Miranda suggested. She was enjoying the dance they were playing, and having fun trying to lure Shepard into bed.
Shepard rubbed the back of her neck and backed away slowly. "I... uh... should go. I think Garrus wanted to talk to me about... calibrations..." she said uncomfortably.
Miranda gave a small laugh and raised an eyebrow again. "Oh? I didn't realize you were into turians, Commander. I guess he is sort of blue," Miranda teased. Shepard had walked herself into that one.
Shepard blushed madly, both out of embarrassment and frustration. "I'll... talk to you later, Miranda," Shepard said, speeding out of the door as fast as she could.
Miranda grinned at how uncomfortable she had made Shepard. She's at least interested a little bit, or I wouldn't have this sort of effect on her, and I think she's realizing it too. Miranda gave a hum of amusement, and then returned to work, firing off a report of her actions to the Illusive Man.